Buying a house, maxing out your 401(k), and leveraging real estate are considered the gold standard for building wealth, but what if these strategies are actually sabotaging your early retirement?

Today, we're diving into the controversial "middle-class trap" debate with Brad Barrett from the ChooseFI podcast! Welcome back to the BiggerPockets Money podcast! Is your net worth locked up in home equity and retirement accounts you can't access? Brad, Mindy, and Scott are having a friendly but fierce debate about whether this middle-class trap is real or just financial fear-mongering, breaking down strategies to avoid it and revealing the ideal portfolio for early retirees.

In this episode, you'll learn:

If the Middle Class Trap is real or not!

The difference between your Net Worth vs. FI Number

The Psychological Barriers to Financial Freedom

And SO Much More!

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