Ask HN: What advice would you give for someone who just turned 30?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=40922185

by Venkatesh10 • 2 years ago

8 20 2 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

colesantiago• 2 years ago

It's your last chance to take (calculated) risks now. Do not wait till 40, 50, etc.

The biggest risk is waiting, asking for permission, stasis.

grugagag• 2 years ago

Well, it depends. If they have kids or some dependents those risks may need to be weighed up. Otherwise I do agree with the calculated risks

petevii7• 2 years ago

Your age doesn't determine what advice you need, where you are in life does

joegaebel• 2 years ago

back up your data, cloud storage is ephemeral

Bluestein2• 2 years ago

I had the opportunity to do just that. I was asked to address a group of about 30 college age students of about 20 different nationalities. Long story. Asked to introduce themselves you had a nice mixture of want-to-be doctors, architects, future psicologists. At least two, from India wanted your "standard" AI startup. I told them I was going to mention one or two things that I wish I could have heard myself when their age:

- As strange as this might sound, remember: Our time here is limited. *Take advantage of every second*

- Particularly those going into technical fields: Don't forget the humanities. History, philosophy. Art.-

- The world is _very complex_ and getting more complex. The (almost) only guarantee of being able to adapt is having as wide as possible an education and interests see above.-

neonlights84• 2 years ago

Invest as much money as you can in a diversified low-fee stock market index fund. Set it up as an automatic payment from your bank account. It gives you the best chance you have of retiring early. Also, start building a bunker and stock it with non-perishable foods and seeds for crops. Because the world is about to go to absolute shit.

alexander2002• 2 years ago

On a side note: Are there any scripts that allow you to invest directly from your bank account.For example Pseudo-Code: If I have £500 left this month invest 50% in Stock Fund XYZ 25% in BTC 25% in GOOG Simplified but You can add some complex logic and monetise it as a Bank or script seller.

mikewarot• 2 years ago

If you're going down that road, start gardening now, while you don't actually need it to survive.

Also, get an Arduino starter kit and learn electronics and hardware. Those skills could be handy to have.

Bluestein2• 2 years ago

Invest as much money as you can in a diversified low-fee stock market index fund. Set it up as an automatic payment from your bank account

This should be taught at High school level or equivalent, by default.-

carbine• 2 years ago

Age is just a number. Unless you're a professional athlete, particularly from now on your mentality will have a bigger impact on what happens in life than your actual age ever will.

Ageing is a privilege denied to many. Don't waste a single second of precious life force worrying about it.

Treat your body like the temple it is. Your choices will start making more and more of a difference.

Now's a great time to leave that shitty job or relationship. It'll be harder to in a few years. You already know the decision you need to make.

muzani• 2 years ago

Sam Altman's list is still my favourite: https://blog.samaltman.com/the-days-are-long-but-the-decades...

It echoes much of the things in this thread, but if you're ambitious and looking for advice, it's also got plenty of advice.

I do agree that it's important to enjoy your youth. Don't plan too much for 20 years from now because everything will change a lot.

bruce511• 2 years ago

I was pondering this myself recently. Usually in the context of "given a time machine, what advice would you go back and tell yourself".

That morphed into "what would you go back and tell your parents". And interestingly there was one thing that stayed front-of-mind.

I'd like to tell my father to stop smoking. It's so mundane, and certainly he's heard it many times before.

But I could tell him that it would kill him before he got to go to his daughters wedding. That he'd have to give up traveling to early. That he'd become housebound at a "young" age. That emphasima is not a fun way to die.

I realize he wouldn't have listened. I realize he already knew this (his mom died of emphasima, his dad from lung cancer), I realize that advice from some "random stranger" wouldn't matter. I realize that this future is too far away for him to contemplate. And yet....

Dad, you just turned 30. I'm back here to tell you to stop smoking. Please. You'll thank me later. You'll be around to thank me later.

wruza• 2 years ago

If I had to pick one, it’s health related.

Remember how you fall hard, it hurts, and you run next day? It’s over. Every damage you take will take longer to heal. Some damage persists. Medications and supplements won’t have “for how long” anymore, you’re just taking it. Make a list of bad habits that you know affected you slightly and treat it as multiplied by ten+. Stop doing that. If something goes wrong on its own, research and experiment with things that you thought were useless. They suddenly start making sense as you age. Supplements, exercise, etc. Oh, and your health is now expensive af, budget for it. You have around five years to prepare.

Crier1002• 2 years ago

your comment immediately reminded me of "We’re all just temporarily abled" (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=37205731)

nathants• 2 years ago

lift weights and listen to audiobooks.

electroagenda• 2 years ago

Worry about health and the food you eat.

Don't believe any recruiter saying you are asking for too much.

Remember people usually tell you what is good for them, no what is good for you.

landosaari• 2 years ago

Read Kafka's The Trial [0]

The protagonist just turned 30.

[0] https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/7849

JourneyJourney• 2 years ago

Build a family.

badpun• 2 years ago

Limit your spending, save as much as possible, learn about investing. Start planning your life of financial indepdence way before you attain it - i.e. where will you live , what will you be doing, with whom etc.

big-green-man• 2 years ago

Mine would be, 30 is not the peak of the hill for a man like you've been told your whole life. Before, people saw a boy when they looked at you. I don't understand it really, but it really does work like that. Once youre in your thirties it's like a switch gets flipped and people respect you more, while also expecting more competence. A man in his 30s is in his prime. Don't waste the next decade of your life. You'll get some of your best opportunities over the next 10 years.

You should definitely get married and start a family at some point in the next 6 years, if you haven't already, but be very selective in the process of picking a mate. You will have that leeway now, because when people see you they see a man, it's a very different in surprising ways. Seriously, I can't stress this enough, it is really strange, we expect it to happen at 18 or 21 and then we start to think it never will, but it's like just having an age over 30 makes you more attractive to employers, friends and women. You may not believe me but you'll see it soon.

Ask HN: What advice would you give for someone who just turned 30?

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