BiggerPockets Money

One of the most frequently asked questions in the BiggerPockets forums is "How can I start investing in real estate with no money and bad credit?" The answer? You can't (Well, to be more accurate, you probably shouldn't). You need to fix your "No money and bad credit" situation and invest from a position of financial strength. Co-hosted by BiggerPockets' Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen, this podcast provides the education you didn't get in school. You'll get tips for getting your financial house in order and actionable advice from guests who have been in your shoes - and found their way out.

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Previous Episodes

October 26, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 148: How to Become an Everyday Millionaire with Chris Hogan

Chris Hogan joins Scott and Mindy today to chat about becoming an everyday millionaire. Chris and his team interviewed more than 10,000 millionaires to hear how they did it. Hard work, determinatio n, spending less than you make, investing wisely, and eliminating debt. Chris shares how to discuss your finances with your spouse - and how to bring them on board when you have differing views about money. He talks about the emotional journey that debt paydown can take you on - and how to handle that so you come out on top! Chris also reveals his feelings about FIRE - and how there is too much focus on the RE and not enough on the FI. He wants you to become Financially Independent but also wants you to enjoy your journey. Chris firmly believes that anyone can become debt free and start to build wealth to become an Everyday Millionaire. ... show more

October 19, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 147: Pursuing Financial Independence on Her Own Terms with Cathleen Hutchins

Cathleen Hutchins grew up in Hawaii. She come over to the mainland for college, but Hawaii kept calling her name, so she moved back home. Hawaii is an expensive place to live, and Cathleen knew she 'd need a plan in order to reach financial independence if she was going to live there for the rest of her life. So she saved. She invested. She made smart decisions about her money and is continuously looking for ways to generate passive income to help fund her retirement. She has also sacrificed some comforts and norms to get to where she is today. She and her husband lived apart for a while, both living where there was a job for each of them, not always in the same state! But her sacrificing and saving has allowed her to move home to Hawaii, buy a house, and continue to pursue financial independence in a high cost of living area. Cathleen is well on her way to Financial Independence and her story is just another example of how following the proven path, you can get money out of the way so you can lead your best life. ... show more

October 12, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 146: Saying Goodbye to Gambling & Finding Financial Freedom with Ambus Hunter

Ambus Hunter grew up with a fair understanding of how money works. He received a partial scholarship to play drums in college, and graduated with a small amount of student loan debt. His first job was with the Department of Defense, making a decent salary for someone who had just graduated from college. He started saving his money, like a good FI-devotee does, but his story takes a sharp left turn. Ambus discovered gambling. At first, he was winning. (That's how it goes with gambling, right?) But then his "luck" changed. Because that's also how it goes with gambling, right? Ambus chased his losses, and ended up wiping out his entire savings account. That was when he knew he had to stop cold turkey. He then threw everything he had into building his savings back up, taking on extra jobs, living with roommates, and cutting out everything unnecessary in his life. In one short year, working nights and weekends, spending as little as possible, and throwing every dollar into his savings, he made it all back. Now Ambus helps guide others on their own path to financial literacy through volunteering and through his own coaching programs. ... show more

October 5, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 145: From Hedge Fund Manager to Smart Money Mama with Chelsea Brennan

Chelsea Brennan was a hedge fund manager for several years - until her second pregnancy when she ended up in the hospital with sever complications brought on by the stress and emotional toll her job t ook on her. She and her husband looked over their savings and investments, and decided that she'd leave her job in order to focus on her health and her kids. Her baby was born healthy, but their income went from six figures to zero figures, and she needed a way to bring some money in. She looked back on her love of teaching, and decided to start a website devoted to teaching women - and moms specifically - how to handle their money. Chelsea is truly passionate about teaching the power of financial independence and being in control of your life. Are you struggling with your finances? This episode is a cannot miss! ... show more

September 28, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 144: Alternative Investments: How to Determine Which Option(s) Are Right For You with Kirk Chisholm

Kirk Chisholm is a fee-only investment advisor with a secret passion - finding new and different ways to invest money. Kirk shares his Big List of 75 Alternative Investments with us today - and mor e importantly, how to vet the investment vehicle to see if it's right for you. Not everything is a great fit for every person, and you certainly don't have to choose everything on the list. Play to your strengths when choosing investments and don't discount passion for an idea. If you HATE the thought of learning more about that investment vehicle, you won't put forth the correct amount of effort necessary to master it. Kirk also dives into how to sell these types of alternative investments - including at significant discounts if it's an illiquid asset that you need to liquidate fast. Secondary markets exist for all asset classes, and there are ways to pick up a good deal on the secondary market as well. If you're looking to diversify your portfolio, today's show is a can't-miss episode! ... show more

September 21, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 143: How to Pay Off $160k in Debt in 3 Years While Making $90k

Shannon Gauthier discovered the debt she and her husband had gotten themselves into when a debt collector caller her at work and she started asking questions. Shocked to discover $30,000 in unpaid debts, she quickly found herself a single mom as her husband left. She tried to pay them off as best she could, but found herself somedays deciding whether to buy a gallon of milk or a gallon of gas to get to work. Fast forward a year, and she met a new man who brought significant debt with him to the relationship - to the tune of $60,000! Each of their divorces added more debt to their pile and at the height their debt totaled $160,000. Their income trailed this debt at $65,000 and they knew they'd have to do everything in their power to knock out this debt. They moved in with his parents to pay lower rent and have someone to watch the kids while they worked. They couponed and did free things with the kids to be able to throw every single dollar they could at their debt. This approach paid off, because by the end of the year, they will be completely debt free and be able to start saving and investing and working toward financial freedom. If you're in debt and see no way out, this episode will show you there IS a way to paying down your debt, that it isn't always easy, pretty or fun, but it CAN be done. ... show more

September 14, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 142: Ask Us Anything: Questions From the Audience with Scott & Mindy

Scott & Mindy sit down today to answer questions sent in by listeners. They address topics all over the board - from student loan repayment and early retirement account withdrawal under the CARES act, to the best high-yield savings accounts, and planning for the gap between early retirement and traditional retirement age when you can access your retirement accounts penalty free. Scott & Mindy also discuss different investing platforms as well as retirement planning, taxes, and even how inflation might affect your retirement future. They take a couple of calls from listeners to chat about the best current use of retirement funds. This episode will help clear up some of the questions you may be having on your road to early financial independence. ... show more

September 7, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 141: How to Graduate College Debt-Free and Pursue FI Before 40 with 4 kids!

Blake Nielson is a college professor whose wife stays home to raise their four children. Despite having only one income - and six mouths to feed - they have paid off their home and are on the path to early financial freedom. Blake currently loves his job and has no plans to stop working - but still wants the freedom that financial independence gives. So how did he do it? He started off debt free from college, a HUGE leg up in life in general. Blake details just how he accomplished this feat, from college selection to funds available, scholarships and even working during the school year and especially during the summers between. Blake even shares a Solid Gold tip for finding out about scholarships that aren’t well publicized! Blake also strategically chose where he lived during his college years. He specifically chose a rental that was priced significantly lower than the “college” rentals in town - but still close enough to walk to school. There is no secret to Blake’s success. He put in the work at an early age and is on track to hit lean FI by age 40 and Fat FI by 45. Spend less than you earn, invest wisely. Blake shows you can live the FI life with four kids and one income. ... show more

August 31, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 140: How to Get Financial Freedom So You Can Do What You’re Meant to Do with Belinda Rosenblum

Belinda Rosenblum is a CPA, a certified coach and her clients include Harvard Business School, Harvard University and the SEC. She’s worked for Arthur Andersen and L3 Enterprises. She’s got money all figured out, right? Well, she does now… On today’s episode, Belinda shares her biggest money mistake - ignoring a giant pile of mail as she cared for her recovering father. Once she cleared that up, she focused on her own finances, growing her net worth to more than $1 million by the time she was 33. She quickly realized that her trajectory was NOT taking her where she wanted to go. So she pivoted. She took a new job with a huge bump in pay and rode out their boom and subsequent layoffs, taking a package to leave and using that opportunity to travel to India, a life-changing experience. When she came back, she realized she didn’t need all the things, didn’t need the stress that came with the big corporate job, and struck out on her own, filling a need she saw in her own friends - financial education. Belinda parlayed her financial knowledge into a multi 6-figures company, pivoting again last year to helping businesses strategically and consistently generate income. This episode is for anyone who has made a money mistake, anyone who has gotten past one, or anyone looking to start their own business to truly live the life they want. ... show more

August 24, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 139: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Life Insurance (But Absolutely Need To) with Joe Saul-Sehy

Life Insurance is the most exciting topic on the planet! Just kidding. But just because it isn’t a super exciting topic doesn’t mean you don’t need to know about it. Today, Joe Saul-Sehy, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast, joins Scott and Mindy to talk about Life Insurance. Joe comes from a background as a financial planner and was licensed to sell every type of insurance product available. Joe is here today because he understands how life insurance works - how it's priced, how you can use it, the pros and cons of the product - but he has no skin in the game whether you buy life insurance or not. He's the perfect person to explain this product from a factual standpoint and let you make the decision of what type - if any - is best for you, based on facts, not commissions. Joe walks us through the basics and shares how life insurance actually covers you - from term, to whole, to universal life. There's no bad product, only different ways of paying out. If you're struggling with how to figure out what life insurance policy is right for you, this episode can't be missed. ... show more

August 17, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 138: Financial Blunders to Financial Buff: How Farnoosh Torabi's Money History Grew Her Career

Farnoosh Torabi grew up talking about money. Her parents are from the Middle East, and in her culture, they “never miss a moment to talk about money.” As the go-to girl for finance advice among her friends, imagine her surprise when she sat down and looked at her financial situation to discover tens of thousands of dollars in credit card debt! Farnoosh realized that paying for everything with a card, then paying the minimum balances didn’t lead to debt free life. Not wanting to continue a life of debt - mainly so she wouldn’t have to tell her mom - she hustled during school. Taking class notes and selling them on her school’s notes system, babysitting, bird sitting, anything that would generate income so she could throw money at her debt and pay it off. Graduation took her to New York City and a stroke of luck found her a shared apartment with a married couple for $500 a month. Definitely less than she could find on her own. She started off making very little, and strategically increased her income to offset the fact that she “isn’t a good saver.” Farnoosh has parlayed her own financial knowledge into a career teaching others how to manage their own finances. From books, to podcasts, to television, Farnoosh is everywhere, educating this oh-so-important skill so that others can work toward their own financial freedom. ... show more

August 10, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 137: Engineering a Path to Financial Independence with Felicity Freedom

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 Inde x 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 he was in graduate school - because he didn’t want to live above his means, and he was making less money than she was at the time. In fact, Fergus is leery of the 4% rule, and would be much more comfortable if they were only pulling 2%-2.5% of their retirement funds every year. Their story illustrates the point Mindy makes so frequently in this podcast, “personal finance is personal.” Their story also illustrates the path one must take to get to financial independence. Spend less than you earn. Intelligently invest. Stay the course through the tough times. This too shall pass. ... show more

August 3, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 136: Secrets of a Money Savvy Family with Doug Nordman and Carol Pittner

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 h er 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 after her (non-paid) chores were complete. Doug’s common-sense approach to teaching his daughter about money is actually quite brilliant. She starts learning about money - and making money mistakes - when the stakes are low. Your 8-year-old making a $20 mistake is far better than your 20 year old making a $10,000 mistake because he or she never learned how to manage money. Carol joins her dad to talk about how these teachings affected her life - and how she is planning on teaching her own daughter about money and finances. Carol and Doug have combined their recollections of this time together and written a book called Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next Generation Financial Independence, and it is the blueprint for exactly how to raise children who are ‘good with money’ and how to prepare them to be adults who are great with money. If you’re struggling with how to teach your children about money, this is a must-listen episode. ... show more

July 27, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 135: Building Wealth through Real Estate... without Tenants or Toilets! with Seth Williams

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 - fre quently 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, frequently realizing a 300% profit - or more! Even better? Deals are EVERYWHERE! Land is literally everywhere and deals can be found very easily. (We discuss several ways to find absentee vacant land owners, many of whom just want to be rid of the property!) Seth shares what to look out for in a deal so you minimize your chances of getting burned, and what makes a deal great. He shares different ways to find these deals and even gives guidance for doing your homework so you know exactly what you’re buying. If you’d like to get started in real estate - but may not have the funds or simply don’t have the time or desire to run a flip, land may be your way in. ... show more

