This week’s interview is with R.J. Weiss from The Ways To Wealth. Not only is R.J. a Certified Financial Planner, but he has been a financial writer for over 10 years now.
Fill the readers in on your background.
My name is R.J. Weiss. I’m a husband, father of two daughters, and Certified Financial Planner®. I’ve been blogging over at The Ways To Wealth since late 2016.
You have a great post on 27 ideas for side income. Besides blogging, which one is your favorite and why?
While most people don’t think of it as a side hustle, investing is the most lucrative and easiest way to earn money outside of a job.
I was fortunate to get introduced to investing around 18 years of age by my Grandpa. I got to make my mistakes early and now have 15+ years of compound interest working in my favor.
What’s the best book (can be non-financial) you’ve ever read? Why?
I enjoy reading. Will get in around 30+ books a year and have done so for the last 10+ years.
Whenever I think of my favorites I always go back to the time when I got serious about non-fiction. There was something special about reading the classics. Financial books like The Millionaire Next Door, The Richest Man in Babylon, The Bogleheads Guide to Investing, and Your Money or Your Life had a big impact on my thinking.
The one non-financial book that has stood the test of time for me is Man’s Search for Meaning.
What’s one piece of financial advice you didn’t listen to, but wish you had?
From the book, The Richest Man in Babylon comes one of my favorite pieces of advice, “Save at least 10 percent of everything you earn.”
Part of me likes to misinterpret the word everything. I tend to treat a bonus or a gift different than a salary. But the value of a dollar doesn’t change. It’s still a dollar.
If you could travel to any period throughout history, which would you choose and why?
I wouldn’t want to stay long but I’d love to go back in time to the mid 1700’s to hang out with Ben Franklin for a week.
You mention on your site that you’re on track to become financially independent at 40. What’s one piece of advice for someone in their 20s or 30s who would like to achieve the same goal?
Think long-term. To become financially independent early you’ll have to save a good chunk of your income. However, you don’t need to go from saving 0 to a big number overnight.
Think how you can save 1% more of your income each month or even each quarter. What would happen if you did that over the 3,5, 7 years?
What’s one thing people would be surprised to know about you?
I was once a scratch golfer and even played as an amateur in a few local professional tournaments.
What’s one thing about personal finance you wish was taught in schools?
How compound interest works. How it will either help you become very wealthy or prevent you from doing so.
I like to use the Personal Capital app to track all of my investments. What’s your #1 personal finance app? What’s your favorite feature?
I’m a Personal Capital fan myself. The main feature I use it is to simply track my cash flow.
Want to read more of R.J’s work? Check out The Ways To Wealth.
Thanks Joe for the opportunity. Loved the questions.
You’re welcome. Thanks for being apart of the series.