I moved back home to St. Louis from San Diego on the day I turned 26. It was like getting a fresh start with a new job, new apartment, new furniture etc. With time comes wisdom and if I knew then what I know now, at 42, there are some other things I would have started in my new chapter as well. These are my three main tips from my 42-year-old self to my 26-year-old self.
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Take Care of Yourself More
I’m sure this one is on everyone’s list. My 20’s and 30’s were comprised of working a lot of hours throughout the week. On weekends during events, I would go in early, come home super late, and subsist on whatever I could find to eat to get me through the day, which was a lot of butter soaked, fried things, pizza and cake. Exercising was a very sporadic thing; in slow months I would start walking or running but then go back to only getting steps at work when things got busy again. This led to health issues like high cholesterol and high A1C over time, and now at 40 getting those numbers down and trying to get into a regular workout routine is much harder, and worrying about my health became much easier and constant (especially with a 5-year-old running around).
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Value Your Time More
This is one I learned after having my son at 38. Once I had him, my time was also his time, and I instantly became fiercely defensive of it. I began delegating more at work so I wasn’t working way over 40 hours, I stopped taking on free labor tasks that were not in my job description (because time is money, and if you’re not getting the money, you should not be giving your time), and I started saying no to things that I didn’t absolutely want to do. This also helped decrease stress as well as save time.
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Invest More
I have never been great with saving aside from 401k contributions (which my mother ingrained in me was a non-negotiable). I was always more of a spender who was a big proponent of retail therapy. Now that I am older, I have gotten much better, especially with paying off credit cards monthly. But one thing I always think of is where I would be if I would have saved and invested more and where I would be if all that credit card interest and all the money spent on things I no longer have over the years would have been invested. I would be a lot closer to early retirement than I am and would have had other options to invest in myself over the years.
Now, there are plenty of personal finance podcasts and books out there to get the financial information you weren’t taught in school. One thing learning more about personal finance has taught me is that it’s never too late to start. I started a Roth IRA just last year and am working my way up to getting it maxed out each year. Now, before I buy something, I ask myself if I really need it and if it is worth working an extra day, week or year before retirement, since money saved is money invested. It’s also never too early to start, I’ve already started my son on a path of investing for his future as well.
