The Top 5 Ways I Was Able to Reach a Mid-6 Figure Net Worth

If I asked you to come up with your top ways to build wealth how long would your list be? How does 325 things sound? When Gary reached out to me, he seemed to have read and remembered details from everything that I’ve ever written on this site. He is clearly a very thoughtful dude. Also did I mention he is an entrepreneur, has a masters in financial planning, is a CFP, and reached a mid six figure net worth by his early 30’s? Gary just wrote a book called, Financial Fives: The Top 325 Ways to Save, Earn, and Thrive to Retire Before 65. Since he seems weirdly obsessed with the number 5, I asked Gary to share his top 5 ways that he used to get to a mid six figure net worth at an age where many others are still paying off student loans. Take it away Gary…

Thanks Mr Maze, let’s dive in:

1) My Experience with Entrepreneurship: I’m not going to be a broken record and repeat how everyone says it takes a special someone to be an entrepreneur. However, I will say certain characteristics of being one will make you more marketable and financially savvy. You must be willing to take risks for the chance at success. You have to sell yourself, be persistent, and let the “no’s” bounce off of you like a soccer ball (except “no’s” don’t hurt, physically at least).

When I was eight years old, I got my first taste of entrepreneurship by selling hot chocolate in front of my parents’ house when people came to see our street’s Christmas Light Spectacular, which continues to this day (the lights, not me selling chocolate). This was in an age before people had phones to Instagram my hot chocolate, but I’m pretty sure it was good, because I made more money every year until I entered high school. 

Then at 23, I started a reusable moving box company, California Box Rental, because I saw how wasteful moving can be with cardboard, as well as not being very protective for your possessions. I learned to be organized, creative with no marketing budget and how to get partnerships with other businesses, but also I learned budgeting, initiative, delegation, public speaking skills, and many other traits which can serve you well in your career, as well as apply to a variety of personal finance topics.

2) Automating Everything:  I wasn’t too keen on spending the surplus between what I need and what I earn, because I treated the profits that I made from my box rental business, plus some of any bonuses, to have fun, go out with friends, go camping, or travel.  I automate my savings, investing, and credit cards, giving every single dollar a purpose. To give you a sense of how I structure this:

1. Max out my 401(k)/ Roth 401(k) and Roth IRA every year (making sure to take advantage of any company matches).
2. Auto-deposit $1,250 into an online high-yield savings account.
3. Auto-deposit $2,000 per month into an individual brokerage account to dollar cost average into index funds and stocks. (I like to think of this as my FI/dream car fund)
4. Set up automatic payments for all credit cards and bills. This includes rent, cell phone, utilities, and credit card bills. (I use two personal credit cards, one for food/household items and one for fun, travel, or clothes). The third card is for my business. 
5. Manually deposit any surplus money (bonuses, side hustle income, etc.) for which I don’t have an immediate need for into a savings and/or money market account until I need it.

3) Having Roommates and Negotiating Housing: I’ll say this with the caveat of when I finally had my own studio, an 11th-floor corner unit in a historic downtown Chattanooga building, it was pure heaven. Being able to use the bathroom and kitchen when I wanted, using all the space in cabinets and the fridge for myself, blasting music and podcasts on speakers, and knowing it was as clean as I wanted, was simply priceless. Plus, it was the same price as sharing a 2 bedroom in downtown Denver! So there’s another tip for you, move to a state where there is no income tax, with a lower cost of living, and you increase your take-home pay right off the bat! 

One of the biggest money-saving strategies I practiced that helped me get where I am today, is living with my parents for as long as I could (Age 21-25) and then always living with a roommate. Not everyone has the luxury of being able to live with family, true. 

However, anyone can live with a roommate or two. I didn’t know anyone when I moved to Orange County, or to Denver, but I’ve lived with roommates ever since, from finding people on Craigslist! As crazy as that sounds, they were all amazing, super friendly, and clean. Some of them I am still close friends with to this day. I wish I was lucky enough to know people who lived in swanky high-rise condos and needed roommates, but then I think to myself what happens to a friendship when you’re not very good housemates. 

Think about it, housing is probably the biggest part of your budget, plus you are splitting utilities, internet, household supplies, and may not need to get that much furniture. Plus, you have someone at home to sign for a package or turn off the oven if you forget. Maybe you take out the trash and they check the mail twice a week. So many benefits! 

Another way, obviously, is to live with your significant other if you’re lucky to have one, which is even more savings because instead of a 2-bedroom, you can split the cost of a 1 bedroom or studio (or get cozy with a roommate, hey I don’t judge, I applaud your commitment to getting to FI! Over the course of those years, I must have saved at least $50,000 just by having a roommate. 

