About me

Hi, I am Mark Schuman, and I'm 65 years old (for now). Today I live my twilight years in the quiet city of Brașov, Romania - a place I've come to absolutely love (especially the mountains and the fresh air here). I was born in the United States, where I studied and earned my degree in finance from Midwestern State University. A bit later on I went back to school for my Master's in Finance - and looking back that was a turning point for me in terms of developing an analytical mind that helped guide me for over four decades in the finance industry.

Way back when I started my career, I was working on Wall Street as a consultant for OppenheimerFunds, a pretty big mutual fund company. That job really threw me into the fast-paced world of asset management, where I got to work closely with analysts and portfolio managers to help them think through their investment ideas, assess their risks, and just generally improve how they ran their operations. It was just crazy back then but it was also where I got really good at reading markets and making decisions on the fly.

Not too long after that I moved into investment banking at Bear Stearns. It was a real baptism by fire - I got to see firsthand how corporate financing, valuation, and big transactions are really made. This gave me an even broader understanding of the capital markets.

As I started to think about retirement, I transitioned into freelance financial consulting where I got to work with companies and private clients who just needed some guidance on how to manage their risks, build a good investment strategy, or just plain old plan for the long term. It was great because I got to use all my years of experience in a way that was a lot more flexible & personal, and that's actually been one of the most rewarding parts of my career for me.

When I finally did retire, I chose Romania as my home. I love the culture here and the food (sarmale, mici are the best), the way of life is just so much slower-paced than what I was used to. The sense of community is just really special. Now I spend my days reading books, taking long walks in the park with my dog name Kamikaze (he always bumps his head) and zooming with my old friends. I also like to participate in various local competitions, such as chess tournaments.

My entire life has been about learning, work, and a native curiosity about how things work and I like to think that none of these has changed just because I'm retired now.n, and I'm 65 years old (for now). Today I live my twilight years in the quiet city of Brașov, Romania - a place I've come to absolutely love (especially the mountains and the fresh air here). I was born in the United States, where I studied and earned my degree in finance from Midwestern State University. A bit later on I went back to school for my Master's in Finance - and looking back that was a turning point for me in terms of developing an analytical mind that helped guide me for over four decades in the finance industry.

Way back when I started my career, I was working on Wall Street as a consultant for OppenheimerFunds, a pretty big mutual fund company. That job really threw me into the fast-paced world of asset management, where I got to work closely with analysts and portfolio managers to help them think through their investment ideas, assess their risks, and just generally improve how they ran their operations. It was just crazy back then but it was also where I got really good at reading markets and making decisions on the fly.

Not too long after that I moved into investment banking at Bear Stearns. It was a real baptism by fire - I got to see firsthand how corporate financing, valuation, and big transactions are really made. This gave me an even broader understanding of the capital markets.

As I started to think about retirement, I transitioned into freelance financial consulting where I got to work with companies and private clients who just needed some guidance on how to manage their risks, build a good investment strategy, or just plain old plan for the long term. It was great because I got to use all my years of experience in a way that was a lot more flexible & personal, and that's actually been one of the most rewarding parts of my career for me.

When I finally did retire, I chose Romania as my home. I love the culture here and the food (sarmale, mici are the best), the way of life is just so much slower-paced than what I was used to. The sense of community is just really special. Now I spend my days reading books, taking long walks in the park with my dog name Kamikaze (he always bumps his head) and zooming with my old friends. I also like to participate in various local competitions, such as chess tournaments.

I created this blog to share my experience with others and to keep myself up to date with financial topics. I also enjoy highlighting relevant subjects that I find interesting and that, in my view, are not well covered in other articles or posts.

My entire life has been about learning, work, and a native curiosity about how things work and I like to think that none of these has changed just because I'm retired now.