Afford Anything

#337: Meet Kristen Berman, a top researcher in the field of behavioral economics. She’s the co-founder of Irrational Labs, which designs products that are evidence-based in the behavioral sciences.Her co-founder, Dan Ariely, is the James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, and one of the most famous behavioral economists in the world.Here are some of the (counterintuitive!) ideas that Kristen shares: Habits are overrated. Automate instead Budgeting doesn’t change your spending behavior Commit in advance Forget about the outcome Focus on the process You need accountability Think about the Three B’s: behavior, barriers and benefits Tune into this episode to hear Kristen elaborate on these research-backed, evidence-based ideas about how to improve our spending, saving and investing habits.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode337*Note: This interview originally aired in October 2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#336: Anonymous and his partner have a one-bedroom condo that they rent out in Pasadena, CA. The problem? They’re barely breaking even. Should they keep the condo, or sell it and make better use of the profits?Sam wants to know: how much of an emergency fund does a rental property need?Michael and his wife expect their taxable income to be less than $10,000 this year. Should Michael (age 56) take distributions from his 401k to minimize or eliminate their income tax burden?Shanon wants to switch to an ethical bank with values that align with hers. How can she create a framework for making decisions about financial institutions when authentic information is scarce?Sharon's husband purchased a property with a below-market loan in 2008. They now have an extra $4,000 per month, and Sharon wants to buy a property as a first-time buyer. They're torn between keeping the property or selling it. What should they do?Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.For more information and resources, go to https://affordanything.com/episode336 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#335: Have you ever spent years studying the wrong major, climbing the ladder at the wrong company, chasing the wrong career? Have you spent years living in the wrong city? Wrong relationship? Wrong lifestyle?It’s hard to discern what *we think we want* from what we really want.Society teaches us what we’re “supposed” to want. And we follow along.The result is keeping up with the Joneses. It’s the hedonic treadmill. It’s lifestyle inflation. And it causes conflict, both within ourselves and with others. Today’s guest, Luke Burgis, discusses mimetic desire — how our “wants” are imitative — and how we can find our deeper truths. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode335 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#334: In today’s episode, we answer three questions from a college senior named Rafael.He asks about productivity tools and tactics, student debt, Robinhood and market investing, and how to establish yourself as an expert in a given domain.We answer his questions by widening the lens.People often ask about productivity tools. “Do you use Asana or Trello?” But nobody asked Michelangelo what paintbrush he used to paint the Sistine Chapel. The discussion around tools misses the point, which is to master the craft.Sure, we answer his direct, overt questions. But we also dive deeper, refining these topics and exploring the questions *behind* his questions.This is an episode in which we peel layers off the onion.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode334 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#333: In the 1890s and early 1900’s, we had recessions every two years.From 2009 to 2020, we enjoyed an 11-year bull run, the longest bull run in history. And when we finally had a recession, it lasted only two months. It was the shortest recession in U.S. history.The duration between recessions is growing longer (these days, we average 10 years between recessions, as opposed to two years at the turn of the previous century).And when recessions strike, we recover faster. The average length of recessions is growing shorter.What does this mean? If we project these trends into the future, are we bound for the end of recessions?That’s the question that kicks off this discussion with Ben Carlson, Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritzhold Wealth Management and the host of the Animal Spirits podcast.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode333 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#332: Ginger’s financial independence (FI) number is $2 million, but she doesn’t want to fully retire early. Once she hits ‘coast’ FI, she wants to 1) buy her time back with outsourcing, 2) take a mini-retirement, and 3) buy a vacation home. Does it make sense for her to divert retirement contributions to these goals, or should she aim to save $2M?Wilson plans to have a two percent withdrawal rate in retirement. Given this low rate, should he go all-in on stocks? Or should he split up his retirement funds and invest one half conservatively and the other half aggressively?Jennifer has a low-stress doggie-daycare, but she needs a bigger space to scale up. How the heck can she find a property to suit her needs in Austin, TX?My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer another round of listener questions.(If you have questions on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing, leave them here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.)For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode332 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#331:Four thousand weeks.That’s how long we live if we’re lucky enough to celebrate our 80th birthday.We rarely think of our lifespan in terms of weeks. When we do, it seems painfully short.And that’s the point that Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, wants to drive home.Rather than fight a losing battle against time, Oliver recommends that we embrace our cosmic insignificance, redefine what a meaningful life looks like, choose what to fail at, burn bridges, and ruthlessly limit our works-in-progress.If the financial independence movement is a rebellion against trading the rest of our limited time for pay, Oliver’s unconventional view on time management is a rebellion against trading the rest of our limited time for an illusion of productivity.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode331  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#330: Linda is 58 and wondering how to account for her Social Security benefits when thinking through the 25x expenditure equation. Her expected expenses are $100,000 - $150,000. How can she figure out if she’s ready to retire?Alise has dreamed of living abroad for long periods of time and wants to buy a property in Portugal before the minimum spend requirement increases. Should she go through with this, or is there another way to gain dual citizenship or travel abroad for long periods of time?An anonymous lawyer from Colorado has $250,000 in a SEP-IRA account that’s invested in mutual funds with fees ranging from 0.61 percent to 1.06 percent. Fees on these funds are projected at $200,000 over the next 20 years. Should he and can he transfer these funds to another SEP-IRA account? What are the consequences of doing that?Mr. Man is eligible to retire with a full pension, health benefits, and social security at age 48. He has 20 years to go. Should he include his pension and social security benefits in his financial independence plan, or think of them as extras?Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode330 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#329: Have you ever thought about how an economist views financial planning? Would you guess that it's vastly different from how some financial planners approach this work?Today's guest, Laurence Kotlikoff, is a Professor of Economics at Boston University. The Economist named him one of the world's 25 most influential economists in 2014. Professor Kotlikoff has written 19 books, and hundreds of professional articles and Op-Eds.He's here to explain why economists take a different view than financial planners on investing, retirement planning, and risk mitigation.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode329 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#328: Sarah O Sahara’s parents sold their rentals and business of 24 years. They’d like to create a trust for their grandkids with boundaries in place to avoid entitlement. How should they structure this trust?Anonymous in Canada has a fully paid off condo that she wants to turn into a rental once her new townhome is ready. Should she mortgage against the condo to reduce the mortgage on her townhome? Are there any tax benefits to having a mortgage on a rental?Luis’s wife wants to start moonlighting in her field. Can she open and contribute to a Solo 401k even though she has a TSP account with her 9-to-5 employer?Russell and his partner want to emigrate to Canada in the near future. Should they move their investments into Canadian funds?Renee and her husband are in their 60s, and most of their retirement funds are in pre-tax accounts. They have federal tax credits they’d like to use to move these funds into taxable accounts. Is this a sound strategy?My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me once again to answer your questions. Enjoy!(Have an investing, entrepreneurship, lifestyle, or decision-making question you’d like us to answer? Submit it here!) Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices