10 Things I Wish I Knew Before I Was 20

By Ernest Polmateer

There is an old adage that says each person has to make their own mistakes in life in order to learn and grow.

While that may be true, it is also just as true that we don't have to make so darn many of them with each passing generation.

If you've ever wondered how some people seem to have a leg up on the rest of us, then this short book will be of value to you.

You might be tempted to think that those that are doing better than we are have family money. While some do, the most of them do not.

What they do have is the good sense to listen to folks older than themselves that admit to making mistakes and how to avoid most of them. After all, life has lots of challenges for us. Why become our own biggest problem in life?

This book will show you:

How to have a strong, regular source of income.

Why it is so important to have sources of diversified income, as well as being able to save a small portion of it.

How to save yourself from poverty in old age.

What to do with money once you have a little, as well as avoiding going in debt the wrong way.

Reduce food and health costs and later problems if you don't.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ernest Polmateer
• Release date: Jun 30, 2019
• ISBN: 9781393223979

Book preview

Build A Strong Source Of Dependable Income

Icannot stress this first point enough. In order to be able to build a life for yourself, the first order of business is to find a source of income you can depend on.

What if I’m in a seasonal kind of employment, you ask? I realize there are jobs like construction that don’t have much work in the winter months in the northern areas. There are also times when the weather is bad and not much to be done about it either.

That will be covered in a later point. For the time being, let’s concentrate on one thing at a time to keep things simple. I like simple. Makes it a lot easier to follow.

When you’re just starting out, sometimes you don’t have a lot of options when it comes to what jobs you can do. This is especially true if you don’t have a lot of job skills or one specific skill in high demand.

Speaking of that, if your employer offers you any kind of training, jump on it. If you pay for training out of your own pocket it costs you time and money. If your employer pays for it, you get paid to learn. Get it?

So, anyway, what can you do if you have no special skills?

You do what you have to do and that is to work at the job you can find. While doing so keep your eyes and ears open for other opportunities as they can come up at any time and you have to be ready to act. Learn everything there is to learn where you are working now.

I did that while working on dairy farms as a teenager. You laughed at that I bet. What good does that do you later on in life?

I spent some time helping put up doublewides part time. These were over basements. Had to slide them on