If I were to go back in time, I would probably change a few things. Time travelling is fascinating since I can change my past to have a better future, although the butterfly effect can be scary. What I would tell my younger self and hopefully listen to my advice would be to have a better future. Who doesn’t want a better future?
2 Bank Accounts
That’s what my mom did for me when I was younger. She opened a joint fixed deposit account that was meant for me later on. At that point, fixed deposits do have high interest rates but it dropped drastically over the years and all I received in terms of interest was just a miserly hundred over dollars in a span of 10 years. Good grief.
However, I would tell my younger self to still have 2 different bank accounts. One for depositing a fixed amount of money (hopefully in an account that has a higher interest rate) on a monthly basis and the other for spending. A great way to compare is to check this cheat sheet. This site saves me tons of time and effort in understanding which account is best for what purpose.
Multiple Streams of Income
Have a main job that pays the bills because somehow, spending is so much more therapeutic than saving money. Hence, the savings account where I can’t spend a single cent unless under dire circumstances. Having another stream of income (MLM is a popular choice). Note that there is a difference between MLM and Pyramid Schemes. There have been cases of money being scammed because of Ponzi schemes that are disguised as MLMs. I want to sell items but I don’t want to rent a warehouse, Singapore is not conducive for sole proprietors like me. I can’t afford to rent a warehouse. I would have to think of all the attractive deals to get people to buy items from me. I have absolutely no interest in developing sales talks.
If you are against MLMs, no fear, just have that kind of marketing techniques to sell your skills in absolutely anything. You can sell your books (self publishing – yay for Internet, or through a publisher – lots of rejections before you become a hit like J. K. Rowling), crochet based on requests (lots of stories who want cheap though), virtual assistant, photographer (wedding, pre-wedding, random events) and various skills via Freelancer (this site is now getting difficult because you need to promote your skills and gain reputation before you really can get the job, negotiation in payment amount also requires skills) or other freelancing sites.
Keep Learning
Learning is a life-long journey. Just because I still have a job, it doesn’t mean that I will still have that job forever. Nothing is forever. I stopped learning too early. If I can’t sustain my own business, I might as well keep learning and have a learning mind that doesn’t rust easily from lack of learning.
Learn languages, soft skills, certification in whatever interests me at the moment and along the lines of my job scope. Keep learning because time changes and technology can just replace my job any time. Keeping a job is not just being knowledgeable in my scope but also a skill in people relationship. Being able to self promote is a skill itself too.
What advice would you give to your younger self?
