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As there is a thread about great decisions , what about decisions you got wrong or /regret during your time?
I would say taking on a managers role at a company after 18 months being there only to realise I wasn't management material and it really took confidence away from me but I got better as time went on.
Being complacent. Not going where the money was. I liked what I did, nested for 15 years, relocated to another state with the same agency, changed agency, never tried for higher grades.
Location: We_tside PNW (Columbia Gorge) / CO / SA TX / Thailand
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Don't like these 'regret' threads, as there is always a LOT of room for improvement.
From my perspective... tho a great and varied 'career' (international + Skilled tasks + professional tasks) (All great choices)...
regret would be Not realizing a 'career' puts you on a 'PATH" of 'working / indentured' for the best (most healthy / productive) part of your life (or 30 - 40 yrs). really quite a slow way to build wealth, possibly an "impossible route to independence"
There was a much simpler, faster, and rewarding way to get to the same place in life... (which I regret NOT taking...)
Take some risk, Get into something you REALLY enjoy and have latitude to improve.
REPLACE your wages (hourly / monthly work) with a cash flowing - inflation protected income stream (ASAP)
No career / J-O-B required! Lifetime income and wealth building from day one!
Can be many things, generally... Real Estate investing / private businesses / inventions / products / family businesses / apps! / blogs ....
There is always a chance of "Back-fire", so cover your options and pick yourself up and try again.
I loved my career! Early on, basic science research utilizing earth satellite imagery in the study of the earth's renewable and non-renewable resources; later on, monitoring and commanding two instruments on earth-orbiting environmental satellites. I didn't have a "job" . . . I got paid for a hobby. If I had a "do over" in my career life, I wouldn't change a single thing!
I'm not one to look back and wallow. So far, even the poor decisions seem to have pushed us in directions we wouldn't have otherwise chosen. It's all worked out.
No bad decisions. Made the best choices I knew how to make, given the circumstances of my life at the time. Learned something with every career choice along the way and tried to use that knowledge in the next gig. Some of those choices had stinging repercussions, but like putting your hand in the fire, I learned not to do it again.
Trying not to regret my life decisions at this point. As they say, "All Roads Lead to Rome".
Not realizing soon enough that if you have ambition to move up in your career, you have to make it happen yourself - don't expect your managers/bosses/etc. to have your best interests at heart.
If you're a great performer, they don't want to lose you to somewhere else (they very much enjoy benefitting from the fruits of your labor), but they also want to spend as little $/effort as possible to keep you. Some will even go so far as to purposely sabotage your career ambitions (as long as it meant you have no other choice but to keep working for them).
Over the course of my career (three different organizations, and seeing first-hand how dozens of managers operate), I'd optimistically say that at best, 1 in 5 to 1 in 6 managers treat their employees well (particularly their star performers). The rest, well - I think I summarized that just above.
Not understanding investing and retirement accounts earlier but it's not too late.
I second that. I knew about compounding but did really learn about investing until middle of my career.
Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulK1
As there is a thread about great decisions , what about decisions you got wrong or /regret during your time?
I would say taking on a managers role at a company after 18 months being there only to realise I wasn't management material and it really took confidence away from me but I got better as time went on.
Like one other said here I made what I thought and still think we're the best decisions at the time. Changing old decisions may not have resulted in better results.
I am happy with the way things have come out.
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really quite a slow way to build wealth, possibly an "impossible route to independence" 
Lifetime income and wealth building from day one!
