Afford Anything

#405: Daniel and his wife want to go on an extended vacation and leave their jobs next year…and still have money in case there’s a problem at their rental properties. Would a HELOC help them?Anonymous and her husband have received a large commission and want to understand how to better plan for their future by optimizing for these inconsistent windfalls.Brian has hit coast F.I.R.E and would like guidance on how to prioritize between tax advantaged accounts and retirement accounts.Anonymous and his wife have been focused on getting short term rentals in a single location - is his portfolio too focused on this singular strategy??Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.Enjoy!P.S. Got a question? Leave it here. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#404: When Rand Fishkin was 25 years old, he carried $500,000 in credit card debt.Less than a decade later, Rand was the Founder and CEO of a company that grossed $35 million in annual revenue.In this episode, Rand shares the story of hitting his financial rock-bottom and making the ultimate comeback. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#403: September Sabbatical continued! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few years, then you know that we’ve entered our September Sabbatical, where the team takes a break from podcast production and airs a few of our favorites from the 400+ episodes we’ve aired to date.F.I.R.E. holds four pillars: Financial psychology, Investing, Real estate, and Entrepreneurship.This September, we’re running four weeks of episodes focusing on each of these four pillars. Today’s episode is focused on real estate.—-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Chad Carson’s friends called him a “nerdjock.”When former college football linebacker Chad Carson graduated from Clemson University, he decided to start a business. But he didn’t have any money.He was a 235-pound athlete who attended college on a football scholarship. He graduated debt-free with $1,000 in savings from various odd jobs. He wanted to become an entrepreneur, and he knew he was starting from zero.As Chad viewed it, starting from zero meant he had nothing to lose.He started jogging around local neighborhoods near the university. Whenever he noticed a property in disrepair, he’d ask if it was for sale.If he noticed a ‘For Sale by Owner’ sign in the yard, for example, he’d dial the number.If he noticed a home with an overgrown lawn and no curtains in the windows, he’d leave a note on the door, or he’d knock on the neighbor’s doors to get the owner’s phone number.By doing this, Chad started a real estate wholesaling business. He’d find off-market properties, enter into a sales contract with the owner, and then ‘flip’ the contract to an investor. He earned around $5,000 for each deal.The benefit to a wholesaling business, Chad discovered, is that he could get a foothold inside the real estate industry without much access to capital. He was a recent college graduate without any official employment, so most banks weren’t interested in offering him loans. Wholesaling gave him a start in the industry.But after awhile, he wanted to chase bigger deals. He and a business partner decided to start flipping houses themselves. They earned profits of around $20,000 to $30,000 for each deal.While this was great, Chad wanted to transition into something that would provide a steady, stable income stream. He was running an active business; he wasn’t accumulating a portfolio of passive investments.He and his business partner stopped flipping homes and began accumulating buy-and-hold rental properties. Today they have 90 units between the two of them.A few years ago, Chad realized that the passive income from his investments made him financially independent. He and his wife decided to enjoy their newfound freedom by moving to Ecuador with their two children, ages 3 and 5.They spent 17 months living in Ecuador, learning Spanish and enjoying a slower pace of life. They recently returned to the U.S. and are considering moving to either Spain or Germany — or maybe Colorado? — for their next adventure.In today’s episode, Chad and I discuss real estate, financial independence, and international travel with children.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#402: Do you wrestle with the idea of leaving your savings in an account earning next to nothing versus investing it in the stock market?Do you use investment strategies that allow you to work with your nature, rather than against it?Are you careful to seek investment advice from those who share your investment goals, or do you get caught up in the trends of day traders?Morgan Housel, author of The Psychology of Money, joins us to discuss why investing is not the study of finance, but the study of how people behave with money. Morgan is an award-winning financial journalist, former columnist for the Wall Street Journal and The Motley Fool, and one of the foremost thinkers in the world of investing.As a long-term investor who shares our buy-and-hold philosophy, Morgan has behavioral finance insights that can help us invest for financial independence with more clarity and a better understanding of ourselves.We discuss how to develop self-awareness around biases, the importance of flexibility for long-term strategies, saving like a pessimist and investing like an optimist, becoming durable in the face of market adversity, the key difference between patience and stubbornness (and how it affects your mindset), expectation management, the importance of bonds and emergency funds, and a difficult lesson about tail risks that Morgan learned at age 17.You’ll enjoy this episode if… You’re super Type A with your investment portfolio and have a hard time letting go of plans that didn’t work out You want to learn a framework that can help you roll with the inevitable punches of the stock market You feel behind and have no idea how to develop a sense of what ‘enough’ is You’re tired of trying to overcome your inherent biases and reactions to the market and want to try something different For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode402 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#401: It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few years, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m taking a break from podcast production.F.I.R.E. holds four pillars: Financial psychology, Investing, Real estate, and Entrepreneurship.This September, we’re running four weeks of episodes focusing on each of these four pillars. Today, we kick off with an episode focused on financial psychology. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we’re sharing three talks given at the EconoMe conference, with each of these talks relating to F.I.R.E.The three discussions are: FI-Landia is a lie - What I Learned On My Journey To F.I.R.E., with Carl Jensen What If You Achieve All Your Goals But You’re Still Not Happy, with Rich Jones How To Never Again Say, “I Can’t Afford It”, with Paula Pant Details below:Carl Jensen:05:27: Session begins08:02: Sharing the message of financial independence and being hit with the “What If’s”12:24: The concern about running out of money20:16: The real value of fireRich Jones:32:50: Session begins35:55: The importance of knowing who you are, what you want, and why39:36: Day jobs: love vs. purpose43:26: Why you should track your work46:18: How to think like a recruiter51:44: Why giving yourself permission could be your game changerPaula Pant:59:34: Session begins1:02:21: The importance of reframing the word “can’t”1:10:29: Traditional budgets, zero based budgets and anti budgets1:19:49: The benefit of high friction activities * Timestamps accurate as of September 2022. Starting 60 days after episode release, timestamps may shift slightly as we make updates and changes**The next EconoMe will be held March 17th-19th 2023, in Cincinnati, Ohio. For more information or 10% off tickets, please go to: EconoMe Conference and use discount code: AFFORDANYTHING. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#399: Bella is SO CLOSE to reaching F.I.R.E and is worried about her withdrawal rate if the stock market drops. If the stock market does drop, can she withdraw as much as she had originally planned?Sam has been investing for several decades and thinks that he should stay invested in his portfolio, despite the recent drop in value…but he is still wondering if there’s a chance that he should sell.Meisha is making more money at her new job but can’t contribute to her 401(k) for the first six months - what should she do with her extra money in this interim??Kyria is a young investor with multiple goals: she’s wondering how to best save for a downpayment without it being eroded by inflation and also whether her investment choices should take on more risk, since time is on her side.Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.Enjoy!P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode399 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#398: Chris Hutchins is an avid life hacker, a financial optimizer and the host of the top ranked podcast “All The Hacks”, where he shares his quest to upgrade his life without having to spend a fortune.These passions have led him to being featured in a documentary on financial Independence called “Playing with FIRE” and collecting millions of points and miles.If you want to learn more about optimizing your spend so that you can travel with less of an impact to your bank account, you’ll want to hear what Chris has to say.Timing of discussion points as per August 2022:04:13: Is travel hacking a good use of time?08:15: What is the simple path to optimizing spend?09:108: Why focus on one rewards program?10:46: Why are there recommendations for transferable point programs and what are the benefits of co branded cards?18:08: How can the value of points or miles be estimated?22:08: Is the best redemption value in booking business class international flights?32:34: How do you know the best flight to book for optimal redemption?37:00: What is the difference between airline miles and credit card points?38:25: What is a “positioning” flight and how do I utilize this strategy?47:42: What is the process for choosing flights based on reward redemptions?57:15: What are the best ways to boost an existing points balance?1:02:12: Discussion on credit cards with crypto rewards…1:04:17: Tips for those who want deals but don’t want to work with miles or points…For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode398 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#397: Nic’s parents are forced to confront earlier than anticipated retirement…and they aren’t financially prepared. Now, a bank is offering to buy a part of their mortgage or a part of their house. Is this a scam?!Jon from Colorado is curious about after tax contributions to a Roth 401k, and would like us to talk about why we wouldn’t recommend it.Anna is househacking, and she locked down an awesome interest rate. But, she’s still carrying PMI and is wondering if there’s a way to remove the PMI without refinancing.Courtney from Denver is a real estate investor who wants to invest in new locations, and wants tips on building out her network.Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.Enjoy!P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode397 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#396: International best selling author and leadership speaker, Julie Winkle Giulioni, talks through a multidimensional career framework that features eight dimensions of career development.She spells out how to apply the dimensions of contribution, competence, connection, confidence, challenge, contentment, choice and climb to different parts of your professional life, whether that’s assessing your current job, navigating a conversation with your superior or setting yourself up for the next progression.In this episode, we cover:01:15: Introducing the topic of optimizing engagement at work05:02: The “Why” behind the Great Resignation07:28: How to feel like you’re making a true contribution14:01:The need to increase competence for growth16:03: Solving for boredom with your superior23:16: Forging connections in the era of remote work32:18: Enhancing confidence and imposter syndrome38:36: Appreciating the role of contentment in the workplace39:18: The dimensions of choice and climbEnjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode396 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices