Felicity’s story to financial independence is going to be similar to listeners of The BiggerPockets Money Podcast. She got a good paying job, spent less than she earned, intelligently invested in Index Funds and is now financially independent at the age of 30. Easy, peasy, lemon squeezy. Except, it’s NOT that easy, actually. She lives in America, and for much of that time, she lived in a very high cost of living city, Boston. Felicity rented a 250 sq ft apartment with her husband, Fergus, while ...
Aug 10, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 137
Doug Nordman wanted to teach his daughter about money. But he knew that to get it right, he’d have to start when she was very very small. So he did. First, he taught her how to count, then he taught her how to add, then he showed her what she could do with money by using cash in transactions. As Carol got older, she was able to handle the cash herself, learning how to make change, count change, etc. Carol started “earning” her own money, through allowance and jobs - which could only be done afte...
Aug 03, 2020•1 hr 28 min•Ep. 136
Seth Williams invests in real estate in a way you may have never heard of before. He buys and sells land. And no, he’s not a developer. He literally buys a piece of blank dirt, and then sells it—frequently within days of buying it—for fairly high margins. And he does this without taking out loans for the purchase. How? He’s paying hundreds of dollars for this land, as opposed to hundreds of thousands of dollars for a piece of land with a house on top of it. He turns around and sells it quickly, ...
Jul 27, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 135
Chris Browning had dreams of creating movies for Pixar - until he started art classes in college and realized that wasn’t his calling. He was also taking a personal finance class and thoroughly enjoyed it, so he changed his major to finance and never looked back. Chris should have perfect finances, right? Well… Chris found himself in debt after graduating in 2009 and working as a bank teller, trying to impress his girlfriend (now wife). He took control of his finances, telling his girlfriend tha...
Jul 20, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 134
Doc G wanted to be a doctor since he was eight years old. He went to medical school, started his career and quickly realized he actually didn’t like all the parts about being a doc - and didn’t know how to leave the profession. Something he’d wanted for 20 years suddenly wasn’t so awesome anymore. Cue The White Coat Investor. He’d written a book and asked Doc G to read it and review it for his medical blog - and suddenly Doc G saw a way out! This way out didn’t have the expected results, however...
Jul 13, 2020•2 hr 36 min•Ep. 133
Marquez Griffin graduated from high school but did not feel that college was his path. His uncle worked in a sheet metal shop, and was able to get him a job there. He quickly learned that taking a bit of action with regards to his sheet metal training would catapult him higher in his earnings, so he enrolled in trade school and alternated between work and school to learn the trade faster. His earnings rose as he completed coursework, but Marquez found himself unexcited about his path and started...
Jul 06, 2020•58 min•Ep. 132
Kevin Matthews II started paying attention to finance way back in 6th grade - because his parents said they wouldn’t buy him any more video games, he’d have to buy them himself. Kevin’s parents telling him no propelled him into a lifelong planner - saving up for purchases rather than buying and figuring out how to pay it off later. And he parlayed his planning skills into a career as a financial advisor, eventually being named one of Investopedia’s Top 100 Advisors in 2017. Kevin is passionate a...
Jun 29, 2020•1 hr 10 min•Ep. 131
Susan and Norm got married a little later in life. They started off basically flat, with debts equalling assets. Neither wanted to have the debt, and focused on paying it off and building an emergency fund. Then they discovered that they could retire early if they put their minds to it. So they jumped in with both feet, paid off the mortgage, bought an investment condo, paid it off, and aggressively saved to buy the second condo. From the time they met until the time they were ready to retire, s...
Jun 22, 2020•2 hr 30 min•Ep. 130
Today, we welcome back the Budgetnista, Tiffany Aliche. When we spoke to her way back in episode 8, we heard her story of an investment gone wrong and how 2008 really threw a monkey wrench into her life plans. But instead of allowing that to deter her, Tiffany committed to teaching people how to budget. Since we last spoke, she has expanded her original, uber-successful Live Richer Challenge (www.livericherchallenge.com) into a savings edition, a credit edition, a net worth edition, and a homebu...
Jun 15, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 129
Whitney Hanson is one of six children. Growing up she watched her father start a business, watched it fail, and watched him turn destructive, eventually leaving her mother to raise six kids on her own - all while making $7.25 an hour. Whitney has seen the ugly side of money - and what can happen when you have none - and decided she wanted no part of it. Money equals options, and she wanted as many options as she could get! She began to research how to build wealth, because she did not want to pe...
