Hi! My name is Lawrence, the creator of the Financial Literacy Education blog, The Neighborhood Finance Guy and co-host on The Financial Griot podcast. My wife and I created this website back in July 2020 and have been paying debt and normalizing happiness ever since 2012 and 2013 respectively.
*To be honest, she created the website for me. But don’t tell her.
Debt Free Journey + FIRE = Net Max Financial Plan
We paid off over $250,000 worth of debt so far. From student loans to credit card expenses.
We are far from being completely Debt Free but we are on the journey to be Financially Independent and Retire Early, at the same time.
For both of us, our estimated clock out year is 2036. It’s challenging since we are 1st generation Haitian Americans but we will pull through.
As we do, we will share as much as possible in order to make generational wealth more attainable for others.
1st Generational Wealth Builders
I was raised in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, tricked to going back to Miami, Florida at 9, signed up for the US Marine Corps (Semper Gumbi), and accumulated over $100,000 in student loans at “the Florida State University”. Check it out, I’m a FSU Alumni Notable ‘Noles (2017).
Suffice to say like my grandfather, I have stories for days.
I’ll be sharing lessons learned from resume building, interviewing, geo-arbitrage, budgeting, wealth preservation, tax planning, and wealth building. Ultimately, I set out on a journey to prove that you can break down wealth inequality in less than 15 years.
My first real job paid $23,000/yr before taxes. Money was tight and paychecks were bi-monthly.
Other other hand, my wife grew up in Orlando. Strangely we went to the same college but didn’t met until we moved to DC. She walked away from college with $6k worth of debt!!! However, she struggled with managing money month to month while making an average of $40,000/yr over 5 years in the DMV.
We work (as a couple) because we care more about what we can give to the world versus what the world can give us. We don’t dwell on what’s wrong or what can’t be done, we favor what we can work on and what can be fixed. Like everyone else we got tired of being on the receiving end, it’s high time that we made money make sense.
Setting 10x Net Worth Goals
The 1st goal is to be a millionaire and financially independent (FI) by 2023. I crafted the Net Max Financial Plan and it is working.
Feel free to use it and give me your epic feedback after 3 years. It’s noticeable in a year but the look back pivots exponentially at year 4.
Consequently, I’ve been featured on Business Insider x2, the Motley Fool, Yahoo Finance, GoBanking Rate, the AskLovely Podcast, Paychecks and Balances, His and Her Money Podcast, Marriage, Kids and Money, and Journey to Launch.
Since I love to dream, I hope to have my family featured on Forbes, CNBC Millennial Money, Black Enterprise, and MarketWatch or whoever want to run the story. Or even earn a PLUTUS award?!!? <– /https://www.plutusawards.com/ ->
We were nominated for 2021!!
My wife and I are tracking our Net Worth (well I am) to show people that it’s possible for normal 9-5 people to get to millionaire status one day. Feel free to follow along with our monthly series that breaks down all wins and losses.
BUSINESS INSIDER, WRITTEN BY ANNE-LYSE WEALTH
Check out our numbers below:
Annual Net Worth Tracking Sheet
Rounded Up
| Annual Take Home Income |
Annual Expenses |
Year-End Net Worth |
Growth/Loss in Dollar Value | Growth/Loss as a Percentage | |
| 2012 | $27,903 | $28,692 | *-$125,000 | — | — |
| 2013 | $25,620 | $23,376 | -$111,077 | $13,923 | +11.14% |
| 2014 | $43,503 | $34,766 | -$90,571 | $20,506 | +18.46% |
| 2015 | $44,110 | $29,488 | -$64,369 | $26,150 | +28.93% |
| 2016 | $41,721 | $25,995 | -$19,094 | $45,275 | +70.34% |
| 2017 | $44,666 | $37,271 | $20,519 | $39,613 | +207.47% |
| 2018 | $50,062 | $34,917 | $115,294 | $94,775 | +461.89% |
| 2019 | $57,478 | $35,335 | $244,509 | $129,260 | +112.07% |
| 2020 | $89,480 | **$71,167 | $453,716 | $216,952 | +85.56% |
| Est. 2021 | $125,000 | ***$57,500 | $600,000 | +$150,000 | +33.33% |
| Est. 2022 | $125,000 | $50,000 | $800,000 | +$200,000 | +33.33% |
| Est. 2023 | $150,000 | $50,000 | $1,000,000 | +$200,000 | +25.00% |
| Est. 2024 | $150,000 | $50,000 | $1,250,000 | +$250,000 | +25.00% |
| Est. 2025 | $175,000 | $50,000 | $1,500,000 | +$250,000 | +20.00% |
**Married in 2020 – Wedding Costs ~$35,000
***Renovations for $40,000
Net Worth Monthly Tracking Sheet YTD
| Net Worth | Growth/Loss in Dollar Value | Growth/Loss as a Percentage | |
| August 2020 | $349,118 | $31,933 | +10.07% |
| September 2020 | $385,013 | $35,896 | +10.28% |
| October 2020 | $386,085 | $1,071 | +0.28% |
| November 2020 | $430,421 | $44,337 | +11.48% |
| *December 2020 | $453,716 | $23,925 | +5.41% |
| *January 2021 | $457,455 | $3,739 | +0.82% |
| *February 2021 | $471,130 | $13,675 | +2.99% |
| *March 2021 | $495,039 | $23,909 | +5.07% |
| *April 2021 | $509,562 | $14,523 | +2.85% |
| May 2021 | $524,532 | $14,970 | +2.85% |
| June 2021 | $549,092 | $24,560 | +4.47% |
| July 2021 | $558,764 | $9,672 | +1.76% |
| August 2021 | $587,841 | $29,076 | +4.95% |
| September 2021 | $585,715 | -$2,126 | -0.36% |
| October 2021 | est. $615,000 | est. $30,000 | est. 5.13% |
| November 2021 | est. $630,000 | est. $15,000 | est. 2.44% |
| December 2021 | est. $650,000 | est. $20,000 | est. 3.18% |
Estimated Credit Card Debt Free as of 12.31.21
