‘The math wasn’t there’: One dad thought becoming a millionaire in his 30s was impossible — here's how he made it happen

And they aren’t nepo babies. In fact, they had meager beginnings in adulthood, from Edwards’s community college experience to the two earning less than $100,000 combined after graduation.

“I remember thinking, ‘Man, it would be cool to be a millionaire by 30,’” he told MarketWatch. “But I was like, ‘There’s just no way’ — the math wasn’t there.”

But deliberate financial decisions put the couple’s net worth at $1 million by the time Edwards — with two kids and a third on the way — was 32, with nine years of work under his belt. Here’s a peek into how he and his wife reached this milestone.

Keep housing costs low

Edwards and his wife set a rule that they would only spend 25% of their monthly net (post-tax) income on housing.

He got the idea from the personal finance personality Dave Ramsey, who has long said that your housing costs shouldn’t exceed 25% of your take-home pay. (This includes expenses such as your mortgage principal, interest, property taxes, insurance and homeowners association dues, but not ones like utilities or groceries.)

Edwards and his wife have stuck to this rule. In 2020, they bought a three-bedroom, two-bathroom home in the Atlanta suburbs. The house cost $250,000 and they spend around $1,400 on their monthly mortgage payment.

While they could have bought a larger house, or one in central Atlanta, their goal of spending less than 25% of take-home pay on housing kept them grounded. It’s also allowed them to build home equity while leaving room in their budget for other expenses.

The 25% rule is well-known, but it isn’t the only equation for keeping your housing expenses down. The most popular might be the 28/36 rule, which dictates that you spend a maximum of 28% of your gross (pre-tax) monthly income on housing costs and up to 36% on all monthly debts, including housing, credit cards, auto loans and more.

Every household’s situation is different, so choose the “rule” that works best for your family. The key is to set some sort of boundary to free up space in your budget for other costs and wealth-building opportunities.

Avoid taking out loans, when possible

Edwards and his wife seem to be big Ramsey fans because they also follow another one of his rules: steer clear of loans, with a mortgage being the exception.

Both Edwards and his wife obtained cars without taking out an auto loan. In fact, Edwards was lucky enough to get his first car — a 2023 Kia Optima — from his parents, and he continues to drive it to this day. His wife purchased a used 2016 Toyota Highlander with cash a few years ago, when the trade-in price for her previous car was high during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Of course, not everyone can afford to buy a car with cash, and trade-in offers aren’t quite as generous as they were at the peak of the pandemic. If you can’t pay in cash, try to secure as short a term on your auto loan as possible. Yes, the monthly payments will be higher, but you’ll pay a lower interest rate and be out of debt sooner.

Edwards also didn’t take out any student loans.

“I went to a cheap in-state school where my tuition was covered essentially because of sports scholarships,” he told MoneyWatch. He also received Georgia’s Hope Scholarship for academic performance.

To pay for graduate school, he used an employee benefit to cover $6,000 of his $12,000 program, then paid the remaining tuition in cash. As a bonus, the graduate degree led to a new job in tech with a higher salary.