Week 1: A Letter Of Introduction
This post is the first of many. Each week (usually Sunday) I will post a personal update on my journey to a net worth of over 1,000,000 by age 25. Usually, they will include something specific about my personal finances or a milestone accomplishment, but I found it necessary to provide a letter of introduction about me, my past and my future goals. I also wanted to provide readers with a grasp on what this blog is about. (The below text can also be found on the About page).
THIS IS MY STORY
I’m a 16-year old who blogs about money. When I was 15, I created WappCap Financial Media, a company that creates media to be published to large corporations such as Seeking Alpha and Yahoo! Finance. WappCap has had great success and is one of the highest ranked media sources on the web.
Personally, I am a self-made investor. Much, if not all of my financial knowledge is self-taught — learning by doing. I invest much of my various sources of capital and have a great rate of return. I began in late 2014. As my investments began bearing fruit, many people took note, especially my friends. A common question I got asked was, “What stocks would you recommend?” I began providing investment advice to my colleagues, and eventually created WappCap, where my advice was read by the world.
I morphed WappCap from me writing and calling it a company, to a multi-authored media provider. I began to profit from other contributors work, taking a cut of their earnings. In turn, I provided a well respected and known name for them to publish work under. At its height, WappCap had about 20 contributors and was very profitable for me. However, being the only editor for over 10 articles per day was very exhausting and stressful. After a few months, I scaled down the contributor program extremely, and eventually closed it down.
As of now, that is the state of WappCap. I publish a few articles per month, usually market research or low recognition stock recommendations. However, I did have a new chunk of capital, and instead of buying a car (like many of my associates have done), I invested it. These investments, like the previous ones, have grown greatly due to good market research. Once again, my colleagues and friends took note of this, but due to the increased monetary value, the new question was, “How can I become rich like that?”
I’ve noticed that this is a repetitive trait in young adults. We all want to be rich, and quick too, but most of us have no idea of how to go about it. When we do come into some money, most of us give in to the urge to spend it on that next Supreme drop, ‘bargin’ car or other various things. We do this because the traditional education systems do not teach how to manage money. Same with the the various things that come with money, like taxes, budgets, interest, 401k’s, and hundreds of other topics.
After High School, and for many of us, our first job, we are dumped into Higher Education and/or the workforce. Many young adults have no idea of 1) what they actually want to do with their lives and 2) how the hell they are going to make it financially. This is why the stereotype (and sad reality) of many college students is that they’re drop-dead broke, and living off Ramen noodles. Then, on top of that, roughly 70 percent of grads leave college with student debt.
Middle-aged, adult Americans aren’t much better when it comes to financing. A recent study from the FINRA Foundation found that nearly two-thirds of Americans can’t pass a basic test of financial literacy. In addition, “29% of Millennials, who are 18 to 34, said they had been tardy paying their mortgage, vs. 16% of those ages 35 to 54. And 45% of all respondents with no college education said that if they had an emergency requiring them to pull together $2,000 within a month, they wouldn’t be able to do so”.
HENCE THIS BLOG
This blog is created to make young adults financially educated, and eventually a millionaire. For anyone under 20, we’re targeting for a net worth of $1,000,000 or more by the time we hit 25. Anyone older than 20, set a five-year goal to being a millionaire.
The content of this blog is geared for readers possessing 14–25 years of life. I remember in my youth desperately combing through Google with search terms like “how to make a lot of money online as a teenager”, or “retire by age 30”. I used to (who am I kidding, I still do) watch YouTube videos about the richest people and of vloggers who owned Bugatti’s. I wanted their life. Then, when I began making money, I began searching, “best investment accounts for minors” and “how to deposit checks”. Now, my terms include “how to build credit as a minor”, and “buy a house at 18”. This blog is going to be the one-stop-shop for all of these questions and more. I will enable you to become a Millionaire By 25, and we will join in on each other’s journeys. Also, all of the techniques that I’m going to write about will work at any age, so don’t despair if you’re ‘out of range’.
This is both a personal and educational blog. I will be providing weekly updates on my financial state until I become a millionaire (by age 25). In addition, myself and a team of guest authors will be creating stunning content for you, the reader, to digest, from how to open a bank account to filing 1095 tax returns. Eventually, we will be launching a podcast and creating video courses.
Millionaire By 25 is as much a motivation for me as it is for its readers. I am no millionaire (yet), so you (the reader) and myself (James) are on this journey together. By posting weekly updates, and posting 6 out of the 7 weekdays, I will be motivated and pushed my goal, and I hope you will be too. I’m glad that you are reading my blog, and I hope that it will help both of us become who we want to be.
James LePage
Founder, Millionaire By 25
