Pinyo and Moolanomy's "REAL Wealth Building Framework"

There’s no doubt his hard work has returned the favor.  He now makes alternative income from his website and has built many relationships throughout the process.  His tenure in the blogosphere even got him the right job he was looking for.  But what’s important is the knowledge he amassed throughout the process that made him smarter about money.  Today he shares some of his thoughts on how to successfully start learning about personal finance.

“You had three primary objectives in mind when you started Moolanomy – learn personal finance, become a better writer, and build an alternative income. We know you’ve accomplished all three. However, what else did you gain throughout the process that were perhaps unexpected but incremental to your original goals?”

Thank you. You’re giving me more credit than I’d ever give myself. While I think I did accomplish all three objectives, there is always room for improvement. But to answer your question, I had a long-term goal of leaving my job to manage a web business full time and move down to Virginia. It so happened that a few months ago, a company that own several web sites came across Moolanomy and decided to hire me to join their management team. Coincidentally, they are located in Fairfax, Virginia – about 30 minutes away from where I actually wanted to move to. So incrementally, I was able to accomplish two goals that I had estimated would take 5-10 years to attain.

“While you write about personal finance matters primarily, you are also an investor.  What type of investments do you make? Also, what lessons can you share from the past year of “volatile” market?”

I do have some money invested in IRAs — I had some invested in 401k as well, but had since rolled that over into an IRA. When I first started, I tried many different things — e.g., trading individual stocks, technical analysis, stock screening, dividend investing, etc. — but I keep things very simple now. Basically, I invest in Vanguard Target Retirement Fund and supplement that with a small percentage in world equity fund to bring US versus International to about 50-50.

As far as lesson from volatile market, it’s very simple. Create a plan and stick to it. My plan revolves around asset allocation that fits my investment style and needs, periodic rebalancing about once a quarter, and regular contributions to keep my investments growing in the right direction.

“When it comes to money management, there are numerous ways one can improve his/her personal finance. Now, what would be your top 3 key ingredients to successful money management?”

There are definitely many ways to improve your finances, and the good thing is you can start any where — there is no set formula and no definitive right or wrong way to do it. As for my top 3 ingredients:

1. Start as soon as you can

2. Learn as much as you can

3. And “plus it” — that is, even if you think you’re already doing well, try to do even better.

“Personal finance resources are abundant and can sometimes be overwhelming for those who are just starting to explore the topic. What advice would you give to those individuals who are just getting started?  Where do they start?”

Just reflect on your own finances and search the Internet. If you have a student loan, then search “how to pay off student loan” or “student loan debt” and read as much as you can about it. Follow the links provided by articles that you’ve found. If you come across a web site that you really like, then bookmark it so that you can read other articles to get more idea.

When you follow this basic formula, you’ll naturally read more and more about different things and get more and more ideas.  As you read, be sure to take note, do your own due diligence (i.e., facts check), and then apply the idea to improve your own finances.

“Lastly, what other personal finance bloggers do you follow and recommend?”

I used to follow many many blogs, but I don’t do as much of that any more. Now, I just search for the topic that I am interested in at the time and read several blogs and sites to gain a better understanding about that topic.

However, if you don’t know where to begin, Wise Bread Top 100 List (http://www.wisebread.com/top-100-most-popular-personal-finance-blogs/), PFBlogs.org, and PFBuzz.com are all good places to start.

Thank you for this interview and the opportunity to share my story with your readers.

Whatever you work on, always approach with the mentality to “Plus it”.  It’s such a simple concept, yet a such tough challenge to actually stick with it.  Ultimately, this is how the successful individuals separate themselves from the rest.  Pinyo’s success reflects this mentality.  Thanks for the interview Pinyo.

Wise Bread currently boasts nearly 30,000 RSS subscribers and 20,000+ visitors a day (source: site meter), spreading the writers’ wisdom to many.  With such success, one would imagine money management must be stress-free  for the guys running the show.  Well it wasn’t always easy for Will Chen, one of the Wise Bread founders who started his career as a lawyer with minimal knowledge on money management.  Despite his 6 figure salary, he lived paycheck to paycheck.

Read on for more from the recent interview with Will Chen.

“Will, can you describe your evolution as a successful attorney to the founder of a top personal finance blog?  And why Wise Bread?”

As an attorney, I was making a six figure salary but was living paycheck to paycheck because I was clueless about financial management.  When I confessed this to my two good friends Greg Go and Lynn Truong, they told me I wasn’t alone.  They also felt overwhelmed by the financial burdens of being a new 20-something professional.  We tried looking for help online, but most online resources were too dry or intimidating.

We wanted to build a personal finance website that speaks to our generation.  At first, we did this just as a side hobby.  But in less than a month our blog hit the front pages of Digg, Reddit, and BoingBoing. We immediately received hundreds of emails from people telling us how much they enjoyed our fresh approach to personal finance. We knew we had a hit!

“What was your experience like starting up Wise Bread with your co-founders?”

It has been an exhilarating experience.  We compliment each other perfectly.  Before co-founding the company, Greg worked as a tech guru for Rhythm & Hues, an Academy award-winning media company.  He had a ton of experience building complex networks and programs that affect million dollar projects.

Lynn used to work at Grey Worldwide and CBS/King World creating and implementing national ad campaigns.  Her client-side experience gives her unique insights on how to provide maximum value to advertisers.

Greg’s tech know-how, Lynn’s sales experience, and my legal/marketing background allowed us to scale our business quickly.

“What do you enjoy most about managing Wise Bread?

To see our writers get awesome opportunities as a result of writing for Wise Bread.  In 2009 we published a bestselling budgeting and money management book which featured several of our best writers.  Two of our other writers have their own nationally-syndicated columns.  When I see their names on LA Times or Chicago Tribune I still get goosebumps.

Any aspects  you can live without?”

I feel guilty whenever I waste money.  As the co-founder of a personal finance website, I feel like I should know better than to blow my money on useless gadgets (but I still do, once in a while).

“When it comes to the topic of personal finance, you weren’t born an expert.  As your profile says best, ‘How can I effectively counsel a client about how to deal with debt collectors when, in my personal life, I had no idea how to protect my own FICO score?’  It has now been a few years since the launch of Wise Bread.  What were some of the most valuable lessons learned that all of us should strive to absorb?”

The biggest lesson I learned is that you can’t get out of debt alone.  You need a support group.  We are easily influenced by our peers.  If your friends are eating out all the time and driving new cars, you are likely to do the same.  Tune out your wasteful friends and tune out the media.  Start hanging out with savvy, frugal-minded folks who take personal finance seriously.  Wise Bread forum is a great place to start.

“Do you have any personal mantras that help you stay motivated and inspired?”

“We’ve done the impossible and that makes us mighty.”  — Mal Reynolds, Firefly.

Thanks for sharing your mantra and your history.  Best of luck with continuing success at Wise Bread.