So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

A few weeks ago, my friend Kathy Braddock, the managing director of real estate company William Raveis, joined me for an interview. She had some great advice and insights on real estate and growing a successful business. Today, I am continuing that conversation with the founder of William Raveis, Mr. Bill Raveis himself.Bill founded William Raveis in one room over a grocery story in Fairfield, CT in 1974. He borrowed $2,000 to launch his firm – a firm which last year sold more than $8 billion worth of real estate. It is now the largest family-owned real estate company in the northeast with over 100 offices.Bill was the 1988 recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, among many others for his achievements in business. He also gives speeches across the country and has been published in numerous financial and real estate publications including Forbes Magazine and Real Estate Today. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s guest proves that some people can transform a quirky hobby into a profitable business.Joe Brewer reached out to me with his story a few weeks ago.  His quirky hobby is arcade and pinball repairs and restoration. Salvaging an old, abadoned Ms. Pac Man arcade machine turned into a hobby of restoring vintage arcade and pinball machines which were found through Craigslist, online forums, or simply word of mouth.Joe has such a passion for this that he even has a full-blown arcade – Brewer's Arcade, it’s called -  in his home that you can actually visit. It’s open to the public a couple times per year.To date, he’s made a profit flipping games that he has restored and then sold and makes extra income running a YouTube channel, Brewers Arcade, which specializes in left handed guitars and you guessed it, arcade games!A little financial background on Joe - He and his wife live an anti-debt and fairly frugal lifestyle – their only debt is a mortgage where they make extra payments when possible.  They both live within 2 miles of their jobs and save money by either walking or biking to work.  Joe was even able to start a program at his office that pays employees a small stipend to take alternative transportation to work.Joe and his wife’s lifestyle are an example of how you can find unique ways to make extra cash to pay down debt and hopefully, retire at an early age. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today I have the great honor of welcoming on the show my friend and design guru Nate Berkus. I've wanted to interview him since launching, but he’s had quite a busy year including celebrating the 20th anniversary of his design firm, and even more excitingly, becoming a father. He and husband Jeremiah are now the proud dads to Poppy Brent Berkus. Some background on Nate: In 2002 Nate was invited to make over a small space for “The Oprah Winfrey Show," after which he became a featured design expert for the show and continued to garner national press in publications such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Us Weekly, People, O Magazine, Lucky and InStyle, among others. Following the debut of his branded line of home products, Nate’s first book, "Home Rules" (Hyperion) was released in 2005 and went on to become a New York Times bestseller. “The Nate Berkus Show,” a daily syndicated first-run talk show hosted by Nate, launched in September 2010 and returned for a second season in the fall of 2011. I had the privilege of being a guest expert on the show and working with Nate to help families save money. In 2011, Nate also enjoyed a new role as executive producer on the Disney and DreamWorks film “The Help.” Nate’s design firm, Nate Berkus Associates, which he founded in 1995, continues to design interiors across the country and around the world. In fall 2012 Nate brought his branded line of home goods and accessories to Target stores nationwide. In addition, he published his second book, “The Things That Matter” (Spiegel & Grau). His fabric collection, which is sold at Calico Corners, launched in January 2013. It is also available at Fabricut and launched at Jo-Ann Fabric and Craft Stores in August 2014. Nate was host, judge and executive producer of NBC’s “American Dream Builders” which aired in spring 2014. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answer your biggest questions about selling collectibles, pre-tax and post-tax money decisions, finding side-hustles, multiple savings accounts and what to do with inheritance. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answer your biggest questions about paying off medical bills, starting a 529 plan, building your online brand and buying vs. leasing a car. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are rounding out our series today with a Penn State grad, a fellow Penn State grad. I didn't know he was a Penn State grad until after we booked him, but very excited to introduce all of you to Jeff Johnson. He is a millionaire next-door at the ripe age of 37. He and his wife, Amanda follow disciplined, pragmatic and balanced financial behaviors, and they've acquired a net worth of more than a million dollars. They simply live a rather modest lifestyle in a two-bedroom townhouse in New Jersey, they enjoy the simple life experiences with their family and friends. Jeff and Amanda met while they were at Penn State University, similar to my husband and I. After graduating, they had a five-year long distance relationship. Amanda actually completed her doctorate of Clinical Psychology during that time frame and during the relationship while they were long distance, they had become each accustomed to certain conservative spending habits that they now continue to follow during their marriage. It's really nice to find your financial soulmate. That's Jeff and Amanda. Since getting married nine years ago, they've been able to successfully eliminate all their debt including car loan and student loans. They do still have a modest mortgage and as I said in the process, they have earned themselves over a million dollars. They reached that at age 34. They are 37 now. Jeff currently works at a pharmaceutical company, Amanda worked as a staff psychologist at a local college before taking a leave of absence to raise their 2-year-old son. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the fourth episode of Millionaires Next Door! Today I’m chatting with Julie Rains, a freelance writer specializing in investing and mortgages from North Carolina! She has a finance degree from UNC Chapel Hill and has had experience working in financial analysis and accounting for Fortune 500 corporations, as well as personal experience in stock investing and paying off a mortgage.She shares her financial advice based on her own experiences and expertise on her blog Investing to Thrive, and she’s joining to today to tell us how she and her husband became millionaires. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome back to So Money. I'm your host Farnoosh Torabi. Thanks for joining me. Doing something special this week. If you've been listening since Monday, you know it is millionaire's next door week. Dedicating the week to people across the country, in some cases across the globe, who are millionaires and you wouldn't really know it. They're frugal, they save their money wisely, they don't buy material things necessarily, they have sacred financial philosophies and we're gonna learn all about it this week. So inspired to introduce today's couple, we have a couple on So Money today. Jeremy Jacobson and Winnie Tseng. They run the personal finance blog Gocurrycracker.com. They are two normal people from lower income families, chasing the American dream, until they realized, you know what? The chase wasn't making them so happy. They sold their house, they sold their car, and started saving 70%, or more than 70% of their combined income. And in a short 10 years, while still in their 30's, they became financially independent and said "buh-bye" to the working world to then start a family and travel the world. Three years now into a hopefully 60 plus year journey, they're living their own nomadic dream with their newborn son, Julian. The two have now multiple millions of dollars, they keep that money pretty much invested in index funds, they tell me. And they're living off about $4,000 a month and they are soon about to embark on their world wide journey. First stop, Mexico! Lots to learn from this couple, our millionaires next door. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today is the second installment of the “Millionaires Next Door Series,” with another great guest Luann Abrams from Bend, OR. Two years ago she and her husband hit the $1mil mark, and are almost 2/3 of the way to the second million already! She is a former aerospace engineer, and is now a stay at home mom (but has a few side-hustles). And now that the couple has made it this far, her husband will be quitting his job soon to be a part of a start-up. He wont be making a salary for some time…So how are they going to manage? Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We’re kicking off ‘Millionaire Next Door Week’ on So Money today.  We’ve been revving up for this spectacular week for some time, I’ve been enlisting your help to either nominate yourself or people you know and excited to say that we received many more entries than we could record for this first week…But perhaps we’ll do a second week later in the fall. So many nuggets of wisdom to share… Our first guest is Darrow Kirkpatrick, the author of Retiring Sooner: How to Accelerate your Financial Independence and who runs the blog Can I Retire Yet? And the answer for Darrow, at least is, YES. He, in fact retired when he was 50 years old with over a million in the bank. You wouldn’t really know…He has a modest home, rides his bike most places…And when I visited at his home a few years ago on a story for Yahoo News, I don't recall seeing a TV in his living room. Darrow graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Civil Engineering. He started and sold his own business…After 29 years of programming, designing and managing computer software, Darrow was able to retire at the ripe age of 50. How did he do it? Well we’ll discuss this in the show momentarily but he attributes a lot of his financial success to good ol’ hard work, frugality, serious saving and certain investing strategies. Patience helped along the way, too. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.