Tag Archives: The Automatic Millionaire

Investing, Retirement, Self-Made Millionaires

Are you there cappuccino? It’s me, Greenbacks Magnet

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“Pay yourself first.” Treat your savings like a mandatory bill and pay yourself at least one hour a day of your income. – David Bach, author of the Automatic Millionaire

“Don’t go to Starbucks today for a coffee… Invest $5 a day for 40 years @10% and you’ll have $948,611 in savings in your retirement account. The fact is that investing works when you work it.” – David Bach

I know that skipping the latte is a part of the latte factor philosophy, but sometimes I just need a cappuccino!

Therefore, I found other things to cut back on in order to find more ways to save and invest that money.

It seemed better to indulge and splurge on the things I really wanted and then cut mercilessly the things I don’t like.

This meant paying off debt.

I rather cut out shots at the bar at happy hour on Taco Tuesdays than not having my coffee or tea fix!

I mean everything is good in moderation, right?

You should be able to sip coffee and buy stocks.

My niece (Tiana) even bought me a juice shot at Trader Joe’s recently. She said, “shots on T”. She also likes to say Tiana runs on Dunkin. She loves her coffee. And she occasionally likes juice shots too.

Some were pretty pricey. I guess I can just eat the fruit and drink water to save on that. Who needs $5.99 juice shots? That should still count as saving on unnecessary drink spending. I mean a drinks a drink, right?

Lately, I have noticed that everything is behind a paywall. So I started cutting out or avoiding subscriptions.

Most movies and shows end up on Prime or Netflix anyway. I will catch it eventually.

Sacrificing present pleasure for future security is how the game of financial independence is played.

However, I can recollect hearing many stories of financial mismanagement. It’s a tale as old as time.

Hollywood Child Stardom gone bust

One of my all time favorite child actors is Shirley Temple. She was wise beyond her years. An absolutely incredible talent for such a young age. She started out by taking dancing lessons and then also starting her career at age 3. By age 6, she was one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.

Shirley Temple, a beloved child star who made 29 films by age 10. Talk about a work ethic! All that just to be fired in 1941 by Fox Studios at the tender age of 11 for slumping ticket sales. Her contract was picked up by MGM, but by 1950 her Hollywood movie career was over at the young age of 22.

At the peak of her career, Shirley commanded a salary of $10,000 a week, earning her a healthy $3.2 million along with other income from merchandise.

She didn’t live a fairy-tale existence. During the years of her greatest fame, she worked punishing hours, received death threats and inappropriate advances, and retired at 22 with just $40,000 in the bank.

Ninety-seven cents of every dollar she made was gone. Due to bad investments made by her father.

Shirley Temple Black was an American actress, singer, dancer, politician, and diplomat, who was Hollywood’s number-one box-office draw as a child actress from 1934 to 1938.

Childhood Earnings: During the 1930s, she was the highest-grossing star in Hollywood, earning roughly $3.4 million. However, by the time she was 22, the vast majority of these earnings had been squandered or lost in poor investments managed by her parents.

Adult Rebound: Despite losing her childhood fortune, she rebuilt her wealth through strategic business endeavors, marriage to wealthy businessman Charles Black, and a highly successful career in international relations, serving as the U.S. ambassador to both Ghana and Czechoslovakia.

Estate & Assets: Her estate included high-value personal property, most notably a rare 9.54-carat “Fancy Deep Blue” diamond ring. The ring was purchased by her father in 1940 for about $7,200 and was auctioned off post-mortem by a private buyer for an estimated $25 to $35 million.

At the time of her death in 2014, Shirley Temple had an estimated net worth of $30 million. Her wealth was accumulated through her legendary childhood acting career, successful adult ventures, savvy real estate investments, and a prominent second career as a United States diplomat.

Her story taught me something. Never to give up.

If I wanted financial independence, I would have to work for it!

I drove my old car from college into the ground. Paying that off along with a $20,000 personal loan that cost me $333 a month, helped me get on more solid financial footing.

Paying off debts laid the groundwork for what was to come. Amassing $580,000 in investments. I am mere thousands away from $600,000.

Although I did not cut out tea and coffee, I did cut out luxury cars and personal loans from my budget. The $750 I was saving on these two line items alone far eclipsed the $50 budgeted monthly for my caffeine fix!

I won’t stop until I hit my target of $1 million. I am more than halfway there.

Let me reward myself by taking a sip of my coffee.

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.

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.

Financial Freedom

Still Hustling, Still Grinding: continuing on my $500k journey

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In my 20’s, I started watching the personal finance show hosted by money expert Suze Orman.

The show ended in 2015, but I learned a ton about managing money from her. Continuing on my $500k journey, I knew if I wanted to be rich, that I had better invest my money.

Suze was hilarious though in her approach of telling people what they could and could not afford. It was watching this segment of “Can you afford it,” that put me on the path to conserve versus consumption.

I rejected buying new cars and instead invested that money. I started reading every book I could on investing from the Automatic Millionaire to the Millionaire Next Door. I would go to the library and browse the personals finance sections on read the books while commuting to work and on weekends.

Like Ramit Sethi, I like to ask the “$30,000 questions.” Personally, I really like to ask myself $10,000 questions. Meaning what in my life can I get for $10,000 less. How can I spend $10,000 less?

I want low fixed expenses. I didn’t need a $70,000 Tesla to make me happy. No offense to your boy Josh there in the video. I would rather have $70,000 invested in the market than driving around in one simply to go to target and have a nice fancy car to drive around in while I pick up my toothpaste.

That’s right Colgate, feel this leather and enjoy this new car smell while I take you home in my $1,200 per month shiny new car. Screw that! Let me make this money work for me. I want to earn $70k in dividends and interest, not pay interest on $70k.

Don’t get me wrong, I prefer the finer things in life…when I can afford them.

As a teenager, I worked as a telephone operator and a waitress so I know the value of dollar. I really didn’t know a lot of people that were socking away huge amounts of money in savings or investments. I just knew I wanted to have money to be able to take care of myself and not have to spend so much time worrying about how to pay the bills. I took the advice of Robert Frost.

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

Instead of buying $50,000 cars, luxury vacations, expensive clothes and $500,000 homes, I poured my money into stocks. I started with $5 dollars. Then slowly worked my way up to $100,000.

Investing, Retirement

Stock CEO

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Merriam-Webster definition: Rockstar: a famous and successful singer or performer of rock music.

Greenbacks Magnet definition: Stockstar: a successful investor of stocks and index funds.

I knew there were only six ways to get rich rich: marry money, inherit money, build a successful business, exploit a talent, get lucky i.e. win the lottery, and spend less than you make and invest your savings wisely over a long period of time. That is basically it. The rest are details.

There are many roads and paths to wealth, but all of them come down to six once you weed out all the details. Wealth has to be pursued. It will not just fall into your lap. You have to work for it. The result of hard work is success. The success is measured in dollars. Even though money is just a tool and one barometer for measuring success it is the yardstick that lets you keep tabs on how far you can come in a job done well.

But as we all know building wealth is easier said than done.

It can be as elusive as getting those Taylor Swift Eras tour concert tickets! And like her, I have a blank space and I’ll plan to write millionaire after my name. Ha!

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After reading books like The Automatic Millionaire, The Simple Path to Wealth, Your Money or Your Life and a ton of celebrity autobiographies, it occurred to me that even on a modest income, you can rise out of the poverty ashes and rise like the phoenix to wealth.

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You just need a plan. If you tried your hand at the first five ways to wealth and failed, you could always be working on the sixth path of saving and investing your way there simultaneously.

If I could not be a ballplayer, rapper, or business owner, I could always invest my money and be the CEO of my stock portfolio. I could be a stock CEO. I could be a stockstar. No college diploma required.

