From an annual salary of $ 50,000 to financial independence

Nicole Victoria is 30 years old – and a millionaire. She wasn’t always good at dealing with money, however.

After graduation, she had student loan debts and did not save or invest much.

But then she took her financial goals more seriously: she paid off the loan, invested in ETFs, and cut her spending.

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Nicole Victoria is many things: mother, wife, money coach, real estate agent, TikTok influencer and advocate of financial education – among other things. She is also 30 years old and a millionaire. Victoria currently lives and works in Canada and her current net worth is roughly $ 1,001,148.

That wasn’t always their reality. “I did what I thought I should be doing: I went to university, graduated with a huge student loan, then got a company job,” she says. “I really thought I would have all the success, all the luck and all the wealth.” However, she soon realized that just making money did not bring her the triumphs she had hoped for. After graduating from college, Victoria made $ 50,000 a year, had $ 40,000 in student loans, and had trouble managing her money. She didn’t invest and her saving strategy was to see what was left at the end of the month.

She was spending more and more money on things that made her look successful – like designer pieces – without working towards any of her long-term goals. She actually wanted to be able to pay for her wedding, buy a house or feel financially secure enough to have children. “At the time, I was really sad that I couldn’t achieve these goals. But when I look back, I didn’t even really work towards them, ”she says. “I just followed a kind of ‘hope-wish-pray’ approach.”

Victoria thought her financial problems would go away if she just made more money: “I thought, ‘Maybe the problem is that I just need a promotion'”. But the people who earned more than them didn’t seem happier – and they all faced the same problems: difficulty entering the housing market; Difficulty managing their money. “I realized that more money wouldn’t solve my problems if I didn’t know how to deal with them. And so I created this new model for myself, thinking, ‘You can be rich if you make $ 40,000 a year, and broke if you make $ 100,000’. Because in reality it’s all about what you do with it. “

So Victoria started learning as much about personal finance as possible. She paid off her debt, began investing, grew her net worth to over a million dollars, and built the life she wanted.

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She repaid her student loans using the avalanche method

When Victoria began working out her debt, she used what she calls the “ICE” method. This stands for “Illuminating, Cutting Costs and Education”, that is, “Illuminating, reducing expenditure, education”. The first step in this process is to analyze your shoulders. “It’s about understanding how much you owe, what the interest rates are, and what the minimum payments are,” she explains.

Next, she cut back on her expenses. However, she didn’t minimize the things she enjoyed. Instead, whenever possible, she reduced all payments. “One of my favorite ways to cut costs without changing your lifestyle is to switch,” she says. “I check all of my bills twice a year – life insurance, internet, phone, all of those things.”

Finally, she continued her education. After studying debt settlement strategies, Victoria settled her debts using the avalanche method, where the debt with the highest interest rate is paid first. “From a purely mathematical point of view, that makes more sense.”

She invested in the real estate market and in ETFs

“I didn’t wait for 100 percent of my loan to be paid off to invest,” she says. “I think you have to think about putting your money where it works most for you.” Victoria started out by investing in the housing market. She bought her first home with the aim of building wealth while paying off her debts. “I bought in an area and a building that I thought was undervalued and that I knew would have more value,” she says.

Instead of renting the house, Victoria lived in it and watched the value go up. “It wasn’t my first choice; it wasn’t the house of my dreams. It was the house that I knew would help me achieve my dreams, ”she says. Two years later she sold the house for a profit of about 150,000 Canadian dollars. In Canada, where Victoria lives, there is a primary residence tax exemption so she did not have to pay tax on profits. She is currently using the same strategy again for her current primary residence. “Most people don’t think about investing their own property.”

Victoria also invests in exchange traded funds (ETFs). “I’m not trying to buy individual stocks. I think that’s gambling, ”she says. “I only buy ETFs so that my money can make money for me.”

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She lives below her possibilities

Even though she is now a millionaire, Victoria still has goals that she wants to achieve with her money. She wants to work less so she can spend more time with her family. And she never wants to have to do anything just for money. “I think it’s really important that when people set a financial goal, they don’t just target number,” she says. Your financial goals have more to do with lifestyle, freedom, and comfort.

To achieve these goals, she lives below what she can and only spends money on the things that give her real pleasure. “I’m not afraid of any expense for my son,” she says. But she drives a Kia, shops at Walmart, and bought a house on a significantly lower mortgage than she was pre-approved. She is careful to enjoy life and spend money on the things that give her pleasure, but never in excess.

Victoria says, “The most important thing for most people is to find out what ‘enough’ means to them.”

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Do you want to get out of the hamster wheel? This is the advice of a woman who gave up her job 12 years ago and followed her passion

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This article was translated from English by Steffen Bosse. You can find the original here.

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