The Financial Independence Show

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)

Can you really retire at 27? That's what Jon Farber is here to talk us through today.  He was able to achieve financial freedom at 27 and leave his tech sales job via real estate. He started with house hacking, and then eventually scaled up to include a portfolio of long-term rentals and short-term rentals. He's also dabbled in online courses and runs a real estate software business helping people find deals. Since reaching financial freedom, Jon now splits his time between the U.S. and Columbia. He has a team of virtual assistants who currently help with the day-to-day and growing of the business. He's basically been able to put his 7-figure business empire on autopilot. 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 Jon's Instagram Jon's Twitter Jon's Website YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/HRkppxCstdw 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)

If you want to make it big in real estate you need some sort of advantage, right? A big social media following, experience, connections... something. Our guest today, Soli Cayetano from Lattes and Leases, will show you how that couldn't be further from the truth. In 2020, Soli was a senior in college trying to navigate a pandemic. She had no family in real estate, no rich uncle, and no investment experience. Plus, she lived in the Bay Area -- one of the most expensive real estate markets in the country.  She became obsessed with educating herself about real estate investing and surrounded herself with accomplished investors. Fresh out of college at 22, she built up the courage to purchase an out-of-state investment property in Cincinnati, Ohio — and the rest was history.  After working her 9-5, she would continue to work 5-9 to build her real estate portfolio. She went from having no social media or connections in real estate to using social media to raise $5M+ in private capital and buying 25+ units in less than 2 years. This allowed her to replace her income, quit her job, and become a full-time real estate investor. Today, she can be found traveling the world and teaching others how to reach financial independence via real estate. 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 Out of State Investor Academy (Free Summit) Follow Soli on Instagram Lattes and Leases Website YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/q3M22CunX_Y 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)

Retiring early is certainly not a race, but the guests we have today are one of the fastest we've ever seen to do it. James and Emily retired in less than 2 years from the day they began making moves towards early retirement. They both had frugal habits with James coming from an especially low-income background. They met at a local community college and were both able to graduate college debt-free through a mix of financial aid and a little help from parents. Emily would take a job starting at $60k and James was at $35k per year in Huntsville, Alabama. Even though they were in an affordable area with $95k of income, they weren’t saving a dime. In 2016, James was at work and someone said they came across a website that changed their life. The website was Mr. Money Mustache. James immediately dove into this site as well then came home adjusting water heaters and spitting out all the things they were going to cut from their lives…probably too aggressively he’ll admit. They estimate they cut their expenses down to $35k the next year after discovering the topic. After cutting their expenses down as low as they could they looked to accelerate their path even more through real estate investing. They bought their first property in the Summer of 2017 and quickly scaled to 11 properties. Most of these units were purchased for under $50k, and all of them bring in over 1% of the cost back via rent. Example: A $50k house that brings in $500 is bringing in 1% every month All of the homes were bought using traditional mortgages and when they retired, they had enough money cash flowing every month to cover over 2x their expenses. 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 James' and Emily's Website Follow them on Instagram Their Short-Term Rental Course All Their Free Resources 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)

You can learn the mechanics and math needed to reach financial independence in a couple of weeks. The math is intimidating to so many people but it's not the math that keeps most people from reaching their goals. It's their mindset. That's where Adam Coelho's expertise comes in. Adam Coelho is the host of The Mindful FIRE Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional using mindfulness, envisioning, and financial independence. Adam believes crafting a life you love starts with answering the question "What do I truly want?". He helps people answer that question so they can start living the life they dream of right now. He’s also a father, husband, entrepreneur, speaker and facilitator. For the last 13 years Adam has worked in sales at Google, where in addition to his core role, he’s taught mindfulness, envisioning, and emotional intelligence to over 2,500 Googlers around the world. We truly believe that these mentality skills are even more important than any level of comprehension to something like a tax code. 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 Free Envisioning Guide Mindful FIRE Website Adam's LinkedIn Adam's Instagram YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/z3cO_nH9yP8 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 this episode, the hosts debunk bad personal finance takes found on social media, including the misconception that luxury expenses motivate individuals to work harder. They discuss the importance of personal finance management, the truth about 401(k)s, the value of a good credit score, the controversy of going out to eat while paying off debt, and the misconception that most successful people are dumb and lucky. They emphasize the importance of personal responsibility and taking action for achieving financial stability and success.