Buy the Most Expensive House You Can, As Early As You Can.
Financial regret is almost always the same: I should have bought this or that. I should have started earlier.
Why? Compound interest.
Unlike simple interest, real estate appreciation (and stock market appreciation) is calculated using the compound interest formula because the increase applies to the new, higher value each year rather than just the principal. So if LA home values rise 8-9% a year on average, this can lead to a total appreciation of approximately 115.89% to 136.74% over a decade.
You want to buy the biggest, best home you can afford, as soon as you can. And stay put. Let compounding do its job.
Don't make side investments (especially with sketchy people).
Almost every major life-altering financial blunder story I've ever heard involved giving money to someone else to “invest” in something you know nothing about. I can't tell you how many friends' dads are on the verge of financial ruin because of this.
Here's how it goes:
A very successful man retires, and is looking for that last big score. He takes a portion (or all) of his retirement and give it to *insert charming shyster here* who has pitched dad on his *AI/weed/medical device/film production* company with projections of 10-50x'ing their money within 5-10 years. The money gets spent by said shyster. No returns are given. Lawyers are retained. Legal fees are spent. Money is gone.
Aside from this very sad but all-too-common story, we have had friends invest in restaurants, crypto/NFTs, film production companies, and Guatemalan diamond mines, never to see that money again.
