About
I grew up in an everyday middle class family and had parents with a strong value system—from a young age I learned the value of hard work, respect, and humility. I also learned the value of a dollar from my mom's ingenious allowance system: $1 per week for every year of my age. When I was 6, I usually spent those $6 on something silly like a pack of Pokemon cards. But over time I came to realize that in order to buy something really cool (razor scooter, anybody?), I had to save up. This simple lesson formed the foundation of my financial awareness; I owe my parents all the credit for my interest in finance.
In college I decided to major in Finance because I enjoyed the intersection of math, business, and strategy. And, of course, I was drawn in by the big paychecks that I kept hearing about.
After college I moved to New York City to start a career in investment banking at one of the world's largest financial firms. During my first year on Wall Street, I told my parents to plan an intervention in 3 years. "If I'm still working 80+ hours per week 3 years from now, please just...don't let me do that." I knew right away that the banking lifestyle was not sustainable for me; and I was afraid of losing myself over that time. Within 1 month of my start date, I bought the 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss (ironically, I didn't read it for several years because of—you guessed it—my wonderful 80 hour work weeks).
I put in a few long years and got to know many of my ambitious peers very well. One thing that I noticed about many of these folks was a remarkable lack of knowledge about personal finance—these were successful finance professionals who didn’t know the first thing about where to put their own cash! Maybe it was because they were too tired, or maybe they just didn't care. Either way, it has become my inspiration to educate, inspire, and help people create alternative income streams, gain more independence and flexibility, and improve their lifestyle.
My goal is to show you that you are not alone in your quest for personal financial success. I was amazed that so many smart finance professionals were completely clueless about saving, setting a budget, and personal investing—which made me realize that non-finance professionals are probably even more confused. And that’s where I want to help.
My experience
- Investment banking at global Wall Street bank and equity/stock market analysis at a major investment firm
- Saved ~50% of my after-tax income every year since joining the workforce
- Created thousands of dollars of passive income each year
- Extensive research through a combination of personal experience, real-world finance training, and a strong desire to live off of passive income
