# What advice would you give your younger self?



## lcjaynes

Looking back, you must have some "wish I'd have known" moments. What advice would you give your younger self?


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## Vol

Follow your heart and don't let anyone discourage you.

Regards, Mike


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## deadmoose

Hard to say. On the one hand, I have a lot to say. On the other hand, If I gave myself all that advice and followed it, I am certain I would not be living where I am now. I like where I live now.

Then again, knowing myself, I probably would not have followed the advice anyway....


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## slowzuki

Don't build a sawmill. Buy a wood mizer use it, then sell.

Build hay storage early it pays for itself.

Don't live with your wife in your parents house while building your house regardless of how much money it saves.

Always make sure your wife has a nicer/more reliable vehicle than yourself.


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## somedevildawg

I wish I woulda known to continue holding my Apple stock.....it had better days to go. I wish I woulda kept my first Bitcoin.....and I wish I woulda listened more and talked less, it's a better learning method


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## Vol

Today was not a good day for Bitcoin......it dropped over $3000 earlier.

Regards, Mike


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## haybaler101

Took more risk early, enjoyed college more because you have the rest of your life to work, and went far away from the home farm for at least a year before farming with dad. But then as Moose said, i like where I live and things could have been totally different.


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## RockyHill

Been thinking about the question and every answer I had would just about apply to my 'older self' now too. So . . . . . I'll just put off answering until (A) answer only applies to years ago or (B) willing to follow the advice now 

Shelia


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## swmnhay

Bought more land.But timing is every thing if I would of bought more in the early 80's I would of went under but I should of bought in the 90's and would be sitting good on that now.


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## IHCman

Wear ear plugs sooner.

don't start chewing/smoking.

get a 9 to 5 job with retirement. On second thought, NO to that one.


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## NewBerlinBaler

The flip side of this is: "What bullets have you dodged by not following thru on the plans you once made?" Been thinking about this the past couple of weeks. For example...

I could've started a business with a coworker back in 2006. Project was to retrofit the control systems on landfill methane generator sets owned by Waste Management. Demand for electricity is highest in the summer so they wanted us to do the retrofits in the winter. The way the job penciled out, I would've had the same annual income I was making at the time but only worked 6 months a year. Could've spent my summers farming, building my dream house, etc.

Deal fell thru when Waste Management wouldn't sign a contact. At the time, I already had 21 years of service with my employer and was on track to receive a defined-benefit pension so I needed a commitment from W/M to walk away from that job. W/M wouldn't budge so I stayed on with my current employer and retired in 2012.

Looking back, I dodged a bullet by not starting my own business. With the anemic interest rates banks are paying these days, I would need to have several million dollars in savings to equal my pension and company-paid health care.


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## endrow

On our farm we wished we would have built chicken houses or turkey houses 10 years ago. After spending every penny I could get my claws on back in the 90s on land before things really took off. I realized that was a good move to have bought 5 different Farms and own 425 Acres, in an area where land has a good resale value. At the time I was doing that I wish they would have made better Provisions for my retirement.... one thing I regret in the past being too busy sitting behind the wheel of a combine or a planter and took things for granted and trusted too much in some people I had a relative and a real estate salesman and an agriculture consultant and a feed and mineral salesman. Take advantage of me. Each of them got away with a bunch [ton] of money they should not have. Thatin learned me lol not to trust in anyone,


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## Swv.farmer

I'd say self you should have sold all your cattle 4 years ago and bought back could have made a bundle. Good ol hind sight is 20/20.


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## mlappin

The winning numbers to the 600,000,000 powerball.

If not that then buy Microcrap or Apple stock when it first came on the market.

Or $1200/acre to buy land might seem like a lot, but not near as much as when it hits $7000/acre.


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## Hank- in or

Not to do anything that starts with " hey watch this $hit"


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## Teslan

There is a bunch of things to tell my younger self that would make me money. Like my 25 year old self in 2000. Invest in Amazon. Or myself just 2 months ago. Buy more bitcoin. Then to my younger self in 1997 stretch yourself thin for 5 years ago and try harder to buy that farm with it's water rights.

But you know what? All the experiences in the past maybe I wouldn't want to change. For example it rarely works out well for Lottery winners. And alot of my advice to myself and others advice is about money. Maybe I wouldn't have been able to handle it. I might have a very different life then I have right now. And I like my life. Even if you are having a rough patch right now do the right things and in the end. Who knows when. It will come out better.


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## CowboyRam

Swv.farmer said:


> I'd say self you should have sold all your cattle 4 years ago and bought back could have made a bundle. Good ol hind sight is 20/20.


My uncle did just that. His plan was to get out of the cattle business, but then his son was having a hard time finding cattle to feed on his farm, so my uncle got back in. I guess his other son is going to start running the ranch this next year; not sure how he is going to be able to do that and run his farm. He is going to be spending a lot of time on the road, but at the same time I bet my uncle is not going to completely quit. Him and dad are getting too old for this; dad is almost 82 and my uncle is two years younger. I hope when I get to that age that I am able to keep going like that.


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## hog987

I would have told my young teenage self that you dont die of old age at 30.

When I was a teenager I had a whole list of stuff for the farm I needed (thought I needed) to do before I was 30 and too old to do anything. I had the view than that people in their thirties were as active as the average person in their eeighties. So really have plenty of time to get things done.


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## ozarkian

1. Should have started saving for my children's education, right after I was born.

2. Should of written down every bit of advice my father ever told me. I thought I would remember it all.

3. Should have never married wife number 1. Wife number 2 had not showed up yet.

4. Should have never sold my 2,000 shares of $7 per share of O'Reilly stock back in the 90's. Current price per share: $251.07. Big mistake!

5. Should have never thought I was grown up and taken life so serious.

6. Should have realized you had to be a millionaire to be a farmer/rancher. I just did not see the correlation.


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## haybaler101

hog987 said:


> I would have told my young teenage self that you dont die of old age at 30.
> When I was a teenager I had a whole list of stuff for the farm I needed (thought I needed) to do before I was 30 and too old to do anything. I had the view than that people in their thirties were as active as the average person in their eeighties. So really have plenty of time to get things done.


I just wish the thirties lasted more than a blink of an eye!


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## swmnhay

haybaler101 said:


> I just wish the thirties lasted more than a blink of an eye!


Every decade goes by faster then the previous one.


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## haybaler101

Life is like a roll of toilet paper, the closer to the end the faster it goes.


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## endrow

swmnhay said:


> Every decade goes by faster then the previous one.


You bet and I cant believe how fast the summer goes by and how slow winter drags on


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## OhioHay

Spend more time with family. The work will still be there tomorrow!!! Still trying to tell my older self this one!


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## CowboyRam

Go to work for one of those big home builders right out of college; had I done that I most likely would have never married my ex, and that would have been good.


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## IH 1586

Be more understanding of your father as he won't be around forever. Being 20 and losing your dad is no way to start your adult life.


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## rjmoses

One word: Don't ______!

Fill in the blank for the opposite of what ever I am thinking. Like: "Don't wait." "Don't do that!" "Don't hesitate." "Don't date her." "Don't be worried about asking her out." "Don't buy that." "Don't wait to buy that."

Ralph

"I'm a contrarian."


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## stack em up

1. You don't need all the machinery you think you do.
2. When you get the chance to buy your great aunts farm, DO IT!!!!!
3. Don't go to college for ag mechanics, it wastes your time and pisses you off for 15 years.
4. Do go to college for Agri-business. You'll be better off.
5. Because Heather tries to irritate you incessantly doesn't mean she hates you... Ask her out, you'll be glad you did.
6. Take the time to see grandma, she won't be around when you need her most. And you will miss her
more than words can say when you do.
7. Write down Dads little sayings, you can't remember them all.


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## Vol

stack em up said:


> 1. You don't need all the machinery you think you do.
> 2. When you get the chance to buy your great aunts farm, DO IT!!!!!
> 3. Don't go to college for ag mechanics, it wastes your time and pisses you off for 15 years.
> 4. Do go to college for Agri-business. You'll be better off.
> 5. Because Heather tries to irritate you incessantly doesn't mean she hates you...
> 6. Take the time to see grandma, she won't be around when you need her most. And you will miss her
> more than words can say when you do.
> 7. Write down Dads little sayings, you can't remember them all.


They are all very good except the first one. And just for that one you have to go sit in the corner for "time out" and write " I will not make rational statements." 100 times. 

Regards, Mike


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## somedevildawg

Draw a circle on the chalkboard and put your nose in it Paul......


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## stack em up

Do I have to wear the dunce hat too? Now this is no shit but in first grade, my teacher still hasn’t and used the dunce hat. I am not joking!


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## ozarkian

stack em up said:


> 1. You don't need all the machinery you think you do.
> 2. When you get the chance to buy your great aunts farm, DO IT!!!!!
> 3. Don't go to college for ag mechanics, it wastes your time and pisses you off for 15 years.
> 4. Do go to college for Agri-business. You'll be better off.
> 5. Because Heather tries to irritate you incessantly doesn't mean she hates you...
> 6. Take the time to see grandma, she won't be around when you need her most. And you will miss her
> more than words can say when you do.
> 7. Write down Dads little sayings, you can't remember them all.


The first Life Lesson I learned from my ultra economically conservative father was:

*"You can never have too many tractors"*.


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## IHCman

ozarkian said:


> The first Life Lesson I learned from my ultra economically conservative father was:
> 
> *"You can never have too many tractors"*.


That sounds like my Dad. Might be why there is 9 of em here.


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## ozarkian

IHCman said:


> That sounds like my Dad. Might be why there is 9 of em here.


Was he wrong?


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## Aaroncboo

Spend more now and get good stuff rather than pay for it later in repairs and delays. If you don't have the money now what makes you think you'll have it for rapairs later.

Same goes for livestock buy good stock and save yourself from thinking that you can buy average animals and breed them better.


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## luke strawwalker

Aaroncboo said:


> Spend more now and get good stuff rather than pay for it later in repairs and delays. If you don't have the money now what makes you think you'll have it for rapairs later.
> 
> Same goes for livestock buy good stock and save yourself from thinking that you can buy average animals and breed them better.


Lord, YES!!!!

Geez that is the lesson I should have taught myself back then... but I ran the farm for my Grandmother who was SO tight if you stuck a quarter in her butt she'd grind it down to a dime... and Dad had grown up like that and only got worse as he got older... "never spend a dollar to fix it RIGHT *TODAY* when you can spend 25 cents and jerry-rig it, and have it fail when you need it MOST and have to spend $1.25 and twice as long to fix it right THEN..."

I mean, there's being financially conservative, and then there's being cheap to the point you shoot yourself in the @ss... Grandma and Dad never learned the difference. I always said, "you gotta spend money to make money" but it never registered on their radar.

I try to be financially conservative (cheap) BUT have the "smarts" to figure out WHEN it's *NECESSARY* to spend that buck and when it's smarter to just go ahead and spend it UP FRONT and GET IT DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME and save yourself a lot of pain and difficulty and money down the road in the end anyway...

Grandma and Grandpa grew up in the Depression, so I get that... my mother-in-law did as well and Lord help her like my Grandma I don't think she ever threw ANYTHING away-- "you might need that one day!" Course I inherited that gene I guess... got a pile of steel behind the shop and old belts hanging on the back wall of the shop that were taken off and replaced 20 years ago or more, but were saved because "you might need that one day"... Dad and Grandpa paid the Shiner place baling and selling hay and things were tight-- the farmed with a pair of NAA Fords up til the late 60's... Then we farmed with Ford 5200, 6600, and a pair of 5610's in the 70's, 80's, and 90's... All four row stuff usually close to 30 years old... but that's what they had to do to pay for the farm and pay the loans and stuff... Grandpa was probably the wisest when it came to spending money on what needed it; he bought a new David Brown tractor in the early 70's when I was a wee kid and then when the wiring on it burned up for the third time, he traded it on the 6600 Ford-- solved that problem. Unfortunately he died less than a year later (in '83 when I was 12 years old-- I basically ended up doing all his work within a year and with 2-3 years Dad pretty much turned everything over to me, because he worked full time at the nuke plant, making 10X more than he EVER did farming, and working way easier).

