50 Financial Advice

"What on earth are you wearing?!" Alexa exclaimed when Justin walked into the library the next day to talk to her about her investment portfolio.

He glanced down at his galactic corn cat shirt that was exposed by his unzipped hoodie. "It was a Christmas present."

"Okay, I get that, but why would you wear it to a public place like school?"

Justin's ears turned red and he wouldn't look her in the eye. "Emily wanted to see what it looked like after I told her about it."

Alexa shook her head at him helplessly. "You're so whipped."

He sighed. Yes, yes he was.

"Let's get down to business, shall we? Can you tell me what you have done with your money so far?"

She ticked items off on her fingers as she listed them. "Let's see…I paid off my car, paid off the student loans I've accumulated so far, bought a bunch of clothes, replaced all of my old electronics, went to Disneyland with my roommate and bought a ton of merch, ate out at too many overpriced restaurants to count…and I spent a bunch on art supplies."

"How much do you have left?"

"Of the original million? I've probably got about two thirds left."

His eyes widened. How on earth had she spent so much in just a few months?! Alexa saw the look on his face and defended herself. "Hey, I've never had this kind of money before. I may have had a little too much fun but it's not like I wasted it all in one go."

"Well, I'm glad you came to me before you spent any more. You're the one who said you wanted money to live off of while you pursued whatever career goals you wanted." He shuffled the papers he brought that showed the most recent divisions and balances of his own investments for reference before handing them over to her.

Alexa yelped when she saw the figures before clapping a hand over her mouth. They were in the library, after all.

Lowering her voice, she leaned forward. "How on earth did you get so much money?! I thought you said you weren't a millionaire before I sold the game."

Justin shrugged. "I already had plenty in my savings so I invested all of it."

She wasn't satisfied by that explanation. "What on earth did you invest in?! You earned back nearly ten times that!"

"I hired someone to do some day trading for me. I got lucky; my stockbroker managed to buy and sell a bunch of shares from that new movie studio that's been releasing popular animated films. When one of their movies won best picture at the most recent movie awards the stock flew through the roof and he sold it all then."

Alexa stared at him in disbelief. "Should I hire a stockbroker?"

"I can recommend my guy to you if you want," Justin shrugged. "But like I said, I got lucky. All of the investments I made before you sold the game I did on my own. Day trading is a gamble and you have to pay the stockbroker's fees on top of that."

"What sort of investments do you make on your own?"

"I look for people with really good ideas who don't have funds and help get them off the ground. Once they start to make a profit I do too. It takes a while but I personally find it more satisfying."

Alexa's eyes shone with enlightenment. "That's why you helped me make the game, isn't it?"

Justin nodded. "I like seeing people's ideas come into existence so if I can help make it happen I will."

She smiled at him. "You're an interesting guy. You don't interact with people much but you still like seeing them succeed. It seems a bit contradictory."

He rubbed the back of his neck, embarrassed. "It's not that I hate people…I don't know how to relate to them. It's always been easier doing things on my own. The last time I really had what you'd consider friends was middle school until I came here. Now I have you and Emily."

She looked at him thoughtfully. "You don't really get along well with other guys, do you?"

"All the guys I know are either obsessed with girls, sports, or both. Or they spend their whole lives playing video games. I'm not like that so we have nothing to talk about."

"You don't like video games? You just made one!" she said incredulously. "I thought they'd be right up your alley since you love computers so much."

Justin shook his head. "I like making things with computers, not doing things with them…if that makes any sense. I prefer puzzle games or games with stories over the first person shooter games that all the other guys I know are interested in."

A wide smile grew on her face. "I happen to know just the people you're looking for. My friend runs an indie game club on campus. They aren't into first person shooter games either. It's official. I'm dragging you to their next meeting."

"But—"

"No buts," she laughed and pushed him back down in his chair. "You need to practice being around other human beings more. Who knows, you may actually enjoy yourself. Now, let's get back to business, shall we?"

Preoccupied with their conversation, neither Justin nor Alexa noticed the girl across the room who eyed them with increasing hostility the longer they sat there going over the list of potential startups.