July 20, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 134: Paying Off Debt - And Avoiding Debt Relapse with Chris Browning from Popcorn Finance

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 enj oyed 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 that they needed to reign in their spending so he could pay off debt. But once his debt was gone, he started saving in earnest for an engagement ring, spent everything he had on that, and found himself in debt again when they started planning their wedding. Life happened, debt continued to stack up until they realized they were $27,000 in debt, with salaries just over that amount - all while living in Southern California. Living paycheck-to-paycheck makes it hard to throw extra money at your debt. Chris and his wife reviewed their spending and were shocked by what they were spending on. Once they knew where their money was going, they were able to drastically reduce their spending and throw more money at their debt. It turns out, tracking your spending and sticking to a budget are both excellent pieces of advice that can help anyone turn their financial situation around and start down the path toward financial independence. ... show more

July 13, 2020

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 133: Retiring Early Doesn't Have to Be All-or-Nothing: "The Art of Subtraction" with Doc G

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 h ow 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. Instead of jubilation, Doc G was thrown into a spiral of anxiety and depression. Something he’d wanted his whole life, this thing he’d identified with so strongly for so long, and the thought of walking away from such an enormous part of his life was terrifying because now he had a way to do it and it was suddenly real. Having always saved at least 50% of his income, Doc G went to his accountant - who was unfamiliar with early retirement and sort of threw out a number he needed to save to retire. His financial advisor was a bit more helpful, asking questions like how much do you spend in a year? Not knowing, Doc G threw out a number, which turned out to be really close to what his accountant said he needed. But he was still unsure. So he did what anyone in the FIRE community would do - he started reading. Everything and anything he could get his hands on. He realized he had enough money to stop doing those things he didn’t like, so he started practicing what he calls "The Art of Subtraction." He removed the things that did not make his heart sing, so that he could focus on those things he DID enjoy. And his plan worked. He now can spend his working hours doing the things he loves to do, and does not have to do the things he doesn’t. He has focused more time on non-doctor side projects like writing and podcasting - where his enjoyment runs sky high even though the paychecks do not. As his side projects bring more joy, walking away from the physician thing gets easier and easier. Making plans for retirement is great, but today Doc G shares how to plan your transition into retirement which can be even more important! ... show more

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BiggerPockets Money

Previous Episodes

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 148: How to Become an Everyday Millionaire with Chris Hogan

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 147: Pursuing Financial Independence on Her Own Terms with Cathleen Hutchins

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 146: Saying Goodbye to Gambling & Finding Financial Freedom with Ambus Hunter

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 145: From Hedge Fund Manager to Smart Money Mama with Chelsea Brennan

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 144: Alternative Investments: How to Determine Which Option(s) Are Right For You with Kirk Chisholm

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 143: How to Pay Off $160k in Debt in 3 Years While Making $90k

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 142: Ask Us Anything: Questions From the Audience with Scott & Mindy

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 141: How to Graduate College Debt-Free and Pursue FI Before 40 with 4 kids!

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 140: How to Get Financial Freedom So You Can Do What You’re Meant to Do with Belinda Rosenblum

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 139: Everything You Never Wanted to Know About Life Insurance (But Absolutely Need To) with Joe Saul-Sehy

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 138: Financial Blunders to Financial Buff: How Farnoosh Torabi's Money History Grew Her Career

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 137: Engineering a Path to Financial Independence with Felicity Freedom

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 136: Secrets of a Money Savvy Family with Doug Nordman and Carol Pittner

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 135: Building Wealth through Real Estate... without Tenants or Toilets! with Seth Williams

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 134: Paying Off Debt - And Avoiding Debt Relapse with Chris Browning from Popcorn Finance

BiggerPockets Money Podcast 133: Retiring Early Doesn't Have to Be All-or-Nothing: "The Art of Subtraction" with Doc G

BiggerPockets Money

Previous Episodes

BiggerPockets Money

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