Afford Anything

#283: Andrea’s parents have a seemingly salesly financial advisor. He tried to get them to purchase a second life insurance policy, among other potentially pushy moves. Are her parents better off without his advice?Teresa can’t shake the feeling that the stock market is more of a gamble than an investment. Is there any advantage to holding funds for the long-run if the market drops and you lose your gains?June is curious about the best college planning strategies for families who are working toward, or close to, financial independence. How can you help your children while securing your financial future?Big Sister’s little sister rents a mobile home in an area she loves. The owner wants to sell, but her little sister might not obtain financing. Should Big Sister buy the property and sell it to her via seller financing?Managing for Mom in Massachusetts has an investment strategy that he wants to run by us. Does it make sense to shift a 50/50 stocks and bonds portfolio to 100 percent stocks, and shift back to a 50/50 split after the market returns to pre-pandemic numbers?My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer these questions. Enjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/283 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With the uncertainty of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) looming before us, many are asking: How can we plan for healthcare - now and in the future? How much will I need to save to cover healthcare in retirement? What can I do if I can't afford the expensive premiums?  As a community of entrepreneurs and early retirees, this is a major concern. To help us understand the healthcare landscape, Tanja Hester, author of Work Optional and the blog Our Next Life, joins us. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/psathursday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#282: Alan Donegan is the cofounder of PopUp Business School.His mission is to change the way entrepreneurship is taught and to make it more accessible. If you’ve daydreamed of starting a side hustle, Alan’s simple advice and actions will give you the knowledge you need to get started now.You’ll know if your idea is viable within a month.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode282 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After a brief hiatus, PSA Thursday is back! For this episode, we take a short break from covering current events to 1) reflect on why this show exists, and 2) give you a sneak peek of future PSA Thursday episodes. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/psathursday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#281: Annie Duke, best-selling author of Thinking In Bets and former world champion poker professional, discusses the decision making strategies and tools outlined in her new book, How to Decide. Learn how to make quicker decisions, overcome hindsight bias, make decisions with incomplete information, and improve your decision making skills.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode281 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#280: Amy and her husband have $900,000 saved for retirement. They’re 40 years old and plan to retire at 65. Due to a job change + pay cut, they might only have $10,000 per year to save for the next 25 years. Will this be enough, given their yearly expenses of $144,000?Janie wants to get a solar power system for her house, but isn’t sure how to pay for it. Should she borrow funds from her seven-month emergency fund, or use funds from a taxable brokerage account that were earmarked for retirement?CJ and his wife netted $200,000 from the sale of their home. They aren’t sure when they’ll purchase their next home – their timeline could be as short as three years or as long as six years. Where should they keep the $200,000 to use towards a downpayment on their next home?Brandon wants to retire in the next five to ten years. He contributes 20 percent to his Roth 401k. Since he can’t withdraw those contributions early, does it make more sense to contribute up to the match of his 401k and invest the rest in an IRA with the goal of doing a Roth conversion?Anonymous “am I missing out?” wants to know the deal with tax-loss harvesting. When is it worthwhile?My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode280 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#279: You might know several decision-making principles, but do you have a step-by-step strategy that pieces those principles together?Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is an internationally-recognized thought leader on decision-making strategies. He shares two decision-making techniques for any aspect of your life in this episode.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode279 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#278: Does this sound like you?You want to exercise, but you can never find the time for a workout. Eventually, you grow tired of putting exercise off. You commit to working out every morning. You become so enthusiastic, you buy new gym clothes for the occasion.Your enthusiasm carries you for five days, and on day six, you’re swamped with work. You promise yourself you’ll exercise tomorrow - after all, taking a break for one day won’t hurt. And then … you never get back on the wagon. The cycle repeats.Most habits and routines start with good intentions. But good intentions aren’t enough to carry you through tough times. Good intentions aren’t enough to overcome the excuses you’ll make, either.That’s what today’s guest, Gretchen Rubin, is here to explore.Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies. She joins us on the podcast to discuss the loopholes that we use - the excuses that we make - when it comes to breaking bad habits and forming good habits. Why is this important? The more aware we are of loopholes, the better we can resist them.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode278 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#277: Michelle Singletary writes The Color of Money, for The Washington Post and is a winner of the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award. Her column is syndicated in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. She’s the author of three finance books and holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.But her strongest financial education came from her grandmother.Her grandmother raised five grandchildren while working full-time as a Nursing Assistant at a hospital. She earned $13,000 per year, but never took welfare, was never late on a bill, and “handled her money like a pro.”In this podcast episode, Michelle shares timeless financial lessons she learned from her grandmother, including:Save from every penny or dollar you receiveLive below your meansHate debt like it’s the devilSave for the futureDon’t buy more than you can affordDon’t care about what other people think about what you wear or driveMichelle’s grandmother taught her resourcefulness, humility and the value of a strong work ethic.Michelle joins us to chat about the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement, emotional spending, how her experience growing up poor gives her a unique perspective in financial media, and the falsehood behind the phrase “it’s not what you earn, it’s what you save.”You’ll enjoy this episode if…You’re new to the world of personal finance or FIRE and want to learn more about the basics. (#lessonsfromgrandma)You can’t relate to some of the discussion around FIRE because it seems unachievable to you.You love down-to-earth guests who tell it like it is.For more, visit https://affordanything.com/episode277 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#276: Have you found yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media feeds over the last few months? Have you also found yourself in a state of sadness, anxiety, or aggravation afterwards?We live in an increasingly noisy world. A world in which many of us use social media, or the internet in general, to escape. But our escapes often leave us feeling empty and annoyed at ourselves for wasting several hours of precious time.Here’s one possible remedy for this tiring, relentless cycle: embrace the philosophy of digital minimalism."Okay, I’m in. But...what’s digital minimalism?"Digital minimalism is a term coined by Dr. Cal Newport, today’s guest.It describes a three-step process: Cull the time you spend staring at a screen Spend more time on digital activities that align with your values Ignore everything else For more information, visit https://affordanything.com/episode276 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices