What I Regret I Didn’t Do When I Got My First Job

My kids will not make the same mistakes

You go to school for the first 22 years of your life. If you’re a masochist, you’ll be in school well into your thirties. Hopefully, you’re studying a field that you love and will pursue in your professional life.

I didn’t. My university time was fraught with problems of my own making. I wrote about that here. That being said, subsequent to that, I managed to find a good full-time job that I ended up pursuing a career in.

It was my first ‘real’ job. What I mean is I had had summer part-time jobs previously. While real, they were short-term, with no benefits, I was going back to school jobs.

This was what would be classified as a good job.

https://www.quantumworkplace.com has a list of 20 words that describe the best workplaces. They rank from most mentioned to least by those surveyed.

1. Fun 2. Challenging 3. Friendly 4. Engaging

5. Rewarding 6. Collaborative 7. Flexible 8. Supportive

9. Exciting 10.Caring 11. Family 12. Professional

13. Busy 14. Fast-paced 15. Innovative 16. Teamwork

17. Motivating 18. Positive 19. Comfortable 20. Integrity

This job had most of these characteristics. This was a company that I knew I wanted to grow with. I went back to college to improve my chances for personal growth and upward mobility within the company.

There were some things I wish I had done because I had this good job. I believe that had I done that I would be further ahead financially and professionally and I may have been able to retire sooner.

1. I wish I had joined the workplace pension plan as soon as I could.

I was able to contribute a certain percent of my wage to the work pension after a year of employment. The company matched what I contributed. I enrolled three years after I was eligible. I probably lost $6,000-$7,000 as a result. Maybe more.

Any financial planner will tell you that joining your workplace pension plan is a no-brainer. It’s free money. With my company, after contributing for two years, should you leave or get fired, it goes with you. It’s your money.

What I did was waste the opportunity to build my nest egg sooner and to take advantage of a good mid-1990s economy.

2. I should have bought a house sooner.

I bought a house for $148,000 in 2002. If I had bought it 8 years earlier, and I could have, it would have cost me $116,000. I know because that’s what a neighbor paid for his home which was identical to ours.

Someone had advised me to do that but I wasn’t interested in doing so at the time. I was happy renting because I really didn’t understand money management and growth.

I was young, stupid, and ignorant.

3. I shouldn’t have taken the first promotion.

There were two job openings listed that I was qualified for. One was listed a month before the other. But we all knew that the later opening was coming.

The later listing was a higher promotion and hence more money. I was asked to apply for the first listing. I said I would as long as it didn’t take me out of consideration for the latter.

Well, it did.

I ended up getting the first promotion and the other opportunity was given to another employee. I didn’t even interview for it. It is true that had I not interviews for the first job, I may not have gotten either.

We’ll never know.

4. Had done a better job of networking.

I ended up getting fired from this job. During my time there I belonged to the local Chamber of Commerce where business leaders would meet after 5 and share triumphs and tribulations and business cards. While I was there, I highlighted the business I was there to represent.

What I also should have done was look for other opportunities that I may not have realized I was a fit for. One example is writing, which I just recently started doing more of. There are many career paths for writers. When I was fired I found another job doing the same thing because that was all I knew. That was all there was on my resume.

I was satisfied with the job and thought it would be my first and only job. I never thought of preparing for the possibility that I could lose it at a moment's notice.

5. Had found other streams of income.

When I found my good job, I stopped looking for other ways to make money.

Growing up I was taught to go to school, get a good job, get married and start a family. It never crossed my mind that having other sources of income was a viable option. I learned that later in life and I am pursuing that now. I would have been way ahead had I done that earlier. With the internet, it has never been easier to learn and to begin.

I’ve made sure that my kids knew that that was an option for them. They don’t need to have one source of income.

6. I wish I had read more.

I like to read. In fact, I read a lot. The issue is I read books to escape. My books have characters that do things I could never do. Mitch Rapp, Jason Bourne, and Jack Reacher are some of the more well-known heroes.

What I should have done was read books to help me improve my state in life, personally and professionally. I now read biographies of people I admire. Some have overcome great adversity to achieve greatness.

Their stories are inspiring and had I started reading these in my twenties I might have pursued greatness myself instead of being satisfied with the status quo or the humdrum of working for the same company.

Sigh!

Conclusion.

I’m only in my 50s so I have a good thirty more years of life, God willing. There’s still much to do and much to learn.

My mother used to quote that you’re not old until your dreams become regrets. Well, life doesn’t have a rewind button. There’s so much more up ahead to pursue and enjoy.

I’ll press play and go.

Other regrets: