What advice would you give to your 20 year old self?

that's what I tell my daughters......elope

 

Not everyone goes to uni, just saying, but I'll give it a shot.

"You don't get rich working for someone else" and "you should have taken your parents advice at 18 and bought your first house"

 

• Listen to the old man
• Don't worry about rocking the boat
• You can go out and make your own mistakes rather than experiencing them on someone else's time/payroll.

 

Bucket loads of advice ... but I wouldn't have listened

Probably only advice I would've listened to would be "do that interior design course - even if your parents are pushing you to take law"

I didn't do either out of rebellious spite ... finally doing the design 30 years later

 

Lizzie, are you saying that you have the best designed garlic plantations out of those who would choose to plant garlic?

 

Doing my interior design course now - 35 years later - and loving it.

I can't help but wonder how different my life would have been if I'd followed my heart all those years ago, instead of decades of mediocre jobs purely for the income.

 

Good on you.. Better late than never.
Many people just plod along through life with mediocre jobs as you mention purely for a paycheck and nothing else. I'd imagine it takes a fair amount of courage to incite change.

 

Off the top of my head i'd say buy Apple and CBA shares.

 

- Beauty is only skin deep so don't think just because a girl looks fantastic to look at, doesn't necessarily mean that the girl has a good heart.
- Stop spending money on performance cars and modification because that money could be used in purchasing assets that appreciates.
- Keep on working hard and even on a bad day, there are other people in the world that would love to have your life.
- Be a better son to my parents
- Drink and party less with loser friends who even today accomplished very little and try to justify that 30s is the new 20s.

 

since we are taking this thread off topic..id say a cappacino over a latte.

 

Don't get married and pregnant!

I LOVE my family, however just after I turned 20 I found myself married and pregnant (all by choice, of course). 5 years on and I'm still very young - but I now realise how much I rushed into it all... and how much money I spent on a wedding!

If I didn't get married and pregnant though, I probably wouldn't have started my business - which I enjoy doing (most days) and I have grown up and learnt so much because of it. Plus I have James and B by my side everyday supporting me and dealing with my mood swings, it's fun.
I don't think I would've been able to find my second family in my very close friendship circle either - those girls were so amazing when I was dealing with some serious PND after I had B and I wouldn't trade that for the world.

So, basically I'd tell my 20 year old self to do everything the same. You'll make mistakes and some days you will feel like there's no way out and that you've ruined your entire life, but in that you'll find some freaking amazing people who will be there no matter what.

Corny I know.

 

Being almost 50, If I'd put a deposit on a cheap house (and they were cheap back then) and bought some stock, I could pretty much have retired by now.

The other thing I'd tell myself is that there is money to be made in Forex and stock market crashes. I'd have no idea what I was telling myself, but at least I'd say it.

 

Buy a bunch of old Falcons, Commodores and Valiants for next to nothing... wait a long time... then sell them for an outrageous amount of money to older people attempting to relive their youth.

 

Tell more people to eff off and do it quicker.
Clean up your space of toxic people, they will never be happy anyway no matter what you do.

 

Very true - had the option to buy two units in one complex for $100k each 20 years ago. Renting for $140/wk. Could've easily afforded it at the time. Would now be worth $400k+ ea and renting for $400/pw.

Even if I never paid off the 80% loan ($80k) I'd be laughing ... which is why I now refuse to sell our rentals

 

So does this

 

Dont buy Telstra 2.

Every time you get a phone bill you will experience the phenomena of HATE...

 

Advice I'd give to my 20 year old self:

- Don't worry about what other people think; pave your own destiny and find more like-minded friends that like, respect, see value and appreciate your quirks and diversity;
- There is a life beyond high school and high school friends; you will do, see and experience more than you ever think you will. The people you thought were so important back then will probably not be in your life in your 30s;
- But hold onto good people and do not let them slip away so easily.
- Do make the most of your summer Uni holidays; volunteer, take up projects and have more experiences in friends.
- Do exchange programs overseas every semester you can at Uni.
- Join Toastmasters and improve your public speaking skills and confidence.
- You can have it all; travel AND buy that 2 bedroom apartment in Armadale VIC for 320k, it'll be worth a fortune 10 years late (it is )
- And for Christ's sake, date more and for as long as you want - don't just fall into relationships in your 20's. You will realise eventually that you are in the star in your own movie, and not the co-star.

 

Margin loans.

Into everything.

And don't forget to go hard into Berkshire Hathaway and Costco when the AUD is $1.09 to the $US...