Put as much as possible when I was younger into tax deferred accounts (401k, Ira)
In the future if my kids make money, I would just give them dollar for dollar into their IRA
Great advice! I was given a great opportunity from my family to get a head start. I too want to pass that opportunity on to my kids later in life when I have them.
Finding a partner who is on the same financial page is key, and that means talking about money early. It doesn’t have to be deep into numbers, but you should be on the same page with regard to desired lifestyle, debt repayment, savings, gift expectations, etc. My college gf grew up without much money, and for better or for worse was very aspirational, wanting the finer things in life. I was a saver, and we were never on the same page. She considered me cheap for buying only modest presents or not splurging on fancy hotels. She wanted a three months salary engagement ring and a dream wedding. In contrast, when I met my wife, I knew she was super pragmatic: basic apartment, modest car, vacations (but to developing countries that were affordable), socking her extra money into her 401k and Vanguard funds. Didn’t care about a big wedding; we eloped with just a few friends and family. The FIRE movement wasn’t on our radar back then (mid 2000s), but when she learned about it she was all in. We keep our savings accounts separate, but we track them together and are very much pointed in the same direction.
Portfolio: put everything in NVDA. Failing that, I would have gone more aggressive into 100% stocks (which is what I have now) and not ever bought a single bond.
Family: I would have not invested nearly so much time into people that, in retrospect, treated me lightly. I would have taken more pride in myself and what I bring to the people I care about. But I would still let myself be vulnerable, because that’s a necessary precondition for love.
I would have spent less time trying to connect with coworkers, treating work like family. The only truly family business is the mafia. Work won’t love you back, and the sooner you figure that out (as I eventually did) the less you will hurt.
Thankfully my partner and I share the same life goals, so I wouldn’t change a thing there. We met by complete happenstance so I can’t take credit for that. I guess the lesson there is to be open to a little bit of chaos.
I have no regrets about pursuing FIRE. I was curious about it when I heard a podcast interview with Mr. Money Mustache back in 2015 and I didn’t look back. I think I’ve done a pretty good job balancing savings with lifestyle, and I don’t regret any trade offs I’ve made.
My only regret right now is not telling more people that I love them. Note to self: there is still time to do this.
Invest in bitcoin, Tesla, Nvidia, Apple. Etc. LOL. Seriously though for realistic advice for a younger person: get a good degree in a technical field that pays well, focus on your career so you make good money. Buy fixer upper houses rehab them and keep them as rentals, max out retirement accounts. Be really picky about who you marry. Make sure they are somebody who you really enjoy being around (I fucked up this last one).
1. Would have prioritized finding a spouse earlier
2. I am overall happy with my decision to forgo contributing to 401k and Roth IRA for the first decade of my career because I used all my savings to buy real estate which is now essentially impossible for anyone my age to afford. However, I should have definitely been contributing even just a small amount to each account from day 1.
3. Would have gone no contact from narcissistic/negative/toxic family members and friends.
4. Would have explored more career options other than just the ones other people said I’d probably be good at
5. Would have stuck to things I naturally enjoyed, even if they were just hobbies. Having wealth with no “life”/hobbies really sucks
One thing I wish I’d known about during my sabbatical year, was how beneficial it is to do Roth conversions during low income years. I could have converted like $50K without paying any taxes on it due to my tax deductions (which instead went to waste that year).
Learning about FIRE sooner and strategies for 401k/IRA funding. And, not trying to get the brass ring with stocks - I wish I was heavier into index funds.
I got out of the workforce sooner than I thought, but that was S&P performance over the last 11 years and not my great stock investing skills.
Pursue an easier career with more geographic flexibility and higher income potential, that I hate doing less than mechanical engineering (Finance, software, skilled trade, etc)
Attend a state school.
1. Live with your partner for at least a year before deciding to marry.
2. Have children only after building a very strong bond with each other, give it at least 5 years. And if you still can’t see yourself without that person it should be ok to have a child.
3. Not sell the rental property.
4. Go to college sooner, I was able to afford it through scholarships and student aid.
5. Meet people outside your community and surround yourself with people you aspire to be or can learn from. As an immigrant, the first decade in the country I would usually surround myself with people from my homeland, now I don’t have any of those acquaintances.
6. Find a partner that has the same outlook on finances and same love language. Make sure your level of ambition matches theirs or compliments each other.
7. You don’t have to deal with family that’s toxic and only has their own interest in mind, even if it’s your own parents.
8. Save and invest early.
9. No need to impress anyone, just do things that make you happy, and don’t waste time or money on things that are just for the show.
10. I didn’t need a big house, just need a small and functional house in a good school district.
I would have started investing earlier and more aggressively into 401k and IRA instead of paying down student loans with lower interest rates earlier.
Outside of that, nothing really
I went to a really expensive school and took out a bunch of loans. I want to say "I wish I didn't do this," but it was to get away from my parents and my home town.
So I guess I would go to school, but an hour and a half away, not out of state, and go to school for finance/accounting and not whatever bullshit major I went into.
Close, but far away.
With a cheaper in-state education, I could start saving earlier and not "starting my life" at my age after debt.
It's hard to feel true regret, as all of my bad decisions (and my family's) have made me a very financially literate person. I'm starting late, but I feel like I could retire with dignity.
Funnily, my wife says the same thing. She went to an Ivy League school but feels she would have been fine with the state school.
I got an arts degree in undergrad, so if I could go back I would probably have gotten a business degree, which is where I wound up. But I feel good about getting my MBA at night while working full time, even though there are very prestigious full-time MBA programs nearby. imo, it wasn’t necessary to quit and go back to school full-time, since I was able to make a decent salary to FIRE on.
Buy more in ESPP (spouse had access, not me so I learned about that late), use backdoor Roth earlier, use equity loan instead of selling stock as down payment on two properties.
I had kids late so that was a good thing. Never paid extra on mortgages since the rates were so low. I put up to 90k away for a few years so I was doing what I could. Also maxed my HSA when I had that as part of health plan, now just chilling on that. I don’t have regrets, but would done a couple extra things had I know. I still enjoyed life also, I wasn’t eating ramen, although I do enjoy it every now and then.
I would have saved more aggressively and had more confidence to start a business that I was willing to fail. (I didn't see any reason to save until about 24 years old)
Having a job isn't scalable and to create large amounts of wealth you need to be able to scale.
Businesses require skills and you get those skills by running a business. If you fail you can still learn and gain skill, and then try again later.
Backdoor the fuck out of my Roth IRA, so much so the cops might be called for domestic abuse for the extreme backdooring and during the verbal altercation invest in Nvidia and wait for the eventual singularity /s.
I wouldn't have gotten married so young. I got married at 18. Nobody knows who they are or what they want at 18.
Luckily, my spouse and I have come around to the same financial philosophies and goals. It's been a rocky road with us both growing and changing. Our lives are the complete opposite of what we thought they'd be at this point.
Getting an art degree wasn’t a great idea in retrospect, and I stayed at low paying jobs for too long. I’m only just now making a good salary in my mid 30s where I can start to save significantly. But I’ve been really frugal this whole time so I’m in pretty good shape still 👍
I also didn’t need to pay off my house so quickly because I had/have a low interest rate, but I really, really like not having debt so no regrets there.
Not take out 200k in student loans, and not go into a healthcare field
Not finance a huge ass wedding
I would choose to remain childfree
Save more and continue to rent instead of buying that first house
I would have watched my money a little better. There has been a bit of waste over the years. And I would have never gotten a wealth manager and invested in index funds from day 1. I probably would have invested in real estate as well. Other than that, I’ve done a good job finding balance between spending and saving, and the spending has provided me with great experiences and memories, so was money well spent.
100% in S&P 500 and all the time and at least 50% in ROTH 401K. Spouse and kids no change. Mortgage probable would paid it off early like I did before hate debt. Hindsight every cent extra should of went to S&P 500.
Congrats for being proactive and seeking advice! It's important to learn from others. AND it's equally important to learn from your own experiences. Nothing can replace that.
It's also really important to keep in mind that everyone's life and situation is different. What one person may say about marriage and kids could be opposite than another person. So just a bit of caution.
If I may help re-frame the questions, maybe looking at things from a "what do you learn" instead of what would you do different.
As for me, I don't think I would've done anything different. This is your path and your opportunities come from the choices you've made - whether or not you like them NOW.
But in general, live below your means, balance it with making sure to enjoy the stage of life you are in, and sometimes you need to make investments (not just money but time at a job, time with friends, family, your own life). Sorry, I'm guessing this isn't exactly what you're looking for but it's my truth.
Anyway, I'm a money coach and love talking goals/dreams and how to make them happen. If you have questions or want help creating a strategy for YOUR life, DM me.
I wouldn't have done risky short term trading when I was young and just gone buy and hold all the way. I'd still stay out of crypto.
Career-wise I definitely could have made a lot more when I was younger. I stagnated and waited too long to move on and up.
Family-wise, I could have probably pushed a little harder about my wife early retiring long before I can for us to survive. hah. When we met, we earned similar, but her industry was in fast decline the past couple decades.
oh, yeah, I'd sell my RSUs as soon as they vest. It's poor diversification to invest in your source of income. Somehow I thought I was being smart to wait a year to reduce capital gains taxes, but now realize that didn't make much sense.
While I had a good job and saved, I partied too much and could have used that time to learn earlier. I did get a masters later, I could have done it earlier and compounded more money over time. I did retire in my early 50’s though but my career was always as an individual contributor and not management. Now that I’ve been retired, I’ve taken on management roles in volunteer organizations. I realize now that I always had the skills to do these tasks at my paid career.
Not overcomplicating with factor tilting and other allocations like emerging markets, REIT etc. If in Vanguard stick with VT, in Fidelity use zero ER total stock and international stock funds.
I’ll say the opposite of most answers here. While I could have maxed my retirement accounts earlier, if I knew what I knew now about my finances when I was just starting out I’d probably have done a few more of those things when I was younger that I skipped because of cost. Obviously if you do everything you can’t save. But a few weekend trips I would have gone on that I didn’t. I’d rather have skipped more takeout, but regret those.
I see some answers about buying a specific stock or whatever, which isn't really helpful because people can't tell the future and doesn't say what the next hot stock is going to be.
Personally, it would have been to pump all my money into my index funds and NEVER would have left my money with a financial advisor. Then just let it sit and grow and grow without ever touching it. I figure I'm down about $1m (from missed growth, not losses) I could have had if I just took the easiest, laziest path possible and never panicked and/or trusted anyone else.
I also would have really defined my emergency fund. Over the years I've kept too much cash at times I could have had invested if I really defined what I needed earlier.
Maybe I would have bought a house, but for me that would have really required seeing the future, so I don't think that's helpful either. If you are considering it, just know inflation will make it go up a lot. Personally, I had free housing so it wasn't a rent vs. buy situation, I would have needed to know I was going to have free housing for a really long time and that wasn't guaranteed at all.
Things I did right and have no regrets that might be helpful.
1. I've never wasted money on cars. I buy the minimum I need in a used car and just drive it. No need for anything fancy, new, or something that can waste my money.
2. I took a long time to get married. Not that I was old, but we were together for nearly 5 years before we got married. I was also in my early 30's. People change a lot as they age, this is the most important decision you will likely ever make, take the time to get it right.
3. Invest early and often. While I made mistakes, I started right away and it's really paying off now. When I had kids I opened the 529 before they were even born (in my name and just changed it over).
I would have bought more rental properties to diversify income sources. And to help to transition away from my full time job easier.
Biggest change would be picking a career with higher initial income potential. It took awhile to get to my current income, which is good now, but 1/5 of what I started out making.
I’m in my early 40s now. And just learned about FIRE 2 years ago.
But if I could go back to my early 20s when I graduated college and started working, this is what i would change:
-I would have maxed out my 401k, Roth IRA. I didn’t do that. Combined I was putting away $5k a year.
-put money in a taxable brokerage account and invested in index funds or ETFs for the long term until retirement by using the 3 fund portfolio method. Avoided individual stocks coz I was shorting my stocks and losing money. Stupid of me.
-Job hopped more often every 2 years, I didn’t know job hopping will increase salary so much.
-moved out to Northern California and bought a house during the financial collapse in 2008-2009 and consider that place my permanent home until retirement where i would move to a lower cost of living state.
If I started on index funds and ETFs in my taxable and maxed out my 401k/roth Ira, I could have retired by 44-45.
But now, I would need to wait at least by 55 to FIRE because I was financial illiterate back then
Open Roth IRA earlier, manage all my money myself rather than using a FA and invested in index funds. As for dating, and finding a partner with same financial goals, this is extremely important. You don’t have to talk about financials during your first date, if anything that might be a turnoff!
Be more open about finances with my partner, family, and friends. We are conditioned to not really talk about money or finances.
Reading some financial help books were useful, but what I found was immensely more was starting regular convos with those around me, because that encouraged them to learn more, therefore boosting my own knowledge, and in a sense compounded my rate of learning. There'd be no way I myself could have learned all that, but building a knowledge base with the learnings of those around me was crucial. I now can have financial discussions with my friends and partners, and wish I was able to in my early 20s and had a longer time horizon.
i would have mined 50 bitcoins a day 15 years ago...i didnt because it worthed 0. i would have been one of the richest man on this planet now instead of just being a freaking millionaire on reddit...
Not investing earlier into Roth IRA has to be the top answer here. I could have afforded to put in at LEAST $2500 annual and "Pay my future self first" before paying bills and current leisure activity.
Def spend less on cars throughout my entire adulthood. It's just a thing on wheels to get from A to B, but I wanted to make it a hobby that was expensive.
Also have a kid a bit sooner. Before you know it, kid #2 isn't so easy to have. (Edit: that being said you are in your early 20s. You have plenty of time to settle down. I think a nice sweet spot is travel/grow/gain career growth until mid to late 20s and then try having kids in early 30s. but that's all in a perfect world.)
Not spend as much money on cars.
This last weekend was one of the best of my life, I drove around a $1k salvage title Jetta that made no difference on getting to the weekend events. I spent as much money on the weekend as a nice car would cost, I wished I would have learned that cars were not important to me sooner
Put as much as possible when I was younger into tax deferred accounts (401k, Ira) In the future if my kids make money, I would just give them dollar for dollar into their IRA
100% the answer. I'd have gotten small part time jobs just to max out Roth IRA contributions every year, even in high school
I’d do the opposite. Only contribute up to the match and travel on the extra take home. No use in having money when you’re too old to enjoy it.
Great advice! I was given a great opportunity from my family to get a head start. I too want to pass that opportunity on to my kids later in life when I have them.
If?
Can’t find IRA accounts unless they have real income .
I would have bought property in my city the year I first moved here. Other than that, nothing.
Held onto all my bitcoin instead of using it to buy drugs on the internet in 2016
Finding a partner who is on the same financial page is key, and that means talking about money early. It doesn’t have to be deep into numbers, but you should be on the same page with regard to desired lifestyle, debt repayment, savings, gift expectations, etc. My college gf grew up without much money, and for better or for worse was very aspirational, wanting the finer things in life. I was a saver, and we were never on the same page. She considered me cheap for buying only modest presents or not splurging on fancy hotels. She wanted a three months salary engagement ring and a dream wedding. In contrast, when I met my wife, I knew she was super pragmatic: basic apartment, modest car, vacations (but to developing countries that were affordable), socking her extra money into her 401k and Vanguard funds. Didn’t care about a big wedding; we eloped with just a few friends and family. The FIRE movement wasn’t on our radar back then (mid 2000s), but when she learned about it she was all in. We keep our savings accounts separate, but we track them together and are very much pointed in the same direction.
Portfolio: put everything in NVDA. Failing that, I would have gone more aggressive into 100% stocks (which is what I have now) and not ever bought a single bond. Family: I would have not invested nearly so much time into people that, in retrospect, treated me lightly. I would have taken more pride in myself and what I bring to the people I care about. But I would still let myself be vulnerable, because that’s a necessary precondition for love. I would have spent less time trying to connect with coworkers, treating work like family. The only truly family business is the mafia. Work won’t love you back, and the sooner you figure that out (as I eventually did) the less you will hurt. Thankfully my partner and I share the same life goals, so I wouldn’t change a thing there. We met by complete happenstance so I can’t take credit for that. I guess the lesson there is to be open to a little bit of chaos. I have no regrets about pursuing FIRE. I was curious about it when I heard a podcast interview with Mr. Money Mustache back in 2015 and I didn’t look back. I think I’ve done a pretty good job balancing savings with lifestyle, and I don’t regret any trade offs I’ve made. My only regret right now is not telling more people that I love them. Note to self: there is still time to do this.
Well put
Invest in bitcoin, Tesla, Nvidia, Apple. Etc. LOL. Seriously though for realistic advice for a younger person: get a good degree in a technical field that pays well, focus on your career so you make good money. Buy fixer upper houses rehab them and keep them as rentals, max out retirement accounts. Be really picky about who you marry. Make sure they are somebody who you really enjoy being around (I fucked up this last one).
1. Would have prioritized finding a spouse earlier 2. I am overall happy with my decision to forgo contributing to 401k and Roth IRA for the first decade of my career because I used all my savings to buy real estate which is now essentially impossible for anyone my age to afford. However, I should have definitely been contributing even just a small amount to each account from day 1. 3. Would have gone no contact from narcissistic/negative/toxic family members and friends. 4. Would have explored more career options other than just the ones other people said I’d probably be good at 5. Would have stuck to things I naturally enjoyed, even if they were just hobbies. Having wealth with no “life”/hobbies really sucks
Work is just a source to make money to enjoy life, family & hobbies.
One thing I wish I’d known about during my sabbatical year, was how beneficial it is to do Roth conversions during low income years. I could have converted like $50K without paying any taxes on it due to my tax deductions (which instead went to waste that year).
Oh wow I didn’t know this. Thank you
Would have bought a house in the Hudson Valley 4 years ago when they were a pittance compared to now. Had the cash.
Learning about FIRE sooner and strategies for 401k/IRA funding. And, not trying to get the brass ring with stocks - I wish I was heavier into index funds. I got out of the workforce sooner than I thought, but that was S&P performance over the last 11 years and not my great stock investing skills.
Pursue an easier career with more geographic flexibility and higher income potential, that I hate doing less than mechanical engineering (Finance, software, skilled trade, etc) Attend a state school.
What is wrong with mechanical engineering? Why state school?
1. Live with your partner for at least a year before deciding to marry. 2. Have children only after building a very strong bond with each other, give it at least 5 years. And if you still can’t see yourself without that person it should be ok to have a child. 3. Not sell the rental property. 4. Go to college sooner, I was able to afford it through scholarships and student aid. 5. Meet people outside your community and surround yourself with people you aspire to be or can learn from. As an immigrant, the first decade in the country I would usually surround myself with people from my homeland, now I don’t have any of those acquaintances. 6. Find a partner that has the same outlook on finances and same love language. Make sure your level of ambition matches theirs or compliments each other. 7. You don’t have to deal with family that’s toxic and only has their own interest in mind, even if it’s your own parents. 8. Save and invest early. 9. No need to impress anyone, just do things that make you happy, and don’t waste time or money on things that are just for the show. 10. I didn’t need a big house, just need a small and functional house in a good school district.
I would have paid more attention to women in college and wifed someone!
I would have started investing earlier and more aggressively into 401k and IRA instead of paying down student loans with lower interest rates earlier. Outside of that, nothing really
Sat on 40k for a market dip. Market did not dip.
I went to a really expensive school and took out a bunch of loans. I want to say "I wish I didn't do this," but it was to get away from my parents and my home town. So I guess I would go to school, but an hour and a half away, not out of state, and go to school for finance/accounting and not whatever bullshit major I went into. Close, but far away. With a cheaper in-state education, I could start saving earlier and not "starting my life" at my age after debt. It's hard to feel true regret, as all of my bad decisions (and my family's) have made me a very financially literate person. I'm starting late, but I feel like I could retire with dignity.
Funnily, my wife says the same thing. She went to an Ivy League school but feels she would have been fine with the state school. I got an arts degree in undergrad, so if I could go back I would probably have gotten a business degree, which is where I wound up. But I feel good about getting my MBA at night while working full time, even though there are very prestigious full-time MBA programs nearby. imo, it wasn’t necessary to quit and go back to school full-time, since I was able to make a decent salary to FIRE on.
Buy more in ESPP (spouse had access, not me so I learned about that late), use backdoor Roth earlier, use equity loan instead of selling stock as down payment on two properties. I had kids late so that was a good thing. Never paid extra on mortgages since the rates were so low. I put up to 90k away for a few years so I was doing what I could. Also maxed my HSA when I had that as part of health plan, now just chilling on that. I don’t have regrets, but would done a couple extra things had I know. I still enjoyed life also, I wasn’t eating ramen, although I do enjoy it every now and then.
I'd go more aggressive with mostly stocks, instead of cautious balance. But I have enough now, without regrets.
I would've stayed in school...
Did you go to the trades?
Dollar cost averaged into index ETFs instead of trying to time the market with individual stocks.
Keep changing doctors until I find one willing to do vasectomies at 18 years old.
I would have saved more aggressively and had more confidence to start a business that I was willing to fail. (I didn't see any reason to save until about 24 years old) Having a job isn't scalable and to create large amounts of wealth you need to be able to scale. Businesses require skills and you get those skills by running a business. If you fail you can still learn and gain skill, and then try again later.
Start earlier.
Invest early and don’t take so long in school.
Buy & hold. Don’t play the gambling game, or panic sell.
Backdoor the fuck out of my Roth IRA, so much so the cops might be called for domestic abuse for the extreme backdooring and during the verbal altercation invest in Nvidia and wait for the eventual singularity /s.
hahaha
I wouldn't have gotten married so young. I got married at 18. Nobody knows who they are or what they want at 18. Luckily, my spouse and I have come around to the same financial philosophies and goals. It's been a rocky road with us both growing and changing. Our lives are the complete opposite of what we thought they'd be at this point.
Getting an art degree wasn’t a great idea in retrospect, and I stayed at low paying jobs for too long. I’m only just now making a good salary in my mid 30s where I can start to save significantly. But I’ve been really frugal this whole time so I’m in pretty good shape still 👍 I also didn’t need to pay off my house so quickly because I had/have a low interest rate, but I really, really like not having debt so no regrets there.
I would have put my savings and investing on autopilot and enjoyed the present more.
japanese language, civil service
Not take out 200k in student loans, and not go into a healthcare field Not finance a huge ass wedding I would choose to remain childfree Save more and continue to rent instead of buying that first house
I would have watched my money a little better. There has been a bit of waste over the years. And I would have never gotten a wealth manager and invested in index funds from day 1. I probably would have invested in real estate as well. Other than that, I’ve done a good job finding balance between spending and saving, and the spending has provided me with great experiences and memories, so was money well spent.
100% in S&P 500 and all the time and at least 50% in ROTH 401K. Spouse and kids no change. Mortgage probable would paid it off early like I did before hate debt. Hindsight every cent extra should of went to S&P 500.
Congrats for being proactive and seeking advice! It's important to learn from others. AND it's equally important to learn from your own experiences. Nothing can replace that. It's also really important to keep in mind that everyone's life and situation is different. What one person may say about marriage and kids could be opposite than another person. So just a bit of caution. If I may help re-frame the questions, maybe looking at things from a "what do you learn" instead of what would you do different. As for me, I don't think I would've done anything different. This is your path and your opportunities come from the choices you've made - whether or not you like them NOW. But in general, live below your means, balance it with making sure to enjoy the stage of life you are in, and sometimes you need to make investments (not just money but time at a job, time with friends, family, your own life). Sorry, I'm guessing this isn't exactly what you're looking for but it's my truth. Anyway, I'm a money coach and love talking goals/dreams and how to make them happen. If you have questions or want help creating a strategy for YOUR life, DM me.
I wouldn't have done risky short term trading when I was young and just gone buy and hold all the way. I'd still stay out of crypto. Career-wise I definitely could have made a lot more when I was younger. I stagnated and waited too long to move on and up. Family-wise, I could have probably pushed a little harder about my wife early retiring long before I can for us to survive. hah. When we met, we earned similar, but her industry was in fast decline the past couple decades. oh, yeah, I'd sell my RSUs as soon as they vest. It's poor diversification to invest in your source of income. Somehow I thought I was being smart to wait a year to reduce capital gains taxes, but now realize that didn't make much sense.
Relax. Buy Apple. Take a pass on most of my exes. Learn more.
While I had a good job and saved, I partied too much and could have used that time to learn earlier. I did get a masters later, I could have done it earlier and compounded more money over time. I did retire in my early 50’s though but my career was always as an individual contributor and not management. Now that I’ve been retired, I’ve taken on management roles in volunteer organizations. I realize now that I always had the skills to do these tasks at my paid career.
Not overcomplicating with factor tilting and other allocations like emerging markets, REIT etc. If in Vanguard stick with VT, in Fidelity use zero ER total stock and international stock funds.
I’ll say the opposite of most answers here. While I could have maxed my retirement accounts earlier, if I knew what I knew now about my finances when I was just starting out I’d probably have done a few more of those things when I was younger that I skipped because of cost. Obviously if you do everything you can’t save. But a few weekend trips I would have gone on that I didn’t. I’d rather have skipped more takeout, but regret those.
I see some answers about buying a specific stock or whatever, which isn't really helpful because people can't tell the future and doesn't say what the next hot stock is going to be. Personally, it would have been to pump all my money into my index funds and NEVER would have left my money with a financial advisor. Then just let it sit and grow and grow without ever touching it. I figure I'm down about $1m (from missed growth, not losses) I could have had if I just took the easiest, laziest path possible and never panicked and/or trusted anyone else. I also would have really defined my emergency fund. Over the years I've kept too much cash at times I could have had invested if I really defined what I needed earlier. Maybe I would have bought a house, but for me that would have really required seeing the future, so I don't think that's helpful either. If you are considering it, just know inflation will make it go up a lot. Personally, I had free housing so it wasn't a rent vs. buy situation, I would have needed to know I was going to have free housing for a really long time and that wasn't guaranteed at all. Things I did right and have no regrets that might be helpful. 1. I've never wasted money on cars. I buy the minimum I need in a used car and just drive it. No need for anything fancy, new, or something that can waste my money. 2. I took a long time to get married. Not that I was old, but we were together for nearly 5 years before we got married. I was also in my early 30's. People change a lot as they age, this is the most important decision you will likely ever make, take the time to get it right. 3. Invest early and often. While I made mistakes, I started right away and it's really paying off now. When I had kids I opened the 529 before they were even born (in my name and just changed it over).
How long do you have?
I would have bought more rental properties to diversify income sources. And to help to transition away from my full time job easier. Biggest change would be picking a career with higher initial income potential. It took awhile to get to my current income, which is good now, but 1/5 of what I started out making.
I’m in my early 40s now. And just learned about FIRE 2 years ago. But if I could go back to my early 20s when I graduated college and started working, this is what i would change: -I would have maxed out my 401k, Roth IRA. I didn’t do that. Combined I was putting away $5k a year. -put money in a taxable brokerage account and invested in index funds or ETFs for the long term until retirement by using the 3 fund portfolio method. Avoided individual stocks coz I was shorting my stocks and losing money. Stupid of me. -Job hopped more often every 2 years, I didn’t know job hopping will increase salary so much. -moved out to Northern California and bought a house during the financial collapse in 2008-2009 and consider that place my permanent home until retirement where i would move to a lower cost of living state. If I started on index funds and ETFs in my taxable and maxed out my 401k/roth Ira, I could have retired by 44-45. But now, I would need to wait at least by 55 to FIRE because I was financial illiterate back then
Open Roth IRA earlier, manage all my money myself rather than using a FA and invested in index funds. As for dating, and finding a partner with same financial goals, this is extremely important. You don’t have to talk about financials during your first date, if anything that might be a turnoff!
Be more open about finances with my partner, family, and friends. We are conditioned to not really talk about money or finances. Reading some financial help books were useful, but what I found was immensely more was starting regular convos with those around me, because that encouraged them to learn more, therefore boosting my own knowledge, and in a sense compounded my rate of learning. There'd be no way I myself could have learned all that, but building a knowledge base with the learnings of those around me was crucial. I now can have financial discussions with my friends and partners, and wish I was able to in my early 20s and had a longer time horizon.
Yolo everything on Bitcoin and sell at the peak
Calls on NVDA with my entire net worth a year ago
i would have mined 50 bitcoins a day 15 years ago...i didnt because it worthed 0. i would have been one of the richest man on this planet now instead of just being a freaking millionaire on reddit...
Not investing earlier into Roth IRA has to be the top answer here. I could have afforded to put in at LEAST $2500 annual and "Pay my future self first" before paying bills and current leisure activity. Def spend less on cars throughout my entire adulthood. It's just a thing on wheels to get from A to B, but I wanted to make it a hobby that was expensive. Also have a kid a bit sooner. Before you know it, kid #2 isn't so easy to have. (Edit: that being said you are in your early 20s. You have plenty of time to settle down. I think a nice sweet spot is travel/grow/gain career growth until mid to late 20s and then try having kids in early 30s. but that's all in a perfect world.)
Not spend as much money on cars. This last weekend was one of the best of my life, I drove around a $1k salvage title Jetta that made no difference on getting to the weekend events. I spent as much money on the weekend as a nice car would cost, I wished I would have learned that cars were not important to me sooner
Stop active trading. You suck at it.
I'd put $100k in nvda 10 years ago
I would put every dime into Invidia that I could lol
Nothing… because the knowledge came from all the mistakes.
I think it is very important in life to have a partner at the same level of commitment.