By CRISTINA JANNEY
Hays Post
A Thomas More Prep-Marian senior is making a big splash with his financial education business.
He has more than 106,000 followers on Instagram and recently won two entrepreneurship awards at the state competition for his business pitch.
Lang’s business is called Making Cents of Finance. He offers education on financial topics such as credit cards, investing, business, retirement, debt and loans.
Lang makes no secret about the fact he is only 18, only recently was eligible for his own brokerage account and has never done his own taxes. It is all there right there in his bio on his website.
He is targeting 18- to 34-year-olds — young people just like himself who are just getting started in the world.
“I think it is important for young people to learn about finance, especially personal finance,” Lang said. “When you are young it might not seem that important, but that is probably some of the most important years that can spring board you into a better future if you make the proper financial decisions now.”
However, Lang had a little bit of a head start. Both of his parents are business professionals. At 15, Lang was fascinated by the fact that his father could own stock in the company his mother works for. His father let him start investing under one of his accounts until he turned 18 and could have his own account.
He also took finance classes at TMP, read books and researched the topic on the web.
In August, Lang launched Making Cents of Finance.
“I wanted to help others learn about finance,” he said, “because I learned so much and saw how beneficial it was to myself.”
Today, he is making about $450 per month through social media ads. He has a blog, and he his branching out into YouTube, Twitter and Facebook.
He won the Youth Entrepreneur Challenge in Hays and then went on to win Most Inspirational Award for his elevator pitch and the Grand Prize Award for an Existing Business at the state competition April 30 at Kansas State University in Manhattan. For his grand prize, Lang presented an executive summary and answered questions for judges in a mock boardroom. He won $900 at the local level and $4,000 at the state level.
You can see a video of Lang’s elevator pitch by clicking here. Lang’s pitch starts at about 15 minutes into the video and lasts about three minutes. The video is courtesy of Kansas State University.
Lang will be attending Fort Hays State University in fall, majoring in finance and accounting with an emphasis on financial planning.
He hopes to earn his financial planning license and open a brick-and-mortar office in Hays to offer individual financial planning services, as well as offer online financial consulting nationwide.
You can find Lang on Instagram at @makingcentsoffinance. You can also subscribe to his YouTube Channel: Making Cents of Finance.
Other northwest Kansas students earning awards in the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge were:
High school competition
• Technology Division: Runner-up prize of $2,500 — Sailor-Anne Seiler, Hodgeman County High School, Jetmore, for Bee Safe.
• Technology Division: Honorable mention of $1,000 — Erny Knelsen and Tayber Elder, Greeley County High School, Tribune, for VrView.
• Agriculture Division: Grand prize of $4,000 — Dylan Ketzner and Brady Ketzener, Cheylin High School, Bird City, for Ketzner Feed Roasted Gold.
• Open Division: Honorable mention of $1,000 — Andrew Foote and Molly Foote, Hoxie High School, Hoxie, for Contained.
Collegiate competition
• Technology Division: Grand prize of $5,000 — Dustin Aherin, Kansas State University, doctoral student in pathobiology from Phillipsburg, for Cattlelist.