My name is Peter Romano, and this is my financial journey.
There are many things I can reflect on when it comes to the things my parents did well while raising us. Yet, what sticks out the most was their never-ending commitment to making sure we understood the value of money.
From a young age, every time I asked my mother for something, whether it was a pack of baseball cards, the coolest new album ( Fugees ‘The Score’ for this 80s kid), or a snowboard, she would ask: “do you know how much that costs?”
Trying to show how responsible I was, I’d immediately respond by saying, “Yes! The price is X dollars.” What I realize now is that my mom wasn’t asking because she wanted actually to know the price. She was asking so I could understand the real price of baseball card, snowboard, or CD.
“No. The price tag says $10, but I must make $14 before taxes to pay for that. Your Fugees album costs me two hours of work. Fast forward through high school, college, and multiple different jobs, I now see how impactful that guidance was on me. I calculate the total cost of everything I buy and relate it back to the number of hours I must work to afford it.
As you can imagine, this can be a little overbearing for my wife when it comes to shopping. I act like a human calculator, but she has taught me you can’t put a price tag on love ?
Yet, as life has shown us, being fiscally responsible can only protect us so much. There are things in life that happen that we frankly cannot control. Family members get sick, and people get laid off, families separate, children are born – the list goes on.
These unexpected expenses cannot always be covered by a single stream of income from one job, no matter how much that job pays. Sometimes, it means a family must take money from their savings. They may find themselves with nothing left but their weekly incomes. This is one of my greatest fears for my own family, and why I helped launch HappyNest.
By using HappyNest, I’ve learned that investing doesn’t have to be large chunks of money; it can be a steady stream that is as little as $10. In the end, life is really a marathon, not a sprint. By dedicating more of my income to investing in real estate, I am diversifying my income stream. I am preparing myself and my family for a financially stable life – something I hope HappyNest can help you do as well.
My name is Peter Romano, and that is my financial journey.
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