I was also wondering about the math, but figured she made a killing on the stock market. Nope, she invested in VTI which has a 3-year return of 13%.
So she saved about 19k for 2 years (27% of 70k, but probably less), earned maybe 4k in capital gains, another 8k from her side hustle and somehow 50k turns into 100k for an article…
But still, anybody who can save 50k in 3 years in their early 20’s is to be commended.
Gee. I too could save 100k in 3 years if I made double what I make now and had no student debt. Must be nice.
I’m always happy when people are saving but there’s no real magic trick here. She gets paid way more than the average college grad and had no student debt (a rarity). She’s a financial unicorn.
Yeah, click on her Instagram. Pictures of her on the Amalfi Coast and London. “I’m in Europe celebrating my $100K, taking my first real vacation in more than two years.” In July 2017 she was posting pictures of herself at waterfalls in Costa Rica, and in Vegas the month before that. Posts throughout the past couple of years about staying at pricey resorts, getting couples massages, and having brunch. Someone asked in 2017, “How often do you get to travel a year?” She replied, “Usually once+ a month (sometimes for work, sometimes for personal)”
So at least two international vacations since graduation? Not exactly sound financial advice for the average person trying to save. Nice to see someone who’s focused on ways to maximize their financial nest egg but I have to imagine she has family money.
BTW, she’s not a fan of Dave Ramsey.
I love the Almafi Coast 
. We were in Italy way before kids.
Personally can’t wait till my Senior and junior in college graduate so we can start to put more money away… It’s been awhile with college and life.
No wonder she doesn’t like Dave Ramsey. He probably used her as an example of a scammer who is telling people that they too can save tons of money in their twenties, while enjoying luxury international travel and massages. All they have to do is give up paying for the little things, like makeup. And sign up for her “counseling”.
How easily people fall prey to scams.
From the article:
Basically her side “hustle” nets $4000 monthly. If she lives off her salary and banks her side income, then that is +$48,000 annually – and that’s assuming the “past couple of months” is representative. And it’s quite possible that by “net” she is referring to net after taxes (rather than simply net after expenses) – and she’s probably taking advantage of her self-employment status to charge off a lot of expenses as business writeoffs – plus self-employed health insurance deduction, writeoffs for self-employed retirement contributions, etc.
She’s also counting the retirement funds as part of the $100K:
Given that she seems to be using the meme about saving $100K in a short time as a focal point in marketing her side gig (it’s even part of her domain name & business name) – I think its a message she is hyping – with the help of media which is willing to buy into her hype. She does seem to be quite talented at branding and marketing herself.
I think her “side hustle” is the one making her the money. Strange, I googled her and found an article from February she wrote that says:
And yet, this article says that she managed to get through school without any student loans. I’m sure there’s a reason for this discrepancy. She must have been misquoted. Perhaps the additional income unaccounted for is coming from her husband.
I’m slightly impressed with her marketing, but annoyed at the whole concept of not being transparent. something’s going on that’s not forthright.
My s15 is now working, in a midwest city, has no loans, and is making good money. I’ll bet if he WANTED he could save that much. but boy, it would not mean taking trips, getting rid of his hipster car, and maybe moving back home for a year or so. (that’s not going to happen!) Reading through this all is encouraging me to chat with him about talking to someone on best savings vehicles; we’re not much help right now after 8 yrs of college and 9 more to go. :neutral:
@busdriver11 ^That’s from a blog by a woman named Marissa Lyda whose site is called The Budgeting Wife. There’s a link to it on Tori Dunlap’s site.
BTW, I do think she’s a talented marketer. I’d hire her in that roll.
Thanks, @Sue22, that was very confusing. Sounded like the writer of the story got many details wrong, which made little sense.
She is definitely a talented marketer. She could probably have a great career helping kids market themselves into their dream colleges, if she wanted. I’d imagine her side gig is more profitable, however.
I don’t have anything against saving money. Actually it’s a great thing.
I think @busdriver11 and I are on the same wavelength 
*role, not roll!
Yeah, well, it’s much less challenging to save money when you come from the upper class. My daughters, ages 23, and 24, both have about $150K+ saved. We didn’t give them that money, and they don’t have high-paying jobs. How did they do it? The savings bonds that family members gave them as infants (not a very large amount) were invested in the stock market and appreciated. They didn’t have to touch those, or any personal savings, for college costs. They had no student loans. They had family help buying cars and furniture, and still are not paying their own car insurance (although that will change soon). They both had jobs in college, and used that income to add to a Roth. They have Cadillac health insurance, in one case through an employer (who also pays for cell phone and car), and in the other through my employer. They got a nice little chunk of money in the form of cash graduation gifts from family members. Sure, they were very responsible with their money and they invested it. D1, who has not lived at home since freshman year of college, budgets scrupulously. But they could not have gotten to where they are without winning the birth lottery. This is not real life for the vast majority of college grads.
Slow your role @Sue22 !!
Wow @sue22 Those Ramsey comments are pretty awful. My ds and dil are huge Ramsey fans. Our ds is 30 and married with 4 kids. They pay cash for everything except they took out a mortgage for their house that they bought 3 yrs ago. Dil is a SAHM. But, they keep their budget tight. They are serious about not spending 1 cent beyond what is budgeted.
Following Dave Ramsey’s advice, they have 6 months cash in an emergency fund, ds is fully vested in his retirement fund, and they will have their 3600 sq ft house paid off in 2 1/2 more yrs. (so at 32, he will have approx $300k equity in his home.) He plans on investing in rental properties in a few yrs with hopes of retiring from his current job in about 15.
We are super impressed by their approach. They are way more financially savvy than we were at their ages. If Ramsey can encourage young adults to be that financially responsible, I am a sidelines fan. We are rooting for them! (I couldn’t live as frugally as they do. It is all about setting and keeping goals.)
(And we did not help them get “started.” Ds graduated from college without debt bc those are our family’s values. No loans, not even student loans. But, buying cars, etc…that came from working/co-oping. He did have use of our old Astro (it was on its last leg) during his co-op months, and it died shortly thereafter. He bought his own car with cash saved from his co-op. We didn’t pay for phones or anything else after jr yr bc they got married before his sr yr and he was fully financially independent by that point. His co-op company provided full benefits and scholarship $$ for his sr yr.)
It’s unfortunate that the article has gotten the “facts” jumbled and given free publicity to someone that may not be “deserving.”
Our relative has had a side job since he started college. Most years, he earns about 2x his engineering salary at it (pre-tax). Because he graduated from college debt free, he’s been able to save a significant sum, even while paying $2k+/month in rent. He travels (has been to many more international destinations than me), and seems to have a nice work/life balance.
Yes, graduating from college debt-free and landing a job with good benefits and a nice salary really helps, as does having a profitable side job.
Well, there are lots of people who don’t like Ramsey and think he’s misogynistic. She’s not alone.
Nor is Ramsey’s advice on living within one’s means, having an emergency fund, maximizing retirement savings, etc. new and unique.
I think she may be exaggerating slightly, but not entirely made up numbers.
She saves 27% of her $77k salary, which is about $21k. She didn’t say that was all she saved, and she didn’t say she started at $0 (remember, she made $11k from candy machines from age 9-18, so why wouldn’t she keep making that money?). She makes about $4k/mo on her web business and probably saves all of that, so that’s $48k in 2 years
If she has employer matching her 401k, and the balance on the statement it her 27% and her employer match and her gains from the market, I think she’s entitled to claim that full amount toward her $100k savings goal.
Now I don’t understand why she says she’s single and never goes anywhere and the other quotes say she’s married and travels the world. It costs twice as much to lead a double life.
A few posts up someone clarified that it was someone else with a husband not this young woman.