The 20s are probably the best years of your life.
This is when you are introduced to the real world after being a terrible teenager for
years.
In the next few years, you are going to figure out what you are going to do with the rest
of your life.
Most people end up ruining their 20s by making horrible financial decisions that will bear
on their shoulders for many decades to come, such as student debt, although most people
take it when they are still teenagers.
Looking back at my life, I knew very little about money because I grew up in a family
where my parents didn't care about financial literacy, so I grew knowing very little about
money.
All they cared about were my grades at school.
Guess what happened?
I made every financial mistake you can think about?
I was naive, and I thought that I am know everything there is to know about money.
You can't blame me because no one taught me anything about money, I had to figure everything
on my own.
There wasn't even such a channel like proactive thinker that would teach me everything I need
to know about money.
I was on my own, but if I would go back in time, there are a few things I wish I knew.
If I knew these things, I would take different financial decisions, and I guess I would have
become financially free much sooner.
So if you are in your 20s or even a teenager, I think what I am about to share with you
is going to be extremely helpful because it's not like when you hit a certain age, you suddenly
get better at managing money.
Aren't there 40 or 50-year-olds who are still doing terrible financially?
that's why pay attention because what you are about to learn might be the most important
thing you will ever learn.
so give this video a thumbs up, and let's get right into it
Don't try to do everything on your own
Back then, I use to think that I can do everything on my own.
Why do I need a partner when I can outwork everyone?
But the reality is, having a partner in any project is going to save a lot of time and
mistakes because you always need a co-funder to balance you out.
It doesn't matter whether it is a startup, a small business, a YouTube channel.
If you can get a partner who is equally interested in that project, work together!
Yes, of course, you will have to share the profits or the business, but it's better to
share a huge pie rather than having a small little pie by yourself.
No matter how smart or talented you are, you are not perfect, especially in your 20s.
You are guaranteed to make a lot of mistakes, so you always need someone besides you to
tell you that you are wrong, and vice versa, of course.
Every project that I have started with a co-founder has always grown much faster than any project
that I did on my own.
So don't be selfish and learn how to work with teams.
Remember, you are still a kid, and your knowledge is very limited, so always be open to take
a look at the opposite side.
Of course, you could be right, but you also could be wrong, and being open-minded is going
to save you a lot of money and time.
2.
DON'T BE NAIVE
If there is one thing I would tell my younger self is - don't be naive.
When you are a 20-year-old college kid, you think that you have figured everything out.
You make all these plans only to grow a little up and realize how naive you were and that
the world works in a completely different way.
Or just because you work hard, you think you deserve more, but when you grow up, you realize
that no one cares about how hard you work.
What matters at the end of the day is the final outcome.
No one really cares about your grades.
Once you are out there in the workplace, what matters how much you can help the company
grow, your grades are the least important thing.
I remember how my friends use to take loans just to buy a cool car because that will get
them the girls.
I am not sure how naive you have to be to think like that.
Maybe there is a small number of girls who would hang out with you just because you a
cool car, even if you shouldn't hang out with such girls because all they want at the end
of the day is to drain the last dollar out of you.
All these naive perceptions push you to take horrible financial decisions and unnecessary
financial responsibilities, which brings me to point number 3.
3.
Don't take a financial responsibility you can't afford
I have many friends who fell in love in their 20s, got married, and already have kids that
go to school.
Whenever I talk to them, I really feel old because I don't have kids, neither am I married.
But the problem was that they were not ready for that financially, so right now, they can't
save money even though they are no longer in their 20s, but because they have kids and
a family to support, every penny they earn goes directly To their day-to-day expenses,
and they can't suddenly get rid of their kids and wives.
And because they have so many responsibilities,
the idea of losing that job freaks them out because they might be able to cut some of
their expenses, but they can't sacrifice their families for that, so they stick to that job
with their lives and are ready to do everything to keep it.
They literally pushed themselves into a corner, and now they will probably never leave it
for the rest of their lives.
They are forever trapped in that paycheck to paycheck lifestyle.
When you have a job, your career moves slowly.
You don't get promoted every day.
You don't even get promoted every year, so whenever you get that little promotion, you
slightly improve the quality of your life, which means you start spending more.
And if god forbid you overuse that credit card, you will spend your entire life just
trying to pay your bills.
So think twice before you commit to any serious financial responsibility.
4.
stay away from money wasters One of the worst things you can ever do is
develop a bad and expensive habit, especially when you are a 20-year-old kid who isn't making
a lot of money.
First of all, all the extra money you suppose to save and invest, you are going to waste
on another pack of cigars, alcohol or gambling, or whatever is your bad expensive habit is.
Number two, the opportunity cost of that habit is far bigger than you can possibly imagine.
An opportunity cost simply means how much that money would worth if you have invested
it otherwise.
A pack of cigarettes costs around 7 bucks and lets you are a regular smoker, and you
smoke a pack a day.
That's 210 dollars a month.
Let's say you start smoking when you turn 18,
If you instead invest that money in the sp500, for example, assuming you will make a 10 percent
rate of return, your portfolio will turn into 1.2 million dollars by the time you hit 58.
The question is, what's better?
Damaged lungs that you have to spend a fortune to recover when you are in your late 50s.
In fact, you will never probably entirely recover them no matter how much you spend
or 1.2 million dollars of assets?
I think the latter is a far better option!
Of course, if you are a billionaire, you shouldn't care, but you also shouldn't even watch this
video.
5.
You do not need a lot of money to have fun.
We always think that we need to spend money
to have fun.
While there is some truth to it, but that's not the entire story.
Renting a yacht with friends, throwing a huge party or traveling the world while staying
in expensive hotels is fun, but there are also plenty of ways to have fun without wasting
a fortune, like going for a drink with friends, traveling the world, and staying in cheap
Airbnb flats, or playing basketball or soccer with friends.
It could be whatever.
Some of the best ways I have ever had fun were the times I spent the least amount of
money.
In fact it's not about the money, but rather about the experience you get, how you feel
when doing what you are doing.
Especially if you have really good friends, then you can have all the fun in the world
and barely waste any money.
Remember the opportunity cost we have talked about?
Even if you can afford to spend a lot of money to have fun, don't!
You should rather Invest that money!
Remember that as you get older, your expenses will rise!
So having more money later in your life is a wiser option!
I don't mean that you shouldn't spend anything, there is no point in just keeping money in
your bank account, but you also have to be responsible for what you have.
There are more points I wanted to include in this video, but I will limit them to 5
points.
If Guys find this video interesting and helpful, I will definitely make part 2.
Anyways, If you have enjoyed this video, you
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Thanks for watching and until next.