One of the main problems I see in our world is that people have no idea how to manage money. For example, in America, the land of opportunity and the wealthiest nation in the entire world, over 54% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, according to businessinsider.com. Countless marriages and families have been torn apart over the poor management of money and innumerable children no longer have both parents as a result. In high school and college, students often spend everything they earn on clothes, drugs, or alcohol. Oftentimes, they even spend the money their parents gave them for college on parties instead of tuition. As a result, they end up graduating from their university (if they don't drop out due to a financial crisis like many students) in massive amounts of debt they will be paying for almost their entire life. If these students had invested only 2,000 dollars per year in a mutual fund earning an average of 12% (the current average of the S&P 500), by the time they retired at 60, they would have over 2.4 million dollars! This is the power of money management. When people learn how to manage their funds, no matter how big or how small, they can handle any financial crisis that occurs and typically can retire with a very comfortable amount of money to live off of and give to others. Unfortunately, this concept of financial knowledge is not something that is typically taught to students in public schools. Kids and adults may be professionals at spending money, but when it comes to saving and investing for the future, they are sorely lacking. This problem may not at first seem to be as pressing as many other issues of the day, such as climate change, poverty in third world countries, and homelessness; however, when we put these issues into perspective and ask "what is one of the first steps to eradicating these issues?" we find that the answer is funding. Without funds, scientists will not have the money to research ways to fight climate change. Without funds, we do not have any way of buying food to support people in third-world countries. Without funds, we cannot build shelters and set up programs to assist the homeless. Where do we get these funds? From people who can manage money. Having financial management programs for both students still in school and for adults who have already graduated can help increase the number of individuals who can support themselves while also giving away part of their money for philanthropy. If even a small portion of people around the world could learn to manage their personal and business funds in a way that makes financial sense and sets them up for success, many of the world's problems could either be solved or reduced. Many more families could stick together since a major stressor would be removed. Millions more children in poverty could be fed. Even climate change could be slowed down due to an increase in funding for scientific research. While money can't by itself fix all of our mistakes and crises, financial literacy is the first step to a much better world. When people learn concepts such as compounding interest, making money work for them, and how to live debt-free, their lives and the lives of those around them, are completely changed. Poor money management may not be the only crisis our world is facing, but it is the most pressing.

The most important investing tip I plan on utilizing in my professional career is to invest in value-add opportunities. While it is easy to invest in something that is already earning consistent returns, it is much more lucrative to put your money into a product, service, or company that has the potential to drastically increase in value over a specified period. This is much more time-intensive than just following what the mainstream financial analysts predict; however, the upside potential is much greater. For example, once I graduate from college with my corporate finance degree, I plan on running a commercial real estate syndication that specializes in investing in class B apartment complexes. This is much more challenging than investing in class A apartment complexes since there is much more work involved with performing minor repairs, raising rents, and finding tenants, but the potential for a larger return is much greater. One thing to keep in mind with investing in value-add opportunities is that the risk increases with more opportunities to add value. For instance, if you find a company that has a huge potential to improve its technology and take a larger market share of its sector, there is a lot more risk as compared to a company that already has a large market share since there is more work involved and more potential problems to face. However, despite the risks, value-add opportunities can be incredibly lucrative with the right management.

The most important financial lesson I have ever learned is to make money work for me. Unlike the traditional mindset of working a 9-5 job, saving up money to pay for your kid's college and your own retirement, I plan on investing my money in real estate, start up companies, and stocks so that it is constantly growing. I first learned this lesson when listening to the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. At first, when I heard the phrase "Make money work for you," I was very confused. 'How in the world can money work for me when I am the one who has to work to earn it?' Later, as I started to analyze investment opportunities' to expand my knowledge base, I discovered just how money can work for you. By investing in stocks, real estate, or a start up company, your money is constantly growing. In fact, if you invest in stocks and leave it in the market for several years, you see it start to earn compound interest, which is earning interest off of the interest you have already earned. In other cases, such as real estate, when you invest in a rental property or even an apartment complex, you start to earn a consistent cashflow from the rent of your tenants. This allows you to earn money without having to actually do anything. I plan on using this principle of making money work for me once I get a job and can start investing my money. I want to have the ability to bless others and have the financial freedom to support my family throughout my life and I believe this financial lesson will get me there.

The most helpful piece of financial advice I ever received was to make money work for me. Unlike the traditional mindset of working a 9-5 job, saving up money to pay for your kid's college and your own retirement, I plan on investing my money in real estate, start up companies, and stocks so that it is constantly growing. I first heard this advice when listening to the book "Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki. At first, when I heard the phrase "Make money work for you," I was very confused. 'How in the world can money work for me when I am the one who has to work to earn it?' Later, as I started to analyze investment opportunities' to expand my knowledge base, I discovered just how money can work for you. By investing in stocks, real estate, or a start up company, your money is constantly growing. In fact, if you invest in stocks and leave it in the market for several years, you see it start to earn compound interest, which is earning interest off of the interest you have already earned. In other cases, such as real estate, when you invest in a rental property or even an apartment complex, you start to earn a consistent cashflow from the rent of your tenants. This allows you to earn money without having to actually do anything. I plan on using this principle of making money work for me once I get a job and can start investing my money. I want to have the ability to bless others and have the financial freedom to support my family throughout my life and I believe this piece of financial advice will get me there.

I plan on following in my father's footsteps and opening my own real estate finance company. Since I have been immersed in the field for my entire life, I feel as though I already have years of experience in both real estate and finance. However, I plan on taking a different spin to my company than what most people typically think of. Instead of just helping people find a home or investment deal and figuring out how to finance it, I hope to integrate software as an integral part of my business. Areas in real estate such as property management are highly underdeveloped digitally and have huge potential to grow. I hope to be one of the main catalysts in the development of this field by bringing online programs, apps, and software codes to help consumers find homes, investment properties, and apartments. I plan on integrating apps that function as property managers so that investors can save money on property management fees and tenants can experience a higher level of customer service.

As a highly influential figure, I would stand for unity between people of various beliefs and backgrounds. Currently, there are many different issues facing our nation and the entire world such as climate change, gun rights, equality, and immigration. However, instead of coming together as one human race and attempting to solve these problems, people are becoming more and more divided over what they think the answer should be. They refuse to compromise with others and accept ideas that are not their own. This is especially apparent in recent years as we see groups such as conservatives and liberals literally fighting each other to the death in protests or rallies. The amount of hate our nation is internally experiencing is unprecedented and unless we become willing to put aside our differences and work together, this problem will only worsen. When I become successful enough in my career to have a widespread influence on others, I hope to spread this same message of unity and outline steps for us to get there. First, we need to start at our most polarized groups, such as those in the political arena, and choose to prioritize the internal unity and long-term survival of our nation over oftentimes trivial issues that won't even exist for more than 10-20 years. Next, we need to train up the next generation of leaders to be willing to put the needs of others' above themselves and to help those who are struggling rather than just debate about them. Lastly, we need to change the attitude of this nation to where we are truly one nation (not fractured into hundreds of polarized groups) under God.

The biggest problem facing our world right now is division. There are many other important issues at hand, such as climate change, equality, diversity, and the makeup of our political system. However, unless we are willing to come together and work in unity to solve these problems, nothing will ever get done. This is something we have seen repeated over and over again in history: people refuse to work with those they disagree with and postpone finding a solution until they can work with someone they like. Unfortunately, what usually happens when people choose to postpone problems is that the problem gets worse and people become more and more divided. Take for instance the current issue of equality. There are two main groups in this issue: those who are fighting for equality (whether it be for women, those of color, or even immigrants), and then there are others who believe we already have enough equality in the world. Currently, these two groups refuse to work together to find a solution that will benefit everyone. As a result, the issue is getting worse and the crack of division is getting deeper. As Abraham Lincoln so famously said, "A divided house cannot stand."

I love the fact that I am a hard worker and will not stop fighting for what I believe. This is something I often came to experience when competing in speech and debate during my years in high school. I would sometimes have to spend twenty or more hours each week to research and prepare for what I was planning on speaking on during a tournament. However, my hard work often paid off as I had several opportunities to share my personal experience with adoption, father figures, and many other deep topics with my judges, audience, and even fellow competitors. I am so thankful to be have able to bless people through speech and debate and help change the world. I hope there will continue to be young men and women in future generations, even in this current generation, who choose to step up and fight for what they believe.