Tag Archives: Dave Ramsey

Celebrities and Money, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Investing

How I made it to $500,000. Checkmate!

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It was a cold summer night when I finally got home after running errands.

The fall season was fast approaching. Alas, it was the last days of summer. No more summer concerts or cookouts. It felt so sad to see it come to an end.

Was this how Belly felt in The Summer I Turned Pretty? When Cousins Beach was in the rearview mirror as she drove away. It was time to move forward and move on.

Christmas was three months away. I was trying to get all my holiday preparations organized. Christmas tree. Check. Christmas decorations. Check. Holiday travel plans. Check.

I also had another check to do. My financial checkup. It was time for my monthly fiscal health check.

The stock market had a nice bump happen within the last 30 days. I had also been investing in AI companies for months and some stocks had started to takeoff!

I figured I would piggyback off of Nvidia and invest not only in them, but some of the companies that they were investing in as well. Below is Nvidia stock portfolio.

Stocks Nvidia currently owns

Nvidia started investing in AI stocks at the end of 2023. According to its latest 13-F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which was released weeks ago, it now owns several high profile ones:

  • Applied Digital Corp (APLD), founded in 2001, which builds data centers for customers. Their position is worth $63 million as they own a 3 percent stake in the company with 7 million shares.
  • Arm Holdings (ARM), founded in 1990, which helps semiconductor companies design advanced computing chips. Their position is worth $280 million.
  • CoreWeave (CRWV): Nvidia’s biggest equity holding, this cloud computing company provides GPU-accelerated infrastructure for AI workloads. Nvidia owns 7% of CoreWeave’s Class A shares, according to filings as of June 30, 2025. This stake of approximately 24.3 million shares makes CoreWeave Nvidia’s largest equity holding, at about $900 million.
  • Nano-X Imaging (NNOX), founded in 2018, which develops AI software to improve the efficiency of medical imaging. They did own 59,000 shares. However, they sold its stake in the company in February 2025.
  • Nebius (NBIS) is a technology company that provides artificial intelligence infrastructure. Nvidia owns a minority equity stake in the company, having acquired over 1.19 million shares in late 2024. Nvidia: The Real Winner In The $19B Microsoft/Nebius Deal. It’s stake in the company was $33 million at the end of 2024.
  • Recursion Pharmaceuticals (RXRX), founded in 2013, which is using AI to transform the drug discovery process. Their position is worth $56 million as they own 7.71 million shares.
  • Serve Robotics (SERV), founded in 2017, which develops autonomous delivery robots with a focus on serving the last mile of a delivery. Their position was worth $25 million as they own 3.73 million shares. However, they sold its entire stake in Serve Robotics at the end of 2024.
  • SoundHound AI (NASDAQ: SOUN), founded in 2005, which is a leader in conversational AI technologies. The company recently paid off $200 million in debt to be able invest more in their technology. Nvidia previously had a position worth $10 million as they owned 1.73 million shares, but sold them all in late 2024 and early 2025.
  • WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD): Nvidia’s smallest position ($23.6 million) is in the autonomous car company WeRide, which is working to commercialize self-driving vehicles. Not only is WeRide backed by Nvidia, but the company also uses Nvidia GPUs and AI software in its vehicles. Nvidia is also working on autonomous driving technology.

Nvidia is currently worth over $4.2 trillion. So I figured investing in them and the same companies they put millions into was a pretty good bet! It turns out I was right. I have earned tens of thousands by doing this.

My own portfolio had gone from $375,000 to $4400,000 since my story had been featured on Business Insider and picked up on Yahoo! Finance.

I typed this amount into my retirement calculator and saw that if I continued with my 14.3 percent compound rate and investing $1,333 per month, I could have over $500,000 by May 1, 2025. I was about 500 days from having half a million in investments. This was in December 2024.

I actually hit my target in my portfolio in September 2025. Screenshot below was taken to mark the occasion.

From there, I could have $1 million in another four or five years. I would officially be a millionaire.

Looking back I had to reflect on how I got here.

This is my story.

Starting out: $0

Growing up in the 90’s, I was eager to get start working and earning my own money. As a teenager, I worked as a cell phone operator making $9 an hour. I later went on to work as a waitress for $2.65 an hour plus tips.

Standing on my feet for hours on end made me realize that this was not the career I aspired to have. Constantly being on your feet is fine and dandy when your young and paying your dues, but not in your 40’s with back problems and bad knees worn out from years of playing sports!

I could clear anywhere from $30-$50 a night working part-time at Shoney’s. If I had only been fiscally savvy back then, I would have started investing at 16. But hindsight is 20/20. I did not have the financial knowledge then that I do today. I saved $0.

However, my time would come. I would become financially literate and put all that I had learned to good use in the years to come. I job hopped quite a bit in my early 20’s while I was trying to figure out what interested me. I worked for an authorized cell phone dealer for AT&T and Nextel.

I was an administrative assistant and a receptionist for a cosmetic medical doctor. I learned from there that beauty costs a pretty penny. Literally.

I guess I will just invest in a more expensive facial cream with at least a 30spf to keep my skin healthy and youthful because Botox is expensive! I was making $12 an hour here. I couldn’t believe the amount of money women were shelling out for beauty treatments. Now I understand why Rihanna and Kylie Jenner started their beauty businesses. People still buy lipstick even in recessions!

Investing in my 20’s: $0 – $25,000+

Back in 2006, I was just getting started in the working world. I got a job working in lending for a federal credit union. I opened up a 401k asap!

I wasn’t earning much when I first started out. Around $25,000-$28,000. However, I knew I had to start somewhere. By the time they laid me off during the 2008-2009 Recession, I had at least $8,000 in my investments.

I was reading 10 books a year on personal finance at this point.

I also made a decision that I wanted to be wealthy.

I set out a goal of $1 million.

Every time I had an extra $20 bucks, I would invest it.

I paid off my expensive car loan and used that money to invest as well. I bought a SUV for $24,000 in 2003 and had negative equity of $6,000 so I owed $30,000 in auto loans! My payment was $448.65. It took until 2009 to pay this off. I have not had a car payment since.

Every birthday and holiday, I also invest money into my Roth IRA.

New job, higher retirement contributions: $50,000 – $500,000+

By 2012, I was well on my way to a millionaire in the making. I had been watching the Suze Orman show, read the Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, the Automatic Millionaire, and hundreds of finance articles, books and blogs at this point.

I also witnessed people losing their homes and jobs. That was a scary time. I decided I would live off rice and beans if I had to in order to become financially free.

I was able to double my income from my 20’s and increase my investments.

I started with $5 and increased my contributions at one point to 25 percent of my income. Within 10 years, I went from $50,000 to $400,000 in my investment portfolio.

Instead of shopping, I would put that money into my Roth IRA. And with that job that laid me off in 2009, I invested that $8,000 in my 401k by rolling it over into a Traditional IRA and put almost every penny in Apple stock. That investment turned into over $25,000.

I then sold a portion to invest in a property and put some of the funds into buying shares of Google before the last two most recent stock splits. Alphabet’s first stock split was in March 2014, when it split 2-for-1. The 2022 split created two classes of shares: Class A (GOOGL) for shareholders with voting rights, and Class C (GOOG) for shareholders without voting rights. On July 15, 2022, Alphabet (GOOGL), the parent company of Google, executed a 20-for-1 stock split. My small investment in a few shares of GOOGL turned into hundreds of shares.

At this point, with over a 15 percent rate of return, I started earning compound interest and dividends to the tune of over $56,000 a year.

Over the last decade, I had read so many stories of celebrities going broke, I knew I had to do something different. Athletes were also going broke at a record pace. It was reported by Sports Illustrated in 2009, that most athletes went broke within 3-5 years after retirement. Here are just a few cautionary tales below.

MC Hammer

The late 1980s hitmaker filed for bankruptcy in 1996 after amassing a fortune of around $70 million. His spending included a $30 million mansion with a recording studio and an entourage of 200 people. As of 2025, it was reported his car was being repossessed and he was being sued for allegedly failing to make payments on a $100,000 Land Rover.

Toni Braxton

Toni Braxton filed for bankruptcy twice: once in 1998 and again in 2010, when she claimed debts between $10 million and $50 million.

In an interview, Braxton said her her first bankruptcy was due to a spending addiction, but that the second occurred when she canceled her self-funded Vegas show after receiving a diagnosis of microvascular angina, which causes chest pain.

The singer declared bankruptcy in 2010 after amassing $50 million in debt, including money owed on a mansion she couldn’t afford. She reportedly didn’t wisely spend the advancements her record label gave her for her albums.

Burt Reynolds

The actor declared bankruptcy in 1996 with $11.2 million in debt after an expensive divorce and extravagant lifestyle.

Michael Jackson

In 2004, his financial advisers declared that he was all but broke and would be unable to repay a $70 million loan to the Bank of America.

Teresa Giudice

Teresa and Joe Giudice were first featured on “The Real Housewives of New Jersey” in 2009, the same year they filed for bankruptcy. They claimed they were nearly $11 million in debt. In 2013, they were charged for attempting to defraud lenders and hiding income during their bankruptcy. They both served prison time.

Sonja Morgan

Teresa Giudice isn’t the only member of the “Real Housewives” family with financial issues. RHONY cast member Sonja Morgan filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2010 after divorcing her husband. She reportedly stated that she owed $19.8 million to creditors and had $13.5 million in assets.

Morgan settled her debt in 2015.

Antoine Walker

Antoine Walker amassed $108 million in his 13-year-career as a Boston Celtics player. But in 2010, he had to declare bankruptcy with $4.3 million in assets and $12.7 million in liabilities.

Two years later, Walker was debt-free. Today, he’s an advocate for financial literacy.

As you can see from above, earning millions is not a guarantee that you will not run into financial troubles. We are living in expensive times. These are the most unpredictable times I have ever seen. Where a bad medical diagnosis or divorce can bankrupt you. Fraud and Ponzi schemes are running rampant.

Forget get rich quick.

When you are not trying to get rich quick, you will get rich slow.

You have to ignore the negativity and naysayers. You need to invest in yourself through education, having healthcare and home and car insurance.

I myself decided to get a $1 million life insurance policy so in case anything ever happened to me, I would be able to leave money to my family. I went through AAA with a medical exam to get a 10 year term policy. If you are looking for some life insurance yourself, you can use this as a barometer: 25 times your expenses. Therefore, if you spend $100,000 a year, then you will want a $2.5 million dollar policy.

After seeing so many celebrities’ have tax and other financial troubles, I decided I wanted to go a different route. I keep my fixed expenses low. I spend less than I earn and always save and invest. I make sure any extra income from bonuses, second jobs, side hustles and windfalls go into my Roth IRA.

As I write this, it is was definitely a walk down financial memory lane. I set a goal and I made it! I knew that a goal without a timeline is just a dream and without a plan is just a wish. So here was my goal: 500 days to $500k. I was just 500 days or 12,000 hours from $500,000. I am five, scratch that, four and a half years away from being a millionaire. That is 1,825 days.

I am marking the days off the calendar and making sure to have fun along the way. By the time I hit send on this post, I will have crossed one more day off the calendar. Only 1,824 days left $1,000,000 and me becoming a 401k millionaire. I set the bar high. I am running toward the million dollar baton…and am reaching out to catch it.

After years of working toward this goal, there was only one thing I could say to myself.

About The Author

Miriam started Greenbacks Magnet in 2016 to keep a scorecard of her goal of $1M in investable assets. Armed with a Master in Management (MiM) and a calculator, she teaches readers how to achieve financial independence while also helping them learn how to smell the roses along the way. The palpable response she got from sharing her personal finance goal in a public speaking course at Georgetown University encouraged her to share her story and teach finance on her website. She invests in AI companies as artificial intelligence is the new iPhone of the moment as she likes to invest in companies that are disruptive.

Retirement, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

How many people retire with $1 million

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I remember reading an article where Dave Ramsey said the top two ways that most people become millionaires in the $1M to $5M dollar range; 1) a paid off home and 2) maxing out retirement accounts.

I already knew that paying off a home is always a way to help yourself become financially secure. But how many folks are really maxing out retirement accounts? Not as many as you would think. I did some research and found that although many people polled say they want to be a millionaire one day, not many actually reach it to that goalpost. Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI for short) data estimates that just 3.2% of Americans have $1 million or more in their retirement accounts. The numbers below were posted by the Motley Fool from EBRI’s retirement savings data.

These are the amounts in Americans’ retirement accounts:

$0 to $9,999: 58.4% of Americans
$10,000 to $99,999: 20.5%
$100,000 to $499,999: 13.9%
$500,000 to $999,999: 4%
$1 million to $4.99 million: 3.1%
$5 million or more: 0.1%

You will notice that almost 80% of Americans have less than $100,000.

You may have also noticed on my post Her First $400K that I showed you a tweet from rapper Drake saying the first $100K is the hardest.

No sh*t!!!

That means only the top 20% have made it past the first hurdle of $100k.

The next 14% have reached just shy of half a million dollars.

Not too shabby.

Then the percentage just sink like an anchor.

Only 4% get beyond $500K. And just a mere 3.1% got to the holy grail of $1 million in retirement savings.

And don’t even look at the numbers for $5M, that is a paltry one percent.

Not too surprising that the 1% take the top prize.

Only the top 3% make it to the millionaire promise land.

No wonder so many folks are playing the lottery.

It can take 20-30 years of investing to make it to $1M and the possibly another 7 or so to get to $2M. That’s 40 years! A lifetime.

However, do not be discouraged.

Any obstacle can be overcome with a well-thought out plan.

Making your primary target to get to $100,000 can reap you rewards for a lifetime. Starting here can help you achieve the next goal. Whatever you do decide to do make sure you make your plan as specific as possible.

Write it down.

And no matter what, don’t stop until you reach your goal.

That is the only way to achieve anything.

You do not give up.

Comics and Comic Book Reviews, Financial Independence, Retirement, Self-Made Millionaires

What would you do with $1 million dollars in your 401k?

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“Thomas Edison’s last words were “It’s very beautiful over there“. I don’t know where there is, but I believe it’s somewhere, and I hope it’s beautiful.”
― John Green, Looking for Alaska

Happy Saturday! It’s the last day of May 2025. As I write this, I am closing in on $500,000 in investments.

