#169: Happy New Years! To kickoff 2019, we've created a free book called One Tweak a Week, outlining 26 easy, actionable ways that you can improve your financial life. Today's podcast episode covers these 26 tweaks, so you can listen in audio format, in addition to reading the book. If you put these into action for the first six months of 2019, you'll be in a more stronger position in June than you started in January. Each tweak takes less than one hour (some are as quick as five minutes), and taken together, these tweaks can accumulate into a serious impact. Improve your money management and get closer to financial independence with our free book, One Tweak a Week. You can download it here: https://affordanything.com/2019  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#168: You can do anything, but not everything ... and definitely not everything at the same time. How can you optimize your time and energy? How do you choose what's worthwhile and what's a waste of time? How can you eliminate small decisions so that your mind is free to focus on the few choices that make a massive 10x impact? How can you spend less time struggling with your Inbox, and more time on long-term projects that can boost your income? When inspiration strikes or new opportunities present themselves, how can you decide whether or not this new project is worth your time? What's the difference between being efficient vs. being effective? How can you eliminate distractions? Can you train yourself to pay attention to important tasks, rather than getting distracted by Facebook, email, television and other time-wasters? When is it okay to relax? And what are the keys to a great morning routine? In today's episode, productivity expert Mike Vardy describes his answers to these questions. Here are five of the nine takeaways from today's episode: 1) Eliminate decisions. Don't waste your time and energy deciding what to work on; create a system that makes this decision for you in advance, and review that system periodically. Your decisions, therefore, are focused on the system, not the daily tasks inside of it. 2) Create boundaries, so that you know your limits, and also don't be afraid to break them. Boundaries are a guidepost, not a strict law. 3) Rather than setting New Years Resolutions, choose three words that will be the "theme" of your year. These words will be the values that guide your decisions throughout the year, helping you identify what projects to undertake and which ones to defer or decline. 4) Time-management tactics are really meant to be a compass. The purpose of "productivity hacks" is not tactical task-management; it's strategic decision-making. 5) Productivity is not about getting things done. It's about aligning your attention with your intentions. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode168  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#167: Angelisa is a college senior with $30,000 in student loans. She has a part-time job, from which she’s saved $2,500. Should she keep saving money, or should she get a headstart on paying down her student loans while she’s in school? Mackenzie is also a college senior with some student loans. She recently received a settlement from a car accident. Should she invest this money? If so, how? Franchesca is 35 and is carrying $212,000 in debt, mostly student loans. Could she reach financial independence, even with a late start? Erica wants to make environmentally-friendly investments. How should she approach this? Caroline is 42 and has started making after-tax (non-Roth) 401k contributions. Is this a good idea? Schaffer is curious about podcasting. How did I get started? I answer these six questions on today’s podcast episode, alongside former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/167  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#166: Michelle Singletary learned everything she knows about money from her grandmother.Well, okay, I shouldn't say "everything" that she knows. After all, Michelle also has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. She writes about personal finance for the Washington Post. Her nationally-syndicated personal finance column, The Color of Money, is published in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. She's written three financial books.  Michelle has been learning, thinking, writing, researching and speaking about money management for decades. Yet the most important education she received, she says, came from the lessons her grandmother taught her. Today, Michelle joins us on the Afford Anything podcast to talk about what she learned about financial independence, and her views on the FIRE movement.For more information, visit the show notes at http://affordanything.com/episode166  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#165: Should Kim, an entrepreneur, invest in index funds or rental properties? Should Nick, an MBA student, househack into a more-expensive home with stronger cash flow, or a cheaper home with more budgetary wiggle room? Should Kelly, who is getting married soon, sell her current home and use the proceeds to buy multiple rentals? Or should she use her current home as a rental property? Should Trayci and her sister invest in rental properties or bare land? I answer these four questions in today’s episode. We’re a weekly show, but on the first Friday of the month, we air a bonus episode. This is our December 2018 First Friday Bonus Episode. Enjoy! More resources and be found at https://affordanything.com/episode165  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#164: As an entrepreneur, Bob Lotich loves growing and expanding. But after a particularly stressful year, he realized he had burned out. He woke up one Monday morning and, for the first time since he’d started self-employment, he realized he didn’t want to go to work. This was a new and uncomfortable feeling. He decided to take a mini-retirement. He had taken long breaks before. In the past, Bob had taken a full month off of work. This time, he wanted to a more ambitious break. He wanted to take a quarter off. He went to his whiteboard. He wrote the goal “take a sabbatical,” intending for this to last for three months. But then he paused. He wondered if he spelled the word “sabbatical” correctly. He Googled the word, then started reading about the concept. Bob learned that a sabbatical is historically a one-year break. Hmmm. That’s when he changed direction. Bob Lotich shares the reasons he decided to take a full year off work. For more information, visit the show notes at http://affordanything.com/episode164  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#163: Does my employer match count against my 401k contribution limits? Should I invest in a Traditional or Roth TSP? Should I invest more aggressively in stocks right now, or should I hold cash and bonds until the next downturn? Should I get a mortgage or keep renting until I can buy a home in cash? Do you think index investing will dramatically change in the coming decades? Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer these four questions in today’s episode. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode163 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#162: How will artificial intelligence, AI, impact jobs? Former Harvard president and leading economist Larry Summers predicts that one-third of men will be out of work by 2050. Finance guru Suze Orman says not to be surprised if we see 25 percent unemployment by 2030. And major research institutions predict anywhere from 14 percent to 50 percent unemployment. But could this really be possible? Or is everyone panicking about what will essentially be a shift in the types of jobs that people hold — reminiscent of our shift from farm to factory, and from factory to office — but not an actual net job loss? To answer these questions, we talk to Darrell West, author of The Future of Work, about artificial intelligence, robots, and the future of jobs.   For more information, visit the full show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode162  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#161: Matt is interested in achieving financial independence, and he wants to encourage his friends to pursue the same goal. What podcast episodes provide a light, digestible introduction to the world of financial independence and retiring early? Daniel wonders why everyone pursuing financial independence seems to have a blog or podcast about this topic. Is the purpose of FIRE to sit around writing and talking about how you’re FIRE? If so, then what’s the point? Tom is an entrepreneur with an LLC in California. Should he buy a rental property through that LLC? Anonymous from California wants to know how I decide whether to use a property manager vs. self-manage my rental properties. She also wants to know how to estimate the cost of repairs and maintenance. And how should the tax benefits of rental properties play a role in choosing a property? Brett owns a rental property in Las Vegas, which used to be his primary residence. He’s getting a strong cap rate but a marginal return on equity. Should he hold the property in the hopes that it will rise in value? Or should he sell the property? Anonymous is an Indian citizen who lives in California on an H1-B visa. There’s a chance that his visa won’t be renewed, which means he’ll need to move back to India. What should he do with his rental properties? Can he manage his properties from another country? If so, should he purchase more? I answer these six questions in today’s episode. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode161 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#160: When Jonathan Mendonsa was 18, he researched which college degrees lead to the highest income. Pharmacy was near the top of the list of high-paying degrees, so Jonathan decided to become a pharmacist. He wasn't motivated by passion or calling. His decision was purely tactical. He wanted to make money. He spent four years in college, followed by another four years of graduate school. By age 28, he held a Doctorate in Pharmacy and an astounding $168,000 in debt. This debt burden might have been bearable if Jonathan loved his chosen profession. For people who love their fields, tuition is the price of being able to enjoy a lifetime of work they love. Unfortunately, that wasn't Jonathan's story. He never held a passion for pharmacy; he viewed it purely as a means to an end. Perhaps it wasn't surprising, then, that shortly after becoming a pharmacist, he realized that this wasn't what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to change careers. He wanted to pursue more meaningful, fun, interesting work. He spent the next four years repaying his student debt. And finally, at age 32, he brought his net worth up to zero. _____ Brad Barrett wasn't thinking about income when he chose his profession. He had received acceptance letters to some Ivy League schools, but he wanted to graduate from college debt-free, so he enrolled at the University of Richmond, which gave him a partial scholarship. While studying there, Brad encountered an accounting professor who challenged him and his classmates in the best possible ways.  Brad felt inspired to major in accounting. His decision didn't come from a rigorous analysis of lifetime income potential. He wasn't scrutinizing labor statistics spreadsheets. He was simply following a route that he found fascinating. After he received his undergraduate degree, Brad decided not to enroll in any further education. Instead, he started working for one of the Big Five accounting firms, with a starting salary in the low $40,000's. He and his future wife both lived at home with their parents for the first few years of their professional life, which allowed each of them to save dramatic amounts. Brad saved more than 90 percent of his after-tax income.  Perhaps it's not surprising that the couple, who now have two children, are financially independent. ____ Both Jonathan and Brad are college-educated professionals in their thirties. They both live in Richmond, Virginia. They're both married with children (Jonathan has a son; Brad has two daughters). Yet their stories could not be more different. What can we learn about careers, work, income, spending, and financial independence from their life experiences? Find out in today's podcast interview with Jonathan and Brad, the co-hosts of the ChooseFI podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices