Smarter Way Financial and Insurance Services Charles Hai Nguyen was born in Can Tho, Vietnam. He came to the U.S.A. in 1980 when he was 11 years old, grew up in Orange County, CA. He began college at California State University-San Jose with a major in Psychology and graduated from California State University-Long Beach with a B.A. in Business Administration, Finance/Real Estate in 1993.