Biggerpockets Money Podcast

Sunitha Rao remembers a childhood of scarcity. Born to immigrant parents, some of her first memories are of her home being broken into, and her things being stolen. The only money lessons she was taught as a child were frugality and saving, because you never knew what was going to happen. Her father had grand tennis plans for her, and pushed her into tennis. By age 9, she was playing tennis six hours a day. School was so low on the priority list she dropped out in 6th grade to pursue tennis full time. She turned pro at age 14, but all the money she made went back into her career: coaches, travel to events, more training. When Sunitha retired from tennis, she had nothing left. She estimates she “maybe had $1000 in the bank.” Her relationship with her father was so abusive, she sought a restraining order against him and started over, rebuilding her life at age 23. Starting off at community college, looked up endowment programs in Boston because she liked the city, and reached out to colleges that offered schola