I like to think that I’m pretty financially healthy. At 30 years old, I’m in a fairly unique position. I’m currently debt free after paying off nearly six figures worth of student loans in just a few years. I’ve got a sizable emergency fund that should cover me in the event of a disaster. And my net worth continues to grow each year as I continue to push myself to save as much of my income as I possibly can.
We have a plan of attack for my wife’s student loans as well. If all goes as planned, we’ll have her debt paid off within a year or two. A dentist/lawyer couple in their early 30s paying off all of their student loans in just a few years isn’t just a unique proposition. It’s pretty much unheard of.
Most Americans struggle financially. When I think about it, the one theme with financial health is a willingness to do things that aren’t considered normal. If you’re a young lawyer/dentist couple like my wife and I are, the normal thing to do would be to use our paychecks to upgrade our lifestyle. We should be living large with a fancy car, a big house, and nice clothes.
But we don’t.
That’s the normal way of doing things. But normal doesn’t work for us.
Financial Health Means Choosing Not To Live Normally
The fact is, most people are financially unhealthy. Most people don’t have any savings. Most people carry huge amounts of debt. And most people opt to upgrade their life before making sure their financial house is in order.
I saw it all the time with my lawyer colleagues. Instead of paying off their debt and building up their savings, many spent their income on upgrading their lifestyle – the luxury apartment, the fancy car, the expensive clothes. My wife’s dental school friends did the same thing. It’s easy to see how someone can spend all day working and have no money leftover.
When I started my first job, I vowed not to fall into that trap. I kept living like a student and threw everything I could into my student loans. I was debt free just a few years later. And importantly, I got myself used to living on less. Imagine what I can do once my wife is earning a paycheck too.
How To Be Financially Healthy
Here’s what I think it takes to be financially healthy:
- Make debt a priority. Most people just think debt is normal. Financially healthy people know that it doesn’t have to be. You don’t need to manage your debt. You need to destroy it!
- Constantly push yourself. Just like with physical health, financial health requires pushing yourself just a little bit more each day. Challenge yourself to save just a little bit more out of each paycheck. You’ll be surprised at what you can get yourself to do if you try.
- Stay humble. There’s a lot to be said about being humble. I think that lifestyle inflation happens because there’s an idea that you need to live a certain way once you reach a certain age or get a certain type of job. A sense of humbleness will go a long way towards your financial health.
For me, financial health has always been about doing things most people aren’t doing. Most people just aren’t financially healthy. If you want to be financially healthy, you have to do things out of the ordinary to get there.
And trust me, it’s worth the effort.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the sharing economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer. Kevin is also passionate about earning money using the sharing economy and you can see exactly how he makes five figures every year in his side hustle reports. Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
I like how you frame Financial Health as “not living normally” 🙂 It has certainly been true in our life! If Mr. Adventure Rich and I “lived our salaries”, we would look like a normal, middle class American couple with the nice car, decent house and all the toys we could ask for. Instead, we choose to live differently, looking for deals and living below our means in order to invest in our future. Awesome post… here’s to financial health!
To financial health! But yeah, if you live like normal people, you’ll be normal people. All of us reading this are probably aiming to be a little something different than normal!
Congratulations on what you’ve accomplished in such a short time! Being debt free for your whole adult lives is going to create some amazing financial rewards for you guys!!
That’s what we’re hoping! A dentist and a lawyer with no debt could do some major damage out there!
Totally agreed! I always say that if do what everyone else is doing, you will end up like everyone else. In this case, most people have an ever increasing debt…which is not a good thing.
You’ve got to do something out of the ordinary if you want extraordinary results!
I took a job earlier this year that substantially increased my income (figure 20K pre tax). I can afford a car and some other expensive things, but I’ve made a decision not to buy those. Why? I’ve got some credit card debt to knock out first. And I want my savings account to be higher.
I still get to enjoy some very nice things in my life, but I realize now that I don’t have to live with debt. I have the means to finally get rid of it, but only if I live like I’m still being paid my old salary.
That’s the perfect way to succeed financially. Get yourself used to living on less and you’ll pretty much be able to do anything.
You know Dave Ramsey’s corny saying — live like no one else so that LATER you can live (and give) like no one else. OK, so a poet — he is NOT. But the intent is good.
With no debt, by the time you’re in your early 40s, the two of you will have created some major wealth. And if you stay humble and under the radar, it will be even more fun. Let everyone else have an ostentatious home and car; you’ll have huge investment portfolio. And no one will know by looking at you, which is where the fun comes in.
That’s what we’re hoping to do! Millionaire next door style!
I’m still very impressed with lawyers who are able to earn the high salary and not inflate their lifestyles. Well done! I think financial health involves being able to adjust as you please. You could leave the higher paying work for lower paying work that you may find more intellectually stimulating. You could do many things. You are a three-sport athlete at this point.