How has BP made you money?

[Nathan Gesner]

One of my greatest joys in life is helping other investors grow. A member recently reached out and let me know that my advice is earning him an additional $100 a month. Another member is saving (earning) over $20,000 a year!

There are so many people on BiggerPockets willing to share their time and expertise to help others FOR FREE. I thought it would be fun to share those experiences and thank those that have helped so many.

So, who's first?

[Jim K.]

There have been three major contributions that BP's made to my bank account. I lurked for a few years on this site before I set up a profile and joined, and the main reason I joined was to be able to ask questions and write DIY posts, to give back some of what I'd been given.

1. I have benefited greatly from the experience of most of the moderators and long-time contributors. Granted, I'm not doing the same thing as many of you, but we do run up against common obstacles. As regards you specifically, @Nathan Gesner, you're a great tenant manager. You tend to provide concrete answers to difficult, knotty questions. And sometimes, you do tell people like it is -- they should step away from landlording and property management, and perhaps try to make their fortune in mutual funds or non-real-estate businesses.

2. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to every fly-by-night post-today-gone-tomorrow type who has ever posted in these forums, and the few newcomers who bear up and go the distance despite the difficulties. It is always best to learn from someone else's willful arrogance and silliness. It is always wise to see how some deal with failure and some are dealt with by failure. The things I've learned never to do here would fill books.

3. Bigger Pockets introduced me to the FIRE movement. I really did not know of the movement's existence before I learned about it from @Mindy Jensen and @Scott Trench. My wife's job in dementia care forced both of us to look honestly at our retirement options, sure. We bring immigrant perspectives to consumerism in America. But we didn't know that there was an entire counterculture in America refusing to play along with the dominant cultural narrative this country: work hard, spend hard, live broke, die broke.