Most Americans are worried about money. Paying the bills, having enough for retirement, and being able to afford emergency expenses. And, like many of us, you may have grown up in a household watching your own parents constantly worry or fight over finances. This is one of the crucial anxiety points of Americans—and rentals can change that.
Today, Joel Larsgaard from the How to Money podcast shares his story about how rental properties, and just paying attention to his money, changed his worldview and his family’s financial future. He, too, saw his parents constantly keeping up with the Joneses—buying more house than they could afford, buying expensive cars, struggling to keep up. Joel vowed never to worry the way his parents did.
After discovering personal finance, Joel did what most new real estate investors do: a “no-brainer” house hack. Then he bought another, and another, and another—and over the past sixteen years, built a slow, scalable, financial freedom-enabling rental portfolio, without taking a ton of risk or biting off more than he could chew.
Joel admits it’s harder to invest in 2026, but that’s what makes it a necessity in today’s economy.
In This Episode We Cover
The “no-brainer” rental property new real estate investors should buy first
Why money stress is much more dangerous than most Americans realize
The slow, steady, low-risk rental property plan Joel followed to build an entire portfolio
How to be prepared to invest in 2026 when home prices and rental costs are higher
The world seems like it’s falling apart, but here’s why you should still invest
And So Much More!
Check out more resources from this show on BiggerPockets.com and https://www.biggerpockets.com/blog/real-estate-1274.
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