Chasing Financial "Stability" After $100K+ in Debt and Layoffs

BiggerPockets Money Podcast

BiggerPockets

Investing, Education, Business

4.6 • 2.9K Ratings

🗓️ 27 December 2024

⏱️ 33 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Got debt to pay off? You might relate to Leo, a personal finance journalist who’s focused on financial stability over FIRE—at least for now. With six figures in student loans and credit card debt, Leo found themselves in a tough spot after being laid off with no safety net. Determined never to end up in that position again, they began chipping away at their debt, working toward financial peace of mind instead of a relentless grind to early retirement. Leo shares why their approach to financial freedom is different. While they don’t want to wait until sixty-five to retire, they’ve crafted a “wealth plan” that balances paying off debt, building a safety net, and creating a better life today. In this episode, Leo dives deep into budgeting tips, debt repayment strategies, and the unique financial challenges faced by LGBTQ+ individuals. Tired of the all-out grind to FIRE and want “financial stability” instead? Leo has just what you need! In This Episode We Cover Why financial stability can be just as important as the FIRE grind Leo’s practical strategies for budgeting and paying off six-figure debt How to create a wealth plan that supports your life—even while tackling debt The sacrifices worth making (and the ones that aren’t!) in your financial journey Why an “accountability buddy” is a cheat code for achieving your financial goals And So Much More! Links from the Show Mindy on BiggerPockets Scott on BiggerPockets Listen to All Your Favorite BiggerPockets Podcasts in One Place Join BiggerPockets for FREE Email Mindy: [email protected] Email Scott: [email protected] BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Follow Leo on Instagram Support Today’s Show Sponsor, Connect Invest, the Alternative Way to Earn Passive Income Through Real Estate Get Your Finances in Order with “Set for Life” Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area How to Pay Off Credit Card Debt FAST 00:00 Intro 03:41 Serious Credit Card Debt 06:26 Feeling Financial Shame? 08:40 Paying Down Six-Figure 10:33 Wealth "Planning" 13:37 Budgeting Their Debt Payoff 15:52 Financial Stability > Independence 20:06 Does FIRE Change You? 22:10 Best FIRE Advice? 26:23 Connect with Leo! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-593 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email [email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the Bigger Pockets Money podcast. Today's episode is from the
0:05.6	Fire series, which originally aired on our YouTube channel. Leo has such a great story that we wanted
0:12.1	to share it with our audio listeners as well. This episode is brought to you by Connect Invest,
0:18.0	real estate investing simplified and within your reach. So without further ado,
0:22.3	let's chat with Leo. Leo, thank you so much for joining me. I am so excited to talk to you.
0:27.3	Yeah, thank you so much for having me. I'm a big fan of the show. Oh, well, that's awesome.
0:32.0	Take us back to the beginning. Who were you before you started to focus on your finances?
0:40.3	Oh my God. I definitely made every mistake in the book. I had so many student loans. I was a fashion designer in New York.
0:49.1	I was like spending money on coffee every day and like going out to fancy dinners I couldn't afford.
0:55.1	And I feel like I did everything wrong up until I started working as a reporter at Business Insider
1:02.7	covering personal finance. And that's kind of where I learned, you know, all the things that
1:09.1	you're supposed to learn. I love that. Okay. So you said you did
1:14.1	everything wrong. And I don't like to say this. However, you're not special. Everybody that
1:20.5	I've ever talked to has done everything wrong. They've made all the mistakes. So welcome to the
1:25.9	club. We have snacks. And we meet on Tuesdays. So you worked
1:31.0	for Business Insider. How and you were writing about personal finance, which is so awesome because
1:36.0	I've actually been featured in Business Insider a couple of different times. And having those
1:41.8	conversations with the writers is like they've really dive deep. And I am imagining
1:46.6	that you learned a ton about money and finance. And is that where you found out about fire?
1:53.5	Yeah. Yeah. So let me sort of take it back in my writing journey. Like obviously it was
2:00.1	natural for me to begin writing about
2:01.7	like fashion and beauty, and then it turned into like sex and relationships and stuff. And then
	...

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