A Success Story Without a Huge Salary: Financial Discipline and Early Investment Among the Keys to Building Wealth

A Couple Who Accumulated a Million Dollars Before 30

                             

A Success Story Without a Huge Salary: A Couple Who Accumulated a Million Dollars Before 30!

The story of a young couple, both under 30, has become a living example of smart money management and investing, after they succeeded in building a fortune exceeding one million dollars without ever having a six-figure salary job. 

According to a report published by CNBC Make It, the secret lies in combining early investment in real estate and cryptocurrencies with adherence to a strict budget since their teenage years.

The story began with Sebastian Marquez when he was in high school, when he took his now-wife, Julia, to a local hockey game. After the game, he invited her to visit his home, which was a small, dilapidated house that Sebastian describes as being "in complete disrepair." Despite this, the house was an initial investment with the help of his mother, which laid the foundation for the couple's early wealth.

At the age of 16, Sebastian, a Canadian, juggled school and multiple low-wage jobs, including at Walmart and on a chicken farm, while also working on renovating the house his mother had bought with the intention of selling it later for a profit. 

This marked the beginning of his success story, which involved buying and selling nine properties between 2013 and 2022, generating a total profit of $343,700 CAD.

Today, Sebastian and Julia Marquez are worth over $1 million USD, primarily through real estate investments and cryptocurrencies. Although neither of them has ever held a six-figure salary, their projected total annual income for 2025 is approximately $136,500 USD, including salaries from traditional jobs and rental income.

Sebastian's foray into real estate investment began with his mother's advice to use his $8,000 savings to buy and renovate a small house instead of purchasing a car. Thanks to hard work and self-learning online, he renovated the house entirely on his own, except for some specialized artwork. Six months later, the house sold for $82,200, which fueled his passion for real estate investments.

Despite his modest income from traditional jobs, Sebastian and his wife were able to grow their savings through strict budgeting and financial discipline, using spreadsheets to track every detail of their income and expenses.

Cryptocurrencies also played a significant role in the couple's wealth. Sebastian invested approximately $25,000 in Bitcoin and Ethereum in 2019, an amount that represented 10% of his net worth at the time.

 Since then, these cryptocurrencies have experienced tremendous growth, significantly contributing to the couple's current net worth, nearly half of which comes from digital investments.

Today, the couple combines income from traditional jobs, rentals, and digital investments, while also setting aside a portion of their earnings for their infant daughter's future. 

They regularly monitored their monthly budget and investments to ensure they achieved their shared financial goals, investing 15% of their income in index funds. Sebastian affirms, "Ultimately, we're working towards the same goal, and we're very similar in how we manage money."

According to the couple's income figures for September 2025, their total monthly income was $9,500 ($7,900 from jobs + $1,400 from rent), with approximately 15% of their income invested in index funds. Half of their net worth, around $400,000, came from cryptocurrencies.