How I became a millionaire

On his blog Root of God, Mr. McCurry shared details about his 10-year investment and savings process, since he graduated from college.

1 year

In 2004, I graduated from law school and started working for a small construction consulting company with a starting salary of $48,000 a year.

Since we were in college, we have had a few small accumulated investments.

By the end of 2004, our portfolio had $64,000.

Year 2

Mr. McCurry’s family on a trip to Mexico.

2005 was a year of big changes for us.

My salary was raised to $49,000.

Year 3

In 2006, we gave birth to our second child. My wife received 3 months of paid leave and two months of unpaid leave.

Meanwhile, my salary increased to $55,000 a year.

Year 4

In 2007, we both got a raise.

By the end of the year, the amount of money in this account had increased to 371,000 USD, including 10,000 USD in profit thanks to the rising stock market.

Year 5

2008 was a big year in my career.

But our investment account this year is only 304,000 USD.

Year 6

In 2009, the company I worked for, and the industry in general, were affected by the financial crisis.

My income was reduced by 6%, to $60,000.

In March 2009, the stock market bottomed and began to recover.

Year 7

In 2010, my income returned to 64,000 USD.

My wife did not change jobs, and was even promoted.

We left the kids at home, and traveled to Argentina and Uruguay.

This year, thanks to savings and investment in the stock market, we added another 68,000 USD to our account.

Year 8

In early 2011, I started a new job, with a salary of 68,000 USD a year.

This year, the stock market was not very good, causing us to lose $50,000.

Year 9

This is a fairly quiet year in terms of income for both husband and wife.

Even so, investments still bring decent profits.

Then my wife gave birth to a third child. This means the tax burden is a little lighter.

Year 10

In 2013, I didn’t get a single raise.

I finally know what it feels like to have my wife earn more money than me.

Then my job contract was terminated.

By the end of the year, we completed our goal of having 1,244,000 USD in our account.

Year 11

In addition to blogging, I also received invitations to write a few freelance stories and earned $12,000 in 2014. Actually, I never placed much importance on making money after retirement.

My wife continues to excel at work.

We continue to invest this year.

We both decided that this year, my wife will quit her job.

To sum up, we are completely financially independent.

Both husband and wife have never touched a 6-figure salary.

We don’t have company stock options, don’t work for a public company, won the lottery, or have an inheritance.

Every year, we save up to half of our income.

In 10 years, our total salary was less than $1.2 million.

In short, you can follow the following, if you want to be financially independent:

1. Save and invest early, even if you don’t have any specific goals.

2. Don’t go to financial experts, just pour money into low-cost index funds.

3. Track your spending and investments with Excel or other free tools, like Personal Capital.

4. Continue saving and investing even when the market is at its worst.

5. Don’t spend wastefully when you get a raise.

6. Always save.