The Truth About Making $65,000 Per Year at 27
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How did Melissa build a $61,000 net worth on a $65,000 salary by age 27?
Total net worth right now at about $61,000. So you already have a net worth roughly equal to your income that automatically puts you different than a number of your peers.
I will tell you, the inflection of your voice doesn't have the confidence it should have for all the good decisions you've got. You're kind of a baller.
Maybe don't get too excited. This is like where I've made a bit some mistakes in my past. I didn't know what investing was, but I knew what a C D was. So I just put it in a CD. Oh wow. Oh
wow. Where are you living mostly? 'Cause you've been all over the place based upon your financial statements.
Yeah. Um, so I grew up in Louisiana, like outside of Shreveport, then moved to Mississippi for college. After college, I got a job in Philadelphia with a company who I'm still with the company, hitting five years on Sunday. And after about a year there, they offered to move me to London. And at the time I was twenty-three and I was like, no one gets this opportunity. I have to say yes.
What's the job? What is the thing? I
work in travel security, so if you're
like pack and heat?
No.
Okay.
But sometimes I hire people Jason Bourne is
what I'm asking. That's what he wants to know.
No, it's um if you work for sometimes usually bigger corporations, study abroad, and then NGOs are our main clientele, and we do their health and security abroad. So on my side, I work in security assistance. So if you're going somewhere maybe more high risk, what areas of town you should avoid, where you should stay.
Is it education or like y'all are evacuation too? All
the way so it's all the way up to then if something happens while you're there. So on the health side, if you break a leg, they'll do all the coordination for getting you help. On the security side, it can be sometimes more logistical if your passport was stolen and you don't have or your wallet and you don't have credit cards and cash anymore, we can do like cash advance. Yeah. And then all the way up to emergency evacuation. So in times of war started and like Israel or Ukraine.
A a and natural disaster started.
Yes, natural disaster. Sometimes that's a bit more like supply drops. And then sometimes like the answer is just to stand fast and wait it out and not an evacuation.
How do you get into that?
I studied international studies in university. And also studied abroad in Chile, South America, like learned Spanish. I don't really speak Spanish anymore, but uh and then I minored in intelligence and security studies. I just thought it sounded interesting.
You're a spy. No. That's not me. People
usually say they're like, Are you TSA?
I did ask that question. That question might have been asked. May or may not have been asked. I know.
It's a very like niche industry that I somehow found and I really love it. Like I get to help people, like have good travel experiences. Like especially study abroad students. Like imagine this is your first time leaving the country. And if I'm able to have like a you know twenty, thirty minute conversation with them to help them have like a good study abroad experience that might lead them to have travel more in the future, get more out of it.
So twenty three years old and you go to London, how long you're in London and then what happens after that?
So I was in London for three years, did a lot of gallivanting and less like financial focus, I would say. And then I also got my master's degree while I was there. So I was kind of paid for most of that in cash. So again, like a bit less like long term financial, I guess would say. Was there for three years and then I was just kind of felt like it was time to go back to the US.
So all right, you're in London for three years, you get your master's degree, you come out of the States, same company. Same company this whole time. Yes. And you just tell them, Hey, I wanna transition back to the States and like, Cool, come on. Do you go back to Philly?
Yes. I'm back in Philadelphia. Back to the team I was on, first go around kinda did a boomerang.
I love it. I also I I can't help now look we're
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
How did Melissa build a $61,000 net worth on a $65,000 salary by age 27?
0:00–5:54
2
What career moves and international experiences shaped Melissa’s financial outlook?
5:54–11:21
3
How does Melissa budget her monthly expenses and maintain a high savings rate?
11:21–16:44
4
What investment vehicles (401(k), Roth IRA, HSA, brokerage) does Melissa use and why?
16:44–21:46
5
Should Melissa pay off her 9% car loan early or keep investing the money?
21:46–27:21
6
What are Melissa’s short‑term and long‑term wealth goals (30‑year, 40‑year targets)?
27:21–33:45
7
How does the Financial Order of Operations guide Melissa’s decisions about debt vs. investing?
33:45–40:40
8
What key takeaways can listeners apply to build wealth on a moderate income?
40:40–48:40