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Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

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Re: Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

#11

Post by ericclemmons »

40Regrets wrote: post #7

I would give anything to go back and relive my 20s (I'm in my 40s now). I think about it every day. Here are a few (of the many) of the things I wish I'd done differently: 1. Saving and investing money. Compound returns are a magical force and time is the most powerful factor. Do It Now. Apps like Acorns make it increadibly easy to get started. 2. Take some risks. The older you get the harder it is to take risks beca…

I'm in my early 30s and whole-heartedly agree with this, particularly traveling and saving.

I avoided "exotic" travel because of the risk of the unknown, but with a family, there's a slim chance that'll happen anytime soon.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

#12

Post by kerrsclyde »

40Regrets wrote: post #7

I would give anything to go back and relive my 20s (I'm in my 40s now). I think about it every day. Here are a few (of the many) of the things I wish I'd done differently: 1. Saving and investing money. Compound returns are a magical force and time is the most powerful factor. Do It Now. Apps like Acorns make it increadibly easy to get started. 2. Take some risks. The older you get the harder it is to take risks beca…

I saved a lot ($70k+) from contractor jobs in my 20's and invested in index funds, this was in the bull market of start 2000. Because the stock market has remained relatively flat since then the magic of compound interest has not materialised - the funds are not worth significantly more than when I invested the money. I don't regret it but I still expect to be working for another 35 years, minimum.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

#14

Post by J_Darnley »

40Regrets wrote: post #7

I would give anything to go back and relive my 20s (I'm in my 40s now). I think about it every day. Here are a few (of the many) of the things I wish I'd done differently: 1. Saving and investing money. Compound returns are a magical force and time is the most powerful factor. Do It Now. Apps like Acorns make it increadibly easy to get started. 2. Take some risks. The older you get the harder it is to take risks beca…

Well I have failed on all 5 of those points and am unlikely to make my last 2 years any different, thanks.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

#15

Post by kzisme »

kerrsclyde wrote: post #12
40Regrets wrote: post #7

I would give anything to go back and relive my 20s (I'm in my 40s now). I think about it every day. Here are a few (of the many) of the things I wish I'd done differently: 1. Saving and investing money. Compound returns are a magical force and time is the most powerful factor. Do It Now. Apps like Acorns make it increadibly easy to get started. 2. Take some risks. The older you get the harder it is to take risks beca…

I saved a lot ($70k+) from contractor jobs in my 20's and invested in index funds, this was in the bull market of start 2000. Because the stock market has remained relatively flat since then the magic of compound interest has not materialised - the funds are not worth significantly more than when I invested the money. I don't regret it but I still expect to be working for another 35 years, minimum.

What sort of contractual jobs have you worked on to being saving that much? I'm a senior currently, and at age 22 I try to save as much as a I can. Getting a side job would be wonderful.

Re: Ask HN: What do you wish you were doing in your 20s that you didn't do?

#17

Post by kerrsclyde »

kzisme wrote: post #15
kerrsclyde wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I saved a lot ($70k+) from contractor jobs in my 20's and invested in index funds, this was in the bull market of start 2000. Because the stock market has remained relatively flat since then the magic of compound interest has not materialised - the funds are not worth significantly more than when I invested the money. I don't regret it but I still expect to be working for another 35 years, minimum.

What sort of contractual jobs have you worked on to being saving that much? I'm a senior currently, and at age 22 I try to save as much as a I can. Getting a side job would be wonderful.

This was in the dot com boom 1996 to 2002-ish, I was working then in ASP, SQL Server, IIS - web dev was a rare skill at that time. The excesses back then were frightening, I saw web site jobs for $50k which now wouldn't cost $500. The main factor though was living with parents, commuting only a couple of miles and being extremely frugal :-)
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