I was 24 when I got my current job at Riot Games. It’s been absolutely fantastic, despite almost a year of having to work from home during a pandemic. Riot provided me with a safe blanket to fall back to while I was learning a lot about life, value of time, and money, and I’m very grateful for it.
Before I got my job, I was a happy-go-lucky person who didn’t really understand how money worked. I knew that our family wasn’t wealthy, but we got by, and everything was provided by my parents. When I finally started getting paid and realizing that my parents didn’t have a retirement plan, a lot of weight of responsibility weighed on me to become successful and try to help them out.
When I first got my job, I was a little hesitant on what to do with all the money I was making. I procrastinated on investing in the first few months since I didn't know exactly what I was getting into, but I matched the company’s 401k contribution because I thought “hey, that’s free money and everyone’s telling me to do it.”
It wasn’t until 6 months in, thanks to my friend Adam, when I got encouraged and started learning about money. I went to buy as many books as I can and started reading up on them to learn about the basics of investing and financial independence. Even though I was late to putting funds into my retirement account, I aggressively allocated % of my income into my 401k and maxed out my Roth IRA. About a year later, looking back, I'm really happy I did that, as looking back, my portfolio has gained around 15% will most likely continue to grow even more.
Money and Investing as a concept is simple. Even the action of investing itself has become more simplified due to accessibility and allowing pretty much anyone to trade stocks whenever and wherever they want, even on your mobile devices on the go.
Interestingly enough, once I understood how money works and how to become rich, I started valuing steady income as my greatest wealth building tool. And I also understand why senior people who have been in the industry for 20+ years choose to leave their jobs to start new things too. I thought working was all about being passionate about our crafts and bringing joy to our players, but it's ultimately to make money and do good things with our money, like helping family members and enjoying it myself. I started changing the way I viewed and admired about Riot - not as a dream job, but as a great place to work where I can receive a steady income.
I really love working for Riot, don’t get me wrong. And I love creating League products and have so much fun giving it to our players. Riot has a fantastic work culture, amazing people to work with, great pay and benefits. But even with all of those dream-come-true scenarios lining up, I think it’s still important to understand that at the end of the day, I have to be prepared for unexpected changes of life.
I may have been too naïve until now. Being happy and passionate got me this far in life, and when I was faced with how the world really works, I became a bit depressed at first. Yet, I am finding happiness from within, and inspired by the people that I work with who despite having multiple years ahead in the industry, they seem happy and figured out what to do - at least it seems like it. So I think this is all just part of growing up and learning to live in harmony with our society.
Growing up and learning about the world means realizing the harsh, starkness of reality. People can become overwhelmed from learning just about how cruel the world can be. This is where the path diverges into two, and some become negative and jaded for the rest of their lives. I choose to take the path of positivity and become the beacon of light that others can look forward to. Whether I can make the right decisions or not, I choose to fully embrace the lessons I learn from each step I take, and leave memos like these behind to hopefully help others who’ll come to take the same steps I once have.
~Daniel