What would have you done differently with your money?

[10past5]

If you could change one thing about how you have handled your money, what change would that be and why?

[disneysteve]

If you could change one thing about how you have handled your money, what change would that be and why?

Great question.

I would have invested in index funds from the beginning. I started my mutual fund investing with actively managed funds. I still have those first two funds, and they are doing find, but they throw off a ton of capital gains each year which gives us a big tax bill. Index funds are much more tax efficient and have lower expenses.

[rennigade]

Would have started investing in this (VTSMX) years ago.

[LittleMissSplendid]

Hmmm there are so many things I would have done differently, but I think for me it would have been best to go all the way back to the beginning of how I learned money management. If I knew then what I know now I would have begun educating myself about finances in my first year of college instead of following the horrible example my parents and other relatives set. While I may have been too young to know better, I also never questioned if there was another way. I knew plenty of people that didn't struggle the way my parents did, but was brought up that inquiring about such things is extremely rude. There would have been nothing rude about heading to my local library and reading all things finances however.

[QuarterMillionMan]

I wish that I had saved more and even max'd out my retirement savings in my 20's, 30's, and 40's. Why you might ask? Well I'm 49 and my time horizon is closing fast. Anxiety about will I have enough in retirement worries me. I hope you are max'ing out your retirements as well.

[scfr]

There was a time when I would have said that I wished I had started educating myself about personal finance a couple years earlier than I did. Now I'm not so sure. It's true that you learn from your mistakes, those mistakes were part of my education. (If there had been decades of mistakes I am sure I would feel quite differently!)

[MonkeyMama]

We have always been goal oriented, debt adverse, and financially educated so I wouldn't change much.

That said, investing in low cost index funds - I have to agree with that. My in-laws still use a very pricey broker and my parents didn't dump theirs until their 50s? Can't beat myself about it - we dumped that expense by age 30 and our average expense ratio was 0.05 this year. But sure we would have been much better off if we started out the gate with a better investment education. We lost a lot of money in tech stocks when we first graduated college, for one. Secondarily, we paid way too many loads and fees and commissions in our 20s.

My parents have been exceptional financial mentors, but this is one of a few things that we have (substantially) improved upon.

[autoxer]

I have come to terms with all of my past decisions good and bad. I wouldn't change a thing, because the bad decisions were also learning experiences. I prefer to rephrase the question and ask myself what will I do different going forward. For me that has led to a bunch of small changes, that add up to a huge shift in my attitude towards money and my own financial security.

[bjl584]

Not dated my ex....

[greenskeeper]

should have bought FORD shares when they were around $2/share.....was ready to purchase 10,000 shares but didn't. At the time I figured that if the shares went to zero there would be no economy left anyways.....big opportunity missed.