BiggerPockets Money Blog
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Underwater on Your Mortgage? Here’s What It Really Means When the Market Turns on You
A real estate agent friend texted me the other day, and I’ve been thinking about it ever since. She told me about a young couple, expecting a baby, who bought a two…
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The Bad-Decade Case Study Every FI Investor Needs: Understanding Sequence of Returns Risk
Let’s talk about the single meanest trick the stock market can play on new retirees. It’s not that stocks go down. Everybody who’s held an index fund for more than five minutes…
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I Make Good Money, But I Have Nothing to Show for It: A Diagnostic Checklist
You check your bank account after payday and there’s a nice, healthy number staring back at you. Then you check it again two weeks later, right before the next payday, and that…
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Your Budget Has a Blind Spot, and It Shows Up Every December
You did it. You built a budget. You know exactly what you spend on groceries, gas, streaming services, and that one recurring $4.99 charge for an app you forgot you downloaded. You…
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Market Time vs. Timing the Market: My Neighbor Is Living Proof
Last weekend I moved. Don’t get impressed. I’m still moving every day this week, too. (Why do I have so much stuff?!?) On Saturday, my neighbor showed up at my door with…
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Every Retired Person I Know Says the Same Thing (And It’s Not “I Wish I’d Saved More”)
I’ve talked to a lot of early-retired people. It’s basically my job, but also, there is a steady stream of early retirees coming through Longmont. And I’ve noticed a pattern that’s remarkably…
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Coast FI Math: The Real Formula and When It Stops Working
If you’ve spent any time in the FI corners of the internet, you’ve heard someone proudly announce “I’m Coast FI.” It sounds impressive, but half the time the person saying it hasn’t…
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When Your Life Is the Research: How Watching the World Turned Into Our Best Investments
There’s an old saying that luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity. I used to think that was just a nice thing people said to make hard work sound more romantic.…
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The Spending Experiment That Taught Us Frugal Isn’t the Same as Smart
When Carl and I went on the I Will Teach You To Be Rich podcast with Ramit Sethi, we thought we were going in for a fun conversation about money. What we…
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Mega-Cap Tech: Individually, Each Giant Makes Sense… Collectively, They Don’t (Is it an AI Bubble?)
Eleven interconnected AI/Tech companies are valued at a combined $27T as of July 2026. While each company individually has a plausible path to success, what you have to believe for the collection…
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The Tax Trap Waiting at Age 73 (and How to Get Out of It)
After Carl and I chatted with The Money Guys, we’ve had a LOT of conversations surrounding where our money is currently located, and how to optimize for less overall taxes paid. (And…
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When Do You STOP Investing? Confessions of a Recovering Over-Saver
I have a confession to make, and it’s going to sound absurd coming from someone who hosts a money podcast for a living. I saved too much in my 401k. I know.…
Mindy Jensen has been fanatical about personal finance her entire life. She truly believes that financial freedom is attainable for anyone, no matter when or where you’re starting from. She’s been a real estate investor for decades, is slowly moving her personal portfolio from individual stocks to index funds, and is excited to learn more about investing of all types (except crypto!) She wrote First-Time Home Buyer with Scott Trench, and when you can get her to stop talking about money and investing, she can be found on her road bike in the summer, snowboarding down the Colorado slopes in the winter, and spending time with her family.
Scott Trench is a perpetual student of personal finance, real estate investing, self-improvement, health, and well-being. He is the former CEO of BiggerPockets, where he oversaw the company’s growth from 100,000 members, to 3.1M real estate investors. He is a real estate investor + broker, stock market investor and authored Set for Life and First-Time Home Buyer (co-authored with Mindy Jensen). When not discussing personal finance, he can be found picking up heavy things (or craft beers) and then putting them back down again, running, cycling, or otherwise enjoying beautiful Colorado.