NEW YORK (CNN/Money) - Danny and Barbara Jaques invest in blue chip companies and in their own backyard.

Occupations: Science teacher and school librarian.

Residence: Ignacio, Colorado

Bottom Line: $1,043,000. The couple owns 1,160 acres of land in southwestern Colorado worth about $854,000, has $116,000 invested in 401(k) and 403(b) plans, and $73,000 invested in individual stocks including General Electric (GE: Research, Estimates), Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY: Research, Estimates), Schering-Plough (SGP: Research, Estimates), Merck (MRK: Research, Estimates), Nortel Networks (NT: Research, Estimates), Petroleum Geo-Services (PGO: Research, Estimates), Halliburton (HAL: Research, Estimates) and The Williams Companies (WMB: Research, Estimates).

In 1987, shortly before the October stock market crash, Danny and Barbara Jaques, now 43 and 42, decided it was time they got serious about saving and investing.

Their intentions were clear but their path was not. "My mom always told me to save my money, but she meant in a bank," said Danny, an eighth-grade science teacher and Gates Millennium Scholar working on his doctorate in education.

The couple first sought the help of a financial planner who insisted that they leave all the investment decisions to him. Concerned that the planner's approach was too conservative, the couple started researching individual stocks and bought two shares each in Bristol-Myers Squibb and Exxon Mobil (XOM: Research, Estimates) via the companies' dividend reinvestment plans (DRIPs). "Two years later I called my financial planner and told him he was fired...I realized the best person to watch our money was us," said Danny.

Danny and Barb steadily expanded their portfolio, and as their shares increased in value they reinvested much of the proceeds in land. "One of my best bets was Schering Plough in the 1990s. That funded a lot of my property," said Danny.

A rancher's son, Danny inherited one quarter of his family's original 960-acre homestead. But over the past seven years he and Barbara have bought 920 acres of property surrounding it. Their land, even priced conservatively at $1,000 an acre, is worth more than $1 million. After you subtract the $304,000 federal land bank loans the couple owes, the property accounts for $854,000 of their net worth.

Barbara and Danny hope to retire when they are in their 50s and live off their land, though not in the traditional sense. "I've always wanted to start a choke cherry winery," said Danny. "We've also thought about starting a science institute where kids can come and learn about the local culture and geology."

In the near term, the couple is working to build up their emergency savings and begin taking advantage of their tax-sheltered 403(b) plans. Right now Danny contributes just 5 percent of his pretax salary to his plan while Barbara, who is a librarian at a nearby school, contributes nothing.

Danny says that right now all of their combined pre-tax salary of $75,000 is accounted for, but that all future pay raises will go directly into these plans.

Along those same lines, the couple is considering starting a tax-free 529 savings plans for their daughters Amanda, 14, and Vanessa, 9. The girls already have more than $70,000 in the Vanguard Healthcare mutual fund to help pay for college. It's a great start, but most financial planners would recommend a more diverse and tax-friendly portfolio.

Danny and Barbara say they believe strongly in the long-term prospects of the health-care industry and are not terribly concerned about such a narrow portfolio. At the same time, they realize that a 529 plan could boost their after-tax returns quite a bit.

While the Jaques fine-tune their own savings strategy, Danny hopes he can teach some of his students a little of what he's learned. "When they are tired of chemistry and all that, we talk about what it takes to become a millionaire," said Danny. "That perks them up." He tells them that becoming a millionaire is not as difficult as it seems. You just need to come up with a plan, work hard, invest regularly and look for opportunities where other people don't see them.