'I used to be terrible with money': 39-year-old went from living 'paycheck to paycheck' to earning nearly $900,000 last year

CNBC

17-07-2025

Even as a child, Dr. Anna Chacon knew she wanted to follow in her father's footsteps and pursue a career in medicine.
She was drawn to the idea that her skills and knowledge could help people. "I observed my father a lot. I went to work with him. I would study on his lap. He had to study many hours as a physician, and I really liked it," the 39-year-old tells CNBC Make It.
Chacon made her childhood dream come true in 2012, when she graduated from Brown University's Warren Alpert Medical School. She attended Brown for her undergraduate degree as well, studying economics.
Now, she runs her own private dermatology practice in Coral Gables, Florida, just outside of Miami where she grew up. In addition to seeing patients at her clinic, Chacon works with several hospital networks to provide telehealth services to patients around the country.
She earned around $896,000 in 2024 through her own practice, contract work through other hospitals, rental income and brand partnerships. Though she "used to be bad with money," she says, Chacon has built a small dermatology empire, as well as an investment portfolio worth over $3.2 million, bringing her total net worth to around $6 million, including the two properties she owns.
Her pathway to success wasn't easy, though. She was often discouraged by people who didn't believe she could be successful in medicine or running her own practice, especially as a minority.
"When I told people I wanted to do dermatology or be a physician, I was met, unfortunately, with a lot of discouragement because it was very competitive," she says. "I was told to do something else or that I wouldn't get in, and that actually just encouraged me to work harder."
After finishing her residency, Chacon worked as a staff dermatologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Weston, Florida. Her father worked at a nearby hospital, but was laid off at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
"It was a shock for me and everyone else in the family, but it inspired me to know that I couldn't rely on one source [of income]," she says. "As comforting as it sometimes is to work for a big hospital system, a pandemic can happen at any time, and you can go through something unexpected."
So, in September 2021, Chacon decided to open her own practice where she could expand her patient list and work on her own terms.
From there, she obtained licensure in all 50 states, plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Guam, a lengthy process that cost around $180,000, she says. Costs included travel, fees for things like background checks and professional assistance.
"I wanted that ability to work from anywhere," Chacon says.
Her father's layoff not only inspired Chacon to start her own practice, but also to get serious about saving.
"I used to be terrible with money. I didn't know how to save. I didn't know how to take advantage of retirement accounts," she says. "Growing up in Miami, there's a lot of focus on materialism … I pretty much lived day by day and paycheck to paycheck."
Running her own practice helped Chacon boost her income, but to get better at managing her finances, she started educating herself about investing, including reading outlets like CNBC and The Wall Street Journal, she says. She also downloaded an app to track and manage her finances all in one place.
"When I initially started tracking my net worth, I was shocked at how low it was," Chacon says. "My one regret is I didn't start sooner. Most of my growth has actually been in the past five years."
Although she didn't have much saved, Chacon was lucky to be debt-free — she didn't even own a credit card when she finished her residency. Her parents and scholarships helped pay for her schooling, so she didn't have student debt either.
In 2022, Chacon purchased an office building in Coral Gables for $1.1 million. She put around $300,000 down and paid off the mortgage in 2023. Her practice occupies a portion of the building and she rents out the rest to a medical spa that pays her $7,500 a month.
The next year, she purchased a home in Pinecrest, Florida, for $1.9 million. She paid off the mortgage in early 2025, but has never actually lived in the house, choosing instead to continue living with her family and renting out the property for $7,500 a month.
She spent a lot of time away from her family while she was in residency in Los Angeles, so she's happy to get plenty of time with them now.
"I'm proud to [live with them]," she says. "I want to spend every moment I can with them. I want to learn from them ... I also think it's kind of a waste of money for me to move out because I'm single."
Despite earning a high income, Chacon doesn't spend too much beyond her needs.
"I try to immerse myself into how to invest properly, and I also try to save for another pandemic because of what my family went through and what we all went through just a few years ago," she says. "I also have gotten just more modest as a physician. A lot of my patients live below the poverty line."
She'll occasionally splurge on clothes and shoes when sales are good, she says, but she's trying to rein in her shopping.
Here's how she spent her money in April 2025.
Chacon also paid around $27,000 for some business expenses, including licensure renewals, tech equipment, marketing and legal fees, subscriptions and services.
Chacon pays her family $3,000 a month as a contribution to rent and groceries, as well as payment for some administrative help and errands her family members do for her. Because of that, her personal food budget is often on the low side.
She doesn't make regular monthly contributions to her savings and investment accounts, but she front-loaded her retirement accounts at the beginning of the year with contributions totaling $170,000.
Chacon prioritizes travel. She'll often add leisure time into her work trips to to maximize her time away from home, she says. She also flies business class most of the time so she can do computer work during flights, she says.
Chacon's practice is open 24/7 and she works 80 to 120 hours a week, so she doesn't have much free time. While she recognizes she won't be able to maintain this busy pace forever, "I never want to retire," she says. "I love working. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love to work."
Still, she's continuing to save and invest for the future so she can maintain her independence and have the financial means to make decisions "when I want to on my own terms," she says.
Ultimately, she wants to make sure she and her family are taken care of and can weather any surprises or downturns that could come their way. She hopes to expand her practice in the future to create something "on a national level."
"I want to be known as 'America's dermatologist' that can practice everywhere, because ideally I want to have the biggest reach possible," she says.