My Income Journey: From <$20,000 to Nearly $400,000 in 5 Years

The Money with Katie Show

Money with Katie

Self-improvement, Education, Business, Investing, How To

4.8 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 23 November 2022

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

I have been—by all accounts—incredibly fortunate in my career thus far, but there are a few distinct takeaways I notice when I reflect on the last five years. Since I went to a public state university and studied communications (not exactly a field with investment banking-level compensation), I figured I’d be a median earner forever. Discovering the art of the side hustle (and freelancing, contract work, and online businesses) sent me down a meandering path of trial and error that I’m recounting on the show today. When I started working, I earned $12/hour, which transitioned later to a full-time salary of $52,000. By 2021, as a 26-year-old with no advanced degree, my total cobbled-together income encroached on $400,000. Looking back on it, I realize: The rules are fake. You don’t need to study finance or medicine at Harvard to make good money (though to be fair, I’m sure those things make it a lot easier). Regardless, it’s my hope that something in this episode will spark something useful for you. Learn more about our sponsor, Vin Social: http://vinsocialvip.com/. Transcripts can be found at https://www.podpage.com/money-with-katie-show/. — Mentioned in the Episode Money with Katie's 2023 Wealth Planner: https://moneywithkatie.com/new-2023-wealth-planner Study on students who graduate from college without any debt: https://www.aplu.org/our-work/5-archived-projects/college-costs-tuition-and-financial-aid/publicuvalues/publicuvalues-resources/student-debt-by-the-numbers.pdf Building a Six-Figure Side Hustle episode: https://www.podpage.com/money-with-katie-show/building-a-six-figure-side-hustle-monetizing-content-budgeting-with-variable-income/ The Role of Luck in Financial Outcomes: https://moneywithkatie.com/blog/how-a-traffic-stop-changed-my-life-luck-randomness — Follow Along at Money with Katie: https://moneywithkatie.com/ Follow Money with Katie! - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneywithkatie/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/moneywithkatie Subscribe to Morning Brew - Sign up for free today: https://bit.ly/morningbrewyt Follow The Brew! - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/morningbrew/ - Twitter: https://twitter.com/MorningBrew - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@morningbrew Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Just five years ago, my total pre-tax income was less than $20,000, and last year my pre-tax
0:08.6	income was more than $300,000.
0:11.8	Today, I am breaking down the winding road I took to increasing my income.
0:17.6	Everything from side hustles to contract work to freelancing to starting my own little
0:22.0	operation.
0:23.4	If you're trying to increase your income or you're just curious, today's episode probably
0:27.4	has a nugget or two of hot and spicy takes for you.
0:38.6	Welcome back to The Money with Katie Show Rich Girls and Boys, and today we are diving
0:42.9	into what I am colloquially referring to as my income journey, because it makes it sound
0:48.8	more mythic and cool.
0:50.6	I'm your host, Katie Gatti Tossin.
0:58.4	Now, I want to clarify up front that I think it's mildly dicey territory to take specific
1:05.6	things that worked for an end of one and attempt to deduce broadly applicable themes as generalized
1:13.0	advice or takeaways, but to the extent my income journey is useful or inspiring or sparks
1:20.0	an idea or two for someone we're going to walk down that meandering path today.
1:25.5	And as if I were an elected official running for re-election, I'm going to use my tax returns
1:30.2	as helpful guidance to make sure I am being as accurate as possible.
1:34.0	It's going to be all pre-tax income we're talking today as reported to the IRS.
1:38.5	We stand a documentation queen, hashtag form 1040.
1:43.3	Before we get into it today, I wanted to mention that the 2023 Wealth Planner launches
1:48.6	at midnight tomorrow, November 25th.
1:51.8	So excited.
	...

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