I got a very late start. After a 26 year career in the military, where I lived pay check to paycheck, I still managed to build $50,000 in student loans and credit card debt. Fifteen years ago I eventually found Dave Ramsey, and a job that paid enough to get me out of debt, and fully fund a 401K, and two ROTH IRAs, plus a joint brokerage account.

If I had it to do over again, I would follow Dave's financial philosophy from the very beginning and never borrow money to buy anything except a house (which appreciates in value.)

Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps

"All that the South has ever desired was that the Union, as established by our forefathers, should be preserved, and that the government, as originally organized, should be administered in purity and truth." – Robert E. Lee