"You can love the company as much as you like, but the company will never love you back." - My dad.
In a similar vein, HR is not there to help you, they are there to protect the company.
The best I ever received? Start saving and investing when you’re young to benefit from compound interest over time. I didn’t take the advice, but I received it!
Did you have money to invest when you were young enough for the advice to matter?
If you worked for $8/hr and took 5% of your income and put it towards retirement (I know 5% is a lot when you're broke) from age 18-67 assuming you got a 2% raise every year, you could retire with ~$385,000 in the bank and it would last you until you were 79. That's using the default numbers from Bankrate. If you could bump your savings rate up to 15% using those same numbers (which is admittedly unrealistic) you would be a millionaire at retirement. The moral of the story is start early and be consistent.
If you're making $8/hr, your head is going to be incredibly deep underwater. 5% is not remotely possible at that wage. At 15% you may as well be living in fantasyland.
Most people wouldn't remain at $8/hr their whole life, you would likely earn more as you gained training and experience. My point was that at the extreme low of full time wages, your savings rate at an early age helps determine where you would end up. It's doable especially at hire wages.
As a young teenager: Do not start working until you have to. Once you start, you'll never stop.
Depends on if you have found your passion. I found the career I was passionate about at age 14 and now have more experience than the vast majority of my peers. Until just recently, I had never managed someone younger than me, and I've been a supervisor for a very long time now.
Don't give crazy a baby.
Think long and hard before having kids. Understand if you actually have what it takes to give them a proper life.
Yeah it is not a decision to be taken lightly! Very rewarding, but one of the hardest things you'll do.
Don't put your dick in crazy
Always stick your dick in crazy.
Far away from where you live with a fake name and number.
You're doing neither yourself nor anyone else a favour by being overly shy and reticent. You yourself will enjoy life much more when you are yourself and while not everyone will like you, the ones who don't often don't stay in your life long and it's easier to find people you vibe with if they can see you for who you are.
Granted, I very much did not take this advice as a teenager and even now I'm occasionally too shy. But looking back it was good advice and I really wish I hadn't wasted so much time and energy on not being negatively noticed by people I didn't really care about then and who haven't been in my life for years.
"Get off the drugs, dude."
Just needed a friend to care enough to say something so simple, and it changed my life. Sobriety is terrifying for so many, but in my experience it was absolutely worth it.
I've never touched the stuff, but sometimes I wonder if life would be less horrible if I was numbed to it. What makes it worth it?
Being myself, knowing myself without the dull edge of substances, actually being present in my life and in other's lives. Drugs were an escape, a place to hide and avoid. Facing reality, while difficult, was such a more fulfilling experience than when constantly running from my own existence.
Survivorship bias is a thing. Just because someone is successful doesn't mean following their advice will make you successful. "I put all my money into lottery tickets and now I'm a multi-millionaire. Everyone should do what I did!"
Don't argue with stupid
I like this as a way of rubberducking. Not on the internet though. Don’t argue with stupid on the internet.
Shave with double edged razors. The razors are more extensive (compared to disposable anyway) but you'll save money on the blades.
I bought a razor for £30 and £7 on 100 blades. That was 12 years agoml. I'm 2/3 the way through my razor pack.
I found no difference in how close of a shave I got and while it takes a bit more skill, I got the handle of it after a few shaves.
Have an emergency fund and pay yourself first.
The emergency fund comes first $1000 or 6 months expenses tends to be the sweet spot. It keeps you from taking on bad debt like credit cards and pay day loans. 5% of your paycheck is a good place to get started, that's usually enough to build up funds fairly quickly without hurting too much.
Retirement doesn't have to be a ton of money each pay check, especially if you start early in life, but if you ever want to retire you have to start as soon as possible because the later you start the more money you have to put away. Take the company match on a 401(k) or 5-20% of your paycheck. Invest in a target date fund or S&P 500, Russell 2000 fund, or whole market fund (and look at the expense ratio, you want that to be as low as possible) and call it a day. Individual stocks are for suckers, but if you want to gamble with individual stocks use 1-5% of your portfolio to do it so it's not the end of the world if you pick a loser.
Finding your target for retirement is a big step to knowing what you need to save early. Play around with some retirement calculators and debt payoff calculators fairly often as your target number may change based on your lifestyle.
Don't.
The world and society is a complex game of house that went on way too long and everyone forgot they’re playing it.
Quality follows where consistency leads
Collect what you're owed as soon as you can. Pay what you owe as late as you can.
UPDATE: "Every accusation is a projection" is more universal than some of you would like to admit.
Feels like that's how a lot of wealthy people/organizations operate
'C's get degrees.
It's not what you know, it's who you know.
You can teach the job, you can't teach personality.
If the world is going to shit, and you can't or won't do anything about it, why worry about it.
"Don't forget to breathe."
If you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.
Don't play rigged games
Try to do the right thing, but actually take some time to try to figure out if it's right or just feels right.
Being right and being wrong feels the exact same until challenged with facts.
When I was getting started in my design career getting jobs was hard. I had a good portfolio but not much experience. Met another designer one day and told her my dimena. Her response: Just lie. She told me everyone does to get work. So I took that advice. Next job I got paid me 2x the previous one and soon enough I wasn't lieing anymore. You think Musk got where he is today thanks to ethics and honesty? Jobs and Gates both stole either knowledge or actual products from others. I still have friends submitting resumes with large gaps, asking for help. They send it over and I embellish the hell of it, always works.
If you want a scooter, get a bike instead. The bigger wheels make them more stable. -My Dad, not long before he was promoted to glory.
My brain gives me advice all the time. I don't know why, but I have all sorts of quotes, whether it's from me, or someone else.
"How can you be there for others, if you can't be there for yourself?"
"The most simple solution is often the best one."
"Judge someone not by what they are, but who they are."
"Don't chase ghosts."
"Effort is the most important currency."
And, of course,
"Stay hydrated."
Effort is the most important currency."
I like this one.
I have a related quote:
"People are focusing too much on how they're spending their money, and not enough on how they're spending their effort."
I quote it nearly every day
There is no problem that can't be solved by getting off Twitter
When in doubt, shut up.
The best way to make money in Vegas is to sell light bulbs.
That which you consider to be your necessary expenditures will always rise to meet your income unless you protest to the contrary.
--The Richest Man In Babylon
A wise person once told me don't commit misdemeanors while you're committing felonies.
"We choose to go to the moon and do the other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard. This is just one of those other things." - My dad quoting JFK at me to get me to do the dishes as a teenager. I don't think he would remember even saying that to me, but has always stuck with me. Something said about something so monumental being applied to something so benign. But that wasn't the point, because it was hard for me.
Don't anticipate anything good from others.
Don't receive advice from others. You do what you think is right for you.
A loosely moderated place to ask open-ended questions
If your post meets the following criteria, it's welcome here!
Looking for support?
Looking for a community?
~Icon~ ~by~ ~@Double_[email protected]~