BiggerPockets Money Podcast - The Realistic, Repeatable Path to Investing for FIRE in Your 20s

Starting point is 00:00:00 At just 27 years old, my guest has already built a net worth of over $100,000 and is well on her way to financial independence. But what does it take to grow your wealth at such a young age? How do you stay disciplined, save aggressively, and still enjoy life in your 20s? Today, we're diving deep into her mindset, strategy, and the steps she's taking to achieve financial independence. Whether you're starting out or well on your way, this episode is great for one and all. Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. My name is Mindy Jensen, and Scott Trench is playing hooky today, so you just have me. I am here to remind you that Bigger Pockets has a goal of creating 1 million millionaires. You are in the right place if you want to get your financial house in order because I truly believe financial freedom is attainable for everyone, no matter when or where you're starting. Today we're going to discuss ways to invest early with a salary below six figures, how to pay down 80,000,

Starting point is 00:01:00 of student loans and answer the question, should you have a fine number? Anna, thank you so much for joining me today. I'm so excited to talk to you. Yeah, thanks for having me. How long have you been investing? So I started investing when I graduated college back in 2021. I just started out with my 401K. That's how most people start out. I didn't really know exactly what I was doing. Luckily, my older brother helped me out a bunch. He taught me all about investing in personal finance and what I should be doing. So he eventually told me I should open up a Roth IRA. So then I also got into that. So it's been about three or four years. So he said you should invest in a Roth. What did he specifically teach you about investing in personal finance? So he kept it pretty simple. He said that

Starting point is 00:01:48 index funds are the way to go, right? That's not new news. That's what all the finance people tell you to do. So he said, just automate your investments, you know, set it into a retirement account, our taxable brokerage and just let it, let it go. Okay. So you're right. This isn't new. This isn't sexy. This isn't, you know, groundbreaking information, but it is absolutely the simple path to wealth. Oh, see what I did right there? Have you read that book? I have. That's a good one. What made you start investing right when you graduated college? I think a lot of it was my older brother. Like, I didn't really know much about investing at all. I mean, growing up, we never talked about money.

Starting point is 00:02:30 We didn't talk about investing. So I really leaned on him to give me advice and help me out. And it was kind of like, you know, you hear about 401Ks and you don't really know what they are until all of a sudden you're graduated. And now it's like, oh, shoot, what actually is a 401K? How does it work? So I asked him all of those questions. He taught me the importance of it, right? getting your employer match, just starting out that muscle of investing at a young age and get the

Starting point is 00:02:57 habit of doing it and carry that through your 20s, 30s, 40s. Anna, do you invest anything in real estate? I do not currently invest in real estate. I don't even own a primary residence either. We are currently renting. Okay. And why are you currently renting? So we started renting right out of college. My husband and I graduated about a year apart. And we just rented an apartment while I was finishing up my grad school year. And then once I graduated, we moved to a house and just started renting that.

Starting point is 00:03:27 We were kind of deciding, like, where do we want to end up? You know, we're currently on the east side of Michigan near Detroit, but our family's from the west side of Michigan. So we're kind of in limbo between jobs and things of like, where should we end up? What should we do? We didn't really have a good answer and didn't know what we wanted to do. So we decided renting was the best option. It was also around 2020 when prices were starting to climb.

Starting point is 00:03:52 and then they just kept climbing. So real estate was really expensive and we didn't have any cash to buy a home or to put a down payment down. So at first it sounded like buying would be really nice, right? Like in 2019, home prices were pretty low. You could put a small amount down and your mortgage could be reasonable, right? Like you could pay $1,500, $1,500 for a mortgage in the Detroit area, of course, not in all places of the country. But we're pretty lucky to be in the Midwest. us. So then as prices got more and more expensive, we were like, okay, we can buy a home now,

Starting point is 00:04:28 but if we buy a home, the mortgage is probably going to be closer to $2,500, right? So we decided to stick with our current situation. We're renting a three-bed, two-bath for $1,800 a month in the Detroit area versus buying a home now that's equal or more house and our housing costs would go up, you know, $700 a month or more. So right now it doesn't make a whole lot of sense for us to buy. We still don't know where we want to be long term for sure. So that's the biggest thing. I think real estate is great if you're going to live in it for a long time and you're not planning to just hop around and sell it or if you're planning to keep it as an investment property or use it as an income generation. But if you're just going to talk about primary homes, I don't think that

Starting point is 00:05:13 buying is always the right move for every person. And that's because you're right. Buying is not always the right move for every person. Ramit Seity says it best. He says, when you own a home, your mortgage is the least you'll pay monthly. But when you rent, your rent payment is the most you'll pay monthly. If something breaks, your landlord fixes it. And what you're saying to me says that you've thought this through. I think there's a lot of people who buy a house because it's the American dream and that's what you do. You graduate from college and then you buy a house. You don't have to buy. And I, I say that as a lover of real estate. I'm a real estate investor.

Starting point is 00:05:54 I'm a real estate agent. I work at bigger pockets. I mean, real estate is my jam, but it's not for everybody. And also, if everybody owned, then there would be no tenants. So it's perfectly fine for you to be a renter. I just wanted to get that out there because I like the way that you're thinking about it and the fact that you are thinking about it. Yeah, I like what you said about how people just think that they should be buying. And that's my favorite thing now is to ask people why they want to buy a home.

Starting point is 00:06:19 if they have a good reason, sure, there's lots of reasons to buy a home, right? You want to grow roots. You want to start a family. All that stuff makes perfect sense. But when people say, I don't know, isn't that just what people do? And it's like, no, you don't have to buy a home if you're not ready yet. You can still figure it out. You can rent your whole life, right? Remit safety still rents to the day. He doesn't want to own. That's amazing. You know, if that's what you want to do, do it. Yeah, exactly. And that's, but again, with Remit, he's thinking about it. And he has decided based on thought, not just, oh, everybody else is doing this, he's decided, I don't want to be an owner, so I'm not going to be an owner. And, you know, he's got a reason behind it. Do you ever see yourself

Starting point is 00:06:59 buying a house or investing in real estate? Yeah, I definitely see myself buying a home. My husband wants to buy a house much more than I do at this point, but I think I'm going to let him have that one, and we will buy a home eventually. And we're wanting to start a family soon. So we will own a home probably in the next five years. But as far as investing in real estate goes, I haven't quite figured out what we're going to do. He doesn't like the idea of being a landlord. So I'm trying to push him on that a little bit. But I think the plan will be to focus on index funds and investing in the stock market, you know, in our 20s and maybe our 30s and then in our 40s or 50s when we've maybe got some more free time and more money, maybe jump into

Starting point is 00:07:38 real estate investing. And, you know, real estate investing isn't for everyone. There are plenty of people who listen to this show who have no interest in investing in real estate and are still reaching financial independence, I think real estate is a great way to get there, but it's definitely not the only way to get there. And there's all different levels of real estate investing. So when you're ready, come to BiggerPockets.com, review the forums, go in there and see what different kinds of investing people are doing. We have a new podcast in our podcast network called Passive Pockets, which focuses on syndication deals. And if you are investing in a syndication deal, you give them money.

Starting point is 00:08:17 And then that's the end of your responsibilities. So you don't have to be a landlord. You're not getting the phone calls from the tenants saying, hey, there's something wrong with the property. It's a great way to invest in real estate without having to be on the phone with your tenants all the time. It does have some risk. And that's why we created this new podcast called Passive Pocket so that you can start to learn how to invest in syndications. Not all syndications are made the same. So when you're ready, give me a call. We'll chat. We're going to take a quick break before we hear more from Anna Foley on how she

Starting point is 00:08:52 was able to wipe out $80,000 a debt in under four years. 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 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

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Starting point is 00:10:56 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 audio book completions on Audible alone. and I still regularly re-listen to the highest impact titles. Lately, I've been listening to Bigger Leaner 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.

Starting point is 00:11:25 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 BP money. Welcome back to the show. So let's look back to your financial snapshot when you graduated from college.

Starting point is 00:11:55 You had $80,000 in student loan debt or you had $80,000 in debt. $80,000 in student loans between my husband and I. So he graduated in December of 2019, and he had about 60,000 in debt. And then I graduated in May of 21, and I had about 20,000. So total, we had about 80 in student loans. And then we also had a car that was about 14,000. So when we graduated, when he graduated in 2019, our net worth was like negative 95,000. And then when I graduated in 21, our net worth was like negative 75,000.

Starting point is 00:12:29 So we'd made some progress, just paying the minimums on his student loans and the car. but yeah, just working through that. And how did you pay down that $80,000? How long did it take and what steps did you take to make it happen? So it took us about three and a half years. And the biggest thing we did was at the beginning of every month, we made a plan for how much we wanted to put towards our student loans. And each time we got paid, we would send that money directly to the student loans

Starting point is 00:12:55 before we could even use it, right? Because if we were going to wait until the end of the month, that money was going to go somewhere, we were going to find something to spend it on. So we made sure that we put that money towards the student loans right away. And over those three years, we did increase our income. So every time we got a raise, yes, we had some fun, but we also made sure that we were using that extra money to pay off our loans quicker. So just really staying disciplined and focusing on making those payments every month.

Starting point is 00:13:22 So when my husband was paying off his student loans, I was, we're old, so we were writing checks. You didn't pay it online because the internet didn't exist. and I wrote that last check and I was like, this is the best check I've ever written. Goodbye student loans. How great did it feel to be out of debt? It did feel really good.

Starting point is 00:13:42 It was a long time coming. We originally planned, I think, to finish paying off our loans at the end of this year or next year. But because we were able to increase our income, we paid it off quicker than we expected. So it felt even better that we got it done quickly. And then what was really nice about it is we were allocating all this money towards our student loans. And then as soon as that was paid off, we're like, oh, what do we do with that money now? Let's just start investing it. Right.

Starting point is 00:14:06 So it was really easy to make that transition to investing after we paid off our debt. So paying off $80,000 in three and a half years, how much were you making at the time? So when Brett graduated in 2019, he started out making like $60,000 a year. I was still in school. So I was probably making $20,000 to $30 just through my internship. but over that time, once I graduated, I started making low 60s as well. So we were up to 120 gross income. And then over the last couple years, I've gotten a few raises and work over time to make more.

Starting point is 00:14:43 So I'm up to about $80,000. And Brett has jumped around to a couple of different jobs. And he's now up to 105. So last year, gross income was around $190,000. So it went from about, you know, $100, $120, up to $190. And that's awesome. That is how you pay off $80,000 in student loans in three and a half years. As you steadily increase your income, you put the money to the loans first.

Starting point is 00:15:09 This sounds a lot like when people say, oh, you pay yourself first. So you take your paycheck and you put X percentage into your savings, 20%, 40%, whatever you're choosing. You put that into savings. You don't even see it to spend it. When you put the money to the loans, you've already made your payment. and now you have the rest of the money to do with as you choose, as opposed to, like you said, if you leave it until the end of the month, you are absolutely going to find a way to spend that.

Starting point is 00:15:35 What are the investing vehicles that you're currently using to help you towards financial independence? Are you still solely in index funds? Yes, we still are 100% in index funds. All of my stuff is with Fidelity, so I'm in FXAIX, just S&P 500 all the way. Brett has his 401K through principal and they don't have the best options for investing. So we pick the best one they have. I think it's a S&P 500 equivalent just has a higher expense ratio on it. But yeah, all of our investing is in index funds currently.

Starting point is 00:16:09 I love that. Now, you mentioned a Roth IRA and a 401K. Are you maxing those out? We are both maxing out our Roth IRAs. We're not maxing out our 401Ks. We're contributing up to the employer match right. now. And then Brett also has an HSA that he's maxing out. Okay. And what are you doing with, I don't want to say the extra, because there's no such thing as extra money. What are you doing

Starting point is 00:16:33 with the remainder? Right now we're saving actually, potentially for our house in the next few years. So we've been trying to save, you know, two or three thousand dollars a month. We were saving up for a car. We just bought a car. And then now we're going to start transitioning to saving for our house. And do you have any sort of aftertax brokerage investments? Not yet. I've been thinking about opening one of those up and just starting to get that ball rolling, but it's hard to give up the tax advantage of all the retirement accounts. So kind of struggling with that decision on which one I should do. Yes. Well, I totally understand that. We have an episode about the middle class trap where you are a millionaire on paper. You've got a million dollars or more

Starting point is 00:17:21 in your retirement account, in your 401k, in your home equity, but you don't have any way to really access that without, you know, paying penalties and what have you. And that is episode 543. I encourage you to go and listen to that one just to prevent yourself from becoming, I mean, it's not a terrible position to be in. You know, you're 40 years old and you're a millionaire. You just can't access any of it without paying penalties. So the cure to that, if you haven't gotten to 40, if you're younger, you should start an after-tax brokerage account so you do have access to funds.

Starting point is 00:18:09 You can always access the money you put into your Roth, but not the gains before you're 59 and a half, I think, and I'm sure I'm saying that wrong, and somebody is going to email Mindy at BiggerPockets.com to tell me about that. But you, you know, hedge your bets and do an after-tax brokerage account so you can access those funds earlier. Another way to access those funds, if you are, I hate the way that I'm wording this, but I can't think of a different way. If you have fallen victim to the middle-class trap, we just did an episode with Eric Cooper about the 72T where you can access your retirement funds early through separate but equal periodic payments, which means you have to take out the exact same amount every single year. So there are ways

Starting point is 00:19:00 to access it, but not even having to do all that monkey business is even better. Yeah, for sure. I did actually just listen to that episode. It was a good one. Yeah. I love Eric. He's so great. Anna, what would you guess your savings rate is? So far this year, our average monthly savings rate has been around 43 percent. So some months are like a little bit above 30, some more in the 50s. So just depends month to month. But yeah, a pretty good average. It was actually higher than I expected. I hadn't really tallied it up for what the average was this year yet. And it was higher than I expected. But yeah, I'm happy with it. Okay. I'm going to challenge our listeners right now. If you have a savings rate, if you are able to be saving instead of spending everything that's

Starting point is 00:19:43 coming in, what is your savings rate? Email me, Mindy at Biggerpockets.com. I'm so curious just to see, I'm not going to name names. I won't read this on air, but I think it would be interesting to say, oh, the average Bigger Pockets Money Listener saves 25%, or 3%, or 97%, or whatever it is. So email Mindy at BiggerPockets.com and tell me your savings rate. I would love to hear it. Let's talk about your yearly expenses now.

Starting point is 00:20:10 Do you have a good sense of how much you're spending on average? Yeah, I've been tracking our finances for the past few years. I started with just a simple Google spreadsheet and was putting in our income and expenses. And then this past year, I just actually purchased a wealth dashboard from My Wealth Diary on Etsy. She makes these really incredible spreadsheets that are really detailed. And I could never create something that good. But it was like 40 bucks to buy it and you can use it over and over, just create a copy and edit the information. So last year we spent around $98,000 total, and that's not including extra student loan payments and saving and investing. So that was just all spending that we had to do. And that comes out to about $8,000 per month. And then last year we spent around the same. So we've been pretty consistent spending between $7,000, $8,000 a month, even though our income has been increasing. So $7,000, $8,000 a month, that can be consistent.

Starting point is 00:21:14 extrude as maybe a lot. Do you feel comfortable with how much you're spending or do you wish you were spending a little less? I do feel really comfortable with how much we're spending. That's a big thing that I've wanted to focus on is not restricting our spending a lot, right? Like we make a lot of money. We are saving and investing for our future. We paid off our debt. We don't need to be nickel and dining everything. Right. So yes, we have some maybe expensive things that we buy or pay for, things that we do, but everything that we do is important to us. So we're trying to focus on spending our money on things that make us happy and cutting out things that don't make us happy, right? So we go to a gym that's probably considered expensive. It's like $250 a month for the

Starting point is 00:21:57 both of us to go to this gym. And yes, we could just go to a really cheap $10 month, you know, a planet fitness gym, but we like the gym we're going to. It keeps us healthy. So that's a really worthwhile expense for us. We like to golf. Golf is pretty expensive sport. But we like to do it. We don't mind spending the money on that. So we try and really focus on spending in alignment with our values and not focusing on the dollar amount. I love that so much. I want to go back and underline every single thing you just said because I've reached financial independence by not doing that. I reached financial independence by being as cheap as I possibly could and stuffing a lot of money into the 401k, the IRA, the after-tax brokerage account, and not really enjoy.

