Afford Anything

#224: Scott Young, author of Wall Street Journal best-selling book Ultralearning, talks about the 9 principles of Ultralearning, which can help you learn new skills, reinvent yourself, stay relevant, and adapt to whatever life throws at you. If you think you know the best way to learn something, think again. This book will challenge your assumptions. Whether you want to develop hard skills to become more valuable at your job, soft skills for your journey to self-improvement, or you want to honor your love for learning, these 9 principles will help you become more effective at developing new skills. If you enjoyed my interviews with James Clear or Cal Newport, you’ll enjoy this one. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode224  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#223: Elizabeth is curious to know: what does a good net worth breakdown look like? Is it appropriate to have a lot of your net worth tied up in real estate? Marie wants to start her own business, but she’s living paycheck-to-paycheck. Is incurring debt her only option to make this dream a reality? Bria wants to take a second mini-retirement and has a good chunk of money saved up. She wants to come back to the workforce with a cash cushion. What should she do with her money while traveling? Connor is facing a dilemma. Is he correct in not prioritizing 401k contributions given that his employer doesn’t offer a match, combined with his goal for financial independence? Is his strategy of using his savings for real estate investing better? Caroline is wondering: should she aggressively pay off her home and her rental properties, or use her excess savings to fund a brokerage account? Anonymous is relocating from Southern California to Florida. She wants to know if she should rent an apartment and buy a rental property, or buy a primary residence with the $150,000 she has saved. Today’s episode is full of exploring and weighing tradeoffs. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode223 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#222: Michael Robinson and his wife, Ellen, achieved financial independence at age 33. They ‘retired’ (they still enjoy working) three years later at age 36 on two five-figure incomes. Today, Michael and Ellen are raising their two children to be bilingual by slow traveling throughout Latin America. Michael and Ellen blog about their FIRE adventures at uncommondream.com. They believe that “the Uncommon Dream is the dream pursued – the dream met with planning, action, and sacrifice. With just a dream and those three tools, you can accomplish almost anything.” Today, Michael joins us on the show to talk about the seven ways that he and Ellen escaped the rat race and achieved FI at 33. If you enjoy hearing stories and case studies from people in this community who have reached FI, then you’ll love this interview. For the full show notes, go here: https://affordanything.com/episode222 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#221: Vanessa is curious about Fidelity and Vanguard. She asks: what are your thoughts on the no-fee Fidelity index funds? What are your opinions on Vanguard’s financial advisors? Andy wants to know: should my wife and I continue maxing out our traditional 401k and backdoor Roth IRA, or should we start contributing to the Roth 401k my employer offers? Kyle is wondering - how can he minimize his taxes when he earns $450,000/year? Rob is self-employed and has been maxing out a Roth IRA, but recently discovered that he can open a self-employed IRA. Should he move his Roth IRA money over, or just open a new account and fund it from scratch? Christina is torn. Her and her husband have been saving to buy a house, but because they live in New York, their savings won’t go very far. Is it a good idea for them to continue renting, despite their dreams? Mercedes is wondering how REITs compare to stocks and owning actual real estate. Additionally, she’d like to know more about Forex trading. Craig has an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). Since these tend to be risky, he’s wondering: is he better off moving the $25,000 that he puts towards the ESPP into mutual funds? Or is an ESPP a good way to diversify his funds? Myself and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, answer these questions in today’s episode. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode221 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#220: In a hectic world, stillness is the key to a calm, enjoyable life. That idea comes from Ryan Holiday, author of Stillness is The Key. Stillness is finding flow, staying present, and being impervious to the pressures of the outside world. It doesn’t mean removing yourself from society and sitting in a forest; to the contrary, many CEOs and world leaders have practiced remarkable stillness during times of crisis. Bestselling author Ryan Holiday discusses actionable tips on how to practice the art of stillness, as well as its applications to the pursuit of financial independence or any massive goal. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode220 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#219: Stella is working toward FIRE and wants to know: how can she create passive income in her retirement years? Is a portfolio with stocks and bonds enough, or should she invest in real estate? Travis and his wife are also on the FIRE path, and are comparing their investment options. Travis is concerned about the inefficiency of reinvesting returns in real estate. How can you factor this into your decision when buying a property? Stephanie and her husband are also interested in FIRE (hooray!) and they have $20,000 to invest. How can they best use this money to help them FIRE sooner? Cade, a 24-year-old listener, wants to FIRE by age 30 (we’re on a roll!). He’s saving $4,000/month and wants to know how to invest these savings. Anonymous and their partner are taking a mini-retirement and have questions surrounding the logistics of healthcare. What options should they consider? On a different note, Amanda works in academia. After listening to Episode 12, she’s looking for tips on managing long-term, complex collaborative projects now that she’s in a leadership position. Steve’s question brings us to the topic of building an online business and social media following. Should he have one brand for all of his interests, or divide these interests into separate channels? I tackle these questions in today’s episode of the show. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode219 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Kristen Berman, Co-founder of Irrational Labs, discusses why people behave irrationally with money. She highlights the importance of one-time decisions, simplifying decision-making, and pre-committing to financial goals. Kristen also explains the value of measuring process over outcomes and using accountability partners. She introduces the Three Bs - Behavior, Barriers, and Benefits, for better financial habits. The podcast explores strategies to automate behavior change, decrease friction in spending behavior, and finding the balance between simplifying and optimizing.

#217: It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m taking a break from podcast production and traveling the globe. In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts. Earlier this year, Cody and Justin from The FI Show interviewed me and asked some excellent questions about my journey to financial independence, entrepreneurship and passion, and minding the gap between your income and expenses. We talk about the importance of side hustling and how to create a well-paying job from your skills. We touch on real estate and why I chose this strategy to reach FI. We also discuss the bone I have to pick with the financial independence movement. Finally, we chat about what financial independence is really about, because it’s not about sipping margaritas on a beach. It’s about having the freedom to use your time in whatever way you want. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did! Thank you to Cody and Justin for giving us permission to air this interview. P.S. - Starting with the next episode, we’ll return to our usual routine of brand new interviews and Ask Paula episodes. :) For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode217 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#216: It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m taking a break from podcast production and traveling the globe. In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts.  Welcome to another episode from our archives! This one was recorded in March 2018, and Dr. Wade Pfau had a ton of insight into the four percent rule that so many of us are concerned with. First, here’s a brief history of how the four percent rule came to be.  In 1994, William Bengen decided to look at 30-year timespans throughout U.S. History, beginning with the year 1926.  He worked under the assumption that a retiree held 50 percent stocks (in the form of S&P 500 Index), and 50 percent bonds (intermediate-term government bonds).  He looked at two things: the worst-case scenario, and how much an investor could sustainably withdraw from their portfolio under that worst-case scenario.  The year 1966 ended up being one of the worst to retire during, and an investor could withdraw 4.15 percent during the first year, and 4.15 percent, adjusted for inflation, every subsequent year.  That is how the 4 percent rule came to be.  Dr. Wade Pfau, a Professor of Retirement Income at The American College of Financial Services, argues that the 4 percent rule may not be the end-all-be-all we think it is. He voices his hesitations and explains how you can determine how much you can afford to spend in retirement on this episode.  Enjoy! P.S. - We’ll return to our regular podcast production schedule in October!  For more information, visit the show notes at http://affordanything.com/216  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#215: We are really digging into the archives with today's episode. This originally aired back in 2016! Besides being another fun and fascinating interview, this is one of our most popular episodes. Which isn't surprising, given the topic we're exploring. :-) Financial independence means many things to many different people, which might be why we find it challenging to settle on a definition that everyone can agree on. Regardless of what your personal definition is, Joshua Sheats, a financial planner and host of the well-known Radical Personal Finance podcast, says that financial independence can be separated into seven stages. We explore these seven stages of FI in this episode, and we also talk about how to enjoy the journey no matter what stage you're at. Enjoy! For details, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/stages-financial-independence-joshua-sheats/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices