My Money Story
Below are two personal stories that shaped my experience with money - and still do to this day.
The first was when I was very young, around 7 years old, and my older cousin was at my family’s house for the Holidays. She had an older brother, so being around me was her opportunity to use the tricks her brother had played on her. She looked forward to it and I loathed it.
We were in my room, and she told me that she had a game we could play and I could make money. I was eager to play the game. The game went like this she traded me nickels for quarters. She convinced me the nickel was worth more than the quarter due to the size. I did not know any better. For each quarter I gave her she would give me a nickel. Even at a young age, I wanted to make money. I thought it would be helpful to my family, so I even snuck into my parent’s room, where my dad kept all his loose change in a small cardboard box on his dresser. I diligently took every quarter I could find and went back to my room to trade them in for more nickel’s. I can’t remember how exactly we got caught, I imagine I told my parents I had made money and then the story began to unravel. It was explained to me what happened and that (1) I had been duped (2) I had stolen. Both of those things made me feel foolish. I didn’t like that feeling.
Even at a young age I was very stubborn, and I vowed not to get duped again and not to steal. It laid the foundation for something important - in order not to get duped, you must understand as much or more than the person who may dupe you.
The other significant memory I have about money happened when I was in middle school, maybe around 12 years old. I was talking to my father and remember him seeming sad and frustrated as he told me “No one ever taught me about money and as a consequence I am not as far along in life as I should be”. It stuck me, that I didn’t fully understand what he was saying, but I did understand I needed to know about money so I wouldn't ever feel that way.
I really do think the combination of these two events and my own disposition led me to be adamant in my pursuit of understanding money.
I was good in all traditional subjects - Math, English, History, Science, but there was nothing through traditional education that guided me about this mysterious “money” concept, which seemed so important. I decided to take learning into my own hands, in high school while other girls were reading Fiction, I was reading Buffet and Peter Lynch’s theories on irrational investors. I loved Rich Dad Poor Dad. I was enamored with the idea of making money and investing.
Once I got to college and learned there was education on investing and money, via a degree in Finance, I was sold. I didn’t think twice about it and declared that as my major. I joined every investment club and society, a business fraternity, an entrepreneur program, and I was off to the races on a formal education on money and investing.
My career started at JP Morgan as an intern, then full-time hire. I moved from New York to Chicago and found myself at a Registered Investment Advisor (RIA) in Chicago. I took the job solely because the female investment Partner had a $400 Million dollar book of business and I figured she must be doing something right and I wanted to learn. I took a small amount of time off after a horrific couple years in the market to reassess my career and reflect on life. I spent 6 months in Australia and traveled during that time. I came back reinvigorated and, on a mission, to learn sales skills within the financial industry. I participated in a number of sales programs at various organizations. Then I landed as Director of Financial Planning at Hightower Bethesda 6 years ago and that’s my story. It’s been an incredible ride!
