BiggerPockets Money Podcast - 553: $100K by 23, Coast FI by 27 Thanks to One Smart Money Challenge

Starting point is 00:00:00 Today's guest is KOSFI at age 27, based on her father's incessant money conversations and a challenge to her after she graduated college to save $100,000 by the age of 25. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen. And joining me today is the She Wolf of Wall Street, Amanda Wolf. Bigger Pockets has a goal of creating one million millionaires. You are in the right place if you want to get your financial house in order because we truly believe financial. freedom is attainable for everyone, no matter when or where you're starting. Today's guest is a future millionaire, all thanks to her dear old dad. I met her dad at a recent meetup on a road trip, and when he shared her story and her net worth and her age, I knew I had to talk to her. Not necessarily for my regular listeners, but for their kids.

Starting point is 00:00:52 So if you have a teen or a college-age child or even a recent graduate in your life, This episode can literally change their financial future. Please recommend it to them and listen to it with them. Today, we're going to cover how you can get started investing in college or even earlier. The Rule of 72 and the Power of Compound Interest and How to Start Saving for Retirement Today, even if it's just $5. This segment is sponsored by Bam Capital, Your Path to Generational Wealth with Premier Real Estate Opportunities.

Starting point is 00:01:25 see why over 1,000 investors have invested with Bam Capital at biggerpockets.com slash bam. That's biggerpockets.com slash BAM. And now back to the show. Lisa, welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. I am so excited to talk to you today. I'm excited to be here. Thanks for having me. Okay, so Lisa, let's dive right in to the beginning. So growing up, what was your life like, financially speaking? Did your parents talk about money with you? Yeah, I would say from a pretty young age, they started talking about finances and the importance of saving money. And then as I got older into high school, when I got a car, I needed to start paying for gas and stuff like that. That's when they started talking a little bit more about saving up and, you know, having the finances to pay for

Starting point is 00:02:10 gas and whatnot. And then that just grew as I got more jobs when I was in college. And then after I graduated and got my first full-time job. So they were like pretty much, they were, they were openly talking about it as well as kind of hand-hold. holding you through some of those decision-making processes when it came to your money. Is what it sounds like? Yeah, pretty much. Yeah, my dad, I would say it's one of his hobbies to invest. And so he reads lots of books and stuff. And he just passed on that knowledge to me and really helped guide me through the saving part of my journey. What was your net worth like when you graduated from high school and then from college? I don't remember what it was when I graduated from high school. It was probably only a few thousand dollars. But then once I graduated from college, it was.

Starting point is 00:02:54 was probably around $15,000. And then in high school, that's when I really started investing. That's when I opened a Roth IRA at 18. I initially just put in $1,000 into that. And I think my parents matched that $1,000. And then every year after that, I contributed $2,000 until I got my first full-time job. And that's when I started maxing it out. And how did you pay for college?

Starting point is 00:03:18 My parents were great. and they decided to invest in me. And I was really fortunate that they decided to pay for my tuition. Okay. That's the same with me. My parents paid for my college tuition as well, which is a really huge gift. But that's still starting basically college, graduating college, you had a $15,000 net worth. So yes, there are people who graduate college with, you know, negative net worth because of their student loans.

Starting point is 00:03:46 So you did have a bit of a head start there, but not really, you know, overwhelmingly, you had $15,000. When did your dad give you this challenge? Was it upon graduation or was it after you got your first job? He gave me the challenge after I got my first job. I think he gave me the challenge in like October after graduation. So like what did that pitch from him look like to you? Because I feel like that sounds like such a daunting amount of money, especially to somebody

Starting point is 00:04:14 so young. So did he just walk up to you one day and was like, hey, Lisa, save $100,000 girlfriend, run by 25 and you're going to be set for life? Or like, what did that conversation look like? He texted me a podcast. It was actually about negotiating salary with Tori Dunlap. And in that podcast, she said something about her own goal of saving $100,000 by 25. And so he texted me and he's like, do you think you can do this? I give it some thought. And I was like, gosh, I have no idea. Like I haven't even thought about that. I'm just thinking about saving money, not like hitting any particular goal. But the more that I thought about it, I was like, I was like, I,

Starting point is 00:04:50 I think I can achieve this before 25. And I actually got there by the age of 23. Oh my gosh. Yeah. No, she's no joke. So at age 23, you had $100,000. And how old are you now and how much do you have now? I am 27 now and I have about $350,000 net worth.

Starting point is 00:05:14 So at age 27, you have $350,000. I'm going to go with the. rule of 72 math here, which is not a guarantee. It is a rule of thumb. It is a guesstimate. Essentially, every seven or eight years, your money will double, assuming a 10% return. I personally think a 10% return is fairly easy to accomplish. So I believe in the rule of 72, but your mileage may vary, and this is not investment advice and past performance is not indicative of future gains, blah, blah, blah. But anyway, here we go. At age 27, you have $350,000. So at age 35, you will have $700,000 approximately.

Starting point is 00:05:54 Age 42, $1.4 million. Welcome to the double comma club. Age 50, you'll have 2.8. Age 58, you'll have 5.6. And are you ready for age 66? Just a year after retirement, you will have a whopping $11.2 million. But wait, there's more. What kind of account is this in, Lisa?

Starting point is 00:06:15 Most of it's in a Roth. A Roth. So that's $11.2 million. tax-free dollars. That's on the lines. It's not quite Peter Thiel's $5 billion in his Roth IRA, but this is a really sweet amount of money to have in a Roth IRA. And that is taking into account you never putting another dime in. I'm so excited for what your possibilities are. And I'm guessing you're not going to stop contributing to your retirement accounts. Is that correct? That's correct. I I'm currently maxing out everything possible. So I max out my Roth IRA. I max out my Roth 401k. I max out my

Starting point is 00:06:58 HSA. And then I'm also contributing to my employer share program that they offered this year. So I'm taking every avenue to continue to save as much as possible. That is so insane to me. That is absolutely amazing. I'm like losing my words here right now. Because I'm like that is like so it's so I mean, it's so cool. and it's honestly, it's so inspiring, especially because it's not like, you know, you started out making like $500,000 or something. I mean, you made like, you were making a very solid salary that a lot of people out there are making and you were just saving a lot of money. But I did have a question. Do you feel like you ever were missing out on fun things that your friends were doing at, you know, these ages in your like early, you know, in mid-20s because you were saving so much money? Did you ever feel like you were missing out? I definitely felt that way.

Starting point is 00:07:51 Right after college, when I started my internship and went into my first full-time job, I was living kind of out in the middle of nowhere. So I knew a couple people there from college, but not a whole lot of people. And it wasn't a place that had all the fun things like going to concerts and professional sporting events and something like that. So I did feel like I was missing out on part of it. And then also COVID hit. So in Washington, we were.

Starting point is 00:08:18 were all locked down, stayed inside pretty much. So that really allowed me to save up a lot of my money because my expenses were pretty much just for rent and groceries. This is so, so, so awesome. Are you also contributing to after-tax brokerage accounts or are you focusing mainly on your retirement accounts right now? I'm focusing mainly on my retirement accounts, but I do have a brokerage account. And I also have a couple of high-yield savings accounts for bigger purchases, like a new car and stuff like that. So Lisa's taken out no debt. She's even cash flow in her car, it sounds like. Yep. Yeah, I bought my car in cash. One of my grandma's friends was moving and she was looking to sell her car. So she offered it to me for a pretty good deal. I wasn't really looking for a new car,

Starting point is 00:09:03 but I knew that I was going to in the next few years. So I ended up buying that and now I'm just saving up for the next one. Amanda, do you know what I'm hearing from Lisa? She's thinking. She's thinking ahead. she's contemplating what she's doing. She's taking information in from dear old dad. Hi, dad. And letting it simmer instead of just like, oh, dad, not again. I don't want to hear this. Well, I think that the other really, the other really good thing, though, is from at least

Starting point is 00:09:32 what I'm hearing is the way that her dad is approaching her, right? So Lisa, it sounds like it wasn't like he was shoving this information down your throat. He was meeting you where you were at. And so you finding, you know, somebody who was similar to your age. and, you know, had the $100,000 goal by $25, I think probably made it a lot more relatable. And it made it more your decision, which is, I think, where the intentionality came from, right? It wasn't a big chore that had been put on you. Yeah, he definitely has made it very easy to go to him with questions or get advice.

Starting point is 00:10:04 I mean, even just a couple weekends ago, I was asking him for advice on my HSA. I had it in a money market. And he's like, well, you can make your money work for you more by putting it into VTSAX and I couldn't figure out how to do it. So I went to him and he helped me move it over. So wait, so I want to kind of bring it back to the salary and all of your different retirement accounts and investment accounts. So what is, so what is your current salary now? Because you're maxing all of these accounts out at 27, which is absolutely crazy. How much are you making now? I'm currently making $10,000 salary with a 10% bonus. So you're making close to $120,000.

Starting point is 00:10:45 all in and you're contributing 34 so that and that's before taxes that almost 120,000, right, but it's before taxes. And then you're contributing almost 34 or a little over $34,000. So it, I mean, I'm sitting here doing the math. Like after taxes, you are in, I mean, you are, do you have any money for rent after all of this? After taxes and investing, how do you have money for stuff? That's, I mean, that is. again, it goes back to intentionality. But yeah, that is that is a very big chunk of, you know, how much you're making of your overall income. Yeah. I would say the largest part of my income is going to saving and investing and then going to rent and groceries and stuff like that. And

Starting point is 00:11:34 I've always been an actual saver and it's been really hard for me to spend money. So that's something that I've been working on over the past couple of years. Like I've gotten into skiing the couple of years and getting a pass for that is really expensive. It's about $2,000. And the first year that I bought I was like, oh my gosh, I can't believe that I'm spending $2,000 at one single time for something. But the way that I justified it was, number one, it's something that I grew to really enjoy. And number two, I do the calculation at the beginning of the season. Like, okay, if I go on weekends, this is how much ticket prices. This is how many times I need to go to make this worth it. And then I'm really intentional about going often and utilizing that pass. That is so smart. It makes me think of

Starting point is 00:12:25 like the number of years I spent basically just making donations to my local gym because I'm like, I like the idea of working out. And then you don't get there. But now I'm like signed up for one where I get charged if I don't go. I'm like, that's the kick in the booty for me. So I love that you like planned it out ahead of time. Like this is how much I have to go. And I'm like, I have to to make it worth my hard-earned money. That is so smart. Has your dad issued a new challenge now that you have crushed his original one? He has not issued a new challenge, but I think my next goal is $500,000 by 30. You're totally going to do that. You're going to have $700,000 by $35 if you don't do anything and you're crushing it every year. Before we get into Lisa's total annual investments,

Starting point is 00:13:09 we're going to take a quick break from our sponsors. The tax season is one of the only times all year when most people actually look at their full financial picture, including income, spending, savings, investments, the whole thing. And if you're like most folks, it can be a little eye-opening. That's why I like Monarch. It helps you see exactly where your money is going, and more importantly, where your taxed refund can make the biggest impact. Because the goal isn't just to look backward, it's to actually make progress. Simplify your finances with Monarch. Monarch is the all-in-one personal finance tool designed to make your life easier. It brings your entire financial life, including budgeting, accounts and investments,

Starting point is 00:13:40 net worth, and future planning together in one dashboard on your phone or your laptop. Feel aware and in control of your finances this tax season and get 50% off your Monarch subscription with the code Pockes. What I personally like is that Monarch keeps you focused on achieving, not just tracking. You can see your budgets, debt payoff, savings goals, and net worth all in one place. So every decision actually moves the needle. Achieve your financial goals for good with Monarch, the all-in-one tool that makes money management simple. Use the code pockets at monarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50% off at monarch.com code pockets. I love Matt, said no one ever. Nobody starts a business thinking,

Starting point is 00:14:15 you know what would make this more fun? Calculating quarterly estimated taxes. But somehow, every small business owner ends up doing it. Your dreams of creating, selling, and growing get replaced by late nights chasing receipts, juggling invoices, and wondering if that bad sushi lunch with Scott counts as a write-off. Change all that with Found. Found is a business banking platform built to take the pain out of managing money. It automatically tracks expenses, organizes invoices, and even preps you for tax season without you doing the heavy lifting. You can set aside money for business goals, control spending with virtual cards, and find tax write-offs you didn't even know existed. It saves time, money, and probably a few years of life expectancy. Found has over 30,000 five-star reviews

Starting point is 00:14:50 from owners who say, found makes everything easier, expenses, income, profits, taxes, invoices even. So reclaim your time and your sanity. Open a found account for free at found.com. That's F-O-U-N-D. Found is a financial technology company, not a bank. Banking services are provided by lead bank, member FDIC. Don't put this one off. Join thousands of small business owners who have streamlined their finances with Found. Audible has been a core part of my routine for more than a decade. I started listening years ago to make better use of drive time and workouts, and it stuck. At this point, I've logged over 229 audiobook completions on Audible alone, and I still regularly re-listen to the highest impact titles. Lately, I've been listening to Bigger Leeners

Starting point is 00:15:30 stronger for fitness, the anxious generation for parenting perspective, and several Arthur Brooks' audiobooks that have been excellent for mental well-being. What makes Audible so powerful as its breadth. Beyond audiobooks, you also get Audible Originals, podcasts, and a massive back catalog across business, health, parenting, and more, all accessible in one app. If you're looking to turn everyday moments into real progress, Audible has been indispensable for me over over 10 years. Kickstart your well-being journey with your first audiobook free when you sign up for a free 30-day trial at audible.com slash BPMoney. Welcome back. Lisa, what are you investing in? You mentioned VTSAX. Are you 100% of VTSAX or do you have other investments? The vast majority of my investments

Starting point is 00:16:14 are in VTSAX. I do have one ultra short-term bond. That's about 5% of my portfolio. And then I'm also in an international market fund. That's a pretty small part of my portfolio as well. And then for fun, I have like 2%, maybe 3% of my portfolio in individual stocks in my company and then also in hydrogen. What's hydrogen? Like the molecule? Or is that a company?

Starting point is 00:16:49 Companies that are involved in hydrogen. So plug power and hyazon. I love that. And I love that it's a small amount. I think that it's totally valid to want to play around or I really like this company. So I'm going to invest in this company. I just think we need to learn the lesson from Enron and not put every single dollar into one basket. And you have clearly spread them out all over the place. So I give this the stamp of approval too. Yes. I'm like, you know, Lisa's dad here has very much set her up for success, especially because I love that.

Starting point is 00:17:25 you are breaking apart the investments a little bit. So it sounds like you have a three fund portfolio where it's essentially almost like a target date fund with a little more control. So you're just having 5% worth of your money in bonds, which is, you know, you want more bonds. The closer you are to retirement age being 27, time is on your sides. You have lots of time for the market to recover. So I think traditionally they're usually like 9 or 10% in a target date fund. So just having 5% having a little bit of a higher risk tolerance because you have so much time. I think your dad has just really like nailed the setup there. And then I love that you have a couple percent worth in individual companies and backing, you know, what you believe in. I think that's amazing. I love that.

Starting point is 00:18:08 So Lisa, how does it feel to be coastfi by age 27? And do you know what coastfi means? I believe I know what coastfi means. I think it's like you can live off of your investments without contributing anymore, but still maintaining a job. Yes, and you'll reach traditional retirement with a traditional retirement age with enough to be very comfortable in retirement. And what did I say you were going to be at 65? Well, 66. You'll have $11.2 million.

Starting point is 00:18:39 Looking at my crystal ball, I think that's going to be okay. Yeah. Yeah, I think I definitely have Fat-Fi aspirations. So I'm happy that I'm well on my way there. Wait, so what does your Fat-Fi life look like? Probably mostly travel, then maybe like a beach house or something. Nice. Yeah, that sounds awesome. I wanted to ask you, you know, when we just asked how it felt to be Coast Phi at 27, obviously that's good. Do you share that with your friends? Like, do your friends know? Do you feel just way ahead? Is this something that you guys talk about? It's not something that I talk about with my friends, typically. I generally just keep it with my family and my boyfriend.

Starting point is 00:19:20 Yeah. Do you ever feel like you want to like, you know, if you're, if you had a friend who was like, oh, I should start investing. Are you like, I know all about this? Let's open up a Roth IRA. Or are you just like, I'm going to keep a lid on this for now? No, I definitely share advice. Like at work the other day, I had someone who got into the workforce pretty recently after graduating high school. And he was asking questions like, how do I save my money? I don't, I don't get this. And so I was giving him some advice. So I'm definitely open with sharing. I just don't share my specific dollar amount. I do share my salary because I think that's really good to know what other people in the same area around the same age and experience are making. But just my total net worth, I keep that pretty private. I would do that too. I think that in your age bracket, friends of yours will be like, oh, Lisa's rich. She can pay for it?

