Part 2 talking finance with Dylan Kaufman
- B.J. Yoder: Young Money
- June 29, 2023
- 752
This is the second of a two-part interview with Dylan Kaufman, the owner of the American Hall and commercial loan officer at Westfield Bank in Wooster.
What do you think about savings accounts in general?
“I think bank accounts in general are particularly important. The money in the bank can be used by the bank to help give out loans locally, which helps the local economy. It is also a safe place to store your money that keeps it liquid and can be deployed when the time is right. I know everything going on in the banking world makes people skeptical about bank accounts, but local community banks are different in so many ways than the regional banks that are going under. The more panic there is, the worse things get.”
If you had to go through college again, do you think it would’ve been worth it?
“I don’t think college is for everyone, but college has its place. The price for college is getting ridiculous, but it is a great environment to surround yourself around people and professors that have different viewpoints than yourself and can help challenge and grow your mindset.
“College is a wonderful place to learn how to learn. I said before that most of the knowledge I have gained has come through my work, but college gave me the capacity to learn and apply more of this knowledge than I would have had coming out of high school. I will also end with what I said at the beginning, that college isn’t for everyone though.
“Is it worth $50,000 a year for what I mentioned above? I would leave that up to the individual and would hope they are making the best decision based on their future goals and aspirations.”
Is income the way to become wealthy or is money made outside of that?
“The assistant principal at Hiland, Mark Schlabach, was my seventh-grade math teacher, and he gave the class advice on finances that has stuck with me to this day. He said when we all get jobs and start receiving paychecks, the first thing we need to do is pay ourselves, aka invest.
“Now I am sure that Dave Ramsey guy said something similar, but I heard it first from Mark Schlabach. I think a person’s W2 job is great to begin building wealth by taking those paychecks and investing them in an employer-matched 401K because it is free money. After that, saving up money (and putting it in the bank) to invest in real estate is the next step, whether that is investment real estate or a personal residence. Now someone has taken their one income stream and has turned it into three income streams.
“As those streams continue to build, you can continue adding different properties or investments to the income streams, which would diversify more and more while also building more wealth. The key is to be making money while you sleep.”
What is the worst investment you’ve ever made?
“I tried to get in on the Game Stop short squeeze and bought a few shares at a certain price. As soon as I bought those, I put a sell order if they dipped to a certain level so I wouldn’t lose everything just being cautious. Well, with volatility the sell hit instantly, and I lost half my investment in 30 seconds. Then two minutes later, it doubled from what I bought it at. I don’t know if there is a lesson in there somewhere like: One, don’t try to get involved in a short squeeze; two, don’t put a sell order on a highly volatile stock; and three, don’t try to day trade if you are not good at it. Whatever the lesson might be, I haven’t done anything like that since.”
And last, what is your favorite book?
“I like to read a lot, so I have several. My favorite books to get people interested in real investing would be ‘Rich Dad Poor Dad’ and ‘Tax-Free Wealth.’ My favorite casual read recently would be ‘Shoe Dog,’ which is the history of Phil Knight and Nike.” I have borrowed “Shoe Dog” from Dylan, and I would agree it’s an unbelievable story.
Take a look at Kaufman’s website at https://www.americanhallvenue.com/ to see what he has been working on.
Holmes County native BJ Yoder is an insurance agent by day and a finance enthusiast by night. This column is for informational purposes only. He can be emailed at benjamin.john.yoder@gmail.com.