10 Questions With rich & REGULAR

I met Julien and Kiersten at Camp FI Southeast earlier this year and their talk reminded me of something I’ve been thinking a lot about lately. Let me back up a second.

In my day to day life, I’m surrounded mostly by other humans like me; software/ entrepreneurial dudes who wear flannel, drink fancy beer and live a good life. It’s easy to get lost in your own reality and forget those that don’t have it so good.

I was on a field trip with my youngest daughter last month when one of her talkative classmates sat down next to me on the bus. The first thing I noticed was that his pants were dirty and torn. Then, he told me about his home-life; 3 generations of people living in a small home and sharing a car. He mentioned that some of the members of his family weren’t allowed to live in the home anymore. (I didn’t dare ask what that was all about.) It was clear from our 20 minutes on the bus together that his family struggles.

At Camp FI, Julien and Kiersten mentioned some of the struggles in the black community (see their talk here). While I can’t speak eloquently about the issues their community faces, I know I’m a better person if I make an effort to pay attention, listen and help when and where I can. Perhaps Charlie Munger said it best:

The best thing a human being can do is to help another human being know more.

Take it away rich & REGULAR!

There are approximately 476,492,292,928 personal finance blogs last time I checked. Why should we read yours?

For starters, even though reading our blog is free, you get a GREAT value with ours. Some of our posts we write together in the r&R voice, some are written by Kiersten and some are written by Julien. That’s 3 for 1…for free! You can’t beat that unless your pet or child blogs too which we’re pretty sure breaks either child labor laws or PETA guidelines.

What is one post that you’ve written that you wish would have gone viral?

Hmmm, we wish our post about dealing with a financially insecure parent went viral. It struck a nerve with a lot of readers but didn’t quite achieve ‘viral’ status. It’s an unfortunate reality that many people are struggling with so we hope to have helped others who are also dealing with this issue.

Why did you start your blog?

We started rich & REGULAR because we were tired of seeing the stereotypical image of Black wealth that is portrayed in the media and pop culture. It looks as if you had to be buttoned up in a suit with fancy cufflinks, holding a designer bag with red-bottoms, an entertainer of some sort or an athlete. That image is exclusive and doesn’t speak to the breadth of diversity among Black Americans.

We would wonder to ourselves, where are the REGULAR rich people? What about the Black millionaires next door? Then we decided…it was us.  But we also wanted to show people that FIRE was achievable for people of color AND that despite the challenges, our community should really really consider adopting this way of life.

Where do you live? Do you love it, hate it or just meh.

We live just outside of Atlanta, GA in a city called Smyrna.

Do you rent or own? What are your thoughts on home ownership?

We own our home as well as two rental properties. One of our rentals is debt free [our old home] and the other has a small mortgage on it.

What do you do for a living?

Julien works on the blog full time and our properties part-time. Kiersten is a Marketing Director for a global hospitality company.

How old are you and do you have a family?

Julien is 38, Kiersten is 34 and our son Beau is almost two.

FIRE, Money and South Africa

Is your goal financial independence? If so, where are you on the journey?

Yup, our goal is to hit FI by June 2021…hopefully sooner.

What is your investing strategy? Stocks? Index funds?? Real estate??? Crypto????

All of the above and more. We earn passive income from our rental properties, we invest heavily in index funds and we’re seeking to create other passive income streams and businesses. We also own a small handful of cryptocurrencies that are racing to $0 pretty quickly so ya know…life’s awesome!

What is the best thing you ever bought? The worst?

Hands down the best thing we ever bought was our honeymoon plane ticket. We went to South Africa and instead of flying in first class or coach we opted for the first-row seat in coach. We had tons of leg space and were comfortable without the markup of the fancy cabins. That trip changed our life and was the place where we decided to pursue FI.

What is your splurge? Don’t be shy. Mine set me back $45,000.

Uhh, our honeymoon was our biggest splurge. The term luxury fatigue became pretty apparent after the first week. We never thought it was humanly possible to be tired of wine, multi-course meals, chilled seafood towers, Egyptian cotton sheets and white glove service but after two weeks, it gets pretty old. All in, we dropped about $20K cash and don’t regret it one bit.

The worst thing we ever bought was a wine subscription. For a couple of months, we would receive bottles of wine that tasted like $hitty vinegar. Between that and Omaha Steaks that gave us both food poisoning, we’re pretty much anti-anything edible shipped through the mail.

What did your parents do to raise you to be financially smart?

Kiersten’s parents set a solid example of dual income, high earners that helped out other family members in need. They also worked in insurance so they were always covered which gave her a high degree of security. Her father also encouraged her to be an entrepreneur and to make earning/creating money a priority. At the age of 12, she was making T-shirts, babysitting for money and making hundreds of dollars a week.

What is the most beautiful place you’ve ever seen?

Hands down, Cape Town South Africa. There the sea meets the ocean with Table Mountain in the background. It’s drop-dead gorgeous.

Big Questions

What is one thing you firmly believed 5 years ago that you no longer believe?

Five years ago, we believed that going to work every day in exchange for benefits and a six figure salary was the ultimate dream. We believed that corporate ladders weren’t fair but that we had the cheat code to climb it. We believed that everybody that earned “good money” understood the basics of personal finance. We believed that work-life-balance in the traditional sense was both attainable and sustainable.

What do people misunderstand about you?

As a blog/brand most people think we’re holding onto some sort of secret. Particularly when we meet people in person, we get questions about our blog posts all the time as if people are waiting for a big reveal on how we really got to where we are. It’s like “there is no rabbit in our hat”, it’s called compounding interest.

If you have a magical power that allowed you to change one set of beliefs in others, what would you choose?

We would make people have the courage to believe in themselves. To have the audacity to believe that you can be both rich and a regular person.

Random Silliness

Name one living person that you look up to. Tell us why.

Beyonce because…it’s freakin Beyonce!

Elon Musk: Crazy megalomaniac or a brilliant guy who is changing the world?

Elon is a genius that we should all celebrate; not emulate. Dude’s been sniffing too much rocket fuel fumes lately.

Favorite beer? Favorite pizza place? (this is a throwback to the original series)

Julien was recently gifted a fancy Kamado Joe grill so homemade pizza is his favorite. There’s not much better than a classic Margherita with fresh basis, mozzarella and garlic. We’re not into beer as much as we enjoy wine and bourbon but do enjoy a good Chimay Blue. For wine, Stags Leap Cab is pretty epic and for bourbon, we’re big fans of Four Roses, Single Barrell.

Who is your favorite leader in business today?

We used to love big thinkers, business leaders and politicians.  But we’ve learned that most of them are recycling lines from the same playbook and drunk on their own rhetoric. Now, we admire the small business owners of the world, the people who are feeding their families, changing their towns one customer service experience at a time. The owner of our local sushi restaurant is awesome, the owner of our fave Mexican restaurant, our local landscaping business, the women who do Kiersten’s eyebrows and Kiersten’s bestie who is a lawyer and now investor in a franchise. Those people are #goals

What is the best movie you’ve seen recently?

It’s pretty hard not to say Playing with FIRE. At the time of writing this, we’ve not seen it but we know the trailer by heart. If not that, then Black Panther because…Wakanda Forever!

Thanks rich & REGULAR for your wisdom and story! Show Julien and Kiersten some love over at:

• Their blog: rich & REGULAR
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/richandregular/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/richandregular
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/richandregular/
• YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4HUQztCZd9c1q2rB7SmOAQ