We retired in our 30s after becoming millionaires on below-average salaries… the American dream isn’t over if you use these tricks

Growing up in severe poverty in a rural Chinese village, Kristy Shen never would have imagined that she’d one day be a millionaire. 

After graduating college in 2006, she and her husband both landed jobs as software developers and made a mere $48,000 combined. They had no experience with the stock market or investing.

But despite their low-paying jobs, Shen, now 43, and her partner, Bryce Leung, who live in Vancouver, Canada, ultimately saved up so much money that they were both able to retire in their early 30s.

It’s an impressive achievement and one that millions of people dream of. According to Shen, it’s easier to accomplish than you might think.

She explained exclusively to the Daily Mail that there are a few simple tactics they used to expand their bank account even though they weren’t making a lot of money.

Shen explained that she was able to leave college with no debt because she chose to finish her education in five years rather than the normal four so that she could have time to work while studying.

After graduating, she and her husband started religiously saving to buy their first house.

Now, looking back, she credits a few major behaviors and mindsets with helping them grow their savings – even with their low salaries.

First, Shen said they ‘didn’t worry about small one-off purchases like coffee or [treats],’ but instead focused on keeping the three core recurring costs down: housing, food and transportation. 

Next, they avoided changing their lifestyle as their incomes improved.

That meant living in a small, one-bedroom rental for nearly nine years. Despite multiple promotions at work, the couple never upgraded.

‘We also never bought a car and just used public transportation and car sharing services, which cost less than $500 a year,’ Shen told the Daily Mail. 

They also avoided eating out as much as possible, cooking a lot of food on the weekend and freezing leftovers to eat throughout the busy work week.

‘A lot of eating out costs come from relying on convenience and not planning meals ahead of time,’ she said.

At first, Shen explained that they kept their savings in a regular bank account since they didn’t have any knowledge about investing.

But in 2008, roughly two years after they had started saving, they decided to take the plunge and put all their extra cash into index funds instead.

‘I have a severe scarcity mindset due to childhood poverty, so I was extremely distrustful of the stock market,’ Shen admitted. 

‘My parents taught me that only savings accounts and property were safe. So investing every cent we had was terrifying.’

By 2012, they had roughly $360,000 saved using these methods – and by that time, their combined salary had grown to $121,000 a year.

But Shen wanted to grow their savings even more, so she started to look into potential side hustles. That’s when she discovered the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement. 

Instead of saving toward buying their dream house, the couple decided to switch their focus to retiring early.

While they were already living pretty frugally, this fueled them even more. 

‘We completely lost interest in owning real estate, eating out and clothes shopping, which is what many of our friends were caught up in,’ Shen said. 

‘At one point, I was obsessed with buying designer bags, but after deciding on the retire early goal, I stopped shopping and sold my purses on the secondary market.

‘We sold anything we no longer needed. We basically changed our entire trajectory and redirected nearly every penny saved toward FIRE.’

In 2015, when Shen was 32 and Leung was 33, they decided to quit their jobs and retire. 

They used something known as the four percent rule, which is when you withdraw four percent of your portfolio’s value in the first year of retirement and then make subsequent annual withdrawals of the same amount adjusted for inflation, per Playing With FIRE.

Since retiring, they have nearly tripled their net worth, which now soars to over $2 million.

They have made money from their investments as well as from publishing two bestselling books about achieving financial freedom and from advertisements on their blog. They also credit continuously living frugally with helping their money grow despite not working, explaining that, each month, they spend less than the amount their investments bring in.

‘Our portfolio grew by about 80 percent since retiring because we are able to live off the dividends and interest without having to sell much of the underlying assets, thereby letting it compound over the past 10 years,’ Shen added.

The couple, who now have one child together, said the only thing they are willing to spend on outside of priorities is travel.

‘The one thing we both agreed was non-negotiable and we weren’t going to cut was travel,’ she said, adding that they spend more than $5,000 a year on vacations.

‘What we like to do is spend intentionally on things that matter to us and cut things that don’t [such as houses, cars and shopping].’ 

The pair are fiercely dedicated to helping others retire early. They offer free step-by-step online investment workshops through their blog, Millennial Revolution.

Shen’s biggest advice to others is to ‘spend intentionally,’ learn to invest and do it as soon as possible ‘so you can leverage the power of time and compounding.’

She also advised against trying to take on this lifestyle too suddenly if you want it to last. Instead, she recommended easing into it.

‘FIRE is a marathon and not a sprint,’ she explained. ‘Living too frugally [might] feel too much like a diet and most people will quit.’