This is a website designed to share ideas with how to make money, save money, and invest money during your years as a student. I created it because your 20s and 30s are the best time to invest but most people rationalize not saving money because they are making little or no money during their time as students. I think that's a lousy excuse so while I've been in college over the past ten plus years (as an undergrad, Masters, and now Doctoral student) I've learned all about investing and have started socking money away.

Getting by while covering tuition, housing, books, and other costs requires a lot of creativity, but it's easier than you might think. This website will walk you through various ways of making money, saving money, and investing money. The financial education that you gain during the college years may be as important as the formal education you are receiving. It's a good thing that you've decided to do something about it.

Getting Started - The most common question I am ever asked about personal finance is "How do I get started?" That question should be answered in different ways for different people but I'll tell you parts of how I got started combined with what other "experts" say about it.

What's in this website?

• About ROAI - I've been a college student for a decade now and recently started teaching. Go here to read about my story.
• Articles - Short articles I've written about how to save, make, and invest your money while in school.
• Book Reviews - I do a lot of reading about fincial literacy and have started writing short reviews of some of those books.
• Resources - There is a lot of good information out there. Here's I'll point you to what I think the best recources are.

Reader submitted articles

Fight away the debt blues. Steering clear of unwanted debt is a great way to live a happy life. There is no quick way out of this financial mayhem. It can be cured only through proper and timely treatment. Your awareness and prompt action can help you write off your debt-problem. Stop asking yourself "Will I ever get through this? “. Instead ask "When will I be through this?”.  This is because debt is not an unsolvable problem. The first step towards a debt-free life is frugal living. You should start taking a few measures once you are in debt. (read more)...

Interested in submitting your own article? Click here.

Most recent book reviews

I envision this site one day being a great repository for book reviews. Unfortunately this dream is slow in coming due to the other demands on my time. Expect a few reviews to pop up over the summer. In the meantime, here is a recent review of a book I actually recommend

	The Elements of Investing - Burton G. Malkiel & Charles D. Ellis (2009) is a quick read that gives sound financial advice.   It is, however, difficult to understand who the intended audience is.  Malkiel and Ellis discuss the very basic elements of investing in stocks, but the writing is somewhat jargony and not well suited to novices or young adults.  Also, while they write knowledgeably about the investment vehicles they are most familiar with (stocks and bonds), they don’t make any real effort to address other investment vehicles (real estate, small business ownership, etc.).  Overall this is a good book that reviews sound financial principles, but it isn’t the classic it was intended to be.
	Stop acting Rich ...and start living like a real millionaire - Thomas J. Stanley. Reviewed June 2010. If you want to live like the millionaire next door, live in a house that is within your means and is the nicest house on the block. This book builds on his excellent book "The Millionaire Next Door" by restating what he said in that book--most of the wealthy in America are people who don't look rich but drive sensible cars, where modest clothing, and save a lot of money. These are usually entrepreneurs, not doctors, lawyers, and mid-level managers. So you "live like a real millionaire" by making modest purchases and saving the rest.
	Automatic Wealth for Grads... and anyone else just starting out - Michael Masterson (2006). Reviewed July 2009. This is a great little book on how to be a more productive employee, invest in stocks, real estate, and small businesses, and how to get your dream job.  At least 50% of this book is copy and pasted from his earlier book “Automatic Wealth” with additions including a great chapter on job hunting (picking the right job, interview and resume tips, etc), a short section on stock picking and taxes, and a chapter on wine tasting (a complete waste of space to me).  More...

My Favorite Personal Finance Websites

The right column shows all the websites and blogs that might be useful to you in learning about managing your money. The column on the left shows some valuable forms where you can talk to others in a situation similar to your own. Here I outline a few of my favorite websites.

• Get Rich Slowly - Member of the money blog network. This is "Personal finance that makes cents. "
• I'll Teach you to be Rich - Written by a recent Stanford grad, this is a blog on personal finance (banking, saving, budgeting and investing) and personal entrepreneurship .
• Penny Foolish - A personal finance blog that targets individuals under the age of 30.
• The Digerati Life - Another blog coming out of Silicon Valley, this one is a blog about money, personal finance, geeks and cyberspace.
• Grad Money Matters - One of only a very few blogs online that discuss finances for college students, in this case graduate students.
• The Simple Dollar - The Simple Dollar is an exploration of personal finance from the perspective of a late-twentysomething who just realized that he needs to get a grip on his money. I love this site because it has tons of book reviews.

If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions for this site please email me.