re: investment, one reasonable place to start might be Bernstein's free ebook "if you can", which also has some pointers to further reading. some of the advice in there, re: tax-advantaged retirement savings plan, is specific to the USA
I concentrated too much on minimizing long-term interest expense. I didn't think about how the money I was using to pay-down principal could have returned income over the long term. The real estate asset I was paying on hasn't appreciated at all in 20 years. I could have seen major investment returns on that money which would far exceed the interest expense I alleviated.
The bogleheads community is really good for advice on just about any financial topic you can think of. Tell them your situation and they will set up a solid plan for you https://www.bogleheads.org/
If the side project could bring in money maybe it’s too harsh to regret it. It could have meant spending less time in a job and more time with the kids.
Had the #1 selling product in the majority of the 450 doors I was in. Customers always raved about our flavors which was a direct result of having the strictest QC standards around our distillate manufacturing. We made sure to distill our oils so that there were no residual terpenes that could contribute to off flavors through oxidation. We were militant about it. Every other brand sourced oil from the open market. A side effect of having the most pure distillate oil is that it's also the most potent.
Listening to the customer feedback I never heard anyone compliment our potency. Later on the hardware for vape carts evolved and new carts came out that could provide higher doses. Our oil did not taste good in those carts so we didn't make the switch. Then when the feedback started rolling in that our cartridges weren't strong enough (they just didn't vaporize as much oil..) we finally made the switch. By then we had lost our market position. Turns out customers liked our flavor but the reason they were really purchasing was the potency.
When you're on top you think it's your brand or your QC that's carrying you...when really it was just a potency game all along.
Listening to the well-intended advice of (unqualified) adults who told me there was little opportunity in pursuing the one subject I'd cared about all of the time I was growing up. Instead, find the people who are already doing it, wherever that takes you.
In hindsight, concentrating on finding a side hustle or a business of my own instead of just trying to be a better engineer. 90% of new ventures fail, but everyone thinks they will be the exception. I was basically broke with no savings and no job when I was 32. I'm 40 and bounced back a bit, but I feel so behind in my career and saving for retirement.
Not transitioning into a non-binary gender in my teens and instead in my mid-to-late-twenties where I am now.
I internalized a lot of rhetoric from other people that I simply had to accept myself or feel comfortable with a narrative of being "natural". Ultimately, after having a breakdown and taking effort to change my body/appearance did that prescribed self-acceptance finally happen. It just didn't happen on other people's terms.
The biggest takeaway I learned was not to lie to myself and not to accept other people's convictions too much. It was a lesson in individualism and boundaries.
Probably not networking or trying out different activities in university. Basically just took on the classes and got my degree, and that was that.
Unfortunately, I realised afterwards that who you know is a lot more important than what you know, as well as that university is one of the best times to both meet interesting new people and get involved in new hobbies. Not knowing anyone afterwards probably made it much more difficult to get my first job afterwards, as well as to find startup cofounders and what not.
Also regret shutting down my first major internet community/forum site, since it was pretty damn popular at the time (about 300,000 posts/a few thousand users), and when merged with my later ones, could have become the base for a much larger community.
Also regret not jumping on a few internet bandwagons/gold rush scenarios too. Seeing how successful some channels became on YouTube/Twitch/whatever kinda makes me wish I'd made the investment and gone all in on one of these platforms back when they were starting out. Writing doesn't exactly pay anymore, and those who made the transition to video earlier have sometimes built entire careers out of it.
- I said a hurtful thing to someone a decade ago (she lost a son and I said something insensitive). The sort of thing you say when you don't have a good "filter" between your brain and your mouth.
- That back then, nobody told me I didn't have a good "filter".
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[ 6.3 ms ] story [ 111 ms ] threadBe kind, but also be bold. Don’t live in fear, we’re all dead eventually.
Is there any relative that could keep her?
http://efficientfrontier.com/ef/0adhoc/2books.htm
I concentrated too much on minimizing long-term interest expense. I didn't think about how the money I was using to pay-down principal could have returned income over the long term. The real estate asset I was paying on hasn't appreciated at all in 20 years. I could have seen major investment returns on that money which would far exceed the interest expense I alleviated.
Not raising capital when it would've been easy.
Not understanding my customer despite having a #1 market position.
Not spending enough time with my daughter when she was younger.
Listening to the customer feedback I never heard anyone compliment our potency. Later on the hardware for vape carts evolved and new carts came out that could provide higher doses. Our oil did not taste good in those carts so we didn't make the switch. Then when the feedback started rolling in that our cartridges weren't strong enough (they just didn't vaporize as much oil..) we finally made the switch. By then we had lost our market position. Turns out customers liked our flavor but the reason they were really purchasing was the potency.
When you're on top you think it's your brand or your QC that's carrying you...when really it was just a potency game all along.
Would probably have lost the wallet details anyway.
You really dodged a bullet with this one. Kids right after high school? Not in this day and age.
I internalized a lot of rhetoric from other people that I simply had to accept myself or feel comfortable with a narrative of being "natural". Ultimately, after having a breakdown and taking effort to change my body/appearance did that prescribed self-acceptance finally happen. It just didn't happen on other people's terms.
The biggest takeaway I learned was not to lie to myself and not to accept other people's convictions too much. It was a lesson in individualism and boundaries.
Unfortunately, I realised afterwards that who you know is a lot more important than what you know, as well as that university is one of the best times to both meet interesting new people and get involved in new hobbies. Not knowing anyone afterwards probably made it much more difficult to get my first job afterwards, as well as to find startup cofounders and what not.
Also regret shutting down my first major internet community/forum site, since it was pretty damn popular at the time (about 300,000 posts/a few thousand users), and when merged with my later ones, could have become the base for a much larger community.
Also regret not jumping on a few internet bandwagons/gold rush scenarios too. Seeing how successful some channels became on YouTube/Twitch/whatever kinda makes me wish I'd made the investment and gone all in on one of these platforms back when they were starting out. Writing doesn't exactly pay anymore, and those who made the transition to video earlier have sometimes built entire careers out of it.
- I never had a honeymoon.
- I said a hurtful thing to someone a decade ago (she lost a son and I said something insensitive). The sort of thing you say when you don't have a good "filter" between your brain and your mouth.
- That back then, nobody told me I didn't have a good "filter".
- Wasted a hell lot of time doing nothing meaningful.
- Held back myself, when I should not have.