Interview with Jason of the Pragmatic Finance Blog

This is the 20th in a series of interviews HelpYourMoney.com is doing of other personal finance bloggers.

An Interview with Jason of the Pragmatic Finance Blog:

1. First, can you please introduce yourself and tell us why you started your personal finance blog?

Well, my name is Jason. I am a college student in my early twenties and am majoring in physics. A little over a year ago I began to get really interested in finance. I guess it all started when I began to read about different deals online and ways to be more frugal and save money. Over time it kind of evolved into other financial and investment related topics too.

I had seen blogs but had only read them occasionally. Many times I thought that I should start my own blog when I would read a post that I agreed or disagreed with. Of course, when I learned something new or thought of something a blogger didn’t cover in his discussion, I would also get the urge.

I finally went through with it, telling myself it would be a great way to consolidate information I had and to keep myself accountable. I honestly expected to quit within a few weeks.

2. Do you feel you are on the right track to reaching your financial goals and what are they?

I have mostly set short term goals that I have accomplished such as fully funding my Roth IRA for the last two years and increasing my net worth to a certain amount by the start of the fall. Most of my long term goals are abstract concepts at this point such as creating a passive source of income and developing a career that I love.

I think that this blog has helped me think more about entrepreneurial pursuits so I think it has helped in that sense. I have started my retirement savings and have become pretty frugal so I think I am definitely on track to have the ability to retire by age 60.

3. Do you work in the financial industry? If so, do you want to share where?

I am still in college but so far my only professional work has been science related. However, lately I have been pondering the idea of a career in the financial industry.

4. If you had to recommend just one financial related book, what would it be?

Most of the time my opinion on the best book or movie is my current favorite one. Right now I have been reading The Book of Investing Wisdom edited by Peter Krass. It is a compilation of some of the classic writings of the great investors. So far it seems like a really good read for someone that is fairly new to this world.

5. If you had to recommend just one financial related magazine, what would it be?

I do most of my reading from the internet or books. I can’t really say much about any of the good magazines.

6. If you had to recommend just one or two financial related websites (besides your own and that is not a blog), what would it be?

Investopedia is my current favorite. It has a ton of knowledge there.

Another site I like to skim is the finance forums at fatwallet.com. This was one of the first sources of information for me when I was becoming interested in personal finance. I think I was intrigued by the fact that there was a totally different mindset towards finance than I was used to.

7. What is one of the WORST financial related decisions you ever made?

Spending money because I had it. I suppose that’s typical of the 18 to 24 crowd but it was something I did as well. One thing that really comes to mind is purchasing a top of the line computer about 4 or 5 years ago when I my old one worked pretty good.

I am willing to be that if I hadn’t gotten into finance when I did my biggest mistake would have been different. I was seriously considering using money I saved up from working during the summer as a down payment on a new car last year. My current one may have crossed the 100k mark but it still runs great and doesn’t need to be replaced.

8. What is one of the BEST financial related decisions you ever made?

Easy. Opening up and fully funding my Roth IRA. I’m sure I don’t have to go over the importance of compounding interest for anyone reading a personal finance blog.

9. Do You Trade Individual Stocks and If so recommend your favorite 3 to 5 picks?

I am actually taking a class about stocks right now so I hope to be able to answer that question better in a couple of months. Most of my picks so far have been based on vague ideas about the economy and what knowledge I can pick up about a company from everyday experiences and reading what the experts say.

10. If you could give our readers just one financial related tip, what would it be?

I am sure you’ve read countless ideas about spending less than you make, putting money up for retirement as early as possible, and other ways to enhance your net worth. There is one thing that comes to mind that I don’t see talked about much: discussing finance and money with your children and teenagers. Too many people my age know almost nothing about personal finance and probably won’t learn until they have a real job and begin to pay off the massive credit card debt they accumulated. It really shouldn’t be a taboo subject.

11. Is there anything else you would like to share with our readers?

I would recommend doing your best to improve your finances but don’t make it the only important aspect of your life. Sometimes I think that I focus on money matters more than I should. It is a great idea to get your financial house in order but there are many other things in life to enjoy too.

As far as my blog goes, I am always open to suggestions, advice, or even criticisms. Feel free to comment or email with any questions or ideas you have.

>> Visit Jason’s Pragmatic Finance Blog.