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Hello, hello, hello, and welcome to the BiggerPockets Money Newsletter!

Did you know that BiggerPockets Money is on YouTube? You can subscribe to our channel here.

This week, we'll jump into:

—Mindy Jensen, host of the BiggerPockets Money podcast

P.S. BPCON2025 is October 5-7 in Las Vegas! Join us for a Finance-Focused track! Get your tickets

MY FAVORITE BLOG ARTICLE

Roth Conversions and RMDs

A chat with a future guest sent me down a Roth/RMD rabbit hole. I wanted to learn more about Roth conversions and timing them with RMDs.

If you're older, like me, you might find this article VERY interesting.

AMBERLY MAKES CENTS

4 Tips to Avoid FIRE Burnout

Are you going full throttle toward your FIRE goals and starting to feel discouraged or burnt out? Here are four tips to keep you on your path.

THIS WEEK ON MONEY

Giving Back & The PROVEN Method to FIRE in your 40s

This week, we're talking to Ryan Brennan, who, after several volunteer gigs, decided he wanted to create a way for FI people to give back, and started the nonprofit FI Service Corps.

Check out the episode here, and if it sounds like fun, experience is NOT necessary—on-the-job training IS available!

And speaking of financial independence, we've got the PROVEN method to FIRE in your 40s with Twin Finance's Andy and Oliver.

Listen here for the "set it and forget it" technique to reach FI.

COMMUNITY HIGHLIGHTS

Unexpected Dental Bills—BPMoney Community to the Rescue!

In our Facebook group, a member writes:
"I just discovered my son needs major dental work done and quick. I wanted to apply for CareCredit, but my credit score isn’t higher enough yet. I can pay cash for the procedure, but it will wipe out a lot of my reserve—about $6,100. We don’t have dental insurance. Is there another option for zero interest medical credit, or should I pay cash and then just bust tail to replenish the reserve? Given the economy shifts, I get nervous not having a cash reserve because I don’t want to accrue any more high-interest debt."

Community to the Rescue responded:
"Please sign up on dentalplans.com, and apparently they activate it the very next day. You have to check with two places: the dentist office for what insurance they take and what dentalplans.com will cover."

But wait, there's more:
"Have you talked with the office doing the procedure about their payment plan options?"

Our community is very generous and caring, so if you have a question or need help, try posting it in our Facebook group.

SCOTT'S THOUGHTS

Should You "Count" Home Equity as Part of Your Financial Portfolio?

This question has bugged me and the FIRE community for years. On the one hand, home equity is absolutely a quantifiable positive contribution to net worth. On the other hand, unless one sells the home, downsizes or rents, and redeploys realized home equity, money in a home is really hard to translate into guilt-free spending to fund a lifestyle's wants or needs.

However, the complicated relationship between FIRE and Home Equity seems to result in a never-ending debate in the FIRE and personal finance community about whether or not it "Counts". 

I recently stumbled across the "right" answer to the age-old question of whether to include Home Equity in a simple two line statement that I think puts the issue to bed.

I think it's that simple for almost everybody. Obviously, if you do plan to downsize in the reasonably near-future, then count the equity you'd actually realize and then spend as part of your FIRE number. 

BPCON2025

No Hype. No Fluff. Just Deals and a FREE Workshop.

BPCON2025 isn’t some motivational hype fest. It’s 3 days of real strategies from investors who are still buying, still winning, and still showing up—no matter what the market’s doing. Chris Voss? He’s in. Sales pitches? Not invited.

Snag your ticket by June 15 and we’ll throw in a FREE expert-led onsite workshop ($300 value) of your choice.