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Anyone can post, of course, but this is primarily for those of us who are fully retired (doesn't matter for how long -- just that you are fully retired).
In other words, what do you wish that you had known, when you were, say, 20-30 years old, that you know now.
I'm going to reply, but I don't want to influence any way, so I'll post later on in the thread.
Well, I will reply, if just one other person posts.
Or hey, even advice for us 40 year olds! We're all pretty clueless in our 20s.
But that's my point. What do you wish you had known at 20, that you know now, that might have made your whole adult life (pre-retirement) a bit easier?
I would tell my 20-year-old self that life is difficult but you're much, much stronger than you think you are.
That even though life will be difficult, a life rich in experiences (good and bad) and good relationships is worth living.
That when you need some help, someone will be there to throw a life line to you -- but not every single time. Sometimes you're just on your own. But you can handle it.
That money REALLY isn't all that important -- all you need is enough; and that, if you're lucky, the amount of income tied to a job/career won't influence you to turn down a job/career that you really love.
(This thread is going to be a bust, isn't it? LOLOLOLOLOLOL Oh well, I tried. LOLOLOLOLOL)
Which brings me to another one: You really need a good, healthy sense of humor (about your own self mainly) -- it will prevent you from taking others' opinions of you very seriously. THAT I was always blessed with. I just didn't know, at 20 -- or even 40, how very important it would be all through my life.
But that's my point. What do you wish you had known at 20, that you know now, that might have made your whole adult life (pre-retirement) a bit easier?
Truth! But do 20 year olds ever listen? I just turned 40 and I'm ready for ALL OF THE ADVICE!!!
My ex was in The Army. We got out and come home when I was about 30. In the course of conversation, when I was looking for a job, I told my MIL I didn't know what I wanted to do. She said, "Go to work for the government." I almost threw up -- LOL -- I said, "I DON'T WANT TO WORK FOR THE GOVERNMENT!!" She replied, "When it comes time to retire, you'll be glad you did."
I went to work for county government. I loved my job, I loved my coworkers, I had great benefits while I was working, and now that I'm retired, I am blessed with a very good pension. And just as an aside: my agency was, like every other agency, in touch with each other. It was NEVER a gravy train. I frequently worked uncompensated OT at least 30-60 minutes almost every day. I -- and my coworkers (not all, of course) -- came into work on many Saturdays and worked 2-4 hours -- all uncompensated. Until a law was passed and it became illegal to do so but I was many years into my career before that happened. Man, was I stupid. I'd NEVER do that again.
Truth! But do 20 year olds ever listen? I just turned 40 and I'm ready for ALL OF THE ADVICE!!!
The No. 1 thing I wish I had known at 20 was not to worry. What a waste of time and energy. (I'm just grateful that I never had insomnia -- I worried so much at times that I should have lost a lot of sleep.) The good times were plentiful and better than I ever could have imagined. The bad times were even more plentiful, and there was nothing I could have done to prevent them. HOWEVER, as I said in a previous post, I found out that I was much stronger than my young self ever dreamed she could be.
I cannot think of anything I would have done differently that would have changed my retirement.
My parents taught me to live within my means, to establish an emergency fund in order to be secure and self sufficient and they taught me to put aside additional money to invest for the future. My illiterate emigrant grandfather always told the family to put your money to work for you.
In addition I was always interested in learning, achieving and doing something worthwhile with my career and life. Along the way there were choices..forks in the road. I often wonder what would have happened if I had made different choices but that is only idle speculation. I did the best I could.
As we get older, it is easy to take trips down Memory Lane. It is easy to get caught up and retell the same old stories. I try to avoid doing those and to instead spend my time in the present looking forward to what I can do now and in the future.
That would depend on whether or not I knew how my current life would turn out. Iin other words, if I knew who and when I would marry, if nothing changed, for example -- OR if you are just talking about general advice. But for myself, my BIG mistakes started about the age of 16, so I would have to go back to age 15 and not 20.
If I did not know how my life would turn out, I would tell myself to obtain at least a bachelor's degree; to take better care of my teeth and gums, exercise more, and eat healthier after age 30 or so; and to not care so much about what other people thought -- and especially not my relatives.
If I did know how my future would be if I did nothing to change it, I would still tell myself the above, but I would add the following:
1. To have a career that would be almost immune to later technology and one that I would enjoy. (In my case, I think that would mean becoming a paralegal).
2. To not marry my first two husbands and to marry my first husband sooner. (My current husband and I have been married 35 years, and my only regret about that is that we did not meet sooner.)
3. To not adopt older children, and probably not even an infant or toddler. (I am not saying that no one should adopt, but that is was just a big mistake for us and for them, too. Our expectations were too high, which was our fault and not theirs.)
4. To move to a four seasons climate about 1990 and buy a nice home there ASAP.
Last edited by katharsis; 06-21-2019 at 08:54 AM..
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We're all pretty clueless in our 20s.
