Afford Anything

Category: Personal Finance 101

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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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#409: Ask Paula: Should I Sell My Rentals to Buy More Stocks?

Liz and her husband are planning to retire in 5 to 10 years. They have rental income properties, but Liz is bored of managing these, and she’s intrigued by the idea of buying stocks at a discount when the market is low.  Should she sell her rental properties and use the money to buy stocks instead?

Rebecca is a high income earner and thinking about investing in a Roth 401k … but she’s scared of how much she’ll have to pay in taxes. Should she do it anyway?

Anonymous made big changes last year: she got a new career AND sold a house! Now she needs help figuring out capital gains and lowering how much she’ll have to pay in taxes … and she won’t have access to her company’s 401K for most of the year.

Kyle and his wife are moving into their dream home! What should they do with their current place?

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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#408: Build YOUR 15 Year Career, with Kiersten and Julien Saunders

When Kiersten and Julian Saunders began dating in 2012, they fell in love quickly, and their relationship felt strong – until they started talking about money.

They broke up as a result of their first money conversation.

Luckily, they got back together, figured out how to have tough conversations, and paid off $200,000 in debt over the next five years.

Then they started thinking about how to hack their careers. They came up with a plan for a 15-year career.

Today, they join us on the podcast to talk about the 15-year career framework and how to approach your career – and your finances – in 5 year stints.

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#407: Ask Paula: The 5 Types of Accountants (and Who To Avoid!)

Ionnie wants to vet her tax professional as diligently as she assesses her financial advisor – how should she go about doing that?

Anonymous needs a career change, and she needs help figuring out how to approach the decision making process when choosing and preparing for her next field of employment

MM prefers the simple path to wealth and investing in real estate but is looking for more information on a more intentional and selective approach to investing.

Ingrid calls in to ask whether she should include her rental income when trying to figure out how much she can contribute to her Roth IRA.

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

Enjoy!

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#405: Ask Paula: WHOA – We Got a $750,000 Windfall; How Should We Spend It?

Daniel and his wife want to go on an extended vacation and leave their jobs next year…and still have money in case there’s a problem at their rental properties. Would a HELOC help them?

Anonymous and her husband have received a large commission and want to understand how to better plan for their future by optimizing for these inconsistent windfalls.

Brian has hit coast F.I.R.E and would like guidance on how to prioritize between tax advantaged accounts and retirement accounts.

Anonymous and his wife have been focused on getting short term rentals in a single location – is his portfolio too focused on this singular strategy??

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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#401: You Are a Badass at Making Money, with Jen Sincero

Jen Sincero says she used to be a “grouchy broke person.”

In her early 40’s, Jen lived in a converted garage, buried in credit card debt and scrounging for spare change.

She was the type of person who’d join her friends at a restaurant for dinner, order nothing except tap water, and fill up on the complimentary bread basket. She used duct-tape to repair her shoes. Her “splurges” consisted of buying new windshield wipers.

Despite her struggles, Jen believed that pursuing wealth was…icky. She’d internalized negative social attitudes towards money, such as:

Money isn’t important. People are.
Rich people are lucky / gross / shallow.
You can’t make money doing [insert your-dream-here].
You have to attend a good college to make money.
Money is out of my reach.
It’s lonely at the top.
Who has that kind of money?
He/she is only about the money.

Those negative attitudes, Jen says, were holding her back. So she created a more positive script — such as “I’m good at making money,” and “Money is a tool that helps me live my best life.”

This attitude shift made all the difference.

In today’s interview, Jen describes her journey from broke to badass, and she explains how everyone can become more of a maverick at making money.

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#399: Ask Paula: The Stock Market Is Down – Can I Still Retire?

Bella is SO CLOSE to reaching F.I.R.E and is worried about her withdrawal rate if the stock market drops. If the stock market does drop, can she withdraw as much as she had originally planned?

Sam has been investing for several decades and thinks that he should stay invested in his portfolio, despite the recent drop in value…but he is still wondering if there’s a chance that he should sell.

Meisha is making more money at her new job but can’t contribute to her 401(k) for the first six months – what should she do with her extra money in this interim??

Kyria is a young investor with multiple goals: she’s wondering how to best save for a down payment without it being eroded by inflation and also whether her investment choices should take on more risk, since time is on her side.

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

Enjoy!

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#397: Ask Paula: Is the bank trying to scam my parents…?

Nick’s parents are forced to confront earlier than anticipated retirement…and they aren’t financially prepared. Now, a bank is offering to buy a part of their mortgage or a part of their house.  Is this a scam?!

Jon from Colorado is curious about after tax contributions to a Roth 401k, and would like us to talk about why we wouldn’t recommend it.

Anna is househacking, and she locked down an awesome interest rate. But, she’s still carrying PMI and is wondering if there’s a way to remove the PMI without refinancing.

Courtney from Denver is a real estate investor who wants to invest in new locations and wants tips on building out her network.

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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#394: Ask Paula: Inflation is High! How Much Cash Should You Keep?!

Bill listened to our episode with Bill Bengen, father of the 4% rule, and he wants to know if there was a way for him to figure out how much money he should be keeping in cash.

Heather inherited an IRA but MUST empty it within ten years – but she doesn’t need it right now.  What should she do??

Sheryl gets stock from her company, and she would usually sell it…but the stock value has decreased. And now, she isn’t sure what she should do.

Julie and her husband have access to an HSA for ONE MONTH.  Can they max it out before they lose access to it?

In today’s episode, former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these tough 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.

Enjoy!

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#392: Ask Paula: Did the Great Recession Lead to the FIRE Movement?

Colleen and her husband own SEVEN paid off rental homes. Now they’re heading into retirement and disagree on what to do with some of that equity.

Kevin wants to hit FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and believes his motivation comes from witnessing the financial trauma of the Great Recession. He’s wondering if others are motivated to reach FIRE for similar reasons.

Anonymous wants to learn more about utilizing HSA accounts and Susan wants to learn more about investing in tax liens.

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.

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Afford Anything