I'm not sure any good advice I grew up with applies to this future we're stumbling into. Learn practical skills like gardening and fixing your stuff. Buy as little as you possibly can. An affordable set of basic tools is a great thing to keep for life. Consider the state of the world long and hard before you decide to bring children into it. Never talk to the police.
this post was submitted on 12 Jul 2024
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Practice trusting your gut. Practice it on small things.
One way to do a gut check is to imagine yourself making decision A, then imagine yourself making decision B, and for each pay attention to whether you feel stronger or weaker.
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Almost no one knows how to do the job they are hired for. You'll have a trainer at almost every job. Apply for things you don't think you are qualified for. Most people figure it out as they go.
Think where you would like to be when you're thirty, then work backward to now and figure out what you need to do to get there.
Also, don't be afraid to take chances.
More like think where you would like to be immediately, acknowledge that you won’t get it until you’re 30, then make this plan and go for it.
When I was in my 20s I considered 30 to be the end of my life. Trying to reason about where I wanted to be in my 30s just returned null.
Start buying a few shares of VTI every pay period. Use any left over cash to buy SPYG. Ignore the gains or losses, the market has never not gone up (eventually). Thank yourself later.
Max out your 401k when you get a decent paying job. But make sure you hit every pay period to maximize your employer contribution.
Consider using mass transit where possible, bike if you can, more or less avoid a car/insurance. If that's not possible get a cheap car like a used Nissan leaf ($7000 in my area, costs a few dollars a month to charge using a wall outlet and extension cord)
Minimize unnecessary expenses like using food delivery services. Meal prep on the weekends and make enough food for a week.
If you do all this for 10 years or so, you'll be in a really good spot financially. Buying a house will be a decent prospect, your VTI and SPYG will be making money, your taxable income will be small and you will have built up the ability to splurge on things without it making much of an impact on your finances.
I've been following the YouTube channel Chris invests and he gives lots of similar advice like this.
Yo those stock recommendations are actually nuts. I just looked at their 5 year and lifetime charts and you're not lying. It's 45 degrees the whole way basically.
All sound advice, but coming across the extra capital to invest, much less in your 20's, is a harder prospect than it sounds for most people these days.
I'm not sure if you can get fractionals of SPY or VTI, but $300-500 a paycheck or even a month of money you can't use on the moment is a hard ask for much of the working class.
It's less like "Stop the avocado toast and lattés and netflix" and more "If you stopped buying a new graphics card every month you could afford stonks that will be mature when you are elderly."
Lol like, we aren't living in luxury and frivolous with our money in the first place, it usually poofs away into food and rent these days. (And gas and the car, if you aren't in one of VERY few places that are walk and bike friendly.)
But for people who have it. This is a sound strategy. On that note, I have a relative who's got very few expenses, often broke...and they're constantly buying new full-priced releases on Steam. This degree of resource mismanagement vexes me so. Lol
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Have a clear set of long-term goals for yourself, ie career, where you want to live, and what you want to be. Set deadlines for each with steps on how to do it.
It's time to start building the rest of your life. It won't be easy but you'll be doing it for you, so make it worthwhile.
Don't worry too much if you fuck up. You have more than enough time to fix just about any mistake. You're still young, it's OK.
Start a diary, and review where you're at in life every once in a while.
If you're in the US or generally any country that's becoming authoritarian, get a passport. You never know how bad it may get.
Find a topic that you have interest in and master it. This will only get harder as you get older.
learn as much as you can, don't worry too much about what it is you learn
you'll find what you're good at or fascinated by
Accuracy is the key
Don’t post anything suspicious when mods are threatening to ban you from a community