The one thing I miss the most from being away from the blog lately is hearing everyone’s stories and how they’ve figured out not only how to overcome such trials, but to then thrive!! And this guest poster today had my attention right from the start learning that he was once part of the unhoused community I’m deeply involved with today.

So I’m excited to share this post from new (I think?) financial blogger Early Retirement Earl! Thanks for taking the time, brother – and congrats!

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When I was homeless at 19 after my mom died, I never would have imagined I would be semi-retired by 52 and sitting on a $3 million dollar empire of dirt.

But here I am.

I didn’t get here because I was a math genius or because I had a 30-year vision board. I got here because I spent two decades in a blind, exhausted grind, woke up at 40 with a limp and a corporate headache, and decided to stage a 10-year sprint for my life. I realized I was killing myself for a corporate machine that didn’t care if I lived or died. I decided to stop limping and start sprinting.

This is the story of how a kid from a small town in New Jersey clawed out of poverty by sheer will, then discovered the math he needed to build a Freedom Fund bridge – escaping a grind that was destined to put him in an early grave. This isn’t a story about early retirement. It’s a story about a Late-Starter who realized the corporate machine was a funeral procession and decided to jump out of the casket.

The Zombie Years: The Power of the Accidental 401(k)

For 20 years, I was a retail grinder. I pushed carts, I managed stores, I dealt with the public. I was paycheck-to-paycheck well into my 40s. I had the standard American habit of spending exactly what I made and, like most people, I got myself into debt.

But I had one saving grace: Fear. Because I had been homeless twice, I was terrified of being old and broke. So, I checked the box. I auto-enrolled in the 401(k). I didn’t know what VTSAX was. I didn’t know about asset allocation. I just knew that if I didn’t put money in the lock box, I’d be living off of Pop-Tarts again at 70.

While I was busy surviving, the math was busy working. Between 1994 and 2014, I wasn’t an investor; I was a zombie. But by 41, I looked at my balance and realized I had nearly $200k. The market had been doing the heavy lifting while I was dealing with shoplifters and inventory audits.

The Mid-Career Pivot: Breaking the 401(k) Cage

By June 2019, I hit a milestone I never thought possible: Half a Million Dollars.

I was 45 years old, staring at a 401(k) balance of exactly $500,000. My wife, who is younger and actually likes her career, was right on my heels with her own accounts. I sat down with a calculator and ran the projections to age 59.5—the standard finish line. I realized that if I didn’t contribute another red cent and the market continued its historical average, my $500k would balloon to over $2 Million by the time I was eligible to touch it.

The math told me I was already a future multi-millionaire. The mirror told me I was a current slave.

I didn’t need more money in the cage for my 60s. Old Man Earl was already taken care of. I needed a key to the front door now. So, I did the unthinkable: I dialed my 401(k) contributions down to the bare minimum. I kept just enough to capture the company match, but every other dollar was redirected into my taxable Freedom Fund. Most experts call this a mistake because you give up a tax break. I call it an Escape Fee. I traded a tax deduction today for the liquid power to fire my boss at 52.

The $11-a-Day Lifeboat

In 2016, my world shifted. My daughters were born, and suddenly, my vices weren’t just bad habits—they were threats. I was a smoker, burning through a pack a day at $11 to $12 a pop. I was spending nearly $4,000 a year to stay stressed and sick.

In 2018, after the birth of my son, I quit. But I didn’t just stop buying cigarettes; I started buying Freedom. I redirected that $11 a day into an index fund.

The Math of the Vice:

• Daily Savings: $11
• Annual Investment: $4,015
• Total over 7 years at 9% growth: $39,145

That’s an entire year of my current household essential expenses bought back with money I used to literally set on fire.

The 2020 Turbo-Boost: The $100k Injection

By 2020, the Sprint was on. When interest rates hit the floor, most people saw a chance to buy a new SUV. I saw a loophole. I did a cash-out refinance on my New Jersey home at 2.75% and pulled $100,000 of equity out.

I took that $100k and dumped it into my taxable Freedom Fund. I let it sit in the market while it was running red hot. That move, combined with paying off $20k in credit card debt from fertility treatments, changed the math forever. By 2024, my Freedom Fund alone hit $300k.

The Rule of 55 Bridge

Most people think they have to wait until 59.5 to touch their money. If you’re 45 and miserable, 59.5 feels like a life sentence. But the IRS Rule of 55 says if you leave your job in or after the year you turn 55, you can tap your current 401(k) penalty-free.

I’m 52. My $350,000 Freedom Fund is the bridge that covers my $50k annual income gap for the next few years until I hit that magic age. It’s what allowed me to walk away from my $110k job in 2024 and start working part-time for my kids.

Why I Call it an Empire of Dirt

People hear $3 Million Net Worth and they think of Ferraris. To a guy who was once so poor he stole 5 bucks from a lost-and-found for gas money just to get to work, that’s not wealth.

Wealth is being the guy at the bus stop when my kids get home. Wealth is not having to swallow humiliation from a landlord or a regional manager ever again. My Empire of Dirt is just a shield. It keeps the rain off my family and the stress off my heart.

The Bottom Line for the Late-Starter

If you’re 40 and broke, stop whining about the system.

• Nuke the debt: It’s financial opium. Kill it.

• Build the Bridge: Your 401(k) is a cage. You need liquid cash to buy your Gap Years.

• Kill the Vices: Your $11/day habit is a year of your life. Which do you want more?

You don’t need 30 years to win. You need one focused, brutal, 10-year sprint. I’m living proof that a retail grinder can claw his way to freedom.

******

About the Author: Earl Owens is a 52-year-old dad of three who walked away from a 32-year corporate grind in 2024. He went from homeless at 19 to a $3M net worth through grit, a 10-year sprint, and some calculated mathematical pivots. You can follow his ongoing “Empire of Dirt” chronicles at EarlyRetirementEarl.com

[This post, Homeless Twice, $3M Net Worth at 52, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Good mornin’, wealth builders! 

I have an absolute DOOZY of a topic for discussion today. This is based on a situation someone I know is dealing with currently…

Would you cosign a loan for your best friend so she can freeze her eggs?

Now before you say “Hell no!” like I yelled immediately when I heard the question, listen to the full story first…

OK, here is the situation. Picture this…

Your best friend calls you up one day asking for your help… She is 41 years old, super smart, has a great job, but hasn’t been a great money saver in life.

More than anything in the world, your friend wants to have a baby. But she hasn’t met the right partner in life yet and is worried that her chances of getting pregnant naturally are shrinking as she gets older.

So, she wants to have elective surgery to freeze her eggs, which costs about $30k.

As of now, she has about $10k from savings and from her parents chipping in money, but she needs to borrow the additional $20k to have the surgery and whatnot paid for.

There are a few loan options available for the $20k… The first is just a personal loan from a bank, with interest rates around 7+%.

But, even better, there’s a non-profit organization she found that will loan her $20k *interest free* on a 4-year term. This specific nonprofit was set up to help people with these types of charitable situations, so the $20k would be interest free and repayments would be $416 per month for 48 months.

There is one problem though… This nonprofit does not take collateral for their loans. They REQUIRE someone else to cosign for every loan. That’s the only way your friend can get the money interest free.

So, your friend is asking YOU to cosign for the $20k loan – so it will be interest free.

Other relevant information

• The reason she can’t have her parents cosign is because they don’t have a strong relationship, and she was brought up to never discuss money with family.
• If she goes through with surgery, there is still no guarantee that it will result in a successful pregnancy later in life. Not to mention meeting the right partner and beginning a family.
• Freezing eggs not only has an upfront cost for surgery, there’s also an ongoing fee for safe storage (about $1000 per year).
• Her car is paid off, and she has no other personal debts. From what I understand about her annual income/expenses, $500 per month payments is completely doable.
• Did I mention this is your BEST friend? Like, as in, you grew up with her together and she means more to you than anyone else in the world. Deep down inside, you trust her.

Soooo…  Given all this information, would you cosign for the $20k loan?

I look forward to hearing all your opinions and whatnot in the comments below. Here is what is going through my head…

Reasons to not cosign a loan for your best friend

My default answer to cosigning a loan would be NO! Here are a few reasons why…

• She might default! Obviously, if my friend doesn’t make payments, I’d be on the hook for paying the $20k! (or monthly payments of $416 for however long the loan has left). The fact that she’s over 40 and can’t scratch together $30k concerns me.
• Potentially ruin the friendship: Whether it works out or not, things can get weird cosigning or lending money to friends.
• Future expenses: Let’s say 2 years from now she actually wants to have the baby… If she can’t afford $20k now, how is she going to afford future surgeries, baby delivery, and upfront child costs later? A favor now could be a slippery slope for giving more money later.
• It’s just outside of my comfort zone. I’ve done well in life by following a specific set of money principles. Cosigning loans is NOT one of them and is not great financial advice.

Reasons to say YES

Before shutting my friend down completely, let’s look at the opposite side of things…

• The gift of a baby! Maybe my emotions are running high because my wife and I are exploring the idea of children ourselves right now… Personally, I would love nothing more than to help a friend have a kid, in whatever manner they feel is best for them. Family in life is more important than money.
• I’m financially stable: Although $20k is a shitload of money, losing it wouldn’t break me. What’s the point of accumulating all this money if I can’t use it to help family and friends?
• It might cost me nothing. If my friend makes all payments on time, this situation would cost me zero. 
• If I say no, she’ll do it somehow anyway: She’s probably going to get a loan regardless, so I want her to get the interest free one as it’ll be cheaper for her.

Meet-in-the middle options

Now that I’m thinking about this more, here are a few other out of the box ideas…

One idea could be to ask my friend for collateral somehow. I could cosign the loan, but if she could give me something of value then I have some security. For example, she could write a promissory note for her car. Not sure how that would hold up if things got ugly, but just the fact that I have some leverage might incentivize her more to make all the payments.

Another idea would be to tell my friend to get a $20k personal loan from the bank… But, as a gift, I could cover all of the interest payments. If she was charged 7% over a 4 year term, interest would total about $3k. She would end up with a $20k “interest free” loan and I would pay $3k to help a friend. That’s not a bad idea. I’d give $3k to my best friend.

Maybe I could encourage her to wait 1-2 years and try helping her save up the money in cash?  (She’d be 43 at that point, and I know age can be an issue).

All in all, I’m not 100% opposed to the idea. But I still think at this stage in my life, I would still probably say no. As sad as it is… I just wouldn’t feel comfortable.

What about you? Tell me what you’d do in this situation…

Happy Friday,

Joel

[This post, Would You Cosign a Loan for Your Best Friend So She Can Freeze Her Eggs?, was first published by 5am Joel on Elite Edge Money]

Despite the madness all around us, life – and finances – move on for many of us :)

Here’s a smattering of people still winning out there and focused on the prize.

Keep going, everyone!!

******

The $1 Million “Asset”-er

Hey there J$:

Some time ago we were chatting about milestones. I mentioned that our first milestone was to reach $1M in assets. You told me to let you know when we hit that milestone. Well, we hit it last week, so consider this your notification. <grin>

Next milestone is $1M in our retirement, which should also be $1M for our net worth. Hopefully we will be there sooner rather than later.

– Mr. SoS

I asked him what the bulk of the assets consisted of (real estate? stocks?), and here’s what he said:

“Here is the breakdown. The bulk is our retirement and our house. I will feel better when our retirement amount exceeds $1M and we have the option to sell the house and pay off the rest of our debts.”

Then when I asked how in the world his investments went UP in march (???), he told me to read his blog post ;) So that’s where I’ll now direct you too, lol –> Net Worth: 2020.04.01

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The Once Is Enough’er

2008 was brutal and forever damaging for me. I swore to myself I would NEVER go through that again.

Since then, I’ve paid off all my credit cards and debts (only mortgage and student loan left). I own my car outright. My credit cards are all paid off and ready to handle this emergency. I have savings in the bank, and investments I can tap if (and only if) it’s absolutely necessary for survival. I have a better job, one where I can actually pay all my bills and save a little too.

I made a decision to do everything I could to never be in that fear again. School, books, blogs (like this one!), tenacity – I couldn’t sit still until I felt secure. I sincerely hope that this year is a lesson for young people to save for a rainy day. You just never know when it will rain!

– M

In response to our post on whether you feel more prepared or not having lived through the 2008 mess?! (Most people seemed to be better off for it, while the rest of you ARE JUST WAY TOO YOUNG!!! ;))

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The Mortgage Payer Offer!

Hey!!!

Look at this beauty!

In the midst of this crazy COVID world, my husband and I paid off the mortgage!

Since having a nice dinner out wasn’t an option, we settled for a nice bottle of scotch and whiskey! We enjoyed a nice beverage in OUR HOME!

I just wanted to share this with someone. We weren’t sure who we’d tell, and now with people losing jobs we’re really not going to say anything. But I figured I could tell you! Lol. Stay safe!

– Kelly

You probably have no idea what that picture up there is, so read this post if you’re curious :) Her “money board” trick paid off!! Literally! –> Having a hard time paying off debt? Try a Money Board!!

******

The Debt-Free Parent of The Year!

Thanks to following you and utilizing your Net Worth and Budget tools I am completely debt-free here in Richmond. Now I even have my 25-year-old daughter tracking her Net Worth each month also!

– Suzy

Here’s our page on all our (free) net worth and budget spreadsheets and templates if you’re needing a new one! –> Free Budget Templates & Spreadsheets

******

The No Spend Year’er

Hi J$, your email came the day after my birthday, so I decided it could be a fun challenge at that, to not spend anything on my wants except what I already had set aside as of that moment. And what’s really interesting is, it’s sharpened my creativity about money, even in the last couple of days as I’ve thought about how to make my current money last a whole year now!

I’ve noticed another by-product as well: it’s made me more grateful when I do get to enjoy something for free that I would have otherwise just spent money on almost without thinking.

While I don’t think it’s overly sustainable for more than a year (I like eating out and giving gifts way too much to cut them out of my life completely), I think it will be really interesting to try this until my next birthday and see how I come out.

I estimated I could save over $2,000 just by cutting back to a bare-bones budget. Pretty crazy, eh? :D

– Rachael

Yes! Crazy AWESOME!! :)

One of the best things I ever did for my money too – and that was only 40 days of trying! (Gave up “shopping” for lent – mind blowing!!!).

Here’s a great article we recently featured if anyone’s thinking of trying it –> Our “No Spend” Year

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The Future Multi-(Multi!)-Millionaires

My husband has required financial check-ins with his retirement adviser through his job. The guy ran our numbers and said we’d have $15 million saved (just in retirement, no cash or other values) in 30 years at the rate we’re saving. And our savings rate isn’t even high for FI standards – we’ve fluctuated between 25-40% over the past four years and are currently on the low end. He said it was unreal and had to re-calculate a few times to be sure he didn’t have a typo.

Now, we won’t be working that long so our contributions will taper off before we reach that huge of a number, but still super cool to see what our hard work can do given enough time. Currently, I’m 28 and he’s 32 for reference.

Damn!! That’s incredible!! And in their 20s/20s no less! Though had to laugh out loud at the “not high for FI standards”, haha… only in our world is 25-40% considered low ;)

******

The 6 Year Mortgage Payer-Offer

Funny today’s post is about housing as I was going to thank my three favorite people today…again (J$, MMM, ERE) for leading me to the path of freedom.

I am mailing my LAST mortgage check today. Took a 30 year mortgage on a brand new home in 2013 and paying it off today. Never would I dream of paying off my home in 6 years. That is until I stopped being a consumer sucka, started working hard and stashing cash.

I know there’s a whole debate on rent or own, payoff mortgage or invest, or a multitude of opportunity cost situations out there. But personally, having ZERO debt, positive income, and a roof over my head for life… is priceless.

– Brian

The man who knows himself best will always sleep better :) Helluva achievement man – big congrats again! (And keep those compliments rolling! lol…)

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The $35k Debt Crusher

Hi J. Money,

I want to say thank you for inspiring me to pay off $35k in debt in~3 years. I know that’s not a lot, but when you’re earning $50-$60k annually it turns out to be a decent accomplishment.

-Dylan

Hell yeah that’s an accomplishment!! $35k is no small feat no matter how much you earn! Stand tall and be proud! :)

******

Huge congrats to all our winners here today – and those others hiding in the shadows keeping it humble over there ;)

I know it’s not easy and we’re all in different phases with this stuff, but EVERY win no matter how big or small should be cherished! It’s all better than how we used to be!!

Keep doing your thing

[This post, Money Wins 💪💪, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Morning, guys!!

Stumbled across an old comment on the blog I tagged to share some day, and decided today’s that day before I forget again! :) It was dropped in 2018 so it’s a tiny bit dated, but a majority of this still holds true and thought you might find it as fascinating as I did when I first read it…

Amazing that no matter where you live, or who you are, you still always have to deal with this money stuff!! And some places – most places – have it much worse than we do, yet people still find a way to power through!

Here’s the note from “silent reader” in response to our post on 7 money goals to hit by 35:

******

Hello, J. Money and everyone.

Long-time silent reader here…

I always read your blog with a great interest, because, yeah, the budget is sexy and it is pretty interesting to see how your (USA) financial system works.

I find your financial system more logical, stable and predictable, than ours. I was born in USSR, now live in Ukraine and our financial system, let’s face a truth, is $hit.

When USSR broke down, our people lost ALL their savings and stability. When the initial shock subsided, people started to save money from zero point again.

No one trusted banks, because they existed for a couple of years only, and then they suddenly disappeared in the night taking peoples’ savings with them.

So, people saved their money in cash at their homes and protected them (big and angry dogs, thick metal doors, high security locks, etc.).

Most savings were in a national money, because it was pretty hard to buy American $.

• At those halcyon times (1996) $1 costed around 2 grivnas (Ukranian money)
• In 2008, $1 costed 8 grivnas (financial crisis).
• In 2014, $1 costed 33 grivnas (financial crisis and war with Russia).
• Today, $1 costs 27 grivnas.

Loss after loss…

By the time we were 40, my husband and I both had an Uni degree and PhD, good jobs (I’m a medical doctor and he is a history scientist) and NO debts. We live in a big city and have a son.

We bought our own apartment when we were 35 (paid off in cash). This year we bought an apartment (paid off in cash) for our son (he is 13 now).

Also, we save money (10% of general income) for our son’s future Uni education. We want him to start his adult life having his own home, proper education and no debts. It is up to him how to live his own life further, but we did everything we could to help him to stay on his own two feet.

Although we’ll get a guaranteed pension in the future, we save money for our retirement also (20% of our general income). Who knows how our country is going to surprise us.

We live 20 mins ride from our work, so we never had a car. We use the public transport and, sometimes, taxi (emergency cases).

Our lifestyle is pretty minimalistic, but we have everything we need.

We always contemplate and discuss every purchase, and we have a principle – “we are not so wealthy to buy cheap things”. We buy 1 thing that has a high quality and a long lifespan, instead of 2-3 cheap things of the same kind. At the end of the day, 2-3 cheap things cost more in general, than 1 high quality thing.

If we both lose our jobs, we have a safety pad for 1 year of normal life or 2 years of “cheap” life. Plus, we always can sell my jewelry to have an additional 1-2 years of relatively good life.

We don’t have such an estate plan as you guys have, but if we die suddenly, our son would inherit everything (according to our laws).

That’s how life goes on the other side of the globe. Thank you for the attention :)

******

So interesting/scary/inspirational, right?! Did you catch all those $$$ wins in there??

• Paid off house IN CASH!
• Paid off house #2 (apartment for son) IN CASH!
• 10% towards college savings
• 20% towards retirement savings
• LIVING MINIMALLY
• No cars
• Guaranteed pension!
• Ton of jewelry stacked up! Haha…

Definitely thriving in a world most of us wouldn’t even know how to handle :) And looking back at my response to her, couldn’t help but get jolted by the last line I wrote there too!

We have it SO EASY here in the States, and yet so many people still complain and feel they are owed more/etc/etc.. We’d have the biggest shock of our lives going through what hundreds of other countries have gone through over the centuries… And who knows what’s lurking for us too in the future with how politics and such are shaping up!

Eek! The politics are still going downhill, but little did we know a PANDEMIC was lurking around the corner! And just how are we responding to it as a nation??? Ugh… Still better off than most of the world, but boy do we have a lot more learning to do :(

At any rate – thought you might enjoy this perspective from halfway around the world, and maybe pick up some motivation along the way too :)

Not all of us will be able to pay off our houses anytime soon, but we can still keep striving to make a better life for ourselves!! Both now and into the future!

And lots of stuff to still be GRATEFUL for along the way too…

Thanks for not being so silent anymore, silent reader :)

*****

UPDATE: Got this email from another reader of the site who shares more insight on Ukrainian life :)

“I’m married to a Ukrainian, and his cultural background of paying for everything in cash took a little while for me to get used to, but it’s such a great way to ramp up net worth. I’ll note that flats in Ukraine are a lot cheaper than property in the US, and no one pays for upkeep of common areas so there’s no association dues (so they’re affordable, but dingy on the outside). You can get a decent apartment for $50-90k, depending on the city and area. As your commenter said, Ukrainians are wary of banks, and there’s very little credit available for mortgages. My in-laws think we’re crazy for having a mortgage and stand-alone single family home in the US.

[This post, Life on the other side of the globe!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Morning!

Here’s another snapshot of someone’s money that I totally forgot to share 6 months ago ;) Gave me a chance to snatch an update though so now we get to see the before and after which is cool!

Original note below, and then the follow up of where they’re currently at now (bold highlights are mine that really stood out to me):

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J Money,

You have a neat community that I have been casually following for a few months. I find myself in a similar situation as your readers who share their stories and a similar perspective. For what it’s worth I’ll summarize my story for you.

I’m a 32 year old California dude tracking my little family’s net worth every month with an aggressive savings goal and our first baby on the books for 2019. Lately I have been all about “sneaky” money. It’s money you save up and exclude from the budget and kinda forget about. Like cash back on a credit card (we pay our cards off every month… credit card debt no bueno). After 18 months our cash back cards have accumulated $450 of sneaky money! We will use that for a Hawaii budget (already booked for next year).

Additionally we are on pace to hit our savings goal of $18k this year. A lot of times that requires sacrifice and sometimes that means navigating a slim budget of $37 per day or less for gas/groceries/unexpected. That can be stressful so we make sure to balance budgets with cutting loose at times and reigning it back in.

Even though it’s difficult, I like to track and look at our budget in terms of daily spending because it really lets you appreciate and understand what you need to do to achieve your long term goals. Of course, in order to pad our expectations from reality I also reserve $900 of contingency each month which we eat up consistently. The contingency has helped us come in under budget consistently too and I’m projecting $2k additional savings from coming in under budget this year (more Hawaii money).

My wife and I both work full time and the baby started daycare at just 5 months (times have changed since our parents generation). We have a combined disposable income of $108k per year, a $160k loan on a $400k house, $50k in IRAs and $60k in the bank. We are saving up for the next house and we might try to keep the current house (built in 2013) as a rental if possible.

In 2019 we hit our stride, but next year will bring new challenges such as a full 12 months of daycare vs 6 this year (Sheesh!). Our savings goal will probably have to come back down to reality next year (I’m projecting $12k of savings for 2020). Thanks for creating a community of goal makers and story tellers J Money, we gotta keep sharing our truth, keep planning & keep the dream alive!

– Joe

*******

And now where they’re at today, 6 months later!

*******

At the end of September 2019 I emailed J. Money because I had just read his blog piece on Net Worth Update Day and I felt inspired to share my story. Now it’s March 10, 2020 and he asked me to give him an update on things…

In 2019 I said that me and my wife were on track to save $18k in 2019… and I’m pleased to inform you that we met our savings goal!

I also said that we planned to take a trip to Hawaii and saved up a budget for that trip separately from our other savings. This trip was our unofficial honeymoon and we arrived in Kauai on the day of our anniversary, February 20th. Ran us $1800 total for 4 nights, including airfare + hotel. We decided to take our now 1 year old daughter along with us. Yes she was fussy on the plane. And yes we had to put our baby to bed at 6pm each night and keep watch over her from across the hotel room while sipping mai tais and watching movies.

Many might disagree, but I feel like these early impressions set a precedence for kids even if our little girl will not remember this trip when she grows up. Think about how many experiences you’ve had in your adult life that you may not remember. The experiences themselves still leave an impression. Besides none of those challenges stopped us from enjoying some hard earned relaxation. Relaxation is important. Don’t forget about it. It’s healthy in our lives and it’s healthy for your net-worth’s long term growth.

So… something interesting happened before we left Kauai. The night before we were due to fly home I had a sudden and strong impulse to divest some Tesla stocks I had been holding onto for the last few years. This gut feeling checked out with my logic centers as I reasoned selling stock for a profit is never a bad thing regardless if the stock goes up afterwords. Plus I was honestly feeling a little tired of checking it incessantly. So I set an alarm on my phone and woke up at 2am to sell all of it in the pre-market hours.

My intuition paid off as coronavirus fears tanked the market in the coming days. What can I say, sometimes you just get lucky!

[click to blow up]

I sold my investment of $3,827.63 in Tesla stock for $14,517.67 and took a profit of $10,690.04. It’s important to note at this point that I am a complete amateur at this stuff and don’t necessarily recommend stocks as your side hustle. Any money I put in the stock market is money I am comfortable losing. I have capped myself at $6,000 for now and I don’t invest more than that at any given time outside of my retirement portfolio.

So what did I do with the profit? I stuffed it into a high yield savings account of course, lol. I opened the interest bearing account with Etrade for 1.75% APY in January, and transferred money from our brick and mortar bank account. I was apprehensive about moving such a large sum of money over the internet but I clicked the button and called our bank to give them a heads up. It was much simpler than I thought it would be. The interest will give us an additional $1k of income this year in case you were curious.

Before we left for our trip we decided to take our daughter out of daycare and restructure our work life balance to cover her care ourselves. Suffice it to say we are going to save a lot of money this year that would have gone towards daycare. It’s basically a mortgage payment.

So let’s take a look at how 2019 ended and how 2020 is shaping up considering these new developments.

[click to blow up]

As you can see, we had a large amount of money sitting in a checking account for a long time not making any interest. Yikes! We live and we learn, and you can see below that as of March 2020 the money has moved from checking to Etrade.

[click to blow up]

I didn’t track net worth for a few months there from December to February. I am currently projecting $34k of savings instead of the $12k of savings I was anticipating for 2020. The additional savings is due to the profit we took on stocks I wasn’t expecting, and the savings from the daycare I thought we would need.

We bought our house in 2013 for $305k, it is now worth $430k (that’s California for you) and we owe $155k. That makes up the lion’s share of our net worth, but we have achieved meaningful savings in the last few years by setting goals, tracking our net worth and adhering to our budget.

I told J. Money in September how I like to track our monthly budget frequently and relay that info to my wife in terms of how much we can spend on a daily basis to achieve our goals. Here is what that budget looked like for 2019:

And here’s the budget for 2020:

Thanks for reading! Mahalo!

– Joe

*******

So looks like a solid net worth of $400k’ish and growing! Not too bad for a couple in their 30s! And $100k more than I had at that age too ($314,246.43).

Did you catch all those parts I highlighted?

“Any money I put in the stock market is money I am comfortable losing.”

YES! Great mindset to have!! You can never bet the farm on something your livelihood depends on no matter how promising it is. And since stocks *rarely* go down to $0.00, you’ll typically come away with at least something in a worst case scenario anyways. But in a best case?! Well, Joe’s already relishing in that one! ;) And he means “stock picking” here vs retirement accounts when he’s talking about it all being “extra”. With retirement accounts of course you want to be much more conservative and play it for the long haul.

“…selling stock for a profit is never a bad thing regardless if the stock goes up afterwords.”

Yup. Even though we’ll STILL get pissy when we don’t max out those rewards as if we had a crystal ball!! Human nature can suck, lol…

“I like to track and look at our budget in terms of daily spending because it really lets you appreciate and understand what you need to do to achieve your long term goals.”

This is a great idea, particularly for those who don’t like (or get much out of) the typical budgeting methods. You still have to know what you generally want to spend each month in order to break it down to the *daily*, but it’s much easier to comprehend sometimes when it’s in the here and now. If you know you only have $40 to spend today you’re going to be much more focused!  And feels more real than a future “month from now” type deal.

I actually did something similar the other day when I was having a down day w/ my projects… I calculated how much I was expecting to earn for the year, then divided it by 261 (number of working days in a year) to see how much I was earning *that day* and if it would make me feel better :)

It did! Came out to about $475, and I quickly acknowledged that I’m fine with as many crap days as life wants to pass my way for that, lol…

“Lately I have been all about “sneaky” money. It’s money you save up and exclude from the budget and kinda forget about.”

The best kind of money! Which somehow feels BETTER than salary income, even though it’s substantially less?! But having that extra freedom within your finances can help keep you sane and motivated as you go…

NOT EVERY DOLLAR NEEDS TO BE ALLOCATED!

It’s perfectly okay to have some flexibility built in as you roll down the river of life… You can’t predict every last move anyways!

“Before we left for our trip we decided to take our daughter out of daycare and restructure our work life balance to cover her care ourselves.”

Probably my favorite line of the whole conversation… Yes because it saves crazy money, but also because it means more QUALITY TIME with your loved ones -and- proves that you ultimately HAVE CONTROL OF YOUR LIFE and can adapt when you deep down truly want to!! Which is huge! Most people just sit around bitching and wishing instead of figuring out a way to make those wishes come true…

So I’m genuinely and thoroughly impressed with you two, and wish y’all nothing but continued success! Thanks for sharing your journey with us! Feel free to send over as many baby pictures as you want, please :)

Questions/comments/thoughts?

[This post, Joe’s $400k Net Worth + 5 Key Takeaways, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Mornin’!

Here’s a snapshot of someone’s money who recently emailed me, along with some pretty graphs and spreadsheets to gawk over ;) Been a while since we featured one of these, and always fun to peer into someone else’s $$$! Especially when we’re talking at levels like this!

The first part here is all about the numbers, and the 2nd part is the *how* of it all – after I did a little prying… Always gotta keep your eyes open for those opportunities! They can make all the difference in the world!

From “Steve”:

Hey Man –

Just wanted to drop you a line and say thanks for the motivation over the years. I’ve been a long time reader but have not made many comments on your site. I’ve been tracking my net worth in January of 2009 when it was a whopping $24,264.43. Considering I had just graduated college with my undergrad, a positive net worth wasn’t too bad looking back on it now.

Fast forward to today, me and my wife are currently sitting at just over of $2M. Peaked in December at $2,121,656 and then dropped back down to $1,987,146 in February with it hovering right around the $2,014,00 mark now. It’s been a great journey so far and we are excited to see where it takes us. We are both currently 34.

Confession time –

I’m a *SUPER* competitive person and must finally admit to you what my net worth spreadsheet looks like. Yes, that is your net worth chart sitting beneath mine!

Every month I would update my chart and grab your updated chart from the website. Kept me motivated over the years! Glad to see you finally hit $1M. I had no doubt that you would do it.

[Click to blow up]

*******

Pretty similar graphs indeed! Only with one of us having a *wee* bit more than the other ;)

Asked him how he was able to turbocharge it so much, and here’s what he said:

The biggest benefit to reaching $2M (still weird to type that) was finding a good job right out of college. I kind of lucked into to it to be honest. I graduated with my undergrad and enrolled in the MBA program and found this job as a “filler” until I graduated. Been there 10 years now.

In the beginning, I didn’t make much. Started out at $10/hr and about 6 months later moved into a management role at $32,000 base salary with bonus potential. The bonus programs were lucrative – sometime more than your overall salary. Over the years salary climbed up to $80,000 with a bonus potential of another $80K.

The company also had a private share program. It wasn’t a traditional ESOP but something very similar to where you owned a portion of the company. This program was only available to management or higher when i started with the company. Anyways, this program grew like crazy over the years. One year it grew over 35%!!!! There were no “stock options”, match etc. You had to put your own money in the program and your max number of shares was determined by your position within the company.

I was bound and determined to max this program out because of how lucrative it was. I took every bonus check and threw it towards this program. I pasted a screenshot of my spreadsheet below. I blurred out some details of the program because I’ve recommended your site to co-workers and don’t want them to piece it together that its my chart haha.

Anyways – it was really buckling down and taking all excess money and throwing it in this program. The program has since ended :( But I was able to gain over $800,000 in this program when it was all said and done. During this time I was also taking advantage of company 401K by getting the full match as well as maxing out me and my wife’s ROTH IRA. I took a bunch of risk by putting so much into my employer “stock” but it paid off for me in the end. My wife and I averaged around a 40-50% savings rate.

You’ll notice in 2013 I put in over $100K into this program — that was from a personal, unsecured loan. But I didn’t mind paying almost 9% interest when I was making over 30%. At that time I maxed out the number of shares that I could own so the bonus checks went into paying off the loan.

Anyways – wanted to let you know you’ve impacted more lives than you probably realize over the years. Cheers to your success and positive impact on this world!

[Click to blow up]

Pretty impressive, right?! And absolutely LOVE that he just ran with that company stock program when he realized how lucrative it was. The company could have gone under and he would have lost it all, but I’m sure he was closely monitoring it and would have changed course had he seen any inkling of it.

Reminds me a lot of when I maxed out my 401(k) plan when I heard our company was going to match 100% of 100% of my contributions! All the way up to the legal limit! I jacked up my contributions as high as they’d let me, and then for the next 2-3 months I lived off $60-something paychecks every two weeks until I hit the maximum of $16,500 or whatever it was at the time. Essentially DOUBLING my investments on the spot. (It was also fully vested!)

Similar to Steve’s deal our company eventually discontinued this, but for a few years there we milked it for as much as we could! And now 10+ years later it continues to pay dividends – quite literally!

All this to say that if you come across an amazing opportunity, do your best to take full advantage of it for however long you can… You might have to get a bit ballsy and out of your comfort zone for a while (for Steve it was a personal loan, and for me it was living off peanuts for awhile) but it really is amazing what it can do to your overall wealth when you push yourself like that. And usually everything goes back to normal soon anyways, so you have plenty of time to recollect yourself and take a breather ;)

If anyone else would like to share their journey and numbers with us, pass it on over and we might feature you here next!

Congrats on all your success, Steve + Wife! Way to crush it!

******
For more articles featuring other peoples’ money, click here.

And then here’s another on ESPPs which is similar to Steve’s deal there –> The Reality of Employee Stock Participation Plans

[This post, “I crossed $1M in 2016, and then $2M in 2019!”, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

Remember our guy last year who put together a 19 slide PowerPoint presentation to woo the socks off his beautiful wife?

Well he’s at it again this year! And upped the game by adding an additional 15 slides for good measure ;) If I didn’t know better I’d say he’s just out to grab another Husband of The Year nod, but going through these slides it’s apparent he really loves his family and future plans together.

And this time around he leaves in his NUMBERS and COMMENTARY for us to view!

You can check out last year’s doc here, and then the beefed up “Ain’t nobody coming in between us and our money” newer version here:

2019 Annual Review + 2020 Plan (PDF)

It even comes with an “agenda”, because if you’re gonna be putting together a PowerPoint like that of course you have to present on it ;) And this time around I hear he even splurged and took his wife out to a nice restaurant to do the deed instead of in their living room! Hubba Hubba!

AGENDA:

➢ FUN FACTS AND HIGH-LEVEL METRICS

➢ INCOME STATEMENT REVIEW

• All-in Income Statement Summary & Trending
• Core Income Statement Summary & Trending
• Expense Report

➢ NET WORTH REVIEW

• Summary
• Detail
• Trending

➢ 2020 PLAN

• Summary & Trending Core Income Statement
• Core Cash Flow Plan

➢ ALL-TIME INCOME AND NETWORTH TRENDS

Such a nerd, haha…

The “FUN FACTS AND HIGH-LEVEL METRICS” was my favorite part since it gives you a nice concise snapshot right up front, but here are screenshots from throughout it just to give you a better idea of the level of thought this guy puts into it.

If only a magical fairy did this for ALL OF US every year! :)

******

******

Pretty neat, right?!

And again – you can download it here if you want to copy it and win over your spouse too ;) –> 2019 Annual Review (PDF)

A far cry from the guy in yesterday’s post, but when you want something bad enough you go out and plan for it to happen! And this guy clearly wants the best for him and his family’s future…

So thanks again for the yearly inspiration, my man! Always fun to see, and maybe one year you can actually live stream the presentation so we can all oooh and awww along with your wife ;) (Or will we catch you sneaking her glasses of wine to keep her attention all night?! Haha…)

Regardless, more proof that what gets measured gets done! Here’s to all of us tracking and forecasting more in this great new year!

XOXO

[This post, A Financial PowerPoint Presentation That Screams “I Love You!”, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

This one’s for all you Aussies today ;)

Alaya stops by the blog to share her journey tracking her net worth so far, which is once again a testament of how powerful doing this one simple thing can be! And she’s only two years into it!

Thanks for taking the time to spill it all for us, Alaya.

And I caught your Drake reference there, too ;)

******

Hi J,

This month was my second complete year of tracking my net-worth, which I started soon after I discovered your blog!

With the end of your tracking, I thought it was a good time to share the beginning of mine!

Here is first my net-worth, at the end of November 2017 with a negative net-worth of $1,983.

[FYI: 1 Australian Dollar equals roughly $0.69 in U.S. dollars at the time of this writing]

I was earning $65k per year before tax (AUD); and had just ended a toxic relationship where I’d depleted about $10k of savings to support him and his business. I’d also never had a credit card amount due at the end of the month, but as the relationship started turning unhealthy; these Credit Card debts were a “moving out and starting a new life” debt! A price I’m happy to have paid!

After two years, my net worth now looks like this:

… Low key annoyed I didn’t quite hit the $50k mark!

• My Life Goals Account is a cash account.
• Superannuation is Australia’s version of a retirement fund, and my employer pays a contribution equal to 9.5% of my salary. I am not contributing any extra currently.
• BB Savings + Money Challenge is an account for the 52 week challenge to see what extra on top of my Life Goals I can save! (Again, read from your blog!)
• Ratesetter; which I’ve just opened and trialed this month. I’ve locked in $1k at a 5 year investment with a 7.8% return. If I feel comfortable after a few months, I will look at transferring more across.
• HELP is Australia’s version of a University loan. Its through the government, there is no interest, but it is indexed once a year to inflation. My employer takes extra tax each fortnight to cover my compulsory payments. So my pay is spread out like this:

(credit: paycalculator.com.au // click to blow up)

The biggest jump in my net worth was due a retention bonus I received, which was $10 grand cash after tax. I know there is lots of fat I can trim from my budget; and I could increase my savings ratio.

My goal for 2019 was to double my net worth (I ended 2018 at $16K) and to double my cash savings (ended 2018 at $11k) which I achieved both by July.

I have also had some big spends such as paying for my Post Grad Diploma Upfront ($6k), planning a proposal for my boyfriend (woot woo!) which I spent $1,600 on one night’s accommodation (which I would never do at any other time) and multiple of our friends weddings, engagements and hen’s parties which I’m estimating at $3k this year after accommodation, travel and gifts.

Which leads me to my setting my next goals! I’ve also just started a new job where my salary will jump to $85K! (And after the higher tax rate to pay back my HELP Loan, the difference per fortnight will mostly be taken up in tolls and petrol travelling a fair distance for my new job)

I am very much in a transitional stage so won’t rush to goals that might not be relevant or realistic in a few months, but instead focus on “challenges” for the next few months.

I think what’s amazing is that, tracking the net worth is the only thing I’ve been consistent at over the last 2 years. My goals have changed many times, my attitude fluctuates often – but checking my “net worth” maybe twice a month (after each pay) surely keeps me refining, trying to ensure (to the best of my ability) that each month is at least going up.

So, ending with a massive thank you!! You have surely kept me interested and motivated in my finances over the last few years, and helped keep me accountable with your challenges, tips and general chatter about $$.

Much appreciated;

Alaya

******

So much to love about this!

1. Australia’s got it on lock with that Superannuation and interest-less student loans, WOW!
2. “Life Goals” account – very smart, because Alaya’s right – our goals are constantly changing and it’s great to stay so flexible
3. Money Challenges – always good to push yourself time to time
4. And then probably the best piece from this entire thing – ridding yourself from a-holes! Which you can do at any stage of your finances/life…

Well done, Alaya…

You’ve officially earned yourself a Sexy Saver Certificate circa 2008.

Print it out and send a copy to your mother!

[This post, Started at the bottom, now we’re 1/20th of the way there!, was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]

[Good morning!!! I want to share a powerful story by a friend of mine, and new(ish) blogger on the scene, Deanna from Recovering Women Wealth, who’s not only found her path towards financial freedom, but freedom from the devil’s work too. A beautiful, and positive!, person putting herself out there in hopes of inspiring others! Thank you Deanna!!! And huge congratulations on it all!!!]

*******

I’m looking at the graph of the pivotal money moments in my life, and it’s clear to me the life-changing events that occurred at each stage.

The story told by my money also tells of my recovery from drug addiction/alcoholism. Since getting sober, it’s not surprising my net worth has gone up.

For this girl, sobriety is sexy.

My First Relationship with Money

I started doing odd jobs like babysitting and working at the family golf course around the age of 12. My relationship with a steady income started at the age of 16 when I began waitressing. Everything I made went right out of the door on clothing, entertainment, and alcohol.

You see I grew up in a two-parent, Christian, middle/upper-class household where all of my material needs were supplied. Any money I earned was just for play.

I did not learn the value of savings, but I did recognize that money correlated to freedom. However, my desire for freedom was short-sighted as I only wanted to get out of the house (and my skin) in the moment.

When Emotional Stability is Lacking, so is Money Sense

My relationship with my Dad was not healthy growing up. He was doing the best he could and I now understand that, but he was a stressed-out salesman with a short fuse. He wanted to (and did) provide for his family, but his career became an obsession. Furthermore, my Dad grew up in a critical environment and these things have a funny way of being passed down. He didn’t have the patience for kids. I learned to get attention by getting into trouble.

My Mom was loving, kind, and nurturing. Regardless I was scarred by some hauntingly, temper-filled, memorable encounters with my Dad. As a result, I grew up believing some very incorrect things about myself.

I found solace in alcohol in my teen years. When I took that first drink, I became everything I thought I wasn’t – funny, pretty, and smart. I found the courage to be the fun-loving extroverted gal that I am. However, that courage was smoke and mirrors.

When a person is exerting all of their energy to cope with chronic stress and extremely low self-worth, money, at best, is an escape mechanism, and, at worst, used for mere survival.

The Start of Debt as a Lifestyle

Interestingly enough, my parents have always been wise stewards with their money. They saved for retirement and their children’s college education, pay cash for cars, and have no debt. Due to my rebellion against them, I learned none of this growing up.

At the age of 18 I bought my first new car with financing and you can see that dip on the graph. I ended up selling that car at the age of 21, moving to Colorado, and getting a small sum of money. For the first time, I was slightly above the line. This hippie used that money to fund a backpacking trip to Europe. #NoRegrets on that.

However, with an unreconciled past and little money sense, I quickly got back into debt and kept drinking/drugging. Getting sober wasn’t even on my radar back then.

Due to my ability to be high functioning, I went undetected as having a problem for many years. I wanted to appear normal so I maintained an outward appearance that prettily covered up the pain and suffering I was experiencing.

Bigger Debt

I got married at the age of 25. We bought a house, financed two cars, and used credit cards inappropriately. You can see the graph going way below the line in my mid-twenties. My marriage ended at the age of 27 and I was left with a mountain of debt. I filed for bankruptcy but was able to keep the house. Unfortunately, I didn’t really learn any money lessons at this stage.

My drinking/drugging waxed and waned and though I wasn’t focusing on getting sober, I even managed to have some healthy years. I kept paying the minimum payments on my debt and vowed to never go back into bankruptcy.

In my 30’s I made my way to graduate school to become a high school mathematics teacher. While my parents paid for my undergraduate education, I funded graduate school 100% with student loans.

The Beginning of the End

I excelled in graduate school but in the process, a man from my past walked back into my life and I unfortunately got back into drugs. While I graduated with a 4.0 and a promising career in education, I walked away from it to pursue a life that allowed me to use these drugs. It still pains me to write that last sentence.

I became the wine sommelier at a country club where I had worked for many years. In case you are wondering, that’s not really the best job for an alcoholic/drug addict. ;-)

Sure, I kept up the facade but I was basically getting paid to drink. Additionally, I was addicted to crystal meth so, with the combo of uppers and downers, I walked that lethal tight rope until I eventually spiraled down.

My bottom occurred at the age of 36. It’s no surprise that I was also in the biggest amount of debt of my life. I was bankrupt emotionally, physically, spiritually, and financially.

It can be a beautiful thing when a person comes to the end of their rope and there is nothing left to grasp at. After some disturbing visions and the stark reality that I was going insane, I finally surrendered, admitted defeat, and asked for help.

I left the destructive relationship, quit drugs, returned to faith, and committed to a life of sobriety.

Getting Sober & Digging to Get Back to Broke

The early years of getting sober were really about reconciling with my past. Reconciliation includes looking at my part in things, making amends, forgiving others, receiving forgiveness, and healing relationships.

However, in remembrance of my vow to not file bankruptcy again, I made some financial changes. I was able to reduce my expenses, stop adding to the debt, and stay afloat financially.

About four years into my sobriety I wanted to gain complete financial peace. I had peace in every other area of my life, but not yet with my money.

A woman from my church helped me to get on a budget. Then I started listening to Dave Ramsey. He would tell me, over the airways, that I didn’t have to have to keep my debt around forever. I could actually get intense and pay it off, and for some reason, I believed him.

In the process, I did lose my house to foreclosure. The neighborhood where I lived was not bouncing back after the crash of the housing market. It was no longer a safe place for a single woman to live. I stuck it out until some major things broke, at which time I moved into a ministry home. All the while I worked with a realtor to short sale my house. In the end, the bank declined my short sale. Feeling defeated and facing foreclosure, I hired an attorney and it ended fairly well.

Once I bounced back from that, I humbled myself and asked my folks if I could move in with them. They were gracious and said yes. At the age of 43, I moved back in with my parents for further reconciliation of our relationship and to focus on paying off the rest of my debt.

All in all, I paid off $46,763 in about 3 & 1/2 years total on a $40k salary. Near the end of my debt pay off my salary jumped and it’s still jumpin’ today!

I shared my testimony on the Dave Ramsey Show on June 4, 2018 which you can see here ;-)

From Addiction to Investing

When I was in debt pay-off mode as I was getting sober, some things shifted in my relationship with money. Firstly, I knew I never again wanted to pay for things of the past. Secondly, I realized I value relationships over spending money. This attitude has carried over into my investing life. If I value something, I’ll spend money on it, but I’ve found that spending time with the people I love doesn’t have to center around spending money.

As I was approaching that bright light of broke, I started listening to the ChooseFI podcast per a recommendation from a colleague. I read J.L. Collins’, A Simple Path to Wealth, and realized I could do this investing thing.

I started out 2018, maxing out all of the tax-advantaged accounts I could get my hands on and haven’t stopped yet. Today, I get to walk alongside women in recovery helping them with the same things I’ve gained freedom from. I’m spreading financial literacy to some of the women who need it most.

The Current Breakdown of My Finances:

• Employer-Sponsored Simple IRA: $33,054.63
• Health Savings Account: $5,233.65
• Roth IRA: $6,089.26
• Traditional IRA: $6,935.92
• M1 Finance: $385.57 (just getting ramped up on post-tax investing)
• Between checking & savings: $18,642.51
• Total net worth: $70,341.54

Closing Thoughts About the Impacts of Getting Sober

I’ve learned that it all goes together. Since getting sober I’ve wanted complete healing and transformation, but I’m learning it’s a lifelong process. Some wounds go deep.

I’m grateful for that time with my parents. I was able to finish paying off my debt and get a fresh launching pad. More importantly, I faced and slayed some childhood demons. As a result, my family bond is stronger. People can change if they are willing and able to be honest with themselves and others.

Finally, I’ve learned that valleys are where the real growth occurs. It’s the hard stuff that has chiseled me into the woman I am today, and I getting sober has made me proud.

******
Deanna blogs at RecoveringWomenWealth.com and writes specifically to women. If you or a loved one struggles with addiction, please send them her way!

[This post, How Getting Sober Changed My Life — and My Money, was first published by Guest Author on Elite Edge Money]

INSIDE: Here’s a financial snapshot of a woman who shares some great graphs & spreadsheets on how she manages it all. Great thing to do early on!

[Morning! Here’s a financial snapshot of one of our readers of the blog, Corrine – who also fancies herself a good spreadsheet (or four) like any good finance nerd out there ;) What a beautiful thing to have your epiphany *early on* in life! Congrats Corrine!!]

******

Hi J. Money!

I really enjoy seeing these financial snapshots… they are super inspiring!

I’d like to share a financial snapshot of my own. It’s my experience tracking money as a young person who is just obsessed with all things finance. I’m 24, and I graduated college somewhat recently (May 2017), but I did work part-time through most of college. I am extremely lucky that I graduated debt-free thanks to my scholarships combined with my part-time work and the generosity/financial planning of my wonderful parents.

I started officially working full time in May 2017 and have been tracking my net worth diligently since December 2017. I currently make $50,000 (up from $38,000 this time last year!) after a recent raise in August and this is the most I have ever made.

I am at a post-tax savings rate of about 27%, with 13% of my post-tax income currently going to my ROTH IRA and the rest going to my other savings goals (future house, travel fund, emergency fund). I also contribute 10% pretax to my company’s SIMPLE IRA with an additional 3% employer match, and I contribute $50 per month to my HSA.

Before tracking my net worth, I had been working part time for 4 years and had only ~$4,000 to show for it (I also had very few expenses in college — I have no idea where all my money went, lol). Once I started really looking at what I was doing with my money, I doubled my net worth in ~6 months. My current net worth is $35,000.

I currently live with my boyfriend of 3 years, and we share expenses such as groceries and rent 50-50. We are planning to rent until we get married and figure out exactly where we want to live long term (we plan to buy a house and settle into a permanent location within the next 2-3 years).

Financial Snapshot Spreadsheet

I am a huge fan of spreadsheets and wanted to provide a little explanation of the trackers I use:

(click to blow up bigger)

My “Financial Summary” is essentially where I track my net worth at any given time. It’s a true financial snapshot. Anything is green is an asset, and anything in red is a liability… and anything that is black is an account that fluctuates frequently (such as my primary checking) so I don’t include it in my overall calculations.

I keep a balance in my checking (“Spending”) that is always higher than my cumulative credit card balance, since I pay for everything on credit cards to collect rewards. I have never paid interest on any of my credit cards since I have all bills set to auto pay from my spending account.

My “Net Worth Over Time” tracker is really just so I can ensure that I am consistently moving up! I really enjoy looking back at it to see how far I’ve come. I received an inheritance of sorts ($10,000) in October 2018 which accounts for the big jump there which I threw into a 2 year CD for my future down payment on a house. I also got a bonus at work that month which accounts for the rest of the jump, and needless to say, that was a wonderful month!

The only dip in net worth I have had in my entire duration of tracking was when I bought Hamilton tickets for my boyfriend and I in June 2018… it was a pretty big splurge that I dipped into my travel account for, but I have absolutely no regrets since that is what it is there for. Why earn money if you can’t treat yourself sometimes? The other one was when I bought my new-to-me car in April 2019 (and subsequently forgot to add the car’s value to my net worth, lol – I fixed it the next month).

The “Wealth Ratio” came from you! I saw you do it in a blog post quite some time ago and loved the idea. I’ve been tracking it since and I find that it really helps hold me accountable.

[Editor’s Note: The Lifetime Wealth Ratio tells you how much money you’ve saved over your lifetime compared to how much you’ve *earned* ;) You can get a quick estimate of this by dividing your Net Worth by your Total Income found on your Social Security Statements. The closer to 100%, the better!]

I also recently started using EveryDollar to track my spending so I have a screenshot of my budget from there. The only thing that didn’t fit in the screenshot was the $30 (~1%) I donate to a rotation of my favorite charities each month.

I’m currently working on getting my emergency fund to 6 months of expenses and increasing my post-tax retirement contributions to 15%. I would also like to be able to max out my HSA in the next year or so.

That’s it for me, thanks for reading!

******

Not too bad right? Especially at 24?! I had approximately $4.00 to my name at that stage and couldn’t care less about finances, haha… It wasn’t until 3 years later when it finally dawned on me that I should probably be paying attention ;)

So good job, Corrine! And thanks for sharing with us today!

——-

To share YOUR financial journey with us, pass me a note and we’ll try making you famous too ;) In the meantime, here are some other snapshots we’ve featured in recent months – hope they help!

• Jimmy’s History of Personal Finance
• Jana’s 10 Year Journey to Debt Freedom
• Miguel’s Multi-Millionaire Journey as an Immigrant

[This post, The net worth of a 24 year old obsessed with all things finance :), was first published by J. Money on Elite Edge Money]