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In the COVID era in 2020, at the age of 35, I started investing for the first time in my life. I wish I was told the importance of investing when I was younger. I cannot go back and its never too late to get started, but here are some lessons I would tell myself if I could go back:

1 – Save Emergency fund – $1000-2000 OR if you can save for next 6 months <in case of Job loss or life incidences>. …. but #2 first!

2 – Pay down highest interest Credit/Loan first. Looks a no-brainer and yet people fall in for paying the interests. Pay down credit card fully each month – even better if you don’t use the credit card!

3 – A penny saved is 1.5 pennies earned – look for discounts. Example, you saved $1000 on a buying a car, saving this money is equivalent to getting a raise of $1500 in your paycheck – because of taxes !

4 – Start investing as early in life as you can.

5 – Earning profits is slow and losing money is fast – look for minimizing losses. Warren Buffett said – Get Rich Slow! Example – to make $500 out of $100, you need 400% profit; however when losing – $500 to $100 is only 80% loss.

6 – Invest in Roth IRA, if you qualify and maximize it. If you don’t, invest in IRA and transfer money to Roth account. No tax in Roth earnings although money you put in is after tax while in IRA the money is not taxed while earnings when you take out are taxed.

7 – Diversify – Invest in Mutual Funds, ETFs, S&P 500, Multiple Sectors, Bonds, Gold, International Funds, International Bonds.

8 – Create monthly budget – If you are single, great! If not, do it with your partner every month. Stick to it and know where your money is going.

9 – Detach emotions with money – No need to celebrate the profits or mourn the losses. Just keep learning – repeat what has worked, stay away where your hands have burned!

10 – Think longer term – Keep a significant chunk of your investments towards retirement, while keep a play-money to invest in the growing market. Generally – Investments pay higher when untouched for long term (3-5 years or more!) Day trading is stressful, do it only as a professional else work-life balance will be jeopardize.

11 – Limit to 3-4 gurus – There are tonnes of advisors and news flashes from all around. Find 3-4 investors who have proven themselves for last 5-8 years and stick to them. Although, this doesn’t mean they will be profitable in future too, but the likelihood is higher and it is less stressful to invest! I had followed ChickenGenius (Youtube), ARK Invest, Chris Perruna (Twitter – cperruna), and Ben (bahamaben9).

12 – Dollar Cost Average – Pour slow, take out slow – For longer term, Invest every month/week and when you need money take small amount you need every month/week. This way you dollar-average out growing or falling market.

13 – Dont invest in more than 10 companies at a time for swing trades.

14 – Set Stop losses, but if you trust a company, then dont set’em! When the rate of a stock falls, Stop losses are triggered and the selling increases and rates go down further, then buyers take over. Be cautious with your Stop losses.

15 – Multiple streams of income – Even if it is 5% of your main income, try to generate a parallel stream of income (and it could come from Swing trading).

16 – Best college? – I did the perfect analysis on where to go for Masters and nothing could have gone wrong! Well, my decision went south! Your aptitude will take you to places. Your curiosity and problem solving will work harder for you then your degree. People from average colleges have impressed me while the professionals from E&Y, Microsoft, Harvard, etc. were biggest STUPIDs I have met !! College does matter but only for the kick-start. From the same schools, with same education (sometimes off the siblings – Mukesh and Anil Ambani for example) – kings and pawns are made!

17 – Fraud is common/normal in the Corporate World. Don’t go by ratings and reviews, ask difficult questions, test assumptions, and only when you are fully satisfied – follow a firm/Executive!

18 – Read, Read, Read – Read at least 3 books on the topics you want to know more. Make reading a routine.

19 – Options Trading is a No, No for newbies!

20 – Buy the hype, sell the news!

Here are some cakes that are Stutified:

When I started public speaking, I noticed that in some speeches, I was very confident, while some speeches I felt like leaving the stage in the middle of my presentation. Here are some take-aways that have helped me as I struggled and survived through my speeches. This is not a comprehensive list, but a sure shot starter package. You will have your own list as you grow!

1. Start out loud

I noticed that in my few speeches, I started soft and my energy level only went down from there, my confidence only faded from there, my message only lost the impact from there. Then, I had a different opening of my same speech, for which I had to speak my first few sentences aloud … I noticed that audience gave their 100% attention and were with me and understood my message. This gave me confidence to continue and complete my speech without worrying about am I making an impact?

2. Prepare Well

Work on the material that you intend to present. Know which line, statement, gesture is there in the speech and why? Get all the data and numbers corrected and verified; know the sources. Give your speech to a mentor, friend, or a relative for a quick review. Once, you know that your material is ready and is going to add a bit to the audience knowledge, you are ready to practice.

For all my big platform speeches, I do thorough research, do a spell check, get my grammar corrected, get a proofreading done; this help me improve the quality /standard  of my speeches.

3. Keep an easy structure

Structure/organize your speech in an easy to follow format. This will help you memorize your entire speech and not worry (too much) about forgetting it. E.g I have three steps to address this problem and they are A, B, C. We will now go in detail of each of these steps to see how it works! OR have an acronym defined, E.g: SWIM, S stands for …. Strength, W-Wellness, I- Integrity, and M- Mindfulness. Take note cards with you for back up.

I usually keep a transition line when moving from one topic/story to other and I also keep a body gesture that go along with that line (mostly a walk across the stage or in certain character!)

4. Practice

 My mentors told me that there is nothing called over-practice when it comes to public speaking! Practice hard. The more you practice, the better you would feel about your speech. Practice it alone, in front of a mirror, in your car, in front of someone whom you are comfortable with. Record the audio and listen to it as frequently as you could. Maybe a watching a video of yourself. Sometimes I just watch my video on mute to observe some body-language patterns or any habits that I must address! Before delivering the speech to the big audience, practice in front of dummy audience (be it your family members!)

5. Don’t judge yourself while delivering and … continue till the end

Never evaluate yourself while delivering your speech. Your hands and legs might shake, stomach might churn, heart rate increases; but audience does not notice that. Don’t worry about a little mud on the shoes, or if your make up still on or if you have gained some weight or is your outfit wrinkly? You got my point, right?  Audience (most of them) do not care about how you feel about and within yourself; instead they just look for what advice/message you can give to them. Remember, even if you are stuck, take a deep breathe, glance into your notes and step into the presentation with the same confidence. Remember, your audience would appreciate if you complete your speech instead of leaving them hanging !

Finally, relax – you are ready! Just do 2 minutes of Square breathing (In-Hold-Out-Hold), and walk up to the stage with full swing !