Ben von Werder, an Indiana native and 21-year-old climate activist. He has just as skillfully navigated the maze that is college financing and personal savings with great financial responsibility. With a robust portfolio of approximately $115,000 in savings and investments as of September 16, 2025, he has effectively utilized his upbringing and experiences to secure a debt-free educational future.
From an early age, von Werder’s parents taught him about financial literacy. When he turned 15, they opened a Uniform Transfer to Minors Account, giving him the chance to invest from a young age. This crucial first step laid the groundwork for von Werder’s long-term financial plan. Even as a teen, he never spent money on extracurricular activities and found ways to save money instead.
By the time he neared college, von Werder encountered a problem. His parents had already put their money where their mouths were on his two older siblings’ education. Unfortunately, that left them with very few savings to finance his college education. Instead of seeing this as a failure, he decided to act himself. During the rest of high school, von Werder continued employing a strong work ethic, saving nearly all his money in an investment account.
Understanding how expensive paying for college tuition can be, von Werder took the smart steps and decided to join the National Guard. For him, this decision provided him with the opportunity to attend college without having to pay for it. It allowed him to save over $14,000 from his military compensation. So far he’s been able to fully deploy 95% of his National Guard money. This smart play has dramatically increased the size of his personal investment portfolio.
Screening criteria
Ben von Werder mainly invests in broad market index funds, which reflects his belief in passive investing. He expressed his approach succinctly:
“I’m really a big fan of passive investing and just not trying to overthink it.” – Ben von Werder
His father’s involvement was key in establishing these positive saving habits. Von Werder attributes his success to the financial lessons he learned growing up. He learned important lessons, particularly from the experience his family had with the pitfalls of credit card debt. This sparked his desire to empower himself and his family to have better financial futures and prevent the same things from happening again.
Von Werder is still working his way through school. Furthermore, in the fall term, he serves as head coach of a local high school soccer team, earning an additional $2,000 coaching stipend. This new stream of income supports his agriculture investments and adds to his savings. He’s established specific, measurable career objectives. He hopes to start taking the certified public accountant exams in the fall of 2026 and finds himself focused on getting hired in either Indianapolis or Chicago after graduation.
Though von Werder has become financially successful, he asserts a down-to-earth attitude towards wealth-making. He emphasizes that his goals are not centered around becoming rich but rather achieving financial security:
“It’s more so about having financial security and allowing me to have freedom to essentially choose which jobs I want to work, where I want to live, what I want to do with my lifestyle. Being able to survive the ups and downs of the economy.” – Ben von Werder
He acknowledges that being young gives him an advantage in terms of time for investment growth:
“I try to take advantage as much as I can of being young and [having time on my side] for investment growth.” – Ben von Werder