Hello and Welcome everyone!
My name is Ed Bergstrom and I am incredibly excited about my own personal finance blog. I have been thinking about it for quite some time now and I finally feel like I have the time, focus and know-how to do so.
I have an MBA in Finance from Loyola University in Chicago with two undergraduate degrees in Electrical & Mechanical Engineering from SIU-Carbondale. At one time, I was an independent financial advisor for an MLM company. You would think that a guy like me would be good at numbers and did a great job planning for my golden years of retirement. WRONG!
I put three boys through college and was fortunate enough to have a stay at home wife/mother to them. We turned 60 years old and I was still sending $3,000 a month to pay off my three boys’ student loans. I filed bankruptcy in 2001 and haven’t had a new car since 2004.
I’ve spent almost 40 years working in corporate America wondering when I was going to get right-sized, down-sized, merged, or fired again. There is no love for corporate America and that’s a fact. I have hired countless people and fired more than my fair share as well.
I actually receive a pension from one company after working there 16 years. That pension is a tad more than $1200 a month. Like my dad always used to say, “Better than a sharp stick in the eye!”
Accumulating a truckload of money by retirement was impossible. Life just seemed to get in the way. That’s when I started writing my own blogs. Today, I have zero credit card debt and haven’t paid interest on a credit card since 2011.
I want to share my blog because I have read a multitude of articles/blogs and have had countless conversations with different people on finance, savings, investments etc. and feel that there is an opportunity for a better financial community between people who all share the common issues of personal debt, savings, affordable travel, etc. I have decided to take it upon myself to learn more and share more on my personal financial situation and what I hope to accomplish in the years to come.
From here on out I will be sharing my financial finds, investment tips, and savings info, if at all related.
Let’s get this show on the road!
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