Originally Posted by Joshua A. Love (Post 806813)

I am approaching this subject in a teachable
posture. I know many people use this website..
I enjoy everyone I come accross, and everything
I learn, and completely respect those who are
Beyond my years of knowledge.
So my question to you;
If you were in my shoes, 21 of age,
young man, what would you focus investing in?
In a broad perspective?
This being anything from business owner to stock
market minded to anything I have never even heard of
doing.

Originally Posted by bkcunningham1 (Post 807441)

Invest in eternity, Josh. You should become a preacher. You love the Lord and with a name like Joshua Love, it is destiny. I hope you find what you are looking for Josh and I know God is guiding you. Everyone felt like you are feeling when they were your age. Take it slowly and don't go into debt to get wherever it is you are going. Be honest and trustworthy. Keep your word and follow the Golden Rule. You won't go wrong. May God bless your steps.

PS-I think we are going to need our cars cleaned after the weather breaks. Are you still doing that? BK

Originally Posted by Joshua A. Love (Post 819446)

Sorry for such a late reply, but
It certaintly took a good while to read through this material.
Such answers are profound to me as there are many different walks in
Life. I am enjoying reading everyone's post and am thankful for everyone's time invested
In doing so. I can say that i indeed may read through this all a few times to
really grasp each person's opinion on it. I am indeed at the stage of direction in my life,
and though the Lord may lead in a different direction than i see fit, I just hope to
grasp onto provision in well-supporting my "some day family".

Originally Posted by dotti105 (Post 806976)

I would suggest you check out "Dave Ramsey".

He is one financial guru who really has his head on straight. We learned so much from him. Things that are very simple, easy and financially sound. Things that should be taught in high school about money/finances but unfortunately are not.

If we had followed his advice 30 yrs ago we would have retired earlier with a much larger nest egg.

Check him out and be willing to change the way you look at the money that crosses your hands! He has the right priorities and puts it out there in easy to understand language!

We wish you the best! You are very smart to start thinking about your financial future today. It is easy to think that tomorrow will take care of itself, when nothing could be further from the truth!!

Originally Posted by DougB (Post 819514)

Josh, if it took you 22 days to read 33 posts, the only advise I can give you is to read more and work on your fluency to get your words per minute higher. :)

Originally Posted by Barefoot (Post 806893)

Are you looking for ideas on how to start a business? Or for investment ideas?

Originally Posted by angiefox10 (Post 806898)

I was a public speaker before I retired. My subject was money. The advise given by donb9006 is the best advise on money. Save for what you want, buy used when you can and pay cash! Before you buy anything.... THINK! Do I NEED this or do I WANT it??? Often times you will decide you don't really need it.

We buy most items with a thought in our head as to what we are doing to be doing with it after we buy it. I give the example of the outdoor furniture I purchased when I lived up north. I saw myself eating breakfast out there most mornings... In two years we probably used it twice. We didn't have time in our busy schedules to eat breakfast outside,

You see it with many of the pools being built in The Villages. Not many people in them.

Put your money on memories... not things. Things wear out... memories are with you forever.

We have too much stuff! Back in the 50's we had small homes and no stuff and people were happier. Now... we have large homes and lots of stuff and we aren't happy! That stuff..... Isn't what happiness is about.

Absolutely SAVE!!!! But not so much that you aren't enjoying life. We had a tax business for 30 years and saw too many people with money, and no life. I found it very sad.

I would never tell anyone what stocks to buy... I've had good luck... I've had bad luck. *shrug* Even the experts don't get it right.

Originally Posted by JourneyOfLife (Post 806917)

Since you are asking that sort of question here... you probably have no real direction yet.

My generic comment...

IMO; Invest in yourself, your knowledge and earning ability! College first! If you think you have a flair for being an entrepreneur, consider it after your education. Be very careful and thoughtful about your selection of Major. Make sure the field pays well and it will yield employment opportunities. If you are not sure about being an entrepreneur and think you will work for someone else. It is hard to beat certain Engineering fields in terms of earning power for a BS degree (bang for the buck). Same goes for certain jobs in Information Technology. After a few years of work and maturity, consider getting an MBA and figuring out next steps for a Management job (if you are inclined in that direction). If you are lucky, your company might pay the tuition for the MBA.


When you begin working , Consider contributing generously to your retirement fund and investing using low cost mutual funds (invest appropriately for retirement and your risk profile).

Slow and steady wins the race!

Originally Posted by graciegirl (Post 806918)

Will you loan me two dollars 'til Tuesday? ;)




And for Joshua who is too young to know this old line; http://www.urbandictionary.com/defin...amburger+today

Originally Posted by angiefox10 (Post 806959)

This post is correct. Kitty is absolutely right. You have to have credit. In fact.. that was what I would actually talk about. Credit and credit scores. We had credit... when the interest was less than what we were making on our money. Any time a company would offer "free" credit... We took it! 2%??? Easy call! Good credit scores means you can take advantage of all of those deals... you won't get them with bad credit.

We lease our vehicles. We don't keep vehicles longer than a couple of years. It doesn't pay to buy them. And for those who would say they drive too many miles... You pay for the miles either way.

As to buying a house.... I agree with Kitty. We bought our home. But there is a different way of thinking now. The paradigm today is rent. Things have change since we were your age. We would go into our jobs/professions for life. Now.... not so much. Kids today need to be mobile. They need to be able to move to get the big break. "They" are telling young adults to not be so "tied down". Travel light.

To the person who said to invest in yourself! Wow.... Big applause to that! Even to invest in how you look! That young person dressed one level above his/her level... Will be promoted first. Don't just stop at education.... Studies show... even your weight will make a difference in your success!

So much good information on this thread... I agree with the person who said they wished they had done this when they were younger... But we didn't have the computer then.

Good luck... I wish you well...

Originally Posted by zcaveman (Post 807037)

I would do like I did. Save some money and enjoy life. Take advantage of the 401K plans if you can.

Remember, you might not make it to retirement and you would have missed on a whole lot of living if you scrimp and save your whole life to get to retirement.

Z

Originally Posted by Mr. Grampi II (Post 807392)

Joshua : You have gotten a lot of great advice from some very wise people, there is not much I can add ....if I was you I would buy an ice cream cone and drive around with the windows down and the radio up!