If you could go back and give your 18yr old self $ advice...

[BigInJapan]

I never get tired of reading these threads...even though I get few chances to log in and respond...

If it were me and I had that time machine:
1) Never go into debt. (never have on this point)
2) Don't get married and don't have kids (save all the positive sidebars, this will keep you out of debt...no kids here)
3) Be very aggressive about investing in new tech companies (remember, we're talking about when Microsoft started)
4) Start investing diversely
5) buy a every longhood you can afford

I don't have many regrets...

Ian

[gwood]

Buy Apple when Steve Jobs is heading it and short it when he's not.

[tctnd]

Never trust a blonde who wears black underwear.

[reachme]

At 18 I was working very hard for every $ and felt kind of powerless.

Took me a long time to realize that whenever you are paying somebody money, in that moment think of it as they are working for you. Once I realized I had the responsibility to think about and state my terms on the deal or walk away, I started making smart $ decisions. I would have said "Make sure you are ok with the terms whenever you pull out your wallet"

I stopped eating out all the time, cut a lot of my recurring expenses. . .And I never would have bought that blue 1987 Supra turbo with no PPI when the guy told me he had no records and that another buyer was on his way. Man I took it bending over on that one!

[mossguy]

It wouldn't make any difference what my advice would be. I would not have followed it anyway.

[KFC911]

Originally Posted by reachme

. . .And I never would have bought that blue 1987 Supra turbo with no PPI when the guy told me he had no records and that another buyer was on his way. Man I took it bending over on that one!

Brings back memories....you'd not have regretted purchasing my blue '87 Supra Turbo that I purchased new without a PPI. I had no records either, no PPI was performed, and the next owner virtually "stole" it from me

[zelrik911]

Learn a musical instrument &/or take singing lessons, so you can be confident and perform in front of others.
If you can charm - you will be successful in many situations.


This was advice my mother gave me - but I ignored it - all the other confident guys got the chicks, & the jobs before me.

[Rick V]

Stop drinking.
Don't start smoking
Stay out of the automotive field
That blonde named Beth, yeah you can keep her.

[BK911]

I invested in education. 17 years of night school while working full time+. Paid every semester as I went so I was always broke and often frustrated. Graduated with zero debt and now make a decent living. So I would tell myself to stay the course and don't worry about all the cool stuff your friends have. You will eventually have more than you need.

[GH85Carrera]

Looking back I don't have that many regrets on the decisions I made over the years.

One thing many people mentioned in this thread is I do wish I had enlisted in the military. They shut down the draft 10 days before they would have called me up. My lottery number was 5, and I was 1A or A1 whatever the top tier was. I grew up in the military and I guess I was wanting to see life as an adult away from the service. I would advise the younger me to change that.

The rest of decisions I made turned out OK. I wish I had met my wife earlier in life. I kept looking for the right lady and it took me until my late 30s to find her.

[Dueller]

Save at least 10% of you net income regardless of what you're making. Or more if possible. Just pretend it doesn't exist.

Make sure to get your blood pressure checked regularly. Do whatever it takes to keep it in check.

Eat your vegetables.

Remember that any habit you develop before age 30 will be almost impossible to change after you're 30. Good or bad.

[Dueller]

Save at least 10% of you net income regardless of what you're making. Or more if possible. Just pretend it doesn't exist.

Make sure to get your blood pressure checked regularly. Do whatever it takes to keep it in check.

Eat your vegetables.

Remember that any habit you develop before age 30 will be almost impossible to change after you're 30. Good or bad.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by greglepore

Marketplace...

Nostatic hit it. And yeah, student loans at 8% are crippling. But it looks like th gov is going to forgive them, so maybe not such a bad deal.

It's a bad deal for someone, nothing is free.
Maybe the kids who borrowed the money don't have to pay it back, but the poor slob taxpayers will get left holding the bag.

[Dueller]

But the taxpayers benefit by having an educated populous!

Originally Posted by sammyg2

It's a bad deal for someone, nothing is free.
Maybe the kids who borrowed the money don't have to pay it back, but the poor slob taxpayers will get left holding the bag.

[Porsche-O-Phile]

It worked so well for the Wall Street millionaires so hey, there's precedent!

[Don Ro]

I wouldn't have wasted so damn much money on buying, enjoying, and then selling cars and motorcycles. I'd say that I blew $30k - $40k (+) doing so in the past 40 yrs.
To be sure, I sold too many "keepers" just because I didn't have the funds to store them...but also because something "new" caught my fancy.
Immature on my part.

[masraum]

Don't buy on credit or spend money that you don't have. It's better to wait and save for what you want.

Save more money, don't ever spend what you've saved.

Never, ever cash out your 401k when you leave a job no matter how small.

Save more money, don't ever spend what you've saved.

Don't buy on credit, keep the credit card balances low and pay them off monthly.

Never ever get rid of any retirement savings like 401k.

There's a reason that I repeated...

[Don Ro]

Originally Posted by masraum

There's a reason that I repeated...

Because you stutter?...short memory? j/k
.
.

[vash]

Originally Posted by masraum

Don't buy on credit or spend money that you don't have. It's better to wait and save for what you want.

Save more money, don't ever spend what you've saved.

Never, ever cash out your 401k when you leave a job no matter how small.

Save more money, don't ever spend what you've saved.

Don't buy on credit, keep the credit card balances low and pay them off monthly.

Never ever get rid of any retirement savings like 401k.

There's a reason that I repeated...

hahahh..i had a friend that cashed out his 401k to pay off a credit card and buy a few Glocks.

he prompty ran the CC back up and had to pawn the glocks. i onced joked with him..i told him my financial plan was to imagine what he would do, and do the opposite. he didnt think i was funny.

[scottmandue]

1) Stay in school and don't go to work in your dad's construction business.
2) Invest in Apple, oil, and real estate (I was 18 in 1975).