{"id":182286,"date":"2025-04-21T07:36:20","date_gmt":"2025-04-21T13:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/?p=182286"},"modified":"2025-04-21T12:03:59","modified_gmt":"2025-04-21T18:03:59","slug":"your-money-guide-to-financial-independence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/your-money-guide-to-financial-independence","title":{"rendered":"Your Money Guide to Financial Independence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Finances can be like New Year’s resolutions; we have the best of intentions but then get lost in how <\/span>to actually achieve our goals<\/span>. <\/span>I know when<\/span> I am unsure <\/span>of<\/span> where to start, a concise list of next steps can <\/span>truly<\/span> help.<\/span> Get a plan together and take action on your finances:<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \n
  1. Start your small\u00a0<\/span>emergency fund<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0We like to say three to six months, but if you are <\/span>just<\/span> starting out, one month of leeway is a huge milestone.<\/span> You can always revisit this step later.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  2. Get the free money:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Contribute to your 401(k)\/TSP, at least up to your employer match.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  3. Make HSA contributions<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>These reduce your taxable income and grow tax-free should you decide to invest it. It is a gold mine for early retirement!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  4. High-interest debt<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Use the “avalanche” or “snowball” method to wipe out your debt.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  5. Track your spending<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>I am old school, and I find an Excel spreadsheet with three months of past expenses that can serve as <\/span>a great<\/span> average for your spending. A tracking app works great, too!<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  6. Use your <\/span>individual<\/span> retirement account (IRA)<\/span><\/a>:\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>Contribute to Roth or traditional IRAs based on your <\/span>individual<\/span> needs.<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  7. Invest in a brokerage account:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Investing in a brokerage account is necessary to access cash before retirement.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  8. Increase your income:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Invest in real estate, pick up extra hours, or<\/span> start a side hustle.<\/span><\/li>\n\n\n\n
  9. Be generous:<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0Don\u2019t forget that you can help others on their path to FIRE.\u00a0<\/span>Start a 529<\/span><\/a>\u00a0or a donor-advised fund (DAF).<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    If you aren\u2019t sure what to prioritize, I like to <\/span>make sure that any account that has<\/span> a year-end or tax-filing deadline <\/span>are<\/span> maxed out before it\u2019s too late.<\/span> Remember that any of these actions will get you closer to your FIRE goal! <\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Finances can be like New Year’s resolutions; we have the best of intentions but then get lost in how to actually achieve our goals. I know when I am unsure […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":613772,"featured_media":177712,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":true,"footnotes":""},"categories":[7398],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-182286","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-retirement"],"acf":[],"comment_count":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182286","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/613772"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=182286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/182286\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177712"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=182286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=182286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biggerpockets.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=182286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}