Personal finance

Kevin O'Leary Reacts to a 29-Year-Old USPS Worker Who Made Over $90,000 Last Year: ‘He's Done a Great Job in His Budget'

There's no question that Jordan Myers is a hard worker.

As a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service, the 29-year-old typically works 12 to 13 hours a day, six days per week. During the business week, Myers works about five hours of overtime each day, and takes on even more on the weekends.

Living in Memphis, Tennessee, Myers earns a base salary of around $41,000 per year. But with overtime, he's able to bring in far more: In 2021, Myers earned over $90,000.

Myers' work ethic is especially impressive to Kevin O'Leary, O'Shares ETFs chairman and judge on CNBC's "Money Court."

"He's delivering mail for over 12 hours a day. This guy knows how to work hard," O'Leary says as he watches Myers' episode of Millennial Money, which was published in November 2021.

Most days, Myers walks around 14 miles. He delivers mail to up to 500 houses each day, and because he has a walking route, he's outside all day, regardless of the weather. 

As a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service, Jordan Myers typically works 13 hours a day, six days per week. Most days, he walks around 14 miles.
CNBC Make It
As a mail carrier for the United States Postal Service, Jordan Myers typically works 13 hours a day, six days per week. Most days, he walks around 14 miles.

"Jordan [Myers] has a strong work ethic, and it's important to have a work ethic, because it's a discipline and you work for a reason," O'Leary says. "You need money to live. No one's going to take care of you if you don't take care of yourself."

In 2020, amid the Covid-19 pandemic, Myers' schedule was especially hectic. It was "endless walking, around 20 miles a day," he previously told CNBC Make It, since there was much more mail and few carriers. At times, it was even scary, Myers said, remembering packages of medicine piling up and not enough employees to handle it all.

O'Leary admires that Myers cared about how this may have impacted the people he delivered to.

"There's a lot of these unwritten stories about what the actual effect of the pandemic was, but he was there. He lived through it," O'Leary says.

"The pandemic caused a real breakdown in systems, particularly the mail system: Your check wouldn't get to you, your medicine didn't get to you. But he seems to be conscious of that and cares a lot about it. That's a really great person that actually understands the impact on someone's life."

Jordan Myers and his 1-year-old son, Jacob.
CNBC Make It
Jordan Myers and his 1-year-old son, Jacob.

O'Leary also thinks Myers has done a "great job" with his budget. In October, Myers budgeted around $5,778, putting $500 into his savings account, $400 into his 401(k) and $2,000 into a taxable brokerage account. As of November, he had around $3,000 in savings and $34,000 in investments.

O'Leary recommends allocating a third of your monthly budget to savings, a third to living expenses and a third to housing, if possible. "And that's kind of where this guy is," he says of Myers.

"He's saving almost half, which is incredible," O'Leary says. "That's really smart. The more you put aside in the early years, the more you're going to have in the later years, because you're going to get the compounded growth of the markets over time."

O'Leary admires Myers' family dynamic as well. "This couple got their stuff together," he says. "This is a really good example of what it takes to be successful in life, marriage and as an investor."

Overall, O'Leary gives Myers a 9.5 out of 10.

"He's got a goal to be a millionaire. He's doing it through savings, and he'll get there. This guy is a fantastic role model," O'Leary says. "He's growing the wealth of his family successfully. He's focused on it, but he's happy too."

Watch the full video to see what else O'Leary has to say about Myers' finances.

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Don't miss: This 29-year-old USPS mail carrier is on track to make over $90,000 this year—here's how he spends his money

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