Anyway, IMHO that's the biggest lesson to learn. You don't have to have FANCY, though it CAN be nice if you have the money (and want to spend it on it). I drive a 15 year old Ford F-150 with 315,000 miles on it... not because I can't afford better but because I don't want to spend the money on "shiny, fancy" when it'd just get dirty or messed up working around the farm... it gets me from point A to point B reliably, which is all I care about-- shiny and fancy don't count for much with me. I also know what's been done to it and how it's been taken care of and run; something you DON'T know with the other stuff... and new stuff just flat out isn't as reliable as it was years ago... built cheap and quick and engineered to be throwaway and replaced... which is fine if you like debt and always have to have something "new".

Oh well, to each his own...

Later! OL J R


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## IHCman

ozarkian said:


> Was he wrong?


Heck no!


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## CowboyRam

luke strawwalker said:


> Lord, YES!!!!
> 
> Geez that is the lesson I should have taught myself back then... but I ran the farm for my Grandmother who was SO tight if you stuck a quarter in her butt she'd grind it down to a dime... and Dad had grown up like that and only got worse as he got older... "never spend a dollar to fix it RIGHT *TODAY* when you can spend 25 cents and jerry-rig it, and have it fail when you need it MOST and have to spend $1.25 and twice as long to fix it right THEN..."
> 
> I mean, there's being financially conservative, and then there's being cheap to the point you shoot yourself in the @ss... Grandma and Dad never learned the difference. I always said, "you gotta spend money to make money" but it never registered on their radar.
> 
> I try to be financially conservative (cheap) BUT have the "smarts" to figure out WHEN it's *NECESSARY* to spend that buck and when it's smarter to just go ahead and spend it UP FRONT and GET IT DONE RIGHT THE FIRST TIME and save yourself a lot of pain and difficulty and money down the road in the end anyway...
> 
> Grandma and Grandpa grew up in the Depression, so I get that... my mother-in-law did as well and Lord help her like my Grandma I don't think she ever threw ANYTHING away-- "you might need that one day!" Course I inherited that gene I guess... got a pile of steel behind the shop and old belts hanging on the back wall of the shop that were taken off and replaced 20 years ago or more, but were saved because "you might need that one day"... Dad and Grandpa paid the Shiner place baling and selling hay and things were tight-- the farmed with a pair of NAA Fords up til the late 60's... Then we farmed with Ford 5200, 6600, and a pair of 5610's in the 70's, 80's, and 90's... All four row stuff usually close to 30 years old... but that's what they had to do to pay for the farm and pay the loans and stuff... Grandpa was probably the wisest when it came to spending money on what needed it; he bought a new David Brown tractor in the early 70's when I was a wee kid and then when the wiring on it burned up for the third time, he traded it on the 6600 Ford-- solved that problem. Unfortunately he died less than a year later (in '83 when I was 12 years old-- I basically ended up doing all his work within a year and with 2-3 years Dad pretty much turned everything over to me, because he worked full time at the nuke plant, making 10X more than he EVER did farming, and working way easier).
> 
> Anyway, IMHO that's the biggest lesson to learn. You don't have to have FANCY, though it CAN be nice if you have the money (and want to spend it on it). I drive a 15 year old Ford F-150 with 315,000 miles on it... not because I can't afford better but because I don't want to spend the money on "shiny, fancy" when it'd just get dirty or messed up working around the farm... it gets me from point A to point B reliably, which is all I care about-- shiny and fancy don't count for much with me. I also know what's been done to it and how it's been taken care of and run; something you DON'T know with the other stuff... and new stuff just flat out isn't as reliable as it was years ago... built cheap and quick and engineered to be throwaway and replaced... which is fine if you like debt and always have to have something "new".
> 
> Oh well, to each his own...
> 
> Later! OL J R


Sometimes when you try and save save save, you are going to pay pay pay. Well at least every time I tried it always cost me more money in the end. I guess knowing when to save is the key, and sometime it is not so easy to be able to see.


