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Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-359

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358: Giving Tuesday 2022: Which Charities Will Use Your Money Wisely? Nov 29, 2022

Show notes

For the past decade, Giving Tuesday has been a way for everyday Americans to donate their money, or time, to charities and causes that help collectively make the world a better place. Whether it’s a little or a lot, we’re encouraged to give what we can to bridge the gap between those that have so little and many of us that have so much. But how do you know a charity or organization is using your donation accordingly? How can you spot-check to see if your dollars are being used for those in dire need?

We brought on Elie Hassenfeld, GiveWell co-founder and CEO, to help us navigate the tricky subject of giving to worthwhile charities. Elie knows a thing or two about validating which charities are worth donating to. At GiveWell, he spends his days researching thousands of charities for hundreds of millions of donatable dollars, helping those of us that are too busy to find a home for the donations that we are willing to give.

In just six tips, Elie will give you the framework for finding a worthwhile charity or organization to give to, so you know that your dollar is being stretched the farthest it can. We also touch on whether or not high administration costs are ared flag, whether it's better to give goods rather than money, and how to truly measure an organization's impact to see how many lives they’re saving or improving with each dollar donated. If you're still on the fence about where to give this Giving Tuesday, head over to GiveWell.org to know your dollar is making a difference!

In This Episode We Cover

Why donating overseas has much more of an economic impact than domestic donations

How GiveWell validates the charities they approve and how to do the same in your local area

Top tips for finding a charity that will use your dollar for its highest use

Red flags to watch out for when researching charities and organizations

GiveWell’s past mistakes and how they’re using them to grow a better organization

Top charities that both GiveWell and BiggerPockets recommend donating to (like CrossPurpose!)

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

Give Well

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-358

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357: Budgeting for a Baby: The Costs EVERY New Parent Should Expect Nov 28, 2022

Show notes

The cost of raising a child is constantly changing. Every year, a new article comes out claiming that the cost of raising a child is hundreds of thousands of dollars. But is this figure accurate? Could kids actually cost far less than this, or does a few hundred thousand barely even scratch the service? What should new parents know before they bring home their first bundle of joy, and is financial independence even worth pursuing while raising a kid, let alone a few?

We brought in the Investor Mama, Jen Narciso, who is not only raising kids but also chasing financial independenceand running her own podcast. Jen speaks to mothers all around the world who not only want the best for their children's futures but their finances as well. And, as someone raising two young children, she knows how much kids truly costbetween the car seats, formula, dance classes, doctors' bills, and everything in between.

And, with Scott as a new dad, he’s got some serious questions to ask about how he can best raise his own daughter on a budget without sacrificing any quality of life in the process. Jen talks through the surprise expenses that most new parents overlook, how to save money on some of the most expensive items you need, the cost of child care and how to make it affordable, and whether to invest for your child’s future or your future retirement!

In This Episode We Cover

The average annual cost of raising a child and why it’s not what you’d expect

Common child care costs and innovative ways to significantly lower your spending

Surprise expenses you should prepare for and why you always need an emergency fund

Money tips for new parents and how to sleep soundly even if you’re not financially free yet

Roth IRA investing for your child and how to fast-track them to financial freedom even earlier

Medical costs of having a child from delivery to regular doctors visits

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

Toysrus

InvestorMama Podcast

4 Ways Real Estate Can Help Offset the Staggering Cost of Having Kids

Taxes, Backdoor Roths, Options, and How to Max Out Your Childrens’ Roths

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356: Finance Friday: First Down Market? Here’s How to Stop Stressing Nov 25, 2022

Show notes

Tech stocks were slam dunk investments for the past decade. No matter what you invested in—Google, Facebook, Amazon, or even some obscure AI toaster company—you probably made decent returns. But, after years of continuous economic growth and massive government stimulus, tech stocks are finally starting to get shaky. The problem? New investors like Zoe have huge paper losses on their dashboards. But is this worth worrying over?

Zoe is an ideal investor. At just twenty-four, she already has close to six-figure wealth, with a house hack, a respectable retirement portfolio, and a solid income every month. She’s making the right moves but feels like some of her most recent choices haven’t hit the mark. She dabbled in stock picking as her income went up, investing in some of the biggest names in tech over the past few years. Her house hack, which is almost letting her live for free, was bought at the top of the market with an average interest rate.

Zoe needs to know what to do next. Should she sell her tech stocks and invest the money into index funds where she can let it ride? Should she buy a new house hack that allows her to live for free instead of at a discount? And where should she put the thousands of dollars she’s saving every month to ensure her a life of financial freedom in the near future? Zoe has some enviable problems, and on this Finance Friday, we’ll be solving them!

In This Episode We Cover

The 2022 stock market crash and whether selling and cutting your losses is a smart idea

The right way to invest in tech stocks and how to get educated on stock picking

House hacking and how deals that aren’t “home runs” can still be huge winners

Getting paid to learn about real estate and using your downtime to boost your financial knowledge

FHA loans, conventional loans, USDA loans, and other ways to fund a property purchase for low money down

The right moves to make in your early twenties and why Zoe is a role model for new graduates

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

The 4 Steps to Financial Freedom and Debt-Free Wealth

Is Now the Time to Buy as The Housing Market Starts to Dip?

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-356

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355: All the Money Hacks We WISH We Had Known About Nov 21, 2022

Show notes

Travel hacks, spending hacks, medical hacks. If there’s one thing that Chris Hutchins has learned from hosting the All the Hacks podcast, it’s that everything is negotiable. You can travel to over sixty countries for (almost) free, outsource your cooking at a reasonable rate and even get free money once forgotten. Chris should know—he’s done all this and more as he works to optimize every aspect of his life, both financially and personally!

Chris was hacking at a very young age. In high school, he made a fake magazine so he could score free press passes to concerts. When he was away at boarding school, he would buy whole pizzas and sell them by the slice just to afford a few slices of his own. Then, later when he quit his job to travel the world, Chris and his partner hit over sixty countries, using credit card points to globetrott from South Africa to Singapore!

Now, as a father, Chris is more concerned about hacking his time. He’s got kids to take care of and doesn’t want to waste a second of his day that could be spent planning for, or playing with, his children. In today’s episode, you’ll hear some of the most insane life hacks, from hiring a personal chef for a fraction of the cost to getting free champagne at any hotel stay and even snagging twenty to thirty percent off of your dream vacation villa. These hacks work (we tried them in real-time), and you may need a pen and paper to write them all down!

In This Episode We Cover

Credit card points, travel hacking, and how to get flights for free (or at a steep discount)

Outsourcing and delegating everything so you spend more of your time with those who are most important

Simple principles for an optimized life and why conventional wisdom is usually out of whack

How to get deep discounts off of vacation properties during your next big trip

Why you should NEVER cancel a flight until twelve hours before takeoff

Where to find “unclaimed money” you never knew you had (we found some ourselves!)

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

All The Hacks Podcast

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-355

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354: Frank Advice on What to Do When a Real Estate Investment Goes Wrong Nov 18, 2022

Show notes

You’re one bad real estate investment away from being cash flow-poor and debt-rich. That’s right, not every investment property works out, and when leveraged the wrong way, a single property could put your financial future on the wrong track. While it’s easy to watch social media real estate investors flaunt their infinite cash flow and no money down tricks, buying profitable real estate is a little harder than it seems. Today’s guest, Shane, finds himself in this position, as an over-leveraged investment is causing him to hemorrhage cash.

Welcome back to another episode of Finance Friday, where hosts Mindy and Scott bring financial suggestions, no matter how extreme, to guests in many different situations. This week, Shane walks through his numbers, and from the start, Scott picks up on a big problem. Shane and his partner bring in a solid amount of income, but it’s slowly slipping out of their accounts every month as an overleveraged short-term rental property and high consumer debt eats away at their respectable income.

This isn’t an easy position to dig yourself out of, and Scott has some serious suggestions for Shane that could flip his financial position 180 degrees. But, doing so will require Shane to make drastic moves that will force him to reevaluate his relationships with spending and debt. While this “rip off the band-aid” type approach can be painful at first, it could save Shane years' worth of time on his path to real estate riches.

