Fresh out of college, with a degree in criminal justice - of all things, I joined an estate planning team preparing estate tax returns for millionaire clients. Fortunately, I had followed my dad’s advice and minored in business.

It was an eye-opener. What I was reporting to the IRS was very different from what I had seen growing up in a military family. Those millionaire clients were doing something profoundly different from my parents.

It wasn’t just the dollars and scale that were different, but they weren’t following the American Dream script I had been raised to believe in. You know the one that started (and ended) with “graduate from college, get a good job, work hard and then retire.”

The ease, of being to make their own choices; the freedom, of not being tied to an employer’s dictates; and the peace of mind available when your money was working for you, made a deep and lasting impression on me.

My experience at that law firm was pivotal. It was the key to a change from what was predictable for my life. It became the springboard to personal finance, money, and the pursuit of financial freedom.