Financial Literacy And Planning

What Rich Kids Learn About Money at 13 - That Most Entrepreneurs Discover at 30 A 13-year-old kid today understands things about money that many smart, hardworking professionals only discover after a decade in the real world. This isn’t about privilege. It’s about exposure. It’s about learning how money truly works, not just how to earn it. Here are 5 key money lessons most future entrepreneurs are learning too late, and why we need to change that. 🔹 Money doesn’t come from hard work. It comes from leverage. You can work 10 hours a day and still stay capped at ₹50,000 a month. But if you build something that scales a course, a SaaS product, or a digital service, it can earn for you while you sleep. Wealth creation happens when your effort is multiplied, not just repeated daily. 🔹 Saving is basic. Multiplying is mastery. You can save ₹500 every month and think you're being disciplined. But wealth builders invest that ₹500 and let compounding do the work. After 10 years, your ₹60,000 stays still. Theirs doubles. Wealth doesn’t just come from what you earn. It comes from what you let grow. 🔹 Banks don’t work the way we were taught. You’re told to save in banks for safety. But banks make money by lending your money at a much higher rate than they give you. The wealthy learn how to be on the other side; they use credit smartly, buy assets, and create income streams where others pay off the debt for them. 🔹 They grow up fluent in money terms. While most kids are learning formulas they’ll never use, some kids are learning how to read rental yields, analyse stocks, and understand terms like equity, ROI, and cash flow. They are financially literate before they enter college. The rest of us start learning it when it’s already late. 🔹 They learn high-income skills early. Many are trained to chase marks and secure a job. But future-ready individuals are learning storytelling, marketing, sales, investing, and coding at 15. At 17, they’re earning from freelancing. Others are still preparing for exams that may never guarantee financial independence. In 2025, the world is moving too fast to play by outdated financial rules. As entrepreneurs, creators, or professionals, understanding how money grows is as essential as understanding how to make it. So here’s the real question - Are you still trading time for money? Or have you started building something that works without you? #entrepreneurship #financialliteracy #wealthmindset #businessstrategy #2025economy #personalgrowth #AbhishekVyas

Clear long-term plans let me “retire” as an Amazon VP at 50, travel 5 months a year, and still make money. Here’s how I did it and how you can apply the same thinking to your own life. Bill Gates once said, “Most people overestimate what they can do in one year but underestimate what they can do in 10 years.” I agree. Here are four real long-term plans I’ve created: – A 5-year savings plan that let me retire – A 10-year travel plan to see the world – A 10-year business plan for impact – A 40-year health plan to stay fit through age 95 Plan 1: Retire in 5 Years As my career progressed, I started thinking about financial independence. I followed three simple financial rules throughout my life to make this a possibility: 1. Live on less than I make 2. Invest for the long term 3. Max out my 401(k) match In my 40s, I calculated how much I needed to retire and I realized I was about 5 years away. The plan stretched to 7.5 years, but I made it. Even if plans shift, having one gives you clarity and options. Plan 2: A Business Plan for Purpose Post-retirement, I built a 10-year business plan to help others find career success and satisfaction. The plan includes scaling my impact and reaching 1 million people. Like all good long-term plans, this one evolves, but the overarching vision stays constant. Plan 3: See the World I made a list of everywhere I wanted to go and started planning travel around those dreams. Galapagos. Iceland. Switzerland. This is my “active years” travel plan, and it only works because of Plan 1—financial freedom. But you don’t need to be wealthy to travel, just committed to a plan. Budget, partner with others, and get creative. Plan 4: Be Healthy at 95 This is the longest-range plan I’ve made. Inspired by Dr. Peter Attia’s concept of the “Centenarian Decathlon,” I mapped out what I want to be able to do at age 95 and then worked backward. If I want to lift a grandkid off the floor at 95, I need to be strong enough today. The details of each of these plans are in my newsletter. But before I link that, I want to give you some specific tips to create powerful long term plans: 1. Decide what area to focus on (my four plans were financial, business, travel, and health) Trying to create a single holistic life and career plan at this scale is likely too complex. Take it on in pieces. 2. Figure out where you want to be in 5, 10, or 40 years. What is the ultimate goal. 3. Work backwards from the end as well as forward from where you are. Meet in the middle. 4. Iterate. You can draft the plan all in one sitting, but these plans benefit from periodic revision. I have clarified, updated, and changed all of my plans once to twice a year. The end goals have rarely to never changed, but the next steps and priorities within the plan definitely do. 5. Be flexible. The plan exists to help you, not to constrain you. Link: https://buff.ly/03hEvz2 Readers—share your long-term plans.

I spent 3 years researching a book on wealth. 34 lessons on money everyone needs to hear: 1. Being Mega-Rich is wildly overrated. 2. There are a lot of rich people who spend all their time trying to impress even more rich people. 3. The best uses of money are those that create one of four things in your life: Time, experiences, purpose, or health. 4. The highest Return on Investment in my portfolio is on the 12 months of emergency funds I keep in cash. 5. You can’t improve what you don’t track. 6. 20 years from now, the only people that will remember you worked late are your kids. 7. Alignment with your partner about money is a must for a successful relationship. 8. There are no hacks or shortcuts (and you should run if someone tries to sell you one). 9. How you earned it is more important than how much you earned. 10. Never, ever carry credit card debt. 11. Run disaster simulations to be prepared for the unknown. 12. Lifestyle Creep is really just a byproduct of Expectations Creep. 13. Relatedly, your environment governs a lot of your expectations. 14. Liquidity is much more valuable than you think. 15. But liquidity can also be a bug if you’re prone to emotional decisions. 16. Being likable is a legitimate competitive advantage. 17. Nothing will accelerate your career more than building a reputation for figuring it out. 18. If your self-worth is dictated by where you vacation or your kid’s private school tuition, you need to rethink your life. 19. The time associated with an investment is just as important as the money. When you make an investment, you’re putting both your money and your time into it as an input. 20. Sometimes the cheap option is the most expensive. 21. Would you buy that thing if you couldn't tell anyone about it? 22. Never finance a luxury material purchase if you can’t buy it 2x in cash. 23. Time-for-money trades aren't as bad as the internet gurus want you to believe. 24. Cash flow is king. 25. Don't waste time trying to outperform the market (unless it's your full time job). 26. Never think twice about investments in yourself. 27. Follow a 24-hour Cool Off Rule for non-essential purchases. 28. Side hustles are usually just distractions masquerading as productivity. 29. Conduct a regular audit of your recurring monthly expenses. 30. Automate the payment of your regular expenses that are below a threshold. 31. Be wary of using money to optimize the life out of your life. 32. Enough is the most important word that very few people understand. 33. Live frugally first so you can live wonderfully later. 34. Generosity creates significantly more happiness than consumption. I hope this short list of lessons is a helpful start on the journey. 📌 Want the books that built my best systems and ideas? Download my Favorite Books PDF (free) and join 800,000+ who get my newsletter: https://lnkd.in/e__9zSeM.

Beneath the flashy apps, the structure of how #money moves has barely changed in decades. Now a new generation of technologies — AI, autonomous agents, programmable money — is challenging the set-up. Account: — The account has always been the foundation of the financial system. From traditional bank accounts to e-wallets, or crypto addresses, the core idea is unchanged: hold value, identify, access. — Embedded #finance has evolved the concept by facilitating movement across platforms, embedded in ecosystems. At the same time, programmable money is redefining the meaning: if a digital token can carry logic, then the account becomes less of a container and more of a policy engine. — The next step is to move from a passive to an adaptive status with context-based adjustments: re-distributing funds in anticipation of bills, reacting to calendar events, restricting spending based on behavioural insights. #Payments: — Payments have always been a reactive event. Even innovations like contactless, QR codes or the invisible checkout haven’t changed the sequence (systems responding to users) but rather the speed. — AI agents now change the game: intelligence decision-making layers are turning transactions into proactive events (i.e. software that not only knows your monthly cash flow but also takes spending decisions based on real-time data). Funding: — Money in and money out has long been about connecting pipes - bank transfers, card networks, ACH files, payment gateways. It’s operational, fragmented, and often opaque. Funding mechanics determine how liquidity enters and exits the system. — The emergence of real-time payment rails, open banking, and smart orchestration engines means we’re moving from hardwired pipes to dynamic routing. Funding becomes a real-time optimisation process: choosing the best rails, timing, and method based on cost, speed, and context. — Scenarios: autonomous wallets that “self-fund” based on anticipated needs, systems that pull funds from different accounts just-in-time to maximise yield and minimise idle capital or programmable disbursements that release funds conditionally (e.g., milestone-based payments or usage-tied incentives). Settlement and reconciliation: — Batch-based, manual processes are being replaced with distributed ledgers and real-time messaging standards. —Settlement is becoming instant, even programmable - with smart contracts that move funds the moment conditions are met. Reconciliation is becoming real-time, as systems compare ledgers on the fly, flag inconsistencies, and auto-resolve differences. And clearing is becoming transparent, with parties able to see positions and exposures in near real time. The next wave of financial infrastructure goes far beyond faster rails. It will be all about real-time, data-based, #AI-powered intelligence. Opinions: my own, Graphic source: PYMNTS Intelligence 𝐒𝐮𝐛𝐬𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐲 𝐧𝐞𝐰𝐬𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫: https://lnkd.in/dkqhnxdg

𝗜 𝗼𝗳𝘁𝗲𝗻 𝗴𝗲𝘁 𝗿𝗲𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗳𝗿𝗼𝗺 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗹𝗼𝗼𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗼 𝗰𝗿𝗮𝗰𝗸 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗼 𝗔𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲𝘀 - “Ma’am, What kind of questions should I expect during the interview?” 𝗦𝗼, 𝗜𝗳 𝘆𝗼𝘂'𝗿𝗲 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗮𝗻 𝗮𝗻𝗮𝗹𝘆𝘀𝘁 𝗿𝗼𝗹𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗮𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗿 𝗶𝗻 𝗳𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲, 𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘀𝗲 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝗸𝗲𝘆 𝗾𝘂𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻𝘀 𝘁𝗼 𝗵𝗲𝗹𝗽 𝘆𝗼𝘂 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝗲. 1. Walk me through the three financial statements. Understand the Income Statement, Balance Sheet, and Cash Flow Statement and how they connect. 2. What are the key financial ratios you would use to analyze a company? Profitability, liquidity, and leverage ratios are key indicators. 3. How would you value a company? Brush up on DCF, comparable company analysis, and precedent transactions. 4. What is EBITDA, and why is it important? It's more than just a number—understand how it reflects operating performance. 5. What is working capital, and how do you calculate it? Knowing this can highlight your grasp on liquidity and operational efficiency. 6. What’s the difference between equity value and enterprise value? This is a must-know for anyone entering corporate finance or investment banking. 7. What is the Discounted Cash Flow (DCF) method, and how do you calculate free cash flow? Understanding this is essential for company valuations. 8. What is the WACC and why is it important? Know the weighted average cost of capital, it’s critical for discounting future cash flows. ✅ 𝗣𝗿𝗼 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Interviewers are not just testing your technical skills but also how you think and communicate. Be sure to explain concepts clearly, showing that you understand both the details and the bigger picture. ✅ 𝗙𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗹 𝗧𝗶𝗽: Don't hesitate to ask clarifying questions during the interview. It's a sign that you're engaged and eager to understand the problem at hand. Best of luck! #finance #hiring #interview #freshers

The first thing many women lose in marriage, relocation for his promotion, or pausing her career for maternity leave isn’t ambition; it’s authorized access to the money that ambition once earned. She goes from being seen as “a professional with a future” to “someone supported.” 📥 My inbox tells the story. I’ve received over a hundred DMs from women who pressed pause, maternity leave, caregiving, and moving countries for his promotion. They’re ready to rebuild, join a program, re-enter powerfully, but they hesitate: “I want to join the program, but I am not working now.” Motherhood or migration didn’t erase their capability; it erased their access. 🧪 Money is never neutral. When you’re on maternity leave, caregiving, or reinventing yourself after relocating for his job, you often become a permission-based spender while he remains an entitlement-based earner. But wasn't his career acceleration only possible because of your unpaid infrastructure?! • Moving countries, • resetting networks, • handling domestic chaos, • covering daycare waitlists, • absorbing the identity shock of starting from zero.    👉 His runway is paved with your time. 💳 Practically, that means his salary should hit a joint account by default, where both of you have equal, direct access and equal decision rights. Assets are titled in both names. Major financial moves require joint consent. If that sentence makes him flinch, the relationship has a governance problem, not a romance problem. 🧷 If you move countries for his job, demand relocation parity: his package covers a runway for your reinvention, upskilling, credential transfer, coaching, childcare buffer, funded upfront, not “when we can.” If the move has a budget for boxes, it has a budget for your "becoming." 🗣️ Language audit: ban “his money.” Use “family revenue” and “our cash flow.” Stop asking, “Can I spend on…?” Start with, “Here’s how we’re allocating this quarter.” You’re not seeking permission; you’re exercising authority. 📈 Three moves to make if you don't know how to start the conversation: 1. Schedule a money governance talk:    joint account as the default deposit, both cards, spending thresholds, and asset titling under both names, if needed, a postnup that reflects the real division of labor.     2. Set autonomy capital:    a personal account in your name funded monthly while you’re on leave/stepping back, amount tied to household cash flow, not to your guilt.     3. Fund your rebound:    Allocate a visible line item (courses, childcare support, coaching, networking travel). Your reinvention isn’t a hobby! 🧲 Final thought: Women don’t “choose less.” We’re conditioned to underwrite someone else’s “more.” If motherhood or his promotion pressed pause on your income, your access must go up, not down. What’s your percentage today? 👊 If it’s under 50, that’s your next conversation at the kitchen table, before another year goes by with your power waiting in someone else’s wallet.

The fact that 81% of young people set to inherit large wealth are planning to fire dad's financial advisor is not a surprise. The surprise is how few legacy wealth management firms and private banks have any plan to address this whatsoever. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure they have meetings about it and pay consultants to "produce educational content" for the household offspring. But then they also have million-dollar minimums or payout grids disincentivizing FAs from taking sub-$5 million accounts. And that's why they're going to lose and you're going to win. They don't want it badly enough. They're not willing to put time, effort or capital on the line. Here are three actions you can take right now: INVEST in hiring and training younger advisors. Feed them now so they'll be ready for this opportunity when the time comes. It's a leap of faith to put new prospective clients in front of less experienced CFPs. Have faith in your next-gen advisors. Take the risk. SEGMENT your service tiers so that there is a grown-up, beyond-robo solution in place for HENRY (High Earner Not Rich Yet) households that doesn't infantilize them. Treat young adults like they're important to the firm, not a side business or a farm team. Educate them about what you're doing to the point they can repeat it back to you. CREATE so you can get in front of the inheritor generation, winning hearts and minds on the platforms they use. Communicate in an authentic way. Under 40's will not be marketed to by brands, they want to believe in you and your people. Do you believe? If not, they won't either. Read Robert Frank for CNBC https://lnkd.in/ewdUzVTk

Base salary isn't everything. 9 things that make or break your next job offer. 1. What's the Total Compensation Package? Don't just look at the base salary. Dive into bonuses, stock options, commissions (capped or uncapped), and any other financial incentives to get the full picture. 2. How Often Are Raises Given? Understand the frequency and basis for salary reviews. Is it performance-based? Is it annual? I'd always try to know this upfront to project my future earning potential. 3. What's the Policy on Bonuses? Does the company offer annual or performance-based bonuses? Find out the criteria to qualify and when those get paid out. 4. Are There Any Stock Options or Equity Incentives? For those considering roles in startups or emerging companies, stock options or equity can be a game-changer. Understand the vesting period, potential $ value, and terms. 5. What Does the Benefits Package Look Like? Beyond salary, health insurance, dental, vision, retirement contributions, and other perks can significantly impact your financial well-being. 6. Is There a Relocation or Housing Allowance? More companies are returning to the office. Find out if there's support if you need to move, which can include shipping costs, housing allowances, or even trips for house-hunting. 7. Any Educational or Professional Development Benefits? Continuous learning can boost your career. Does the company invest in your growth through courses, workshops, or tuition reimbursements? 8. How Long is the Company's Cash Runway? Important for startups, understanding the company's financial runway (how long they can operate without additional capital) can give insights into the company's stability and future. 9. Is the Company Meeting Its Revenue Targets? Are they consistently meeting or exceeding revenue goals? This can be an indicator of job security (layoffs) and the company's long-term vision. — These questions are fair game to work through your recruiter to find out. If I receive an offer, I'll also use these as follow-up questions if it's not clear in the written offer. The more you know, the better positioned you'll be to negotiate and understand the full scope of what's being offered too. Don't leave money on the table (or get caught off guard down the road) by not asking the right questions. ♻ Share to help someone’s job search And follow me for more posts like this.

Finance is NOT one department.” In one corporate office there are 4 lifts. Each lift opens to a different “money team.” 🟦 Lift 1 - Accounting floor They look backward. Check bills, invoices, numbers and record what already happened. 🟩 Lift 2 - Finance floor They look forward, decide where money should go next which choice will give better return. 🟧 Lift 3 - Investment Banking floor Phones always ringing they connect company A to company B, they help in buying, selling, merging companies. Once deal happens and they get fee. 🟥 Lift 4 - Financial Modelling floor Quiet floor, but brains active, they sit with Excel and test future situations. “what if sales fall?” “what if cost increases?” Same company building but totally different work. Accounting: What happened. Finance: What to do next. Investment Banking: Who to deal with. Modelling: What might happen if numbers change. Now the most important part: Book knowledge is not enough. You can do courses, formulas, models still get confused. Real skill comes when you connect numbers with business reality. How to build this in real life? - Pick any real listed company - Read 10-15 pages of Annual Report - See how they earn money - Make a small simple model - Change 1 thing at a time (price, cost, quantity) - Observe what changes in profit Do this again & again your brain automatically starts thinking like real finance people “Excel is not the talent, thinking is the talent.” #finance #corporateworld #businessskills #learnfinance #realworldskills #businessthinking #decisionmaking

My daughter, Troi, is 26. She doesn’t make millions (yet). But she’s quietly building wealth — one smart habit at a time. As her dad and a financial planner for 30+ years, I see her doing things most people don’t figure out until their 40s. Here are the 5 habits she’s building that could make her a millionaire (and more importantly — financially free): 💡 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟭: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗽𝗮𝘆𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗹𝗳 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝘀𝘁. Every time she gets paid, she moves a chunk straight into savings or investments. Even before paying any bills, brunches, or travel plans. Then jokes about being “broke” for the next two weeks. 😂 But that’s not broke, that’s discipline. 💡 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟮: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗶𝗻𝘃𝗲𝘀𝘁𝘀 𝗮𝘂𝘁𝗼𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗰𝗮𝗹𝗹𝘆. Same day. Same amount. Every month. Whether the market’s up, down, or sideways. The secret isn’t timing the market, It’s time in the market. 💡 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟯: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗸𝗻𝗼𝘄𝘀 𝗵𝗲𝗿 𝗴𝗼𝗮𝗹𝘀. Last year, she wrote down three: 🎯 Build a $25K emergency fund. 🎯 Save for her first home. 🎯 Start investing toward early retirement. Every financial decision she makes ladders up to one of these. You're not just "saving" when you have clear written goals — short-term, mid-term, and long-term. Clarity turns wishes into strategy. 💡 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟰: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗲𝗿𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗰 𝗱𝗲𝗯𝘁. Troi knows not all debt is bad. She avoids high-interest credit card debt but isn’t afraid of good debt that builds assets or future income. Like financing certifications, investing in herself, or someday buying property. Debt doesn’t have to drown you, it can be a tool if used wisely. 💡 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁 𝟱: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗱𝘀 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻. She enjoys her life. But she spends on experiences, not flexes. Every dollar has a job — either to grow, give, or bring joy. ✨ 𝗕𝗼𝗻𝘂𝘀 𝗛𝗮𝗯𝗶𝘁: 𝗦𝗵𝗲 𝗻𝗲𝗴𝗼𝘁𝗶𝗮𝘁𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝘄𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵, 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗷𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝘀𝗮𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘆. As she grows in her corporate career, she’s learned that money isn’t just about what you earn now. Wealth comes from building assets. She’s already asking smart questions about equity, ESOPs, and long-term benefits. Because ownership > income. — If she keeps these habits up… She’s not just on track to be wealthy, She’s on track to be free. 💪🏾 Wealth isn't luck, it’s consistent, intentional habits — done early and done often. — And if you’re helping your daughter or niece (or yourself!) build wealth from the ground up with the right habits: 📘 My book “The Journey” is for you. It’s a practical, approachable guide to building wealth and financial independence for women. Comment below if you'd like a copy! 👋🏾 #Investing101 #FinancialPlanning