FINANCIAL LITERACY FOR MILLENNIALS & GEN Z:

(A Thread)

You went to college, graduated with a four year degree, and now you want to know what's next. Or maybe you never finished college and still want to know what's next.

I see a lot of people in this situation; they finally have a skill set and can't wait to enter the workforce in their industry and make some money. THAT IS AWESOME!

However, making money is only one of the financial skills that you will need to learn to grow wealthy, rich, retire or do whatever you want.

In this article I will be giving you the basics of a financial plan that will help you manage and create a lot of money in your youth.

Note: this is not a get rich quick scheme, it's an article that I'm writing because I want to help people learn a little bit more about money and how it works.

So you graduated college now what?

I would say the first step to do is move back in with your parents for the time being and save some money! and save diligently.

Don't be that person who moves back in, works 9-5 5 days a week, and then spends all his/her money on the weekend instead of putting it in a saving account. This discipline of saving money is the first step towards riches.

Let's say you get to take home $75,000 a year.

After working 4 months, you should have saved at least $20,000. This is your starting point. STEP #1 in this financial map starts here, with this money.

STEP# 2: buy a two or three family home and you will do what's called house hacking.

With a two or three family home, your tenants will completely pay your homes expenses, or at least mortgage and taxes.

This move is so important because it will help you build wealth and save money in 3 different ways.

To learn more about how to do that by making money in real estate read my article Real Estate Investing Defined for People in a Hurry.

So you graduated college, got a job, bought a 2 or 3 family house, and after 4 months you have someone else pay for your mortgage by renting out the other apartments in your house!

That's awesome, now what?

Now you start investing in the market and creating an emergency fund, getting ready for your next deal, and all this only takes about 10 minutes a day over a long period of time.

So if you are young and are looking to make money investing this is how I would set up my finances.

At $75,000 a year you will be making $6,250 a month- not bad! Here's what I would do with that money.

Every week I would take $300 a week and invest it in the stock market (20%)
I would take $300 a week and put it aside for your next real estate investment (20%)

I would take $200 a week and put it into a rainy day account (13%)
With the remaining $762 a week, pay for expenses and entertainment (47%)

That adds up to be $1200 a month in the stock market, $1200 a month for real estate and $800 a month in case something comes up (as it always does).

P.S. If you have student debt put away 10% of your take home pay and then split the rest accordingly

Now let's talk about what to put money into and how to invest, let's start with the first rule of investing which is "Don't lose money."

It means put it into investments that are safe and not speculative.

The upside for these investments aren't huge but it saves you from big downsides.

Now let's talk about the second rule of investing, which is "don't lose money." Yeah I know it's repetitive but people mess this up all the time.

They justify their actions by saying "but if the stocks goes up another 100% I'll double my money". That's OK, but that is not investing it's speculating.

Imagine what your finances would look like if you made 10% compound interest on your money each year and never lost any money.

It might not seem like much for the first few years but let's look at it 5 years from now, just with your stock investment at 10% a month, with $1200 dollar contributions monthly.

You would have about $89,846 (in stocks alone).

Not bad for a 27 year old, and keep in mind that you have other assets as well under you control. But first let's talk about how to get this 10% return on investment with stocks.

Here is what I would do, and remember I am not licensed to give financial advice.

I am sharing my personal experience with you, which earned pretty good results.

Here is my portfolio:

66% of my portfolio goes towards index funds. I hold 2 index funds:
VOO (Vanguard S&P 500 ETF) is a low cost index ETF. Good for long holds.

DIA (SPDR Dow Jones Industrial Average ETF) Good for long holds.

Over any given 7 year period since the stock market has existed (even during the great depression and 2008), the S&P 500 has gone up 10% a year.

These are usually risk adverse long term investments that are the foundation of my portfolio.

20% of my portfolio goes towards high market cap growth stocks, I hold;

TSLA (Tesla)
AAPL (Apple)
FB (FaceBook)
BABA (Alibaba)

This is what I chose to invest in because I understand all the companies, how they make money and I see a lot of potential for growth.

In these stocks you will see more volatility but that should not be an issue if you are holding for the long run. Have faith, and invest in assets you completely understand.

These stocks, if picked correctly, will generate better returns than 10% (look up value investing, it's what Warren Buffet does).

14% of my portfolio goes to dividend stocks:

KO (The Coca-Cola company)
PG (Procter and Gamble)
SPG (Simon Property Group)
T (AT&T)

These type of stocks are the only stocks that will give you notable passive income, however it takes time to get to that point.

That is it for my stocks.

I like to sleep at night knowing my money is working for me.

Remember, combined with what your stocks are earning you, you also have that 20% you are saving to invest in real estate.

So what do you do with the money you are putting away for your real estate investment?

Save it to the point that you can buy another multifamily or investment property and then start collecting more rents.

How to invest in real estate will require more than reading one thread!

I'll be writing more about it but if in the meantime you want to learn more about the world of real estate investing feel free to shoot me a DM!

Follow me on IG: http://www.instagram.com/MarcoEpifanii 

All the people who reach out to me saying they want to invest, I send them there, and to my other articles.

The real estate aspect of this proposed portfolio is intended to give you passive income.

You will also make money in more than one way because of loan pay-down and appreciation.

After you buy 4, four-plex properties (16 total units) using this plan, and have diligently invested in stocks, you will be financially free.

You won't be rich, you will be wealthy.

Your assets will generate enough money to cover your bills, entertainment and your mortgage, so that you can focus on your passion and life.

To make it all happen, you just have to get your money right.

I hope this article has shed some light for you on financial dealings and has given you a plan for financial independence.

The sums you initially deposit in these accounts DO NOT MATTER, the plan you adopt is what matters.

I have friends who started depositing sums as small as $100 a month, and they have now a higher net worth than some of my friends making twice the amount of money they do.

It's easy to make money in America, but it's also easy not to, and that's why many people don't.

If this article has provided you value and you're ready to get started investing please click my Robinhood link. We will both get a free stock and it will support me. Thank you for that!

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If you have any questions about this site or what I wrote here, please ask me.

Find me here https://linktr.ee/marcoepifanii