The Beginning
I attended the University of Texas of Dallas and graduated with my bachelors degree in computer science in 2006. I immediately moved from an on campus apartment into a single family home that was purchased with a 0% down loan and no proof of income. Yes, I had one of those questionable mortgages that led to the 2008 housing collapse two years later, but let’s not get ahead of ourselves.
Within the next few weeks I started my first full time job as a software engineer and since I already had a new house the next natural step was to buy a new car which was purchased on a high interest loan. A couple years went by and the economy started to show the early signs of what was to come, but I didn’t think much of it and took another auto loan out to purchase a new car for my wife.
Then at the age of 25, with home and car loans taking up a substantial portion of my income, the recession went into full effect. I watched as the stock market crashed, millions of people around the country had their homes go through foreclosure, and coworkers at the company I was working for began getting laid off. Saying this caught my attention is a massive understatement and I was now starting to think about my financial position very differently.
As the country was struggling, I would occasionally watch the news and they would often have financial and economic experts on to discuss the recession. Of course there were opinions about who was to blame and what role the government should play in helping Americans through this difficult time, but there was one person that really caught my attention over the course of several months, Dave Ramsey.
Dave Ramsey has been hosting a personal finance radio show for decades and has his own financial journey that shaped his views on money. He was the first person I ever heard talk about how debt shouldn’t be normalized and preach a message of hope about the possibility of gaining financial independence and building generational wealth.
This started what would become a passion for personal finance!
The Journey
I became very intentional about how I managed my finances. This involved creating a plan for where my money was going to go each month with specific goals in mind. I had a clear path forward that would require completing specific milestones in a specific order, and I believed that this plan would lead to financial freedom. But I also knew it was going to take time.
Fortunately, despite having loans, I had no credit card or student loan debt and I had a decent amount in savings. This meant that within just a few months I had no more auto loans and my only debt was the home loan, but that seemed like an overwhelmingly large debt at the time.
I was focused, I was committed and I knew I could do this. I worked hard, stayed disciplined and made large extra payments towards the house every month, not really knowing how long I would have to keep this up. But after 5 years of consistency, I was finally able to make the last house payment and at 30 years old was 100% DEBT FREE including my house. It felt amazing but also left me with a big question. Now what?
First, I was able to relax a little. Finances got a little looser and vacations got a little bigger, but nothing overly extravagant as I knew that there were more financial goals I wanted to achieve. Having a paid off home was great but I was still far from being financially independent. I still very much needed my job as a software engineer to pay the normal ongoing monthly bills and to continue to save for retirement. But I knew that being tied to a full-time job for another 30+ years wasn’t what I wanted for my life. I wanted to build a level of wealth that would make working optional and provide me the freedom to pursue a career that was driven by passion and not a paycheck.
Similar to paying off the house, I didn’t know how long this goal would take, but knew that with discipline and consistency I could get there. I had already been investing some in my 20’s, but now with no debt payments eating up my income I was able to seriously ramp up my investing and quickly grow my net worth. Fast forward another 5 years and at the age of 35 the value of my savings, investments and house were over a million dollars. I was a millionaire! But being a millionaire isn’t what you see in the movies. I was comfortable, I didn’t worry about money, but I still wasn’t financially independent. I still couldn’t think about quitting my job because the assets I had weren’t enough to last me the rest of my life. So, the journey continued.
Fast forward another 5 years and all of the consistent and diligent money management habits I had developed had finally built to something substantial. For the first time in my life, at 40 years old, working was optional. I could continue to be an engineer, I could do nothing or I could decide to pursue something new. But the one thing I didn’t have to consider was finances. I had finally reached financial independence!
The Purpose
I believe that God has a purpose for all of us in our lives and that purpose could change over time. For a time period in my life I really do feel like excelling as a software engineer was a significant part of my purpose. I made significant contributions to the companies I worked for and developed important and lasting relationships. I had the privilege to mentor other engineers and getting to watch them develop and grow truly brought me joy. But something I thought about more and more during the last few years of my career was that if I wasn’t a software engineer I would really enjoy being a financial advisor.
Well, God granted me that opportunity through the most unexpected of ways. A layoff!
I don’t want to underplay how traumatizing layoffs can be for people and the major impact it can have on our lives and our families. But for me, it wasn’t that bad. I already knew that I was in a really good financial position and was already starting to consider making a change. So the timing was kind of perfect.
I quickly decided that this gave me the opportunity to pursue a new purpose. A purpose that even I didn’t realize had been in development for 15 years. A purpose and opportunity to help others build good money management habits and feel the same sense of freedom I got to experience in what should have been a very financially stressful time of my life.
So this is my new purpose, to help you! I want to help you get out of debt. I want to help you build savings. I want to help you invest wisely. I want to help you build generational wealth that will give you and your family a life that you never thought possible. I want to help you experience FINANCIAL FREEDOM!!
Your Story
Your story isn’t going to be the same as my story. You may reach certain financial milestones faster or slower than I did and that is okay. This isn’t a competition where if you don’t have a certain net worth by a certain age then you lose the game. This truly is a journey and everyone’s journey looks different. You shouldn’t have to do it alone and, no matter where you are starting from, I want to help you on your journey. So schedule a free consultation today and let’s get going!