![]() ![]() While the side hustles didn't rake in much cash, they did help her expand her network and make friends with folks around the country. ![]() Merz tried side hustles such as blogging and podcasting. To take advantage of the tax perks of these accounts, Merz saved the maximum contributions allowed. In fact, she had very little in after-tax investments and cash savings. Most of the $2,500 Merz saved each month went into tax-advantaged accounts, such as her 401(k), Roth IRA, and health savings account. She saved her money in tax-advantaged accounts Merz also saved by living with roommates a handful of times, and her rent was as low as $400 a month. ![]() Though she lived for some time in Washington, DC (not the cheapest), she also lived in small Midwestern cities, including Des Moines, Iowa, and Minneapolis, before ending up in St. She lived in areas of the country with a low cost of livingĪlong with earning a higher salary working in tech, Merz typically lived in parts of the country that had a lower cost of living. As for socializing, she spent as much time as possible socializing with friends at home, which saved money on eating out. Merz also drove an older car for nearly a decade until the wheels fell off. Louis, Missouri, and is an IT professional. "Every dollar that came in was able to be either put away for the future or spent on necessities," says Merz, who is 30, lives in St. In a given month, she'd spend $100 for fresh local meat from a CSA (community-supported agriculture) and $100 on produce and other food items. She earned anywhere from $65,000 to $85,000 a year, and managed to save roughly $2,500 a month.įor instance, she'd challenge herself to spend $200 a month on groceries. On top of coming from a place of privilege, Merz deliberately kept her expenses very low. Managing her money well and not overspending ensured that she kept plenty of that cash in the bank. Upon graduating, Merz also had a paid college internship that turned into a full-time offer in IT that paid extremely well. For instance, Merz used money from her sign-on bonus to buy her car outright. In fact, she was able to graduate with a positive net worth from scholarships and money she earned serving in the Air National Guard. Further, she didn't have any family to support, nor any dependents who relied on her financially. Merz was fortunate to earn a full-ride scholarship to a local state school, and avoided student loans entirely. She made the most of her fortunate financial situation Here's what Merz did to have a net worth of $300,000 by 30. "It turns out the shift from college to working wasn't the greatest and I was willing to do pretty much anything that would allow me to return to the freewheeling lifestyle I had in college," says Merz. When Merz landed a full-time job after college, she immediately started putting those lessons to good use. "I mostly hovered around a 65% savings rate, which helped me calculate my time left in 10 years, at the age of 35." "Seeing how many years left changed by the percentage of income saved was huge," says Merz. Money Mustache's Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement post. Merz was particularly inspired by the chart in Mr. He pulled this off by living on a small percentage of his income as a software engineer, and diligently and consistently putting the rest in investments. ![]() Money Mustache and his then-wife retired at the age of 30 with a net worth of $600,000. When Merz was a college senior, she decided to pursue FIRE (financial independence/retire early), after stumbling across a post from blogger Mr. But that's what Gwen Merz was able to do after graduating college. So it's rare when someone is able to start seriously building their net worth before age 30. If you're lucky, you land your first "real job," move out of your parents' place, and start paying rent. When you're in your 20s, you're probably trying to figure out a lot of things - what kind of work you should pursue, what your purpose in life is, and where you want to live. By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from InsiderĪs well as other partner offers and accept our ![]()
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