What would you tell your younger self about finance?

Financial Chat
21

Start planning for your old age, now.

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23

Stop buying brand new cars.
Loose so much in depreciation

Save regularly

Have a 5yr, 10yr plan ie house deposit getting married plan

Stop partying

Plan for retirement

24

All the usual stuff applies (save more, overdrafts are way too much temptation, donā€™t buy excessive amounts of coffee), but Iā€™ve got a slightly different perspective.

My parents grew up with basically nothing, but grew up in a time where they could start from less than zero and make their way. They were able to support my sister and I, and even sent us to university in the United Kingdom (Iā€™m from Malaysia originally). Anyone who knows about international uni fees here will understand thatā€™s no mean feat.

I think I would tell my (slightly younger) self to chill out a little. When I first started working three years ago, I was like, Iā€™m gonna get a house in five years! (ha.) Thereā€™s no way Iā€™d be able to compare to my parents and how much they would have earned by now - itā€™s a different time, Iā€™m in a different career, and I still have a long way to go. Just have to keep on being sensible with my money :blush:

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25

Life is short, enjoy yourself.

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26

:facepunch: I wish I had read this when I was younger.

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27

You donā€™t need that Barclays credit card!! Close the application and save your self 4 years of learning the hard way that money belonging to companies needs to be paid back!! Save even Ā£20 a week it will mount up quickly.

28

I always hate myself when Cryptocurrencies come upā€¦ I became interested in them back in 2013/14. If I had kept my 2 BTC (which I bought for just over Ā£4 each), Iā€™d have had almost Ā£25,000 at the peak value :frowning:

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29

Seeing as Iā€™m still young, I can only tell myself things now.

I am starting to follow them though - Iā€™ve reduced myself to 2 credit cards (with a total limit of Ā£1000), which I can pay off with my next bursary payment and not use any credit in the future.

I then just need to start figuring out how to saveā€¦

Liam

30

For anyone sad about having missed out on cryptocurrencies, donā€™t worry, there is worse: http://uk.businessinsider.com/bitcoin-pizza-10000-100-million-2017-11 :joy:

31

What about the shares in apple that the third founder sold for $800?

Now worth about $58 BILLION

32

Would you replace this with:

  • buying used cars
  • leasing cars
  • buying a single car and maintaining it
  • other?
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33

This is something I wish was taught in schools, once you understand that concept everything becomes very different.

What key things come to mind when you mention this?

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34

Actually personal finance is part of GCSE LLW. In my daughterā€™s school one of the compulsory GCSE choices is either that, or RE. Not perfect but itā€™s a good start and Iā€™m interested to see exactly how much detail they go into

35

More power to you. Can you elaborate as to why your saving ratio is so high? Whatā€™s the end goal? A house. A car. Private school fees for future kids. Wedding costs. Retirement pot. Investment capital. Just general wealth accumulation. Iā€™m interested as I aim to save a good % in future but maybe not so high as 50% as one cannot take money beyond the grave.

36
  • Learn what double entry book keeping is earlier and keep track of what you spend. Things are meant to be enjoyed, but learn where you could spend less when needs be!
  • Make a 3 month emergency fund earlier. Helps if companies donā€™t pay you, you get made redundant via a company going insolvent, or you need something fixed in an emergency!
  • Get a credit card earlier to build your report based on credit. Start off small, and build your limit!

A basic explanation of double entry book keeping is, is what monzo do by placing the transactions into categories. Money comes in from somewhere and goes out to somewhere. For example: Money comes into your bank account via Income (1 Entry in Income, 1 Entry into Bank Account). Money goes out of your account into Groceries (1 Entry in Bank Account, 1 Entry into Groceries).

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37

Two words: Compound interest.

image

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38

Save 10% of your disposable income.

Donā€™t get a student overdraft.

Limit yourself to one credit card.

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39

And by this do you mean pension, S&S ISA, other?

Do you know any of the key topics? Credit, what it is and how and when it is appropriate, how pensions work, how much of your income you can expect to go on rent/food etc, where not covered in my time at school.

40

I mean - when it comes to saving, donā€™t underestimate the importance of starting early

1 Like
41

Buy bitcoin when you first heard of it, would have been a millionaire

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