Give financial advice to your 20yr-old self

[Megadick3000]

FINALLY!!

Someone who lays out the proper way to start and build a side hustle. No dreams of opening a restaurant on Main St when they’ve never had experience
No laying out $$$ on overhead.

Thanks for taking the time to outline the proper way.

No problem. i honestly love to see people become successful in life.

Restaurants are a hard business. The profits arent great, overhead is ruthless, staffing can be an endless pain in the ass, your stock has very short shelf life before it expires and becomes a financial loss, customers can be rude as fuck (although thats in every business to be fair), its extremely competitive, and you have very limited market size (the town your resto is in). Some ppl do excel in the resto biz though, but its not an industry i ever plan to get into although ive definitely contemplated it just theoretically.

I chose electronics for two reasons. They are popular these days. Many electronics are a high $ value relative to their physical size, this is important when you have limited space to stockpile stuff (i.e. in your home) so you want to sort of view items as a cubic volume to $ value ratio, you want stuff with the least cubic volume and the highest dollar value to maximize the value earning potential of the space you have available.

The biggest problem with electronics is they often involve a lot of pre and post sale customer service, and they often break or malfunction or arrive dead on arrival creating further customer service demands, reships, replacements, etc. This consumed more of my time than fulfilling orders, so electronics does have downsides.

Ideal in my analysis would be jewelry although ive never pursued selling it. Theres very little customer service required about the items. Theres very little malfunctioning. Ontop of that it can have very high value relative to its cubic volume. I mean with gold and gemstone jewelry you could have millions of dollars of merchandise fit into a bedroom closet with a bin rack installed in it. I dont know enough about jewelry so ive never pursued selling it but if you have knowledge or are inclined to learn it may be one of the best things you could hustle online especially if you have very limited stock space.

 

[malfeasance]

Weird. I thought electronics would have the highest competition of all, and from competitors better positioned to leverage scale.

Also, if starting without your own website, like through Amazon or eBay, it is a common scam for folks to order, strip batteries or parts, and return as defective. Amazon or eBay will take the customer's side, and the seller is out both the money and the electronic.

How did you get around these issues when you started with $350?

 

[Sampei]

Fuck that. Get rich or die trying!

Gonna quote my girl Oprah here “money cant buy you happiness but it can certainly pave the way for it”.

I reiterate my previous advice. Start a business. You dont need mich capital. Here do this. Find something you can sell on amazon that ppl will buy that you can double your investment on. Buy $1000 worth from China and sell for $2000. Do NOT spend that $2000 instead buy $2000 worth of more stock sell that for $4000 and keep repeating until the sum of money becomes life changing.

Fuck these guys with their index funds, ya you can earn 5% a year on your $1000 wow your going places... not. You could buy $1000 worth of something and resell for $2000 doubled your money in a week. Amazon. Ebay. When your booming enough launch your own ecommerce website too. You dont need a wharehouse stockpile in your personal pad, no overhead, pure profit. I ran my business out of a laundry room from $350 to a million, zero overhead, pure profit, 3 years rags to riches.

Stocks aint worth it until your playing with serious capital or your betting on penny stocks to make you rich but thats no better than buying lotto tickets.

It must be easy in USA to make money or some of you must be fucking genius... Something to resell on Amazon or eBay? Like what? Can you make an example I'm curious.

 

[Sampei]

I do mainly agree with this. Focusing on sticking your money in index funds and working hard at a 9-5 is basically condemning yourself to work at your job for plenty of years to come. There are definitely faster ways to reach financial freedom before traditional retirement age.

Flipping products is a pretty easy way to do it. I remember starting out flipping weed and now I flip real estate.

The only thing I would add is to not limit yourself to an online store. You can flip used cars, motorcycles, trailer houses, scrap items, storage units and estate sales, etc. To people who aren't familiar with flipping things, it literally is as simple as finding something cheaper than what you know you could turn around and sell it for, add some additional value if you can, and selling it for a markup. It really isn't rocket science and can be done with basically anything. Even sources on here are just gear flippers. They get raws from someone, finish the product and sell for a markup.

The reason I like real estate is you can have your cake and eat it too. You get great tax savings, equity from appreciation, equity from loan pay downs, tax deferrals on like kind exchanges, and obviously that awesome passive income every month.

Flipping houses without any background or any idea of house value etc is not easy at all. Plus you need capital to start, plus you need to know what the fuck you are doing. How did you learn?

 

[Megadick3000]

Weird. I thought electronics would have the highest competition of all, and from competitors better positioned to leverage scale.

Also, if starting without your own website, like through Amazon or eBay, it is a common scam for folks to order, strip batteries or parts, and return as defective. Amazon or eBay will take the customer's side, and the seller is out both the money and the electronic.

How did you get around these issues when you started with $350?

You dont have to have the best price for stuff to sell believe it or not. Im not the lowest price on almost any product i sell yet it still sells. Do i sell as much as the guy with the best price? I would assume not, but i can still get my piece of the pie.

Also i should note whilst i started selling electronics i followed the money and expanded into various other things such as packaging materials, chemicals, medical supplies, etc. I literally started selling the very packaging materials i was using for packaging orders. Why not right as i was already stocking it to package orders. Guess what? It sells. Other examples: i sell numerous types and sizes of syringes, blunt tip syringes, oral syringes, injection syringes. I sell empty plastic bottles with caps in various sizes. I sell dozens of different unrestricted chemicals, etc.

Ive been scammed dozens of times, but never once from someone returning an item they intentionally ruined to scam me. I get scammed every few months through false chargebacks, ppl saying they never got the shipment even when the tracking shows they did, if they still deny receiving it the payment processors always settle in their favor regardless of tracking. Its bullshit but it is what it is. It happens but not often enough to damage my business.

When people say something arrived damaged or dead i just send them a replacement, ive never made them return it. Youd think id get scammed bad this way but believe it or not 99% of ppl arent greedy scam artists and just honest ppl. The only time i ask them to return something is if we send them the wrong thing which happens from time to time.

I learned pretty quickly the old saying “the customers always right”. When you sell someone something you are not selling them some item, you are selling them a sense of satisfaction. If for any reason the customer is unsatisfied then i havent done my job and i work with them to find a resolution that satisfies them. I will outright ask them “what can i do to make you satisfied?”. If its a refund i refund them. If its a reship i reship it. Early on id argue with them, this proved far less effective than simply striving for total satisfaction.

I think ppl underestimate the power of the internet. You can sell practically anything and somehow the internet magically connects obscure buyers to the person selling. My dad had some random old electronic shit he put on ebay, stuff he thought nobody would ever want yet it all sold he even had a buyer as far away as Mongolia buying this obscure shit. I sell stuff i never thought would ever sell but i still tried to sell because it only took 5 minutes of my time to list it, and shockingly it sells.

You cant assess stuff using the perspective of what you personally would buy. I wouldnt personally buy 95% of the stuff i sell. Pretty much no matter what your selling theres someone out there looking to buy it and the internet will magically connect you to them no matter where they are. Obviously though some things will be way more popular than others, but sometimes stuff you sell the most of isnt stuff you originally expected would sell well.

 

[WeightLossBurn]

You dont have to have the best price for stuff to sell believe it or not. Im not the lowest price on almost any product i sell yet it still sells. Do i sell as much as the guy with the best price? I would assume not, but i can still get my piece of the pie.

Also i should note whilst i started selling electronics i followed the money and expanded into various other things such as packaging materials, chemicals, medical supplies, etc. I literally started selling the very packaging materials i was using for packaging orders. Why not right as i was already stocking it to package orders. Guess what? It sells. Other examples: i sell numerous types and sizes of syringes, blunt tip syringes, oral syringes, injection syringes. I sell empty plastic bottles with caps in various sizes. I sell dozens of different unrestricted chemicals, etc.

Ive been scammed dozens of times, but never once from someone returning an item they intentionally ruined to scam me. I get scammed every few months through false chargebacks, ppl saying they never got the shipment even when the tracking shows they did, if they still deny receiving it the payment processors always settle in their favor regardless of tracking. Its bullshit but it is what it is. It happens but not often enough to damage my business.

When people say something arrived damaged or dead i just send them a replacement, ive never made them return it. Youd think id get scammed bad this way but believe it or not 99% of ppl arent greedy scam artists and just honest ppl. The only time i ask them to return something is if we send them the wrong thing which happens from time to time.

I learned pretty quickly the old saying “the customers always right”. When you sell someone something you are not selling them some item, you are selling them a sense of satisfaction. If for any reason the customer is unsatisfied then i havent done my job and i work with them to find a resolution that satisfies them. I will outright ask them “what can i do to make you satisfied?”. If its a refund i refund them. If its a reship i reship it. Early on id argue with them, this proved far less effective than simply striving for total satisfaction.

I think ppl underestimate the power of the internet. You can sell practically anything and somehow the internet magically connects obscure buyers to the person selling. My dad had some random old electronic shit he put on ebay, stuff he thought nobody would ever want yet it all sold he even had a buyer as far away as Mongolia buying this obscure shit. I sell stuff i never thought would ever sell but i still tried to sell because it only took 5 minutes of my time to list it, and shockingly it sells.

You cant assess stuff using the perspective of what you personally would buy. I wouldnt personally buy 95% of the stuff i sell. Pretty much no matter what your selling theres someone out there looking to buy it and the internet will magically connect you to them no matter where they are. Obviously though some things will be way more popular than others, but sometimes stuff you sell the most of isnt stuff you originally expected would sell well.

Chargebacks are the largest semi-legal scams known. And likely the reason why Wal-Mart gets to keep such low prices on their sales items.

 

[Megadick3000]

Chargebacks are the largest semi-legal scams known. And likely the reason why Wal-Mart gets to keep such low prices on their sales items.

Yes fuck chargeback scammers. Even with tracking showing it was delivered the buyer just says “nope never got it” and the payment processor refunds them and i eat the loss.

I have a naughty list of people who scammed me. I put all their info in it and then memorize it. My website also records their IP so even that goes on my naughty list. I delete their accounts too. 100% of the chargebacks have happened from customers who never ordered prior.

I had one guy who filed a chargeback, received the chargeback despite tracking showing it was delivered, but then discovered the package actually did arrive and he resent me the money. Most ppl are honest ppl in my experience. But theres total scumbags out there for sure.

 

[Sampei]

You dont have to have the best price for stuff to sell believe it or not. Im not the lowest price on almost any product i sell yet it still sells. Do i sell as much as the guy with the best price? I would assume not, but i can still get my piece of the pie.

Also i should note whilst i started selling electronics i followed the money and expanded into various other things such as packaging materials, chemicals, medical supplies, etc. I literally started selling the very packaging materials i was using for packaging orders. Why not right as i was already stocking it to package orders. Guess what? It sells. Other examples: i sell numerous types and sizes of syringes, blunt tip syringes, oral syringes, injection syringes. I sell empty plastic bottles with caps in various sizes. I sell dozens of different unrestricted chemicals, etc.

Ive been scammed dozens of times, but never once from someone returning an item they intentionally ruined to scam me. I get scammed every few months through false chargebacks, ppl saying they never got the shipment even when the tracking shows they did, if they still deny receiving it the payment processors always settle in their favor regardless of tracking. Its bullshit but it is what it is. It happens but not often enough to damage my business.

When people say something arrived damaged or dead i just send them a replacement, ive never made them return it. Youd think id get scammed bad this way but believe it or not 99% of ppl arent greedy scam artists and just honest ppl. The only time i ask them to return something is if we send them the wrong thing which happens from time to time.

I learned pretty quickly the old saying “the customers always right”. When you sell someone something you are not selling them some item, you are selling them a sense of satisfaction. If for any reason the customer is unsatisfied then i havent done my job and i work with them to find a resolution that satisfies them. I will outright ask them “what can i do to make you satisfied?”. If its a refund i refund them. If its a reship i reship it. Early on id argue with them, this proved far less effective than simply striving for total satisfaction.

I think ppl underestimate the power of the internet. You can sell practically anything and somehow the internet magically connects obscure buyers to the person selling. My dad had some random old electronic shit he put on ebay, stuff he thought nobody would ever want yet it all sold he even had a buyer as far away as Mongolia buying this obscure shit. I sell stuff i never thought would ever sell but i still tried to sell because it only took 5 minutes of my time to list it, and shockingly it sells.

You cant assess stuff using the perspective of what you personally would buy. I wouldnt personally buy 95% of the stuff i sell. Pretty much no matter what your selling theres someone out there looking to buy it and the internet will magically connect you to them no matter where they are. Obviously though some things will be way more popular than others, but sometimes stuff you sell the most of isnt stuff you originally expected would sell well.

Where did you find the suppliers of the stuff you sell? Any tip for someone that would like to start doing what you are doing? Like for example selling medical supplies untestricred chemicals etc.

 

[jJjburton]

Find an actual career. Fuck the gym as an income. Go get your GED, you said you'd do anything rt? Get some sort of cert that can actually get you a decent job with a future. You don't need to go any further than that, hell in this day and age competing with all of these other lazy fucks? Lmao. Anyone willing to work can be financially well off. But at least get a GED

Just learned personal training is shit. Way to much work for nothing.

 

[MegaDaveMustang]

Lot's of great insight here, I love it

As for giving advice to my younger self, simple: save all the money I spent on cheap Vodka and wining and dining skanks for endless nights of wasteful debauchery.

Ahh, if I only had a fraction of that now...but I do alright, considering.

 

[WeightLossBurn]

Lot's of great insight here, I love it

As for giving advice to my younger self, simple: save all the money I spent on cheap Vodka and wining and dining skanks for endless nights of wasteful debauchery.

Ahh, if I only had a fraction of that now...but I do alright, considering.

I disagree. Being where you are now and ruminating about not spending your youth on wasteful debauchery would have been much more harmful to you. You saved on the price of vodka which is something you can give as advice. So long as that cheap vodka doesn't turn into future health issues. Georgi can't be good for you.

 

[pigeonhed]

For most young people I would suggest no saving money until at least 22, for my own children I have not had them save until 25. I am a retired financial analyst so I feel comfortable giving them this advice.

In my view savings should occur after a period of personal growth (college, trade, travel, being young). We have set up the children inheritance so they receive part at 18 and part at 25. The hope being by the time we die they understand and know how to handle wealth.

Currently my oldest child is 25. She and her husband were able to buy a home this year and also get a nice start to life. Previously the money she received at 18, she used for college and also a little travel too.

The era I grew up in was very different. I left my home with absolutely nothing financially. In our current world I could not easily duplicate that same feat. So here is my advice:

If 20 Invest in yourself. Every chance invest in you, not possessions, not shiny objects. Education, Schooling, knowledge, experience, go do, go be you. Without a wide range of education or social experiences you cannot build the community of people around you that is needed. My finance advice for people under 25. SPEND EVERY CENT POSSIBLE ON EDUCATION AND FURTHERING YOURSELF. THE ONLY THING YOU BRING OF VALUE TO YOUR OLD AGE IS YOU. SPEND ON IT.

The reality of the situation is as follows. As a financial analyst the amount of money you have the ability to earn is all that matters. If you start saving at age 25 you will NOT be significantly behind someone who saves earlier. You and your financial professional should have a plan to increase your security as you age, this plan should take into account current and future earnings. The plan should have the ability to marginalize timeframes as investments can be tailored to fit your needs. Most people I have worked with can become financially independent in 10 years with a professional degree. It all depends on your goals and who you learn to deal with money. Saving without a goal is silly. When people save it should be because they have goals and dreams that they understand and are willing to sacrifice for.

This is only the advice I give my kids. I hope this helps.

 

[MegaDaveMustang]

I disagree. Being where you are now and ruminating about not spending your youth on wasteful debauchery would have been much more harmful to you. You saved on the price of vodka which is something you can give as advice. So long as that cheap vodka doesn't turn into future health issues. Georgi can't be good for you.

Well that's the problem in my situation...the cheap Vodka did have a hefty toll on my body after 15+ years. Multiple abominable surgeries, a lifetime of chronic pancreatitis, perforated ulcers to name the primary issues.

But I'm alive somehow, so I'm grateful for that.

 

[WeightLossBurn]

Sorry.

 

[MegaDaveMustang]

Sorry.

All is good, man.

 

[Demondosage]

Just learned personal training is shit. Way to much work for nothing.

It’s honestly a fuck-off job. You are dealing with idiots who have no accountability and discipline and 9/10x there are too many outside influences in their life that you cannot help them repair.

 

[BigHoss99]

I would say to myself "don't buy those dumb natural anabolics or other stupid expensive supplements they aren't doing anything" lol.

 

[MisterSuperGod]

i would say "Listen up 20 year old MSG, spending your paycheck each week on booze and hookers is going to leave you in a bad spot when you get older and have nothing in your savings. At least cut it back to every other paycheck!"

To bad i can't go back in time. 20 years later... i swear just one more paycheck on that shit then it's nose to the grindstone from here on out.

 

[Bottom_Feeder]

I can't speak to my 20 year old self, I could offer some advice to a 20 year old tho as if we're my kid. I do my best to not live in the past.

A wise man once told me "money is only worth so much". That wise man was only 19 years old and he worked as a apprentice under me. Those words cut deep. Time may be money but money will not buy you a extra second of time. There is a common misunderstanding with money. You will usually be able to gather more of it. Time is much more valuable and much more scarce. Usually after one has money do they realize the aspects of time and life. I've never once saw or heard anything about money from a person on their death bed.

Money will not buy you happiness, but it will buy you freedom. Some of the most depressed people I have meet are wealthy. When one buys all the shit one could ever want what's left? Once one has traveled the world, what's left? IMO it's why alot of wealthy have extreme hobbies like skydiving, base jumping, etc. Bezos just went to space... Things and places don't make them feel alive anymore.

I have always been fair with money, although bankrupted twice. I was forced to learn money quick and early. I have lived as a vagrant since age 13 approx. I had a "home" technically but was basically on my own and financially independent. I had a job since age 9. Bought a house at age 20. 2008 got financially ruined.

Invest in yourself first. Read some books watch some YouTube etc. I would find a trade. metalworking/fabrication/welding is in crazy demand. Pay is good its the industry I work. Traveling is high paying.

Live below your means. Always save first and do not touch it. Even 5 or 10$ a week make it a habit or, even better, automatic from paycheck. One of the biggest mistake I see made when it comes to money is over spending. For example, I got a bonus... who wants hookers and cocaine? Or when one gets a raise they increase their standard of living, instead of saving the difference.

Saving is not the same as keeping. It's better to invest, instead of traditional saving, to outrun inflation. Due to inflation on average your dollar is worth 2% less. It's best to put money into a etf, stock, or crypto. Obviously investing money is more risky than cash under the mattress. On average, the s&p 500 grows 6-8% per year.

I am totally lost as to why zero financial education exists in schools. Most people's lives revole around money forever. Schools were created by industrial factories. IMO schools are used to create submissive individuals. Start this time, sit here, Dont talk, get up at the bell etc. Exactly what happens at a factory. Usually the ones who reject this get ahead.

Use debt wisely. Chop up all credit cards. Use loans to your advantage. obviously a car is needed for most people but it's still a liability. Liabilitys create no value, assets create value. Live BELOW your means. A home in which you live is a liability, a home you rent out is a asset. People with assets get bailed out first.

 

[Ferret]

I can't speak to my 20 year old self, I could offer some advice to a 20 year old tho as if we're my kid. I do my best to not live in the past.

A wise man once told me "money is only worth so much". That wise man was only 19 years old and he worked as a apprentice under me. Those words cut deep. Time may be money but money will not buy you a extra second of time. There is a

Not true, people with higher income tend to live longer. It can give you access to better medical , better lifestyle, etc all that can lead to a longer life.

common misunderstanding with money. You will usually be able to gather more of it. Time is much more valuable and much more scarce. Usually after one has money do they realize the aspects of time and life. I've never once saw or heard anything about money from a person on their death bed.

Kinda agree, once I got some $ I kinda felt it was worthless.

Money will not buy you happiness, but it will buy you freedom. Some of the most depressed people I have meet are wealthy. When one buys all the shit one could ever want what's left? Once one has traveled the world, what's left? IMO it's why alot of wealthy have extreme hobbies like skydiving, base jumping, etc. Bezos just went to space... Things and places don't make them feel alive anymore.

I have always been fair with money, although bankrupted twice. I was forced to learn money quick and early. I have lived as a vagrant since age 13 approx. I had a "home" technically but was basically on my own and financially independent. I had a job since age 9. Bought a house at age 20. 2008 got financially ruined.

Invest in yourself first. Read some books watch some YouTube etc. I would find a trade. metalworking/fabrication/welding is in crazy demand. Pay is good its the industry I work. Traveling is high paying.

Education is one thing.. but most is genetic/IQ.

Live below your means. Always save first and do not touch it. Even 5 or 10$ a week make it a habit or, even better, automatic from paycheck. One of the biggest mistake I see made when it comes to money is over spending. For example, I got a bonus... who wants hookers and cocaine? Or when one gets a raise they increase their standard of living, instead of saving the difference.

Saving is not the same as keeping. It's better to invest, instead of traditional saving, to outrun inflation. Due to inflation on average your dollar is worth 2% less. It's best to put money into a etf, stock, or crypto. Obviously investing money is more risky than cash under the mattress. On average, the s&p 500 grows 6-8% per year.

I am totally lost as to why zero financial education exists in schools. Most people's lives revole around money forever. Schools were created by industrial factories. IMO schools are used to create submissive individuals. Start this time, sit here, Dont talk, get up at the bell etc. Exactly what happens at a factory. Usually the ones who reject this get ahead.

Because people are stupid, and think Football is more important!

Use debt wisely. Chop up all credit cards. Use loans to your advantage. obviously a car is needed for most people but it's still a liability. Liabilitys create no value, assets create value. Live BELOW your means. A home in which you live is a liability, a home you rent out is a asset. People with assets get bailed out first.

Never chop up credit cards, they give you GREAT consumer protection. Lots of scams /junk being sold, you can do a chargeback and protect yourself with a credit card.

If you lose your credit card and someone uses it, you are not liable. Lose $5000 in cash, and.. well... it's GONE