Speaker 3 (00:27): Welcome back to another episode of the wealthy neighbors show where this week I'm joined by the one and only Jay millennial. Now, for those of you who don't know him, that's not actually his real name, but in order for him to be as open as he is about his finances and salary and all that stuff, he prefers to stay anonymous and Hey, I respect that, but still, I had to bring Jay on the show because he's 26 years old and he has this goal of becoming a millionaire before he turns 30 and I mean, unless something absolutely wild and crazy happens, it looks like he's going to hit that because he's about 70% of the way there right now. So yeah, you heard that, right? He's 26 years old with a net worth hovering around $700,000 now listen, I don't want my neighbors out there walking away from this interview feeling discouraged in any way.

Speaker 3 (01:22): And I say that because we're going to talk about Jay's income in this interview and the role that played in him getting to that net worth. And so just know that there are plenty of folks making fantastic money that don't have this kind of net worth. And I can say that I know that personally because I've been the financial coach for a ton of them. Hear me out. It still takes a lot of discipline when you make a really good income and you choose to save and invest that income instead of doing all the fun stuff that you could be doing. So listen, if you make $30,000 a year, you probably didn't have the chance to build your net worth to 700 K like six years after college. But that's all right because Jay is going to drop some amazing money tips that even you can implement.

Speaker 3 (02:09): So be listening for those tips, those strategies. And those takeaways. Then take what fits your lifestyle and find ways to implement it and I promise you you will be in a much better place by the end of this year than you are today. With that said, I want to first say thank you to Jay for agreeing to come on the show and not just that, but for being an open book for the neighbors that are listening to this interview as well. But jumping right in, I want to know about their financial example you had in your household as a kid.

Speaker 4 (02:41): So in my household growing up, I had my parents who I look up to a lot. I had my uncle and aunt that I saw and I noticed that's financially well off as I thought we were. So taking a look at my uncles and aunts and seeing how they drove BMWs and other really, really nice cars and lives, really nice houses. And for me up in an apartment, I thought to myself, my gosh, I wish I can get that stuff someday because I obviously don't have that now.

Speaker 3 (03:07): So when you say not as financially well off as you thought, I mean, what were some things that were going through your mind at that early age?

Speaker 4 (03:16): So at my early age I was thinking to myself, wow, what could I do to make this situation better? Like I saw my friends get all the latest things that I saw, even family in terms of cousins, uncles, aunts driving, some luxury cars. And we didn't have that. Obviously we drove much older vehicles. We live in an apartment with three other brothers and then my parents and then looking at my cousins and other family situations. They live in houses with vaulted ceilings and some quite amazing things. And I thought that that's crazy. Why? Why couldn't I live like that?

Speaker 3 (03:53): All right. All right. And so, you know, you, you go through school and talk to me a little bit about, you know, your high school experience as, as you're dealing with that because it's one thing to deal with that kind of as a younger child. I mean, I dealt with that. I came from poverty. That's how I grew up. Um, so I dealt with that. I saw cousins and family members and even friends that had nicer things than me. And it was, it felt like it was one thing to deal with that when I was like, you know, 10. Um, but then when I got to like middle school and high school, it felt like it was a totally different thing to experience that it was that kind of the same thing for you.

Speaker 4 (04:25): So actually what was interesting is growing up in elementary school, that's when I felt like it was the worst because of course you're trying to build a name for yourself. Everyone's like, Oh, I got the latest iPod, GameBoy, et cetera. But as I grew up, I noticed my parents' financial situation got a lot better. Like they started buying a house, they started putting furniture in that house, still never drove a BMW, never drove a Mercedes or a luxury car. Always kept like Toyota's that were 10 years old or more. And they ended up buying new to the Otis. And I was like, wow, my parents are doing better as we're getting older. It's like, I wish I grew up as my little brother, but so it was a blessing to see that. And at the same time I was like, wow, my parents really worked hard throughout their life to build up to where they are. And just seeing that was amazing. So getting to high school, I was thinking to myself with the mentality of how I saw my parents grew. I was thinking, I feel like I can do the same thing.

Speaker 3 (05:17): Okay. And so that, I mean that obviously led you to college. Right? And I know for you, part of your story was right after college, your net worth was something around like negative 25,000 and so how did you find yourself in that place at that time? And what did you feel needed to change about your relationship with money?

