“Wealth = income - ego.”

Roman is a business analyst at SoftServe, author of youtube-series and a podcast named “GOALS on FIRE” about financial literacy, investments and meaningful life.

He is a Personal Finance Planner at iplan.ua – a consulting service that helps Ukrainians around the world to plan their life goals with smart financial and investment decisions and milestones. Roman also has a blog in Ukrainian called “Creativity. Development. Search”, where he shares the ideas on habits, psychology, good books, finances and a healthy & balanced lifestyle.

We talked about the following:

00:01 Intro

00:39 Roman’s background

01:42 Learning the importance of English from a Counter Strike game

06:32 His Finalist call moment

11:11 Missouri – “a normal state with somewhat interesting history”

18:20 Cheerleaders are indeed the most popular kids

19:42 Why do American families volunteer to host exchange students?

23:00 How extracurricular activities help students to socialize, find support, and shape their identity

29:01 Social media back in 2007

31:12 Charity and a lift-a-thon

36:19 Orlando, Florida, and navigating the future profession

40:37 Work and Travel and other insights

44:18 On financially freedom and literacy

54:35 Outro

Books mentioned by the guest:

1. Atomic Habits by James Clear
2. The Power of Habit by Charles Duhigg
3. Leonardo da Vinci by Walter Isaacson
4. Unshakeable: Your Guide to Financial Freedom by Tony Robbins
5. StrengthsFinder 2.0 by Tom Rath
6. The Mask of Masculinity by Lewis Howes

For Ukrainian listeners – read “Lifestyle inflation” article and examine your life and spending habits.

Some other quotes that Roman cited:

• “If you let your learning lead to knowledge, you become a fool. If you let your learning lead to action, you become wealthy,” — Jim Rohn;
• Rich equals to current income while wealth is unspent or hidden income;
• “Wealth creation is not an end… It's a crucial aspect of achieving a person's purposeful life.” So wealth can help you provide meaning by helping others and building your own good life. More in this summary;
• “Prosperity is a combination of health, wealth, happiness, and love.”
• “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity”

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This episode is supported by the Public Affairs Section of the U.S. Embassy to Ukraine. The views of the authors and guests do not necessarily reflect the official position of the U.S. Government.