Disclosure: Nothing in this book contains financial advice. It is for entertainment purposes only. Enjoy. Table of Contents: • Introduction • Chapter 1 – Two Ideas That Will Change H ow You Look a t Money Forever • Chapter 2 – You’re Making Money, Now What Are You Gonna Do W ith It? • Chapter 3 – How Rich Do You Wanna B e, Anyway? • Chapter 4 – There’s Always Tomorrow to Start Investing, o r i s There? • Chapter 5 – What i s The Stock Market a nd Why Should You Care? • Chapter 6 – What Companies Ar e Worth Investing i n? • Chapter 7 – Which App o r Website Should I Trade With? • Chapter 8 – Spread the Wealth: Why Diversifying i s T he Only Way to Go • Chapter 9 – Save The Excitement f or Parties , C hoose Boring When It Comes t o Investment Funds • Chapter 10 – Watch out for Get - Rich - Quick Schemes • Chapter 11 – Why Being A Broke College Student Makes i s t he Perfect Time t o Invest • Chapter 12 – Apps Aren’t Just f or Food & Music: They Can Help You Get Rich • Conclusion Introduction Have you ever seen an older person working at the grocery store looking miserable , exhausted, and sad as they bag groceries with their arthritis - ridden fingers ? I’ve seen it firsthand . I've worked with them firsthand It sucks. They don't want to work. But they don't have a choice. They never learned to manage their money and, as a result, will never be able to retire. It doesn't have to be that way for us, in any case. We've got the internet, and we've got our phones. With these tools, we can seamlessly invest in thousands of different companies in seconds with a few taps of our thumbs. Nevertheless, many of you will read this and not take action. It's not your fault. It's the system and culture we live in. Addison Rae doing the WAP on TikTok & Suzy on Tinder are more exciting. Plus we’ve got school, work and friends to manage. Who has time to plan their financial futu re? Most Americans can't manage their money for shit. Despite being one of the wealthiest countries on Earth, we can't seem to get our finances together. The ongoing Coronavirus situation is evidence of this growing problem , and of course, it's also just getting hard to get ahead. Housing prices, rent prices, meat prices, gas prices... the list goes on. Everything is getting more expensive. Wages are rising, but not as rapidly as costs. It's never been more important to take care of your finances, yet few d o. I will rattle off a few stats about money in America to show you what I mean. • 49% of American workers have depression and panic attacks regularly due to financial problems and stress • 49% of American workers have ZERO dollars in their retirement fund s • HALF of Americans have less than $1,000 in their savings accounts • The average American household carries more than $140,000 in debt If these stats scare you...GOOD! There's hope that you'll never be like those people. There is only one formula to be financially successful: Spend less money than you make and invest what's leftover. There are hundreds of ways, websites, apps, and strategies to achieve financial success, but most Americans will never realize it. It's hon estly quite simple: Spend less than you make and invest the rest. If it’s so simple, why don’t we do it? It's simple: Lack of financial education has led us to do something called living beyond our means. Most American families are doing something ca lled "Living beyond your means." To do this means that they are living a lifestyle (vacations, cars, clothes, house, food) that requires more money per month than they earn. As a result, they not only have no money left to invest for retirement; they are d eep in debt and might never get out. Please understand something: If you never invest, the only way you will EVER retire is if you live on welfare as an older person. You don't want to do that. Or maybe we'll receive universal basic income someday if Andr ew Yang becomes president and gives every American a check every two weeks for sitting on their ass watching Netflix. Even if that happens, and you did all of this planning, it doesn't hurt to have more money than everyone you know. The other reason our finances are so fucked up is that we don't invest money regularly. Instead, we spend money on clothes, apps, subscriptions, eating out, shoes, expensive cars, or other things that we don't need, yet we claim we can't set aside $100 a month to invest in our financial future. But again, WHY are our finances so fucked up? It’s because most Americans were never taught the basics of personal finance. We spend our formative (important, life - changing) years learning things like photosynthesis, medieval history, and the quadratic equation, yet never learn how to invest, pay taxes, manage a budget or apply for financial aid and student loans. How messed u p is that? So, why don't we learn personal finance in school? Here's my cynical side coming out. I firmly believe the U.S. government does not want us to have our finances in order. Hear me out. If every American lived below their means (spent less mon ey than they made and saved/invested the rest), they would not benefit the U.S. economy. The economy is dependent on consumers consuming goods and services. If we're not consuming (buying clothes, new cars, subscriptions, expensive meals, etc.), we're not helping the economy. Saving and investing money is excellent for an individual , but it does not benefit the economy. Spending money brings in tax revenue for the government, creates jobs, and creates growth. Saving & investing does not do that (though in vestors pay taxes on their profits – we'll cover that later). If you save money, you're not creating a job, paying sales tax, or doing much to help the economy. You're helping yourself, which is GREAT. But the government doesn't want that. They want you to SPEND!!! Ask yourself this: Which of these two guys help the economy more? • Joe buys a 2010 Honda Civic in cash and plans to drive it for ten years. The cost to insure the vehicle is $50 per month. He has no monthly payment. He pays $700 in sales tax to the state to buy the car. Maintenance on the car is extremely cheap because it is a typical, low - level car. • Brad uses a loan (someone else's money) to buy a brand new $60,000 Mercedes - Benz. The cost to insure the vehicle is $300 per month. He has a month ly payment of $550. In addition, he pays $4200 in sales tax to the state to buy the car. Maintenance on the vehicle is costly because it is a foreign - made luxury vehicle. The answer is Brad ! The expensive car brings in a lot of tax revenue for the state. The maintenance is expensive and brings in more tax revenue. The high insurance payment also helps fund insurance companies and creates more jobs than a lower payment, and is subject to higher taxes (which go to, you guessed it: the state.) Brad spends l ike crazy on his Mercedes, and because of that, the government benefits. All Brad gets is to look a little cooler while he sits in traffic. The economy depends on us spending, spending, spending . Saving money benefits you, but it doesn’t benefit the gove rnment. People might call me a conspiracy theorist, but I look at myself as a realist If the government wanted us to learn personal finance, it would be easy to incorporate it into the curriculum and teach it to students. However, I would assume that most students would prefer learning about investing and credit cards to the quadratic equations. At least, I would! So... It’s up to YOU to learn how to manage money independently. Opening this book is a significant first step on your journey to financial success. I'm here to teach you what schools haven't taught at all or to reinforce what they've taught if you've been lucky enough to have a personal finance class. Here is my financial timeline: Age 14: I got my first job working at Burger King. Age 16: I bought my first car in cash! Age 18: I landed more than $15,000 in scholarship money before stepping foot on campus. Age 21: I graduated college early (despi te going in with only three credits from an AP Euro class) with my finance degree and debt - free. I paid my student loans off by working and using my scholarships. Age 2 6 : Here I am now, with a multi - six - figure portfolio , hoping to share my knowledge with others out there who don’t want to end up like the majority of Americans when it comes to money. I’m not trying to brag. Instead, I am trying to show you that I grew up as an ordinary kid with middle - class parents and am now (as cringe as it sounds to say ) in the top 1% of income and assets for my age group While I worked very hard, I can truthfully say that what it took was a simple formula: Spend less money than I make and invest the rest. I know not everyone reading this was fortunate to grow up even middle - class, but you are capable of achieving wealth no matter how poor your family was. If they aren't sure how to help you, I am. If they think it's impossible, I'm here saying; I BELIEVE IN YOU The stock market is the top tool for building wealth in America. Regardless of whether you're ahead of or behind me, I want to share what I've learned because I hate see ing people struggle . People in the United States, supposedly the greatest country on Earth and one of the wealthiest ones, are having panic a ttacks, depression, and significant health issues due to financial problems. Financial stress is exceptionally high and will only grow as more jobs are lost to automation. Don’t be like them. Remember, it’s this simple: Spend less than you make and invest the rest. You'll be standing on a mountain of money someday, and you'll have this book to thank for it. Whether you’re 14 or 24, you won’t regret this read. Chapter 1: Two Ideas That Will Change How You Look a t Money Forever There’s a famous saying that goes something like this. "Stop working for your money; make your money work for YOU!" But what does that mean? How does money work for you? Let me explain. Working for your money: When you work a job, you are trading your time for money. Whether you’re a wall street banker or a prostitute on the corner, every person who has a job is doing the same thing: Trading their time for money. They give up a portion of their t ime (usually 8 hours per day) and get a paycheck (money) in return for it. Pretty simple. Everyone needs a job at some point. A job means you are working for your money. But what happens when you stop putting in your time? If you don’t clock in at the grocery store for your shift? If you quit your job at the bank? What happens? Your income disappears. Chipotle isn’t going to pay you for wrapping burritos if you didn’t show up and wrap any burritos, right? Working is mere ly trading time for money . If you don’t put any time in, you don’t get any money back. When you work at a job, you are working for your money. If you stop working, you stop getting paid. Everyone has to do this at the start of their careers, but if yo u’re wise with your money (spend less than you make & invest the res t), you won't have to spend 40 - 60 years doing it. To avoid an entire career of working for your money, you have to simultaneously work a job (or own a business) while investing that mone y and letting it work for you. How Can I Make My Money Work f or Me? Investing is the best way to make your money work for you. When you put money into an investment, it starts to work for you. Whether you're napping, working, or hiking Mount Everest, that money is always working. It's working while you're not. Beautiful, right? The real beauty is how simple it is. Let's say you save up $500 and invest it into the stock market. That investment will grow into more money year after year but w on't require any time from you. Yes, you had to work for that i nitial $500 , but once it's invested, you can sit back and watch it keep working and bring in real income for you. Investments work for you. Why is this important? The goal of everyone in t his country is to retire someday. Whether you work in a coal mine or on Wall Street or coach the San Antonio Spurs, everyone wants to one day retire and STOP working. This means their income from their job will stop coming because they stopped working. If they have no money saved up, they will have $0 coming in per month. Sidebar : Forget about Social Security money for the time being – it's not enough to live on or get by without other forms of income. Plus, this is retirement we're talking about: You're s upposed to have fun, NOT just get by! You don't want to be struggling – you want to live your best life and travel the world or take your grandkids to Disney. That’s why you need to invest . Save up money, invest it in the stock market and let it work for you. Not only will it grow over time, but it will also work around the clock for you so that you can someday stop working and retire. Listen to me now: You will only retire someday IF you invest in the stock market. There is no other way. But, on the othe r hand, if you don't invest, you will work until you die or your kids take care of you. Have you ever been to the grocery store and seen an older person bagging groceries and looking tired, exhausted, and miserable? I have. I have worked with them and tal ked to them. They are some of the saddest people I've ever encountered. The reason they're still working, despite being old as fuck and often crippled, is because they have to. Why? Three reasons. 1. They never invested. 2. They didn’t invest enough. 3. They made poor investment choices. Each reason means that they now must work FOR their money. They must trade their time in exchange for a paycheck. Either way, they’ll be working until the day they die , and it's terrible to see. The only thing worse is to be that person . So, invest in the stock market while you're young, and you'll be amazed that you'll be able to retire while you're still young enough to play basketball with your kids without breaking a hip. Invest, and let your money work for you so that you don’t have to spend your whole life working. Remember, early retirement IS possible. It just takes a bit of sacrifice. But fuck, I know it will be worth it! Imagine being 36 and retired. That shit sounds crazy, bu t it IS possible. I’ll show you how. Just keep reading. Financial success equation: The most straightforward formula to achieve financial success (which will allow you to retire early) is as follows: Spend less than you make and invest the rest. Pleas e keep telling this to yourself over and over. Say it 1,000 times if you have to. It is the most straightforward equation globally, but most of us don't follow it. We're too busy spending money on dumb shit that we fuck ourselves over in the long run. Buyi ng air pods for $180 right now might seem incredible, but if you put that money in a basic stock and let it sit until you retire, it would be worth almost $7,000. That's cooler than AirPods, my friend. Spend < Earn. Invest what's leftover into stocks. Or , look at it this way: Income – expenses = x X should NEVER be negative (unless you’re in college) X should always be invested There are MILLIONS of finance and investment strategies, but every single one boils down to this one equation . The only way to be financially successful and retire is to spend less than you earn and invest the rest. It doesn’t matter if you make $50,000 a year or $5 million a year . But, if you don't follow it, you will NEVER have money to save/invest, and you will NEVER retire. Some of the highest - paid athletes & celebrities (Mike Tyson, Allen Iverson, Antoine Walker, Michael J ackson, Nicholas Cage, and more) have earned hundreds of millions of dollars but still went completely broke or declared bankruptcy. Despite having millions of dollars, they spent it ALL and left nothing to invest. It blows my mind that someone can make millions of dollars and st ill end up broke, but it's unfortunately quite common in entertainment and sports. These people perfected their craft but never learned how to save and invest. They did not follow my equation: Spend less than you make and invest the rest. You do not nee d to make $1 million a year to become a millionaire. You don’t even need to make $100,000 a year. All you have to do is... SPEND LESS THAN YOU EARN AND INVEST THE REST. Investing $5,000 per year from 25 to 65 will turn into more than well - over $1.3 millio n (pre - tax) at a relatively cautious 8% return . You don't need to make $100k or $1 million a year to do this. You could earn $60,000 a year and do this . Heck, you could probably do this on much less. Please understand... Earning much money does not make you wealthy; it makes you temporarily rich. It’s not until you start investing some of it into stocks and secure your financial future that you become wealthy. I think many of you reading this believe you need to make $100,000 or more a year to be wealth y. That's genuinely not the case. Many doctors, lawyers, professors, and more highly paid professionals to make hundreds of thousands of dollars a year who experience financial stress because they do not live below their means. They buy expensive cars, hou ses, vacations, and before they know it, they've spent everything they've earned AND more! I lived near an expensive gated neighborhood, and I remember going over to the houses to hang out with my friends when I was very young. The homes were beautiful, b ut there was hardly any furniture, and the cupboards were often empty. These people were so obsessed with buying THE MOST EXPENSIVE house they could get their hands on that they didn't leave room in their budget for enough furniture or food. That's what happens when you're obsessed with image. You might achieve a cool or la vish (fancy, luxurious) appearance and impress a few people , but you very well might feel financial st ress and anxiety to have that . So it's not worth it! Follow my equation and always live on less money than you earn and invest the excess amount into the stock market. That's all it takes to achieve financial peace in the short term and millionaire status over the medium term. Remember – You are capable of financial freedom. You are capable of early retirement. Spend less than you make and invest the res t, and you'll likely achieve both. Isn’t it Too Soon to Worry About Getting Old and Retiring? Why should you care about something so far off in the future? Well, other than just wanting to be a financially responsible member of society, there's the hard truth we cannot ignore: Human lifespans continue to increase by approximately three years every generation, which means you will likely grow old. The time is coming, so the question isn’t so much, “Why should I care?” but “Will I be prepared?” Chapter 2: You’re Making Money, Now What a re You Gonna Do With It? According to Google, personal finance is defined as, "the management of money and financial decisions for a person or family including budgeting, investments, retirement planning, and investments." Simply put, personal finance is what you do with the money you earn. It doesn’t matter if you’re 14 years old and make s $1 00 a week running the cash register at Burger King like I used to, or a mega - millionaire who spends money living on a yacht and investing in the stock market. Both of these people earn money and have to decide what they will do with it. Whether you're 14 or 44, the most critical piece of financial advice I can give to you is to live below your means . Your means is the amount of money you can afford to spend over a given time. If you live below your means, it means you’re spending less money than you make in a month. If you’re living above your means, it means that you’re spending more than you make in a month. This happens when consumers (what you are when you buy something) get credit cards and loans and start spending money they don’t have. NEVER spend money that you don’t have EXCEPT whe n paying for college or purchasing a home. Both of those are INVESTMENTS, so it’s a great financial move (as long as you get a good degree). The majority of Americans live above their means. They spend all of the money they make and then some more. It’s hard to see on the outside, but it makes sense when you think about it. Drive through a nice neighborhood sometime. You'll see a lot of beautiful houses and fancy cars and think, "Wow, it must be nice to be rich. I bet their lives are better/happier than mine." But take a second and start to think about things. A lot of these people are actually in extreme debt to have these nice possessions and pay for all of their other luxuries and needs. They might have a beautiful house, but it might cost so much t hat it leaves no money left over for savings or investments. Worse, they might be spending money that they DON'T have by using credit cards to pay for things and put themselves in the negative. I'll always urge people to consider this point: The people who look the richest on the outside often are not truly the richest. Example : I love the show Parks and Recreation . It’s hysterical (maybe, dare I say it, better than The Office ). Two characters that are incredibly different when it comes to money are Tom Haverford and Ron Swanson. Tom Haverford has expensive clothes, eats fancy food, and spends lavishly outside. We later find out he's tremendously in debt and bankrupts multiple companies. On the other hand, Ron Swanson might not appear wealthy because he spends frugally. He spent less than $20 on clothes over the past five years and lives in a small cabin in the woods. We find out later on that he is incredibly wealthy. The point is that people who look rich on the outside often make us jealous, but they're incredibly in debt or stressed out about money. True wealth looks more like Ron Swanson – humble, quiet, and not lavish at all. Many people in this country have attained millionaire status who live in modest 2 - bedroom homes and don't take more t han one vacation a year if they take one at all . They live below their means. They might not have a flashy house or a Mercedes, but they sleep well knowing that they are financially secu re and successful. If they lose their job tomorrow, they are still a millionaire. However, if the doctor who spends ALL of his money on his house and car payments loses his job tomorrow, he is not wealthy. He is now broke and will declare bankruptcy if he cannot find another job. If you’re spending all of your monthly income (or more!), you will never retire . It’s that simple. Sure, you might get a social security check, but that won’t be enough to live on. To retire, YOU MUST INVEST. To INVEST, which this book is all about, yo u MUST live below your means. You cannot spend all of your money each month going out to eat and partying at bars with your friends and expect to invest. You can't use credit cards to pay for vacations to the beach and expect to have money to invest. Most of the time, spend money on your NEEDS, not your WANTS. Of course, you have to reward yourself once in a while , or you'll go crazy, but financial sacrifice is a good thing that will help you achieve early retirement. And some might say, well, as long as I earn much money, I'll be okay. Sure, you might be able to get a high - paying job someday, but what often happens is that people who start earning more money start spending more money. Have you ever gotten a chunk of money that you didn't expect? Chances are you have, and chances are, you spent it on something instead of saving it. That's what most of us do when we get raises at work. We start making more money, so we start spending it. The intelligent thing to do would be to keep our cost of living low a nd invest that extra money into the stock market to retire early eventually. Bottom line: Let me repeat this: HALF of Americans don't have a penny in their retirement savings accounts. If that scares you, GOOD. It should, and I'm hopeful that you'll read this book and start taking action toward a better financial future. It's easy to read, but acting is more complex. So, whether you're in middle school or middle age, the goal of investing is to be financially secure and eventually retire. To retire, you have to INVEST. If you spend all of your money each month trying to look cool or keep up wi th your peers when it comes to cool cars, bars, and clothes, you'll be living at your means and never have money left over to invest. If you remember nothing else from this book, remember that most Americans live above their means, and that’s why they’re stressed out and having panic attacks over MONEY. Most Americans live above their means to impress people that don’t matter and end up in a world of debt and stress. Forget that! I'd rather drive a beat - up car for a few years and end up with $50,000 in the stock market by the time I’m 30 than be the guy who has a dope car but leases it and doesn’t even own shit or have a $1 in the market by the time he’s 30. I drive a nice car, sure. But I bought it with cash , and not the kind I won by playing the lottery or getting an inheritance from a rich uncle. Remember, I said I grew up middle - class. I worked at tough jobs like fast food and grocery stores, saved and invested , and was able to enjoy the pride in handing over that hard - earned money to drive off in my v ery first car...without a loan! I ha ve nice clothes, and people like my outfits, but I never spend more than $7 on a tee - shirt . I don’t go out to eat more than once per week, despite making more than many of my peers combined. I don't go to nightclubs – a mo vie and pizza with my girl or friends is just as fun these days and costs a fraction of a night out. Why do I live below my means? If I'm making much money, shouldn't I be having FUN? Well, to start. I think I've got my values in order while many don't. I see many people that go broke trying to look rich. That means spending your McDonald's paycheck on a Gucci Belt, to put it candidly. There are many variations of this, and you probably know someone that's really into their image and what others think. This is just a recipe for financial stress. For me, I've done an excellent job of gaining security in myself and who I am, and I don't feel the need to impress others with expensive shit . And because of that, along with some other financial principles, it has made it a lot easier for me to get ahead of my peers and improve my economic well - being. So my money is working for me, and at some point in a few years, I might be able to stop work ing altogether. Sure, I’ll still be writing or doing something for fun, but the point is tha t I won’t NEED to make money – my stocks do that for me and will continue to do so in the future as they grow. So I'll be wealthy, but more importantly, I'll have total freedom. Let me be clear: You are capable of becoming wealthy even if you are DIRT POOR right now. You are capable of retiring early. These will not happen overnight , but they are possible over time with diligence and intelligent money management. While it might be tempting to li sten to YouTube gurus who claim they have a patented formula and can have you so rich you’ll be driving a Lambo by next year , remember the adage; Slow and steady wins the race. YouTube gurus will spend hundreds of thousands of dollars advertising these expensive - ass courses that act like you can be wealthy by age 20. The reality is that you’re not going to be rich by the time you’re 20. Think about it. Why on Earth are they sel ling courses and mentorships and giving away their “secrets” for $100 0 ? If I had the secret of getting rich quick by selling shit online, I'd keep it to myself and keep the competition low. And even if they’re giving it away for free, they stand to gain so mething. If you don’t believe me, look up the term “pump and dump” on Google. You’ll see what I mean. There is no way to get rich quickly Patience is paramount. I’ve had to learn this less the hard way, and so do most successful people. But you absolutely can become wealthy over the next decade or two by simply living below your means and investing in the top tool for building wealth in America... It’s called the stock market, baby. Getting rich over 15 years isn't as exciting as 15 weeks, but i t is much more realistic and almost guaranteed to happen if you simply live below your means and invest wisely . So ask any significant investor out there – DO NOT listen to anyone who says they can m ake you rich in a year or less or one that tries to show off expensive cars and make it seem as though that is attainable by simply following a few steps. Instead, do things slowly, do things right , live below your means, and in time, get that expensive car without putting yourself in crippling debt. Read on to learn how to make your first steps into investing. Sidebar : Social Security is not a viable retirement plan. Experts say social security funds will run out within 15 years. They'll keep raising the age you start to qualify for social security in the c oming years. In the future, you might not be able to touch social security checks until your late 70's. I don't know about you, but I better not be working when I'm fucking 75. Invest now! Chapter 3: How Wealthy Do You Wanna Be, Anyway ? Before I start explaining budgets, investing, and taxes to you, it's essential that you understand what financial success looks like to you. It's different for everyone. For some, financial success won’t be achieved until they’ re spending their days on their yacht in the Bahamas with models and a multi - million - dollar stock portfolio. To others, it just has to have enough money to pay your bills and not stress out. Since it's different for everyone, there isn't one perfect de finition of success. I'll define it for myself, however. Financial success means having enough money after I pay my bills to invest a large amount of my income into stocks and eventually retire early. Additionally, I want never to feel stressed about mon ey. As long as I achieve early retirement and limit financial stress, I will succeed financially. I used to think I wanted to live like Leonardo DiCaprio in The Wolf of Wall Street , but as I’ve gotten older, my priorities have changed and so too have my goals. Think about what is important to you in life and what you want your finances to be like. Do you want to be like me and retire early? If you are reading this book, I sure hope so! To achieve financial success, we must create an economic path with goals to hit. A financial path is a list of different goals you need to hit to get you where you want to go. For example, if your goal is $1 million by the time you're 40, you can set mon thly and yearly plans and track your progress towards that number pretty quickly. If your goal is to spend less than you make every month and invest at least $500, that's pretty easy to track, too. A financial goal is a specific step along your financia l path. For example, it could be to get your first job, pay off your student loans, or invest a certain percentage of your income each month. Since most of you are in middle school, high school, or college/recent grads, here's a wise goal to start you off : Graduate college on time or early with a degree in a competitive field that pays an average or above - average salary. But, of course, you can also skip college and go to a trade school and start working sooner if you'd like. Either works just fine as lon g as you make good money and invest some of it. No matter which way you choose, focus on getting a high - paying job, even if it’s not your dream job. Why? Because if you’re smart with your money and invest it, you can retire early and leave it behind and f ocus on doing WHATEVER YOU WANT all day long until the day you die while your peers will be stuck with their shit jobs much longer. If you want to retire early , it's imperative that you pick a job field that pays above - average wages & salaries. No matter what financial success looks like to you, I guarantee that it will be 100x harder to find it if you pick a major with shitty job prospects (not many jobs availa ble) and low salaries. Majors with shitty job prospects include art, photography, film, theater, philosophy, psychology, and many more. There are barely any jobs available, and the ones available pay shitty wages. A lot of them are unpaid internships tha t are essentially unpaid labor positions. I went to school with people who studied music, dance, and photography in college. They all share two things in common – massive student loan debt and a job as a bartender There’s nothing wrong with a bartendin g job, but you don’t need a $100,000 degree to become one . So, don’t pick a fun major like music or dance and spend $100,000 if its most common job prospect is mixing drinks. Instead of majoring in your passions , pursue a major leading to a career field w ith high job prospects that are in demand and pay well and then follow your passions at night and on the weekends. These jobs include fields like welding or plumbing (no college degree needed) or business management, healthcare administration, nursing, computer science, and many others (degree required). All of these fields pay well and are in HIGH demand. They might not be what you dreamed about – but they’ll allow you to achieve financial freedom a lot sooner and get you to those dreams in good shape! Get a high - paying job in whatever field seems most interesting to you and live below your means. If you're passionate about something that doesn't have many jobs like writing or photography, pursue that on the side and then do it full - time if you want, once you retire early. For example, if you love to write fiction stories, you don't need a degree to do that. Get a job as a teacher or nurse and then wr ite stories on the side for fun, just like Stephen King (author of It and MANY other best - selling novels) did. Maybe one of y our stories will get picked up and turned into the next great movie! Even if it doesn’t, at least you’re still making good money at your day job and investing a lot of it (if you take my advice). Some people might say, “Life is about more than money.” An d it is. Life is about doing whatever you want when you want. But you need money to have that freedom. The people who say "Life is about more than money" often have very little freedom of their own, so they get upset with others for having goals that don' t seem possible to them. Ignore them! The kid who spent $100,000 on a photography degree will spend most of his days working behind a bar. The kid who got a business degree can retire super early in his thirties and spend the rest of his life taking pictur es wherever and wherever the fuck he wants. No boss, no limits to vacation time, just early retirement, money of your own, and all the time in the world. Anyone who justifies a bullshit degree by saying, "Life's about more than just money" is only saying it because they don't and won't ever have any or because they didn't read this book. But you did, so pick your career choice wisely. I'll be sharing a book about navigating college and the career world by Fall 2019. Chapter 4: There’s Always Tomorrow t o Start Investing, o r i s There? Invest NOW! Whether you can afford to put away $5 a week or $500 a month, it doesn't matter. What matters is that the sooner you start investing, the more money you will end up with. Check out this chart below to see how investing while you're young pays off. This chart assumes an 8% annual return, which is highly doable and perhaps even conservative. You can see that even though Bill invested WAY LESS than the others, he ended up with more money by the same age because he started earlier . This is be cause his profits from each year were reinvested over more years, earning him more cash than the others. This is called compound interest and is the key to financial success in the stock market. Think of compound interest this way: You invest $100 in Facebook stock. The $100 is your base amount and is called your principal investment . Over the next year, it grows at 10% to $110. Boom. You made a $10 profit. Cool, right? Then, over the next year, your investment grows another 10%. On ly this time, your principal (starting amount) is $110. So, now you're earning money from not just your starting $100, but your $10 profit, too. Your principal and your previous $10 gain are now making you money. That $110 principal makes 10%, and that's $ 11. In other words, your profits are now making gains, too. Compound interest is the concept of reinvesting all of your profits, year over year, allowing your money to multiply.