(No, I did not go buy a Rolls Royce and blow $5,000 on a Napa Valley vacation..just happened to be at this resort while the upper crust was taking test drives).
Readers of Financial Fives, dear frugal friends, I am excited to share that I can finally join the ranks of many FI bloggers and enthusiasts to say I'm officially a member of the 7 Figure Club! On top of that, passive income from dividends, interest and side business income is enough to cover housing, food, transportation and other fixed costs.
I was prompted by the shift away from Mint.com, as I always had issues with syncing accounts. Then, when Credit Karma took over, I downloaded the app and had some similar syncing issues. I love Credit Karma and how it allows us to look at our dashboard along with your credit score. The app is well done, it's just hard to look at everything itemized in my view. But after manually adding the account that was missing, I saw it:
The Moment of Truth
That being said, I figured why not just create my own spreadsheet, that way I can hold myself accountable to update it and follow along with my progress on a more regular basis. So, I used our handy dandy Google Sheets program to create one, and BOOM, there it was. After listing all my accounts, I saw that beautiful double-comma number in the SUM section!
Keep in mind this doesn't include certain things like joint assets, my wife's assets, our cars, personal items, or business interests.
Creating this spreadsheet was also beneficial for tax time. Have any of you ever forgotten about a little 1099 or dividend check you received?
However, listing out all places where you received income or had a taxable transaction can help make sure you don't forget, as well as referencing your previous year's tax return. I like how can also insert checkboxes in the columns, so it's easier to keep track as you collect tax documents each year.
So, Did I Go Out and Buy a Sports Car?
(This was my car from age 25 to age 32, and I miss her dearly...one day I'll get something like it again)
I now know how bittersweet celebrating this milestone is, and understand how some FI'ers didn't celebrate too extravagantly. Some people didn't even realize when they became millionaires! (Casual flex, must be nice). Others have simply enjoyed a bottle of wine or hugged their partner.
It was nice to relish the moment and have some time to myself to take it in. I just sat with a smile on my face and had flashbacks to my younger self and the amazing years of the 2010s in my mind. I high-fived and hugged my wife. I jammed out to my playlist for a bit, and I texted my mom proof. This weekend was also nice to spend with friends and be reminded it's the simple things in life that not having money concerns truly allows you to enjoy.
If you read my CNBC article a few years ago when I had just published Financial Fives, I was in the half-million club. So in just over 3 years, I doubled that. How? Read my book! No seriously, I practiced what I preach and all of those tips helped me live a fulfilling and enjoyable life, while still progressing toward financial independence.
Keep in mind, it's not like I didn't hit any bumps in the road. As anyone with experience will tell you, looking back it's not a straight line up from $0 to $ 1 million, it's peaks and valleys, or more like troughs and plateaus sprinkled in.
(A riverfront home with a running/bike trail out the front door? Paradise to me)
I didn't buy real estate when it was super cheap, I didn't start a side hustle until later, I thought I could time the st ock market and sold when I thought it was frothy, I bought individual stocks, and I lived in nice places (I consider it conscious spending, you gotta love where you live otherwise how can you get out of bed and work every day?)
All in all, thank you for your readership and for coming along this journey with me. I started Financial Fives to share what I've learned and make personal finance fun, and I'm looking forward to seeing what the future holds for all of us.
Despite a gloomy outlook on the economy, stubborn inflation, high interest rates, a weird labor market, and sky high real estate/stock prices, there is a lot to look forward to. We might be facing difficult times ahead, so if you work to give yourself the gift of financial stability, life becomes just that much easier.