Tag Archives: millionaire

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.

Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Investing

How to make your teenager a millionaire

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Hey you.

Yeah, you!

Come closer.

My voice is but a whisper.

Autumn is in full swing. As I sip my lemon tea, to ease my dry throat, I will share with you the secrets that have been passed down to me from money gurus everywhere.

But before I say anything, you stop me. You say no. Not here. The masses must hear this too.

Therefore, I promise to share this on my website for all to see.

This blog will be my microphone.

I am now stepping up to the podium.

I adjust the mike and clear my throat.

I say, “Good evening ladies and gentlemen. Please excuse my voice for breaking the eloquent silence of nature. But I made a promise to share with you some great news. It is possible to help turn your broke teenager into an adult millionaire. Would you like to know how? I will tell you. Have your teenager invest $3K per year for five years and then let it sit for the next 40 years without adding another penny.” That’s right. Let me say that again for the cheap seats in the back!

Have your teenager invest $15K over a five year time period and let it ride for four decades to accumulate $1M.

I can just hear the scoffs and skepticism out there.

The math ain’t mathing, as Taraji P. Henson, would say. Surely, you jest. But I assure you there is truth to my words.

Enough, talk. Let me show you what $3K can do.

If you scroll down the tweet I posted below, you will see after 40 years, your teenager can grow their $15K to over $1M. Well, $1,003,013.58 to be exact. You just have to convince them that it’s worth it.

You can even offer incentive.

Say your teen earned $3K, with their summer job or college internship, you offer to match what they invest. So if they invest $1,500 then you also give them $1,500 for a total of $3K. Since they cannot put in more than the total amount they earn. Now there’s some food for thought.

Imagine this is your parent talking to you about what it is like to run their household.

Below is them trying to turn you into a millionaire!

Celebrities and Money, Financial Independence

The First Million: How the 401(k) became the silver lining of shrinking pension plans

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There is always another rainbow. – Scrooge McDuck

The IRS has updated the new contribution limits for retirement plans. The annual limit on elective deferrals will increase to $23,500 (up from $23,000) for 401(k), 403(b), and 457 plans, as well as SARSEPs, and to $16,500 (up from $16,000) for most SIMPLE plans and SIMPLE IRAs.

That’s great news!

If you can max out your 401(k) with a 10% return, you would have $1M in 17 years. It would only take you an additional six years to get to the next million. You would then be a multimillionaire.

I know what you’re thinking.

How on earth am I going to get to one million let alone two million.

Just hear me out.

Let’s talk about how you can start with nothing and end a millionaire.

I will take you through the origins of a pension and ending with the rise in the 401(k).

Think of it like a roller coaster ride.

Deciding to strap in your seatbelt is the hardest part. It’s getting down the first hill that scares us and then after that it’s pretty much smooth sailing.

What is a pension? A pension plan is a retirement plan that provides a regular income to an employee after they retire. The employer is responsible for managing the investments in the plan and bears the risk of market decline.

Pensions have been around for a long time, with origins dating back to the classical world and before the United States was founded. The first military pensions were adopted in the United States, and the first veterans’ pension was offered to retired naval officers in 1799.

In 1875, the American Express Company established the first private pension plan in the United States, and, shortly thereafter, utilities, banking and manufacturing companies also began to provide pensions.

However, pensions go back even further. All the way to ancient times.

In the Roman Empire, veteran legionnaires received military pensions in the form of land grants or special appointments. This sort of barter system was still going around 50 B.C., when Roman soldiers were paid in salt, a highly valued commodity at the time.

Even the word salary comes from ancient times. The word “salary” comes from the Latin word salarium, which means “salt money. In ancient Rome, soldiers were paid in salt, a valuable commodity used to preserve food. The Latin word sal means “salt”. The word salarium continued to be used to refer to soldiers’ pay even after other forms of payment were introduced.

The word salarium entered the French language as salaire, and then into English in the late 13th century as salarie. The Norman conquest in 1066 introduced many Latin-derived words into the English language, including “salary.” That was during the time of William the Conqueror, but that is another story.

Have you ever heard the saying about being “worth your salt”? Now you know where it came from.

And just in case you were wondering, no, Social Security is not the same as a pension. That is a social insurance program started by Franklin Roosevelt (FDR) in 1935. Social Security is a social insurance plan that is intended to supplement a retired worker’s pension and savings.

Social Security is an earned government benefit for seniors, people with disabilities and children who have lost a working parent. Working people contribute to Social Security with every paycheck. A pension is income you set aside while you’re working so you will be able to get a monthly paycheck when you retire. Pensions have vesting periods and Social Security does not.

Pensions became popular after the Second World War in the 1940’s and through 1970 when as many as 52% of workers had them. Employers managed the program, but they also took on the administrative cost burden and risk associated with them. Then, sadly, pensions started going the way of the dinosaur and Atari game console.

The 401(k) is the PlayStation 5 of our day and bumped out the pension, which is the Nintendo of days past.

Today, about 10% of private employers offer pensions. This started being replaced by the 401(k).

One of the biggest silver linings of having a 401(k) versus a pension is the fact that a 401(k) cannot go bankrupt. However, a company can and once that happens they are under no obligation to pay pension benefits; whereas, your 401(k) travels with you wherever you go like a passport.

A silver lining is a positive aspect or sign of hope in a situation that might otherwise be negative. It’s often used in the proverb “every cloud has a silver lining,” which means that there’s always something good or hopeful to be found in even the worst situations.

Now, that you know more of the history of pensions, let me show you how you can start with nothing and rise to the top just like Jennifer Lawrence in the Silver Linings Playbook. She may be a top paid leading lady in Hollywood now but as a broke teenager starting out, she had nothing.

Actress Jennifer Lawrence at the Red Sparrow premiere in New York on February 26, 2018. REUTERS/Caitlin Ochs

She grew up in Kentucky in a middle-class family and had a middle-class upbringing. Growing up she often felt like a misfit as she did not fit in with her peers.

I can relate to that on some level as I was always striving to get the gold star on the behavior chart every day at school. I was less impressed with class clowns, popular kids or jocks and more focused on reading and getting into college. My parents called me the rebel of my four siblings. I didn’t care. I know I was meant for something else. I wanted to be a writer and a rich businesswoman. Just like Jennifer, I was charting my own path.

After a talent scout spotted 14-year-old Jennifer while on vacation, she told her parents she wanted to pursue acting. She then worked on leaving school and got her GED so that she could start auditing for parts.

She actually audited for the role of It-girl, Serena van der Woodsen, in Gossip Girl, but lost the part to Blake Lively. She has said she was really bummed not to get the part. However, as one door closes, another opens.

She got her first paid role in 2006 and a small part as a mascot in an episode of Monk. However, the movie that got her the buzz she needed to get cast in bigger films was when she got cast for the leading role in Winter’s Bone. Lawrence’s acting amazed critics and audiences alike. I saw the film and I knew instantly that a star was born.

At only 20-years-old, she earned an Oscar nomination for Best Actress in a Leading Role. And from there, Lawrence’s success continued to skyrocket.

In 2011, she landed the role of Mystique in Marvel’s X-Men: First Class.

In 2012, she wowed audiences as Katniss Everdeen in The Hunger Games. The post-apocalyptic, dystopian film was an instant hit. This is the film where she earned her first $1M paycheck. The first women to ever get that million was none other than Elizabeth Taylor for the 1964 film Cleopatra. Jennifer was in good company.

Later in 2012, Lawrence starred in another successful film, Silver Linings Playbook. She won an Oscar for Best Actress for her performance. And at the time, she was the second-youngest actress to achieve this honor. Lawrence was only 22.

If you think her rise to superstardom was fast, then think again. She doesn’t owe any of her success to luck. She worked hard for her multimillion-dollar salary.

In Jennifer Lawrence’s own words: “I put in my time; I lived in a rat-infested apartment when I was 14, and I was told ‘No’ many times. I put my blood, sweat, and tears into all of this. It’s easy to look from the outside and see my career grew very fast, but there was a time before that career when I was working for it. And I definitely wouldn’t have wanted that time to go on any longer.” I feel her on that.

I lived in small apartments, ate ramen for dinner and had times that I lived off of $5 a day. It was only after I put in my time that I was able to negotiate a six-figure compensation package later in my career and started investing upwards to $10,000+ per year, that I started to see some return on my own sweat and tears.

Here is a peak behind Jennifer Lawrence’s financial playbook:

Here’s how she made from playing Katniss and Mystique in these franchises:

  • The first Hunger Games installment paid her $1 million. She earned $10 million for the second film and $20 million apiece for the third and fourth movies.
  • As Mystique in the X-Men franchise, Lawrence earned $250,000 for First Class, $6 million for Days of Future Past, $8 million for Apocalypse, and $4.7 for Dark Phoenix.

On average, Jennifer Lawrence earns between $15-$20 million per movie. Her paychecks for a few of her films were:

Passengers (2014): $20 million

Don’t Look Up (2021) $25 million

Red Sparrow (2018): $20 million

Jennifer also has other sources of income such as endorsement deals.

In 2012, she became the face of Dior. The luxury brand paid the actress a cool $20 million.

She owns a production company.

She is also a landlord. owns a luxury apartment in Manhattan. She paid $9 million for the unit and now rents it for around $27,000 monthly.

What I have learned from her story is that you have to create opportunities for yourself by showing up and doing the work. Success is not just going to fall into your lap. You have to go get it. Success not only attracts success, but it also leaves clues.

In order to earn her first million, Jennifer Lawrence had to act in numerous plays, move to New York, get an agent, audition for dozens of film and television roles, learn how to become an archer, sit in a makeup chair for 3-6 hours to be painted blue everyday on set for weeks and months and work out 1.5 hours a day for months on end over about a decade time period. Nothing happened by accident. It was intentional.

You must use your 401(k) in the same manner.

I waitressed, was a phone operator, a gas station attendant, scrubbed toilets, working all the while earning a bachelor’s and Master’s degree, read about 15 personal finance books a year, started a blog and was promoted numerous times at different companies to get to where I am today.

My first million is so close I can feel it tapping me on the shoulder.

When Business Insider did my story, I was at $375,000 in investable assets. I have since seen had my investments grow to $422,000. My $500,000 journey is rapidly coming to an end. Compound interest is barreling me toward the finish line. Depending on market fluctuations, I will hit my target of $500,000 in 365-500 days.

A company going bankrupt cannot blow up my retirement. My pension cannot be taken away from me the same way Lucy takes away that football from Charlie Brown. My 401(k) is mine forever. Just let that silver lining sink in.

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, Financial Independence, Self-Made Millionaires

Her First $400K

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As I write this, the Biden Administration has extended the payment pause on borrowers enrolled in the SAVE plan for another 6 months.

Might I offer a suggestion: take that money and put it into a rainy day fund or invest it in an index fund (VTSAX) or individual stocks (The Trillion-Dollar Club such as MSFT or META).

Now that I have offered my savings and investment advice, let’s talk about how I got to my first $400K.

They say the first $100K is the hardest. I remember from years ago a time when Drake tweeted that. Don’t remember? That’s cool. I have a copy of his tweet for you to see below.

Well, my money target was higher since I figured I’d go big or go home.

I made my target $400K.

I totally borrowed that title from Her First 100K blog, but I am sure Tori Dunlap will not mind if I borrow it if it helps motivate people to become financial independent.

Although I have a six-figure compensation package now (salary + benefits), it did not start off that way.

You will not believe some of the jobs I have had on my path to becoming a self-made woman millionaire. Let me share 4 of them with you here.

1. Waitress ($2.65 per hour + tips) – Back when I was still in high school I did a summer job as a teenage waitress at Shoney’s. It wasn’t glamourous, but the tips were pretty good. Some days I could clear $50-$100 bucks a night! That’s some good money to a teenager. And the menu there was huge. There was no way I could remember it all. I mean who do they think I am. Sheldon Cooper. I do not have a photographic memory. However, lucky for me, this restaurant had a buffet so it basically sold itself. I was mostly there to bring drinks and the check. It was physically demanding though as it required you to stand virtually all-day. I did get 50% off any food I wanted and the cooks in the back were great. This is my foundation on what it takes to earn a $1. Like Britney Spears says, “work b*tch!”

2. File Clerk/Loan Analyst ($28,000/year) – I was still working my way through college when I got this job. I answered an ad and went in for an on-the-spot job interview and got the job! Essentially, I helped maintain loan documents and helped manage bank customer accounts at a credit union. This job would set me up for what was to come, which was my foray into lending and finance.

3. Night Auditor ($20 an hour + tips) – This was another job I got from answering an ad on Indeed. They were offering $18 but I negotiated $20. Never underestimate the power of negotiation ladies! And the funny thing is when I actually started doing the job, I did so much work that I really should have been making $25 at least! You have answer phones, check-in guests, keep the hotel lobby clean, manage guest complaints and do point-of-sale transactions for the hotel market by the front desk. Then there was the lounge at the hotel that was a mini nightclub that was open until 2am! We did have a few celebrities come through, but I mostly just stayed at the front desk. And did I mention I worked overnight from 11pm – 7am! However, it was fun overall because I had a great coworker. I even had a guest tip me $100 for calling him a cab. Sweet!

4. Associate Director (over $80,000k+/ year) – After college, I applied for another job in lending. Basically, counseling families on how to navigate the financial minefield that is financial aid. I also completed two Master’s degrees and started this blog on the side while doing my job. This blog is my side hustle and it did start to generate some income eventually. However, when asked by Business Insider for the article they published on me, I declined to go into details.

All these jobs helped put me on the path to where I am today, which is female millionaire.

Every time I earned more, I invested more.

I started with a fistful of dollars and turned a small $5,000 investment in Apple into an investment portfolio over $400,000!

The next leg of the journey is $500,000.

Celebrities and Money

From Bombshells to Billionaires: How Victoria’s Secret Angels are making a fortune

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Photo credit: By Samantha Marx from Johannesburg, South Africa – Victoria’s Secret store

“If you’re comfortable in your own skin, you will feel beautiful – and look beautiful to others, too.” — Adriana Lima

Well, well, well. Looks who’s back. In my best imitation of the Gossip Girl voice, I spy with my little eye bombshells and billionaires on the horizon.

The Victoria’s Secret Fashion show is back after a six-year hiatus. The last show was in 2018. If you want to check out the show it is being broadcast tonight at 7 pm EST on Amazon Prime video.

They are relaunching the show and this year’s show is all about women empowerment and body positivity. I am all for that. As this blog will always stand with being positive and creating opportunities for yourself. And these women have done just that.

Without further ado, I give you some of the longest-reigning and richest Victoria Secret models.

Honorable mention also goes out to Marissa Miller who has an estimated net worth of $20 million.

Some of the biggest to ever wear the wings and those million-dollar bras are shown in the photo below (Adriana Lima -$95M, Alessandra Ambrosio-$75M, Gisele Bundchen-$400M, Tyra Banks-$95M, and Heidi Klum-$100M and a couple not in the photo are Miranda Kerr with her husband Snapchat CEO-$1B and Candice Swanepoel-$30M.

And a special shout out to the OG – Adriana Lima who has come out of retirement to walk the show for a record 19th time.

Who says you can’t make a living modeling? These women have all proven it can be done.

Every time the curtain falls on the Victoria’s Secret Fashion show, another angel has gotten her financial freedom wings!