How do you search for rental properties out-of-state? Should I offer a lease-option contract to my friends? How can I estimate repair and maintenance costs? And can you deep-dive into bookkeeping and taxes for rental real estate? I tackle these four questions in this episode of Ask Paula – real estate edition. Saul from Salt…
A.J. Jacobs is the Editor-at-Large of Esquire Magazine and the New York Times bestselling author of multiple books. His three TED Talks have collectively garnered more than three million views. He describes himself as “a father of three, husband of one, and cousin to millions.” And he’s probably your cousin. Twice removed. AJ joins me…
This week, I answer 4 questions about quitting a depressing job, learning how to ask probing questions, saving for a downpayment, and more. Edward asks: How can I learn from other people around me? I’m 28, and my wife and I have some money that we’d like to invest. We know people who’ve had both…
Brandon always wanted to be wealthy. He just didn’t know why. “I don’t like fancy cars, and big houses just seem inefficient,” he said. “I just wanted to have money to manage.” But in 2011, Brandon discovered the concept of financial independence. “That just blew my mind — it was just like, oh, I can…
On today’s podcast, I’m sharing this random smattering of lessons on money and life.⠀ 1) Simplify everything.⠀ 2) Risk = Probability x Magnitude.⠀ 3) Curate.⠀ 4) Never delay gratification.⠀ 5) Know your net worth, relative to your lifetime earnings.⠀ 6) Don’t half-ass anything. (Whole-ass a few things.)⠀ 7) When you’re not at work, don’t…
Here’s the funny thing: I hate flying. ⠀ Yet I’ve taken 18 flights in the last 9 months. Including one Wednesday. And my next flight is today.⠀ ⠀ To be clear — I’m not afraid of flying. I just don’t enjoy it. It’s noisy. It’s cramped. I can’t sleep. I can’t concentrate. I feel drained…
This week, I’m back to answering questions posed by listeners of the podcast. Wally asks: Should we continue to rent out our home, or should we sell it? We bought a home in California but have since moved to New York and have been renting there. After all expenses on the rental are accounted for,…
Robin Dreeke is former head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. His primary role, at the time, was to thwart foreign spies and recruit American spies. That’s not an easy task. To accomplish this, Dreeke needed to gain people’s trust — even when they had no reason to trust him. He spent years developing…
Over a year-and-a-half and two million plus downloads later, the Afford Anything podcast has hit another awesome milestone: the 100th episode! To celebrate, I recorded this one live from Ecuador with my good friend Brandon, otherwise known as the Mad FIentist. (You can watch the video here.) If you’ve been a listener since the early…
Thirteen years ago, Joshua Dorkin’s friends teased him about starting a website that seemed to have no future. “I would get calls from my buddies who would literally call me on my cell phone [and say] ‘Hey Josh, we just walked past a penny on the ground. We were thinking about picking it up…