BiggerPockets Money Podcast
Intermediate to advanced personal finance strategies for people serious about the FIRE (financial independence retire early) movement—not just dreaming about it. Tune in on Tuesdays and Fridays for new BiggerPockets Money episodes with your hosts, Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench! Or visit BiggerPocketsMoney.com with additional resources.
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Scott Builds Four Portfolios with Four Different Strategies ($40k Experiment)
<p>In this episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast with Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench, Scott builds four different investment portfolios using real money, each account starting with $10,000 and employing different strategies. Scott invests in an index fund, a 60/40 stock-bond portfolio, a risk parity portfolio, and a unique actively managed thesis. Follow along as they discuss the rationale, mechanics, and expected outcomes of these investments. </p> <p>NOTE: This episode is for educational and entertainment purposes only and is NOT professional investment advice.</p> <p>Brokerage services provided by Open to the Public Investing Inc, member FINRA & SIPC. Investing involves r...
Which Path to Financial Independence Is Faster? Sell or Rent?
<p>Should you turn your primary home into a rental property or sell it when you move? It's one of the biggest financial decisions homeowners face, and in this episode, Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench are helping Alyssa and John figure out the answer.</p> <p>This couple is relocating and facing a dilemma: they have a home with a low mortgage rate that could generate rental income, but they're also craving simplicity and wondering if selling would accelerate their path to financial independence. Alyssa and John open up about their complete financial picture, investment portfolio, and long-term FI goals...
How to Set FIRE Goals and Actually Achieve Them (2026)
<p>Episode #704</p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Download the Goal Setting Document: www.biggerpocketsmoney.com/resources </p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Subscribe to the 31 Day Challenge: www.biggerpocketsmoney.com/31days </p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Subscribe to our Weekly Newsletter: www.biggerpocketsmoney.com</p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Want to be a guest on the show? Apply here: https://biggerpocketsmoney.com/contact/</p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Get 50% Off Your First Year of Monarch by using code ‘Pockets’: https://www.monarchmoney.com/</p> <p>~~~</p> <p>Connect with Scott and Mindy:</p> <p>Scott: https://www.instagram.com/scott_trench/</p> <p>Mindy: https://www.instag...
How to Track Your Path to FI in 2026 (Step-by-Step Guide)
<p>Ready to take control of your finances in 2026? Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench are breaking down one of the most powerful tools for financial success: the personal financial statement. Think of it as your complete financial snapshot—tracking your net worth, cash flow, assets, and liabilities all in one place. The best part? They're giving you a free comprehensive spreadsheet to make it ridiculously easy.</p> <p>This Episode Covers:</p> What a personal financial statement is and why it's essential for reaching your 2026 FI goals How to calculate your net worth and track it over time Step-by-step instructions fo...
How this Couple Achieved FIRE in Their 30s (Average Income)
<p>Sam and Carolyn reached financial independence in their thirties through frugality, real estate investing, and building side hustles that generated $10,000 per month. Then they made a bold move—quitting their jobs and briefly relocating to Canada.</p> <p>This Episode Covers:</p> <p>How Sam and Carolyn house-hacked their way to a multi-property real estate portfolio</p> <p>The unconventional side hustles that generated $10K monthly in additional income</p> <p>Their complete financial strategy: savings rate, expense tracking, and investment allocation</p> <p>The decision to quit their jobs and achieve full financial independence in their thirties</p> <p>...
Financial Independence Through the Unthinkable: A Healthcare Crisis
<p>Join Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench for a powerful conversation with Regina Moore, who achieved millionaire status before 35 through frugality and her career as a pharmacist. But when her young son was diagnosed with cancer, everything changed.</p> <p>In this deeply personal episode, Regina opens up about how a healthcare crisis tested her Lean FIRE plan in ways she never anticipated. And how financial independence—despite not being a perfect shield—gave her family options during their hardest moments.</p> <p>Her family was placed in an incredibly difficult position due to subsidy cliffs. The conversation highlights the prac...
The Ultimate Guide to Early Retirement Drawdown (2026)
<p>Building a $2.5 million portfolio is hard. Spending it without running out? That's even harder.</p> <p>Welcome to the 700th episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast! To mark this milestone, hosts Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench are tackling one of the most critical—and most overlooked—aspects of financial independence: decumulation. Most people obsess over building wealth but stumble when it's time to actually spend it. The withdrawal strategy you choose can mean the difference between a comfortable 40-year retirement and running out of money at the worst possible time.</p> <p>In this episode, we cover:</p> <p>Sequ...
The Case for Blended (Instead of Sequential) Drawdown for Early Retirees
<p>Are you using the wrong retirement withdrawal strategy? Sequential drawdown—draining one account before touching the next—is the most common approach to early retirement, but it could be costing you tens of thousands in unnecessary taxes.</p> <p>In this episode of the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, hosts Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench sit down with Enrolled Agent Mark to break down tax-efficient withdrawal strategies that maximize your retirement savings. Discover blended drawdown strategies and cyclical drawdown methods that optimize which accounts you tap first—Traditional IRA, Roth IRA, taxable brokerage, HSA—to minimize your lifetime tax burden.</p> <p>This e...
If We Started FIRE Over in 2025, Here's Exactly What We'd Do
<p>What would you do differently if you could start your FIRE journey over today?</p> <p>Back in 2013, Scott was fresh out of college house hacking his way to financial independence, while Mindy and her husband were deep into their FIRE journey documenting it all on their blog. Fast forward to 2025—both are financially independent, but if they were starting from scratch today, they'd make some serious changes.</p> <p>Welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Podcast! In this episode, Scott and Mindy reveal what they'd do differently starting their FI journey in 2025. The fundamentals still work—frugality, saving, investing—but th...
Does Money Buy Happiness? What the FIRE Community Gets Wrong
<p>What happens after you achieve financial independence? Former Facebook employee turned comedian Paul Ollinger discovered the answer wasn't what he expected—and it completely changed how he thinks about money, work, and happiness.</p> <p>This Episode Covers:</p> <p>Why financial autonomy beats wealth accumulation—and what that actually means for your daily life</p> <p>The psychological challenges of early retirement nobody talks about (and why having a plan is non-negotiable)</p> <p>How he navigated major financial decisions in high-cost cities like New York without sacrificing his goals</p> <p>The truth about happiness and wealth—does m...
