Growing up in a middle class household made me strong. My parents always drove beaters and frowned upon ordering anything other than water when we went out to eat. I knew my parents were not rich because their incomes were in the public domain as foreign service officers. As a result, I made a conscious choice in high school not to attend one of the two private colleges that had accepted me in order to save us money.
We were by no means poor. We just pulled up to parties in a paintless 1976 Nissan Datsun alongside Audis, Mercedes, and BMWs for the four years we lived in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia between 1986-1990. I was quite mortified as a kid I’ve got to admit. I knew nothing of expensive shoes because I had none except for my wealthier friend’s hand-me-down Jordans that were two sizes too large. I couldn’t even afford a camera or a Nintendo game system. We led comfortable lives, but didn’t have more than we needed.
I was always curious about my wealthier friends. Many of their parents were business owners so one day I told my father, I too wanted to be a businessman. By the time I was 13 I was hooked on every single episode of “The Lifestyles Of The Rich & Famous,” narrated by Robin Leech. A million dollar house and a $40,000 sports car. What a life! I thought to myself in the 8th grade. Might as well give it a go. That’s when I started really hitting the books.
THERE IS MONEY EVERYWHERE YOU JUST HAVE TO GO FIND IT
Becoming a millionaire is becoming more common rather than the exception thanks to inflation. If you work for 40 years and save and invest just 20% of your after-tax paycheck a year, there is no doubt in my mind you will amass at least one million dollars in net worth thanks to historical compounding returns. Maxing out your 401K for 30+ years will also most likely lead to over $1 million dollars as well due to market returns and company matching as well. We’ve got financial planners, personal finance blogs, television, books and even free online wealth management companies like Personal Capital to help you build wealth. Much of the tools and information are free thanks to the internet. So many resources make building wealth much easier now than in the past.
Three Reasons Why The First Million Could Be The Easiest
1) Tremendous energy. When we first graduate from high school or college, we have a tremendous amount of energy to show what we can do after all our education. We’re hungry, motivated, and need to prove to others and to ourselves our worth. Unfortunately, so many of us piss away our youth by buying new cars, getting into credit card debt, not listening to our elders, and thinking the world owes us something. Forget it folks. Nobody owes us anything. But we owe it to ourselves and to our parents who sacrificed all that time and money raising us to give life everything we’ve got.
2) Less dependents. Most of us won’t have children by the time we graduate from college. As a result, we can focus 100% of our efforts on generating wealth by developing our careers or our businesses. Compare ourselves to middle aged adults with two children, a mortgage, and aging parents to take care of. We are like finicky Ferraris on a starting line ready to blow away our older model competitors.
3) Nothing to lose. When we graduate with nothing, we have nothing to lose. Compare that with people with property, stocks, and other investments during economic downturns, and they have everything to lose. With very little assets, we should be taking more risks. Now is the time to start a company, invest in that growth stock, take a new job opportunity, or move half way across the world on a hunch that good things might happen. If we don’t take risks while we are young, we certainly aren’t going to take them when we are old.
WOKE UP ONE DAY
I had no idea I became a millionaire at age 28 until two years later at the age of 30 when I did my first detailed net worth spreadsheet in 2007. It’s easier to achieve something when we don’t even realize what we’re doing. I was too busy saving, investing, working, and trying not to blow my money on things that I didn’t need. I was one of those “Super Motivated Boyfriends” (SMBs) who were impossible to lock down.
Like most people believe, 30 is a big milestone. Ever since college I told myself I was either going to make it, know that I was going to make it, or be an absolute failure by 30. The fear of being a failure at 30 with no job, no woman, no savings, no investments, and no world experiences made me so motivated to not mess things up. A painful two years of working 70+ hour weeks right out of college with difficult bosses also got me into overdrive to figure out a way not to work forever!
There was no fanfare when I discovered the seven figure milestone had been achieved, just the realization that time passes more quickly as we age. I had to make the most of my opportunities since nothing lasts forever. Years later, I’ve continued to grow my net worth with a variety of passive and alternative active incomes to keep me motivated to grow them into self-sustaining income sources on their own.
If you’ve been reading my posts from how to save for retirement if you don’t make much to people make much more than you think, there’s no magic behind wealth accumulation. Amassing wealth is about savings, discipline, perseverance, luck, the occasional X Factor, and the belief that you too deserve to be wealthy. Eventually you have more than enough so that you’ll either retire or keep on playing for fun.
THE ROAD TO ONE MILLION DOLLARS
To the best of my memory here’s how I was able to amass a million dollars by age 28.
Age 22. Year 1999. Place Your Balls On The Chopping Block. When I graduated college the total amount of cash I had was roughly $4,000. I had saved some money from summer jobs temping and flipping burgers at McDonald’s for $3.25-$4 an hour. I just started a dream job in New York City at Goldman Sachs and was feeling confident I wasn’t going to get fired the very next month. As a result, I invested $3,000 in a dotcom stock called Vertical Integration Systems (VCSY) that turned into $200,000 within several months. Yes it was incredibly lucky, but it also took some analysis and guts. I just wish I had more money to invest! The stock pulled back by around 25%, at which time I sold everything for around $155,000 and stayed out of the bubbliscious stock market for the next year and a half due to a job change in 2001. The stock ended up being worthless a couple years later. $155,000 equals about $120,000 in after tax proceeds. The trade is detailed in the post, Don’t Stop Fortune Hunting. Net worth: ~$160,000.
Age 24. Year 2001. Taking An Employment Chance. After two years in NYC, I was recruited to join another firm in San Francisco. I only knew a couple people in San Francisco, but felt the promotion and 100%+ guaranteed raise was attractive enough to take a chance. I was coming from a top firm and had established some solid client relationships over the past two years. The economy was still dicey due to the dotcom implosion and there was a big chance I would not make Associate after my third year at GS.
It turns out my firm in NYC did indeed let go of many colleagues, and only about 25% of the people I knew from my entering class were still there two years after I left. It was a little scary moving all the way cross country, but it wasn’t like I was moving to the middle of nowhere. This was San Francisco, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Besides, San Francisco is six hours closer to Hawaii, one of my favorite places on Earth, so I figured what the hell. I saved 100% of each bonus, maxed out my 401(k), and saved a little more for my E*TRADE account. Net worth: ~$260,000.
Age 25. Year 2002. Continued To Live Like A Student. The first two years in NYC, I lived in a studio with another guy. We put up one of those Chinese Paper Walls to add more privacy. I didn’t care. I was living in New York City, the most alive city in America. I’d rather spend money going out and partying rather than on an extra bedroom. When I moved to San Francisco, I spent even less on housing since NYC is about 30% more expensive. I found a two bedroom, one bathroom apartment at the edge of downtown for only $850 a person. I finally had my own room, yeah baby! When you now make double what you were making a year ago, yet pay 25% less in rent, saving becomes very easy. I increased my after tax, after 401K maximum contribution savings rate from 50% to 65%. Net worth: ~$400,000.
Age 26. Year 2003. Conservative Investments Before & During The Recession. 60% of every paycheck and 100% of every year end bonus after 401(k) contributions went into long-term CDs that yielded 5-6% at the time. The reason why I invested in CDs was due to a job change and not having time to manage my portfolio in 2001, 2002, and 2003. Furthermore, I was scared of another market implosion that would not only take down my investments, but also my bonus, and potentially my job. My 401(k) was already 100% exposed to the stock market already.
A day after my 26th birthday, I decided that it was time to grow up and buy my own place. I was renting a $1,600/month one bedroom apartment in San Francisco and wanted a nicer apartment. At the same time, I didn’t want to spend more than $2,000 a month on rent because the return on rent is always zero. I became very disillusioned with having a large chunk of money in the bank and started wondering what is the point of working more since I had more than I could ever have imagined. At age 26, I was already thinking of “retiring” in Hawaii. In retrospect, if I had started this site then, Financial Samurai would have been a beast in the blogosphere. Given my waning motivation to work as hard anymore, I decided to buy a two bedroom, two bathroom condo in a nice area of SF and live it up a little! The combination of 5-6% compounded returns in savings over four years, a growing 401(k), and another year of saving a growing bonus resulted in a net worth of roughly $550,000.
Age 26-27. Year 2004. Renewed Motivation To Work. After putting down a 25% downpayment (~$140,000) for a $580,500 condo, my motivation to work skyrocketed because of a drained cash account. I prayed the housing market wouldn’t implode like the stock market did years earlier. A year before my condo purchase I did a silly thing and bought a $78,000 Mercedes G Wagon (G500). The truck was sweet and I thought it was a great deal since it was selling for $150,000+ the year before since this small dealership in Sante Fe, New Mexico quizically owned the US import rights. I drove the truck for a year and had to sell it for a $20,000 loss because it wouldn’t fit in my condo garage due to the height! What an idiot, but I felt buying the condo was the responsible thing to do. I traded way down to a seven year hold Honda Civic worth $8,000 instead. I was growing up but still had the thirst for nice cars.
The $435,000 mortgage put a fire under my ass to work harder and be the best performer I could be. At the age of 27 I was promoted to “Vice President,” a title that is normally bestowed on business school graduates three to four years out of school at the age of 32-33. From there, my income took another large jump up due to a higher base and higher bonus range. I became one of the youngest VP promotes in my office. Debt provided an unexpected side benefit for my career. From 2003 to 2005 my condo also appreciated to around $815,000, a 40% jump. Unfortunately, this increase was unsustainable as we all know. Net worth: ~$800,000.
Age 28. Year 2005. A New Landlord. At 28, I decided to finally buy a house in San Francisco. I was sick of having neighbors above and below me. I wanted a yard, a deck, reprieve from the HOA meetings, and to be king of my own castle. I already started looking every Sunday a year earlier because I was fascinated with real estate just like so many others at the time. I turned my condo into a rental, and it has been this way for the past eight years. My rental property equity was around ~$350,000 plus around $750,000 worth of CDs and stock investments for a total net worth of around $1.1 million. I knew I was doing OK, but I had no idea I was worth over $1 million at the time. I was too busy building a business at work, managing a rental, remodeling a new home, and figuring out how to keep things going.
Note On 401k Investments: I put away the max 401K pre-tax contribution since my first full year of employment. At the time, the maximum contribution amount was $10,000 a year. The maximum amount is now $17,500 a year for 2014. If I take six years times the average $15,000 = $90,000. The average company match was around $15,000 a year since we had match + profit sharing, so add on another $80,000 = $170,000 in my 401K by the age of 28. But actually, I had over $200,000 given it did return more than 5% on average for six years. One of my 401K options was a hedge fund, where I put a 60% of my allocation during the downturn between 2000-2002. The fund actually did well given they had a net short position, so my overall 401(k) was able to take the hits. Here’s my recommended 401(k) by age chart.
| Financial Samurai Net Worth Growth Chart to $1,000,000 | ||
| Age | Net Worth After Taxes | Notes |
| 22 | $4,000 | Fresh out of college. |
| 23 | $160,000 | Big stock gains by taking risk. |
| 24 | $260,000 | Changed firms for promotion & raise. |
| 25 | $400,000 | Saving 60%+ of after tax income. |
| 26 | $550,000 | Bought first property, entered business school PT, Go Bears! |
| 27 | $800,000 | Promotion to VP. Purchased vacation property that turns sour years later. |
| 28 | ~$1,100,000 | Savings, stocks and rental property appreciation. Bought 3rd property. |
| FinancialSamurai.com | ||
THOUGHTS ON BUILDING A $1 MILLION NEST EGG BEFORE 30
What I’ve written is to the best of my recollection. Remember, I didn’t start calculating my net worth until I was 30 and I’ve only just now recounted the wealth building years up to age 28. I strongly believe everybody can accumulate a million dollars if they have the motivation, a good amount of planning, and the right amount of guidance. I’m sure some of you will have your own doubts, while others will scoff at how little $1 million is. You’ve got to figure out for yourself what amount makes you happy.
1) Don’t mess around in high school and college or else you will have a hard time landing a good job that pays well. Give yourself optionality please. There are thousands of straight-A, top 25 university graduates every single year. I was one of the thousands, and it’s hard to compete if you are not one of them because employers can’t respond or meet with everyone. Many firms such as Goldman, Mckinsey, Bain etc have GPA cutoffs of 3.5 out of 4.0, with some at 3.7. If you don’t have connections then you just aren’t going to make the cut when there are thousands of applicants for only 60 spots. You can rage against the machine and believe grades don’t matter, but you are going to be wrong like donkey kong and most likely regret your immaturity.
Getting a job at Goldman Sachs WHQ was like winning the lottery for a kid coming out of a non-target public school. I went through seven rounds and 55 interviews over a course of eight months before getting the offer. I would not have been able to even get an interview if I didn’t get good grades or show initiative. Your job income is the #1 main source of wealth for most people. Might as well focus on the highest paying industries that you think you’ll enjoy if money is what you want to make. It’s important to note that no way is a large income a guarantee for lasting wealth as many millionaire bankruptcies have proven.
Read “How To Make Six Figures At Almost Any Age” or “Examples Of Good Resumes That Get Jobs”
2) It’s important to save aggressively. When you’re a college student, you’re poor. Hence, even if you graduate and only make $30,000 a year, I’m willing to bet that’s more than you’ve ever made in your life! Try to continue living like a student for years after you’ve found your first full-time job and save! Stop making excuses why you need to buy a nice car and nice clothes. You’re a 22 year old recent college graduate for crying out loud. Build your foundation in your 20s and stop thinking you have a decade to explore, because you don’t. 10 years maxing out your 401(k) will likely result in a $200,000 portfolio in your early 30s.
The base you build in your 20s will provide tremendous returns for later on in life. If you stay consistent over the years, you will get there. Aim to save at least 20% of your after tax income every year, no matter what.
Please read “How Much Savings Should I Have Accumulated By Age” for some great tables to make sure you’re on track.
3) Work hard and know your place. Working hard takes NO skill. If you’re not coming in first and leaving last, you aren’t putting in your time. I promise you that if you wake up by 5am every morning, work one to two hours before the rest of your peers and work another one hour after your peers have left, you will get ahead! Please read A List Of Career Limiting Moves To Blow Up Your Future.
The reason why I was promoted to Vice President at 27, when the average VP promote is 33 is because I put in my dues. I generated millions of dollars in revenue, built a solid network of internal supporters, and was a workhorse by coming in by 5:30am everyday for my first two years and leaving at 7:30pm-8pm on average. Sometimes I even left work at 10pm. Did I sacrifice some of my social life? Of course I did. But, I also partied hard many weekends goodness knows! Working hard doesn’t mean you can’t play hard and travel. You’re young remember? You’re energy is limitless!
4) Stop making lame excuses. You can spend time crying why the world isn’t fair, or you can do something about your life. If you are reading this post, chances are you have clean water to drink, shelter, internet and a legal system that protects your rights. There are millions of people in the world who are starving every single day. There are those who live in fear of dictators confiscating everything they own. There are people who immigrate to America for a better life, don’t even speak the language and crush it. What is your excuse?
Spend 30 minutes every day by yourself in meditation coming up with a better business model for your company or for own business. Spend four hours every weekend in the office studying up on new things that will help improve your standings with your clients. You can even start a blog and work an extra 30 hours a week online before you have a family and generate some healthy revenue if you wish. Let’s take advantage of the freedom our respective countries provide.
Read: Income Profiles Of Financially Free People
5) Diversify your revenue and consider both aggressive and conservative strategies (dumbbell approach). When I was 22, I only had about $4,000 to my name. Regardless, I invested 80% of my money and it turned into a 50 bagger. Was I lucky? Hell yes! But, I did my research and was I willing to put my balls on the line to try and make some money. I think it is very important to take more risks when you are young which is why I’m biased towards growth stocks over dividend stocks. With the proceeds from my VCSY trade, I transferred my wins into long-term CDs and then ultimately into property.
When you are ahead, it’s very hard to walk away. As a poker player I know this feeling all too well. But it’s tantamount to invest a portion of your winnings in a safe haven. Lock it up. Protect yourself from yourself! I didn’t take on the reckless mentality of betting the farm with my windfall since I was now playing with the “house’s money.” This was my money now damnit, and I wasn’t about to piss it away on some B2B stocks. Continuously diversify your income streams. Create buffer after buffer. Read: How To Build Passive Income For Financial Freedom
6) Property truly is your best friend over the long term. If you put 20% down on a property and it goes up 3% a year, that’s a 15% return on your cash thanks to leverage. Sure, you can get your face ripped off if you bite off more than you can chew. But trust me when I tell you that thanks to inflation, your debt payments will seem insignificant five years afterward. Five years later, you will be happy every month when you get to charge a rent that is much higher than the interest portion of your mortgage.
I sometimes feel guilty raising the rent, but remind myself, I was the one who took the risk, put down the downpayment, and nobody forces anybody to rent my place. Real estate is my favorite investment asset class to build wealth.
7) Pretend you are poor and show few signs of wealth. Stay humble despite amassing a fortune. Don’t show off or waste money on things you don’t need. Make people believe you are younger and poorer than you really are. I drive a 13 year old car and wear t-shirts, jeans, and a baseball cap most of the time. They think I’m 5-7 younger than I am, and give me little respect. That is exactly the way I want to be viewed so the car salesmen don’t bother me. Always be the underdog to get ahead. I would say at least 70% of the millionaires I know are very low key. You can’t tell they have a lot of money except for when you get to their house.
8) Believe there are more ways than one to rub a furry koala. You can make big bucks through a day job or on your own. Better yet, you can do both! There is no right or wrong way to rub the furry koala. Just the fact that you can pet one is what counts. You need to make a choice if you want to increase your wealth or not. If you do, you should logically research the industries that pay well and join one that fits your personality and skill-set. I grew up overseas and loved the stock market so I knew international equities was a perfect fit. I also like to write so blogging became a natural extension. Keep searching for other ways while counting each blessing because luck counts a great deal.
9) Office politics counts. In order to get ahead, you’ve got to play the game by building as many company allies as possible. I don’t know many people who like to sell themselves internally to their colleagues and bosses. People think that all it takes is good work to get recognized, paid, and promoted. This is absolutely false! You must sell yourself internally as much as you sell yourself externally. Once you have someone with significant power on your side, your entire career gets that much easier. Online, you can write great content, but you might very well never get on the map if someone bigger doesn’t recognize your work and give you a nod. After the lift, it’s what you do with it that matters.
10) Invest in yourself. Your greatest money making asset is you. Don’t cheap out on education or consulting. Education is worth more than any material thing you can buy. My studies in college and grad school taught me how to market, negotiate, communicate, analyze investments, and influence. Working with financial advisors who are experts in their fields have allowed me to save a ton on taxes, optimizes my investments, and let me focus on what I really want to do. It’s hard to recognize value when you can’t touch it. However, I promise you that knowledge and education is worth more than everything else.
Everybody should diligently track their worth online. Use a free financial tool by Personal Capital. They allow you to manage your cash flow, track your wealth, x-ray your portfolio for excess fees, and calculate your future retirement needs with their award winning software. That which is measured can be improved. There is no rewind button in life.
PLEASE ALIGN YOUR BELIEFS WITH REALITY
One cannot downplay the importance of luck in building wealth. I have been fortunate to have two loving parents and a brain that works most of the time. If you’re born in America, please take full advantage of all your opportunities. Despite having a deficiency in higher level math, uninspiring SAT scores, and a run in with the law as a teenager, I made up for my weaknesses with plain old work ethic. It also helps to be an undying optimist as well.
You can’t complain about not having wealth if you decide not to pursue wealth. That’s a mental misalignment. The desire for wealth shouldn’t be viewed as evil. It should be viewed as natural for anybody who wants to live a better life, take care of his or her family and parents, and have the opportunity to give back to the community.
As soon as we align our realities with our beliefs and desires, we become congruent. We are happier with ourselves and our outlook. Once you’ve accumulated your $1 million nest egg, you’ve now got to figure out how to maximize its return as you battle age, other responsibilities, and fatigue. That’s when the real challenge begins!
Recommendations For Boosting Your Wealth
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* Start Your Own Website, Be Your Own Boss: There’s nothing better than starting your own website to own your brand online and earn extra income on the side. Why should LinkedIn, FB, and Twitter pop up when someone Google’s your name? With your own website you can connect with potentially millions of people online, sell a product, sell some else’s product, make passive income and find a lot of new consulting and FT work opportunities.
Financial Samurai started as a personal journal to make sense of the financial crisis in 2009. By early 2012, it started making a livable income stream so I decided to negotiate a severance package. Years later, FS now makes more than I did as an Executive Director at a major financial firm with 90% less work and 100% more fun. Here’s my step-by-step guide on how you can start your own website in under 30 minutes. You never know where the journey will take you!
Great post! It’s very important to start young if we really want to hit our first million before or during our 30s.
It’s really the only way Robert. But on the flip side, if we don’t start the savings, investing, and risk taking process young, all those things we do end up spending money on should bring us some joy and good memories. Just have to work longer.
The great unknown will be when we die. Hence, getting our financials in order sooner is a good hedge against an early demise!
Great post and thanks for taking the time to outline your own path.
I have a few counterpoints:
1. Yes, return on rent itself is technically zero, unless you can sub rent or something, but if you’re moving and have to rent for a job, then renting suddenly has a part in your income, generating a return.
2. Being 20-30 is arguably the greatest time to be alive. I agree from a financial point of view, it doesn’t make sense to splurge on things when the money could be working for you instead. However, it doesn’t make sense to live life in this age group and not have some luxuries since you are going to enjoy them more now than when you hit 40 and 50. It’s about balance.
3. Working more and harder doesn’t always equate to higher pay. Being smarter and doing things more efficiently have more of a bearing to advancing one’s paycheck in my opinion. Just an opinion though.
The $78,000 G500 was my splurge at 25. Had fun for a year, and came to my senses thanks to it not fitting in my condo.
Everybody is welcome to go nuts in their 20s. Just be cognizant it might be at the expense of more work or a smaller nest egg later on.
I have met many people who work hard and have never gotten “rich”.
However I have never met anyone I would consider rich or successful who didn’t work hard.
We should hit the 1Mill point about the time I retire from the military (5.5 yrs at age 42). Stories like this make me wonder where I would be now if I had gotten serious about saving early in my twenties. Interesting article Sam, thanks for exposing yourself in your financial underwear! I’m sure your number is a few notches higher by now.
I’m curious, did self doubt ever become a major player in your saving years? Also, where does it end Sam? Is there a ceiling to your goal of growing your wealth?
Thanks, Chris
Good stuff Chris! $1 million by 42 working in the military is awesome. I’d love to read a more in-depth post of how you got there too. The pension is going to be sweet and allow you do do whatever else you want.
I had lots of doubt in 2001 after the dotcom bubble and two years in NYC b/c the economy was so bad. Luckily I was able to secure a position at another firm before my 2 year analyst program was done.
I don’t think personal finance ever ends. It just evolves to what you think is the ideal balance. I don’t have as much interest in making money anymore. If I did, I would have kept working!
I believe, especially early on in a career, that the ability to job hop to go after opportunities is a serious asset and can allow huge increases in income levels. Post college the region of the country I was in was depressed and jobs of any kind were scarce, I only got ahead by moving out of state, and out of the region in general. Many of my classmates didn’t fare as well by insisting on staying local.
Chris, good for you. I am 43 yrs old and an Air Force officer myself. Our net was $1.5m as of last November–discluding our primary residence and cars (which we own, too). Everything the financial samurai said is so true. I especially liked his comments/reflections about our own lifespan limitations and how we can excel with boundless energy in our 20s and 30s but our bodies do slow down after that. Over a million in net in the military is very do-able, you just cant go out and buy a $50,000 corvette as an E4 like I see happen across all branches and bases. How did we get to over a million? Stocks (and taking profits when they happen!), rental real estate (we have 5 rentals), max 401k’s with employer match (my wife), peer to peer lending, municipal bonds, and for goodness sakes, contribute at least half of all raises and bonuses to your own retirement. We like to use the phrase “bring your own raise” meaning create a monthly raise by investing in dividend stocks that pay reliable, steady dividends every month. Every time I put $1000 into an investment vehicle at 5% yield, I know it will give me a $4.16 raise per month. I have repeated that formula 100’s of times over, probably 1000’s. When I leave the military in 23 months, we will have enough passive income to not have to ever go to work again. Good luck!
Many young millionaires face problems of keeping up with the tempo and speed, but it seems to me that you have laid a very strong foundation, so wishing you good luck building on it!
Thanks Kostas. The tempo is very slow now that I pulled the ripchord last year.
Good post and I generally agree with your suggestions. However, a large portion of the skyrocketing net worth in your 20s was due to real estate and the dotcom stock. Both might be tough to replicate going forward. The idea behind it – taking risk when you are young – is solid of course, but luck/bubbles/timing all played a huge role and it’s not something that can be copied. Saving and investing is still a foolproof plan to get to that 1 million net worth, but it might not happen before you hit 30.
Indeed. I was lucky, especially making real estate and stock investments during two major crashes.
Sooner or later someone will get to their milestone if they stay the course.
Look at turmoil as opportunity.
Thanks for the advice! Great article!
Your welcome! May your career be bright and prosperous.
I can’t pinpoint the day I actually became a millionaire, but I do remember the day my liquid assets ebbed over $1M at 32, it was a pretty proud moment (one that took years for me to tell even my parents)…I could not agree more with Sam that you have to work your ass off and take chances swinging for the fences when you are young with nothing to lose. Insourcelife mentioned in his post that a large portion of Sam’s worth came from certain bubbles or unique events…I’d argue that there are those opportunities in every type of economy and in any industry you can think of. I’ve built my wealth in Automotive during the darkest days of the industry by working harder than everybody else, coming up with a better mouse-trap, being humble, and remembering how critical customer service is. Yep, I saved and reinvested about 70% of my income as well along the way. You have to trust in yourself, I can still hear the disappointment in my parents voices when I told them I was going to leave a cushy 6 figure job with a big company at 27…the risk was unimaginable to them & for the first few years I “feared” they were correct because it was hard as hell, I was too stubborn to fail and they are now extremely proud when they see what was created with hard work and ingenuity. Honestly though, if I had 2 kids and a wife to feed like I thought I would have in my late 20’s , I might not have made the same decision…funny how life works out sometimes.
Great point on taking advantage during the darkest times. Heaven knows the auto industry went through a ringer. I’d love to read your story in more detail through a guest post one day.
I’m always intrigued by folks who leave 6-figure jobs at a young age to go out on their own. I didn’t have the guts until 34.
I’d be happy to share my journey one of these days…it seems like there are a lot of ways to get to Financial Independence, but the one common theme 99% of the time is a lot of hard work, delayed gratification, and taking a risk or two.
Well, that and another drain is children upon one’s ability to build such a networth.
Kudos to you for making the choices you did to get to where you are today!
Epic post, Sam. I really appreciate the This Is Your Life perspective from the Samurai.
I can relate to your GS Lotto Ticket as I think I hit the Big Four Lotto Ticket around the same time.
But I didn’t pull in the cash you did, that’s for sure.
No million for me yet, but dammit man, where’s your Roth IRA? I kid, I kid…
No problem mate. The Big Four Lotto Ticket is sweet. I got rejected from them left and right in college because I didn’t know a thing about accounting.
Enjoy your ROTH! Ha!
This is an awesome insight Sam, thanks for sharing. I think I need to learn a few lessons from you about internal politics. I need to better position myself for the next promotion. That’s the easiest way to increase your income!
For sure Eric, I plan to write a detailed post on office politics for you and others. It really is such an important thing to master.
I would reallly like to second this request. That you became a VP so young means you really did something special there and I need to take notes. Detailed notes.
The advice you have been giving me in these comments sections has really been helping. I don’t know if I’m getting closer to a promotion or need one at this point until the pay is right like you said, but I did give myself and attitude adjustment and have been making an effort to make more personal connections and internal supporters. I’ve already noticed a big difference. Big. Like, I’m amazed.
Sure, no problem. The attitude adjustment is key. Think, “Thank you sir, may I have another!” as uttered in Animal House long ago.
Omg, right!!!! I actually emailed upper management the equivalent of that statement two weeks ago. Long story short I got an email lashing me because my numbers were down in one area. The old me would have defended myself by pointing out the fact that in the same time period I broke several company records overall. I wanted to say that. But instead I thought of you, and I THANKED them for only expecting excellence of me (knowing that the email would be forwarded to their bosses as well since I knew they were the real ones asking). I actually swallowed my pride and thanked him for the lashing!!! and then I started staying even later to improve my numbers in that area every day since. And because I had been staying later, I was available for a call that a few days ago that lasted to 8:30 PM EST (I come in at 5 AM PST) from the President on deal that honestly probably wouldn’t have gone through if we didn’t have that phone call and I didn’t get his support. Funny enough that call wasn’t totally about that deal, we were like, chatting. Remember that company outing my boss got mad at me for not being at? He brought that up…he really did want to meet me…etc. And in the AM the deal was approved. Domino effect from that one day when I decided to say “thank you” for the lashing, lash me again instead of getting scrappy. I’m truly amazed. But I still want your article on office politics!!! I know this is just scratching the surface.
Wow thanks for all the insights and advice! That’s pretty crazy you didn’t eveb realize you hit 1 million until afteer the fact. I guess it’s fairly easy to do that when you’re hustling every day. I think there are tools nowadays that help make it easier but the momentum, drive, discipline, and energy it takes are still just as hard. Nothing comes easy and I think a lot of younger Millenials have a hard time with that. I’m on a tight budget for the next few months since I splurged on scuba diving school. But saving is fun for me because it makes the occassional treats that much more special and rewarding. I’m not at a million yet but one day I think I’ll get there.
Scuba will be fun Sydney! I can’t wait myself. But being in a pull all day for two days and the cold waters of Monterrey kinda bite!
“If the feedback is good, perhaps I’ll share more details in the future.”
I encourage you to do so – I thoroughly appreciated this post. Getting insight from someone who has actually achieved such accomplishments is much more valuable than reading it from someone who is just theorizing. In any case, I think your story very much proves the notion that if you work smart and hard, then you create your own good luck.
Ahhh, the act of pontificating what we don’t really understand is a right of passage in the content/media world! :)
Will try my best. It is fun to theorize though. Some get very wealthy theorizing, like teaching someone how to get a job even though they’ve never had a job!
Nice post, Sam. I always like hearing about how people got to the point they’re at today.
I wish I knew how important office politics was at the start of my career. Having connections and people in a position of power that will vouch for you goes further for your career advancement than just about anything else. Recently I’ve been going through a series of interviews for a job that I probably wouldn’t have gotten looked at twice for if it wasn’t for some of the connections I made that stepped up to the plate for me.
Selling yourself internally really is important. The star only shines so bright until you run out of energy, performance, or colleagues who move on.
Good luck with the interviews!
Thanks for sharing!
Sam, this list/timeline is amazing. Thanks for sharing. I’ll be sending this to my bro, who should be graduating from college soon.
Best of luck to your bro! To have the whole world ahead of you…..
This is my favorite post so far. Thank you for sharing your journey – it is really cool to see the progression.
What was your networth when you left your last employer? Do you have any regrets – like, do you wish you had stuck it out for another 5 years and compounded your networth more aggressively, or are you confident you exited at the right time?
Regarding 401ks, the numbers you’ve previously posted are painful to read for young professionals since we lose so much investing time in our 20s in school. On top of that, my employer “lured” me in with the highest salary offer at a time when I wasn’t financially literate enough to consider the entire package, including benefits. My employer has never contributed to my 401k through a match or a profit share. All things considered, I would have been financially better off going for lower salary/better benefits. Not a big deal, but it still hurts a little.
I got to my first million at 30 through real estate – more specifically, buying dirt cheap single family homes in Arizona throughout the recession.
Take a look at this post on The “One More Year Syndrome” about regret (https://www.financialsamurai.com/2013/07/24/overcoming-the-one-more-year-syndrome/) and doing something you really want to do. I knew that my biggest regret when I’m old would be NOT taking the leap of faith to try entrepreneurship. I have my fill of work and money after 13 years. I’ve been wanting to be an entrepreneur since college.
I read that post – I have in my mind that it will take $5m in non-personal residence networth to feel safe enough to break free from the golden handcuffs. There has to be some kind of psychological study about what keeps people going back to the same job everyday rather than taking a risk like you did (which, based on reading your blog, seems to have paid off ten-fold in terms of quality of life).
I think $5 million is an excellent figure to shoot for. That would provide guaranteed $140,000 a year in passive income if you dumped it all in 10-year treasuries.
The psychological shift is the realization that life is short, your friends and people you know start getting sick and dying, and a deep introspection about how much money you need to be happy.
We writers are constantly delving into issues b/c we need to figure out how to convey our thoughts properly. I think if more people sat down to meditate, write, review, and look within, it’ll easier to find individual answers.
I don’t even know what to say…seriously amazing. Inspiring. A million in 6 years, in your 20’s!!!! Most 22-28 year olds are partying and rounding the corner towards their first BK.
By comparison I’m just getting STARTED at age 28. Thank you so very much for sharing your story and I hope that you share more.
It’s also so very nice to hear how much you thank your parents and your upbringing for your core value system. I am sure your parents are beyond proud of you!
Are most 22-28 year olds rounding the corner towards their first BK? Things cant’ be that bad, we got Bernanke and Obama! :) I think most of my classmates at GS have gone on to do pretty well in different capacities.
I’m really so grateful for my parents and the experiences and teachings they gave me. I was a naughty kid growing up through high school and had to be set straight. Best of luck to you!
Most 22-28 year olds, most of which did not go to GS, or college at all for that matter. Yes, most twenty somethings are THAT irresponsible with money. If they can even get their credit to BE good enough to get that far in to debt in the first place. Most twenty somethings are just broke and spend whatever money or credit they have on “living in the moment”. Amazing that you had the self control and foresight to not. No need to be modest here, I mean really, you were just so far ahead of the pack. It’s truly inspiring.
You were naughty but still got good grades! I sort of have to admit I was the same way in the first half of high school.
Gotcha. Well, I really messed up when I was younger, so I felt I HAD to do really well in college to make up for all my deficiencies.
And b/c I was pounded to a pulp my first 1-2 years in NYC, I knew I should save as much as possible since I knew I couldn’t last. Moving to San francisco saved me. It bought me 11 more years since life out here is more balanced. I lost all the weight I had gained while in NYC and saw daylight again.
But yeah, I hear you on “living in the moment,” running up credit card debt, living the fabulous lifestyle young and so forth b/c I just met someone who is 26-27 going through that now. Delaying gratification is hard when you have rich friends living it up who don’t have to do anything. I might have to write a post about this. It jolts me to experience a friend go through this.
Omg I can only IMAGINE how NY gave you thick skin, Goldman at that time too, sheesh wow!!! Glad SF saved you, what a breath of fresh air it must have been. And then you were at a company where you talents were really able to shine.
Please do write about it! Hopefully more twenty somethings will stumble upon your blog and be inspired by the article and change their ways earlier.
I didn’t go into debt or live a fab lifestyle during said time period, I had kids and got married early–I guess I can say that sort of saved me. But 20-23 were some crazy times and I did see a lot of “living in the moment” in the LA/OC socialite scene. I wanted to do get it all out of my system early and not have a mid life crisis and become some crazy coug at 40 because I “never got to experience it when I was young” kind of thing LOL. It is nice knowing and not wondering that being a model partying with celebs and financiers it’s not all that it’s cracked up to be. Very relaxing living an inconspicuous, anonymous life now, focused on family, saving, and investing. No one would EVER guess that I was who I used to be. I am sure no one would ever guess at your naughty past now as well =)
Ahhh, the “model partying w/ celebs and financiers” life. Love it and loved it! Bottle service, car service to Atlantic City, last minute trips to Vegas…… it would be a fun, fun book to write. I’d much rather now be seen as a boring old fart now though. More fun to surprise on the upside.
Yes, I do think it’s great you got it out of your system. And to be able to find someone, have a family, and make $250K by 30 is an enormous accomplishment. Think about how life would be if you never found someone? That happens A LOT in the competitive world of finance b/c we’re so busy working on our careers.
Great post Sam. Can you write detailed posts about your experiences wrt buying the rental and also the house in SF. As you know market is crazy in SF so any insight you share would be helpful
Hi John, I think you’ll enjoy this post on How To Properly Value Analyze And Invest In Real Estate.
FS, am loving the licentiously expressive idiomatic discourse! Especially appreciate “(t)here is no right or wrong way to rub the furry koala.” If rubbing the furry koala is wrong, I don’t wanna be right!:-)
Seriously, your story and achievements are always compelling, and your parents can take great pride in your accomplishment, too. Thanks for sharing this part of your story.
Thanks JC. Nobody else likes rubbing furry koalas it seems except me and you!
Great post. Just remember that $17.5k is NOT maxing out your 401k. That is the max employee contribution. Your employer can contribute another $33.5k for a total of $51k/year in 2013. If you are below that, well… find a way to become the employer if you can. I’m not saying everyone can do it, but anyone can do it.
Great point Jamin. Thanks for sharing. $51K a year is such a powerful total contribution that will certainly create millionaires over time if people can afford to figure out a way to contribute that much!
Love this article. It’s incredibly inspirational and at the same time makes me feel poor in comparison. Had this blog started in 2004 (when I graduated and got my 1st real salary job) and that I had known about it, I could be at least one-half millionaire by now. I don’t make as much money as you did, but I also live in a low cost area so having $500K after 9 years of work would still be pretty fantastic.
Keep up the great blog. I love shopping and your articles help me liking it less.
Totally agree Tina about the shopping thing!
Sorry for making you feel poor in comparison. It’s one of the reasons why I don’t like to publish these articles b/c I have so many readers from all sorts of backgrounds. It’s why I constantly emphasize the high cost of living in SF, Manhattan, etc and how everybody’s financial requirements are different.
$500K after 9 years of work is very fantastic, especially if you are living in a low cost area.
I LOVE window shopping. It keeps me satisfaction when I walk away from the car dealer with money intact!
Great advice! My journey was different, but similar in some respects. Taking risks is key to success. Investing in income property is very rewarding and taxed at capital gains rates. I love the idea of my tenants paying for my mortgage and costs of ownership! I reached the magic number in my early thirties, but i included my personal residence in those days. I no longer do that for conservative reasons since you have to live somewhere and it skews your net worth.
The theme of your advice is to do well in your career and invest wisely. The road to wealth has a lot of paths, but your advice works no matter what path you take.
Taking calculated risk really is so important. For those who want to achieve FI early, but are unwilling to take more risk than CDs or dividend stocks, it’s going to be tough b/c often times saving a lot to live like a pauper isn’t enough.
Excellent post! I know you’re really putting yourself out there, but showing all the juicy details is the best example you can give and very helpful for those trying to follow the path. Plus, I’m sure you will see a nice uptick in traffic.
I’m on my way to $1M and should cross the line in a few years at about age 30. Similar to you, this is from a combination of hard work, a good degree, a lucrative engineering job, and working hard on weekends and when the workday is over! Now that my family is growing and consuming more of my time, I can look back and appreciate the hard work setting up multiple income streams when I was younger.
Thanks again for sharing and educating!
You’re going to love all the fruits of all your hard work once you hit 30. The best thing about hard work is that it is OVER, and yet it keeps on giving often times.
Enjoy!
I love how on one hand you were willing to put just about every dime you had into a risky investment, but on the other you are a millionaire driving a 13 year old car. It is a rare combination of being frugal but willing to take risks. It clearly worked out well.
I love cars, but I love Moose more. The more we go on roadtrips, the more I can’t sell him despite all his issues. It really is all about spending money on experiences.
Have you ever read the book from Thomas Stanley called “The Millionaire Next Door” or “The Millionaire Mind”?
The funny thing is that even the Decamillionaires won’t spend more than $30k on a car, until they’ve achieved multi-millions in assets.
Hey Sam,
Just curious but what was your net worth outside of real estate when you “retired”?
Mike
Hi Mike, it was more. How about you?
My NW is about 35% real estate.
Recommended Net Worth Allocation By Age And Work Experience
Sam,
My NW is entirely tied up in stocks. I believe I’m a year younger than you. I’m trying to determine what amount I should draw the line at where I could potentially no longer work and generate passive / business income.
When your passive and other side incomes cover 110% of your monthly nut.
Hi Sam,
Great post. You have an impressive track record, that’s for sure!
I hit $1M at age 34, the year I got married to my wife and 1 year after moving overseas…
It could have been sooner if I took money off the table with the company options and share purchase plan in 2000 but instead I ended up riding it down and changed jobs to a start up that crashed and burned 10 months later in early 2002. Then I spent a year trying to get into a new job and started over again- so it was worth all the lessons learned in hindsight, plus I have to say that my life was all the richer for it.
-Mike
Hey Mike, nothing like the 2000 dotcom roller coaster to keep things real!
How do you plan to spend your millions in Thailand? Because that’s like tens of millions there!
Hey Sam,
I’m not sure if I’d agree with that statement. Thailand is the 2nd largest market for luxury German cars, a lot of people are making some serious coin out here and they are locals.
Foreigners can’t own land, only via condominiums and the land prices in downtown Bangkok are truly mind boggling. Example: a detached house on a 1/3 – 1/2 of an acre in downtown Bangkok is about $20 – 30M USD- and is very rarely on the market as it is usually snatched up by a developer who then aggregates the land with another plot and builds a condo there and makes a tidy profit.
However we have a baby so need more space- the 2 BR / 2BA condo that we’ve lived in the past 7 years is just getting too small… so I went out and purchased a nice second hand condo- it’s a duplex penthouse on the 29th and 30th floor of a condo with very nice views of the city, and a small view of one bend in the river- it has been wonderfully decorated and I bought it fully furnished and decorated for $600K USD- and this is for a 2500 square foot place (4 bedrooms / 4 Bathrooms)- it feels like a house because it’s on two levels and the location is great. It was a good cash outlay but one that I think is worth the money.
That’s how I’m spending my money – that and baby related stuff!
-Mike
Sounds like a worth purchase to me Mike. Depending on location comparison, that place could easily go for $1.5-$2 million in SF!
Time will tell, my friend.
-Mike
Sam,
This is the post that needed to be written so that your readers can benchmark themselves. I was lucky with a few investments prior to the 2008 crash despite not fully committing to investing and growing my wealth. The most lucrative investments I made lost money early, especially in 2008-2010. The market crash has helped me make up tremendous ground to the point where financial independence is less than 10 years away, maybe even 5 if my investments pay off. Is your third property the house in Kaimuki? Is it vacant or rented out?
My wife and I are ahead of your above average new worth calendar with decent incomes, we’ve been very lucky Hawaii like SF didn’t suffer in the real estate downturn. My problem now is most of my wealth is tied up in real estate and retirement accounts, not very liquid. I don’t plan to liquidate any real estate holdings as I plan to leave them to my children when I have some. Now we are focusing on building up our taxable accounts while still maximizing all retirement accounts.
Sam you definitely should have more posts like this, especially for naysayers. I can only handle so many blogs that write about the chocolate bar they bought which caused them to go over budget.
Charles, My third prop is in California. I don’t count Kaimuki b/c I did nothing to deserve it and it’s not solely in my name either.
For liquidity, I’d work on your X Factor b/c as you know, cash flow is king.
It’s interesting, but the only naysayers I’ve had recently are the religious dividend investors who swear by dividend investing for early retirement and are against growth stocks and everything else. It’s weird how unflexible their thinking is, even after highlighting the Chinese Internet Stocks example in May and them playing out by 50%+ three months later. They want to retire early in 10 years with their $100,000 dividend portfolio that they think will grow 10X in 10 years. It’s interesting!
Sam, you know as well as a lot of other folks that being too heavy in any given thing is probably not a good thing. That goes for Dividend/Growth/RE investing. :-P
Hi JT, when I first started funding the 401(k) I had a more conventional notion of retiring at 59.5. However, after my first stub bonus for half the year and seeing how much was taken in taxes (NYC City, STate, Federal) and the amount of work required, I knew I couldn’t last for 47.5 years. I thought if I could last 5 years I’d be lucky.
I didn’t care about not being able to touch my 401(k) until 59.5 b/c it made me feel good not to pay taxes on my contribution amount. I used my 401(k) as the ultimate tax shelter based on my income at the time and BONUS money if I got to live until 60. Besides, thank goodness for RULE 72t which allows for early withdrawal!
I wish I bought the 2/2 condo I was eyeing in NYC in 2000 on 22nd between Park and Madison for $700,000. It would be worth $1.5 mil + now. I also wish I kept fortune hunting in the stock market.
The mass media and the government are powerful. It’s all about pitting Wall St. against Main St. Like anything, it’s important to differentiate between individual people and corporations.
29 is still young! Good luck in your journey. Time starts flying once you hit 30, it’s kind of scary. Enjoy the path too.
Awesome post Sam! :-)
I just sent a text to my nephew so that he’ll understand the reasons WHY he should save as much as he can while living at home until he gets a place of his own in 5+ years hopefully.
Curious why you chose the Excel spreadsheet to track net worth over something like Quicken (or other products now) that can download all that information to put it in a single place for you?
Cool. I chose Excel because I’m very familiar with the program as someone in finance and can really customize the tables. Besides, it was free. ;)
Either age doesn’t really matter bc if you are on track by 35, or even 50 it is still going to be some relatively good living towards the middle and end.
30 has come and gone (well only by 18 months or so) and I haven’t that 7 figure mark yet. Like you, I believe it is inevitable with hard work and determination. Love the timeline!
So long as the direction is correct, sooner or later we’ll get there no doubt. Any thoughts on updating your net worth series with real numbers and not just percentages now?
Hey FS,
Good stuff. I’m impressed and am pleased to see that you’ve done so well with your time.
James
Thanks James. Per my recollection, you guys are on pace to break $1 mil this year no?
Yes sir. We should be getting there pretty soon.
Congratulations, it’s quite an achievement to go from $0 net worth to over $1m in 7 years – your story shows that with commitment and consistence we can make major progress in our situations in quite a short timeframe.
The only thing I wouldn’t agree with is the title – surely the second million will be much easier given that you already have significant investment income coming through the door and a much larger salary than when you started. I look forward to your update on the next million!
Thanks. Maybe. I’ll have to think about the journey from $1 to $2. From $0 to $1 was easy in my mind because I wasn’t focused on it. It just happened one day two years before I realized it because I was too busy working.
Going to $2 mil is hard bc you don’t want to lose the $1 mil due to risk.
How’s your NW progress going?
My net worth at the moment
I purchased a house is August 2012 and took on a total debt of $385,000 ($360k from the bank and $15k loan from parents) to do so. Unfortunately real estate here is quite expensive. Of that $385k I’m now down to $340k after one year and my house price has gone up so technically my net worth sits around 90k at age 25.
I say technically, because really I don’t think my net worth should include the home I live in – I can’t exactly sell this property without a) incurring large (20k) selling costs and b) either renting or buying a new home. While it contributes towards my financial independence, it’s not an investment asset as opposed to holding something such as an index fund (which I can’t live in!)
Goal is to be debt free in 5 1/2 years so there is lots of hard work ahead before I can start investing and truly growing my net worth.
FI, congrats on your home purchase. pmfji, but I wanted to make the case for including your primary residence in your NW calc. The reasons you listed for not including it can be flipped; first of all, the imputed rent you would be paying (instead of a mortgage) has a real value. In addition, your mortgage interest expense and property tax both have a dollar-for-dollar value in reducing your taxable income. A tertiary benefit is that inflation won’t impact your mortgage payment (and you will be paying in cheaper dollars in out-years), while inflation will benefit the nominal value of your home.
One thing I do for that calculation is to take the conservative sales value of the home, multiply by .9, and then subtract the outstanding mortgage value owed. This gives you something closer to what you would truly walk away with if you sold the property (the 10% includes the 5% sales commission, 2% processing, repairs and improvements requested by the sellers, etc.). Another way to do it, is to calculate the nut needed to throw off a conservative equivalent rent (i.e. $2,000/month would need about $400,000) and subtract what you would pay to eliminate the mortgage and sell the home. Don’t sell yourself short, man, you are a homeowner and rocking that payoff schedule! Continued success to you.
I agree with you JayCeezy that the the decision to purchase a home does definitely add economic value in the form of saved rent. I’m not a big fan of ‘walk away’ value, however I have actually considered your second option previously – good to see that someone else had the same train of thought. How much would I need to conservatively invest to return the same costs as I save by owing my home?
A 10 year term deposit here in Australia returns 4.3%, or 2.66% after factoring in the tax which would be payable. My home used to rent for $350/w before I moved in, which would mean an equivalent secure long term investment would be worth a whopping $684,000! If I was to have invested instead of purchasing I wouldn’t be 100% in term deposits, but this provides the closest comparison of ‘(virtually) zero risk’ return.
When you consider it that way, my effective net worth would be over $344k. This probably highlights one of the problems with NPV – it can be calculated in different ways to give vastly different results!
My husband and I are just over $1M at 38/39. We sort of shrugged our shoulders when we found out — we don’t feel like we’re financially free at all! When we got married 5 years ago, my net worth was around $280K and his was -$90K (mostly medical school debt). From the time we got married till now, it was a combination of making good salaries, living modestly, and saving aggressively that got us here.
I think that working hard will get you to a certain point, but working smart is the path to financial freedom. I worked my tail off in the first 4 years of my career (65-85 hour weeks), but that was the modus operandi for everyone in my engineering group so I certainly didn’t stick out from the crowd. This is where I goofed up because I was too risk-averse and didn’t have enough self-confidence to really challenge myself to explore outside my comfort zone. My husband messed up too because he should’ve been saving in a 401K when he started residency but chose to buy a brand new car instead which tied up all his excess cash (not much after living expenses) in car payments for 5 years.
We currently do not have investments beyond our retirement accounts and home, but are planning to dive into that now that we’re in a good place financially. The question is what sort of after-tax investments should we look into? Real estate is number one in our minds but we’d rather do commercial than residential. We’d love to get into private equity but don’t think we have enough capital yet.
Sounds like you two are really kicking butt! My advice on investments is first pay off every last piece of debt, cars, student loans, mortgage, etc…once you have zero debt, then invest in things that you very clearly understand and are able explain the investment to an 8th grader. Keeping it simple may not be “sexy” but it works! Don’t get worked up trying to chase percentage points on investment income, it won’t impact your lifestyle like knowing you don’t owe a anybody anything will.
I think it’s great u guys went from $250k to $1 mil in 5 years.
I hear you on not feeling wealthy. It all depends on where you live.
Private equity doesn’t need much. $10,000 here and there is fine too. Just need to be an accredited investor.
Do you own your own home?
Yes we own our home.
I thought to be an accredited investor your net worth had to be at least $1mil not including your primary home, among other things. In that case we wouldn’t qualify since about 25% of our net worth is in home equity.
Or $250,000 a year in income I believe.
$250K a year for the past two years.
I’m 36 and my net worth is negative $9,976. On the bright side my credit score is a 792.
Something I’ve learned is that having a high credit score should only be used to buy assets (i.e. real estate), as opposed to buying items and just putting them on credit to build the credit up.
Good luck in getting your networth over the $0 hump, that’s often difficult but every step in the right direction will make you feel better.
People like Sam, JT, JayCeezy, KrantCents, and a host of others that you’ll see listed on this site have tons of information to help you in your journey.
Do you get much traffic on your site? I would be surprised if you did considering the content is only relevant to 10% of the population.
My site is small peanuts mate. But the one thing you might want to consider is that there are lots of different types of real people out there. If you have a site, id love to read it. Congrats on your nice credit score.
For those in the top 10%, this site in invaluable. There’s plenty of other sites out there covering the other 90% of the population.
Sounds good Jeremy. Way to go raising that savings rate. That is a fundamental key. And Utah is much cheaper than CA SF, so all is good. Just gotta keep compounding and investing those savings.
Awesome post– love hearing stories like this
Good to hear from you Billy. I remember stopping by your site several years ago and learning about your Blue Fire Poker website.
Great insight in the process of building a nest egg. I got started late in the game but stories like this really motive me to keep on working the plan. I’m 28 and have negative net worth due to student loans (like so many these days) and I am almost through with school. Living the bare minimum lifestyle is something I am very used to so hopefully I can just keep it up once I finish school and land a job.
Levi, congrats on being almost through school. It’s easy to continue to live like a college student once work starts for a couple years. But it’s also easy to just blow your money on a lot of stuff and going out once you first get those first paychecks. Pretend you’re getting a PhD while working!
Hey, thanks for sharing, especially the details of your efforts. I learn a lot from you. I hope you continue to have good luck and that you enjoy your well-earned break.
No problem Liz. The break is coming to an end and I’ll be publishing a new post tomorrow also on net worth composition. Good luck on your asset building journey.
I have an aggressive goal for myself. I am trying to have a million in bank accounts by 40. I’m not talking net worth; Im talking accounts valued at $1M. Im 35 now and close to the 500k mark. I have equity in my house (~300k) and my wife has savings too, but I don’t consider our combined assets in the calculation.
I am going to need a bit of help (i.e. I’m not sure I can make it purely on my salary without stock market help) , but I figure its better to set an aggressive goal and miss than to not set an aggressive goal and not try.
I wish I had been serious about saving, and had the income I do, in my 20s; I wonder what the extra decade of growth would have done for me.
Sounds like a good goal to me! And it feels great to have $1 million liquid and semi liquid to access.
Where are you parking or investing your $500,000 now?
I have financial advisors who manage most of it, so most of it is in the market. I have about 6k in P2P, which I can increase. I’m thinking of moving some IRAs over to P2P so they can grow tax free, but I’m concerned that institutional and automated systems are snapping up all the good loans, making this a less attractive option.
Good stuff. I’m having a problem with shifting a decent amount of assets into P2P as well for similar reasons and because I see opportunity in the liquid stock market,
So would you not recommend P2P at this point? Do you use any automated tools? I’m open for suggestions re alternatives to P2P; I definitely want alternatives to market investments for some variety. I hate watching my entire portfolio go down on days like today….
I would actually because returns should be going up with higher rates. My expertise has been in picking stocks, so that is what I’ve continued to do although setting up an auto debit and investment schedule with prosper is easy and a good idea.
It does take time. What I find is going to help me in my situation is to continue to work on the things that are producing income and then work on trying to expand those incomes into P2P lending, stocks, rental properties and other investments so that I can continue to have decent incomes even if a few income streams fall off the face of the earth over the next few years. I think that is the best insurance that one can take for themselves in this economy.
Sam,
A nod to your naughty past and current success:
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2391833/Bad-boys-make-good-entrepreneurs-Risk-taking-behaviour-combined-intelligence-secret-making-millions.html
K
Very interesting study, and by UC Berkeley no less, so it must be true :)
At the end of the day, it’s about taking risks… and hopefully calculated risks. You just need one of many to pay off often times before you start the rocket ride journey.
If you are timid, don’t feel like you deserve, then you will not get what you could. Dare to dream.
Awesome you and your wife are living in Hawaii! Do you have a post telling your story about why you moved there and where in Hawaii? I’d love to check it out.
Excellent post, one of your best to date in my opinion. Good stuff for everyone, but in particular for people recently out of college – they should read this post and bookmark it.
Thanks Ray. Figure I’d put it out there once and for all as reference for those who keep inquiring. My memory is slowly fading as well so it’s good to have to revisit when really old.
Hope all is well!
Thanks for laying it out, Sam. I rode a dotcom up, and then all the way down. CMGi. A good lesson on taking profits.
The first took me longer than I thought it should have. Early 40’s. I had my own small business that was modestly successful off and on. I was a fairly disciined saver/investor. The second took only about 4 years as the business started making money more consistently. The third took about 2.5 years as I bought distressed real estate 3-5 years ago.
The first was the hardest, the second was much easier, and the third was easier/faster than I thought it could be.
Nice work Jon! Do you think the 4th will be simply on autopilot ten as your business, RE and stocks hopefully inflate on their own now that you’ve got a large nut?
Any plans on hanging up the boots if not yet already?
It does appear that the trajectory will continue. The business is throwing off good cash flow with little of my attention because we are blessed with good managers. Rents keep increasing in my rentals, which are at 100% occupancy at the moment. I’ve just backed a guy in a little start up which is exceeding our expectations in the first month. I don’t want to presume on the future, but the next MM looks like it could be the fastest yet. Even if it doesn’t come at all, that’s OK.
My current decision is where to spend my time since I have more options than ever before. I don’t want to retire, but I am trying to cut back on hours. The start up added a bunch of time, but that’s already requiring less. I manage my own rentals which isn’t a joy, but I do it pretty well.
Very interesting post Sam. I started my career out in banking as well. The most surprising thing about this post was that you were able to leave work around 6:30-7:00 at GS. I think they must have sweated us much longer! Certainly M&A was pretty grueling.
We expect to cross the $1M mark in net worth next year. I’m expecting to keep chugging away till long after that, but its nice to have a little parked away. Not quite 30, but I’ll still take mid 30’s anyway :) I’m hoping the second $M can happen by the time I hit 40.
My observations- Starting a career at GS , or any other place in IB definitely helps, thats a luxury that most don’t have. Its bloody hard work when you are in though. The big income helps trigger large savings, which if managed well can get you a good head start. I think you are right about real estate. I should have levered far more into property than I did. I went with stocks as my chosen pathway, but a property allocation would have been a better play. Some smaller cap dividend stocks have helped along the way, combined with solid double digit returns from some larger stocks. I’ll be looking to beef up property holdings pretty soon. We own a condo, but I’m underweight property relative to where I should be.
Congrats on the progress. Sweat equity eventually pays.
Thanks mate. Good thing I wasn’t in M&A/corporate finance, but Equities! Hence all the investment related posts on the site. I didn’t understand what the M&A folks did all day long but I did understand stocks given i started trading in college online.
Equities is so much more fun, less hours, but you get in earlier eg 5:30am-6am at the time.
$1 mil my 35 ain’t bad at all! Having the nut definitely gives you more confidence to pursue more things you really want to do. And of course once you gain a large enough passive cash flow stream,
then it is total freedom. Good luck!
Really inspiring post Sam. I loved how you put your story out there. I agree totally on the work ethic part and building wealth in your 20’s. I did try as much as I could, but my first job out of college paid just bare minimum. I’m in my mid-30’s and I hope to hit that 1M mark by 40.
Sounds good! Hope you get there as I think the 40 mark will catch up to us quick!
I think it’s safe to we all grow up during our formative years in unique times and places.
It’s apparent that you had the opportunity to work at GS as I did at MSFT. Of course, the latter did not bear such gracious financial fruit. And of course the butterfly effect of apt stock investments during the dot com bubble as well as IB’s annual bonuses that are several multiples of salary aren’t common events in most people’s careers.
In tech, of course, the lotto effect takes hold as some eye pre-IPO companies. But I think it’s fair to observe that the vast majority of people need to take a different route to financial security and success.
Because you had several unique circumstances that you maximized, it’s now possible to not invest aggressively, exiting investments when 10-12% gains are garnered.
Whereas here and now, most people need advice on how to invest in a generalized way that will yield them superior returns with risk well contained that stands the test of time. That is not reliant on finding the next magic stock. Or a big bonus. And can weather through 30% peak to trough dives in the market.
Otherwise this biography is a backward looking document that suggests hard work is uber important but also plain good luck, the latter of which is usually outside of one’s control
Any thoughts during your career of joining a Google, Apple, eBay or other companies? Anybody smart enough to get a job at MSFT is able to get a job at such places no?
I attribute a lion’s share of any financial success I’ve had to luck b/c I’m certainly not smart, and I have a work ethic that needs improvement.
“One cannot downplay the importance of luck in building wealth. I have been fortunate to have two loving parents and a brain that works most of the time. If you’re born in America, please take full advantage of all your opportunities.”
I’d love to hear your story and net worth progress. Thx
A few months ago, I alluded to this when I commented on your post of finance strategies that can bound risk by investing across contrarian large, small, mid-cap asset classes that would yield double digit returns while also tranching 1-2 years worth of emergency funds in bonds, dividend funds, and liquid cash. This is premised on fact that all markets will eventually reflect the real macroeconomy, and all that matters when said and done is focusing on core macroeconomics than watching CNBC gossip.
Interesting enough, a bunch of finance PhDs got bored with regressing financial datasets and decided to take a stab at macroeconomic finance. And here’s their conclusion, as reported recently by the Financial Times: “Investors can massively outperform big global stock market indices simply by analysing publicly available economic data, according to academics in the UK and US.
A strategy based on going long on an index when macroeconomic conditions are improving and shorting the market when conditions are deteriorating would have delivered an average annual return of 14 per cent between 1997 and 2011, the academics claim. In contrast, a static position in the same indices would have delivered returns of essentially zero, assuming the same level of risk.” https://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/e07e17fa-fab4-11e2-87b9-00144feabdc0.html#axzz2cYRgx8gp
Anyway, to answer the question at hand.
I alluded to this in my posts a few months back, but early on in life, my goal was to have 40 million by 40. I figured riding the dot-com wave would accelerate that feat. What happened instead is my dad and grandmother got stricken with heart disease and surgery around the same time. My grandmother did not survive a 2nd angioplasty. And my dad had an extended bout with heart surgery and heart disease. My god grandmother died too, and within two years my god grandfather died of stomach cancer, a 6 foot man once now down to the bone suffering and seeking to be with his loved one that he took for granted in life.
Thus my priorities changed. I would give up all the money at my disposal if I could have saved them one or all.
So rather than going to another tech co., I stayed at Microsoft and spent much of my 20s learning many life lessons that all people learn sooner or later in life, dealing with mortality, death, and suffering. I’m 38 now. It’s circumspect for me to observe that many of my childhood friends now are just beginning to grapple with such issues. I did do the dot-come thing before Microsoft, made it during the 2nd half of eToys for example, but frankly one realizes fate dictates what first things is first.
Fortunately we live in the USA and not Uganda, and the choices afforded to us are truly bountiful, at least for those of us whose parents sacrificed providing us a leg up at least with educational opportunities so we had at our disposal choices, ideas, and critical thinking and decision-making that would serve us well throughout our lives.
My wife and I now have a 2.5 year old who at 10 days old had heart surgery and thus developmentally delayed. Because of our station in life, which I sacrificed given my experience during my 20s to give our son the best care possible, he was flown down to Stanford to have the world’s best pediatric heart surgeon repair his congential heart defect. Because we had prolonged stress for 2 years, I also developed liver problems that led to a botched biopsy resulting in 6 pints blood internally bled out which I almost died. That was 7 mos. after my son’s surgery 2.5 years ago. And just a month ago, I had a bad case of sepsis where I almost died again arising from a bad liver and immune system that simply could not handle the boatload of gram positive bacteria that encultured over the summer infecting both my calves.
Now my biography has a lot less smoother arc then yours. Shit happens in real people’s lives. While the 20s took a lot out of me, I also had a Chinese grandmother who married to a army general called the shots instilling in me values and mettle that has served me well. We are worth 1MM today, and frankly without the opportunity cost of life, I would no doubt have landed 10MM by now. But I would not change a thing, to be there for my loved ones at their last moments on earth, to let them know they are loved and cared for. I would never exchange that for magnetic blips in the cloud that supposedly designate my net worth.
Thus I would differ my thesis asserting it is your life experiences and knowledge that afford you the most choices, of which money is but one leverage point. My knowledge garnered in my twenties allowed me to negotiate with the insurance company and wrangle the birth hospital to shape superior care for my baby son fighting private healthcare’s byzantine bureaucracies stacked up against the patient. There are so many more cases where all the money at my disposal didn’t matter. It’s how you critically think, decide, and leverage power that matters.
So when I read blogs such as these, it has a sense of surreal half-truths, a life fortunately lived, but also disconnected from the rest of humanity, those who were apparently too dumb to figure out how easy savings and accumulating wealth is. But having lived on the both sides of the Rubicon, I can safely say that unless you can cite other much harder life choices and difficulties you had to contend with, it’s quite easy for old timers like me to dismiss perhaps unfairly financial advice that applies to those whose parents and lives were teed up for success, and with an rather unobstructed life mixed hard work and stamina afforded to the young, and so was indeed able to reach a wider degree of financial freedom than most.
But then there is also love found and lost, children and families, to plain old shitty initial conditions that get in the way for mere mortals that did not live in such a rarefied environment where frugal stout parents provided for and duly instilled the ingredients and laid the groundwork for your station in life today.
Consider this – The Long-Term Effects Of Poverty Linger Even After People Become Wealthy
https://www.businessinsider.com/report-long-term-effects-of-poverty-linger-2013-7
In large part that is why I don’t read this blog regularly. It is monotone and insults those who had a different sort of life than you, and does not account for the real world. It’s like a radio station that never evolved from the 90s set to heavy metal or gangster rap telling the world how ____ they are for not having the dope bling by now.
What goes around comes around.
A mortal life with truly humbled perspective, that is well lived and learned is far more important.
Good perspective. Sorry you aren’t going to hit your 40 million by 40, but $1 million at 38 ain’t bad. You should feel proud, not bitter.
Your type of response is what I was expecting when writing this type of post, which is why I don’t write these type of revelation posts much at all compared to other sites. It makes me sad that you are insulted by me just telling you my story. I don’t feel insulted by your story, so perhaps there is something deeper in your life you need to attend to?
Your life is reality and my life is not real, to you at least. But I can assure you that my life is real to me. If my blog makes you sad, definitely don’t read it. Perhaps read other blogs that are full of suffering and sadness. Perhaps you’ll feel happier reading a story about someone who is your age with a negative net worth. The great thing about this country is freedom. Cherish it forever!
I love how you deal with negativity haha
some people in this world are complainers and blame their circumstances. Other people take action and grab life by the horns.
I enjoyed the article very much I myself am recently 22 and work from 8 am to 10 pm every day operating my own online business.
Some days are better then others and some days I get so frustrated I want to quit but I always remind my self of people such as your self and that anything is possible in life if you have the right mindset.
im currently doing about 5k a week in sales with the aspiration to get it to 25.
Loved the article hopefully I can hit a bit of luck/educated guessing in the stock market or investments and get a jump start like you (haha)!
Anyways, thought I would send you a positive message to let you know you are sending a good message and it’s worth doing.
Thanks Brandon for the message! Just gotta roll with the punches.
I hear you on feeling the month to month movement in the revenue figures. Hopefully things will be up and to the right for you!
I think your diminishing of financialsamurai’s post and accomplishments sounds awfully snarky. There are lots of other people in the world who had the same or even better advantages than he who did not make use of them.
If I’m snarky, it’s only because I find some of his posts equally annoying.
Having overcome so much, I am quite a happy satisfied guy who now is enjoying life doing what he wants. But compared to real world life experiences, it’s apparent to me that this blog and its contents apply to a thin slice of people who lived in rarefied atmosphere making opportunistic plays that play out now maximizing for passive income and retirement.
What snarked me was the disdain that it often shows for people not like him. How utterly incomprehensible that people even those who earn 45k a year can’t save to be millionaires. How Roth is an evil govt plan that should be avoided when it plainly defies finance basics – arithmetically and compoundingly so. With nary a counter response that, hey, you were lucky but most of life isn’t like you. That life doesn’t line up to spreadsheet columns and rows.
In my case economically, through Fed and market’s thick and thin, our portfolio has yielded us 28%. I now have time to attend to a pretty important function of my family’s well-being, and with no regrets. That’s life for you. What I don’t have is an attendant disrespect for people less fortunate than me and in fact believe there are ways to save successfully despite poverty.
So while FS does indeed treat his readers with respect and positive feedback focused on a segment that wants to “make it”, it is also quite evident he treats many others not like him, through the substance and content of his posts without much respect much less comprehension why they are not like him, and thus makes his advice limited to a slivered shrinking few who are not getting squeezed by globalization, shrinking wage raises, and able to a hold of paper profits without worry about life’s difficulties getting in the way.
You’ve had good luck FS, and I don’t begrudge you for that. Call that karma. I do take issue to how you put down others as a means to deliver your message. You can do better in the future by simply recognizing your particular use case and the scenarios and variables involved sans value judgements and put downs on huge swaths of society you seem so disconnected from.
Like I said, money is but a tool. Knowledge and wisdom are far more important. Snarky and snoody as that may sound.
Just wanted to leave a note for FS. While I like the overall message, I too find the tone to be off-putting. While you acknowledge luck several times throughout, reading between the lines it’s hard to believe that you actually attribute that first windfall to luck. You lost me at “Was I lucky? Hell yes! But, I did my research and was I willing to put my balls on the line to try and make some money.”
You’ve made some good choices, and I’m happy to see any message advocating saving over spending, but it just doesn’t connect with me.
No problem. Thanks for reading!
Anything specific you want to point out that is off putting? I understand it’s hard to please everyone, and don’t want to. But I do want to understand different perspectives.
Check out this post! https://www.financialsamurai.com/stocks-versus-real-estate-it-depends-on-your-luck/
As an objective observer, it looks like jealousy has taken hold of you. Just have a read of your two comments. First you try to discredit someone’s else’s story, then you say how wonderful your life is and how great your portfolio performance. This is clearly a reflection of your unhappiness, since happy, content people don’t lash out the way you do. Until you can come to grips with your own issues, you will always consider yourself an underachieve and angry.
I don’t see Sam trying to put anybody else down with this post. His posts are very insightful and make people think.
Read this post. So relevant to the situation now: https://www.financialsamurai.com/2012/06/23/you-will-always-be-viewed-as-arrogant-if-you-have-more/
I’m confused, Awakeinwa. First, let me say that I’m sorry to hear about all of the death and health issues you experienced. You’ve been through a lot. And it’s amazing that you have persevered and saved any money at all. But I don’t see why you find Sam’s posts/story “insulting” because he writes about HIS experience and HIS perspective (not the rest of the world’s) and you feel that he didn’t face as much adversity as you (or the rest of the world)????
He’s a writer. He’s SUPPOSED to write about his own experiences and his own perspectives. If not, he wouldn’t be unique, or truly engaging for that matter. If he didn’t, he would just be the 5:00 news.
I can’t speak for everyone else, but the reason why I come here is because I find Sam’s posts inspiring and, sometimes, the kick in my arse that I NEED.
Yes, he’s has some advantages that I didn’t have, but that doesn’t mean I can’t learn from him. He had great parents that instilled good values in him and he attributes a good chunk of his success to that. Did you have a parents who loved you and didn’t abuse or neglect you or teach you self-destructive things? Again, sorry to hear about the death’s in your family in your 20’s, no one would argue that that was tough. I hope you learned ways to cope and have moved past it. But I also hope you at least had a good childhood pre-20’s… because I didn’t. It’s not a competition about who had a harder life, but I can tell you that I had an abusive, crazy, drug addicted mother. Crazy literally, like…brain damaged. I don’t need to tell you how bad it was, but just imagine you and would probably be right. I was also in a lower-middle class household and they were hoarders! My father was a wonderful man but too passive and too in love with her to do something about her for his kids. He thought she was “sick” and needed our help. I was a child. I didn’t learn what other people learned from their parents. You know, like how to have healthy relationships, have a sense of humor, how to deal with emotions, how to react normally to situations, how to handle money, how to study, how to apply to college, or how to be… successful. I survived. I learned from friends. You know to this day, at damn near 30, I have a hard time understanding or sensing sarcasm? Or not dealing with all emotions with survivalist anger? Or to cry? I had to fight to learn how to be “normal” from other people, mostly in my teenage years, and how to be successful in adulthood by seeking mentors . Everyday I have to override what I learned in my critical years of 4-13 years old. I don’t find people who had advantages that I didn’t have, or people who couldn’t even imagine what I went through, insulting. I find them inspiring. I see them as mentors. I see their behaviors and thoughts as the good kind that can help me unlearn the bad ones and learn the ones that can help me lead a happy, healthy, successful life, for me and my family. I also love to come across people like that because I want my children to be that way too, never having to experience what I did, and to have the happy, healthy, strong, productive thoughts that would allow them to be successful in life as if that is always the way it should have been. Some people would call people who haven’t suffered “naive”, some people would call them lucky. Hey, whatever it is, that’s what I want for my kids. And when I meet people like that, like Sam for example, it reminds me that it’s possible, that there ARE people out there that didn’t suffer like I did, and I can help my kids be like them and have a life like that too, if I stick to being a good parent.
And as I’ve said elsewhere (despite my hardships), I did go to some good colleges and I’m at pretty good income level at 28 (though could be better)!
I don’t know Sam, I’m just some random commenter and casual reader, and just from the few minutes I spend on this every few days in the past few months, I’ve already changed my career trajectory (Sam, the promotion is finally coming!!!! My boss flew out the main office and it’s all he talked about out there and then there was this company-wide meeting conference in which all of my accomplishments/contributions were noted and now they are in talks about creating my position!).
So Sam, please keep doing what you are doing. You’re obviously on the right path and your readers appreciate what you’ve been doing. I know I do.
Congrats on the promotion! Glad you are owning your worth. Thanks for your support! I’m excited for your future and thanks for sharing your story.
Your post reminds me that the human condition frequently makes us all mysteries to one another. I’ve never responded to anything on this site in the way that you have in your comments. I think the advice on FS is timeless and wise, no matter what life throws your way: be frugal and save, make wise choices, work hard, invest, take risks when you can, etc. I could go on and on. Some stuff here fits my circumstances better than other stuff, but it all is earnest and interesting.
And I’ve had plenty of life experiences. None of us have a corner on wisdom and Sam is sharing plenty here on an ongoing basis.
“Fortunately we live in the USA and not Uganda, and the choices afforded to us are truly bountiful, at least for those of us whose parents sacrificed providing us a leg up at least with educational opportunities so we had at our disposal choices, ideas, and critical thinking and decision-making that would serve us well throughout our lives.”
As a Ugandan living in Uganda, I’m thinking…what now? Migrate to the states? Make the most of what I have? I have no clear answer. But one day, when I turn 40, I will have a story on how I made my first million (USD that is, I’ve made my first million shillings already and it’s nothing to write home about!)
Fugee,
I know Financial Samurai is finally a success when I’m reaching Ugandans living in Uganda! Welcome to my site!
I wish you all the best in making your first million USD. Check out this latest article about How Long It Takes To Earn One Million Dollars US Around The World, and my takeaways. I think you’ll enjoy it!
Best,
Sam
By and large I agree with what you are saying. But Sam also patiently kept his lifestyle in check while he made big gains which is neither hard work nor plain luck.
I’m going to write a follow up post on whether people find it easier to keep a lower key lifestyle when making a lot of money or an average amount of money. I’ll talk about temptation.
Damn this post is motivation. I’m 29 with a 516k net worth. Granted we have a few differences.. I have a wife, kid, didn’t focus until 2 years ago. However, that’s no excuse.. I should have focused a bit more to push for the higher net worth by 30. Hmm.. what was your net worth at 40 sam? Maybe I can catch you by then.
Hi Dom, 500k is darn good.
Might write a post in 4 years about NW at 40. But with the way I delayed this post for 8 years, we might have to wait for 12 years!
@Real Person
I’m 27 and have a net worth of about 5k, in a low paying job where I struggle to save more than 10% after tax as much as I try. But I don’t see why 90% of the population are not catered for. There are lessons here for everyone. You may disagree with a lot of it, but if there are even one or two things you can pick out that may help you, isn’t that better than nothing?
I agree with you, Brendan. People love to pick apart these kinds of posts because they don’t apply 100% to their own lives. That’s what cop outs do. They look for excuses or reasons why they can’t do the same thing. I mean, OF COURSE someone else’s life experience isn’t going to apply 100% to your own. Duh. Take the parts that work for you and discard that parts that don’t. The common threads seem to be the same: 1. Prioritize saving. 2. Work both hard AND smart. 3. Earn at least an average income, and preferably better than average.
Heck, I probably won’t hit $1M until I’m 55, but so what? I like reading posts like this and hearing other people’s experiences.
Thanks MysticalTyger. Stories are personal and will never be one size fits all. In a large way I’m relieved to write this post so I never have to write it again.
And it’s really the journey that’s most rewarding, not the end result. The feeling of accomplishment is fleeting.
Brendan, just your attitude alone is going to take you far. I’ve seen people over the years shift their attitudes and proceed to accomplish more than they ever thought possible. Good luck!
Sam,
I’ve read your blogs for some time, in particular the one which you try and give some guidance to where the “above average” worker should be re NW by certain ages (https://www.financialsamurai.com/2013/03/11/the-average-net-worth-for-the-above-average-married-couple/).
I couldn’t identify more with you. I too came into the workforce with no money, but came from a loving family, and using my brain, and discipline, and hard work reached roughly $1.3MM by age 36. I too had a run in with the law in my 20’s, and it made me even more thankful to be focused on building NW vs Building a playboy reputation.
I enjoyed watching my friends go out all the time and complain about not having any money and getting into trouble, while I spent my free time at the office, or bettering myself with Language, MBA, and additional work training all paid for by my employer.
Now i’m married, and have 2 young children and i’m 38, and wondering if i’m too old to finally quit being a W2 worker, and go out on my own. I fear the energy i once had has been magically transferred from me to my kids and i’m more conservative and tired now than i ever was.
Knowing what you know now about yourself, would you say you’d be equally proud of yourself if you were still gainfully employed and never went out on your own? I’m afraid i’m going to end up not realizing that dream and will be relegated to realizing a good NW, but not a potentially great NW. Any thoughts?
Keep up the great Blog! I think you’re changing lives.
Bud
Hi Bud, great job getting to $1.3m!
I’m not sure if you are ever too old to go out on your own if you’ve got a great idea. I would incubate and launch the idea for at least a year while you’ve got your W2 income. I did it for three years (the last year was where I really focused) b/c I was too afraid. But, I’m glad I did in the end.
My energy is absolutely fading, and I felt if I don’t do it now before kids and before 40, I don’t think I’d ever do it.
I think if I was still working, I would ALWAYS be wondering what if. Now that I know, I have no regrets… but if I had failed at achieving my income goals… maybe it would be another story. But at least I would also put to rest my desire to be an entrepreneur.
Best to you!
Sam
This site is great. I really want your input on my situation. I am 26 right now and have $33K in my 401k in a basic mutual fund and the other half I am attempting swing trading. My personal savings account is at $46,300. I am looking for another used car since my jeep died and probably going to spend $7000, exactly the rule for my income $75K with my bonus. I had diverted more of money to my savings account so I can buy a small business in the future (age 30 is the target date). I just paid off all of my undergraduate debt.
I am currently going for my MBA part time paid for by my employer. I refuse to pay any expenses out of pocket for tuition even if it means taking 4 years to complete. Question is, how do you think I am positioned right now? I did graduate in 09 when the economy bombed completely. I am trying to look at additional ways to grow my savings. I as considering leaving the bulk of my savings, the core $40,000 in low interest secure investments like CDs. I was then going to place any additional dollars saved in Jan into aggressive investments like stocks. think that makes sense?
I really want to take advantage of the next 3 – 4 before I am in my early 30s so I can grow a nice capital cushion. I am not as far ahead as you are when you were my age.
Hi Jon,
I think you are on a fantastic track to financial freedom.
If I was in your shoes I would do all the research I could on investments other than savings and CDs at this point in time. $40,000 in absolute savings is a lot, and it is also a large part of your net worth. If the stock market pulls back do to an exogenous variable like a Syrian raid by the US, is start mobilizing those funds.
Good luck!
At age 27 my net worth is around 30k. I decided to pursue acting as a career so my income is extremely variable and limited. The fact that I’m not in debt and have as much to my name as I do makes me proud. But reading stories like yours motivates me to work harder and find new and innovative ways to save, invest, and grow.
Hi Stefanie, nice job not being in debt and best of luck with the acting career. If you make it big, please invite me to be your date to the next grand soiree OK? Cheers
I’m catching up on reading comments again and wanted to note something that may be obvious, but your humble style de-emphasized it. Your building a 7 figure net worth in your 20’s, with just about 6 years working is astounding. My guess is that only 1 in a 1000 do this. Good work, and I do mean WORK.
I absolutely love this article! I am 27 and is constantly talking to my wife about a break through. Yep, did the whole college thing…. Graduated, and started working…. I’ve two 401k’s and the one from my previous job is in a Roth 401k aggressive portfolio. Still trying to figure out if I want to move it…… I don’t know much about the stock market, as IT is my get up. I do have a little PC business working out of home and it does bring in some income, just getting the business is the biggest thing.
Reading your articles just motivates me even more! Work hard now, play hard later.
My 2 cents.
Sam,
Very impressive. I actually didn’t start my wealth building until I was in my early 30s. If you have a chance in future posts it would be great to get a sense of what your thoughts might be on what strategies are most effective for building wealth.
Thanks,
James
Hi James,
I really think real estate is the best way for most people to build wealth over the long run. It’s less volatile, provides utility, more controllable, and puts management in your own hands.
https://www.financialsamurai.com/2012/10/16/real-estate-is-my-favorite-investment-asset-class/
Here is my latest passive income streams post: https://www.financialsamurai.com/2013/09/23/how-to-build-passive-income-for-financial-independence/
Regards,
Sam
Hello,
I have a question. I am a young person and I am inspired by your path to becoming a millionaire. My question is, when choosing an education, would you say that business school is the clear cut/obvious choice for someone who wants to amass wealth? What if I liked science? Or tech? Or engineering? Is the smartest play to study finance, economics, etc instead?
Thanks,
Charles
Hi Charles,
Good on you for researching your options early on. The median starting total salary for the top 10 business school 29 years old graduates is around $120,000-$140,000 as of 2013. So yes, an MbA from a too school significantly increases your chances.
I would major/minor in computer science, Econ, finance, and take communications classes. Wonderful communicators in speech and writing go much farther IMO. Do well in school to at least give yourself a chance at more opportunities!
Good luck!
S
Very, very cool stuff. Way to hustle! Love seeing success stories like this.
I have read this with interest as someone who took some of the steps you mentioned at 33. Got an MBA, moved to another country (“halfway across the world”) and am now working on establishing our fourth business at age 64, and loving it.
With real estate we are at just under 2M and are feeling quite confident about the next few years. The type of business we have is almost 100% Internet-based with low overhead. Will be fun to see how far we can go with it.
The wife and I have done this together, and I cannot over-emphasize the importance of that. It’s definitely not always been easy but without a life partner it would seem rather pointless.
Oh, and our car was 16 years old when we got clobbered from the rear last year. Now have a still frugal car, but can appreciate the difference with a slight move up.
Main point is that you SHOULD take risks early and give it your best. Get well set, then take more risks later while leaving yourself some breathing room.
I also plot everything on an Excel sheet and feel that this is the only informative way to understand what is happening to you, as you describe in your own shorthand what is going on… I am guessing running commentaries that make you pause and think are not possible with some of these other financial life-planning programs.
Above all … Think, then do! You have but one life.
Right on! Love your story and your enthusiasm!
Outstanding article! Hard work and perseverance pay off in the long run. I especially like your advice to remain humble and be seen as the underdog, while also building alliances and seeking out a mentor at work. I’m an active duty Army officer with 17 years of service and keep telling my Soldiers (from private on up) that they can retire as millionaires if they make their savings automatic and live below their means. I made a lot of financial mistakes-buying a brand new Corvette in 2000 and short selling a house in California being the biggest-but consistently saved and invested and got ride of debt. I’m well on my way to the million dollar mark and will hit it by 45 with the plan I have in place. My personal financial education was through experience, but I wish I had had resources like this blog when I was in my teens. All our kids should learn from sites like yours. Keep up the good work!
Wow. Incredible story, really inspirational to everyone out there. If I may ask, what was the position you worked for at your firm, was it related to investing?
I think the problem with most people out there is that they live the moment entirely. The key to success is to focus on your long-term goals and do at least a little everyday to get there. One quote that I love to focus on, “If you did what you did today for the next 15 years, where would you be”.
I worked in the Equities department (sales and trading). It was one of the major revenue generators of the firm.
Was it sales or was it trading?
Do you think these numbers are accurate?: https://news.efinancialcareers.com/uk-en/careers-in-finance/220620/sales-and-trading-salary
I myself have been in software for 2 years since graduating. Trying to now move into presales engineer / technical consultant roles. They pay about 200k, rise to 400k when you are more senior and bring home the bacon. Its similar to the average comp in S&T sales. You don’t need to have landed an internship and jumped through the right hoops in college either.
I highly recommend people in tech look at sales engineering and technical sales. It pays much better and you stop being a commodity. Relationships you build can transfer over to other jobs too; whereas tech is often just a job – as the tech you learn is evolving your knowledge becomes outdated.
Yes, those numbers are pretty in line.
Inste
Any occupation where you are responsible for bringing in the revenue allows you to potentially make more if you generate more. That’s all one can ever ask for… having a correlation with performance and compensation.
Towards the end of my career in 2011 and 2012, that correlation broke, so I figured, why bother. Instead, I went out on my own!
whoofff Almost read all the comments.
I love reading and talking about money!
I just turned 26 couple months ago. My wife and I started a business ( cellphone stores) 4 going to 5 years ago. Its hard to tell our net worth, 2013 was good but also the worse in comparison. Early 2013 we open one store selling different vendors which we ended up closing since we knew it wasn’t going to cut it. We lost money to the landlord in order to break contract plus also all the money that we put in it. Fast forward to nov, 2013 sign a contract for a new store which was supposed to be open by December. (We ended opening 2 days ago) long store short this store we put laminated floors 3 days after it got water damage and we had to stop and re do everything again.. on Dec 27 my oldest store got robbed and set on fire ( yes everything was lost ) now fighting the insurance. we were planning to open another store by December which will take place actually mid feb or march.
Anyways, we have over 100k in merchandise. Home is half paid which It has around $150k equity ( we shall pay it off in 2 or 3 years) we have a bit over 100k cash. I am calculating that we are making around 250k a year, if the two new stores produce then it will get us to 350k ( and we probably re open or relocate the store that was burned) that may at least be safe to say we will make $350k.. while this year I want to buy two rental properties and then 2 or 3 extra every year. I think we could manage to reach 1MM by age 30. Ifthings go as planned possibly even more ( because we were suppose to have 6 stores by 2014) I hope by 2018 we have 15 or more stores which in that case 1MM should be a problem and the addition of rental properties and other investments that may arise.
Btw, four years ago we started with $20K and we open a second store after 8 months but we were in debt from the start until we paid it off completely almost two years after first opening. Pretty much all the money that we have now we made it in the last 2 years.
Love that you are going for the American dream man! Risk, reward, hard work! Keep it up and diversify your gains to safer assets when you can.
Two things you significantly underestimate in your post:
Structural factors that can make or break you:
1) Your white and male(I’m guessing ). As a women of color – it would have been so much harder to rise in a company – older mentors who are white and male would never have promoted you to VP. There is plenty of evidence of this statistically – it is much harder as a minority and as a women to rise.
2) You are also a Gen Xer which has a much better job market when you graduated and is a smaller generation compared to Gen Y so there are more jobs and less competition for those jobs.
Hi Cat – You’re right, I’m just lucky.
But I’m not a white male. Can’t argue with being born in the late 70s.
But do you think younger people have more energy than older people? And do you not agree that it’s easier to take more risk when you have more time and less to lose?
We can focus on race and age to defeat us and discredit people. But how about we focus on my thesis?
Hi Sam. You say “Net Worth After Taxes”….whats the easiest way to compute that? I have all my accounts in Personal Capital but that shows before tax (with the exception of my Roth)…am I wrong?
Are you including all your assets in your calculation (including real estate, jewelry, etc ) or just cash and securities?
Im 43 and my net worth is a little over a million including my primary residence. I usually feel better than most but not when I read your blog!
Hi Erik,
Id just take your pretax assets and multiply it by 1 – your effective tax rate to get a rough picture.
Welcome to my site!
Sam
The best lesson is the same lesson your grandparents would tell you. Start saving early and live below your means. The only difference is that you should put that message on steroids. Do that for as long as possible. I thought I was saving/investing a lot when I was in my early 20’s and living like a spendthrift. Compared to most of my peers, I was. But the peers I’d rather have are FS and others on this site. Unfortunately, I know now I could have done more. Now that I’m in my late 30’s, I feel like I am behind. Of course, to many I am way ahead. But again, comparing myself to F/S and others on this site I have a ways to go.
I agree with your message.
The thing is, there is always someone even further ahead, so it’s a never ending battle if you let it become a battle.
We only need so much to be happy. There are just some mind boggling stories out there like the Whatsapp sale for $16 billion!
Hey Sam,
This is the second time I read this article now. It’s the best one I’ve read on Financial Samurai.
It’s very inspiring what you’ve done and I love the long-term thinking. Real estate is interesting, you seem to have done a great job there. By the way, did you know that Arnold Schwarzenegger made his first million(s) from real estate? This was before he got famous as an actor.
Hi Ludvig,
I didn’t know that about Arnold. Great stuff! He seems like a very enterprising person. So perhaps one’s own drive and skillset is very important as well.
Cheers
just get into a once in a lifetime stock market bubble, hopefully you will be 22 when it happens, and throw everything at one trade…..what a joke!
the fact it took you 5 more years from 160,000 to get to a million is a little embarrassing, especially when one considers an extremely well paying job and a supposed stock market genius.. this is worthless to most everyone who reads it.
I am embarrassed for my failures, but I will continue to try hard and improve every day. Care to share your story? I’m always curious to know and learn from people who’ve done a better job at creating their fortune. Thanks.
I can relate with Sam. I went to a flagship large public university, got the highest paying job I could out of college working for a large IT firm, and worked my butt off while I lived with my parents. I saved everything I could and purchased a 3000$ used car for reliable commute. I paid my parents rent which covered half their mortgage , food and utilities were included. After 4 years of waiting, the real estate market crashed and I purchased my first property in a gentrifying neighborhood in the city. I lived in the basement on a futon and rented out the 3 upstairs bedrooms, it covered my mortgage and some. I renovated the house slowly over 3 years and finally moved out when I purchased a 4 unit apt building in the adjacent neighborhood which was on the cusp of gentrifying. I am in my early 30s and I have 4 properties (8 units). The constant is that I always worked hard, both in my 9-5 and now in Real Estate and that I saved a lot. I am approaching $2M in net wealth and I drive a 1999 Hyundai Accent. It might be time to upgrade that but I don’t see myself spending more then 5k on a car. While I was doing my thing I saw most my friends wasting their money away on cars and unnecessary purchases. Most of them have nothing to show for it other then a liability they consider an asset (primary residence), some not even that. This is a very easy formula but it requires discipline. I think that is what separated me from my friends.
Thanks for sharing your encouraging story! A huge housing crisis may not be in the cards for those of us who are starting in the last few years, but the constants–spending way below your means, and buying assets instead of liabilities–will always produce more wealth than a consumption lifestyle.
Yes, please do share your story Matt. I don’t think I’m alone to think that it’s amazing to save a million dollars in one’s 20’s. By looking at the numbers, FS is fairly aggressive in his savings. I don’t know anyone else who saves over 30% of their income, let alone 60%. I wish I read these kinds of inspiring stories when I was in high school and perhaps I would be closer to being a millionaire by now. I feel behind like some of FS’s readers here, but I’m still working hard to save. Actually, I come to this site reading this story because there’s a blazer on sale that I really want to have but know I don’t need, so this story keeps me running back to the store :-). Thanks Sam for curbing my spending.
I think the “save a million during the ’20s” goal is different for different people. If you go to college, and then law school or pursue some other degree, that goal may get pushed back. Hopefully the graduate degrees actually provide a substantially higher income to make up for “lost time.” If so, someone may be able to snowball their wealth significantly in their late ’20s/early ’30s, and reach financial independence at a similar age to someone who started earning a lower salary in their early ’20s. The bottom line is that it’s never too late to start!
Chill out yo.
I can relate with Sam. I went to a flagship large public university, got the highest paying job I could out of college working for a large IT firm, and worked my butt off while I lived with my parents. I saved everything I could and purchased a 3000$ used car for reliable commute. I paid my parents rent which covered half their mortgage , food and utilities were included. After 4 years of waiting, the real estate market crashed and I purchased my first property in a gentrifying neighborhood in the city. I lived in the basement on a futon and rented out the 3 upstairs bedrooms, it covered my mortgage and some. I renovated the house slowly over 3 years and finally moved out when I purchased a 4 unit apt building in the adjacent neighborhood which was on the cusp of gentrifying. I am in my early 30s and I have 4 properties (8 units). The constant is that I always worked hard, both in my 9-5 and now in Real Estate and that I saved a lot. I am approaching $2M in net wealth and I drive a 1999 Hyundai Accent. It might be time to upgrade that but I don’t see myself spending more then 5k on a car. While I was doing my thing I saw most my friends wasting their money away on cars and unnecessary purchases. Most of them have nothing to show for it other then a liability they consider an asset (primary residence), some not even that. This is a very easy formula but it requires discipline. I think that is what separated me from my friends.
Hi Sam,
What are your thoughts on a FT MBA? Is it still worth it to get it from a top 10 MBA school? I am 26 and applying for next year. I plan on paying it off with my own money which is a significant investment and would cut my savings thoroughly.
I think a Top 10 MBA is worth it. Your income takes a large step function higher, and most likely permanently too if you stick to the traditional path.
You can write off your tuition to your income and save on taxes too. But check with a CPA.
Here is my MBA post: https://www.financialsamurai.com/to-mba-or-not-to-mba/
But if it is a full time MBA then you are in debt of about 150k for 2 yrs and on top you are forgoing your income. Say if you make 100k a year then that leads to a total of 350k opportunity cost. How would that be worth it though? Wouldn’t it be better to do a part time MBA while still having an income?
I did part time and 80% was paid for. I was doing what I wanted to do hence the PT.
Many graduates to on to make $500,000+ a year from top schools several years out. So the opportunity cost isn’t that bad, especially if you plan to work for at least a decade after.
Hi Mr. Sam I’m 25 years old no college degree, low income, roughly 20,000 a year and I wanna strive for wealth and success but really dumb to the building a business, investment, or finance part of life but I want to learn and prosper long term but am clueless on how to due so is there any way possible besides slaving a dead end job the rest of my life to obtain these goals I would really appreciate the advice any advice is an asset to me thanks in advance
Hey Jamal, it’s good that you’ve got this mindset already. Your are still young, and there is plenty of time left to build wealth, it all depends on you.
First thing’s first:
Save your money, Don’t splurge on clothe’s, car’s, and eating out.
Live below your means.
Read, about investing (real estate, stocks, etc) There is ton’s of material online.
In the end, it all depends on you.
Live below his means? He is making $20000 a year.
My thoughts exactly. $20,000 is not a lot, especially if you have kids.
Read lots is my advice.
Best advice, take as much advantage of government programs as possible in order to allow for additional savings. Depending on your state as a single male you should still be able to get some extra assistance for food. I took advantage of this while working part time in college. While doing this continue to work at increasing your income. If you aren’t into the academic college route, go into the trades (electrician, plumber, HVAC specialist, etc) with the mindset of being the best and work towards getting a contractors license. As you make more continue to live as you still only make $20k. There is a LOT of drug users and alcoholics in the trades, still good folks, but there is a lacking of motivation to work toward something bigger. Many many millionaire/billionaires started in the trades. There is also currently an under supply of people with skills in the trades.
25 at 150k. Damn models and bottles.
Discovered your site about 4 days ago and have been reading every day since– definitely enjoy the material. The thing I can’t understand though, is that the average person doesn’t have a 6-figure job at GS out of college, and wasn’t able to turn $3,000 into $155,000 in 6 months from a lucky stock pick. So its a little disingenuous to claim that anyone can do what you’ve done.
I have been fortunate in my life to have had my college paid for without any student loans, and help from my father for a down payment for my first home. I am 29 years old, with about a $310,000 net worth – but don’t see how I will get to $1 million anytime soon. My original goal at 18 was millionaire by 30—but obviously, short of winning the lottery, that won’t be happening in the next 5 months. I contribute 6% to my 401k (no company match), 4% to an employee stock purchase plan, and save 20-25% of my net-paycheck each month.
My annual income in 2014 will be close to $95,000, which is about 2 1/2 times higher than it was from 2006 (graduated college) to 2013 — I am saving as much money as possible and hope to increase my savings rate and purchase another home as an investment property in 2015. I have 2 outside investments, in private partnerships. Both are yielding 16-18% annualized on $100,000 total investment. I plan on rolling the principle and interest from both of these into similar high-risk / private partnership investments when they mature / pay out.
Do you have any particular advice to accelerate the process for me?
Thanks, and keep the great content coming.
Welcome to my site!
Not everybody will become a millionaire by 30, but it is certainly possible and I am nobody special. I had parents who worked middle class jobs for the government, went to a public school, worked hard and got lucky by getting on the 6am bus to DC for a recruiting fair that was empty bc nobody else wanted to wake up that early.
You have won the lottery with your dad helping out for a downpayment. Check out: https://www.financialsamurai.com/a-massive-generational-wealth-transfer-is-why-everything-will-be-ok/
There’s a good chance you might not have to do anything more than what you are doing right now due to a generational wealth transfer.
To accelerate, build more income streams.
Good luck!
Better story that is probably more reproducible. My neighbor was born with a 20 million trust fund. How to get to age 0 1 day with 20 million, be born to rich parents.
Congratulation on your success. Your article is motivating. I would disagree with one point you made about someone with no woman or a man as a sign of failure. People get in and out of relationships, so a lot of whether someone is single or not is just timing.
Hi. Thanks for this article ! It is motivating to know about your success.
I’m a 24yr old engineer making roughly 100K/yr. I’m striving to be a multi-millionaire by age 30 by working really hard(~70hrs/wk) and looking to make huge investments with my income. I’m single, live a very simple below average lifestyle and have unquenching thirst for success.
I’d appreciate any suggestions as to how I can properly invest to hit my goal.
Thank you.
Best thing to be doing at you age/income is to max out your 401k deferrals. That was probably my biggest mistake in my 20s. Your marginal tax rate is about 25%, so sheltering $16,000 per year really adds up.
Working 70 hours per week makes it hard to pick up side projects. I’m in the same boat right now. You need something passive. Stock market is obviously the easiest, but one alternative I am working on is being a silent partner in a franchise. I reached out to owners who were looking to sell and asked if they would be willing to stay on managing with me as a financial partner. Didn’t take too long to find someone to find someone up for the deal. Best of luck.
I’m always walking around thinking “millionaire by 30”. Of course now that 30 is closer than ever, I’m thinking I might have to bump it up to 32 or 33. I definitely live by the “I have nothing to lose” philosophy. The ability to be selfish with my money and life choices without dependents or anything else to consider helps A LOT.
Indeed. It’s really the journey that is the most fun. Once you get to where you want to go, you’ll get over the satisfaction rather quickly.
And worst case for my folks in SF and NYC is this: A Massive Generational Wealth Transfer Is Why Everything Will Be OK!
I just graduated from high school and went right into college. I am pursuing a BSc in Information Technology. I would love to hear your take on this, Did I do the right thing or I should’ave taken A 1 year break.
The quicker you can get your college degree, usually the better IMO.
What are the best careers I can pursue with this degree. I have a dew in mind already but I want to hear your thoughts.
Check out this post on six figure careers.
Love the story, wouldn’t be able to become a millionaire myself by 30 as I’ve already went past that age but hopefully in the near future. Your story is very inspiring. Thanks for sharing.
Hi,
It’s a great read and I learnt quite a few things from here. I’m currently a mechanical engineering senior and have not much knowledge in stock trading and economics except what I read online and a few economic courses I’ve taken in college. I want to learn more about it but is there any other way that I could make my 1st million before my 30s? When I was 17, I was thinking of trying ForEx but the risk was too large and the profit was too little.
And let’s say I get lucky just like you and raise up about $150,000 but how shall I invest that? I know it varies case by case but there has to be a general idea.
And for the last question, I’m sure there were many distractions (like social life, family or those moments when you’re just sad and lonely) when you were out of college and trying to make things work. How did you stay focused ?
I’m 22, and I’ve invested 50% of my salary on stocks. After playing the market for 1 month and getting a $4,000+ gain I got hooked. I’ve invested about 25k in the market in some VERY lucrative penny stocks. However, my ownership percentage in the company has increased – and I strongly feel it will be very profitable next year. What I will do when I make my first 100,000-1,000,000? Probably invest portions into gold, dividend stock, and start a business.
I’ve been scrutinized by colleagues & family for my insane investing habits, not having enough money to go out & party, but again – scared money makes no money & those who dare to fail greatly, dare to achieve greatly.
My advice to anyone is; work hard, learn a variety of skills that can make you more marketable in your career, act like a professional, study stocks inside & out – don’t follow anyone elses DD do your own research, and most importantly – act like money doesn’t exist and continue to save & invest.
While there are a plethura of millionaires these days at age 28, there are a lot of things that don’t make sense in this path. First, what degree or connections did you have to get into a Goldman Sachs job at age 22? Second assuming you actually had 4,000 after college and investing 3,000 and turning it to 120K AFTER taxes in a few months? That’s something like an 8000% return on your money? Third, you saved an additional 40K your first year at a job in NYC as a 22 year old? Fourth, apparently a job that was double the money was offered two years in? What were the annual salaries and in 2001? On your salary in one year you saved an additional 140,000 after taxes in San Fran? Then you did a “silly” thing and bought an $78,000 dollar car at age 26. I remember buying my second car at age 28 for $21,000 and sweating over it. But now you’re the VP of Goldman Sachs so I guess at the end it makes sense. If this story is true, I don’t think it is applicable to 98% of people, because your salary must’ve been in the top 2% nearly off the bat. Again, not hating but I look at things realistically and I’m seeing a lot of top 1% patterns. No matter how much I save, I can’t save more than $35K every year and thats with a 75K job.
It’s definitely OK to hate, so not to worry. Just use hate to motivate you to do something more for yourself. I just shared my story. There are plenty of others.
I went to public school and my parents worked in the State Department. They were squarely middle class and we lived in a $240,000 town home in Virginia.
I was totally lucky with my stock pick of VCSY. It was crazy in 2000. And I guess I was lucky to transfer those after taxes earnings into a Downpayment on a 2/2 condo in SF in 2003.
I don’t think I was lucky in getting in at 5:30am, working hard to produce revenue, and aggressively save 50-75%+ of my after tax income every year for 13 years. That was a conscience choice.
I think it is a mix of luck and resolution that I’ve been able to grow this sight organically and replicate my income while I was in banking.
Can you share your story so I can better understand where you are coming from? Thanks
https://www.financialsamurai.com/should-i-go-to-public-school-or-private-school/
You’re so right about millionaires being so low profile. I never underestimate the person sitting next to me. Rich people come in all shapes and sizes and hopefully soon enough I’ll be the one flying under the radar.
Is turning $4000 into $160,000 that regular? This sounds astoundingly far fetched. Obviously there was risk involved but getting back x40 what you put in is just mind blowing.
Just stumbled upon the site and was intrigued. I was shocked and intrigued by the No BS facts on savings. I’ve read other financial pieces and the general recommendation is, pay off your college debt, pay off CC debt, max out 401k and if you have money left over contribute to a Roth IRA. Ive done all those things since graduating and not sure what to do next. I always thought I was doing well but this site reminds me that I could be doing better.
I’m 33 currently make $95k/year and havent calculated my net worth. I have my 401k via my employer maxed out. I started working at Age 26. Late graduate but graduated with no 10k debt which i payed off pretty quickly afterwards. Current 401k value is ~$275k. its done well even with my limited number of contributing years. Ive also maxed for the last 6 years. I was two years late on making contributions once i started working. Its worth ~$50k. I bought my first home in 2010. Its a two family owner occupied unit. I refied into a 15 year loan 3 years ago. I paid $229k for the property, -$10k tax credit = $-219k. Currently house is valued at $239k but would probably sell for $249-$259 fairly easy.I owe ~$168k on it. My monthly mortgage, taxes, insurance is $2100/month. I collect $1k in rent each month.
I have $45k in a ally bank account earning 0.8%. I have $25k in a checking account not doing much. Over the last 3 years ive invested ~40k in the stock market with about half my holdings in high risk stocks. Im down 50% on the high risk portion and about 5% on the conservative portion. I’ve been net positive in the last year but slipped negative again when my high risk stock tanked. I anticipate a rebound there and riding it for now. I basically said F it with that chunk of cash.
I could probably save more but dont track it. My checking account moves up each month. ~25k/year. which is about ~35% of post tax income.
Based on that what would you recommend my next moves be? Ive been considering more rental property that potentially needs work because Ive become pretty handy over the years, Kitchen/Bath renos, hardwood floors etc… I’d like to wait though because im considering switching jobs and moving. I currently live in CT and the tax climate/cost of living is not a bargain. Other ideas were opening fast food healthy eats place next to my local gym. I think it would do well. Must be 500-1000 people at least foot traffic at gym each day.
Besides that i just continue to save and max out my retirement accounts with conservative smart investment choices. What else should I be doing? What can I do better? I’d like to keep the $45k as my rainy day/down payment on next house. Ill be moving either locally or somewhere else into a single family home within the next year.
Woah!!! SAM…..this is a great stuff and very timely to me. I am now 20 and on my second year in college in kenya. in the last six months i made a resolution to be NW $1.0 M by 25. i first thought it is an impossible affair but after reading your post i can see it working. For the period of six months i have been able to make $3600 from doing online jobs besides balancing with my studies in school. i thank God to be having inspirational and supportive parents just as u said u had in your post.
JUST as u said it takes a lot of sacrifice to arrive at a million, am sure i will embrace all that u did…i trade shares at the stock and offer financial services such as soft loans at higher interest rates with the bucks i have made so far.The post was an eye opener a real evidence that it will work out.
thanks for your services
kindly more advices
Just came across this blog and thought this is a great read. I don’t know anyone personally who’s able to amass such wealth at such a young age. I’m 29 and was working in corporate finance at a top tech company until I decided to take a break from the rat race to do a round the world trip. I’m close to $400k in net worth. My wealth allocation is about 50% rental real estate and 50% stock bond index and p2p lending
Just wanted to add a little comic that relates to the previous comments and discussions in this thread. It’s a great simple way of summarizing life and opportunity. Most of the population can relate more to the person on the right. The lucky few born into privilege is on the left.
Although its true we make our own destiny. I definitely think this article is more geared towards the person on the left of the comic :) but of course nothing is impossible even if you didn’t come from a middle class family.
Just to share my own background I’m more of the person on the right and quite proud of my accomplishments and hope to get to the same level as Sam one day.
I found it very interesting reading your blog posts and arguably just as interesting to read just some of the comments here.
As the screen name suggests I am a student studying business (Enterprise Development BA Hons) in England, I am 23 and in my second year out of 3, it is interesting for me to compare your experiences with my own as I am now just beginning on my journey and will be creating my own story as you have described.
I only hope that one day I will be recalling my tale with such fondness.
However the opportunities today feel much more bleak than of the times when you and many of your commenters started out after graduating.
I have a typical student bank account which has a big fat – in front of the £ but a dream that I will also have a net wealth of £1MM by the time I am 30.
Keep blogging
I am 22 since a month now and in six months I will finish my tourism and eventmanagement studies. I am planing on taking a year of to see the globe, but I am still ready to make some money now. The problem is I have no idea how to invest my money (especially since I don’t have any). I am not the best with numbers but I know this won’t stop me from a reaching my goal anyways. Now my question how is the best way to learn about the market since everything I have been reading so far really just didn’t make any sense to me since I don’t know anything about the market or the different ways to invest and different places to invest my little money. I would be so thankful for a respond.
You are really motivating me to get things done now and I don’t have any more excuses to get started. I really want to make a move now.
Hi Sandra,
You can read my posts in the Investments category as a great way to start!
Good luck!
Sam
Hi!
I am 17 year old university student living on campus away from home(I turn 18 November 30th) and my goal is to have over a million by 30. At 16 I invested $1000 that i saved into a tax free saving account (I am Canadian) and now i have over $2000 split up into aggressive and long term investments. I am planning on putting as much money as I can into my portfolio. I need to start working however first year university is tough, getting into the swing of things though! I also would like to start a business/website before the end of the year, so i can start having multiple cash flows. Everyday for at least an hour I do research on starting businesses, investments, the ways of the wealthy, and different ways of making money. I am also currently reading a book called “Never Eat Alone” by Keith Ferrazzi. Which is teaching me success through relationships and networks of people. That sounds all fine and dandy but here is my dilemma.
I am in University for Outdoor Adventure Leadership, I graduate with a Bachelors of Physical Education. I chose this program for my love travel and being active (I was raised by a single mother since the age of 4 and she has given me the gift of travel at a very young age. She worked very hard and she is a very successful sales agent and one of my biggest inspirations) However as you can see I also have a strong passion for becoming very successful and making money. I am worried that my program won’t help me get anywhere besides teaching me leadership aspects. Do you think I should change my path in education to something more business related?
What types of business do you think an 18 year old could start. Success comes to the ones that are not afraid to fail. I want to fail earlier rather than later. I am probably going to start a snow shoveling business in the winter as it snows a lot up here and hire some university students for work. However I am interested in the online business world. I mean its 2015, a lot of money is online these days.
Is there anything else that you recommend I get a grip on early that may help in the future?
Just like you one of my biggest motivators is not being a failure in life. I don’t want to waste my life and I know I can achieve great things. I have short term and long term goals written down in my phone that I look at every night before bed.
This site that you put together is very motivating and I will definitely be exploring it more in the future. If you could respond to this comment it would be much appreciated!
Sincerely,
Andre Ryan
Hey Sam – Saw you link to this post in response to Michael’s post on transparency and tracking his net worth on his way to $10M
Don’t think I ever read this post, but wish I had about 5 years earlier.
Until this last year I had not given #9 “Office Politics” the attention that it deserved. Since leaving college I have worked my ass off to impress the top in order to move up quickly. I have worked at 3 different companies over the last 8 years. The good news is that I always got noticed by the top, but I wasn’t good at using that to my advantage (or maybe my timing was just bad).
I also think I shot myself in the foot a bit when I left the company I started with right out of school. I was there for 5 years, and was in the sweet spot of advancement there. But for some reason I got a hair up my ass to leave the company (an oil company) to go work somewhere fun and younger (in action sports).
I thought 20% raises were good enough.
At the Action Sports company I got noticed very quickly by the C-suite, but happen to join the company at a challenging time. I had not done my homework before I accepted the offer to go and work for them. They had been in a multi year restructuring…and things were not improving.
So, even though I got in with the right people, we had so much turnover that those people were never around long enough to help put my career trajectory on the exponential curve I was working so hard for.
When I finally left that company before an impending BK filing, I made sure to join a smaller company that had huge growth and robust profitability.
Third time is a charm right?
This time I played my cards right. I again impressed the C-Suite (particularly the CEO). The CEO is now my biggest fan and has helped turbo charge my career.
I now believe that I am with a company that will help me play catch up for the hands I didn’t play perfectly last time.
Great post!
Dom
Good luck on the third time! I don’t think it’s bad to move around every 5 years to get those bump ups. Although, I would leave for greater than 20% b/c taxes take out 30% of that!
Office politics is huge. You’ve got to sell yourself internally as much as you should sell yourself externally!
You didn’t make a “conscience” choice to attend a public university, but you did make a conscious one.
Hi Sam,
I found your story really inspiring and to me, it seems like you’ve grafted to get where you are. Some are given opportunities and, as you say, waste them due to laziness or entitlement. I also think that writing posts like this is a great way of giving back in a way as others glean their own advice and solutions from your experiences.
Glad to have found your blog.
Great motivational post. Definitely shows that after 2 years, people are still commenting. It’s refreshing to see what it’s going to take for someone in the medical profession who is over a decade behind to build wealth. It definitely can be done if you stick to the principles that you’ve outlined.
I’ve considered that if I had taken a tech job instead of going into medicine (I made a last minute decision to change careers) and had been knowledgeable about finance then, it’d still take me into my late 40’s/early 50’s to catch up financially as a doctor compared to the tech/finance equivalent of me. That’s the power of compound interest and time.
Keep up the good work!
Well said. Nicely told with great instruction. Have one for you. Im am 34. I worked my tail off, made some great investments and have a net orb of 6 mil. But I don’t know what to do. I feel stuck and not sure what to do. It’s wierd. I am the underdog, wear exactly what you do, it’s funny actually. I have my toys, a few houses, nice cars, great wife etc, so do I just live. I can retire if I want. Easy. At number was a low ball. What do you think
It’s funny how we get used to our net worth isn’t it?
Figure out what things you really love to do and do them. You have enough money to do whatever you want now. I left banking in 2012 at 34 to make little money as a blogger. But it’s been a ton of fun, and it surprisingly has turned out to be quite lucrative as well. See: How Much Can You Really Make Blogging?
Find something that pays you, fulfills you, and is fun. Then you’ll have a lot more inspiration!
Hi Sam, I’m 55 years old, I live in the Canary Island, can you give some tips to achieve the finance freedom. I Speak more languages, Spanish is my mother tongue, I speak English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese. I want to start in some new project for my life. Thanks for very useful articles.
I view the tremendous energy as a huge advantage. That’s why I spend all of my time right now (early twenties) working my a** off to build something for myself, while the rest of people my age are concerned with partying and other shenanigans.
My path to millions
20s: living in the Bay area making about 40k/ year (mid 1990); actuary entry level. At age 26, made a big bet that China/ Asia was the place to be and packed it all in to become a poorly paid English/ Math teacher in China (making about USD100/ month…yes USD100!) It was an awesome and incredible experience – did it for one year.
Mid 20s to Mid 30s: Worked in HK and bounced around jobs here and there (including co-founding a company), making about USD50k/ year. Net worth age 30: USD150k.
At age 35 got fired from my job and was offered to go to Shanghai China to lead a business unit for well known consultancy. Starting job was USD70k (but was paid in Chinese Currency). Age 35 Net worth about USD300k. I arrived in Shanghai at the right time (when it was affordable and I was paid decently). Key milestones which really accelerated by NW a) married a woman and bought 2 properties in Shanghai b) RMB was appreciating big time. By the time I left China in 2009 at age 42 my networh was USD1 mn.
In 40s Now living in Singapore (low taxes) and pulling in USD200k year. Bought property in Singapore (not making or losing money).
At age 50 now (2016) – networth is about USD4 mn. Which approx. 75% is from property holdings. The rest are liquid investments. Although my initial target was USD5 mn…hopefuly I can hit that before 55.
Need to add that along the way…the family had nice windfall when my uncle sold his bank and my dad shared some of the windfall. My dad gave me about USD500k.
In hindsight, it was about making the right career bet (betting on Asia) and having a horse shoe up your ass (getting married and lucky time to buy properties in China) and being blessed (uncle selling his bank).
I’m now thinking about returning to California…and winding down the career. But the taxes in California are so damn scary!!!
I have two kids 10 and 8. Wife is 35.
FS – you and I need to hook up man; enjoyed reading your post! Probably have taken some similar paths.
20s: Figuring out what you want in life
30s: You’ve figured it out and you are now building your brand name
40s: Maxing out on pay and titles
50s: Winding down the career
60s: Leaving a legacy
Sounds like you took an adventure that I WANTED to take out of college, but didn’t because I got a job I could not refuse (GS in NYC). If I had an offer from any other job, I would have gone to China in 1999. But it is hard to reject a frontline revenue generating job from what was then the toughest bank to get into (maybe still is) and be potentially set for life if I lasted 10 years.
The China move for you was great. Seems like your wife comes from a wealthy family? If your wife can buy TWO properties at age 20, or in her early 20s (?), that is pretty damn good! Not too sure how many people have Uncle’s who “sold his bank” either!
What a crazy run Singapore went through from 2000 onward yeah? I remember Singapore being relatively affordable then. We can go eat some curry crab next time I’m visiting!
Glad to see this post on your front page today!
I read through the comments and felt a bit surprised by how many people rag on you for the early stock earnings. If anything, I think your path to wealth is much more difficult because you did have an enormous pile of cash at the age of 22/23.
For most people, that would have led to building a lot of negative spending habits that would have taken many more years to correct. The fact that you were able to wisely invest and keep your earnings – VERY impressive!! :)
Thanks for putting this post together and I too wish I had read it years ago!
Thanks for reading. The temptation to blow the wad of cash at a young age was there. But because work was so stressful, I knew I had to save it in order to have the option to do some type of less stressful work later.
I’m VERY glad I converted a lot of the funny money into an SF condo right after my 26th birthday. The ~$460,000 mortgage locked me down!
Wow I glad I found your site I can’t wait to build my first million. I’m 32 and have a net worth of about 930k so I’m almost there. Not quite under 30 years old but somewhat close. Most of it is into real estate. I also live in Los Angeles.
Here is my story
I have always worked and saved money my whole life. First job was at 15 at a local hobby store net worth at 18 years old was about $25000
I started a successfully eBay business at 18 and put my self through college at the local state university but the eBay business failed and ended when I was 21 years old net worth was $100,000
I dropped out of college and got into selling life insurance and became a life insurance agent at 22 years old. This was at 2007 and I know because of the housing crash I need to save asap to buy a house. I made 12k my first year as an insurance agent and 73k my second year, 86k my 3rd year about about 80k every year after that. When I was 25 I has a net worth of 150k and I bought my first house for 380,000 with a 150k down payment. My mom gave my $50k so I only had to use my 100k so I still had 50k for emergencies. Bought my second house at 27 years old for $222,000 with 20% down and my 3rd house 29 at $260,000 k at 20% down and I have been aggressively paying them dos. Every since and they are all rented out
I’m now 32 and the first house is with 650k and I owe 169k second house is with 260k and I owe 95k and 3rd house is with 310k and I owe 185k. I have about 30k in company stock and about 30k in paied of cars and 70k liquid. Last year was my first year I made over 6 figures as an insurance agent at $103,000 last year and this year I’ll probably end up at about 115k
You don’t need a crazy high income to become a millionaire. You just need to live well below your means and save and invest.
Hi,
I think our way of thinking quite a like.
underdog, think before act, company politics etc.
But still, i just finished my study at 24, 2 years late. :D
My plan is to work and build a relationship as much as i can until 28 (currently working in logistic line).
At the end of 28, i should have something i can depend to in order to build my first million. (business).
From there, i give my self 2 years (until 30) to reach that goal.
Is it worth it to spend 450K on a dental school degree? I feel like the return on investment is poor. Median salary for a dental associate is around 120K and dentistry is becoming saturated in big cities. What are your thoughts?
I would say that you really have to ask yourself if you would like a particular profession before diving in. If you look at something like dentistry, nursing, or physician careers, none of them may be the ultimate return on investment if you look at it from purely a financial standpoint.
Obviously, not everyone is suited to even be in any of those professions either. Most people in dentistry have some degree of interest in helping others and probably did not choose it solely for money. That being said, dentistry is a relatively stable profession. No matter how much debt you rack up, you’ll likely get out of it if you are able to hold the job for a certain period of time. How quickly you repay the loans/debt is up to how you choose to spend your earnings early in your career.
Doesn’t sound worth it to me, unless you really, REALLY love to work on people’s teeth. $450,000 earning 5% a year is a nice $22,500 a year in passive income.
What is it about dentistry that calls to you? If it is about the money, there are plenty of other six figure jobs out there that may be more intriguing. Have a look yourself.
You are absolutely right about what to do when one graduates from college and gets that first big job — preferably without huge student loans.
If a graduate continues to live very cheaply their first year at their new job, and saves just $15,000 that year, it can transform their retirement.
Historic rate of return after subtracting inflation for the US stock market is around 7%. $15,000 compounded at 7% for 42 years will yield, on average, over half a million dollars. (That’s in today’s dollars, the actual number would be higher to account for inflation.)
It would also put the person in the 73rd percentile of net worth among those 65 and older even if they never saved another dime.
Delaying gratification for a second year and repeating the process would put them at a net worth of just shy of $1,000,000.
And those are income producing assets that should safely generate an income of $40,000 a year in today’s dollars!
When I read about middle class families with less than $25,000 in retirement savings at age 65, I just cringe.
Darn, I typed in a few numbers wrong. $15,000 at 7% for 42 years will be around a quarter of a million dollars. So two years of that saving would net a half-million dollars, not a million. Safe withdrawal rate would net $20,000 a year of the half million.
It’s still a huge amount of money for a very small amount of “sacrifice”.
I was being harassed in Anaheim with my child for asking he neighbors kid on some type of drugs to go home-these people have invaded every job i have had- including target -it’s a doctor from allergan pharmacuetical i hadn’t worked there since 1980 when they drugged me and no one called the anyone at all-they put a cot in the bathroom after they did it-terrorists–
my loan in anaheim was from bank of america-diane alexander was not arrested after i called te anahiem police in 1986-cause of the people nextdoor used to live next to me in garden grove.
my sears a nd discover credit cards were stolen, when i tried to send in a name change and job change and income report-1997-principal mortgage- inside our store by people from the back of the store-I counted the deposit for the store and the manager gave it to lisa, she must have taken it-
In 1972 all… insurance agent set p an accident-I came ot a stop twice-fat man black hair-the police did nothing about felons allover the riverview drive-riverside –
I received 0 un employment checks everyone else from the store did- laid off when the store closed-nothing at all-worked there for years and asked to built a new store-near by-
Hi, guys I just ran across this forum in a 20 year old nursing major. I have little student loan debt as of right now and I was wondering what I could do now to set myself ahead in the financial game.
I’m 13, live in an upper middle-class family, have good grades in school, and wan’t to start planning out my future now. I wan’t to learn the major mistakes other people have made before I can even grasp the chance to do the same. I run an ebay account where I make ~$400 gross a month buying and reselling high tier shoes and clothing. The money usually ends up in my desk drawer, but I have been dabbling in the investment of crypto currency and I have turned around a $2200 profit so far. I know that money comes with work and gambling for it is the worst thing you could do. I wan’t to be able to live a happy and wealthy life and I know I have all the utilities but I don’t know what to do. This article and many other on this site have been a non-stop read for the past few days. I am willing to work and take risks to sustain financial growth but I don’t know where to start.
If anyone is willing to give me 3 pieces of advice for my future I will take them with full consideration.
Thanks, Daniel.
Hi Daniel,
Here you go! https://www.financialsamurai.com/financial-advice-for-a-13-year-old-cryptocurrency-trader/
Wrote a whole post to answer your question and you’ll see tons of advice from other readers.
Good luck!
Sam
Thanks!
Hi Sam,
I really enjoy your blog. You cracked me up a bit with this post, though. You mentioned your family wasn’t rich because your parents were FSOs. Well, I was an FSO for 13 years, then bailed at 42 to become a full-time investor.
Dude, pretty quickly FSOs are making six figures and then have zero expenses while living overseas. Plus, FSOs earn pensions in 20 years, including health care for the rest of their lives from age 50 onward.
If you do the math, if they retire at 50, each pension would be valued in the mid-seven figures relative to the amount of money you would need on-hand to purchase a comparable annuity.
Anyways, no utilities, no rent, no cell phone charges even, making six figures, earning a pension that pays forever from 50 onward (yes, I did abandon that one!), and your kids get to go to private schools that can cost up to $20,000 a year, for free, for as many kids as you have.
Maybe relative to the financial world you were swimming in they weren’t wealthy, but that’s pretty rich! It’s cash flow upper-middle class (when you are abroad), but when you add in the benefits FSOs are making north of 200K per year. Cheers!
Tom
Glad I made you laugh Tom.
My father is 72 years old. Maybe pay has accelerated since you joined?
We lived in a modest town home, and drove an eight-year-old Toyota Camry. Here’s a picture of our house actually: https://www.financialsamurai.com/rich-spoiled-clueless-work-minimum-wage-job-at-least-twice/
We definitely were not poor, but I’m pretty certain that we lived a very middle-class lifestyle. Went to public HS and college too in Virginia.
And if you live in New York City, or San Francisco, the median price home is almost $1.5 million now. Even if you make an adjusted $200K, you can’t afford a home 7.5X your gross income. The D.C. area where we lived. was expensive, but not as much.