In This Episode We Cover

Staying away from consumer debt and how it can destroy your financial position

Real estate leverage and why too much of it can cause you to have negative cash flow

Sacrificing subscriptions, eating out, and other spending categories that may be tanking your budget

Having a money date with your partner or spouse to get on the same financial footing

The biggest moves to make if you’re serious about getting out of debt and on the path to financial freedom

Budget busters and how to build a more sustainable pattern of spending

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

Designing a Frugal But Luxurious FI Life by Age 32

Food Spending Eating Away at Your FI Plans? Here’s How to Eat for Cheap

BudgetBytes.com

The Money Date: What You Should (And Definitely Should Not) Do to Align Your Finances as a Couple

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-354

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353: Ask the Money Experts: Debt, Diversification, Retirement, and Real Estate Nov 14, 2022

Show notes

What should retirement planning look like? How can I invest if I am still paying off student loan debt? What makes a perfectly diversified portfolio? And when is the right time to pay off my rental properties? We went to the BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group to ask what you would like to know from a money expert. And thankfully, we found a couple of them who are friends of the show. Amanda Wolfe and Kyle Mast are here to answer some of your most-asked money questions!

Amanda Wolfe was recently a guest on the BiggerPockets Money Podcast, sharing her story of reaching financial freedom after going through serious financial struggles and childhood poverty. Kyle Mast, Certified Financial Planner, has recently “retired” after helping his clients reach their financial goals with minimal stress and maximum freedom. They’re helping Mindy on today’s show to take questions directly from listeners about everything ranging from real estate to retirement planning and never feeling like you have enough.

If you’ve struggled not knowing how to pay down debt, how much cash to have on hand, or are having a mental block when switching from saving to spending mode, this episode could alleviate your worries. If you’d like to get more connected with the BiggerPockets Money community and potentially get your questions answered on a future show, be sure to join the BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group!

In This Episode We Cover

How to invest while paying down student loan debt, or any other debt for that matter

Transitioning from saver to spender when you have enough to finally retire

Real estate vs. index funds and which is more optimal for a post-retirement portfolio

Roadblocks on the way to financial freedom and why you DON’T need retirement accounts to invest for retirement

What a diversified portfolio looks like (it’s much simpler than you think)

Money moves to make if you don’t have much cash, but do have consistent income

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

Episode 200 Special: A Personal Finance Masterclass with Kyle Mast

How to Find the Best Possible Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for Your Needs with Kyle Mast

She Wolf of Wall Street Website

From Extreme Poverty to DIY Wealth and 2 Full-Time Incomes w/The She Wolfe of Wall Street

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-353

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352: Common Money Fears That Are Costing You BIG Nov 11, 2022

Show notes

With so much going on—a recession, rampant inflation, rising interest rates—overcoming your money fears can be more challenging than ever before. The world is changing, and many of us feel like we’re being swept along with it. Our dollars are worth less, our retirement accounts have fallen sharply, and our cash is wasting away. What should we do when it feels like every financial move has a benefit and drawback attached to it? Should we even be making moves right now?

Don’t get overwhelmed with financial anxiety because today we’re bringing you an episode full of financial fixes for the everyday investor! We posted on the BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group a few months back, asking you which money fears keep you up at night. Now, we’ve got answers! Back on the show are J Scott and Kyle Mast! They join Mindy in giving solutions to your greatest financial fears.

J and Kyle give suggestions on topics ranging from rising home prices and the inability to become a homeowner to being nervous about how inflation is eating away at the dollar. We also touch on the age-old question of whether or not we’redoing enough right now to set us up for retirement and how a recession could affect our hard-earned assets. J, Kyle, and Mindy all give their suggestions on these situations and spill some of their own financial fears to show you that even the experts still worry like everyone else.

In This Episode We Cover

Our biggest financial fears and what we’re doing to mitigate them in turbulent times

Growing up with very little and why the “never enough” mentality always lingers

Why buying a home isn’t your only option for building wealth in this market

Setting yourself up for a plentiful retirement even if you got a late start

Whether or not keeping a large cash position is a smart move to make

Changing jobs to get more personal time and when flexibility trumps finances

Inflation, interest rates, and how to stay sane during a recession

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

J’s BiggerPockets Profile

J’s Personal Website

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

The Money Date: What You Should (And Definitely Should Not) Do to Align Your Finances as a Couple

7 Tips for Successfully Investing in ANY Market Condition With J Scott

Syndications: Everything You Need to Know BEFORE You Invest

Episode 200 Special: A Personal Finance Masterclass with Kyle Mast

How to Find the Best Possible Certified Financial Planner (CFP) for Your Needs with Kyle Mast

BiggerPockets FIRE Planning Worksheet

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-352

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351: Does the 4% Rule Hold During 2022's Stock Market Crash? Nov 07, 2022

Show notes

Stock market crashes aren't good news for anyone. For retirees though, this dip in prices can feel like a death wish, as active income is no longer an option. Have the hopes and dreams of financial flexibility gone out the window? Or is a market crash like we're experiencing today just a small blip on a retiree's radar? Pairing this with inflation, how will someone who has just retired make it?

We’ve got Michael Kitces, retirement planning expert and financial genius with enough acronyms coming after his name to spell out the alphabet, on the show to answer whether or not retirees are in trouble. Michael has advised his clients for decades on the right way to save and invest for retirement. He’s been a proponent of the 4% rule and was bold enough to hold his claim even during the flash crash of 2020. But, with such high inflation and stark drops in equity values, does he still agree with his past predictions?

Michael takes us on a trip down memory lane, visiting some of the worst financial crises in American history, showing how they compare to today. He also proposes that holding large amounts of cash, even during high inflationary times, isn’t the worst move to make, and whether or not he’s still investing as the market finds its bottom. If you’re worried about retiring during times like today, this is the man to listen to!

In This Episode We Cover

The 4% rule explained and whether this sage retirement advice still holds up

How past retirees fared during high inflation, low growth time periods

Which types of market crashes can be “dangerous” to retirees (and who should be worried)

Why some of the brightest minds in personal finance are clinging to cash

Purchasing power and how withdrawal rates are affected by high inflation

The smartest move to make if you’re worried your retirement savings aren’t enough

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget

Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets

Buckingham Wealth Partners

Bill Bengen (The Inventor of the 4% Rule) Talks Retirement, Past Crashes, and How You Can Withdraw Even More!

Original Article from the Journal Of Financial Planning, October 1994

Are FIRE Naysayers Bad at Math? Yes. with Michael Kitces

Click here to check the full show notes: https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-351

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350: Why We Turned Down a 5% Rate Mortgage | Mindy & Carl’s Budget Review Nov 04, 2022

Show notes

Margin loans, medium-term rentals, and potential mortgage rate mistakes summarize what Carl and Mindy have been up to over the past couple of months. It’s been a minute since we’ve checked in on the ever-frugal Jensen family. But they’ve been gone for a good reason. Back at the start of the summer, Carl and Mindy decided that they were finished with rehabbing and big fixer-upper projects. Then they found the perfect opportunity, waiting just a few doors down from them. So, they jumped at the chance to make another deal work.

But Carl and Mindy did this type of deal in a peculiar way. Not only did they find it off-market, but they also funded it without a mortgage. Don’t get too excited—Carl and Mindy didn’t drop hundreds of thousands in cash just to buy one house. But, they did use another form of financing that most real estate investors aren’t aware of—margin loans. These types of stock portfolio-leveraged loans can come with unbelievably low interest rates. But, when equity values start to drop, so too can your safety when you use this type of financing.

But it’s not all about property purchasing on this episode of Mindy & Carl’s Budget Review. The duo also talks aboutwhy their expense tracking has fallen off and how not knowing your expenses can cause far bigger problems than you’d think. They also touch on the medium-term rental strategy and how you can use it to get far higher rents with very little turnover in almost any of your rental properties! If this strategy interests you, we highly recommend grabbing the new book, 30-Day Stay.

In This Episode We Cover

Budgeting mistakes and how easy it is to get off track when you don’t know what you’re spending on

Carl and Mindy’s newest fixer-upper, medium-term rental property purchase

Using margin loans (stock loans) to fund your real estate deals

When it makes sense to use a variable loan over a traditional fixed-rate mortgage

How to profitably provide housing for those that have been affected by natural disasters

The easiest way to get caught for mortgage fraud (and go to prison!)

And So Much More!

Links from the Show

Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place

Mile High FI Podcast

1,500 Days to Freedom

Carl's Email