I started to realize that having money was the way to always ensure
stability in life.
And so I never really wanted to spend it.
Always wanted to save it and of course, grow it.
And that just started to become my idea for financial literacy and
improving my finances and just save the money, but also figure out a way to grow it.
My name is Terzel Ron.
I'm 25-years-old.
I make about $150,000 a year and I live in Los Angeles, California.
I also do some television production in terms of interviewing cast members things of that nature
and really booking people for digital initiatives.
Things that can perform really well on digital platforms.
I actually recently covered Rolling Loud LA.
I'll be covering the Sundance Film Festival very soon.
So I do a lot of hosting and reporting as well as writing.
So I do work every single day and I have been working every single day for probably 5 years now.
I love it. I love having a strong work ethic.
I feel like it's always taking steps towards what I want to be doing in the future, which is hosting a
production.
So my girlfriend and I have been together for 4 years.
Outside of myself, she is the biggest hustler I know.
She has her own fashion brand.
I grew up in the South Bronx, in New York City, in a one-bedroom apartment.
My parents moved there from Guyana and I was about 2 -years-old when I started to live in New
York and experience the culture.
I grew up in a family of six and we were all illegal immigrants, so money was not
something that we had a lot of access to.
And economically things were rough growing up.
I started to really realize that school was the way to achieve more financial success later down the
road. I moved
between sophomore year and junior year.
I did not want to go to a new high school and start all of my academic achievement all over again.
Sometimes it was very hard in terms of eating.
In terms of sleeping.
I wouldn't end up leaving school until about 6 or 7 p.m.
to get back home around 10:00 p.m.
And I had to wake up at 5:00 a.m.
to leave at 6:00 a.m. the next day.
So all of the hustle paid off when I got a full academic scholarship to NYU.
When I was there, I always knew that I wanted to be in television production.
Most of my expenses with my girlfriend are split 50/ 50, such as the rent, but we do take different
bills. I'm more than happy to pay the entire balance.
However, my girlfriend really insists on paying half.
For my food budget, my girlfriend and I have a couple of spots that we like to go to.
It's not like we're going to a new spot to try out, like a five-star restaurant or something like that.
So my food budget is actually pretty simple.
Just groceries, Target, restaurants.
I have a used 2018 Honda Civic.
Being that I work from home, I don't have to use my car as often as a normal person.
Whenever I'm hosting or interviewing somebody and I have to be at a specific place, that's when I spend
the most on gas and that's when I used my car the most.
I actually don't have my own health insurance.
I am on my mom's plan until I'm 26.
I have to pay for a lot of expenses out-of-pocket still, because her insurance is not the best.
Luckily, I have multiple reserves of money to pull from, if needed.
I don't like to necessarily splurge on anything, especially things for myself.
But in terms of doing that for other people, I'm more than happy to buy someone, like, my brother a laptop
if he needs it. If I were to splurge on anything, it'll probably be travel tickets.
But because I'm so passionate about what I do, I don't necessarily do many other things for fun.
Growing up, I had a lot of health issues, and so did my mom.
And seeing these health issues really bothered me and made me realize the importance of having health
insurance. I actually grew up missing a tooth in front of my mouth until it's 18.
Until I was a freshman at NYU.
And so I always wanted braces.
My family never had money for braces and I sort of realized that I needed to get that money myself.
On top of the missing tooth, I had a condition called hyperhidrosis, scoliosis.
I had battles with anxiety and depression.
All of these conditions combined really made me insecure growing up.
This really made me a workhorse.
It made me develop an insane work ethic.
I always had three jobs.
I have three jobs today and I wouldn't be where I am today without those sort of setbacks early on in
life. Aside from my regular health expenses and dealing with all of the health
conditions that I do have, mental health is something that is extremely important to me and it's
something that I've taken numerous steps to improve on.
Therapy is something that I realized at NYU that could be really beneficial for me.
I do spend about $150 a month on a therapist and make sure that I journal and
get to the best, most optimal mental health space.
So I would say that I save about $4,000 to $6,000 a month.
I put a lot of that money into investments that I keep a couple at different accounts so
that I don't get carried away and say,
"Hey, this is a big number in one account."
I do have a Roth IRA.
And I also have a Sep IRA.
I've recently transferred my SEP funds to my Roth, but I don't necessarily have a target for how much
money I want by retirement.
I just know that it's important to start saving for retirement, even at the age of 25.
So I do try to diversify my investments and not put all of my eggs in one basket in terms of investments.
I do have money in cryptocurrency.
I've invested, I'd say, probably $10,000 in cryptocurrency that has more than quadrupled at this
point. I have investments in Ethereum, Bitcoin, but also Chainlink and a bunch of other
smaller coins.
I'm very interested in seeing the future of cryptocurrency and seeing where it takes me.
The most important lesson that I've learned about money is actually something that I've always known
about money, which is save money and money will save you.
I 1,000,000% will not be anything that I am without my parents.
I have the greatest parents in the world.
My parents have been together for 40 years and they've instilled in me the importance of working
hard. And so for next year, I really am going to focus on real estate, and I feel like it's very
important for me to own property.
My younger self would be very proud of me, and actually, I'm not surprised that I am where I am
today. Because when I was 16, going through 2 and a half hours to get to school and eating once a day.
And even at that point at 16, I wrote down by 25, I'll be making well over six figures.
By 30, I'll be a millionaire.
That's always been my goal.