Author: anwaryusef

Anwar Y. Dunbar is a Regulatory Scientist. Being a naturally curious person, he is also a student of all things. He earned his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Michigan and his Bachelor’s Degree in General Biology from Johnson C. Smith University (JCSU). Prior to starting the Big Words Blog Site, Anwar published and contributed to numerous research articles in competitive scientific journals reporting on his research from graduate school and postdoctoral years. After falling in love with writing, he contributed to the now defunct Examiner.com, and the Edvocate where he regularly wrote about: Education-related stories/topics, Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM), Financial Literacy; as well as conducted interviews with notable individuals such as actor and author Hill Harper. Having many influences, one of his most notable heroes is author, intellectual and speaker, Malcolm Gladwell, author of books including Outliers and David and Goliath. Anwar has his hands in many, many activities. In addition to writing, Anwar actively mentors youth, works to spread awareness of STEM careers, serves on the Board of Directors of the Friends of the David M. Brown Arlington Planetarium, serves as Treasurer for the JCSU Washington, DC Alumni Chapter, and is active in the Dave Ramsey Financial Peace Ministry at the Alfred Street Baptist Church. He also tutors in the subjects of biology, chemistry and physics. Along with his multi-talented older brother Amahl Dunbar (designer of the Big Words logos, inventor and a plethora of other things), Anwar is a “Fanboy” and really enjoys Science-Fiction and Superhero movies including but not restricted to Captain America Civil War, Batman vs. Superman: Dawn of Justice, and Prometheus. He is a proud native of Buffalo, NY.

10 Things To Teach Yourself To Make More Money

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. In the Rich Dad Poor Dad books, Robert T. Kiyosaki described two money problems; having too little money and then having too much money. Most people suffer the former. The following contributed post is thus entitled, 10 Things To Teach Yourself To Make More Money.

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Most people want to make more money, but they are unwilling to do anything about it. They stay in the same, dead end job for years on end – maybe they even climb the ladder a little bit. Very little happens with the money they are earning. Rather than going out there and improving their skills so that they can perhaps get a pay rise, land a better role within their company/outside of their company, or even start their own business, they just stay in their comfort zones and stick to what they know.

It’s true that change can be scary, but working on yourself will give you more knowledge and confidence, and these things can be extremely powerful when you want to make more money. So, what can you set out to teach yourself if this is what you want to do? Read on for 10 suggestions…

1. The Right Mindset
Having the right mindset before you set out to make any more money is key. Otherwise, you might make more money initially, but you may lose it. You might even struggle to see opportunities that are being presented to you.

Changing your old thinking patterns and getting into new, money positive patterns can be tough. After all, much of what we think has been ingrained into our subconscious from a very young age. However, with consistency, it’s possible! Read books, watch videos, go to seminars – do whatever you can to change your mindset around money. Figure out your limiting beliefs and work on your blocks. Then take action.

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2. Passive Income Techniques
Passive income allows you to make more money while you sleep. If you want to build real wealth over time, these techniques are key. Why? Because one day, you’re going to run out of time. You’re going to be unable to work as much as you once did. It makes sense that swapping time for money is no longer the best way of getting that cash! Passive income techniques include things like vlogging/blogging, writing ebooks, creating online courses, and starting simple businesses on sites like Amazon. Do your research and select one method to start with. This is a long game, so don’t be upset when you don’t become an overnight success.

3. Coding
Coding and programmers are in very high demand today. Anyone can learn the skills required, although they can be tough. You can take boot camps to learn programming languages in just a few months, and they will help you to get hired quickly. You can even find simple coding courses and help online. You can look at sites like Asap developers to begin your research and learn more about what you should be doing. There’s going to be something out there to suit every comfort level.

4. Writing
Writing is also a skill that anybody can develop, although you’ll need to practice every day. The more you practice, the better and faster you’ll get. You can also take courses online for this. These skills can be used both in a business of your own and in the workplace. They’ll help you whether you’re creating your own course, responding to an email, or writing a blog post.

5. Multiple Languages
Learning a language is something kids are fantastic at, because their brains are like sponges. However, as we get older, we can find it more difficult to let that language sink in. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try! There are free resources and apps that can help, as well as taking one to one classes or tuition to improve. This can prove beneficial in many jobs, and especially if you want to start a globally successful business.

6. Investing
Investing is one of the only true ways to build wealth over time. This is a fact. Saving money can help you when you have an emergency, but those savings are going to depreciate over time. Instead, making small investments while you teach yourself the lingo and the ropes will get you well on your way to having more wealth and a diverse portfolio. Again, this is a long game. You have to set it and forget it when investing your cash.

7. Graphic Design And Image Editing
Another skill that is valuable in today’s workplace. Many places need people with these skills for their websites. UI designers work to help improve the look and feel of websites and apps to make things easier for customers and consumers.

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8. Online Marketing
Every single business needs online marketing these days with these sheer number of people using the web to find things that they are looking for. You’ll learn all about SEO, PPC, social media, and more. It’s usually best if you pick one subject and roll with that for a while, however, Knowing these things will always make you a more valuable asset.

9. Public Speaking
Public speaking comes naturally to some people. Others can find it very difficult, and even terrifying. There will usually be a time in most employee’s careers where public speaking will be a must, such as making an announcement in office or speaking at a conference. Preparing or this now will take away any fears and reservations and ensure you knock it out of the park.

10. Social Media
Your social media skills might already be great – most people are on sites like Facebook and Instagram now, aren’t they? However, using these platforms professionally can be a huge bonus. This proves that you are technologically savvy and that you have excellent PR skills. If you work in any sort of marketing capacity, you need to prove that you are able to use social media effectively.
The above 10 skills are things that will help you to make more money, whether you’re trying to climb up the corporate ladder, ask for a pay raise, or get out of the rat race altogether and start your own business. Which will you start with, and how are you going to do it? Let us know!

Running a Business on the Road

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. With today’s technology, many businesses can now be run from the road and remotely the majority of the time. What are the keys to running a business on the road? The following contributed post is entitled; Running a Business on the Road.

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In the age of the internet, more and more people are finding themselves to be not as restricted by location as they once were. Many businesses can be run from anywhere in the world, and this is certainly an opportunity which more and more people are embracing. Obviously, this is not the same as running a traditional business, and you need to be prepared for this change in a number of different ways. Whether you are a digital nomad globetrotting around the planet or you are simply moving from place to place in your home country to meet clients, here are a few pieces of advice which can help you out.

Stay Disciplined with Your Office Hours

One of the great pleasures of working while you are on the road is the fact that you don’t have to submit to regular office hours. Even so, you need to stay disciplined with the times that you decide to work. Ideally, you should be sitting down on a regular basis to look at your calendar and work out when you will be travelling, when you will be working, and when you will be relaxing. Communicate with your clients well in advance to tell them. You need to ensure that your company is a professional enterprise and that you develop a solid reputation.

Choose Your Equipment and Suppliers Carefully

When you are choosing equipment, you will want to look at factors such as its portability and performance. And when you are selecting suppliers such as a phone provider, you should look carefully at their overall performance, roaming fees etc. Think about the other practical services which you may require relating to your vehicle, and check out providers such as New Era Fuels. Ultimately, your individual needs will depend very much on the type of business that you are running and how much travelling you are planning on doing.

Monitor Your Expenses

Just like running any other kind of business, you need to keep your expenses low and managed as much as possible. There are plenty of ways that you can cut them by looking at all the free services out there relating to software etc. When your location is changing on a regular basis, it can be very easy to overlook how much you are spending, but you need to monitor this to keep your business running smoothly for the longest possible time.

Stay Connected

It can be very easy to caught up in the lifestyle that you have built for yourself, but you need to remember to stay connected as much as possible. And the internet has provided more ways than ever to do this. Even if you only have once a day to respond to all your correspondence etc, make sure that you stay disciplined and up to date with this.

Super Simple Ways To Free Up More Money

A key focus of my blog is Financial Literacy/Money. A key aspect of Financial Literacy is understanding how to manage and minimize expenses. Decreasing your personal expenses is in a lot of ways similar to giving yourself a raise. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Super Simple Ways To Free Up More Money.

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Freeing up money in your life might sound like something you want to do, but you’re not sure where to begin. We’re here to tell you that there are probably numerous ways you haven’t even considered that will help you to free up more money! However, there’s one thing you need to do first: take a look at your relationship with money and figure out how you really feel about it. Many people like money, but they feel guilty or ashamed of wanting more of it. Some people openly admit that they don’t like money at all. If this is the case for you, how can you expect to have and keep more of it? It just won’t happen. Get yourself into a place where you can appreciate money and feel good about having it, and then start working on ways to free up money in your life. You’ll get far better results.

Now you’ve done that, read on for more suggestions!

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Switch Utility Suppliers
If you haven’t switched up your utility suppliers in years like many homeowners, now is the time to have a look and see if you could be getting a better deal elsewhere. Chances are, you’ve been paying far more than necessary for some time now! Check online for a better deal, then call your current suppliers and see if they will match or beat what you’ve found. If you do end up switching, the suppliers do all of the work for you!

Downgrade Your Phone
Do you really need the latest phone? There’s only so much we really need to do with them, and we spend a lot of time on them as it is – taking away from what’s truly important! Downgrading your phone could save you money and give you more time with the people you love.

Sell Items That Are A Big Drain On Your Finances
Take a look around your house and sell items you no longer use. Better yet, sell items that are a big drain on your finances. If you have a motorcycle that is mostly for show, you could sell it with the American Motorcycle Trading Company. Do you really want to keep the bike, keep the fuel topped up, pay for insurance and other maintenance costs, when you only really use it every now and again?

Shop At A Different Store And Always Take A List
Stop shopping at expensive stores when you can get the same items at a much lower price from a discounted store. Always take a list with you too, and never go hungry. You’ll save a fortune.

Track Every Expense
Track your expenses so you can see where your spending habits can be improved. You might be surprised at where a lot of your money is going.

Always Look For a Coupon Or Cashback
Never shop without looking for a coupon or using a cashback site. You could be wasting a ton of money – there are even apps to apply coupon codes for you these days!

Simple Ideas. Big Money

Two of the focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. If you’re thinking about starting a new venture, it’s important to know what simple ideas you can you use to generate extra cashflow. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Simple Ideas. Big Money.

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Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that seem to make us happy. The things that we just can’t take our minds off, and the things that as soon as we think about them, we smile. But when it comes to business, the thought of a simple thing is few and far between. It would seem that pretty much everything is related to stress and confusion. Arguably, the time when this is at its highest is when we’re thinking of the idea to begin with. All your mind can think about is what might be involved with the process, how you can make more money, and all of the things that could possibly go wrong. So, what if we were to give you some simple ideas, that would make some big money. Ideas that wouldn’t require you to do much, but that you would get a lot out of? Well, you’ve come to the right place, because that’s exactly what we’re going to do for you!

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Farming Ideas

Ok, so this one is a little out of the box, and one that we think you might not have thought of before. But, if you were to go into the agricultural industry, you really could be set for life. Farming is not only fun, but highly profitable if you produce good quality produce that people are after. The main expenses you will have will come from your equipment, and the expenses of caring for any animals. You will need tractors, and you will need a lot of red diesel, which can easily be sourced from the internet as to save money. Once you figure out all of the logistics of how to rear animals, plant good quality produce, and maintain it all, you just need to figure out your sales points. Where is the best place to start? Farmers markets. It’s the easiest place to sell the produce, and you can easily make a name for yourself over the years. Enter competitions, grow a following, and reach out to supermarkets. Before you know it you could be a worldwide brand!

Food Ideas

Sticking to a good theme still, but being slightly different in terms of what you can do. If you’re thinking of setting up a food business, you have to consider the lucrative idea of going into the restaurant business. But don’t just set up your average pub, you need to go for something hip and interesting. One idea that we think will really capture the eyes of people is a healthy eating establishment. Put it next to the gym, and make your menu one that just can’t be beat in terms of creativity, and you should always be able to bring in the money. It has to be creative though, the funkier your make literally everything, the better you’re going to become.

Activity Based Ideas

Some people like to be active, some don’t, but who says this idea is out to encourage everyone to get sporty? This ideas is funky, as we’re going to suggest opening up your own indoor inflatable course. Adults and children could be catered for if you made it big enough, and it is so unique that people will always want to be a part of it. Definitely an idea worth doing if you’d like something easy to manage, and easy to maintain. You’d just have to make sure you’re highly focused on health and safety here.

Applying School To The “Real World”: Turning Subject Knowledge Into A Career

The first principal of my blog is Creating Ecosystems of Success, and two of its focuses are General Education and Career Discussions. Sometimes early on in school we wonder about how our classes will be useful in the real world. The further we progress it likewise becomes important to know where can apply what we’ve learned in a practical way. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Applying School To The “Real World”: Turning Subject Knowledge Into A Career.

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As kids, we all remember complaining about school. And those complaints often extended beyond a mere dislike of homework. Often, children ask themselves why they’re bothering to learn certain things. “When will this help me in real life?” That’s a question many students ask, even when studying technical subjects such as mathematics. Unless you want to become a teacher, the knowledge isn’t important. Right? And technology has made human talents redundant. Spell checkers remove the need for grammatical skills, and calculators remove the need for numerical skills. And, in fact, any piece of knowledge can be gained online. But this is too cynical an approach. There are more ways to apply school to the real world than you might realize. Whether you’re a recent graduate or somebody who’s rethinking their job role, here’s how to turn your subject knowledge into a career.

Science
STEM subjects are valued very highly in the job world, so you probably feel quite confident that there are plenty of career opportunities for somebody with scientific subject knowledge. However, you can use your qualifications for more than obvious options. You don’t have to become an academic researcher in medicine or marine biology. You’ve gained more skills than you realize if you’ve studied for a scientific subject. You’ve learned to critically think, problem solve, organize multiple projects, and adapt on a continuous basis. Those skills could suit you well in the business world if that was a route which interested you.

You could start your own business or become a consultant for other businesses. Science is an incredibly vast field, so your subject knowledge doesn’t limit you to a select few career options. You can take alternatives to the traditional route. Even a student of medicine doesn’t have to become a doctor or a surgeon. Your knowledge is valuable in the “real world”, so don’t dismiss the importance of your qualifications. If you’re not interested in the traditional career routes related to the subject you’ve studied then do some research to gain an understanding of the other options out there. You might just find something totally unexpected that fits your personality perfectly.

Geography
A geographical understanding in the modern world is also highly valuable. There’s more to this subject than knowing where places are on a globe, as you well know. Otherwise, geographical studies would be made obsolete by Google Maps. You can use your degree for more than simply teaching geography to the next generation. If you’ve studied in geographical information science then you could even consider pursuing a career in surveyance. You might want to look into land surveying jobs in your area if that type of career route appeals to you. It could be an exciting opportunity to make a difference in your community with your subject knowledge. A qualification in geography can lead to plenty of vital professions, so don’t diminish the technical weight of your subject knowledge.

History
Much like the other subjects we’ve discussed, history is a topic which is often pigeonholed into a very limited range of career options. You would probably imagine that a history graduate either has to become a teacher or a historian. But research and education aren’t career routes that appeal to everyone. Luckily, you can do more with a history degree than you might think. You could even consider a career in politics. Historical knowledge is incredibly valuable because it outlines mistakes of the past. By working in government, you could advise as to how we could avoid repeating those mistakes again. You could also look into media-related jobs. This is worthwhile subject knowledge for many career routes.

Wide Load: Selling Large & Impractical Products Online

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. Some businesses sell large products that don’t ship easily, and there are special considerations for these types of ventures. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Wide Load: Selling Large & Impractical Products.

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For a lot of businesses, being able to sell products online has made life much easier over the last few years. Without having to start a normal store, this process is a whole lot cheaper than it used to be, and this has opened the doors for loads of companies to get started. Of course, though, when your products are very large or hard to handle, the online trend can start to become a hindrance. You have no choice but to sell online, but will face challenges which simply don’t come with smaller products. To help with this, this post will be exploring some of the best ways to solve these issues before you get started.

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Communicating Size: Simply giving customers the measurements for your products won’t often be enough when it comes to showing them the size of your goods. People will feel worried about buying something which they aren’t sure if they have room for, though, making it important to look for new ways to convey the size of your goods. One of the best ways to achieve this is through photography. As long as you have a common item in the shot, like a magazine, it will be easy for your customers to tell the size of the piece you’re selling. This trick may sound simple, but it can have a huge positive impact on your sales.

Storing Goods: When a business is selling small products, storing a couple of boxes is usually all they will need to keep a good inventory available to their customers. Larger products will make this very hard, though. To solve this issue, having a slightly longer delivery time quite be well worth it, giving you the chance to either make or order in the products as you need them. While this may stop some people from buying, it will be significantly cheaper than paying for a warehouse to keep goods which may not sell.

Shipping Orders: Getting orders out into the world is another challenge which large product sellers will often face. Normal delivery companies won’t be able to help you, as their vehicles simply won’t be big enough. To save looking for this company and that, there are loads of marketplaces around the web for those who need to buy large item delivery, making it significantly easier to get goods out of the door. Not a lot of people know about this sort of service, leaving them to pay for private companies to do all of their shipping. This can cost a small fortune, and won’t often enable you to handle more than a single order at a time.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to get started on the process of selling large goods. While a task like this may be a challenge, there will always be ways to overcome it, making your life as a business owner much easier. Of course, though, you will need to do plenty of research, and you may even have to talk to a couple of companies along the way.

What Makes Business Computing Such A Challenge

Two focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. A key to operating most businesses today is keeping your Information Technology systems running optimally. The title of this contributed post is thus entitled; What Makes Business Computing Such A Challenge.

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It’s no secret that a lot of businesses struggle when it comes to the computers they have to use each day. These machines are the subject of a lot of frustration within a lot of companies, making it hard for people to do their jobs, while also presenting challenges which a lot of business owners never expected to face. Not a lot of people understand what makes these machines such a chore, though. Instead, they will simply harbour a dislike for them, often making it even harder to get to grips with the tasks they need to perform with them. What exactly makes this field so difficult, then?

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Unfortunately, while modern schools are often including computing in their standard work rotations, this wasn’t the case just a few years ago. People would go through education learning about all sorts of useful life skills, but would only use computers for tasks which related to other subjects, halting their chances to learn about the devices properly. As a result, a huge portion of the working population finds it hard to use computers. Even those who have to use them everyday will often only learn what they have to, leaving them to struggle when something happens which they don’t expect.

Of course, though, you don’t always have to wait for something to go wrong for a machine like this to throw you through a loop, as the software systems which businesses tend to use are always changing. Developers will rarely consider the impact an update will have on their wider user base. Instead, when they release something like this, it can often take weeks or even months for guides to be made which will teach you what you need to do. This presents more learning, along with forcing a lot of organisations to use IT consulting services just to figure out which versions they should be using. This makes it very hard for people to learn how to use software, especially when they already find it hard to use a computer.

On top of all of this, computers are generally seen as boring machines. People don’t want to dedicate themselves to learning something which they don’t enjoy, even if it is part of their job. This is a real issue, but most people won’t even notice it happening, as it simply makes the learning process a little bit harder. To solve this issue, companies have to work hard to create training programs which can actually engage their employees. Even if it means using tools like social media for context, it will be worth looking for creative ways to handle this task, as people won’t be willing to do it for themselves.

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In reality, most of the trouble which computers can cause for a company will be down to the users themselves. These machines will rarely go wrong without cause, and will be impossible to operate properly without the right learning, making it crucial that you take the right steps when it comes to conquering this challenge once and for all.

Protecting Your Business From The People Within

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When running any business, it’s important to hire staff you can trust to the best of your abilities, and also protecting your operations from your employees if necessary. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Protecting Your Business From The People Within.

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Hiring people should always mean that you’re able to trust those inside your business. When you’re paying someone to work for you, you should be able to expect their loyalty, even if things go a little bit wrong. Of course, though, this isn’t always the case, and a lot of businesses have been impacting by their employees in the past. To keep your company safe, this post will be exploring some of the measures which can be taken to make sure that your team is always on your side. This sort of effort is worth it in organisations of any size, even if they are very small.

Monitoring: While keeping an eye on people may seem a little sneaky, it’s not such a big problem when you’re paying for their time. A lot of companies monitor areas like search histories, room used by employees, and even the activities people get involved with outside of work. Taking this approach is nice and easy in the modern world, with loads of tools available to make sure that you can achieve this goal without making your employees feel like they’re being watched all the time.

Security: Information within a business should always be kept on a strictly need-to-know basis. If someone doesn’t need access to a set of files, they shouldn’t have access to it, as this helps to improve security by a huge degree. Likewise, when it comes to items which need to be physically protected, locks and safes can be very useful. It’s amazing what people will steal when they have the chance, even when they’re being paid by the victim they’re making.

Strict Policy: A lot of companies struggle to keep their employees in line because they simply don’t try hard enough. It will be easy for your team to be lazy with their work if there aren’t policies in place for targets, discipline, and reporting bad behaviour, making it crucial that you work to put them in place. To make sure that you can enforce this, a lot of companies use shift managers to keep people working as they should be.

Legal Support: As the last area to consider, it’s time to think about what could go really wrong for your business. When you hire someone, you take on a set of responsibilities which you have to fulfill. Failing to do so could result in being taken to court, forcing you to get help from a company like Ogletree Deakins to fight your corner for you. By following the rules and doing things by the books, you should be able to avoid this sort of issue, even if someone is hell bent on trying to take you for everything you’re worth.

With all of this in mind, you should be feeling ready to start putting protection in place for the inner workings of your business. A lot of people struggle with this sort of work, finding it hard to know exactly what they need to do when they want to keep their company safe and secure.

Where And When To Outsource Your Solutions

Two key focuses of my blog are Financial Literacy/Money and Business/Entrepreneurship. When running any business, it’s important to know what tasks you can effectively perform on your own, and when the need arises to outsource those tasks. The following contributed post is thus entitled; Where And When To Outsource Your Solutions.

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Outsourcing provides you with the option of giving some of the work that your business is responsible for to a third-party company. There are companies that can help you outsource all kinds of work, but it’s an option that needs to be used responsibly. It can help get rid of monotonous tasks and implement expert knowledge in the business but if it’s overused, it can cost a lot more than simply hiring someone. Here, we’re going to look at when it’s a good idea to outsource and some of the risks of doing it poorly.

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When you’re not ready for full-time employees
A common reason to outsource is that you have more work and duties than your current team can handle. Why wouldn’t you simply take on some employees? The biggest reason to go with outsourcing instead is that there isn’t quite enough suitable work to justify a full-time role in the business. In that case, the process of recruiting and training an employee so that they can spend most of their time doing nothing can be much less cost-effective than simply relying on a service that you can call on whenever you need it. Outsourcing is scalable to your needs, but a full-time employee might not have that flexibility.

When it makes your business more efficient
There are services that can help you work on the business from a bird’s eye perspective, creating the structure and tools that allows your team to become a lot more productive and efficient. Many business consultants do exactly that, helping business owners strategize certain teams, processes, and systems that the rest of the team uses. The most common form in today’s tech-fueled environment is IT consulting for businesses. You might not necessarily need a full internal IT team if your business isn’t big enough, but consultants can make sure that you have the right tech systems in place, as well as providing repair and maintenance when it’s needed.

When you need real expert insight
There are a lot of tasks you might not need to do quite as often, but when you do, you really need expert input on how to do it right. For instance, there is a lot you and your team can learn to handle in marketing, from content marketing to social media networking. When it comes to website design, however, you need someone with specific experience and expertise in that field. When it comes to parts of the business that have legal implications, it’s best not to go it alone, too. For instance, hiring a business accountant when the tax season rolls around, and you want to avoid getting audited as best as you possibly can. Outsourcing allows you to temporarily tap into a much broader network of expertise that you might not necessarily need on your team, but you definitely need on your side.

Outsourcing can really help you unlock the productivity of your team and benefit from reals experts that you might not have room for on your internal team. Make sure that you’re following the tips above to outsource in a way that promotes the growth of your business rather than stifling it.

A look at the Law of Compounding Interest and why you should care

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“Compounding Interest is the ‘Eighth Wonder of the World’. He who understands it, earns it. He who doesn’t, pays it!”

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Note. Like my Net Worth piece, the subject matter of this blog post is not new. It has been known for years by those who’ve learned about it in their families, learned about its concepts in business school, or who have discovered it on their own. It’s a discussion from my personal perspective which I think is worth visiting. Also, while this is a ‘money’ topic, I’m discussing it from a ‘scholarly’ perspective. I’m not rendering financial advice where I’m telling readers what they should do. In the spirit of the first principle of my blog, Creating Ecosystems of Success, I’m simply introducing a concept and discussing why it’s important for the lay person, so they can make their own life choices.

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“Because we’re getting our Ph.D.s and we’re in school for so long, we won’t start making our money until much later,” my lab mate and senior graduate student Damon adamantly said. “When you save and invest your money, it doubles about every 10 years, and we’re missing out on the ‘doubling cycles’! The classmates I attended Colgate University with, who’ve already gotten out and started working, are already seeing their money double!”

To start this off with some humor, coming from the eastside of Buffalo, anyone named Damon I’d ever met up to that point was black, but this Damon was of Greek descent. Damon was a very smart, opinionated and short-tempered guy. He was also knowledgeable on numerous topics: current events, politics, and economics, and I loved talking with him while in our research lab as I always learned something.

Damon introduced me to one of my current heroes, Dr. Thomas Sowell and let me borrow his copy of Inside American Education, which Dr. Sowell wrote. I didn’t know it, but that day while our Pharmacology experiments ran, Damon gave me my first lesson ever on the “Law of Compounding Interest”. I was in my late 20s, and similar to my learning about the ‘Net Worth’ and a ‘Matching Contribution’ concepts, it was late in the game, but still much earlier than many people learned about it. So, let’s talk about the Law of Compounding Interest and why we should all care.

As opposed to trying to piece together an explanation of Compounding Interest myself, I’m going to simply reference the book How To Turn $100 Into $1,000,000 which I referred to in my post entitled, Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes in class, household income, wealth and privilege. In that story I talked about how my mentor challenged me to read what appeared to be a children’s book. While it is written for children, the book contains lots of valuable information that many adults don’t have a handle on – even those in their 40s and beyond. Since reading the book I’ve consequently given copies to my younger cousins and other youngsters in my circle to give them the chances I didn’t have. You should too!

Before discussing the Law of Compounding Interest, I’m going to jump ahead to Chapter 9: Investing, because for the sake of this post, it needs to be introduced first. According to Chapter 9, investing is defined as, “Putting your money into something that can potentially make you more money.” There are likewise lots of investment classes out there: stocks, real estate, and businesses of all kinds.

Coincidentally, the same buddy I discussed in my post entitled, We should’ve bought Facebook and Bitcoin Stock, recently approached all of us, looking for ‘investors’ because he wants to start his own Amazon store – a ‘speculative’ investment. When you think about the Law of Compounding Interest though, you want to think about putting your money in places where it will steadily ‘appreciate’ over time – someplace safe where you’d place your retirement savings for example (discussed below).

Two important concepts to understand here are ‘Principal’ and ‘Interest’. Financially, Chapter 8 assumes readers understand the meanings of Principal and Interest in the context of getting a ‘Return on Investment’ (ROI), as opposed to the borrowing context where you’re paying someone else interest on a loan. The chapter quickly starts discussing how Interest can steadily build your Principal from year to year.

If for example you have a $100 and it’s invested in something at a 5% interest rate after one year, you’ll have earned $5 so your total principal at the start of year two will now be $105. If you keep that $105 principal invested, it will earn the 5% on that amount and not the original $100, so your new total after year two will be $110.25, and so on. This is just an example, and this is just with the starting a principal of $100, but what if you started with a greater principal – let’s say $2,000, and you steadily added more money to it every month for 10-20 years? For retirement purposes the ideal scenario is to be invested for 40 years allowing one to retire well at age 65. Ideally the person should have started investing/compounding at age 25. However, getting started at any age is the key.

The second aspect of the Law of Compounding Interest discussed in the book is the “Rule of 72” on page 84. The Rule of 72 is a calculation which allows investors to determine how long it will take for their money to double based upon a given interest rate. To determine this number, you simply divide 72 by the interest rate that you expect to earn over time. The higher the expected ‘Rate of Return’, the less amount of time it takes to reach your goal. For example, if you divide 72 by an interest rate of 10%, it would take 7.2 years for your money to double. If you divide 72 by an interest rate of 2% the time would be 36 years – hence the importance of looking for the most competitive rate of return relative to your personal risk tolerance when looking for investments.

The chapter cites two more examples which highlight the importance of continuing to add to your principal and then the importance of time. The example on page 86 shows the difference in returns when two siblings both start with a $5,000 investment at the same age at an interest rate of 8%. One sibling continues to contribute to her account out to age 50 – that is $1,000 every year and arrives at 50 years of age with $750,000. The other doesn’t contribute anything further and arrives at 50 years of age with a total of $200,000.

The last example on page 87 gives an example of two people who start investing at different times in life (pictured above). In this example both subjects become millionaires by 70 years of age. The first individual started saving $1,000 per year starting at age 15 and paid in only $55,000 to reach their $1,000,000. The second individual started at 30 years of age and had to put in a total of $140,000 to reach their $1,000,000. The take home lesson here is that because the first person started earlier, it took them less than half the principal of the second person the reach their $1,000,000.

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My classmate Damon’s words at the start of this post, underscores these last two points. Our peers who started working immediately after earning their Bachelor’s degrees, were in theory able to start taking advantage of the Law of Compounding Interest earlier, assuming they knew to do so. Working towards our Ph.D. s, we wouldn’t be able to start the process until much later. But there were other professionals from our peer group who were getting even later starts than us due to the nature of their fields and the amounts of debt incurred during their educations; the Law and Medical students come to mind.

There’s another piece to this though. What about individuals who didn’t go the college route at all? They too would’ve been able to start using the law earlier in life assuming they knew about it and followed it. So, as I’ll describe below, having a degree has nothing to do with using this law.

Who should care about the Law of Compounding Interest? Everyone. That goes for STEM professionals like me and Damon, ‘Blue-Collar’ workers swinging hammers, cooks in the kitchen, lawyers in courtrooms, non-degreed individuals, business owners/entrepreneurs – everyone. No matter what your profession is, you only must know about the law, start it, and start it as early as you can.

To start using the law and to using it correctly, one must embrace two of the principles of my blog; the learning of Financial Literacy/Money, and Long-Term Thought/Delayed Gratification. Thus far in my writings I’ve discussed the latter principle sparsely, but it’s key here because to take advantage of the Law of Compounding Interest, the individual must think long-term. This means that they must be disciplined enough to live without a certain percentage of their paychecks every month.

They’ll also forgo or delay some short-term luxuries and indulgences for greater gains later – playing the game of ‘Chess’ in a way. This isn’t something that’s necessarily easy to do in the presence of considerable peer, societal, and in some instances familial pressures. See my Mother’s Day 2017 post, to get an idea of how to lose both money and time due to personal and cultural pressures.

What are the real-world applications for this? I’ll cite two articles. The first is by Rodney Brooks of the Washington Post. I cited his article entitled; 71 percent of Americans aren’t saving enough for retirement in my post about the Tax Reform and Jobs Act. It discusses reasons why people can’t take advantage of the Law of Compounding Interest. Another piece is entitled; Club Fed millionaire: Membership 23,000 and growing by Mike Causey which discusses the growing number of federal employees who are retiring as millionaires – most self-made. I’ll say it again, the majority are self-made meaning no one gave them anything, and they simply methodically prioritized, saved, and invested their money.

Of course, if you run a business, using a venture capital firm makes sense. Like investing, companies are also “money attractors”, but often more powerful. Using other people’s capital to get them off the ground can accelerate entrepreneurs along the path of compounding, just like it has countless times in the past for people like Larry Ellison and Elon Musk.

There’s a final context for the law, and that’s giving. When you think about Higher Education, philanthropists and generous alumni often leave gifts to their schools of choice through ‘Endowments’, many of which are invested so that they’re continuously compounding and generating returns used for scholarships and operating expenses. The famous Jim Kramer runs his “Charitable Trust” of which he is continuously thinking about out how and where to safely invest its funds for charitable purposes. Lastly, consider how the lives your relatives and your community could be changed by having a continuously growing principal and interest you can use in any fashion you see fit: saving up a down payment on a home, college tuition expenses, seed money for building businesses, supporting political campaigns, etc.

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If it sounds like an underlying theme of this post and others like it is that your financial (and life) success is about what you know and don’t know (outside of your profession), then you’re correct. In an upcoming story I’m going to discuss how I didn’t understand these pieces when I first started my federal science career and didn’t take advantage the Law of Compounding Interest or the federal government’s ‘Matching Contribution’ – both of which have cost me money. There were actually several personal ‘blunders’ in these areas.

The opening quote for this piece is from the famous Physicist Albert Einstein and it pretty much sums up the importance of this topic – either you’re getting paid, or you’re paying out. Compounding Interest is something anyone can take advantage of regardless of: race, creed, color, sex, gender or religion. One just must know about it, and then start living by it. If they don’t know about it, they must be curious enough to find out about it. Most financial literacy programs cover it in some way.

There are other necessary pieces such as ‘Budgeting’ which I’ll cover as well in another post. As I stated in my Net Worth piece, it’s not something that can be worked out with your boss, or even legislated by the government, though I do think schools could do a better job of teaching this information at an early age. In closing, two other principles of my blog do tie in here, and they are Self-Accountability and Self-Reliance, because first, the individual must realize that no one can make them practice and incorporate this law into their lives, and secondly, it’s themselves who have to do it. And with that, I hope you’ve learned something here about the Law of Compounding Interest.

Thank you for taking the time to read this post. If you enjoyed it, you might also enjoy:

• Your Net Worth, your Gross Salary, and what they mean
• The difference between being cheap and frugal
• We should’ve bought Facebook and Bitcoin stock: An investing story
• Challenging misconceptions and stereotypes in class, household income, wealth and privilege
• What are your plans for your tax cut? Thoughts on what can be done with heavier paychecks and paying less tax
• My personal experience with Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball revisited
• Mother’s Day 2017: One of my mother’s greatest gifts, getting engaged, and avoiding my own personal fiscal cliff

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