[philwelch]

I'm a little disappointed in the middlebrow dismissals here. Let's set aside the brain stuff and do some simple math: you're going to live anywhere from three to seven decades after you reach 30, but only one decade of adulthood before. Therefore your have the opportunity to build a foundation for your life's happiness in your 20's. Economists have this notion called the "discount rate", which is the degree to which one favors instant gratification over greater long-term returns. The younger you are, the more biased towards long-term returns you should be, largely because you have a longer long-term to enjoy them in. This principle is just as true in life as in financial investing. Likewise, as in financial investing, it's prudent to take more risks while younger since you have more time to recover from them.

Of course, we say such things to comfort ourselves now. Advice is wasted on youth.

[theorique]

The younger you are, the more biased towards long-term returns you should be, largely because you have a longer long-term to enjoy them in.

... and the more biased toward short-term returns you are, because you're young.

Life's a bitch that way :)

[Nursie]

This neglects that for many people your 20s are also when you're at your most active, most sociable and all-round most alive.

To me an over-emphasis on 'investing' during this period is the real waste.

[philwelch]

Activity and sociability are exactly the resources you use to create your investments, by achieving real accomplishments, building your skills, and meeting the people who will become your lifelong friends. Hell, you should even have a lot of fun--having good memories and stories to tell are an investment, too. But bias yourself towards things you'll want to have done later, not just things you want to do now.