Financial Choices: Do-Over Version
I spoke again with my colleague Debbie and we reviewed her options going forward. As of now, she is thinking of going to grad school in 12 months time and will use the months before to research options that will allow her to be sponsored for tuition or have scholarship opportunities. Debbie, who will turn 25 next month, asked me what financial decisions I regret the most. Because I don’t spend a lot of time navel gazing about the past, I had to think about this a lot, but these are the things I would probably do differently. This is how I would have the conversation with my 25-year old self:
*Be patient and yet strategic (and calculating) with career choices, job moves, and relocations.
*Save the maximum in tax-sheltered accounts (IRA, 401k) even if you don’t understand why this is important.
*Stop undervaluing your own worth, you would be surprised how much the incompetent people around you are being paid.
*Do not panic when you encounter your first big bear market (or the second or third).
*Take care of your own health even though you feel immortal and the warranty hasn’t run out yet.
*Go on that vacation to that place you’ve been longing to see. Just do it.
Posted at this week’s Carnival of Personal Finance.
25 isn’t that far for me, but I would have done everything the exact same way, financially.
I’m glad I got a lot of education debt. If I didn’t, I never would have learned about my money, or taken charge of it to get OUT of debt and stay out.
[...] always used to say that I wish I had known more about my money at a younger age, but even if I could talk to my younger self and do financial do-overs (Modern Gal) I think in hindsight, getting into $60,000 of debt was a blessing rather than a [...]