Rashika "Shaka" Dialani is an outstanding and inspiring young financial leader I had the pleasure to meet a few years ago at Starbucks, Claremont, California. At the time, Shaka was attending Cal State Poly Pomona and studying Accounting. We struck up a conversation related to financial literacy and connected on LinkedIn. Fast forward a few years, Shaka becomes a CPA and a "Do you remember me..." communication shows up in my LinkedIn box. In it Shaka expresses her interest in contributing to the world of financial literacy. Woohoo!
Today, we are honored and pleased to introduce her to the Sammy Rabbit audience. Thank you Shaka!
ISN'T IT CRAZY
Picture this: it’s the year 2020 and you, along with the rest of the nation, are knee deep in the first wave of the biggest pandemic of the 21st century. Just like many other millennials stuck at home on a Saturday afternoon, you seem to have found yourself scrolling through your phone for hours on end, but most especially on Instagram. Little do you know, all that scrolling is potentially going to lead you to a life-changing breakthrough as your mindset is about to take a 360-degree turn – for the better. You come across a post (as seen below) shared by a friend. It suddenly dawns on you that achieving your financial goals seems so much more attainable than ever before.
This is exactly what had happened to me in the summer of 2020. After coming across that very same post, I started to do my own research and follow people who are passionate about financial literacy. All I could think about was how crazy it is that they don’t teach us all this in school, especially in a business program where we learn about finance, accounting and management. How can future accountants, analysts and managers give financial advice to other individuals and corporations when they haven’t mastered the art of personal finance themselves? Although this may not be the case for all universities, it seems that most others do not teach students the importance of basic financial literacy.
As business majors, we learn about the theory of compound interest in Finance class but mostly in relation to car loans and mortgages. In simple terms, this is when you owe additional interest on the interest that you borrow. Looking back, it would have been more beneficial if they emphasized how this concept applies to investing; specifically, how a monthly investment as small as $50 will have grown to over $200,000 by the year 2060, assuming the market grows the same way it has for the past 100 years.
“Shouldn’t this be common knowledge?” is the question that has been running through my mind ever since I stumbled upon that post. It really is mind-blowing to me that my peers and I spent a good chunk of money on higher education and yet, we did not learn quite enough about one of the most important aspects of life – money. Yes, money can’t buy happiness but it can definitely solve a whole lot of our problems, as well as the many setbacks that we face as we attempt to build an ideal life for ourselves and eventually help others who aspire to do the same.
That life-changing Instagram post and the knowledge I gained from further research have sparked a fire in me, resulting in my newfound passion for financial literacy. As I embark on this journey, I hope to help Sam and other financial literacy advocates as they help change people’s attitude and mindset towards money through one child or for others, one Instagram scroller – one savings account and one investment at a time.
Once more people understand and have more conversations about financial literacy, it will hopefully become as common as actual literacy.
TO DISCOVER more about Rashika Dialani, check out her LinkedIn profile!
Attention everyone, especially millennials, Gen X and Gen Zers!
If you would like to share your thinking on financial literacy education or a first money memory to help raise awareness on the importance of financial literacy education and capability, contact Sammy for more information!
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