Comments on: Things I’d Tell My 20 Year Old Self…

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 19:30:28 +0000

In reply to Stan.

Tell him to start reading the blog. With a beer! ;) Then he’ll think it’s cool and will listen – hah.

Also, you might find these two articles helpful from my blogger (father) friends to their kids:

http://richhabits.net/dads-savings-advice-to-his-child/
http://jlcollinsnh.com/2011/06/08/how-i-failed-my-daughter-and-a-simple-path-to-wealth/

By: Stan

Stan — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 04:31:40 +0000

The world will always be changing…but I fear for my children and grandchildren because the situations today seem clouded. It is much harder for them to plan futures,
I wish that the educational system would include methods to help teach everyday finance starting in the early years.
It is a subject that each of us must deal with…..like it or not.
Thanks for your article and trying to do your part.
I found it because my 20 year old is having a hard time and I was looking for pointers to help him.
Thanks again,

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 01:26:46 +0000

In reply to Stan. Awwww what a testament to them and the love they had for you and your community! What a great story to read, thanks so much for sharing Stan. This made me happy :) And congrats on never having to work!

By: Stan

Stan — Fri, 12 Dec 2014 00:27:34 +0000

I would say listen to Dad and Mom,.. as a child he would tell me to save half of any money I got as a gift or what I earned. at the age of six I learned to make money in the town that I lived in. My mother would always test me and ask what I wanted to be when I grew up. Her point was always the same…just be happy with what you do nd you will never have to work.
I worked every summer from 13 to the end of my second year in college and signed every check over to my parents to kep for themselves.
I started working full time after two years of school…made a deal with my parents to pay rent..and opened up a stock brokerage account in 1974… so that I could pay for my own education and went to night school for the next five years. That got me ready for my next four years of school and I had all tuition and living exp. to cover the next four years….still had student loans to take if I neeed them.During school I still invested in the stock market and was very lucky…. Took all my student loans and banked them to have the money to start my health care practice on my own when I graduated in 1982 and prime rate was 21%. So 32 years later I am happy and have never worked a day in my life, since I enjoy what I do.
And as far as Dad’s advice….I took it one step further…I called it my 60/20/20 progarm.
Live on 60%…save 20% long term….and stash 20%…but were? so I bought gold and silver.
SO what would I say….love your children….help them learn.
My parents were just hard working middle class people that always did more for others than they did for themselves. They had the respect of everyone around them, even their two sons.
Miss them….they were my greatest asset ever.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 28 Jan 2014 23:09:02 +0000

In reply to Crystal. Agreed! And you know our blogs would be 10x bigger too merely by being one of the "first" ones :) But we're not doing so bad you and I, so I'm happy!

By: Crystal

Crystal — Sun, 26 Jan 2014 23:01:17 +0000

I would tell my 20 year old self to start my dang blog…it definitely gave me the purpose that I was looking for. :-) I think I would also have told me at 20 that a Roth IRA would have been a nice addition to go along with my first 401k…I think I could have started contributing about 2-3 years before I did.

By: J. Money

J. Money — Tue, 21 May 2013 02:40:48 +0000

In reply to Cat. I think renting is always getting a bad rap - there's nothing wrong with it if it makes more sense for ya! :)

By: Cat

Cat — Mon, 20 May 2013 00:17:40 +0000

I always feel soooo guilty about renting. Partially because I want to “get my ducks in a line” and the rest is that I don’t want to invest in someone’s life when I can invest in my own. I just haven’t found the right moment to buy, which is probably a good thing that this point.

By: JoeTaxpayer

JoeTaxpayer — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:12:49 +0000

In reply to J. Money. I wonder how many would warn against being in stock at all. A new investor in the late 90's saw a drop and a lost decade. To him, the market is crazy. To us old guys, the 00s were an anomaly, a bad decade out of three (or four).

By: J. Money

J. Money — Fri, 03 May 2013 19:08:46 +0000

In reply to JoeTaxpayer. Haha true true.. it is to YOUR younger self. I like how we jump all over it as if it's advice, haha... oops.