There are those defining moments in life. The moments you use to wait and wish for during some of your darkest hours. And I had one of mine today. I’ve been taking a personal finance class at the University of Washington Tacoma, taught by two Professors, Kirk Mandlin and Dean Bennion. Tonight was the first time I realized just how real my wants, dreams, and desires have become.
Tonight I spoke with one of my professors and I told him about my goal to hit the first 100k. I mentioned Warren’s late mentor Charlie Munger, and how it is often said in his words, “the first 100 is a bitch,” and that I am not there yet but am on my way. He said the words that just confirmed everything I’ve been working for: “You’ll get there.” It wasn’t some throwaway like “yeah, sure,” but actually based on how I show up and have been moving and operating. I wanted to tell him all of the things I had to overcome to make this happen, but in that moment, it was just hearing those words that was enough, especially from someone who has already made their wealth and has lived a life I am in the process of building for myself.
These are moments I want to sit back, reflect on, and document so I can look back at the times when everything changed, when it is confirmed that I am no longer the same person or in the same position I was when I desired to be here in these places, situations, and positions in life. My Professor Kirk worked for Dean Witters, the same Dean Witters I came to know about through my favorite movie, The Pursuit of Happyness.
I have watched it over the years, knowing the exact position and struggle William Gardner was in, because I was in it. It almost feels like a replica of his life path: both single parents struggling to provide, wanting a way out, finding a way to access that way out, both through the same path of becoming an investor, understanding the stock market, understanding how wealth and financial security are created, for ourselves and our loved ones.
Walking to the gym from campus after leaving class, I felt an emotional weight lift as I realized I am now walking in the dream I once had for myself, to not hurt financially, to have breathing room, to finally feel separated from the struggle of poverty I’ve known all too long, and on the path to build financial wealth and my future.
Lessons From Finance Classes and Investment Books
There’s this book they gave me called How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie. Over the last half-decade, I had come across it and heard of it, but I always said no. It sounded manipulative, or at least that’s what I assumed. I didn’t want to manipulate people. You always hear about books like Get Rich, Poor Dad, and others that feel MLM, hypey, or scammy.
But as I read it, I realized just how great this book is. It’s more about psychology than anything else. It’s not a simple formula of “do this and this and that.” It’s about human behavior, patterns, and understanding. It reminds you of things you know, but things you need to keep practicing if you really want to navigate life well.
Professor Dean at UW Tacoma gave me the book. He had four copies, and I was the first to raise my hand. Then others follow pursuit. I’m really glad I got it. I take this book with me everywhere, on the bus to campus, on the bus to the store. Professor Dean once said in class that he read a lot of books, studied, and got things done on the bus, while putting his kids through college. Watching these two men talk, listening to them teach this personal finance class, it’s their first class, TBGEN 250, is inspiring. Everything they’ve done, I’m doing too.
Their number one thing repeated over and over is: spend less than you earn. I’ve done that. I’ve constantly done that. But for this moment in time, it’s starting to hit me that I am no longer in the same position where I was dreaming about being this person, dreaming about this financial life. And it’s only the beginning. I’m finally in a place where it feels okay to start really looking at things differently.
I may never have to worry about money again if things go well, if things go right, if I keep doing what I’m doing. I have the skills. I have the knowledge. I’ve been there, done that. Black swan events can happen, of course, but once you have these skills, this mindset, and surround yourself with people like this, there’s nothing to do but win, build, and gain the financial freedom you’ve longed for.
Just like William Gardner, I take the bus/ T Line (light rail), I study the book, I take it everywhere with me. It’s not a Bible, but my teacher gave it to me, and it feels like one. In that moment, reflecting on the parallels between my life and his, I felt it. Watching my own journey mirror a story I once only watched on a screen, it was powerful.
Building Wealth Step by Step
Sometimes, you don’t see the steps as they’re happening. You just take them. You know you’re making changes, doing things differently. But over half a decade or even a decade, those small steps add up. You wake up one day and realize: I built my first 10K portfolio. I built my first 10K savings account. It didn’t happen overnight. But it happened because I kept going.
Walking home from class that night, it hit me for the first time, I am in a different stage of my life. I’ve known it, but sometimes it’s just these little moments that remind you. I’m still in the same one-bedroom I moved into in 2017, but it looks completely different now, considering what I’ve done, built, and changed in my life. Back then, I went through hard times, unsure of income, often with scarce food. I remember eating bread with beans and butter on the phone with someone and feeling how comforting that was.
Celebrating Our First Ever Portfolio
Now, my kid and I just went to Seattle on Friday to celebrate a five-figure milestone. Even though this isn’t our first five-figure milestone, we wanted to celebrate because this was special; it was our first-ever portfolio.
It’s a value portfolio, not a growth portfolio, yet it gave us the habit, the knowledge, the wisdom, and the discipline to keep doing what we’re doing, whether it’s saving cash in a high-yield savings account or building other portfolios. To see it hit a five-figure milestone, we wanted to celebrate. And now, I can go to Seattle and just enjoy it, with funds to spare.
Before, I had more months than money left. Now, I have money, and I have more freedom. It’s the little moments, like having Thai food for dinner sometimes, that remind me how far we’ve come and this is what I want for you and your loved ones, to have this defining moment one day where you wake up and realise how things have changed financially for the better.
The Broke College Student 
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