Afford Anything

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The Importance of Using the Toilet Correctly (and Other Things I Learned Last Month)

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Maybe you don’t need to figure out what’s wrong

A few months ago, I interviewed a behavioral economist named Dr. Stephen Wendel on my podcast. He suggested an idea that’s so crazy it might work.

We were discussing the fact that people often stand in their own way; there’s a gap between intention and action. We know what we “should” do, but we don’t follow through. We procrastinate. We make excuses. We act against our own self-interests.

We have an image of our ideal self, we have the reality of our current self, and it’s harder than expected to bridge that divide. Why?

Most people try to figure out the problem. “Why can’t I stick to my goals?” But during our interview, Stephen turns this conventional wisdom on its head.

Maybe we should approach this as treatment first, diagnosis second.

He suggests that you try a handful of solutions. When you find the one that works, you’ll know the problem.

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17 Lessons to Improve Your Money & Life

I’ve learned a ton during the past decade, thanks to reading, interviewing, and massive trial-and-error. I’ve distilled many of these lessons into today’s blog post.

Here are 17 lessons that can improve your money and life.

#1: Money Can’t Make You Happy, But Lack of Money Can Make You Unhappy
They say, “money can’t make you happy.” But that’s false.

Researchers have examined the link between money and happiness — and guess what? Money can make you happy, to an extent. Multiple studies found a significant correlation between money and happiness among people in low-to-middle income brackets.

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“We are literally the millionaires next door”- says me, to the Washington Post

Guess what? The Washington Post published an interview with me about the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement (the FIRE movement).

They asked if it’s possible to save half of your income. They asked about the accuracy of Suze Orman’s statement that you’ll need $5 million to retire early. (Spoiler alert: No. You don’t.) And they asked if everyone who reaches financial independence then spends their time blogging about said topic, because if that’s true, then what’s the point?

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Why the FIRE movement is misunderstood

The FIRE movement is misunderstood. The drama of the last two weeks proves it. The question is, how can we fix this?

Ohhh we have a new supporter!!

Last week, Suze Orman called FIRE “dumb and stupid.”

“When I was 30 I was dumb and stupid as well, okay?,” she said in an interview with Yahoo! Finance, adding that she’s “pissed off” at people pursuing early retirement.

But since then, she’s taken more time to learn about the movement — and she’s in support.

In a Facebook post titled “What I Hate — and Love — about FIRE,” Suze writes…

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“Two Million Dollars is Nothing. It’s Pennies,” says Suze Orman

Want to retire early? You’ll need at least $5 million, more likely $10 million, says famous financial personality Suze Orman.

I should know. She said that to me, directly, on my podcast.

I asked Suze for her opinion about a frugal, flexible person who wants to retire early with a $2 million portfolio. She warned that retiring would be a massive mistake.

“Two million dollars is nothing,” Suze said. “It’s nothing. It’s pennies in today’s world, to tell you the truth.”

Wait, what?

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“Why I Hate the FIRE Movement,” says Suze Orman

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Suze Orman’s publicist, asking if I’d be interested in interviewing Suze on my podcast.

“Duh,” I replied.

Suze is a legend in the world of personal finance. She’s appeared on Oprah multiple times, published 10 mega-bestselling books, and hosted The Suze Orman Show on CNBC from 2002 to 2015. She’s one of the most famous voices in this space.

I read her most recent book, Women & Money, and sketched out a framework for the interview. Then I threw it away, feeling dissatisfied with my questions, and I turned to the Afford Anything community on Facebook and Twitter.

“I’m interviewing Suze Orman,” I wrote. “What would you like me to ask her?”

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“What I’ve Learned from Building an Eight-Figure Business” — an interview with Rand Fishkin

I’ve been following Rand Fishkin’s career for years. He has one of the best rags-to-not-quite-riches-yet stories I’ve heard.

Rand is a college dropout who spent his early 20s spiraling into a deep debt hole. His problems began when he tried to grow a marketing company but funded it in the worst way possible. He leased office space, rented booths at conferences, hired expensive contractors — and paid for everything with a personal credit card. Yikes.

His credit card debt ballooned to $150,000. He couldn’t make the minimum payments, so he defaulted. The late fees and penalty interest rates caused his debt to swell to more than $500,000.

Anyone else might have declared bankruptcy, but Rand stayed the course. He doubled down at work. He decided to specialize in a marketing niche, search engine optimization, which set him apart from the pack.

He brought new clients into his business. He developed internal tools to use for his clients, then started selling subscription-based access to this software.

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You Can’t Change History From the Middle of the Bell Curve

“If Elon Musk has asked people what they wanted, they would have said better gas mileage.

“But Elon never bothered asking. Because he knows he can’t change history from the middle of the bell curve. And he knows design by consensus, by definition, leads to average results.”

Last week I published a transcript of the speech I delivered at the World Domination Summit, in which I challenged people to be true to themselves despite the fact that others may not like it.

A few days later, WDS released the video of the speech. (I had no idea they were going to release it so soon! I thought it would take a couple months.)

It’s the most heartfelt talk I’ve ever given. It’s deeply personal, and it describes a philosophy I’ve been creating for years. I’d encourage you to watch it here:

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How to Live Louder than the Sound of ‘Should’

One month ago, I made a speech at the World Domination Summit in Portland about the importance of being yourself, even if this requires setting difficult boundaries or relinquishing your people-pleasing tendencies.

If you’re a creative entrepreneur, such as an artist, writer, musician, designer, craftsman, entrepreneur, or any other type of creator … this is advice you might not have heard before.

I argue that your best business move is to stop giving a sh*t about what other people think. Even your customers.

It’s a counterintuitive philosophy, one that runs contrary to the seemingly-benign “I want to help others” mindset that’s preached in the world of online entrepreneurship. I argue that your effect on others is outside of your control, so the best thing you can do is be yourself and let the chips fall where they may.

Bending over backwards to please others is inauthentic and, ultimately, ineffective. People will be served the most when they see a confident, strong person who is true to themself.

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How Much is Enough?

The idea behind financial independence is that your passive income — typically through investments — is enough.

But how much is enough? Enough for what?

The typical reaction that many people have to this question is to define “enough” based on their current standard of living.

For example: “Right now, my spouse and I […]

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