What immediate expense should you cut to create breathing room?

Paula and Joe recommend replacing an expensive luxury car with a safe, inexpensive vehicle and saving the payment as an emergency fund.

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Episode notes

#661: When your income drops, debt spikes, and a rental property starts bleeding cash, it can feel like your entire financial foundation is cracking beneath you. Veronica, our first caller, is navigating all of it at once, from a near-foreclosure to a luxury car payment that’s strangling her budget. Her question is simple but enormous, how do you rebuild when you’re overwhelmed and out of margin?

Once we work through her path forward, we shift to a listener on the opposite end of the spectrum. Daniel has maxed his Roth IRA, HSA, 401(k), and 457, and now sits on growing surplus cash. We talk about where extra money belongs when you’re aiming for early retirement and wondering whether to invest, save, or crush a low-interest mortgage.

And to close, we take on a question dominating every financial feed right now, what if AI stocks really are in a bubble? We break down what it means to short the market, whether put options are actually a “safe” bet, and how to position a portfolio if you’re worried about tech valuations.

Listener Questions in This Episode

Veronica asks (02:06): How do I dig out of debt, repair my credit, and stabilize my rental after nearly going into foreclosure.
Daniel asks (28:17): What should I do with my surplus side hustle cash when I already max tax-advantaged accounts and have a 3.5 percent rental mortgage.
Scarlet asks (49:20): If AI stocks are in a bubble like the dot-com era, is there any relatively safe way to profit from a crash, such as put options.

Key Takeaways

Why tackling the right problem first can change the entire trajectory of a debt recovery plan.
How downsizing one major expense can unlock breathing room you didn’t realize you had.
The surprising factor that often matters more than interest rates when choosing between investing and debt payoff.
Why flexible money becomes essential when planning for early retirement.
What most people misunderstand about betting against a bubble, especially in fast-moving tech sectors.
The simple portfolio shift that can help calm bubble anxiety without trying to time the market.

Resources and Links

GreenPath Financial Wellness – nonprofit credit counseling and debt management support for people overwhelmed by payments and afraid of bad actors in the debt relief world.
Our course: Your Next Raise – a deep dive on how to negotiate a higher salary at work, with a special comp offered in this episode.
Paul Merriman Four-Fund Portfolio – the simple, diversified investing framework Daniel uses inside his retirement accounts.
The Big Short movie Michael Lewis and the film adaptation.
1929 book by Andrew Ross Sorkin – a historical look at bubbles and crashes.