Comments on: Looking for people in your 20s, 30s, and 40s — what do you wish you’d saved for?

By: Martin

Martin — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 01:15:57 +0000

Wow, this is very informative… will soon be able to invest and do the right thing with my finances. I’ll be paying attention to this blog for a while.

By: Doreen Awiti

Doreen Awiti — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 23:24:28 +0000

I wish I had invest way earlier, bought lots of stocks and bonds .But its okay. I am on my way there.

By: Mike Pastore

Mike Pastore — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:42:24 +0000

I wish I started to handle my personal finances properly 10 years ago. But it’s alright, although I didn’t learn how to spend money wisely in my early years, I am practicing it right now. As the saying goes, “it’s better late than never”.

For tips on personal finance, visit http://www.mikesmillions.com/blog.

By: DigitalSkater

DigitalSkater — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 20:18:12 +0000

im 24. I wish someone would have told me how to put that money three ways when i was fifteen. then i wouldn’t be in this mess.
“open three bank accounts, or three envelopes. its all the same if you’re just getting started. everytime you get money, before you do anything else with it, split it up into those. keep two savings accounts and keep adding to them. pick one to never touch. now, try to not make F*$#%-up decisions, okay?”

By: Andy

Andy — Fri, 03 Jul 2009 16:29:55 +0000

Thinking back at 31, two things I wish I would have done in college would be to study abroad and work while in school.

First, study abroad. I feel that getting rid of our US-centric mindset will help the US compete better in the global economy. Just understanding another culture provides insights that you cannot get from a book. Knowing a second or third language makes you immenently more marketable. I currently work overseas and work with people that know 3 or 4 languages, and they are called secretaries. I am struggling just to pick up #2, French.

Secondly, I would have tried harder to participate in work-study or gotten a part time job while in school. I worked my tail off in the summers to not work during the school year. Thankfully I had parents willing to pay for tuition (my 1/2 scholarship covered the rest and I paid for my own books and entertainment) to give me an advantage they never had, to be a debt free college grad. However, just by working 10 hours a week I could have funneled $1 or 2k a year into a Roth, or saved for a house down payment while in school. Instead, at the beginning of every summer I was nearly broke and when I left school, I may have had no debt and a good job, but I was starting from zero.

By: Anton

Anton — Wed, 01 Jul 2009 07:13:53 +0000

Cool idea!

Out of curiosity I would also love to hear the result of a similar survey answering what people today wish thay had done 10 years ago.

Thanks for an excellent blog!

Anton

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 21:21:24 +0000

I didn’t save much during my years of university but I worked very hard every summer (50hrs +) so that I could spend freely during the 8 months of school. Spring Break vacations, partying with friends and school trips far outweighed the happiness I would have enjoyed if I could look at a large lump sum of money in my account at the end of school. I still managed to graduate debt free so I know I am ahead of many fellow recent graduates. Reading Ramit’s book has shown how automating my money can help me save for the things I didn’t think I could ever afford.
So truthfully my personality type flourishes on maintaining both a hectic work and party schedule and thus I don’t need to worry about my daily account activities as everything is automated.

By: SP

SP — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 19:52:17 +0000

I didn’t save much, and I do wish I saved a little cushion… but I’m more glad that I spent $$$ on study abroad and traveling while I was there. Even if it was partially student loans. Best decision ever.

By: Alison

Alison — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:58:16 +0000

I wish I would have saved more in the summers and on breaks so I didn’t have to work during school. I ended up relying on credit cards, and when the balance grew to be more than I was comfortable with, I left school to work full time. It is easy to look back and say now that my costs were so minimal, an extra shift or two each week serving tables would have meant I could relax a little during the school year, and I would have graduated much sooner.

By: ziilander

ziilander — Tue, 30 Jun 2009 17:01:49 +0000

30’s crowd. It’s really hard to save and I’m operating on cash and no credit (my credit score over 700) 10 years ago, I wish I bought stocks in google and bought a 50,000 home early then sold at the boom for 150k, but that was just wishful thinking and couldn’t tell the future. I feel people got rich quick in real estate and gambling in the stock market and they are still living off of that. I need to do something that pays me in cash so that uncle Sam can’t take it away from me. I predict green energy is the next money maker and military spending is where the focus is at.