# What's the best bit of advice you've ever received?



## Steve (Jan 14, 2021)

The other thread is interesting.  Wondering what bit or bits of advice you've received?  Did you take the advice or not (and wish you had)?

One right off the bat comes to mind.  In the early 90s, I had just separated from the military, moving from San Antonio back to Seattle.  Everything I owned was packed into a UHaul trailer, and my dad and I were driving through Colorado.  Out of nowhere, he says, "Hey, have you thought about getting renter's insurance?"  

Me:  "Renter's insurance?  What's that?"
Him: "About $10 a month."  

So, when I got into my apartment, I picked up renter's insurance, which I kept up in spite of being dirt *** poor.  A few years later, some dummy got drunk and decided to start cooking himself dinner just before he passed out.  Set his apartment on fire, along with about 50 other units, mine included.  I found out that of the 50 units, less than 10% had renters insurance.  We were pretty much made whole, but most of the folks in that fire lost everything.


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## MetalBoar (Jan 14, 2021)

A fellow student (who owned a very successful business) at my Hapkido school told me that if I couldn't afford to buy the building I wanted to operate my gym out of I couldn't afford to start a business and that if I could afford to do so I should. I could have bought the building but it would have been very tight. I chose not to and what a pain that turned out to be! It seemed like every other year I had to switch locations for one reason or another and I wouldn't have had to do any of it if I'd just bought the place I'd been looking at. My mortgage on the building would have ended up costing me a fraction of what rent did too. Plus, even if the business had tanked, if I'd been able to make the payments on the building, I could have sold it for a ridiculous profit if I had done so before the pandemic. @Steve : you know what Seattle prices have done in the last 12 years. I'd be up at least a cool million, probably more. 

Oh well! Live and learn.


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## dvcochran (Jan 14, 2021)

When I was about 16 I was told to "suck it up buttercup". Changed my life. Best advise I ever heard.


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## jobo (Jan 15, 2021)

, the best i think, was that the world is generaly much to busy to give you due consideration and as such it tends to take you at you own estimate of self worth

this can work out for you two ways, one) in any competition, sportingor otherwise  its not difficult to get people to drasticaly understimate you or drastical over estimate your abilities, depending which you think is best

two) its not that difficult, to convince people your  attractive or the correct person for the job, by just giving off the vib that you think you are

a lot of this is how you dress and conscious control of posture and body language


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## CB Jones (Jan 15, 2021)

Never call a fighter a bum unless you are willing to get in the ring and prove him to be one.


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## Monkey Turned Wolf (Jan 15, 2021)

_Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite._

It's a line from a book that's stuck with me. A good remind for empathy and that you don't know what other people are going through. Also super useful from a tactical standpoint to be polite to everyone, no matter the hierarchy between you; you never know when a good relationship will come in handy.


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## jobo (Jan 15, 2021)

Monkey Turned Wolf said:


> _Call a jack a jack. Call a spade a spade. But always call a whore a lady. Their lives are hard enough, and it never hurts to be polite._
> 
> It's a line from a book that's stuck with me. A good remind for empathy and that you don't know what other people are going through. Also super useful from a tactical standpoint to be polite to everyone, no matter the hierarchy between you; you never know when a good relationship will come in handy.


i kbow the mods and rockers thibg didnt happen in the states, ut did here twice once in the 60s and again in the early 80s.

one night one of my rocker mates turn up at the house with a mod, he knew from his school days, asked him in, gave him beer and pizza, and was generally nice to him, a coupkmle of hours later they left, though no more about it

roll on a year and im in a corner out a side a pub,  ive got three of them circling me and its looking blea. 

then over the road strides this giant, the lads assume he joinibg in with them, i know different, three punches  three on the floor, dont mess with my mate he said, he gave ne pizza,  then off he went again, that was 40 years ago and ive not seen him since  , best investment in pizza ive ever made


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## Buka (Jan 16, 2021)

When I was nineteen I told my father I planned on doing pretty much full time Martial Arts for the rest of my life. I'm sure he was thrilled. But he said, "Well, if that's what you want to do, work your ash off every day and don't let anyone or anything stop you."


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 16, 2021)

I got the advice to save money when your young for retirement / to buy house.  I havent had a big income but I have always saved at least 10 to 15 percent of my income.    Now at 43 i am in a lot better shape then a lot of people savings wise.  Could have easily blown that money in my 20's on stupid stuff.

So always save a small portion of your paycheck at least.  It adds up.  You dont want to be one of those people who cant come up with a couple hundred bucks in a emergency


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## dvcochran (Jan 16, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> I got the advice to save money when your young for retirement / to buy house.  I havent had a big income but I have always saved at least 10 to 15 percent of my income.    Now at 43 i am in a lot better shape then a lot of people savings wise.  Could have easily blown that money in my 20's on stupid stuff.
> 
> So always save a small portion of your paycheck at least.  It adds up.  You dont want to be one of those people who cant come up with a couple hundred bucks in a emergency


Smart. Very smart. May I ask how you are saving? Traditional savings, 401, IRA, etc...?


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## Steve (Jan 16, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> I got the advice to save money when your young for retirement / to buy house.  I havent had a big income but I have always saved at least 10 to 15 percent of my income.    Now at 43 i am in a lot better shape then a lot of people savings wise.  Could have easily blown that money in my 20's on stupid stuff.
> 
> So always save a small portion of your paycheck at least.  It adds up.  You dont want to be one of those people who cant come up with a couple hundred bucks in a emergency


Yes.  Great advice.  And over time, those early dollars really make a difference given 20 or more years to accrue interest.


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 17, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> Smart. Very smart. May I ask how you are saving? Traditional savings, 401, IRA, etc...?



If you have a 401k contribute at least up the percent the company matches.  If they match 6 percent you put in at least 6 percent.  Thats free money.  Then I have a simple saving account at a bank and a investment account at a brokerage firm to invest in mutual funds.  Any money you need in the short term put in the savings account.  Long term brokerage account.


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## dvcochran (Jan 17, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> If you have a 401k contribute at least up the percent the company matches.  If they match 6 percent you put in at least 6 percent.  Thats free money.  Then I have a simple saving account at a bank and a investment account at a brokerage firm to invest in mutual funds.  Any money you need in the short term put in the savings account.  Long term brokerage account.


I constantly study the financial landscape. I think futures are going to be a solid investment in the high risk category. We invest across the standard 4 level platform. I get a kick out of playing around in the high risk areas. 
It is the closest thing I ever do to straight out casino gambling.


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## dvcochran (Jan 17, 2021)

Another one of my favorites I was once told is "if you do not breathe, you die". 
Nose on you face advise but we all know it gets hard to follow sometimes.


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 17, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> I constantly study the financial landscape. I think futures are going to be a solid investment in the high risk category. We invest across the standard 4 level platform. I get a kick out of playing around in the high risk areas.
> It is the closest thing I ever do to straight out casino gambling.



Futures are very high risk.  You are basically playing in a casino playing the futures market.  How have you done at it so far?  Hopefully you are only investing in the futures with money you can afford to lose.  Wish you luck


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## dvcochran (Jan 17, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> Futures are very high risk.  You are basically playing in a casino playing the futures market.  How have you done at it so far?  Hopefully you are only investing in the futures with money you can afford to lose.  Wish you luck


I set a fixed amount for high risk investing each year. 
Futures grew steadily throughout last year. I had a 28% return in the 4th quarter. Averaged just under 20% on all investments last year.


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 18, 2021)

I got 21.48 percent last year so we got about the same return.  Good year.  Hopefully we can keep it going this year


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## dvcochran (Jan 18, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> I got 21.48 percent last year so we got about the same return.  Good year.  Hopefully we can keep it going this year


I plan to roll with futures again this year. We are not spring chickens so we will move things around slightly. I will never risk over 10% of total investments in futures.


