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About Captain Finance

Captain Finance - Finance and Investment Blog - Financial Freedom - Wealth CreationCaptain Finance is first and foremost a finance blog. We are an awesome community of people who love finances, investing, and interested in the secrets of growing wealth. But money per se is only a means to financial freedom. Captain Finance is about the beauty of life and enjoying every bit of it. Using our financial knowledge to achieve the financial independence that allows us to live a fantastic life.

Let us together navigate the seas of financial and personal happiness. As we are sharing this fantastic journey, it is nice to know more about who you are traveling with.

Captain Finance hence wants to answer some of the most commonly asked questions.

 

Who is Captain Finance?

I am a former equity analyst who left banking before the markets and the world experienced some of their most turbulent times – not because of my hidden psychic talent, but for embarking on a different journey in life: I wanted to understand the mélange and relationships between the economy, corporate life, and psychological mechanisms that drive people. I did a PhD analyzing how psychology influences corporate performance, share prices, and what management actions meant for employees and investors. And while I have left banking, I have never left the world of finance.

Where do you live?

Captain Finance and his beautiful companion Mrs Captain Finance live on the amazing shores of Paris. We are not heirs to a great empire, but we still enjoy the life to its fullest, despite the incredibly high expenses to live in this city. We are no different from many of our friends in terms of income and enjoying life. Still we are often amazed by how much more we are saving and investing, although we don’t feel like we are making any sacrifices. We live very consciously, however, and have developed techniques that we have tried and fine-tuned over the years.

While we are keen on building our stash, we do not want to live a life of regret and extreme frugality. In fact, despite living fantastic lives and benefiting from its pleasures – a car, a beautiful apartment in the center of Paris, meeting friends in bars and restaurants and enjoying wonderful holidays – we manage to steadily increase our wealth.

Why choose such an expensive place?

Places like Paris, New York, London, Sydney, and many other fascinating cities offer a wealth of opportunities regarding culture and life. While the quality of life in terms of traffic, fewer people, little things like parking opportunities, and more green areas, is undoubtedly better in smaller cities and towns, living in big cities has many great benefits and the air is filled with a never-ending buzz.

Most importantly, however, Mrs Captain Finance is from Paris.

When did you first get interested in finance?

From a very early age. I was about 9 or 10 when a friend and I went to a bank five minutes walking distance from our street to check the share prices on printed A4 sheets displayed in the window front. These were the times before the internet and easy access to market prices was really only possible through these displays, newspapers, or teletext. But for us two young boys, checking the stock market in a bank window gave us the feeling of excitement and a peek into a different world. We felt like financial pioneers. After a few weeks we found the courage to walk in and ask whether we could have a copy of the A4 sheets to take home with us. The bank staff were initially surprised by the two young chaps’ interest in the stock market and, I don’t think, believed that they would ever see us again. They probably thought we were just playing some sort of kid’s game and didn’t take us too seriously. But when we started coming back day after day, they realized that we were indeed really interested and keen. After about 3 weeks, a copy of the markets and share prices was waiting for us when we walked into the branch and we were greeted wholeheartedly by all staff who had come to know us.

2 years later, when I was 12 years old, my dad took me to our local bank to buy my first share in a mid-sized company. I had only a small amount saved and in the early 90s, when internet banking and brokerage were still futuristic ideas, it was common to go and see your bank manager to invest in the stock market. For my lack of funds and the then existing minimum trade amount, my dad bought additional shares so I could, for the first time in my life, be the proud owner of 1 share in a listed company.

Why Captain-Finance.com?

Over the years I have done hundreds of management trainings and had the pleasure to meet thousands of interesting, inspiring, and extremely intelligent people. Yet, one area seemed to frequently have fallen short in their previous trainings and education: finance.

A few years ago, I ran a training session with 10 highly skilled individuals poised to take over some of the most luxurious restaurants and hotels. At one point, one participant asked me about share option programs as an effective human resource tool. I suddenly found myself amidst questions to explain the mechanisms of the stock market and how to find good investment opportunities and go about investing as a whole. These were some of the smartest and best in their respective industry and yet their financial knowledge was not on par.

A few days later, I ran a leadership course for a major company and the same questions popped up again. This is when I realized that in spite of the fantastic education, training, and high intellect, many lacked profound financial literacy, which is what led to the creation of Captain-Finance.com: A go-to source for financial information explaining scary and complex issues important to wealth creation in an understandable and hands on manner. Captain Finance is about making investing accessible to anyone while not forgetting about the awesomeness of life.

What do you consider financially successful?

To begin with, what is financial success? I believe that there are different types of financial success. When you are able to live off your interest without touching your principal, you are certainly financially successful. Similarly, being able to save and knowing where and how to invest is also a sign of financial success. Especially for those who are just starting out is the accumulation of substantial funds of utmost priority. And succeeding in doing so definitely means being financially successful.

What has your personal journey been like?

Well, it has been a lifelong journey. But just a few years ago when starting my PhD and Lehman Brothers collapsed, I found myself in a situation very different from the one I had anticipated. The funding I was promised fell through and I was faced with giving up or finding alternative ways to fund my goal. Left to my own devices after that sudden change, I had to do something that I advise everyone not to do: I had to sell when the markets were down. My contrary advice to others has always been to hold on to assets during market turmoil. Markets no longer function rationally, but are driven by panic. Eventually stocks will bounce back. This is why it is essential to only invest what one can live without. You certainly don’t want to end up selling when the prices are not in your favor. But at the time, with my savings draining quickly, I had to sell, as the unanticipated collapse of Lehman Brothers and the markets left me with no alternative choice.

Eventually I found myself in debt to pay for my education. I was devastated at the time after looking at what had only weeks before been a well stocked portfolio. But life goes on and understanding the power of finances, I quickly left the docks of debt and sailed to the harbors of financial fruitfulness. All I needed was some capital to set sail again to the golden shores of wealth and happiness. I kept fighting and eventually held 3 jobs while enrolled full-time in a PhD program. It was an extremely tough time, but paid off in the long-run. I will never forget the day when, after almost one year, I saw my first paycheck from a stable job cleared in my account. It allowed me to drop the other jobs and feel secure again. I had fought an entire year to get a full-time position as a lecturer and with it came consultancy contracts. The morning when I received the first funds after this long period of financial drought, I felt great relief and happiness. To celebrate, I quickly left the house and walked into the most expensive store in town to buy a fantastic pair of shoes. It was like Christmas, Easter, and my birthday all falling on the same day. It is only when you are really down that you can appreciate the wonderful things in life. And that is the moment when you need to reward yourself; when you need to thank yourself for enduring the tough times.

What can I learn on Captain-Finance.com?

Some blog articles will be about what methods I have used to speed up my galleon of financial power; while others explain the complexities and secrets of investing. There will also be tips from across the globe on enjoying the most awesome of lives without spending too much of your hard-earned cash.

But first and foremost, Captain Finance.com is about living a great life and reaching the golden shores of financial and personal happiness quicker.

While I was working in banking I was surrounded by financially savvy people. As I left banking, I encountered the same questions time and time again: ‘How can I invest my money? How do I save? And how do investments work?’ This is the reason for why I started to share my experience and knowledge on Captain-Finance.com. What might appear complex is indeed rather simple when properly explained.

Let’s now set sail and go on a successful, rich, enjoyable, and fulfilling journey of happiness both financially and in life.

 

Your Captain Finance