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 at the personal finances of a software business owner in his early 30s.
Salary:
This year it’ll be $900,000. As the company is growing, I take in more money home. I invest the rest of the money back in the business or purchasing more business assets.
I started my career working as an IT help desk tech, then learned coding and cloud systems engineering. During COVID, I quit my job (making $100,000) and started to focus on my software business.
My biggest tip is to only quit your full-time job to pursue your side hustle when your side-hustle covers all your expenses.
Other income:
I have several other software and creator projects that are not part of my main company. These produce around $5K/mo.
Work/life balance:
Sucky. I quit my 40 hour a week job to work 100 hours. LOL. I’m basically online 24/7. Hard to stop and think. This year was the first time I took a break from working for about a month.
Living situation:
We purchased a 3,000 square foot home in 2018. The house has doubled in value since then. Our monthly mortgage payment is $1,900. I love living in Charlotte!
Children:
I have 3 young kids. A couple of things I’m trying to figure out:
- Not spoiling my kids. They clearly know we can afford any toy they want.
- In a similar vein, giving them only the best versus what is “normal” or average.
- Figuring out if we should send them to a private school vs. public school. Both my spouse and I grew up on food stamps and went to a public school.
Debt:
House + Cars + Toys = $600K debt. I refinanced everything during ZIRP.
I live in the moment and don’t care too much about having debt simply because life is too short.
Credit Cards:
AmEx Gold and Platinum for restaurants, travel and most everything. We use the Costco Citi card for places that don’t accept AmEx. We pay off the entire balance every single month and try to not have any credit card debt intentionally.
Budgeting:
No strict budget. As long as we are in the green, we keep our discretionary spend to around $20K/mo but have had several months where we spend $40K to $60K. We’ve been cutting back on spending for the last couple of months because we feel we have fallen into the sin of gluttony with our spending.
My spouse and I only ask each other if we should buy something if it’s over $500.
Best and worst recurring expense:
Worst is Lifetime for $300/mo. We don’t go often but when we do go, I really enjoy it.
Best is an iPad with cell service built in for $60/mo. Awesome to have service without needing to set up a hotspot every time. Can work from anywhere/anytime.
Splurge:
Luxury watches. They hold their value pretty well and I like wearing watches. Rolex, AP, and Cartier are my favorite.
Charlotte money hack:
If you’re on the salary train — job hop early and often. Several of my friends work at the banks and every 18-24 months, they bounce between Bank of America and Wells Fargo to increase their salaries.
Charlotte restaurant:
Cowfish for casual dining. Church and Union and Porter’s House for fancier dining.
Food is subjective but I really enjoy private dining. Renting out a room for you and your friends is such a nice flex and you can keep the conversations more intimate.
Net worth:
Approximately $15M including business valuation and investments.
For investments, I keep it simple with index funds, ETFs, and just a couple individual stocks I have conviction on. I don’t like dealing with advisors. Simply invest and forget. I use JP Morgan’s self-directed brokerage account.
My best advice on increasing wealth is to become really good (be the 1% in your field) at your job or start a business. Employees rarely get wealthy.
Savings goal:
I’m saving for a rural custom home with 10+ acres of land where I can do whatever I want.
If money was no object, I’d own my own jet and fly private everywhere.
Retirement:
I don’t really plan to retire anytime soon (I’m having so much fun), but I do plan to go part-time during the summers to enjoy time with kids.
When I do eventually retire, I want to spend it with kids and eventually grandkids.
What do you consider “rich” in Charlotte and why?
Making $500K+ per year. At $150K, you can breathe and not feel like you’re surviving. At $300K, you can build a nice savings cushion really quick. At $500K, you can pretty much buy most things and not feel it hurt and save a lot.
Personal financial freedom:
I felt financial freedom at $20K/mo in take home income. All my immediate needs are met and life is a lot easier.
Best and worst money decisions?
Best money decision was refinancing during ZIRP.
Worst money decision is hiring the wrong people and not firing them quickly enough.
How did you learn about money?
Reddit (fatFIRE), podcasts (My First Million, Moneywise, After the Exit), books (outdated but Millionaire Next Door, Billionaire Wilderness, Die with Zero, Psychology of Money).
Financial goals:
- Grow and sell my current company for $100M+
- Own everything outright and pay off parents/family houses and cars
- Give $10K/month cash flowing businesses to my kids as a “welcome to adulthood” gift
On your mind:
Spending less than I’m earning. I grew up poor and unfortunately that resulted in a lot of bad money habits. I purchase things emotionally instead of rationally. There have been several months where I literally spent more in one month than I used to make in a whole year just a few years ago.
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 4,398 smart Charlotteans and subscribe to my 1x/wk newsletter. Job hunting? View job board.
