When I started working, I opted out of my workplace pension because I didn’t think it was important and I wanted to have more money to spend.
I just turned 30 and only starting to fund my retirement. Pretty stupid to have missed all that employer match contributions throughout all these years.
What’s something you wish you knew sooner as an adult and started working?
30 comments
If you’re an outstanding employee your reward is just more work.
Yeah, pension from the start, I’m nearing 40 and have over 15 years of contributions now.
That when a manager says “development opportunity” it generally means we are gonna give you work at higher pay grade but not actually pay you for it.
How people will stand their ground even if they are wrong and can be proven wrong, it is not worth the effort to fight them
That I prioritised my mental health over making more money.
I wanted to climb up the ladder quickly. I am in a good place now, but I have burnt out multiple times and felt like I needed to be productive all the time. It was hard to step back and enjoy having downtime. All this “hustle culture” made me think you can only be successful if you work yourself to exhaustion every day, which is completely wrong and counterproductive.
Attitude is everything (hyperbole) !!!
I’ve seen people who aren’t top of the class in intelligence, Street smarts or productivity but their gumption has seen them promoted past the intelligent people with average attitude.
Some ‘friends’ don’t value or prioritise your friendship as much as you do. Some people are more transitionary with their friendship too.
And you know, it’s actually fine. You just need to accept that and not always feel betrayed or like you did something wrong because X drifts away.
Seriously so much time wasted thinking about people who I thought I was great friends with and wondering why it stopped. When it’s almost always a time priority issue.
Being liked is more important than being competent
Job hopping is far more beneficial to climbing the wage ladder than staying where you are.
Gone from £28K to £47k in the last five years. This would NOT have been achieved through wage rises in the same place!
Just because someone at work has been there for 20 years, it doesn’t make them the best employee or the most senior. Their learning curve realistically plateaued years ago and their skillset might have stagnated as they often default to “this is the way it has always done”. Don’t feel any shame in applying for promotions just because you have a shorter tenure.
To check my engine oil more often.
I thought I could just forget about it since I get my car serviced annually (you can tell I know nothing about cars)
Remember to have a separation between work and personal life. Your colleagues might be your friends but still remain professional.
I wish I learned how to manage money properly the moment I started earning money.
r/UKPersonalFinance has been a really huge help for me. They have a wiki page that gives you a guide on how to plan your finances. Honestly, read through their [wiki page](https://ukpersonal.finance/) and you’ll learn important things that were never taught in school.
I’ve been following a budgeting system that helps me from wasting money on unnecessary things. It’s called **pay yourself first**: allocate money on bills and savings goals and live off the remaining. To make your income last the entire month, track your spending on a spreadsheet or use apps like r/NovaMoney to make the whole process easier. It’s been a life-saver and I don’t have to stress about money anymore.
The definition of success for me changed from making money and being promoted etc to having control over your time. Freedom of time is the definition of success.
HR are not your friend. They exist to protect the company.
Be very aware of the contents of your job contract and the company handbook (if they have one).
This makes it easier to identify when your manager or the company are taking the piss.
Also helps you know what you are entitled to and when wrt benefits and pension options.
Pensions, mortgages, credit scores ….
This weeks euro numbers
That if the sun will eventually die, your mistakes truly don’t matter. There’ll be no record, noone to remember. All of us are “all in” whether you think you’re being cautious or not, you’re not surviving this place. Do the thing!
But also remember; Everyone, and I mean everyone, is winging it.
No manual, no code, no guide, no rules. Just winging it.
The day I learned my parents were, was the day I went “OH! Fuck!”
There is a lot of joy and happiness to be had in “ordinary” lives. It’s not only people with amazing careers, living in gorgeous houses and taking fabulous holidays, who are happy.
That’s not to say that money doesn’t make life easier and that not being able to meet your needs isn’t distressing, because it is. But there is much pleasure to be found in the small things in life and contentment is under rated.
When I was young, I put so much pressure on myself to do well in exams, get an amazing job etc. I am hard working and reasonably intelligent etc but I am not exceptional. I now have a fairly ordinary job but I am happy. I like my life and have plenty of friends (which is important to me) and a partner (also important to me) and I have a few hobbies that I dabble in and find fullfilling. I wish I’d understood that happiness didn’t require me to get an amazing job and be exceptional.
Considering my background I wish I had had much more of a push towards STEM. I am trying to make up for that now but it is not easy.
That it’s ok to say no when you don’t want to do something I wish someone had been on my side and told me I didn’t have to go to uni if I didn’t want to – instead I’m 30 with a next to useless degree. I’ve never earned enough to pay tax, and am still stuck in my parent’s house. They’re great, and we get on really well, but I want my own space. I also have a tiny pension pot right now and being single, it’s pretty worrying.
That the cheese grater works better if you put lay it on its side instead of holding it in your hand.
Same. Mine is probably even worse. I only had to put 6% in, they put 12%. I worked there 10 years. I could cry when I think about it now.
Sometimes it makes your kids happier having a single parent than trying everything to keep your family together. My then 6 yo turning round to me one day and saying “I like it much better now that daddy’s not here” made me regret my entire marriage.
Nobody gives 1% the amount of fucks about you that you think they do.
How life opportunity is limited by drinking to excess
Paying bills on time is really fucking important! 19 year old me ruined my credit for life.
Buy property as soon as you can
Chatted to a delivery driver once. Was all chirpy as he was retiring soon. Guess he was approaching 50 I was surprised he was putting away enough money aside as delivery driver. He said he was lucky as a 16 year old school leaver his first employer impressed on him how important it was to start a private pension. Meanwhile our boss and other seniors were trying to cajole us into cancelling our nest workplace pensions when they kicked in a few years back. Started a private pension in my late 30s. Doh!