AOM 4 Blog

I've talked to my parents about our finances before, but for the purposes of this blog, specifics really don't matter. What truly matters is exactly what these specifics will entail for the future. We're in a pretty secure spot right now; college finances aren't really an issue, and we do not run nor invest in businesses that could potentially be negatively impacted by the global pandemic that we all know is occurring at this very moment. However, this wasn't always the case.

The reason my father moved to the city of Houston from Berkeley, California (my birthplace) in the first place was for businesses opportunities with his sister, who was already here. This ended basically an entire lifetime of living in the Golden State for him, which was pretty significant. Things were going well with he and his sister's real estate ventures when the late-2000s Great Recession hit. Unbeknownst to me at the time, this caused a great deal of stress and panic for my parents and their finances. In fact, things got so severe that they didn't know if we as a family could continue living in the same house, with the same amenities, etc. 

Fast-forward to today, and, like I said, we're in a secure enough financial situation. We're no longer as extensively involved with real estate (although we are a little bit, particularly with a house that is being finished in my neighborhood), and my dad pretty much exclusively, and literally exclusively now with the pandemic, works from home as a technology consultant for various businesses. Things are good, but our experience with the Great Recession really illustrates how quickly variables can be shifted and times can change, even when you think you're on top of the world. Well, news flash: so do a lot of other people, and we shouldn't take any of our financial gains or losses for granted.

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