BiggerPockets Money Blog
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Chapter Seven: The Investment Order of Operations (Or: Stop Overthinking Where Your Money Should Go)
At some point, everyone pursuing FIRE asks the same question. I have money to invest. Where should it go first? Should it go into the 401(k)? The Roth IRA? A taxable brokerage…
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Dear Me, You Have My Permission: A Letter to Every Overthinking Optimizer Out There
Somewhere out there, a person who has saved diligently for fifteen years, paid off their mortgage, and accumulated a net worth that would make most financial advisors weep with joy is sitting…
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Why You Need to Think About Decumulation Now (Even Though You’re Nowhere Near Retirement)
Here’s a question almost nobody asks when they’re starting their FIRE journey: how am I actually going to get this money out? Most people are so focused on getting money into their…
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Chapter Six: The Accumulation Phase and Your Investment Options (Or: Where Your Money Actually Goes to Work)
Saving money is necessary. Investing it is what actually gets you to FIRE. You can save $30,000 a year for twenty years and end up with $600,000 in cash. That sounds impressive…
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Tax Loss Harvesting: How to Make Losing Money Work in Your Favor
Let’s be honest: very few people find joy in losing money. But what if losing money in one place could actually save you money somewhere else? That’s the peculiar magic of tax…
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Sequence of Return Risk Isn’t Just a Retirement Problem
If you’ve spent any time in the Financial Independence community, you’ve probably heard about sequence of returns risk. It’s one of those phrases that gets thrown around a lot, usually in the…
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Chapter Five: Income Boosting Strategies (Or: How to Run Faster Toward the Finish Line)
Cutting expenses moves the finish line closer. Increasing income makes you run faster. The fastest FIRE journeys usually involve some combination of both, but income growth deserves special attention because it has…
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Stop Waiting for the Perfect Moment: The Case Against Dollar Cost Averaging Into the Market
When you have a large sum of money ready to invest, conventional wisdom says to ease in slowly. The data says otherwise. Let’s say you’ve just sold a house, received an inheritance,…
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Everything You Need to Know About Roth Conversions
A Roth conversion is one of the few levers available to materially reduce lifetime taxes after high-earning years are behind you. Used thoughtfully, it is not just a tax tactic but a…
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Chapter Four: Expense Reduction Strategies (Or: Where the Big Wins Actually Live)
If FIRE had a fast-forward button, it would be reducing expenses. Not because cutting expenses is glamorous. (It’s not.) Not because it’s fun to track every dollar. (Also not.) But because expense…
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On The Weak Correlation Between “Premium Pricing” and “Premium Output”
Across my experience as a CEO, I’ve observed that the correlation between premium pricing or firm reputation and quality of output is actually very weak. “You get what you pay for” is,…
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.