10 Money Wisdoms You'll Learn After Age 40

As my 40th birthday approached, I thought about my life and past experiences with money. My 20s were not productive financially. I had 4 different jobs, but they paid poorly. This left me unfulfilled. At 28, I started working on the side as a web designer and blogger. At 30, I left my job to pursue writing full-time. Luckily, I have been able to work from home for the past 10 years.

My 30s were much more productive. I built my own website, blog, etc. Three of the websites/blogs sold for over $200,000 each. Although it started slowly, things gradually improved. My wife was also able to quit her job 6 years ago to take full care of our newborn daughter.

40 years, not too long a time but I have learned and drawn many lessons about finance:

1. Money isn't everything

Money is not the most important thing in life. We all have different priorities. For many, family, health, friends, and faith rank higher than money. When you spend all your time working, it is easy to get distracted and lose sight of those priorities. Take a step back and think about what is truly most important.

2. Need to start saving early

Most people don't think about saving money when they're young, but that's actually the best time. Saving early means you'll have years of savings that will grow over time. Not only that, but it also helps you develop good habits that can last a lifetime. I saved a little when I was young, but I wish I had saved more.

3. Don't follow the crowd

Don’t be influenced by how your friends, family, or neighbors spend their money. You can’t be sure they’re spending wisely or investing wisely. They may regret how they’re investing or spend too much.

4. Knowing and doing are two different things.

When I was in my 20s, a co-worker would often tell me about the bad financial decisions she and her husband had made. Her husband was a financial advisor. He had been in the industry for many years and had a lot of knowledge. But what happened in reality was not what they thought. Sometimes the gap between knowing and doing was too wide.

5. Poor money management means more money doesn't solve the problem.

Many people think that if they had more money, their financial problems would disappear. But the problem is how to manage money, whether little or much money, if you don't know how to use it wisely, it will be wasted. Focus on managing the money you have, when you have more money, you will know how to spend it properly.

6. More money doesn't mean less stress

Money can certainly make your life easier in many ways, but financial stress doesn't completely go away when you have more money. I was fortunate to see my money grow significantly in my 30s, but my life wasn't any less stressful than it was before.

7. Higher salary does not mean more stable job

When I was 29, in 2008, my boss laid off about 25% of his staff, many of whom had been there for a long time and were well paid. The bosses thought that getting rid of these people would save the company more money, replacing them with new people who were full of energy and had lower salary demands. I didn’t lose my job, but it motivated me to build my business faster.

8. Enjoy the money you earn

You don't have to save 24/7, enjoy the money you earn. It's all about balance. Don't feel guilty about spending on important things, when you can afford it.

9. Not all financial experts know what they are talking about

Don't take someone's advice simply because they work in finance. There are certainly real experts out there who have first-hand experience.

Last year, I had an investment and needed to consult an expert. He didn't really know the competition, and was used to providing one-way information.

10. Don't waste your life chasing money.

I can't believe that almost 40 years of my life have passed so quickly. Money is an important part of life, but chasing money for the sake of having money should not be the main focus.

No matter how much money you make, you will never have more than 24 hours in a day. Use your time wisely, don't just focus on making money all the time, give yourself some fun.