“I Want To Be a Millionaire in Two Years… What’s the Roadmap?”

Summary

Podcast Summary: Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin
Episode: “I Want To Be a Millionaire in Two Years… What’s the Roadmap?”
Release Date: June 9, 2025

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Introduction

In the episode titled “I Want To Be a Millionaire in Two Years… What’s the Roadmap?”, host Nicole Lapin delves deep into the financial aspirations of Suzanne Campor, a seasoned journalist and budding entrepreneur. This comprehensive discussion offers listeners actionable insights into setting and achieving substantial financial goals within a defined timeframe.

Guest Introduction: Suzanne Campor

Suzanne Campor brings a rich background to the conversation. A former TV journalist with experience at NBC News and the BBC, Suzanne has transitioned into entrepreneurship with her brand, Helmet to Heels. Her diverse experiences, from covering global security to managing multi-continental wedding plans, provide a unique perspective on financial management and goal-setting.

Notable Quote:
Suzanne shares her diverse experiences, saying, “...being a female founder is a whole different level of perilous...” (03:36

Setting the Financial Goal: Millionaire in Two Years

Suzanne reveals her ambitious financial goal: to become a millionaire within two years. This target serves as the episode's central focus, guiding the subsequent discussion on financial strategies and planning.

Notable Quote:
Nicole prompts Suzanne by stating, “I hear you have one mega goal with a deadline. As usual. It's to be a millionaire in two years. Right. Tell me more.” (08:53)

Current Financial Status and Assets

Suzanne provides a candid overview of her current financial standing. She owns a condo in Washington D.C., maintains a high-yield savings account, contributes to a 401(k), and has recently invested $50,000 into her business. Despite these assets, she acknowledges existing liabilities, such as a mortgage.

Notable Quote:
“Suzanne admits, ‘I couldn't afford to save money... The most I ever made was $90,000.’” (11:09)

Money Moves: Achievements and Challenges

Achievements:

• Maxed Out Roth IRA: Suzanne successfully contributed the maximum allowed to her Roth IRA for the year.
• Debt Elimination: She prides herself on having no outstanding debts.

Challenges:

• Investment Uncertainty: Although she invested $50,000 in her business, she hasn't yet seen the expected returns.
• Spending Habits: A lavish trip to Morocco led Suzanne to recognize the need for more disciplined financial planning.

Notable Quote:
Reflecting on her spending, Suzanne notes, “When I went to Morocco in August and I just spent so much money on that trip...” (13:10)

Financial Planning Strategies

1. Savings Strategy

Nicole emphasizes the importance of maintaining an emergency fund. Suzanne currently has $50,000 in a high-yield savings account, which exceeds the recommended six months of bare-bones expenses for an entrepreneur.

Notable Quote:
Nicole advises, “Think of that as your emergency fund.” (20:03)

2. Investment Strategy

Transitioning from savings to investments is pivotal for Suzanne’s goal. Nicole recommends investing a portion of her savings into low-cost S&P 500 index funds to leverage the historical 8% annual return.

Notable Quote:
Nicole explains, “Index funds are... buying the entire market.” (18:22)

3. Automating Finances

To ensure consistent progress, Nicole suggests automating both savings and investment contributions. Starting with a manageable amount, such as $100 monthly, can help build the habit without overwhelming Suzanne’s variable entrepreneurial income.

Notable Quote:
“Suzanne agrees, ‘Yeah, let's do it.’” (11:01)

Special Topics: Wedding Expenses and Tax Deductions

As Suzanne plans a multi-continental wedding, Nicole touches upon potential tax deductions related to wedding expenses. They discuss how certain venue fees, especially those associated with nonprofit organizations, might be deductible.

Notable Quote:
Nicole clarifies, “You can potentially deduct the value of the flowers on your taxes...” (25:22)

Action Plan and Conclusion

The episode culminates with a clear action plan for Suzanne:

1. Assess Emergency Fund: Determine the comfortable amount to keep untouched for unexpected expenses.
2. Allocate Savings: Consider transferring $25,000 from the high-yield savings account to a brokerage account for investment.
3. Initiate Investments: Start with low-cost index funds to harness market growth.
4. Automate Contributions: Set up automatic transfers to savings and investment accounts to maintain financial discipline.

Nicole reinforces the importance of systems in achieving financial goals, especially amidst life’s numerous demands.

Notable Quote:
Nicole summarizes, “It's about creating a system that does not require you to think about it.” (27:10)

Final Thoughts

Suzanne’s journey from a public service journalist with modest earnings to an entrepreneur aspiring for millionaire status underscores the critical role of disciplined financial planning and strategic investing. This episode serves as a valuable blueprint for listeners aiming to set and achieve significant financial milestones.

Notable Quote:
Nicole concludes with encouragement, “I'm excited for Suzanne, the future millionaire.” (28:55)

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Key Takeaways:

• Set Clear Financial Goals: Define what millionaire status means for you, whether it's net worth, income, or assets.
• Maintain an Emergency Fund: Ensure you have sufficient liquid assets to cover unexpected expenses.
• Invest Wisely: Utilize low-cost index funds to benefit from market growth without the stress of active trading.
• Automate Finances: Streamline savings and investments to foster consistency and discipline.
• Plan for Major Expenses: Whether it's a wedding or a business investment, approach significant expenditures with a strategic mindset.

For more personalized financial advice, listeners are encouraged to reach out via email at [e-mail] or participate in a one-on-one intervention with Nicole Lapin.

Transcript

[Nicole Lapin]

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[Suzanne Campor]

Imagine if you had a co host in your life. You know someone who could help manager every day and do the things that you don't have time for. Well, unfortunately that's not something we can opt into in life, but it is something you can opt into as an Airbnb host. If you find yourself away for a while like I do, maybe for work, a long trip or a big life adventure, a local co host can help you manage everything from guest communications to check in to making sure your place stays in tip top shape. They have got you covered. These are trusted locals who know your area inside and out, giving your guests a warm welcome while you focus on your own starring role, whatever that might be. You know that I love how hosting on Airbnb helps you monetize your home, an asset that you already have that is a holy grail. And as a longtime fan of Airbnb, I have been telling everyone I know that they should be hosting too. But some of my busiest friends have been overwhelmed by this whole idea of hosting. But thanks to the new co host offering, they have finally signed up. So if you've got a secondary property or an extended trip coming up and you need a little help hosting while.

[Unknown]

You'Re away, you can hire a co.

[Suzanne Campor]

Host to do the work for you. Find a co [e-mail] host.

[Nicole Lapin]

I'm Nicole Lapin, the only financial expert. You don't need a dictionary to understand it's time for some money rehab. You know you're getting older when you start to say I can't believe it's fill in the blank month at the.

[Unknown]

Start of every month.

[Nicole Lapin]

But honestly, I cannot believe it is already June, which means we're almost halfway through the year, which means my daughter is almost six months old. What the heck, 2025 has been going by so so quickly and also so so slowly all at once. But because the end of the year can sneak up on you around this midpoint, I do try to give myself a little performance review with my money. Yes, I really do do this. Or I try to anyway. The whole newborn thing and rebuilding thing is very time consuming, but I do try to put time on my calendar to sit what money moves I've made so far this year that I'm proud of and also what I want to.

[Unknown]

Do differently for the rest of the year.

[Nicole Lapin]

I found that the best way to do that is to make sure I stick to the financial resolutions that I made at the top of the year. So today you're going to hear a conversation that I had with a money rehabber at the end of last year where we basically did the same thing. We took stock of her 2024 and we set goals for her 2025. And I love this conversation because it's a really great model of how you can track your own financial goals and progress.

[Unknown]

Suzanne Campor, welcome to Money Rehab.

Thank you for having me. I love Money Rehab. I'm so excited I'm on. I feel like I've won a game show.

You have in some ways. You also are a lady after my own heart, being a journalist and a passport stamp collector extraordinaire.

Yes. I also, I don't know about, I don't know if you did this, but I got into collecting currency and now I get like way too attached and get really annoyed if I leave the country and I forgot to keep a quarter or something.

How many do you have?

So I'm on a journey to a hundred countries and I just passed 90.

Wow, girls there, sister.

I almost there. I mean, I was like, okay, I need to get this done in two years because I just keep adding competition for myself.

Well, you have some interesting financial deadlines that I want to get to. But first, you were such a boss. Can you tell many rehabbers a little bit about yourself and also your mission with helmet to heels?

Yeah. So I, like you, was a TV journalist, started out at NBC News, was there for a couple of years and kind of climbed the corporate ladder. Spent over a decade at the BBC. When I started out at the BBC, I was told I would never get on air with an American accent. That was 2011. And by 2023, end of 2023, I had been shortlisted for presenter of the year for my Women Building Peace series and which is a series about women in war. I connected globally influential women with women on the ground living the story. So like our award winning episode was we had Hillary Clinton speaking directly to an Afghan girl hiding from the Taliban. So I started really thinking and I had been thinking about women in war zones a lot because I was shuttling Washington and war zones for my job. That's my beat was foreign affairs and global security. And I posted a picture back when Instagram was still new and we used to over filter everything and thought we were all Andy Warhol. So I was talking and I just got back from a really difficult deployment to Iraq. I was based in Lebanon for the BBC then and it was my first foreign hosting and I had asked to do it because I told my boss I used to be on the foreign affairs beat. So I had to run around Capitol Hill, State Department, White House and grill the most powerful people in the world about US policy towards the world. Except I hadn't lived on the receiving end. So I really wanted to be able to tell the story from all sides. So anyway, long story short, I was packing to come back to Washington and I put my flak jacket and my helm out and my boots and my outfit that I was going to wear to Capitol Hill because I'd go like plane to politics. And I looked over and I'm like Helmet to Heels. For the years this kind of was behind the back of my head and I would kind of use it more as like a phrase or like an endorsement because it was this idea of women especially. We are expected to be either or and I'm about and both. And so I left the BBC on a high, retired as the NBA players do when you're at the top of your game. So I decided to launch my brand Helmet to Heels and, and venture on this entrepreneurial journey. And I found that being a female founder is a whole different level of perilous. Like I thought being a woman in national security and in war zones was difficult. This is next level women in the business world, next level. So that's why I follow people like you.

Well, thank you. And you have a passport full of stamps and a lot of incredible stories, but it seems like your bank account might not be matching in the same heft.

Nope.

In your personal life too, you have a lot going on. You're getting married in a month, right? You're planning less than, less than a month. In a month you're planning what? Three weddings on two continents. Tell me everything.

Insane. Like when I hear it said back to me, it's like, what? So my soon to be husband is British. My own Mr. Darcy, dip upper lips, stubborn. And you know, his family is in the UK and my family and friends are here and we actually were living in Dubai and so we thought, okay, well, you know, we can't. It is difficult to get everybody to come to Dubai for various reasons, particularly older parents and ailing family members. And so we thought, oh, how hard could it be to kind of split it up across our Cultures as I'm Persian Sicilian, so we do the Persian Sicilian bit in Washington, which is my home, and then we cross the pond to England and have the English Scottish bit also. I came across this amazing atelier that is a very helmet to heal story. What we do is we make, you know, foreign affairs relatable basically in style. So we blend lifestyle and current events. And so I found this. Came across this amazing story of this nonprofit atelier in Paris run by a designer who used to design for Karl Lagerfeld. And it's like proper haute couture. And he takes unwanted materials, upcycles them, and in the process trains and employees refugees on how to become masters of their craft and gets them jobs in the big fashion houses in Paris. So I suddenly found myself needing to throw multiple weddings and doing a documentary around the dress and all of this in the span of a month and some change. But you planned a wedding in 44 days. So honestly, you were my inspiration.

Thank you. But mine was very small and there was only one. And it was only one city. This sounds like a big to do and.

Well, you know what?

I know Persian families, they're big. And Sicilian families, girl.

Yeah, yeah.

These are not small events, it sounds like.

But you know what, the groom is very involved because he has to be because we've got two countries and one of them is his. It's a good partnership exercise.

Agreed. Let's dig into all of it. We're obviously here to talk money, specifically your money. We have some marriage, we have some wealth stuff to really dig into. But first, let's talk about your goals. I hear you have one mega goal with a deadline. As usual. It's to be a millionaire in two years. Right. Tell me more.

Yep, yep. Well, I mean, I've just launched my business, right. And I'm making this transition from public service broadcast journalist to entrepreneur in the media and lifestyle space. And so I figured, you know, I set goals in my broadcast career, so it is time to set goals in my new entrepreneur career.

And you just came up with the million bucks because it sounded good?

Well, I mean, it's. It's not like I don't have any money saved.

Great. Well, how much money do you have saved?

So I have my own condo in Washington DC. I have high yield savings. I have a 401k and that total is. I'm about 75% there.

Okay, okay.

You know, I have a mortgage. If I had my own house that was paid off would be a different story. So, like when you say like somebody's network is a million dollars. Is that net worth including? Sorry, this is probably a very dumb question, but is that net worth including? So, like, is my house, even though I have a mortgage against it, considered, the full value of it, considered part of my net worth?

It's your assets minus your liabilities. So everything you own minus everything you owe. So the mortgage part, whatever you owe is subtracted from what you own?

Yeah. Okay. Now that makes me more poor.

All right, so let's get you on the track to becoming a millionaire. I love that we're talking specifically right now because I always like to give myself an end of year money intervention to set myself up for the new year. Which you have a lot to celebrate and a lot to look forward to. Are you ready to do a little money exercise with me?

Yeah, let's do it.

All right, I'm stoked. So let's start with the good stuff. What money moves from the last year did you make that you were really proud of?

Oh, God. Okay, so, like, 2023, I made some good moves. 2024 has been rough. I invested. I still haven't seen the returns, but I invested in my business. But two things I matched. I maxed out my Roth ira.

Yeah.

I was like, okay, go me. I felt very proud of myself for that. And I also paid off debt, so I have no debt.

Yay.

Which is great.

And how much did you invest in your business?

I invested about 50,000.

Awesome.

We're bootstrapping now because we're new, so we're, like, getting ready to go into different fundraising rounds.

But.

So I've been bootstrapping, but I maxed out my Roth IRA and I put $50,000 into my high yield savings account.

All right, and how about the.

And, like, I would like to point out that, like, okay, this is maybe controversial, but I feel like it needs to be said. So journalists get paid very poorly. Public service journalists get paid even worse. So, like, I was at the BBC, which is public service. So, like, it was virtually. This is the first time in my entire career that I actually have cash saved, that I was capable of having cash saved, which is just crazy. I had a 401k, obviously, but, like, I couldn't afford to save money.

How much were you making?

The most I ever. This is so embarrassing. I can't believe I'm telling this on a podcast. You're a good journalist, but I feel like it's really important to be real. The most I ever made. And this is me, like, in, you know, like, I had A great job. I was making documentaries. I had my own series. Like, I had my own segment on Capitol Hill. I was running around the world with presidential candidates and the secretaries of state. And the most I ever made, including my professor job, was 90,000. So I've never made six figures from a corporate job. And, you know, next year I'm in my 30s.

Well, let's talk about the flip side. Can you talk about some times in 2024 that you felt like you needed money rehab?

When I went to Morocco in August and I just so much money on that trip, like, so unnecessary. That was when I was like, all right, I need to like make a plan to make my money. Make money for me.

And why do you think you splurged in Morocco? Was it just pent up like you wanted to treat yourself and you hadn't for a long time? What happened?

Peer pressure. I went with a girlfriend. And you know what? It's like, you're like, oh, so nice. Oh, no, you should totally get it. Like, you'll make it back. So, yeah, that's what happened.

All right, so moving to 2025, we want to have more of the good stuff and less of the challenging stuff. Is that fair? We want to max out our Roth IRA again. Keep saving more in high yield savings account, maybe even more than even beyond a high yield savings account. More budgeting on travel, maybe just in general. So I think one mistake we often make when it comes to financial resolutions is we make them way too challenging for ourselves or unrealistic. There's no with going after low hanging fruit because there is low hanging fruit when it comes to growing your wealth. So for example, let's talk about your savings account. Right now you have 50k in a high yield savings account. Well, first of all, that's awesome. I know.

I feel super proud of myself.

I'm proud of you. Kudos on the high yield savings account and not just using a regular savings account. Did you learn that from money rehab?

Do you know what? I probably did great. I didn't really know what a high yield savings account really was until last year. But also I will say I've noticed that the interest rate is going down.

Yeah, interest rates are going down in general.

Oh, I see. So if my high yield Savings accounts at 5% and then drops to 4.5%, it's because the Fed dropped. The Fed dropped the rates.

Yeah, it all, it all sort of trickles down from the fed funds rate to the prime rate to mortgages. It takes a while. But when interest Rates go down. The vehicles that you're investing in, like High Yield Savings accounts or CDs, go down, too. Does that make sense?

Yeah, makes sense.

[Nicole Lapin]

Hold on to your wallets.

[Unknown]

Money rehab will be right back.

[Nicole Lapin]

And now for some more money rehab.

[Unknown]

So reaching your financial goals is all about how you get your money to work harder for you. I think that we can agree that that's a big goal for us. A High Yield Savings Account is really a simple way to do that because you're taking what you already have and just making sure that it's in the right place and it's working as hard for you as possible. Because comparatively to a regular savings account, you're not making nearly as much interest. How much are you contributing to that account per month? Approximately.

So right now, I'm not. I'm not putting anything further in it. However, I have, like, something like a kind of chunk coming, and so I'm deciding what to do with that.

Can we come up with a way to automate some contributions to the High Yield Savings Account? Yeah, I mean, setting and forgetting it is one of the best ways to streamline finances. It's easy. You set it up once in the beginning of the year is a really good time to do it. Then you actively are doing something that's helping your financial future every single month. Having that consistency is key.

Yeah. Okay, so what amount should be going in in monthly?

Well, what amount is coming in?

Well, exactly. That's the issue. Right. Is like the. As an entrepreneur, it's like the income is not as consistent as when you have a corporate job.

Well, can we just start with something really small just to get that muscle memory going?

Like $100?

Yeah, $100.

Okay.

And then you can always boost it. You get a windfall, your business takes off, you get funding, you change it, but start with something so you're creating that habit for yourself. But it's not just savings that is important, Suzanne. It's also investing. Which brings us to a more complicated undertaking. In reality, investing can be, you know, made much more smooth, less stressful in general, with the right strategy for your situation and, you know, support to guide you along the way. But I know you have a 401k. Do you know how much is in there?

Well, it definitely went down. I noticed that. So we were about. At about. Well, last time I checked, I didn't check after the election, but before the election, it had gone down.

Okay.

I'm at about 75k now.

And is that the only investment account you have? Do you Have a brokerage account.

I'm, like, scared to kind of. I feel like I don't really know what the best trades to make. And like, I'll kind of have gut instincts or I'll be reading and kind of seeing the trends, especially as a, you know, global affairs journalism, like. But then I don't pull the trigger.

Well, investing is not trading, by the way. Trading is something totally different. I think it's really important to index funds in chill, which is basically buying the entire market. AN S&P 500 index fund basically gives you a little piece of the entire s and P500. So you're not actively trading. You just set it and forget it. And as the market goes up, so does your investment. It's really hard to beat the market. You've heard this before, right? So let's not try to beat it.

I. I agree. And I was thinking, like, oh, I need to. I need to invest before the stock market. I mean, before election day. And then I just completely forgot. I want to start like I. For. My goal for 2025 is I want an investment plan, particularly because we're getting married. And so, you know, I want to invest our money properly.

Okay. Yeah. Historically, the stock market gets 8% year over year, which is more than. Sounds like your high yield savings account is getting you less than 5%. So if you're gonna. You're gonna put your money to work, we want it to work as hard as possible.

It doesn't make more sense. So you kind of have like, what ratio should you have in high yield savings account stocks and index funds?

That's a great question. I think ideally you want your emergency fund that's more accessible to you, that's more liquid. You don't want to go if, God forbid, something happens and you need to get your hands on that money. You don't want to sell your stocks or any, you know, more intricate investments that you might have, Especially not your retirement funds. So what would be three months of expenses? Bare bones expenses?

Yeah, bare bones.

I mean, ideally you'd have like six months or a little bit more as an entrepreneur that you think less.

I'd say about. Probably about 5,000 would be bare bones.

What you have right now in your high yield savings account gets you 10 months.

Yeah.

Of an emergency fund. So can we think of that as your emergency fund?

Yeah.

Cool. I mean, I think it's important to layer on all of the accounts that you have and look at it holistically against your goal of becoming a millionaire in two years. And Reverse engineer some of those set it and forget it habits. Because it's just about creating a system for yourself so that you don't have to think about it. You have so many other things going on. You have a business that you're running, you're going to be a newlywed. So I think it's about coming up with this system that you do once and the machine is moving and working in your favor. So between your savings, your 401k, your, it sounds like you were at 750k. So in order to become a millionaire in two years, you can either make a million dollars or you can have what you already have saved or in your brokerage account grow for you. So if you have your money invested and the stock market returns that 8% historical year over year return, you could be worth a million dollars in two years by investing 875 grand. And that would be without earning any other income or getting any bonuses or windfalls along the way. How does that sound?

Oh, that sounds good.

So if I were you, I would look into how much money I really need waiting in the wings in that high yield savings account. How much is a bare bones expense plan if God forbid, something happens, somebody gets sick, somebody can't work? Is it $5,000? Do you feel comfortable with six months of that in the bank and the rest of it you can put into a brokerage account and start investing? Or do you want to have more saved? Does that make you feel more confident in your business plans? Is this a really personal thing and that's a little soul searching that you have to do?

I mean, to be honest, I think like, so are you're basically asking what I feel comfortable taking 25,000 out of my high yield savings and investing it? Is that what you're asking?

I mean, I would think of that as your emergency fund and just keep your North Star in mind that you want to make $1 million in two years and that has to come from somewhere.

Okay, if I were to take 25,000 out, how would I invest it now for that to then happen?

So you would go back to the index funds and chill plan where you invest in a low cost S&P 500 index fund. That would be the best way to get 8% year over year. That's an easy way to start investing in the market. Again, it's not trading, it's long term investing.

So like how do I choose which one? Because I looked. I actually remember going and looking recently because I've been kind of thinking about maybe I should take some money out and invest it. And then truthfully, the ones that had the Highest yields, like 15%, were all pharmaceuticals. And I just.

Okay, I don't know what you're looking at. Were you looking at corporate bonds?

Maybe, Maybe, maybe. I was like, that seems like a lot.

So it won't tell you the yield for an index fund. So the ones that are of the ETF variety. There are two different kinds of index funds. There's the ETF exchange traded fund variety or the mutual fund variety. The exchange rated fund variety is not going to give you a guaranteed return, but it will give you an expense ratio. And some of the lowest expenses expense ratios are VOO as a ticker symbol, for example, or SPY as a ticker symbol or ivv. These are all, you know, low cost index funds that you can buy in at any time. Just go into your brokerage account and search for the ticker symbol. I'm not suggesting one over the other necessarily, but take a look and you'll see, you know, it has really low expense ratios and historically it will yield 8% year over year. But that's not a guaranteed return.

Got it. Okay.

Okay. Do we like this plan?

Yeah.

[Nicole Lapin]

Okay.

[Unknown]

I know you want to talk about writing off wedding expenses from your taxes. Woman after my own heart.

Instagram keeps pushing this stuff to me and I'm like, is this true? It's going to come after me. So I thought I would ask the expert.

Great. So there are certain expenses that you can write off. I know you have 400 wedding ceremonies. Do you know what kind of venue your ceremonies are going to be in?

Yeah. So we're, we're doing a sustainable wedding in line with the dress. And so we're being really intentional about what decor we use and flowers and food and like trying to keep things locally sourced, trying to not use craft plastic, single use, etc, and so we're being very mindful. We have the ceremony is at a church in Washington. And then we have a friend of ours is hosting our reception at her house, Juliana Glover. It's so nice of her to offer this. And so that that cuts down on cost.

Just right there.

Yeah.

Well, if you are having your reception or getting married at a historical garden or a museum or even a state or national park, then the fee you pay there may be tax deductible as a donation. But it becomes a little tricky because any fee paid in exchange for a service is not going to be deductible. So you have to talk to the venue about what you can do about that. If you're still thinking about venues, keep those types of venues in mind. Have you been fed the flowers deduction video?

No. Well, actually, hold on. Maybe. Is this where if you donate them to a certain. You have to donate them to somewhere specific, right?

Yeah. So if you donate your flowers to a nonprofit like a homeless shelter or women's center, you can potentially deduct the value of the flowers on your taxes, but you can only deduct what the condition is at the time you donate. So what you can deduct might actually be less than what you paid, depending on when you donate those flowers. If they're droopy and, you know, browning or whatever. You can't write all of that off, but you could potentially write off some. Yeah, but this is a big year for you, Suzanne. I am so excited and I want to recap what our plan is. You're going to think about whether or not you want your 50k in your high yield savings account as your emergency fund or if you want to relocate some of that to your brokerage and start investing with it, and if so, how much. And then we're going automate some savings contributions. We can also automate investing contributions while we're at it too. So we're coming up with this plan and this well oiled machine. We have this big goal for your net worth. So the secret there is reverse engineering your spending plan based on hitting that goal and keeping that in mind as your North Star. How do you feel about making your money work this hard for you?

Good. I mean, I think also, you know, finances are, can be tricky in a marriage. So I think it's good to kind of be prepared about your own finances independent of your spouse.

Do you own the condo? Is it in your name?

Yes.

Yes.

And it's interesting because one of my family members lent me the down payment. I still had. I had some leftover that I needed and they let me. They were like, just, you know, pay me back when you can. And I that a thousand dollars a month until I could pay it like automatic and in a separate account. And I was shocked at how quickly I actually paid it off. And I just remember thinking to myself, I wish I'd done this sooner. You know, like, I know I talked about how, like, oh, I, I didn't, you know, I didn't, I didn't have very good, I wasn't paid. I had like a prestigious job, but the pay didn't really match it and it was difficult to save. But it, you can say you just have I had, truthfully, I hadn't prioritized. I didn't do a good job prioritizing it. I didn't do a good job. I had like this mentality of lack that, like, oh, I. I couldn't afford to save. Like, life was too expensive. I needed to just like, you know, spend, spend what I had.

Right.

But when I had somebody else who relied on me to pay my debts, right. It happened quickly.

Funny how that happened. By automating the payments and thinking about paying somebody else in this plan. I wonder if it will keep you more motivated and keep you more on track if you start thinking of that other person that you're paying back as your future self.

Yeah, exactly. My future millionaire self.

That's right. She'll be so proud. I'm so excited for Suzanne, the future millionaire.

Thank you.

Will you keep us posted on how it goes?

Yeah, definitely. I'll owe you a steak dinner.

[Nicole Lapin]

Money Rehab is a production of Money News Network. I'm your host, Nicole Lapin. Money Rehab's executive producer is Morgan Lavoy. Our researcher is Emily Holmes. Do you need some money Rehab? And let's be honest, we all do. So email us your money questions, money [e-mail] to potentially have your questions answered.

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On the show or even have a.

[Nicole Lapin]

One on one intervention with me. And follow us on Instagramoneynews and TikTok moneynewsnetwork for exclusive video content.

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And lastly, thank you.

[Nicole Lapin]

No, seriously, thank you. Thank you for listening and for investing in yourself, which is the most important.

[Unknown]

Investment you can make.