Senior Raj Kaushek said that his passion for investing stems from his interest in financial spending habits. That curiosity led Kaushek to start saving early and eventually open his first investment portfolio in fourth grade, at the age of 10.
Like many beginners, Kaushek’s early investments were marked by trial and error. “I didn’t really know what I was doing,” he said. “I lost some money, and then I got hooked.”
Kaushek emphasized that his investing philosophy is all about having patience. “I advocate against day-trading. Not much money is made in the short term compared to the long-term, and that’s kind of how I orient my portfolio,” Kaushek said. “A lot of people get discouraged super early on, and a lot of the time that’s because they’re not thinking about that long-term mindset.”
Kaushek’s personal interests in investing and finance have fueled him to make a communitywide impact. As a freshman, he created an investing club at Menlo and founded OneUp Financial Education, a nonprofit focused on improving financial literacy through student-led programs and summer camps.
Kaushek said much of his motivation for starting OneUp came from his own early experiences with investing. “[My early time investing] was all really trial and error,” he said. “That was a big reason why I started OneUp, because I think it’s important for other kids to learn this and not have to figure it out on their own.”
In its first four years, OneUp has taught over 500 students, reached 30,000 people nationwide and raised more than $35,000. Kaushek has expanded his organization’s reach to include a team of over 50 student ambassadors and chapters across the world — from Dubai to India to Nigeria.
Investing club, which meets every Thursday at lunch in room B206, has evolved into a chapter of OneUp. In the first semester, the club focused on investment competitions. “We learn about how to build a safe portfolio and what good research looks like when you’re [investing],” Kaushek said. “I think [those] are really formative things.” Currently, the club is working on creating its own crypto currency.
Junior Maya Sharma is also involved in Menlo’s Investing Club and will become its president next year after Kaushek graduates. Sharma’s experience in investing didn’t begin with trading, but instead with research.
She started learning about investing in eighth grade alongside her dad, writing about companies and evaluating them as if she were going to invest
in them.
Sharma said she regularly reads The Wall Street Journal and listens to the podcast Acquired, which she said helps explain the stories behind major companies. “I like investing because it comes from a place of curiosity for me about how these businesses work,” she said. Sharma said she doesn’t have a large portfolio yet, but has a small amount of money in individual stocks and plans to invest more as she gets older.
Sharma said one of the most surprising aspects of learning about investing has been how accessible information is online. “It’s not totally closed off like most people would think,” she said.
Sharma takes pride in being a woman in a predominantly male-dominated area of interest. “Only a small percentage of capital that’s managed out in the world is managed by women, so [I] definitely want to shift that in the future,” she said.
Sharma said she thinks that more people should get involved with investing. “There’s index funds, ETFs, like, there’s a lot of safe [ways to invest]. It doesn’t have to be like this crazy gamble,” she said. “Most times, it’s just a way for people to start building wealth [when they’re] really young, which I feel like is a really cool concept.”
Kaushek agrees that more students should hop on the investing bandwagon. “If you’re not investing now, get started as soon as you can,” he said.
Mungai, on the other hand, suggests that students interested in getting into investing take a methodical approach, watching videos to learn and first practicing with fake money. “Don’t just go in blind with your money,” he said. “You’re gonna lose it all.”
