Afford Anything

Category: Episodes

By Paula Pant

#221: Ask Paula – How Much of My Company Stock Should I Buy?

Vanessa is curious about Fidelity and Vanguard. She asks: what are your thoughts on the no-fee Fidelity index funds? What are your opinions on Vanguard’s financial advisors?

Andy wants to know: should my wife and I continue maxing out our traditional 401k and backdoor Roth IRA, or should we start contributing to the Roth 401k my employer offers?

Kyle is wondering – how can he minimize his taxes when he earns $450,000/year?

Rob is self-employed and has been maxing out a Roth IRA, but recently discovered that he can open a self-employed IRA. Should he move his Roth IRA money over, or just open a new account and fund it from scratch?

Christina is torn. She and her husband have been saving to buy a house, but because they live in New York, their savings won’t go very far. Is it a good idea for them to continue renting, despite their dreams?

Mercedes is wondering how REITs compare to stocks and owning actual real estate. Additionally, she’d like to know more about Forex trading.

Craig has an employee stock purchase plan (ESPP). Since these tend to be risky, he’s wondering: is he better off moving the $25,000 that he puts towards the ESPP into mutual funds? Or is an ESPP a good way to diversify his funds?

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

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By Paula Pant

#220: Stillness is the Key, with Ryan Holiday

In a hectic world, stillness is the key to a calm, enjoyable life.

That idea comes from Ryan Holiday, author of Stillness is The Key.

Stillness is finding flow, staying present, and being impervious to the pressures of the outside world. It doesn’t mean removing yourself from society and sitting in a forest; to the contrary, many CEOs and world leaders have practiced remarkable stillness during times of crisis.

Stillness exists within, regardless of the frenetic pace of the outside world, and irrespective of the pressures that you face at the moment.

In today’s episode, bestselling author Ryan Holiday discusses actionable tips on how to practice the art of stillness, as well as its applications to the pursuit of financial independence.

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By Paula Pant

#219: Ask Paula – How Should I Invest $4,000 Per Month for Early Retirement?

Stella is working toward FIRE and wants to know: how can she create passive income in her retirement years? Is a portfolio with stocks and bonds enough, or should she invest in real estate?

Travis and his wife are also on the FIRE path, and are comparing their investment options. Travis is concerned about the inefficiency of reinvesting returns in real estate. How can you factor this into your decision when buying a property?

Stephanie and her husband are also interested in FIRE (hooray!) and they have $20,000 to invest. How can they best use this money to help them FIRE sooner?

Cade, a 24-year-old listener, wants to FIRE by age 30 (we’re on a roll!). He’s saving $4,000/month and wants to know how to invest these savings.

Anonymous and their partner are taking a mini-retirement and have questions surrounding the logistics of healthcare. What options should they consider?

On a different note, Amanda works in academia. After listening to Episode 12, she’s looking for tips on managing long-term, complex collaborative projects now that she’s in a leadership position.

Steve’s question brings us to the topic of building an online business and social media following. Should he have one brand for all of his interests, or divide these interests into separate channels?

I tackle these questions in today’s episode of the show. Enjoy!

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By Paula Pant

#218: Why We’re Irrational with Money, with Kristen Berman

Kristen Berman is co-founder of Irrational Labs, a behavioral product design company, along with Dan Ariely.

She has a fascinating job that involves looking into why people behave the way they do with their money, and discovering the easiest solution to help them create more positive financial behavior.

In short, she’s a proponent of redesigning the current financial system to make saving automatic and easy, and that’s part of what we discuss in this episode.

If creating better financial habits has been a challenge for you, or if you have trouble framing spending as a positive thing, rather than a loss, then Kristen has awesome advice for you.

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By Paula Pant

#217: Financial Independence – My Philosophy and Origin Story, on The FI Show

Earlier this year, Cody and Justin from The FI Show interviewed me and asked some excellent questions about my journey to financial independence, entrepreneurship and passion, and minding the gap between your income and expenses.

We talk about the importance of side hustling and how to create a well-paying job from your skills.

We touch on real estate and why I chose this strategy to reach FI.

We also discuss the bone I have to pick with the financial independence movement.

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By Paula Pant

#216: Unraveling the Four Percent Rule, with Dr. Wade Pfau

It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m traveling the globe and taking a break from podcast production.

In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts.

Welcome to another episode from our archives! This one was recorded in March 2018, and Dr. Wade Pfau had a ton of insight into the four percent rule that so many of us are concerned with.

First, here’s a brief history of how the four percent rule came to be.

In 1994, William Bengen decided to look at 30-year timespans throughout U.S. History, beginning with the year 1926.

He worked under the assumption that a retiree held 50 percent stocks (in the form of S&P 500 Index), and 50 percent bonds (intermediate-term government bonds).

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By Paula Pant

#215: Financial Independence in Seven Stages, with Joshua Sheats

We are really digging into the archives with today’s episode. This originally aired back in 2016!

Besides being another fun and fascinating interview, this is one of our most popular episodes. Which isn’t surprising, given the topic we’re exploring. 🙂

Financial independence means many things to many different people, which might be why we find it challenging to settle on a definition that everyone can agree on.

Regardless of what your personal definition is, Joshua Sheats, a financial planner and host of the well-known Radical Personal Finance podcast, says that financial independence can be separated into seven stages.

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By Paula Pant

#214: The Tables Have Turned – My Interview on ChooseFI

It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m taking a break from podcast production and traveling the globe.

In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts.

I’m super excited to share an interview I did with Brad and Jonathan of ChooseFI back in December 2018. It was fun to have the tables turned, and Brad and Jonathan left no stone unturned in their interview with me.

If you ever wanted to know my origin story, including where my love for travel comes from, where my desire for freedom came from, and how I combined both, then give this interview a listen.

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By Paula Pant

#213: Nine Lessons from a Millionaire Teacher, with Andrew Hallam

It’s September! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m traveling the globe and taking a break from podcast production.

In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts.

If you missed the last episode, you might want to listen to it before diving into this one, as Andrew and I go into the finer points of investing here.

Seriously. This is one of the most in-the-weeds shows I’ve done to date.

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By Paula Pant

#212: How Andrew Hallam Became a Millionaire on a Teacher’s Salary

It’s September!! If you’ve been listening to the show for the past few months, then you know that I’m on what I’ve dubbed my September Sabbatical, in which I’m taking a break from podcast production and traveling the globe.

In light of that, we’re digging through the archives and airing some of my favorite interviews on the show, in between airing interviews I’ve done on other podcasts.

The first episode we’re bringing back is part one of a two-part interview with Andrew Hallam, a teacher who became a millionaire in his 30s and reached FI in his 40s.

How? Beyond investing small sums (we’re talking less than $100 per month) throughout college, he also saved half of his starting salary of $28,000.

Yes, you read that correctly. This episode is awesome for anyone who thinks it’s impossible to reach FIRE on a low salary.

I originally interviewed Andrew in January 2017, and we could not stop talking. Which is why our three-hour interview was divided into two parts.

In this first part, Andrew shares his story – how he became a millionaire, and why he wanted to achieve FIRE in the first place.

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Afford Anything