Advice for your younger self

**disneysteve** · 09-06-2023, 05:45 PM

I really don't have any major regrets about the path I've taken. I mean I got to pretty much retire at 58 so I've got nothing to complain about and no major missteps I wish I could go back and avoid.

If I had to do it over again, I wouldn't have bought into a couple of actively managed mutual funds and would have chosen index funds instead. And I probably would have lived a little more frugally during med school so that I wouldn't borrow quite as much in student loans, but that's the only "big" stuff that comes to mind.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 09-06-2023, 06:24 PM

Don't buy that timeshare i did stupid
Don't buy a new subaru in 2010, buy a used one
Have one more kid asap and don't wait. Start earlier
invest in Roth IRA asap
stop investing in commodities and single stocks

**srblanco7** · 09-07-2023, 02:40 AM

here's a couple goals i've set for my kids -
avoid student loan debt and get a masters degree
save at least $10k in roth ira by the time you graduate from college

then perhaps we'll get to -
never try to time the market
invest when you're young - at least 15% of your income in roth accounts
never borrow money (e.g., car loans) except for a mortgage

**myrdale** · 09-07-2023, 09:07 AM

Buy BitCoin. But, had I done that, I might have slipped on the tiger skin rug in my mansion and broke my neck. I think I've come out OK so far.

In reality, I would have started the Roth IRA in high school. I would have switched my 401k to the Roth option the moment that became available.

**james.hendrickson** · 09-07-2023, 09:30 AM

Advice for my younger self: DON'T GET DIVORCED.

**myrdale** · 09-07-2023, 10:53 AM

Originally posted by james.hendrickson View Post

Advice for my younger self: DON'T GET DIVORCED.

Ouch! My father always said "You want to be broke, marry the wrong woman". Of course, that applies whether or not you get divorced.

You can follow that advice up with "Don't marry the same woman twice". All three times I've observed this in other couples, it was the financial equivalent of a car fire.

**Fishindude77** · 09-07-2023, 11:25 AM

In hindsight, I wish I'd done a stint in the military for the experience.
A little more discipline, structure, PE, etc. is good for anyone.

**riverwed070707** · 09-07-2023, 01:07 PM

Buy apple stock? For giggles I looked it up - It was 32 cents a share the month I graduated.

I don't really feel like I have regrets. I needed to make some mistakes to learn the lessons - I wouldn't have believed anyone if the advice was given. Sure I could have spent more time investing instead of paying off debt in my early 20s - but I'm 37 now and getting by with a part time job and my rentals with plans to leave the corporate world in 4 years. So that doesn't suck. Was my divorce a financial hit? Yup but I wouldn't change the path because then I wouldn't have DD and I wasn't interested in leaving her dad in a position where he couldn't get by without me. I recovered.

I guess the best advice I could have given my younger self is really more spending related than saving and investing. Take the trip. Be spontaneous. Don't spend so much time planning the future you forget to enjoy the present. Make time for friends and family, it doesn't always have to be about the hustle.... I'm still reminding myself of these things as I approach 40

**myrdale** · 09-07-2023, 01:13 PM

Originally posted by riverwed070707 View Post

Buy apple stock? For giggles I looked it up - It was 32 cents a share the month I graduated.

Back around 1985 or 1986, a guy showed up and tried to sell my parents stock for some store over in Arkansas, I think it was called Walmart. They told him to get lost.

**ua_guy** · 09-07-2023, 02:29 PM

Not many regrets or pieces of advice right now, but would have steered a few things differently.

Wished I had gone to med school and pursued that. I think it would have been a more satisfying career choice. Had the grades and the desire to do so, but had a lot going on in my early 20's that made me want to get out of school. So, I finished an easy degree and got out on my own.

Wish I would have invested in some of the usual stocks, a long time ago, when their share price was nothing. But, back then, who knew?. The risk was real, and it still is.

Never had kids...still don't regret it.

Most of my pieces of advice for myself aren't monetary, a lot of it is about going easier on myself.

**LivingAlmostLarge** · 09-07-2023, 03:14 PM

I would tell my kids live life a little more. i am definitely telling my older one that

Advice for your younger self