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:
Own. Purchased last year. $1.1M with $350K down. The larger down payment made my wife and I feel much more comfortable with the mortgage payment. Our rate is 6.25%, so we’re just waiting for rates to drop and refinance.
We’ve got a 3-year-old and another on the way. The one stressor is the money required to care for your kids. The stroller, setting up their room, daycare costs, and a babysitter if you want to go out. There’s so many different ways it adds ups.
Job and salary:
I am a partner in a healthcare company. I focus on sales and expanding the product portfolio.
I only take a $66K W-2 salary, but we distribute quarterly profits. I make about $450K in total. My wife is a CRNA (Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist).
Salary journey:
It took me a long time to finish college. I actually worked at an auto body shop full-time while completing my finance degree. I made $55K.
I knew I didn’t want to work in a bank, so I entered medical device sales, making $110K. Once I became comfortable speaking and selling to doctors, I proceeded to start my own business and own the products we were selling to them.
Other income:
We own 2 rental properties.
When I first moved to Charlotte and lived in South End, I remember renting an apartment at Camden South End and being upset with myself for throwing away $1,250 each month.
I started looking at properties around the area and ended up buying a condo in Optimist Park for $74K. The property appreciated quickly after the light rail was installed.
I then took out a HELOC, purchased another house in Lockwood, and rented the condo.
When my wife and I got married, we sold the condo to purchase a house together, then recently we bought a bigger house to fit the family. Each time we moved, we have rented out the previous house. Currently, we have 2 rental properties. One collects $1,600 a month and the other collects $3,000 a month. We do have mortgages on those, but the rates on both of them are below 3.25%.
Work-life balance:
Very good. I like to think of myself as pretty efficient with my time. The products that we sell are a bit seasonal as well, so we tend to be busier in the wintertime than the summertime.
My wife works 3 10-hour shifts at the hospital and doesn’t have to bring any work home with her.
So right now we seemingly have a good flow!
Debt:
Just our 3 mortgages. $695K at 6.25%. $305K at 2.8%. $95K at 3.25%. We paid cash for our cars and pay off our credit card bills every month.
The mortgage on our current house at 6.25% is something I am going to start working on paying off. Then the mortgages on the two rental properties, we will keep as long as we can. The price of that money is so inexpensive.
Credit card:
Sapphire Reserve. We keep telling ourselves we’ll use the points to book a vacation, but we haven’t done that yet.
Budgeting:
We don’t budget. I wish I had a better understanding of where our money goes, but I lack that attention to detail.
That said, I’m very strict about hitting our savings goals and ensure they are met before any large purchases.
Money hack:
Grocery shopping at Aldi. Place has some great deals!
Restaurant pick:
Yafo. Build your own bowl. This place is such a gem. You don’t realize what you have until you go somewhere else and there’s nothing close to as good. The quickness and quality they provide at the price point is unheard of.
Savings discipline:
My goal is to save $100K a year. I love investing, but I have found the less I do, the better it is! Savings rate matters.
Net worth:
Roughly $3.9M. Pretty amazing considering most of it was generated in the last 5 years since starting our own business. No inheritance. It’s been a mix of hard work, opportunity, and luck.
Breakdown is $200K in our joint checking account, $2.6M in investment accounts (mostly boring broad market ETFs), and $1.1M in home equity.
We have a financial advisor who manages our IRA. From time to time, I’ll ask him about our other investments as well.
Retirement:
Becoming a father was the best moment of my life. I’d love to retire while my kids are in high school, so I can spend time with them. My goal is $8M and a paid off house.
Spending time with my kids, playing sports, and working for passion instead of necessity will hopefully be part of retirement.
If money weren’t an object, we would buy a house on the Intracoastal in Wilmington or a beach house down in 30A.
Rich in Charlotte:
$5M in the bank and a paid-off house.
Best money decision:
Purchasing a condo in Optimist Park. Paid $74K. Sold it for $193K.
Worst money decision:
Selling BTC I purchased in the early 2010s.
Philanthropy:
I plan on starting a youth soccer scholarship program. I grew up playing soccer, and I keep hearing that the cost of youth sports is incredibly high for families.
Knowledge:
Like most things in my life, trial and error. I have failed just as many times as I have succeeded. The finance degree helped me out a bit, but I think managing your own money is more of a mental exercise than the logical one they teach at school.
Money Talks is a weekly series showcasing how real people in Charlotte approach money. Participate
New to Tiny Money? Join 14,159 Charlotte money nerds and subscribe to the 1x/wk newsletter
