Stefan J. Contorno was born in New York City and later relocated to SW Florida in 2008. He has been a financial advisor in Bonita Springs, FL. with 22 years of experience in the finance industry. And now, the first vice president at Ubs Financial Services Inc.. With his passion for entrepreneurship and helping people build their stable and long-term financial growth, he and his team, “Wealth Management Team”, has been working tirelessly to share the knowledge.
When to start your own investment management?
“Covid changed a lot but we didn’t get as much interest (in financial management) as we would have thought we would have had. To me, that’s both interesting and maybe a little troublesome as well. They should be taught at a very, very early age.”
Years ago, Stefan and his team pursued to educate a lot of young students on the basics of finance. He started approaching local schools on the west coast of Florida. At the moment, Stefan and his business partners teach a course at a local university.
What are the mistakes in wealth management?
“Procrastination. That depends on what age group you’re in because there’s always a reason to put it off. When you’re in your twenties; you’re young, you have student debt most likely, you’re not making as much money as you will. Ultimately one day, so maybe it’s not the right time.
Although looking at various types of retirement, type of accounts implants makes sense at that age but procrastination in your twenties definitely is something that comes to mind.
In the thirties, we starts to develop and have a family. You will be buying a home. You will be getting maybe a mortgage. It will not be so simple to save money. Once people reach their forties, they are a little bit more settled in their careers. They’re starting to make more money.
But once you get to the 40s and 50s, you even find yourself having to take care of not only your children, sometimes your parents. The roles reversed.
My point is that most people procrastinate because it’s never really the best time to do it. I would say that one of the most important things is just to start as early as possible.”
What are the basics of financial management?
There are no pressures when it comes to saving money. But if you want to have successful and steady adulthood, you should start saving money in your 20s, even in small amounts. If you have that mindset and want to do it properly, here are 5 principles you need to learn and practice religiously:
- Consistency – Know how much you save and spend on salary day. Save the same amount or more if possible.
- Timeliness – Save when you can afford it. On a certain day of the month or week, choose a perfect day for you to save.
- Reasons – Knowing your goals when saving money plays a big role in being consistent and timely. Your reasons keep the fire burning. You should also be specific about how you spend and why you should buy.
- Document – Write all your transactions on paper or in a spreadsheet.
- Review – At the end of every month or day, learn to review your transactions. Keep this question in mind; do I really need it?
According to Stefan, you should also learn the basics of investment:
- What are stocks?
- What are bonds?
- What are liabilities?
- What are good debt and bad debt?
- Estate planning
- Properly titling your accounts
- Make sure you have a will
Learn more from Stefan Contorno in his interview with us here.