Money Guy Show: “They Turned Real Estate Into Wealth, But Still Feel Stuck | Making a Millionaire”

Hosts: Brian Preston & Bo Hanson

Guests: Becca & Christian

Release Date: March 2, 2026

Episode Overview

In this episode of Making a Millionaire, Brian and Bo are joined by Becca and Christian, a couple in their mid-30s who’ve amassed a net worth over $820,000 with a focus on real estate. Despite their financial success, they grapple with time management, lifestyle trade-offs, and the next steps for their wealth-building journey. The episode dives into their impressive savings habits, real estate strategy, and the challenges of balancing family, full-time work, and self-managed rental properties.

Key Themes & Purpose

• Turning Income Into Wealth: How disciplined savings, smart real estate moves, and living below their means put Becca and Christian far ahead of the curve.
• The Double-Edged Sword of Real Estate: The benefits and time-consuming aspects of owning and self-managing multiple properties.
• Optionality, Flexibility, and Fulfillment: Exploring how to move beyond scarcity/frugality to a life intentionally designed with financial freedom.
• Next Steps: Strategies for optimizing their portfolio, savings, taxes, and quality of life.

Episode Breakdown

1. Becca & Christian’s Background – Who Are They?

[00:25 – 01:35]

• Christian is a 10-year aerospace manufacturing engineer (“building the Lego assembly set, you know, that, that gives the instructions from the design to the operator." – Christian, 00:30).
• Becca manages a remote team of associate tech recruiters (“Dude Wipes to Peloton... Topgolf is a client.” – Becca, 01:10).
• Married three years (met during COVID – “He’s my Covid cutie”; first date was virtual, 02:23).
• Have an 18-month-old son; ages 34 and 35.

2. Financial Snapshots & Philosophy

[01:37 – 05:01]

• Net Worth: $821,000 (with $530,000 liquid assets).
• Annual Household Income: $276,000 (~$300,000).
• Both had independent financial success before marrying.
• They were “very diligent” with savings rates even before formal financial planning (“Even before knowing 25%, it was 'how high could we go?'” – Christian, 03:34).
• Becca’s early lessons on saving from her frugal parents: “My mom saying, like...at least half of that should be saved.” (04:04)
• First comprehensive net worth statement done for this show.

3. Division of Financial Labor & Family Dynamics

[05:06 – 05:54]

• Christian handles spreadsheets and analytics.
• Becca is focused on the practical, lifestyle impacts.
• Real estate management shifted priorities, especially after their son was born: “It’s taking into a lot of time and our priorities have shifted a little bit.” (05:54)

4. Real Estate Journey: The “House Hackers”

[06:15 – 08:12]

• Both bought multifamily properties (quadplex for Christian, duplex for Becca) before marriage, living in one unit and renting out the rest – classic “house hacking.”
• After marriage, bought a single-family home and kept both properties as rentals.
• “He moved in there with me for a little bit, brief time, and then we bought our single family.” – Becca, 07:02
• Their combined rental portfolio:
  • 6 Units: 1 quadplex (4), 1 duplex (2)
  • 5 long-term, 1 mid-term (Airbnb)

Notable Quote:
“Can you imagine their first date...You’ll start talking about the duplex and quadplexes and house hacking. I mean, I just— harp sounds started playing in the background.” — Co-host, 07:33

5. Real Estate: Time Management & The Tight Margins

[08:12 – 10:38]

• Total real estate value: $815,000; debt: ~$600,000.
• Interest rates locked in at historic lows (2.75% for the duplex—“that 2.75 is so nice!” – Becca, 08:47).
• Self-managing is time-intensive: “Time is the issue.” (09:15)
• Becca handles most tenant screening and contractor management due to her remote work; spends ~5 hours per week on real estate, sometimes more with projects.
• John uses local women’s investor groups to find vetted contractors but acknowledges burnout risk.

6. Financial Performance of Rental Properties

Duplex:

• Rent: ~$25,000/year ($1,000+/unit/month)
• Mortgage, taxes, insurance: ~$17,700/year
• Average operating expenses (last three years): $11,000/year (includes a major roof replacement)
• Essentially breaks even long-term—operating at cost or slightly in the red some years due to capital improvements, but long-term appreciation is modest.

Quadplex:

• Rent: ~$40,000/year (one unit is Airbnb)
• Mortgage, taxes, insurance: ~$25,000/year
• Operating expenses: ~$10,000/year
• Netting about $5,000/year plus principal paydown and appreciation
• Building is ripe for value-add: $40-50k needed per out-of-date unit (x2). Upgrades could potentially double rent for those units.

Notable Quote:
“It sounds horrendous when you think about working a full time W2 and doing that. But we like it.” – Becca, 11:43

7. Struggling With the Next Step: Keep or Sell?

[15:01 – 20:53]

• Evaluating opportunity cost:
  • Duplex: Stable but older, appreciation mostly already realized, minor cash flow, “top of market” for rent unless $ invested (central AC, etc.).
  • Quadplex: More upside potential, in a developing area. $80,000 investment could significantly boost cash flow (“rents would probably double on that side.” – Becca, 31:25).

Key Analysis Insight:

• “With real estate, sometimes one rental property is a pain in the rear...but you all have five to six...you start [to] get enough coming through. Scale to an extent.” – Co-host, 12:55

8. Life Design: Defining the Goal Post

[22:07 – 25:27]

• Both value “flexibility and simplicity,” especially with a young child.
• Self-described as risk-averse.
• Becca is open to leaving W2 in the next five years for more flexibility; contemplating future family plans and possible school district move.
• Real estate as a vehicle for flexibility, not necessarily passion for property management (“My ideal day would not be sitting in front of a computer all day...real estate investing definitely has that draw of flexibility but it also can be all consuming as well.” – Becca, 24:30)

9. Savings Strategy, Retirement & Future-Proofing

[25:27 – 27:34]

• 25%+ savings rates each; maxing 401(k)s, HSAs, IRAs, just starting taxable brokerage.
• Both receive employer 401(k) match (up to 10% for Christian, 3% for Becca).
• Exploring backdoor Roth conversion (rollover IRAs into 401(k)s to enable “magically delicious” Roth contributions – 28:19).
• Already strong habit of living below their means (both drive 10-year-old cars, plan to "run them to the ground," but recognize the need to sometimes upgrade for quality of life).

10. Mindset Shift: From Frugal to Fulfilled

[45:27 – 46:28]

• Need to balance healthy frugality with improved quality of life (“There's a fine line between financial mutant and financial miser...all of this also has this umbrella of quality of life and who do we want to be and what gives us fulfillment and happiness from this tool of money.” – Brian, 45:59)

Action Item:

• Calculate “cost of frugality” at current income/asset levels; consider upgrading car, home, etc., if it adds true value.

11. Expert Analysis: What Should They Do Next?

[51:32 – 59:57; post-mortem segment]

• Re-examined actual rental property returns by stripping out mortgage principal (forced savings) and capital improvements.
• Duplex: $9k/year net profit on $100k equity = 9% yield
• Quadplex: $17k/year on $125k equity = 13.5% yield
• If $80k invested in quadplex improvements, could boost rent, driving over 20% ROI.
• Given these numbers, “don't sell either one of them”—contrary to initial knee-jerk suggestion.

Long-Term Projection:

• With current income and a conservative 10% 401(k) savings rate (plus matches), their portfolio could grow to:
  • ~$4M by age 55, or
  • $6.2M by 60 (not including real estate)
  • In today’s dollars: $89k/year (at 55), $120k/year (at 60) spendable income

Key Homework & Questions:

1. Fund Quadplex Improvements: Prioritize capital for this high-yield opportunity.
2. Articulate Life/Financial Goals: How much do they want to expand in real estate? Do they want to keep managing or step back?
3. Bridge Early Retirement Gap: Plan for tax-advantaged and taxable accounts to access funds before age 59½.
4. Revisit Frugality: Is “tightwad” optimization still aligned with their values and goals?
5. Explore Backdoor Roths: Roll IRAs into compatible 401(k)s for future tax-free growth.

Notable & Memorable Quotes

• “You're now at the place where you get to make financial decisions, not so much because you have to, but because you get to or because you want to.” – Brian, 00:00; reiterated at 48:00
• “Deleted the apps immediately. This is it.” – Becca, 07:48
• “Time is the issue... probably five hours a week or something. So, nothing crazy, but it’s never planned.” – Becca, 09:15
• “Do we want to do real estate? Do we want to manage this? Do we both want to work? You need to have some conversations around that.” – Brian, 48:00
• “There's a fine line between financial mutant and financial miser.” – Brian, 45:36
• “They have to do it. It’s too compelling... both [properties] are incredibly compelling investment opportunities.” – Bo, 56:17

Timeline of Discussion Highlights

• 00:25 — Guest intros/career background
• 01:37 — Net worth/income revealed
• 03:34 — Early savings habits
• 05:16 — Division of financial duties
• 06:41 — Real estate portfolio overview
• 08:39 — Discussing low interest rates and cash flow challenges
• 09:15 — The real issue: time vs. money in self-management
• 12:57 — Ongoing debate: self-manage vs. outsource
• 14:21 — Real estate numbers, margins, repairs
• 17:01 — Real estate appreciation prospects
• 22:07 — Defining goals: flexibility vs. complexity
• 24:30 — Life design: desire for less screen time, more family presence
• 25:27 — Saving strategies & investment accounts
• 28:19 — Enabling backdoor Roth contributions
• 31:20 — Quadplex rehab as major upside
• 39:57 — CoastFI, life simplification, and early retirement scenarios
• 45:27 — Frugality vs. fulfillment: quality-of-life discussion
• 51:32–59:57 — Financial planner’s deep-dive analysis post-interview

Takeaways & Action Steps

• Prioritize high-return opportunities: Quadplex rehab offers outstanding ROI; fund it with cash flow or rerouting savings temporarily.
• Don’t sell undervalued assets: Both properties have excellent yield; only sell if life goals shift, not out of impatience or lack of clarity.
• Be intentional with frugality: Lean into comfort and enjoyment where it truly matters—cars, home upgrades, school districts—especially when it offers tangible quality-of-life improvements.
• Broaden access to tax-free growth: Implement the backdoor Roth IRA strategy for higher lifetime returns.
• Sit down and define ‘the next chapter’: Becca, Christian, and others in similar situations should regularly check if their financial tactics are still serving their broader life goals.

Final Words

Becca and Christian are “a financial planner’s dream”: disciplined, forward-thinking, good at both earning and saving, and strategically leveraging real estate. Their next big choices are not about survival, but about sculpting the life they actively want—an enviable position built on years of wise, consistent decisions.

“You’re like my favorite books as a kid. The choose your own adventure. And we just have to help you figure out what gets you the intersection of both the mathematics...and the happiness so you go, I spend my mornings and my days doing exactly what I want to do.” – Brian, 35:37

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