upworthy

financial literacy

Wellness

Millennials nearing 40 are sharing their 21 biggest mistakes so everyone can learn from them

Great ideas for people of any age.

via Pexels

Millennials are now old enough to seriously reflect on life.

It seems like only yesterday a millennial was a college kid that baby boomers chided for being entitled and Gen Xers thought were way too sincere and needed to learn how to take a joke. Today, the oldest millennials, those born around 1980, have hit their 40s and have lived long enough to have some serious regrets.

They also have enough experience to take some pride in decisions that, in hindsight, were the right moves. The good news is that at 40 there is still plenty of time to learn from our successes and failures to set ourselves up for a great second half of life. These lessons are also valuable to the Gen Zers coming up who can avoid the pitfalls of the older generation.

A Reddit user who has since deleted their profile asked millennials nearing 40 “what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?” and they received more than 2,200 responses. The biggest regrets these millennials have are being flippant about their health and not saving enough money when they were younger.

- YouTubewww.youtube.com



They also realized that the carefree days of youth are fleeting and impossible to get back. So they should have spent less time working and more time enjoying themselves. Many also lamented that they should have taken their education more seriously in their 20s so they have more opportunities now.

The responses to this thread are bittersweet. It's tough hearing people come to grips with their regrets but the realizations are also opportunities to grow. Hopefully, some younger people will read this thread and take the advice to heart.

Here are 21 of the most powerful responses to the question: “Millennials of Reddit now nearing your 40s, what were your biggest mistakes at this point in life?”

hearing, millennials, regrets, millennial lessons, millennial regrets, loud music, headphonesA big millennial regret is not taking care of their hearingImage via Canva

1. "Not taking care of my hearing, not even 35 and going deaf." — Kusanagi8811

2. "Not getting healthy earlier." — zombiearchivist

millennial advice, work life balance, regrets, millennial regrets, workMillennials wish they had learned about work/life balance soonerImage via Canva

3. "Staying too long at a job in my 20s, just because it was safe and easy. When I finally got the motivation to leave, ended up with an almost 50% pay boost." — Hrekires

4. "Thinking that I could and should put myself on the back burner for anything and anyone else." — lenalilly227

millennials, smoking, cigarettes, quitting smoking, millennial regrets, millennial adviceMillennials smoke less than previous generations but it's still a big regret for manyImage via Canva

5. "Smoking and not dealing with my shit the right way." — Allenrw3

6. "Pining after the wrong person." — runikepisteme

7. "I turned 40 this year and just started liking who I am. Why the fuck did it take 40 years for self acceptance?" — guscallee

- YouTubewww.youtube.com

8. "Take care of your fucking back. Lift with your knees. Sure it's rad when you grab a fridge by yourself and lift it in the back of a moving truck unaided, but one day that shit is going to have consequences that won't just magically go away by resting and "taking it easy" for a week." — GuyTallman

9. "I wish I spent more time with my dad while I had the chance." — CharlieChooper

10. "I'm 37. I absolutely could have taken better care of my body, but I'm in relatively good health. I'm starting to realize how important it is to maintain my health. I do also think I drank far too much in my 20 and early 30's. I'm trying to rectify that now, but it's hard. So that I guess." — dartastic

millennials, millennial regrets, millennial advice, indecision, life choices Indecision can be a bigger regret than making the wrong decisionImage via Canva

11. "I'm not sure if people have experienced the same but when I entered my 30s I became convinced I was rapidly running out of time. Rather than using that as motivation I let it paralyze me with indecision because I "couldn't afford to make the wrong choice." Consequently, I'm now 39 and, though I've had great things happen in my 30s, I regret spending so much time worrying and so little time committing to a course of action." — tomwaste

12. "Work to live, don’t live to work. You have half your working life after you turn 40 but only 20-25 years to really live it up before the responsibilities become heavy and your joints start to ache. Live life. Really LIVE it. Experience as much you can. Every sensation, sight, sound, touch. Be open. Be brave. Live your first few decades in the fast lane. You have the rest of your life to take it easy, when you have no choice." — MrDundee666

How To Save $10,000 FASTwww.youtube.com

13. "I should have paid more attention to my parents telling me to save money and less attention when they were teaching me about purity culture." — Arkie_MTB

14. "If I could tell my 18 year old self one thing, it would be to save 10% of every paycheck I ever got." — PutAForkInHim