Jun 08, 2020•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 128
Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You To Be Rich is back again to chat with Scott & Mindy about money, unexpected events, and taking advantage of opportunities by being prepared. Ramit does not hold back with his advice that the Coronavirus should be a financial wakeup call to you. A crisis like this WILL happen again (maybe not viral) and NOW is the time to prepare yourself. He’s increased his recommended Emergency Fund to one year of expenses. If you’re struggling right now, you should be making m...
Jun 01, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 127
Financial Education is so important - but so many people are graduating high school without the basic skills to make informed decisions. Today, Scott & Mindy sit down to share some of the big money moves you should make - as well as some of the big money mistakes you should avoid. These are the tips you didn't learn in high school. From choosing a major wisely (or even deciding if college is truly the right choice for you) to paying for college, to truly understanding just how much it will cost ...
May 25, 2020•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 126
In today’s episode, we speak with Fritz Gilbert from The Retirement Manifesto and go through his checklist to ensure a smooth transition into your new life. Fritz speaks from experience and wrote the checklist during his own transition, starting five years out. Oh yes, FIVE YEARS. If you want a smooth transition, you’ll need to plan ahead. Scott and Mindy go through the checklist with Fritz, starting at five years before your retirement date. (They even touch on what to do BEFORE five years out....
May 18, 2020•2 hr 31 min•Ep. 125
Gerry Born is a teacher who is married to a teacher. He started his financial independence journey when he was 33—with a wife, $45,000 in college debt, and a job in Saudi Arabia teaching English as a second language (ESL). He knocked out his debt in two years, then threw everything he could into savings. The ESL job provided everything but internet and phone, so he really didn’t need to spend much money if he didn’t want to. After 9/11, they moved back to the United States and got jobs teaching—...
May 11, 2020•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 124
Joining us today is Avery Heilbron, a listener on his way to financial independence through real estate investing. But Avery isn’t going all out and buying up every property as fast as he can. He’s making calculated purchases that allow him to live for free - and also cashflow while he’s there even though he lives in a high cost of living area. Once he moves out, that cashflow increases even more! Avery is also thinking ahead, and mitigating his risk of non-payment of rent by using the Section 8...
May 04, 2020•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 123
Scott and Mindy have focused on Coronavirus for the last few episodes - talking to experts about how the virus has affected the stock market, the 4% rule, and even early retirees. They’ve interviewed Financial Planners to get tips for using the current market conditions to their advantage, as well as chatted with a mortgage broker to determine the best time to refinance. In this episode, Scott and Mindy talk about lifestyle creep - and how they have both been affected over the last couple of yea...
Apr 27, 2020•57 min•Ep. 122
In this episode, Mortgage Broker Seth Jones talks about the current mortgage market. We discuss mortgage forbearance - how it affects your credit and why it's NOT a good idea to go into forbearance if you can still make your mortgage payments. We also talk about mortgages - how to apply for a new loan or refinance, what lenders are looking for and how to get the best rate on your new loan. We'll also dive into comparison shopping and how to choose the right lender. Lending is tightening up, whil...
Apr 20, 2020•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 121
Michael Kitces joins us today to talk about Early Retirement - and how the recent stock market movement affects the FIRE Community and the 4% rule. We spend a lot of time on the 4% rule - including this graph which illustrates what Michael discusses - basically, there is an ultra-high probability that you will come to the end of 30 years with MORE money than you started out with, and an extremely LOW chance you’ll spend it all. In fact, only one time does the retirement fund hit zero - and even ...
Apr 13, 2020•1 hr 23 min•Ep. 120
In this week’s episode, Scott & Mindy bring back four previous guests (and introduce a brand new–and future–guest) to talk about retirement, the stock market, and how this current environment is affecting their spending, saving and investing. Andy Hill last joined us for Episode 34 - and boy has his life changed! He left formal employment in January (and shares some surprising info about his income & investing prospects. Amy & Tim discuss their House Sitting & Travel Hacking plans, and how they ...
Apr 06, 2020•2 hr 50 min•Ep. 119
This Bonus Episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast is to help keep you informed of the Stimulus act that Congress is putting into place to help Americans with the Coronavirus and unprecedented shutdown of most of the economy. Joining Mindy today is Natalie Kolodij, who last appeared on Episode 112. Today’s episode was recorded on March 28, and we are fully expecting additional clarification and guidance from the federal government on these provisions. Congress just passed a 2.2 TRILLION dolla...
Apr 02, 2020•41 min
Kyle Mast is a Certified Financial Planner, back for his third episode to answer YOUR questions about our current market conditions. We ask him the questions YOU had on your mind, including rebalancing your portfolio, staying the course, and trying to time the market. We take a deep dive into the retirement planning system, including weighing the benefits of Roth plans vs a traditional plans, and even discuss whether converting pre-tax retirement funds into post-tax funds during this down market...
Mar 30, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 118
Today, Scott and Mindy discuss the biggest news story of the century: Coronavirus or COVID-19. This episode covers a wide range of topics both money and real estate -- with a guest spot from Brandon Turner, who answers the number one question on every real estate investor’s mind: What do I do if my tenant(s) can’t pay rent? You'll also learn what resources are available for people whose incomes have taken a hit, and get answers to questions such as: should I continue with the purchase of a prope...
Mar 23, 2020•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 117
The stock market is up, then down, then down, then up. What is an investor to do? Today we bring JLCollins from JLCollinsNH.com back to the show to calm our fears and help us understand what is happening with the stock market. The market is falling. Or maybe today it’s rising. It’s SO VOLATILE, it can be scary to stay invested - especially if you’ve never been through a market downturn. JL expertly explains what’s going on - and his recommendations for the best course of action - based on 40 yea...
Mar 16, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 116
Felipe Mejia’s relationship with money started at an early age - when his parents divorced and his world turned upside down. His mother introduced him to the power of real estate by fixing up the basement and renting it out to generate income. His mother further influenced his money story by creating her own cleaning company and introducing Felipe to a client who hired Felipe to clean up his job sites. Felipe put his own spin on that by hiring the work out for a slightly lower rate than he was g...
Mar 09, 2020•1 hr 8 min•Ep. 115
Ashley Kehr married a dairy farmer. With a dairy farm comes farm equipment. And with farm equipment comes farm equipment loans—to the tune of around $169,000. Three years ago, she read Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey, and it CHANGED. HER. LIFE. Ashley knew she needed to get rid of their debt, but her husband wasn’t totally on board with the plan. So she tackled her student loan debt first—and proved to her husband that this was the right financial plan for their family. She quit the job she ...
Mar 02, 2020•1 hr 18 min•Ep. 114
This week we sit down with Bianca DiValerio, a flight attendant who makes an hourly wage, has no college degree, experienced THREE short sales during the economic downturn, and yet is STILL financially independent—all before turning 40. How did she do it? She saved her money. She didn’t spend it on things that didn’t matter to her. There is literally NO secret sauce to her story. In fact, she thought she had her future planned out! She had purchased three rental properties to provide a stream of...
Feb 24, 2020•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 113
Natalie Kolodij is a tax strategist. (You’ve probably seen her in the forums!) With April 15 looming around the corner, we’re going to chat about ways to choose the RIGHT tax professional who can best serve YOUR specific needs. Natalie also shares a few red flags about potential tax preparers, as well as specific things your tax pro should be asking for—and what it means if they do not. She’ll also share some common missed deductions that can cost you BIG and how to prepare and organize your doc...
Feb 17, 2020•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 112
On episode 110, we interviewed A Purple Life. As she was sharing her story of financial independence, she casually mentioned that her mother didn’t start investing until later in life, and STILL managed to retire at age 55! So this week, we’re talking to her mother - who has her own amazing story of early retirement which she was able to accomplish even though she didn’t START investing until she was 40! Momma Purple shares her pragmatic approach to money in general - buying what you need, tryin...
Feb 10, 2020•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 111
Purple graduated from college and got a job in New York City making $35,000 a year. And spending $35,000 a year. Her net worth was a whopping $5,000. Her partner shared the concept of financial independence with her, but she wasn’t interested. Two years later, her net worth had grown considerably, but she was still not tracking her spending or paying attention to much of her finances. So, she took a good look at her money situation and discovered that there were places she could make cuts—yet no...
Feb 03, 2020•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 110
This week, we sit down and talk with Airman Mildollar, from Military Dollar. (Spoiler Alert: Despite the name, Airman Mildollar is a woman!) Airman Mildollar shares her story of college debt, car loans and rapid payoff to start building her wealth to become financially free, despite not being married, having kids or working in tech. In fact, she’s an officer in the Air Force. She shares her systematic goal setting and goal reaching strategy that allowed her to pay off her debt ahead of schedule ...
Jan 27, 2020•1 hr•Ep. 109
