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 33 year old DINKs (Dual Income, No Kids) couple in Charlotte.
Job:
I work in logistics & supply chain for a healthcare company. My base is $191K with an additional 15% bonus. My spouse makes $120K.
Salary journey:
I started off at $46K after college. During my 20s, I never hesitated to say, “Yes.” That being said, I’ve been trying to say, “No” more recently since I want to be more selective with my time
Other income:
Yes, non-W2 income is a metric I track closely. Last year, we did $85K in non-W2 income and I hope to keep growing that number. Side hustles range from SMB analytics consulting to content marketing and affiliate sites.
Work-life balance:
Currently poor, but that’s because of the macro environment (tariffs generate a lot of work in supply chain and logistics).
I consider my non-W2 hustles as fun, and don’t really count them as part of my workload.
Living situation:
We own a home with a 6.5%, $195K mortgage. We put 40% down at closing to keep payments low. We’re paying the balance down aggressively and expect it to be done within 3 years.
Debt:
We’ve got a $195K mortgage at 6.5% and $15K of credit card debt at 0% APR. We try to make good use of the 0% APR credit card offers. Our mortgage is our least favorite expense, given the rate.
Credit cards:
We’re prolific credit card churners and have over 45 active credit cards at the moment. My favorite card is whichever one currently has a sign-up bonus.
Budgeting:
Nope, we don’t budget. Somehow it just never mentally worked for us. We just strive to save as much as possible and it tends to work out.
We also do extreme buys. For example, we’ll see paper towels on sale for 40% off and buy 5 years worth. Blows up your budget, but is still a good investment.
Splurge:
Gas that gets us out to the mountains. We try to go out there every chance we have.
Charlotte money hack:
Having a Bank of America credit card gives you free access to select museums during the first weekend of every month. The Charlotte Mint museums are on that list and we go every time there’s an art exhibit change.
Restaurant pick:
Midwood Smokehouse. Get the brisket, of course.
Investment strategy:
Up until the end of 2024 we were maxing out all tax advantaged accounts (401ks and a Mega Backdoor Roth) and putting ~$40K into post-tax equities each year.
However, given all of the market uncertainty, we’ve gone mostly to cash except for the 5% 401k match each of us get. Since then, we’ve been funneling money into paying off our mortgage.
In our portfolio, we’re nearly 100% equities. We’re not risk averse to market volatility, but rather risk averse to inflation eating at assets over time. That, in my mind, is the real risk. Market volatility is just the price you pay for superior returns over the long run.
Net worth:
$1.9M. No inheritance! We just got lucky with our earnings and always lived extremely far below our means, investing the difference over the last 10 years. The S&P 500 bull run has also been kind to us.
Retirement:
Hopefully I can retire within the next few years, but it won’t look like a “traditional” golf-all-day retirement. Mainly I’m just trying to escape W2 work. Likely we’d draw some lower % off our portfolio and I’d just spend 100% of my “work” time on side-hustles.
How much money would you need to feel complete financial freedom?
$5M. 3% withdrawal rate is $150K, which is way above what we actually spend. The money would grow and I wouldn’t have to think about quarterly budgets.
What’s “rich” in Charlotte?
$3.5M
Best money decision:
Marrying my wife. She has a similar mindset to mine and we make a good team.
My worst money decision was when I put $5K into crypto and lost it all :). Now I stay away from Crypto because it’s clear I don’t know what I’m doing there.
Financial goals:
- Early retirement by saving and reducing debt aggressively over the next 5 years.
- Continue growing my non-W2, side income. I’m currently experimenting with how AI can improve my output.
- Extended travel. I always maintain a healthy credit card point balance to cover trips.
Knowledge:
My parents were both extremely bad at handling money. That inspired me to do better and I just started reading books and finding entrepreneurial mentors as early as I could.
Money Talks is a weekly series showcasing how real people in Charlotte approach money. Participate.
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