There are 5.3 million millionaires and 770 billionaires living in the United States. Millionaires make up about 2% of the U.S. adult population. Therefore, if you make it to $1 million in investable assets, you are wealthier than 98% of the U.S. population.

Statistics show that the top 2% of the United States population has a net worth of about $2.4 million. On the other hand, the top 5% wealthiest Americans have a net worth of just over $1 million. Therefore, about 2% of the population possesses enough wealth to meet the current definition of being rich. Having $1 million will put you in a very exclusive club. The double comma club.

Although, the top 1% can earn as much as $955,000. Those annual earnings can seem far out of reach in a country where less than 10% of all households earn more than $200,000, according to the U.S. Census Bureau.

Working toward $1 million is still a lofty and worthy goal. Forbes reported in 2022 that the bracket’s minimum net worth is much higher — a cool $11.1 million. That would mean to be in the top 10% would be a minimum net worth of $1.1 million. This is an achievable goal. See some of my investments below.

My index funds are shown in dollar and my individual stocks are shown in shares.

Stock Portfolio

Investments2012201820202022/23
VTSAX$20,000$100,000$158,000$220,000
Amazon102
Apple2050100
Google330

Over time, I have increased my exposure in individual stocks while also investing in my index funds. I also decided to open up four different retirement accounts: Traditional IRA (Rollover from a previous job), Roth IRA, 401k and Roth 401k. I was able to get both the Roth and regular 401k from my employer(s) over the years. The IRA’s are what just happened over time.

Each retirement vehicle offers different benefits. In order to have more flexibility with my money I have two of each IRA and 401k. See below for definitions and pros and cons or the Roth 401k and IRA and more her from Empower.

What is a Roth 401k?
A Roth 401k is an employer-sponsored retirement plan. But unlike a traditional 401k, contributions are made with after-tax dollars.

The Roth 401k was introduced in 2006 to give Americans a new type of retirement savings vehicle to complement the popular Roth IRA, which was introduced in 1997. Roth IRAs and Roth 401ks are similar, but there are some pretty significant differences you should understand when deciding which one is right for you.

Pros and cons of a Roth 401k
A big advantage that the Roth 401k has over the Roth IRA is the possibility of an employer matching your contributions up to a certain percentage. Employer matches are the closest thing there is to “free money,” so if you’re deciding between a Roth 401k vs. a Roth IRA — keep this in mind. It’s also important to note here, though, that if you receive an employer Roth 401k match, the matching funds could also go into a traditional 401k.

A con, however, is that a Roth 401k account can sometimes have fewer investment options than a Roth IRA.

Pros and cons of a Roth IRA
On the flip side, Roth IRAs generally offer more investment options than Roth 401ks. With a Roth IRA, you generally have a large number of investments to choose from, including stocks, bonds, cash alternatives, and alternative investments. With a Roth 401k, you are limited to the investment options offered by your employer’s 401k plan.

However, one con of a Roth IRA is the income limit associated with this type of account. If you earn too much money, you won’t be able to contribute to this option. Roth IRAs also aren’t sponsored by an employer, which means that there is no employee contribution match.

The most distinguishing characteristic of 401(k)s, whether Roth or traditional, is the high contribution limit, allowing employees to save up to $22,500 per year in 2023. For workers over age 50, the ceiling is $30,000.

Meanwhile, annual IRA contribution limits are $6,500, while workers over 50 years old may contribute up to $7,500 per year.

A Roth 401(k) has a required minimum distribution beginning at age 73, but starting in 2024, the minimum distribution requirement will be eliminated entirely for Roth 401(k)s thanks to the SECURE Act 2.0, which was passed at the end of 2022. Previously, Roth 401(k) account holders could roll their plans into a Roth IRA and avoid the requirement entirely.

That means if you are one of the lucky ones with access to the Roth 401k, then you can essentially put money away for retirement with after-tax dollars and pay nothing on the earnings when you begin your withdrawals and no tax period in your retirement.

I knew that if I could make sure to always focus on investing a portion of my income that I could build wealth no matter what.

My definition of a stockstar is listed above. However, I have a barometer to measure my goal as well.

In order to be a Stock CEO and be one of the big boys, I looked at the compensation packages of CEOs in America. And CEOs are paid! The average salary of a Fortune 500 CEO is $15.9 million per year. The highest-paid Fortune 500 CEO is Elon Musk. In 2021, Musk saw compensation worth around $23.5 billion. He achieved this by exercising Tesla stock options given in a 2018 multiyear moonshot grant.

CEO pay has skyrocketed 1,460% since 1978.

CEOs were paid 399 times as much as a typical worker in 2021; that is up from 366-to-1 in 2020 and a big increase from 20-to-1 in 1965 and 59-to-1 in 1989.

The average CEO salary in the United States is $821,100 as of May 25, 2023, but the range typically falls between $620,600 and $1,057,900.

However, some CEOs like Warren Buffet accept a salary of $100,000. Some have gone so far as to take a salary of $1. For example, in 2010–11 Oracle’s founder and CEO Larry Ellison made only $1 in salary, but earned over $77 million in other forms of compensation. In some cases, in lieu of a salary, the executives receive stock options. Top CEOs like Elon Musk & Mark Zuckerberg take 1 dollar salary. and know the history of a $1 salary & perks that comes with a one-dollar salary.

Why do CEOs make $1?

The CEOs can afford to earn $1 as they make money through other ways like stocks and equity. This also helps them in avoiding taxes.

Who are the CEOs in the $1 salary club?

Some of the CEOs who take a $1 dollar salary are: Elon Musk (Tesla), Mark Zuckerberg (Meta formerly Facebook), Meg Whitman (Quibi), Larry Page Sergey Brin (Google).

Once I did my homework, I decided that I was going to be a stock CEO.

I may not be running a billion-dollar Fortune 500 company, but could manage a million-dollar stock portfolio.

Every dollar I invest would be my employee.

I would unleash these little worker bees to do their thing and help me build wealth with the power of compounding. That would be my equity pay package and golden parachute when I left work behind.

For example, Presidents / CEOs at companies that have raised Over 30M typically get between 250K and 5M+ shares. However, smaller companies that have raised Under 1M are more generous with their stock compensation as it ranges between 2 and 40%+ for Presidents / CEOs.

Therefore, I could reckon that a CEO of a small firm could get around 100K and between 10K-200K shares. Let’s say a small cap company like Ethan Allen, which has a share rice of $26.40 and a market cap of $667M, then a CEO would have between $263K and $5.28M in stock.

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Therefore, if I had bewteen1K and 10K in stocks or index funds such as GOOGL at $125 a share or the VTSAX at $101 a share, I would have $100K to 1.25M in investments. This is a CEO stock equity level right there. Having 10K in shares or $100K-1M in investments means you are a stockstar.

At 550K in investable assets, you are in the top 20% in net worth. At $1.1M, you are in the top 10% of net worth individuals. Think of it like this, if you can’t be a rap star, baller, or Rockstar, you can be a financial Rockstar. Just keep investing.

Like Rihanna, said:

To be what you wish
You gotta be what you are
Only thing I’m missin’
Is a black guitar index fund

hey baby I’m a Rockstar stockstar!

Financial Freedom, Financial Independence, Retirement, Saving, Television Shows and Money, Wealth

My So-Called Finances

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I took a much needed hiatus for the last few weeks to come to terms with the new world order of life during the COVID-19 lockdown.

I did the usual. Stockpiled water, canned goods, cereal, and toilet paper.

Now I’m back.

If this blog could talk, I am sure it would have asked me this question.

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After making sure I had food, water, and medicine to stay physically healthy, my mind started wondering about my fiscal health.

Then I thought, shouldn’t people also be making sure they are staying not only safe, but also financially solvent during the pandemic.

Much like Angela Chase (Claire Danes) was constantly obsessing about her crush Jordan Catalano (Jared Leto) in My So-Called Life (MSCL), I would find myself constantly obsessing over my finances.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with the show, My So-Called Life is an American teen drama television series from the 90’s that aired on ABC and then in reruns on MTV for years after it ended with only one season.

9 very important things Jared Leto taught us in the nineties

The plot surrounded a young 15-year-old girl that spent much of her time trying to figure out life and navigate being on the cusp on adulthood. The cast also just recently did a virtual reunion and reunited back together in 2020.

Now, back to my story.

I needed a fiscal safety net and plan in place that would allow me to weather and fiscal storm, including the coronavirus.

With over 33 million people filing for unemployment, I needed to shore up my resources.

My So-Called Finances needed my full attention. I was up for the undertaking.

START FROM THE FISCAL BEGINNING

Many of my lessons about money started when I was very young. I knew it was very important to have money so that you could take care of yourself and your family.

I got in the habit of saving when I was only three years old. That habit hasn’t changed. I have technically always been a saver.

However, along the way, I got lost. Kind of the same way that Alice did in Wonderland.

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I too found myself in a maze of things I did not understand. I needed those signs like Alice got.

You know the ones. They said things like; Drink me.

Drink Me Bottle | Disney Wiki | Fandom

By high school, I was an angst ridden teen with a penchant for spending. Then it hit me. Maybe I should start reading about this money stuff.

My 401(k) would be my new boyfriend.

As, time went on, I started obsessing about retirement. The hand-to-mouth existence dd not appeal to me.

I thought about what the heroine, Angela, in MSCL would do. She would probably start reading a book and asking a friend for advice.

I knew the same way Amy March did in Little Women that I would not be pauper.

Fun Fact: Claire Danes also starred as Beth in the 1994 adaption of the book.

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Therefore, I had to change some things. They say the first step to solving a problem is admitting that you have one. It hurt to see that low bank balance, but it had to be done. To know where you are going, you have to know where you are.

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The first step was to set a goal. If I had something to aim for, then I had a purpose. The goal: A one million-dollar 401(k).

LEARN HOW TO BECOME FI

The Tools to Succeed 1. Learn skills to sell for money You need the skills to become Financially Independent (FI).

I wanted to be fiscally savvy. Therefore, I had to read. Angela started off the show reading the book, The Diary of Anne Frank.

I started my FI journey reading a Kiplinger magazine. Then from there, I started watching the Suze Orman show. I knew I didn’t want to sit at a desk for 12 years only to end up sitting at a desk for another 40. I needed a plan. Being able to escape the rat race sooner rather than later appealed to me.

I started devouring personal finance books and blogs. Some of my personal favorites are The Automatic Millionaire, The Millionaire Next Door and I Will Teach You to be Rich. Then you have to decide on a path. I chose passive investing.

That turned on the light-bulb for me. Wealth building is about action.

Did You Know: Alice in Wonderland (con imágenes) | Gato de ...

Building wealth would take time, sacrifice, and work.

PASSIVE VS ACTIVE WEALTH STRATEGIES

Some people choose to start a business, become doctors, lawyers, actors, musicians, consultants, chefs or to make their fortune. I would get mine by investing.

I still needed a career to get paid. So, I found an employer to buy time form me and I equally willing to sell time to them. You can work in the public or private sector.

You can get further up the income ladder by gaining skills in the public sector and then selling them at a markup in the private sector to arbitrage your valuable skill assets.

I picked a job in finance. Once I got that job offer, I made the choice to start investing ASAP.

The 401(k) offers a maximum contribution of $19,000 and the IRA (Traditional or Roth) offers a max of $6,000. That is a total of $25,000 annually. I got my start with 6% and a match of 3%. Then, I slowly started working my way up by increasing my contributions by 1% a year.

2. Passive strategies There are two strategies here: A. Live below your means (LBYM); B. work smarter not harder.

Your employer wants to make more off of you than they pay you. Your work will not go unrewarded, but will be under-rewarded. Therefore, it is your job to invest in yourself by saving for your retirement.

CREATE AN INVESTMENT ATM

Woman, Adult, People, Money

You must save enough to start earning large amounts of interest off your principal investment.

3. Accumulation phase Your job here is to start contributing as much as you can to your 401(k).

After, saving a 6-month emergency fund so you are no longer living paycheck-to-paycheck, start putting in every dollar you can into your accounts. Save until it hurts. Even if all you can afford is $50 a month. Save something. This will eventually become your own personal ATM.

It will be like a vending machine. You step up, put in your request, and the machine hands you what you want.

Act of kindness : Offer someone's snack leaving money on the ...

The RMD has now gone from 70.5 to 72. Therefore, you can let your money ride on the interest gravy train for an additional 1.5 years. On a million-dollar portfolio, that would mean an additional $105,000 with a 7% rate of return.

KEEPING IT PASSIVE

Building up your assets. I started with $5 and then went on to my first $100,000 and beyond. It can be done.

4. Passively build a sizable investment pool Find ways to earn income.

This can be with royalties from writing a book, collecting rent on rental properties, or renting out your parking space.

The goal is to trade time up front to build an income stream that with essentially last forever. Then you can kick back and relax.

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If you have to sell 40 hours a week or the sum of 2,080 a year, you should get something out of the deal. Simple math can change your life.

I knew that one-million could spit off $50,000 of income forever with a 5% return. I just had to get there first. When I got to the point where my next money milestone was going to be $300,000, I knew I was on to something.

FREEDOM IS THE ANSWER

Why invest so much money? It’s simple. The answer is freedom.

Free from worry over how to pay bills, over how you spend your time, and quality of life.

Money equals power.

Money lets you be more confident.

Debt consumes as it only takes from you and gives you nothing.

The way to build your confidence is through positive experiences. Paying off debt then saving and investing that money will give you that. This in turn will build your self-esteem.

My favorite scene in MSCL was the one in the episode titled, “self-esteem.”

Confidence is key my friends. It attracts things to you. In Angela’s case, it was Jordan. Oops. I meant to say Jordan Catalano. For some reason on that show, he could never just be Jordan.

So, you see in the end, that you can get what you want. You just have to be patient, ask for it, and work for it. They say ask and you shall receive. Try it. I did.

And the results are amazing.

Entrepreneurship, Saving, Television Shows and Money, Wealth

A Financial Nip/Tuck

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Are you looking for a way to change your finances?

Turn your money from small nuggets of gold into large platinum diamonds. Who wouldn’t? Lots of people could do with a financial facelift.

So, “tell me what you don’t like about your finances?”

That last question is a play on the signature line from the show, “Tell me what you don’t like about yourself,” but with a twist…a financial twist of course!

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Nip/Tuck is an American serial medical drama television series created by Ryan Murphy that aired on FX in the United States from July 22, 2003, to March 3, 2010.

Opening credits song: “A Perfect Lie”, The Engine Room.

Taglines: Truth is only skin deep. L.A.’s newest implants.

The TV series Nip / Tuck, originally broadcast in 2003 on FX, focuses on McNamara/Troy, a controversial plastic surgery practice, and especially its founders, Sean McNamara and Christian Troy played by Dylan Walsh and Julian McMahon respectively. Each episode was named after the incoming patient. The show sold itself as a melodrama with a facelift.

It made me think what if people could have financial facelifts instead of actual ones?

However, it would focus on inner emotional stability instead of outer beauty.

We would build the foundation to allow people to start at building good and long-lasting financial habits.

Let’s begin our consultation.

WHAT DOES IT COST TO BUY FINANCIAL FREEDOM?

In all fairness, you have to work for your freedom. It could be as much as having $500,000 in savings and investments in one place or up to $2 million in another.

For instance, it was recently reported that no two places are equal to retire in around the United States.

If you want to retire in Mississippi, then it would cost you $950,000 versus retiring in California, in which you would need $2.1 million.

Why the variance? Things cost more on The Coast.

Housing is a premium. Dilapidated shacks in San Francisco are going for 50% above asking price.

For example, this home at 479 Silver Ave. listed on 2/8 of 2018 for $649K and was sold by 3/22/2018 for $1.125M, a 73.34% over-bid.

Homes in the Bay Area are going for a median 1.61 million!

You should plan your escape from the rat race keeping in mind where you want to live. If we use the financial freedom formula of saving 25 times your income, then you can look up what it will cost to live in certain places in America, Canada or other countries and determine if you are financially prepared.

See my post How Do You Play With FIRE?

WHAT DOES IT COST TO BE BEAUTIFUL WITH A LITTLE NIP AND TUCK?

The show was definitely like nothing I had ever seen.

One of the biggest shocks were the graphic plastic surgery procedures that were shown. I had to turn my head and look away. But when it comes to your finances, you cannot afford to be that squeamish.

You have to face the facts head on. And one of those facts is that plastic or any type of cosmetic surgery is expensive.

Lifting the face. The average cost of a facelift is $7,448, according to 2017 statistics from the American Society of Plastic Surgeons. Facelift costs can widely vary. The average fee referenced above is only part of the total cost – it does not include anesthesia, operating room facilities or other related expenses.

That’s a lot of Benjamins. If you take that same $7,448 and invest it instead, after 40 years with a 10% return you could be closing in on $350,000!

I am all for people doing what makes them happy including what makes them look and feel good and confident. But at what price?

In another post, I discuss saving up money and using flexible spending to pay for braces and Lasik.

Lasik eye surgery, while life changing, is expensive. It can cost anywhere from $2500 to $10,000.

I prefer for people to pay cash if they do decide to have any cosmetic procedures performed. Who wants to pay interest on a $500 teeth whitening or $7,000 nose job?

In this case, I urge you to think of the opportunity cost.

Do you need clean, healthy teeth? Yes.

Do you need teeth so white that it blinds you every time you look in the mirror? No.

Think practically.

I have to agree with Dave Ramsey on this one: Learn to age gracefully.

MONEY IS A MOTIVATOR

A common theme on the show Nip/Tuck was money. Those guys lived in excess.

First, working in Miami Florida and then moving on to Los Angeles.

These guys knew where the money was and what type of clientele could afford their services.

They were not all about the money though. They performed tons of pro bono work.

I decided to pursue financial freedom because I did not want the lack of money to cause me to make bad financial decisions.

Lips, Taboo, Secret, Silence, Mouth
Confessions of a Teenage Waitress
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Shhh! These are my lipstick confessions but I’ll tell you. xoxo 💋

See my post Confessions Of A Teenage Waitress

Pick a target number. Make a goal. Then aim for it. That is the secret sauce to financial independence.

However, the secret ingredient is patience.

It takes time to get wealthy.

It is not easy to get rich.

It is not easy to get thin.

All good things take time.

It took me a year to save up my first $10,000. It took me 6 years to start saving 40% of my income. It took me years to save up my first $100,000.

It usually takes 10 years to save the first $100,000. Then it takes about 4 years to make the next $100,000.

Knowledge and money accumulate and compound over time. YOU HAVE TO PUT THE WORK IN! And then be willing to wait. You get back out of anything what you put in.

The problem is that no one wants to GET RICH SLOW.

Dave Ramsey has said he worked his tail off for 25 years, but today people call him an overnight success.

The thing of it is, when you are not trying to get rich quick you will GET RICH SLOW. Or as I like to say, GET RICH LEISURELY.

Through automation of savings and investments over time. Those are the words and advice of The Automatic Millionaire author David Bach.

Let those words be a reminder and motivator for you to build lasting wealth with patience, time, and persistence.

That is why I have been blogging for 3 years.

The reason I write is because I want to inspire the uninspired to act.

So, “tell me has this post inspired you to pursue wealth?”