About

I never pictured myself as a blogger.  Blogging by nature is an unusual situation; people I do not know, from all over the world, will [hopefully!] be reading what is essentially a journal of my life and thoughts.  I will have no knowledge of these people and their lives (unless of course they also have a blog), but they will know a good deal about mine.  Unthinkable a few years ago, the internet has completely changed the way we feel about privacy, and I'll leave you to judge whether or not this is a good thing.

As the first post in my new blog, I guess introductions are in order.  I am currently in my mid-twenties, and a waiter in a major US city.  I can directly trace my interest in personal finance and investment to the summer between my sophmore and junior year of college.  I was home, without a job, and just hanging out at the beach.  Looking though my father's bookcase, I came across a book, "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki.  This book singlehandedly changed the way I think about money.  Up until then, the extent of my financial literacy was that banks offered savings accounts, but really, who saves money?

With a solid middle class upbringing, I was pretty familiar with the "poor dad" in the story.  My father constantly complained about money, and offered me little more advice than "get a good job."  So you can imagine how reading the book was an epiphany to me. For those not familiar with the book, a quick summary: Rich people own more assets than liabilities.  Pretty simple huh?  It was my first realization that being wealthy was not so much the result of a high paycheck, but rather the result of being a player in a life-long game; a game that if played well, would reap untold benefits upon the players.

I am creating this blog as a way to share my story, knowledge, and experiences as I attempt to reach financial freedom.  The internet is an incredibly powerful tool, allowing the sharing of information across all barriers as easy as the click of a mouse.  Knowledge is power, and in my opinion the more information you have, and the more varied the sources of that information, the better off you will be when you form your own conclusions.

As I continue on this journey to self-made wealth,  I have come to understand how much money you make is less important than how you handle that money.  I hope that this blog will give myself, and my readers, an opportunity to think a bit deeper about their financial habits, and provide a little entertainment along the way.

Keep Saving,

Barry