Starting point is 00:20:16 Or Lisa, can I borrow some money? and maybe even older coworkers and older friends would be like, oh, she's bragging or, oh, how much money did she have? Like, what did her parents give her? You know, there can be a lot of sour grapes. And that's unfortunate because, I mean, Amanda and I are sitting here just falling all over you thinking how great you are. So take our advice, not theirs. You're doing it right. There's just a lot of people who will be like, oh, she must have had some leg up in order to get here.

Starting point is 00:20:46 She couldn't have done it. Well, you know what? Her leg up was not specifically. spending every dime that came in and putting it into investments on purpose. You have to purposely grow your wealth. It doesn't just happen overnight. I was just going to say, yeah, it takes a while to build it up. I remember that first $100,000. Like, even though looking back on it, I achieved that pretty quickly, it felt like it took forever. And then it felt like it took forever to reach $200,000. And now it's finally starting to feel like it's growing a little bit

Starting point is 00:21:18 faster, but it still feels like it takes a long time and it's something that I think about every day and my expenses like, okay, I'm going to try and find the best deal for whatever it is I'm buying, whether that's groceries or like a new winter coat. Exactly. You want to be a responsible steward of your money, but also being able to buy something that lasts versus buying something cheap and then having to replace it all the time. And you said it took forever to get to the first 100,000, If you look at this rule of 72 math, which I have typed out already, 350,000 at age 27, by age 35, seven years later, it's only doubled once. So it's 700,000.

Starting point is 00:22:02 That's still a lot of money, but that's nothing compared to what you are at 66 when it's 11.2 and it's growing by itself. You're not even doing anything with it. That's the point that I want to make to the people who are listening to this show. she's doing pretty much nothing to get to $11.2 million. She is literally set it and forget it, put it in VTSAX and then walk away. VTSAX isn't going to go out of business. And if it does, like we've got way bigger problems.

Starting point is 00:22:32 So this is just such a powerful example of compound interest and how starting when you're young can yield such huge results. I mean, she's going to have $11 million by age 66 if she doesn't put any more money in. But she's already maxing out everything she can right now while she's got all of this time for it to grow. I'm just so excited for your financial future. I mean, that's just the power of time, right? Like, time is the thing we don't get back. So if you, you know, I always say I would start investing in kindergarten if I had understood how all of this worked. So I would say however old you are now, you can't go back in time, but you can start today.

Starting point is 00:23:17 And starting today can be a game changer to your finances versus waiting a year or two because we can see how fast that can snowball. Yeah. And starting today can be $5. It can be $10. It can be $100. It can be very small amounts because you are just getting in the habit of putting your money away. So to those of you in high school and college and just recently graduated, please, please, please. look into how to open up an after-tax brokerage account.

Starting point is 00:23:46 If you have a job, talk to your employer about what retirement accounts are available to you, including the Roth options. If you are blessed to work in the public sector, talk to them and see if a 457 plan is available. We're going to take one final break, but when we're back, we're going to find out what Lisa's financial future looks like. Tax season is one of the only times all year when most people actually look at their full financial picture. including income, spending, savings, investments, the whole thing. And if you're like most folks, it can be a little eye-opening. That's why I like Monarch. It helps you see exactly where your money is going, and more importantly, where your tax refund can make the biggest impact. Because the goal isn't

Starting point is 00:24:25 just to look backward, it's to actually make progress. Simplify your finances with Monarch. Monarch is the all-in-one personal finance tool designed to make your life easier. It brings your entire financial life, including budgeting, accounts and investments, net worth, and future planning together in one dashboard on your phone or your laptop. Feel aware and in control of your finances this tax season and get 50% off your Monarch subscription with the code Pockets. What I personally like is that Monarch keeps you focused on achieving, not just tracking. You can see your budgets, debt payoff, savings goals, and net worth all in one place. So every decision actually moves in Edle.

Starting point is 00:24:56 Achieve your financial goals for good with Monarch, the all-in-one tool that makes money management simple. Use the code Pockets at Monarch.com for half off your first year. That's 50% off at Monarch.com code Pockets. You just realized your business needed to hire someone yesterday. How can you find amazing candidates fast? Easy. Just use Indeed. When it comes to hiring, Indeed is all you need. That means you can stop struggling to get your job notice on other job sites.

Starting point is 00:25:21 Indeed's sponsored jobs helps you stand out and hire the right people quickly. Your job post jumps straight to the top of the page where your ideal candidates are looking. And it works. Sponsored jobs on Indeed get 45% more applications than non-sponsored posts. The best part? No monthly subscriptions or long-term contracts. You only pay for results. And speaking of results, in the minute I've been talking to you,

Starting point is 00:25:42 23 people just got hired through Indeed worldwide. There's no need to wait any longer. Speed up your hiring right now with Indeed. And listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit to get your jobs more visibility at Indeed.com slash bigger pockets. Just go to Indeed.com slash bigger pockets right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com slash bigger pockets.

Starting point is 00:26:06 Terms and conditions apply. Hiring, Indeed is all you need. When you want more, start your business with Northwest Register agent and get access to thousands of free guides, tools, and legal forms to help you launch and protect your business all in one place. Build your complete business identity with Northwest Today. Northwest Registered Agent has been helping small business owners and entrepreneurs launch and grow businesses for nearly 30 years. They're the largest registered agent and LLC service in the U.S. with over 1,500 corporate guides, who are real people who know your local laws and can help you

Starting point is 00:26:35 and your business every step of the way. Northwest makes life easy for business owners. They don't just help you form your business. They give you the free tools you need. after you form it, like operating agreements, meeting minutes, and thousands of how-to guides that explain the complicated ins and outs of running a business. And with Northwest, privacy is automatic. They never sell your data and all services are handled in-house because privacy by default is their pledge to all customers. Visit Northwest Registeredagent.com slash money-free and start building something amazing. Get more with Northwest Registered Agent at Northwest Registeredagent.com slash money-free. Thanks so much for sticking with us. Let's get back.

Starting point is 00:27:12 into it. But we love retiring and it sounds like we've got a lot of people set up for success here. So and so speaking of retiring, Lisa, do you plan to actually retire early? Is that the goal here? I think right now I would like to retire by 50 if not before that or at least get out of the corporate world and do whatever I want, whatever that looks like. Would you recommend this challenge that your dad gave to you for other people? I would absolutely recommend it. I think it's always good to have goals and setting a date for yourself to achieve that goal. I think it really gives you something to strive for.

Starting point is 00:27:55 So even if, you know, for yourself, you can't achieve 100,000 by 25, maybe you set your goal for a 27 or 30 or something that is realistic for you or even maybe slightly hard that might be slightly unrealistic, but still challenges you to save that much. I love that. So let me ask you then, what is your biggest piece of advice to anybody out there who is listening for somebody who is in college trying to get their finances in order? What would be your biggest piece of advice for them? I think my biggest piece of advice is just to start small. Like Mindy was saying, even if it's just $5, putting that into an index fund or into a high-yield savings account and letting it sit there and kind of forgetting about it can really

Starting point is 00:28:43 help you go far. And then also just, like I said earlier, looking for the deals. Like when I first graduated from college and I was shopping for all my groceries and stuff, I would go through the two main grocery stores. I would look at my grocery list and I would see like, okay, the tomatoes are this price at here and they're more expensive here. So I'm going to go to this store for tomatoes, but the cucumbers are less expensive at this grocery store, so I'm going to go to that store for cucumbers, and I would have two separate grocery lists that just helped me save probably just dollars. It might have been $10, $15. But doing small things like that, I think, can really add up. And that's, you know, you see like the cutting out Starbucks once a week or cutting

Starting point is 00:29:26 out your Starbucks every day, how much that can affect your finances. And I think a lot of times on social media, you see people being like, well, that's only $500 or $1,000 in a year. That's nothing. That's not going to buy you a house. But if you start doing that in your early 20s, it can have a major impact. Absolutely. I love this advice. Just because you don't make a ton, a ton, a ton of money doesn't mean that you can't

Starting point is 00:29:53 start saving for retirement. Doesn't mean that you can't start saving for the future. Doesn't mean that you can't start saving an emergency fund. because, you know, oh, it's going to take me five years to grow my emergency fund. Okay, what year is it going to be in five years if you don't save your emergency fund? It's still going to be five years from now. So get it done. As long as it takes, just get it done. I love that advice to start early. All right, Lisa, this was so much fun today. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Thank you for sharing your numbers with us. I know this is going to be helpful.

