The following is a millionaire interview I first published on a previous site.
I’m running it here again on ESI Money so all my interviews are in one place.
My questions are in bold italics and their responses follow in black.
Let’s get started…
How old are you (and spouse if applicable, plus how long you’ve been married)?
We are 61 and 66 and have been married for almost 43 years.
Do you have kids/family (if so, how old are they)?
We have a daughter who is 36, married, and has 2 boys (ages 11 & 6) , a son, also married, who is 34, and has 1 boy (age 4), and a single, 24 year old daughter.
What area of the country do you live in (and urban or rural)?
We live in Portland, Oregon – a somewhat expensive city.
What is your current net worth?
$2.3 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?
We own apartments, our home free and clear, a beach house free and clear, retirement accounts where we are dividend growth investors, and cash. We have no debt.
The breakout looks like this:
- Home – $700,000
- Beach House – $200,000
- Apartments – $700,000
- IRAs – $400,000
- Cash – $300,000
What is your annual income?
We both still work, and our income from work is $175,000. We also received around $40,000 in apartment income, just over $24,000 Social Security income, (my husband started taking this when he turned 66), plus interest income. We reinvest all dividend income in our retirement accounts, and will continue to do so until we retire in 4 1/2 years.
What is your main source of income (be as specific as possible — job, investments, inheritance, etc.)?
It is currently our jobs.
What is your annual spending?
Around $65,000 per year.
How did you accumulate your net worth (what did you do, what happened, etc. — this is where you can tell your story and give readers insight into how you became wealthy)?
We always made a good income, but were not always good at saving and investing – although we have always loved real estate and it has served us well. While we never got into trouble with debt, we did tend to spend what we did make. It wasn’t until we turned 45 and 50 that we woke up to what a dumb idea this was. We reassessed our budget and got to work saving and figuring out how our money could work for us, and not the other way around.
This should be encouraging to others who feel like it’s too late. It’s NOT! If we can do it, so can you. I only wish we had gotten smart much sooner. Having no debt was a big advantage, but nothing beats paying attention to where your money’s going, then saving and investing it. For us, using a budget was key. Seeing in black and white how much money we were wasting on things we didn’t really care about made a big difference.
What have you learned in the process of becoming wealthy that others can learn from (what can others apply to become wealthy themselves)?
Start early! We could have been much wealthier if we had. Stay out of debt, have a zero-based budget, and pay cash for things. Educate yourselves about money and investing. It is not too difficult, you just need to make the effort. Teach your children about money so they will understand how it works, and teach them to save early and often. Just imagine if they saved even 10% of every dollar they ever received from the time they were born. They would be wealthy by the time they retired.
What are you currently doing to maintain/grow your net worth?
We max out our 401Ks and Roths. I also own my own business, and so I am able to contribute an additional 25% of my salary to my 401K. As a self employed business owner, I am also able to invest my 401K in anything I want, and so invest in dividend growth stocks. My husband must base his choices on a list of what’s available, and invests in dividend paying mutual funds. We are currently looking for more rental property to invest in.
Do you have a target net worth you are trying to attain?
We plan to have a net worth of $3,000,000 when we retire, and hope to never touch the principle.
What are your plans for the future regarding lifestyle (for instance, will your net worth allow you to retire early, downsize jobs, etc.)?
No early retirement for us. We started way too late for that. Still, we should be very comfortable with an income of around $12,000 per month by the time we retire.
Is there any advice you have for ESI Money readers regarding wealth accumulation?
Start early, have a plan, and keep learning at sites like ESI Money.
Razorback 14 says
Congratulations on being able to accumulate so much money in such a short time. I loved your comment —- “if we can do it, anybody can.” Perfect example for all ages, but I agree, it’s best to start early —— sure wish I would’ve started earlier myself.
Living debt free is key —-
Nice job guys!!! Thank you for sharing!!!
Patsy says
Great interview. Nice to finally read about someone who got their great awakening later in life, like my husband and me! We do have some debt, which we plan to get rid of in the next two years even as we ramp up our earnings. I wish we had time on our side, but we don’t… So we’ll have to get creative! Real estate plays a big role in our retirement plans.
Garnet says
Awesome profile. Like Patsy said, it’s nice to hear from people who started later in life. I’d like to know more about the apartment investments. Do they own an entire building, or just a few units? Did they benefit by purchasing at the bottom of the real estate market? Do they actively manage the properties themselves?
ESI says
There won’t be any details from this interview because it was done a few years ago and I lost contact with the interviewee.
But if you are interested in real estate, here are a few posts of mine that you might enjoy:
https://esimoney.com/my-real-estate-objectives-and-strategy/
https://esimoney.com/my-road-to-becoming-a-landlord/
https://esimoney.com/financial-details-of-my-real-estate-investments/
Lily | The Frugal Gene says
I love this interview! I like it when people don’t focus on early retirement or put that much emphasis on it. It’s about having a good life overall and a good golden years. 3 million is our principal too and I totally get what you mean by “not touching the principle.” Most people don’t get that but I do!
Dave says
Thanks for sharing your story. We all have different paths and approaches. You might have missed out on early retirement, but you still built an impressive net worth. I hope you enjoy your financial independence. Welcome to the club.
Lin says
Great interview of a couple positioned really well despite starting “late,” and also marrying so young. I wonder why he’s taking his SS at 66 despite continuing to work, and being able to achieve such a high savings rate? I’d think he’d wait until 70?
Sean @ Frugal Money Man says
Another GREAT example of how compound interest works, even later in life!
Jason says
Congrats on your success. For starting so late you certainly have some well,
Richard says
Short and sweet . . . I’d remove the what-ifs as well. Basically, ‘[s]tay out of debt, have a zero-based budget, and pay cash for things. Educate yourselves about money and investing. It is not too difficult, you just need to make the effort.’ WORD. Any age, any time. I got a late start, but am absolutely killing it at 51 on a fraction of these relatively high-earners. The view here gets myopic, narrow, far more often than not. Be encouraged; you can do incredible things with a nice steady income and sound financial intelligence, period.
Richard says
Had an interesting talk with the gf last night; called her out on a flippant comment, basically blaming Trump for the current state of health care in the US. Only decades in the making, baby, for fair-minded persons with a brain, but yes, there remains a problem. She conceded after the flame, so to speak, at which point I shared the strange news here, 55 interviews in. Every honest person is scared, concerned, or should be. Fifteen million, 1.2 million, 4 million . . . doesn’t matter. At every price point, it’s fear of the unknown, or politely shuffled under the rug. We’ll see how this parses out politically, but I’m not so sure we can tame this particular beast; there’s too much money being made. It’s like Moody’s before the Great Recession; everyone living in crazy land, even good people and the best, while all the gorillas, sharks and demons circle. I’ve made alternate arrangements, assuming no legitimate change. How about you? On the high side, I’d argue every individual needs one cool million for medical liability alone. Significant other? You’ll need another million, on ice pretty baby–no draw down, medical expenses only. Beyond THAT lies true net worth, basically a more realistic nest egg, plus any interest those ice cubes (two million) can generate, then all the rest.