Hopeless in Debt to 1st Generation Millionaires
Hello, welcome to His and Her Money! We’re Talaat and Tai McNeely, a wealth-building machine, and we’re glad to have you here with us! If this is your first time visiting us, please take a minute and let us introduce ourselves and let you know how we can best help you.
We assume you may have found us through one of our posts, videos, or podcast, and perhaps you are in need of some help in the area of your Money and your Life. Trust us, you came to the right place.
Our Personal Story
We will start with the hard truth: we were not financially compatible when we married. Did your jaw drop?
We were your average, fun-loving, high school sweethearts who were very excited to get married and live happily ever after. The fantasy we’ve created in our minds all came crashing down when Talaat, a military veteran, told Tai, an investment banker at the time, that he was in more debt than he originally told her and that his credit score was less than ideal. Wouldn’t you have been nervous to share this with your soon-to-be spouse…who happened to work in finance? Yikes!
This was just 3 months before we were set to get married.
…and after having premarital counseling.
Talk about a wrench in our fairytale plans.
Tai, on the other hand, has been preparing her life for marriage, ever since the age of 13. What 13 year old do you know, is already future-minded? She knew that she wanted to get married one day and become a mother, and she didn’t want the stress of debt and finances to get in her way. So, she got to work at a very young age.
Tai paid off a $13,000 vehicle in 1 year (at the age of 19), put herself through college, and obtained a finance degree completely debt-free (It took 5 years as she cash flowed college…but, she walked across that stage!), and kept a perfect credit score.
This is why it is so important to master your finances even if single. We will teach you how to make that happen.
We were total opposites when it came to our finances and our priorities.
After we became ‘one’ after marriage, what belonged to one of us, belonged to both of us.
Although, we were on different sides of the coin when it came to our finances…WE BOTH WERE COMMITTED to making our marriage thrive.
We had to work through some trust issues after the news of Talaat’s financial infidelity came to the surface.
Lessons We’ve Learned
We quickly learned a valuable lesson. We were going to have to make a few clear changes, or we’d need a miracle to help us survive. Now, we believe in miracles, but the debt we were facing was not going to disappear with the works of a miracle. We were going to have to do the work.
And, right when we wanted to give up, we decided to shift our habits and change our lives.
Was it easy? Absolutely not.
Was it doable? Yes. A resounding yes!
Celebrations Are In Order
We were able to become completely consumer debt-free our first year of marriage.
Then, we later went on to do the unthinkable. We paid off our $330,000 mortgage in just 5 years!
You must check out the very moment we took our three children to the bank and made our very last debt payment. Grab your tissues.
Oh, did we forget to tell you that we were a one-income household while paying off our huge mortgage debt? Yep! Would you believe that our full-time income never exceeded six figures at the time? It’s all true.
THEN, just 1 year after paying off our mortgage, Talaat was able to walk away from his full-time career as an administrator in the education sector.
We both work full-time for ourselves. We run this amazing company called, His and Her Money, which brings us so much joy each day. Talk about living out our dreams! We are so grateful to God we get to do this life work.
Now we’re a million-dollar couple that is building wealth in ways that bring us joy, without the burden of debt.
Let’s recap a bit…
- We went from not knowing if we were going to get married due to financial infidelity
- Total opposites when it came to our finances and goals
- To getting on the same page financially
- To growing our net worth over 1 million dollars
Wow, this still gives us chills just thinking about it!
We can’t forget the best feeling is to witness our three children be proud of us and watch us set the template for their future.
Gratitude
We know that none of this is possible without God. Our faith in Jesus Christ (John 3:16) means a lot to us and we aren’t ashamed to say it. This is all because of Him!
Just think if we would have allowed our trust issues, lack of faith, and insecurities to get in our way…we wouldn’t be helping thousands of individuals live a life of true purpose.
We are now associate pastors at our local church and we love how God took our pain and turned it into purpose.
He can do the same for you!
Let’s get started!
