MtoM #63 - Chemical Engineer Millionaire

This is the White Coat Investor podcast, Milestones to Millionaire, celebrating stories of success along the journey to financial freedom. Welcome to the Milestones to Millionaire podcast on the White Coat Investor. This is number 63, chemical engineer millionaire.

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All right, I'm so excited for today's episode. We have a really special guest today. AV welcome.

Thanks, Disha. Thanks for having me.

Absolutely. AV Is a chemical engineer in the pharmaceutical industry, and this is a really great episode because he's 29 years old and he just reached millionaire status. Avi, I can't believe that. That's amazing.

Thanks. I couldn't believe it myself, honestly. I don't really check accounts too often, but when I did it, it added up to that.

It's amazing when stuff like that just happens and you do the right things and it just adds up over time and you open your accounts one day. Amazing. So thank you so much for being here and sharing your story so you can teach us how to do it. So first of all, how far are you out of school?

I am 8 years out of school.

Okay.

So I completed my undergrad in chemical Engineering in 2014, and I did my master's while working part time.

Okay, awesome. And what part of the country do you live in?

Southwest Florida, down by the Tampa area.

Okay, so not the cheapest place to live.

Definitely has gotten more expensive over time.

Yeah, sounds beautiful as well. So what is your approximate net worth today?

As of today, it's 1.1 million.

Amazing. And what's that divided up into?

So that's divided up into, in terms of accounts, $650,000 in taxable, 300k in tax deferred, about 100,000 in Roth, which includes mega backdoor Roth, and about 50k in a 529 asset allocation has split up 60% US total stock market, 20% international total stock market, 20% in the US total bond market. And as the most popular bond investment today, the I bonds have a small percentage in that as well.

Awesome. All right. So are you married? Do you have kids?

I very recently just got married, but no kids.

Okay, so you've already started a 529 for your child then? Your future child?

Yep, yep. I'm currently the list of the beneficiary on that one.

I see. Got it. Congratulations. Congratulations on your recent marriage.

Thank you.

So you said the 529 came, you're a beneficiary of that. Can you tell us how you paid for school?

School.

If your parents helped, if you had an inheritance or anything like that?

Sure. So I was definitely very fortunate that I received financial assistance from my parents and my grandparents for my undergraduate education, for my graduate education. My company sponsored that program, which definitely was very helpful as well.

That's awesome.

And in terms of inheritance, I did receive a utma of around 60k21.

Awesome. So were your parents putting money into that for you as you were growing up or were you investing for yourself?

It actually was my grandmother who was putting money into that UTMA for.

Oh, I love that. Look at that. A matriarch and older generation, really setting her kids and grandkids up for the for success. It's amazing.

Definitely it was a family effort, one can say. And it was very helpful that everyone in the family was kind of involved with financial life.

Awesome. Now are you first generation, second generation here or have you guys been here for a while?

So I was first generation, born in the United States. However, my mom did come to the United states in the 70s, so kind of grew up here. And then I have a brother. My brother and I were born here and we were second gen college students here.

Awesome. And where's your family from originally?

Originally from India.

Okay, what part of India?

In Gujarat, the western part of India.

Awesome. And so your grandmother lived in Gujarat when she was. Was she here when she was investing for you in the utma or was she in Gujarat?

They'd come over to America in the 70s and that's when kind of got involved with understanding all these financial accounts and actually started up the utma.

Awesome. So you're a chemical engineer now. What's your range of income?

Range of income? So my first kind of intern level job I had in college, I was making $18 an hour. And then when I first got out of college, my first big boy job, 70k a year and now making close to 185 and plus equity compensation as well.

Awesome. And does your wife work?

My wife does work, yes. She's in the financial industry. She works as a financial analyst.

Oh awesome. So you've got that going for you too. Did you. You say you recently got married, right? When was that?

In March, Early March. Very recent.

Yeah. Congratulations. So did you achieve your net worth mostly by your income then alone?

Oh, that's correct. Yeah. The. The 1.1 is actually just my net worth, not including my wife who's also done very well for herself.

Wow, you guys are killing it. I love that. So what, what are the secrets of your success?

I definitely say live below your means is has been very important in that. Now I'm not a doctor, so I wasn't a resident, but the same concept applied when I first started working. I did maintain a very similar lifestyle like as I did in college. First got out of college. That's. It was the primary one. Second, really just investing in low cost index funds. I actually came to Litecoin Investor from Boglehead so that definitely had a huge influence on my investing philosophy. And I would say for the final point that this has really come to me more recently that life is pretty short and money financial dependence, just one aspect of that. So as my net worth has grown, I've kind of looked to see it. There's more to it than just kind of investing money. Spending time and money on activities and hobbies and fostering relationships has really grown to be more important to me. I would say that is important to building your net worth. Actually understanding what you're saving for.

That's amazing. Yeah. How do you prioritize spending versus saving?

That's definitely a good question. I definitely lean more towards the saving side which has its own challenges. So I would say to get more into the spending aspect of things. If it's something that brings me joy, enriches relationships I have with friends and family, or it's something that I'm passionate about, like a hobby of mine. I give myself permission to spend money on that more freely. It's definitely tough coming from a saving mindset.

Yeah, yeah. It's. It's very easy to get, you know, too savvy and too spendy. It sounds like you're very mindful about what you're spending on and then you give yourself permission to. Which is a huge thing mentally to give yourself permission to spend on this one thing that you really enjoy. That's awesome. Do you keep a budget at all?

When I first started out, I did maintain a budget. I'm an engineer. So spreadsheets are the big thing, right?

Yeah. I can always tell the engineers that come into my office because they always have a graph of their blood pressures and vital signs. And for the last three months, they walk in and hand me a spreadsheet every time. You guys are awesome. So you do have a spreadsheet budget?

I do, yep.

So what advice do you have for someone that's just like you before you started? What could you. What would you tell yourself? Your younger self?

I definitely share for those that are either younger than I am or advice to myself. And it's a common expression I've heard from a lot of financial bloggers. Is there. There are many roads to Dublin. So I know this is a great podcast, that there's a lot of different stories that are shared with how people have reached success. So there isn't really one path that leads to financial success. Personally for me, I'm a believer in like the kiss principle, which is keep it simple, stupid, which has helped me in my life because I just stick with index funds from Vanguard. But there are plenty of other ways. I know people really into real estate and like that hands on aspect. Others may get into syndications or cryptocurrency if that's good for you. So I'd say that that's really helped me is in keeping it simple. And then the second would be again, live below your means to maximizing the delta between income and expenses and then using those savings to invest and build a net worth.

Love that. Yes, exactly. It's all in the delta. You know, you can just focus on the income side, you can just focus on the expenses side. That you'll do better if you focus on both and just increase that delta and then put it to work. Love it. So what are your next financial goals?

Yeah, that's a good question. So I'd say definitely working towards financial independence, which does seem like a moving target. Every day the number is different, whether higher or lower. So working towards that inflation's definitely not helping. That is for sure. And then at some point working towards buying a house. But you know, real estate in southwest Florida is definitely a hard market to buy in.

Yeah. Wow. Yeah, absolutely. So you guys are still renting?

That is correct, yes.

Awesome. And that just goes to show that, you know, even while renting is not always a terrible financial move, that you're still doing so well despite the fact that you're renting. And you know, a lot of people think about renting is throwing away money, but renting is actually really good way if you're trying to build wealth to maintain a very set number for your housing expense. You know, you don't have the maintenance cost and the surprise, you know, surprise, big bills that come in. So you can really just funnel all your, all your delta towards building wealth. So kudos to you and I hope you do find that house that you love for your family and buy when you're ready.

Thanks. Appreciate it.

Absolutely. Well, thank you so much. Thank you so much for coming on, for sharing your wisdom and your massive success and how you got here. Really huge, huge points to be learned from your story that you're 29 and a millionaire. You got there all by yourself. I mean, without your wife who's also doing very well, and your family, you know, set a really nice foundation for you. Your grandmother started investing in a UTMA as soon as they came over here, which is a huge thing and sounds like your parents made all the right moves to set you up for success as well. So congratulations on carrying on your family's legacy of good money management and wise spending. So congratulations.

Definitely. Thank you very much.

No more wading through dozens of books at the library, scrolling through hundreds of blog posts on dozens of blogs, or checking in daily with online forums trying to gain a financial education the way the hobbyists do for a fraction of the price of hiring a professional financial planner. The Fire your financial Advisor online course will take you from feeling anxious and having no plan to having a written financial plan. You can follow the rest of your investing career as a professional and a retiree. This course is the material that should have been taught to you in college, medical school or residency, but never was. Fire your Financial Advisor also has a version eligible for CME Credit. Get your financial life in order today. Go to whitecoatinvestor.com courses to sign up. You can do this and the White Coat Investor can help.

Thanks so much for listening to another episode of the Milestones to Millionaire podcast on the White Coat Investor and we'll see you next time. The hosts of the White Code Investor podcast are not licensed accountants, attorneys or financial advisors. This podcast is free entertainment and information only. It should not be considered professional or personalized financial advice. You should consult the appropriate professional for specific advice relating to your situation.