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Earning a salary is not the only way to make money. Savvy investors know how to strategically work their investments to make a return that translates into gains as significant as a salary.
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Alissa Krasner Maizes, Esq., a registered investment advisor, licensed attorney and founder of Amplify My Wealth, and her husband bring in a sizable income that is well over $200,000 per year. However, Maizes has parlayed her talents at investing into a portfolio that has and continues to grow their wealth year over year.
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Be Open to Different Ways of Earning
While Maizes’ husband has become the breadwinner in the partnership, through her efforts at managing their investments, their net worth has grown by as much or more than his salary over time. It’s been important to her to see that “our net worth grew through the work I did,” she said.
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Have an Investment Mindset
Maizes has had an investment mindset since her teens, when she first dabbled in stocks, before the internet made digital trading easy.
“I would go to the corner candy store and get a Kiplinger magazine or other magazines and just read and learn and look at the business section of the New York Times,” she explained. “Basically, I self-educated on how to invest.”
Invest In Tax Advantaged Accounts
When she got her first job out of law school, Maizes began to hear about tax advantaged investing and chose to max out her retirement savings.
“Then I could participate in and focus on dollar cost averaging any extra money that I had. So I was really getting as involved as I could. Like I said, a tax advantage move was something I was looking for,” she said.
Invest In Diversified Mutual Funds
She began investing in mutual funds based on what she’d read, though she suffered some missteps at first, until she learned to choose the kinds that were well diversified and not heavily invested in one area, such as tech. Eventually, over time, she learned how to find the right kinds of mutual funds that have performed well for them.
Lead With Your Strengths
When she began dating her husband, she already had a leg up on investing, which she called a “no-brainer” to share that information with him. He quickly realized that her experience in investing was stronger than his, and she began to advise him even before they were married.
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Save More When You Earn More
When her husband got a better job, not only did they continue to max out their retirement accounts, but they began to put savings aside to buy a home. They didn’t put that money into the market, because they wanted to have a 20% down payment.
Once they bought a home, Maizes felt it was time to increase her investing approach.
Engage in Dollar Cost Averaging
With a house paid off and extra money to invest, they were able to double the amount they invested in the stock market via dollar cost averaging, which is where you invest a fixed dollar amount regularly, no matter the share price. This can not only build investing discipline, it can lower your average cost per share over time.
“So we really leveled up the amount we invested, and it enabled us to really increase our wealth quickly,” Maizes said. “But also because of compounding [interest], it gave us a huge advantage, too, because the sooner you have that money in the market growing and you’re reinvesting it, it’s still growing substantially because of the compounding impact.”
Avoid Lifestyle Creep
One thing she described as “very successful for us” is that when their incomes increased, they didn’t change their lifestyle much. “Instead, we saw it as an opportunity to grow our wealth.”
When they had an opportunity to refinance their home for a lower interest rate, they changed their mortgage from a 30-year to a 15-year. “Because we realized once we could pay that off, that would be extra money we could put to increase our net worth.”
They were so successful at paying their home off, they did it in eight years.
Mindful Spending
While much of their ability to invest was a result of her husband’s good salary, she said they have also always been mindful about their spending.
She would always strive to use points for travel, watch costs and generally take an intentional approach to their spending.
She said it’s helpful to “figure out what you value most and have a value driven financial plan. This way, you don’t have regrets over what you could have done or should have done when you have that opportunity.”
A values based approach also ensures you’ll be happier about your choices, whether that means you spend more money visiting family or sticking it into the stock market, she said.
Invest In the Future
Another “investment” they’ve made has included being able to send their children through college without debt through the money their brokerage accounts make. And Maizes anticipates they might buy property near where their children settle down as both a place to visit and a potential investment for their kids down the road.
Get On the Same Page
While Maizes may be in charge of the investing, she and her husband discuss it and strategize together, and she said it’s very important to be on the same page with your partner around money. She also discusses money openly with her kids and feels that this has given them a strong base of financial literacy.
“I think it’s really important that you share where you are [financially]. One of the challenges I’ve had with clients when they keep their finances separate is that it’s really hard to set goals and reach them when one person is doing it alone, and you don’t even know what the finances are to have an idea of what’s realistic for your future,” she said.
Eliminate High Interest Debt
Maizes also stressed the importance of eliminating high interest debt.
“While people don’t see that as an investment, it really is, because it’s so costly to have high interest debt. And once you remove it, you can now take the amount that you were putting towards those payments and instead contribute it to an investment account, whether it’s to increase your employer 401(k) contributions or you open a brokerage account or Roth IRA or a health savings account,” she said.
Start With Something
Wherever you are in your financial journey, it’s important that you start with something, Maizes said. “If you’re looking to start and you’re not sure where you’re going to get extra funds, one thing is to decrease your spending. Another thing is to increase your cash flow. It’s really important to prioritize yourself over other things and other people to make sure that you have enough for your future self.”
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This article originally appeared on GOBankingRates.com: I Make Over $200K a Year: 13 Ways I’m Building My Wealth in 2024
