Highlights:
- Melissa is a rare breed: she learned about and started investing young
- But this actually caused her an entirely different kind of financial stress when she didn’t have enough money to invest
- She and her partner went from feeling “behind” to becoming “rich millennials”
Melissa and Dylan said “bye!” to their advisor 5 years ago and haven’t looked back since.
Now their friends have been asking for their help to switch over to self-investing.
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Let’s look at the numbers
Melissa’s portfolio: $362,590
Dylan’s portfolio: $277,717
Emergency fund: $50,000
House: Purchased for $803,000. $330,000 still left to pay on our mortgage.
In total, our net worth is over 1.3 million.
How did you start investing?
My parents got me into investing when I was super young, and I’m incredibly grateful for that.
Now in my 30s, I finally went “all in” with investing. But at first, I was still using mutual funds and an advisor.
A few years ago I realized I could probably do it better myself, so I dove into learning self-investing.
OMG, I wish I’d done it sooner!
I felt guilty and behind for a long time
I had TONS of guilt for years, because I knew the importance of investing - I didn’t have enough money to invest in my 20s.
I really felt behind from where I thought I “should” be. I was lucky enough to KNOW about investing, I just couldn’t afford to DO it.
I was so stressed thinking about where I was, and where I could be if only I had enough money to invest.
Like the first year Dylan and I got together, he made $19,000. We didn’t have much, but we were committed to figuring it out.
Luckily though, I was able to catch up and I’m now in a place where I feel good about where I am financially.
Technically speaking we are “rich millennials”, and to us that just really means not stressing about buying organic food.
The best advice you ever got about investing was…
Just keep investing.
If the market is down and you find it triggering, just stick the money in without looking where your account is at.
The biggest wins are made when the market is down - just don’t get sidetracked by emotions or crazy clickbaity headlines!
Investing regularly is one of the biggest factors in growing your wealth.
Passiv makes it easy! Invest all your contributions and dividends at the click of a button.
What resources did you use to learn about self-investing?
I read many books, but most only give high-level strategies and not practical steps.
The 2 best things I did:
I took a course on investing to get the practical steps (it’s no longer available, unfortunately)
We worked with a financial coach Jolie Viguers of Well Bean Coaching who looked at our entire money situation and finally gave us the confidence to make the leap to self investing. She’s amazing, we love her!
Want to get started with self-investing?
Click here for our easy-to-understand guide that explains the kind of funds to invest in!
What’s your investing process and strategy?
I essentially use what I heard described as the “three-fund strategy”:
- An American ETF
- A Canadian ETF
- An international ETF that excludes North America
It’s simple and totally diversified!
Do you have a favorite ETF?
Listen, I know it’s cliche but I love VFV.
The S&P 500 is such a powerhouse and it’s a major part of my strategy.
How has Passiv helped you?
I can’t imagine investing without Passiv.
I love that I created my models years ago and it’s been working like clockwork ever since.
It’s really the “set it and forget it” system that keeps my investments on track.
Plus, I love seeing my husband’s investments in my Passiv account too!
It’s awesome to look at our total and be like, “Yeah!!! We DID this!!”
How do you deal with the ups-and-downs of investing?
If the market is red, I either don’t log in to see how my investments are doing,
OR I buy as much as I can if I have any spare cash!
I just ‘cover my eyes’ and invest, to be honest. Just keep putting money in index funds.
Did you ever make a mistake with investing? What did you learn from it?
My big mistake was thinking that advisors know so much, are so skilled, and that investing is wildly difficult and only a select few can do it.
This thinking cost me thousands over the years because it kept me scared and stuck working with high-cost advisors and mutual funds.
I wish I’d realized this years before, and had the confidence to start managing my portfolio.
Really, investing is incredibly simple!
The advice I’d give to someone who wants to build wealth through investing is…
Make it a regular, non-negotiable thing.
Automatically transfer money every payday into your investment account.
When you see it in your regular bank account it feels like it’s there for the taking.
Don’t even give yourself a chance to think of spending it by moving it straight into your investments!
Passiv makes managing your portfolio a breeze.
Buy all your ETFs in a couple clicks, get notified of cash to invest, & see clear reports that show all your investments in one place!
We’d love to share your investing experience!
Whether you’ve been investing for a month, a year, or a decade - people want to hear from you!
You’ve got tips, strategies, and advice that is helpful to others.
We will share them anonymously on our blog so others can learn from you.
Click here to share your experience!
* Names have been changed for privacy. The thoughts and opinions in this post are from the individual and their own experience.
