How Recent Turner College Grad, Blake Edwards, and his Wife Chelsea Built $871,000 in Net Worth by Age 31

A recent essay by award-winning family finance coach Andy Hill published at Marriage, Kids and Money describes the financial journey taken by Turner College graduate and former CSU baseball star Blake Edwards and his wife Chelsea, one of the greatest soccer players in CSU history, to reach $871,000 in net worth by age 31. Hill explains that Blake's curiosity about money and building net worth began in high school, a time with Blake collected coins and baseball cards. “One of my teachers showed us a compound interest graph of a Roth IRA when I was maybe 16. I didn’t fully understand it, but it stuck with me. I thought, I should probably do that when I start making money," Blake stated. Fast forward a few short years when Blake enrolled in CSU and met his future wife, then Chelsea Person. At that time, Blake was already focused on finance and entrepreneurship and his motivation developed from how he and his future wife viewed money. “For us, finances are really a stewardship opportunity,” Blake said. “We all have things in our lives that we’re responsible for managing well. Relationships, family, work. Money is just one part of that.”

Once married, Blake and Chelsea's financial plans kicked into gear. “We combined everything from the start. Our accounts were combined. Our investments were combined. We learned together,” Blake explained. As Hill describes it, Blake and Chelsea took a step that helped guide every financial decision afterward. “We rented a cabin in North Georgia and listed out all the values we wanted our family to stand behind. Then we made a big banner and hung it in our living room.” As Hill adds, that values-first framework became their filter for spending, saving, careers, and investing. At the beginning of her professional career, Chelsea stayed with one company and worked her way up to a VP role. Blake moved through tech sales, education, fundraising, and eventually operations in tech. “Our income really came in phases,” Blake said. “The first few years we were making maybe $80,000 to $100,000 combined. Then it grew to $100,000 to $200,000. And in the last few years, it accelerated.” As Hill explains, although today their household income can reach well into the multi-six figures, their lifestyle never caught up. “When we bought our house, we were making around $125,000,” Blake explained. “We bought a $250,000 home. Our incomes went up, but we never moved. We’re still living on expenses that match our old income, not our new one.”

Hill notes that Blake and Chelsea were refreshingly transparent with him about how their $871,000 net worth is built. “We have a bunch of different buckets,” Blake said. These include (1) about $215,000 in 401(k)s, (2) about $185,000 in Roth IRAs, (3) about $163,000 in a taxable brokerage account, (4) about $40,000 in a money market emergency fund, (5) about $22,000 in non-qualified deferred compensation, (6) about $22,000 in private company stock, (7) about $8,000 in an employee stock purchase plan, (8) about $6,000 in a 529 college savings plan, (9) about $10,000 in cash and HSA combined, and (10) about $200,000 in home equity. “Our only debt is our mortgage, about $142,000,” Blake informed Hill. Blake also explained to Hill that rather than rushing to pay off the mortgage, he chose flexibility. “When risk-free returns hit 5%, I ran the math. We could earn more keeping money liquid than paying off a 3.375% mortgage.” That flexibility allowed him to invest aggressively during market downturns, boosting their net worth even further.

According to Hill, one theme that runs through Blake’s story is clarity. Knowing exactly where you stand removes guesswork and fear. "Blake regularly tracks his net worth to understand progress and options. If you want to do this easily, tools like Monarch Money make it simple to see everything in one place and stay motivated," Hill writes. Now, with two kids under four, Blake and Chelsea are shifting to more long-term thinking. “We opened 529s to give them a leg up on college,” Blake said. “And if they don’t go to college, we can move that money into a Roth IRA for them. “The bigger thing for me isn’t just passing down wealth. It’s passing down values and wisdom . . . [and] the values my kids carry forward can compound over generations.” One of those values is giving. “We’ve given around 10% of our income from the beginning,” Blake said. Blake and Chelsea give to their church, their college, and local needs as they arise. “The more margin we create, the more generous we can be. That’s really important to us.” When Hill asked what one step people could take to build wealth like he has, Blake didn’t point to a specific account or strategy. “It comes down to intentionality,” he said. “You have to decide what you want and be willing to delay gratification.” Blake also emphasized education. “I’ve listened to thousands of hours of podcasts, books, and interviews. You either educate yourself or pay someone who already has.”