Paulina Porizkova recalls the ‘mistakes’ she made as a young model: ‘I sold my childhood and my teenage years’

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Paulina Porizkova’s life forever changed when she turned 15.

At the time, the unknown took on a job in Paris that would lead to a decades-long career as a sought-after model. But today, the now-55-year-old admitted she may have unknowingly given up the last few years of her childhood.

On Tuesday, the former Sports Illustrated Swimsuit cover girl took to Instagram where she shared a side-by-side photo of herself as a fresh-faced budding model and now.

"What was supposed to be just a summer job in Paris the year I turned fifteen, became my life’s career," she captioned the post. "When I was due to return back to school in September, I took stock and…realized I had made more money in one summer than all the babysitting and newspaper selling and grocery store clerking I had ever done, combined. So I stayed."

PAULINA PORIZKOVA SAYS SHE REGRETS NOT SIGNING A PRENUP WITH LATE ESTRANGED HUSBAND RIC OCASEK: 'NAÏVE'

Model Paulina Porizkova kicked off her successful modeling career when she was 15 years old. (Photo by Ron Galella/Ron Galella Collection via Getty Images)

Porizkova said that because she was "in the right spot at the right time," it didn’t take long for her to make "more money than I ever knew was possible." However, the star admitted she didn’t know how to manage her finances because she grew up in a single-family home with no money.

"I handed it all off to other people to manage, trusting others would do the right thing for me," she admitted. "Sometimes they did. Sometimes they didn’t. I didn’t know then that I sold my childhood and my teenage years."

"I am not one for regrets," she continued. "I like myself. It took all my mistakes to get me to be the person that I am. But I sure as hell wish I had learned to take charge of my money instead of handing over the responsibility of MYSELF to others."

This isn’t the first time Porizkova has gotten candid about her assets.

PAULINA PORIZKOVA SHARES NUDE PHOTO INSPIRED BY ELIZABETH HURLEY: 'SEXY HAS NO EXPIRATION DATE'

Paulina Porizkova attends the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Celebrates 2019 Issue Launch at Myn-Tu on May 11, 2019, in Miami, Florida. ((Photo by John Parra/Getty Images for Sports Illustrated))

Earlier this month, the star opened up about her split with Ric Ocasek during a discussion with UBS Global Wealth Management to encourage other women not to make "the same mistake" that she made in being unprepared financially.

Porizkova married The Cars frontman in 1989. They were in the midst of a divorce when he died in 2019.

When asked if she regretted not signing a prenup when she married, the model said, "Uh, yeah."

The star called herself the "perfect example of a cautionary tale" because her romance with her husband "eclipsed any financial thinking."

Porizkova recalled Ocasek thinking that a prenup was a "bad omen," per People magazine, and agreed not to sign one. They instead combined their funds.

PAULINA PORIZKOVA DESCRIBES HOW SHE OVERCAME AN INTENSE ANXIETY ATTACK

Ric Ocasek of The Cars and Paulina Porizkova were in the midst of a divorce when he died in 2019. (Getty)

Once they split in 2018, the model still had access to the rocker's money until he died in 2019 and she said she "couldn't go to dinner."

"I got two mortgaged houses and the pension, but no way to pay for anything," Porizkova recalled. "So obviously things had to be sold, but until they got sold, I had nothing to live on. I literally went through a year of asking my friends to buy us groceries. It was not a good position to be in."

Furthermore, she felt that money talk was "unromantic" during the earlier years of her romance.

"It was incredibly naïve of me" Porizkova expanded.

"I had this sort of idea that he knew everything about the world and his word was the word of God and I should just sort of listen to what he said because obviously, he had the wisdom of living that I hadn't had," she remembered. "And he reminded [me] of that every of often, that he knows better because he's older."

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Ric Ocasek and Paulina Porizkova originally tied the knot in 1989. (Getty)

Porizkova said she feels as though the hardships she went through were "easily preventable" and were "based on my own stupidity." She also stressed that she didn't have "an evil husband" and that nothing "conspired against" her, and said she has no one to blame but herself.

Fox News' Nate Day contributed to this report.