Author's Posts

easy-investing-with-acorns

In this post I explain why you should set yourself up an easy and painless tool that will help you start investing. It’s called Acorns.

Investing Isn’t Just for Wall Street Suits. Really.

Investing?! No thank you not for me. Is that what you’re thinking? I know, I know. You might not see student and entry-level life as going hand-in-hand with investing. Many people see investing as thing for Wall Street bureaucrats in overpriced showy suits. Or you might have some vague sense that someday you’ll have a 401(k) that you invest retirement savings into, but that’s a far off “when I’m a real adult professional” thing, not your current reality. Future life you will be a very savvy investor, but right now you’re worried about paying your rent, buying groceries, and hopefully having enough left to splurge on a few nights out with friends. Investing is for people who have money and you perpetually have basically none. For most of us, young adult life isn’t always synonymous with the high-life.

What is Acorns?

So what if I told you that could could start investing a little bit every day starting today, and I mean right now today, without even missing the money? Enter Acorns.

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going-to-graduate-school-don't-make-the-same-financial-mistakes-I-did

In this post I explain how I took out almost $15,000 in loans that I didn’t need during my first year of graduate school. Here’s my story and three things you can learn from it.

I pursued a PhD because I’ve always been successful in school, because I love to learn, and because I was deeply interested in a field of study. But having attended a small, public liberal arts university as an undergraduate, there was a lot I didn’t know about the PhD trajectory at a large research institution. This post outlines some of the financial mistakes I made because I wasn’t fully aware of the academic norms and options available to me as a PhD student. In sharing my story I hope others can learn from my experiences and make more informed choices for themselves. To my fellow graduate students, my advice is this: do research, forgive yourself, and develop a plan. Let’s take those one-by-one…

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invest-in-your-financial-life-even-in-graduate-school

This post describes my belief that all young people—even graduate students and early career academics—can put smart financial strategies into place to improve their well-being now and in the future.

As a graduate student, you commit to making a sustained, but smart investment in your future well-being. At the very least, it probably started out that way, right? Whether you have set off in pursuit of one of those treasured tenure lines in the ivory tower, are seeking a lucrative job in industry, or simply want to pursue a deep passion for a particular topic, you likely committed to graduate school with an investment mindset. The time you are taking to get your degree(s) is a worthwhile investment and the future payoffs will be great enough to justify putting off your financial planning.

But as the months drag on and your pockets remain habitually empty, you may start to experience doubts. Your friends might be purchasing houses for themselves or as investment properties. Your younger siblings and relatives are investing in their 401(k)s. And you feel increasingly frustrated by your paltry stipend and lean budget.

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