Income/Expenses, Net Worth Update – April 2015

Another month is in the books. This past week was a “study week” for us, so I was able to spend less on gas since I didn’t have to commute to school. I was able to make a lot of realized growth from stocks as well. I accomplished something substantial this month  - I re-paid a loan while I was in school, something many students do not do. Let’s take a look at my expenses and the money I earned:

INCOME

Intern Pharmacist = $2,098.22

Unrealized/Realized Stock Gains = $892.34

Total = $2,990.56

EXPENSES

Gas = $132.61

Gym = $30.00

Food = $14.33

Student Loan Re-Payment = $2,102.58

Total = $2,279.52

Overall April Month Gain = +$711.04

Net Worth Update

I did achieve a milestone this month, which was paying back my first student loan. Check out my progress on my milestones in the "short term goal" tab. I likely won’t be making another bulk loan payment for a few months, so I expect my net worth to grow over $20,000 very soon. Overall, I was able to save 24% of my earnings in April, even while paying a large amount of student loans!

What do you guys think? How much did you save this April? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Today, I officially made my first payment of my student loans. This was a loan that I took back in my undergraduate days, and it had a 3.86% interest rate so I figured it was time to simply get rid of it. It had accrued $102.58, so I can use that to deduct from my taxes next year! 

Surprisingly, it feels really good to get a head start on paying off loans, while still having the money to invest. I was reluctant to begin paying my off my loans since I feel that I can get a much higher return in the stock market. But, I decided I had some free cash and that it was a good time to make a payment. You can check out the new milestones that I have set for myself here.

What do you guys think? Have you reached any milestones lately? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Working in the health care field as a student has exposed me to a wide variety of people with different economic backgrounds. As a pharmacist, I am able to interact with fellow pharmacists, doctors, nurses, technicians, and assistants. Salaries can range from $30,000 annually to $500,000 annually where I work. But, I have noticed a mind-boggling (but the more I think about it, the less surprising it is) trend. The highest paid employees where I work, for the most part, end up spending the most.

Doctors making an average of 300K a year can all be found wasting their money on lavish, unneeded things. They simply do not save their money. I think it is because of the access they have to re-gaining the money they spend. They make almost $1,000 a day, so it makes spending really easy. I remember one specific instance, when I was conversing with a doctor at the cafeteria. He was a new graduate, and had a severe amount of loans to re-pay (which I will in the future). He talked lavishly about his salary, and what mine would be when I graduated from pharmacy school. He told me he wasn’t worried about re-paying those loans since his salary was massive, he could do it whenever he wanted to. We finished lunch, and at the end of the day, I saw him in the parking garage getting into his Mercedes SLK55 AMG (starting price is about $71,000).

On the other hand, when I speak to the assistants at work, they tell me how they’re saving money, opening a Roth IRA, and trying to do whatever they can to set up a future for their kids. Recently, a man who had been a janitor almost his whole life had passed away. In his will, he had 8 million dollars. The wise man had invested his salary in dividend paying stocks.

I am not here to judge how someone chooses to spend the money they earn. But the bottom line is, it doesn’t matter how much money you make. At the end of the day, if you spend it all on luxury items, you end up at the same place as someone who hadn’t even worked the whole year. It’s always interesting and refreshing to hear a story about someone who doesn’t make the flashiest salary, but saves their money and makes wise investments. It motivates me to save my money, invest it, and become financially independent as soon as I can. 

What do you guys think? Have you ever encountered someone who makes a high salary but doesn't save their money? Do you have any tips on saving money? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

If there is one common theme I have heard through my short period of investing, it’s “I wish I would have started earlier”. And it’s totally true. Even myself, as a young investor, I definitely wish I would have started earlier. I would have been a much more seasoned and experienced investor right now, and I would ultimately be further along the part to retirement. But, there is not reason to harp on the past. If you are thinking about investing, a new investor, or someone just looking for motivation, I hope this blog can provide that for you. Here are some key reasons as to why it’s important to start investing as soon as possible, like right now!

1.     Starting Early Minimizes Mistakes

Practice makes perfect. For me, starting early was great because I literally didn’t know anything about investing. I had to do my research on everything, including which brokerage to open an account with. There were things I had to do without knowing what the outcome would be. But by starting early, I was able to break any kinks or any bad habits that a new investor can form such as compulsive buying or quick panicking. Starting early, with a small amount of cash, builds confidence to invest more and more cash in the future.

2.     Be Prepared To Snatch A Great Opportunity

This point goes hand in hand with starting early to minimize mistakes. By becoming a seasoned investor, you are much more likely to seize a great opportunity when it is presented to you. You will be confident enough to know it’s a great opportunity, and you will understand the risks and benefits, rather than being timid and unsure or worried about the possible outcomes.

3.     Investing Early Pushes and Drives You To Success

“If you're trying to achieve, there will be roadblocks. I've had them; everybody has had them. But obstacles don't have to stop you. If you run into a wall, don't turn around and give up. Figure out how to climb it, go through it, or work around it.” – Michael Jordan

Not every investment will be perfect or turn out how you expected. Sometimes, investments can turn out to be a disaster. But starting early will allow you to overcome small obstacles in your path to success, and will prime and prepare you for large obstacles in the future.

What do you guys think? Do you have any advice on building confidence while investing? Leave your ideas in the comments!

Since December, I have been very bullish on oil and energy. After seeing major dips in both sectors from the summer time until now, I was very confident (and still am) that eventually, major stocks such COP, CVX, and XOM would favor very well in the future. The upside to those stocks, which strengthened my decision to invest in them, was their ability to pay great dividends. I eventually got into crude oil as well because both oil and energy work hand in hand. Investing in crude oil is a bit more risky, I did my due diligence and researched how the price of a barrel of oil was changing daily. I started looking into futures, and while they don’t give a great perspective on how crude oil might change throughout the day, they are an extra resource that can help show me what the opening price of oil might be for that day.

In the past week, I began to finally reap the benefits of investing a heavy portion of my portfolio in oil and energy. My average price of COP bought was $62.90 dollars a share, while XOM was about $84 dollars a share. Both stocks have lead the energy sector this past week. CVX has also had a good week, but it is not currently in my portfolio. On the crude oil side, I made a few buys with UWTI (a bullish, 3X stock) and it has definitely been my biggest money-maker throughout the past week. My gain on this stock has been over a dollar per share. Now, I will say this – one stock I truly regret not buying is ERX (3X bullish energy). I think it was a mistake on my part, because I was so bullish on energy as a sector, but I only wanted stocks that paid a strong dividend. ERX does not pay a dividend, but it has increased about $16/share since January (currently about $67) and there have been multiple opportunities to hedge the stock.

Now, I do believe the sector will have to correct itself in the near future. This means dips for COP/XOM/UWTI/ERX, and being able to time this dip properly is key. Having cash to buy more of these stocks is crucial to be successful at investing in this sector. But, I am hoping to time the dips correctly and be able to sell my current shares and buy more as they dip during the correction. I also plan on buying ERX and adding CVX to the portfolio as I draw in more paychecks from work.

As an investor, it’s important to be confident in what you invest in. If there is one thing I’ve learned as a new investor, it is to do proper research before investing. I can’t just invest in order to have specific sectors in my portfolio if it isn’t the right time to buy those stocks. When I entered the market as a new investor in the summer of 2014, the market was very strong. I didn’t have a true sense of buying during dips. I saw a lot of other blogs belonging to strong investors, who had extremely high dividend yields in large cap sectors. The reason these people are great investors is because they bought these stocks when they were low, and rode the wave of increased stock prices and racking up the dividends. Right now, many sectors in the market are strong. Energy and Oil were (and still are) lagging, and it was a great opportunity to hop into a sector that is known to pay great dividends, and I am finally feeling those benefits. Now, I need to transition into the next phase of selling in the market properly and cashing out on those gains, so I can go back in when the market corrects itself. My main point is, what ever you are confident in investing in, go ahead and make a true effort to make money and cash out!



Tell me what you guys think! Are you currently bullish on any sectors? Or do you prefer to stick to dividends strictly? Leave your thoughts in the comments!

Hi everyone! It's been an extremely long time since I've made a post. I've been swamped with school and work, which are unfortunately taking over my life. I had some free time tonight, so I decided that I would update you all on my net worth. Thankfully, it has grown through the last month and a half which have zoomed by.

My net worth climbed all the way up to almost $15,000 by the end of March (I think it has surpassed this mark in April, but I haven't checked). The percent growth is measured from my net worth from January, about $8600. This has all been due to the amount of time I have been at work the past two months. I worked full time over spring break, and while school was going on, I also worked about 25 hours per week. I've made quite a few new buys in the market as well, including COP and XOM in the energy sector, which I am very bullish on. I have also made a few investments on pharmaceutical stocks in hopes for breakthroughs in their research. I see some potential in many stocks including SRPT, ZIOP, GILD, CYTX to name a few. I am considering making investments in them. 

I expect my net worth to continue its rapid growth through the summer, as I am clearly on pace to push through my goal of $35,000. As much as I dislike work, I have to remind myself that currently, it is by far my best source of income and will allow me to get closer to achieving financial independence.

What do you guys think of my net worth gains? How has you're net worth increased in the past months? Comment below!

After about a month of blogging and reading other tremendous writers’ blogs, I’ve been trying to narrow down the best pathway I can take to becoming financially free. But, what I have learned is that many people have done it their own way. With the right mindset, anyone can become financially free if they set high expectations for themselves, and truly try to reach their goals. I don’t remember the exact quote, but a businessman I have always looked up to once said something along the lines of,

“The only reason that small business fail is because the owners aren’t willing the put in the work to make it succeed.”  - Mark Cuban

That quote by Mark Cuban has always motivated me, whether it’s through making investments in stocks that pay high dividends, working towards buying properties, doing my due diligence in research, or even just being frugal. What I have learned in the past month has broadened my horizons and inspired me to believe in my goals of becoming financially independent at a very early age in my life. I’ll try to narrow down what I have found in the past month on becoming financially free:

1. Push Yourself
Setting high goals is the only way to reach financial independence. For someone like me, who before this year, had a very low net worth, it may be tough to set the goals I have on my “goals” page. But, I know there is a slight chance that I can reach them with the right motivation and the right, strategic investments. Being frugal is another way I will be able to reach those goals. I believe in myself, and knowing that I put my best foot forward will satisfy me whether I am able to reach those goals or not. But without setting high expectations for myself, I’ll have no bar to measure myself at the end of the day.

2. Be Attentive
Listen to what others have to say before making a quick judgment on certain investments. There are a lot of great minds out there in the blogger world, and I am learning to take advantage of what they have to say. Now, I don’t always agree with everything they say, and I still go with what I believe in the end. But, before making decisions on investments, it can help to hear what another voice says about that stock, home, or other investment.

3. Understand All Possible Outcomes
It’s important to understand where you are headed with your goals. What do you want out of financial independence? Do you want to live off on your own, hiking and surfing everyday (which sounds totally awesome)? Do you want to be an online blogger or do you want to work in real estate? Do you want to start a family? I think that knowing where you are headed can change a lot of the key investments that you make. Investing in dividends is a great, safe way to net passive income and can be a nice way to support a small family if there is other income coming in. Real estate is also a great way to net passive income, but how many properties do you need to support yourself? Do you need a few to support a family? A lot of these questions are important to ask yourself before committing to a large investment.

4. Don’t Be Afraid of Failure
I am really set on retirement by my early 30’s. Those are lofty goals for myself, especially since I will be 200k in debt by the time I graduate. Now, I know I’ll have to do really well with my investments to reach those lofty goals. If I don’t succeed, there’s a good chance I’ll have to work much longer than I expected. But I’d rather take the risk on those investments and have the chance of failure, rather than working my whole life for a CEO who is making billions of dollars off me. The point is, if you do your homework, research your investments, and buy at the right time, you shouldn’t be second-guessing yourself. 

What do you guys think? Any other ways you motivate yourself to reach your goals? Let me know in the comments!

When I was in high school, I was spoon-fed the importance of an education by my parents, teachers, and peers. And quite frankly, I don’t blame them. It’s hard to trust that a young 15 to 18 year old boy will have the natural ability to go out and make money at an early age. Education is a safe way to push students into a field they don’t know much about, but will likely end up with a semi-solid income while working into their late 50’s to early 60’s. Now, if you had the experience to see what I was in high school, you would see that I was an immature, obnoxious student who likely needed an education, otherwise I would never make money and be able to live on my own. So, of course, I went down that route, just like 99% of the students that attended my high school.

As a young high school student, I had no understanding of what money truly meant. Teachers told us that we could be whatever we wanted, as long worked hard – which in high school (and college) means regurgitating useless information that the teacher thought was important – but nobody explained the price that was to be paid for pursuing a quality education. Unfortunately, nowadays, a Bachelor’s degree simply isn’t enough to even land a job. Other than engineering, in order to land a quality job, most college students have to pursue higher-level education. Now, I knew from high school that I wanted to go to pharmacy school, and I am still feeling anxiety about paying off over 200K in loans after I graduate in 2018. But what about the students who only planned on paying off loans for a Bachelor’s degree? Government funded loans for education are like no other loan. There are really no requirements for a student to get these loans, other than financial need. Now, don’t get me wrong, a student should have the opportunity to pursue any degree they would like – dentistry, medicine, engineering, pharmacy, you name it. Money shouldn’t be a factor. This is the whole point of financial assistance by the government. But students, like myself, who choose to pursue these graduate level degrees, are virtually getting penalized for pursuing these degrees. The first 5-10 years of their careers are used to pay off these loans, leaving them with an extra amount of years needed to work to make up for the early years in their careers consisting of repaying their loans.

Student loans are one of the main reasons I am trying to reach financial independence as quickly as possible. Another scam that comes along with student loans is the fact that they are not tax deductible. This is another reason how students who pursue graduate (or Bachelor’s) level degrees are not rewarded for trying to fill the high educational gaps that exist in our country. Now, I have learned that investments are the key to allowing me to reach financial independence, and most people who read this blog will agree with that. I hope to retire as soon as possible and live off of passive income. My plan is to continue to invest the money that I have, and make minimum payments on my loans as time passes. If I have the financial ability to repay my loans at a quicker rate, I will. But, not everyone thinks like that. And most people who end up becoming doctors, engineers, or any other grueling job that requires a dense background in upper college level coursework, don’t plan on retiring as quickly as possible. But they will suffer the unfortunate consequences set by the government – high interest, long re-payments, and the inability to invest in a home until feeling financially comfortable.



What do you guys think about college loans? Any strategies that you have in order to pay off your loans and reach financial independence? Let me know in the comments!

What another boring day of pharmacy school. We learned about some useless genetic factors that may or may not affect how bodies respond to drugs. Ugh….Anyways, I spend a lot of time in class thinking about my investments. Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot as to where I can maximize my gains as an investor. Obviously, passive income is my top goal next to increasing my net worth, which go hand in hand. Knowing how strong the economy is right now, I believe there are lots of opportunities to invest in great stocks and come up with a large sum up dividend money over the long haul. But, there are also great opportunities elsewhere. The main place I am looking at is real estate.

Real estate has always been a true interest of mine, and I am starting to get my feet wet in what it takes to understand the game and to make proper purchases that will help me enhance my wealth over time. Obviously, I’m still a beginner with a lot to learn. But I know this much – if buying property is something I want to be serious about, and something that I want to do in the upcoming years, I need to make that decision as soon as possible. With my limited income as a part time Intern Pharmacist (full time in the summer), my yearly income is limited to about $25-30,000 per year. Now, I know that dividends aren’t “guaranteed”, but companies make it their priority to pay out their dividends on a monthly or quarterly basis. But who knows what can happen to those dividends in a market crash? Now, don’t get me wrong, dividends are a definitely a great way to earn passive income. But as income comes, there will be more opportunities to max out on stocks that pay great dividends.

Properties, on the other hand, are not always at an investor’s disposal. One seemingly needs to know the right people, have the right connections, and be in the right cycle to get the right deal. And that’s what it’s all about! My point is, there are so many options and so many routes to increasing passive income, and one route that may not be preferred for one investor can be the route that leads another investor to success. All in all, money is money. The point is to max out on it. As a young investor, I’m still trying to learn the trends of the stock market and the housing market, and I want to be able to balance both and be successful at both.

Ideally, I would be a very happy investor if I could succeed in finding the right property to buy at the right time and getting positive cash flow from it as soon as possible, while being invested heavily in stocks that pay strong dividends. It all sounds very simple when I talk about it, but believe me - I know the kind of work that it requires. For now, it’s hard to tell what I’ll end up doing because of my limited annual income. I’m leaning to going with the property simply because of how strong the market currently is, it’s possible there could be a crash in the next couple years. Of course, I’d have to find the right deal to buy property. It’s all about the right deal.


What do you guys think? Real estate or dividends? What are your investment plans in the future? Tell me in the comments!

All my life, I thought that I would work until I was 55 or 60 and live the final 20 years of my journey watching my kids mature and relaxing as a retired old man. As a 21 year old, that means working for about 40 years before reaching retirement. It means spending 40 hours a week in a pharmacy working for a CEO who has been cutting into my benefits and raising my premiums for health care year after year. The CEO is probably one who is looking to cut his or her costs in order to save money for themselves, and is willing to fire me if it means an extra vacation to Guam for the family. I learned at an early age from my father, who was laid off back in 2008 after 24 years of work as an engineer, that the CEO could care less for their employees. If they want to cut costs, they will. It doesn’t matter who the hardest working employees are, how many deadlines you meet, or how many sales you make. If you are expendable, you will likely be fired when it is time for the CEO to save money.

The heart of this post comes from an article I read a few weeks back. Basically, most Americans are living paycheck-to-paycheck. If they miss one paycheck, they can find themselves on the streets in no time. It seems like anyone my age is willing to spend any money they have in order go out and have a good time. Instead of getting a paycheck and thinking about how to make that money grow, most Americans think about how to make that money go. As in go away. Whether it’s the club, drinks, expensive dinners, blah blah blah, the young population in our country LOVES to spend. Now don’t get wrong, there’s absolutely a reason to celebrate surviving 40 more hours dealing with your terrible co-workers and jerk boss, but the fact that most people my age have not thought for a second about how they can get out of their job and brighten their future is mind boggling. This attitude of spending that has come with the young generation is the reason most Americans have to work until they are 60! It amazes me that as a young generation, we don’t explore ways to save our money in order to spend the majority of our lives in a relaxed state.

This leads me to my take on achieving financial independence as soon as possible. Obviously, if you asked anyone if they would rather work 40 hours a week for the next 40 years or have passive income and enjoy the remainder of their lives, people would choose the later. But if you tell the young population that they’ll have to give up the night life, eat cheaper, ride a bike, and anything and everything to cut their expenses to increase their cash flow, they wouldn’t be willing to give up any of that. It’s pretty evident just by driving in Downtown on a weekend. In my eyes, it was easy to do whatever I could to cut my current costs and increase my cash flow as much as possible. The thought of working for a CEO for the next 40 years absolutely sickens me, and I’ve made it a goal of mine to be financially independent as soon as possible. I am at a disadvantage due to my student loans, but in all honesty, I’m not too worried about them. As long as I keep my costs low and increase my cash flow, paying off my loans should be very doable.

Sometimes, it’s frustrating knowing how much work is ahead of me in order to achieve financial independence. It can easily take the next 15 years before I am comfortable enough to retire and live off passive income. 15 years ago, I was 6 years old, which is frightening because I literally can’t even remember that. It means that I’ll have to go through that again to reach my goals. 15 years ago, it was 2000 and the Los Angeles Lakers had a player by the name of Kobe Bryant, who ironically was 21 years old at the time. But when I have those thoughts of doubt and anger, I remind myself what I am working for. I’m trying to get out of the misery of working for a boss who is using me to grow his own personal wealth. I always say, I’d rather work 60 hours a week for my own business than spend 15 hours a week working for a CEO. 

Talking is easy. Doing the action is the hard part. For now, I have a plan. It’s a plan that most Americans don’t realize they should have done until it’s too late – until the costs of living outweigh the influx of cash they are receiving. I can tell you one thing – you won’t see me spending my paychecks on night life and brand new clothing. You might see me surfing, hiking, or playing basketball (all which are free, I might add), and you’ll probably find me gathering and scavenging as much information on how to raise my net worth and passive income so I can retire as soon as possible.