3619: What are Your Money Milestones by ESI on Financial Milestones

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[00:00:56] This is Optimal Finance Daily. What are your money milestones? By ESI of ESIMoney.com. I was having lunch with a friend the other day and the subject of my retirement came up. It always does these days. His response to my retirement was similar to others, but he asked me a unique question. What things happened in your life that allowed you to become wealthy and retire early? At first, I was tempted to list the basics of retiring early and becoming wealthy.

[00:01:26] But I knew he meant more than that, as those things are givens. What he was asking me was what are the key milestones in my life that allowed me to understand and then implement those steps? I gave him a few thoughts that I could come up with on the spot, but considered the question more since then. I thought I'd share my thoughts with you. With that said, here are the money milestones that shaped my financial thinking and led to actions that helped me achieve financial independence. In chronological order.

[00:01:54] Number one, my youth. I think I've shared previously that I grew up relatively poor. Not destitute poor, but we didn't have much for sure. My mom and dad were divorced when I was in third grade, and my mom supported us on a minimum wage job and very little child support. We moved up a bit when she remarried, but it wasn't until much later that my family entered the middle class. And by then I was out of the house.

[00:02:18] It's this background that led me to want to earn a good living. I started off wanting to be a veterinarian, then learned I hate science, then a lawyer, which I learned I hated after I took a legal internship, and ultimately a business executive. This drive led me to another milestone. Number two, got an MBA. Once I knew that law wasn't for me, I was in a bind. I would have an undergraduate degree that wouldn't do much to get me a good job.

[00:02:46] So I had to look at options, and an MBA was a good one. I got an MBA at a decent school that in turn got me an awesome starting job at a great company. This put me on the road to six figures within seven years. My MBA more than doubled the starting salary I would have earned out of undergraduate school, and was probably the best investment I ever made. Number three, married my wife. There are two sides of winning the wealth Super Bowl, the offensive and defensive sides.

[00:03:14] I had the offensive side earning a good income covered with the MBA, but it was slash is my wife's defensive skills of controlling costs that really propelled us forward. We've discussed many times that savings is as important as earning. That's why they both have a letter in the title of this blog. After all, you can make a million dollars a year, but if you spend 1.1 million, you're going backwards.

[00:03:39] My wife is frugal when she needs to be, more so than I am on average, and helped our family tremendously by controlling costs. If you look at my 10 worst money moves anyone can make post, she is personally responsible for keeping us from numbers 1, 3, 5, and 7. She is a defensive expert, and as you football fans know, offense wins games, but defense wins championships. Number four, learn the basics of personal finance.

[00:04:08] Shortly after we were married, my wife and I took a class similar to what Dave Ramsey teaches these days at our church that taught us the basics of personal finance. We not only learned how to manage money, because both of our parents weren't great with money, but started to implement those principles in our lives. We then started to teach and counsel others, mostly in budgeting, which further reinforced the basics and encouraged us to keep taking the steps to grow our wealth. Number five, educated myself.

[00:04:37] As we were teaching others, I started reading personal finance books to grow in my knowledge of personal finance. During this time, I picked up The Millionaire Next Door and started implementing suggestions from it in our lives. A couple years later, I ran into the richest man in Babylon and did the same thing. Number six, blogging. Later on, I began blogging, sharing what I was doing financially and my thoughts on money articles.

[00:05:02] I was the expert, but I was learning tons myself, both from reading so much about money, but also from the comments readers would leave. I began to implement suggestions here and there, as well as solidify my thinking and actions on money. My net worth began to take off. It was during these years that my net worth gained at least two-thirds of its total value. Yes, running that blog was worth a couple million or so for me, and not because it earned that much. Number seven, bought real estate.

[00:05:31] My journey into real estate is well documented. From what I wanted to achieve, to how I became a landlord, to my returns. It's my rental real estate that provides the majority of my retirement income. And without them, I would not be able to retire at this point, or at least in the manner I want to retire. So those are the money milestones in my life. There may be one or two I left out, but these are certainly the most impactful.

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[00:07:52] For me, the biggest milestone was my mindset shift around money, driven by reading influential blogs. And as you can see, that continues to this day. I had the realization when I found myself $30,000 in debt back in 2015 that money wasn't going to be something I figure out later. I needed the sense of urgency to get out of that debt. I also came to see that frugality didn't need to feel like deprivation.

[00:08:18] And I was able to tap into a resourcefulness and creativity that I didn't even know I had. I came to the understanding that money could buy me stuff or it could buy me time, freedom, and options. And this mindset shift, which I worked on daily by reading blogs like Mr. Money Mustache and Frugal Woods, led me to do a complete 180 and get out of 30 grand of debt in 11 months. That changed everything for me and really built my confidence around money.

[00:08:47] I realized that one milestone like debt freedom can supercharge other milestones like building an emergency fund or fully funding retirement vehicles. The article mentioned educating yourself as a key milestone in your financial journey, and I couldn't agree more. The fact that you're listening to this podcast is a great step in the right direction. Unfortunately, many people, and I used to be in this group, frankly, just aren't interested in learning about money management. And I don't blame them.

[00:09:16] It can be frustrating when you're first starting out, and certain financial concepts might go over your head or you find the content too boring to stick with it. But in this day and age, there are so many different blogs and books that make this stuff so much more digestible. So I'd encourage you to keep poking around until you find authors that help you see the possibilities for your money. And that should do it for today. Have a happy rest of your day, and I'll see you tomorrow, as usual, where your optimal life awaits.