Make/Save/Invest

By Miguel Dos Anjos We spend 13 to 25 years in school, and why is it that in no point we are taught Financial Education? We are told and taught that we need to get degrees, and study so we can get a high paying job but at no point it is explained to us how to manage our finances. They never taught us what are good financial practices? What are bad financial practices? Or how to go about it. So even the most successful people among us, that get the highest paying jobs, still financially struggle. And only the top 1% of the population develop Financial Intelligence and manage to get way further ahead and stay there permanently. How Many Years in School?! At age 5 we go to kindergarten, and some of us even earlier than that go to pre-k, and school starts teaching us. From Kindergarten to High School senior year is 13 years. If we get a Bachelors, add another 4 years so we now have 17 years of school. If you choose certain fields that requires longer time, such as medical, add another

By Miguel Dos Anjos                 Disclaimer: I am not a financial adviser, and I am not a doctor. Consult your financial adviser, and/or your doctor, and do your own research before making changes to your life.                 During our entire lives, and often times especially as we age, we will need to take care of our bodies and fight off sickness. Being financially well does not mean much if your body and mind are not well enough to allow you to enjoy all you have built. If you are searching a peaceful worry-less future, and/or retirement; being healthy will help you live longer.   Feeling Good  Being healthy helps immensely feeling good. Being sick or in pain often times sucks the joy and happiness out of us. If you want to build wealth, and reach beyond the stars; being healthy will be vital. Strengthening you to work long and hard, enjoy the journey and not being miserable. Would it be worth to be miserable for 20 or 30 years so maybe one day in the future you cou

By Miguel Dos Anjos                 Most people if not everyone could benefit from working with a financial advisor. But due to costs it is not entirely easy. A financial plan done by a financial planner may cost $1k or more, or hundreds as monthly fees. They may also charge 1% or so of the asset investment. Meaning that if you have $100k to invest the financial adviser cost would be $1k. But at some point financial advice cost may repay back towards the future. Find the balance of what the cost is and what the pay back return would be is essential.   As You Grow                 As you build up, acquire investments, property, a business or inherit a large sum it may be helpful to acquire professional help that goes beyond what one can find alone on an online search engine.                 It is nice to keep in mind that a financial adviser, similar to a general doctor with many years of experience, will not know everything. So an adviser with the expertise in the field th

By Miguel Dos Anjos                 Living below your means requires spending less than you earn. It does not mean having to deprive yourself, being miserable or not having fun. All that is fine as long as at the end of the month all the money coming in is more or enough to cover all monthly expenses.                 With credit cards, car loans, student debt and all the expenses you may have living below your means may seem hard or impossible. I have good news for you: it is surely doable. Here are some tools to help with that: 1- Budget                 Develop a budget and follow it. Write on a paper all your monthly expenses. Recurring expenses, and emergencies. Allocate an amount of money designated for the case of emergencies. With time, six to twelve months your budget will become more accurate. Once all Expenses are added subtract them from your your incoming money. As long as you get a positive number you are living below your means. If you end up with a negative numb

By Miguel Dos Anjos                   The reason you are reading this is because you desire aching Financial Freedom or some type financial achievement. Depending on your situation it may be; being debt free and pay all your credit cards, maybe you don’t have debt, and just want to build up a rainy day fund, so you have enough money to use in case something happens to your job, or you cannot work for a while, or financial freedom for you could be; having enough money saved or invested where you can start sleeping all day and know that your money will not run out for the rest of your life.  $1M                 The next goal in my life is to reach the $1 million mark or milestone. Yours may be more or less, maybe $1 thousand or $100 thousand or any number you desire to reach. Be happy and believe me; there are only 3 steps to get there: 1- WORK 2- SAVE 3- INVEST Get the Job You Want              Step one is to WORK , get a job, or somehow create that money to pay for all th

By Miguel Dos Anjos                 Studies have shown that the amount of happiness and good hormones released in the brain from acquiring experiences is greater than the amount of happiness hormones released when purchasing a material item.                 While waiting to go on a trip, restaurant, theater, or event we get a building up of excitement and pleasure. This happens during planning, looking forward for a vacation, or expecting a delicious meal in a restaurant. While often times the wait to acquire a material item may increase impatience and frustration.   One’s Identity                 Buying experiences is associated with one’s identity and social behaviors. When we look back and remember a family get together or a vacation we get filled with good memories and happiness. Buying material things, unless it fulfils a basic need such as a roof for your house or a tooth brush so you can have a clean mouth for example. All other unnecessary purchases such as a couch

By Miguel Dos Anjos Reuse (keep)                   This one is easy; buy cheap. Or even better; get it for free, such as a donation or a gift. Re-use items for your entire lifetime, this way you never need to buy it again. For example buy disposable plates and cups but instead on throwing them away keep washing and reusing them. Also curb side of the road salad is free. Just kidding guys, there is a fine line between being frugal and economical, or being plain cheap. Reusing an item that is meant for a single use, may become unsanitary and cause disease, which will cost much more money or life. Keeping this in mind there is an infinite amount of ways to approach this. It is up to each individual how deep to go into this. How much money is currently coming in, may or should, play a role into making decisions. Personally all house items, and any other items, I care for them like they were little babies, not giving them more value than they have but treating them well so they can la