Advice To A Young(er) Punk

[Jered]

Oh. Things for me to inculcate.

[skb12172]

Yup, I'm a disciple of Dave Ramsey. I'm not able to put EVERYTHING he says into practice, but I come pretty darn close and am better off as a result. One example: I called in to the radio show and told him I needed a reliable car, my job requirements meant I couldn't screw around with a beater, but I couldn't buy it in cash. He told me to finance a 2-3 year old car for only 3 years, then start saving for the car fund. I did that and, when the car's total age was around 12 years old, I had more than enough for the next car. It was good advice and a workable compromise.

[Frankingun]

Some of my financial philosphy comes from Dave Ramsey, but most of his basic advice is pretty much the same as many others. His baby steps 1 and 2 (I think) - as in have a reserve of $1000 and six months of expenses saved away are good and basic advice. On some other things, such as bad debt management, I totally disagree. You can't get out from under the credit card sharks on your own.

Have your toys, but not at the expense of the basics. Don't put anything on a credit card that isn't going to be paid in full when that bill comes.

[308Mike]

Repeating what others have said, and:

You'll hear a lot of us saying how important to start saving AS SOON AS YOU CAN, and we say this because with interest, money grows exponentially. Go to a retirement seminar and watch them explain how someone who starts saving at 20 years old and puts away $2000 a year for 10 years and stops contributing (but doesn't touch the money), vs. someone making a LOT more money but doesn't start saving until their 40's and you can see where they will NEVER catch the early saver even if they banked their ENTIRE paycheck.

At the seminar, you'll hear things about making sure you pay off debts ASAP that carry interest payments instead of trying to save while the interest you're earning is being eaten up by making those interest payments. You always pay off high-interest items FIRST (especially credit cards), and that will save you more money in the long run than what you can save (unless you have some high-yield stocks that are working real well). Example: You have $20,000 in savings, earning 3% interest, and also $20,000 in credit card debt at 14% interest - you're obviously losing money on the high-interest payments 'cause the 3% is not coming anywhere CLOSE to closing the gap with what you're paying out.

When you use credit cards, pay them off as quickly as possible.

Remember, people need your permission to make you feel anything emotionally. If they can make you angry or mad, they are exerting a certain amount of control over you emotionally. Only you can decide if you're going to be mad or not, and it is a choice.

People are important, things are not - they can be replaced. You have only so much time on this earth, so you need to do the things that mean the most to you. If you live your life well, your legacy will speak for you when you're gone, otherwise, nobody will even know you've been here and gone.

Don't get wrapped up in material things, you can't take them with you, and they can be lost/destroyed/stolen/damaged or your life changes and you can no longer use them. But if you do something for another (or for others), the memory of that deed lives on many years, perhaps even after you leave this earth.

Regarding my body, most of the damage was already done by the time I got to your age, and now I'm suffering for it. With the arthritis I now have in my left knee, the doc said the only thing they can do is a complete knee replacement, which also bring me to another point: Cut tissue is NEVER the same again, so use surgery wisely (particularly around joints, including your back).

You'll live longer, healthier, and happier if you control your anger, particularly when driving. Getting mad at other drivers only hurts you - not them, they usually don't even know you're mad at their idiotic driving.

While you're trying to save money, avoid buying new cars - you lose money as soon as you drive it off the lot. DON'T buy a car to impress anybody.

Whenever possible, don't burn bridges (with people or employers) - doing so creates a reputation you don't want or need. It took me two divorces to find the woman of my dreams, and neither divorce used attorneys, saving a BUNCH of money and ill feelings in the process, which is FAR preferable to the alternative. The Golden Rule still works.

Don't be afraid to say "I love you" to your loved ones. Without a doubt, they would much rather have you express it now than have you crying over things you should have said or done when they're gone.

Things are more enjoyable when you can share them with someone else.

Nobody on their deathbed has ever said: "I wish I had spent more time at the office!" Only you can live your life, it's up to you how you spend your time.

[toad]

Warning: Some people, ahumph, got er get all excited about saving money for retirement and/or emergencies, watching it build, and they start increasing their take out for the savings faster than their income is increasing. Save out enough that you don't really miss it or think about. Saving large chunks then quiting when ship happens is counter productive. Also save in a nasty old bank savings account or perhaps a money market account. That way you wont get excited about allocating in financial instruments that have large betas. That is stuff that goes up and down a lot in value.
To repeat, save small enough that it doesn't hurt and you don't think about it everyday. 5% of a paycheck over 30 years is much better than 10% for five.
I'm not saying don't use 401Ks, or investment in stocks and bonds but, keep clear on the difference between saving, investing, and speculating. Way too many people dumped too much money into 401ks and etc. and didn't have any cash saved.

[308Mike]

And be EXTREMELY leery about investing your ENTIRE 401k into your company stock.

There's MANY reasons they say to: DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, DIVERSIFY, etc.......

Do NOT put all your eggs into ONE basket.

Even *IF* you got taken by some low-life scumbag con-man who cheated you out of some money, if you diversified, you'd have only a minimal loss from one area of your investment portfolio - NOT your entire investment capital.

Many years down the road, you'll be thanking us if you followed this advice, otherwise, you might be VERY pissed off if you didn't and lost your shirt needlessly (and don't want to tell us).

I'd be MUCH happier about hearing you made some marginal investment profits over the long term than hearing you lost a BUNCH of money playing high-risk investments from some guru you heard on TV or radio.

Here's the deal, we want you to play it safe but make investments that earn MORE than the rate of inflation (otherwise saving all the money is not earning you ANYTHING), and we'd prefer the majority of your money be making significantly MORE than the rate of inflation but not so much as to make you susceptible to minor rises and falls in the market. Your SAVINGS needs to at least make the current rate of inflation or you're not earning ANYTHING.

SERIOUSLY, take a couple of retirement classes and/or seminars - and if you can get into them for free, a few investment seminars but beware of all the sales pitches to buy THEIR products/books/services/advice and sign-ups for more seminars.

BUILD YOUR KNOWLEDGE - no one else is going to do it for you, and those others are going to charge you for THEIR knowledge.

And FINALLY - MAKE US PROUD!!

[mekender]

i got one...

learn enough about car maintenance to know how to do all of the routine stuff on your own... oil changes, air filters, transmission fluid changes etc... buy the "book" for your car and read and learn all of the stuff about scheduled maintenance... you dont have to do the actual work yourself if you dont want, the idea is to make sure you know what you are looking at when some random mechanic holds up a dirty rag and tells you there is a problem...

if you dont, you will loose a lot of money and have a lot of headaches... for example, a $8 air filter that takes 2 minutes to install yourself will cost you $30 if you pay someone else to do it for you...

[toad]

In ye olde days they told us to build up enough money in savings to live on for 6 months before you "invest" in anything.
One thing you have to watch out for is fees. When you buy stocks, bonds, or even coins, you can get stuck with a transaction fee and also when you sell.
A car is not an "investment" no matter how badly you need one. It is a depreciating asset.
Real Estate (as we all have seen lately) has a liquidity problem. It can be slow to turn into cash. The value can drop for all kinds of reasons and you can be stuck for decades unless you suck it up and take a loss. They opened up a gravel pit just down the road from the area I lived in for instance.

[SeekHer]

Make sure she arrives before you, preferably multiple arrivals!

Cuddle after going and getting a hot, damp cloth to cleanse oneself and some very cold fruit juice to drink--to build up electrolytes

[Jered]

Make sure she arrives before you, preferably multiple arrivals!

I don't get it, but I'm a younger punk.