I Saved My First $100K By 22. At 25, I Have $500K. Here’s How.

At 25, I have over $500,000 between my high-yield savings account, retirement funds, and investments. I put away my first $100,000 by 22. And I did it mostly without help after growing up in a lower-middle class household.

My story is definitely not the norm. Gen Z is up against a lot: Around 13 million people in Gen Z have approximately $23,000 of student loan debt, per 2024 research from the Education Data Initiative. And the job market? Brutal.

But Gen Z is also becoming financially savvy. Twenty-one percent save 1-10% of their monthly salary, another quarter carve out 11-20%, and 12% put away 21-30%, according to a poll conducted by Talker Research in January. Some even save their entire paycheck — 5% more than any other generation.

Here’s how I built my nest egg, and how you can work toward the same goal.

Knowing that no one was coming to save me, I invested in myself.

Money stressed my parents out. After immigrating to the United States for their education and careers in software, my mom stopped working to care for me shortly after I was born. We managed on one income, but sometimes my dad dealt with bouts of unemployment that were beyond his control.

After witnessing them work so hard to make ends meet, I’ve been conditioned to save as much as possible on my own. I grew up fearing we didn’t have enough, and I didn’t want to live with that kind of anxiety forever.

I’ve always been quite entrepreneurial. As a kid, I’d go door-to-door in my apartment building selling homemade stuffed animals. While I was an undergraduate student at UC Berkeley’s Haas School of Business studying business administration and data science (which I knew were both high-earning fields), I took every opportunity to learn about personal finance: which stocks to strategically invest in, how retirement accounts work, and which companies offer good compensation.

I also went deep down the YouTube finance rabbit hole (shoutout to Graham Stephan) and took a personal finance class at my university to develop my strategy. This wasn’t a coursework requirement for my degree but rather an elective I sought out for the sake of my own growth.

I graduated with no debt after attending an in-state public university. My parents had saved so much of their money — forgoing other milestones like home ownership and vacations — just to be able to send me to school. I wanted to honor the sacrifices they made for the sake of my education by prioritizing my financial well-being.

I saved my first $100,000 by living at home and launching a side hustle.

After graduating in 2022, I moved back in with my parents in the Bay Area. I got my first corporate job at a Silicon Valley tech company as a product marketing manager.

I noticed there’s tons of advice out there about landing the dream job but barely any on what to do with your paycheck. So on the side, I started posting content on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube — earning myself an extra $50,000 in doing so — about helping Gen Z save money and become more financially literate. I even wrote a book about it! The New Money Rules: The Gen Z Guide to Personal Finance, for which I received an advance and will receive royalties.

Thanks to living at home rent-free for a year (while still contributing to essentials like groceries and internet expenses), I was able to save 80% of my income. At first, I worried that I was freeloading. But my parents saw it as an opportunity for me to get ahead financially, and happily offered to share their home. And honestly? They were right. Americans tend to shame people who move back in with family after college, but for me, it was the opposite of a setback. It gave me momentum.

Now at 25, I still live at home — and I wouldn’t have it any other way! I love living with my parents, and we’ve developed a friendship dynamic through this experience rather than a parent-child one. I’d prefer to live with them over roommates, so I don’t plan to leave any time soon. We have an amazing rapport and deep understanding of each other that makes day-to-day living much more enjoyable.

Given that I saved so much with their help, I decided to contribute $2,500 a month to household expenses and have taken my family on several international vacations. We couldn’t do that when I was growing up. It’s my way of saying “thank you.”

I save strategically.

Twenty percent of my post-tax salary is for spending. I don’t just take 80% of my multiple six-figure salary and let it wither away in a regular savings account. I want it to work for me.

For starters, I contribute the maximum amount to my retirement savings account with each paycheck, which comes out to about $23,500 before taxes. My company offers a generous 50% match of the federal limit, which gives me an additional $11,750, and it’s a great way to lower my taxable income.

Next, I put 30% of my salary in a high-yield savings account to work toward a long-term goal: buying property in the Bay Area. These types of accounts typically offer much better interest rates than traditional savings accounts, so the money I park there grows while it waits. I also like the idea of not “locking up” the entirety of my money in investments, just in case I need to take it out.

The remaining 50% of my salary, after leaving 20% for spending, goes into my investment portfolio. I only strategically invest in public equities (like stocks) and tax-advantaged retirement accounts (like a Roth IRA). Through my job, I also receive restricted stock units (aka stocks in my current company), which means I’m building equity through my compensation package.

I follow a few simple rules to stay on track.

These non-negotiables help me save consistently and mindfully:

• I use a 48-hour rule for anything over $100. If I still want something two days later, I’ll get it.
• I never use Buy Now, Pay Later. No matter how it’s framed, it is still debt! If I can’t pay in full up front, I skip it.
• I stay informed on tax and policy changes. The government is constantly enacting new financial legislation, and I adjust my plan as needed. For example, the limits on how much you can contribute to your retirement accounts fluctuate due to inflation. If the limit goes up, I’ll up my contributions to match it.
• I track everything. I’ve been using the same spreadsheet template (that I created myself!) for four years to log every dollar I earn, spend, and save. It gives me a clear picture of my financial year and helps me refine my plan for the next one — ensuring I always take care of me and my family’s future.