How I Grew My Income to $600K in 10 Years — My 4 Money Rules

[Shekinah Brama]

Last year, Sundas Khalid earned roughly half of her income from her salary at Google — and the other half from a flourishing side hustle.

She shared with Business Insider the four money principles that have helped her steadily build her wealth over the past decade. Among her top strategies: maintaining multiple income streams and having transparent conversations about money.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Khalid, a Google principal analytics lead in her 30s who lives in Seattle. It has been edited for clarity and length.

Growing up, Khalid didn’t have much exposure to financial literacy. Saving came naturally to her, but investing felt completely out of reach.

Her journey began in 2013, when she landed an internship at Amazon. That led to a full-time data engineering role earning $77,000 in her first year. In 2019, she moved to Google, where she now serves as a principal analytics lead.

A decade later, she has increased her income by 700%. Last year, she earned $292,000 from her Big Tech salary and an additional $302,000 from her content-creation business, where she shares career and tech-break-in advice with a large online audience.

Here are the four money rules she follows.

1. Giving the first number in a salary negotiation is almost always a mistake
Earlier in her career, Khalid would share her current compensation when recruiters asked for her salary expectations. She soon realized this could backfire — especially if she was being underpaid compared with the broader market.

Now, she declines to share her expectations upfront. Instead, she prefers to complete the interview first or redirect the question back to the recruiter by asking for the salary range for the role. If that range aligns with her expectations, she continues the process.

Once she receives an offer, she relies on tools like Levels.fyi to see what others at her seniority level earn in her location. That helps anchor her negotiation.

When pushing for a higher salary, Khalid emphasizes communicating the value she brings to the business and the team. She prefers email because written communication is her strength, though many negotiations still happen over the phone. In those cases, she does a practice run with a mentor, rehearses wording, and prepares bullet-point notes to help steady her nerves.

These tactics, she notes, work best when the job market is strong. In tougher markets, negotiating power naturally decreases.

2. Learn to invest by starting with a good book
Khalid used to keep nearly all her money in a regular bank account and wasn’t proactive about contributing to her 401(k). Investing intimidated her.

Two books transformed her understanding:

• The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins, which introduced her to index-fund investing
• I Will Teach You to Be Rich by Ramit Sethi, which helped her understand credit, banking, and systems for managing money

She says spending around $20 on a great finance book can be the most profitable investment anyone makes. After reading, she supplemented her learning with YouTube videos and blog posts on topics like Roth IRAs.

Now, she automatically invests $2,500 each month into a personal Vanguard portfolio. She maintains six months of living expenses in savings and invests anything extra into index funds so her cash isn’t just sitting idle.

As her income increased, she made sure her lifestyle didn’t grow with it. She avoids designer purchases and keeps her expenses intentionally low.

3. Build multiple income streams
Khalid began posting career advice on Instagram in 2016. Over time, that evolved into an educational brand spanning Instagram, YouTube, and other platforms — generating $302,000 in revenue last year through brand partnerships and content deals.

Her goal wasn’t to make money at first. But when tech layoffs surged in 2023, she realized how essential it was to have a backup plan. Now, her side business gives her a sense of stability and mental peace.

Her advice: choose a side hustle that you actually enjoy and that also has the potential to earn money. Without genuine interest, she says, most people burn out within a few months.

4. Talk to coworkers about money — it’s more powerful than you think
Money used to be a taboo subject for Khalid. At Amazon, she didn’t discuss salaries with colleagues.

But as her financial literacy improved, she became more comfortable having open conversations about pay. Now, she sees transparency as a tool — not only in tech, but also in her content-creator business.

When negotiating brand deals, she often reaches out to fellow creators to ask what they were paid for similar campaigns. Many in her network are extremely open about their numbers, which helps her understand fair rates and negotiate more confidently.

For anyone who feels behind on investing or financial education, Khalid says it’s never too late to catch up — she’s proof of that.

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