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.