Financial Wisdom for under 30

[mydogsarelazy]

Hi La Jolla Renter, and others,

Since I started this thread — only to be accused or being another Suze Orman — maybe I should mention some of my lifetime financial highlights.

1. Said “yes” to every credit card offer on earth while completing grad school.

2. Bought painting by up and coming artist for $5, but then sell it under pressure a few months later. Current value $2-3 million.

3. Build up massive debt, assisted by first wife who likes $150 haircuts.

4. Bankruptcy at 40.

5. Wife leaves during medical crisis, gets house.

6. Wise up, buy real estate, marry fiscally conservative wife.

7. Cash in on real estate, and realize it took quite a while to learn to really handle money.

8. Give preachy advice to others.

JS

[JES]

Wow, who was that artist?

My ideas:
1. Be very, very selective about who you marry.
2. Pursue your career passions during your 20s.
3. Place little value on material wealth. When you die it is unlikely that people will look down at your casket at your funeral and say “boy, he sure did have alot of money in his bank account and a nice car.” We lose it all when we die, and yet the goal of most people in SoCal seems to be to accumulate more, impress their neighbors, & go for flash.

[mydogsarelazy]

Hi Jes,

My post should say that I paid $5k (five thousand) and the painting was by Jean-Michel Basquiat.

I sold it back for $5,500 when the artist promised to do my portrait, and he welched on the deal.

Your advice is very good, although a person should have enough material wealth to have a good health plan.

JS

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

My advice to the youngins’

Rule #1. STAY in School. Get an advanced degree. Your job/career is the best investment you can ever make.

Rule #2. When you get a job. Enroll in your 401k, max it out, and pay down your debt from grad school.

Rule #3. Diversify your investments.

Rule #4. Save 15% on your car insurance by switching to Geico.

[JES]

mydogsarelazy – Never look back, right:) That money may have been a hidden curse!

On the rules, getting a degree has got to be the first on any list. I’m amazed at the number of relatives I know in their early 20s who are not in school but still find time to party and just hang out with no plan for their lives. It’s one thing to decide not to go to college because you have something much better in mind, but that’s not what is going on.

[Chrispy]

Here’s three adages that have helped me over the years:

1) Decide what you really want and the price you need to pay to get it. Then, resolve to pay that price.

In other words, if you want a degree, instead of telling all your friends as you’re swilling beer, “Oh yeah, I’m going to college next year” resolve that the “price” for college will be nights spent with the books and days spent in classes, instead of hanging out with your buddies.

Everything that is worth having has a time and/or money price involved and you must pay that price IN ADVANCE of achieving your goal. Dreaming about it is not the same as daily action.

2) If you are working a minimum wage job and want to be paid $15 an hour, do $15 an hour quality work. Doing the minimum will NOT get you any raise other than a cost of living one – but working beyond your wage will get noticed. If nothing else you will develop new skills and be able to transfer these skills elsewhere.

3) During the day, as you get caught in a number of activities, ask yourself, “What is the most valuable use of my time right now?” Then, focus on that activity.

Having said that, I’d better get off Piggington and back to work!

[PerryChase]

Generally good advice all around.

JES, I disagree with you on Iraq and religion; but from your posts, I think that you’re alright. I wish you success in your endeavors.

[Anonymous]

I can drop by next week. In 25 years I will be unavailable for comment.

I appreciate the heartfelt nature of your advice but I think it is oversimplified and consequently of little worth.

You can focus on one grammar error if you would like but I think you missed the larger point I was trying to make.

[bubba99]

Don’t take advise from anyone over 30 – they are most likely trying to justify their own decisions or atone for their bad choices.

Don’t hesitate to take a risk if it feels right. Regrets about things not done are the worst. At least if you tried you know what would happen.

Do it now! Whatever the drive, do it while you are young enough to enjoy it. Bumbing around Europe is not as much fun at 50 as it would be at 20.

Don’t ever stop trying to learn and accomplish difficult things. The drive to better yourself is one of the best we have.

And finally do not take advise from anyone who claims to have all the answers. You should know that by definition they are fos

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

“Don’t take advise from anyone over 30”

A classic. Unfortunately, this was first recommended in the 1960’s by the boomers, who are now pushing 60. So the recommendation itself is to ignore those old fools who suggested it in the first place.

Manfred- None of this advice is for you, since you are already made. Except that maybe Geico CAN save you 15% off your auto insurance.

[Chrispy]

I won’t take advise from anyone over 30, but I will take advice.

[mydogsarelazy]

hi malfred,

I corrected your grammar to get your attention and see if I could knock you off your high horse for a moment. You took a shot at me and I reacted in a very human way to protect myself.

To change tone for a minute, I know that on the net things are very impersonal and the words don’t have a person’s face or a tone to go with them. Chances are that if you met me you might actually like me and we might have a terrific conversation. People who know me know that I give advice in the spirit of “take it if you wish” and not as any kind of authority figure.

I did pay attention to your comments, and obviously you have a lot of acumen and achievements for your age.

I do get the sense — and please forgive me if I am wrong — that you could benefit from being more respectful towards others and more open to their ideas. The advice that I presented in my first post really does represent the best advice I can give in an internet forum setting.

JS

[La Jolla Renter]

Getting back to the original post…

It really depends on the 20 something’s view point and or position. It seems impossible to generalize advice for all 20 something’s.

Would your investment advice/philosophy be the same for a school teacher who just wants to be a great school teacher and volunteer every summer with no additional income until they retire, as say an attorney, a doctor, or a mechanic for Mercedes that moonlights as a bartender on Saturday nights pulling in an additional 500 to 750 each week in cash.

If you generalize with all, you get silly stupid little esoteric pieces of advice as given.

PS did we all fail to mention… become an expert in credit reporting and keep your score in the 780 and up range.

Amex jingle to get a little piggington humor going …

Student loan balance after 3 ½ years before dropping out to be a loan officer… $75,000.
Average dinner and bar tab for a night out… $450 week nights… $950 weekends…
Designer Jeans, shirt and Bruno Magli shoes that you wear to work and the clubs… $900
Rolex watch you bought in Vegas after loosing 20k at the tables so you can keep your image with your boys… $15k
New rims and low profile tires for tricked out Escalade that needs constant alignment… $12,000
Audio Video System with rear video screens and xbox when you don’t even have kids… $10,000
Down payment on 6 condos that you are planning to flip to hard working peers and make 250k each on… $240k
Being a 40 something getting ready to watch you get your ass handed to you and having to get a job at Starbucks…
PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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