How I Went From $0 to $1M at 36

^{Read time - 4 minutes / Disclaimer}

Today I’m going to share how I went from $0 to $1M at 36.

I still remember it...

"We have $100 until Friday."

Something my mom said a lot while I was in high school.

She raised my brother and I.

We lived in a low income area.

Money was a struggle.

At 18, I told her I would be a millionaire in my 30s.

She laughed & said "good luck".

As a young nerdy guy, I wanted to figure out money.

I didn't:

• Want to work until I was 65.

• Want to struggle as an adult.

• Want to live payday to payday.

^{Pretending I was a cool kid}

At 19, I sat in Barnes & Noble and read all their books on money.

Here's the 4 lessons I learned:

1. Pick a high paying job.

2. Save 15%+ of your pay.

3. Invest in businesses.

4. Invest in real estate.

This is how I did it:

1. Pick a High Paying Job

Income is most important.

It's not possible to save & invest without a strong income.

I didn't have a lot of experience in my 20s.

And I didn't have a degree.

So I did the only thing I could think of.

I worked in sales.

Sales is one of the few careers anyone can make $100k+.

So, I got a job in the mall selling cell phones.

I did it until I was 29.

Until they fired me.

But, that's another story.

You can still make good money selling phones in the mall.

I think the days of making $100k+ per year are long gone.

If you're interested, work for one of the major phone companies like Verizon or AT&T.

Not an "authorized dealer".

They don't pay as well.

At 30, I decided to do something different.

Remember, I was fired...

So, I became a banker at a local bank branch.

You don't need a degree to work at a bank.

It's basically a sales job.

And they hire cellphone salesmen.

Lucky me.

After a year of that, I then become a Loan Officer.

Many people start in banking as a teller or a banker.

Then they move on to other jobs like:

• Loan Officer

• Business Banker

• Financial Advisor

You can make $100k+ per year in these jobs.

None of them require a college degree.

I spent most of my 30s helping people get home loans.

If you're interested in banking.

You'll have:

• Great hours (9-6).

• Most holidays off.

• Room to move up.

Most banks pay for your degree too.

Banking offers many perks.

2. Save 15%+ of Your Pay

I automated my savings.

15% of each check went into my retirement account.

In my 30s I also started saving outside my retirement account.

I opened up a brokerage account and saved there too.

3. Invest in Businesses

My retirement account was invested in stocks.

I also invested in stocks inside my brokerage account.

Saving and investing 15% of each paycheck adds up quickly.

4. Invest in Real Estate

I bought 7 properties.

I know that sounds like a lot.

But, it was a slow & steady thing.

I house hacked most of the properties.

It happened over many years.

Here's how it went:

1st— 2 Bedroom Condo

I bought this property with 100% financing.

Meaning, I didn't have to come up with a downpayment.

Those loans still exist today.

But they're not as common.

I just had to come up with the closing costs which were a couple thousand dollars.

I rented out the spare bedroom to a friend.

It helped reduce my monthly payment.

2nd— 3 Bedroom House

I sold the condo 2 years later.

And used the earnings from it to buy a house.

I liked keeping my monthly payment low.

It allowed me to save more money.

So my friend that rented a room in the condo also moved into the house.

Renting a room can reduce your monthly payment by 20%-30%.

3rd— Studio Condo

I bought a condo 2 years later.

This was the first time I had to come up with a downpayment.

I pulled $25k from the money I'd been saving from my cellphone paychecks.

I then rented out the condo.

4th— Studio Condo

A year later I bought another condo downtown.

I had to come up with a downpayment again.

This was the most I ever had to come up with.

I pulled $35k from the money I'd been saving from my cellphone paychecks.

I moved out of the house into the condo since it was in a cool area downtown.

I rented out the house.

Remember earlier when I mentioned I got fired?

That messed things up a bit.

I didn't work for 9 months.

Four years passed before I bought another place.

5th— 3 Bedroom House

The downpayment on this house was 3.5%

I had to come up with $17k.

Less than the last 2 places.

I rented out the condo I was living in.

And moved into the house.

It needed a lot of work.

The inside looked like 1970.

One nice thing about the house, it had a 2nd entrance.

The entrance led to a bedroom that had its own bathroom.

So, I rented out that separate part of the house.

The rent covered 30% of the monthly payment.

6th— 3 Bedroom House

A family member passed away.

It was a sad time.

I decided to buy the house.

There was equity in it, so I didn't have to come up with a down payment.

I've talked about that topic before if you follow me online.

You can buy property from family without a down payment most of the time.

The property I bought was worth $130k.

It wasn't the $600k example below.

I wish!

Parents selling homes to children

Now a thing.

See it in the mortgage biz.

Recent example:

•Parent ready to retire
•Home worth $600k
•Sold to kid for $480k

Perks:

•No down payment
•Kid now a homeowner
•Property stayed in the family

This is happening A LOT.

— John | Millennial Wealth (@johnhenry0804) December 26, 2023

A family member told me about this place.

It was in terrible shape.

I couldn't get a loan on it.

The property taxes hadn't been paid for 5 years.

No one was living there.

The government was trying to take it from the owner since the taxes were behind.

I contacted the owner, caught up the taxes, and bought it.

It was $34k.

A great deal overall.

But a lot of work was needed.

That was the only time I attempted to "flip" a property.

I'll leave that to the pros.

Conclusion

After moving several times.

I sold 3 of the properties.

And quit my banking job.

If you're interested in making $100k+ per year, building a large net worth, and leaving fulltime work sooner in life.

Consider joining the Millennial Wealth Newsletter below (it's free).

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Thanks for stopping by.

Cheers.