Happy to say I've managed to complete my bring back blog pact by publishing 3 posts on my website this month 💪🏽

Now all that's left is to keep posting regularly 🙌🏽

Thanks for putting together this little experiment @ashsmash & @RypeArts!

https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1620362005281656833

For a long time. I've wanted a short domain name but akash[dot]com was taken a long time ago

Recently found out you can register .lol domains

So, I bought akash.lol today (lol)

Currently just redirects to my site but might do something more with it later

Published my first post on my website today: Why you need a personal website

Give it a read and tell me what you think of it 👇🏽
https://akashgoswami.com/articles/why-you-need-a-personal-website/

Also a massive shout out to @type__error, @bradleyjkemp, @Mappletons, @apvarun & @spacebuffer who all inspired me to redesign my website 🙌🏽

Why you need a personal website

I've signed up for @RypeArts & @ashsmash's experiment to bring back blogging! 📝

Over the next month, I'll be posting directly on my website (and cross-posting here) so stay tuned!

https://twitter.com/ashsmash/status/1608121231076888576

As a reminder, here's a preview of the first piece I'm planning to post this Sunday 🌞

https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1607730536205930497

Also, would recommend checking out all the interesting blogs currently on the list!

There's some really interesting stuff here 👇
https://bringback.blog/

Joining the Bring Back Blogging Experiment

I've recently found a (mostly) personal finance blog online called @wokesalaryman

Really love the comic-style format they have going

It's targeted at Singaporeans but I found quite a lot of the content they've posted to be really interesting & relevant

My favourites so far 👇

What you need to know about inflation 📈

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1552954597144412160

Why your energy bill is soaring ⚡

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1541658226487619584

Questions to ask before giving your money to wealth gurus 💸
(I recommend reading the longer version linked further down the thread)

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1530165211529113601

Timeless principles to increase your income 🤑

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1569976351406587904

A story on failing to achieve financial independence early 💰

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1531879241792761856

Why you need to stop saying "money cannot buy happiness" 💷 ➡️ 😁
https://thewokesalaryman.com/2019/07/01/why-you-need-to-stop-saying-money-cannot-buy-happiness/

Being average ⚖️

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1557929780653084672

Batman retires 🦇🦸‍♂️

https://twitter.com/wokesalaryman/status/1522103911813103616

Why people leave high-paying jobs 🏃‍♂️💨
https://thewokesalaryman.com/2022/02/11/why-people-leave-even-the-most-high-paying-jobs/

Career pitfalls you need to avoid in your twenties 🚧
https://thewokesalaryman.com/2019/11/18/career-pitfalls-you-seriously-need-to-avoid-in-your-twenties/

What to consider before asking for a higher salary 🤔
https://thewokesalaryman.com/2020/11/04/the-one-thing-to-consider-before-asking-for-a-higher-salary/

Yes, there's a post on coffee as well ☕
https://thewokesalaryman.com/2021/10/15/lets-settle-it-does-drinking-coffee-really-make-you-broke/

My favourite posts from The Woke Salary Man

So I came up with a card system that lets me earn rewards regardless of where I am 👇
• Spending in GBP: Amex Rewards card (1 MRP/£1)
• Spending in EUR/KR/RON in Europe: Virgin Atlantic Rewards card (0.75 points/£1)
•Spending everywhere else: Chase UK debit card (1% cashback)

You might be wondering why I have so many cards? 🤔

I would like to use my Amex card everywhere but they charge a 2.99% fx fee on foreign transactions and it's not accepted everywhere because it's an American Express card

The Virgin Atlantic Rewards card is a MasterCard but also charges 2.99% on foreign transactions (excluding spending in Europe in EUR/KR/RON)

That's where the Chase debit card comes in hand ✨

It charges no fx fees and also earns 1% cashback (with 5% interest on round-ups)

The Chase UK card has the added benefit of no ATM fees at Chase US ATMs and I can still earn up to 750 Virgin Red Points fee-free by using my Virgin Atlantic Rewards card via my Curve card in a 30-day period ✈️

Obviously, with the credit cards, I made sure I always pay these off in full so I'm never charged any interest


Maximising Rewards Cards

Folks tend to forget wealth is not all just about money

Took me a while to realise that time wealth and physical wealth are a lot more important than the other two types of wealth

I'm going to be giving a personal finance talk at You Got This In Cyberspace!

Your time is a limited resource - That's why I think it's important to buy it back when you can

This will also be my first @yougotthisconf event as a speaker! 

📆 Conference day - 15th January 2022
🗣 Covering 9 talks on core skills you should know
🎟️ Tickets are free! 
📝 Sign up to attend via the @yougotthisconf website 👇
https://yougotthis.io/events/cyberspace/

Additionally, you can check out some of the past talks from previous events here as well 👇
https://yougotthis.io/talks

Speaking at You Got This In Cyberspace

🥇 BITCOIN 101 THREAD 🥇

This year El Salvador made #Bitcoin legal tender 🇸🇻

Tesla and Microstrategy have bought billions of dollars worth of bitcoins 💸

But what actually is Bitcoin?

Here's a guide to everything you NEED to know about Bitcoin ($BTC)

THREAD BELOW 👇

Bitcoin fast facts 🏃‍♂️💨

• Bitcoin is a digital cryptocurrency created in 2009

• It allows individuals & companies to send money directly to each other without relying on third parties

• It is decentralised (like email) - no one person, company or government controls it

• Bitcoin has a fixed supply of 21 million coins

• Each coin can be split into smaller amounts, like a pizza 🍕

• The smallest unit of Bitcoin is called a 'satoshi' (or sat for short)

• Bitcoins are stored in software applications called 'wallets'

• It's secured using public-key cryptography (a fancy way of saying using encryption) 🔑 

• Bitcoins are sent peer to peer using a network of computers spread out across the world 🖥️ 

• Payments are sent quickly - for comparison, an ACH transfer takes a few business days 🐌

So, who created Bitcoin?

• In 2008, a white paper was shared on a cryptography blog by a user called Satoshi Nakamoto 🕵️‍♂️

• Nakamoto created the first version of Bitcoin, but in late 2010 Nakamoto vanished

• To this date, no one knows the true identity of Satoshi Nakamoto

• Other developers have since continued working on Bitcoin but they don't 'own' the Bitcoin network - No one does

• The software is actually open-source! Anyone can view it to understand how Bitcoin works and submit code changes to improve it👇
https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin

How does it work?

• Bitcoin is created, traded & stored on a ledger called the blockchain, a publicly distributed record of all transactions made using Bitcoin

• This ledger is made up of interlinking blocks that contain a number of transactions & a link to the previous block

• Computers in the network all have a copy of the ledger. It's not stored in one central location, making it harder to attack the network

• To add new blocks to the blockchain & create new bitcoins these computers run specialised software to 'mine' blocks and mint new bitcoins

• Mining is the process of using computers to solve complex computational math problems

• This network of miners help validate new blocks & add them to the blockchain

• In exchange, they get rewarded with some bitcoin 🤑

• Mining isn't easy however, it requires expensive hardware and a lot of electricity 💸⚡

• As more miners join the network, the difficulty of mining a block also increases

• This ensures there's a steady & predictable supply of new bitcoins being mined 📈

• Roughly every 4 years, the number of Bitcoin mined from a block gets reduced by 50% - This is called a halving event

• Today miners receive 6.25 bitcoins from a block & almost 19 million bitcoins have already been mined

• The last bitcoin is said to be mined around 2140

What makes Bitcoin valuable? 🤔

There are 5 key factors that make Bitcoin valuable

(See below) 👇

1️⃣ Scarcity - it has a limited supply

2️⃣ Durability - it can be used multiple times

3️⃣ Portability - it is easy to move around

4️⃣ It's divisible - can be used for smaller transactions easily

5️⃣ Fungibility - each bitcoin is exactly the same as another bitcoin

These factors make Bitcoin desirable to people & companies

Since there can't be more than 21 million bitcoins, the value of a bitcoin shouldn't decrease (in theory) unlike the US dollar and other fiat currencies which are subject to inflation as more is printed 🖨️

This has lead to people calling Bitcoin digital gold, a 'store of value' and a hedge against inflation and over the last decade, its value has overall increased 📈 

There are however some risks when it comes to Bitcoin 👇

Volatility 💥

Historically Bitcoin's price has fluctuated a lot

It's possible that you could lose a lot of money if you decide to buy some bitcoins and then the price drops and you decide to sell your bitcoins

Regulation 🚫

Bitcoin itself is unregulated and there's no guarantee that the value of Bitcoin will increase

Some countries have even banned the buying and selling of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies recently 🇨🇳

Security 🔒

There are countless stories of people who have lost access to their bitcoins or have had them stolen by criminals

It's usually impossible to recover bitcoins that have been lost/stolen

I highly recommend going over this thread 🧵👇
https://twitter.com/bobbyong/status/1403881080902471680

And finally, scams 🦹‍♂️

There are a ridiculous number of scammers trying to scam people out of their bitcoins

Be wary of anyone offering free bitcoins, pretending to be support for crypto companies & potential hacks (like the one Twitter suffered in 2020)
https://www.theverge.com/2020/7/15/21326200/elon-musk-bill-gates-twitter-hack-bitcoin-scam-compromised

Recap 🧢

• Bitcoin is a decentralised network used to send money P2P

• Bitcoins are mined by computers & every transaction is recorded in a blockchain

• There are 5 main factors that make Bitcoin valuable

• Be aware of the risks that come with Bitcoin

Like this thread?

1. Retweet the 1st tweet above ♻️
2. Follow me @akashgoswami_ for more threads I'll be dropping soon 🧵

BITCOIN 101

CREDIT CARDS 101 ✨ 💳 ✨

Credit cards are amazing financial tools when you use them correctly!

Here are some must-knows for credit cards and how you can use them responsibly in your day to day life

Threaded below 🧵

First up, what is a credit card?

It's a card that allows you to buy things without needing to pay for them right away (good for emergencies) 🛍️

Your credit card provider pays for these things and sends you a bill (usually) once a month so you can pay back the amount borrowed

Credit cards are issued by banks & other financial institutions

They offer a reusable credit line - meaning you can borrow on them again once you've paid back the amount you borrowed before

They also have credit limits - The total amount you can spend on them at once

The amount you spend on your credit card is called your 'balance'

It's the amount you owe the credit card provider 

E.g - I spend £10 at McDonald's and pay with my credit card, my balance is now £10 🍔🍟

I now need to pay back £10 to the credit card provider later

You have a certain period of time to pay back the balance without paying any interest - usually, it's between 20 to 56 days 📆

You can pay off the balance in full automatically by setting up a direct debit to do this each month (recommended) or...

You can pay it back in smaller amounts but you'll also have to pay some interest as well 💸

The minimum monthly payment is the least you can pay per month

If you don't pay this you might have to pay additional fees & this could ruin your credit score so be careful

Additionally, you can also manually pay your credit card bill early 🏃‍♂️💨

You might do this because you need to free up some of your limit for a larger purchase or if you wanted to proactively stay on top of your credit card bill

There's no penalty or charge for doing this

You can 100% use credit cards without paying a penny in fees ✨

My best advice for credit cards is to use them like debit cards and only spend money that you currently have

This way you avoid overspending and are to pay back your balance on time 👌

A tip for people who budget using @Monzo ❗

You can set up the direct debit for your credit card to be paid from a pot 🍯

When you use your credit card, just move the same amount of money you spent into that pot so you don't miss any payments and always pay your card in full

So why use a credit card?

1️⃣ Section 75: purchases over £100 to £30,000 are given additional legal protection when paid via a credit card

This means your creditor (the credit card provider) is equally liable with the merchant if something goes wrong with your purchase

This is great for goods & services like electronics, flights, and even cars 🚙💨

Example

You buy scuba lessons for £150 & the company goes bust 🤿

You'd get a full refund via your credit card

Just make sure you pay at least £1 of the purchase on your credit card to be covered

Some 'need to knows' about section 75 🚨

The value of the goods/service needs to be worth at least £100 to be covered, so buying 34 £3 meal deals (£102) in one transaction wouldn't mean your sandwiches are covered under section 75 protection I'm afraid ❌ 🥪 ❌

Another example

I bought some furniture (worth £1,500) 2 years ago, paid the deposit (£50) on my credit card and paid the rest off via a 0% instalment plan

Because I paid £50 via credit card & the item was worth more than £100, my purchase was covered under section 75 ✅

You also need a direct link between the creditor and the merchant!

If you paid via a third party like PayPal or a travel agent rather than directly, then you wouldn't be covered by section 75 😱

I try to pay all purchases over £100 directly (or partly) from a credit card 👍

It doesn't apply to items that have a valid warranty

You'd need to speak to the supplier/company first before you can speak to your creditor

If you don't get far with the supplier/company, you can then take it up with your creditor

2️⃣ Rewards: some credit cards let you earn cashback, Airmiles or other points when you use them (My favourite perk!)

My to-go credit card is usually an American Express card

I wrote about reward credit cards & how I make the best out of them here 🔗
https://buttondown.email/akashandmoney/archive/credit-card-connoisseur

3️⃣ Improve your credit score: better scores can lead to better deals (although it isn't the only thing considered) such as:

• Getting lower interest rates (e.g. on a mortgage or a loan)

• Giving you access to better credit cards

• And making you look less risky to creditors

How to boost your credit score using a credit card:

• Use a small portion of your credit card limit a month (referred to as 'low utilisation')

• Always pay your bill on time (set up a direct debit for this)

• Build a payment history (shows lenders you are reliable)

I've had a credit card from the age of 18, used it from time to time for small purchases and always paid it off in full and now I have a great/above-average credit score across all three credit agencies (Experian, Equifax & TransUnion) in the UK   🚀
https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1389497121422946304

"With great power comes great responsibility"
You should apply this way of thinking to how you use credit cards

Don't:
• Overspend or miss payments
• Pay fees/interest
• Use your entire credit limit

I have friends that learnt this the hard way 😔

So to recap 🧢

• Use credit cards responsibly 💛

• Pay your card in full every month 📆

• Get additional protection on items over £100 🛡

• Earn rewards when you spend using a credit card 🎁

• Credit cards can help improve your credit score (if used correctly) 🏗️

I cover other personal finance topics in my newsletter @akashandmoney 

Subscribe to get those sent directly to your inbox 📬

Like this thread?

1. Retweet the 1st tweet above

2. Follow me @akashgoswami_

3. Check out the other threads on credit cards I've written below 👇

My thread on credit builder credit cards 🛠️
https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1399695989728964610

My thread on 0% credit cards 👌
https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1400073471124639744

My thread on rewards credit cards 🤑
https://twitter.com/akashgoswami_/status/1400433343460626432