Afford Anything

Category: Debt

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#463: Ask Paula: Student Loan Deferment HACK – How Christina Saved $60,000 in Interest

Christina recently slayed her debt and put herself on track for financial success. But now she’s bored. How can auto-investing be more exciting?

Speaking of debt, Christina shares a creative HACK to SAVE $60,000 in student loan interest payments. 

Mary is struggling to compare two job offers: one from a large corporation and another from a tiny business. How should she decide?

An anonymous caller wants to buy a different home, and convert his current home into a rental. How should he finance this move?

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

Enjoy!

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#444: Student Loan Payments Restart Soon: What to Expect

The student loan pause is coming to an end. 

A moratorium on student loan repayments has been in place since the start of the pandemic, but starting Sept. 1st, millions of borrowers will be required to start making payments on their loans again.

What does this mean for borrowers? In this episode, we’ll discuss what borrowers can do to prepare, including an in-depth look at the variety of repayment plan options. 

We’ll also talk (in general terms) about how to handle ANY surprise new monthly bill – whether it’s a medical bill, a family member who needs ongoing financial help, or a student loan repayment that’s about to restart. 

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#412: Ask Paula: Should I Repay Debt or Invest?

Taylor recently graduated. She wants to reach financial independence as soon as possible. What should she do first: invest or repay low-interest debt?

Carter doesn’t want to pay too much for his investments. He’s worried about the tax drag. He wants to know how to improve cost efficiency in his portfolio. How should he manage decisions about basis points, dividends and capital gains?

Our first anonymous caller has been working and investing for a decade. Today her portfolio is large enough that she and her husband can finally take a mini-retirement.

They’d like to rebalance their portfolio. They want it to reflect the fact that they won’t be working for a while. They’d also like to calculate how much money they need to travel with their children. How should they handle this?

Our second anonymous caller is worried that their portfolio is out-of-whack. Their money is in a target date retirement fund. They’d like to move some of it to a three-fund portfolio. But this is a scary time to sell. Stocks are low. What should they do?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it here.

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The Three Most Amazing Types of Freedom

You can smash almost any limit.

You can escape the cubicle. You can fire your boss. You can overcome your internal self-doubts.

You can sculpt a flat stomach, make dozens of new friends, and speak a foreign language. Heck, you can even learn to dance.

Limits don’t apply to you.

Well, […]

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Should You Pay Cash for a Car?

Should you pay cash for a car?

That question isn’t just a hypothetical anymore. We need to buy a car. And that means we need to make a five-figure decision.

It’s been almost two months since Will’s car got stolen, and it’s time to buy a replacement.

His last car, as you may recall, […]

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Is DEBT Fueling Your Life?

 

Imagine staring down the road, seeing dozens of half-built houses.

I’m not talking about houses that are actively under construction. And I’m not talking about decrepit old houses that need to be torn down.

I’m talking about houses that were partially built … and then nothing. No active construction. No wheelbarrows […]

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Forget Your Debt. Just Forget About It. Really.

What if the most common strategies to repay debt are wrong?

Two popular methods are used to repay debt. One focuses on the interest rate; the other focuses on “small wins.”

I recommend reading this post if you want a solid understanding of these two methods. Here’s the executive summary: the “Debt […]

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Debt: Should You Use Reason or Emotion?

What would you do if reason says one thing but your heart says another?

That’s the predicament many people find themselves in as they search for the best strategy to repay debt.

Reason says you should repay the debt with the highest interest rate first. Your emotions say to — well, really, they say to […]

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Reject the “Everyone Has Debt” Mentality

Recently, Ben — a nice-looking fellow who works on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico — wrote a detailed story about how he and his wife repaid $90,000 in debt. Their debt didn’t include a mortgage: it consisted of car loans, credit card balances, student loans, and a $10,000 bank loan […]

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