Advice for a 21 year old man?

A friend just turned 21 years old, and I thought I would try and make a short list of advice for him. The overall aim is to talk about the small strategic and tactical things that make life easier - he probably knows some of these, but we all need reminders. Please comment and I will edit before printing it out and sticking it in the card.

Health.

1. Do some kind of sport or exercise most days and at least 5 times week for health, and also get the sleep you need. It is fun and it is good for your love life too.

2. Don't eat or drink junk - buy food at the supermarket, cook it at home and eat it. Eating out is a special occasion, soda and sugary drinks are a special occasion. Buying lunch or coffee at work is a special occasion as well.

3. Look after your teeth, you might live until 95+!

Money.

4. Be aware of Mr Money Mustache's financial independence chart, (here), (which was perviously discussed, and thus I think of it as required reading). Compounding is important, and you have a lot of time, I found this chart at 47!

5. There are different ways to earn (trade your time and effort for) money. My hardest job was potato picking which got me the lowest pay per hour I have ever had. The easiest way to increase wealth has been the S&P500 returns from an index fund (usual financial advice disclaimer - people did well with bonds in the 70's - not so good today). Different jobs pay different amounts, so look around and do the numbers (note 1).

6. Expenses. The capitalist world will tell you to spend much more money than you need to. MMM can help you here. Dave Ramsey can help you here. Of the expensive things, make sure to be extra careful - cars are tens of thousands of dollars, and cost money to keep going (note 2) I have probably saved $100,000 bicycling to work for the last 20 years, and only buying one car for the family instead of two. Also kept me a little bit fitter. In the same vein don't buy lunch or coffee at work, that adds up, and is easy to fall into socially. Don't be afraid to change banks to a cheaper credit union if the fees are too high - it's easy.

7. An emergency fund is a big stress reducer. Have one. I have superman checks just because of how having an emergency fund makes me feel. There are some problems that a little money can solve.

Relationships

8. - Relationships and money, if living together or married, you must be completely honest and upfront about finances, and officially go through them every 3 months or every 6 months. Some communication and a little planning, and everything can be much better. The emergency fund is even more important than when single.

9. Relationships and cleaning. Tidy and clean the house really well every 2 weeks, put 3 hours (time depending on the size of the space, but toilets cleaned/floors mopped the whole thing - see how fast you can do it) on the calendar, put yourself on a timer so it doesn't extend into a 24 hour chore. Alternate weeks, do a quick 90 min speed clean. Tidy/clean the kitchen at the end of the day/meal. A every two week cleaner is a wonderful expensive luxury, but great for a relationship.

10. Fertility. Women are all too aware of this, but men often screw up. It is hard for a women to have a child after 40. If you love someone and want to have children, get married before 35-37. A bit earlier if you might want more than one child. If it doesn't happen don't worry. Maybe you will have 9 children by then. But it is possible that at some point in your life decisiveness will be important and you will need to remember this.

General

11. Obvious Don'ts. Do not smoke, (will kill you in your 70's and costs you money). Avoid debt wherever possible. Do not gamble (Gambling is when the expected payout for something of little value is negative, but you might win. Investing is when the expected pay out for generating a thing of value is positive, but you might loose). Never Lie, especially to yourself. 

12. Do not allow others to take too much of your time. Time is all we have in this life, and sometimes you will have to say no to good, so you can say yes to best. The internet competes to steal your time. A long commute is more expensive than you think.

13. Get good advice. We live in a world where good advice is all around - especially given the internet. It may be hard to separate good from bad initially, but that just means you have to do more homework. Remember that you may not know the answer, but you should be able to tell if someone else knows something, or if they are just talking.

14. There are many things that make life worth living, and most of the are quite affordable. Cook a good meal with friends. Get outside and do some sport. Listen to music with a cup of tea. Have some house plants! Art, drama, hobbies, local music. Travel can be cheaper than you think. Host a party. Help a friend fix the car/bike/house/tree. Read a book - try the library. Dancing! - make your own list, and have wonderful life.

Questions to improve this:

 - How important is it to dress well? - what is the advice here - or is that a little bit minor? - This is a place where I fail a little.

- I feel like I am missing a lot of the stuff that might be in a self help book, Stephen Covens Seven Habits, or Tony Robbins Giant within, - perhaps the most important is the doing what you can do, and continuous self improvement, or perhaps MMM's outrageous optimism - where I do not believe it, but I do believe the opposite to be absolutely true, so I think it works by avoiding the mistake.

- I'm a bit analytical, so I wonder what a more liberal arts person would say, or an artist, or an hedonist? (Here is a great old ted talk about how perspective is everything from Rory Sutherland)

Notes:

1. I want to say that if the opportunity arises you should start a company, but I have no experience here. Sequoia suggested that instead of perhaps starting a business (although she is not against that) - it is important to have a "side hustle" - or multiple revenue streams, so you can change with the times. If you can pull it off this could be good advice.

2. I got lucky because I kind of grew up with bicycles (not quite like the kids in ET, but that era) and lived close to work, so it happened accidentally. MMM has some posts on how to think about cars and commutes in terms of money.