Industry: Technology/engineering
Age: 27
Location: Greater Boston Area
Salary: $185,000
Joint Income/Financial Setup: Our joint income is $360,000. We share a SoFi savings account and use it to pay our joint expenses.
Personal Assets
Chase Checking: $5,289.44
Ally Savings: $5,101.90
Ally Investments: $59,213.36
Fidelity retirement accounts: $128,204.57 (I have just about every single type of retirement account you can possibly have because I was self-employed while working a full-time job for the first year after college).
401k: $52.084.27 (from my current job that I’m soon leaving).
HSA: $7,896.48
Joint Assets
SoFi Savings: $34,611.71
Condo: $532,438 (according to Redfin).
Car: $10,000
Debt: $335,324.33 (mortgage).
Paycheck Amount (2x month): $4471.5 (after taxes, health insurance, and contributions to retirement accounts).
Pronouns: She/her
Monthly Expenses
Housing Costs: $2406.09 (for a condo my fiancé and I own).
Loan Payments: $0
Netflix: $7.99
Classpass: $55
Pet insurance: $18
Utilities: $70-450 (winter is brutal for the cost of utilities in Boston).
Internet: $45
Phone: $0 (I’m on a family plan).
Savings: I automate $1000 per month from my checking account to my savings account, but I had to pause this to pay down all the wedding vendor deposits, which halved my savings account.
Yearly Expenses
Botanical Garden Patron Membership: $300
Exponent Membership: $100
Chase Sapphire Preferred Fee: $95
Was there an expectation for you to attend higher education? Did you participate in any form of higher education? If yes, how did you pay for it?
Yes, my dad is a professor/researcher who has a PhD in Chemical Engineering, and my mom got her Bachelor’s degree in Math. They were both first-gen college students. I got my B.S. in Math and Physics and my M.S. in Data Analytics. I had a full-ride scholarship in undergrad in addition to attending a college where my dad taught, and that gave me free tuition. The leftover money from the scholarship just went straight to me, and I used most of it for my half of the down payment for my mortgage.
Growing up, what kind of conversations did you have about money? Did your parent(s) educate you about finances?
We didn’t have conversations; it was mostly my mom yelling at us saying I couldn’t go to my friends’ birthday parties because she couldn’t afford a gift. While my dad was doing his PhD, money was extremely tight since he was making $28K. A lot of the time we would just eat instant ramen for dinner and McDonald’s for road trips (back when McDonald’s was actually cheap). I don’t think my parents were the worst with money, but you can’t budget your way out of poverty. My younger sister is 10 years younger than me and grew up in a far more lavish lifestyle than I did because my dad then got a six-figure job and my family bought a house. I had to educate myself on things like 401ks and stocks using the internet. I watched YouTube videos from Graham Stephan (whom I find a little problematic now), but it was still helpful to start, even if his advice isn’t perfect. I think that’s the biggest lesson I learned from my financial journey that kind of applies to everything: it’s important to just start.
What was your first job and why did you get it?
My first job was the summer right before college working as an international cultural adjustment coordinator for the university I attended to help international graduate students adapt to life in the U.S. The hiring manager said I got the job because I was trilingual (English, Mandarin, and Spanish). This meant mostly translating and filling out paperwork, but I also led several workshops on etiquette and slang, which was kind of fun, and I learned a lot about Indian culture since many of the grad students were Indian. It’s a job I’ve been doing for my parents for my whole life so it was pretty easy. I applied for the job for extra spending money and because I get bored easily and wanted to leave the house.
Did you worry about money growing up?
Yes, it was a constant worry since my mom never had a full-time job growing up. At times, I resented her for it because all of my other friends were in dual-income families (and upper-middle class) and for most of my childhood, we were under the poverty line because my dad was a PhD student (that income is not meant to support a family). I thought with her Bachelor’s degree in Math, she could get a job as a math teacher but she was never able to pass the exams. Now I understand it’s very difficult to get a job, especially if English isn’t your first language, and she wanted to devote her full attention to her three kids.
Do you worry about money now?
A little, but logically speaking, I know I shouldn’t be. A couple of months ago I was so frustrated with my past job that I was about to just quit and look for a job full-time, but then I got an offer and started a new job. So I guess I feel comfortable quitting my job without one lined up nowadays.
At what age did you become financially responsible for yourself and do you have a financial safety net?
I was financially responsible for myself since I was 18 because I had income from scholarships, internships, and the tuition waiver. I have money in two savings accounts and my fiancé is another source of income I can rely on if I really hate my job and want to quit.
Do you or have you ever received passive or inherited income? If yes, please explain.
Other than the little dividends I get in stock, no. My fiancé’s dad will give us $30,000 for the wedding next year if that counts.