Andrea Wallace, 29, and her husband, 31, bought their first home when she was 19, became millionaires when she was 28, and own three properties. They’ve managed to do all that while never making more than about $200,000 combined in yearly income from work.
Wallace, a stay-at-home mom in Phoenix, was frugal from a young age. She saved $10,000 by the time she went to college and used that for a downpayment on her first home. She and her husband got married and had children young, and they house-hacked by renting out parts of their homes. They rarely spent above their means and built their wealth over the last six years from her husband’s tech job and Wallace’s side income.
Wallace said they didn’t do anything extraordinary to get to where they are. Still, they both expect to formally retire by 35 and pursue nontraditional careers once they reach FIRE — financial independence, retire early — meaning they don’t need to rely on work to live comfortably.
“I’m more on the page of believing in the FI over FIRE because I don’t think that there’s anybody who steps away at this young of an age who never makes an income,” Wallace said. “I don’t think it’s healthy to never make an income.”
Buying a home at 19
Wallace said her parents grew up lower-class, but her dad worked his way to owning a business. He encouraged her to value hard work and strive for higher-paying roles.
Wallace started dating her husband in middle school, around the time she started working at her parents’ Hallmark store. She said she rarely spent money as a child and “always had that delayed gratification muscle built.”
“If there was ever anything I wanted, I was always very much of the mindset of waiting until my birthday,” Wallace said. “I had $10,000 saved up by the time I went off to college.”
She recalled browsing million-dollar houses on Zillow in high school for fun, asking her dad questions about how much it would take to buy a house. After conversing with her parents, she realized that becoming a homeowner wouldn’t be too difficult if she planned it correctly.
Shortly after starting college at 19, Wallace used her work savings to put a downpayment on her first home with her then-boyfriend. The $10,000 was enough for an initial downpayment on a $150,000 house. Her parents taught her about FHA loans and co-signed with her, as she didn’t have any income while in college.
“I trusted my dad’s knowledge in that area, and so it became, why don’t I just try to make this happen myself?” Wallace said.
She said she got into house hacking before she knew what it was. They rented out two rooms, which covered most of the mortgage, and she estimated net housing costs totaled below $200 a month for the four years before they moved. They also had a roommate who lived with them until they had their first child at 23.
“We got our first house young, but we didn’t buy all new furniture; we furnished it with hand-me-downs and thrift store finds,” Wallace said. “We lived like true poor college students for many years. We house-hacked until we had enough built up to buy our next house without selling.”
Building their wealth
Wallace and her husband got married when she was 20 and he was 22. As a junior in college, she stumbled across the FIRE movement and realized there was a large community of younger Americans who were also heavy savers.
After graduating, Wallace worked as a graphic designer while her husband worked in tech. They had enough money from work and savings to purchase a larger house when she was 22 and have their first child at 23. They house-hacked their second home and always had enough rental income to cover their housing costs.
Wallace became a stay-at-home mom while her husband worked his way up the corporate ladder in tech, now making about $150,000 yearly. Wallace picked up some freelance graphic design work and taught classes at Arizona State University, which she said pays a few thousand dollars here and there.
They had their second child when Wallace was 26, the same year they bought their third and current home, converting the second home fully to a rental. The third home was larger than the previous two.
“We weren’t looking at buying a house, but we looked at what we could rent our second house for, and it was pretty much the same as the mortgage on what I considered our dream house that was the size that we wanted in a good neighborhood for our kids,” Wallace said.
They bought solar panels and energy-efficient appliances for their home, estimating they would have zero electricity costs in five years. Between their three homes, which total $1.9 million in value, they have about $850,000 in equity, and they don’t plan on paying them off early as interest rates on them are below 3.5%.
“We don’t ever plan on selling these houses,” Wallace said. “When you buy and sell, you have to pay for those closing costs, and since we’ve had the homes while we lived in them, the rent has increased based on where the mortgage payment is. We don’t have the goal of building a big real estate portfolio; it’s just benefiting from the situations we were in.”
Becoming millionaires
They hit their first half-million in 2021 and became millionaires in 2022, bringing their net worth above $1.2 million this year. They have about $350,000 in 401(k)s and Roth IRAs, though Wallace said they’re building liquid assets for when they step away from traditional work, such as taxable investment accounts or cash reserves.
Wallace estimates they spend about $5,000 a month on fixed costs in Phoenix, which she said is fairly expensive but nowhere near the cost in the big California cities. When they first had children, they only ate out once a week and were meticulous about grocery spending, though recently, they’ve been going out to eat more frequently. She estimates they spend about $1,000 a month on food.
They plan on paying off their car by the end of the year. They often purchase clothes and household items at thrift stores or cheaper big box stores, bringing their shopping total to under $2,000 a month. They reserve some money for family activities like escape rooms or entertainment venues.
Their youngest child is in preschool, which costs about $900 monthly. She estimates they spend between $300 to $500 on activities for their children through their school district, and she expects them to attend public school.
After comfortably exceeding the one million net worth threshold, Wallace said they became more intentional about “letting go of the gas and loosening the purse strings.”
“We have young kids right now, and enjoying time with them is the most important thing,” Wallace said. “We now eat out a lot more, pay for a gym membership with childcare, buy things I would have tried to make myself, and pay for more experiences and trips. It’s crazy how it doesn’t feel like it makes that big of a dent in our finances because we’ve done all the big things right.”
Wallace said they plan to stay in Phoenix for a while, despite the rising cost of living and the excessive heat. They both plan on retiring in four years but anticipate working in part-time roles that better align with their passions. Wallace said she wants to spend more time with her children while they’re still young, adding that her husband may keep his job but scale back.
She anticipates them aiming for Lean FIRE, or being able to retire early on a lean budget, meaning she would still have some active income sources. She anticipates growing her blog, pursuing freelance graphic design projects, or teaching a high school course on finances. Her husband may pivot to game design or app building.
“No matter what we will reach FI at a very young age, so we’re playing about with where to spend more to increase life enjoyment,” Wallace said.
Are you part of the FIRE movement or living by some of its principles? Reach out to this reporter at nsheidlower@businessinsider.com.
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