What was the best piece of advice you ever got?

Think back on your life. You’ve probably received a lot of advice from a lot of people. What was the advice that helped you the most? What was the advice that was most meaningful to you?

For me, the best advice I ever got came from a home inspector. He told us, that since we were buying a very old house, we should expect to spend $3000 per year on maintenance. Best advice I ever got.

It helped us plan and budget better for items we might not have included in our expenses. It totally changed my attitude about things that go wrong. They are no longer a surprise. They are expected.

The amount has tripled or so in the 20 years since we got that advice, but I still think it’s the most useful thing anyone ever told me.