Maria’s Note: For this week’s guest edition, we hand the reins to colleague Teeka Tiwari. Like Nomi, Teeka started his career on Wall Street at a young age.
They both got their start in 1987 – the year of the infamous Black Monday crash. And, like Nomi, Teeka walked away from that career after 15 years – to help average folks achieve financial independence.
In this essay, Teeka shares three habits you can adopt today to grow your wealth – no matter where you’re starting. Read on…
I owe my success to America…
If you’ve heard my accent, you know it’s a mishmash of a New York City and an English accent. My friends describe it as “Brooklish” (as in Brooklyn and English).
I wasn’t born here. I grew up in Britain’s foster care system…
I lived in a cramped, unheated room on top of a garage. At night, I watched my breath coil into a frigid mist.
And the future looked as bleak as my tiny room. Since I was 12 years old, I’ve wanted to work in the stock market. I once told my school job counselor this.
His response? He told me I should focus on manual labor. “Be a telephone repairman,” he said.
I knew in my heart that my future was in the financial markets.
As a teenager trapped in the foster care system, I soon realized no one would rescue me… Which meant I had to rescue myself.
So when I turned 16, I left for America.
With just $150 in my pocket, I set a course for the financial capital of the world – New York City.
And what I found changed my life forever.
It was 1987, and New York City was full of enormous opportunity… obscene luxury… and bottomless wealth – all right beside crippling poverty.
I worked three jobs. I even offered to work for free on Wall Street until this guy named Frank gave me a shot.
I started as an assistant for big-time brokers and eventually became a big-time broker myself.
In two years, I became the youngest vice president in Shearson Lehman’s history. And after 15 years on Wall Street, I left to run my own hedge fund for a decade before retiring.
I was never happy on Wall Street.
Sure, the money was good, but something was missing. I couldn’t shake the feeling I was going through life as a taker, not a giver. And that just didn’t sit well with me.
I couldn’t enjoy my wealth because the higher I rose through the ranks, the richer I got… And the more I noticed the widening gap between the elite …….
