Building Wealth on a Dime

Your personal roadmap to financial freedom through small but mighty changes to your money

In a world where you have questions about money and Google has a million different answers, it can be hard to know how to make the most of what you have…

Especially if you don’t have a ton of it.

In Building Wealth on a Dime: Finding Your Financial Freedom, financial educator and Latina Kimberly Hamilton delivers an engaging guide for building wealth through small but powerful changes to your money – even if you’re starting small. As a former student debt warrior turned homeowner, Kimberly knows this experience first-hand, but this book isn’t about her. Through the financial lives of everyday moneymakers like Claire in New York, Tanya in Chicago, and Eric in Portland, Kimberly teaches you how to take control of your finances, eliminate debt, and invest for your financial future. Written in a tone that sounds more like a friend than financial advice, you’ll gain the tools you need – psychological and financial – to change your mindset and achieve your own financial freedom.

In Building Wealth on a Dime, you’ll discover how to shift your financial trajectory “on a dime” and gain confidence in your money ASAP. You’ll also find:

• Efficient techniques for eliminating debt
• How to calculate and implement a guilt-free weekly spending cap
• A complete breakdown on investing for beginners, including the different types of accounts, investments, and methods you need to be strategic
• Completely legal (but rarely talked about) tax loopholes that can save you thousands
• What you need to consider when buying your first home or real estate investment

A can’t-miss handbook for the everyday money maker, working professional, or soon-to-graduate, Building Wealth on a Dime belongs on the bookshelves of anyone seeking to improve their relationship with money and accelerate their journey to financial freedom.

Preface

1 Million Dollar Habits 1

No. 1: Start Small, Dream Big 3

No. 2: Don’t Compare Yourself to Others 5

No. 3: Automate and Stay Consistent 5

No. 4: Start with Day 1 6

No. 5: Keep It Real 7

No. 6: Invest Early and Often 9

Summary 12

Notes 13

Worksheet: Million Dollar Habits 14

2 Plans Change – So Can Your Money 15

The Story No One Told You 17

The Real Reasons Money Feels Tight 18

A New Plan for Your Money 26

Summary 29

Notes 29

3 Money Mindset and Your Emotions 31

Emotions and Your Money 34

Step 1: Identify Your Money Mindset 35

Step 2: Tackle Your Emotional Spending 41

Step 3: Take Action 46

Summary 47

Notes 48

Worksheet: Shift Your Money Mindset 49

4 Flip the Script on Budgets 51

What a Budget Should Be 53

Step 1: Get Organized 58

Step 2: Set Your Money Goals 64

Step 3: Build Your Budget 73

Step 4: Automate Your Money 80

Summary 85

Worksheet: Build Your Budget 87

5 Tackle Your Debt 95

Develop Your Debt Payoff Plan 101

Find Extra Money to Pay Down Your Debt 114

Accelerate Your Debt Payoff 120

For the Student Debt Warriors 124

Summary 131

Notes 136

Worksheet: Debt Payoff 137

6 Get Your Full Financial Picture 141

Net Worth 143

Your Credit Score 144

Your Liquidity Ratio 146

Your Debt-to-Income (DTI) Ratio 147

How Often Should I Check These Numbers? 149

Summary 151

Worksheet: Get Your Financial Picture 152

7 Invest Early and Often 155

The Magic of Investing: Compound Growth 158

Tanya’s Wealth Journey 163

How Much Should I Invest? 169

Update Your Investment Goals 175

Summary 177

Notes 178

8 Investing 101 179

The Magic of Tax-Advantaged Accounts 181

The Average Money Maker’s Guide to Investments 208

Summary 220

Notes 221

Worksheet: Investing 101 222

9 Beyond the Basics 225

Tanya’s Next Steps 227

How to Open a Brokerage Account 232

For High Income Earners: Consider a Backdoor Roth 240

Get Penalty-Free Access to Your Investments? Using a Roth Ladder 241

Tracking Your Investments Across Multiple Accounts 243

Creating Generational Wealth 243

Summary 249

10 Confessions of a First-Time Homebuyer 251

My Homeownership Journey 253

Lessons Learned 259

11 The Rent Versus Buy Debate 267

Why Buying a House Can Be Difficult 268

The Pros and Cons of Homeownership 272

Questions to Ask Yourself Before Buying a Home 274

Summary 276

Notes 276

12 Nine Steps to Homeownership 277

Real Estate Lingo 278

Step 1: Find Out How Much You Can Afford 282

Step 2: Shop Around for Lenders 289

Step 3: Find Your Home 291

Step 4: Make a Strong Offer 292

Step 5: Finalize Your Mortgage 293

Step 6: Get Your Inspection 294

Step 7: Get Homeowners Insurance 295

Step 8: Final Walk-Through 295

Step 9: Closing Day! 295

Building Wealth with Real Estate 296

Summary 302

Closing 305

Appendix 309

Acknowledgments 317

About the Author 319

Index 321

KIMBERLY HAMILTON is the Founder of Beworth Finance where she helps women and millennials make smart money moves. As a Certified Financial Education Instructor, Kimberly’s advice has been featured in major publications such as Forbes, Business Insider, and Health magazine, among others. To learn more, you can follow her on social media @BeworthFinance.

In a world filled with conflicting advice about how to handle your money, it can be tough to know how to make the most of what you have, especially if you’re starting small. Luckily, there are ways you can build wealth, one million dollar habit at a time.

In Building Wealth on a Dime: Finding Your Financial Freedom, Latina financial educator Kimberly Hamilton delivers an insightful and exciting new guide to building wealth by making small—but powerful—changes to your money. You’ll learn that small beginnings can create huge windfalls over time, and that you can achieve your own financial freedom by shifting your mindset and adjusting your money habits.

Through the budgets and stories of characters much like you, from Claire in New York to Tanya in Chicago and Eric in Portland, you’ll discover how to take control of your finances, eliminate debt, and invest for your financial future. The author also describes straightforward debt-busting and wealth-building techniques like using a guilt-free weekly spending cap and breaks down investing for beginners, including the different types of accounts, investments, and strategies you can use to be successful.

Building Wealth on a Dime shows you completely legal (but rarely discussed) tax loopholes that can save you thousands and what you need to consider when buying your first home or real estate investment.

Discover how to shift your financial trajectory “on a dime” and gain confidence in your money ASAP. A can’t-miss handbook for the everyday money maker, Building Wealth on a Dime will benefit anyone looking for practical methods to build wealth and find financial freedom.

YOUR PERSONAL ROADMAP TO FINANCIAL FREEDOM, FILLED WITH SMALL-BUT-MIGHTY MONEY STRATEGIES

Dedicated to anyone whose dreams have ever felt bigger than their bank account, Building Wealth on a Dime: Finding Your Financial Freedom is the practical guide to money you’ve been waiting for. In this book, celebrated financial educator and Latina Kimberly Hamilton walks you through how to take control of your money, eliminate debt, and invest for your financial future. Through the budgets, relationships, and goals of five money makers like Tanya in Chicago and Eric in Portland, Kimberly teaches you the systems you need to build wealth, even if you’re starting small.

Shift your financial trajectory “on a dime” and build confidence in your ability to manage money as you tackle debt, automate your finances, master the basics of investing—within and beyond your 401k—and buy your first home. Most importantly, you’ll learn the six million dollar habits that helped Kimberly build wealth faster than anything else, from paying down almost $45k worth of student debt to buying her first home before 30.

An indispensable guide told through the finances and stories of regular people, including her own, Building Wealth on a Dime will show you how to optimize your money and find your own financial freedom—and you will.