BiggerPockets Money Blog
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Donor-Advised Funds: How to Give Generously and Still Win at Tax Season
If you’re several years into your FI journey, there’s a decent chance you’ve already optimized your 401(k), your backdoor Roth contributions, and your tax-loss harvesting. Charitable giving is often the piece that…
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The New Account That Could Set Your Kids Up for Retirement Before They’ve Had Their First Real Job
Here’s the thing about generational wealth: most people don’t build it through a single big move. They build it by making a series of small, boring, correct decisions early enough that compound…
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The Ultimate Guide to Decumulation in 2026: How to Spend Your Money Without Losing Sleep (or Gaining the IRS’s Attention)
If accumulation is the fun part of FIRE, decumulation is the part nobody talks about at parties. You spent 10, 15, maybe 20 years cramming money into 401(k)s and brokerage accounts like…
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What’s Your Contingency Plan? The Question That Actually Makes Retirement Feel Safe
A couple of weeks ago I wrote an article called “What Would It Take to Make You Feel Secure?” I thought I’d covered it. But I kept having the same conversation at…
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You Don’t Have to Sell What You Love. You Just Have to Sell It For a Second.
Every FIRE community has one. (It’s me. Hi. I’m the problem, it’s me.) The person who bought a stock years ago, watched it turn into a meaningful chunk of their net worth,…
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The 0% Capital Gains Bracket Is a Gift. Are You Using It?
Somewhere out there is a tax bracket that lets you sell your winning stocks, pocket the gains, and hand exactly $0 to the IRS. It’s not a loophole. It’s not sketchy. It’s…
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Are You Slowly Bleeding Money?
I logged into an old HSA today. Not because I had a sudden urge to relive my benefits enrollment paperwork from a job I haven’t worked in years, but because I was…
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What Would It Take to Make You Feel Secure?
The FI Community has a pretty simple pitch. Save aggressively, invest wisely, hit your number, and then walk away from your traditional W2 job to spend your time however you want, with…
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A Field Guide to In-Person FI Events
You’ve optimized your 401k. You’ve got a spreadsheet that calculates your FI date down to the day, assuming a 7% real return and zero unexpected emergencies, because obviously nothing unexpected ever happens…
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Planning for Healthcare Costs Over a Decades-Long Early Retirement
This is Part 2 of a two part series for early retirees and self-employed households and health insurance. In Part 1 I covered how health insurance works for early retirees and the…
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The Lifestyle Creep You Actually Planned: When Spending More Is the Right Move
Every personal finance article you’ve ever read has warned you about lifestyle creep. You get a raise, you upgrade the car, you start ordering the good guacamole, and suddenly your savings rate…
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Net Investment Income Tax: The 3.8% Surtax Nobody Talks About
You’ve done the hard part. You saved aggressively, invested consistently, built up rental income or a brokerage portfolio worth bragging about, and now you’re watching your passive income roll in like a…
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.