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.
Living situation:
We currently rent a home.
We moved out of our townhome (kept it) earlier this year to get a bigger space for our family. We decided to rent because (a) we have no idea what part of town we want to be long-term and (b) to not know and purchase an inflated property at a higher interest rate felt imprudent.
Job and salary:
Wealth advisor. Total comp is $200K, salary and advisory fees. Some company stock as well.
I am set to lose my salary in the summer of 2026. So getting my advisory fees to a place that can pay our bills is top of mind.
Salary journey:
I took a pay cut moving to my current firm. It’s the best move for my long-term career aspirations.
The biggest salary jump in pay I saw was when I moved to a more sales-oriented role. The beauty of sales roles is that your effort and talent are perfectly correlated to your compensation.
While being a wealth advisor isn’t a traditional sales role, we are ultimately in the business of selling others on our ability to help manage their financial picture.
Family:
My wife and I decided it was best for our family for her to be at home when our oldest turned 1 years old. It’s been a great decision for us.
We used our DINK years as best we could, saving and investing as much as possible.
We now 3 young kids. We’re trying to financially prepare for it. All the activities once they are older, what school route do we go, and how this impacts us financially.
Rental:
When we decided to rent a home for our family, we kept our townhome as a rental. We’ll close the year with 97% occupancy. We’ll pocket a couple grand.
My wife gets all the credit for choosing our townhome and location (West side) back in 2022. She also gets credit for designing the interior which has been the rave of our guests. I’m glad we’re doing it, the townhome was always a long-term investment in my mind.
Work-life balance:
Great. In a lot of ways my business and personal life are intertwined. In a lot of ways, I am a business owner thus able to decide how much time I give to work.
It comes at a sacrifice though, I always have to be on.
Debt:
- Townhome mortgage. $444K at 3.25%.
- Securities backed loan. $57K at a variable rate. We’ve taken a few different draws to furnish the rental and buy a car. Average rate 6.1%.
When used responsibly, debt is your friend. A good rule of thumb is to let the interest rate determine whether you use it or not. If you can get more from your money elsewhere, do that.
Credit card:
BofA Premium Rewards. With our BofA relationship status we get 3.5x points on travel and dining and 2.62x points on everything else. You can do cash back or travel rewards. $99 annual fee that pays for itself with checked bags, etc.
Budgeting:
1000%. You have to if you want to control your money vs have it control you.
I built an excel sheet and I track our spending each month. It doesn’t have to be a rigorous process, but just one that keeps you fully informed on how much money you are spending (on everything) so you can make changes if need be or if you want to.
My one tip would be to save first. Have that money leave your account first to somewhere else and then spend what’s left. It’s a good accountability method.
Splurge:
Hobbies, travel, and experiences.
My wife and I try to limit our spending as much as possible in other areas of life in order to afford experiences and travel. For example, we’ll cook at home 6 nights a week and buy second-hand for the kids so that we can go on nice dates and travel to the west coast.
Charlotte money hack:
Buy real estate as long as you can do so without stretching yourself thin. This city and area is still in its early stages of growth.
Restaurant pick:
Leluia Hall is elite and worth every penny. The Hawaiian rolls, lemon risotto, creamed onions, and steak. Chef’s kiss!
Net worth:
About $750K. Breakdown is $235K in retirement accounts, $65K in 529s, and $400K in brokerage/savings accounts, and $50K in home equity.
Right now 5% of my paycheck goes to my 401K with 5% match. I max out my Roth IRA every year and we save anywhere from $10-20K between investments and 529s.
I was fortunate to inherit $100K from my grandfather years ago.
I self-manage all of our investments. Exclusively stock market investing — it helps that I’m looking at this stuff everyday. I stick with index funds and can’t miss companies in retirement accounts. I am much more active in our brokerage account where I hold/trade a lot more individual companies.
Pretty aggressive. I’ve averaged 37% per year over the last 3 years. Lots of names connected to the AI buildout.
Wealth creation:
About half of our net worth has come from capital gains, primarily in the stock market.
We try to live beneath our means, create good systems (ex, automated saving), and invest. — thus letting time create asset appreciation.
Advice:
- Keep it simple. Make everything as easy as possible and consolidate. Having money at different institutions does not create diversification. It creates headaches and is a barrier.
- Hire help. Don’t be afraid to hire a professional. This stuff is not easy to maximize. Any financial advisor worth their salt should be able to help you participate in market returns AND provide planning, tax, insurance, and lending support and take the burden of finances off your plate.
Retirement:
Given my career, I don’t see myself fully retiring until I’m around 70 years old. That said, my goal is to have the option to retire at 55 with $10M.
Rich in Charlotte:
Those that are rich in spirit and in heart. Money solves some problems, it doesn’t solve those.
Financial knowledge:
My late grandfather. Like many of his generation, he kept his finances a secret — even from family.
It wasn’t until he passed that we found out about the wealth he created. It allowed my Mom and Dad, who raised 4 kids, to take care of us. Without my grandfather’s hard work, sacrifice, and commitment to savings and investing, my family’s life would have been very different.
I have aspirations to do the same for my children and their children.
On your mind:
I couldn’t be more supportive of Tiny Money’s mission. Talk about money! We encourage all of our clients to talk about money, especially in their family.
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