In October 2016, I remember reading about Financial Independence for the first time. It was specifically this Yahoo News article showcasing Sean from My Money Wizard.
Those 1,115 words opened my eyes to what was financially possible and subsequently started me on my journey to become financially independent.
Soon afterwards, I discovered there was an entire online movement of folks like Sean dedicated to rethinking our relationship with money in order to unlock our freedom sooner. I was hooked.
It was called the FIRE Movement, which stands for Financial Independence Retire Early.
After I read that article, I began implementing FIRE principles into my life. Within three months, I saw my total investments grow 113% and became ~1% FI.
That being said, I didn’t have much to my name after graduating. So while that growth from an total dollar amount was minimal… I knew I had to start somewhere and was nevertheless proud of this accomplishment.
Four years later and the results have compounded to a point that I never thought was possible for my age: growing my total investments by 4961% and becoming ~11% FI at 25.
At that point, I knew that I wanted to share what I have learned on my journey so far, in hopes of helping at least one person. Much like how I started.
I have always had a passion for writing, which is why I decided to create Time Value Millionaire. A website that where I can document my journey to financial independence as well as help others creating paths of their own.
I chose this name because there is a concept in finance called the time value of money. In a nutshell, it says that a dollar is worth more today than a dollar in the future because of its ability to grow and earn interest.
However, the underlying concept behind the time value of money doesn’t just have financial applications but can also be applied to our lives as well.
Given enough time and persistence, anybody can be a ‘millionaire.’ And while the conventional definition of a ‘millionaire’ is defined as someone with $1,000,000 in the bank…a Time Value Millionaire is someone who realizes that the sooner you start taking control of your life, the more time you will have to grow into the person that you want to be.
Finally, when talking about my own finances I will be expressing everything in terms of percentages. This is for several reasons:
- I’m not here to ‘Flex’ the value of my investments
- Focusing on investment gains/losses as a percentage helps standardize the conversation
- Privacy concerns
I look forward to telling you my story and also hearing yours! Where are you in your FI journey? Let me know!
Thank you for reading! 🙂
_
Full Disclosure: Nothing on this site should ever be considered advice, research or an invitation to buy or sell securities, please see my ‘Terms & Conditions’ page for a full disclaimer.