I recently made a small fortune. For me. It wasn’t a fortune or even a lot of money. But I achieved money in a way that I never thought. What’s my secret? It all began when I met a Guyanese man in College.
This Guyanese man was the former head of Citibank in Jamaica. He was the finance professor of my college. In full disclosure, I wasn’t an economics major. I knew nothing about business or economics at all. I naively assumed that the loans I was taking out would magically be paid back with my full-time job right out of college. I graduated in 2008. Things didn’t work out that way.
But I always liked to challenge myself and felt that I should give finance a try. When Rex met me on the first day of class, he asked me what my major was. When I told him, he laughed. And laughed. And laughed. He thought it would be IMPOSSIBLE for me to pass, let alone do well. Underestimation being a natural motivational trigger for me, I set out to prove him as wrong as possible.
The fact was, I wasn’t great at finance. I tried and studied, but it didn’t click in three months. But, it did give me valuable time with a person who explained a few basic points. Even though I wasn’t going to get an excellent grade, he filled me in on a few tips when it comes to investing: