In today’s podcast we have a conversation with Gwen from Fiery Millennials about her millennial path to FI plus some hacks that she used to save on college and increase her savings rate.
Podcast Episode Summary
- Our guest on Episode 39 is Gwen from Fiery Millennials
- Was Gwen from the generation that grew up with electronics from day 1?
- A background on Gwen’s story saving money when she was younger. She saved 50% of her income
- Gwen pursued dual enrollment classes and entered college with 23 college credits
- Gwen did the research with the college first to determine what credits would count
- Brad’s example of programs that exist in Virginia and likely other states where you can attend a community college and transfer to a state university
- Gwen joined the Air Force in the Air National Guard to pay for college, but actually got a merit scholarship from her college
- Gwen still has 8 semesters of free college remaining for the future due to these dual scholarships
- How did Gwen find the concept of Financial Independence?
- Finding FI helped Gwen keep on the path and be conscious of her consumerism and save more
- Gwen’s search for an internship via job hiring boards or job fairs
- What’s the difference between searching on the job board and the job fairs?
- How to look professional and make a positive impression at a job fair
- Your FI path is dramatically easier when you do things right from the beginning
- Gwen was maxing out her retirement contributions
- How you can be on cruise control if you do the right things the first 10-15 years of your career
- Gwen had a roommate when she got out of college so she was only paying $450 per month in rent
- Gwen pursued rental real estate after attending the Chautauqua
- She landed on the idea of ‘house hacking’ for her rental property
- She bought a triplex and the rental from the 2 other units more than pays for her rent, so she is paying $0 out of pocket for living expenses
- Gwen feels she may have rushed into buying a property since she bought the second property she looked at
- Gwen is maxing out her 401k, HSA and Roth IRA and then additional savings go towards future down payments
- Gwen’s savings rate should be around 80%, but extraordinary expenses on her rental home bring it down around 50%
- Gwen still has her car from college and she intends to hold it for years to come
- What are Gwen’s plans for the future?
- Hot seat questions
Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here.
Links from the show: