When my parents came to the United States in the early 90s as refugees they had one goal in mind. To provide their children with a better quality of life than the one available in their war torn country. At the time it was just my mother, father and older brother but over the next decade this included myself and my four other siblings. While my life growing up in the United States was no walk in the park my parents did the absolute best they could for myself and my siblings and for that I am incredibly grateful. On top of wanting to provide a really good quality of life for their children they really wanted all of us to get a really good quality education and be able to live well. I’m now in my senior year of college studying computer science and in the next year or so I will be working as a software engineer earning 6+ figures a year and I’m sure they are proud. So my parents were able to accomplish this major goal but I’ve got some goals of my own. I’ve got some semi-immediate goals that I’d like to accomplish in the next few years. I’ve got some longer-term goals that I’d like to accomplish within the next decade or two and then I’ve got some lifelong goals that I’d like to complete or achieve before I pass on. Now for the average person and this is where their planning stops but I’ve actually got plans for things that I’d to happen after I pass on and technically it wouldn’t be me accomplishing these goals but my children or their children. But I absolutely do have goals and dreams that will live past me.
My most immediate goal which I’ve been working on for the past year or so and I feel that I’ve made a good amount of progress on is to become more financially literate. I wanted to learn how to better manage my finances regardless of how much or little money I have. If you aren’t able to manage your money it doesn’t matter how much money you make it will just always go to waste. I also really wanted to start saving for my retirement which I’m doing by investing in the stock market. I use an app called acorns and an investment platform that was specifically designed for women called ellavest. Outside of becoming more financially literate and starting to save for my retirement, I’d like to start investing in real estate. As strange as it may sound I’ve been passionate about real estate since I was a child. In order to start investing in real estate I need to do two things. First, I need to raise my credit score so I can get the best possible home loan when I am ready to buy. Second, I need to start putting money away for a down payment on a home, which I will do once I graduate and start working full time. Both of these things are easier said than done but I’ve already been working on raising my credit score and I know within the next three to five years I’ll be purchasing my first home and I’m very excited about it.
In terms of my more long-term goals I would love to become completely debt-free by having paid off all of my student loans and all of my medical debt. I also would like to help out my parents with their retirement plans because I’m pretty confident my siblings and I are their retirement plan. Finally, when it comes to the goals I’ve got for my descendants, and it isn’t lost on me how strange it is to be in your 20’s thinking about your great grandchildren and beyond I’d like for them to have an easier time on earth than I did. I’d like for them to not have to worry about things like how they will pay for their education or struggling to afford necessary medical procedures. Although hopefully soon our country will embrace universal healthcare. For some odd reason, it’s easier for me to be disciplined and save an extra couple hundred dollars a month versus spending it on eating or drinking out with friends if I rationalize my saving the money as an investment that will help out a family member a hundred years from now. I’m also not one hundred percent sure if this is how one builds generational wealth but I’m determined to find out how over the course of my life. And I’m excited about the ways that the financial decisions I make today will benefit future generations that follow me.
