In this podcast episode, I emphasize the importance of recognizing that personal finance is truly personal, and that popular advice from personal finance gurus often doesn’t fit everyone's unique circumstances. I share 5 pieces of prevalent personal finance advice that did NOT work for me at all, and I also share what would have worked with the 20/20 hindsight.

1. To become wealthy, you need to budget, be frugal, and save a large percentage of your income. Following this advice had made me feel deprived and I wasn't truly happy. Instead, now I realized that increasing earned income might have been more beneficial.

2. House hacking is a great way to save money, because housing is the largest expense category. This strategy was simply too difficult, if not possible at all, to implement in the area I live. I should have hacked child care instead.

3. Other people appear wealthy but they are actually poor, so don’t fall into the comparison trip. This is good advice if it's actually true. There can be a concentration of people who are indeed wealthy in the costal areas, which is where I live. Instead of denying this fact, I should have put aside my ego, and learned from these well-to-do individuals much sooner.

4. Retirement, better yet early retirement, is the holy grail. I challenge the notion of early retirement as a universal goal, advocating instead for finding passion in work.

5. Invest in index funds that mimic the market, such as the S&P 500 index. While index funds are popular, and it may well be the best advice for many people, learning to pick individual stocks can be more rewarding if done thoughtfully, and if it suits your aptitude and personality.

Ultimately, I conclude that personal finance should be customized to one's own life, values, and happiness.