{"id":217776,"date":"2025-12-06T01:43:09","date_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:43:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/217776\/"},"modified":"2025-12-06T01:43:09","modified_gmt":"2025-12-06T01:43:09","slug":"pensions-are-sexy-and-33-other-things-i-wish-i-had-known-at-15-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/217776\/","title":{"rendered":"Pensions are sexy, and 33 other things I wish I had known at 15 \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s my birthday, and because I\u2019m a woman in television<\/a> I turned 29 for the sixth year in a row. That\u2019s not really true; I like telling people I\u2019m older than I actually am. I\u2019d rather have strangers walk away from a conversation thinking \u201cshe looks really well for 43\u201d than \u201cChrist \u2013 she\u2019s had a hard, SPF-less life\u201d. <\/p>\n

I love that the older I get, the more I realise how little I know. But these are the 35 things<\/a> I wish I knew at 15. <\/p>\n

1.<\/b> If you love someone or are planning to fall in love with someone, watch how they treat people who can\u2019t do anything for them or get anything from. That may be how they treat you sooner or later.<\/p>\n

2.<\/b> Take as many risks as you can before you have financial and familial responsibilities. If your business fails at 22, you can always get a job at 23. <\/p>\n

3.<\/b> If it\u2019s your dream, move abroad. The worst that can happen is you hate it and you move back. <\/p>\n

4.<\/b> Try to fall in love with someone who is from Lake Como or whose hometown is in a charming clifftop town on the Mediterranean. Take it from someone who has accepted they will forever spend their annual leave taking in the wonders of Tuam stadium (especially now it has the new roof on). <\/p>\n

5.<\/b> Some people are brown snakes. The deadliest kind, but only strike when provoked. Sometimes it\u2019s just best to let them slither on past. <\/p>\n

6.<\/b> The alcohol that can cost you the most is behind a free bar. <\/p>\n

7.<\/b> Watching a sunrise because you\u2019ve stayed out all night with your pals is just as beautiful as the one you get up early to watch. <\/p>\n

8.<\/b> Exercise does help your mental health. Sickener, isn\u2019t it? <\/p>\n

9.<\/b> But it isn\u2019t a substitute for therapy, and be wary of people who try to run away from themselves … literally.<\/p>\n

10.<\/b> Don\u2019t buy cheap shoes, cheap tights or bras if you can help it. All three are certain to put you in a bad mood for the rest of the day. <\/p>\n

11.<\/b> You\u2019ll have a boss one day that will tell you off for making a medical appointment after work because you should always be ready to stay late. It\u2019s really important that you ignore them. Your boss won\u2019t care for you when your health fails \u2013 your loved ones will. <\/p>\n

12.<\/b> If someone says you always need to put your career above everything to achieve success, find out what kind of life they go home to at the end of the day, and ask yourself if that\u2019s what you want to end up like. <\/p>\n

13.<\/b> Never date a man who\u2019s still angry at his mother \u2013 he\u2019ll take it out on every woman who comes into his life trying to heal him.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0I\u2019ve nothing against Irish men. I keep one myself. But I recommend Irish womenOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

14.<\/b> Being a people pleaser doesn\u2019t make you a good person. In fact, it will fill you with resentment and passive aggression. <\/p>\n

15.<\/b> Learn your skin undertone. We can\u2019t all be the same \u201choney beige\u201d orange foundation shade. <\/p>\n

16.<\/b> Record your grandparents\u2019 voices while you can. <\/p>\n

17.<\/b> You can be lonelier in a relationship than you can be when single. <\/p>\n

18. <\/b>It\u2019s not about what you know but what you can prove. <\/p>\n

19.<\/b> If you\u2019re going to do anything worthwhile, you have to accept people are talking about you in a group chat somewhere. It\u2019s the cost of entry to success. <\/p>\n

20.<\/b> That older man isn\u2019t dating you because you\u2019re mature \u2013 it\u2019s because you let him away with things women his own age wouldn\u2019t.<\/p>\n

21.<\/b> Understand compound interest and quick. <\/p>\n

22.<\/b> Don\u2019t try to \u201cposh up\u201d your accent for work. You\u2019ll get the big job but now you don\u2019t sound like the people who love you most. Once it\u2019s gone, it\u2019s gone.<\/p>\n

23.<\/b> You don\u2019t want a boat. You want a friend with a boat.<\/p>\n

24.<\/b> Some people ask you questions to help. Some are just mining for information because they need gossip to make them feel important. <\/p>\n

25.<\/b> Noise-cancelling headphones are the best investment you can make.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0If I were an agony aunt, my advice would always be \u2018leave them\u2019Opens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

26.<\/b> Some if not many landlords think their property is a deposit-only ATM and don\u2019t understand it\u2019s an investment that carries risk and cost. Document EVERYTHING.<\/p>\n

27.<\/b> Get regular blood tests.<\/p>\n

28.<\/b> Ice baths are a swizz.<\/p>\n

29.<\/b> Your mother was right about more than you want to admit. <\/p>\n

30.<\/b> Pensions are incredibly sexy \u2013 they\u2019re your ticket to freedom.<\/p>\n

31.<\/b> Confrontation is more often than not the key to peace. <\/p>\n

32.<\/b> If you\u2019re thinking about cutting a fringe or bleaching your hair, it\u2019s probably time to do a mental wellness check. <\/p>\n

33.<\/b> Back up everything on the hard drive. Twice. <\/p>\n

34.<\/b> There\u2019s no point \u201cmaking it\u201d from a disadvantaged background if you don\u2019t clear the path for others to come up behind you. <\/p>\n

35.<\/b> You often don\u2019t realise the value of advice until you\u2019ve learned it the hard way by f**king up.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s my birthday, and because I\u2019m a woman in television I turned 29 for the sixth year in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":217777,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[73],"tags":[3500,49873,79,18,2215,19,17,361],"class_list":{"0":"post-217776","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-advice","9":"tag-brianna-parkins","10":"tag-business","11":"tag-eire","12":"tag-for-you","13":"tag-ie","14":"tag-ireland","15":"tag-magazine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/115670089926423456","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217776","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=217776"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/217776\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/217777"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=217776"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=217776"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=217776"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}