What are your do's and don'ts for people in their 20's?

Don't piss your money away on a car. Definitely do not buy a sports car and then upgrade it. Not only is a fancy modified car a huge money pit, it's likely going to get you in trouble too. I had a bright red sports car that I bought when I was 26. Dropped a fair amount of money into it, but nothing crazy. I got a bunch of tickets in it. Then, one day, my brother borrowed it and got it folded in half. Got zero dollars for my upgrades when the insurance company wrote the check for it, barely paid off the remainder of the loan.

Your best bet is to buy a certified used car, something in the 3-5 year old range with 30K-60K miles. Stick to Honda or Toyota for the best reliability. Stay away from German manufacturers until you're older and wealthier. Those German cars are very nice, but require a ton of expensive maintenance past 100K miles. Only buy a truck if you need a truck and then only get as much truck as you NEED. I think that these days, the best cars for young adults are smaller SUV crossover type vehicles, like a Honda CR-V/HR-V, or Toyota RAV4, or one of those compact wagons. They have a lot of utility and generally doesn't encourage racer boy driving behaviors.

Also, start putting money into your 401K as soon as it's available to you. Put in at least as much as your employer will match and get used to to that being part of what is taken out of your paycheck. Time in the market is better in the long run than trying to time the market. When you eventually have enough in there, you can loan yourself money in an emergency or run into the right opportunity. Make the right investments and stay with the company long enough to be fully vested, you might actually get to retire some day.

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