15. "Thinking that I have time to do everything I want only to find myself loosing time, and the endless energy I used to have in order to purse them." — ezZiioFTW

sunscreen, skin cancer, millennials, millennial regrets, millennial adviceMillennials were the first generation to really adopt wearing sunscreenImage via Canva

16. "Not wearing sunscreen." — blueboxreddress

17. "Not recognizing the importance of work/life balance earlier in life. My late teens, all 20's, and early 30's were spent pulling 60-100+hr weeks because I thought it was what was required to succeed. How wrong I was. Others stabbed me in the back and reaped the reward.1.) Putting work first for too long. Work is my #1 priority during work hours now. After quitting time, I don't think about it (much) anymore. I don't vent to my wife or friends about it anymore either.2.) Investing more into fast cars than solid long-term investments. Sure, it was fun, but I could have made bookoos more had I put that towards less-fun investments.3.) Not using PTO and just waiting for the payout. All those years, missed. I'm in my mid 30's and I didn't actually have a real vacation until 3 years ago.4.) Not realizing that "the good guy" often loses. Just because you're morally justified doesn't mean you're going to win. Just because there's a number to call doesn't mean anyone will actually help you. Just because "law" exists, doesn't mean people follow it, enforce it, or create justice. The world is dog eat dog and cynicism can be healthy in moderate doses."

18. "When you get out of college, keep your friends. No matter how hard it is. Hold on to them." — mpssss22

19. "I imagine these are kinda universal: Not getting fit and healthyAssuming I'd be offered proper guidance on how to achieve my goalsAssuming higher education would help me achieve my goalsSpending far too long caring what people thinkNot taking risks that might better my life when I was younger and had nothing to loseStaying in relationships too long after they were clearly done." — katapultperson

millennials, finance, fair pay, salary, millennial advice, financial advice, millennial regretsLearning to ask for fair pay was a big challenge for most Millennials Image via Canva

20. "Always ask for more pay. Starting, yearly, before leaving, whatever. Get that money." — SensibleReply


21. "Spending too much time in front of a screen and not enough enjoying life." — BellaPadella


This article originally appeared three years ago.

From Your Site Articles
millennials
Pop Culture

Young boy's wows his parents with an impressive 'financial plan' to invest in his future

Some kids know exactly what they want out of life from the get go. And how to get there.

@linsfam33/TikTok

This ten-year-old is going places

It’s uncanny how some kids really don’t seem like kids at all.

Instead, they think, speak and behave like adults (just, you know, child-sized adults). There’s an inherent savviness to these old souls that makes them not only aware of what they want out of life, but able to create concrete steps towards that goal…both skills that don’t reach many of us until well into adulthood.

Take for instance Neil Lims, a 10-year-old who is so determined to go to Morris College that he spent an entire Friday evening coming up with an impressive financial plan to save money for tuition.

Neil presented the plan to his parents, Shark Tank style, and thanks to a recording of it blowing up on TikTok, now we can all marvel at this young man’s natural entrepreneurial abilities.

In the clip, Neil unrolls a large sheet of brown paper with math scribbles as he explains how opting out of Christmas and birthday presents could help the family save big.

"I asked mom how much money she spends on my present for my birthday. She said $100. When I'm 19, I'll be moving out. So if I put all that money, $900, then I have to think about Christmas. It's also $100. Nine-hundred dollars plus $900 is 1800,” he said.

Then came the proposal: “So then the price of Morris for two years is $24,000 currently. If... instead of getting presents from you, I just get the money for college, then I'll be 9% of the way there!"

@linsfam33 It was 10:30 on a Friday night. Our youngest had been quiet. So quiet that i thought he had gone to bed. Nope. He was just preparing a finacial presentation for us. 😂 #collegeplan #financialliteracy #fridaynight #kidsarethebest ♬ original sound - n-lins

When Neil’s mother asks if he’s sure that he would like money for college over presents, the boy’s answer is simple and definitive. “I. Care. About. My. Future.” Wow. It’s hard to tell which is more impressive—this kid’s analytical prowess or his resolve. Plus, good on Neil’s mom for mentioning investing at the end of the video. Judging by the way his face lights up when she utters the word, it’s clearly a passion that she’s paying attention to.

After the clip went viral on TikTok, even Morris College saw Neil’s financial plan, and ended up sending him a swag box to encourage to keep pursuing his dreams.

@linsfam33 Replying to @linsfam33 THANK YOU @umnmorris for this awesome box of fun things for the whole family!! Please follow and subscribe to us on youtube and instagram. (Linsfam33) We have a few things in the works that we will be sharing. #viral #financialliteracy #collegeplan #kidsarethebest ♬ original sound - n-lins

And while a small handful of folks shared concern over Neil sacrificing toys (and therefore an aspect of his childhood) in the name of steep college tuition prices, research has shown that it’s perfectly natural and healthy for kids as young as four or five to be able to formulate plans for their future.

In another video, Neil’s mom explained how at the ripe old age of three when he came up with the idea for a candy stand, with the ultimate goal of owning one on every continent—it’s a business Neil still has today. In fact, following his sudden internet fame, Neil’s family started an Indiegogo campaign to help cover startup costs for the business, including website development, business planning, and marketing.

Learning at least the basics of financial literacy—such as savings, controlling impulse buys, and finding creative ways to make money—can be one of the best ways to ensure a kid’s future. Luckily, there are plenty of ways to make this kind of learning fun for children nowadays, so one doesn’t have to be born with Neil’s shrewdness in order to succeed.

But financial prowess aside, it’s always cool to see it when kids are just so sure of themselves and where they want to be. And Neil is no exception.

From Your Site Articles
kids
Badge
Capital One
Capital One
Capital One Impact Initiative

David and John Auten-Schneider, hosts of the Queer Money podcast, offer their perspectives on financial challenges in the LGBTQ community

Courtesy of Capital One
True

We and other personal finance experts have long talked about the financial challenges of the LGBTQ+ community. That includes access to equal housing, services protections and wage inequality because of one's sexual orientation or gender identity.

While those protections would be included in the Equality Act, legislation remains pending in Congress.

To be fair, the LGBTQ+ community has made significant progress over the last several years. The two most notable being the Supreme Court's 2015 ruling to ensure marriage equality and 2020 decision to ban employment discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity. That progress has continued with the current administration, as President Joe Biden recently signed executive orders protecting LGBTQ people from housing and services discrimination.

The LGBTQ+ community faces a unique set of financial challenges that are preventing equal opportunity for all.

Let's break down some of the obstacles confronting members of the LGBTQ+ community.

Queer people are often expected to pay more

One LGBTQ+ financial challenge is the expectations — and misconception — that LGBTQ people can or should pay more because we don't have kids. While 15% of LGBTQ people have kids — compared to 38% of opposite-sex couples — it's not a cause for LGBTQ people having more money.

In fact, because of wage inequality for people in the LGBTQ community, having fewer opportunities for career advancement and in many cases needing the physical and emotional safety that comes with living in an LGBTQ-friendly city (many of which often have high costs of living), it's likely that your LGBTQ+ sibling or friend doesn't have as much financial security as their straight counterparts.

This is why we didn't travel for the holidays for three years while paying off credit card debt. Adding $800 to $1,000 in plane tickets to the credit cards we were working hard to pay off didn't make sense. Yet, our families never offered to come to where we lived for a holiday and foot the travel expenses.

A similar situation arises when caring for aging parents. LGBTQ folks are more likely to be asked to care for aging parents, which is backed by a 2010 MetLife study. This increases the financial burdens and restricts the savings opportunities for LGBTQ folks.

Queer people, especially gay men, struggle with the 'hysteresis effect'

There's also the lingering consequence of the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the LGBTQ community, specifically for gay men.

As Paul Donovan said on Queer Money® episode 252 about his book, Profit and Prejudice: The Luddites of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, that then created a hysteresis effect.

The hysteresis effect occurs when a singular event has an economic effect that lasts even after the initial event no longer exists.

Of course, we're still fighting HIV/AIDS. But we know more and have more resources to fight HIV/AIDS and it's no longer the death sentence it once was. A lingering economic effect for many LGBTQ+ people is "an unhealthy short-term view when it comes to finances," according to Donovan.

Our struggle with the hysteresis effect is one reason we got into $51,00 in credit card debt. We had a myopic view of what being successful was and spent accordingly.

Photo by Charles Deluvio on Unsplash

The consequences compound on the challenges above and the many LGBTQ+ financial challenges about which we and many others have written. For example, LGBTQ+ people have smaller emergency savings accounts, less in retirement savings and more in debt than the general population, according to Student Loan Hero.

How to overcome those challenges

Get clear and become committed to your life and money goals

There are a lot of emotions tied to money. We attach our self-worth and value to money. We sometimes feel guilty that we have money while we also sometimes feel guilty that we don't have enough money. If we're letting family or loved ones guilt us into paying for what we can't afford, paying more than our fair share, or risking our financial security, we likely have emotional reasons, such as the need to please, to cause that.

This is just one reason why it's important for LGBTQ+ folks to get crystal clear on what matters most to us. We must figure out what we want our lives to look like and what we want to achieve, then architect our lives to reach those goals. That includes financing. If being helpful, giving or being charitable is one of our goals, we can include that in our life and financial plans.

If we have fewer resources at hand, then being clear on the one or two things we most want to achieve in life can help us efficiently spend our money and have money left over to help the people we care about or to meet our obligations.

Let's be hopeful (and intentional) about our future

As Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. famously said, "the arch of the moral universe is long and bends toward justice".

There's no doubt it's bending toward justice in the LGBTQ+ community. The solution is that we must recognize that.

This means that while we live our best lives today, we must consider our long-term financial security and the lives we want to live when we're older. To be clear, living our best lives today and having financial well-being to live our best lives in the future aren't mutually exclusive.

Courtesy of Capital One's website

It's by talking with our friends and family about money, working with a Money Coach at a Capital One Café or other financial planner to recognize what matters most to us today and what we want in the future.

It's for these challenges and opportunities that we're strong advocates for LGBTQ+ financial independence and why we're proud to partner with Capital One. Though people have nuanced backgrounds, Capital One believes, as we do, that finances should work for everyone. That's why Capital One supports LGBTQ+ communities facing unique economic hardships through both products and programs supporting our needs.
From Your Site Articles
financial literacy
Popular

NFL star Malcolm Jenkins is working to bridge the ethnic wealth gap by giving kids real money to invest

via Wikimedia Commons and Goalsetter

America's ethnic wealth gap is a multi-faceted problem that would take dramatic action, on multiple fronts, to overcome. One of the ways to help communities improve their economic well-being is through financial literacy.

Investopedia says there are five primary sources of financial education—families, high school, college, employers, and the military — and that education and household income are two of the biggest factors in predicting whether someone has a high level of financial literacy.

New Orleans Saints safety, two-time Super Bowl Champion, and social justice activist Malcolm Jenkins and The Malcolm Jenkins Foundation hope to help bridge the wealth gap by teaching students about investing at a young age.

"It's projected that by 2053 that African Americans will have on average a negative net worth, with Hispanics being right behind," Jenkins said according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "How do we begin to chip away at that? The earlier you can get kids focused on saving money and investing and understanding how to make money, the better off you are."

So Jenkins and his foundation are giving $40 investment account deposits to 1,000 students in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, and Louisiana. The Ogontz Revitalization Corporation will donate an additional $10 per student, bringing the total to $50.

The accounts are run by Goalsetter, a Black-owned family banking, and financial literacy app.

The students will not be able to withdraw the funds until they are 18 but can add to them all they like. In addition to the ability to save and invest, the Goalsetter App offers an engaging way for kids to learn about money.

The app provides five years of financial literacy tools, kid-friendly educational games, and fun quizzes.

via Goalsetter

There's no better way to learn about a subject than by doing. Which, when it comes to finances, can be nearly impossible if you're underprivileged. These accounts give kids the ability to watch their financial seeds grow over the years and create a habit of saving that will hopefully last throughout their lifetimes.

"Malcolm is saying, 'I want you to know that this is for the long term. You're going to be saving for your future because you do have a future and it's a future that we're going to help to prepare you for,' " Tanya Van Court, founder, and chief executive of Goalsetter, said.

Jenkins believes that financial literacy shouldn't aim for stability but go the extra mile and focus on building wealth.

"I was always taught that if you work hard and that if you save your money that that creates financial freedom and financial stability, and that's not how it works," Jenkins told The Philadelphia Inquirer.

"That's not how you gain freedom. It comes through investing. It comes in making good decisions. It comes from estate planning. Life insurance," he continued. "All of these different financial tools that are out there to create wealth for people. It's really about creating that education as early as possible so you create the next generation of financially stable people."

From Your Site Articles
Related Articles Around the Web
social justice
Trending Stories