Across the U.S., thousands of commencement ceremonies take place every May as nearly four million students graduate. As a student and later as a professor, I sat through more of them than I can count. One universal ritual: everyone gets subjected to speakers of wildly varying quality, and most of what they say evaporates from memory before the chairs are even folded.
So if I were giving a commencement speech today, here’s what it would be.
Congratulations, graduates. And congratulations to the people who supported you along the way.
Most of you are entering the working world for the first time, armed with a powerful tool: the education you just earned. But you’re also stepping into shark-filled environments, places where you’ll have a target on your back. And if you’re not paying attention, you become shark food.
Your job is to become something else entirely: a pilot fish. Pilot fish survive and thrive because sharks tolerate them for a reason: pilot fish eat the parasites off a shark’s skin. The shark gets cleaner; the pilot fish earns real advantages in return: protection from predators, access to food, and the ability to move safely through shark-controlled waters. Pilot fish understand the environment, understand the sharks, and navigate with clarity instead of fear.
And then there’s personal finance, the one domain every single one of you will deal with for the rest of your life. If you’re not careful, decades from now you’ll face the two most common regrets I hear over and over:
- Not saving early enough — for retirement, emergencies, or future goals
- Taking on too much debt — credit cards, student loans, housing
I’ve lost count of how many people have told me, “I wish I learned this 20 or 30 years ago.” In other words: at your age.
So once the graduation parties end, give yourself a gift, or ask someone to recommend one to you, that will actually matter ten, twenty, thirty years from now: a guide that helps you navigate money with clarity instead of confusion.
When I graduated, I made it a point to learn and apply everything I could about personal finance. That journey carried me all the way to retiring at 49. And eventually, I wrote the book I wish I had at your age, the one that combines financial literacy with the goal of financial independence.
It’s called “Sharkproof Living: A 7 Step Journey to Financial Independence on your own terms.” It’s available exclusively on Amazon.
If you’re stepping into the world right now, consider this your first piece of real world advice: learn the environment, understand the sharks, and build a system that keeps you in control.
It is the way to shark-proof living.
A message worth passing along