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Watch your diet. Avoid sugary/starchy processed foods. You do not want Type 2 and the meds that come along with it.
Exercise but be sure to switch it up and cross train so that no one area of your body is constantly being pounded to the point of wearing out.
Invest time, love and money into your children while they are at home. Prepare them to launch well.
Agree with those suggesting Roth IRA contributions.
Agree with staying on top of your debt and working towards paying off your house.
Agree also with those saying to enjoy life and have fun experiences while you're young and healthy. The older you get the more things go off the table for you.
Watch your diet. Avoid sugary/starchy processed foods. You do not want Type 2 and the meds that come along with it.
Exercise but be sure to switch it up and cross train so that no one area of your body is constantly being pounded to the point of wearing out.
Invest time, love and money into your children while they are at home. Prepare them to launch well.
Agree with those suggesting Roth IRA contributions.
Agree with staying on top of your debt and working towards paying off your house.
Agree also with those saying to enjoy life and have fun experiences while you're young and healthy. The older you get the more things go off the table for you.
OP - here's a thought exercise:
Imagine yourself a couple decades from now, and you know you will are not long for this world.
Looking back on your life, what regrets would you have (places to see, things to learn or do, relationships with others, etc.).
Well - what can you do between now and then to make those not regrets of missed things, but instead fond memories of what you DID do with your life?
OP - here's a thought exercise:
Imagine yourself a couple decades from now, and you know you will are not long for this world.
Looking back on your life, what regrets would you have (places to see, things to learn or do, relationships with others, etc.).
Well - what can you do between now and then to make those not regrets of missed things, but instead fond memories of what you DID do with your life?
This exercise is double-edged. Imagine that you're going to die 5 minutes from now. What are your regrets? My answer would be, that whereas assuredly I've lived an imperfect, flawed and occasionally foolish life, there's nothing incredibly compelling that I yearn to do, that is undoable, now that only 5 minutes (counting down... only 4 minutes!) remain. So instead I'd just sit quietly and think. Maybe write a final note (3 minutes left...). The note would be brief, perhaps a bit florid on account of personal vanity, but (2 minutes left), it wouldn't be exasperated. It wouldn't be some screed of self-berating or a wailing at a cruel-world that didn't leave enough opportunity or capacity to (down to the final minute now) enjoy oneself. It would be mostly... acceptance.
Time's up.
.....
Are we still here? OK, then... extrapolate from 5 minutes, to 20 years. Is your answer starkly different? Mine isn't.
I'm probably a little more than two decades out, but here's the advice I'd have given myself earlier on.
1) Look for a job with a defined benefit pension, preferably government in a financially solvent state. If you are an all-star in the corporate world, you'll probably come out better than with a government position, but after working for numerous private businesses and now a local government, the government pay is competitive (if not better) than many smaller private sector companies, especially in flyover country.
2) Salary isn't everything. Benefits and flexibility mean a lot. I work from home. Most people would love to have my lifestyle. I always semi-joke that I'm somewhere between employed, unemployed, and semi-retired, but a paycheck comes in every two weeks.
3) Picking the wrong partner is probably worse than not having one at all. I've seen a lot of my friends and family go through contentious divorces and custody battles. I know a lot of people who are in miserable marriages. No one is going to be perfect, but I would rather be alone than be with someone who just adds stress and problems to my life.
4) Things like travel probably shouldn't be put off indefinitely. Who knows what can happen with health.
5) You shouldn't have kids unless you are 100% certain you want them and are fully committed to that partner.
20 years out may be a little early to check out AARP. You may have to be 50 before becoming a member. A spouse could be younger. You could check out the issues AARP is dealing with.
When you join AARP may be bombarded with advertisements designed for older people.
You can actually join AARP at any age - I joined when I was like 39 or so to get a cell phone discount.
I'm also about 20 years out, have the state benefits job with pension but am utterly miserable. It's probably the only way I'll be able to retire early--running the numbers, even still saving 15% in a private sector 401k job, I'll wind up with a lot less. I fantasize about retirement daily. I keep trying to keep my eye on the prize, but I don't think I can handle it 18-20 more years. Even treating it as just a paycheck and trading time for money doesn't make the daily grind any better.
I've traveled for work at a previous job and loved it. I saw areas of the country I might have never seen. If you enjoy that, travel at every opportunity. Pick up hobbies; do things you enjoy outside of work and anything that's a physical activity, do it now in the event of health issues later. Yes, pick the right marriage partner. That's easier said than done, as I don't know anyone who goes into a marriage knowing or anticipating it to fail.
I spend tons of time on this forum to gain perspectives of retirement--what people did, how they've lived/saved, if they loved/hated their jobs, how they made it all these years working without going insane, activities they do in retirement, what the life of freedom is like, etc.
I was once laid off with a severance package close to the holidays. I had that, plus unemployment, plus an occasional cash job running errands for someone. It was wonderful and a taste of retirement--a 3 legged stool of income with freedom to do whatever (on a VERY limited budget). I learned that I love to cook. The house had never been cleaner, yard maintained, etc. Best of all, I felt more productive being a "house husband" than I did at any other job. I also go to sleep in and stay up late. After that, all I've done is look forward to retirement; it ruined me.
I'm probably a little more than two decades out, but here's the advice I'd have given myself earlier on.
1) Look for a job with a defined benefit pension, preferably government in a financially solvent state. If you are an all-star in the corporate world, you'll probably come out better than with a government position, but after working for numerous private businesses and now a local government, the government pay is competitive (if not better) than many smaller private sector companies, especially in flyover country.
2) Salary isn't everything. Benefits and flexibility mean a lot. I work from home. Most people would love to have my lifestyle. I always semi-joke that I'm somewhere between employed, unemployed, and semi-retired, but a paycheck comes in every two weeks.
3) Picking the wrong partner is probably worse than not having one at all. I've seen a lot of my friends and family go through contentious divorces and custody battles. I know a lot of people who are in miserable marriages. No one is going to be perfect, but I would rather be alone than be with someone who just adds stress and problems to my life.
4) Things like travel probably shouldn't be put off indefinitely. Who knows what can happen with health.
5) You shouldn't have kids unless you are 100% certain you want them and are fully committed to that partner.
wrong partner is a relative thing
we dont share the same interests or hobbies
we dont like the same places to visit
but intimacy is good and we agree on raising kids the same way
no marriage = no divorce
I did all the traveling i wanted to , no desire anymore
other than wanted to see land of slavs well that cant happen for a long time anyway
agree benefits are very important
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