One of the pieces of advice I did not heed from my Dad was to try and save/invest 30% of your salary. This one is hard to understand until you are in your 40s and realise you are probably going to continue to work well into your 50s.

I love my job, but I'm now involved a lot more in the political arena, knowing I can make a difference there, but being held back. 'Having' to hold down a job is getting in the way.

I'm at peace with the choices I made but I also recognise I could not be working now if I'd been a bit more prudent.