Hacker News Reader

Comment by usednet | Hacker News Reader

As somebody still in my early 20s, I am viscerally aware of these advantages provided to me slipping away year by year. I apologize for being vague but I would be interested in hearing advice from those who felt the same what they wish they would have done in their 20s to minimize future regret.

View on HN

28 year old, turning 29:

Spend as little time at home as possible. Travel. Find community. Live in a big city and make a ton of friends and throw lots of parties and bring people together, forming your own community. That's what I did and I feel like my 20s have been fulfilling, and I'm looking forward to what my 30s bring.

1) Buy a broad market global index fund. Put as much money into this as you reasonably can. Do not time the market, just put your money in every month and forget that it's there until you either want to buy a house or start to think about retirement. If these funds significantly decline, the world economy has tanked and you will have bigger problems to deal with.

2) Travel abroad alone at least once if you haven't already, ideally for a few months. Shorter trips are costly and will interfere with suggestion #1. If you're still living with your parents, this can be a good way to test out living on your own.

3) Do not waste your time. You can be out partying, traveling, working, praying, or studying, but don't be doing nothing waiting for a more opportune time to make something happen.

I, too, participate in the world's biggest and longest-lasting Ponzi scheme. As long as people keep buying in, the value will keep going up. It runs so long that it's likely it will still be running when I die. I strongly recommend everyone to buy as much of this scheme as possible.

If you're cynical about global markets, you can always take profits and build a self-sufficient homestead somewhere remote, or buy a cauldron and fill it with gold doubloons and bury it at the end of a rainbow like a leprechaun. Doomerism caused me to miss out on the biggest bull run in history, so I no longer give this advice. Rural property is a hedge, not an investment.

Going by past results, Bitcoin's better.

> Going by past results

I'd rather go by future results like Biff Tannen.

Sadly, my crystal ball is out of commission due to Heartbleed 2.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com