When I First Started on My Finance Journey
This will be the 200th post for this blog, and I think it’s an important milestone to set aside some time and reflect. Back in 2018, I wasn’t in a stable financial place. I didn’t have a pot to piss in, so to speak, but in better terms, I didn’t own anything in my name. Everything was pretty much rented, whether it was my apartment or my income, it wasn’t necessarily mine in the sense that I knew no one else could take it.
Whether you want to believe it or not, this is true for the majority of the people who are either working a 9-to-5, on disability, getting government assistance, or going to school and relying on Pell Grant money or scholarships, ownership really does come with your name on it. And I think that’s important to talk about.
Not to say that the money you get isn’t yours, but I’ve always wanted something I owned, whether it was my own investment fund and the dividends that get paid in my name, or the books that I write that pay me royalties. That kind of ownership has always been important to me, especially after going through financial hardship.
The Old Hotel That Marked a New Beginning
Back in 2018, I moved into a new living space with my child. It was an old hotel that had been converted into apartment units. The lobby still retained its original form, with some slight modifications. I moved in at a time when the furniture looked old, even though the lobby had been remodeled in the 1970s. The original mailbox, which was built back in 1908, is still being used for our mail.
I remember sitting in the lobby at night because my one-bedroom apartment looks out at a brick wall, it felt suffocating at first. I would read articles on finance and feel like I was the only person standing in a room full of old money and new money.
But this kind of new money wasn’t celebrity money, it was more so money from people who built their own wealth through the stock market, through investing, through building businesses. Businesses like custom letterman jackets, book royalties, and other ventures yet found themselves with old money mannerisms so to speak.
And I remember so clearly feeling at home. This was when I knew, I’d always wanted to be a part of this world where art, music, travel, and community service all come together, I just was never given the blueprint, until now. It’s why I have such a natural fondness for movies set during the 1980-1990s where business and finance often intersect. Especially when they are set during the Christmas season.
Designing My Life: The Two Futures I See for Myself
When I think about my life 10 years out, 15 years out, I see either two paths:
Path One: East Coast – New York or Boston
- I’m living in a townhome or a brownstone, something in between perhaps.
- I have a library, a study.
- My windows reflect a dim setting at night from the streets.
- I see myself as either a professor, perhaps, or someone who creates digital real estate for a living, owning multiple blogs and websites that generate significant traffic and a livable income.
- The spouse and I both work for ourselves or teach others while building financial security.
Path Two: The UK – A Different Kind of Life
- I’m living in the UK, somewhere outside of London.
- It’s calm, quiet, away from the hustle and bustle of a large city.
- There are bookstores, farmers’ markets, and local shops where I can shop at.
- I can take the bus to a larger grocery store like Aldi.
- I see myself with a spouse, building a different kind of life than one in America.
Either way, I see myself being a better version of myself. Not to say I’m not a good version of myself now, but both paths require me to be a different person than I am today. That means taking steps outside my comfort zone and keeping my head down and focused as I am now.
A Vision of the Future: Wealth, Art, and Routine
When I envision my future, I think of paintings, classical music, Broadway plays, experiences, outings, and travel. For example, I really want to see Rome (Italy). I want to see Scotland (UK), Japan, South Korea. I envision myself bringing a piece of each of these places back into my home.
When I think about my future, I think of a breakfast nook overlooking my garden. When I wake up in the morning, I can make a nice breakfast. Perhaps I’ll be someone who drinks grapefruit juice at that time or eats a grapefruit – I always hated the idea of grapefruit in my diet.
I will pick up a newspaper, whether it’s The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, or The Financial Times, or something like that, sit at my breakfast nook, and go over the paper while eating, looking over my garden.
The more I think about this life, the more at home I feel. The more I know that either I’ll end up being a professor teaching behavioral economics or behavioral finance, or I see myself running my own investment fund as I do now, but with digital real estate as my economic engine.
Music, Connection, and the Stories We Leave Behind
Music has often represented a final moment in my life or an important moment in my life. I can listen to a song and associate it with something, a certain feeling, or someone. It doesn’t have to be a modern song. It doesn’t have to have lyrics. It could be a classical piece. In fact, I want you to listen to this song that I embedded from YouTube, so you can kind of understand the feeling of this moment.
The best thing you can do in your life is to envision something for yourself. Instead of letting life happen to you, happen to life itself. Don’t just sit back and let life happen to you.
One of the biggest takeaways I’ve had in my own life is that you are not your trauma. You are not your past behavior. You are not your failures. You are not what people have said you are. You are not the labels that people have put on you. You are not the labels you have put on yourself based on what others have said about you.
You are you. A tabula rasa, if you will—like English philosopher John Locke said. You are a blank slate whenever you want to be. You can design and create the life you want.
Legacy: What We Leave Behind Beyond Wealth
Oftentimes, we find what I like to call “past life instincts” or “past life legacies,” connections to things we can’t explain. For me, that’s the Titanic. For some reason, that resonates with me more than any other tragedy. Maybe besides 9/11. At one point, it registered with me more than 9/11. Not so much now, but perhaps it’s because I’ve always felt at home with the late 1800s to early 1900s, the Gilded Age, even though I wouldn’t have been welcomed in the body that I am now at that time. In fact, it would have been deathly scary.
But I also find myself a part of the modern time, where I feel like a legacy for me is not what I leave behind in terms of wealth and physical things. It’s about the people I touch. The stories I tell.
For example, I wrote a book one time about a certain marginalized group. The first time I ever got feedback on that book, someone literally said they were forever grateful because it felt personal to their own life. It made them cry.
And oftentimes, my words have made people cry, not out of sadness, but because I’ve always wanted to tell stories that make people feel like they’re not alone.
That’s why I do what I do; it’s not just to build financial security for myself, but because I know that’s how I can leave the world in a better place long after I am gone, and those who also once walked this world with me have since passed.
Full Circle: Finding Strength in What Comes Naturally
For example, I love numbers. I love watching my money grow. I love statistics. Last spring, I took statistics and passed with a 103%, at the top of my class. I helped other students during that time and even left with a recommendation to become a tutor for that class.
It was a great class. I honestly didn’t expect to do that well, but over time, I’m finding that certain things come naturally to me. And it’s interesting how everything comes full circle. This is where I know I can help others, by embracing my natural strengths while I’m a part of this world and teach others.
With that said, this is my 200th post and I found myself reflecting on the past, present, and future, as so many changes have taken place over the last 10 months. I hope that reading this inspires you to design your own life, one step at a time, and know that its not too late to start living as you, as who you want to be, and eventually, go where you want to go.
The Broke College Student 
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