Image from Pinterest
The calendar is slowly catching up with my age. Sooner or later, I can say that my age can no longer be found in there. As I look back at my early 20s, there are things I definitely regret. These are the things I didn’t do when I was just fresh out of college.
I was fortunate to be given a job right after graduation. That was perhaps one of the greatest blessings of my life. And I was never out of work since then. I did resign from my teaching job once but I landed to another job swiftly. Then I was fortunate to be back in my teaching profession after 6 months and since then, never look back. I have been teaching for nine years now.
However, there are financial things I definitely regret that I wish I could have done. I admit I was years late with regards to personal finance and investments. If I were given a chance to somehow advise the 20 year old me, here are five things I could have said.
#1 Save early. You could have saved early dear. I know this was the first the time you had a job where you are earning more money than you usually get. However, this is not an excuse that you would lavishly use up your salary and wait until the next payday. That is also not an excuse for you to be complacent with money. Even if you know you are getting money every payday, you could have set aside some for your savings.
#2 Invest early. The best time to invest was years ago. Imagine the amount you could have generated after nine years of investment. Your money could have ballooned. You should start looking for investment options not only in the stock market but also in banks. They have investment funds you can ask that are relatively low.
#3 Say no to debts. Because of being complacent with your money resources, you acquired a lot of debt in the process. This even grew five times your monthly salary. This is because you have a lot of credit cards in your wallet. You immersed yourself in the world that you cannot afford. Hence you swipe your cards over and over again. Then you realized, you can no longer pay. The credit cards are hounding and calling because of non-repayment and interests ballooned as well.
#4 Keep credit cards to a minimum. Having a lot of credit cards led to money demise. Hence, you have a huge debt above your head at such a young age. Credit cards are really enticing especially if you have a lot of it in your wallet. But your consumption pattern also shifted. It would be best to keep only one credit card where the limit is very much the same as your monthly salary. Control your spending and ditch other cards with higher credit limits. Because you know for one, you cannot afford it.
#5 Live simply. You were literally keeping up with the joneses when you were young. You would want the latest phone and gadgets in the market. You hoard clothes that you only used once. You would want to be in line with the trend and what’s in. No wonder, you incurred a lot of debt. Regardless if you have money in your disposal, your lifestyle should not change. You must keep things simple.
And here’s an extra one that is equally helpful.
#6 Invest in yourself. You could have learned financial education and personal finance very early. You could have researched better how to manage your money. You could have read books on how to invest. More so, seek experts on how to get started. I knew personal finance because of a seminar in school that I ditched for the longest time. That inspired this blog and that made me realize a lot about money.
If you are no longer in your 20s, don’t worry. It is never too late to save and invest. If you are in your 20s, start now. You have the time and money in your hands. I can only look back on the years that were spent not minding money. However, I am trying my best to be on track. I hope you are too.
P.S To those doing the 52 Week Money Challenge, did you deposit the next amount yet?
P.P.S Want to know more about investing, savings, stock market and more, check out my reference here. You can download free ebooks and resources too.
P.P.P.S I am also sharing my stock market secrets and information via these resources.