items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest pay

It actually began when I was in my early twenties, so it wasn’t exactly overnight. I had just graduated with a marketing degree from college and joined a local New Jersey ad agency as their art director. I learned the secrets to being a good designer and production person and carried that with me when I moved out west a few years later. There, I opened my own advertising agency and sold it five years hence.

I hired on with a Bell System division as a marketing consultant and began stashing money into a 401K and pension fund. During that same period, I bought and sold five homes, each one a bit more profitable than the last. All the while, I concentrated on living the good life, putting some extra money in savings and paying cash for anything I could afford. Let me repeat that: I only bought what I could afford. That meant no luxury items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest paym

d the secrets to being a good designer and production person and carried that with me when I moved out west a few years later. There, I opened my own advertising agency and sold it five years hence.

I hired on with a Bell System division as a marketing consultant and began stashing money into a 401K and pension fund. During that same period, I bought and sold five homes, each one a bit more profitable than the last. All the while, I concentrated on living the good life, putting some extra money in savings and paying cash for anything I could afford. Let me repeat that: I only bought what I could afford. That meant no luxury items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest pay

on with a Bell System division as a marketing consultant and began stashing money into a 401K and pension fund. During that same period, I bought and sold five homes, each one a bit more profitable than the last. All the while, I concentrated on living the good life, putting some extra money in savings and paying cash for anything I could afford. Let me repeat that: I only bought what I could afford. That meant no luxury items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest pay

All the while, I concentrated on living the good life, putting some extra money in savings and paying cash for anything I could afford. Let me repeat that: I only bought what I could afford. That meant no luxury items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest pay

items unless the money was available, including cars.

So I was one of the small percentage that never had a car payment. Instead, I learned to do without and stayed away from temptation. I hated interest payments and only held a mortgage as my lone debt. Sure, I always had credit cards, but they were paid off every month. That was over a period of 25 years. During that time, I raised a daughter, owned a second home in the mountains and an executive, five bedroom, four bath home in a gated community. Did I mention I also lived the yuppie dream and had his and her Mercedes?

But that’s all ancient history. After I retired, I bought a small home for cash and now drive a Honda Civic. I still travel the world and enjoy eating out on occasion. So what do I have to show for nearly 35 years of hard work and planning? Today, I’m worth….hmm, but that would be telling, wouldn’t it? Suffice it to say that I’m very comfortable and it’s all due to planning in my late twenties and early thirties. I’ve invested and been quite conservative in my approach.