Afford Anything

Category: Personal Finance 101

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#420: What We Learned in 2022, with Paula Pant

Dr. Ellen Vora, M.D., shared insight into the roots of procrastination, offering evidence-based tips for how to overcome our own inner demons of anxiety, fear and laziness.

Psychology professor Bill von Hippel described why too much happiness is just as detrimental to our long-term health and wellbeing as too little happiness.

Wall St. Journal columnist Spencer Jakab observed the perfect storm of conditions that gave rise to meme stonks and other oddities of our era.

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy argued for “strategic under-diversification” and explained the Sharpe Ratio.

Data scientist Nick Maggiulli explains the save-invest continuum.

And financial planner Bill Bengen, the creator of the 4 percent retirement withdrawal rule, talks about what most people misunderstand about the safe withdrawal rate.

These are just some of the highlights from the Afford Anything podcast in this 2022 year-in-review episode.

Enjoy!

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#419: Ask Paula: Should I Stay At My Job For the 401k?

Casey isn’t happy at her job. If she leaves before her one-year mark, she’ll lose her 401k contributions. Should she stay or find a new job?

Ryan’s investing for his son. If the yield is the same between two mutual funds, can he leave his son with more money if one mutual fund pays dividends more frequently?

Emily already maximizes her 401k contributions. Should she contribute to an after-tax 401k next?

Daan resides in a high-cost-of-living area where real estate appreciates rapidly. But there’s no cash flow. How should he evaluate real estate as an investment?

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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#417: Ask Paula: Marriage and Money – What Are the Right Conversations?

Our first anonymous caller is getting married. What are the financial considerations the couple should be thinking through since there is a large income gap between them?

Our second anonymous caller is concerned about her ability to continue working due to major depression. Should she consider disability insurance?

Carly is an accidental landlord and would love […]

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#414: Ask Paula: I Think I Can Retire Early. Am I Delusional?!

Natasha thinks she and her husband have saved enough to retire early, but they’re scared. Are they ready or are they delusional?

Should Krista tap into the equity from one of her rentals to rebalance a portfolio that is weighted heavily in real estate?

Anonymous is a savvy investor who wants to retire early. She wonders if she should hire a financial advisor, or if she can manage her investments herself.

Amanda is worried that her recently diagnosed health condition might force her to stop working.  How should she financially prepare her family?

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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#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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