Starting point is 00:30:27 and I know I'm going to get emails from people at Mindy at Biggerpockets.com saying, oh my goodness, I shared your episode with Lisa and with my kids and it changed their life. So thank you so much for inspiring people who have listened to this episode. I know that you are going to inspire a lot of young people. Thank you so much for having me. All right. We will talk to you soon. Thank you so much.

Starting point is 00:30:49 Have a good day. Amanda, that was Lisa. And that was like my favorite episode ever. I love all of her. Like, I'm so excited for her financial future. I can't say that enough because I am so excited for her financial future. She's won the lottery already. She just doesn't know yet.

Starting point is 00:31:07 It's like a really, really slow play in lottery. But, like, it's so, I'm so excited. I just love this story so much. What did you think of her story? Yeah, I think I want her to be my 27-year-old mom. Like, is it too late in life for her to adopt me? Because she has a very much figured it out. I loved just the intentionality behind how she saves and spends her money.

Starting point is 00:31:30 I mean, making such huge strides at such a young age is just so admirable. And I loved that the way that her dad approached her with this challenge, it wasn't a shove it down your throat type of chore. It was very much her decision. And that intentionality carried on with her into her like mid, you know, late 20s, probably for the rest of her life. Yeah, I can see where this lesson is going to be with her for the rest of her life. I just, she has so many opportunities now that she has, you know, now that she has figured out

Starting point is 00:32:06 her baseline, like she's covered. But I also loved how she shared the very humanizing quality of, you know, I've been in such saving, saving, saving mode that now it's a little hard to spend money. So, you know, there's still that intentionality there when she talked about the $2,000 ski pass and how she sat down and mapped out like, well, it's worth $2,000 if I go this many times. I loved that because it wasn't like she just was arbitrarily throwing out $2,000 because she's like, I'm in Coast 5, baby. Like, let's just, you know, move on. It's no, you know what? That was a tough pill to swallow.

Starting point is 00:32:42 But I worked through that mental anxiety and made it work. And, you know, now she gets to enjoy her money, too. I love that. Yes. And that's a real problem. for those of us at the farther end of the Phi age spectrum, my husband and I are having a really hard time figuring out how to spend our wealth. And we're working through it. It's still conversations like all day every day. That's all we do is talk about money and real estate and

Starting point is 00:33:11 you know, whatever. But it's, if she can figure this out in her early 30s, her late 20s, she's going to, as Ramit says, she's going to live such a rich life because she's got her finances figured out. Now she's continuing to contribute to her 401k and her retirement account so that she can grow them more and be fat-fi. She's going to be like super ultra-fat-fi, which is just fantastic. Obesy. She's just going to have everything figured out and she's still so young. This is just such an impressive story and I'm so thankful that I met her dad and I'm so thankful that she shared it with us. No, it's been, it's been awesome. And Mindy, if you and your husband ever have trouble spending that money, I'll give you my Venmo. You can offload some of it over here. Feel free.

Starting point is 00:34:03 But no, it's a very real problem that a lot of people face. And I know that when you have not been in that position, you can think, you know, oh, must be nice. But no, it is, it is very much a mental block. Yeah. Yeah, it is. And, you know, you just need to work through it. So the earlier you can figure that out, the better. I mean, what's the point of, of, like, cramming yourself through to, through your FI journey to reach financial independence super early and then you don't feel comfortable spending money? Learn how to spend it on your journey. And maybe your journey takes a little bit longer, but it's an enjoyable little bit longer

Starting point is 00:34:39 as opposed to this, like, compressed, uncomfortable time in your life. And that's from experience. All right. So, Amanda, I think we are done for today. That wraps up this episode of the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. Amanda, thank you for joining me today and for filling in for Scott. I don't know what he's doing, but he's not here. And you are. And it's always lovely to see you. What do you have going on over at Shewolf? You know, just the usual. We're talking money. We're talking budgeting, debt payoff, investing, retirement, all the good stuff that involves money. All right. She is Amanda Wolf, the She Wolf of Wall Street. And I am Indy Jensen, saying, farewell Snowbell. Bigger Pockets Money was created by Mindy Jensen and Scott Trench. This episode was produced by Eric Knutson. Copywriting by Calico Content. Post-production by Exodus Media and Chris Mickin. Thanks for listening.

BiggerPockets Money Podcast - 553: $100K by 23, Coast FI by 27 Thanks to One Smart Money Challenge

There aren't comments yet for this episode. Click on any sentence in the transcript to leave a comment.