BiggerPockets Money24 Feb 2020

113: Single Hourly Employee with No College Degree and STILL FI by 40 with Bianca DiValerio

This week we sit down with Bianca DiValerio, a flight attendant who makes an hourly wage, has no college degree, experienced THREE short sales during the economic downturn, and yet is STILL financially independent—all before turning 40.

How did she do it?

She saved her money. She didn’t spend it on things that didn’t matter to her.

There is literally NO secret sauce to her story. In fact, she thought she had her future planned out! She had purchased three rental properties to provide a stream of passive income—only to lose them to short sale when unexpected special assessments of $5,000 each became too much for her to afford.

And yet, she saved her money. She didn’t spend it on things that didn’t matter to her.

And she dug herself out of the financial hole that the short sale pushed her into. She pulled herself back up and started her nest egg over, saving enough to pay cash for a unit in the same building, so she’d never lose her home again.

She’s turned that into a rental, lives in a caboose five months out of the year (yes, a TRAIN CABOOSE), and while she has enough money to never HAVE to work again, she enjoys her job, can literally choose when she works, and is living her best life.

Bianca is proof that you can recover from an unplanned financial catastrophe, thrive, and STILL reach financial independence—all before you turn 40. You just have to follow the proven path to financial freedom.

In This Episode We Cover:

Bianca's journey with money
How she avoid on having debt
The problem with not having a college degree
What happened after she got her job as a flight attendant
How she got into real estate
Her thoughts on investment
The importance of having cash reserves
Her credit score after her three short sales
The moment she came across the FIRE movement
Her experience living in a train caboose
Reasons to not quit your job
And SO much more!

Links from the Show

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