Today is the 21st edition of our new periodic guest post series called 10 Questions. We have a list of 17 NEW questions we pose to fellow financial bloggers, and they are free to pick and choose 10 or answer all of them. Let us know if you would like to be featured in a future edition of 10 Questions. (If you have already answered the first set of 10 questions, please feel free to answer these new ones.)
Today’s 10 Questions features Andy from Student Loan Hero. Andy graduated with $104,000 in student loan debt and found it difficult to get good advice on how to navigate the repayment waters. He started Student Loan Hero to help other recent graduates:
“Our goal is to help student loan borrowers understand their student loans and make intelligent repayment decisions.”
Tell me about your blog and why it’s great.
We make confusing financial stuff easy to understand! What’s more awesome than that?! Also, we focus on topics that primarily relate to young adults. Since most young adults can’t afford a financial advisor or CFP to work with, we want to help them navigate all the crazy financial ups and downs of their late 20’s and early 30’s.
Tell me how you’re going to change the world with your blog (dream big or don’t dream at all!).
Our blog is just our way of educating our customers on financial topics. Our free student loan tool, Student Loan Hero, is really the cool stuff! The app pulls in your student loan information, collects some socio-economic information, and then spits our customized student loan repayment recommendations based on your financial situation.
1500 Days is about early retirement. Do you have early retirement dreams? At what age do you think you will retire?
Retirement has a bad connotation. I don’t think most of us want to retire, but rather have control of how we spend our time and energy. My goal is to save up a few million dollars in a nest egg that I can live off of, while pursuing activities I love.
When you are 90 and look back on your life, what do you hope you have accomplished?
I hope I lived a life worth remembering. I hope to be a successful entrepreneur and business leader, and well respected by my family and community. I also hope that I’ll have played a role in helping others become financially stable and wealthy.
What is the best money management or investment tool you have come across?
My net worth is roughly -$90,000, as I am still working my way out of student loans! I don’t use a money manager or investment tool, but have been considering Lending Club, Acorns, and Betterment as easy ways for me to get started with investing while retaining short-term liquidity.
Did you grow up with money? How did your money situation growing up influence you?
I did not grow up surrounded by money. My family was low to middle income. As kids we were the last on the block with the new Nintendo system, and our parents often gamified chores around the house to earn our allowance. Not having money was always in the back of my mind, and I strongly believe it made me work harder and smarter to achieve it.
Did your parents teach you about money as a kid? How so?
My parents taught me very early on about savings and entrepreneurship. In fact, I started my first venture, a landscaping company, when I was 15! I started the landscaping company because I had to pay for wrestling tournaments and camps that I wanted to attend, and since I was so busy I didn’t have time to work at the grocery store or become a waiter. Instead I learned I could make $40/hour cutting grass.
What is your favorite style of beer – and what is your favorite beer in that style?
I’m a big fan of lagers and Kolsch. For lagers, it’s a toss-up between Yuengling (America’s Oldest Brewery) or Hofbrau Original (given it’s almost Oktoberfest time!) For a Kolsch, I like Captain’s Kolsch by Captain Lawrence Brewery.
We notice a lot of frugal people are into board games – what is your favorite?
Ha! I didn’t take notice of this. My favorite board game is Risk because it is all about world domination, how American, right? Honestly though, I like the strategy and game theory involved.
What is the best thing you’ve read lately.
I recently read “Delivering Happiness” by Tony Hsieh. It’s a fun and easy business book with real life stories that revolves around solid principles. As a follow-up, I am now reading the “The Amazon Way” by Jon Rossman, which discusses the core principles that guide Amazon’s culture.
Thanks Andy for your answers today and I wish you the best of luck in your mission! While I’m an old fart and my loans are long paid off, I clearly remember being in your boat. Graduating with $60,000 in debt was overwhelming: “Congratulations graduate! Brace yourself for the bill that’s going to show up at your doorstep in 6 months! Hope you liked college! Also hope you majored in something worthwhile do you can pay off the bill!”
Please check Andy out over at Student Loan Hero.
Hi Andy! Thanks for doing this interview. I just looked at the Student Loan Hero site and am excited to check out the app in the near future. (I’m finishing grad school in December and will need to pay back a lot of loans starting in January.)
It’s really inspiring, too, to hear that you currently owe tens of thousands in loans (as do I), but are approaching this in an positive and proactive way. Hearing stories like this makes me feel less alone in my student debt situation. Thanks again!
Sarah Noelle recently posted…October Challenge: Week Two Completed!
Great blog, love the article about the student loans. I remember those not very fun days years ago when the harsh reality hits of having to pay them back.