Afford Anything

#237: Katie wants to know how to purchase a business that’s already cash-flow positive. What indicators can she look for?Rob will retire from the military with an inflation-adjusted pension. Does he need a bond allocation in his investment portfolio?Brian conquered a large sum of credit card debt, but still has student loan debt and a mortgage. Should he pay off his student loans, refinance them, or refinance his mortgage?Jeff is curious about the pros and cons of investment apps. When should you use them?Another Kati (without an e!) wants to live a healthy and wealthy life before she’s 70. Where should she allocate her savings so she can retire early?We answer these five questions in today’s episode.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode237 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#236: Kristy Shen and Bryce Leung achieved financial independence four years ago at age 31 and 32. They saved $1 million and live on $40,000 per year while traveling the world.Kristy and Bryce don’t worry about running out of money, they created new identities after quitting their jobs, and their community has quadrupled in size. Here’s how they achieved this lifestyle.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode236 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#235: Anna has made the leap to self-employment … but what’s next? She lives in the Bay Area and she’s trying to choose between five business ideas; she needs to make enough money to stay in her high-cost area.Doug recently won $9,000 from an online poker side gig and is wondering how best to use the funds: pay off high-interest student loan debt, or keep it to increase his poker earning potential?Alex and his partner want to househack a single-family property with a mother-in-law suit. What should they consider as far as zoning goes?Darrell is on track to retire in two years at age 55 and wants to know what he should do with his primary residence. Should he rent it out? Or should he sell it and use the profit to invest in rental properties? Or use the profit to buy his retirement home?Mara is curious about 1031 exchanges. She has equity in a rental property that she’d like to harvest, but she wants more information before making the move.Michael and his wife are struggling with competing goals. They want to invest in real estate, but they also want to move into an apartment closer to work to reduce their long commutes. Should they sell their home and invest the equity into a rental property, or should they take a HELOC on their home instead?For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode235 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#234: We review 26 quick, easy actions that improve your financial life, plus 10 new added bonus ideas that came directly from our community. We issue a challenge for you to tackle one action per week for the first 26 weeks (six months) of the year, so you’ll build stronger financial health by summertime.Download the free book that accompanies this episode at http://affordanything.com/2020kickoff and join us in the 2020 One Tweak a Week challenge! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#233: Deepak is considering downsizing his family’s home, but wants to know if the savings are worth the transaction costs he’ll have to pay.Anonymous and her husband hold $900,000 worth of privately-owned company stock. How should they plan for handling this money?Shelby is 25 years old and works for a company that awarded her restricted stock units. What should she do with these? Additionally, she traded in a 2013 Prius for a 2018 Subaru, for which she now owes $19,000. Should she sell it for a used vehicle or stick it out?Katelyn is interested in learning more about annuities. What should she know in order to make an informed decision?Max FI and his wife want to retire in 12 years. How should they invest to achieve this?Anonymous’s former employer offered a Roth and Traditional 401k, and his new employer only offers a Traditional option. How should he rollover his former Roth 401k?For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode233 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#232: Anthony ONeal is the bestselling author of Debt-Free Degree, a book that teaches parents how to help their children graduate from college without student loans.He’s part of the Dave Ramsey Solutions team, which teaches people how to pay off and avoid debt, and he's the co-author of Graduate Survival Guide, along with Rachel Cruze.Anthony joins us on this episode to share tips and hacks to help you save on tuition and find money for college.For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode232 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#231: Avie needs to decide between two options: paying off a rental property, or funding a retirement account. Which should she choose? Lisa wants to know: when should you fund an HSA account? Sofia’s parents have lived with her for the past few years, but Sofia’s job is relocating her out-of-state. How can she transition her home to a rental for her parents? Jim is a saver and his wife is a spender. How can he interest her in frugality? Candice wants to know my thoughts about online real estate investment crowdfunding platforms. Good idea or bad idea? Kristen has a mortgage on her primary residence and a rental property. They have similar interest rates. Which should she pay off first? I tackle these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/epidode231  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#230: Dr. Susan David, a psychologist on the faculty at Harvard Medical School, joins us to talk about emotional agility. Dr. David has researched emotional agility for around 20 years. A few years ago, she summarized her work on this concept for the Harvard Business Review. Her article became one of the most popular articles of the year, and the publishers heralded it as the Management Idea of the Year. Dr. David gave a TED talk on emotional agility, which went viral, gaining more than a million views. She then published a book called Emotional Agility which became a #1 Wall Street Journal Best Seller. The concept of emotional agility won the Thinkers50 Breakthrough Idea Award. She’s provided consulting around this concept with clients that include the United Nations, the World Economic Forum, the NASDAQ, Google, and Microsoft. She joins us today to explain how to define emotional agility, how to develop it in your life, and how it applies to any goal that you want to pursue - whether that’s financial independence, early retirement, career advancement, or greater success in your health and your relationships. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode230 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#229: Normally, we’re a once-a-week podcast, with episodes airing every Monday. But on the first Friday of every month, we have a First Friday bonus episode! Helen discovered that her mother fraudulently opened credit card accounts in her name. Eek! How can she protect herself? What will happen to these accounts once her mother passes away? Amelia and her husband cannot fire their financial advisor. How can they minimize the damage and maximize the benefit they receive from him in the meantime? Anonymous asks if she should live off an inheritance and max out her 401k contributions during her first year of working full-time. She wants to reduce her taxable income. Is this a good idea? A different anonymous caller read a USA Today article claiming that “index funds are in a bubble.” How true is this? How can index funds be in a bubble? Shawn is self-employed. He invests in a Solo 401k that features both a Roth and Traditional component. How should he manage this account? Another anonymous listener is thinking about downshifting to part-time work. He holds around $278,000 in home equity. How can he capitalize on this? 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/episode229 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#228: In November 2005, when Noah Kagan was 24, he was hired as Employee #30 at Facebook. His stock options would have been worth $170 million if he’d cashed out in 2014, he says. But he didn’t see a dime. In June 2006, merely 9 months after he started working at Facebook, Noah got fired. Instead of making $170 million, he made zero. He fell into a deep depression for a year. Then he rescued himself by becoming a serial entrepreneur. He tried his hand at a lot of things -- including developing Facebook games, selling discount cards, creating a payment processor in the gaming space -- but he’s best known for his two most successful companies. In 2010 he started a company, AppSumo, which offers discounts on small business software. By 2012, AppSumo was grossing $4 million per year in revenue, with annual net profits of $500,000. Yet Noah wasn’t fulfilled. He pivoted. In 2015 he started a sister company, Sumo.com, which develops marketing tools for websites and online businesses. In today’s episode, Noah and I discuss reflections on business, money and life. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode228 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices