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Advice you'd give your 25 year old self
03-22-2012, 03:53 PM
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#1
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2012
Location: Ashburn
Posts: 419
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Advice you'd give your 25 year old self
If you had a time machine and could go back to talk to your younger self, what piece(s) of financial advice would you give in hopes of achieving FIRE more easily and/or living a better life. Or more specifically, what mistakes would you avoid if you had a mulligan.
Obviously, "save more!" is the easy answer... but I was looking for something more detailed.
I'm not much past that age myself (just turned 30) and am always looking for an opportunity to learn from others much wiser than me. 
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03-22-2012, 04:04 PM
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#2
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Nov 2011
Posts: 666
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"Buy MSFT and AAPL" in the 1980s would have been great advice, but I suspect you mean something more useful in general. I think it would be to manage my own accounts back then rather than use an investment advisor. Also buy more stocks less funds.
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03-22-2012, 04:08 PM
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#3
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Mar 2003
Posts: 13,856
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Have a bigger emergency fund all in 5 year CDs.
__________________
"To be a man means that you are brave, loyal and true. When you are in the wrong, you own up and take your punishment. You don't take advantage of women. As a husband, you support and protect your wife and children. You are gracious in victory and a good sport in defeat. Your word is your bond. Your handshake is as good as your word... When the ship goes down, you put the women and children into the lifeboats and wave good-bye with a smile." C Murray
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03-22-2012, 04:43 PM
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#4
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2005
Posts: 1,993
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That's my DS. I've told him to save at least 15% of gross salary for retirement and contribute to a Roth IRA as long as he's in the lower tax bracket and below the income limit.
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03-22-2012, 04:48 PM
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#5
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jan 2007
Location: Silicon Valley
Posts: 1,812
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Don't spend all your money on clothes and booze.
__________________
I be a girl, he's a boy. Think I maybe FIRED since July 08. Mid 40s, no kidlets. Actually am totally clueless as to what is going on with DH.
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03-22-2012, 05:20 PM
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#6
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chicagoland
Posts: 7,222
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- Save all you can, that you've already figured out. Many don't even grasp this...
- Read The Millionaire Next Door and The Four Pillars of Investing, and take them both to heart.
- Understand that you'll be different than your peers and mainstream western culture, especially the USA. You'll have the last and best laugh.
- Make your goal FI, ER is a separate decision you can consider later.
- Enjoy your life every day in the meantime. Relationships and experiences are much more valuable than "things."
- Best of luck.
__________________
It's a pity to waste your life living the same tiny day over and over again. James Taylor
Retired Jun 2011 at age 57
Target AA: 55% equity funds / 40% bond funds / 5% cash
approx 20% SI (secure income, SS only)
Target WR: approx 2.5%
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03-22-2012, 05:22 PM
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#7
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Moderator
Join Date: May 2007
Location: San Francisco
Posts: 8,280
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Everything's gonna be OK. Stop stressing about it!
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03-22-2012, 05:36 PM
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#8
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Feb 2009
Location: Cville
Posts: 207
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I think mine would be work harder to balance spending and savings. Î spent lots of time binge saving then spending.
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03-22-2012, 05:41 PM
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#9
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Dec 2006
Location: Dallas 'burb
Posts: 8,522
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 Quote:
Originally Posted by EvrClrx311
If you had a time machine and could go back to talk to your younger self, what piece(s) of financial advice would you give in hopes of achieving FIRE more easily and/or living a better life. Or more specifically, what mistakes would you avoid if you had a mulligan.
Obviously, "save more!" is the easy answer... but I was looking for something more detailed.
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Drive your car until the wheels fall off before you buy another one.
Quote:
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I'm not much past that age myself (just turned 30) and am always looking for an opportunity to learn from others much wiser than me.
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Mmmmm, hmmmmm..... 
Oh...and I'd add....'quit your b*tchin', you're only 25!'
__________________
There's no need to complicate, our time is short..
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03-22-2012, 05:46 PM
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#10
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Dallas, TX
Posts: 1,088
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- It's ok to be frugal but don't be cheap.
- Don't waste your money on "status" items; do waste your money on experiences with other people.
- Don't worry so much about your job; it will all work out.
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03-22-2012, 07:08 PM
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#11
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jun 2008
Posts: 3,406
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Start saving, investing before the age of 25.
__________________
Have you ever seen a headstone with these words
"If only I had spent more time at work" ... from "Busy Man" sung by Billy Ray Cyrus
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03-22-2012, 07:15 PM
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#12
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 554
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Quote:
Originally Posted by FIREd
Everything's gonna be OK. Stop stressing about it!
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Exactly. If you are on this forum your probably of the mindset to LBYM and save like mad. Don't forget to live a little while your at it. 
__________________
"What's the worst thing that could happen - I keep my job."
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03-22-2012, 07:29 PM
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#13
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Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso)
Give me a forum ...
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 5,556
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More sex. More drugs. More rock & roll.
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03-22-2012, 07:29 PM
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#14
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Dryer sheet aficionado
Join Date: Feb 2007
Posts: 33
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Since I'm 35 now... Avoid the stock market. Invest in gold, silver, oil, Australian denominated CDs, etc. 
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03-22-2012, 07:29 PM
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#15
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 554
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Also, on a more serious note - Asset allocation = age in bonds give or take a little. Stocks looks great now, maybe bonds will in your lifetime, nobody knows. That's all I've got to offer. I'm a plodder ,but don't forget to keep some balance in your life.
__________________
"What's the worst thing that could happen - I keep my job."
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03-22-2012, 07:31 PM
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#16
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Full time employment: Posting here.
Join Date: Mar 2009
Posts: 554
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LOL!
More sex. More drugs. More rock & roll.
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Oh yeah, I forgot the basics
__________________
"What's the worst thing that could happen - I keep my job."
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03-22-2012, 07:33 PM
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#17
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 172
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by soupcxan
- It's ok to be frugal but don't be cheap.
- Don't waste your money on "status" items; do waste your money on experiences with other people.
- Don't worry so much about your job; it will all work out.
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+ 1
__________________
"The future's uncertain, and the end is always near. Let it roll, baby, roll." - The Doors
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03-22-2012, 07:54 PM
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#18
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Recycles dryer sheets
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 206
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Quote:
Originally Posted by EvrClrx311
If you had a time machine and could go back to talk to your younger self, what piece(s) of financial advice would you give in hopes of achieving FIRE more easily and/or living a better life. Or more specifically, what mistakes would you avoid if you had a mulligan.
Obviously, "save more!" is the easy answer... but I was looking for something more detailed.
I'm not much past that age myself (just turned 30) and am always looking for an opportunity to learn from others much wiser than me. |
Live below your means - sorry but that is all there is to it. I am retired
and there is a certain basketball player that made $135,000,000 and he
will never retire!
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03-22-2012, 07:59 PM
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#19
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Confused about dryer sheets
Join Date: Jul 2011
Posts: 6
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Must Do at 25
I have the answer. I have done it. Ignore at your own risk. Most do.
Read:
The millionaire next door-already mentioned
The millionaire mind-an excellent book which delineates the way millionaires think
Stop acting rich and spend like a millionaire-what millionaires spend money on
All by Thomas Stanley
Invest as much as possible as fast as possible into the equity markets and increase your investments during severe financial market slumps.
Finally, the only advice you will ever need to live by, my favorite quote:
Buy when everyone else is Selling. Sell when everyone else is buying. Spend when everyone else is saving. And save when everyone else is spending.
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03-22-2012, 08:12 PM
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#20
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Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
Join Date: Jul 2006
Location: Denver
Posts: 1,580
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Learn about AA, re-balancing & invest in low cost index funds. Become financially literate.
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