What advice would you give your 19 year old self?

[Miguel Luna]

Okay, we've heard it all before. You ask someone what they would do differently if they were 18-19 again. Most of the time, that answer is, "I wish I would have started investing sooner!" I mean, even I, a 19 year old newbie to real estate wishes I would have started sooner. I turn 20 in a month and I feel I have wasted valuable time. I feel as if I have done nothing with my youth.

If my 16 year-old self had the knowledge I had now, I would have saved so much time and money and I would have definitely stepped on this sooner. I've always wanted to invest, I've always wanted to figure out how money works. I tell my friends all the time, "there has to be more to money! It can't just be as simple as making money and spending what you make." and they would reply, "that's exactly how money works, Miguel. There's nothing more to it." 

I know everyone in BP has the same mindset I do, or else you guys wouldn't be investing. I feel like I've started a little late, but I know a lot of people who would just love to have the time I have. "Oh if the 19 year old me had the knowledge I had now!"

What would the 19 year old you do? Say you had the chance to meet your 19 year old self, what words of advice would you give them? Would you dive into investing right away? What properties would you invest in? How important is time to the community of BP?

[JD Martin]

I would have told 19 year old me to buckle down and go to college. I barely squeaked out of high school, spent a year working a job pumping gas on the interstate, went into the military because I couldn't figure out anything else, did my military time, spent another two years out of the military working nowhere jobs, and finally got myself into college, where I didn't graduate with my bachelor's degree until I was 30 years old. My earnings potential expanded exponentially as I went further into school, and if I had done so from the beginning I would probably be at least $200 grand further ahead than I am now. 

Do not discount the exponential potential of earnings from having more skills to offer employers, investors, and others.