This is a guest post by . Nicola is the most knowledgeable engineer I know about personal finance — we talked about this in the past and thought it would be a great topic to explore.
This article gives you everything you need to know to get started: first principles, approaches, tools, and Nicola’s case study about how he manages his own finances.
When I started working in tech at the age of 18 and they told me about my first salary, I couldn't believe it. I was making more than most of the adults I knew at that time, and with basically no previous work experience.
Having so much money at your disposal at that age usually means just one thing: spending more than what you get.
And this is exactly what I did for years.
Then, when I started to mature a bit in my twenties, I became more cautious. But still, I was never able to save money, and believe me, I could have saved a lot.
It wasn't until my 30s, especially after having kids, that I understood that despite all my curiosity and passions, I had never studied one crucial topic: personal finance.
Today, I can say I'm educated in personal finance, and I've even managed to build some good savings. But I regret not doing that when I was in my early twenties, and that's why I decided to write this article.
I want to save you from making the same financial mistakes I did and help you start on the path to financial literacy much earlier than I did.
🚨 Disclaimer — what you'll read here is not financial advice, and you won't learn personal finance just by reading this. But I hope it will inspire you to dig deeper into some concepts I'll introduce here.
Here's what we'll cover:
🤔 Why personal finance is crucial for Engineers — high earning potential, career volatility, long-term impact
🏁 Getting started — know your numbers, set your financial goals, understand your risk tolerance
💼 The Engineer's money management toolkit — creating an emergency fund, saving accounts, bonds, ETFs, fun-money, etc.
📊 My asset allocation — a real example of how I allocated my assets and the thinking process behind that
📚 Resources — some good resources that will help you with personal finance
Ready to upgrade your financial knowledge?
Let's dive in!