mad at myself

i spent almost 18 years being depressed and guilty and during that time (and even way before that) i did not pay much attention to my financial future. i just had no interest in money matters and there was no one to guide me. but as i am getting older now, the reality of preparing for old age and all that that means, is coming at me now. i feel i have lost 20 to 30 yrs where i could have put my savings to better use... i know i can only go forward..i am just a little mad at myself right now and the future is a little scary..

My wife & I are both retired now. We're by no means wealthy. I guess you might say we're "comfortable". We actually live day-to-day on our Social Security with money left over. We frequently hear on TV about how you have to have a million dollars in the bank in order to retire! And perhaps that's necessary if a person wants to travel the world & eat at fancy restaurants, shop expensive stores, etc. But we live a simple uncomplicated lifestyle on really very little money.

You had urgent problems and limited options. Give yourself a break.

i live in a very expensive state where everything goes up except wages. i also live very simply but am mostly worried about if or when i get sick or disabled. healthcare costs are my main worry. i do try to take care of myself but anything can happen. tx skeezyks.

yes, i was pretty much consumed with my depression/guilt for 18 years. it was a very rough time. i did try to learn more about what to do with my income but the money jargon was really hard to understand for me so i did nothing. i hope in time i will accept those 'lost' chances and move on. some people have WAY worse problems. tx cantexplain.

It's very easy to compare yourself to the 10% most successful people and feel frustrated you haven't done as well as them with wealth creation . In reality , risk is not abstract , you could have spent the last 20 years focused on accumulation wealth and still find it hasn't worked out . Got cleaned out in the GFC , lost money on real estate , gone bankrupt in a failed venture , did their dough on cryptocurreny . The finance world is only too keen to promote those who "invested wisely" while many people find the pot of gold wasn't at the end of the rainbow . They say that the best time to plant a tree is 20 years ago , the second best time is today ...so you could always invest in something now , and you'd be no worse off than the masses who's investments haven't worked out .
Most people don't invest wisely in their youth , they are too busy living their life for today , and that's a good thing . It's quite tiresome when you realise you have to fund possibly 40 years of not earning money and that you will get nothing as your assets are above the required level for assistance . I calculated recently that had I made no attempt to set aside for the future we would be entitled to 800k in the next 20 years from the government pension . Does make you wonder if it's all worth while struggling along creating wealth , getting over taxed , having to pay extra on medical aid programs , being barred from free money . If you do get ahead you get targeted to pay for those less fortunate , which is fine , I'm not complaining , but it has its ironies . Only the top 5% in the world get rich , the rest of us are just here to make them richer .