Afford Anything

#412: Taylor recently graduated. She wants to reach financial independence as soon as possible. What should she do first: invest or repay low-interest debt?Carter doesn’t want to pay too much for his investments. He’s worried about the tax drag. He wants to know how to improve cost efficiency in his portfolio. How should he manage decisions about basis points, dividends and capital gains?Our first anonymous caller has been working and investing for a decade. Today her portfolio is large enough that she and her husband can finally take a mini-retirement.They’d like to rebalance their portfolio. They want it to reflect the fact that they won’t be working for a while. They’d also like to calculate how much money they need to travel with their children. How should they handle this?Our second anonymous caller is worried that their portfolio is out-of-whack. Their money is in a target date retirement fund. They’d like to move some of it to a three-fund portfolio. But this is a scary time to sell. Stocks are low. What should they do?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

#411: In the final installment of this two-part mini-series, we walk you through becoming a subject matter expert in your investment city of choice.We discuss who you should talk to, where you can find them and what you should talk to them about.Timing of discussion points as of November 2022:06:11: Who you should talk to 10:09: Why conversations with non- real estate professionals are important11:49: Where to meet other real estate investors13:19: Expanding your network, character due diligence and making friends13:59: Thinking through others cognitive biases15:56: Potential implications of neighborhoods with “good cash flow”20:57: An example of objective feedback29:40: Dumpsters, sewers, permits and problems: Other specifics to discussFor more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode411 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#410: You face plenty of problems.But you have a scarcity of good solutions.Stanford Professor Jeremy Utley can help.He says that solving complex problems requires creativity. And creativity comes from deliberate practice.It’s not an innate talent. It’s a skill. And it’s useful in any occupation, from accounting to zookeeping.Jeremy speaks and writes on the history of invention, discovery, creativity, and innovation. He also leads Stanford d.school's work with professionals.Today he talks to us about how some of the greatest innovators produce new ideas. He tells us about their creative process.He describes how researchers and authors improve their skills.And he shares pointers to help you understand how to do the same.Timing of discussion points as per November 2022:3:00: How to focus while staying open to creativity6:23: Definition of creativity14:02: Different cognitive biases faced17:35: The idea quota19:28: Where ideas come from: the Lego analogy 21:32: How Ben Franklin honed his creativity28:36: Capturing inspiration46:04: The importance of reviewing the problems in your life50:24: The roles of creative collaboration and distributed reasoning54:49: The argument for quantity over quality 56:07: The value of bad ideasFor more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode410 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#409: Liz and her husband are planning to retire in 5 to 10 years. They have rental income properties, but Liz is bored of managing these, and she’s intrigued by the idea of buying stocks at a discount when the market is low. Should she sell her rental properties and use the money to buy stocks instead?Rebecca is a high income earner and thinking about investing in a Roth 401k … but she’s scared of how much she’ll have to pay in taxes. Should she do it anyway?Anonymous made big changes last year: she got a new career AND sold a house! Now she needs help figuring out capital gains and lowering how much she’ll have to pay in taxes … and she won’t have access to her company’s 401K for most of the year.Kyle and his wife are moving into their dream home! What should they do with their current place?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

#408: When Kiersten and Julian Saunders began dating in 2012, they fell in love quickly, and their relationship felt strong – until they started talking about money.They broke up as a result of their first money conversation.Luckily, they got back together, figured out how to have tough conversations, and paid off $200,000 in debt over the next five years.Then they started thinking about how to hack their careers. They came up with a plan for a 15-year career.Today, they join us on the podcast to talk about the 15-year career framework and how to approach your career - and your finances - in 5 year stints.Timing of discussion points as per October 2022:00:25: Introduction to Kiersten and Julien Saunders02:05: The money conversation that changed everything11:25: Examples of interaction patterns around money discussions12:08: Tactics to continue difficult money conversations16:18: Starting a 15-year career17:48: The focus of the first five years: your financial foundation18:17: Transitioning to the second five years and defining your super power at work18:50: Building your exit plan in the last five years22:57: Thinking about side hustles and the factors of urgency and upside24:29: How does a person know how to make money29:28: Maintaining momentum towards your goals over the 15 year time span31:37: Is it possible to accelerate the 15 year timeline?35:12: Thinking about risk after your career Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#407: Ionnie wants to vet her tax professional as diligently as she assesses her financial advisor – how should she go about doing that?Anonymous needs a career change, and she needs help figuring out how to approach the decision making process when choosing and preparing for her next field of employmentMM prefers the simple path to wealth and investing in real estate but is looking for more information on a more intentional and selective approach to investing.Ingrid calls in to ask whether she should include her rental income when trying to figure out how much she can contribute to her Roth IRA.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

#406: In this two-part episode, we first tackle the data points needed to assess various investment locations within your city of choice.We will cover seven specific neighborhood characteristics to review before diving into deal finding, and three things to look at once you've found a specific deal to evaluate.Then, we interview Kristen Lazure, the producer behind the Netflix movie "Get Smart With Money". The movie follows 4 financial coaches — Tiffany Aliche, Peter Adeney, Ross Mac and myself — as we help four people who are struggling with some aspect of their financial lives.Tune in for behind-the-scenes movie insights and enjoy today's episode!Timing of discussion points as per October 2022:01: 49: Topic introduction04:03: Tip on visualizing the data06:00: Current and future locations of employers11:55: Impact of the local business landscape and housing prices13:22: Investments from municipalities15:02: The importance of school districts16:28: Adjusting location evaluations based on strategy18:57: Understanding the crime landscape, flood plains and walk scores29:28: Introduction to Kristin Lazure and Get Smart With Money discussion Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#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