Birmingham high school junior writes book on investing

BIRMINGHAM — Ian Weinberg, a junior at Seaholm High School, has published his first book, “Invest Early To Grow Your Wealth.”

Weinberg began investing in eighth grade after being exposed to it by his father at a young age. While Weinberg said it was not something that initially interested him, he took advantage of the downtime during the pandemic and started learning about finances and investing.

As he was educating himself on the topic, he noticed that he was reading books targeted towards teenagers; however, they were all written by adults.

“I thought, if there was a more relatable person who’s young and writing about it, then maybe more people would start investing, since they are in a relatable space with someone,” Weinberg said. “I just wanted to bring a new face to investing.”

The idea to write a book came to him during the summer going into his sophomore year of high school. In the winter of his sophomore year, he began planning the book, and by late spring he was ready to start writing. Weinberg finished writing the book in the fall of 2022.

“The hardest part for me was the organization,” Weinberg said. “That was hardest for me, because I could sit and talk and write about this all day, but I had to be organized to make it a whole story.”

Weinberg said the process of writing a book was easier than he had anticipated, but it was more time-consuming than he had imagined.

“I thought it was easier, since I knew what I wanted to write about,” Weinberg said. “I really enjoyed the process, and it gave me a lot of real-world experience.”

Weinberg said patience was important in every step of the process.

“It was just about patience and understanding that things take time and nothing happens overnight,” Weinberg said.

While he is still a junior in high school, Weinberg looks forward to a career in investing. He would consider writing another book, but he does not think that would be his primary career target.

Weinberg is donating 100% of the profits of “Invest Early To Grow Your Wealth” to Youth Tank Detroit, a nonprofit founded by high schoolers, for high schoolers to grow financial and entrepreneurial skills.

“I was honored that he had me help edit the book. I loved editing it because I think his writing is very straightforward and really written for his audience, which is people his age,” Holly Arida, co-founder of Youth Tank Detroit, said. “I learned a lot while editing it, and I was really proud to give him feedback. I saw him work so hard across those months of writing and editing.”

In addition to donating funds, Weinberg has been active in helping Youth Tank Detroit with their mission.

“He is not someone who is just sending us donations, but he’s also come to be part of the programs and work with the youth and the city that the proceeds are actually funding,” Arida said. “What that money is used for is to pay for a hot meal and snacks, and he’s been there to help serve those meals and to interact with the kids in this city that are learning about personal finance and ways to build a career for themselves.”

Weinberg dedicated his book to Matt Riga, a family friend who passed away due to lung cancer.

“I am dedicating the book to him as he really helped with financial advice and getting me into investing, and he meant a lot to me,” Weinberg said.

“Invest Early To Grow Your Wealth” can be purchased on Amazon.