Episode 81
Start Small Now, Win Big Later! Investing Lessons Your Future Self Will Love You For
Hey friends, welcome back to Campus Chronicles!
Today’s episode is called Start Small Now, Win Big Later! Investing Lessons Your Future Self Will Love You For, and trust me, this conversation will shift how you think about money, mindset, and investing as a student.
I’m joined by the incredible Kevin Roche, a seasoned investment advisor who now teaches college students how to take control of their finances, grow their wealth, and build a future they’re excited about.
This isn’t boring financial jargon. We’re breaking down the real-life difference between saving and investing, how to start investing with any budget, and why the small steps you take now can lead to serious financial freedom after graduation.
If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by money management or unsure about where to begin with investing, this episode is your roadmap.
What you’ll learn:
- Why no amount is too small to start investing in college
- How compound interest builds wealth over time
- The clear difference between saving money and investing for your future
- How to face your finances with confidence instead of fear
- Kevin’s top 3 money tips for university students building a better financial future
Transcript
University life can be a bit of a maze. Right? Don't worry.
Speaker:Campus Chronicles is here to be your guide.
Speaker:It's your go to spot for tackling the big questions, sharing a laugh
Speaker:and everything else that comes with navigating campus life.
Speaker:Think of it as the resource and the sounding board that I wish I
Speaker:had back in my uni days. And I am so excited to share it
Speaker:with you. My goal is to leave you feeling
Speaker:inspired, energized, and ready to chase after your boldest dreams.
Speaker:Let's jump in. Hello! Hello everyone! I am so excited to introduce you
Speaker:to this wonderful guest that we have today.
Speaker:His name is Kevin Roche and he is a veteran in the investment world.
Speaker:And I know that world can be so challenging to understand,
Speaker:but Kevin is here to break it down for us and we are so appreciative
Speaker:to have you. Thank you very much. And veteran is just another way to
Speaker:say I'm old. So thank you very much. A kind way to say what I do and
Speaker:who I am. Well, Kevin, you do a lot
Speaker:because you're involved in the investment world, but you're also
Speaker:involved in the education side. Teaching undergraduates about
Speaker:how to manage their money. But before we get into all of
Speaker:that jazz, give us a little insight into who you are.
Speaker:Your background story? Sure. I spent over 25 years as an analyst
Speaker:working for a company, uh, investing in stocks and individual bonds.
Speaker:And then I rose to the ranks of portfolio manager and a member
Speaker:of a strategic committee for for fixed income.
Speaker:I ran over $1 billion in pension fund money for pensions around the world.
Speaker:And then I decided to launch my own investment advisory business
Speaker:for large family offices, private businesses or family
Speaker:owned businesses. And then I decided I was looking at
Speaker:the next generation and knowing that the next generation is someone who's
Speaker:going to be running their money or growing and accumulating wealth.
Speaker:And I needed to understand how could I connect and deliver a
Speaker:message that had relevance to them? I love that relevance to them,
Speaker:because the way that the business world has changed is tremendous,
Speaker:especially with the rise of TikTok and influence.
Speaker:And I think that there's so much misinformation about personal
Speaker:finance. When we think about the internet.
Speaker:Right. I don't think it's so much
Speaker:misinformation, but I think it is a specific
Speaker:message about a specific topic. And I think when someone tries to
Speaker:apply a specific message to a general topic, it often creates a disaster.
Speaker:So one of the things that I encourage students to do,
Speaker:or young adults and adults just entering the workforce is to really
Speaker:learn the basics and foundational principles of investment management.
Speaker:So before we shift into that, were you always interested in money?
Speaker:Was it always a passion for you? It was not. I was in college.
Speaker:I graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature.
Speaker:I was sitting in a class for a masters in English Literature and
Speaker:decided to not do this anymore, and closed my books and walked out.
Speaker:I also worked for the Department of Justice, uh, for a little bit
Speaker:of time to get my feet wet in just getting a job in the early 90s.
Speaker:And from there, I wanted to really pursue investment management.
Speaker:So I, I started on the on the very ground floor of customer service
Speaker:for Fidelity Investments or for a large investment advisory firm And
Speaker:worked on people's retirement plans, just helping them.
Speaker:From a company perspective, helping them with their their
Speaker:plan specific investments, uh allocation withdrawals,
Speaker:um management of how how they can handle retirement and,
Speaker:and the cash withdrawals and all the responsibilities associated
Speaker:with that. And that's probably where the
Speaker:passion grew. It did it was something of because I,
Speaker:I grew up, uh, one of five boys. Uh, my parents were both educators,
Speaker:and it was something that was entirely different from from
Speaker:what my family had. Uh, we had been exposed to.
Speaker:But it was always something that you you started at the.
Speaker:I started to see this accumulation of of wealth and
Speaker:how that could be beneficial. And so when we looked at retirement
Speaker:plans or when I started in this customer service area, talking to
Speaker:people about the retirement plans. These are people who have jobs.
Speaker:They work hard, they contribute to a plan, and now they're
Speaker:looking for that next chapter. And how are they fundamentally or
Speaker:financially prepared to be able to live out those, those golden years?
Speaker:And when we think about, you know, on the other end of the spectrum,
Speaker:young people, there's a big balance between wanting to live
Speaker:your life and enjoy your life and then being responsible in terms
Speaker:of planning for your future. How do you think people strike that?
Speaker:Right. So it's it's a really
Speaker:interesting thing. Um, and one of the,
Speaker:one of the first things that I teach is we look at life as a,
Speaker:as a bell curve and where the preparation for today really helps
Speaker:in the benefits of tomorrow. And so if you start to
Speaker:contribute or accumulate wealth at an earlier age or early age,
Speaker:it's going to it's going to compound, which means it's going to grow
Speaker:upon itself or in and of itself. And then when it's time for
Speaker:those withdrawals, you don't have to work as hard.
Speaker:So, you know, we always say, um, it's a, it's a younger man's game.
Speaker:It's a younger person's game in terms of, of working hard.
Speaker:And it's a variety of reasons. When you when you think about it,
Speaker:you, you start off at a modest salary,
Speaker:you learn, you gain experience, and then you gain expertise and you're
Speaker:getting paid for that expertise. But at some point, someone else
Speaker:will also be gaining expertise. And can an employer hire that
Speaker:person more cheaply, or have you just lost that relevance?
Speaker:Um, and are too expensive. You've essentially priced yourself
Speaker:out of a market and having the, the nest egg or having that balance
Speaker:that you've accumulated over the years from when starting at an
Speaker:early age or early age to invest. That gives you the cushion and
Speaker:freedom. The financial freedom to do what
Speaker:you're passionate about. To rediscover why you did
Speaker:something in the first place. And it's it's a great it's a
Speaker:great story because as a, as a 20 something year old,
Speaker:you have this vision or this dream of being someone or being something,
Speaker:experiencing something. And you know, through that hard work
Speaker:you're going to achieve that and the ability to do so financially, the
Speaker:ability to achieve that goal has a financial cost or financial benefit.
Speaker:If everything is put in place, you can now make that dream a reality.
Speaker:And that freedom is something that I think people don't know
Speaker:how to define or or should look to and and take that as a,
Speaker:a map to get to where you want to be. I love that word freedom.
Speaker:That's beautiful. And I think we all want that.
Speaker:And so many people, myself included, for a long time,
Speaker:felt that saving was the way to get there. Versus investing.
Speaker:Can you break down why saving is important, but you still need to
Speaker:focus on investment because I think there's there's maybe some not to
Speaker:say misinformation, but there's a little bit of confusion there. Sure.
Speaker:Well, well savings is it really. And let's take it into two
Speaker:different silos. So savings is used for your for
Speaker:your working capital or for your day to day function.
