There was a time where I would have probably said driving. I started driving later than the norm. I think I was 28 or 29 before I got my license. Before that I used public transit and walked and planned everywhere I went. When I would go grocery shopping I would do several smaller trips and got good at creative carrying. I managed to get what I needed most and enjoyed going to the store more. It also made me think more about impulse purchases. I would have to walk it home at least part of the way; did I really really need this?
Now it is easier to overspend, easier to say why not, and of course the vehicle itself also has costs and upkeep and fuel costs. Today happens to be my birthday, and as I get older I do realize that the way I used to do things would have become increasingly difficult. I am still not old, not in my mind anyway. I still only feel occasional twinges of pain in the morning and am only starting to lose my close range vision.
To answer the initial question, it would no longer be driving. I am content with my past. Right at this moment I would probably say starting a retirement account and sticking with it. I did have one at the bank I worked at, but once that job ended I cashed it out and used it as a down payment on a car. The car I still use to this day.
I don’t regret that particularly because a scandal hit that bank not long after I left, and my account was heavy in company stock, so it ended up being the right choice. I also needed a car because my old car was done for, it was an oldie but a goodie, but its repairs became more than it was worth. It wasn’t drivable without a transmission.
While I don’t regret starting over in that instance, I do regret not setting up a roth IRA at 18 that wasn’t based on my employment. Nowadays people switch jobs typically every 5 years or so, some sooner, an employer based plan just isn’t going to do the job. I wish I had the foresight just to set it up and forget it, I would have so much more set aside. I plan on upping how much I set aside when my son leaves the house because it will be just me again. I could probably do that now, he is gone so much anyway.
That is what I wish I had taken more seriously earlier. Social security isn’t enough to live on, especially considering housing costs and higher medical costs associated with aging. Whether it is still waiting for Gen X remains to be seen anyway. I keep hearing it is running out of money, or broken.
Otherwise, what happened, happened, as they say in Lost, you can’t change it. You just make peace with the decisions you made and go forward trying to make better decisions from now on. What you do today matters more than what you did yesterday. There is still time to make good memories with good people and live the best life you can. That is my current goal.
