About Me

Hello world,

In 2012, I started my academic journey in Engineering. It wasn’t my lifelong dream — honestly, I had no clear aspirations — but it was engaging enough. During a university job fair, I attended a talk by a PhD student about the doctoral experience. Hearing about endless lab hours, job instability, and the expectation to move countries frequently, I decided right then, in my second year of Bachelor’s, that I would never do a PhD. (I think you can see where this is going.)

For my Master’s thesis, I had to do lab work. I was one of the lucky ones who got paid for it. After defending my thesis, I was offered the chance to stay for a PhD. I thought, “Why enter the job market now when I can have four years of paid salary?” So, I stayed. Those four years turned into six.

During my PhD, I lived through a global pandemic, got married, and had two family members battle cancer (one survived, the other didn’t). I often questioned if the time I dedicated to science was worth it, and if jumping between precarious fellowships was all life had in store for me. During my honeymoon, I had a taste of a ‘rich life’ that I couldn’t fathom, which led me to wonder if I needed to be trapped in a job I disliked with poor pay. Life can and should be more than that.

I fell down a rabbit hole of learning how to be smart with money (aka investing). I constantly read and listened to podcasts to learn how to do more with what I had (both money and myself). This, along with the concept of ‘early retirement,’ inspired my spouse and me to write our PhD theses on a sabbatical through Southeast Asia without going broke.

Fast forward to now, and I’ve landed in the United States, a capitalist paradise and investment wonderland. Here, money moves at lightning speed. With countless books on personal finance, podcasts, and gurus, I initially thought no one would care what I had to say. But considering that less than 20% of the US population has a Roth IRA, I believe there’s still much work to be done.