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30 Things And Tips About Life People Over 50 Wish They’d Figured Out Sooner
Most of us, at best, learn from our own mistakes and experiences, which is better than not learning at all, but often leaves us unprepared for things we have yet to encounter. So it is always wise to learn what one can from the folks who have lived a little bit more life.
Someone asked, “People who are 55+ and happy with your life, what is your best advice to those under 25?” So if you are in the right age category, perhaps prepare to take some notes, scroll through, upvote your favorites and if you have some wisdom to spill, be sure to do it in the comments section below.
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#1
Dont let work become your life. Your work will not care for you when you're sick, nor love you when you need care, nor hold your hand when you're dying.
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#2
Live within your means. Use debt carefully. Start saving for retirement early as the others say. Focus on good relationships.
#3
Chase what makes you happy, not what you feel obligated to do to please parents (for example). Don’t compare yourself to others: it will [be bad] the joy from your life.
#4
Eat fairly healthy and get daily exercise. I'm now 72 and still run 40 miles/week. However, I have friends 10 years younger than I who can hardly walk to the mailbox. Getting old isn't bad at all if you can still get out, travel, go out to eat, play catch with your grandson, enjoy life. But, you have to be healthy enough to do all those things. It's a lot easier to get into shape and keep it that way when you are in your 20s. If you wait, you may never start.
#5
Experiences can never be taken from you. Get out and see the world, try new things, go to that concert or baseball game or museum or show.
#7
Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. Sometimes you need to be happy with what you have, it won’t get better but it could definitely get worse.
#9
Learn how to save and invest money now. If you learn how to do this, 55 year old you will be forever grateful to 25 year old you.
#10
The two biggest decisions are your career and your partner. Your career will probably change and its not too bad to change but changing your partner can be a nightmare. My best advice is to be careful who you settle down with. The people I know my age that are unhappy are unhappy because they picked a bad partner.
#11
A job is just a way to get currency into your bank account, don’t confuse it with who you are. Also, no matter what anyone ever tells you: your work is NOT a family. All but one or two people at your current job will drop you as an acquaintance as soon as you leave for another opportunity. Additionally, never ever compromise yourself or do any illegal s**t for your boss - ever.
#12
Don’t let your world get small. Travel, have a variety of interests, spend time with family and friends.
#14
As someone not quite 55, my main advice to someone looking to get advice from an older person is this- The world we grew up in changed much slower than the one you're growing up in, so most of the advice you read here will be from that perspective. What was sage advice for us may not be sage advice for you. How much the world changed between 1990-2000 is likely much less dramatic than the change we'll see between 2025-2035. My personal advice? Keep an open mind, be patient (which is *not* the same as allowing yourself to be subjected to abuse), and be thoughtful about your choices (but don't allow your thinking to keep you from making choices- we often never know how a choice will turn out until long *after* we've made it).
#15
Let the little s**t go. Don't dwell on what you can't control. Clean out and toss c**p you don't use every 2 years.
#18
Stay curious. Take time to notice when something or someone is bringing you joy. Simply being happy about something isn’t frivolous. Beware of pessimism masquerading as wisdom. I like the Kurt Vonnegut advice: “And I urge you to please notice when you are happy, and exclaim or murmur or think at some point, 'If this isn't nice, I don't know what is.’”
#22
Treat your body well now, because you will either reap the rewards of it or suffer the consequences of it later. Enjoy your life and explore your hobbies and make your friends. Take this time to grow and heal and become the best version of yourself that you can.
#24
1. Act in good faith. This is fantastically underestimated. Cultivate curiosity, eschew judgment. 2. Tend to your relationships, even when - and especially when - you don't feel like it. 3. Prioritize being your best, physically, emotionally and mentally.
#25
Share your skills or talents freely with others and ask them to do the same for you. Knowledge is power.
#26
Take a cooking class and you will be much happier that you don’t have to always order out and maybe meet someone new. It’s also better than the dating apps.
#27
Take risks. At least try everything you always wanted to do/attempt. You don't want to be my age and be able to say "I wish I would've done/tried *X*". You get one of these lives. Do it all.
#29
57 here. Start saving for retirement now. I know it’s decades away, but the sooner you start, the less you have to save out of every paycheck thanks to the magic of compounding interest. By the time you’re 50, you could easily have $1M. I only aggressively started saving at 42 and probably won’t reach $1M before I retire. At a minimum, save enough so you get 100% of your employer match. Have kids by 30 so you’re young enough to spend time with them through high school and to see grandchildren grow up. My youngest is 11 and I know I might never see his kids. Kinda makes me sad. Stay away from debt except for a home and maybe a vehicle. Credit card debt is an addiction that enables impulse buying for stuff you probably don’t need or even want. I got caught in a debt trap in my late 20’s and had to file bankruptcy. All lessons learned the hard way. Take from it what you will.
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