Speaker:So if you're paying your bills, if you've got rent,
Speaker:if you've got a car payment, if you've got a student loan payment,
Speaker:that's where your savings comes in. So it's being able to to afford how
Speaker:do you live on a day to day basis. And then you've got something
Speaker:left over that might be a disposable income.
Speaker:Whatever's left over from from paying your expenses or paying
Speaker:for your your daily living. That savings or that disposable
Speaker:income can be broken down into two parts.
Speaker:A little bit would be used for going out for dinner or going to a concert.
Speaker:Um, maybe saving up for a vacation. Something that's going to be shorter
Speaker:term in nature, where the the need is shorter term in nature.
Speaker:Whereas investing is something that's going to be a longer term horizon.
Speaker:And that horizon is going to be, let's say, something in excess of
Speaker:three years and and going forward. So you're not going to need that
Speaker:cash right away. But the reason we invest is because
Speaker:of this rule of compounding. And so if we assume that in year
Speaker:one we have a 10% return. Well, if you compound on that,
Speaker:the next return is going to be 10% of 110 or 1.10. So that becomes 1.21.
Speaker:And then it just continues to build up throughout that that time frame.
Speaker:And that's the difference between investing.
Speaker:Investing is really this this compounding effect of making
Speaker:money in one year and then using that same amount, that new amount
Speaker:or new balance of money and then getting the similar or same rate.
Speaker:And that just grows exponentially. So it's a it's a great exercise.
Speaker:And I would say there's a number of financial calculators to be
Speaker:able to look at with regards to the compounding.
Speaker:So you know the difference. Again for savings it is an
Speaker:immediate need. And investing is a longer term goal,
Speaker:longer term dream. What would you say to someone who
Speaker:is fearful that the amount they have to invest is too small?
Speaker:No amount is too small? Everybody has to start somewhere.
Speaker:And I think that's some of the challenges are some of the the
Speaker:misinformation of, um, instant gratification or this
Speaker:instant overnight success. And I think you have to you have
Speaker:to look at this, um, you have to look at this as a,
Speaker:a marathon rather than a sprint. And, you know,
Speaker:when you when you think about that, you can't really get to the finish
Speaker:any faster than someone else. And so with the investing,
Speaker:that misconception is that I'm going to I'm going to put in a small
Speaker:amount and it's going to grow 100 x. And the ability to do that is so
Speaker:infrequent that it, it almost becomes, uh, deficient, uh,
Speaker:in terms of, of your ability to, to gain success or to,
Speaker:to find a way for success. So that's, um, that's the challenge.
Speaker:And I think if we if we look at that small amount, that small amount
Speaker:will grow and just continue to grow throughout the course of the year.
Speaker:The important thing is that if you do it steadily, it will that small
Speaker:amount that becomes a big amount. I've read a lot.
Speaker:That consistency is so important. Right.
Speaker:And I think that that applies to many things, not just in finance,
Speaker:but it's it's with life. It is it's with your education.
Speaker:It's with reading and staying up on current events.
Speaker:It's with trying to trying to do something as simple as,
Speaker:as running or, you know, every part that, that we get to in our,
Speaker:our lives is through consistency and that that's really what matters
Speaker:in terms of having having habits which then become routine and that
Speaker:will ultimately lead to success. And staying disciplined in terms
Speaker:of finance, staying the course. I have a I have a saying, Um,
Speaker:that the concept is easy. The execution is hard.
Speaker:And if if we all agree that it's, you know, I'm going to I'm going
Speaker:to make $1 million or I'm going to go to this school,
Speaker:or I'm going to lose weight, or I'm going to run that,
Speaker:that marathon, or if I'm going to do whatever, that's a great plan.
