In my Money Managers interview series, I interview notable members of the personal finance community. Generally, my interviewees are bloggers or professionals working in finance. In this article I interviewed Cristian Ferrier, creator of Financial Alien, a personal finance blog. I personally enjoy his style and how he is always willing to get into the fine details with his articles. Without further ado, let’s get into the interview!
For my readers who may not be familiar with you, would you please introduce yourself? Who are you? What do you do?
Hi. I’m Cristian Ferrier, a 34-year old father of two boys and a husband who immigrated from Bolivia at the age of 19. As a full-time job, I work as a Systems Engineer for the US government. In my spare time, I write on Financial Alien, a blog I started in February 2021.
What is your blog about, and in your opinion, what sets it apart from the others in your niche?
My blog is about personal finance, more specifically about the Financial Independence Retire Early (FIRE) movement and its related topics.
I find other personal finance bloggers make their blogs about themselves. I quickly found out that is not what I wanted to do with my blog. I didn’t want my blog to be about me but instead about my readers and what I can do to help them.
Every time I write an article on a particular topic, I try to make it the best I can, making sure I include as much relevant information as possible to help the reader.
Additionally, I’ve worked on creating and including infographics on most of my articles. Something rarely found on other finance blogs and that I believe helps me stand out.
When and why did you start blogging? Looking back, would you have gone about starting it differently?
I started blogging in February of 2021. I genuinely enjoy learning and talking about personal finance, and I wanted to share with others the things I’ve learned through the years that helped me in my financial journey.
I believe that financial literacy is something many people lack, yet at the same time is so important in our lives. But it doesn’t have to be complicated! You can make tremendous progress financially by following simple steps.
Are there bloggers, authors, or anyone else who has really inspired you?
There are. The guys at ChooseFI were a huge inspiration. They inspired me to change my financial habits and teach and help others through my blog.
JL Collins, the author of The Simple Path to Wealth, was a huge inspiration as well. Many, including myself, consider his book one of the best personal finance books there is.
What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced so far, both as a blogger and in your own personal finance journey?
In my financial journey, my wife and I had $80K in student loan debt at one point. We needed to do something, as the time to start paying them was quickly approaching. I got offered a job opportunity overseas, to Guantanamo Bay out of all places! And we decided to take it. In hindsight, that single decision was the catalyst to everything else that followed, allowing us not only to pay off the whole $80K student loan debt in 1 year but to build a $600K Net Worth within the following 4 years.
As a blogger, just learning everything that entails running a blog was challenging, at least at the beginning—article headlines, keyword research, SEO, site build and management, social media, etc. Not to mention the research involved before even starting to write on a particular topic. All that had a learning curve and presented a challenge, but now I feel like I have a system in place, and things are a bit easier. However, there is a lot to learn still. I’m still learning something new every day.
Time for a bit of a loaded question – what is your favorite type of investment and why (index funds, stocks, bonds, real estate, etc.)?
Index Funds by far. Around 90% of my portfolio is composed of Index Funds. The other 10% are Mutual Funds in sectors I like and believe in, such as Technology and Healthcare.
Now, I’m not the type that buys VTSAX or the equivalent Total Stock Market Index Fund, and that’s it. I like to diversify a little more. And so I hold a good mix of large, mid, and small-cap, plus international and real estate index funds.
Why index funds? Because of the simplicity. Index funds are indeed a set it and forget it type of investment. If you understand how the Stock Market works and has worked for the past century in the US, and understand compound interest, then index fund investing is a strategy that makes sense. It simply works.
At the end of the day, what is the main thing you hope your readers take away from your blog?
To educate themselves about personal finance. No matter where you are in your journey, whether paying off debt, looking for ways to save or make money, or just learning about investing, I want to show my readers that I’ve been there and went through all that.
I am an immigrant who came to the US as a 19-year old without knowing the language, without money. I am now on the path to reach financial independence and retire by the age of 39. I believe my story and message can inspire others to better their financial lives.
What’s the best piece of advice you received growing up? How did it shape you into the person you are today?
To focus on the solution instead of the problem. Too many people spend too much time and energy dwelling on why things are the way they are instead of focusing on how to change them and taking action.
We can think about why we are struggling financially, have a weight problem, or relationship issues. Or, we can instead focus on the things we can do to change all that and take the necessary action to make it happen.
Everyone views success differently. What personal metric do you use to define your own success?
I define success as simply achieving a goal I set for myself. This can be something small as “writing a blog post at least once a week” or “learning how to play the piano.” Or something more significant like “pay off $30K debt in 1 year” or “save $20K for a home downpayment”.
In the end, success is very personal. If you are happy with your life and the things you have achieved, you are successful.
People tend to struggle with finding a good work-life balance, especially these days. How do you manage? In other words, what’s an average weekday like for you?
I have a routine, a schedule. I still work a 9-5 job, which is my primary family provider, so of course, that still takes priority. As far as my blog, I try to put as much time as possible, as I believe it can grow into a business.
Besides that, I’m always spending some time with the kids and wife, either at home or going out. I try not to let work get in the way of family time.
What’s something you’re interested in – outside of blogging or personal finance?
I like working out, and I try to exercise at least 3-4 times a week. I enjoy watching sports as well, mainly soccer, basketball and Formula 1.
And, of course, family time. My youngest son and I have recently started learning how to play the piano, which I enjoy doing with him.
If you had to give advice to someone who has just joined the job market and started their personal finance journey, what would it be?
Start now; don’t wait to start saving and investing. Waiting just a year or two can translate into multiple tens of thousands missed by the time of retirement, given how much time you have to let compound interest do its magic.
And keep it simple. There is no need to chase the next get-rich-quick scheme. Learn about compound interest, and learn about Index Funds. Invest as much as you can as early as you can, and let compound interest and time do the rest.
Conclusion
I hope you enjoyed learning about Cristian and his views on personal finance as much as I did! If you liked what he had to say and want to see more, be sure to check out his blog, Financial Alien. As always, if you have any thoughts you’d like to contribute, add a comment!
