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#478: Buy the Damn Guac, with Jamila Souffrant

Ever skipped that extra drink, pricey cheese, or a night out for the sake of your wallet?

If this feels familiar, then you’ll appreciate today’s episode with Jamila Souffrant.

Jamila is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, podcast host, and author, guiding us on making savvy choices to save while still having fun.

Jamila explores the power of understanding our “why not,” staying motivated on our financial paths, shaping a success-bound mindset, and posing THREE crucial self-assessment questions for goal alignment

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#477: Ask Paula: Investing for the Future vs. Paying Down the Past

Kayla is torn between paying off a loan early or catching up on missed retirement contributions.

Josh wants to retire early and meets the threshold for zero capital gains taxes. Should he put all his retirement savings into a brokerage account?

An anonymous caller wants to know how to merge financial lives with her husband from another country.

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

Enjoy!

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#476: Astronaut’s Guide to Taking YOUR Moonshot, with Mike Massimino from NASA and Big Bang Theory

Mike Massimino stared in disbelief at his TV.

The date was July 16, 1969, and he marveled as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon.

At that moment, he knew he wanted to become an astronaut.

He was six years old.

But as Mike grew older, he developed more “realistic” dreams. After all, every kid wants to become an astronaut. The chances of making it are incredibly slim. He went to a local college, studied engineering, and took a job at IBM.

But he couldn’t shake the tiny voice inside that said – “why not try?”

So Mike upended his life. He enrolled in a Ph.D. program at MIT, and then proceeded to fail the qualification exam so horrifically that his professors gently suggested that perhaps a doctorate isn’t right for him.

He battled to pass the exam on his second attempt, and went on to teach at Georgia Tech, from where he repeatedly submitted applications to NASA for their astronaut candidate program.

He was thrilled when he received his acceptance – until he learned he needed stronger vision. At the time, NASA required astronauts to have natural 20/20 eyesight, without surgery.

So he sought out a doctor to help him re-train his eyesight.

Then he learned that he’d need to pass a swim test. He was in his 30’s and had never swum. “Can’t I just take a math quiz?,” he joked.

But he … didn’t let that sink him. (Pun intended).

In today’s special episode, former NASA astronaut Mike Massimino explains how anyone – including you – can take your own moonshot.

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#475: Tribute to Charlie Munger, The Man Who Taught Warren Buffett How to Invest

Born in 1924, Charlie Munger was raised during the Great Depression.

At the time of his death on Tuesday, his net worth was estimated at $2.6 billion.

But Munger’s greatest achievement wasn’t merely the scorecard of his net worth. His wit and wisdom, which Munger shared with the world through his book, Poor Charlie’s Almanack, which made him one of the most respected investors of the last century.

Munger is the man who taught Warren Buffet how to invest.

He’s lauded as the moral compass of Berkshire Hathaway, the company where he has served as vice chairman since 1984.

He’s the man who famously said, “In the short run, the market is a voting machine. But in the long run, it is a weighing machine.”

Munger and Buffet met each other in Omaha, their shared hometown, at a lunch at the local Omaha Club, where they were introduced by mutual friends. They instantly connected.

Buffet was an unknown at the time, but Munger saw his potential.

Munger’s wife once asked him, “Why are you paying so much attention to [Buffet]?,” and Munger replied, “You don’t understand. That is no ordinary human being.”

Their business partnership and friendship has lasted for more than 50 years, and Munger played a key role in many of Buffet’s investing decisions.

He passed away on November 28, 2023, at age 99.

In today’s First Friday bonus episode, we pay homage to the late investing legend Charlie Munger.

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#474: Surviving a $35,000 Credit Card Scam, Job Loss and Foreclosure, with Tiffany Aliche, The Budgetnista

When Tiffany Aliche was in her 20’s, she fell victim to a credit card scam.

A crafty swindler convinced her to take out a cash advance against her credit card for $35,000. He said that he’d invest the money and produce Bernie Madoff- style returns. She was an inexperienced investor. She believed him.

She never saw that money again.

Aliche worked at a preschool. She didn’t make much money to begin with. But matters worsened when the school shut down, and she lost her job. She fell behind on mortgage payments and lost her condo.

In order to recover from such huge setbacks, she had to grapple with an enormous sense of financial shame.

Today, financial educator Tiffany Aliche, better known as The Budgetnista, shares how she overcame financial shame.

She talks to us about the opposite of shame, which is a sense of financial wholeness. And she discusses practical tips for how to navigate the challenges of debt and scams.

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#473: Ask Paula: How to Pay Off a $8,000 Medical Bill Without Going Broke

Sarah has cash to pay a $8,000 medical bill but she’s reluctant to drain her savings. Should she sign up for the hospital’s interest-free payment plan?

Jennie is an independent consultant but gets paid as a W-2 employee. Without access to a SEP IRA or a 401k plan, is there another option to save for retirement?

An anonymous caller is wondering how to run a cost-benefit analysis on pursuing a graduate degree.

Brian is getting inundated with spam calls as a real estate investor. Is there a way to stop the madness?

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

Enjoy!

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#472: Happiness Habits, with Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks

Imagine this: You’re a teenage musical prodigy, a world-class classical French horn player. You drop out of college at age 19 and spend your twenties touring the globe as a musician (including, once, tripping and falling off the stage at Carnegie Hall).

At age 31, you retire from your musical career, get a Ph.D., and become a professor – first at Syracuse and then at Harvard, where you teach both at Harvard Business School and at the Harvard Kennedy School.

You publish 13 books and write a column for The Atlantic, which gets noticed by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah then invites you to dinner, where she asks you to co-author a book together.

This is the life of today’s guest, Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks, whose collaboration with Oprah, a book called Build the Life You Want, focuses on the science and research behind happiness.

Brooks teaches a class on leadership and happiness to second-year Harvard MBA candidates. In our conversation, we discuss a range of topics, including metacognition (thinking about how to think), the neurobiological basis of ruminating, and how to balance the concept of contentment with the innately human urge for ambition and progress.

He also offers a formula for happiness: enjoyment + satisfaction + meaning and purpose.

So – I hope you enjoy this episode; I hope you find it satisfying, and I hope it fills you with meaning and purpose!

– Paula

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#471: Ask Paula: I Came Into A Lot of Money. What Should I Do With It?

Bob split a $350,000 windfall between savings and paying down his mortgage. But now he’s wondering if he made a good choice. Can Paula and Joe do the math to justify his gut-driven decisions?

Julia wants to tap the equity from a second home to buy a third home in Texarkana, Texas. Is this a good plan?

Joey Jr. wants to retire early, put two kids through college and buy a vacation home within the next five years. How can he afford to do it all?

An anonymous caller wonders if $1 million is a good budget for a retirement pad.

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

Enjoy!

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#470: The GDP Grew 4.9 Percent, Unemployment is at a Near-Record Low … and Everybody’s Stressed About Layoffs

The economy is booming. GDP grew 4.9 percent last quarter, the fastest rate of growth since 2021. Consumer spending jumped 4 percent. Unemployment is holding steady at 3.8 percent, historically low. The U.S. added net new jobs for the 34th consecutive month.

And yet – people are worried.

Online discussion around layoffs at its highest point since July 2020. High-profile headlines about major staffing cuts – most recently from Schwab, which is dismissing 2,000 employees – fuel these fears.

Why is there such a disconnect between sentiment, which is pessimistic, and economic data, which is robust? We explore that question in today’s episode.

We also discuss the controversial Credit Card Competition Act, which if passed might eliminate credit card rewards like airline miles and cashback. We talk about Mint, the budgeting app with 3.6 million users, announcing that it’s shutting down. We also share details about the student loan repayment debacle.

And we describe a landmark court ruling for $1.8 billion – yes, with a B – against the National Association of Realtors and several real estate brokerages, a verdict that may revolutionize the business model of how homes are bought and sold.

Enjoy our First Friday of November 2023 episode!

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#469: Ask Paula: Feeling FOMO About Your Home Equity? Here’s What to Do

Lindy feels like her $300,000 of accumulated equity could be put to better use. But she doesn’t want to buy more real estate right now. What’re her options?

Katie wants to become a landlord in her home state but she’s concerned about the effects of redlining. Should she look into Section 8?

Claudia lives in Germany and wants to buy an apartment in Manhattan. But she knows nothing about US real estate. Where does she start? 

I tackle these questions in today’s episode.

Enjoy!

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