lifeskills 411

Join Lifeskills411 on February 16 for the Fundraising Dinner

Learn more about our founder, Michael E. Parker and his new book: Who Said So?

I learned a very important lesson about investing and about saving money:

I was married at 25 for about 9 years. My husband was not a saver nor very good at handling our finances. I did manage to secretly save and invest 4-10k in various mutual funds at various time during our marriage but by the time we were divorced I was just about penniless.

Starting over at 35 was a challenge but once I started healing emotionally I knew I needed to invest because I now had just one income – mine. I decided to again invest in mutual funds because I felt safe there and when I got up the nerve real estate because as a loan officer for years and saw many of my clients achieve financial freedom with rental property.

My first home as a divorced woman was a foreclosure in Stockton California I bought for about 215k which I later sold for $275,000. After that I purchased 2 more homes which both doubled earning me over $600,000 in equity. The wealth I made came in very handy when I was laid off from my job and needed to find a way to survive.

With out this equity I would have been in financial ruin because the real estate market I had worked in for over 20 years crumbled before my eyes and I no longer could work in that field.

With no other skills getting a new job with a paycheck was a challenge and I was faced with living over 14 months with no income and I had plenty to live on- thank God!

I share this story to show the public that many women will face divorces, job challenges or just unforeseen circumstances and if you don’t have any savings or investment vehicles you can be in dire straits.

I support Lifeskills 411 because they teach our youth the necessary things they need to know in life such as financial literacy, budgeting, positive relationships and so forth. I wish I would have had lifeskills 411 growing up I probably would never have made all the mistakes I did.

I urge you to attend our upcoming gala on December 8th from 6pm- 8pm at the Emeryville Hilton so you can learn how you can help our youth… It Takes YOU!
Please care, be counted and be there on Saturday December 8th from 6pm - 8 pm.
I believe women need to learn about finances and investing earlier in life and it starts at home but when home fail, school or program such as lifeskills 411 can give youth the information to lead better adult lives.