How do you find balance between smart money management vs. missing out on opportunities?
Should you pile money into investments or take that dream trip to Tanzania?
What should you do when your heart leads you to a decision that doesn’t make sense on paper?
In today’s episode, former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I discuss the purpose and practice of mindful money.
Charlie in Cali has enough money saved to pay cash for a house, but she and her husband decided to finance their home, instead. They’d rather invest the money and arbitrage the spread.
But one problem: how can they keep themselves from touching this investment?
Jay is choosing between Fidelity and M1 Finance and has questions about tax loss harvesting.
Nicole and her siblings will be inheriting some properties that they eventually plan to sell. How should they set up or organize these properties among so many owners? Should one person take the lead? Do they need a shared business account? Also, how should they evaluate a property and make sure they get a good deal when they sell?
Ed owns three homes, two of which he plans to sell in the next few years. He plans to live in them long enough to establish residence and take the capital gains exemption when they sell. Is his plan for handling the taxes solid?
We answer these four questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
Anna and her husband have volatile income, but Anna thinks that having 18 months of living expenses is unnecessary. She’s torn between paying off her student loans ($30,000) or investing the money. Mentally, she always figured she would pay off her debt first, but wouldn’t investing pay off in the long run?
Charlotte and her husband are taking a phased approach to financial independence, where they need to bridge two gaps before they each turn 59 ½. How can they calculate how much they need at each phase?
Elle has a retirement plan in place, but her company is adding a Roth 403(b) option soon. Should she stay the course or adjust her strategy in these last five years before retiring?
Sara wants to purchase land and build her dream house by refinancing her rental property and turning her current home into a second rental. How can she improve this plan?
Joe Saul-Sehy, my friend and former financial planner, joins me to tackle these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!
Anonymous and her husband have set themselves on the path of saving for retirement. But an old mistake haunts them: a financial planner convinced them to buy a mix of whole and term life insurance, which costs them $700 per month. Do they need whole life insurance, and where else can they save their money?
Mike has $60,000 in cash earning one percent interest. He has plans to buy a home and get married in three to five years. Where else can he put his cash to earn a little more? Is the stock market too risky for such a short time horizon?
Anonymous and her future husband are wondering: what’s a realistic amount to spend on a wedding?
My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!
Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.
Julia and her husband, both 27, want to retire by their early to mid-40s. Is there a point at which they should stop contributing to tax advantaged accounts and only contribute to taxable accounts?
Ana and her family like their home, but it needs to be bigger. A cash-out refi didn’t give them enough funds for their dream renovation. Should they put their money into the market in the hopes that it will grow large enough to fund a future renovation? Or should they move into a bigger house, rent out their house, and fix it up years down the road?
Anonymous from MA is flummoxed by HSA-compatible health plans. His copay and deductible are awful, and even bronze plans seem better. Are HSA plans overrated, or does the math work out?
Aja’s mom is 75 and has to take required minimum distributions from her IRA. She doesn’t need the money. Where should she put it?
Nick has a seasonal business. Can a sweep account help stabilize him?
My friend and former financial planner, Joe Saul-Sehy, joins me to answer these questions on today’s show. Enjoy!
Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.
Anonymous is on track to be financially independent in 14 years, but isn’t living up to her potential working a boring job. How can she live up to her potential and do more without sacrificing her quality of life?
Daan is wondering if he should stake or lend his current cryptocurrency portfolio to make additional gains on assets he plans to hold long-term?
C wants to know what tax implications she should consider before working remotely from abroad?
Russell’s job offers the option to contribute to a 457 plan. Since he’s in the highest tax bracket, should he take advantage of the tax deferral offered through the 457 or invest within a taxable brokerage account?
Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.
Anonymous and his partner have a one-bedroom condo that they rent out in Pasadena, CA. The problem? They’re barely breaking even. Should they keep the condo, or sell it and make better use of the profits?
Sam wants to know: how much of an emergency fund does a rental property need?
Michael and his wife expect their taxable income to be less than $10,000 this year. Should Michael (age 56) take distributions from his 401k to minimize or eliminate their income tax burden?
Shanon wants to switch to an ethical bank with values that align with hers. How can she create a framework for making decisions about financial institutions when authentic information is scarce?
Sharon’s husband purchased a property with a below-market loan in 2008. They now have an extra $4,000 per month, and Sharon wants to buy a property as a first-time buyer. They’re torn between keeping the property or selling it. What should they do?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.
Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.
In today’s episode, we answer three questions from a college senior named Rafael.
He asks about productivity tools and tactics, student debt, Robinhood and market investing, and how to establish yourself as an expert in a given domain.
We answer his questions by widening the lens.
People often ask about productivity tools. “Do you use Asana or Trello?” But nobody asked Michelangelo what paintbrush he used to paint the Sistine Chapel. The discussion around tools misses the point, which is to master the craft.
Sure, we answer his direct, overt questions. But we also dive deeper, refining these topics and exploring the questions *behind* his questions.
This is an episode in which we peel layers off the onion.
Ginger’s financial independence (FI) number is $2 million, but she doesn’t want to fully retire early. Once she hits ‘coast’ FI, she wants to 1) buy her time back with outsourcing, 2) take a mini-retirement, and 3) buy a vacation home. Does it make sense for her to divert retirement contributions to these goals, or should she aim to save $2M?
Wilson plans to have a two percent withdrawal rate in retirement. Given this low rate, should he go all-in on stocks? Or should he split up his retirement funds and invest one half conservatively and the other half aggressively?
Jennifer has a low-stress doggie-daycare, but she needs a bigger space to scale up. How the heck can she find a property to suit her needs in Austin, TX?
My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer another round of listener questions.
(If you have questions on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing, leave them here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.)
Linda is 58 and wondering how to account for her Social Security benefits when thinking through the 25x expenditure equation. Her expected expenses are $100,000 – $150,000. How can she figure out if she’s ready to retire?
Mr. Man is eligible to retire with a full pension, health benefits, and social security at age 48. He has 20 years to go. Should he include his pension and social security benefits in his financial independence plan, or think of them as extras?
“Timothy,” a lawyer from Colorado, has $250,000 in a SEP-IRA account that’s invested in mutual funds with fees ranging from 0.61 percent to 1.06 percent. Fees on these funds are projected at $200,000 over the next 20 years. Should he and can he transfer these funds to another SEP-IRA account? What are the consequences of doing that?
Alise has dreamed of living abroad for long periods of time and wants to buy a property in Portugal before the minimum spend requirement increases. Should she go through with this, or is there another way to gain dual citizenship or travel abroad for long periods of time?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.
Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.
