The MLB season is under way, and my fantasy baseball team is looking strong this year...
Almost as bad as announcing to my inner circle that I'm in serious debt, is admitting to you today that I still play fantasy baseball. It's my last surviving interest when it comes to fantasy sports, an online "hobby" that my generation grew up with and still holds strong affection for.
The sport of baseball was my first love in life, providing many of my fondest memories as a young adolescent (which I've admitted, are quite limited). As I'm aging, it's the one sport I still enjoy watching (as well as golf, which together proves that I'm an old soul - by the way, it's MASTERS week!!).
I love the numbers and strategy when it comes to fantasy baseball. Trying to construct the perfect team to accrue the right statistics to beat your opponent each week. I find it fun to geek out on the statistics of 500 major league players, and this love of numbers and math could be why this financial journey has proven to be something that's excited me to the core.
Fantasy baseball has taught me a few things about myself. Mainly, that I can be emotional when it comes to the performance of a player. I can often be moved to drop a slumping player from my team, or chase an average player who is putting up hot numbers. As it relates to money and investing, these can be personality traits that work against me.
This self awareness helps me when it comes to my 401k, which currently is my only investment account. First of all, I have no interest in watching the market. Secondly, even if I had an interest in it, I know I wouldn't be good at it because of how emotional I'd be watching stocks perform on a daily basis. So I take advantage of the "set it and forget it" option my Fidelity account provides. Termed Freedom Funds, they're a group of investment strategies that are created based off of my age and the year I'm looking to retire. Simply select the fund, and as I get older, Fidelity automatically adjusts the investments to stay in line with my retirement date/appropriate risk levels. I also don't have to worry about where my investments are and how they're performing, they take care of that too.
I've currently been researching other investment platforms. The one that I've come across, and want to look into more, is an online company called Wealthfront. It's a user friendly way to get access to a long term, diversified investment portfolio. Termed a robo-advisor, I decided to visit their website to get more information. I began by answering some basic questions about myself, what type of account I wanted to open, and some multiple choice questions on investment types and my risk tolerance. It then spit back a couple of options highlighting the best strategies as determined by the information I provided. I could adjust risk tolerance afterwards, as well.
This was a transparent process, and was free. If one would like to then open an account with Wealthfront at that point, they could select the type of account they'd like, and begin a plan to fund it (need $500 minimum to open). The benefits of Wealthfront from what I've read is the fees can be lower than traditional investment companies, and much like the Freedom Funds, it does the investment work for you based on the information you provide and the account you choose. You simply need to fund the account.
I'll probably open up a Wealthfront account once I pay off phase 1 and phase 2. By looking in to these types of accounts now, it motivates me even more to pay things off as quick as possible. I'd much rather have money working for my future than taking care of unfortunate spending done in my past (I've forgiven myself!). I've never been this consumed with my personal finances and future planning. I have a feeling gaining a little financial freedom will be life changing. I'm excited to hear that a few people who have been reading along have been taking steps to improve their financial health as well.
I'm excited to share progress from my second 30 day cycle next week, and feel free to share your success with me as I find it extremely motivating.
Almost as bad as announcing to my inner circle that I'm in serious debt, is admitting to you today that I still play fantasy baseball. It's my last surviving interest when it comes to fantasy sports, an online "hobby" that my generation grew up with and still holds strong affection for.
The sport of baseball was my first love in life, providing many of my fondest memories as a young adolescent (which I've admitted, are quite limited). As I'm aging, it's the one sport I still enjoy watching (as well as golf, which together proves that I'm an old soul - by the way, it's MASTERS week!!).
I love the numbers and strategy when it comes to fantasy baseball. Trying to construct the perfect team to accrue the right statistics to beat your opponent each week. I find it fun to geek out on the statistics of 500 major league players, and this love of numbers and math could be why this financial journey has proven to be something that's excited me to the core.
Fantasy baseball has taught me a few things about myself. Mainly, that I can be emotional when it comes to the performance of a player. I can often be moved to drop a slumping player from my team, or chase an average player who is putting up hot numbers. As it relates to money and investing, these can be personality traits that work against me.
This self awareness helps me when it comes to my 401k, which currently is my only investment account. First of all, I have no interest in watching the market. Secondly, even if I had an interest in it, I know I wouldn't be good at it because of how emotional I'd be watching stocks perform on a daily basis. So I take advantage of the "set it and forget it" option my Fidelity account provides. Termed Freedom Funds, they're a group of investment strategies that are created based off of my age and the year I'm looking to retire. Simply select the fund, and as I get older, Fidelity automatically adjusts the investments to stay in line with my retirement date/appropriate risk levels. I also don't have to worry about where my investments are and how they're performing, they take care of that too.
I've currently been researching other investment platforms. The one that I've come across, and want to look into more, is an online company called Wealthfront. It's a user friendly way to get access to a long term, diversified investment portfolio. Termed a robo-advisor, I decided to visit their website to get more information. I began by answering some basic questions about myself, what type of account I wanted to open, and some multiple choice questions on investment types and my risk tolerance. It then spit back a couple of options highlighting the best strategies as determined by the information I provided. I could adjust risk tolerance afterwards, as well.
This was a transparent process, and was free. If one would like to then open an account with Wealthfront at that point, they could select the type of account they'd like, and begin a plan to fund it (need $500 minimum to open). The benefits of Wealthfront from what I've read is the fees can be lower than traditional investment companies, and much like the Freedom Funds, it does the investment work for you based on the information you provide and the account you choose. You simply need to fund the account.
I'll probably open up a Wealthfront account once I pay off phase 1 and phase 2. By looking in to these types of accounts now, it motivates me even more to pay things off as quick as possible. I'd much rather have money working for my future than taking care of unfortunate spending done in my past (I've forgiven myself!). I've never been this consumed with my personal finances and future planning. I have a feeling gaining a little financial freedom will be life changing. I'm excited to hear that a few people who have been reading along have been taking steps to improve their financial health as well.
I'm excited to share progress from my second 30 day cycle next week, and feel free to share your success with me as I find it extremely motivating.
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