How These High School Sweethearts Are Saving Nearly $100,000 A Year To Retire Early
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2stepz_ahead
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http://www.forbes.com/sites/mayakachroolevine/2016/08/24/how-these-high-school-sweethearts-are-saving-nearly-100000-a-year-to-retire-early/#198ba6d12eb1
This couple is increasing their salaries and hustling so they can have $1 million in the bank in eight years.
How much are you saving a year? According to a 2016 Bankrate study, millennials are doing much better than people assume in the savings category. The study shows that over 60% of millennials (defined as consumers between the ages of 18 and 29) are currently saving more than 5% of their income to put toward emergency funds, other savings goals or into retirement accounts.
While this definitely bodes well for the millennial generation, Alicia and Nelson White, a 27-year-old couple saving $93,901 a year, are still putting the rest of their generation to shame. They are meeting these aggressive savings goals seven years after Alicia’s college graduation (which was in December 2009) and while Nelson is completing his undergraduate degree.
The couple hails from Texas — they were both born and raised in Arlington, TX — and met when they were 15. Alicia went to University of North Texas and graduated in three and a half years, thanks to AP credits and taking full course loads during the summer. Nelson is slated to graduate this fall (in three years, because early graduation seems to run in the family). Nelson joined the Navy in May 2009, and the couple married in June 2010.
Alicia said she first started thinking about aggressive saving and early retirement when she took a hard look at her student loans.
“With a 25-year repayment plan on my student loans, I knew that being attached to a $400+ monthly payment on top of a mortgage would only add to and prolong my daily stress,” she says.
Alicia began following finance blogs and websites and learning about debt repayment options and early retirement. She decided to start by paying her largest loan (because of the interest it was accruing) and realized it was time to increase her income. This meant leaving the company she had been with all through college.
“Fueled by the desire to pay off my debt, I left my company after six years for a 15% increase in salary, worked my butt off for the next two years to gain an additional 29% increase through above average merit increases and promotions for that company,” says Alicia.
Alicia’s strategy was to keep adding to her value. She graduated with a criminal justice degree, but wanting to plump up her résumé and make herself a more marketable professional candidate, she started taking business classes. Alicia also completed her CPCU (which she explains is “a professional designation within the insurance industry consisting of eight courses and exams”). Her employer covered the full cost.
“I learned I had a natural affinity for analysis, critical thinking, and problem resolution. I also began to ask managers for greater responsibility outside of my comfort zone, such as building dashboards, spreadsheets, learning as I went sometimes. This work ethic began to lead to recognition from senior leadership and promotion opportunities offered,” says Alicia.
She mainly attributes her jump from $48,500 in 2013 to earning over $100,000 today to self-driven learning. She also points out that she has always worked overtime, which bumps her earnings up.
In February, Alicia began pursuing a master’s and has completed seven of the 11 course requirements — this all while working full-time. Alicia says that because her gross income already exceeds $100,000 and she is not necessarily expecting an increase in pay because of her degree, it made more sense to go to a cost-effective school for her master’s, rather than pursuing another “mountain load of debt at an ivy league school.”
This couple is increasing their salaries and hustling so they can have $1 million in the bank in eight years.
How much are you saving a year? According to a 2016 Bankrate study, millennials are doing much better than people assume in the savings category. The study shows that over 60% of millennials (defined as consumers between the ages of 18 and 29) are currently saving more than 5% of their income to put toward emergency funds, other savings goals or into retirement accounts.
While this definitely bodes well for the millennial generation, Alicia and Nelson White, a 27-year-old couple saving $93,901 a year, are still putting the rest of their generation to shame. They are meeting these aggressive savings goals seven years after Alicia’s college graduation (which was in December 2009) and while Nelson is completing his undergraduate degree.
The couple hails from Texas — they were both born and raised in Arlington, TX — and met when they were 15. Alicia went to University of North Texas and graduated in three and a half years, thanks to AP credits and taking full course loads during the summer. Nelson is slated to graduate this fall (in three years, because early graduation seems to run in the family). Nelson joined the Navy in May 2009, and the couple married in June 2010.
Alicia said she first started thinking about aggressive saving and early retirement when she took a hard look at her student loans.
“With a 25-year repayment plan on my student loans, I knew that being attached to a $400+ monthly payment on top of a mortgage would only add to and prolong my daily stress,” she says.
Alicia began following finance blogs and websites and learning about debt repayment options and early retirement. She decided to start by paying her largest loan (because of the interest it was accruing) and realized it was time to increase her income. This meant leaving the company she had been with all through college.
“Fueled by the desire to pay off my debt, I left my company after six years for a 15% increase in salary, worked my butt off for the next two years to gain an additional 29% increase through above average merit increases and promotions for that company,” says Alicia.
Alicia’s strategy was to keep adding to her value. She graduated with a criminal justice degree, but wanting to plump up her résumé and make herself a more marketable professional candidate, she started taking business classes. Alicia also completed her CPCU (which she explains is “a professional designation within the insurance industry consisting of eight courses and exams”). Her employer covered the full cost.
“I learned I had a natural affinity for analysis, critical thinking, and problem resolution. I also began to ask managers for greater responsibility outside of my comfort zone, such as building dashboards, spreadsheets, learning as I went sometimes. This work ethic began to lead to recognition from senior leadership and promotion opportunities offered,” says Alicia.
She mainly attributes her jump from $48,500 in 2013 to earning over $100,000 today to self-driven learning. She also points out that she has always worked overtime, which bumps her earnings up.
In February, Alicia began pursuing a master’s and has completed seven of the 11 course requirements — this all while working full-time. Alicia says that because her gross income already exceeds $100,000 and she is not necessarily expecting an increase in pay because of her degree, it made more sense to go to a cost-effective school for her master’s, rather than pursuing another “mountain load of debt at an ivy league school.”
Comments
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Good for them, but saving it and investing it where? That's going to determine if they can make their goal and continue to live comfortably.
And why stop at a million? They need to look at creating generational wealth. Hopefully they mean retire from corporate as an employee, and start their entrepreneur hustle, or at the very least do what they love and let their money work for them in investments. -
2 quick points.
1. People think you need to be making a lot of money to be well off.
2. People don't put enough value in a partner that is also financially responsible.. -
It's always a big juggle. While I'd like to retire early, I also want to enjoy my life now. It's not rocket science that if sacrifice big time in the present, it will pay off in the future. And retiring at 45 or 50 might be exactly what they want, but that kind of thing is not for everyone. I got two kids. Even if I could retire at 45, that wouldn't be the best thing for me or them. So why ? myself now to do that. It's much better to put myself in a position where by the time I'm 50, I got a kushy job that pays well and will allow me to work til 65 or so without much stress.
The push for retirement is silly anyway. I don't anyone that retired and stayed retired. At most, people retire, then take a year vacation, and then go right back to work. ? , sometimes it seems like work keeps people alive. Everybody knows at least one old person that was working hard as hell, retired because everyone though they shouldn't be working like that at their age, and then they wound up dying soon after retiring anyway. -
"Kushy"
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The Lonious Monk wrote: »It's always a big juggle. While I'd like to retire early, I also want to enjoy my life now. It's not rocket science that if sacrifice big time in the present, it will pay off in the future. And retiring at 45 or 50 might be exactly what they want, but that kind of thing is not for everyone. I got two kids. Even if I could retire at 45, that wouldn't be the best thing for me or them. So why ? myself now to do that. It's much better to put myself in a position where by the time I'm 50, I got a kushy job that pays well and will allow me to work til 65 or so without much stress.
The push for retirement is silly anyway. I don't anyone that retired and stayed retired. At most, people retire, then take a year vacation, and then go right back to work. ? , sometimes it seems like work keeps people alive. Everybody knows at least one old person that was working hard as hell, retired because everyone though they shouldn't be working like that at their age, and then they wound up dying soon after retiring anyway.
man damn all that...
i plan on retiring in 3 years.
and will work because that whats i choose to do not because i have to.
jobs are not loyal and will cut your ass and or find a reason to not give you ? once they cut you. thats stress in itself.
an why work hard to retire withoout a plan.....man imma grow mangoes and grapes and watch young girls frolick along the beach while i talk ? and let my homies sons run thru em.
its a sacrafice no matter which you look at it....its all about what you want at the end of the day. my wife is good an that makes me ok.....
i need nothing else -
thats commendable, they can make it if they stay disciplined and use proper risk management to meet their goals
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2stepz_ahead wrote: »The Lonious Monk wrote: »It's always a big juggle. While I'd like to retire early, I also want to enjoy my life now. It's not rocket science that if sacrifice big time in the present, it will pay off in the future. And retiring at 45 or 50 might be exactly what they want, but that kind of thing is not for everyone. I got two kids. Even if I could retire at 45, that wouldn't be the best thing for me or them. So why ? myself now to do that. It's much better to put myself in a position where by the time I'm 50, I got a kushy job that pays well and will allow me to work til 65 or so without much stress.
The push for retirement is silly anyway. I don't anyone that retired and stayed retired. At most, people retire, then take a year vacation, and then go right back to work. ? , sometimes it seems like work keeps people alive. Everybody knows at least one old person that was working hard as hell, retired because everyone though they shouldn't be working like that at their age, and then they wound up dying soon after retiring anyway.
man damn all that...
i plan on retiring in 3 years.
and will work because that whats i choose to do not because i have to.
jobs are not loyal and will cut your ass and or find a reason to not give you ? once they cut you. thats stress in itself.
an why work hard to retire withoout a plan.....man imma grow mangoes and grapes and watch young girls frolick along the beach while i talk ? and let my homies sons run thru em.
its a sacrafice no matter which you look at it....its all about what you want at the end of the day. my wife is good an that makes me ok.....
i need nothing else
That's why you make yourself indispensable. My job isn't going to cut me because of all the ? I do around here, and if they do they'd owe me about 15K leave reimbursement so I'd be perfectly comfortable for the time it took me to find a new job.
And who said anything about working to retire without a plan. I was just said that busting your ass during your youth and middle aged years just so you can retire early isn't necessarily the best thing for everyone. Like you say, it's a sacrifice either way, but sometimes it's better making that sacrifice on the back end. -
Sexy ass moves, I woulda wifed her too.
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That's cool but they not here and they not saying exactly what they investing in and how they generating extra revenue streams. Where that thread at. If ? getting money on here why ain't nobody partnering on ? . I'm big on group economics we should be doing like the jews.
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If two of y'all have no kids and y'all make about the same, even if it's something like $40K/yr, scale back your living expenses to fit within the salary of only one person and save the other person's paycheck. In 10 years you'll have a huge lump sum of money just sittin off waiting for you. In 25 years you could retire. If you started at 25, b the time you're 50 you can sit off and go fishing every day.
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ReppinTime wrote: »That's cool but they not here and they not saying exactly what they investing in and how they generating extra revenue streams. Where that thread at. If ? getting money on here why ain't nobody partnering on ? . I'm big on group economics we should be doing like the jews.
If folks want to link the the Jews then do it offline -
ReppinTime wrote: »That's cool but they not here and they not saying exactly what they investing in and how they generating extra revenue streams. Where that thread at. If ? getting money on here why ain't nobody partnering on ? . I'm big on group economics we should be doing like the jews.
If folks want to link the the Jews then do it offline
??
This sound like some broke boi ? . Shut yo broke ass up -
ReppinTime wrote: »ReppinTime wrote: »That's cool but they not here and they not saying exactly what they investing in and how they generating extra revenue streams. Where that thread at. If ? getting money on here why ain't nobody partnering on ? . I'm big on group economics we should be doing like the jews.
If folks want to link the the Jews then do it offline
??
This sound like some broke boi ? . Shut yo broke ass up
Obviously you're not understanding what I'm saying -
2 quick points.
1. People think you need to be making a lot of money to be well off.
2. People don't put enough value in a partner that is also financially responsible..
I can't GOAT this enough and it is the ? truth you just dropped fam. I see dozens of accounts a day and think to myself "wow if this person just cut out some of these spending habits in 8 years they'd be worth a quarter mil easily". People think they need more but when they get it what happens is they start accumulating things to fit the lifestyle. Getting a raise ? They get a new car note. Getting back 30% more from taxes ? They renovating the kitchen and taking out another loan. Inheriting 30k ? They putting a down payment on a vacation home SMMFH. Nothing wrong with treating yourself once in a while but be smart about it.
You have to start somewhere so you can build to become a millionaire.
Tabernacle!!!!!! fam, I know a lot of people that's like that I always knew that those who make less, save more & vice versa. I never understood how a person who make nearly $20 a hour over numerous amounts of years but when their child turn 16 or 17 then they don't have funds in the bank that's contribute to their college & etc. Like "the hell y'all (the parents) been doing all of these years to blow all of that money" smh -
Seems like she's upping her education and experience without upping her title .......
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T. Sanford wrote: »2 quick points.
1. People think you need to be making a lot of money to be well off.
2. People don't put enough value in a partner that is also financially responsible..
I can't GOAT this enough and it is the ? truth you just dropped fam. I see dozens of accounts a day and think to myself "wow if this person just cut out some of these spending habits in 8 years they'd be worth a quarter mil easily". People think they need more but when they get it what happens is they start accumulating things to fit the lifestyle. Getting a raise ? They get a new car note. Getting back 30% more from taxes ? They renovating the kitchen and taking out another loan. Inheriting 30k ? They putting a down payment on a vacation home SMMFH. Nothing wrong with treating yourself once in a while but be smart about it.
You have to start somewhere so you can build to become a millionaire.
Tabernacle!!!!!! fam, I know a lot of people that's like that I always knew that those who make less, save more & vice versa. I never understood how a person who make nearly $20 a hour over numerous amounts of years but when their child turn 16 or 17 then they don't have funds in the bank that's contribute to their college & etc. Like "the hell y'all (the parents) been doing all of these years to blow all of that money" smh
this is a very serious question....
most dont have a plan and most want to live an enjoy their hardwork..
maybe i am one of the few but i had my chance to enjoy my hardwork before my kids...once they were born i had to prepare their life and comfort as well as when i got married.
im not saying life should stop...but if you got a closet full of jordans, nice clothes(looking clean), car payment..you should have savings and enough for an easy transition for your kids incase something happened to you...
inadequate planning is far too rampant in our community and no one wants to listen until its too late -
Why people want to wait 25+ years to retire. Retire in your 30s or 40s. I'm trying to be on a beach everyday under the age of 37.
