I'm 32 years old. I've been married for 10 years. I never attended college and my parents don't own a business for me to take over. I have 2 children (12 and 8). I had a 401k but I had to cash it out to pay off our credit cards when the credit card were too high. My wife and I make a combined income of $82k but we pay $20k of that to childcare and $12k of that for our mortgage (which practically eliminates my salary). We have no money in the savings, no money in bonds or in mutual/hedge funds, no money in the stock market, and we don't own any land (yet - mortgage is still being paid down). My children do not have college money set aside and we are unable to pay for a higher quality education (private school).
Since I've never attended college, and I've never attended a trade school, is my life "over" before it even started? At this point I'm not going to be as "rich" as I could have not starting a family and not owning a house so young, but what can I do with this life (assuming I keep my health)?
Added (1). Oh, and my wife owes $23k for getting her associate's degree and my son needed braces so we owe $3k for that. We also have $4k in credit card debt but that is 0% interest for a while.
Basically, my wife and I lived our whole life in just 10 years. And now we're trying to pay it all off.
Added (2). Skills? I am good at math, good with computers (currently an IT professional), I used to be a manager of a retailer, and I am good with kids (not people though, just kids).
I really don't have a passion. As most boys growing up in the 90's, my passion was movies and video games. Not a whole lot of money in that field…
Added (3). Is a 30 year fixed mortgage at 4.235% a good mortgage rate?
Read more: What is my best strategy for turning this life around (see details inside)?
