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 (ex, exact age). Want to participate? Take the Money Talks survey.
Here’s a look into the personal finances of a 50 year old, who over time, has generated a $7M net worth.
Jobs and salaries:
I’m in technology sales and my wife is a consultant.
For me, it’s eat what you kill. My salary has ranged from $100K to over $250K. Luckily, the last 10 years have been on the upper side of that range. My wife is a hard worker and has a base of $190K with 25% annual bonus.
Overall, our household income is around $450K each year. We are blessed and have worked hard to get to this point.
Other income:
No side hustles. I tried the “passive income” early on with real estate, but it was too much hassle for me. No one treats your property like you did. I figured that wasn’t for me.
Living situation:
We own our home that we’ve lived in for over 15 years. Timing is everything. We happened to buy in a “buyer’s market” and got a great deal. Over the last 5 years, our home has appreciated almost 4x what we paid for it. If we sold it, we couldn’t afford to buy it back!
Buying a house is a lot of work and a ton of phantom costs. When young coworkers ask me about home ownership, I’m not sure it would be the best financial decision in today’s market.
Children and money:
We’ve got two high schoolers. We’re struggling with giving them enough, but not spoiling them.
The South Charlotte bubble seems to have unlimited financial resources — it’s hard when their friends have unlimited DoorDash and Lulu mail order accounts that seem to grow on trees. We want them to be well adjusted adults and that starts with a good base.
I know my high schoolers won’t be here in a few years, so I love being around them — even if they don’t always reciprocate!
Debt:
I have never liked owing anyone anything. It started when I was really young, I borrowed money from my brother for a pair of shoes once and he asked for it back every day for a month. Wore me out. I didn’t like that feeling of power over me.
I borrowed money to go to college and paid off my college loans with the first commission check (against everyone’s advice because of low rates). It just felt better.
When buying our home, we did a 30 year mortgage (this is back in the day when you could breathe on a mirror and they would approve you). It bugged me to have a mortgage so we got aggressive and paid it off in 13 years. It isn’t a popular strategy but it’s nice not having that hanging over your head. We’ve done several home renovation projects, but have floated all with cash.
Our cars are all pre-owned and bought outright. They’re not fancy, but they serve the purpose.
Sure, we have probably missed out on some great stuff, but I sleep better not owing anyone anything. You also have a lot more freedom in your career with the debt noose not around your neck.
Credit Card:
Apple Card. I like the cash back and security features.
Budgeting:
Yes and no. Budget light. My wife equates a budget to like being on a diet, too restrictive. I fixed it so that we pay ourselves first by automatically investing and saving. Then we cover any recurring expenses and the rest we can spend or save!
Best and worst recurring expenses:
Best is my gym membership, that’s my happy place. Lots of gym friends that have common goals in health and fitness.
Worst is our accountant’s monthly fee. It bugs me that they don’t want a lump sum in April anymore; they need to show recurring revenue. It is just weird. Albeit strange, their service when we need them is impeccable.
Splurge:
Travel and experiences, hands down. We love seeing new places, different cultures, and exploring these places with family or good friends.
If money was no object, I’d live in the same house but build a garage 3x the size and fill it with my dream fleet.
Charlotte Money Hack:
My Dad was a food merchandiser for a big food conglomerate. I used to work with him in the summers. I saw all types of warehouses and manufacturing facilities. Seeing branded products made in the same place and on the same line as white labeled generic food changed my buying habits.
Aldi’s buys their produce from the same suppliers that Harris Teeter does, just saying.
Charlotte Restaurant:
Lang Van is our favorite. The food is awesome. Try the Beef Pho, you wont regret it. The service is equally as great. Danni and her family are second to none.
Savings approach:
We shoot for saving about 25% of income going into investments and savings. It seems aggressive, but it sort of saves us from ourselves. We never miss it.
My first boss told me to save as much as I could in my 401k, so I started saving like 25% from the start. It proved to be the single best financial advice I’ve ever had.
We have a financial advisor who we pay a set fee (not a percentage of assets). They are good to have to bounce ideas off of and they help us with setting goals. Although risky, I have been very fortunate with individual stocks I’ve purchased. I’ve always been observant and bought into good companies with good longevity.
Savings goal:
I’d like to have money in trust for our children that would potentially change their future families’ lives. Ideally, this would give them the ability to pursue a life of service and not worry too much about money.
Net Worth:
About $7M. Slow and steady wins the race. Interest is the 8th wonder of the world. The first $100K is pretty hard to save, but it gets going really fast after that. Don’t rush it, it takes time.
The majority of our wealth is in annuities, bonds, a few well timed single stocks (Apple, Google, Amazon, Chipotle, Coke Consolidated), 401ks, IRAs, and Roths. We’ve also got about $2M in real estate, our primary residence and a mountain getaway.
Retirement:
I’d like to retire in my mid 50s with $10M. This would give me about $250K in annual income, so that the principle wouldn’t need to be touched.
What’s “rich” in Charlotte and why?
$10M. Not much you couldn’t do with this amount. You could live anywhere in the city, travel anywhere in the world, and have a fair amount of leisure time (you could tee it up almost anywhere, almost).
Best money decision:
Seeing Jeff Bezos introduce this little handheld device called a Kindle on the Oprah Winfrey show in the 90’s and thinking to myself ,”this is going to change the book industry,” I think I’ll buy some stock in it!
My worst money decision was buying a ton of Krispy Kreme stock right before the Atkins Diet craze hit the scene. I rode the stock down to when it almost got delisted. That really hurt.
How did you learn about money?
I saw firsthand the stress and anxiety caused by family and friends that didn’t manage money well. I wanted no part of it. Also, I read Rich Dad Poor Dad in high school on a whim and it made my head spin. After that I read all that I could get my hands on.
On your mind:
It’s been hard to switch gears from saving mode to spending mode.
We have spent the first 25 years dreaming about stuff, the next 25 years building/saving, and now it’s time to enjoy the spoils — but it’s harder than you would think.
Also I struggle with, “What is enough?”
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