Here’s our latest interview with a millionaire as we seek to learn from those who have grown their wealth to high heights.
If you’d like to be considered for an interview, drop me a note and we can chat about specifics.
This interview took place in March.
My questions are in bold italics and their responses follow in black.
Let’s get started…
OVERVIEW
How old are you (and spouse if applicable, plus how long you’ve been married)?
I’m 61 and my husband is 71. We just celebrated our 39th wedding anniversary.
We eloped after dating for about two or three weeks. In many ways we are very different people (opposites attract?) but in the ways that are important for this interview we are very much aligned.
We are both frugal by nature and we both enjoy the more simple things in life.
Do you have kids/family (if so, how old are they)?
We have a son, aged 27. He lives close to us, one neighborhood over in the same city.
I’m really happy that he loves it here too because if he decided to settle anywhere else farther than a few hours drive away I’d feel compelled to follow him. He is frugal like us and a hard worker who has always had a job since he was about 16.
His undergraduate degree at a state university was paid for partially by us, merit scholarships and his own earnings. After living with us for a few years to save money, he went back to school and paid for his master’s degree and living expenses all on his own through savings, earnings and more merit scholarships.
He’s still looking for a career position but is gainfully employed and able to support himself living with his partner.
What area of the country do you live in (and urban or rural)?
We live in a mid-sized city in the beautiful Pacific Northwest.
We love it here and try to get out into nature as often as possible all year round.
What is your current net worth?
Our current net worth is approximately $1.93 million.
What are the main assets that make up your net worth (stocks, real estate, business, home, retirement accounts, etc.) and any debt that offsets part of these?
- Home: $442,650 (based on county assessors market value)
- Checking: $9,800
- High Yield Savings: $147,000
- IBonds: $35,800
- IRAs (Roth & Regular): $1,104,000
- Roth 401k current employer: $6,400
- Taxable Brokerage Accounts: $183,000
- HSA: $3,000
We do not have any debt and haven’t since we paid off our mortgage over 15 years ago. We purchased our home in 1998 for $95k and put in about $20k of improvements before we moved in.
We pay most expenses by credit card and pay off the balance in full every month.
I’m aware that we have a lot of cash on hand but I feel more comfortable with this amount rather than the traditional six months of expenses emergency fund. Also, our house needs some improvements soon which will be paid from these funds.
EARN
What is your job?
I retired from full-time work in August 2021. My career was in higher education administration, mainly for 20 years at one university, ending as the assistant director of a department.
I left this job in 2015 and worked as a department director at two different smaller colleges. In 2019 I switched industries and became a compliance and quality assurance manager at a nonprofit agency that provided behavioral health treatment.
In 2021 I was burned out from working in person during COVID (we were considered essential workers) so I decided to take a break, thinking I would probably retire. But at the request of a friend, I took on a part-time coordinator position at another nonprofit in 2022.
It was supposed to be temporary but I am still working at this job nearly 4 years later. I’ve been happy being a contributor with zero management responsibilities and I have no desire to advance.
My husband worked in the fitness industry, mostly part-time, and was a stay-at-home parent when our son was a child. He is retired now.
What is your annual income?
My last fulltime salary in 2021 was $65k.
I currently make $30k working parttime. My husband’s social security is $18k.
Tell us about your income performance over time. What was the starting salary of your first job, how did it grow from there (and what you did to make it grow), and where are you now?
My first job out of college in 1986 I made $10k at a small specialty graduate school. This is where I met my husband and I left this job shortly after we married.
We then spent my 20’s traveling internationally and also living briefly in various US cities. The longest I was at any single job during this period was one year.
The true start of my career was not until we settled in our current city in 1994. My first salary in 1995 at the university I worked at for 20 years was $18k.
When I left in 2015 I was making about $50k. I started out as the office coordinator and was the assistant director of my department when I left.
If my ambition had been income growth I wouldn’t have stayed at this one employer as long as I did. I could’ve left years earlier and doubled my salary as a director at a different university.
But I had a great work/life balance at that job. My commute was minimal and I liked the job and my coworkers.
We were a tight knit group that had worked together for 10-15 years very happily without negative office politics, etc. Also, the benefits and culture were great.
The only reason I left was due to a new administration that wanted to make changes that made continuing to work there untenable. It was one of those situations where it was really great until it wasn’t.
What tips do you have for others who want to grow their career-related income?
I’m definitely not one to give tips in this area except to say don’t do what I did. Be willing to change companies and grow.
But if work/life balance and stability are more important to you, my story shows that you don’t need to significantly improve your income in order to grow your net worth.
What’s your work-life balance look like?
Now it is great. I work from home and for only 4-5 hours each day.
I got rid of all my work clothes and enjoy the short commute to my home office.
Do you have any sources of income besides your career? If so, can you list them, give us a feel for how much you earn with each, and offer some insight into how you developed them?
Our only income is my job and my husband’s social security.
He waited until age 70 to start collecting.
SAVE
What is your annual spending?
In 2025 we spent about $42,000 and it was about the same (accounting for inflation) the prior few years.
What are the main categories (expenses) this spending breaks into?
- Groceries/Eating Out: $12600
- Utilities/Household: $6650
- Recreation/Fitness: $5400
- Medical/Dental: $4300
- Travel/Gas: $3200
- Taxes: $3200
- Home/Car Insurance: $2800
- Cats: $1820
- Car Repair/Maintenance: $1100
The balance is for miscellaneous personal expenses and political/charitable contributions.
Some of these expenses are atypical. For instance I hired a running coach in 2025, which accounted for about $1375 of the Recreation/Fitness category and isn’t something I’d do every year.
But the prior two years we had to purchase a household appliance each year so it all evens out. Accounting for inflation, our spending has stayed very stable,
Do you have a budget? If so, how do you implement it?
We do not have a specific budget but I’ve been keeping track of our spending in detail since 2020.
We are both frugal and don’t make a lot of impulse purchases. We discuss large purchases together and we tend to purchase used first if it’s an option.
Since right now our incoming cash flow is close to the same as our expenses I would just take a closer look at our spending if that changed. We’d either see where we could cut back or decide it’s okay to dip into our savings.
What percentage of your gross income do you save and how has that changed over time?
Right now we are not actively saving except for the 1% of my salary to get the employer match for my current 401k. We still contribute the maximum to our Roth IRA’s every year but we just move money from other non-retirement accounts and it doesn’t come from earned income.
I have always contributed to employer sponsored plans enough to get the match and we’ve been contributing the maximum to our IRA’s for as long as I can remember.
What’s your best tip for saving (accumulating) money?
Pay yourself first and save the maximum to your retirement accounts.
Figure out how to live within your means after that is done.
What’s your best tip for spending less money?
Don’t impulse buy.
Figure out how to be happy with less consumption.
What is your favorite thing to spend money on/your secret splurge?
Our biggest splurge was buying a new truck in 2023 with cash. Neither of us had purchased a new vehicle before.
I personally like to buy gear for outdoor pursuits: running, hiking and camping. In general we like experiences more than things.
The truck is a thing but it allows us to get out and experience nature the way we enjoy. The year we turned 60 and 70, for our combined birthday celebration we splurged on a stay at a nearby national park lodge instead of our usual camping.
We will probably do more of that in the future, but expensive vacations and fancy dinners are not our thing.
INVEST
What is your investment philosophy/plan?
My investment philosophy is to let someone else do it. The bulk of our retirement funds plus some of our other investments are being managed by a financial services firm.
A relative works for this firm but is not our personal investment manager. However, because of this family relationship, we get a friends and family discount on the fee.
Since I worked in higher education, most of our investments had been with TIAA. After I left my last higher education job I wanted to pull our funds out of TIAA.
The firm we are with now had managed my parent’s modest retirement funds very well, so much so that there was money left over after they passed (in their 90’s) which I wasn’t expecting at all. I could’ve gone the Vanguard (or similar) route, but since my husband doesn’t have a lot of interest in how our money is invested or managed I didn’t want to go it alone.
Even with simple do it yourself options out there I like leaving the investment decisions to someone I trust. It gives me peace of mind that is worth it even if I could potentially earn more managing the funds on my own.
What has been your best investment?
Working for 20 years for an employer who contributed 10% of my salary to retirement and offered great medical benefits.
What has been your worst investment?
I’ve been pretty happy with all our investments so far.
I can’t think of anything that stands out as bad or a regret.
What’s been your overall return?
Since I started keeping track of our net worth in 2020, our average annual rate of return has been about 8.3%
How often do you monitor/review your portfolio?
I update our net worth in a spreadsheet on the first of every month.
That is probably overkill but I like keeping track of it. I also meet quarterly with our financial manager.
NET WORTH
How did you accumulate your net worth?
My husband and I inherited about $200,000 total from our respective parents. The rest of our net worth was gained through saving and being frugal.
And we’ve benefited from good stock market returns and investment choices made by our financial manager.
What would you say is your greatest strength in the ESI wealth-building model (Earn, Save or Invest) and why would you say it’s tops?
Absolutely our greatest strength has been saving. We have not been big earners and have left the investing to others.
What has complimented the saving is our frugal lifestyle. We enjoy simple hobbies like hiking and camping.
And we don’t care so much about eating out, buying new clothes or expensive toys or vacations.
What road bumps did you face along the way to becoming a millionaire and how did you handle them?
Nothing stands out as overly challenging. I think having a paid off house and substantial liquid savings smoothed out any challenges that may have been there that I can’t remember now.
Also, we were never actively trying to become millionaires. So our financial choices were more based on our intrinsic values and nature rather than trying to attain a particular net worth.
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your net worth?
We are continuing to live within our means.
Do you have a target net worth you are trying to attain?
I think $2 million is a nice round number which is pretty close, but I’m happy with where we are right now.
How old were you when you made your first million and have you had any significant behavior shifts since then?
I was 56 when we made our first million. I don’t remember any big celebrations but it did give me a lot more peace of mind.
I felt like I had a lot more flexibility and I did leave full time work a year after this.
What personal habits and/or traits have you developed that have made you successful at growing your net worth?
Saving and frugality have led to our financial success. It was very important for us to have a paid-off house so we prioritized making extra payments on our mortgage.
I can’t recall exactly when we paid off the house but it was within 15 years and perhaps closer to 10 years. I think others who want to have a million dollars or more need to look closely at what they value and adjust accordingly.
If you like to spend money then you may need to have a higher paying job and chase career opportunities. If you’re more of a frugal person that is truly happy with less than you can get to one million by saving and spending less.
What money mistakes have you made along the way that others can learn from?
A better decision would have been to find a way to stay at my long term employer a few more years. If I had stayed four more years I would’ve been eligible for retiree medical benefits.
I also didn’t understand how good I had it as my next employer did not contribute to a retirement account. I hadn’t done a lot of research on what was out there before I left and made an emotional decision.
At the very least I should have found another job before I left that position to give me more options.
What advice do you have for ESI Money readers on how to become wealthy?
Figure out your strength in the earn, save, invest model. Maybe it’s more than one but lean into whatever it is.
Also stay out of debt as much as possible.
FUTURE
What are your plans for the future regarding lifestyle?
Right now I am contemplating retiring fully. I believe that I can now but I’m in a fortunate situation that I have inexpensive top-level health and dental benefits at my part-time job.
My husband has his own medical insurance through Medicare but is on my dental plan. Right now he’s beginning extensive dental work that may take a year or more to complete.
I’d like to have the end of that process in sight before I make my final decision.
Also, as I write this the economic indicators are not looking good and I’d prefer to stop working during better economic times. I will definitely retire at 65 and it’s very possible the decision will be made for me if I’m laid off before then.
I work in an area that saw extensive cuts in federal funding over the past year. If I do lose my job I don’t plan on looking for another one and will fully retire.
What are your retirement plans?
Financially, I’ll need to discuss that more with my financial manager as the time gets closer. Ideally, I want to wait as long as possible to take my Social Security.
My classic IRA is my largest account so I would like to either take funds from that account first or convert to Roth so as to limit my RMD’s. But if I retire before I’m 65 I also want to manage our income so I’m eligible for ACA subsidies.
As for activities, we love getting out and exploring nature so that will continue, as well as healthy eating and exercising to help keep us fit enough to do that for a long time to come. I’d also like to work on home improvements.
We bought our older house in 1998 and did a lot of cosmetic work on it at that time and not a lot since. So we have some deferred upgrades to do and I’d like to see how much of it I can do myself.
We do not have grandchildren yet, but if/when we do I would love to be able to spend a lot of time with them and help with childcare.
Are there any issues in retirement that concern you? If so, how are you planning to address them?
I’m mildly concerned about health insurance if I retire before I’m 65. But I think it will work out even if I have to pay more than I’d like.
I’m more concerned about switching from a saving mindset to a spending mindset. From my research, this can be a challenge for many new retirees.
I’ve been watching a lot of retirement channels on YouTube from creators who are similar to us. So far no one says they regret retiring so I’m trying to take that to heart!
MISCELLANEOUS
How did you learn about finances and at what age did it “click”?
The only thing I specifically remember learning about finances is how to do my taxes from my father. He grew up during the Depression, and I think his frugality rubbed off on me.
His father died when he was 14 and as an only child he had to help support his mother. I remember he was laid off in the 1970’s from what would’ve been a lifetime job ending with a decent pension.
We drank milk made from powder and one winter we went without heat when the furnace broke. My mom, who had been a homemaker, found a part-time job.
Despite the hardships during this period they bounced back, my dad got an even better job and I never felt poor. I learned that a good life doesn’t need to be flashy and that if you stay the course it can all work out.
Another financial memory is reading Your Money or Your Life back in the 90’s and thinking this is not necessarily for me. As I recall the authors had high-paying jobs and I did not, nor did I aspire for one.
But something must have clicked because my personal life has been more important to me than my work life. While I have gotten fulfillment out of my jobs, I fall into the work to live, rather than the live to work camp.
Who inspired you to excel in life? Who are your heroes?
My mom was always my biggest cheerleader. My financial hero is MacKenzie Scott.
I occasionally buy a lottery ticket for fun. My dream win would be enough to start a foundation to give away money to causes that are important to me.
Do you have any favorite money books you like/recommend? If so, can you share with us your top three and why you like them?
I haven’t read a lot of money books that I can recommend, but I have read all the FIRE blogs (such as this one) over the years.
Do you give to charity? Why or why not? If you do, what percent of time/money do you give?
I give but I also like to volunteer and will definitely step up to more volunteering when I’m fully retired.
My favorite causes are the environment, animal welfare and food security.
Do you plan to leave an inheritance for your heirs (how do you plan to distribute your wealth at your death)? What are your reasons behind this plan?
Yes, with just one son I’m hoping that we can leave an inheritance to him since we received inheritances from our parents. I do not have any specific plans to gift him money while we’re alive.
However, if he needed help with a down payment on a house, I would try to help with that and would want to help with college funds for any potential grandchildren.
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