About the Changs

Grandma & Grandpa Chang were FIRE’d before FIRE (financially independent & retired early) was a trendy thing. It wasn’t a walk in the park though. More like a marathon. In bad weather. With cramped muscles. From mile 1.

They were born into comfortable lives in Vietnam, but war changed everything quickly. After going through some pretty crazy stuff to flee the country, they eventually were accepted into America as new immigrants.

It was pretty scary, because they knew no English (except for Beatles lyrics) and had only $100 to their name. Heck, they couldn’t even tell a quarter from a penny! But they did what their generation does best: they sucked it up and learned to hustle.

They had plenty of pivotal money experiences, some good and some bad:

• told friends the truth about whole life insurance
• moved to one of the most expensive states in the country
• became entrepreneurs
• went to night school to learn how to do taxes because an accountant was too expensive
• lost money (and a “friend”) through a poor investment
• accidentally bought a rental property

…among other fond memories. But through it all, they learned lots, made their comebacks, and ensured that success was not just limited to their generation by passing on their knowledge.

Credentials: Graduated from the School of Hard Knocks with a PhD . They started life well off, and then war snatched it all away. They lived like the Joneses when they got here, but have since learned how to live it more happily their own way.

Mama Chang and her husband are part of an awkward sandwich generation made complicated by an intersection between traditional Asian and modern American cultures.

On one hand, they have American-born Little & Littler Changs to raise, and are trying to strike a balance between not spoiling them yet also not letting them fall behind their peers.

On the other hand, Mama & Papa Chang are trying to forge a strong foundation for their growing family while remaining responsible to their own parents, who did just the same for them in their childhood.

Mama & Papa Chang worked together to make things happen: They’ve achieved a number of financial hurdles, including buying their own place. Their current bold dream: pay off their hefty mortgage in 15 years.

As municipal workers with a fairly humble salary, their financial focus is on slashing spending, cranking up revenue streams, and getting that house debt out the door.

Credentials: Graduated college at the perfect time: during a major recession and entering the low-paying government workforce with a humble salary made even smaller through mandated pay cuts to balance the government’s budget. Still managed to build their wealth and buy a place of their own in an area with an incredibly high cost of living.

Many of Aunty Chang’s coworkers have a similar story of how they met her: She would roll right up, comment on how young they looked, and then immediately proceed to explain how they’d benefit if they started saving for retirement now while they were young and their money had time to grow.

There are few things Aunty Chang loves more helping people achieve their own money wins (like that time she saved a friend from signing on a terrible mortgage that they could only actually afford if they ate ramen for 30 years straight).

Her goal is to strive for financial independence so she can follow her many whims and passions. She has classes she wants to take, volunteer opportunities she wants to pursue, and other passions she’d love to work on on a regular basis. She and her husband choose to be a DINK household (dual income, no kids), so she plans to invest smartly and spend minimally to get to early retirement ASAP.

Credentials: The one with the business degree (Accounting). But the real lessons were learned from being duped by shady people in an online venture and having a tenant so bad she had to evict them, but still choosing to dust herself off and try again.