This is an interesting question as I approach the ripe old age of 36. When I was five? Good grief, I don’t know if I remember anything at five. This is a financial site and I’ll try my best to loop this around, bear with me!
When I was younger, my calling was to be a Magician! How amazing to do magic tricks in front of audiences, and get paid for it! I spent a good bit of time in my childhood practicing magic, but there was always something else on my mind.
Growing up as the youngest of three, I was given hand me downs and whatever else was left. It’s not a bad thing, its a great way to save money for a family, but being a kid and seeing your siblings get something new, it bums you out a little bit. Now, being a kid, you don’t understand finance, you don’t understand that you’re growing at excessive rates, you don’t understand that saving money on clothes can add money elsewhere, maybe a vacation. Since I didn’t know any better, I developed a voice in the back of my head. “One day I’ll be rich!”
Now, being rich is a very general term, because I consider myself to be rich, because of the things I’m thankful for. My wife, my daughter, my family, and friends. These are the things life is all about, and I’d like to say I hit the jackpot when it comes to these wonderful people. But as a kid, knowing that money was not an infinite source, my idea of rich is to be wealthy with dollars!
Obviously life and time spent in your late teens early twenties, you tend to not follow the path your younger self would have been proud of, but I feel back on track with my younger self now. I have made huge advancements in making sure I have a retirement, and actively working towards an early retirement. My younger self would say, “you aren’t rich, but you’re getting there!”
So, besides being a magician, I’d like to think that my younger self always wanted to be an investor. My family and myself have been making that Investor decision for a few years now, and it’s one of the best things we’ve ever done as far as thinking of our future and our child’s future.
What about you? Did you have a clear goal or career you wanted when you were 5?
Thrifty Investing 