BiggerPockets Money Podcast · Tuesday, September 29, 2026
Naseema Macroy, a labor and delivery nurse in the Bay Area, described her financial situation in 2015 as earning $200,000 annually but having no savings. She lived in a $630,000 house and had significant debt, including $200,000 in student loans.
“So it was a 4,000 square foot, five bedrooms, five and a half bath house in Northern California. So the house at the time, you know, we were coming off of kind of like the housing market decline, so it wasn't super expensive by California standards, but probably by every other standard.”
“So it's about a $630,000 house at that time, I was making about $200,000 a year as a labor and delivery nurse.”
“I remember I had a FHA loan, so I think my mortgage was like $4,000 with HELLA high PMI or MIP that I remember at that time, but I also had $200,000 in student loans where my minimum payments were $1,900 a month.”