
Follow Friday – Millennial Money
What would you say about someone who goes from too broke to even buy a burrito to becoming a millionaire in just 5 years? To me, the two things that come to mind are that he has grit and a lot of discipline with money.
Meet Grant Sabatier – the guy who lived this miracle to tell his tale of how he vowed to and got to become a millionaire by the age of 30. He realized he knows more than the average joe about money and can help out other millennials, which was the idea behind Millennial Money.
Grant and his advice about how to be better with your money is something which is widely available through his multiple interviews. To me, this one got the pulse spot on where Grant lists down 4 vital things to do – Start early in life to make the most of compounding, diversify your income with at least one side hustle (somewhat less common in India), Save more and more, keep frugal by not giving in to the temptation of lifestyle inflation.
What I love about it
Unlike a lot of blogs in the Personal Finance blogosphere which document their journey to financial independence, Millennial Money was started by Grant Sabatier in 2015 after becoming a millionaire. As the name suggests, the site caters to the need and mindset, specifically of Millennials.
The main areas which the site focuses on for Millennials are – saving more money, making more money, investing intelligently, fast-track financial independence and early retirement.
Millennials definitely think very differently from the previous generations and a blog catering to and answering their specific needs is always welcome.
One big post

Off late, I am beginning to realize, I am quite the research junkie. This shows in my favorite post of Millennial Money too – Are Millennials F*cked?
While the report referred to is slightly dated, going by the recent version of the report from an advocacy group – Young Invincibles, not much seems to have changed.
The first most startling finding is that Millennials have a net worth less than the Baby Boomer or their parents’ generation. I, for one, think this might just be even more true for Indians. Our previous generation was far more adept at saving and thinking about the future and had fewer consumption temptations as well.
The second finding that the report points out is that millennials are earning lesser wages than their parents. Here, instinctively I believe that India portrays a different story. Opportunities have most definitely increased and our earning potential is higher. More and more women are joining the workforce and earning better than the parents.
The third finding that I need to point is how student loan negates the impact of education to some extent as repayment eats a large chunk of the first few years of earnings. Student Loans are now a subject of huge debate in the US. In India, the need to opt for a student loan even for domestic education is increasing. However, saving for their child’s education is still a big goal for most parents, which thankfully means an easier foundation for us Indian millennials. Will this remain the trend for the next generation? Only time will tell.
The report also talks about a wide chasm in the earnings and savings between Africans and Latinos viz-a-viz Young Americans. In my mind, India is far more fragmented when you look at race. What I would be more interested in is seeing the gender gap in earnings and savings in India. Do more Indians educate their daughters? Are more families happy to see their daughter-in-law go out in the world to work at a paying job? Those would be the real markers of progress for India and it’s millennials.
Two other posts
You can contact Grant and Millennial Money at the blog, email, Twitter and Facebook.
nice article.
Thank you so much Mohan! 🙂
Starting early is a great tip, sometimes I wonder where I’d be now if I started saving earlier.
While starting early is great, hind sight has never been my friend. Sigh!
I guess no better time than now 🙂
I knew someone in Bangalore who wrote articles for bloggers in the US. Might be some site like blogmutt, but I am not sure which one. This was in 2011 or so. Since she was being paid in dollars, she was making more money (while working from home and taking care of her two year old) than I was making as a software engineer working full time.
Just wanted to tell you that there are people with side hustles even in India. I agree, though. Not very common.
If she was making that money while being home and taking care of her son, am not sure it qualifies as a side hustle.
In my head, side hustle is all about juggling your fully paying day job AND managing another income generating opportunity along with it which is a little tough in India. In the US your work place respects your time beyond the stipulated hours.
In India, a lot of my colleagues slog for 10-12 hours a day and find working weekends also common. Second jobs are also not easily available considering the demand supply imbalance.
I agree, not many people have a second job.
People in the US work more than their 40 hours too. I think it is worse here because they work more during their 40 hrs and then put in more work. In India, people work 10-12 hours because they do 8 hrs of work in 10 hrs, thanks to elaborate coffee and lunch breaks.
Ha ha ha! Can’t debate with that point :-/
How do you know he’s a millionaire?
Hi Harold! I like to believe what people say about themselves and since Grant has mentioned it at so many places along with what some of his projects have earned, I am pretty sure he’s a millionaire 🙂