333: From Broke at 40 to FI at 50 While Raising 4 Kids
BiggerPockets Money Podcast
BiggerPockets
4.6 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 5 September 2022
⏱️ 55 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In the early retirement movement, becoming a millionaire is a crucial part of the financial path. While everyone has different spending habits, the first million will allow you to start pivoting so you can make choices for your enjoyment, not just for the sake of money. But when is it too late to start making these moves? Is there a certain point where early retirement, or retirement at all, is off the table? If you think so, listen to today’s episode with Courtney Robinson.
Courtney was raised frugal, and unlike most, she never strayed off that path. Buying old cars, eating at home, and seeing matinee movies were the norm for her, but this began to get harder and harder as her family grew. Courtney was raising four children on her own, making only $15,000 per year, with multiple debts to pay off. But now, only ten years later, she’s a millionaire with equity, retirement investments, a large cash reserve, and multiple rental properties.
How did she make the switch in the “late period” of her life? Courtney goes over the details that led her and her husbandout of bankruptcy, into investing, and eventually to millionaire status. By no means was this an easy or quick journey, but Courtney serves as living proof that even if you’re in your forties or fifties, you still have plenty of time to build a strong financial foundation, and maybe retire early!
In This Episode We Cover
Early frugality and the long-term benefits of teaching your children to save
Living off of $15,000 per year and how to intelligently increase your yearly income
Bankruptcy, debt payoff, and differentiating the “needs” from the “wants” in your life
Paying off your mortgage and living for “free” in just a few years
Calculating your FI number and making sure your investments match what you’ll need
Emergency funds, cash reserves, and how much to keep in each account
And So Much More!
Links from the Show
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Listen to The “On The Market” Podcast: Spotify, Apple Podcasts, BiggerPockets
Check Out Mindy’s 2022 Live Spending Tracker and Budget
Early Retirement by 30 with $20K/Month in (Actually) Passive Income
Finance Friday: How to Get to Early Retirement Even Faster
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money Podcast, |
| 0:02.0 | show number 333, |
| 0:04.0 | where we interview Courtney Robinson |
| 0:06.0 | and talk about her late start journey. |
| 0:08.0 | I don't have any kind of financial insecurity |
| 0:10.0 | like I used to have, you know, |
| 0:12.0 | in that way it's so much better. |
| 0:14.0 | I mean, in all ways it's better. |
| 0:16.0 | But I do want to say to people |
| 0:18.0 | like there's a lot of joy in the journey. |
| 0:20.0 | I think people are so afraid of change |
| 0:22.0 | because it's scary |
| 0:24.0 | and they are afraid that it's going to be hard |
| 0:28.0 | or they can't do it or they're attached to their ideas about it. |
| 0:32.0 | But like, we have a saying in our family |
| 0:34.0 | which is I would rather be rich than look rich. |
| 0:36.0 | Hello, hello, hello, my name is Mindy Jensen |
| 0:38.0 | and with me as always is my |
| 0:40.0 | mysteriously absent for this intro |
| 0:42.0 | but here for the interview, |
| 0:44.0 | co-host Scott Trech. |
| 0:46.0 | Scott and I are here to make financial |
... |
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