Speaker 4 (05:37): So I had a negative 25,000 student loan debt. That's pretty much what it was. I didn't have credit card debt, I didn't have any other debts. But I remember at the time I was making like a thousand dollars a month and I thought how it was doing so well. And I was spending that left and right, but at the same time there was this $50 a month student loan payment over 10 years that really earth that mean cause I was like, okay, do I pay this off? Do I not pay this off? And then I ended up, uh, getting a big boy job as you say, in consulting. And the impact on me financially is growing up frugal and seeing my parents grow up in the way that they did. And then going through college I thought, you know what? If I stay like this for awhile, I think that I can save enough money to do well.

Speaker 3 (06:24): Okay. And I know something you've talked about on your Instagram page, because that's where I came across you is on Instagram is you've talked about finishing college early to start your career. I mean what kind of impact did that have on some of the decisions and the progress you were able to make early on?

Speaker 4 (06:41): So graduating college, early man's, I didn't have to pay student loans, I didn't have to pay for books, housing, all of that stuff that associated with college. All the parties and stuff, and instead I was making money. So I started my first job out of consulting and I made all of that salary a year earlier. So I thought to myself, if stuff hits the fan, what I could do is I could just take this money and save it for rainy day and work my way up from there. In the end I decided I'm just going to invest all of that. So I ended up that far ahead with that initial salary and that was the basis for starting to grow my net worth.

Speaker 3 (07:18): Yeah. So do you mind sharing what that initial salary was right after college?

Speaker 4 (07:22): Absolutely. Yeah. I was making $65,000 and it was year 2014 and they paid me a sign on a $5,000

Speaker 3 (07:31): wow. Okay. So going back a little bit to your high school days or so, were you thinking about college and your career in terms of what those potential earnings could do for your lifestyle and like as an adult or were you thinking about like, okay, I just want to go and do something that I feel like I'm going to enjoy? Um, right after college.

Speaker 4 (07:53): So this is a funny story. Computers as they were in the two thousands they were already a hot industry and I thought to myself, am I going to be making sixties for the rest of my life? And my dad's like, no way. That's not going to happen. You're going to go far beyond that as long as you put your mind to it. So for me, being a computer nerd, I was thinking, okay, I'm just going to go into computers right away because I loved it. I really loved it. And then I joined into information security and I was like, Whoa. My mind was totally blown, got totally hooked. And since then my mind, the money that I've been making just went way up over time. It's like you do what you love and you have goals in mind at the same time. And those two just mixed together and made like some big avatar like fireball, but you just boom, you know, like in dragon ball Z or they're putting up this fireballs. That's what it became.

Speaker 3 (08:49): Wow. Okay. So then, you know, right in those early days after college, right, you have this student loan debt, you're making a good income, but you're trying to figure everything out financially. You're trying to start investing and you're wondering, should I pay off the debt and all those. What were some of the, you know, some of the challenges and thoughts that you were having around that time as you were trying to sort through those things.

Speaker 4 (09:12): So as I was looking through those things, I was thinking, what is the opportunity costs if I don't invest? So 401k was around and then I saw, Oh, market returns were coming out of the financial crisis because it was 2014, uh, 2012 was like really rock the bottom for a lot of the housing prices. And I thought, well, we're only two years in. If I invest now, I'm pretty sure that house is going to make money. And of course all of this is speculation. All of this is me reading on bigger pockets, watching YouTube videos, looking at hot rental areas and seeing that, you know what, if I take a chance here, I think I might outpace my student loans. But it was a very calculated guess on my part. And I looked at my student loan interest rate, 6.8% over $25,000 in paying $50 a month. I said paying $50 a month, it's not going to hurt me. So I know other people's financial situation may be different, but for me I decided I'm just going to take the leap. I feel like the house is going to pay off in return investing in one and renting it out.

Speaker 3 (10:10): So you, you bought a rental property at that time, right?

Speaker 4 (10:13): Correct.

Speaker 3 (10:13): Okay. And so what, I mean, what did that do for you?

Speaker 4 (10:16): So I honestly thought it was really cool because the house mortgage was $715 a month and I was making $925 in rent. So of course there's a little gap between those. And just thinking to myself, I bought a property where the rents are incited and it's paying me $200 a month and the guy's paying off my mortgage. How crazy is that? Like the money was not big. That's coming back to my pocket, but it was money and I was thinking down the line in 15 years when this mortgage is paid off, all that money's can be mine. So emotionally that was like, how do you say it? You know, flying into the clouds and you're like, you're soaring over them.

Speaker 3 (11:02): I know you mentioned that you were scouring the bigger pockets for him. I mean, were there any other books or you know, forums or anything like that that you, that you took the time to learn from as you were starting this journey to become an investor?

Speaker 4 (11:16): Absolutely. So there was a blog that I stumbled upon, financial samurai. He invested in some rental properties. He had a lot of things around investments and there was rets and real estates and I realized there's so much investments out there, so many different things that you can look at and reading between. This is cashflow, this is dividends that can pay you every month in a different way. This is something you can totally own in depreciate. Like I read financial samurai inside and out. I was so hooked, and I'm going to admit I wasn't a book guy at the time, but I stumbled upon this blog and that's all I read for many years, even until now.

Speaker 3 (11:55): So was there like a particular blog post or anything like that that really stood out to you that they helped you kind of catapult to where you are now?

Speaker 4 (12:03): Yes. He said in one of his posts, I became a millionaire at the age of 30 and I thought, millionaire by 30 what would that be like? That sounds insane. And in his post he said something like, Oh, I didn't realize I became a millionaire until I calculated at around 32 and I thought to myself, a millionaire by 30 it's something that seems out of reach for a lot of people, but if I'm so determined, I feel like I can make a goal that's out of reach. And it was a personal thing. It became a personal goal. Seeing him achieve that like one out of so many people, especially like considering the median net worth of people and other circumstances around it. I thought, I think I can do it. I think I can do the impossible.

Speaker 3 (12:47): And so you decided to make becoming a millionaire by 30 your goal and your target. I mean, let's talk about that journey a little bit. Let's go back to the beginning. I mean, what was it like getting to, let's say that first hundred K I mean, because that, you know, it's, you know, I mean when people are starting out, you've got to overcome a lot of bad habits and you've got to build new habits and all that sort of stuff as you're on the journey. So what was it like getting to that first hundred K for you?

Speaker 4 (13:15): So read from the first hundred K it was an odd feeling because 2015 I bought that house and then in 2016 I I hit 110 net worth. But I didn't feel like I was well off because I, when I bought that house, I use all of my savings to buy investment property, built up my savings slowly. And then in 2016 I decided, you know, I'm going to travel a lot to spend a lot of my income. So $100,000 net worth didn't feel like a hundred thousand dollar net worth because I had so much going in and out. From there I decided I really had the chance of my budget. I had to look at where I was going, what I was doing with the money every week. It's really free up much of it like, and I thought I was doing the right things. I was saving into 401k maximum every month. So all the money I touched after that went into savings to buy that first initial investment property. Then I chilled for a little bit and just went traveling a lot and, and spent most of my paycheck and I thought, that's crazy.

Speaker 3 (14:22): Okay.

Speaker 4 (14:23): 100,000 words. I don't feel like $100,000 on paper. I am, but I don't feel it.

Speaker 3 (14:29): So what I mean, so what was that moment when you felt it? Like, you know, did, have you hit that moment yet? Where were you just kind of like, okay, now we're talking.

Speaker 4 (14:39): Yes. And when I started my Instagram page in 2018 I had a net worth of about $300 and I had just bought my house in Texas and I like, I'm doing very well because at the time, even up to now just consistently saving 50% of my income or living pretty much as I did before, but never really increasing that lifestyle but not starving myself either. Like finding the experiences at the right time and making sure that I'm not doing something like overdoing something to the point that it becomes a habit for me. So now even $100,000 ago, I feel the same as I do now. Like very comfortable.

Speaker 3 (15:25): So you start the Instagram page, you realize, you know you're at the 300,000 things are clicking. You're, you start to kind of feel it a little bit. I mean, but let's, let's dive into that a little bit. I mean, what specifically did you do? I mean, I know you had the the rental property and then you bought the property in Texas, but what were some of your other investment strategies that help you get to that 300,000

Speaker 4 (15:49): so a couple principles. First one is, ever since I started my job in 2014 I maxed out my 401k every year. 18,500 becomes 19,000 becomes 19,500 whatever that max is, I put that money in there and just doing that over the last five years, my portfolio is worth over $150,000 simple. That's something that people should do if they can just max out the 401k, that's $150,000 for five years. The next one is the property. That house ended up appreciating $100,000 over that timeframe, so that added another a hundred thousand to the net worth and then keeping my savings rates as much as possible to 50% of my paycheck after contributions. He, where does after like 401k throwing that out the way one whole paycheck, I'm going to throw that straight into savings or investing in a low cost index fund like VTS. And that's all I've been really doing. So finding a balance to the point that, you know, I'll spend some of my bonus, but for general life stuff every month I'm only gonna spend one paycheck. The second one goes straight to the future.

Speaker 3 (17:11): You know, a lot of people think investing is so hard and what you just described is super simple and very easy to understand. I mean, why do you think that we tend to, as people just kind of over-complicate investing or we just have these irrational fears of investing,

Speaker 4 (17:28): there is rational fear, especially reading the financial samurai blog. That guy's lived through two upper downturns. So even when I heard his recent podcast, I heard from him say that's, if you've experienced the downturns, you'll be less likely to want to invest. For me, being a young guy, having expanded myself in 2014 into a job and everything else, I've never seen a recession in my life. So I don't know what to expect, but all I know is from previous people's experience, Warren Buffett's experience, all that the market should go up over time as new people are added to the world and consumer products rise and that people need to keep building up these factories to support all of them. I just believe that that's going to be the case. I'm consistently putting into an index. There's no possible way that every company in the world is going to drop down to zero sum across all these companies over time it'll do fine.

Speaker 4 (18:25): And what's helped me overcome the fear is seeing all these people's experience. You cannot pick stocks and what people do is people like to pick stocks. You pick Tesla, you pick um, movie pass, you pick some healthcare, stop it you think is going to go public and run phase three of their clinical trials and you feel like you're going to get rich quick. Investing is not get rich. Quick investing is you put money in over time and index over time into something that is a bit safer, like the whole market rather than just one putting your eggs in one basket and then over time you just, you can go up. At least that's, that's how I see it.

Speaker 3 (19:02): Yeah, no, I, I'm the exact same way. I mean that's, that's my investment strategy. I'm actually, I mean I focus 100% on index funds. I don't even have real estate in my portfolio at this point. I mean, maybe we'll get to that point later, but for right now I'm just enjoying this wave with just pure index funds. It's very simple. My finances are on autopilot. I don't even have to do anything. You know, the money just comes out and it goes where it goes and then I check it every month and you know, kind of track it as we go. So, but you know, you, so you started this journey for yourself around 2014 here it is, 2020 so you're about six years into the journey. So what is your income now?

Speaker 4 (19:42): My income now, if I were to take just my day job, that's $160,000 and then there was a bonus on top of it. So my income was close to like one 75 and then adding in my side income, that was about another 30,000 in the last year. So $200,000 all in. So when I read that number, even my, my head exploded. I was like, no, no way. That's not possible.

Speaker 3 (20:13): Yeah, I mean this is six. This is six years after college for you. I mean, that's, that's incredible man. You know, a lot of people never see that. So that's, that's awesome. I mean, I, and I just have to naturally ask him because you've more than doubled, tripled your income really since you started. So how have you been able to do that strategically?

Speaker 4 (20:33): So part of it is getting into an industry that has high growth, high job prospects. If you take your job and type it into bls.gov what does it sell you and dos, by the way? It's Bureau of labor. And when I saw the demand for computer professionals was going by 20% you know, double digits over time. I was like, you know what, someone's going to need to manage these people going forward and I think that's going to be me. I'm going to build up all the right skill sets. I'm going to get into that position and love what I do every step of the way. And with that principle in mind, being in a high growth industry and jumping through the different ropes, going through the promotion, that's where I am now. There's some other people that don't face the same amount of luck. And part of it is because of the planning. Some people say do what you love, but unfortunately what they love this not pay. If you type in bls.gov and look at what job type they're trying to go for, you got like a single digit growth and that's really tough. So it really varies there.

Speaker 3 (21:32): Right. So how do you find, I mean, what, what would you recommend to somebody that's struggling with that? Between, let's say somebody in something or they love something, they're passionate about something that doesn't really pay, but they do have these life goals that kind of where they need to make more money. I mean, what would you say to that person to kind of help them balance and make that decision?

Speaker 4 (21:55): I feel like a, a bit of a practical side has to come into play here. And this is what I tell people because I have friends that are so interested in music and arts and they're absolutely amazing at it. But I tell them also, can you make this a side hobby for you and build that up. And in the meantime focus your artistic abilities into something like web development or programming where it is artsy in such a way, but you're building something for your own and on the side. Then you build up your music passion. You can, you can focus your art, try selling that stuff and if that outpaces your day job, so it does, but at least you've done something practical to back yourself up in case your passion did not go through.

Speaker 3 (22:38): Right, right. So, you know, another question I have to ask, I mean, how far along are you in that journey to becoming a millionaire? By 30 or I mean, or where are you now in terms of net worth?

Speaker 4 (22:49): So currently I'm 70% of the way there. My net worth just hits $700,000 this past week. I'm 26

Speaker 3 (23:00): sheesh man, you're, you're killing it ahead of the game. I love it. I love it. So, and I mean, let's, let's get it out of the way because I know somebody out there is probably thinking it. I mean, so has any of that 700,000 been through gifts, inheritances, anything like that? Were you given any lump sum portions of that?

Speaker 4 (23:20): No. My parents growing up, they told me that I should be supporting myself going forward and they actually offered, you know, I'll help you pay for this and that. But after seeing them and how we grew up and seeing them get into a house and paying for that, I said, you know, I'll take out the loan, it'll be under me, I'll be accountable for it and I'll pay for myself. I wanted to have a life where I it myself and I did not request help from my parents or any way like that, you know, in fact, I feel like I should be supporting them for disciplining me and putting me down to ripe house.

Speaker 3 (23:56): Right. Absolutely. I love that. I love that part of your answer. Uh, and, and you know, I know that we've talked a little bit about how early in the early days you were focused on cutting expenses, but at the same time your income has more than tripled. So what do you think has been more beneficial for you personally? Cutting back the cost or focusing on earning more money?

Speaker 4 (24:20): So I know that the community's not going to like me for this, but definitely earning a lot more money. I'm not a fan of most Sundays. I'm not a fan of restricting myself budget wise or anything like that. I feel like there are goals in life that I want to meet and there's a practice with those goals and I need to make more money to be able to meet those goals. So I know it's a tough answer that people will slam me for it, but that's how I feel like increasing my income over time has led to much of the growth. You can only cut back so much, you can cut the back to the point that it hurts, but then your quality of life hurts after that.

Speaker 3 (25:03): I, you know what, I lean more towards that way. Um, you know, for me it's always been kind of a balance thing. You know, obviously, you know, when you, when you first sit down, there's probably a lot of extra stuff in your budget that you probably need to cut out. But in terms of, um, you know, getting to a higher net worth and all those things, I tell people all the time, I mean, you know, we can spend time focusing on your $4 latte, but how about we spend time focusing on 30, 40, 50, $60,000 decisions instead of four and $5 decisions. So I, I, you know, now that I'm in, you know, around 30 I've finally started to, to see it that way and understand it that way. So, um, you know, Hey, I'm, I'm right there with you man. So we'll both get that push back together. But stay, I mean, sticking with that, talk a little bit about it because I know you've talked, you've kind of touched on the side hustle. So what are some of those side hustles that you've had?

Speaker 4 (26:01): Side hustles. All right, so some of my capital, uh, I like to show my brokerage account once a month and I always tell people this is how much dividends I made. So about $50,000 of that 140,000 or so right now is returning $5,000 a year in dividends. So about 10% per year, I would say. So that's the one income stream. And the second one is YouTube and that one's been insane over time. Like I don't even know why people follow me, but I'm doing it well and I'm doing it right I guess. But I asked for feedback and I get paid last year about $6,000, cause it was like $300 from the beginning of the year in the month. And then towards the end it was a thousand and that was insane. Like seriously guys, me and I'm around them. Glad too. So that's another way. And then the third one on the side looking at stuff on marketplace that you can resell.

Speaker 4 (26:56): So if you open up marketplace and then you just without typing in anything, just tap on the search and the top five things to resell. Literally pop up right in front of you. TV, couch, refrigerator, stuff like that. And I'm like, so you know, you look at Walmart, you see these really underpriced TVs on sale, like scepter going for $160 a second with a 10% coupon code. It becomes one-fifty resell that for $200 on Facebook. And you're like, wait, what? There's demand for this shoot. I'm going to run in that direction. And then that easily, wow, $8,000 in a year cause I made 16,000 and it's my second year doing it. So that's insane. Then of course there's the rental house too.

Speaker 3 (27:41): Yeah, no that, that side hustle is insane. I've seen you on Instagram talk about the flipping the TVs. And when I first saw that man it was, it's one of those things that's like Gow I did not think of that. It's such a simple hustle that you can do and you make good money doing it. So I mean, I love it. I mean, and so talk about, I mean, how, how important has having those side hustles being in helping you get where you are now?

Speaker 4 (28:09): So being able to have these side hustle, that's essentially almost paid for my living expenses. So that alone means much of my normal job income goes straight into investments. And when I put it that way, I'm like, Whoa, that's crazy. I would have never guessed in all my life that I could side hustle and pretty much almost pay for my expenses. Maybe this year will, but we'll see.

Speaker 3 (28:42): Gotcha, gotcha. And so, okay, so you've chosen, I would say majority of your net worth comes from equities, correct?

Speaker 4 (28:52): Yes.

Speaker 3 (28:53): And so why is it that you chose to kind of pivot away from just being a sole real estate investor? Because that was kinda how you started. That was one of your first investments. So what was it that led you to say, you know what, I did the real estate thing. I liked that. Maybe I'll do more later, but this is the direction that I want to go.

Speaker 4 (29:12): Well, Michael, here's a question for you. You buy a house for $113,000 in 2015 and when you go back to buy another house, the house is worth $250,000. So in my mind, looking at it, unlike if I buy a $250,000 house, am I buying at the super top of the market? Because I feel like the housing market cannot go that much further in that particular area. Having seen where the cops were in the past, and of course when I apply that same thing to stocks, you know, I see the same thing. But in stocks it's easier to buy in little by little because you're up out $200,000 because you know, well not 200,000 but 50,000 because they have to put a down payment on that house. But rather you can buy a share of Tesla for 400 $500 and by then your capital oud is going to be, you know this much, you can study for a little bit and you're like okay, it goes up over time.

Speaker 4 (30:08): You're not in it before so much money that it's going to hurt. And on another note here, if I'm going to pivot the conversation a little bit more, I don't want all of my net worth to be tied up in one particular asset class because if people all of a sudden decide one day that stocks are not going to be the hot thing and then they do this massive sell off and you know, I need some liquidity. If I had like 90% in stocks, then I have a big problem. And likewise, if I have 90% in the house, but I have no cash to pay for stuff, nothing that I can liquidate quickly. If I really need the money, then that's also another problem. So being able to balance it when I like to do is focus 50% real estate, 50% of stocks. And what I tell people lately is when I'm investing money, I'm putting 50% in real estate. Well basically my, my brokerage accounts and in the other 50% in high yield savings account so I could buy a property down the line.

Speaker 3 (31:05): Yeah, no, that makes total sense. I, I'm right there with you on that. And so because of that, I mean because of your investment strategy, I noticed on Instagram as well that last year you said your network increased by like 211,000 can you talk about how you accomplish that in one year, $211,000 growth?

Speaker 4 (31:27): I know, right? Like my gross income is less than my [inaudible]. How does that happen? Right. So you remember how I said $150,000 in 401k. So, of course that's the money that's already in the market and doing its thing. And one quote that I hear a lot is time in market, it's more important than timing the markets. So that's played a lot because S and P 500 went up 26% one year, so $150,000 you know, you turn around and blink and then it becomes 25% more than that. So income like market growth and gains was a decent amount of that. And when I looked at it, part of it is of course, you know, I'm going to deny I contributed a lot. I contributed $100,000 of that money because 50% go straight into it. The other part of that is $92,000 came from the market game itself. Properties and stuff that I had already had just keeps growing. So no matter where you are in the income spectrum, well once you have assets, if you have stocks, that stuff grows over time and that can outpace even your own income. Like once you combine it all. And I'm the example of that,

Speaker 3 (32:47): right? No, that, I love that. I mean that, that makes a lot of sense to me. So what would you say to the folks who would counter that by saying, well you know where at all times higher, we at all times highs right now, so I probably shouldn't be investing because a crash is pretty much inevitable.

Speaker 4 (33:05): And everyone's been saying that for awhile. Even since year 2000 I would say around 2016 people were starting to talk about market highs because at around that time, I believe, and don't quote me on this one, I have the research of this. People started saying that this was the all time high because the previous one right before the crash was around that much, house prices had already increased by decent amounts. Tech was bringing in a lot of new money too, you know, of course California and all these other States driving up all the prices and stuff. So everyone thought it was going to be all time high, but it still wasn't there. And keep in mind, you know, I've been reading a bunch of these financial bloggers already saying index index, index. And if you don't need the money, then you're fine. So all time high, if you're a person that's investing and you don't have money saved up to weather the storm of a crash, don't invest all your money, have that money.

Speaker 4 (33:59): You saved the first, that's your emergency fund. Just in case you lose your job in something you need to transition period. So be it. You have that money there and then keep investing into an all time high. Keep doing that because if that over time that just keeps compounding and then like S and P 500 returns like 7% average for the past hundred years, you know that's, this is crazy. This all time high is going to be the all time low in about five years or 10 years. So think about it that way. Have the money, save up an emergency fund, invest what you can, don't invest until it hurts. Like just put it in that perspective and you should be fine.

Speaker 3 (34:39): I know, you know, for me hindsight is 2020 right. And so with that being said, I mean, is there anything that you wish maybe you had done a little different from a financial sense, and I know it's hard because you've been on this amazing winning streak for like the last six years, but is there anything that you look back and go, man, you know what, I wish I had done this a little sooner or held off on this or just done something a little different.

Speaker 4 (35:02): There are two things that come to mind. One of them is actually three. First thing is I bought one Vegas house and down the street from that point was another house where if I bought it, if both of those houses had no renters, I could still pay for it. I should have bought a second house. That's at least what I thought because it was right down the street. They both appreciate the same amounts and that could have increased my net worth by another $140,000 so right off the bat, that's one. Number two is I bought a Hyundai Genesis in 2015 as well. And while I really loved the car, I told my that, that I really wanted to challenge your RT Hemi V eight two doors. And my dad said, no, no, no Jay, you gotta do the practical option. Go for the four door car because you're going to carry your on your friends. I drove that car and while I loved it, I never carried more than myself and maybe one other person and I felt like I could have had a lot more fun and it still would have cost the same amount of money just driving the challenger it. And I probably wouldn't have sold that because I have all my life to drive a Hyundai Genesis, a Mercedes, you know, whatever uncle Clark that people say, but I'm only 20 years old, four or five years, they're tiny.

Speaker 4 (36:28): So I'm like, that went to waste. I could've owned a challenge or Hemi outright and still driven it. And then, you know, when I have kids, I'm like, couple of years I could do that rather than looking at other cars every two and a half years or so. So just went,

Speaker 3 (36:43): so I, I want to go back to that first one though. I mean, what was it about that housing opportunity that kind of made you pause and not sees that?

Speaker 4 (36:53): So my dad is a very conservative guy because of the fact that he seen so many market crashes he's lived for and has made money over time. So of course this mindset is all conservative. Even if I ask him today about investments, he's very conservative about it. And I'm a guy that listens to my dad a lot because I don't want to be like, I did this, listen to his dad. So of course I took this advice with the car and with the house. He said, don't overdo it. Don't overdo it. He said, one you can handle perfectly fine, but if you do too, you're going to overdo it. And for me, I thought, you know, maybe I should have just overstepped that. Maybe I should have bought that car. Maybe I should have been that. But I feel like either way my dad still gave me good advice and put me in a good position.

Speaker 3 (37:40): No, I, I hear you man. I hear where you're coming from. And so I want to go and we've kind of spent a lot of time going back, but now I want to go forward a little bit. I mean, what do you plan to do once you reach that goal of becoming a millionaire?

Speaker 4 (37:52): So to look forward, I've got to step back a little bit. In 2012 I and I keep telling my followers this and it's literally right, my tagline, Maserati dreams to millionaire by 30 and that car, every time I saw it passed by and everything like that, hearing the engine, being able to sit in one, being able to drive one for myself, I really want to Missouri. And that's something that no one's going to take away from you. You're not gonna tell him your challenge, your T's better. You're not gonna tell him you come here, it was better. I want a Maserati. You know, even if it's repair costs, you know, my whole life has been centered around this car. I would in terms of my goals and this car is the reason why I have this net worth because I dreamt about it. I saw how expensive it was to run it.

Speaker 4 (38:43): I saw what it takes to get one and now that I'm in the position to pretty much pull that trigger, I'm going to do it. Like in the past when my dad told me, you know, don't get the challenger it don't do this. That was my time to do it. I feel like I'm going to be in the most comfortable position to do it and I have no kids and I have no other responsibilities and I can just enjoy it for as much as I can. So I'm definitely going to get a Maserati. That's one. And number two, my friends and I, back when I finished high school, had a crazy dream of going to Dubai and Dubai is literally the city of dreams. There was a project I followed that was I thought was impossible and that's the Palm Jumeirah. If you look it up, it's a, it's an Island that's literally printed in the sand in the ocean and they just raise it and turn it into an Island. That's impossible. Dubai made the impossible happen. Another one they made that almost half a mile, quarter mile skyscraper, the Burj Khalifa, they call it. That's impossible. And I feel like part of what I do is do the impossible. And that's what I want to do is I want to go to Dubai and experience that for a week. I'm not going to do that for like a year because I'm not going to blow my budget, but I want to experience the impossible.

Speaker 3 (40:01): You know? That's a great segue because one of the things that I want to ask you before we get outta here is, you know, do you feel like it's possible for someone with an average household income to become a millionaire in their lifetime? And the only reason I ask that is because I feel like there's somebody out there that's listening right now that kind of tuned out when you said your income's around 200 K because they felt like, eh, you know what? I can't accomplish that. So do you feel it's possible for someone with an average household income to become a millionaire in their lifetime? And if so, what are some actionable things that they can take to get to that status someday?

