Biggerpockets Money Podcast

Did you know you can use your 401(k) to retire early? Yep, it’s possible. And today’s guest, Eric Cooper, is doing it atage 47! Most FIRE chasers search for how to withdraw from a 401(k) early but know that doing so will hit them with substantial penalties. The best way around this? The 72(t) rule—which is precisely what Eric has been taking advantage of. Eric uses the 72(t) rule’s “substantially equal periodic payments” to take early withdrawals from his 401(k) of $30K per year, starting at age 47. But how does it work? Eric comes on the show to describe exactly how this early withdrawal rule works, how much you can take out, the regulations to follow so you avoid penalties, and why early retirement may be much closer than you think. But this isn’t the only early retirement income Eric has got. We’ll review his substantial real estate portfolio and detail Eric's almostunbelievable tax savings from combining tax-advantaged rental properties with rule 72(t). Plus, Eric shares how he built a multimillion-doll

What if you could “retire” early, working only FOUR hours a week? Coast FIRE achiever Diania Merriam did just that! After a decade of hustle in corporate America, Diania found herself financially behind with $30,000 in debt. Dreaming of a life-changing adventure but lacking the funds, she decided to overhaul her finances. Fast forward, and now in her mid-thirties, she’s debt-free, successfully self-employed (or, as she puts it, happily “unemployed”), living life on her terms. So, how did Diania save enough to walk away from her nine-to-five? The answer might surprise you. She didn’t need millions in the bank, and neither do YOU, to embrace early retirement. Diania asks, “Do you have enough to take a risk?” If you do, you could live the Coast FIRE lifestyle, just like her, working minimal hours and maximizing time freedom. Ready to slash your workweek and dive into what you love? Stick around—by following Diania’s example, early retirement could be within your reach, EVEN if you’re just getting started on yo

The IRA vs. 401(k). You’ve heard of these retirement accounts before, but do you know the difference between the two? Maybe you have a 401(k) at work and have been diligently getting your employer match but struggle to describe what you’re investing in. You’ve heard top financial experts talk about how a Roth IRA is crucial for saving on taxes long-term, but are you eligible to invest in one? Today, we’re discussing top retirement accounts and how to start investing with just $100. CFP (Certified Financial Planner) Kyle Mast joins Mindy on today’s show to answer common questions about 401(k)s, IRAs, Roth IRAs, and HSAs! We’ll first describe when you should invest in a 401(k) vs. an IRA, why their Roth equivalents are so valuable, especially if you’re itching to save on taxes in retirement, and the best account for beginners that (most) Americans will get free money from. What happens after you leave a job and your 401(k) remains? Kyle discusses the options to ensure your money stays invested, even after lea

Have you ever made a poor financial decision? You’re not alone! But can a bad blunder disqualify you from FIRE? Today’s guest made a huge investment at the worst possible time, a move that had consequences a decade later. Despite this, he was still able to reach early retirement in just fifteen years! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Ryan Connell had a picture-perfect start to his financial independence journey—saving money at a young age and living well below his means. But then 2007 arrived, and Ryan made the “worst financial decision” of his life. He bought a house just weeks before the housing market began its historic collapse. But a move that could have derailed his quest for FIRE proved to be a minor setback because Ryan was still able to retire at the age of thirty-eight! In this episode, you’ll learn why you should treat real estate as less of a “sure thing” and more like the stock market. Ryan discusses his current portfolio, which consists of 100% index funds, and what led him to

2013 was a pivotal year for our hosts. Scott was fresh out of college and just beginning his journey to financial independence, while Mindy and her husband were well on their way to FIRE and had just launched their blog, 1,500 Days, to document their progress. But if they were starting over today, would they change anything? Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! In today’s episode, Scott and Mindy are winding back the clock ten years and sharing what they would do differently if they were beginning their FI journey in 2024. Spoiler alert: they wouldn’t have changed very much regarding the fundamentals of frugality, saving money, and investing. But, as you’re about to find out, they would make some MAJOR tactical changes, and they even have a few regrets about not spending money! Whether you’re brand new to FIRE or are already on track for financial freedom, you don’t want to miss this episode! You’ll learn about the real estate investing strategy Scott would prioritize in 2024, the stock investme

This might be the fastest path to FIRE we’ve ever seen. In just two years, Emily and James were able to retire early and travel the world full-time. They didn’t have a trust fund, some huge inheritance, or a winning lottery ticket. But they did make some serious sacrifices, cutting almost everything unnecessary out of their lives to retire early and quit the jobs they were itching to get out of. How’d they do it? After realizing they were throwing away every cent they made, James stumbled upon a popular personal finance blog. He devoured it that day at work and came home a changed man. The AC temperature was going up, the restaurant expenses were going down, and he was deadset on achieving financial freedom. His wife, Emily, needed some convincing. But, with time, they both became locked in on FIRE. They moved to a cheaper house, rode bikes to work, and rarely ate out anymore. Just two years after discovering FIRE, they achieved it, and they did it without millions of dollars in the bank. And here’s the thi

Pay off your mortgage or invest? If you’re on the path to FIRE, you’ve probably asked yourself this question. Without a mortgage payment, you could put thousands more in your pocket every month, and your FIRE number would decrease significantly. On the other hand, investing all the money you could have spent on paying off your mortgage may allow you to build considerably more wealth and reach Fat FIRE with more assets to your name. So, which move do you make? Mindy and Scott are coming on to debate this common investing question. On team “Don’t pay it off!” is Mindy, who just recently made a six-figure profit by NOT paying off her mortgage. How did she do it? Stick around to find out. Scott, who just bought his recent home in cash, is pro-paying off the mortgage (for some), as it may lead you to FIRE much faster than you thought. In this episode, Scott and Mindy discuss WHO should pay off their mortgage early, the pros and cons of investing vs. going debt-free, and why one move may be MUCH better for those cl

Once you hit Coast FI, you don’t need to worry about retirement. While traditional FIRE may take a bit more extra work, Coast FI allows you to let your foot off the gas and enjoy life NOW, knowing that you’ll be set for retirement by the time you’re sixty-five. Lisa hit her coast FI number at the (very) young age of twenty-seven, and she will have millions of dollars waiting for her in retirement, even if she stops investing now. How’d she do it so quickly? When her father challenged her to save $100K by age twenty-five, Lisa said, “Why not!” She hit the goal—actually, she got there two years earlier! After much saving and significant sacrifice, Lisa had a six-figure net worth in her early twenties. From there, she began heavily investing in her retirement accounts, which now boast over a quarter of a million dollars, and she’s on track to have half a million at thirty! How did Lisa get so far ahead of the average twenty-seven-year-old, and what can you teach your kids, grandkids, nephews, nieces, or siblin

You can take your time to reach financial independence, but why wait? With a combination of hard work, savvy investing, and additional income streams, today’s guest reached FI by the age of twenty-eight. In this episode, she provides the blueprint that teachers and other middle-class workers can use to fast-track their financial goals! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Today, Brooke Coughlin is a business owner, real estate agent, investor, and author. But, just FOUR years ago, she was a seventh-grade teacher earning a $40,000 salary. The key to her rapid success? Brooke’s workday starts at 5 a.m. and ends well after 10 p.m. This relentless work ethic has helped her build a successful cleaning business, sell over $100 million worth of real estate, and pen her very own book! Now, working from sunup to sundown isn’t for everyone. Perhaps you just want a reasonable nest egg for a comfortable retirement or some money to pass down to your children. Whatever your financial goals, there are all kind

The BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast is about to hit a huge milestone—our 1,000th episode! Real estate has changed quite a bit since we started this podcast, so we’re making some changes, too.  We’re bringing on new guests and new formats while focusing on investing tactics and strategies that work in TODAY’s housing market. Oh, and did we mention fewer ads, too? We’re still delivering the time-tested knowledge, inspiration, and news you expect from the BiggerPockets Real Estate Podcast so YOU can work towards financial freedom, no matter the market conditions. Join Dave Meyer, our new host, for our 1,000th episode, and tune in on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to learn how YOU can reach financial independence through real estate! Hit “Follow” to never miss an episode! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-no-number Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email advertise@bigger

Todd retired early at age forty-four, just three years after discovering the FIRE movement. The most interesting part? He quit without reaching his FIRE number. That’s right. After realizing he couldn’t go one more day working his job, he quit, even without the perfect amount of money on the sidelines. Did he survive in the FIRE life, or did he eventually have to return to work to rebuild his portfolio? Stick around and find out! Although Todd made a good income, he spent most of it on his lifestyle. As his family’s sole provider, every expense took away from his income, leaving him with a respectable but by no means large savings rate. One day, as Todd surfed the internet at work, he stumbled upon a financial independence blog post, and the rest was history! He chased FIRE ruthlessly for three years and eventually was able to retire on his terms. If you’re looking to retire in your forties, quit your job, find financial freedom, or finally grow your savings, tune in for Todd’s advice. Even if you don’t hav

Wouldn’t it be nice if your home paid for itself? Every month, you throw a substantial sum of money towards your rent or mortgage payment, but what if you could live mortgage-free? With ADU investments, it’s more than possible. Michael Russell used an ADU (accessory dwelling unit) to make an extra $1,400/month off of his pricey California home. Combined with a bit of house hacking, Michael was getting PAID to live in one of the nation’s most expensive states. And he did it all on an average salary! So, how do YOU use ADUs to lower your cost of living and turn your home into a cash-flowing investment? Today, Michael walks us through exactly how he did it, how much it cost, how long it took, and how much money he ended up making. With high interest rates, will the ADU investing strategy still work in today’s market? How hard is it to build an ADU? And what’s the one mistake Michael wishes he hadn’t made before he built his ADU? We’re answering all these questions in this episode and showing you how to slash y

Is the FIRE movement dead? In 2024, more people are catching on to the huge downsides of pursuing financial independence, retire early. Strict frugality, massive sacrifice, working harder than ever…is it really worth it to retire decades before everyone else? If you’re internally screaming, “Yes! Of course it is!” you’re in good company. Today, we’re talking about why FIRE is NOT dead in 2024 but why most Americans won’t achieve it. It’s easy to claim that the FIRE movement is dead in 2024 when inflation has been high, savings rates are low, and there’s economic uncertainty all around. The problem? Almost all of that can be easily factored into your FIRE plan, and with some sacrifices, you could easily retire early in five, ten, or fifteen years. So, if FIRE is still possible, what must the average person do to achieve it? We’ll discuss the mindset shift you must undergo to reach financial independence, the sacrifices you must prepare for, and what we would have done differently on our own paths to FIRE. Ac

Are we in a recession? Are we headed for a recession? No one knows for certain, but you can never be too prepared for an economic downturn. Are you saving money? Do you have a plan in the event you lose your job? In today’s episode, we’ll help prepare you for anything that might be thrown your way! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Amidst economic uncertainty, there are two steps you must take to weather tough times: build an emergency fund and brace for a potential layoff. Today, Mindy and guest co-host Amanda Wolfe are bringing you their best money tips for getting through a recession. First, they’ll show you how to pad your emergency fund by saving hundreds on groceries each month, negotiating your bills, and eliminating unnecessary expenses from your budget. Believe it or not, it might even be time to cut back on aggressive debt paydown or extra 401(k) contributions! Next, they’ll help you with a potential job search. You’ll learn how to get your resume seen by more employers and determin

You could be missing out on the chance to earn passive income from your home (and other rentals!) with a “no-brainer” money move. This investing strategy is picking up steam and could become one of the big trends in real estate this year. Today’s guest was one of the early adopters, and it carried him to FIRE by his late thirties! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Today, we’re chatting with “That ADU Guy,” Derek Sherrell. Right before the 2008 housing market crash, Derek left his contracting job behind and returned to school to become a firefighter. Little did he know that this career move would provide the time, freedom, and connections to launch a full-blown side hustle alongside his W2 job. Before the age of forty, Derek became financially independent, with the ability to retire early, all thanks to this simple strategy. Since then, he has made it his life’s mission to inspire countless others to do the same! In this episode, we’re taking a deep dive into accessory dwelling units (ADUs). T

The road to financial independence isn’t always linear, but stoicism might be the secret ingredient that keeps you on track. This ancient philosophy gets a bad rap, but with its framework as your financial “operating system,” you’ll be able to weather all kinds of storms! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Today, Darius Foroux is a business owner, landlord, financial educator, and the author of eight books. But as a boy, he watched his family live paycheck to paycheck for many years. Vowing to one day become wealthy, Darius started saving every penny possible, only to find that practicing staunch frugality could only take him so far. After more than a decade of hard work and sacrifice, he had just $10,000 to his name and, after student loans, a negative net worth. But in 2015, Darius made a seismic mindset shift that propelled him to FI in just FIVE years! In this episode, Darius dispels the myth that stoicism is about suppressing emotions and lacking empathy. Instead, you’ll learn that its te

Fat FI and generational wealth in THREE years?! How is that possible? The sooner you forge good money habits, the sooner YOU can achieve your FI goal. Today’s guest wanted to build wealth as soon as possible, and in this episode, he will share the secrets to his enormous (and rapid) success! Only a few years ago, Josh Janus was flipping sneakers he couldn’t afford and making DoorDash deliveries for a little cash. Today, he has a seven-figure income and an eight-figure real estate portfolio. Fat FI at the age of just twenty-three, Josh still has his entire life ahead of him and a significant net worth to deploy however he chooses. Will he continue to grind away as a real estate agent, working eighty-hour weeks and optimizing his time for even higherearnings? Or will he take his foot off the gas and enjoy some of the wealth he’s worked so hard to build? Now, you may be in a very different season of life than Josh. After a family, career, and maybe even a late start to your FI journey, this explosive wealth-bu

Reaching financial independence and becoming a millionaire before the age of thirty?! While this path requires several years of ruthless saving, smart investing, and unwavering discipline, there’s no reason why YOU can’t enjoy financial freedom and attain the lifestyle you want! Shortly after graduating from college with over $50,000 in student loans, Franklin Zheng found himself working a grueling, eighty-hour-per-week factory job. Fortunately, it was also around this time that he discovered BiggerPocketsand decided to try his hand at real estate investing. He started attending local meetups, where he learned that simply getting in the same room with other investors presented all kinds of opportunities. It wasn’t long before Franklin had found his future investing partner, and in just FIVE years, he has built a cash-flowing real estate portfolio of thirty-eight units, as well as a business that has allowed him to leave his W2 job and travel the world! In this episode of the BiggerPockets Money podcast, you

You dream of retiring early, but you’re stuck in the “middle-class trap.” You’ve built up a solid net worth, maybe own a rental property or two, and on paper, you look like you’re on track to make it rich. But in reality, you don’t feel that way. With all your wealth tied up in home equity or retirement accounts, your “early” retirement may have to be pushed to the traditional age of sixty-five. So, how do you free up some of this wealth so you can start accessing it today to retire early tomorrow? This is the question Emily and Justin are struggling to answer. They’ve gone from nothing to a substantial net worth—$1,500,000! With big dreams to travel internationally and retire from their jobs in twelve years, they’re wondering if they can still make it to early retirement AND if they can do so while enjoying life a little bit more today. Mindy and Scott offer some unconventional advice for the personal finance space, but it may help this couple feel more secure so they can start living today instead of waiti

Want a personalized financial independence plan that’ll get you closer to early retirement? Well, we’ve got just what you’re looking for! On this second annual “Financial Independence Day,” Mindy and Scott are sharing a new way to get you to financial freedom faster. With so many applications for our “Finance Friday” series, we decided to make a downloadable that allows you to do your own personal finance review AND build a faster path to FIRE! But before you start filling out your financial independence plan, listen to this episode. We review some common traps and pitfalls that have stopped our Finance Friday guests from achieving financial freedom. We’ll explain exactly what each net worth bracket should focus on, how to get through the saving and investing “grind” to FIRE, and the biggest mistake most people make that will STOP them from ever finding financial independence. Want to reach financial independence faster? Download the DIY Finance Friday document here, and if you want Mindy and Scott’s person