Meet Liam

My name is Liam Gould. I am currently a sophomore at the Episcopal School of Dallas. I am a student-athlete who plays hockey, soccer, and tennis, and I am passionate about finance, economics, technology, and investing, as well as how they intertwine with one another. My passion for finance arose through my research on the stock market. I researched key financials and technicals to look for, as well as learning about value investing through the Intelligent Investor by Benjamin Graham. Through this research, I have developed my own investing style which combines deep value investing principles with quantitative fundamentals and smart technical triggers. 

While doing community service in my mother’s hometown in the Philippines, I realized that many families were haunted by shallow pockets and poor financial decisions. For instance, I learned that oftentimes, people did not earn sufficient wages to take care of themselves and their families. However, there was also a culture of spending a full month's salary shortly after payday. Even if some of the money was spent on essentials, many times, locals would treat themselves to non-essential rewards. Similarly, the locals would have to pay their debts which they rely upon to sustain their living, causing a majority of their paycheck to repay their debts. I recognized that decisions such as this one are contributors to poverty, and they are a result of the lack of financial literacy. After seeing these experiences, I became interested in helping spread financial literacy in the Philippines to aid people and families avoid making poor financial decisions. My goal is to help locals gain an understanding of financial literacy so that they can make smarter decisions and then teach it to others. This will create a culture of intelligent financial decisions, helping Filipinos with financial problems in the long run.