It Started with $5

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I’ve written previously of my many financial failures and my attempts to improve the financial health of myself and my family.

I suppose this begs the question, “So, what was it that caused this shift in thinking?” (And make no mistake, this journey to financial fitness has been a COMPLETE change of mindset.)

Honestly, it’s a bit hard to remember exactly what it was that caused me to change my way of thinking and to get my family on this new path…but I do remember very specifically one day back in 2016 seeing a link posted by a good friend of mine on Facebook to an investment platform called Stash.

The stock market has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and I never considered myself an investor. After all, that’s what rich people do…but not us common folk. Still, the idea of being able to put my money into an investment and seeing it grow appealed to me. I pastor a small rural church, so I certainly won’t be topping any of Forbes’ “wealthiest” lists anytime soon. (And I’m quite okay with that) Yet, the thought that if I was to wisely invest money, and perhaps allow my money to start working for myself and my family…this idea intrigued me. My wife works very hard and she is the main breadwinner for our family. (She is an RN) The thought that perhaps I could help her and contribute more positively to my family’s financial situation was very appealing to me.

Like most people I’m always a bit skeptical about online “scams” or “get rich quick” schemes. Thus, even though I liked the idea of “investing” I was a bit hesitant to jump on board with this new investment platform. This being said, I did trust my friend so I decided to look a bit deeper. As I read more I discovered that you could invest in fractional shares of various funds, and could begin with as little as $5…not only that they would actually give me $5 to start if I signed up. It seemed very low risk so I decided to jump in.

Initially after taking the plunge and choosing my investment…I lost a few cents and thought I had made a huge mistake. Here I was already struggling financially, and now I’m LOSING money on some new app I found online.

But one day, something happened…I started to make a little money here and there. I added more money and it kept growing. I was hooked.

I then began to read more about the stock market, it’s historical returns, and how essential investing is to overall financial health. (But I’ll save this for another post.)

Long story short, I began to love investing. Because I loved it so much, I wanted to be able to invest more! Because I wanted to invest more I began to read everything I could about personal finance, money management, investing, and growing wealth. I began to see how financially unhealthy I really was, and the types of changes I needed to make to get on the right path. I began to see the importance of paying myself, and not letting temporary pleasure rob me of tomorrow’s joy. I began to see what a trap debt is, and how the typical American mindset of “buying what I want, when I want” is so dangerous (and even deadly) when it comes to our financial health.

These ideas (truths) even lead me to go back to the Bible and see what God had to say about money and the importance of stewardship….

Needless to say, I realized things had to change. Things had to change for my own financial well-being and that of my family…but even more importantly, things needed to change spiritually. I realized that the financial stress that had inadvertently entered our lives through carelessness not only impacted us financially, but also spiritually and even physically.

So, as you can see the last two plus years have seen quite a shift in my outlook towards my personal finances. I’ve gone from never saving a penny, to saving (AND INVESTING) as much as I’m able. Both my wife and I have set up retirement plans through our employers, we both now have Roth IRAs, as well as a high yield savings account AND taxable brokerage accounts.

We still have a long ways to go, but we are seeing real progress…and it all started with an initial $5 investment.

If you’re interested in getting started yourself, follow this link and get $5 to begin investing today. 

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