Speaker 4 (40:39): So I'm going to segue also because I live this, my dad watching him grow up, my dad is about a millionaire now and he is 55 years old I would say. And growing up I watched him, he was a Navy cadet, he was going and getting his degree and paying for these loans and all that stuff. So I've seen him as a pizza driver and working in the Navy at the same time and getting deployed and then coming back, going to school, all of that stuff became a guy where he was making like $19,000 to making like $50,000 for the longest amount of time. And he just thought the way money conservatively this whole time. And when he showed me his portfolio, I was totally blown away. He's a normal guy. He socked away the maximum in his 401k you're making 50,000 a year and trying to save a little bit of money here and there.

Speaker 4 (41:35): And he did that for so long that he's hit his Mark and now he's at the point where he was able to buy investment properties outright because of the money that he saved up over time, diligently investing in this thing called Nesta, this thing calledS and P 500 and that's my $50,000 a year. And just recently he hit his 100,000 a year Mark, I believe in his salary. So he's earned an average income for all his life, but he focuses life on saving. You drove to Yodas, which those things never broke down. And I lived through that and I saw that he is the average everyday millionaire and you look at people around two BMWs and all these people don't need iPhone X. My dad never had any of that, but he was happy in his life. So find an area where you can be happy, sock away a little bit of money in an index fund every single month. Just watch it over time. And my dad's 55 years old and he's a millionaire, some everyday millionaire. And that's amazing to see,

Speaker 3 (42:38): man. You know what, I, I couldn't have scripted that because you just brought this whole interview full circle. I mean, to start with your childhood being where it was and you're experiencing what you're experiencing because of your parents frugal ways. And then to get to the point today where you can look back on those same habits that your parents put into practice when you were younger and be proud of the progress they were making to become millionaires. You just, you can't write a better script than that, man. And

Speaker 4 (43:11): I wish I could say this was made up, but it's not made up.

Speaker 3 (43:13): God, I love it man. I love it. I mean, this is [inaudible]

Speaker 4 (43:16): and that's something I've never shared this before on, on my social media, like my parents' situation. But it's just amazing to be able to say, Oh my gosh, my dad isn't everyday knowing that I calculated just networks for him and everything. And I'm like, Oh my gosh.

Speaker 3 (43:34): So then, okay, so then, because, okay, so let's, let's, we're, we were going to get out of here, but I gotta ask because you know, you, you look back okay on your childhood, right? And cause we were talking about how you were looking at other people and you were feeling envious and you were feeling, you know, all these different feelings and so to, to watch your parents get to this point. Now how does that feel?

Speaker 4 (43:59): I'm so proud of them. It's an accomplishment no matter where you are, no matter what age. People look at me and they say, Jay, you're gonna become a millionaire by 30th. And I tell him, my parents are a millionaire at 55 and I'm still proud you can be a millionaire at 60 and I'm still proud they're there in that position where you know, no matter what age you are, as long as you meet your goals, as long as you persist over time. Michael, if you met those goals and I'm so proud and everyone that I see along the way that are making their goals no matter where you are on the journey. I speak to people as young as 13 and as old as 60 and I tell them, you're doing well, you're looking at your finances and I think about my dad and thinking, no matter where you are in the journey, you've made it, you're making it

Speaker 3 (44:49): well, Jay, man, Hey, I'm proud of you man. You've been crushing it. You're 26 years old with a $700,000 net worth. Keep going, man. I'm excited to watch you finish this journey to becoming a millionaire by 30 and when you hit that, I'm going to have you back on the show and we can talk about what that last 300,000 was like or the the journey to get there and everything. Your experience becoming a millionaire. I mean, like I said, I'm, I'm just so excited to follow along, but I do want to give you this opportunity to let the people that are listening know where they can find you if they want to be like me and just the follow the rest of his journey.

Speaker 4 (45:27): Definitely you can find [email protected] [inaudible] annual J and the word millennial and that's it.

Speaker 3 (45:34): Well there you have it. Well Jay, Hey, thank you so much for coming on and sharing your journey. I'm excited to continue following along and I can't wait to see you reach that goal of becoming a millionaire by 30 and for all your neighbors that want to follow along with me, I'll be sure to link to Jay's Instagram account in the show notes which you can [email protected] slash episode 18 that's winning to wealth.com/episode 18 I also put a link to the blog post that Jay mentioned about becoming a millionaire by 30 by financial samurai. Um, I'll be sure to link to that there as well. Again winning to wealth.com/episode 18 also, if you want to start your own journey to becoming a millionaire, be sure to download our free money guide, which you can [email protected] slash guide in this guide, you will get a simplified checklist that shows you exactly what financial step you need to be taking right now and what's next as you focus on building wealth for your family. And again, you can find [email protected] slash guide but thanks again for listening to another episode of the wealthy neighbors show and we'll talk soon.

Speaker 1 (46:51): [inaudible].