Who started Millennial Educator?

Hey, I'm Keelan..

the creator of Millennial Educator. I’m a 28 year old public school music teacher. I love teaching but for the first half of my twenties I was living paycheck to paycheck, deep in student loan debt, and absolutely clueless about my finances.

At age 24, I finished paying off 45K in student loan debt in less than 2 years and discovered the Financial Independence movement. Since then I learned strategies for increasing my earnings and savings, and got my money working for me rather than the other way around. I started Millennial Educator to share my experiences and to create a space for like-minded millennial teachers who also want to take control of their money!

About Millennial Educator

Millennial Educator is a personal finance and financial independence blog for teachers in their 20’s and 30’s. This is the right place for you if you’re feeling financially “stuck”, living paycheck to paycheck, or unable to escape the rat race of a full time job. This blog will provide information on how you can earn more, save more, pay off debt, and create a path toward financial freedom.

Teachers deserve to CRUSH IT with money.

my Story

Starting Out

I grew up in New York with two wonderful, supportive parents.

In High School, some parents tell their children to pursue careers that lead to high paying jobs.

That was not my parents. They told me to follow my passion.

When it came time to pick a career path at the end of High School, I knew I loved helping people and I loved music. So naturally I decided I wanted to become a music teacher.

I went to college in Virginia, and over the course of 4.5 years pursued a degree in music education.

In my early college days, my professors would say things like “don’t get into the teaching field for the money” and “there’s no money in teaching“.

As a young, impressionable college student, this stuck with me.

45K In Student Loan Debt

After graduating from college, I moved back home with my parents in New York and spent a year subbing before landing a full time job as a music teacher at an elementary school.

It was a great job at a great school district in a great neighborhood.

My starting teacher salary was average for my area on Long Island, but it didn’t matter to me because I had a job.

The reality of starting my career felt great, but there was another reality holding me back: student loan debt.

I had 45k in student loan debt.

I know some people are fine having debt and paying it off little by little over time, but I wasn’t one of those people.

I felt suffocated by my debt.

It just seemed impossible as a teacher to get my life started with all of this debt holding me back.

I reached out to other teachers in my school who also had debt and the responses from everyone were the same, that I would be paying off my debt for a long, long time. Most said 15+ years.

That seemed absurd to me.

So with the support of my family and mostly blind ambition, I decided to face my debt head on.

I increased my earnings through side hustling after school and cut practically all my expenses.

At one point I was teaching about 20 private music lessons each week after school.

Instead of getting my own apartment like my other friends I continued to live with my parents.

I drove my dads old car.

I bought nothing that was non-essential.

I passed up on MANY beer drinking opportunities with friends. (This was by far the hardest)

There was a lot of sacrifice.

Through this effort though, I managed to pay off all 45k in student loan debt in less than 2 years.

Starting Millennial Educator

I was now 25 years old, debt free, and in most cases I was in a much better financial situation than many of my high earning friends.

I felt inspired.

I started to think if I could accomplish this, what else was possible as a teacher? Could I both follow my passion for teaching and also build a strong financial future?

These questions led me to the Financial Independence movement.

I was compelled by the idea of designing a life where you’re not tied to a paycheck, and have the freedom to live in relation to your values.

I spent time reading every book and blog and listened to countless podcasts and interviews on the subject.

I found that through an intentional mindset shift about money and creating a plan to earn more, save more, and invest more, teachers can reach Financial Independence before normal retirement age.

I’m now 28 years old and for the last three years I’ve been obsessed with distilling this information and translating it into actionable steps for millennial teachers.

Millennialeducator.com was born from this effort.

What's Next?

I’m still in the beginning stages of my journey toward Financial Independence.

In fact, I’m back to paying off debt again after getting my masters in school administration.

I have 27k that I’m trying to bang out in all of 2020, and yes, there will be more sacrifice.

After having my own apartment for the last 3 years, I’m now going back to living at home with my parents. It’s the only way I can see it being possible to pay off the debt in 1 year.

Needless to say, I am not nearly at the point of being called a personal finance guru nor do I think I have all the answers for building wealth as a teacher. (I mean you can call me a personal finance guru if you really want, I won’t be mad haha.)

What I do know though is that teachers shouldn’t feel financially limited by their career. My experiences with debt repayment showed me that.

If you implement strategies to earn more, save more, and invest more, you will achieve things you didn’t think were possible.

Financial Independence is my new journey and I’m looking forward to sharing my experiences and discoveries with you.

This is NOT about getting rich and buying fancy things.

This is the place for teachers who love being a teachers and are ready take back control of their finances.

I will share with you how you can continue teaching while rapidly increasing your net worth.

The main focus

Relateability

All are articles are teacher focused and

Action

Millennials (like myself) are known for seeking quick answers and expecting quick results. Millennial Educator will do just that. Each article is written for the purpose of taking action immediately after closing your web browser.

Collaboration

I’m not claiming to be an expert on all things finances. For context, my financial literacy was basically at a “0” 5 years ago. During those 5 years though that I leaned on other educators for advise, read any financial book that was recommended to me, and returned the compassion by educating a few of my teacher friends a long the way. The point is I wouldn’t have gotten here without my teacher tribe. I believe in the power of collaboration because my story would be non-existent without it.
Millennial Educator is on opportunity to unite all the like minded educators in our tribe. Use this space to share your financial successes, share your financial fears. Let’s learn from each other and help each other design the life we deserve.