It made me take pause and reflect on the journey I had been on to get to that number.

The sleepless nights wondering how I was going to pay the bills and how I would afford to pay for retirement was over. Even with a return of investment of less than the stock market average of 10 percent over the last 30 years, I would still hit the $1 million nest egg milestone before I retire. So it made me think, what would I do with $1 million dollars of investments?

With that type of money, if you wanted to, you could buy a house with cash depending on where you want to live. This includes places inside and outside of the United States.

The cheapest places to buy a house in the U.S. include states like Iowa, West Virginia, and Mississippi, as well as cities like Scranton, PA, Weirton, WV, and El Paso, TX. This year, West Virginia has the cheapest homes in the country, with an average house price of $146,578. Several countries also offer affordable options for buying a house outside the US, including Colombia, The Philippines, Italy, Nicaragua, and Mexico.

I even heard Italy was letting people buy homes for $1! That’s a pretty sweet deal! Bravo, Italy. It makes me want to pack my bags and say ciao bella!

Even if staying in the U.S. is what you want, you do have options on where you live and what you do in retirement.

That is enough scratch to start a business, travel the world, start a charitable foundation for college scholarships or to help donate to meals on wheels. The possibilities are almost endless.

I may not be able to give away billions, but I sure could start a college scholarship fund for underprivileged kids with $10,000 starting capital for $500 each one towards books or other education related expenses. Maybe I could do something for medical students and start a scholarship that pays for med school application fees or supplies.

The point is that you have options. Many options. Especially, if you have a paid off home and no debt.

I remember Dave Ramsey saying that most people acquired their first million by consistently investing in their 401k’s and paying off their primary residence. In addition, the people they did a study on became millionaires from five professions: teaching, law, management, accountant, and engineering. So if your in one of those five fields, then you got a real good shot kid of being a becoming a millionaire.

Just taking stock of myself, I did pay off the personal and auto loans. Then redirected that money to my savings and investments. The auto loan was $450 and the personal loan was $333. The goal is to get to a savings rate of 50 percent . I then want to direct my attention to paying off my mortgage and having no home payment. That allows me to be in the driver’s seat of my future time after punching the clock.

So what would I do with all that free time and one million dollar nest egg? I think I will start a second career. What would I do if money was no object. Maybe voiceover acting. I was told once I had a great voice for radio! I was also once a background actor for a Hollywood movie. I could expand my creative pursuits outside of blogging.

I could teach personal finance and home economics at the local library.

I could backpack through Europe.

To be specific, I could buy a first-class ticket to London, stay at the Ritz Carlton or Savoy and have high tea while also taking in the sites of places in the Ian Fleming novels and have my martini shaken not stirred. I could visit the home towns of Jane Austen and Charles Dickens.

Maybe I will go to visit the fictional town of Stars Hollow from the show Gilmore Girls.

In the book “The Count of Monte Cristo,” Edmond Dantès (the Count of Monte Cristo) lives in several locations. He lives in Rome and Auteuil, outside of Paris. The author of the book, Alexandre Dumas, also built a mansion called Château de Monte-Cristo in the French countryside, which was a real place. Maybe, I’ll go for a looksee.

“What is the point of being alive if you don’t at least try to do something remarkable?”
― John Green, An Abundance of Katherines

The point is to have goals and have some fun. Go on adventures. Dream big. Hard work should be rewarded. It can take decades to build a million-dollar portfolio. Live a little. The most successful retirements are the ones of which people retire to something.

To quote the author John Green, “The way I figure it, everyone gets a miracle. Like, I will probably never be struck by lightening, or win a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small nation in the Pacific Islands.” However, I can fly to Paris on a Monday, have high tea in London on Wednesday, and stay at the Palace in New York City like Serena van der Woodsen in Gossip Girl.

You can check out my post on the show called Money Advice from Gossip Girl.

My miracle may not have been to live next door to Margo Roth Spiegelman like the protagonist in the book Paper Towns in which the quote is borrowed from, but I still can create my own miracle. The gift of free time and financial freedom. A life that is well-lived and leisure that is earned.

So with all that said, the question you are to ask yourself, “what would you do with a million in retirement?”

Would you sail around the world?

Would you visit the Louvre in Paris, see the pyramids in Egypt?

Or maybe you would try out your Spanish language skills you learned on Babbel in Spain or Barcelona?

Or would you visit the beaches in Rio?

As for me, maybe I will visit all the places The Chipmunks went to see in the 1987 film The Chipmunk Adventure.

I could buy a Porsche 911 with cash.

I could rent out a beach house on the California coast.

I could stay at the same hotel as James Bond in Montenegro.

I could buy a season ticket to see the Yankees or the Knicks play.

