BiggerPockets Money Podcast

When most people think of JL Collins, they think of smart stock and index fund investing. In his classic, The Simple Path to Wealth, JL lays out the foundational path that investors can follow to secure financial freedom simply, easily, and without a ton of stress. So it may come to many FI chasers’ surprise that JL has written a new book on real estate investing, and not index funds, the stock market, or our current state of high inflation.

In, How I Lost Money in Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable, JL lays out, quite candidly, how not to invest in real estate. And before you get mad about that type of advice on a BiggerPockets Podcast, please note that JL isn’t saying to NOT invest in real estate, but to invest in real estate in a smarter way than he did. 

JL is the first to admit that real estate is a phenomenal way to build wealth, create passive income, and retire early. But, if you haven’t fulfilled your 250+ hours of real estate investing education, you probably shouldn’t be purchasing income properties. In today’s show, you’ll hear JL explicitly list out all the mistakes he made when investing, and how you can mitigate these risks and come out profitable instead! 

In This Episode We Cover

“Stagflation” and how 2022 is looking more and more like 1979’s burdensome economy 

How following the herd mentality to buy real estate may cost you time and money

The biggest home renovation mistakes and how to manage contractors correctly 

Staying cautious when buying in a hot housing market and making an offer based on the fundamentals of real estate investing 

Capital gains taxes and preparing for depreciation recapture when selling a property 

The biggest real estate mistakes rookie investors can avoid when getting started 

And So Much More!

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-285

Travel budgeting, sky-high gas prices, and “free” utilities are coming up in this month’s episode of Carl and Mindy’s Spending Summary. Like many Americans, Carl and Mindy didn’t have the easiest time sticking to their March budget. With rising food, gas, and utility prices, it may seem that your budget is squeezing you more and more as the months go on.

This month, Carl and Mindy touch on their biggest budget busters and wins, plus why budgets are meant to be adjusted when life permits. Carl and Mindy have been publicly tracking their budget and have found it to be a little trickier than they originally thought. That being said, both of them agree that if you have the financial means to do something you love, it’s probably worth the extra money for a once-in-a-lifetime experience.

If you’ve felt strained while expense tracking and budgeting throughout the start of 2022, just know that two of the most respected voices in the financial space also stumble from time to time. If you make a mistake, overspend, or forget to track your expenses, get back on track, hit your goals, and keep chasing financial freedom!

In This Episode We Cover

What happens when a big expense bursts your budget early 

Optimizing your budget so you have breathing room when prices go up

Offsetting your electricity bill with solar and siphoning off some free natural gas 

Downsizing your costs and reviewing utility bills so you only spend on what you need

Travel budgeting and keeping extra money to build life-long memories 

Conferences where you can find Carl and Mindy in 2022!

And So Much More!

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-284

Multiple streams of income are a must if you’re trying to hit financial independence, retire early, and have the luxury of time brought back into your life. While most people simply rely on one stream of income, their W2, others want more than one leg to stand on when it comes to their financial wellbeing. How would you feel if every day you had eight (or more) income streams flowing into your bank account?

Tiffany Grant from Money Talk with Tiff spent over a decade building the income streams that would eventually set her free from the golden handcuffs of corporate life. But, that road wasn’t made easy for her. Tiffany unexpectedly became a teen mom, forcing her to pivot her journey from aspiring chef to community college business student. Thankfully, her natural knack for anything related to money allowed her to advance quickly through college and later the corporate world.

She was making good money, she enjoyed her job, and she was saving almost all of her income. Tiffany knew that her real dream was to own her own business, grow her wealth, and build the life she dreamt of. So, thanks to her smart money management, Tiffany was able to leave corporate, build over eight streams of income with one business, and regain control of her time. If you’re looking to do the same, then definitely don’t skip out on what Tiffany teaches in today’s episode. 

In This Episode We Cover

Building credit at an early age and disputing false claims on your credit report

Fighting income/lifestyle creep as soon you begin to make more income

Quitting corporate life and having the emergency reserves to support yourself

Strategizing your current position so you can make more and work less 

Building multiple income streams from a single business and how anyone can do it

Investing in yourself and doing whatever it takes to stay on the path to financial independence 

And So Much More!

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-283

Passive income is the name of the game when it comes to real estate investing. While equity can help you build wealth, passive income is what can get you on the road to financial independence. But what if you got a late start in your investing career? With so many millionaire twenty-or-something-year-olds on the internet, it seems like you have to start investing at age eighteen to hit financial freedom.

This couldn’t be more wrong. Even if you feel like you’re a late bloomer when it comes to investing, you’re probably only a few years away from hitting FI—if you make the right decisions. This is the quandary that today’s guest, Nicole, finds herself in. Nicole has recently gone through a divorce and lost a good chunk of her net worth thanks to it. But, she’s poised on investing in real estate so she can hit financial independence sooner rather than later.

Thanks to her service in the military, Nicole has access to the ever-so-helpful VA loan, allowing her to purchase homes with little (or no) down payment. She also has a military pension that will kick in soon, allowing her to mitigate her cost of living even more. So, does Nicole have enough time to build her rental empire and enjoy the Floridian beaches on her time off?

In This Episode We Cover

Why it’s never too late to start investing for your future 

Using VA loans to purchase house hack properties with little to no money down

Short-term rentals, medium-term rentals, and other rental property strategies 

Generating more income through side hustles, job-hopping, and more

The 2022 housing market and the risks/benefits of buying in today’s hectic atmosphere 

Whether or not to invest in retirement accounts when your main goal is cash flow

And So Much More!

Check the full show notes here: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-282

Inflation can be a detriment to any early retirement plan. At first, you may think you only need a certain amount of money to retire, and maybe you’re adjusting for inflation when you do these calculations. But what happens when inflation runs more than triple the average or crosses into double-digit numbers. How does your investment strategy change? How does your “dream retirement” come true when it costs ten percent more than you originally accounted for?

These are all questions that average Americans are asking themselves: when can I retire? Can I retire? How can I afford food or gas or pay my bills? Although we can’t solely blame high inflation on the Federal Reserve, we can see how their policies lead to the situation we’re in now. Someone who stood up against the policies of quantitative easing and massive stimulus packages, is former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City, Tom Hoenig. 

Tom was in favor of quantitative easing back at the start of the great recession, but as this power to pump more money into the economy started to get abused, he rallied against the choice of the fed. Today, Mindy and Scott use this episode to ask Tom the hard-hitting questions that average investors want answered so they can make the best financial moves possible while still building wealth. 

In This Episode We Cover

The rampant inflation of the 1980s and how it affects Fed policy to this day

Quantitative easing explained and how it artificially inflates asset prices

How asset values and price inflation go hand in hand 

The goal of the Federal Reserve and how many of their policies have backfired 

Whether or not the 4% rule still stands true in an inflationary environment 

What a “good” unemployment rate looks like and how it maps the health of the economy

How investors can prepare to take advantage of times of economic uncertainty and high inflation 

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group

BiggerPockets Forums

Finance Review Guest Onboarding

Scott's Instagram

Mindy's Twitter

Apply to Be a Guest on The Money Show

Podcast Talent Search!

What Every Investor Should Understand About Inflation

How the Unemployment Rate Affects Us All (Yes, Even the Employed)

The Fed’s Doomsday Prophet Has a Dire Warning About Where We’re Headed

Tom Hoenig on Wikipedia

Check the full show notes here: https://biggerpockets.com/blog/money-281

Investing in real estate is a proven way to build wealth, produce more cash flow, and retire early. But, not everyone is cut out to do every type of real estate investing. Some strategies take dramatically more time and effort than others. House hacking may be perfect for investors or couples without kids, live in flips could work best for those with some rehab experience, and BRRRR investing is reserved for those with proven investing experience.

While some of these strategies are as simple as buying a house and renting out a side, others require far more of a time commitment—time that many investors, like today’s guest Jeff, may not have. Jeff is already an established investor, currently living in a house hack that’s helping him offset his mortgage. But, he wants to expand into more return-focused real estate like live in flipping and BRRRRing.

But, with a high-paying job and lots of money in the bank, Scott and Mindy ask the question, “is real estate investing even worth it for Jeff?” Should he be sticking to stocks or does a labor-intensive rehab clearly outweigh the costs? If you’re wondering whether or not you should choose the real estate investing path to FI, make sure you hear out the arguments in today’s episode. 

In This Episode We Cover

Whether or not PMI (private mortgage insurance) is worth it on a low down payment loan

How to make moves to buy a rental property in today’s hot housing market 

Active income vs. passive income and which yields greater benefit 

Live in flipping and the benefits of doing your own work on a rehab

What to do when you have too much cash on hand in an inflationary environment 

Rolling over your 401k to maximize your non-taxable retirement income

And So Much More!

Health insurance for early retirement? Is that even a thing? If it is, it doesn’t seem self-evident in the United States. For most early retirees within the USA, you have a couple of options for healthcare—make a low enough income to qualify for government-subsidized healthcare or pay an exorbitant amount of money to either buy healthcare upfront or pay out of pocket any time you get sick. But, that’s not a terribly safe way to live, especially when you’re working with a (relatively) fixed income.

Throughout their world travels, Amy and Tim from GoWithLess have had to learn this the hard way. They were originally insured on a healthshare plan but found it far riskier than they would have liked. Now, as they travel throughout the United States, Mexico, and the world, they’re making sure they’ve covered all bases so a random surgery or two doesn’t force them back into the working world.

Early retirement health insurance is one of the biggest reasons that financial independence-chasers stay at their jobs, so if you’re itching to get your post-work-life travel on, listen to this whole episode. In it, Amy and Tim drop gems about finding health (and auto) insurance when retiring early (or abroad). They also discuss the best questions to ask a healthcare provider or broker, what to look for in a healthcare plan, and how to save money with digital nomad insurance. 

In This Episode We Cover

How Amy and Tim’s post-pandemic travel plans unraveled in 2020 and 2021

House-sitting, dog-sitting, and other ways to creatively lower your travel costs 

“Quick traveling” and the time/mental energy it takes to be a full-time nomad

Roth conversions and using resident-specific tax benefits to convert more

The top questions to ask a healthcare broker when choosing health insurance 

Car insurance as a retiree and how to pay less to be more protected 

And So Much More!

If you want to know how to save money, just look at your expenses. Odds are, if you’re like most people, you aren't budgeting or tracking your expenses to a tee. But there’s no need to be so hard on yourself, even our money mages themselves, Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen don’t always write down every cent spent. That being said, if you’re planning for a big trip, different expenses, or a sudden life change (like leaving your job), there is no better time than NOW to start tracking your expenses. Today’s guest, TJ, knows this all too well.

TJ makes a phenomenal income and already has a multi-million dollar net worth. But, he still suffers from money anxiety and not knowing how much he’ll need to step away from full-time work. Not only that, TJ is planning to take his children on a two-year-long expedition around the globe, all while TJ and his wife aren’t bringing in their regular high incomes.

But he isn’t just relying on his salary for monthly cash flow. TJ has also invested in rental properties as well as real estate syndications—both of which are providing him thousands a month in passive cash flow. But, after the globe-trotting ends, will TJ have to find himself another job or can he happily ski his way to early retirement upon re-arrival? 

In This Episode We Cover

Retirement accounts, private pensions, and setting your future self up for financial success

Cash savings and emergency funds, plus who needs them (and who doesn’t)

Rental property investing and real estate syndications for passive cash flow

Reducing spending and building a “future budget” that forecasts future spending

Money anxiety and how to mitigate it even if you have a high income and net worth

The 4% rule and using it to easily map out your date of financial independence 

And So Much More!

“Hustle culture” has been a term for the past decade or so. It somehow became a badge of honor to prove that you’re working the hardest, longest, and most stressful job around. You can handle it, you’re making money, putting in the hours, but what do you have left at the end of the day? This constant grind is what Mindy likes to call the “death race to FI” due to its unnecessary harshness on your free time, relationships, and mental health.

Pete McPherson foresaw this “hustle culture” taking over his life when he quit his sixty-hour week accounting job and decided to start his own business. This wasn’t the first, or second, or fiftieth time Pete had started a business, and he was driven to never set foot in an office again. He wasn’t making phenomenal money the first year, but he made enough to provide for his family, and that was enough for him.

Mindy and guest host Sarah Putt from OT 4 Lyfe talk with Pete about the rarely discussed downsides of chasing early retirement and financial independence. Make no mistake, even if you decided to work twenty hours a week, like Pete, you can still make plenty of money all while being able to watch your favorite movies in the middle of the day or spend time with your kids!

In This Episode We Cover

The detriment of “hustle culture” and why working hard doesn’t mean burning yourself out 

The importance of having an available safety reserve in case you get let go from a job

Jumping into entrepreneurship and developing the grind to make it work

Learning from your mistakes and seeing every failure as a lesson

Picking your “good enough” number and living life on your terms

Why time freedom is the ultimate goal of FI, not exorbitant wealth 

And So Much More!

Emergency funds, frugal experiments, free photons, and “thoughtful spending” were just a few things that came to light during Carl and Mindy Jensen’s January 2022 budget recap. If you didn’t know already, Mindy has been publicly tracking her expenses and budgeting for BiggerPockets Money listeners (and the world) to see. But of course, as soon as Mindy shared her public budget, things started to go awry.

Nothing says “let’s start the month off right” like car repairs, furnace replacements, and sky-high gas prices. But, Mindy isn’t a quitter! Even with some big emergency expenses, she and Carl have managed to stay within budget for most of their costly categories in spite of life's fun financial curveballs. 

Carl and Mindy discuss their January “frugal experiment” including hotels and air fryers, how “dry January” became “moist January”, and why this financial powerhouse has opted out of the traditional emergency fund. If you’re starting this year with a few budget busters like Carl and Mindy, don’t let it keep you from hitting your overall 2022 spending goals. Track it, stick with it, and shoot for FI!

In This Episode We Cover

How expense tracking inadvertently stops you from overspending 

Using money in the most efficient way possible so you can increase your “thoughtful spending” 

Budgeting wins (and challenges) that Mindy and Carl faced this January 

Preparing from unexpected budget busters and whether or not an emergency fund is necessary 

How to allocate large bills throughout the year so you don’t go over budget 

Splurging on things you truly enjoy while keeping everyday costs as simplistic as possible

And So Much More!