Courtesy: Paul AttarName: Paul Attar, 41Home town: San Antonio
Occupation: Property and small-business owner
Net worth: About $550,000
Though Paul Attar is a scientist who co-founded a medical research company in 2006, the primary vehicle he's using to amass wealth for himself and his family is actually real estate.
He owns two rental properties on his own, and with his business partner formed a company that buys homes in the $150,000-$300,000 range, using 10-year loans.
He views these properties as a "long-term investment to provide wealth to our families after we are gone." Any distributions he gets from his medical company that he doesn't need go straight into his real estate venture.
His long-term goal: Own 10 properties generating $15,000 per month by 60.
Nickel and diming their way to $1 million
Courtesy: The MoyersName: Tim and Karen Moyer, 44 and 38Home town: Moorestown, N.J.
Occupation: Public school teacher and stay-at-home mom
Net worth: $585,000
On their path to saving for retirement, the Moyers have paid special attention to investment fees.
"We tend to follow the advice of Vanguard founder John Bogle, as well as other "Bogleheads": Purchase funds that have low fees, including index funds." Tim adds: "We could easily use index funds exclusively but wanted some higher exposure to certain sectors, including health care and real estate."
Even with a few managed funds, the Moyers pay an average of just 0.23% in annual expenses per year in their portfolio -- or about a quarter what the typical fund portfolio bills in fees per year.
This, plus the couple's diligent savings, explains why the Moyers are already halfway to their goal line.
Focus on getting experience, not titles
Courtesy: David VavrasekName: David Vavrasek, 32Home town: Brooklyn, N.Y.
Occupation: Senior VP of human resources at a financial sevices company
Net worth: $650,000
David Vavrasek has had 10 jobs of increasing responsibility and boosted his compensation fivefold in the nine years that he's been in the corporate world.
The human resources veep says that one of the keys to moving up has been to focus on gaining skills and experiences, not simply titles. "In today's title-heavy world, your last promotion might not translate easily when you are competing for a new role," he says. "But your experiences will."
Case in point: When Vavrasek was getting started, he served as an HR manager for a sales group at a consumer-products company, but he didn't have any direct sales experience himself. So he asked to work in a sales position to understand better how these employees worked and then went on to manage a small team there.
This proved to be a deft move: He landed his next job when a recruiter contacted him for a higher-level HR position at another company that wanted someone with sales experience, not just an HR background. The move netted him a $40,000 bump up in pay. "Success requires managing your career like a business," says Vavrasek. "But you have to be good at what you do to earn those opportunities."
Build a big, diverse customer base
Courtesy: Steven BerryName: Steven Berry, 43Home town: New Meadows, Idaho
Occupation: President of Battery Universe, which provides batteries for cellphones, laptops, and other tech equipment
Net worth: $500,000
In the early days of his wholesale cellphone battery business, Steven Berry sold mainly to three big customers in Latin America. Then the market tanked in their area, and all three canceled their orders -- on the same day.
Lesson learned. Since then Berry has worked to diversify his revenue base -- a key to enhancing company value.
He's franchised the business, requiring operators to get supplies from him; expanded into tablet, alarm, and other types of batteries; and in 2007 added a retail outlet and a well-designed website for online orders. Says Berry: "We've increased sales and profitability every year since."
With the business now generating nearly $2 million in sales, Berry has been able to draw a $220,000-a-year salary. At this rate, he expects to hit $1 million in net worth in 10 years or less.
Penny-pinching to power savings
Courtesy: Victor KoName: Victor Ko, 35Home town: Philadelphia
Occupation: Hospital physician
Net worth: $500,000
Victor Ko isn't as wealthy as Warren Buffett (yet), but he shares one trait in common with the billionaire investor: He's content to live in a much smaller home than he can afford.
Married, with four children under the age of 9, Ko lives in the same 1,700-square-foot, three-bedroom house he and his wife bought when he was a resident in his twenties, even as his earnings have risen substantially.
Ko and his wife, Eileen, are frugal in other ways too: They invest in low-cost index funds, buy groceries in bulk, clip coupons, skip cable, and drive cars with more than 100,000 miles.
"We live well below our means, but we still live well," says Ko.
He also supplements his salary -- and his savings -- with a part-time job at a second hospital. Result: Ko currently saves 40% to 50% of his income.
culled from CNNmoney
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