A retrospective assessment of advice I was given as a teenager
As a 17-year-old intern coming into the office for a few hours after high school each day in the early eighties, I had one job. Listen to AM radio on my way in, and report to the older workers the price of gold and the Dow.
They were all in their late forties and fifties, when a career job with one company was the norm, and they had opinions. Here’s a retrospective assessment of the advice they gave me, and how it turned out (or would have):
Invest in stocks. The Dow was around 800 then. A $500 investment in 1982, diligently reinvested, would be worth $120K today. I bought nothing.
Invest in real estate as soon as you can. Easy for them to say. Never a possibility for me until a decade plus later, but if you enjoy torture, look at real estate prices in your area from 40+ years ago.
Hold gold. Gold was $375 an ounce, now roughly $4500. I bought nothing.
Don’t waste money on stupid shit for your car. I had the Alpine with Dolby C noise reduction, graphic equalizer mounted sideways on the transmission tunnel, and near-audiophile Infinity speakers, in a junk car so loud and rattly that sound quality was irrelevant. Got the interior reupholstered and recarpeted to impress a girl who rode in it exactly once.
Don’t lose focus in college. I lost focus in college.
Work for a stable company. I did this, or tried to. With no interest in banking, I took a temp job with a big bank that was supposed to be the gateway to a permanent position. But they merged with another bank, and after we helped with the transition, temps were dismissed.
They also gave relationship advice, which, shall we say, was very much of its time. Luckily, I didn't take that either.