Speaker:And the plan might be simple. I'm just going to wake up every
Speaker:morning and I'm going to do this where I'm going to save, uh,
Speaker:20% of my salary. And the execution gets a little
Speaker:hard because life gets in the way. There might be things that we
Speaker:want to do, or there might be spontaneous things that we, uh,
Speaker:that occur that come up. And the important thing is if if
Speaker:it's always, as you mentioned, it's a it's a bit of discipline,
Speaker:but it's also giving yourself a little bit of grace and knowing
Speaker:that you can make small mistakes where you can do, smaller amounts,
Speaker:but the important thing is, however, however you decide you
Speaker:want to make that choice. Maybe it's if I'm investing $100 and
Speaker:I really only want to invest 50 this time around, then just invest the 50
Speaker:and know that you've contributed something rather than nothing.
Speaker:Something is much better than nothing. I love that.
Speaker:I know for me at least, I've been intimidated to look at my finances,
Speaker:to think about my money. In the past. Not so much now.
Speaker:What do you say to someone who is intimidated?
Speaker:Because I think it can be very confronting to look at your own
Speaker:numbers. Sure. The the importance of of, I think the
Speaker:realization looking at your numbers and it's not going to go away.
Speaker:Um, in like anything, if you ignore a problem, it only gets bigger.
Speaker:So if you can tackle that head on, if you can, um, rip the band aid off,
Speaker:if you will, then it's going to make all the difference,
Speaker:because being able to confront the issue allows you to create a plan.
Speaker:And I think the other part is knowing that you don't have to
Speaker:go at it alone. I think that there are there are
Speaker:always members of of your family or friends who can you can lean
Speaker:on or who might have the same exercise as, as you were the
Speaker:same issues that you have. Um, you know, it's it's a difficulty
Speaker:in that being able to acknowledge it, but also being able to ask for help,
Speaker:I think is an important part. Mhm. I love that.
Speaker:And the students that you teach, how do you see their perception
Speaker:around finance change. They're working with you,
Speaker:learning from you. Well I wonder one of the most
Speaker:important things that I always start each class with is what's
Speaker:happening in the world today. And it. It has a lot of latitude.
Speaker:It could be anything from a a sports team who, who maybe had a great game
Speaker:last night or someone who lost. It could be something about a
Speaker:company acquiring another company. It could be about earnings.
Speaker:It could be about the government. It could be about something from
Speaker:a another country. The important thing is to really
Speaker:look at it as a globalization. And then what I like to do is to
Speaker:take that lesson or those talking points that we started
Speaker:in the beginning of class, and to apply them into what lesson
Speaker:would be in in class for that day. And what that means is really if
Speaker:we're talking about stocks and financial statement analysis, which I
Speaker:think people in class they enjoy. But again, it's something that
Speaker:they probably looked at a couple of semesters prior and then they
Speaker:just forgot about it. I take a I take that company and
Speaker:will actually download the financial statements and we,
Speaker:we just start to go through and piece the ratios and understand the
Speaker:definitions and meaning behind them, so we can apply that.
Speaker:And then if we talk about investment management where we talk about
Speaker:something called asset allocation, we can talk about why this company
Speaker:is different from another company and how we look at not just from
Speaker:the the individual security or individual stocks, but also about the
Speaker:portfolio and portfolio construction. And so what the students have learned
Speaker:is that the the top down approach or portfolio construction can,
Speaker:can mean a number of different, uh, different things.
Speaker:Um, generally it's it's the same. It's a diversified selection of
Speaker:investment ideas, whereas the security selection
Speaker:is just one idea and really taking a very granular approach.
Speaker:And so what we try to do is, is get the student from the
Speaker:analyst who selects the ideas, selects the the companies to
Speaker:become the portfolio manager. And we're all our own portfolio
Speaker:managers. We're all going to be managing our
Speaker:own for one case where our Roth IRAs, and we have to pick and choose
Speaker:how much money we're going to commit to an idea,
Speaker:or to a mutual fund or to an ETF. And the students have said that
Speaker:they they really enjoy they really enjoy that aspect of it.
Speaker:The other thing that we do is, um, which I've been very promotional
Speaker:about with the with my department is finding and mentoring students
Speaker:to come up with a, an investment idea and a research report,
Speaker:and learning the ins and outs of a company to be able to present that.
Speaker:And it's something that they can take with them, not just that knowledge
Speaker:from class, but also to interviews. They can take it into their into
Speaker:their first and second jobs and then start start from a strong foundation.
Speaker:I love that because it's a very active role. Right.
Speaker:And I think that's the way mentorship, especially with with
Speaker:finance, should be. Um, I was I was very fortunate
Speaker:when I started out again being a liberal arts major.
Speaker:Uh, I went to business school at night, and I had a portfolio
Speaker:manager who I worked for. We were in we were in business
Speaker:school together, and he was very kind with his time and letting
Speaker:me know his thoughts in terms of trades he was making, how we, uh,
Speaker:how we were going to work on, on an allocation for for the portfolios.
Speaker:Um, how he looked at the world, what were some of the important
Speaker:aspects? And I just I was a sponge. I took that information.
Speaker:And that was almost 30 years ago. And I still retained that, uh,
Speaker:the the importance of connecting the dots because by themselves,
Speaker:they might be a certain data point. But when you connect them and look
Speaker:at the information that is being shared between various dot plots
Speaker:or data points of of information, it really helps you take a, a,
Speaker:A or get a clearer picture of what's happening in the markets or what's
Speaker:happening to a company or a sector. And that's really what I try to
Speaker:instill in, in my students or the the individuals that I mentor.
Speaker:Okay, everybody, you heard it from Kevin. Be a sponge.
Speaker:Being a sponge is a very, very good thing.
Speaker:Now, Kevin, there's a question that I ask a lot of the people who come
Speaker:on the podcast and very excited to hear what you've got to say.
Speaker:If you were going to give three pieces of advice to university
Speaker:students, what would the three pieces of advice be?
Speaker:Well, I think the first piece of advice is communication under one of
Speaker:the one of the key things that I think is being able to communicate.
Speaker:And I'll use as an example. I left the corporate world about
Speaker:eight years ago to launch my own business.
Speaker:Um, and I was very buttoned up, and I took a job.
Speaker:Well, while I had some time off to teach English to, uh,
Speaker:to students in China. And these were elementary
Speaker:students ages ten and below. And I failed the interview twice
Speaker:because I my ability to communicate to a younger audience,
Speaker:to elementary students and thinking I was an animated person was not
Speaker:enough to to get me over that hurdle. And it hurt. It hurt someone.
Speaker:Who is this partner in a an investment firm who wore a suit every
Speaker:day, who had a team of 12 analysts. And I was told that I was not
Speaker:good enough to be, that I didn't communicate well enough to five
Speaker:year olds. And it was eye opening. It was know your audience.
Speaker:And so, you know, I would say as, as students just starting out your
Speaker:audience when you're starting out or older individuals, they are they
Speaker:are people who you need to connect with on a, on a information level,
Speaker:but also on a dialect level. So, you know, how we communicate
Speaker:is going to to be key. And listening to the tenor, listening
Speaker:to the cadence of one's speech, is it too fast or is it a little slower?
Speaker:If you can mirror them and a little bit replicate what they're doing.
Speaker:It's going to be it's it's going to give you a leg up because
Speaker:then they can connect with you on a conversational level.
Speaker:It's a very important part. The second the second thing I would
Speaker:say is don't be afraid to fail. I think failure is probably the
Speaker:the underrated success story. And the reason I say that is if
Speaker:you fail at something, you understand how important it is
Speaker:to you, and you have two choices. You're either going to keep
Speaker:going after it, or you're going to find something else that
Speaker:you're more passionate about. So success or failure,
Speaker:and in this case, failure really depends on how passionate you
Speaker:are to continue to pursue that. A lot of people are going to be
Speaker:told no. Uh, probably as you're looking for
Speaker:jobs, you'll you'll send things out to 30, 40, 50 people and employers.
Speaker:You might only hear back from three of those people.
Speaker:Don't take it personally. Um, and those those maybe, uh,
Speaker:maybe rejection letters. But if something that you want to do,
Speaker:then you need to continue to pursue it.
Speaker:I didn't get to where I was because the first person offered me a job.
Speaker:I probably was told no hundreds of times.
Speaker:And that's that helps you learn and helps you grow.
Speaker:And and looking at yourself, uh, from a 360 perspective can help
Speaker:you with that. And the third thing I would say is,
Speaker:you know. Be relevant. And and what does that mean?
Speaker:It means in the, in the world of corporate finance or in the
Speaker:corporate world overall. Right. You want to make a mark for yourself
Speaker:or make a name for yourself. So take on those projects, volunteer
Speaker:to to work with an older group, or try and and be part of something
Speaker:that is bigger than yourself. Um, be relevant to your friends,
Speaker:right? That time that you have is it's
Speaker:finite. And when we think about the
Speaker:finiteness of of the time, it's not going to be spent on your phone,
Speaker:right? It's not a parallel plate. It's something of a moment.
Speaker:And share that. Be relevant to your friends and
Speaker:then be relevant to yourself. Right. Self-care is is huge.
Speaker:Mental health is huge. So be relevant to yourself.
Speaker:You can't put off a fear. You can't put off taking care of
Speaker:yourself. Because again, if you don't address
Speaker:a problem or you don't just give yourself some grace, it becomes,
Speaker:uh, it could become an issue. I love all three of those points,
Speaker:but the first one, the first story about communication was beautiful.
Speaker:Everyone, you need to listen to that again because it is so
Speaker:incredibly important, as is all the things Kevin said.
Speaker:Kevin, is there a a quote, a mantra, a song that you love your lifetime?
Speaker:Well. Gosh. Um. You know, I, I,
Speaker:I know the one my wife gave you, which was, which is always funny.
Speaker:Um, and your daughter gave a song. That she gave a song.
Speaker:I am, I'm kind of the other way. I, I look at the, uh,
Speaker:the the Theodore Roosevelt quote, the man in the arena. I like that.
Speaker:And the very simplest way is, you know, whether you whether
Speaker:you have a critic who tells you they can do it better,
Speaker:you're the person who is doing it, and you do it the way that you want.
Speaker:Mhm. That is beautiful. That is simple I love that that
Speaker:speaks to me today. No. Good. Yes. So, Kevin, as we wrap up here, if
Speaker:somebody wants to follow you or learn more, where do they go? Um, yeah.
Speaker:I'm not really on on social media, to be honest. I love that.
Speaker:See, Kevin is preserving his brain, his mental and emotional health.
Speaker:So when he said self-care is important, I'm just going to put
Speaker:in a plug for being unplugged, everyone, because I feel safe.
Speaker:I would say if you want to reach out to me,
Speaker:I am someone who looks on LinkedIn. Uh, I answer messages and, um,
Speaker:and again, I but I'm not a social media person. Um, yeah.
Speaker:And take a page out of his book, because it is one of the best
Speaker:decisions you can make, even if you can only make it for
Speaker:an hour a day or two hours a day, or a couple hours a week.
Speaker:Being away from social media, to reiterate, is really one of
Speaker:the best decisions you can make, but I'm really appreciative of
Speaker:you spending your time and your energy with us and sharing all
Speaker:your incredible insights. We are so grateful. Thank you.
Speaker:Appreciate having me. Yes, and thank you so much for
Speaker:joining us on another episode of the Campus Chronicles podcast.
Speaker:Thank you for joining me on Campus Chronicles.
Speaker:I hope you found our discussion informative, inspiring,
Speaker:entertaining, and fun. We are always working hard to
Speaker:make sure that our episodes are the very best they can be,
Speaker:which means we need your help. If you liked what you heard,
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Speaker:students who are hungry for success. And remember, the journey never
Speaker:stops. Keep listening. Keep learning. Keep growing.
Speaker:See you next week for another amazing episode of Campus Chronicles.
