A woman has revealed how she went from $100,000 in debt to having $1 million in the bank using three simple steps.
Like millions of Americans, Rose Han, from Los Angeles, California, left college with a hefty student loan debt.
Soon after graduating, she landed a job as a foreign exchange trader on Wall Street at a major global investment bank, but even though she was making six figures, she struggled to make ends meet.
She was living lavishly, enjoying ‘expensive clothes’ and ‘fancy dinners’ while putting it all on her credit card.
‘When I graduated, I was so overwhelmed by the monthly payments [on my student debt] so I switched to an interest-only repayment plan of just $200 a month,’ Rose explained exclusively to the Daily Mail.
‘I thought if I ignored the debt long enough, it would magically go away. Obviously, that’s not how debt works – it just kept growing.
‘The rest [of my debt] came from credit card debt. I spent a lot keeping up appearances and trying to “look the part” living in NYC. Expensive clothes, fancy dinners – you know… an Instagram-worthy lifestyle.
‘Even though I made a six-figure income, I was still living paycheck to paycheck because I was very avoidant about my finances and never really knew what was going in my bank account. I would usually just swipe my card and hope for the best.’
Like millions of Americans, Rose Han, from Los Angeles, California, left college with a slew of student loan debt
Soon after graduating, she landed a job as a foreign exchange trader on Wall Street, but even though she was making six figures, she struggled to make ends meet
She said she lived in the moment and didn’t think about her future at all, which ultimately lead to her wracking up $100,000 in debt.
‘It’s embarrassing to admit, but it was a perfect storm of student loans and lifestyle inflation,’ Rose dished.
‘My outlook on money was basically “fake it till you make it” and “pray and hope for the best.”
‘I was in complete avoidance mode – I wouldn’t even open my credit card statements or check my bank account because I was too scared to see the numbers. It goes to show – it’s not about what you make, it’s about what you keep.’
But in late 2014, she underwent what she called a ‘financial awakening.’
She realized that she was not happy with her job, and the frustration of working hard without having any savings to show for it hit her hard.
‘One Friday night, I was taking a warm bath after a stressful week, trying to decompress, when my boss called and told me I had to go back to the office to send out an urgent report,’ she recalled.
‘As I rode the subway back uptown that cold winter evening, I sat there with the brutal realization that I had zero freedom in my life.
She was living lavishly, enjoying ‘expensive clothes’ and ‘fancy dinners’ while putting it all on her credit card
She said she lived in the moment and didn’t think about her future at all, which ultimately lead to her wracking up $100,000 in debt
‘Despite giving my all to my job, I knew I couldn’t even afford to take a vacation without putting it on a credit card.’
She then became ‘obsessed’ with ‘learning everything she could about money,’ reading hundreds of books, spending hours doing research online, and even taking courses.
She quit her Wall Street job and started trying out a bunch of different careers and side hustles, working in real estate and bookkeeping, amongst other things.
And when her mindset on money changed, so did her spending, and that led to a complete overhaul of her lifestyle.
She learned that there were three major steps she had to take before she could truly start building up her net worth.
First, she focused on building a starter emergency fund of $2,000. Next, she starting paying off her credit card debt, and she then set a goal of saving up three to six months of expenses.
After her ‘financial foundation was in place,’ she started investing in the stock market, putting a set amount of money into an index fund each month.
‘I honestly don’t remember the exact dollar amount I started with, but I know it wasn’t much,’ she shared.
But in late 2014, she underwent what she called a ‘financial awakening.’ And when her mindset on money changed, so did her spending, and that lead to a complete overhaul of her lifestyle
She paid off her debt and started investing in the stock market, putting a set amount of money into an index fund each month
She stressed that investing is less about ‘picking hot stocks’ or ‘timing the market’ but more about ‘consistently putting money away and letting the stock market do its thing over time’
‘I was still climbing out of debt and didn’t have thousands lying around. The beautiful thing about index funds is you don’t need a lot to get started – you can begin with just a few hundred dollars.
‘I’m a huge believer in dollar-cost averaging, so I started by automatically investing a fixed amount every month rather than trying to time the market.
‘What made the biggest difference wasn’t how much I started with, but that I automated everything.
‘I set up automatic monthly investments so the money would come out of my account before I could even think about spending it.
‘That consistency over time is what built my portfolio into the seven figures it is today.
‘I always tell people – don’t wait until you have thousands saved up. Start with whatever you can afford right now, even if it’s just $100 a month.
‘Pick a low-cost index fund, start with small amounts to get comfortable, and dollar-cost average into it by doing automated investments at monthly intervals. Remember that it’s not about timing the market – it’s about time IN the market.’
She stressed that investing is less about ‘picking hot stocks’ or ‘timing the market’ but more about ‘consistently putting money away and letting the stock market do its thing over time.’
In 2019, she started her YouTube channel to help teach others who may be in a similar situation she was in, where she discusses her journey in detail and shares financial advice
She also recently wrote a book called Add A Zero, which is described as ‘a step-by-step guide to financial freedom and getting to your first million’
‘That’s how everyday people like me become millionaires,’ she added.
In 2019, she started her YouTube channel to help teach others who may be in a similar situation she was in, where she discusses her journey in detail and shares financial advice.
It’s a massive success, and she now has over one million subscribes and has turned it into a ‘full-blown seven-figure business.’
She also recently wrote a book called Add A Zero, which is described as ‘a step-by-step guide to financial freedom and getting to your first million.’
‘Add A Zero isn’t just about adding zeros to your bank account, it’s about adding zeros to your life – more freedom, more choices, more time to do what you actually want,’ she concluded.
‘Now I wake up every day and do things because I want to, not because I have to.
‘That’s true freedom – and it’s exactly what the Add A Zero framework will help you build, one zero at a time.’
