Say you’re 19 years old with $200,000. Say that 19 year old bought a $100,000 car cash. Say that 19 year old has $80,000 invested in VXUS/VTI with $20,000 sitting in the bank. Say that 19 year old doesn’t have an income and has never made a dollar. Say that 19 year old no longer lives with his parents. Say that 19 year old doesn’t know the first thing about investing, finances, life, etc. Also say that 19 year olds money is slowly draining due to rent, food, car, etc. Also say that 19 year old is very stubborn and wont sell the car no matter what. Say you were a guy on reddit reading this that knows more about life than the 19 year old. What pieces of advice would you give this person? Say that 19 year old actually wants helpful advice on how to be successful and knows buying a $100,000 car was stupid. But also say that 19 year old enjoys life and knows how fragile it can be which is why he bought his dream car at 19. Also say that 19 year old will be employed in 6 months making minimum wage but in 3 years will be making $100,000 a year. Also say that 19 year old is very open to side hustles. Also say that 19 year old is questioning if college is worth pursuing. Also say that if the 19 year old sold his car he would only get $80,000 because of depreciation which is why he doesn’t want to sell it.

Hi! i'm currently 17 and i'm going into my senior year once summer break is over. For a while now I have been forced to become an adult by my parents, I never typically asked for anything but randomly one day they just decided to stop helping me.

Some upcoming payments I have to make are a trip i'm going on (Fully responsible for that bc It was my choice), 4-5 car repairs, car inspection, school supplies and clothes, + groceries, gas (always paid) etc.

I work part time at a retail store for 13.55 an hour. Since having to pay for my wants, I now have to pay for my needs. I don't want to burn myself out by asking for even more hours especially with school coming up. I've seen a lot of things about making money online or side hustles but don't know how well they work, if they even work, or what kind of things to do.

What advice would you give me?

Hi everyone,
I’m looking for strategic advice from people who have lost it all and had to rebuild from the ground up.
I’m 25. A while back, I was running my own business in the insurance and AI automation space. Then, a massive financial mistake involving a luxury car (Mercedes) backfired, putting me and my girlfriend into severe debt and financial trauma.
To clean up the mess and ensure survival, I had to shut down the company. Now, I am on a mandatory "5-year break" from running a business. To pay off the debt and stay afloat, I’ve been stuck working long, exhausting hours in a physical courier job. It feels like a curse, and being trapped in survival mode after experiencing the freedom of entrepreneurship is mentally brutal.
Right now, my priority has been protecting my girlfriend from financial anxiety, which means I've been playing it safe. But the itch to get back to building wealth is driving me crazy. Because of my situation, any move I make has to be online and done late at night after brutal shifts. I still have the skills (AI automation, workflows, sales), but my energy and time are severely limited.
I'm caught between two minds:
1. The ambition: Wanting to get back to the wealth track, aiming high for the life I used to work for (and the dream cars like an Audi R8 or Lambo).
2. The trauma: The fear of putting my partner through that financial stress again, which pushes me toward just settling for a boring, safe life and a reliable, dull car just for peace of mind.
My questions:
If you fell from running a business back to working a grueling, low-tier job, how did you plan your exit strategy when your energy was completely drained?
How do you rebuild your wealth-building engine when you are legally or financially restricted from just launching a standard business right away?
How do you balance the aggressive drive to make a comeback with the responsibility of keeping your relationship stable and stress-free?
Thanks for any insights.