A millennial shares 2 money lessons from his dad that are setting him up to retire by 35

4 hours ago 1
  • Carmelo Camilleri credits his financial success to money lessons from his father.
  • His father emphasized the importance of owning rather than renting and letting your money grow.
  • The lessons helped Camilleri become a homeowner at 27 and are setting him up to retire early.

Carmelo Camilleri will never forget the time his dad yelled at him for buying Diet Pepsi at Walmart when it was on sale at ShopRite.

He and his fiancé were preparing to host his parents when they realized that they had forgotten to get soda the night before. They swung by the nearest grocery option, which happened to be Walmart, and word of the detour got back to Camilleri's dad.

"He actually yelled at me. He said, 'What's wrong with you? It's on sale at ShopRite,'" the Staten Island native told Business Insider. "I said, 'I know. You were on your way, and we were going to be late.' He goes, 'You could have gone there. We would've waited for you. It's OK. Get the cheaper price.'"

Camilleri says his dad is the reason he price-compares everything from gas to ground turkey — and his personal finance lessons are the reason the 31-year-old is a homeowner with robust savings and financial options.

"My goal is to have the option to retire at 35," said Camilleri, who has been working as a salesman since college and now runs a sales business. The path to early retirement would mean selling the business, he added, "so if and when that happens, I'll definitely have the opportunity to move on with my life."

Here are two money lessons from his dad that "put me in the right mindset," said Camilleri.

'Always own. Never rent.'

Camilleri lived at home with his parents for years after college, partly thanks to an early principle that his dad instilled in him: "Always own. Never rent."

In his mind, renting equates to throwing money away.

"You put a dollar in, that dollar is gone forever," said Camilleri. "When you're renting, you're building someone else's dream. You're building someone else's asset."

Living at home not only allowed him to save the majority of his sales income, which would eventually go toward a six-figure down payment, but it also meant he could be patient and diligent during the homebuying process.

carmelo Camilleri

Camilleri and his fiancé, Victoria Farella, are getting married in 2025. Courtesy of Carmelo Camilleri

"I was always going to buy a home. It was just a matter of when — not if," said Camilleri, who started seriously considering buying in 2020 and closed on a $670,000 five-bedroom in Brick, New Jersey in 2021. He paid $25,000 under the original asking price during a time when most homes in the area were going for above asking, he said.

"I probably spent a little over a full year looking. There were times when I would just stop, like two or three months at a time, because I wasn't getting anywhere — and I wasn't going to overpay," he said. "I wasn't willing to spend more than I would need to, and it's not that I financially couldn't do it — it's just not smart. I'm always looking for my money to grow, not the other way around."

Camilleri, who moved out of his parent's home and into his own at age 27, is proud to say, "I never paid a dollar of rent my entire life."

'Keep investing your money. Keep letting it grow.'

Camilleri didn't fully grasp his dad's second main money lesson — "Keep investing your money, keep letting it grow" — until he earned money for the first time.

He was 19, had just finished his freshman year of college, and landed a summer gig as a sales rep. In a two-month span, he made about $7,000 selling Cutco knives.

"At the time, I thought I was rich," he said. But before he had a chance to touch it, "The first thing my father said to me was, 'Don't spend it. Put it away.' And I said, 'What do you mean? I have this money. I should be able to use it.'"

His dad responded by teaching him about what happens when you overspend, accumulate debt, and incur interest. Rather than having compound interest work against him, he could take advantage of the phenomenon by investing his money, which he's been doing ever since. Most of his invested money is in the stock market, he said: "Obviously, nothing's guaranteed in life, but when you're investing in companies like Apple and Google, and using ETFs, these are long-term plays that are pretty much always going to pan out."

Camilleri, who refuses to pay for cable and subscriptions, buys ground turkey in bulk, and price compares gas using an app called GasBuddy, hesitates before agreeing that he's "frugal." At this point, his habits are ingrained.

"This is how I live my life. I get the best deals on everything, and I never buy at the first price. I'm always trying to negotiate. I'm always looking to get the best price I possibly could," he said.

His friends and fiancé say they don't think they could live like he does. They tease him about not being human. His response is that anyone can save and invest like he does and achieve financial independence.

"I am a human. I'm no better. I don't have superpowers," he said. "I just have a different mindset."

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