2009 In Review

It’s hard to believe that the 2000s decade (or the “Aughts”, as my econ professor would say), are drawing to a close. As many people are probably doing now, I’m spending some time reviewing this past year and outlining some plans for the new one. The following is a self-reflection of some areas of progress in 2009.

1.) I started this site:

Early in the year I had a vision of building my own financial advising business, and I figured this would be a good way to build some credibility around my name. Now I’m back to questioning what I want to do with my life, but since I’m still immensely passionate about personal finance, I have no intentions of discontinuing this site as of now.

2.) I read:

A lot. I suppose every job probably has its unique perks, and when you staff the front desk of college library over summer break, the perk is quite a bit of time to read. I probably read around 20-25 books this year, some of which were really influential (I hate to throw around the “life-changing” term, but it could actually apply to a few of them).

If I could only choose 5 to recommend, it would be these:

A. Walden- Henry David Thoreau.

This is widely considered a classic for a reason. I wrote some about it back in October.

B. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt- Edmund Morris.

I’m not that much of a history buff, but it’s hard for me to imagine someone with more vigor, and who accomplished so much, as our 26th president. Not only is reading about “The Bull Moose” extremely enjoyable and interesting, but it’s inspirational as well. Roosevelt is my idol.

C. Your Money of Your Life- Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin.

This is undoubtedly one of the most underrated personal finance books out there. I’d consider it a must for anyone who wants to be more conscious about how they manage their finances. I wrote about it this summer.

D. The Omnivore’s Dilemma and In Defense of Food- Michael Pollan.

I know, I know; reading about food initially sounds about as exciting as reading about the history of tax reform. I gave Pollan a shot though, and I was quickly hooked. After reading these two books, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say that the way we grow and eat food here in America is an absolutely enormous problem. Read either (or better- both) of these books, and you’ll never think about food the same way again.

3.) I doubled my emergency fund:

And recently wrote about doing that here. Cool people have emergency funds. Do you?

4.) I simplified my investments:

I moved some money out of individual stocks, which I honestly didn’t know enough about to justify ownership, and increased my holdings in Vanguard ETFs. For probably 95% of individual investors, passively managed funds (not traditional mutual funds or individual stocks) are the way to go. And absolutely nobody does this better than Vanguard.

Vanguard rocks my socks off.

5.) I joined Toastmasters:

This was my single best decision of the year. Less than a year ago, I’d get nervous just thinking about the prospect of speaking in front of a group. Thanks to my awesome Toastmasters group, I’ve come a long way in overcoming my fear and slowly improving my communication skills. I’m still a bit nervous before speaking, but not nearly as much as before, and I’ve gained a lot of courage to acknowledge my nerves and do it anyway.

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This isn’t an exhaustive review, but I’m sure nobody would want to read the entire thing. Next week I’ll write about my ambitions for the coming year. Until then, happy new year!!!