Note: This article is from J.D. Roth, who founded Get Rich Slowly in 2006.When my father died in 1995, he left behind a small life insurance policy that awarded each family member $5,000. It wasn't much, but it was the best he could do based on the fact that he had cancer. He hadn't been much of a planner, and hadn't been good with money, so that $5,000 per person was actually a significant amount.
At the time, I was deep in debt. I had over $20,000 in credit card balances, and was gradually adding more all of the time. If I'd been smart, I would have taken the proceeds from my father's life insurance and used them to immediately repay $5,000 in debt. But I wasn't smart.
I used $1,000 to pay off debt (and patted myself on the back for it), but spent the rest ......
