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My major decisions - whom not to marry, whom to marry, jobs I took, jobs I left, when to have children, moving, etc. - have all worked out well.
One of the more risky ones was to leave teaching at age 52 to pursue a master's degree in another field. That turned out to be one of the best.
Ditto leaving our home community after 40 years and relocating to another state.
Got a master's degree and loaded up on quant/stats courses which turned out to be in pretty big demand
When I got divorced 20 years ago, took some of my half of the proceeds from the house and started up a Roth IRA that I'm still contributing to. We'll see what it does for my tax diversification once I retire in hopefully 9 years!
Didn't ever want kids and wasn't talked into having kids...reason for the divorce :-/
My best decision ever was dreaming of living in a farmhouse, searching real estate websites, flying up for my 1st visit to the Blue Ridge Mountains in 2005 and falling in LOVE with my dream home. My friends warned me not to bring my checkbook....lol....and 1 laughed so hard and told me that in 2 weeks I would be bored and back in South Florida....my vacay home turned into my forever home and the only way to describe the magic is the fact that every place on earth has its coordinates and I found EXACTLY the place I was meant to be!
Biggest one is the same as OP's. Neither I nor my husband ever wanted any kids, and we are glad we (both separately and after we got together) agreed on that.
What is a big decision you think you nailed and would do over again? For me, one of the biggest things I got right was not having children. I've never had any desire to be a father, and I'm glad it's worked out that way.
S.C.
I got a chuckle from your statement that the biggest decision that you got right was not having children. You are only in your early 30's and have not even married yet! I am not sure whether you still hold the same opinion when you are at your parents' ages ;-)
Being much older and retired, I'm certain that the assessment of my life big decisions is not going to change.
The biggest decision that I got right was to go through with marrying my husband. I was so terrified of the idea of a life long commitment to another person that I had to be supported by my parents (one in each arm) to the altar. It also took me at least a minute to utter the word "I do". My husband has been my best friend and life partner. In 40 years of marriage which we had coped with all the ups and downs of life, I have appreciated instead of being terrified by the marriage wow ".. for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, till death do us part".
The second wonderful big decision was to have a child and ONLY one. My daughter is the biggest accomplishment of my life. She has brought so much joy, love and pride to our life. My husband and I both had good careers and had successfully handled many projects. Raising our daughter was our most important project which we devoted a lot of effort, time and money. She is worth many times more than every drop of sweat or tear, second or penny that we have expended.
The third excellent big decision which we made was to quit our jobs to go to grad schools at the same time of starting a family. I was 8 months pregnant when we dragged a small trailer holding all our worthy possession (including a $10 garage-sale crib which we had restored) behind our VW Rabbit for 11 hours. We went from living in a nice 3BR, 2-car garage, 2 fireplaces home on 1A to a tiny 2 BR married student apartment. We passed the baby to each other between classes and lab sessions. In our free time, we took the baby to the beach/playground, shopped for baby stuffs (garage sale and thrift shop), tended a small student garden plot and foraged the woods for berries and mushrooms. Our baby-raising grad student days were the most wonderful time of our life. It was hectic, busy, intense, demanding but also exciting and exhilarating. I felt like Alice in wonderland discovering and learning fantastic scientific facts, technologies and our amazing bundle of joy.
We owe quite a bit of our financial success to our education and career. However, making more money was never our goals in going back to school. We were perpetual students who love to learn. Between the two of us, we have 7 college degrees and numerous courses and certifications. Some of these degrees and schooling were neither required nor used in our jobs/careers but we were glad to have acquired them. I am very lucky to marry a kindred spirit. We are also very lucky to raise a child who grow up to be very much like us: studious, hard working, full of curiosity, love animals and the outdoor.
I count my blessings everyday and give more attribute to good fortune than my big life decisions.
One thing I've noticed on these boards is that people often look back to prior years with regret, looking back at the mistakes they made or the opportunities they think they missed. As time moves forward, it's easy to look back at the regrets, but we often ignore the things we feel we got right.
What is a big decision you think you nailed and would do over again? For me, one of the biggest things I got right was not having children. I've never had any desire to be a father, and I'm glad it's worked out that way.
Buying the property which we later built our retirement house. Bought it in 1996, the adjacent lots in 2000, let it sit, paid property taxes on it till we were ready to build.
Getting a large HELOC on our paid off house in 2003 to finance the building of our retirement house on above property. Paid off the HELOC when we sold the house in 2012 with a nice profit, and had a new retirement house free and clear, no debt on it.
Still being married to DH after almost 41 years. We married young, 20 and 21 and had two kids by the time we were 27. Glad we had them when we were young. First grandchild is 14 so we were still in our 40s and we feel lucky to have been young grandparents. Took a lot of great trips with him and gave him a lifetime of memories of us no matter what happens.
Not retired but enjoy traveling and spending time together. We have always managed to stay balanced even when life throws us unexpected curves.
List is similar enough to a few other people.
1. Going on that blind date that turned out to be my future wife.
2. Getting a college degree. Then dropping my Master's program halfway through and switching to a program for multiple network certifications
3. Switching careers to a company with a pension plan and matched 401K - and maxxing my contributions.
4. Accepting a transfer that let me give up 5 hours of daily commuting and let me sell on Long Island and build our dream home in the Hudson Valley.
5. And even though I always said I would never have kids . . . went along with the wife and produced 3 offspring. All honor students. Put or putting all 3 through college debt free to get them started right. - Oldest instead of paying off student loans opened a Roth IRA at 22 and has a matched 401K.
-Joining the Air Force-even though it wasn't great at the time, it got me to where I am now.
-Moving to Vermont when I didn't know anyone or having a job.
-Going back to school (where I met the Love of my Life).
-Marrying the Love of my Life.
-Buying this house 4 years ago.
The biggest and best was and remains marrying my now, late, wife. All others pale in comparison.
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