How to Stay Rich During FIRE by Dodging the 4 Financial “Horsemen”

You’ve worked so hard to finally achieve FIRE (financial independence, retire early); the last thing you want is your wealth to dwindle or disappear entirely. Unknown to most FIRE-chasers, four financial “horsemen” (of the personal finance apocalypse) could steal your wealth right out from under you, without you even realizing it. What are the four horsemen, and how are we protecting our FIRE portfolios from them? To make sure you not only become wealthy but stay wealthy, we brought Whitney Elkins-Hutten, author of Money for Tomorrow, on the show to share the best ways to keep your portfolio safe from the four horsemen. Whitney scaled her portfolio from almost nothing to life-changing wealth, and she could have lost it all if she hadn’t learned how to protect it. Mindy and Scott tag-team to show YOU how to protect your FIRE from these four horsemen, including sharing what they’re doing right now to set themselves up for a successful (and safe) financial future. Don’t let your wealth get drained before OR during FIRE; take these tips to heart ASAP!  In This Episode We Cover The four “horsemen” that could destroy your FIRE lifestyle and disrupt your generational wealth How Whitney went from accidental house flipper to financially-free investor  The overlooked investing “fees” that could cost you hundreds of thousands of dollars Why you’re (probably) paying too much money for insurance (and how to start saving) When (and when not) to pay off debt and which balances to prioritize first 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: Mindy@biggerpockets.com Email Scott: Scott@biggerpockets.com BiggerPockets Money Facebook Group Follow BiggerPockets Money on Instagram “Like” BiggerPockets Money on Facebook BiggerPockets Money YouTube Channel Grab Whitney’s Book “Money for Tomorrow” Save $100 on Real Estate’s Biggest Event of the Year, BPCon2025 Sign Up for the BiggerPockets Money Newsletter Find an Investor-Friendly Agent in Your Area The Points Guy’s Travel Hacking Tips to Fly for FREE in 2025 Connect with Whitney   (00:00) Intro (06:00) "Ownership" Makes You Rich (10:09) Aggressively Investing in Rentals (11:52) This Could Destroy Your Wealth (19:07) Which Debt to Pay Off (23:14) Save Thousands on Insurance (30:23) This Could Delay Your FIRE (37:08) STOP Being Scared of Taxes! Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/money-617 Interested in learning more about today’s sponsors or becoming a BiggerPockets partner yourself? Email advertise@biggerpockets.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices