Believe it or not, I became FI by 40 years old with limited knowledge of investing. In truth, I didn’t invest a single dollar outside my company sponsored 401K until 2018, roughly 10 years after I started my career. Just 5 years later, I attained over $2M in networth and attained financial independence. So how did I do it?
My journey to wealth started with my financial health and momentum going in the opposite direction: college debt, wrong degrees, limited financial literacy, no job prospects – not even a suit to interview in or enough cash for the downpayment on a shithole duplex rental, that would later be ravaged by two urban floods.
You might be wondering how I then ended up a multi-millionaire. Sometimes, I can’t believe it myself, especially when you consider I tossed away the career I worked so hard to earn, after just 10 years due to corporate burnout.
Below are 4 posts that cover my journey in more detail. Spoiler alert: these articles are hybrid animals with one foot in the creative non-fiction genre and one foot in the personal finance genre. I hope you enjoy.
My story
Part 1: Off the rack suits and bounced check
Part 2: Enduring the White Collar Sweatshop in the Great Recession
Part 3: Job Wars and the Revenge of the Corporate Overlord
Part 4: Take this job and shove it. A corporate burnout quits a millionaire
The recipe to FI
So how did we do it. Luck? Serendipity? Market timing? Stock picking? Inheritance? Crime? Nope! We got there slowly, methodically, and intentionally by living well below our income and investing the difference. Its as simple as that and can be for you too.
The recipe to my success is easy to replicate and can be summed up in 4 steps.
- Marry a partner who shares your financial values
- Set a modest (not frugal) budget
- Setup automated investments with yearly rate increases
- Pay down debt until its gone and then dump your cash into stock investments
Read my Save Money and Grow Money series for the specifics behind the FI Family’s success in building wealth and to learn how to take similar steps so you too can reach FI.