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## slowzuki

There's a fine art to it. A story my Scottish farmer / logger mentor told me, he was the youngest and farmed with his two brothers that survived ww2. One day he broke the last chainsaw file they had on the farm so he went to town and bought a new box of files. Got home and his oldest brother threw a tantrum about wasting money for buying a box instead of just one file. They used multiple files a year cutting pulp and the box price was maybe half per file of individual ones.

There's saving money short term and there's saving money in the long run. Need a balance of both.



CowboyRam said:


> Sometimes when you try and save save save, you are going to pay pay pay. Well at least every time I tried it always cost me more money in the end. I guess knowing when to save is the key, and sometime it is not so easy to be able to see.


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## stack em up

ozarkian said:


> The first Life Lesson I learned from my ultra economically conservative father was:
> *"You can never have too many tractors"*.


Yes you can, especially whenever it comes time to fix them all. Including my "collection" there's about 35 tractors here. Yes you can have too many.


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## bluefarmer

stack em up said:


> 1. You don't need all the machinery you think you do.
> 2. When you get the chance to buy your great aunts farm, DO IT!!!!!
> 3. Don't go to college for ag mechanics, it wastes your time and pisses you off for 15 years.
> 4. Do go to college for Agri-business. You'll be better off.
> 5. Because Heather tries to irritate you incessantly doesn't mean she hates you... Ask her out, you'll be glad you did.
> 6. Take the time to see grandma, she won't be around when you need her most. And you will miss her
> more than words can say when you do.
> 7. Write down Dads little sayings, you can't remember them all.


#1 needs to read you don't need to keep a new truck, just take care of the one you got. Looking back I wasted lots of money buying ton trucks! Grandpa tried to tell me!!!!


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## hog987

Aaroncboo said:


> Spend more now and get good stuff rather than pay for it later in repairs and delays. If you don't have the money now what makes you think you'll have it for rapairs later.
> 
> Same goes for livestock buy good stock and save yourself from thinking that you can buy average animals and breed them better.


I will disagree slightly on the livestock. You can buy average cows to start but buy good bulls to breed them. Feed them right and will end up with good calves. Also paying lots of money does not guarantee a good bull.


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## labdwakin

1. If you're going to travel for work when you're young, buy something that gets AMAZING mileage.

2. Every payday, spend your weekend prowling pawn shops for good deals on tools, guns, and old US coins to take home as plunder.

3. Save at least 30% of your disposable income so that after a few years you have enough money to go back to the farm and stay there.

4. Spend time with the old man, he'll be gone before you know it.

5. A good shop is worth 5 times it's weight in gold on a farm.

6. Well-made and good parts availability beats new and shiny EVERY time where the pocketbook is concerned.

7. DO YOUR RESEARCH AND HAVE AT LEAST A FAINT CLUE OF WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO.


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## Vol

Good advice...especially #6.

Regards, Mike


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## Bgriffin856

Get used to disappointment. Not matter how well you think things are going something always comes up and messes up the whole show. But you'll be rewarded in ways you never known

Oh and enjoy all the sleep you can get and listen to your gut feeling every time


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## woodland

Bgriffin856 said:


> Get used to disappointment. Not matter how well you think things are going something always comes up and messes up the whole show......


My folks used to have a sign that said " If you think things are going good you obviously haven't got a clue of what the h3!! is happening "

Usually quite true for us. We're proficient at producing " lemonade" out here????

Adrian


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## rjmoses

labdwakin said:


> 1. If you're going to travel for work when you're young, buy something that gets AMAZING mileage.
> 
> .......
> 
> 7. DO YOUR RESEARCH AND HAVE AT LEAST A FAINT CLUE OF WHAT YOU'RE GETTING INTO.


Good advice!

Add #8. Don't marry a city girl (unless she has the same values as you.)

Ralph


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## JD3430

1.If you buy a tractor, skip the optional air conditioned cup holder and use the money instead for security cameras. 
2.Don't assume everyone in the neighborhood approves of your farming.
3.Farming is addictive- Buy equipment as if you'll be trading it in on larger more productive equipment.
4.Marry a patient woman or one that makes a lot of coin.
5.Line up a winter or off season gig where you can make some more $$


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## endrow

Don't forget the plan for the old man you're going to be someday. Retirement is tricky when both you and your wife work in the same profession sole Proprietors and self-employed


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