Money is Undefined or Not an Object
Abstract
I was financially illiterate. I was making a six-figure income but didn't understand how to manage it until 9 years into my career. No one ever explained it to me plainly. No one told me that if I saved half my income out of college I’d be retiring at age 38. And if they had, I’m not sure I would have listened. "Wealthy" just meant "rich." That felt out of reach. Investing? Not a gambler. I was contributing to my 401k at work but that's it. Ignorance was bliss, I was on auto-pilot. Until my daughter was born and I was about to double the cost of daycare. I told myself this is ridiculous. I decided to educate myself and it changed. My. Life. In this talk, I'll take you through my financial journey, introduce a life optimization framework, show you how investing works, whisper secrets about HSAs, and talk about what it means to “design your life.” We’ll even debug taxes together. I promise it’ll be fun. In less than an hour, you will know everything I wish I knew 10 years ago laid out in plain language.
Watch on YouTube
Events
I've given this talk at the following events:
Kamran Ayub
Resources
Looking for the links and resources from a recent talk? I've included anything I mentioned and more.
Some of these links are affiliate links and at no additional cost to you, I may receive commissions if you purchase through them.
Podcasts
There are many personal finance podcasts to choose from but these are ones I listen to.
- ChooseFI
- Journey to Launch
- Afford Anything
- His and Her Money
- Stacking Benjamins
- Bigger Pockets
- Everyday Courage
- Rebel Entrepreneur
Check out Financial Podcasts Hosted or Co-hosted by Women and the Top 5 Black-Owned Podcasts as well!
YouTube Channels
Blogs
These are some of the highest impact blogs I've read.
- Mr. Money Mustache
- Frugalwoods
- Early Retirement Now
- ESI Money
- Physician On Fire
- White Coat Investor
- The Fioneers
- A Purple Life
Finance Books
I've read these books and I'd recommend them if you're interested in diving deeper into personal finance.
- The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins
- Your Money or Your Life by Vicki Robins
- The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by Jack Bogle
- Work Optional by Tanja Hester
- A Random Walk Down Wall Street by Burton Malkiel
- The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley
- ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence
Lifestyle, Productivity, Self Development Books
Separate from finance but equally important, these books helped change some of my mindset around getting things done and figuring out what's important to me.
- Atomic Habits by James Clear
- Make Time by Jake Knapp and John Zeratsky
- Essentialism by Greg McKeown
- Company of One by Paul Jarvis
- Designing Your Life by Bill Burnett and Dave Evans
- The Last Safe Investment by Bryan Franklin and Michael Ellsburg
Articles
These are articles I reference during the talk, many of them are commonly cited in the financial independence community.
- Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement
- JL Collins: Stock Series
- Safe Withdrawal Rate Series
- HSA: The Ultimate Retirement Account
- Donor Advised Funds: The Smarter Way to Give
- Socially Responsible Investing
- 7 Reasons to Love Your 457
- Domestic Geoarbitrage (and international)
- 9 States with No Income Tax
- Sabbaticals (Adobe Handbook)
- Can you use a Roth to buy a home?
Tools
- Reach FI (my tool)
- Complete Tax Planning Bundle (I use this for planning)
- Networthify Early Retirement Calculator
- Cash Flow Workbook
- Financial Toolbelt
- FI Labratory
- On Trajectory
