Yahoo Finance 'You only get as far as your efforts': This man from Peru was detained in 2010 and received asylum shortly after — he's now a US citizen who makes $420,000 a year with his wife. Here's how
Eddie Nuñez went from being detained at the border in 2010 to a U.S. citizen who boasts a gross household income of $420,000.
Don't miss
Thanks to Jeff Bezos, you can now use $100 to cash in on prime real estate — without the headache of being a landlord. Here's how
Worried about the economy? Here are the best shock-proof assets for your portfolio. (They’re all outside of the stock market.)
Commercial real estate has outperformed the S&P 500 over 25 years. Here's how to diversify your portfolio without the headache of being a landlord
“You only get as far as your efforts,” he said in a recent interview with CNBC’s Make It.
Here’s how Nuñez and his wife made their American dream a reality.
From Peru to Virginia
At the age of 14, Nuñez says he left Lima, Peru, with his mother and traveled north to cross into the U.S. via Mexico.
“Our life was very difficult back in Peru,” he said. “My mom really struggled. She saw the assassination of her parents right in front of her. She suffered domestic violence.”
For a while, Nuñez and his mom lived as undocumented immigrants in Ashburn, Virginia. He eventually enrolled in a nursing college, where he met his wife, Stefani Nicole Penaranda. But when Penaranda’s parents, who didn’t approve of Nuñez, threatened to have him deported if he didn’t annul the marriage, he tried to cross into Canada to seek asylum in 2010. Unable to lawfully gain asylum north of the border, Nuñez was sent back to America, where he says he was detained for two months before he was able to argue his case in court and convince a judge to grant him asylum in the U.S.
This allowed him to return to his wife in Virginia in 2011. In the years that followed, Nuñez and Penaranda set up multiple businesses, acquired assets for passive income and gave birth to two sons. Nuñez also became a U.S. citizen.
Read more: 'Hold onto your money': Jeff Bezos says you might want to rethink buying a 'new automobile, refrigerator, or whatever' — here are 3 better recession-proof buys
Multiple income streams
Nuñez ditched nursing school, citing the high cost, and instead obtained a degree in cybersecurity. This allowed him to get a job as a government IT contractor, which brings in $113,000 annually. He supplements this income by working as a freelance consultant, last year earning over $3,500 from this side gig.
Penaranda operates a daycare center from the couple’s home, looking after 12 kids. That adds another $168,000 a year to the family income.
The couple also own a snow-plowing business, which has a contract with the Virginia Department of Transportation. They recently downsized this business, selling eight of their 10 trucks and deploying the proceeds into a portfolio of eight properties, which collectively generated over $107,000 last year.
Altogether, the couple raked in $419,582 in 2022.
The success isn’t slowing them down. Nuñez and Penaranda added a coffee shop to their portfolio this year, which is expected to add another stream of income.
Motivated by family
Nuñez credits his wife and mother for supporting him while building these businesses. He says his greatest motivation is giving his kids a better life than he had.
“My idea to get to my goals faster was to have different streams of income and revenue,” he said.
This allows him to spend more time with his kids and “to provide them with the lifestyle I didn’t have as a child.”
What to read next
3 big mistakes people make with cash back credit cards that cost them every time they swipe
Here's how much money the average middle-class American household makes — how do you stack up?
Want to invest your spare change but don't know where to start? There's an app for that
This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
