I’m in my early 20s making $204,000 from two jobs and building real estate income – how do I scale to 0.1% wealth?

While this isn’t universally true, the hope is that everyone in their 20s starting their careers is focused on building as much wealth as possible. Given the job market these days, this is becoming increasingly difficult, but there is still hope that the American dream still exists to some extent. 

At the very least, this is the hope one Redditor wants to believe is still within reach as a software engineer in their early 20s, hoping to make it to the top 1% of wealthy individuals and the top 0.1%. Posting in r/RichPeoplePF, this twenty-something is trying to set themselves on a path to massive success. 

The reality is that achieving the 1% goal will be super challenging, even by usual standards, and hitting 0.1% of wealthy individuals will be increasingly difficult if the job market continues the way it has. 

The Situation

Posting anonymously, this twenty-something Redditor is currently in their early 20s, with a software engineer background, but only has a couple of years of experience under their belt so far. At the time of their posting, they were earning approximately $204,000 annually between two jobs, and they plan to add a third job into the mix in the next six months to blow past $300,000 in annual income. 

Currently, they own a four-unit rental property, which they are renovating, so it remains vacant. They plan to make around $3,000 monthly, with around $1,200 pure cash flow. 

In addition, he currently owns his own home, with a total rent of around $3,200, which jumps to $4,500 monthly when you factor in insurance and other expenses. With two friends helping out and potentially a third friend moving in soon, the cost should be easy to spread around.

With a current net worth of approximately $180,000, they hope that, as they live in an LCOL area, they will be “rich” by age 30. They believe they will achieve a $500,000 gross income in the next few years, so they are asking the Reddit community to help maximize their odds of hitting the 0.1% wealth goal in the future. 

Reality Check Time

The first Redditor in the comment section makes the best point that needs to be made here, and that by trying to work three jobs, the original poster should be more worried about burnout than net worth. 

In this regard, most commenters agree that finding one job that pays over $500,000 is the way to go. As a software engineer, they might be able to achieve this by working for a FAANG company or FAANG adjacent brand. The idea that this Redditor believes a startup they are considering with a friend will be massively successful is vaporware until it starts producing income for the co-founders, so this factors into Reddit’s skepticism.  

The original poster does seem to be maximizing their income smartly and meaningfully, so this is good news for starters. Thankfully, as they responded to a post in the comments, they also understand that risk is associated with their efforts and that a guaranteed path toward this level of riches doesn’t necessarily exist. They specifically say that this is something they “must come to terms with,” but there is no reason to think they shouldn’t keep going.  

Achieving Significant Wealth

A quick Google search indicates that 0.1% would refer to the wealthiest 1 out of every 1,000 households or $25.1% million in net wealth, which varies by state and country. This is a not-so-insignificant number, and while the Redditor is certainly young enough to hit this level of net worth, I’m glad they acknowledge that it isn’t a sure thing. 

Ultimately, the idea here is that working more jobs may not be the answer, so I agree that getting one job that maximizes earning potential is the way to go. Combining this job with startup work might be the best path forward. 

I don’t think anyone should try to convince the OP that this isn’t a goal worth achieving. It certainly is, but we also have to be realistic about what is possible based on what we know from the details they posted. The bottom line is that they need to keep grinding, especially with the startup idea, in the hopes it takes off, which could quickly jumpstart the path toward 1%, and potentially 0.1%, so the best idea here is to focus on the startup and a single job that maximizes earning potential.