| | | | | Hi there!
2020 is the year of embracing career changes, tackling home makeovers, and evaluating where your money is coming from — and where it's going. Basically, this year is all about using what money you have to enact change in your life. So what's more inspiring than reading the stories of people who have made major financial changes in their lives? We're talking about starting businesses and plotting early retirements, or cutting expenses by moving into a van. (Yes, really.) These stories offer proof that even if your life seems set on a certain path right now, there are still options available to you. Your financial goals can change at any point, and what better time to evaluate them than at the tail end of the year? | | | |
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| | | THE STORY | These Modern Nomads Are Spending Up to $50,000 to Turn Their Wheels Into Full-Time Homes
| | Would you live in an old school bus? What if it was fully renovated — and drastically cut down your bills? That idea appealed to Daniel Young, a 26-year-old photographer based in Los Angeles, who's been chronicling his adventure buying, renovating, and living in an old-school bus. "I can live in whatever city I want and I'm not tied down financially," says Young. "As long as I have the bus, I'll have a place to live without paying rent." After spending $8,000 on the van and renovations, his bus now has a bed, kitchen, and workspace. (He's expecting the full renovation to clock in at $20,000.) Young is part of a growing group of people choosing to ditch #rentlife for #vanlife and save money along the way. He suggests scouting used vans on Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace and setting a budget for any upgrades and preparing for unexpected costs. (The electrical system was pricey.) But total freedom and fewer bills? That might be an idea worth considering. | | | | | | |
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| | | THE EXPERT | How Bola Sokunbi Is Taking
Clever Girl Finance to the Next LeveL | "I came as a first-generation immigrant to America, and because of everything my parents had sacrificed for me to go to college, I just wanted to make them proud," says Bola Sokunbi, whose financial journey started after college, when she saved an incredible $100,000 in just three years on her pre-tax income of $54,000. She did it by keeping expenses low, contributing to her employer-provided retirement plan, saving at least 40% of each paycheck, and starting a photography side hustle. As a Black woman and an immigrant, representation is a core value Sokunbi says is critical to financial education, writes Kendall Little. "It's easier to stay motivated with your aspirations when you see other people like you who have accomplished what you're trying to accomplish," she says. "It lowers the barrier to entry." She's since grown her business, Clever Girl Finance into a suite of free online courses, videos, podcasts, and coaching sessions. And her latest book, Grow Your Money was one of NextAdvisor's best money books of 2020.
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| | | THE GUIDE | | How This 38-Year Old Investor Went From $150,000 in Debt to a Net Worth of $370,000 | Yes, you read that right. And Delyanne Barros has a plan to retire in just seven years at age 45. Barros came to the United States as a child from Brazil, and spent much of her life in Miami as an undocumented immigrant, writes Alex Gailey. She was eventually able to go to law school, but when she graduated in 2008, she had $150,000 in student debt and no wealth to her name. She was earning $65,000 a year and struggling to keep up with the cost of living and her student loans. But in 2019, after getting a bump in her salary, she came across the FIRE movement ("Financial Independence, Retire Early"), which encouraged her to open a brokerage account, pay off her student loans as quickly as possible, and plan for her future. Now? She's now teaching financial literacy to the Latinx community as @delyannethemoneycoach and wants people to understand all the options available to them.
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| | | THE BOTTOM LINE | How you started isn't how you have to finish. Surveying your options, making a life change, and surrounding yourself with the right resources can lead you to a new future.
| More soon,
The NextAdvisor Team | | | |
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great tips like these. | | | | | |  | | |
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