Starting point is 00:22:42 the journey. And I wish I would have done it differently, but you can't go back and change things. So I love that you are saving responsibly and also living your best life because you could absolutely get to FI earlier with like the most miserable existence ever, which is what I did. It wasn't the most miserable existence ever, but it certainly wasn't anything fun. We didn't go on vacation. We didn't go out to eat all that much. We didn't enjoy the journey. And it sounds like you, are enjoying the journey, being mindful of where you're spending. And again, it all goes back to the thought process. You're thinking about things. You're not just, oh, well, I should buy a house because everybody else is. I should buy a new car because I think that one's pretty. I like,

Starting point is 00:23:29 you know, I should do all of these things. I should spend all of this money. Like, no, I want to get to financial independence. So I'm going to pay myself first and then I'm going to enjoy what's Yeah, 100% agree. I have to give a lot of credit to my husband on that one. He is the one that's like, we need to still enjoy ourselves and have fun and not focus all on the numbers and on retirement. And we're still so young. We've got a lot of time. Yes, shout out to your husband. We have to take one final break, but more on Anna's next financial milestone that you should be hitting two after this. 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,

Starting point is 00:24:10 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, 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

Starting point is 00:24:42 tracking. You can see your budgets, debt payoff, savings goals, and net worth all in one place. So every decision actually moves in Edle. 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.

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Starting point is 00:26:57 registered agent at Northwest Registeredagent.com slash money-free. I am excited to jump back in with Anna. Do you have a phi number, like a specific 4% rule number that you're working towards? We don't have a specific phi number. In my mind, I've always kind of been shooting for like $3 million, but I haven't really run the numbers. $3 million just seems reasonable because using the 4% rule, it would be like $120,000 a year. So that's, you know, $10,000 a month, which seems reasonable. I mean, we're spending around $8 now and we don't have any kids or anything yet.

Starting point is 00:27:31 So that potentially could go up, but it seems like a pretty safe number. to shoot for. And we're kind of not focused on the end number because if you think about having $3 million invested and you're only 27 years old, that just seems like impossible, right? That's such a huge number. You're so far off. So I like to focus on setting yearly goals. So each year we'll set maybe a net worth goal or how much we want to invest and shoot for those so that it's much more tangible and we can measure it easier because it's hard to know for sure if you're on track or not. So much is going to change between now and when we're 30, 40, 50 years old. So really focusing on the short term and setting goals for now. Okay. I just love that so much. Do you think the fire movement

Starting point is 00:28:13 changes the way people perceive work? Yeah, I think it does. I mean, I think before I knew about the fire movement, probably when I was in college, right before I graduated, I found out about the fire movement. And what was really cool to me was that you get all the freedom, right? Like, you're basically buying back your time by investing in real estate stocks, whatever it is. And it's cool because growing up, you just watch everyone work for 40 years and retire when they're 65 or older. And that's just life. You just think that's how the world works. Right. Just a little kid, you don't know. Once you actually get there, you realize that you don't have to work until you're 65, right? How long you work can really be up to you if you're willing to invest some of that money.

Starting point is 00:28:55 So that really changed my perspective on work now because I'm working right now to make money and I'm investing some of it. I'm having fun with some of it. But ultimately, if I'm able to retire at 40, 50, 60 years old, you know, it would be really great to not have to work until I'm 65. And I know we're on track to not need to work until we're 65. So it feels good knowing that we're not going to be trapped in our job for that long. Yeah, that's really, really awesome to have that mentality. And I just sent a note to my producer. Can you imagine learning about FI in college?

Starting point is 00:29:33 That would be so awesome. I'm pretty lucky. I mean, now the technology is out there, like there's so many podcasts and books and everyone is talking about it. So it's just way easier to find out about it. It is. And it doesn't take a huge amount of change in your life, especially when you're earlier in your financial independence journey.

Starting point is 00:29:55 when you're younger, it doesn't take a huge amount of change to completely change your trajectory. You could be going like this, but you make a little tiny change, and now you're like going through the roof. Your 40% savings rate is awesome. And you will continue. You will probably increase it as you increase your salaries. And I'm so excited for your future because your future is going to be so awesome. Yeah, I like what you said about how a tiny change when you're young can make a big difference because that is so important. Time is the most important ingredient when it comes to investing.

Starting point is 00:30:35 And I don't think people realize that a little bit of money today can grow to be such a big amount of money later on that even just investing $100 a month, $200 a month in your 20s and continuing that on all the way through until you're 60 years old can become millions of dollars. So it's just really important to set it up when you're young the right way so that you're spending less than you're making so that you're not having to realize at 40, oh shoot, I haven't saved anything. I don't have anything invested for retirement. Now you have to downgrade your lifestyle in order to invest money to try and catch up when you could already have created your lifestyle around your income, knowing that you were going to save and invest some. I love that. Are you sure you're only 27? Yes, I'm positive. So for many, earning more income is the key to fire, whether that's passive or through your W2. And you have said that you have increased your income. Your husband has increased his income by changing jobs. You've mentioned some small milestones today rather than working towards a fine number.

Starting point is 00:31:42 What's your next biggest financial goal or milestone? So this year, our goal was to get to $125,000 in our for our net worth. And right now we're at like 113. So we should meet that by the end of the year with no problem. So now my focus is on having $100,000 invested. And we're at about 90,000 right now. So I'm hoping to get that up to 100,000 by the end of the year. And that will be a big one. They always say that's the hardest one to get to. And after that, compound interest starts taking over. So we're excited about that. It does. And it's hockey stick growth. It's pretty awesome. Do you ever plan on investing in individual stocks or anything outside of VTSAX besides the real estate that we already talked about? No, no plans to do that.

Starting point is 00:32:29 If I were to do that, I'd keep it to a very small percentage in my portfolio just for fun to see, you know, how it would go. But I've read enough of the books. I've listened to enough of the podcast that index funds are the way to go. There's really no point in trying to beat the market. So we're just going to ride those out. I love that answer. Listeners, I did not prompt her for that answer. That is totally her answer, but I love it so much.

Starting point is 00:32:54 I just, I love that you're putting thought into your financial situation. And it doesn't have to be a ton of thought. If you don't want to think about it at all, read a simple path of wealth by J.L. Collins. By the way, Anna, you are making his heart sing with all the things that you're saying. I know he's just going to love you to death. What is your biggest piece of advice for someone, just hearing about financial independence and just starting out on their financial journey. My biggest piece of advice would be to save and invest first. So we talked about it earlier.

Starting point is 00:33:29 When you get paid and you leave that money in your account, you're tempted to spend it. And you're likely going to. There's so many things to find to spend money on. So it's really important that when you get paid, automatically send that money to your savings accounts, to your investment accounts so that you can't spend it. And then you can spend whatever's left over 100% guilt-free because it has, it doesn't need to be saved. It doesn't need to be invested. It's yours to do whatever you want with.

Starting point is 00:33:56 So I think the biggest thing when you're younger is to sit down and think about how much money am I going to make. Take that number. Take out all of your necessary expenses, right? You need to have a place to live. You need a car and you need food. Take out all the necessary stuff. See what's left over.

Starting point is 00:34:14 And of that, make sure that you're saving, investing. some of that too. And then whatever is leftovers is your suspend on whatever you want. Anna, I love that. It's just like the anti-budget that Paula Pant talks about. You save ahead of time. You save in the beginning and then you can spend the rest. And you're paying yourself first. I think it's brilliant. Anna, thank you so much for your time today. I love your story. I love your future. It looks so bright. I'm going to date myself. Your future's so bright, you got to wear shades. Okay, cue the groaning. She's like, I don't even know that song. I know. Timbx3 from 1987. I'm so bad with songs. I'm not your, not your audience. Oh, you're so bad from with songs that

Starting point is 00:35:01 were 30 years before you were born. Yeah, that did especially. Where can people find out more about you? So I'm on Instagram at 520 Money. That's F-I-V-E-2-Z. money, M-L-N-E-Y. I started a money coaching business last fall to help people out with their personal finances. So if you're looking for help paying off debt or starting to invest, all that stuff, I'd love to help young people get started on the right foot so that they can retire early too. Oh, I love that so much. Thank you so much, Anna. I really, really enjoyed talking to you. Yeah, thank you. All right. That was Anna Foley, and that was such a fun story. If you did not listen to this episode with your kids in the car, rewind and put it on play the next time that you're

Starting point is 00:35:48 all together. This is absolutely the right way to set yourself up for life. Oh, look at Scott Trench reference and he's not even here. Don't worry, he'll be back next week. But tracking your spending, increasing your income, investing wisely, these are the key tenets to reaching financial independence. If you can do this, you can reach financial independence. I'm not going to drop my Mike because feedback, but if I could, I would. This is absolutely the roadmap to reaching financial independence in a healthy way. All right, that wraps up this episode of the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. I am Mindy Jensen saying, see you soon, Raccoon.

BiggerPockets Money Podcast - The Realistic, Repeatable Path to Investing for FIRE in Your 20s

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