Catching up with Pinyo from Moolanomy

Posted by DebtKid :: February 2, 2008 @ 8:02 am

Have you always had an interest in finance?

First, thank you for the opportunity to work with you on this interview. I don't know if I can say I was interested in finance, because I was so young. I guess it's more accurate to say I was a little kid who wanted to have a lot of money. My first business was a BBS system (this was prior to the Web as we know it), and that didn't make any money. I also tried a couple of investments, which turned out to be get rich quick schemes. I honestly didn't learn proper money management and investing until after college.

What made you decide to start a personal finance blog?

I started Moolanomy in July of last year. I knew my wife would be staying at home for a few months after she gives birth. At that point, I started Moolanomy to focus more on my finance, and to build an alternative income stream to make up for my wife's income. I felt that personal finance is a good niche for me to focus on because I have done fairly well financially and felt that I have something valuable to share.

You mention that you’ve been investing for over 10 years. How old were you when you first starting investing? How did your first investments go?

You probably got the decade number from my post, "12 Investing Mistakes I’ve Made, and How You Can Learn From Them." I didn't start investing until 1996, or about 11 years ago. I wish I had learned about investing and the stock market sooner, but my situation wasn't conducive to an early start. Neither one of my parents invests in the stock market, nor was money management part of education, so I was on my own.

I don't remember how it all started, but I remember that I had an account with Dean Witter and did very well with my Staples shares. After investing with them for about a year, I felt I was paying too much fees so I switched to Charles Schwab. I did badly on my own for about two years and things got better from there.

Any advice you would give first time investors?

Sure. For new investor, my advice is pay off your debt and start investing as early as you can -- a decade can make a huge difference due to compounding. If you're brand new at it, forget about individual stocks for a while and ignore hot stock picks and tips from the media. Instead, invest in low-cost ETFs to create globally diversified portfolio of investment in various asset classes. Also, try to maximize the use of tax-sheltered accounts like IRA and 401k.

What has been your experience so far with peer-to-peer investing or borrowing?

Well, my experience has been good so far, but it's also very limited. I am strictly a lender on these networks. Right now, I have 3 active loans on Prosper and 2 on LendingClub.com. I feel that both have their pluses and minuses, but I have nothing negative to say about them at the moment.

As a growing industry, do you think P2P investments should fit into an investor's portfolio?

In term of having P2P investments as a standard part of an investor's portfolio, I think it's certainly feasible but I don't think we are quite there yet. For instance:

• I would like to see these online networks become more established as business entities. My money is committed for 3 years when I lend it out. I understand that there is no guarantee that I would get my money back if my borrowers default. However, I want some kinds of guarantee that Prosper and LendingClub.com can't simply shut down their web sites one day and walk away.
• Also, there should be a way for a lender to early terminate his contracts either by selling them back to the network or to other lenders. Without this ability, P2P investment will not be as attractive as it could be.

Tell us one thing about yourself that you’ve never shared on your blog!

I am already sharing a few things I never told anyone on the blog before, but you have to be a regular reader to figure what they are.

Personal finance blogs have really come into their own the last year or two. Why do you think that is?

I am sorry to say that I've never follow any personal finance blog before I started Moolanomy. It wasn't until I started that I realized how many personal finance blogs are out there already. I was surprised by the size and quality of content found on some of these blogs. They were simply beyond expectation.

What is the M-network?

The M-network is a network of personal finance bloggers that I established about a month after I started Moolanomy. Back then, I was looking for ways to increase the reach and readership of my blog. One of the ideas that came to me was to work with a group personal finance blogs with similar size and age to help promote and grow each other -- and that's how the M-network was formed. Currently, our membership includes:

• Being Frugal
• Cash Money Life
• Gather Little By Little
• I’ve Paid For This Twice Already…
• Moolanomy
• My Two Dollars
• Plonkee Money
• Single Guy Money
• The Dough Roller

They are all excellent blogs and I highly recommend them.

If you could only share one money tip, what would it be and why?

Automate as many things as you can, and do them little by little. This way you don't have to waste your time doing the same thing over and over again, and you don't have to worry about coming up with a big chunk o f money at any given time.

What do you do when you’re not blogging?

I probably spend too much time blogging right now. Otherwise, it's either working at my job, or helping my wife to take care of the baby. One thing I want to do is to get myself motivated enough to go ride my bicycle around the neighborhood more; especially during the summer time. I used to ride over a thousand miles each summer before I got married. I haven't been as motivated since. I should be riding more to improve my health.

Any famous last words?

Hasta la vista baby? Actually, I would love to see your readers come over to Moolanomy and see what's there. I believe I have a lot of good financial information to offer, and would like the opportunity to exchange thoughts and ideas with them.