Afford Anything

#43: Jean Chatzky, financial editor for the TODAY Show, host of the HerMoney podcast and a frequent guest on TV shows like Oprah, Regis & Kelly, and The View is the bestselling author of many books, including Money Rules, which we discuss in today's episode. Here are a few of the Money Rules we cover: #1: The more time you spend looking, the less happy you’ll be with what you find. #2: Your retirement trumps their tuition. #3: Losing money hurts more than it should. #4: Big numbers make smart people do stupid things. #5: Don’t lend money to friends & relatives, and don’t co-sign for loans. #6: If its 50% off, it's still 50% on. __ It’s not about having it all. It’s about having what you value most. How can you match your money with your values? Jean and I tackle this question in the second half of the podcast. This leads us into discussing tactics that can prevent wasteful spending, such as: • The 10/10/10 Rule – How will you feel about this purchase in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years? • The 24 Hour Rule – Delay the purchase by 24 hours. Do you still want it? • Only Pay Full Price – Paradoxically, avoiding sales – and ONLY buying items at full price – might help you save more money in the long run. __ Finally, we chat about how to balance financial priorities when you and your spouse want different things. What if you want to retire early, but your spouse doesn't? How do you handle this? Jean shares her ideas on all these topics in today's episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#42: Your most valuable asset isn’t your house, car or retirement portfolio. It’s your attention. Most knowledge workers spend their day frantically hopping between meetings, emails, phone calls and social media. But that’s not the best way to stand out in the modern economy. Emails are necessary, says author and professor Cal Newport. They’ll keep you from getting fired. But they won’t get you promoted. In fact, his Deep Work Hypothesis states that the ability to do deep work is becoming more rare, yet at the same time, more valuable. That means if you can train your mind to resist the common distractions we all face, you’ll become more valuable in the workplace, whether you’re self-employed or traditionally employed. The problem, however, is that most of us are intimidated by deep work. We welcome distractions from difficult tasks that take a toll on our brain power. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/cal-newport/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#41: Mollie, a listener, is making smart money moves. She's getting the maximum match on 403b contributions. She's saving for a downpayment on a home. Her husband opened a Roth IRA. What's next? After listening to the Jim Collins episode, Mollie wants to open a Vanguard account. How can she balance this with the rest of her saving and investing goals? Is she spreading herself too thin? Meanwhile, podcast listener Elizabeth is trying a little-known tactic to rebalance her portfolio. Traditional advice tells people to rebalance by selling their gains. But Elizabeth wants to let those gains ride. She'd prefer to rebalance by buying undervalued assets. Are their hidden dangers to her strategy? Finally, podcast listener Chris wants to remodel his basement. He's an aspiring Airbnb host who'd like to make extra cash by renting out part of his home. How much money should he spend on his basement remodel? Are there any good rules-of-thumb? I tackle these three questions in today's Ask Paula episode. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#40: Most of us want to develop better habits. We want to exercise more, eat healthier, get more sleep, watch TV less, pay off debt, or save money. The problem? We make excuses. We tell ourselves we'll splurge "just this one time." We convince ourselves that we're too busy to start a side business. We reward ourselves with a hall pass from our intended new habit. Today's guest, Gretchen Rubin, talks about how we can create habits that stick. Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times bestselling author of The Happiness Project, which sold more than a million copies. Her latest book, Better Than Before, explores how to create habits that lead to a healthier, happier, richer life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#39: It's tempting to think of "financial independence" as a finish line. You've either crossed the finish line, or you're still running the race. But financial independence is more nuanced, says today's guest, Joshua Sheats. We experience seven stages of financial independence, Joshua says, and we should break down our Major Goal -- financial independence -- into a series of smaller steps. Joshua, a financial planner and host of the hit podcast Radical Personal Finance, describes these seven stages in today's show, offering tips about how to reach each one. Want a sneak peek at the seven stages? Check out https://affordanything.com/episode39 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Time management expert Laura Vanderkam challenges the narrative of being busy, revealing we have more time than we think. She discusses tactics to reduce chores, stay focused at work, and differentiate between efficacy and diminishing returns. The podcast explores the disparity between perceived and actual time usage, optimizing tasks for efficiency, redefining domestic responsibilities, and maximizing productivity by navigating time vortexes.

#37: Chris writes about life, work and travel. He has visited every country in the world and written a number of New York Times best selling books. He joins us to talk about challenging ourselves, experimentation,and deliberately changing our direction. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/chris-guillebeau/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#36: It's the first Monday of the month, and you know what that means ... Time for another Ask Paula episode! On today's show, I answer a handful of phone calls from listeners who posed questions about real estate investing. One caller from Atlanta said that he's thinking about buying a rental property from a turnkey investing company. (These are companies that buy, renovate and rent out properties, and then sell those properties to investors.) On the surface, this sounds appealing: all benefit and no work. But what are the drawbacks? Are those risks worth it? Should this listener buy a turnkey property? Or should he stay wary of red flags? Another caller, who says he loves real estate investing, mentioned that he's curious about the lack of compound interest in the real estate game. If you're investing in an index fund, he noted, your dividends and gains are automatically reinvested. That's not the case with a rental property. Sure, you can reinvest the cash flow from that property into buying more properties (or buying other investments, like index funds), but that's not the same thing. So ... what does this mean? When you take compound interest into consideration, are rental properties still a good deal? Or are real estate investors missing out on this crucial wealth-building tool? Another wanted to hear more details about a couple whom I mentioned in Episode 4, The Ultimate Beginner Guide to Real Estate Investing. This couple's strategy is to buy a home as a primary residence, live there for at least one year, move out, convert their former home into a rental property, and repeat. They've done this over and over, and now they're raking in the rental cash. The listener wanted more details about that strategy ... which I offered in droves. (And yes, I led myself into another little rant.) Finally, one listener called to share his success story. In an earlier episode, he asked whether he should repay his credit card debt, or save for the downpayment on a house. I told him to pay off his credit cards ... and he's now DEBT-FREE!!!!!! He tells his success story on today's show. Enjoy! Paula Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#35: Carrie Smith enjoyed her full-time accounting job, but she wanted to make extra money on the side. Who doesn't, right? She landed a second job in a tax office, working 9-to-5 for one employer and 5-to-9 for the other. She earned decent money, but her schedule had no flexibility ... and she felt unhappy.  This needs to change, she realized. I need to make good money while also enjoying my lifestyle. Even though she had zero experience as a writer, she wondered if she could leverage her skills as an accountant into a new, creative field. She volunteered to write one or two tax planning articles for a client, just to test the waters. She enjoyed the work. She wanted more.  She started reaching out to websites and companies that might need tax-related article writing. She landed her first major client, Yahoo Finance. Then another. Then another.  After a few years, her freelance business grew large enough that she quit her comfortable accounting job. She's her own boss now.  In this episode, Carrie tells her story and offers advice for anyone who wants to earn extra money as a freelancer -- whether its a side hustle or a path towards quitting your 9-to-5 day job.   For more, visit http://podcast.affordanything.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#34: Steve Chou's wife used to work grueling hours at a job she dreaded and despised. When she became pregnant with their first child, she decided to quit.  The problem? She earned six figures, and their family needed that income.  She opened an online store, buying handkerchiefs wholesale from China and retailing these online at a significant markup. She and Steve worked together to build a retail website and find customers. They bought Google Ads; they wrote blog posts; they created seller accounts on various shopping portals.   They earned more than $100,000 in their first year of business. In this episode, Steve explains how he and his wife earn six figures as online retailers while enjoying a much more relaxed, liberated lifestyle. He offers pointers for anyone who's interested in making money selling goods online -- either as a side business or as a method for quitting your day job.   For more, visit http://podcast.affordanything.com Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices