How I Transformed My $45,000 Income into a Six-Figure Income

The following is a guest post written by FMF reader Nate. He left a comment on a recent post saying an FMF piece had encouraged him to start working on growing his career/income. He said he was on the verge of making a six-figure income (from $45k) after only a few months of putting my advice into action. I asked him to write a guest post and he agreed.

The FMF article, Five Steps to Six Figures in Seven Years stirred up a burning desire from within me to increase my income.  This article pushed me to set some pretty unrealistic (or so I thought) goals!

I have always been attracted to the idea of Financial Independence (Financial Peace).  I wanted the ability to provide a good life for my future family and help others around me in a very intentional way. I wanted the ability to quit my job… or lose my job… or create my own job, without worrying how I would pay the bills next month.  I discovered that the only tried and true method to accomplish this was to increase my income as rapidly as possible and not give all of that income away to expenses. In other words: live below my means.

At 24 years of age I decided I wanted to transform my $45,000 a year income into a 6 figure income by the time I turned 30.   I looked at the FMF article and started checking off the 5 steps required to attain a 6 figure income:

Step one: Get a high-earning degree from a good school

I had earned several bachelor’s degrees in IT and business (real estate finance and entrepreneurship) from the University of South Carolina.  Check!

Step two: Work for a name-brand employer at your first job

I worked for a large name-brand insurance company for 2 years straight out of college.  Check!

Step three: Perform

I was performing like a super star! NO I WASN’T! I actually was simply doing a good job. I was coming in at 8:30AM and staying until 4:30PM, Monday-Friday; doing everything that was asked of me in-between. 

I considered myself indispensible simply because I was good at what I was doing – and both my employer and I knew that they were getting my labor for a discounted rate.

So… half-check!

Step four: Manage your career aggressively

I wasn’t doing this as well as I thought I was at the time… Looking back on the situation, I was passively maintaining my career.

Step five: Have some luck

I have never believed in luck as people perceive it to be.  I knew that luck was when relentless preparation and skills meets the right opportunity.  I just wasn’t preparing nor positioning myself to snatch the right opportunity. At least not for a 6 FIGURE opportunity…

No check

Turning things around

I had some work to do!  I desperately needed to work on steps 3, 4 and 5 if I had a fighting chance of reaching my goal. I decided I needed to open a new business...  A great business that would give me 6 figure income potential.  I just couldn’t decide what kind of business I wanted to run. I realized I needed to start selling myself (not in a creepy way)!

Me Inc. was in business. I only needed one client who was willing to purchase my product (i.e. my employer, or possibly another employer).

A snapshot of the kinds of things I have done over the past year in pursuit of a 6 figure income:

• I married a fantastic woman (shout out to my Stephy poo!) who has supported me and pushed me to do whatever I felt necessary to win for our family.

• I began reading lots of books on leadership, teamwork, influence, career building etc.

• I actively managed my online presence (Facebook etc.). Because we all know employers look at your online presence now – it doesn’t matter if you think you are only sharing information with friends and family. My new employer aggressively vetted my online identity.

• We (my wife and I) learned how to manage money like our lives depended on it (frugal, saving, investing etc.). We built up a 6 month emergency fund (on my $45,000 income). This actually gave me the confidence to begin taking chances at work – and ultimately switch jobs (paying for all the moving expenses with cash).

• I built a credit score of over 800 – very important for any possible future job switches.

• I learned how to write a fantastic resume.

• I took on VERY high profile projects that I would have historically just casually participated in or taken orders from someone else. I worked extremely hard to exceed every deadline/responsibility I was given. I made my company tons of money in very visible ways. I also worked to save them as much money as possible. A big win here was assisting my company win a multi-million dollar contract with our largest client, with whom I had developed an outstanding relationship. I kept records of the contributions I was making (even if it was on a scratch piece of paper I threw in the office after working really late).

• I invested in relationships with people (a lot!!!). I began connecting with people in dynamic and substantial ways. They started trusting me. They started listening to me. They started reporting to me. I started networking very, very aggressively. I wasn’t simply trying to suck resources and favors out of other people. On the contrary, I focused on injecting as much value into my relationships with friends, family, co-workers and professional acquaintances as possible. I became obsessed with creating win-win situations. One of my major successes in the relationships department was befriending a VP (and later the Sr. VP) of the company I now work for.

Reaching the goal!

Nearly a year has gone by since I started outperforming at work, managing my career aggressively and preparing for the right opportunity (luck) that would lead me to a 6-figure income before I turned 30.

Two months ago I was pursued by a VP from a small/midsized IT company that had been paying attention to the valuable work I had been diligently producing for the large insurance company I had been working for.  They made me an offer for close to 6 figures with a sizable end of year bonus.  We also make about $12,000 a year in income from our rental property.

I should also mention that I make a decent side income (couple thousand dollars a year) buying things from garage sales, auctions, estate sales, friends, family and strangers and reselling them.  My wife and I go out and look for deals as a hobby.  I almost exclusively look for items that have an immediate ROI (I just purchased a computer for $5 and resold the next day for $225.00).  My wife on the other hand looks for clothes, accessories, jewelry, books, appliances and decorations etc.  She saves us tons of money by making these purchases tax free for pennies on the dollar as opposed to purchasing items at full retail.

Armed with my new salary + end of year bonus + rental income + resale of assets purchased at a discount, we are on track to making well over 6 figures this year.

WOOHOOOOO!!!!!!!!!  Live like no one else so that later you get to LIVEEEEEEE like no one else!!!!!!!!!

Comments

[J in FL]

That's awesome! I plan on being there someday soon.

[Carlos]

GREAT!! Are you happy? Does money bring happiness? How about reaching out to help someone? That will bring you and your wife the greatest happiness ever!

[Peter]

Good going. Congratulations to you.
What books did you read?

[Jeff]

Wow, that's a great story! I concur with Carlos about giving back. I'd love to read another post from you some months from now about how you accomplished your next goal of helping others.

[Christy]

Hard work and motivation pays off. Thanks for sharing your story!

[Tyler]

Truly Awesome. Would you say "I invested in relationships with people" was the most important? Is there one thing that was the most important? Do you think getting married changed your motivation?

Clearly your attitude changed and you went from a B or C employee to an A employee. The difference between C and A employees is minor changes but the compensation is substantially different.

[Nate]

Thanks everyone!

Concerning giving back:

My wife and I are serial givers - we are absolutely obsessed with it (I think to a fault sometimes). We give to our local church, other non-profits, but especially to individuals in need.
The computer I purchased at a yard sale for $5 and sold for $225 is being used to give back to others in a very creative way that I am super excited about.

I have taken that $225 and am making a couple other high ROI asset purchases in the next few weeks that should transform that money into (hopefully) something like $700-$800.
Once I have that money in hand, I am going to probably go to a local car auction and purchase a well-running used car. I will clean this car up and make a few repairs.

Then my wife and I will listen around for a little while and find someone who is pushing hard at life and really making a genuine effort to get ahead. I don't want this person to know who my wife and I are; except that I greeted them with a smile and tossed them the keys + title to a car (with a copy of Dave Ramsey's Total Money Makeover in the passenger’s seat of course).

I absolutely CAN NOT wait until I get to do this (this will be a wonderful 25th birthday present)!

[Nate]

Hey Peter!

I have to jump into a meeting - but I wanted to quickly list a few of the books I read:

Dave Ramsey’s Financial Peace University had the absolute biggest impact on my finances and my career:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_nkw=dave+ramsey+financial+peace+university&_sacat=0&_odkw=dave+ramsey&_osacat=0&bkBtn=&_trksid=p3286.m270.l1311

Also check him out on Hulu (for free!) if you want some great financial (and career) advice:

http://www.hulu.com/search?query=dave+ramsey&st=0

Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez:

Your Money or Your Life

John Maxwell:

The Winning Attitude
Developing the Leaders Around You
Becoming a Person of Influence
Everyone Communicates, Few Connect: What the Most Effective People Do Differently

Dale Carnegie:

How to Win Friends and Influence People

[Robert M]

Fantastic story Nate! Have you read "Linchpin" yet? You're now a linchpin where you previously weren't.

Without your "Money Makeover" knowledge, even if you had increased your income before, you likely would have succumbed to lifestyle inflation and wasted it all. Now you're on the road to FI and maybe even FIRE!

My wife and I made it past six figures a couple of years ago, paid off the house last year, and now we're saving buckets of money for that FIRE goal. Good luck in your journey - it seems you're now prepared for it. :)

[Nate]

Tyler,

You are so on the money with your comments. Relationship enrichment was probably the most important component for my career development; no - for my LIFE development. I truly have meaningful relationships in general (with family, friends, co-workers, business contacts, acquaintances etc.). The key was to stop focusing on ME (being selfish) and work toward being a person that people enjoy being around, a person they can trust, respect and can count on! I would say this is especially true considering I don’t think of myself as a very smart person (at least academically). I say all the time that my wife is way smarter than me in terms of shear academic ability.

A first place tie for most important would be control of our finances. My wife and I BOTH have strong control over our finances. Although I am currently the primary breadwinner*, we consider every cent that comes into our household to be both of ours. This allows us to both take ownership in our financial responsibilities and goals!

* Not for long! My wife just graduated with a master’s degree in special needs education (I am so proud!!!).

[bb]

This site breaks on IE!?

[Money Reasons]

Great story, and great re-focus of energy!

Sounds like you have picked a great spouse too! With the encouragement and support of a great spouse, you are really a unit/team of 2 trying to advance yourselves as instead of 1.

Kudos to you, and here's wishing you the best!!!

[RJ]

Great story. Shows that it takes time but it can be done.

[jim]

Good job Nate.

[jon]

Nice job. My only question is what is your work load like now? How many hours?

[Nate]

Jon,

I work 50-60 hours a week onsite = just started with the company 2 months ago. I anticipate working 40-50 hours a week in the future with 2 days from home, 3 days onsite.

[Budgeting in the Fun Stuff]

Congrats Nate! Uber-congrats on finding Stephy-poo!!! A fantastic relationship makes everything you do that much better...solid foundation and all that jazz, lol. Congrats!!!

[sunil]

Nate,

Wow is all I can say after reading this.

Keep pushing hard and make those cylinders fire like you have been. Do well in/with your career, pursue your passion on the side like you have been, build and enjoy your relationships and do not forget to give give give! All the best to you and may your success continue to go and grow.