As far as finding a nice apartment to live in, make sure that you take advantage of move-in incentives posted by professionally managed buildings, and know you can negotiate that, along with the rent, parking, and addendums they may add. You can also use an apartment locator service, where they find an apartment that suits your needs at no cost, and can even wiggle some move-in incentives on your behalf if you’re not the “confrontational type” who easily negotiates. Newer buildings, private landlords, and tenants who need someone to take over their lease may be especially willing to go the extra mile to make a sweet deal for you, so do keep an eye out for those on sites like Facebook Marketplace, Craigslist Sublets, or services like Caretaker.com.

4) Negotiating my Salary and Finding Jobs with Performance Incentives: If you would have told me my senior year of college that I would take on sales roles in the future, I would have laughed you off as I enthusiastically continued on my dental school applications. Well, I got into dental school, realized I hated the fact that I would be spending, not earning those four years, and then maybe earning a little over six figures as I competed for patients in some plastic suburban town. Plus, my own dentist talked me out of it, and for that, I thank him dearly. 

Not only did I save a bunch of money by graduating college early and ditching dental school plans, I was able to spend time discovering my talents and interests, and realized I had a knack for building relationships, sales, and loved talking about money. It helps with the fact that I was an electronics sales rep throughout college summers, working at Sears, Circuit City, and Best Buy (dating myself for sure). So after reading personal finances books and magazines, I realized I could make as much, if not more, as a dentist in other careers that I might enjoy much more, without going into debt or staring at people’s mouths all day. 

My first job out of college was straight commission, selling life and disability income insurance (I wish I knew better and instead went into contracting or real estate and learned some applicable skills while taking advantage of depressed housing prices). It was 2010, middle of the recession, and I was living with my parents in a suburban, conservative town. Who’s going to trust this 21-year-old insurance agent or want to talk to me in the first place? But after I blew past quotas and saw the money, I sensed an opportunity. 

Each job I held after that, I made sure that it had some kind of incentive compensation where I could have some control over earning even more than my peers in the same role. I also negotiated my salary and even sign-on bonuses on all but one of my jobs, because that’s a quick way to add 5-$15,000 per year to your pocket. Want to know the best way to negotiate your salary? Well, you’ll find that in my book Financial Fives, with a little preview on this guest post I did for Partners In FIRE. 

5) I Learned How to Get Things for Free and Embraced Minimalism: Don’t worry, I’m not that guy who goes to food banks in an Escalade or hoards free samples at Costco. I’m frugal, not cheap! What I mean is that I’ve gotten everything from furniture to food, to shoes for $0. How? Well for furniture, I scoped out hotels that were undergoing renovations, and when they are spending hundreds of millions on a project, they might not care about getting anything from their used items and often will place them neatly near their dumpster area or just give them to you if you ask.

 I also found items in our package rooms when I lived in apartments, or by the dumpsters when people moved out and realized they don’t have room to take them, or had a last-minute change of heart. The furniture I got for free for my apartment in Denver, I sold to the guy taking over my lease for almost $1,000. So not only did I get use out of furniture for free, I made money on it! You can do it too, it’s fun!

For food, I realized after volunteering at several events, there would be cases and boxes of trail mix, bread, protein bars, protein powder, and pretty much any dry goods left over that the promotional teams didn’t want to take back or that cost too much to ship to the next destination. So, I’d take it home and just get creative with recipes. That honestly saved me thousands of dollars over the years, because it was shelf-stable food and I ate lots of protein bars and trail mix on the weekends when being active outdoors, or when I wanted to snack between brunch and dinner.

As far as shoes go, I would use the health incentives program at my work to use points for gift cards I could use at Nike, Nordstrom, REI or Amazon. We would get up to $500 per year by just doing things like joining fitness challenges or getting a dental cleaning, so it was easy free money! Now about minimalism, I’m also not that guy who has 2 shirts and socks with holes in them (thank goodness for Nordstrom gift cards). Minimalism for me means only having belongings that bring value and meaning to my life and investing in good quality. I have nice clothes, I drive a nice car that I enjoy, I invest in good outdoor gear for activities I enjoy and decorate my place with things given to me as gifts or that I find. I don’t buy books too often, I use the library. I don’t impulse shop, I buy things I need after comparison shopping. I don’t have 9 kitchen gadgets, I invested in a solid cast-iron skillet and an underrated blender (this thing is a warrior). I am cliche in the sense that I get more fulfillment from investing in experiences, and investing in the markets for my future freedom (and maybe a Porsche Taycan, one day, one joyous day).

Thanks for sharing Gary. As an entrepreneurial guy myself, I identify with #1 entrepreneurship. Thinking like a business owner is a great way to increase one’s value and earning power in any organization even if you are working for someone else (see #4 raising salary). #2 automating speaks to having a process and some structure around money inflows and outflows which is awesome. Housing is the largest expense for the average US household so #3 along with #5 become an impactful reduction in spend when applied over time. It is always fascinating to me to see how others think about money. What about you? What have been your top five most impactful ways to build wealth? I’d love to hear yours in the comments below?