It's Thanksgiving and we've got so much to be thankful for. We kick off the episode with some shocking stats that show just how privileged we all are to be seeking financial independence in the first place. Stats across the world such as Average income Average net worth Average daily spending How many people own a car Most of our audience makes more in a week than some of the world makes in a year. We're incredibly thankful for the opportunities we've been given to chase after. We were fortunate enough to be born into a country where we have a stable stock market, we have financing for homes, and we have countless income-generating opportunities. We also try to help the audience score some deals this holiday season...it wouldn't be a FI Show episode without some actionable tips. Check the Flipp app to see who's offering deals like a free turkey. Set up an Ibotta account for a free Thanksgiving meal. Set alerts on Slickdeals so that you don't miss out on any Black Friday opportunities. There's even a tip in the episode to avoid overeating during the big feast. We round out the episode by listing out a few things we're thankful for that felt relevant to the show. One thing Justin mentioned was being thankful for being financially prepared for any situation. This is highlighted because he may be getting laid off next week... So definitely come back for those updates. The FI Show is so thankful for everyone who has taken time out of their day to give us a listen. We hope we've helped in some little way along your journey. If so, we hope you can share this episode with a friend! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Many people feel like a lack of capital and insider information for good deals is keeping them from starting their real estate journey. But what if you could just use someone else's money? And what if you could find deals directly on the MLS? Jaren, aka Finance Cowboy, is doing just that. He's not trying to implement any complex strategies. Jaren is finding deals on the MLS that need to be rehabbed, forcing appreciation, refinancing to get his money out, and moving on to the next property. This is commonly referred to as the BRRRR strategy. Buy Rehab Rent Refinance Repeat Another cool thing about Jaren's story is that he actually still has his W-2. Even though he's a multi-millionaire and could live off rental income, he's got a great gig and doesn't plan on leaving. All too often W-2 employment gets looked down on in the personal finance community. The reality is that W-2 does come with its benefits (health insurance, 401k, steady pay, etc). Jaren has taken a career in sales and combined it with an impressive real estate portfolio to design a life that's perfect for him. We always love to bring you a realistic story that's repeatable, and Jaren embodies that perfectly. If you enjoyed this episode, check out the links below for more content, and don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Links From the Episode Finance Cowboy Instagram Finance Cowboy Twitter Jaren's YouTube Jaren's Podcast YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/4348MylLS9s Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today, we're re-airing a fan favorite from 2019. Colin Jones was a substitute math teacher and a friend had given him a book on card counting. Once the friend was making $80/hr, Colin decided he should give it a try. To get started, he took $2k of the $6k that he and his wife had saved up. Eventually, after hundreds of hours and study and play, Colin was making $430/hr. And his team was regularly making $500k+ in a year. Now, he's more focused on teaching others the skill of card counting. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Listen and read below to hear this incredible story. Links from the Episode Colin's Website: Blackjack Apprenticeship Colin's Book: The 21st Century Card Counter A snippet from the mentioned documentary Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Real estate prices are out of control... right? In today's episode, you'll hear how Justin bought a house for just $5,000. No, that's not a typo, $5K! The craziest thing is that the place is in decent condition: Single level Concrete foundation Simplest roof possible No interior water damage This house is a big project, but Justin estimates he can finish everything for under $25,000. After running the numbers, this property should blow the 1% rule out of the water. Justin is expecting to rent from anywhere between $700-$850 depending on how nice he ends up making it and how it's rented. We'll definitely be sharing updates about this one-of-a-kind property in future podcasts. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today, we're re-airing a popular episode from 2019 on frugal vs. cheap with Jen Smith, co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast. In the beginning, Jen and her husband find themselves in $78k of total debt. They didn’t have a ton of income, so Jen tried to add on three side hustles on top of her job. This stressed her out so much that she ended up with shingles. In totality, between all their work and side hustles, they were bringing in up to $88k. Their original goal was to be debt-free in 5 years... But in the end, it turned out to only take 23 months! In this episode, we also cover: How to be frugal "the right way" Frugality without deprivation Frugal vs. Cheap Enjoying the FI journey and so much more. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Links from the Episode Jen's Podcast Jen's Blog Jen'snstagram Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today, we're re-airing one of our most popular episodes from early 2019. Paula Pant is always conducting great interviews herself but today she’s the one answering questions. She walks us through her amazing story of only three traditional years of employment, traveling the world, and the steps she took to secure her financial independence. There is something for everyone in this episode. You’ve got philosophy, entrepreneurship, freelancing, and even some great real estate tips. This discussion also gets into focusing also on increasing income and not just being consumed by minimizing expenses. Paula calls this “The gap” or the delta between your earnings and expenses. Paula graduated college in 2005 and started at a newspaper making $25k per year. She worked there 3 years topping out at $31k per year. On the side, she was freelancing and earned an additional $25k on the side in a travel fund She then quit her job and left her lease in 2008. Paula backpacked around Egypt, Cambodia, and other countries on a budget of $1k per month and then returned to go full-time freelancing. She began taking her excess income and investing in real estate. In this episode, we also discuss how more of the focus in the financial independence space should be on the income side of the equation vs the spending part of the equation. This led us to the discussion of “The Gap” or the difference between earning and spending not necessarily just one side of the equation. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Links from the Episode Paula's Instagram Paula's Twitter Paula's Website Paula's Free Ebook Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Can you imagine owning a full-fledged brick-and-mortar business at age 15? That's exactly the position Sam Wegert found himself in. Sam was homeschooled with his seven siblings which allowed them to all focus on what they were best at. At 15 years old, with a loan of $15,000 from his parents, he purchased his first martial arts school and graduated high school that same year. Over the next 15 years, he expanded to 6 brick and mortar locations and through COVID built an online program. His company, UpLevel Martial Arts has grown to over 1,500 students and has trained more than 20,000 students in martial art. Those schools generate over $200,000/month in sales. As he built his martial arts empire, he also partnered with his wife to jump into real estate, specifically a strategy called co-living. Together they now manage over 200 doors generating over 100,000/month in gross rental income. Co-living is when you focus on renting by the room and increasing the number of rooms in a given home while providing common area amenities. There are marketplaces that help you find investment opportunities or rooms to rent yourself. Sam became financially independent at age 23 and has built a 7-figure business that's almost completely passive. If you enjoyed this episode, check out the links below for more content, and don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Links From the Episode Sam's Co-Living Challenge Sam's Instagram Sam's TikTok Sam's Website PadSplit (Co-living Marketplace) YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/I2WDtiAD2iA Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you back to one of our favorite episodes ever! This is the story of Jimmy Ridenhour who, unlike most of our guests, has no blog, book, or podcast. This was actually Jimmy's first interview ever. That doesn’t mean his story isn’t remarkable. Jimmy’s story starts out with a very tragic start that involves murder and family turmoil but he amazingly finds his way to success and has an unmatched amount of positive vibes when you meet him in person. After that tragic start, Jimmy landed on his feet (literally) as a mailman at age 18. While most people his age were racking up college debt, he was bringing in upwards of $80k a year while he put in 70+ hour weeks. This allowed him to purchase his first home for $125k and have it paid off at age 23. At age 27, Jimmy had five properties which generated enough cash flow for him to live on. His expenses were only $1,300 per month so he had an extreme amount of flexibility for his future. Jimmy's #1 tip is to just get started because you’ll learn so much from the first house. If you enjoyed this episode, don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

The goal for real estate is to generate as much cash flow as possible and/or own as many doors as possible right? What if you realized the real goal is just to generate enough income to satisfy your desired lifestyle? That may seem obvious, but too often investors fixate on a high score instead of focusing on happiness. Coach Carson has previously joined us on the very first episode of The Financial Independence Show. In that episode, we cover Chad's background in detail but today we focus on the topic of his new book. That topic is the concept of the Small and Mighty real estate investor. The root of this concept is focusing on achieving the least number of doors needed to cover your lifestyle. Chad explains how chasing the least needed is much healthier than chasing the most possible. More properties equate to more headaches, and why have stress if you've already won? If you enjoyed this episode, check out the links below for more content, and don't forget to share this podcast with a friend! Links From the Episode Book: Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor Chad's Website Chad's Instagram Chad's Twitter Chad's Free Tools YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/U85lcE_ibS0 Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Sometimes personal finance can just sound like a bunch of jargon. Today's episode gives you all the foundational definitions you need to navigate your FI journey. We have episodes that dive deeper into some of these topics (linked below). But today is all about explaining the lingo you might hear on the show week to week. Some of the investing terms we discuss include: ETFs vs. Index Funds Expense Ratios The 4% Rule / Rule of 25 Rule of 72 Tax-advantaged accounts IRAs / 401Ks We hope this empowers you to confidently speak to your investing journey and help others along the way. If you enjoyed this episode, please share it with a friend! Links from the Episode The deep-dive episode on Roth vs. Traditional The deep-dive episode on the 4% rule The deep-dive episode on the Mega Backdoor Roth and Solo 401K Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)