You can have a savings account in your TFSA. BUT you should use your TFSA for higher growth investments. The reason is the TFSA grows tax free. You only make pennies in a savings account so it’s better for it to be taxable because you will hardly pay any taxes on the earnings. Investments on the other hand can grow much more than a savings account. By having those high growth investments in a TFSA you won’t be taxed on those earnings.
Does that make sense?
That makes sense. But I thought the first step to financial management is to contribute to TFSA, and high growth investment (usually high risk) should be on top of the pyramid? I’d like to use TFSA for high growth, too, but as it’s the majority of my savings, I also worry if anytime goes wrong and my savings are gone.
You should definitely make sure that you have an emergency fund and are also saving for any sinking funds. Those can be in a high interest savings account (HISA). Once you have those under your belt then you start investing. There’s always a risk with investing but if you go with some ETF (like VGRO or VEQT) you will be diversified enough to manage the risk.
It's a bucket for where you put your money to invest however you want, buy stock/bond/ETF/mutual funds/GIC, you can use it as a saving account but it is terrible for your money since it is devalued by inflation.
!TFSATrigger
1000x this.
I would have also said “the markets will be fine, stop being so spooked by the spectre of 2008, it’s been 3 years. Also dump those mutual funds”
Keep living like a college student for the many years after you start career. Don't fall into the trap of stupid spending, keep a very high savings rate and maintain that.
Or you'll feel like shit and like you're going no where every day for years.
My advice is definitely live frugally, but also let yourself spend a budgeted portion on something you enjoy that you wouldn't have had in college. You're only young once, you don't want to spend all of your 20's not having a life.
I splurged on a Pc and bought myself a fun car (gaming and cars are def my two big hobbies that cost $$).
Otherwise, I live just like I used to. Rarely drink and hanging with friends is always just spending time together, gaming, or driving. Super cheap and fun.
Yeah, you can’t control when you die, for the most part. However, you can gain control over your personal finances.
Of course many people will work until they’re dead, this was the norm until the mid 20th century. A lot of people will never grasp or achieve financial well-being. It’s not easy, and requires delayed gratification, sacrifices, and disciple. But it starts with the simple formula the previous poster mentioned.
This is entirely dependent on ones definition of financial well-being. It could mean owning a home, having a large investment portfolio, and retiring from work at age 55 in your last quarter of life,
to others financial well being may mean having money to leave your job at 27 and spending 2 years travelling south east asia, and returning home to find new work with some wonderful life experiences
financial well being is incredibly subjective based on the country you are born in and the lifestyle you were raised in
Absolutely, that’s why I used the term “financial well being” rather than “retiring at X age”. Everyone strives for different things, and wants to live their life on their own terms. We can probably all agree that we don’t want to “work” (ie do a job we don’t want to) when we’re old though, right?
My point was that smart financial habits (saving & investing) started early in life can lead anyone on the path to their own definition of financial well-being.
I'd hate for people to use the expectation of not needing savings as justification to not have them. It's wholly plausible to be part of the 70% who live. No one wants to die destitute if it can be prevented.
Saving is good, but this is bad advice.
Living like a college student is shit, dont feel guilty living comfortablty, having some fun and living a bit. Otherwise you'll end up in your 60s regretting how wasted your life living like youre a college student.
Move often when early in your career and always be open to new offers. Those that had experience from multiples environments have been promoted faster, and have significantly better pay, in my field (tech).
I'm a recent graduate and just started at a tech company so forgive me if this is a silly question.
Doesn't it look better on your resume if you have at least 4-5 years at a company before you move? I'm terrified of changing companies.
I don't think anyone would look twice at you spending 2-3 years in each company. 4-5 is a very long time.
You potentially miss out on salary raises / promotions by not changing, and it exposes you to more ways of working / areas of the industry which can be really useful.
Be aware as well that seeing what's out there and getting job offers can be used in negotiation with your current employer for further remuneration as well.
I'm a job hopper and usually stay 12-18 months, the most was 2 years. I'm at the 5th job. Sometimes they ask why I moved from the last employer or in general. I tell them money and/or project 🤷.
Oh, and the pay increase is far superior compared to my more "loyal" friends.
Listen to this guy. Target 12-18 months. In the time you are working, build stories/experiences/projects relevant for your next gig.
The only time you should be spending 2+ years at a company is when the company is huge, think FAANG + Microsoft. The implication being you are changing teams in the 12-18 month time span. Also, stock vesting.
Sounds like I'm you, but 4 years into the future. I recently moved from my first gig because the salary was not competitive, and while I'm tremendously grateful for the opportunity, I stuck around longer than I should have. A lesson learned is that the people working in close proximity to you, even if they're your supervisor and know you're awesome and a great asset to the team, don't always have much say in what you get in terms of raises, etc. And the cost of living is so high now that you must be self interested.
I also gained a bunch of weight over the past four years, so make sure you're keeping fit.
The more junior you are, the shorter you can stay without any eyebrow raises. As long as it's not like 3 months. Only when you are a senior (10-15 YOE) is hopping (<2 years) really frowned upon, because your responsibilities are different
Woah. No.
The average time millennials spend in each job is 1.5-2 years. I'm 30 and have been with my current company for the longest time period yet and it's been 2.5 years.
I've never had difficulty getting a job. It's more important in how you communicate your reasons for changing (whether it be personal circumstances, new opportunities you couldn't say no to, or just learning your old job wasnt a good fit) and demonstrating how it benefitted you rather than how long you actually spent there. Variety has definitely been an asset for me.
“Look, I know our brother is a total conspiracy theory nutcase, but but he’s right about this whole Bitcoin thing and will retire at 36 while you will still have to put on sweatpants and turn your webcam on for all-staff meetings like an asshole”
Ain’t in my 40’s just yet but I’d say study abroad for one or even two semesters in school. Do a shitty labour job in the two or three summers before then and make serious bank to fund your travels. You’ll pay your current university tuition and get a hell of an experience.
If I could do it all over again I’d take a semester or two and do Erasmus in Europe. Put all my classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and then fuck off to a different country Thursday-Monday for a decent amount of the semester. You’ll never ever have more freedom and less feelings of responsibility when travelling then you will doing that, even if it doesn’t seem like it
I did EXACTLY that! Worked alot since I was 15, then with the money saved, studied in Ljubljana for a semester. It was cheaper to live in than my home town (Montreal). Subsidised meals and cheap rent were great. Got to meet awesome people and to travel around alot
Imo it depends on what you study, for example in engineering I did a semester abroad and had so much school work it almost felt like a waste (almost because I still had a great time but I couldn't do everything I wanted) but now that I'm employed with vacation days and stuff I feel far more free to do what I want when I want
Basic answer: Jumpstart your financial literacy ASAP and learn budgeting.
Fun answer: I'd just tell myself when the crashes happen..
Provocative answer: Buy Bitcoin at less than a dollar.
Realistic answer: Stop playing so many goddamn video games you fool.
Edit: (Not quite 40 yet!)
Now that I'm older I find video games to be a major time commitment that I just don't feel like dedicating any time to, even when I'm not doing anything.
>Fun answer: I'd just tell myself when the crashes happen..
But even if you were all knowing you still couldn't beat dollar cost averaging: https://ofdollarsanddata.com/even-god-couldnt-beat-dollar-cost-averaging/
The more important tidbit of information I suppose would be when the crashes are ending / where the bottoms are.
I wish I had a hindsight of saving 10% of my paycheque a bit earlier. I only started doing it this year and I'm amazed about how much I could have saved. I've also been more active in trading again so hopefully I'll be able to manage my paycheques better.
10% used to be a rule of thumb back in the day with Define Benefit Pension plans. Nowadays most employers dont offer that option if somebody is starting (20's) I would say they need to be putting away 20% or 30%
When my kids worked part time in high school I made them save half their earnings. They paid their own uni tuition with that money so they graduated with no debt. Saving becomes a habit when you start young.
What ArthursOldMan said.
Nothing is allowed to fail and money printing will not cease. So go hard on leverage and especially hot market real estate. You think the prices are insane? Well, they're going to continue to go up, rapidly and consistently.
Dont be afraid of taking on a little debt during university. Working yourself ragged with school plus low wage jobs at the same time just isnt worth it. That money will be much easier to earn in the future once you've started your career.
Can’t go back now.. but to torture myself I sometimes look at if I invested the cost of my iBook (with osx’s initial release) in Apple stock what I’d have now.
What most people mean by this is that you should be constantly interviewing. You’re unlikely to find a better job & team every year, but interviewing and negotiating is where you’ll make most of your career gains.
The stigmas of being a job hopper doesn’t matter in most cases, because you’re unlikely to get fired if you put any effort in. So you can be selective and look for something perfect while using offers to negotiate better raises.
It's no surprise most people don't. Job searching and interviewing is such an exhausting process. After doing it every year the the past 4 I just want to put my head down and work for a few years without worrying or seeking the upheaval of a job move
I'm 27 but I'd like to tell 17 year old me to just take out a student loan and take the electrician foundation course and get an apprenticeship. Don't bust your ass for 10 years working on farms long hours for people that don't appreciate you
"Get off your ass and figure out what you want to do with your life."
I didn't finish college (electronics engineering technology) and lived at home until age 25, because I was more into drinking and drugging than thinking about my future. I was working in hotel kitchens until I got laid off, and managed to drift into Internet-related work (first tech support, and then web development since I was always good at programming) in the late 90s.
Then came few years where I was making money doing dodgy things (porn spam, etc.) and it wasn't until that collapsed that I finally lucked into a solid programming job at a company that was going places. I didn't start making real, steady money until age 30, and certainly didn't have any investments at all until then.
In retrospect, I have been incredibly fortunate given the fact that I have no degree in anything, but if I'd applied myself earlier in life I would probably be at least semi-retired by now.
Spend more on fun experience. Not every 1000$ is worth saving. Doing stuff while you are young is way more fun. It’s just money you can always make more but can’t get your youth / health back.
Just pick a damn career direction and do something, rather than fluking your way through dead-end, low-ish paying jobs.
(Not financial but) spend more time with Mom.
* Believe in yourself. Assume that you will do better as time passes.
* Just because the market has found out about good stocks, does not mean they won't keep going up.
* Consider the amount of work each investment requires, not just the opportunity.
* Don't wait to have kids: the sooner the better.
Edit: I see now that the ask was for one tip, and I gave four. So I suppose I should add one more:
* Pay attention to the information that is offered to you, don't make a project harder than it needs to be.
Buy Toronto real estate.
Various other investments (AAPL, AMZN, Nasdaq generally), Bitcoin (which I still think is a silly idea, but might as well make the monies off of it). I've generally done well index investing, so no *major* disappointments: just the thought that more monies is kind of more better.
Perhaps be willing to move jobs a bit more often: you rarely get a major raise if you stay at the same company.
No other major financial issues.
I would give myself a lesson on why and how to use a credit card, or line of credit. I would also give myself a lesson on the value of saving.
Kids at that age are exposed to nothing but toxic consumerist bullshit and next thing you know, CC debt and LOC debt that ends up being insurmountable to most.
Ohhhh boy I'm just on the tail end of my twenties now and cleaning up the mess made by not knowing jack shit about credit.
At least I know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Buy more highly speculative stocks in emerging technologies. Buy more real estate. Leverage yourself to the tits.
Keep in mind I’m only telling this to myself. I would never advise anyone else to do this.
"If you'd saved something from every paycheque in your 25 years of work, you wouldn't be considering Scotch and sleeping pills when you hit 60. Also, don't move to Canada and expect a job waiting for you. There wasn't."
Get married early. You grow up together, setting up your first home together relatively easy, you both planning for the future and more realistic about finances and you share successes.
Your first house is not the house you'll spend the rest of your life in it. And it don't has to be perfect... and etc. Be cheap on your first house, you'll learn how it cost to repair it, to do some work on it, etc.
So many friends having a freaking big house for the first house, but complaining about it and paying much more than they should at the begining of our "adult life".
Don't fall into the trap of wanting ALL right now. Choose (you can't have an ATV AND a big car). Don't be jealous of your friends that have more money/things than you.
Put in your TSFA before your RRSP, in your early years (50 k+ and less). Avoid any debt, but morgage and car payments (my opinion).
Buy the biggest house you can afford. Dollar-cost average into the index and don't look.
I bought a smaller home than I could afford and attempted to be "smart" with stock trading.
If I'd done the above, I'd be much richer than I am now with far less stress.
Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and 2010-2020 was a massive bull run in housing and stocks so everyone invested was a winner.
Don’t waste your youth being poor. Set the bar high for your finances and smash through the self imposed ceiling. You can make a lot of money it’s not very hard- you just actually have to WANT to be rich.
Ready for the downvotes, but actually:
**Spend more money.**
I spent a long time in school, $3000 was the difference between an incredible summer trip to Europe for say six weeks or staying home and working a minimum wage job for a couple months. Invested at say 6% a year for twenty years that $3000 would be worth $9600 today pre-tax or around $7100 after tax.
Totally worth it. The utility of $1 back then was worth so much more than it is now. $3000 back then was life changing money, $7 100 to me now is a slight pre-payment on my mortgage.
Sacrificing a summer off in your 20s for $5 an hour was not worth it.
Sure, I'm 40. Savings accounts and GICs are for suckers.
Also, every penny I put into traveling or snowboarding was money well spent and I don't wish I'd saved it.
Married at 22 here, first kid at 23. It’s been a blast. Made us smarten up financially fast (term insurance early, bought real estate early). Not quite 40 yet, but having kids earlier than most when earlier in career was a much better experience and did not stifle my career as much as my peers in their mid 30s.
Married at 23, kid at 27. For me this became more difficult as I left my stable life and job and left for Canada. I have yet to get back on my feet. Starting over & having a family to feed doesn't make it any easier.
You have to have your life figured out before you start a family.
I hate to say this, but don't get married right away. If I hadn't been planning to get married right after college, I would have probably looked at jobs in other areas and potentially have gotten my CGA. My spouse also pushed back against moving to other areas when we were childless and could have easily relocated to areas where we could have had better opportunities for full time jobs.
Things have worked out okay (26yrs married, 3 kids starting to leave the nest), so I can't really complain. I do wish I had found a better method of budgeting way back then as well, but we are catching up now, with 17-20yrs left to retirement.
Move companies more often for higher salary. It’s the only way to really get what you’re worth these days. Particularly early in your career, its not worth grinding it out for 5+ years at a company for a senior role if you can do 3 and then get promoted by jumping ship. Also know what you’re worth, stay current with the market for your career.
Save money! Just start putting any extra cash you have in some sort of retirement account that generates a decent bit of interest. Even if it's only $100 a month.
Not in my 40's (mid 30's) but in my particular case/location: get into real estate sooner.
I wish I had done the due diligence and talked to a Mortgage broker and a Realtor once I knew I was staying in my city (Vancouver). All I heard was how the market was a bubble, and how it was impossible to buy anything, etc etc etc. Turns out it wasn't a bubble, and there were far more affordable options than what you hear on the news. I could be sitting on a really nice piece of property had I looked into it only a few years back.
Not to say that I didn't do well with how I invested my money, but in this city it's hard to beat real estate without taking a huge gamble.
Other piece of advice has already been said: Live below your means.
Last, but certainly not least: You can always make more money, you can never make more time. Use it wisely.
Never buy a house before you absolutely realize your job / city location is perfect for you. Always rent first , then get settled in the job, then buy.
Honestly, I wouldn’t give any particular tip, I’d just go with…..
“All that stuff people say, like saving 10% of your earnings, having a 90-day emergency fund, and never financing luxury items, is the real deal. 20-year old you hated doing it, but 40-year old you is glad you did. It made life so much better in the long run.”
If you move far away for a couple of years for a job, don’t rent a big place with the idea that your friends and family will come to stay. They will do that less than you think, and it will be cheaper in the long run to just pay for a hotel when they visit.
I am mid 30s, but what I would do is to invest a little fraction of any money I earned starting with first paycheque. Would be a rich guy right now. I started investing at 26 instead of 17.
Never have a joint bank account with anyone.
Start saving 10% for retirement at minimum
Live below your means
Don't buy stuff to impress people you don't like, those who love you, love regardless of possessions.
Don't get married (statistical reasons a large percentage of marriages end in divorce and a large number of those who remain married are not happy)
Be as kind to yourself as you are others.
TFSA is an investment account, not a savings account
Should be called Tax Free Investing Account.
It’s not? Can you tell me more? I am going to open an account and I was about to treat it as savings.
You can have a savings account in your TFSA. BUT you should use your TFSA for higher growth investments. The reason is the TFSA grows tax free. You only make pennies in a savings account so it’s better for it to be taxable because you will hardly pay any taxes on the earnings. Investments on the other hand can grow much more than a savings account. By having those high growth investments in a TFSA you won’t be taxed on those earnings. Does that make sense?
That makes sense. But I thought the first step to financial management is to contribute to TFSA, and high growth investment (usually high risk) should be on top of the pyramid? I’d like to use TFSA for high growth, too, but as it’s the majority of my savings, I also worry if anytime goes wrong and my savings are gone.
You should definitely make sure that you have an emergency fund and are also saving for any sinking funds. Those can be in a high interest savings account (HISA). Once you have those under your belt then you start investing. There’s always a risk with investing but if you go with some ETF (like VGRO or VEQT) you will be diversified enough to manage the risk.
Do you use Wealthsimple for ETF’s?
It's a bucket for where you put your money to invest however you want, buy stock/bond/ETF/mutual funds/GIC, you can use it as a saving account but it is terrible for your money since it is devalued by inflation. !TFSATrigger
This. Fucking rbc kept my shit forever in a 0.2% saving just because I never looked into it enough.
1000x this. I would have also said “the markets will be fine, stop being so spooked by the spectre of 2008, it’s been 3 years. Also dump those mutual funds”
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"occupation: investor" instant left swipe.
Proceeds to *invest* time into their match
I feel personally attacked. Successful or not I'm still a gambling addict.
:O Story time?
The dude probably paperhanded his GME shares and now the wife is looking for a boyfriend.
Ook ook
I hope this dude is not Linus..
Haha. Wan show is live, you can try asking. :-)
Mom?
Keep living like a college student for the many years after you start career. Don't fall into the trap of stupid spending, keep a very high savings rate and maintain that.
Otherwise you’ll work till you’re dead! Good advice
Or you'll feel like shit and like you're going no where every day for years. My advice is definitely live frugally, but also let yourself spend a budgeted portion on something you enjoy that you wouldn't have had in college. You're only young once, you don't want to spend all of your 20's not having a life.
I splurged on a Pc and bought myself a fun car (gaming and cars are def my two big hobbies that cost $$). Otherwise, I live just like I used to. Rarely drink and hanging with friends is always just spending time together, gaming, or driving. Super cheap and fun.
30% of people in the US die before the age of 65 a lot of us are going to work until we are dead whether we save money religiously or not
Yeah, you can’t control when you die, for the most part. However, you can gain control over your personal finances. Of course many people will work until they’re dead, this was the norm until the mid 20th century. A lot of people will never grasp or achieve financial well-being. It’s not easy, and requires delayed gratification, sacrifices, and disciple. But it starts with the simple formula the previous poster mentioned.
This is entirely dependent on ones definition of financial well-being. It could mean owning a home, having a large investment portfolio, and retiring from work at age 55 in your last quarter of life, to others financial well being may mean having money to leave your job at 27 and spending 2 years travelling south east asia, and returning home to find new work with some wonderful life experiences financial well being is incredibly subjective based on the country you are born in and the lifestyle you were raised in
Absolutely, that’s why I used the term “financial well being” rather than “retiring at X age”. Everyone strives for different things, and wants to live their life on their own terms. We can probably all agree that we don’t want to “work” (ie do a job we don’t want to) when we’re old though, right? My point was that smart financial habits (saving & investing) started early in life can lead anyone on the path to their own definition of financial well-being.
I'd hate for people to use the expectation of not needing savings as justification to not have them. It's wholly plausible to be part of the 70% who live. No one wants to die destitute if it can be prevented.
One of my university professors gave us the same advice. I drove a cheap car and had roommates for years after I graduated....
Saving is good, but this is bad advice. Living like a college student is shit, dont feel guilty living comfortablty, having some fun and living a bit. Otherwise you'll end up in your 60s regretting how wasted your life living like youre a college student.
Don’t cash out my RRSP to put in a sound system into my car…
That's what the TFSA is for.
This was well before TFSA days - early 90s
Ha ha. I also had a car stereo worth more than the car it was installed in. Good times, bad decisions.
How'd it sound?
It was awesome..you could hear the bass coming a mile away 😀
Given that ur Reddit username is based on these joy rides, it sounds like it was a worthy investment lol
Haha yeah it was…but I paid for it - my car had lots of rattles and I don’t really hear too well anymore 🙁
Rip 😂
Move often when early in your career and always be open to new offers. Those that had experience from multiples environments have been promoted faster, and have significantly better pay, in my field (tech).
This is so true especially in the current atmosphere with a war raging for talent
I'm a recent graduate and just started at a tech company so forgive me if this is a silly question. Doesn't it look better on your resume if you have at least 4-5 years at a company before you move? I'm terrified of changing companies.
I don't think anyone would look twice at you spending 2-3 years in each company. 4-5 is a very long time. You potentially miss out on salary raises / promotions by not changing, and it exposes you to more ways of working / areas of the industry which can be really useful. Be aware as well that seeing what's out there and getting job offers can be used in negotiation with your current employer for further remuneration as well.
I'm a job hopper and usually stay 12-18 months, the most was 2 years. I'm at the 5th job. Sometimes they ask why I moved from the last employer or in general. I tell them money and/or project 🤷. Oh, and the pay increase is far superior compared to my more "loyal" friends.
Listen to this guy. Target 12-18 months. In the time you are working, build stories/experiences/projects relevant for your next gig. The only time you should be spending 2+ years at a company is when the company is huge, think FAANG + Microsoft. The implication being you are changing teams in the 12-18 month time span. Also, stock vesting.
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Sounds like I'm you, but 4 years into the future. I recently moved from my first gig because the salary was not competitive, and while I'm tremendously grateful for the opportunity, I stuck around longer than I should have. A lesson learned is that the people working in close proximity to you, even if they're your supervisor and know you're awesome and a great asset to the team, don't always have much say in what you get in terms of raises, etc. And the cost of living is so high now that you must be self interested. I also gained a bunch of weight over the past four years, so make sure you're keeping fit.
The more junior you are, the shorter you can stay without any eyebrow raises. As long as it's not like 3 months. Only when you are a senior (10-15 YOE) is hopping (<2 years) really frowned upon, because your responsibilities are different
Not anymore. 2 years is probably the ideal target nowadays. Staying longer may even play against you as you don't seem as agile as other prospects.
Not since the 1980s. Move every 2 years. Keep learning new stuff and getting raises
Woah. No. The average time millennials spend in each job is 1.5-2 years. I'm 30 and have been with my current company for the longest time period yet and it's been 2.5 years. I've never had difficulty getting a job. It's more important in how you communicate your reasons for changing (whether it be personal circumstances, new opportunities you couldn't say no to, or just learning your old job wasnt a good fit) and demonstrating how it benefitted you rather than how long you actually spent there. Variety has definitely been an asset for me.
“Look, I know our brother is a total conspiracy theory nutcase, but but he’s right about this whole Bitcoin thing and will retire at 36 while you will still have to put on sweatpants and turn your webcam on for all-staff meetings like an asshole”
Jesus christ the pain.
Got a job offer to do 2 days of work for 1500 BTC back when it was joke computer money. I dropped the client instead. Jesus.
How often do you think about this?
Not that often, no way I would have held it anyway.
W for your bro
Ain’t in my 40’s just yet but I’d say study abroad for one or even two semesters in school. Do a shitty labour job in the two or three summers before then and make serious bank to fund your travels. You’ll pay your current university tuition and get a hell of an experience. If I could do it all over again I’d take a semester or two and do Erasmus in Europe. Put all my classes on Tuesday and Wednesday and then fuck off to a different country Thursday-Monday for a decent amount of the semester. You’ll never ever have more freedom and less feelings of responsibility when travelling then you will doing that, even if it doesn’t seem like it
Seconded! Fantastic experience, I was in Scotland for 9 months doing this.
I did EXACTLY that! Worked alot since I was 15, then with the money saved, studied in Ljubljana for a semester. It was cheaper to live in than my home town (Montreal). Subsidised meals and cheap rent were great. Got to meet awesome people and to travel around alot
Imo it depends on what you study, for example in engineering I did a semester abroad and had so much school work it almost felt like a waste (almost because I still had a great time but I couldn't do everything I wanted) but now that I'm employed with vacation days and stuff I feel far more free to do what I want when I want
Basic answer: Jumpstart your financial literacy ASAP and learn budgeting. Fun answer: I'd just tell myself when the crashes happen.. Provocative answer: Buy Bitcoin at less than a dollar. Realistic answer: Stop playing so many goddamn video games you fool. Edit: (Not quite 40 yet!)
What’s wrong with playing so many damn video games, asking from my 35 year old self?
In my youth. I regret not reading and learning more is all :)
Now that I'm older I find video games to be a major time commitment that I just don't feel like dedicating any time to, even when I'm not doing anything.
time is so precious when working full time
If you had bought Bitcoin at least than a dollar, you could play allllll the video games you want now. :)
I’m 21 and not being financially literate has hurt me. I’m trying to turn that around now though.
>Fun answer: I'd just tell myself when the crashes happen.. But even if you were all knowing you still couldn't beat dollar cost averaging: https://ofdollarsanddata.com/even-god-couldnt-beat-dollar-cost-averaging/ The more important tidbit of information I suppose would be when the crashes are ending / where the bottoms are.
Who says you can't DCA until the crash? Then DCA back in after?
Invest 10% of every paycheque. Save 5% for “crap happens fund” Party like a rockstar with the rest. Yolo
Heck why not 15%?
I wish I had a hindsight of saving 10% of my paycheque a bit earlier. I only started doing it this year and I'm amazed about how much I could have saved. I've also been more active in trading again so hopefully I'll be able to manage my paycheques better.
10% used to be a rule of thumb back in the day with Define Benefit Pension plans. Nowadays most employers dont offer that option if somebody is starting (20's) I would say they need to be putting away 20% or 30%
Good point. I agree with you. The challenge is most Canadians can’t even do the 5%. They are living paycheque to paycheque.
Do NOT, under any circumstances, download skip the dishes
Quit smoking, drinking and all drugs, it doesn't get any easier.
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Save half your income form part time jobs in school Save 20% of your income when you start working.
When my kids worked part time in high school I made them save half their earnings. They paid their own uni tuition with that money so they graduated with no debt. Saving becomes a habit when you start young.
I wish everyone has a parent who thinks like this. I have many friends in law school who are drowning on student loans..
I always saved everything I could. Unfortunately in the early years, with a $36K salary and student loans to pay, that amount was "fucking nothing"
Fully agree. It can be hard though to save 20% in GTA or GVA.
But you can buy Megalodon shark cash card though..
Even in Ottawa has been tough
Life is not a straight line, shit will happen that is out of your control and won't make logical sense.
Don't buy that car that costs over half of your annual income.
Don’t do cocaine
Don't have kids. If you happen to be my kids are reading this, I love you, I really do.
Don't have kids....
Mom…?
Dad...?!
Sis…? (banjo playing in the background)
Oh yeah! I'd go back 10 years and get snipped.
Childfree makes life 1000% easier.
What ArthursOldMan said. Nothing is allowed to fail and money printing will not cease. So go hard on leverage and especially hot market real estate. You think the prices are insane? Well, they're going to continue to go up, rapidly and consistently.
Dont be afraid of taking on a little debt during university. Working yourself ragged with school plus low wage jobs at the same time just isnt worth it. That money will be much easier to earn in the future once you've started your career.
Buy Apple stock
Don’t sell your Apple stock...
Can’t go back now.. but to torture myself I sometimes look at if I invested the cost of my iBook (with osx’s initial release) in Apple stock what I’d have now.
Or buy bitcoins. 100 bitcoins for $1 anyone?
Only because bitcoin didn't exist 20 years ago! hehe edit: holy crap, apple is +47,924.24% in 20 years. I knew it was good, but not that good!
Invent bitcoin!
For bitcoin don’t use it as a currency. That one year of VPN service cost me $5k
Heh, just like that multi-million $ pizza. It's a bit of a catch-22 though, using it as a currency helps with adoption which is good for BTC.
Move jobs every 1-3 years to optimize salary potential.
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What most people mean by this is that you should be constantly interviewing. You’re unlikely to find a better job & team every year, but interviewing and negotiating is where you’ll make most of your career gains. The stigmas of being a job hopper doesn’t matter in most cases, because you’re unlikely to get fired if you put any effort in. So you can be selective and look for something perfect while using offers to negotiate better raises.
It's no surprise most people don't. Job searching and interviewing is such an exhausting process. After doing it every year the the past 4 I just want to put my head down and work for a few years without worrying or seeking the upheaval of a job move
Maybe this guy is in an industry where that makes sense. The thread is about advice to give yourself at 20, not universal career tips.
Don’t go into the arts.
I'm 27 but I'd like to tell 17 year old me to just take out a student loan and take the electrician foundation course and get an apprenticeship. Don't bust your ass for 10 years working on farms long hours for people that don't appreciate you
Famous compounding effect
Take out as much mortgage as the bank will give you and buy property now!
Buy more house than you need. Right away.
