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I’ve been where you are. I worked really hard and finally had discretionary money—and I rewarded myself with all the things I’d ever wanted. Thanks to a brilliant move by my mom and a great financial advisor, I began saving and investing, charted a course to financial security and developed a passion for sharing what I learned.

I am Sheila Jacobs

After my parent’s divorce, finances were a challenge. My mother worked and went to school full time. We were fortunate, she was able to purchase a modest home but things were very tight. I started working at age 14, and started spending a day later. I gave my brother an allowance, bought a car that barely ran and made a series of other really horrific decisions. Then my mom started charging me rent. I was livid…I was a teenager living at home paying rent to my mom. A few months passed and one day my mother showed me a bank statement with $1000.00. She’d been saving my money and I felt rich–probably should apologize for being a brat (and a number of other things). It hasn’t always been easy and I’ve had my share of setbacks but I started saving right then and I’ve never stopped. 

A few years ago my best friend, Sharon and I were chatting and she said, "Sheila, do you remember when we got our driver's licenses and we'd ride through the the fancy neighborhoods looking at all the fancy houses? We wondered who those people were. Now you're those people."

The struggle has definitely been real but as usual, Sharon was right. I’m one of those people and I want you to be one of those people too!