Afford Anything

#273: Dr. Dan Ariely, famed behavioral economist and best-selling author of Predictably Irrational, returns to discuss how to handle the emotional and financial volatility of 2020.Specifically: Preparing for a job loss The value of resilience Handling emotional spending Cutting through the noise to find a signal. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode273 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Andy Hill, father of two and founder of Marriage, Kids, and Money, joins us to discuss parental burnout in the midst of the pandemic. He shares his best tips on creating a family schedule, learning to embrace the reality of working from home with interruptions, and maintaining sanity as kids venture back to school - all while being a good enough parent and partner. For more PSA Thursday episodes, go to https://affordanything.com/psathursday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#272: “Anonymous Moving-Back-home” and her partner earn $150,000 per year after taxes. They’re currently saving 80 percent by living with family. What should they do with their savings?Leigh and her husband are three years away from retirement. They have an extra $50,000 in income this year and plenty of options for where to invest this money. Which one is the best?Kelsey doesn’t feel comfortable investing in total stock market index funds and would rather invest in ESG funds. How can she tell if she has the necessary $2,000 invested in a company to submit a proposal to participate in a proxy voting? Also, Vanguard has a poor history of supporting shareholder resolutions. What can we do about this?Dylan and his wife rolled her 401k into a rollover IRA with pre-tax contributions. They’ve continued contributing to this IRA with post-tax contributions. Should they separate the accounts, or can they worry about this when they’re ready to retire?Anonymous wants to buy and househack one duplex every year to achieve financial independence and leave his office job within the next three to four years. Is his plan realistic?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/episode272 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Millions of people are in financial limbo now that the $600 supplemental federal unemployment benefit has expired. The new $300 supplemental benefit is slooowly getting approved by FEMA, state-by-state, through an excruciatingly snail-like process, and you might not have time to wait. This episode will help you take action. We cover how to think about the ways in which you can earn extra income and decide which path is best for you. For more information, check out our guide at https://affordanything.com/extraincome Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#271: Dr. Wade Pfau, one of the foremost experts in the academic field of retirement planning, joins us to talk about how the events of 2020 might impact your retirement plans. If you’re wondering if you need to change your investing strategy, Wade’s recommendations may fascinate you.Watch out! These are NOT the recommendations you’re expecting from a typical financial independence retire early show. Prepare to be caught off-guard by what he says.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode271 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#270: Briana and her husband want to buy a home, but they don’t have enough saved for a downpayment. They also have student loan debt and a car loan. Which should they prioritize?Javier is sick of being in debt. What can he do to put himself in a better situation?Tracie wants to buy her first rental property, but she has student loans and a car loan to pay off. If she receives $20,000 from a cash-out refi, how should she use this money?Vanitha wants to start a non-profit organization in memory of her uncle. She wants to know: what does this process look like?Margie went under contract on a primary residence listed as a six-bedroom property. She found out that, legally, it’s a four-bedroom home. Should she re-negotiate the price, or ask for credits at closing?I answer these questions in today’s episode. Enjoy!For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode270 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#269: Are you scared to take the first step toward the habits that you want to build? Do you believe in your ability to change? Or are you completely lost as to where to start?Charles Duhigg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author of the best-selling books The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better, and host of the How To! podcast, joins us to tackle these questions. By asking “why” instead of “how,” layer-by-layer we can reveal the factors that truly hold us back from taking action.For more, go to https://affordanything.com/episode269 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you have school-age children? If so, then brace yourself for a school year like no other. This year, some children will return to school five days a week. Others will learn from home five days a week, and yet others will experience a hybrid of the two. You and your kids may face wildly different schedules and challenges than anything you've encountered before. How can you cope with this? Mandy Bert and Rob Phelan, who both work as teachers and are on the K-12 Education Team at the ChooseFI International Foundation, join us to share tips to help your children - and you! - survive the school year. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/psathursday Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#268: Natasha has $3,300 per month to either invest or use toward an early mortgage payoff. Which option should she choose?An anonymous caller and military member wants to know if she should move money from a USAA brokerage to Vanguard to pay less in fees. Her goal is to retire in 12 years with $3,000/month in passive income from rental properties, which will supplement her military pension. Should she only contribute to her TSP up to the match, and invest the rest in rentals?Chaim and his wife live in the Middle East and have $30,000 in a U.S. bank account. However, they don’t plan to relocate. How can they best use this money?June and her husband are in a sticky situation: they bought their dream house in Michigan last winter, ahead of plans to relocate there. June lives there with their kids, but her husband is unable to find a job despite the numerous contacts he has in the state. He currently works in a job that he dislikes in Southern California, living apart from his family. They’re currently a one-income family, though June has plans to open a firm in Michigan. What should they do?Anonymous in Portland has three questions: is a 75/25 US stock/international stock split aggressive? Is an S&P 500 index a close enough equivalent to a total US stock index? Is Betterment worth it for automatic tax harvesting?My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer these questions. Enjoy!For more, go to https://affordanything.com/episode268 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome back to PSA Thursday, a mostly-weekly segment (sometimes on Thursdays) in which we talk about how to handle money, work, and life in the middle of a pandemic. This week, we continue the conversation on what landlords can do to create and maintain open lines of communication with tenants. Doing so can help you avoid a situation in which your tenants ghost you. If you find these tips helpful, head to https://affordanything.com/psalandlord to download word-for-word scripts you can use with your tenants. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices