Man With 7 Jobs While Partner Splurges Stuns Money Expert: 'We're Living The High Life—But We're BROKE!'

Juan, 43, immigrated to the US when he was four. He has two younger siblings and was raised by their single mother, who worked seven days a week for decades in the cleaning industry. She is nearing retirement age but continues to work all week because she spent all her earnings to raise the children.

Juan and his family faced severe poverty from very early on. His mom single-handedly ensured they reached a middle-class family status over the years, but they never talked about money. Growing up in such a household taught Juan that he also needed to work all his life to support his family and life goals.

By the time he was a teenager, Juan had started working gigs but regrets that he wasn't a good son or a sibling in those pivotal years. At present, Juan feels a lot of guilt, fear, and stress regarding money, implying that he has developed a negative relationship with money.

He appreciates everything he has now but is afraid to think bigger, which limits his ability to earn more or grow his savings. Over three years ago, Juan met 40-year-old Amber, and the couple now lives together, thinking about how to make their finances work with such meagre savings and investments, given their age.

A Breakdown Of The Couple's Assets

In a recent interview with financial adviser and millionaire author Ramit Sethi, the couple detailed their financial situation in a customised conscious spending plan.

They have a net worth of £76,905, comprising assets of £50,494, investments of £62,393, savings of £22,345, and debts of £58,349. While the investments are almost equally split, only £6,234 of the £22,345 savings belong to Juan.

The couple's combined monthly income is £8,792, and Amber earns almost twice as much as Juan from her freelance gigs. However, her income recently dropped significantly due to instability in one of her primary gigs, which she hopes to compensate with additional side jobs.

Amber also has £38,965 in student loans, £14,027 in car debt, and £1,558 in credit card debt. The rest of the debt belongs to Juan. While their fixed costs are 57%, their monthly debt payments are high at £2,011. They invest 10% of their paycheques, or £908 monthly, and save about 7% in their bank accounts.

Sethi was surprised that their guilt-free spending was a massive 25% or £2,209 monthly. When he asked about it, the couple admitted that they are living a rich life now, going on vacations, and experiencing the finer things in life at the cost of their retirement goals.

Juan Earns Too Little For Working Too Many Jobs

Juan disclosed that he works as a personal trainer at a boxing gym, a document translator for an HR company, a property manager, another job as a trainer at a weightlifting gym, two jobs as a trainer for rock climbers (indoors/outdoors), alongside a social media gig he does for some friends.

He explained that having these many jobs was because of the belief that one could always get an extra gig to compensate for financial shortcomings. Juan cannot stop stressing about the future and how to support his family. He never had a good role model for money growing up and credited Amber with everything he recently learned about savings and investments.

However, Sethi found it weird that Juan doesn't charge his clients much money despite the 'personal trainer' sector being a luxury industry. He charges clients less than he deserves because he considers them friends and doesn't feel good asking them for more money, something Sethi said needs to change immediately.

Juan understands he is far behind in savings, but Amber supports him in thinking bigger and devising ways to save for his family's future. They contribute £155 monthly to a Roth IRA for Juan's family. He also supports his younger sister financially every other month.

Amber Comes With Her Unique Financial Issues

Amber had been married before. He met Juan while she was getting out of a divorce. She grew up primarily with her dad in Hawaii because her mother lived elsewhere. Her father was a hard worker and would work two jobs. They lived very simply, and her dad eventually saved enough to buy his own house. Amber understood early on that if she wanted to go to college or buy a new car, she would have to figure it out on her own.

Meanwhile, her mother was a big spender in her relationships and even filed for bankruptcy multiple times. Amber admitted that she is a big spender, too, and never really had money talks with her dad while growing up.

Amber also carried some patterns from her parents, like working too hard for any financial shortcoming, spending too much for better quality of life, and falling into financial trouble. Like her mother, she also filed for bankruptcy in college. Amber had a £2,337 credit card debt, but the collection agencies were following up with her. She wanted to pay a smaller amount, which the agencies refused. Amber understood that filing for bankruptcy was a serious deal, but a lawyer told her back then that she was young and could comfortably bounce back. However, she faced many challenges over the following years, like trouble getting an apartment.

While Juan and Amber come from family backgrounds of scarcity, Juan turned out to be frugal, whereas Amber refused to be comfortable with scarcity and wanted more out of her life. Juan saves money conservatively and often appreciates what he has. In contrast, Amber is more focused on the finer things in life, even if it means exceeding their budgets.

Things got interesting when Juan disclosed that he had £38,965 in savings at one point, but most of it was gone. When Sethi dug deeper, Juan confessed that he loves motorcycles and cannot resist the urge to buy them. He owns five motorcycles, which Sethi attributed to having no specific goals or future plans and a wrong bank account setup. The author explained that the money could have been invested or channelled into sub-savings accounts with specific purposes, like motorcycle or vacation funds.

Sethi's Advice For The Couple

At the current rate of investments of £15,586 annually with a £62,344 principal, Sethi estimated that the couple would amass an estimated £1.09 million by age 65, considering a return rate of 7%. It would mean an annual income of £43,640. However, they won't be able to own a house.

If Juan sold his bikes for over £15,000 and added the extra money to the principal amount at the same investment rate and duration, the amount would increase markedly but not enough for a decent annual income.

The couple needs to invest much more, and Sethi urged them to cut back on their guilt-free spending, aggressively pay down high-interest debt, and bump their incomes. He also recommended Juan explore ways to reduce the money he sends his sister or at least minimise it. Juan and Amber also save thousands of dollars monthly for gifts.

If they can save another £7,700 monthly by taking these steps and adding that surplus to existing annual investments of £15,586, Sethi calculated their fortune would be worth almost £1.55 million. That corpus could fetch them a yearly income of over £60,000. Sethi is confident that the couple could make sufficient adjustments to reach their life goals much earlier without compromising too much on family support or their quality of life.