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## dvcochran (Jan 18, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> I got 21.48 percent last year so we got about the same return.  Good year.  Hopefully we can keep it going this year


Have you been doing it long enough to have a have a 10 year average?


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 19, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> Have you been doing it long enough to have a have a 10 year average?



Yes.  I believe I am about 10 percent profit long term.  What about you?


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## punisher73 (Jan 19, 2021)

Right before I got married, the Pastor (a good friend of our family) told me, "Always remember...you can be right or you can be happy".


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## dvcochran (Jan 19, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> Yes.  I believe I am about 10 percent profit long term.  What about you?


13.8


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## Chrisinmd (Jan 19, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> 13.8



Thats a good annual return.  If you can keep that as an average return your going to be doing very well money wise!  Got a particular investment tyep that has performed the best for you?


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## dvcochran (Jan 19, 2021)

Chrisinmd said:


> Thats a good annual return.  If you can keep that as an average return your going to be doing very well money wise!  Got a particular investment tyep that has performed the best for you?


There are some rough years in there. The most memorable being 2008. Biggest (liquid) investment losses ever; something like 36%. But also the biggest real estate purchases we have ever made.


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## Steve (Jan 20, 2021)

punisher73 said:


> Right before I got married, the Pastor (a good friend of our family) told me, "Always remember...you can be right or you can be happy".


Sometimes it's about valuing the relationship first. Good advice.


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## Steve (Jan 22, 2021)

I've mentioned before that my roots are in Texas.  Still have a lot of family and friends down there.  So, here's some good advice from a friend of mine who is a life long Texan.  He said, "You can teach a pig to climb a tree, but sometimes, it's better if you just hire a squirrel."


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## Razznik (Feb 18, 2021)

Mine is _ignore dumb people, as they will only slow you down
_


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## Harry Flannagan (Feb 26, 2021)

When I was in elementary my uncle once told me "Don't spit in the air, cause the the spatters come back on your face." Gross in literal but makes sense, it means: don't do stupid things, because you'll pay for them.


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## Graywalker (Mar 27, 2021)

A person's ethics and morals, go out the window when it comes to their paychecks.

Experience has shown me, that this is true.


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## Kung Fu Wang (Mar 27, 2021)

- If you want to steal, steal the country.
- In your books, you can find both beautiful women and gold.
- If you want to learn how to fight, drill 1 step 3 punches 1,000 times daily for the next 3 years.


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## dvcochran (Mar 27, 2021)

Graywalker said:


> A person's ethics and morals, go out the window when it comes to their paychecks.
> 
> Experience has shown me, that this is true.


While that is mostly a true statement it is not 100% true. I have seen the opposite many times in my life. It sure does Anton for a persons faith in humanity.


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## Graywalker (Mar 28, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> While that is mostly a true statement it is not 100% true. I have seen the opposite many times in my life. It sure does Anton for a persons faith in humanity.


I have seen it as well, but the percentage is too low and doesn't mean much when one does. Eventually they still falter.


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## dvcochran (Mar 28, 2021)

Graywalker said:


> I have seen it as well, but the percentage is too low and doesn't mean much when one does. Eventually they still falter.


We all falter.


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## Graywalker (Mar 29, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> We all falter.


Yes, we do. This why faith in humanity, is irrelevant.


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## dvcochran (Mar 29, 2021)

Graywalker said:


> Yes, we do. This why faith in humanity, is irrelevant.


Way too many good stories to believe that way.


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## Graywalker (Mar 29, 2021)

dvcochran said:


> Way too many good stories to believe that way.


Unless it comes to paychecks. We already established that.


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## BigMotor (Mar 30, 2021)

1: You have the right to remain silent.
2: Marry in haste, repent in leisure.


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