Money plan after graduation (for investment capital)

After graduation, my primary goal is to accumulate funds for investing. I believe starting early is important, as long-term investing tends to offer the best returns, so I want to lay a strong foundation. By starting early, I hope to compensate for any mistakes I may make along the way. My aim is to begin saving and investing while I'm still young, allowing myself time to learn and grow through the process.

✍🏻Increasing income

A key step in this process is increasing my income. I've spent considerable time experimenting and figuring out which role and environment best suit me, while understanding my limits and maintaining a healthy balance. I recognize that this journey won’t always be straightforward, especially as I take on more responsibilities in a job, so I want to ensure I don’t become overwhelmed along the way.

You might find these books helpful in navigating your career, particularly in areas like transitioning to a new job, negotiating your salary, requesting promotions, and building professional networks.

When to Jump outlines four key steps for leaving an unsatisfying job: listen to your gut, make a plan, be open to luck, and don’t look back.
Never Eat Alone provides actionable steps and a mindset for building a strong network.
Who Gets Promoted, Who Doesn’t, and Why offers insight into climbing the career ladder with proven strategies for advancement.

✍🏻Side hustles

This is only if you have extra capacity beyond your regular job. While it is great to have weekday evenings and weekends free, having side hustles alongside a 9-to-5 job can boost your net worth and provide a stronger financial safety net. It's great when these side gigs can cover monthly expenses.

I chose my side hustles based on my existing skill set and the skills which I want to hone.

I find that these books are helpful in sharpening my focus and time management skills.

Work clean: The life-changing power of mise-en-place to organize your life, work and mind
18 Minutes: Find Your Focus, Master Distraction and Get the Right Things Done
Master your time, master your life: The Breakthrough System to Get More Results, Faster, in Every Area of Your Life

✍🏻Useful time management techniques

80/20 Principle: Concentrate on 20% of the tasks (most important) that will enable you to achieve more.
Pomodoro technique: To get more done without interruptions, work in 25 minute intervals, with 5 minute breaks in between.

✍🏻Investments

After securing my insurance and building an emergency fund, I invested in index funds, REITs, bonds, and stocks.

✍🏻Index funds

I started out with index funds, intending to stay invested for the long run. I want investing to be efficient and simplified for my first investment and that is for my foundation.

Index funds are a smart investment because

it tends to perform better over the long term
saves time (researching on which stocks to purchase takes up more time)
saves money (active trading involves multiple fees)

invest the time to acquire skills, build income streams and accumulate assets instead of researching which stocks to buy.

✍🏻Individual stocks

With the dip in the stock market in May 2020, I invested in stocks. There are so many interesting companies such as Tesla, Lemonade and Revolve to consider.

On a note of never stop learning, I began with index funds, gradually taking the time to learn about stock picking. As I became more comfortable with investing, I transitioned from ETFs to individual stocks.

✍🏻Book recommendations

These are the books on investment which I really enjoy