Blog

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    #167: Ask Paula – Should I Pay Off Student Loans While in School?

    ByPaula Pant
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    Angelisa is a college senior with $30,000 in student loans. She has a part-time job, from which she’s saved $2,500. Should she keep saving money, or should she get a headstart on paying down her student loans while she’s in school?

    Mackenzie is also a college senior with some student loans. She recently received a settlement from a car accident. Should she invest this money? If so, how?

    Franchesca is 35 and is carrying $212,000 in debt, mostly student loans. Could she reach financial independence, even with a late start?

    Erica wants to make environmentally-friendly investments. How should she approach this?

    Caroline is 42 and has started making after-tax (non-Roth) 401k contributions. Is this a good idea?

    An anonymous listener is curious about podcasting. How did I get started?

    I answer these six questions on today’s podcast episode, alongside former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy. Enjoy!

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

    ByPaula Pant

    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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    #166: Everything I Learned About Money Came from My Grandmother – with Michelle Singletary of the Washington Post

    ByPaula Pant
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    Michelle Singletary learned everything she knows about money from her grandmother.

    Well, okay, I shouldn’t say “everything” that she knows. After all, Michelle also has an MBA from Johns Hopkins University. She writes about personal finance for the Washington Post. Her nationally-syndicated personal finance column, The Color of Money, is published in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. She’s written three financial books.

    Oh, and guess what? Her column was nominated for a Pulitzer.

    Michelle has been learning, thinking, writing, researching and speaking about money management for decades. Yet the most important education she received, she says, came from the lessons her grandmother taught her.

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    #165: Ask Paula – Should I Invest in Index Funds or Rental Properties?

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.cast.plus/57b04b389655d0cb71d77f6c/traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA165.mp3" title="Ask Paula - Should I Invest in Index Funds or Rental Properties?" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    Should Kim, an entrepreneur, invest in index funds or rental properties?

    Should Nick, an MBA student, househack into a more-expensive home with stronger cash flow, or a cheaper home with more budgetary wiggle room?

    Should Kelly, who is getting married soon, sell her current home and use the proceeds to buy multiple rentals? Or should she use her current home as a rental property?

    Should Trayci and her sister invest in rental properties or bare land?

    I answer these four questions in today’s episode.

    We’re a weekly show, but on the first Friday of the month, we air a bonus episode. This is our December 2018 First Friday Bonus Episode.

    Enjoy!

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    #164: How and Why I Took a Mini-Retirement, with Bob Lotich

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.cast.plus/57b04b389655d0cb71d77f6c/traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA164.mp3" title="How and Why I Took a Mini-Retirement, with Bob Lotich" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    As an entrepreneur, Bob Lotich loves growing and expanding. But after a particularly stressful year, he realized he had burned out.

    He woke up one Monday morning and, for the first time since he’d started self-employment, he realized he didn’t want to go to work. This was a new and uncomfortable feeling.

    He decided to take a mini-retirement.

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    #163: Ask Paula – The Future of Index Fund Investing

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.cast.plus/57b04b389655d0cb71d77f6c/traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA163.mp3" title="Ask Paula - The Future of Index Fund Investing" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    Does my employer match count against my 401k contribution limits? Should I invest in a Traditional or Roth TSP? Should I invest more aggressively in stocks right now, or should I hold cash and bonds until the next downturn? Should I get a mortgage or keep renting until I can buy a home in cash? Do you think index investing will dramatically change in the coming decades?

    Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer these five questions in today’s episode.

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    #162: AI and The Future of Jobs – with author Darrell West

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.cast.plus/57b04b389655d0cb71d77f6c/traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA162.mp3" title="AI and The Future of Jobs - with author Darrell West" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    How will artificial intelligence, AI, impact jobs?

    Former Harvard president and leading economist Larry Summers predicts that one-third of men will be out of work by 2050. Finance guru Suze Orman says not to be surprised if we see 25 percent unemployment by 2030. And major research institutions predict anywhere from 14 percent to 50 percent unemployment.

    Even if we take the most optimistic prediction, that’s huge. Fourteen percent job loss would have massive ramifications on the economy, the stock market, the housing market, and every facet of our lives. Heck, even half of the most optimistic prediction would be an enormous game-changer.

  • 17 Lessons to Improve Your Money & Life

    ByPaula Pant

    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.

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

    ByPaula Pant

    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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    #161: Ask Paula – How Can I Get My Friends Interested in FIRE?

    ByPaula Pant
    [smart_track_player url="https://traffic.cast.plus/57b04b389655d0cb71d77f6c/traffic.libsyn.com/paulaandjaymoney/AA161.mp3" title="How Can I Get My Friends Interested in FIRE?" artist="Paula Pant" social="true" social_twitter="true" social_facebook="true" social_gplus="true" social_linkedin="true" social_stumble="true" social_pinterest="true" social_email="true" ]

    In today’s episode, I answer two questions about financial independence and the FIRE movement, followed by four questions about rental property investing.