I could buy a ticket to ComicCon in San Diego and go meet my favorite actors from the Marvel Comics films. (Just FYI…I got to meet Orlando Bloom aka Legolas from Lord of the Rings at a comic convention and he was an absolute gentleman!)

I could buy a front row ticket to a concert.

I could fly in to whatever city they decide to visit to get my replica Book of Shadows signed by the cast of Charmed!

Yes, I’m a comic nerd, sue me.

I even have a Betty and Veronica fridge magnet. Yes, from the Archie Comics. Maybe I’ll have a lost weekend like they did on Riverdale and dance the nite away at a club in Vegas. I might even steal Veronica Lodge’s dance moves!

I once flew in to ATL for a day just to go to Six Flags over Georgia!

I have never swam with the dolphins or run with the bulls. However, I did get to meet the iconic actor Val Kilmer and got to be in a Hollywood movie as an extra! Both were pretty cool.

I once even decided on a whim to take the train to New York on a weekday afternoon so I could sip cocktails at the Plaza Hotel.

Just know whatever it is, it will be epic!

About The Author

Miriam started Greenbacks Magnet in 2016 to keep a scorecard of her goal of $1M in investable assets. Armed with a Master in Management (MiM) and a calculator, she teaches readers how to achieve financial independence while also helping them learn how to smell the roses along the way. The palpable response she got from sharing her personal finance goal in a public speaking course at Georgetown University encouraged her to share her story and teach finance on her website. She invests in AI companies as artificial intelligence is the new iPhone of the moment as she likes to invest in companies that are disruptive.

Financial Freedom

Down the Financial Freedom rabbit hole: Part 2

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Don’t gamble! Take all your savings and buy some good stock and hold it till it goes up, then sell it. If it don’t go up, don’t buy it. – Will Rogers.

In my last post, Down the Financial Freedom Rabbit Hole, I talked to you about having over $300,000 in retirement savings. In this post, Part 2, I will talk about the behavior you will need to use to get there.

One of the biggest lessons I learned about life is that you have to give to get. There is no free lunch. Nothing is free. You have to work for everything you have. And don’t let anybody tell you any different.

Even starting out with nothing, you can end with something.

However, it won’t happen overnight.

Little by little everyday you make progress. You have to set a goal. And you have to focus. Much like Obi Wan Kenobi’s Jedi Master in Star Wars said to a young Anakin Skywalker.

Star Wars Lessons For Improv

So without further ado, here are some of the behaviors that can help turn you into a millionaire. And we’re off…you can now wave goodbye to broke in the camera and say hello to financial freedom.

White Rabbit GIF

Learn to sit on a box until you can afford a chair. – money quote

Starting from scratch was not easy. The number one thing I did was make a goal. It does not matter how big or small, you have to start with a goal.

You cannot get to a destination without first knowing where you are going.

My ultimate goal was $1M USD. I then broke it into actionable steps.

Get a job that offers 401k’s with a match was one of them.

I also knew I had to increase my income. Whether it be sales, HVAC School, plumbing, teaching, or college, you have to find a way to make a living and bring some money home.

I took Dave Ramsey’s saying literally in when he says it is not what you are willing to do that will make you rich, but what you are willing to give up. And I gave up a lot. Nights out with friends, parties, vacations, you name it. But the sacrifice was worth it as it moved me closer to my ultimate goal: freedom.

I would spend my nights studying (sometimes up to 8 hours a day!) and doing my college work. Then I would spend my days looking for jobs that offered retirement accounts with matching contributions. Since I chose the college route, I knew that after I got my degree, that I would use that to negotiate a better job with higher pay.

I couldn’t just start in at the top. It’s like what the late rapper Young Dolph said on being wary of helping those who refuse to help themselves (“Million Dollaz Worth of Game” interview, 2021): Everybody wanna start at the top. Everybody wanna start at the top, and everybody wanna ball off the rip.

So true. How can you possibly start at the top? You don’t know anything. You have to put in the work if you want to get ahead and if you want people to respect you.

Dolph sounds a lot like one of my favorite Disney characters, Scrooge McDuck.

This image has an empty alt attribute; its file name is ScroogeMcDuck_Comic.jpg
A panel from an Uncle Scrooge comic by Jack Bradbury. Character created in 1947 by Carl Banks.

So if you find yourself mopping floors, but earning the respect of your fellow workers and the CEO that leads to creating long lasting relationships, getting mentoring from those who played the long-game and won, you climbing that corporate ladder to one day being in the C-suite, count yourself fortunate to work your way up to the top you lucky duck! Pun intended.

Those that try to skip putting in the work miss out on opportunities and experiences that are necessary rungs on the ladder to success that are needed to stay at the top. You have to work late nights, get up early and be consistent. Nobody ever got rich sleeping all day.

Once, I got that magic 401k, I went to work investing in it. That was around 2007. However, my account was increasing too slowly.

I needed to figure out a way to free up some capital to make it go faster. That’s when I figured it out. One of the best ways to start investing larger sums of money with minimal effort. Change my behavior and attitude toward material objects. Namely; cars.

I would pay off my car and then not get into another car payment.

I would instead redirect that money to my investments. I gave up on the desire to having a flashy car in parking lot and focused on financial freedom. I paid off my car in 2009. I have not had a car payment since.

This along with paying off credit card debt, in my opinion, is the best ways to build wealth.

After that, my investments started to take off. I also opened up a Roth IRA around 2011 to invest even more money. I did this because when I did the math, it showed that if you max out your retirement accounts; $23,000 in your 401k and $7,000 in an IRA which are the limits in 2024, with a 10% return, you could hit $1 million in 15 years. That’s less than two decades! It takes the average millionaire about 27 years to get there.

Simple plan: Pay off car payment and max out retirement accounts. I just gave you the magic ingredients to the secret sauce.

Come on, let me get a 5-star rating for that advice like Nora got on Upload.

Upload Upload Tv GIF - Upload Upload Tv Nathan GIFs

As of this writing, I am closing in on hitting my next target of $400,000 in investable assets. I was getting closer to my goal of $1M in retirement savings.

Getting so close to my goal made me realize that personal debt is the mortal enemy that threatens to suck the money out of your wallet and the joy out of your life.

I wanted to slay debt like my favorite Marvel comic book character Red Sonja does her enemies.

I wanted to strike first and show no mercy when it came to getting rid of and staying out of debt like Cobra Kai!

Strike First Strike Hard No Mercy William Zabka GIF - Strike First Strike Hard No Mercy William Zabka Johnny Lawrence GIFs

I felt like Carmen Sandiego when she meticulously plans her escapes…with style. I was leaving debt behind and flying toward freedom.

Netflix carmen sandiego GIF - Find on GIFER

You can do the same. By changing your behavior to earn interest instead of paying it by investing. Until next time…

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Automobiles, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Investing, Wealth

Rejecting Buying New Cars Has Made Me Richer

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Car, Sedan, Luxury, Vehicle, Automobile

The other day I overheard people talking about being 90 days late and past due…blah blah blah I couldn’t make out the rest, but I heard enough to fill in the blanks. Debt, debt, and more debt.

Two of the biggest culprits are house and car loans. Some may disagree with me, but cars are wealth killers! At least Dave Ramsey agrees with me.

Then it hit me.

After three years of blogging, I found my niche.

This blog is really all about rejecting new car ownership to become financially independent (FI). That’s right. I refuse to buy new cars so I can become FI.

Previously I have spoken on the topic of why I can’t stand buying new cars and instead put that money in stocks thereby earning myself $100k in Mr. Market by ending my car payments.

When I hear people complain about having no money but paying $600 a month for their car, all I hear is the same sound Charlie Brown’s teacher makes. Cut the excuses!!!

Image result for charlie brown wah wah gif

Obviously, reminding people why they should reject buying a NEW CAR bears repeating.

Do BMW’s really equal happiness

To drive a brand spanking new car out on these streets today, it will cost you about $554 a month; as that is the average car payment in the U.S. according to Experian.

However, you and I both know that those are small potatoes compared to what some folks are shelling out. We gotta Keep Up With The Joneses’ today or life just plain sucks!

There are now new luxury vehicles coming off the assembly line with an MSRP of $80k! MSRP stands for the Manufacturer Suggested Retail Price — also known as “sticker” price — which is a recommended selling price that automakers give a new car. A dealer uses the MSRP as a price to sell each vehicle; it’s different from invoice price on a car, which can stand thousands below the sale price.

Vehicles have become so expensive that dealerships are offering 84 month car loans! I have no intention of owing the man that type of moola.

Especially, considering that the REPO Man is out there lurking in the shadows, ready to take my car if I miss even one single car payment.

Image result for cruella driving by gif

And BTW the REPO Man tends to show up at the worst possible times; such as when you are already 20 minutes late picking up your kids from soccer practice, while the Walgreen’s pharmacy is texting you that this is the last day to pick up your $600 EpiPen or else it goes back on the market.

I actually have a friend that was unable to continue making payments on her BMW. Before, we get into this story here is a little background. She owns a home with an ARM and payments can fluctuate wildly from $1500 to $2400, is finishing her bankruptcy payments, and calls herself a Glam Ma and not Grand Ma.

She used to use dating apps after her divorce, but stopped after one guy told her he was looking for a place to stay. Hard pass. No more Bumble Bee for her! She likes her independence. Always has, always will.

For instance, her son recently asked if his mother would be willing to watch his newborn infant after she is born to save on daycare costs, which is astronomical in America and can cost people one whole paycheck, to which she replied, “not unless she got ID to sit with me at the bar on Friday’s, then no I can’t watch her.”

Getting back to the car situation, she decided to stop all car payments due to financial constraints.

Therefore, she stopped paying for two years.

Two whole years!!!

Since she knew she could no longer afford it; she just strategically stopped paying and put that money towards other obligations. The same way a squatter strategically walks away from an underwater mortgage. No reason to raid the retirement accounts and then end up completely broke now is there.

Anyhoo, she kept the car clean and left nothing in it in case the repo man ever showed up to take it. Well that day finally came and they took it right out of her driveway.

She then decided to hail cabs, and take Lyft and Uber rides until she got her tax refund and then she bought her next car with cold, hard cash baby! Lesson learned. If you own it, no one can take it.

Setting money on fire

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Cars are making people go broke. SUV’s are some of the priciest on the market.

And Americans LOVE their SUV’s.

They are willing to SHELL out the big bucks here and dealers know it. Why do you think they stopped making Mitsubishi’s, GM stooped making Pontiac’s, and Ford stopped making compact cars? It is because they are not making money on moderately priced vehicles.

According to Business Insider, Ford made a game-changing decision in April when the company announced it would dissolve its entire line of sedans and compact cars that includes Focus, Fusion, Fiesta, and Taurus by 2020. Other cars that will be discontinued this year and beyond include the Alfa Romeo 4C Coupe, Chevrolet Sonic, and Cadillac ATS.

Maybe this is why Aston Martin has rolled out its latest car with a pricetag of this: New $189,000 SUV.

You could wind up spending $2500 a month just to own this luxury monster!

Let’s do a little math

I’m going to pull back the curtain on this and show you why you need to take off your BMW rose-colored glasses.

Buying a 2020 BMW truck will cost you about $176,000 after all is said and done.

Item

2020 BMW X6 SAV M50I AWD

Interest:

Maintenance:

Gas:

Total Cost over 7 years:

Cost

$104,095

$104,095 x 3% = 31,228 BMW of Alexandria website

$3,122.85 x 7 = $21,859.95 Setting aside 3% of purchase price

$50 x 52 = $2,704 x 7 = $18,928

$176,110.95

You get to basically drive to work, the grocery store, gym, and Pottery Barn for the low, low price of almost the cost of a house in Georgia.

20 Marietta St NW Unit 6B Atlanta, GA 30303

$179,000 Price 2 Beds 2Baths 1,156 Sq. Ft.$155 / Sq. Ft. Redfin Estimate: $175,558 On Redfin: 70 days Status:  Active

20 Marietta St NW Unit 6B
Redfin Listing

That is also more than three times the median salary of an American adult making $56,000. Even Rappers are buying into this crap before the ink is even dry on that million-dollar deal they just signed!

This is a clip from way back in 2003 from Dame Dash (who has his own money issues; he can’t afford and is too cash poor to pay $2400 in a lawsuit due to his paychecks being garnished by creditors to pay off debt).

That video came out the same year I bought my car.

Maybe if I had seen this, I would have done something different.

Hopefully seeing this here will help all of you out there.

Put that money into Mr. Market

I know this is the part where your eyes glaze over but please bear with me.

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Here’s my story. In 2003, I decided I needed a new car. BIG MISTAKE! I previously had an Nissan Altima that cost about $8k and I was paying $229 per month for it. Then it started having problems so I decided to trade it in for a new Ford Explorer.

Original MSRP was $30k, but I got it on sale for $24,000. Stupid. I had a negative equity balance on the Altima so I rolled it over onto the new loan. I went from owing $6k to $32k in the span of 5 hours at a car dealership from the time I walked in until I signed the papers.

The payment on the Explorer was $448.65 a month for about 5-6 years. Therefore, from 2003-2009 I was paying on this car instead of investing that money in Mr. Market. DUMB!!!! For 6 whole years, I could not do much of anything because the car payment was always due.

Want to go on that trip to Dominican Republic? Sorry guys, can’t do it. The gas guzzler has got to get paid.

Want to buy new socks and clothes because yours are worn out and have holes in them? Sorry, no can do. The car note is due on the first, which is same time as the rent. Sucker! They got me good.

I was even paying over the phone for faster processing at the tune of $5 a pop!

All that changed once I paid it off. I got down to $1500 and just paid it off. I was free b#tche$!! Can’t nobody hold me down…oh no…I got to keep on moving!!!

I haven’t had a car payment in over 10 years! Not since Steph Curry was selected as a draft pick in the NBA.

I took that money and started investing in stocks. Before I know it, I had like a couple hundred grand in Mr. Market just from rejecting new car ownership.

How would you feel having $200,000 working for you everyday 365/24/7 in the market paying you just for having a pulse?

Celebrities and Money, Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Saving, Self-Made Millionaires, Wealth

I Like To Write Big Fat Checks Just Like Cardi B

Gallery 2 Comments
American, Bills, Business, Cheque

Big fat checks, big large bills.  – Cardi B

I’m a lot like Cardi B in that song Money and I like it because like her, Now I like dollars, I like diamonds! However, in order to fund that lifestyle you have to have money in the bank.

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I want deep-pockets; therefore, I avoid debt, save and invest.

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And between you and me, I can’t stand debt. That’s no secret if you have been reading my blog. It just weighs you down.

I figured out a way to make myself feel better about paying off debt. I tend to use the debt-snowball method. I like small wins. And you should too, if it helps you continue to work on paying off your debt over several years, which can be 2-5 years.

The debt–snowball method is a debt reduction strategy, whereby one who owes on more than one account pays off the accounts starting with the smallest balances first, while paying the minimum payment on larger debts. You typically use this method when paying off revolving credit card debt.

Dave Ramsey discusses this and the debt avalanche, paying off debt with highest interest rate first, both are good methods of paying off debt.

But my favorite is the debt-snowball method. This strategy is where you pay off debt in order of smallest to largest, gaining momentum as you knock out each balance.

When the smallest debt is paid in full, you roll the money you were paying on that debt into the next smallest balance. You get a chance to celebrate your hard work by knocking out small debts and slowly working your way toward paying them all off.

For example, I have done the following:

Paying off my payday loan in the early 2000’s, I wrote the final check for $333.

Paying off my car note in 2009, once it got down to under $2,000, I wrote the final check for $1,500 and paid that sucker off!

Paying off my personal loan for $20,000, once I got down to the end, I wrote the final check for $3,500.

Paying off my credit card I got in 2005, once I got it down under $15,000, I wrote the final check (electronic) payment for $14,745, so then I could continue to live my best life.

I did this by saving up my money, paying the minimums on all my accounts until I saved up a certain dollar amount and then I wrote big fat checks to pay off what I owe. I like to pay in lump sums and pay off huge chunks of debt at a time. It makes me feel better. I call it the debt-chunk method. I like to see big results.

I got this idea from reading personal finance blogs like Millennial Money and books like I Will Teach You To Be Rich and Set For Life. In addition to studying the self-made. I combined my knowledge of reading about the money habits of Grammy-winner John Legend and Millennial Money founder Grant Sabatier.

See my posts How Millennial Money Inspired Me To Start Saving $13,333.06 A Year

Money Advice I Got From John Legend

Basically, I combined two different philosophies on saving and debt.

From John Legend I learned that once you have money in your hand you should pay off your debt IMMEDIATELY. If you have the full amount, then pay it all off. Thereby, paying off debt in huge chunks!

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From Millennial Money I learned to save huge amounts of money over time by making small increases in may savings rate. I also make sure to take other good advice as well.

For instance, over the years, I have learned to listen to the following:

My partner Charlie says there is only three ways a smart person can go broke: liquor, ladies and leverage – Warren Buffett

Find ways to advertise for less or free. Leverage what you know by thinking outside the box. – Daymond John, The Power Of Broke

Find ways to start or build a business for less, cheaper alternatives out there or for $0 to start. – Zac Bissonnette, Debt Free U

There has never been a time when reading a book has not helped me. Work 10X harder, get 10X the results. – Grant Cardone, The 10X Rule

Work out. Have Discipline. Save and invest your money. I started in real estate and built wealth that allowed me to devote more time to the things I wanted to do. – Arnold Schwarzenegger

See my post How Arnold Schwarzenegger Totally Recalls Making $20-Million-Dollar Paychecks

Try to save $5 a day. And increase your savings by 1% a month or more. Network. I bought coffee for those I wanted to learn from every week! – Grant Sabatier, Millennial Money

Save $25,000 to stop living paycheck-to-paycheck. Spend more on fun not less. Spend money on the things you care about and cut spending on the things you don’t. – Scott Trench. Set For Life, Bigger Pockets podcast

Spend extravagantly on the things you love, and cut costs mercilessly on the things you don’t. – Ramit Sethi

Focus your energy on the big wins!

If you can cut your housing and car costs, your stand a chance to save $500 or more per month. That is a nice amount to start stashing away in your 401k.

Cutting out $5 lattes and couponing alone are not going to get you to amassing a fortune. But first, before you do anything, you must save!

It is far easier to control and cut your spending than it is to go out and earn more.

Besides, the more you make the more Uncle Sam takes! I am all for people earning more money, but it will make no difference if you spend every last dime.

Therefore, start focusing on slashing expenses, cutting costs, saving an emergency fund (for big expenses), a rainy day fund (for short-term expenses i.e. a flat tire) and paying off ALL YOUR DEBT!!! Doing those five things can start you on the path from broke millennial to millionaire.

And that is because all millionaires know you get there by saving $10 bucks at a time. – Mr. Money Mustache

Therefore, if you want to get rich, just start by saving $10 bucks at a time.