Youth information portal Teeviit interviewed Miljonineiu on the topic of financial literacy and entrepreneurship to discuss the importance of investing at a young age. To keep up with Miljonineiu, follow her on Instagram @Miljonineiu.
How would you introduce yourself and what is it that you do?
In spring, I graduated cum laude from the University of Tartu with a bachelor’s degree in Economics and Business Administration and, in autumn, I started my journey as a teacher under the Noored Kooli (Youth to School) programme. I teach mathematics at Tallinna Kuristiku Upper Secondary School. In addition to teaching, I am also the president of the Tartu University Investment Club, as well as the creator and developer of the Miljonineiu Instagram account. In my free time, I enjoy dancing, working out at the gym, reading, and cooking.
What made you become interested in financial literacy and investing?
I have this long-term family friend whose lifestyle has always seemed attractive and luxurious to me and that made me curious as to how they can afford such a lifestyle. Approximately four years ago, I learned that some of my friends are investors and, through them, I came across the books of Jaak Roosaare. That’s how it all started. My interest in investing grew day by day: I read various investing blogs and books and communicated with people who were engaged in investing. I have now been actively investing for two and a half years.
How did you come up with the idea of staring the Miljonineiu Instagram account?
To be honest, creating the Miljonineiu account wasn’t actually my original idea. One day, DividendInvestor turned to me and said that they were interested in creating a La Familia dividendinvestor.ee community and that I could be one of the people who teaches younger people about finance. The aim of the community is to learn and grow as an investor through investing, while also sharing our knowledge about financial literacy and inspiring others to start investing as well. We started brainstorming together and, as a result, I came up with the idea of Miljonineiu which very well also reflects who I am as a person. Currently, I am mainly active on Instagram, but in the future, I am planning to expand to other platforms as well. The objective of Miljonineiu is to start with the basics of investing and then gradually move on to more complex investing topics and grow together with my followers.
What have been the biggest challenges so far and what lessons have your learned from them?
The challenges that I have had to face do not actually seem so challenging to me because I have done so many different things. If I had to choose one, it would be the creation of the Miljonineiu account because maintaining the account requires a lot of knowledge. Not only investing knowledge, but also knowledge about how to market the account and what content the followers are interested in, among other things. Thus, the creation of the Miljonineiu account and website has taught me a lot of new things. Professionally, the biggest challenge has been sales work. One summer, I worked at the Sellit sales agency and sold the services of Elisa in shopping centres. Thanks to this work, I developed a lot as a person. I learned more about myself, but I also learned how to analyse other people – since there are many different types of people, different communication approaches are needed to establish contact with them. The greatest challenge for me was to stay positive even if others’ reactions were not. All in all, it was a valuable experience that has opened many doors for me in life.
What made you join the Noored Kooli programme and what is your main goal that you wish to achieve there?
I joined the programme because it has been my life-long dream to become a teacher. I have had other ideas and dreams over the years, but as I was giving private mathematics lessons while studying in university, I realised that teaching is what brings me joy. The Noored Kooli programme is an excellent way for me to try out the profession of a teacher and bring about real change in the field of education. My goal is for financial literacy to become a compulsory subject in basic school because financial knowledge is what really helps us succeed in life.
Why do you think it is important for young people to learn about financial literacy?
In my opinion, every student graduating from basic school should know how to manage their finances. Some young people leave home after basic school to go study in a different city, therefore, it is essential for them to have financial knowledge. At the same time, it is also beneficial for young people to know which taxes are withheld from their gross salary and what their net salary is. Furthermore, after receiving their salary, it is essential that they know how to spend the money, why they should save some of it and what they should do with their savings.
What other sources would you recommend young people read or listen to if they are interested in this topic?
Currently, there are a lot of blogs and podcasts that people can read and listen to. Here are some of the podcasts I would recommend: Kogumispäevik, Börsijutud, Investeerimisraadio, Investeerimisjutud. In terms of books, I would recommend our local authors: Jaak Roosaare’s books Rikkaks saamise õpik (Guide to Getting Rich) and Aktsiatega rikkaks saamise õpik (Guide to Getting Rich from Stocks); and Kristi Saare’s book Kuidas alustada investeerimisega? (How to Start Investing). In addition, I also recommend the blogs of Rahakratt, DividendInvestor and Kristi Saare. These are more than enough to get started and once you’ve learned your basics you can start looking for additional sources. I would also urge anyone who is interested to join the Facebook group ‘Finantsvabadus’ as people often discuss all kinds of exciting investment related topics there. A lot of investing information can also be found on Instagram, for example, on my own account Miljonineiu.
Interview by Britt-Lauren Oltsmann, member of the Content Creation and Collaboration Team of the youth information portal Teeviit.
Edited by Mariliis Lulla, member of the Content Creation and Collaboration Team.
Published in the youth information portal Teeviit in 2022.