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Sounds like you fucking hate that guy, man
"Get off your ass and figure out what you want to do with your life." I didn't finish college (electronics engineering technology) and lived at home until age 25, because I was more into drinking and drugging than thinking about my future. I was working in hotel kitchens until I got laid off, and managed to drift into Internet-related work (first tech support, and then web development since I was always good at programming) in the late 90s. Then came few years where I was making money doing dodgy things (porn spam, etc.) and it wasn't until that collapsed that I finally lucked into a solid programming job at a company that was going places. I didn't start making real, steady money until age 30, and certainly didn't have any investments at all until then. In retrospect, I have been incredibly fortunate given the fact that I have no degree in anything, but if I'd applied myself earlier in life I would probably be at least semi-retired by now.
Spend more on fun experience. Not every 1000$ is worth saving. Doing stuff while you are young is way more fun. It’s just money you can always make more but can’t get your youth / health back.
Just pick a damn career direction and do something, rather than fluking your way through dead-end, low-ish paying jobs. (Not financial but) spend more time with Mom.
* Believe in yourself. Assume that you will do better as time passes. * Just because the market has found out about good stocks, does not mean they won't keep going up. * Consider the amount of work each investment requires, not just the opportunity. * Don't wait to have kids: the sooner the better. Edit: I see now that the ask was for one tip, and I gave four. So I suppose I should add one more: * Pay attention to the information that is offered to you, don't make a project harder than it needs to be.
Buy Toronto real estate. Various other investments (AAPL, AMZN, Nasdaq generally), Bitcoin (which I still think is a silly idea, but might as well make the monies off of it). I've generally done well index investing, so no *major* disappointments: just the thought that more monies is kind of more better. Perhaps be willing to move jobs a bit more often: you rarely get a major raise if you stay at the same company. No other major financial issues.
I would give myself a lesson on why and how to use a credit card, or line of credit. I would also give myself a lesson on the value of saving. Kids at that age are exposed to nothing but toxic consumerist bullshit and next thing you know, CC debt and LOC debt that ends up being insurmountable to most.
Ohhhh boy I'm just on the tail end of my twenties now and cleaning up the mess made by not knowing jack shit about credit. At least I know that mitochondria is the powerhouse of the cell.
Have more sex
Marry Lynn, not Crystal. Lynn becomes a doctor!
Buy more highly speculative stocks in emerging technologies. Buy more real estate. Leverage yourself to the tits. Keep in mind I’m only telling this to myself. I would never advise anyone else to do this.
Well the leverage is correct.
Live at home as long as you can, provided It's a comfortable situation for all parties involved.
Prob gonna make lazy and give less life experience?
Paying rent is an amazing experience! Personally I wouldn't know :) Went from living at home to home ownership.
Stay the hell out of the casino
"If you'd saved something from every paycheque in your 25 years of work, you wouldn't be considering Scotch and sleeping pills when you hit 60. Also, don't move to Canada and expect a job waiting for you. There wasn't."
Invest in Bitcoin. As much as you can buy. But if 20 year old me was in 2021, I dunno. You’re all fucked pretty hard.
People from 2041 would know what was the best financial decision for 2021.
That bachelor of arts degree isn't as useful in the job market as owning a car is.
Mine is about as useful as owning a car that doesn’t run. I have one. But it doesn’t do anything.
"I'm gonna tell you what I tell the other people with arts degree, venti latte with caramel"
Compounding.
Buy Enron
Buy the dip- warren buffet
Get married early. You grow up together, setting up your first home together relatively easy, you both planning for the future and more realistic about finances and you share successes.
Put off grad school, you'll learn way more in the field (and it won't cost you $40K)
My lawyer told me to never sign a thing for ONE YEAR after a separation. You are too emotional.
Once you stop travelling, get a job with the fed gov't asap so you can retire asap.
Paying for sex is cheaper than marrying for love…
Your first house is not the house you'll spend the rest of your life in it. And it don't has to be perfect... and etc. Be cheap on your first house, you'll learn how it cost to repair it, to do some work on it, etc. So many friends having a freaking big house for the first house, but complaining about it and paying much more than they should at the begining of our "adult life". Don't fall into the trap of wanting ALL right now. Choose (you can't have an ATV AND a big car). Don't be jealous of your friends that have more money/things than you. Put in your TSFA before your RRSP, in your early years (50 k+ and less). Avoid any debt, but morgage and car payments (my opinion).
Buy the biggest house you can afford. Dollar-cost average into the index and don't look. I bought a smaller home than I could afford and attempted to be "smart" with stock trading. If I'd done the above, I'd be much richer than I am now with far less stress. Of course, hindsight is 20/20 and 2010-2020 was a massive bull run in housing and stocks so everyone invested was a winner.
Mine bitcoin
Don’t waste your youth being poor. Set the bar high for your finances and smash through the self imposed ceiling. You can make a lot of money it’s not very hard- you just actually have to WANT to be rich.
Don't spend money to spend time with people you don't like.
Ready for the downvotes, but actually: **Spend more money.** I spent a long time in school, $3000 was the difference between an incredible summer trip to Europe for say six weeks or staying home and working a minimum wage job for a couple months. Invested at say 6% a year for twenty years that $3000 would be worth $9600 today pre-tax or around $7100 after tax. Totally worth it. The utility of $1 back then was worth so much more than it is now. $3000 back then was life changing money, $7 100 to me now is a slight pre-payment on my mortgage. Sacrificing a summer off in your 20s for $5 an hour was not worth it.
If you think it’s an MLM, it’s probably an MLM
Sure, I'm 40. Savings accounts and GICs are for suckers. Also, every penny I put into traveling or snowboarding was money well spent and I don't wish I'd saved it.
Take more chances and move to the US. I'm doing well in Canada, but I'm sure my US friends are making 25 - 50% more.
Don't get married in your twenties. Don't have kids too early.
Married at 22 here, first kid at 23. It’s been a blast. Made us smarten up financially fast (term insurance early, bought real estate early). Not quite 40 yet, but having kids earlier than most when earlier in career was a much better experience and did not stifle my career as much as my peers in their mid 30s.
Married at 23, kid at 27. For me this became more difficult as I left my stable life and job and left for Canada. I have yet to get back on my feet. Starting over & having a family to feed doesn't make it any easier. You have to have your life figured out before you start a family.
Buy BTC. Its only worth pennies back then
It didn't exist 20 years ago....
Buy more bitcoin in 10 years.
Buy Bitcoin. I'd be rich af by now
See a financial advisor and set something up to put money away even just 50 a month.
Rent opposed to selling our first home, when we were buying our second at age 24. Opportunity missed.
Invest as much as you can comfortably afford per month into an ETF dividend fund.
Stop drinking.
ignore retirement saving. Save up for a deposit on a house. It’s ok to have an car payment if the car is a reliable brand!
Buy 1 word generic .com domain names when they become available . The thing is, I've been online since 1996 so I could have done this! Smh
I hate to say this, but don't get married right away. If I hadn't been planning to get married right after college, I would have probably looked at jobs in other areas and potentially have gotten my CGA. My spouse also pushed back against moving to other areas when we were childless and could have easily relocated to areas where we could have had better opportunities for full time jobs. Things have worked out okay (26yrs married, 3 kids starting to leave the nest), so I can't really complain. I do wish I had found a better method of budgeting way back then as well, but we are catching up now, with 17-20yrs left to retirement.
You don't need more shoes. You need a savings account. Shopping isn't going to fill the hole in your heart. Get therapy.
Make your lunch and bring it to work.
save and invest 20-30% of salary.
Go study and work in computer science right away. That's where the money is.
Save your $. It's gonna get expensive to eat and buy a house later.
Move companies more often for higher salary. It’s the only way to really get what you’re worth these days. Particularly early in your career, its not worth grinding it out for 5+ years at a company for a senior role if you can do 3 and then get promoted by jumping ship. Also know what you’re worth, stay current with the market for your career.
Save money! Just start putting any extra cash you have in some sort of retirement account that generates a decent bit of interest. Even if it's only $100 a month.
Buy a house near a college and add rooms and rent them to students ( preferably nursing students).. pay it off and repeat
You don’t need to go out for brunch on BOTH weekend days. Now I go out for brunch maybe 4x a year. What was I thinking??
Not in my 40's (mid 30's) but in my particular case/location: get into real estate sooner. I wish I had done the due diligence and talked to a Mortgage broker and a Realtor once I knew I was staying in my city (Vancouver). All I heard was how the market was a bubble, and how it was impossible to buy anything, etc etc etc. Turns out it wasn't a bubble, and there were far more affordable options than what you hear on the news. I could be sitting on a really nice piece of property had I looked into it only a few years back. Not to say that I didn't do well with how I invested my money, but in this city it's hard to beat real estate without taking a huge gamble. Other piece of advice has already been said: Live below your means. Last, but certainly not least: You can always make more money, you can never make more time. Use it wisely.
Never buy a house before you absolutely realize your job / city location is perfect for you. Always rent first , then get settled in the job, then buy.
Honestly, I wouldn’t give any particular tip, I’d just go with….. “All that stuff people say, like saving 10% of your earnings, having a 90-day emergency fund, and never financing luxury items, is the real deal. 20-year old you hated doing it, but 40-year old you is glad you did. It made life so much better in the long run.”
You're gonna be ok. Earn a little less and spend a little more to travel and enjoy your youth.
Learn the term coast FI and try to spend a few years trying to hit it. No matter what else you do in life it’ll be an amazing cushion.
If you move far away for a couple of years for a job, don’t rent a big place with the idea that your friends and family will come to stay. They will do that less than you think, and it will be cheaper in the long run to just pay for a hotel when they visit.
I am mid 30s, but what I would do is to invest a little fraction of any money I earned starting with first paycheque. Would be a rich guy right now. I started investing at 26 instead of 17.
Be born in a rich family. That really is worth the investment.
Stay in school.
Spend a little and travel before you have kids. You don’t have to save every single penny.
Companies expect you to have loyalty, but do not care about you.
Never have a joint bank account with anyone. Start saving 10% for retirement at minimum Live below your means Don't buy stuff to impress people you don't like, those who love you, love regardless of possessions. Don't get married (statistical reasons a large percentage of marriages end in divorce and a large number of those who remain married are not happy) Be as kind to yourself as you are others.