Who am I?
I’m a husband to my wonderful wife and a father to my 2 awesome kids. I have been lucky enough in life to have been given the privilege of upward financial movement. I didn’t start with that privilege and I’ve had to work my butt off to take advantage of the opportunities I’ve had. Along the way, I’ve learned A LOT about basic personal finance and I want to share it with whoever cares to listen.
Why should you even listen to me?
First things first: I am not a financial advisor and everything I say in this blog is for informational or entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, consult a financial advisor.
With that out of the way, I mean, it’s really up to you if you think you should or shouldn’t listen to me. I’ve fought hard, and been very lucky at times, to get where I am and I learned a lot of hard lessons along the way. I’m only here to share my story and the lessons I’ve learned so that you might learn from them and benefit. I make the promise here and now to be honest and direct and to never sell you a line of crap. If that’s not reason enough to stay and hear my story, well, it’s a big financial blogging world out there and there’s sure to be one that better fits your style. If you’re sticking around and want to hear me out, then welcome! Glad to have you aboard.
So…I’m going to teach you how to get rich instantly, right?
Haha, no. This isn’t a get-rich-quick thing, it’s a don’t-lose-your-shirt-to-stupid-mistakes thing. I’ve known a lot of folks with tons of opportunity who lost it all because they didn’t understand personal finance. Basic stuff ruined them, like only making minimum payments on their credit cards every month, or not properly understanding how checking accounts worked. That’s what we’re doing here. Laying the basic personal finance foundation that folks just don’t get taught anymore.
Are all the articles here going to be a kind of Q&A format like this?
Yup! Most people find personal finance to be on the same level of entertainment as mowing the lawn with nail clippers. I think the Q&A format makes it more conversational and interesting. This stuff is important (REALLY important) and I want to make it as interesting as possible to get through for as many people as possible.
Sounds like a plan. Will I have to give up my avocado toast and occasional latte to make this work?
What a great question! Thanks alter-ego me.
I’m a big fan of “do your best” when it comes to personal finance. I look around and I see a lot of high-pressure sales about extreme financial lifestyles like the “Financially Independent, Retire Early (FIRE)” lifestyle and casting that lifestyle as “basic personal finance”. It’s not. It’s an extremely demanding and difficult approach to personal finance that simply does not work for most people. Unfortunately, I think the damage is done for most people though. They realize they can’t do something extreme like FIRE, or honestly even something more modest like not taking out loans for cars, and give up on the whole thing.
Having an understanding of interest, savings, which types of accounts are good for different situations, and how to use credit appropriately will have a far greater positive impact on your financial life than putting unrealistic ideas of retiring at 35 in your head. Doing something positive for your personal finance is all you need and you don’t need to feel guilty that you took out a loan to buy a car to get you to work. As I said, I’m a big fan of “do your best”. So, is saving important? Sure is! But is it okay to buy that nice car you like? If you can honestly (and be brutally honest with yourself) afford it while still putting some money away for retirement, or college, or whatever, then GO FOR IT. Live life AND be financially responsible. It can be done and it doesn’t have to suck.
With that, let’s dive in and learn some basic personal finance. It won’t be as bad as it sounds, I promise!
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