Early 20s Advice

Take risks

Incidentally, I was going to say "save as much as possible and bang as many Asian girls as possible." You're gonna do fine, kid.

Interested to see some of the older guys enter this conversation.

Sound advice on savings and ladies.

I'll add: 1) Figure what you want to do later in life and start doing it early, or at least do something that prepares you for it. The older you get the harder it will be to catch up. 2) If someone tells you money does not matter, or material stuff does not matter - tell that person to fuck off. The older you get, the more important your income/net worth becomes to other people. Starting early is crucial in gaining wealth (if you are not loaded to start with). 3) Have as much various experiences and travel as possible without sacrificing too much of the previous two. You won't have time later to do long travel or crazy stuff. 4) Don't get a graduate degree without some work experience after college first. If you don't listen to this, there is a good chance you'll regret it later.

Don't buy shit you don't need (especially depreciating assets) and don't do meaningless work (work to always improve your performance, don't settle for the easy route) and distinguish carefully between paying your dues and spinning in place. If you can do that, you are ahead of 98% of the population.

Also: http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/en/daniel_kahneman_the_riddle_of_experien…

Everyone has a (often) painful choice to make: Do I want to be happy now or later?

If you want the former, then do as much crazy stuff as possible and don't care about the money. Be around the people you love and get a stress-free job. However, if you want the latter be prepared to not have much fun in the short term, but the benefit is increased wealth/responsibility/respect/fame/life satisfaction/whatever in the long term. There isn't a real answer, just do what you love. O and don't "what if" yourself, EVER.

1 - don't consider marriage unless you have a prenup. Seriously. Divorce is messy, painful and expensive. You will praise the day you decided to get a prenup.

2 - I like the previous advice on preparing yourself for the things you want to do later. Your 20s are critical for that.

3 - learn to golf. It's been the one thing I've always found to be fun and you meet great people. I have two country club memberships and they bring me more joy than anything else in life.

4 - clothes make the man. Cliche but true. Start now.

this is going to be another epic thread full of advice given by college kids to other college kids on the meaning of life.

Asians only? Broaden your horizons.

Do the unconventional, its worked for me. When i was young I had the oppertunity to choose between a few things to inherit. While my cousins picked the cars, money and the likes, I picked the farm land. That has worked out very well for me. So I say pick the unconventinal route, take the road less traveled.

Live whithin your means, read as much as you can, make friends, find a mentor, be a good person

Bro if I came to my gf and told her I wanted to sign a prenup she'd straight up punch me in my face.

I don't agree with the get married early advice. I'm 29, some of the people I know who got married right out of college or before 25 are already getting divorced -- it's a shit show. As a man, especially in finance, your options grow with time. If you have a high income and are even reasonably good looking / in shape, you can date women in their 20s or 30s. Wait until you are 35, stable career, shooling done, started your own firm, etc. and marry a 25-30 year old. There will be a lot of value in the marriage for each party and you are less likely to get divorced. You will also have better judgment in general about women by then.

I'm in my mid-30's and spent most of my 20's in NYC so here's what I learned (some of this is specific to working in finance in NYC as other places and jobs work differently):

• Date a lot but don't get locked down. Wait until you are closer to/over 30 to start getting serious. You will be working a lot so it's difficult to maintain relationships, plus your perspective on what is important changes a lot between 20 and 30. The fear that all the good girls will be taken is not an issue in NYC, plus you can always find girls that are 3-7 years younger once you are 30-35. That's what I did, and it's worked great.

• DO NOT SPEND YOUR BONUS BEFORE YOU GET IT. I saw so many people do this, and it's just stupid, particularly in an environment when people are getting zero's or cut. After you get your first bonus, allocate some of it to covering additional monthly expenses for the next year; go on a vacation; invest the rest.

• Max out your 401k.

• Be thrifty but not to the point of stifling your social life. Live with several roommates (I had 3 plus myself) to keep living costs down, plus you can actually find some pretty cool places in the city (think massive lofts) if you have a bunch of roommates. There is no point in getting a studio/one bedroom to live alone - you are never home, and it's a waste of money. Let your roommates pay for the TVs, furniture, etc. because if they are also in finance they are probably the type that want toys...save your money and let them waste theirs. Having multiple roommates around is also great for your social life as you don't have to always hang out with just one of them, and it expands your circle.

• Do not set yourself into a budget that prevents you from going out. There is no point of living in NYC if you aren't going to take advantage of it. Frequent some neighborhood bars and get to know the bar tenders; this will save you a ton of money and has other benefits as well.

• Travel as much as possible. Your vacation days are part of your compensation. Figure out how to use all of them without upsetting your staffer/boss. Also, get a share house in the Hampton's/the Shore/Fire Island for the summer. Most of the senior guys bail around lunch time on Fridays to go to their respective beach houses. You can crank out models on the Jitney just like you are in the office.

• Learn how to maximize face time, while actually minimizing time spent in the office. This was the biggest key to my enjoyment of NYC. Make it look to others that you are the hardest working analyst/associate (and actually try to be the best in your work product), while actually figuring out how to get out early at night and "working from home" on the weekends. Also, don't be afraid to go out to meet friends when you are leaving the office at midnight or 2am. You don't have to drink a lot, but getting into a social mindset even for a couple of hours late at night makes life so much more bearable. You can't spend 100% of your time thinking about work...it will drive you crazy.

Good luck!

I hear you Poff. In general, women like older, financially successful men. Men like younger women with nice tits. That's the way the world works. Personally, I want a woman who is good with the kids and wants to stay home, so that doesn't sound like a bad deal to me. If she is a vapid bitch, that's a different story, but there's nothing wrong with a woman who wants to be secure and raise a family.

Thank you for all the responses, WSO never seems to fail me.

Come to China.