Use sunscreen and lotion up. That’s the best way to prevent looking like an old catcher’s mitt by the time you are 40.
My partner played lots of outdoor sport in his youth so he has some skin damage but from his mid 20s when I met him I encouraged proper sun safe behaviours and to moisturise. We live in Australia for Christ sake, this sun is not fucking around.
He’s got mates of all ages but some of the blokes in their late 20s seem to think looking after their skin is a feminine trait and they play outdoor sports. When he’s been out with these guys, people think he’s the youngest despite being over 10 years their senior.
It’s so silly. Put some sunblock on and moisturize. It’s not that hard.
Exfoliate, moisturizer, sunblock
The random aches and pains you start waking up with are here to stay. Learn to embrace them.
And drink more water.
Hey you, reading this right now. You just drank water didn’t you?
Does whisky, ginger beer and lime cordial count?
There’s definitely some water in those!
Exactly! 😃
Well most whiskey is 80 proof, so 60% water! Counts
And get your eyes checked once in a while. For a while I would get massive headaches by early afternoon. I thought I had a nutrient deficiency. Bloodwork came out ok. Turns out I needed stronger glasses.
Drink more water, listen to your body, don’t give more to someone then they give to you, respect yourself, and your time.
don’t give more to someone then they give to you
I tend to disagree on that one. Random acts of kindness/selflessness to people, even complete strangers, can bring bonus satisfaction to your life (and sometimes will be paid back). Make it a habit to give to people, when you have the chance, especially if it is low effort.
If you have people around you that just constantly leech off of you, then I agree: don’t let yourself be sucked dry.
I was more referring to your final statement. Those who take and take and never give back to use you with little regard for your own happiness or safety.
Start a yoga practice and keep it up. In 20 years, you’ll thank yourself.
Or GMB or any other mobility-oriented practice!
Start saving for retirement now. You can make literally millions by putting away 10% of your income early on. Do it automatically so you never even notice the money gone.
If you are worried about making the wrong choice and your company doesn’t have a 401k, open an IRA somewhere (Fidelity if you need someone to make the decision for you) and pick a date targeted fund. Set up auto deposit. Never look at the balance.
You can always make it better later but for now the best thing to do is start. Don’t let analysis paralysis get in the way.
If 20 year old me put away 10% of her income, it would just mean borrowing more. Current me would just have more debt and be worse off than now.
Yeah a lot of people in there twenties can’t even spare 5%. I’m thirty and I can’t.
“Save money for retirement” Yeah so I can pick up painting? The only thing I’ll be able to paint is the ceiling if I want to retire.
Have you seen the price of emulsion?
Oh I was going to use the free stuff and use a 12 gauge brush
Some companies in the US have a deal to where they match on 401k. One such organization puts in 5% for your 2%. Two percent is low enough it wouldn’t be a hit to almost any cash in your pocket given that the money is taken out pre tax.
Question: If I had money saved in a 401k or Roth IRA, what if I died before I retired? What would happen to the money? Would it go back to the government or to a close relative?
You can (and should) assign a beneficiary for the account. They receive the money if you die.
You declare your beneficiaries when signing up - it goes to them, I believe.
I don’t want to come off as insensitive, so I’ll try to phrase things carefully.
If you have even the slightest spare money per pay period, like $30, and a 401k or 403b is offered to you, you really need to do it.
That money comes out of your check before taxes, so you will be investing more money than what actually comes out of your check. By deduction 6% of a $15/hr full time job, you’re putting in $36, but your paycheck will only go down about $30-free money!
Many places will match you some, say half of that first 6%, so now you’re saving $54 while only being out $30. You’ve almost doubled your money in one week!
Come tax time, you’ve saved $1872, and you’ve been given a free $936. It doesn’t stop there though, because now you only are paying income tax on $29,328 instead of $31,200. If you get a tax rebate now, you will get even more back!
So now you’re saving $2808 a year at age 20. Let’s put that in one mutual fund, a SP500 index fund. Over the last 10 years, that has returned 12‰, but let’s be conservative and call it 10. If you never make a cent more per hour, by age 65, you will have saved $84,000 and your job has chipped in $42,000, over a year’s pay! But with that 10% compound interest, you have $2,000,000! You are a multi-millionaire for $30/wk!
If you get a raise or get a better job in the future, this number can be even higher.
Please keep this in mind. Even if you can’t do it now, do it ASAP. Here are the same numbers, but starting at 30 instead of 20.
Still amazing, but seeing this difference is why we older on ones tell you not saving earlier was our big regret.
I hope this was helpful and doesn’t get taken as a “pick yourself up by your bootstraps” thing.
Yes that’s cool and all but I have to pay rent and food and as things stand now the average salary is like enough to cover ⅓ of the rent
You entirely missed the point he was trying to make.
No, I understand what he’s trying to say. The point is: doing what he recommends requires having money to save up in the first place, and for a big portion of people in their 20s that’s not the case.
It’s valid, and it sucks. If you can even do $5, it’s worth it. But the world is absolutely against you right now. A lot of older folk don’t quite get how bad it’s gotten.
However, saving a dollar today is worth more than saving two dollars ten years from now. And having an emergency fund might actually save your life.
Hopefully something happens to shake up housing. These prices are absolutely criminal.
If you’re working in the attic, under the house, around dirt/dust/debris wear a mask/respirator. It’s so nice to be able to take deep breaths without coughing later in life (and outclass your peers in the stamina department) 👍
Pro tip: Even though they’re bigger and bulkier respirators are much more comfy than masks.
It’s easy to believe you’re invincible in your twenties. Or “later me can deal with it.”. As that later version of me, I’m not a huge fan of that earlier version in a lot of ways. It’s fine, I’m who I am for what I went through, and I’m righting the ship. But the more cans you kick down the road, the more you have to deal with later and the harder they are to deal with. Physically, mentally, financially. It’s ok to try to live life freely, but definitely be aware of this and consider kicking one less can every chance you get.
It’s ok to try to live life freely, but definitely be aware of this and consider kicking one less can every chance you get.
Got it.
So much this… Despite trying to drive defensively I have been involved in two major car accidents. The first one I walked away from, but the second one put me on Flight for Life. Despite the accident itself being pretty bad, the only physical issue was a broken leg that took a couple years to heal properly. However the REAL issue took longer to realize – something from that accident has caused me to have continued sleep issues since then. I’ll be on medications the rest of my life probably, and even then I still have trouble getting restful sleep if I’ve been physically active.
Yeah it’s easy to feel invincible when you’re young, and your body can heal from a lot, but just remember that those things can also fuck up your shit in ways you might not realize until years later. Things you take for granted now (like sleep) can really screw up your enjoyment of life when they don’t work right.
Try to take the time to care for your mental and emotional health when you need to, then, instead of stewing for years and years. I made the mistake of rolling with it, turned 35, and I’m lucky to still be here at 40.
Still struggling. Wish I’d spoken with someone years ago.
Working hard is for suckers.
Getting paid is what the whole song and dance is about.
I’m 43 and gradually coming around to the fact that as long as my managers aren’t actively talking to me about not doing enough, then I’m doing ok. It’s worked wonders for me being anxious that I’m not doing what’s expected of me.
It’s fine to do the bare minimum as long as you’re not fucking things up for your colleagues. You get paid to cover the minimum of your job description, not to work yourself to death.
We should have been taught this at 23 not FAFO 20 years to learn it.
Sucks to suck being a pleb I guess… “real” people made careers in the mean time.,
Isn’t it just.
I’m surrounded by young lads who think that working themselves to the bone is some kind of flex, or lazy pricks who give the others shit for not working hard enough.
These days I just crack on and do my thing. My manager is happy with my work, and I can sometimes spend a good five hours just scrolling the internet, looking busy.
lazy pricks who give the others shit for not working hard enough.
Upper management potential spotted lol some people are born to win in this system…
Yeah, at some point, they can do but so much bullshit. If you do your job, adults aint got time to bullshit. People got kids lol.
Fuck I needed this. I am at the point where I am about to talk to a psychiatrist about this because I have such bad anxiety about whether I’m doing okay or not at work.
Take care of your fucking teeth.
Take care of your fucking teeth.
And once more, for the folks who don’t get it…
Take care of your fucking teeth.
This, but also your knees.
Any body part with a double E really.
Weener
Spleen
Clean the pipes at least once every 48 hours is what my doctor told me.
The real value is in the comments
we can honestly extend this to health in general.
so many bad habits will cause shit and some much shit is easily preventable if people took it a bit more seriously.
These 2 comments hit me straight to the core. My teeth and my knees are my primary problems right now.
My wife stopped drinking (occasional glasses of wine) and these two problems went away for her.
In addition, take care of your fucking joints and your hearing. They will never get better, you can only slow the degradation.
My joints have always been terrible, I have much to look forward to I am sure
Moisturize, use sunscreen. Protect your skin and you’ll look young even in old age.
Sunscreen sounds unmanly, but think about how you’ll feel with half your nose excised. Put it on your face especially!
And your neck. Golly, that sucker does weird things later in life. Or is it moreso for women?
Get somekind of workout and stretching routine going on. It’s much harder to build the habit later when you’ve got maybe a family going on and probably more work responsibilities.
I don’t know if this goes for all guys. Your balls will kinda drop again at some stage. If you have a desk job you could end up sitting on them for a while before realising what’s happened. Adjust the way you sit, what you wear down there.
I notice immediately when I sit on mine. And everyone else in the room notices too due to the sound I make.
- Stay out of debt
- Strength train (5/3/1 three or four days per week)
- Avoid substance abuse
- Only settle down with someone who is a HELL YES. If you’re lukewarm about them, it’s a no
- Make time to do something creative like music, make it a habit
- Say no if you’re not interested in something or someone. Its ok to say no to shit
