What advice would you give a 20 year old?

Compounding interest.

Learn all the new AI tech you can, from the user end (and conceptually on the other end). Find a job that (a) is AI-proof in the short-term, and (b) allows you to develop your own AI skills to keep up with the applications in your industry.

That or plumbing.

Don't buy expensive cars that you can't actually afford. Not only do they depreciate a ton, it sets the tone for a bad habit, everything is more expensive (taxes, insurance, etc), and it just snowballs for the rest of your life.

Develop a good balance between people pleasing and doing your own thing. It seems like too many folks these days either give no care about anyone else and are completely self centered, or they can't even breathe without asking someone else if it's okay.

Open a Roth IRA, put as much money in it as possible, and buy good index funds. Someone who invests a certain amount between the ages of 20 and 30 and then completely stops will ultimately earn more than someone who contributes the same from 30-65.

Keep your life as simple as possible. Enjoy the little things like fishing, watching a sunrise/sunset, or even just taking an evening drive. Leave your phone at home as much as possible.

Figure out who you are and be honest with yourself. What do you like? What do you want out of life? If you tend to worry more about the future, try to live more in the present. If you're the opposite, plan for the future.

Realize that life isn't fair and never will be. Take the cards you're dealt and realize that the person in the mirror is the cause of the majority of your problems. However, the person in the mirror is the solution for the majority of your problems.

Always try to learn from those who are older than you, but also look at who they are and judge if they're worth learning from.

Put God first. Get married and that will be second. Have children that will be third. Work and trust God for everything else. Pray when you are in need and give Thanks when you are not. Treat others like you want to be treated.

This is your time to build the stories that you will tell your grandkids.

Be kind. Be useful. Exercise self control. Don't be concerned with what other people think - in all likelihood that person isn't thinking about you at all. Don't let your emotions or fleshly desires control your words and actions. You decide who and what you want to be. Never make a big decision based on fear. Don't make your life miserable with debt, live beneath your means. Good memories will be far more meaningful than material things when you get older and look back on life. Don't waste time arguing with fools or childish minds. Be a good friend. If someone is a good friend to you, never take that for granted. There may come a time when everyone else is going the wrong way and you know better, but it means you have to stand alone. Don't be dismayed, It's always worth it. Be brave.

Sit down with your Grandparents and get their story from their childhood on. Get them to tell you about their parents and what they remember of their story. Write it all down. Look at their old photos with them. Scan them and make notes. Spend more time with them and less with your friends. They actually really love you. Let them feed you. I still enjoy the memory of my Grandmother loading me up with eggs and biscuits and pancakes and syrup and jelly and I can see that aluminum tumbler she filled with orange juice from where I'm sitting now.

Save more than you spend.

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What advice would you give a 20 year old?

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Save as much as you can. And don’t get in a rush for marriage.