A Letter to Future Me
by kev on January 1, 2008 

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Dear Future Me,

I am writing this on the heels of my/your 30th birthday. Admitting this age feels very odd and surreal. In my head, I’m still 18. The expression I’ve just now coined, “time really flies when you are incredibly awesome” is all too true.

To freshen your memory, the purpose of this letter is simple: to give you insight into where you were at age 30 and to give you a kick in the pants if life has gotten off course. As you should remember, similar letters were written at ages 20 and 10 (the latter being our infamous “girls are stupid” letter). Also, since our birthday is so close to New Year’s, this letter also fills the role of New Year’s Resolution for 2008. If that’s not killing two birds with one stone, I don’t know what is.

Singlehood

You are single. You have run the numbers in your head and come to the conclusion that being in another long-term relationship is a mathematical impossibility. But then you remembered to divide by seven and realized there was still a glimmer of hope.

Have you ever been at a place in your life where one moment you believe you are ready for the whole wife ‘n’ kids thing and the next moment you’re convinced staying eternally single is a great idea because you would never have to worry about someone else eating your peanut butter? That’s a rhetorical question. The answer is yes. Yes you have been at that place in your life. Right now. At age 30.

The question is: do you feel this way because you don’t believe you’re quite ready emotionally or spiritually for marriage, or because you love peanut butter that much?

It’s probably a little of both.

So here’s the dilemma: you want the whole wife ‘n’ kids thing, but you know there are areas in your life you need to work on before you’re truly ready.

The solution? Get your butt in gear and work on those areas of your life.

And if someone else eating your peanut butter is really that big of a deal, start buying two jars. Or maybe even three, if they’re on sale.

Financial Peace

At the time of this writing, you have just paid off your last student loan. Earlier in the year, you paid off your last credit card. After ten years, you are completely and totally debt free!

So help me, if you ruin my hard work and take on any consumer debt, I will hunt you down. I’m not joking. I will hunt you down and throat punch you. I will kick you where it hurts so many times that you’ll be able to reach high notes only 8-year-old boys or Michael Jackson can sing.

Don’t think I’ll do it just because you and I are the same person? Try me. Just try me. Our mom won’t recognize you/me after I get done with you/me.

You’ve been warned.

Okay, with those pleasantries out of the way, here’s the lowdown. You are debt free. With no more debt, you currently spend only about 2/3 of your paycheck each month. And that’s after contributing a nice chunk of your salary to your retirement account.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it (and if you don’t accept it I will hurt you), is to save as much as you can of the remaining 1/3. Don’t live like a pauper, but save. Your long-term financial goal is to be able to provide financial peace for yourself and your future family for the rest of your lives. You can do that by remaining debt free, saving and being wise with the money with which God entrusts you.

Preliminary savings goal: to never have a mortgage. This means either renting forever or not buying a home until you can pay for it in cash.

That’s your goal.

If you don’t meet it, I will hunt you down…

Knowledge is Power

You currently have a list of 30 books you need to read. Some were recommended to you by a friend (at your request) and the rest you jotted down in your head. Even if you’re only able to read one book every other month, do it. Make the time.

Reading these books will make your brain bigger. They will make you a more well-rounded person. Most importantly, they will fill your brain with something other than the useless sports and pop-culture trivia you soak up like a sponge.

Jazzercise

Remember back in 2005 and 2006 when you went on a big-time health kick and exercised five or six times a week for over a year? And then you suddenly stopped? Yeah, “you at 29″ sort of dropped the ball on that one. That guy was a lazy punk. But thankfully, I’m now in charge.

Yours truly (aka “you at 30″) is going to get you healthy. Not to go all Forrest Gump on you, but life is like a relay race you want to last as long as possible. In a year, I will pass the baton to “you at 31″ and a year later he will pass the baton to “you at 32.”

The goal is to keep that going as long as possible. This means eating less fried foods and more veggies. It means watching less Giada De Laurentiss on the Food Channel and taking more walks around the neighborhood.

Dress for Success

After you’ve done the aforementioned going to the gym and eating healthy for a little while, it’s time for you to get some new clothes and dress like a grownup. No, no, I don’t mean throw out your snake skin cowboy boots. That would be crazy. What I mean is you have to get past the “every day is Casual Friday” mindset at work and church.

You wear jeans every single day. That’s okay. You’re allowed. But even though you’re now 30, your older co-workers think you’re in your early-to-mid 20s. How you dress has a lot to do with that.

You want promotions? You want raises? You want your co-workers to stop saying (in total seriousness) things like, “I have worked here since 1987… Kevin, were you even alive in 1987?”

Then it’s time to expand your wardrobe.

All for Now

Well, I think this should give you ample insight into where you were at 30. I hope this letter finds you having accomplished most if not all of these goals, or are at the very least well on your way to accomplishing them.

If you read this at age 35 or 40 and feel nostalgic for the “good ol’ days when you were 30,” let me remind you of something: at 30, you were nostalgic for 25. At 25, you were nostalgic for 18. And at 18, you were an idiot.

It’s always going to be like that. When you’re 50, you’ll look back fondly at 40. At 60, you’ll wish you were 50 again. Feeling old and wishing you could go back to an earlier version of yourself is a pointless exercise because that earlier version of you was doing the same thing.

The moral? Set your sights on tomorrow, not yesterday. The only thing in your past that can hurt you is me after I’ve traveled through time to throat punch you for taking on consumer debt after I warned you not to.

Sincerely,

You at 30