19 Former Millionaires Reveal Shocking Mistakes That Cost Them Everything
Most of my money went to treatment classes, drug testing, court fees and fines, and two lawyers. I’d say smoking pot in a conservative state has cost me roughly $50,000 (That’s counting the cost of the pot) and the rest went towards a Roth IRA, two cars, three motorcycles, and three hospital visits. I’d been fortunate enough to recoup some of what was lost through a great employment opportunity, which, unfortunately, didn’t last due to covid. I was laid off and didn’t work there long enough to qualify for unemployment or severance and so I was stuck dipping into my savings to feed my family. While I was working for my last employer I decided to take a loan out for my dream car, and two weeks later I was laid off, so a good bulk of my IRA has been going to that and I’m now being forced to sell it or give it up for repossession. Luckily I’ve paid enough on it, with help from my family, to be able to sell it for more than what my loan is, so I’m not exactly screwed, but next month is likely going to be filled with lots of fasting and ketchup sandwiches. Anymore of what I take from my IRA would be heavily penalized since I’ve used up the initial capital investment so that’s no longer an option.
It’s amazing how quickly a dumb kid can go from saving so well and not really understanding what I was doing, to blowing it all realizing I had the freedom to do whatever I wanted with the money I’d earned. It took some years to get there, and it’s taken some years to get back to a rational mind, as well as some dumb financial decisions, but I’m finally able to say that every dime of what I earn is going to be saved, and I no longer do illegal drugs so there’s no chance of me getting slapped with fines and court fees anymore. However, I am aware that the job I had in gaining my initial accumulation of funds is a one-in-a-million chance which I blew, and it’s really hard to settle for anything less than what I’ve earned before. It’s really quite soul-sucking to see people offering $10/hr or $15/hr like it’s some blessing bestowed upon the poor people in this country, knowing just how easily they could offer more. That’s something I’d like to see change, everybody deserves the opportunity to earn more than the bare minimum to survive and from my perspective, not everybody gets that chance. I’d say not even half the population of this country gets that chance.
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