What do you wish you knew at 40?

Some day you'll get old enough to wish you could remember what you knew at 40, or what you were doing at 40. just saying
 
How fast life goes by....

You're almost 50 already.
 
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Listen more and talk less

Save almost everything----Spend virtually nothing---
 
I wish back then (I'm 71 yo) how to invest smartly in the stock market. I joined a stock investing club 21 years ago and have done quite well compared to just saving. I am in the market for the long haul, buy good stocks and hold them. My strategy is it's the time in the market, not timing the market.
 
Time only goes in one direction and is accelerating rapidly, anything you really want to do - do it now. The friends that you have had forever, cannot stay forever, neither can you. Getting old is not something that happens to "other people". I knew to invest from my father, thank the Lord.
 
30-30remchester said:
Spend every moment with your children. They will soon start a life and family of own and will migrate further and further away. They go off to college and never really come home again.
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This.

I would add, don't get caught up in the day to day problems of life to the extent they run your days. Hug those kids, set good boundaries for them, do things with them (we didn't have money for vacations and eating out every meal but we did things together), and love them unconditionally. As was stated, you will eventually be older with your wife (hopefully), a few friends and hopefully your children by your side but life changes and it is not always kind. Invest while you can, and I don't mean money although that is good too.
 
I'll be 55 this year.

What I wish I knew at 40

That in 3 years the job you worked at for 20 years and hated would finally come to an abrupt end. I should have started looking 10 years earlier.

That money is nice, but time is better. All the Saturday half days I worked wan't worth the overtime. I work a 9 to 5 Monday thru Friday job and the full 2 days off are worth any loss of income. And, since my pay increased, I didn't notice any difference.

Spend wisely, don't buy what you can't pay for. Guns and toys are nice, but credit card debt and monthly payments aren't. If I can't pay cash for something, for trade for it, I don't buy it (car and mortgage payment excepted).

Value your relationships. So many of my friends ended up divorced because they had affairs. There but for the grace of God go I. I didn't, but the oppertunities were there. We'll be married 30 years in 2023. I'm glad she's still my wife and best friend.

Get a pet, if you can. I got Oliver kitty when I was 41. Those were some of the happiest years of my life. The joy that cat gave me was immeasurable. I cried like a little girl when he went to Rainbow Bridge. But he'll be forever in my heart.

That's my .02

QD67
 
Fessor said:
I wish back then (I'm 71 yo) how to invest smartly in the stock market. I joined a stock investing club 21 years ago and have done quite well compared to just saving. I am in the market for the long haul, buy good stocks and hold them. My strategy is it's the time in the market, not timing the market.
Click to expand...

Exactly. An S&P 500 index fund using cost investment averaging. This means putting a fixed amount in every month, and holding for the long term. I was given this advice by the CFO of the large Medical Center I worked. This was before I was 40 and it has worked out well.
 
Remember a pension is JUST a promise. Lawyers and bankruptcy courts break promises. Save your money and don't depend on anyone else. Don't feel guilty about hustling at 40. But eventually hunt more and work less. On your death bed you won't be thinking about the money you didn't make.
 
At 40 years old I wish I would have known that loyalty is a two-way street. At that point I was 7 years into a job where my advancement opportunities were stalled. I should have worked a lot harder on finding a new job.
 
Understand who you are and what you are capable of before measuring your success in life. Regardless what the purveyors of blue sky say, not everybody is capable of great achievement or great monetary wealth.
Realize who you are and be happy with what your honest efforts produce.
 
I should have put more money in my 401k. My Wife had to retire unexpectedly 12 years ago. I had no idea we'd be living on a single income, but thank God I still have my Wife.
When we used to have a little extra money we used to go to Cancun once a year in the winter with some friends. I wish we have traveled in the the USA instead. We are the luckiest people in the world live where we do and to have what we have.
America the beautiful from sea to shining sea.
 
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68Dave said:
I turned forty last week , and have a question. What do you wish you knew then , that you could share with myself or others now?
I have not been on here long , but it seems like there is a lot of knowledge and experience around here regularly. So, what is it, do you have a nugget of wisdom or knowledge? Thanks for any and all answers.
David.
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There are quite a few things I'm glad I didn't know.
 
I will be 70 this year in July. The only problem I have is I can pass for 40.
Doctors have said I would live to be 100 if I quit smoking. My reply is
"No thanks I worked in a Nursing Home while in high school."
Years ago I worked for a Lady whose last name was "Bailey" whose family was part of the Ringling Brothers & Bailey Circus. She traveled @ the age of 84 all over the Northeast judging flower shows & took care of an 80 acre farm by herself.
Asked her how she did it? Her reply was " DONT STOP" keep moving & do what you enjoy".
 
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At the ripe old age of 72, I wish I had realized at 40 that 90% of why I went fishing was just the desire to be on the water at daylight and dark and most of the time in between. (finally sold the bass boat and bought a pontoon). And 75% of why I hunted was to spent time in the woods. I still hunt, only on the nice days but spend a huge amount of the year outdoors and in the woods. remember - no one ever lays on their deathbed and says " I wish I had spent more time at work". Take you wife and kids to the great outdoors every change you have and always bring up at the dinner table- "where do we need to go explore and discover next time?" and then make it happen.
 
Many of the above posts have it right, but I would add one thing..... Believe in yourself.

For most of my life I was affected by an "I'm not good enough for that" attitude. It held me back personally, professionally and emotionally. It was not until after I turned 40 that I started to change my way of thinking and went out to do those things I thought I couldn't.

Don't get me wrong, I'd still never jump out of an airplane for sport and many other things, but I now think "why not" when faced with something I'd like to do.

We each have unlimited potential so make the most of it.
 
I just turned 76. I remember back at 40 worrying about my job, about impressing people, about being successful and in general not having enough confidence in myself. I was really making myself miserable. I made up my mind that my primary goal each day was to find things during the day that I enjoyed and be myself just like the good lord made me. Man what a change! Attitude is what controls your life. Go and enjoy it. Age is just a number.
 
I wish I had had the money to afford better tequila. That stuff that I was drinking was harsh.

I wish I had appreciated a little more that 40 is the sweet spot. As a man at 40, you know what you need to know, and you still have the body to do something about it.

Good luck and if you ever want to trade places, DM me. :ROFLMAO:
 
68Dave said:
I turned forty last week , and have a question. What do you wish you knew then , that you could share with myself or others now?
I have not been on here long , but it seems like there is a lot of knowledge and experience around here regularly. So, what is it, do you have a nugget of wisdom or knowledge? Thanks for any and all answers.
David.
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At age 40 I thought that life as I knew it would end at 50. It doesn't.
 
I married at age 30. Had two kids. Life was a struggle just providing. Make retirement a priority! Do with less now so you have a more secure future. The next 25 years will go by quickly. I will be 65 in 4 years and a couple of months. Still working two jobs. I can draw my work pension at 65 even if I keep working there. In twenty years you will be wondering where the last twenty years went. I know lots of people my age whose only retirement income will be Social Security. And we know that's not guaranteed to be here.
 
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