We all have some major events in life that led to us getting where we are — professionally and personally. All kinds of events led me to become a journalist. But three events stand out to me that brought me to where I am today as a freelance writer specializing in personal finances, and fueled an interest in investing.

I could write a book on my financial path in life, but I can narrow my path to becoming an investor to three events. Without such a keen interest in investing, I think, I wouldn’t have become a personal finance writer.

Here are the three main life events that led me to want to learn more about investing and to eventually write about it and related topics:

A stock picking exercise

I was in a rowdy history class during my senior year of high school. The teacher sent three or so “well behaved” students to the school library every week to chart stock performances from our local newspaper.

I did this with an eye on if news events about a company affected its stock price. If a company had bad press one day, did its stock price fall that week? Often it did, and it gave me a lifelong interest in how stocks perform after good or bad news is reported about them.

With some luck and knowledge about a company’s product that I used as a teenager, along with some good news in the paper about an upcoming product line, I invested in a company called Coleco and doubled my money.

That hour at the library every week to chart stocks helped spur my interest in how news affects stock prices. It’s probably the best lesson I learned — and remember — from that history class.

Joining an investment club

Early in my second job as a copy editor at a newspaper, I met some co-workers who had formed an investment club and needed another member. I jumped at the chance to join and learned many lessons about investing, starting with the importance of researching a company thoroughly before investing in it.

It was a fun group and we made some smart investments, buying stock in companies that we all researched and pooled our money to invest in.

Becoming unemployed

I wouldn’t say that losing my job during the Great Recession eight years ago was one of the best things that ever happened to me, but having my job eliminated because of cutbacks in the newspaper industry taught me the importance of specialization as a worker.

I’ve learned many skills as a journalist. One is to focus on what you enjoy doing and to turn that into a skill.

As soon as I lost my job, I started looking for full-time work while my wife went back to work full-time. I couldn’t find a full-time job, so out of necessity I became a part-time freelance writer while caring for our daughter, who was about to turn 4 at the time.

It led me to start a blog called Tales of an Unemployed Dad, which led to an editor at AOL seeing my work and hiring me as a writer for a finance blog owned by AOL.

From there I’ve written for many websites while specializing in a niche I enjoy covering: personal finance.

I’ve learned investment lessons along the way, and I think I’ve become a better investor by trying to become an expert in every personal finance topic I cover.

And when I’m not expert enough, I’m always thrilled to interview interesting experts who can explain investing principles to me so I can make them understandable to readers. It’s the best part of my job and gives me something to look forward  to each day when I get back to a job I love.

3 Life Events That Started Me on Road to Investing is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.

I’m going to a baseball game with my family and some friends on Father’s Day, so my 10-year-old daughter is essentially off the hook for getting me a gift since I’ll be happy enough if she can sit through a game. She’s not a fan.

And while I’m not shelling out $50 to the Oakland A’s so I can play catch with her on the field after the game — a Father’s Day ripoff I’ve already written about — there’s some financial advice I want to give her on this day in June to remind her how important she is to me and some of my hopes for her.

College fund

My wife and I set up a college education fund within a month of her birth that we contribute to monthly.

When she does go to college, I hope she uses the money well, works summers to supplement it, and doesn’t have to take out student loans or work much while in college. Years of debt shouldn’t be the price of an education. Hopefully, we’ve helped make her financial life during and after college a bit easier.

A savings account

She also has a savings account where most of the money she receives for birthdays, Christmas and other events is kept. I hope she becomes a saver and always has an emergency fund and travel fund moving in the right directions.

A well-paying, fun job

I don’t know what career path she’ll eventually choose, but I hope it’s one she chooses because she’s great at it and enjoys it. I didn’t choose journalism for the high pay, but it’s a job I fully enjoy.

A college education is likely to help her more than anything to get there. And a job in the public sector may be even better, according to a study by the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College.

It found that public sector workers have lower mortality rates than private sector workers, particularly for women. Why? Because the public sector employs more educated workers, and more educated people have lower mortality. A job as a public librarian may not pay so well, but you’ll live longer, especially if you’re a woman.

Money wisdom

This may never come to any of us, but I at least want my daughter to have the chance to learn how to best use her money and how to make it work for her.  From investing to everyday purchases and planning for retirement to everything in between, I hope she tries to learn about each area for her money before she starts using it.

For me, it came in part from researching stocks for a class project in high school, joining an investment club at work, joining my first 401(k) plan at my second job out of college, having a paper route, and working part-time the last two years of college. While I’ve made plenty of money mistakes, I think the groundwork I did, and continue to do, helps me avoid some.

Happy Father’s Day

There are plenty more things I want to give her that go beyond financial advice on Father’s Day, starting with the importance of being there for people you love. Not just by going to work every day and paying the bills, but in other ways that go beyond finances. That’s a story for another day.

Happy Father’s Day, everyone.

What I Want to Give My Daughter for Father’s Day is a post from: When Life Gives You Lemons. Did you like the post? Follow me on Twitter, like me on Facebook, or hop on over to my blog and leave me your feedback.