TheGrinchSR wrote:The worst piece of financial advice in history is to believe in the power of compound interest. When you take into account inflation... most bank accounts, in the West and here, will barely allow your money to keep pace with its initial purchasing power.

It needs qualifying... compound interest only works for you when you beat the rate of inflation. And to do that, you need to invest in things that deliver bigger returns. Buy land, buy businesses, buy collectibles, etc. but don't stick it in the bank. When Ben and Arthur retire they're going to find their millions ain't worth much. And no fund in the universe produces 12% annual returns for 40 odd years...

Agreed. They feed people bullshit like that in Sunday Financial sections of newspapers. Total horse crap. Regularly saving is good, but the way they try to make people believe they'll be millionaires by saving xxx per month in a 15% fund is ridiculous to say the least.


I'd tell myself specific dates and stock ticker symbols..


Seriously though, I'd also probably tell myself to study a different major. I'd tell myself way more at 16 or so, but at 22 I'd probably focus on convincing myself to switch up majors.

TheGrinchSR wrote:The worst piece of financial advice in history is to believe in the power of compound interest. When you take into account inflation... most bank accounts, in the West and here, will barely allow your money to keep pace with its initial purchasing power.

......

Thanks for bursting my bubble lol. Either way, I would have told my 22 year old self to do something smarter with my $, rather than blowing it like I have...but I must admit, I've had a great, fun filled life so far and I'm doing well now, no regrets.

Learn the scientific method and live by it.

Don't get involved with women.

Don't take life too seriously, it will only make your already short existence that much more miserable.

Take up photography as a hobby.

Travel as much as possible while you are single.

i live with no regrets, ive done a hell of a lot more in my 28 years alive than most people get to do in a life time,
although at 22 i did get a mrs for a year and had a break from kickboxing, i would have told myself to not get involved with her and carried on with my boxing, i was No.1 in the UK and had made a name of myself, but then i went dormant for a year, still trained every now and then but stopped fighting for a year, but when i got back into it and started fighting again a year n half later id put some size on through lifiting a few weights and couldnt get back down to my old fighting weight for a british title fight, and it nearlly killed my trying to do so, i ended up having to cancel the fight 3 weeks before and retired from fighting..
But i came out of retirement last year and got flown over to Norway for a big fight, at a lot higher weight than i used to fight at haha i used to fight at 62kg and this fight was at 75kg haha

Funny you mention sports... This is quite a bit before age 22, but if I could, I'd tell myself not to quit fencing. I was one of the top fencers in my country, always getting on the podium at every tournament, including joint ones with foreign "tours". Given that fencing has a relatively small pool of practitioners, it's highly likely I could have gone on to the Nationals and then the Olympics once I got a bit older (1-3 years). I dominated my part of the country. However, I eventually stopped because I was an angry teen who hated everything and retreated into a shell. My parents were baffled and to this day, I regret stopping because I missed out on several amazing experiences. I don't dwell over it, but when I'm reminded about it, it does kind of annoy me.

At 22, I had joined the military and finished school. Instead of getting married, I traveled instead.

Best thing I ever did.

Bitte_Kein_Lexus wrote:Funny you mention sports... This is quite a bit before age 22, but if I could, I'd tell myself not to quit fencing. I was one of the top fencers in my country, always getting on the podium at every tournament, including joint ones with foreign "tours". Given that fencing has a relatively small pool of practitioners, it's highly likely I could have gone on to the Nationals and then the Olympics once I got a bit older (1-3 years). I dominated my part of the country. However, I eventually stopped because I was an angry teen who hated everything and retreated into a shell. My parents were baffled and to this day, I regret stopping because I missed out on several amazing experiences. I don't dwell over it, but when I'm reminded about it, it does kind of annoy me.

I wasn't nearly the best in America, but I feel the same way about baseball. I was damn good, probably could have gotten University scholarships. That alone would have been life changing. Who knows.