The Story of a Wedding Guitarist – Moses Lin Who Loves What He Does
Moses Lin, 29, is a wedding guitarist by trade, and real estate investor on the side. He performs at about 50 weddings a year and invests a portion of his earnings into his real estate portfolio. Currently, he owns four investment properties as well as his residential property. In 2021, Moses made about $175,000 from his music business, and $42,000 from his rental properties, which he reinvested into his portfolio. He lives in Anaheim, CA.
This is an installment of CNBC Make It’s Millennial Money series, which profiles people across the globe and details how they earn, spend and save their money. Moses Lin never thought he’d make any money as a musician. Once, early in his career in 2016, he played a coffee shop for three hours and got $3 in tips. “I was so discouraged, I literally I went home and I cried,” Lin says. “I was like, I’m never going to make a living performing music. This is never going to work out. And I almost just threw it all away.”
By 2021, though, Lin was working full-time as a destination wedding guitarist. He played around 40 to 50 weddings that year and brought in about $175,000 before tips. His work takes him to all corners of the U.S., from New York to Hawaii, and even Cancun, Mexico. The best part: Playing weddings “doesn’t even feel like working. We’re just partying.”
In the last two years, Lin has invested the bulk of his wedding income into real estate. He’s currently the landlord for four properties in Little Rock, Arkansas. He also bought his own home in Anaheim, California, this spring. In 2021, he brought in $42,000 in rental income and $28,000 in other income. Watch the video to find out how Lin went from college dropout to wedding guitarist, real estate investor and homeowner bringing in $245,000 a year.
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