A Financed Life -Project Summary
By David Lopez
Blog Post #1 - Friday, May 28th
​What progress have you made on your project this week?
As seen on my daily work logs I have begun my research onto the topic of personal finance. I put a majority of the amount of the formatting the guide. I wanted to divide the guide into two sections the first which is "How To Spend" and the second which is "How to Save" I spent a majority of the time working on the research for the sections and nearly completing the section on How To Spend. This section has links for more in depth explanations in specific topics I also added images to accompany the writing
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What is the most significant thing that you learned from your research this week?
One of the most significant things I learned was just how uneducated a lot of people are in terms of personal finance. In my research I found how many people struggled with credit card debt and handling emergencies in which they need $400 immediately. But one of the biggest things that surprised me was that a significant amount of those who made 100k-150k a year could not raise $2000 for an emergency this was also helpful as I plan to later use this stat for my "Spending Mentality" which I will go over how the issue can be the mentality you have rather than making more money (Example: 70% of lottery winners end up broke after a few years)
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What is a struggle you are facing with your senior project?
I hadn't anticipated how short of a time I would have in terms of this project. There is a lot I want to do but I feel I should around taking on more work than I can complete in the time I have. For my second section on "How to Save" I want to be able to complete it in time without sacrifice any major aspects of the topic. I don't want my project to seem incomplete or rushed but I also want to focus on more quality information than quantity of information. This balance will need to be carefully made and should be planned ahead.
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What changes are you making in your project for next week? What is your plan moving forward?
I am making the change of being able to finish my guide in time given that we will be completing the back half of my two topics. I feel this change will be less or prioritizing time and rather being able to have clear picture of the work I plan to do. The issue isn't that I lack the time but rather I do not want to have an uneven amount of content with one topic having a more in depth look as the other. I also want to include more links into the terminology I use a change I am making following feedback I gt from one of my classmates.
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Describe something from your work that you may share during your Exit Interview?
I will share the importance felt on personal fiance and why it has motivated me to not only pursue as a career but also as a topic on the Co-OP. I want to also discuss the way in which my time at High Tech has prepared me in terms of my explanations and research in being able to present it in a format that is not simply an essay but rather a more visual appealing
Images
1. An index fund that has grown consistently
2. Showing how the index fund has consistently grown in the past 30 years
(These two images will be apart of my second section of my guide that I will work on the next week)
3. My potato plant
(I have been growing a potato plant for a little over a month now. It was planed with an ordinary russet potato)
Blog Post #2 - Friday, June 6th
​​What progress have you made on your project this week?
This week I have spent time completing the research I wanted to do on how to spend money and began and concluded my work on how to save. With both of these sections completed my guide overall has concluded. I have also (after turning 18) opened up my first investment account and included my experience in it as a part of my guide.
​​What is the most significant thing that you learned from your research this week?
Without a doubt the importance of budgeting. Even something as simple as breaking your income into 2-3 categories (savings, needs, wants) is helpful in encouraging people to avoid needless spending and or when they do spend their money to make the most of this.
​​What is a struggle you are facing with your senior project?
Time was most definitely one of the hardest things when it came to working on this project. I love the personal financial information and when it came to explaining it their was a lot I wanted to include and talk about but with both a lack of time and my desire not to overwhelm my audience.
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​​​What changes are you making in your project for next week? What is your plan moving forward?
Moving forward I plan to keep working on my research but I am not sure if I will be adding everything to my guide on my DP. The research and information is helpful but when it comes to adding it on my guide on my DP I find it takes a little longer to format write and implement accompanying images
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​​Describe something from your work that you may share during your Exit Interview?
On Thursday I had my exit interview in which I explained my financial guide and the challenges I faced. If I had more time (given the 5 minutes I had) I would have talked more about my rise in interest in personal finance and the higher importance I felt it was as I learned more. However this is less about the project a a whole and rather my motivation behind it.
Daily Work Log Link
https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/18f9JwseH0Q--zbAovJtVpzYqo2dIQ99FX2wA1RvSou8/edit?usp=sharing
Source Document
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