Afford Anything

#324: Rob and his fiancé are grappling with what to do about her $400,000 of federal student loan debt. Should they pay it off immediately, or bank on a 20-year dismissal?“Nurse Dreaming of FI” isn’t sure what her family’s next financial move should be. She’s torn between investing extra money into index funds, or using it to buy a fix-and-flip. Her goal is to make work optional. Which path will lead her there?Daniel recently discovered the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement and got a job earning $50,000 per year. He wants to househack a duplex to get closer to FIRE, but how the heck can he find anything in this seller’s market?Anonymous and her husband have 457s with the City of Chicago. However, they found out that Illinois has a horrible credit rating. How can they - and should they - protect their funds? How much should they rely on their pensions?Nick is curious: how have my views on wholesalers changed over the years, and why?My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to answer these questions today.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode324 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#323: Brad and Jonathan from ChooseFI join us for a deep philosophical and practical discussion around what we learned from 2020. We explore... What the pandemic taught us about work, finance, and life The importance of being mentally and logistically nimble and flexible The distinction between directionality vs methodology What we’ve learned about how to get a job, what type of education to get, and what to do with the rest of our lives For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode323 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#322: Jess wants to reach financial independence by the time she’s 50. But she’s worried that she doesn’t have enough money in cash or taxable brokerage accounts to bridge the gap in her first few years of retirement. What moves should she make, if any?Yisell wants to invest money now. Should she cash out her $70,000 pension in hopes to generate more than the $1,000 per month she’s guaranteed from it?Abbey is 22 and she would like to go back to graduate school for nurse anesthesia. Should she save up and pay for it in cash, or invest her money and take out federal loans?Eliana enjoyed our interview with Paul Merriman on the two-fund portfolio. She’s curious about what growth stocks and value stocks are, and how they fit into a passive index fund investing strategy.Finally, Sneezy wants to know: why aren’t stocks a good hedge against inflation?My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode322 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#321: Have you dreamed of making a career transition, only to realize you have no idea where to start, who to talk to, or how to convey your skills to interviewers? Career expert Ashley Stahl has the information you need to take control of your career and pivot into something new.Ashley struggled with this, too -- but in the process, she figured out a system for identifying someone’s core skills and core nature to find a career and company more aligned with both.She also chats about the 10 core skill sets you can use to propel your career forward; the five root causes of burnout and what to do about them; and four sabotaging job hunting myths that can hold you back.If you enjoyed our interview with Gorick Ng, you’ll like this one.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode321 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#320: Rob is hoping to retire at age 60, but he has a pesky mortgage balance he wants to eliminate beforehand. He and his wife expect to inherit $300,000. Should they use this money to pay off their mortgage or should they bulk up their retirement accounts?Another anonymous caller has two separate questions. One is about the tax efficiencies of ETFs vs. mutual funds, while the other is about Ginny Mae funds and whether there are bond funds that have an inverse relationship with equities.Priya is looking for information on home equity loans: where can you get the best terms, and what are the disadvantages? Additionally, she’d like to know which city is best for rental investing: Atlanta, Dallas, or Raleigh?My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me on the show to answer your questions. Let’s dive in!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode320 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#319: Julia Galef is an acclaimed expert on rational decision making. She’s hosted the Rationally Speaking podcast for the last decade, and she’s passionate about good reasoning. Her book, The Scout Mindset, highlights the importance of looking at situations objectively and honestly. This is something a lot of people struggle with -- humans are often irrational -- but Julia argues that this is a skill that we can develop with self-awareness. In this interview, she shares the difference between what she calls a soldier mindset versus a scout mindset. She explains why we often default to the soldier mindset of defending ideas we desperately want to believe, and details several thought exercises that we can use to instead train our brains to scout for the truth.Good decision making and ensuring you look for high quality sources of information can help when weighing trade-offs, and it can also save you from making costly investment mistakes. Julia and I also discuss specific examples of when having a scout mindset can prevent you from risk of ruin.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode319 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#318: Joe is a new real estate agent and he’s looking for ways to save. Is opening a SEP IRA a good account when you’re no longer a W2 employee?Grace has a similar concern: she’s a tutor, but she’s paid as a contractor. Should she forget about her Vanguard brokerage account and open a SEP IRA or Solo 401k?Kim is newly divorced and celebrating the freedom to make her own financial decisions. She’s struggling to make a living -- also as a new realtor -- and wants to get started with real estate...but how can she do that on limited funds?Kim also wants to know: should she move her funds from an actively managed Fidelity IRA to a Vanguard Roth IRA?Chaz is 22 and has $2,100 - $2,500 left each month to put toward savings. Where should he keep this money if he’d like to move out-of-state in the near future?Anonymous just got a raise, and while awesome, it might push her income to a level that prohibits her from making full Roth IRA contributions. Should she make a partial contribution this year, or start adding money to a Traditional IRA to do a backdoor conversion?My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to tackle these questions. Let’s dive in!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode318 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#317: What if work and life can coexist together - without enormous trade-offs? What if all you have to do is ruthlessly prioritize within each area and manage the rest with automation and delegation?If it sounds like a pipedream, it’s not.Guests Michael Hyatt & Megan Hyatt Miller, authors of Win at Work & Succeed at Life, share how work/life balance is more achievable than you think. They also discuss how constraints increase productivity, why working over 40 hours a week can harm your mental and physical health, why rest is critical, and how self-care can give you an edge at work.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode317 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#316: Pauly from Portland doubled the inheritance money he received from $50,000 to $100,000 during the pandemic. Now he’s wondering if it’s okay to use this $100,000 as a downpayment on a home in Portland. Is that a wise use of the money?Preethi accidentally withdrew funds from her Roth IRA as an excess distribution, and she’s already filed her taxes. What should she know for tax time next year?Michele wants to reach financial independence (FI), and her grandparents are leaving her their house. She already owns a home, and she’s torn between six potential options that will propel her toward FI. What should she do?Casey is in the market for a second rental property and wants to know: would we recommend purchasing a rental in a complex where she already owns a condo? Or should she diversify into a different complex in a different, nearby, more stable town?Fred doesn’t have access to a workplace retirement plan. Besides opening a Roth IRA, what else can Fred do to juice up his retirement savings?My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to answer these questions on today’s show. Enjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode316 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#315: Do you ever grapple with the differences between your present self and your ideal self?Katy Milkman, host of the Choiceology podcast and the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, shares the science of getting from where you are now to where you want to be. Her book, How to Change, is a “science-based blueprint for achieving your goals, once and for all.”In this discussion, Katy reveals Why your strategy is key to making lasting change How we can pick the right strategy for our circumstances The handful of science-backed tactics that bridge the gap between our present selves and ideal selves For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode315 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices