Welcome to Money Talks! New approaches to money have exploded. Yet money remains taboo. Less than half of you share personal finance information with your friends and family.
But that’s all changing. Now more and more of you are talking about money because it leads to better outcomes.
In an effort to provide personal finance insights through transparency (and have a bit of fun), I’ve created a series titled Money Talks that showcases how real people in Charlotte approach money.
It’s an anonymous way for you to share your money experiences and insights with our city. Answers are lightly edited for clarity and privacy. Want to participate? Take the Money Talks survey.
Here’s a look into the personal finances of a 32 year old lawyer making $310K per year.
Living situation:
I own. I received a lawyer loan that allowed me to put $0 down for a home I recently purchased. Interest rate is 3.875%. All-in mortgage is $2,999 per month.
Salary:
I make $310K per year at a big firm. I started my legal career being paid $210K, the same amount as others in my class year. My salary and bonus has increased every year since.
Work/life balance:
It’s better for me than my peers, but it’s still not a 9-5 job.
Debt:
I was young and made a ton of stupid mistakes the first few years of my career. As a result, I have about $15K in consumer debt that I’ve been paying off. I have $75K in car loans. And I also have $180K in student loans.
Credit Cards:
When I am not on a self-imposed credit card freeze, I use the AMEX Gold, AMEX Platinum, Chase Sapphire, and Chase Freedom for maximizing points.
Budgeting:
I’ve started to take tracking my money and budget seriously this past year.
Every pay period, my partner and I go through where we’re at in our budget, fill-in our numbers in a spreadsheet, and I use money left over from the previous pay period to contribute to savings, invest, and pay down debt.
One tip I have is, whenever you get a raise, calculate how much your paycheck is going to increase by and put that increase towards your financial goals instead of spending it.
For example, my raise this year was about $1K per two-week pay period. Before that money gets spent, we put the extra $1K toward saving/investing/debt pay down.
Best and worst recurring expense:
Best is Audible & Everand. I listen to all my books and read about 75-100 books a year. Between the two of them, it’s about $35 a month.
Worst is paying $90 a month for internet. Feels criminal.
Splurge:
I love a good, luxury hotel while traveling. Makes all the difference in a vacation for me.
Charlotte money tip:
East Charlotte’s real estate market is about to explode. If you have the funds, invest in the land/houses in the Windsor Park, Eastland, and Verndale neighborhoods.
Restaurant that’s worth the money?
Haberdish. The fried chicken is incredible.
Total savings & investments:
My total investments and savings is about $100K.
I contribute about 30% of my paycheck towards saving, investing, and paying down debt. My brain needs to feel like I’m making progress toward multiple goals, so I am simultaneously contributing to high yield savings sinking funds, investing, and paying down debt. I switch off which I do every pay period.
I also use Greenway Wealth Advisors – they are incredible and totally non-judgmental about whatever stupid financial position you’ve put yourself in.
Anything you’re saving up for?
I would love a hot tub for the backyard.
Retirement:
I’d like to retire by the time I’m 60. Once I pay down all my debt and can adequately devote a huge chunk of my income toward investing — my hope is I’ll be able to retire with a handful of millions to live off of.
When I retire, I want to learn to play a musical instrument and do some local community theatre.
What do you consider “rich” in Charlotte?
Owning a $1.35M home.
On Your Mind:
I would feel a million times better if I had no consumer debt hanging over my head right now.
Want to participate? Take the Money Talks survey. Got feedback? Email ted(at)tinymoney and I’ll include it in our newsletter Mailbag section. New to Tiny Money? Join 3,226 smart Charlotteans and subscribe to my 1x/wk newsletter. Job hunting? View job board.
