A Novice's Journey into Retirement Accounts

Date: Mid-November 2015, 2:30 AM

With a thud! The car shook violently, and the steering wheel moved erratically. I gripped it tightly and pressed the brakes continuously, but the car started spinning round and round.

Suddenly, facing a huge wall looming in front of me, I thought of my child sleeping at home. "Sorry, Hann" I let go of the steering wheel and braced myself.

As soon as I closed my eyes, boom! The airbag deployed.

For a moment, I seemed to lose consciousness due to the thunderous sound.

"Huh? I'm not dead?"

Opening my eyes, I realized I was shaking heavily but otherwise fine, except for the smoke billowing from the twisted hood.

Hastily opening the door and stepping out, I saw the car behind me with its hazard lights on, and the driver holding a phone, running towards me.

"It was a deer! Are you okay? just called 911."

I tried to thank him, but my voice didn't come out properly.

The driver, looking at me mumbling, seemed to be relaying our location, maybe to the police or emergency services.

In the pitch-dark street, devoid of streetlights at 2 AM, the police and ambulance arrived with flashing lights and blaring sirens. They asked me various questions, but I can't recall what I answered.

The police dropped me off at a nearby donut shop, and a colleague, who agreed to work with me that day, came to pick me up.

After finishing the scheduled work at the company and returning home in the early hours of the morning,

I spent a long time stroking my sleeping child's head, feeling relieved and grateful that I could continue to see my child grow.

I wasn't particularly attached to life, but on that day, the sense of relief and gratitude for being alive was overshadowed by the comfort of being able to continue seeing my child grow.

From that incident onward, I split my paycheck to maximize the insurance provided by the company and started calculating how much to contribute to my retirement account.

I began riding a road bike, took out additional life insurance, and until the new company's insurance was confirmed, I didn't resist the urge to ride my favorite bicycle, covering 2-30 miles every day.

All my savings and retirement accounts were started solely for the sake of my child and are still ongoing.

I wasn't aiming for a life of luxury but rather lived a life optimized for poverty from childhood to university to my career.

Planning and dreaming about life after retirement were challenging due to the lack of both funds and breathing room in the bank account.

However, I hoped that the child born into this world because of me wouldn't have to grow up as vulnerable as I did.

I maxed out my retirement accounts and Roth IRA, and apart from the bare minimum for living expenses, I always put my salary into savings accounts.

Listening to Dave Ramsey's podcasts every day, I learned how to take the first step, started setting aside 6 months' worth of living expenses, and began setting goals for 10 or 20 years ahead.

Perhaps if I had known and studied websites like MileMoa at that time, it would have been much easier now, but back then, saving was all I knew.

I was ignorant about money, believed only experts could invest in stocks, and thought dreaming about real estate was futile. I was truly financially blind. It's embarrassing, but what could I do?

However, I hope my child doesn't follow the same path as me, so nowadays, I make an effort to talk about finances whenever there's an opportunity.

Starting to give pocket money to my child, I opened a stock account and bought shares while playing Roblox, discussing how much Robux is worth in money. When buying an Apple Watch, I bought Apple stocks too.

While talking about stocks from time to time, I try to explain that buying low and selling high is difficult but that time is money.

Discussing figures like Jeff Bezos or Elon Musk and asking each other how much Amazon stocks are worth, or discussing the rent if going to university, or how much monthly mortgage payments would be if buying a house.

By frequently discussing financial matters at home, perhaps it might be somewhat helpful in planning the future when my child grows up, but I worry that I might give wrong information on a subject I'm not good at myself.

Waking up in the early hours today, planning to rent out the current small house and buy a second one, I scribbled numbers and suddenly thought, "Ah, I'm dreaming and preparing for the future now," feeling grateful.

Of course, it's still a long way off, but I'm incredibly grateful for my child, who listens to me without ignoring my words. And I'm also very grateful to those who generously share information like MileMoa, which helped me open my eyes at least halfway.

I want to give helpful information about money and life like the other Milemoa gurus, but I'm so lacking in knowledge and skills that it's quite disappointing. I'm not even sure how to finish writing this due to my lack of writing skills.

I just... Thank you. Thank you.