My [Really] Boring Cousin Became a Millionaire at 37. Here’s What I Learned.

Life need not be complex

$1,000,000.00

Is that a lot of money? I think the answer is yes. That is… if you start from $0.

My cousin, Yan, started from [absolutely] nothing.

She was born into a financially humble family. Her parents work in a 9–6, earning less than $5,000 per person monthly.

Now, that is not a lot for a family with 2 daughters.

My Aunt and Uncle scrimped and saved every penny they had to keep the family going.

And it is in this family that a future millionaire is born.

Humble Beginnings + Hard Work = Jump Start

I have plenty of respect for people who have nothing. Or, near nothing.

They work harder for their wants. They start earning younger also. Yan worked on her first part-time job (now we call side hustle) at 12 years old.

She was flipping burgers and cleaning tables at MacDonald’s.

Then, all she wanted… was some pocket money to go out with her classmates after school. No biggie, right? That is what we all do. I am guilty of that, too.

After 2 months, Yan became more aware of the nasty little concept called work.

“Oh, my Good Lord. The job is backbreaking. Imagine cleaning toilet bowls one after the other. Wiping tables one after another. Flipping burgers for 3 hours. I stink, you know.”

Yes, I know.

We shared the same childhood.

Yan continued to evolve while I was stuck in the earn-money-for-the-moment mode. She started thinking about,

• How difficult it is to earn money from work,
• That her parents must be suffering from back aches,
• Yan is amassing peanuts to have fun while her parents are aggressively saving every penny for her higher education.

It came to her [very early on] that she was being irresponsible.

That she needed to grow up and earn more.

She did [exactly] that.

Yan became a shift leader one year later. Me? I am still flipping burgers to earn money to bring girls to a movie.

Same family background, same exposure, different takeaways.

Yan Worked Hard and Got into Law School

This part of her life is boring.

Literally. Boring to a T.

The common destiny we shared started to split into different timelines.

Yan won a scholarship to finance her studies. She focused solely on her studies. Her goal was to become a Public Prosecutor.

Me? My results aren’t brilliant in Business school. I got a scholarship that paid 50% of my fees. I worked multiple part-time jobs to cover the other 50%.

• While I was selling mattresses with magnets in them, she collected book prizes.
• While I was working at a call center during the graveyard shift, she snoozed.
• While I was conducting market research as a moderator, she studied.

Yan finished Law School with a second upper degree. She made it to public prosecution.

I finished Business School with a Magna Cum Laude. I had dark eye rings, freckles, lines on my face, and no job offers until 2 months later.

It was then I realized my baby cousin had changed.

She had clear goals plastered in her mind. She kept that in focus and dropped the rest.

“I know becoming public prosecutor is what I want. I know that will also take away the financial burden from my parents. I can pay for my sister’s education.”

It did not cross my mind that…

… that was the beginning of her millionaire journey.

Weird? Yeah. That’s life.

I guess.

A Simple Life is the Accelerator to a Millionaire Status

Yan took 14 years to become a millionaire.

I know it seems long.

But consider this.

I graduated at the same time as Yan. She made it. I haven’t.

Yan got onto the fast track because,

• She ate simply. No fanciful or expensive restaurants. Her lunch budget today remains the same as 10 years ago. $8, all in.
• She gets promoted every alternate year because she is committed to her work. She goes all in.
• She does not splurge on multiple travels within a year. Silly, she said.
• She does not own a car. Enough said.
• She saved 75% of her income. GOD!

She has no fanciful investment portfolio, gold bars, Bitcoin or NFTs, or private investments. Yan has cash. Pure, hard, cold cash.

She keeps her 7 digits in a bank account. It is bl00dy impressive. It feels comforting also.

And~DD~

It shows that hard work, focus, and a simple life are sufficient to bring us to our desired Promised Land. It does.

But we complicate things.

We stretch ourselves too thin with multiple businesses on the side and hustling for pennies during after-hours.

Spending 2 hours to write an online article for $0.22? Yeah. I’m guilty of that.

Let’s take a step back and think about that for a moment.

What if, and what if, we can channel our inner energy to stay focused and avoid distractions?

The Close

The millionaire next door embraces simplicity.

We don’t need to risk our money in the financial markets [we don’t yet understand] or lose our seed capital by starting a business.

We can do that on the side, of course. Hey, I am not against that!

That is not the point. This is.

Stay focused. Stay the course.

It pays good dividends over time.

Yan is a testament to that.

Boring is beautiful, people.

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