Build a Better Life

With Paula Pant

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By Paula Pant

#270: Ask Paula – Buy a Home, Buy Investments, or Pay Off Debt? How Do I Decide?

Briana and her husband want to buy a home, but they don’t have enough saved for a downpayment. They also have student loan debt and a car loan. Which should they prioritize?

Javier is sick of being in debt. What can he do to put himself in a better situation?

Tracie wants to buy her first rental property, but she has student loans and a car loan to pay off. If she receives $20,000 from a cash-out refi, how should she use this money?

Vanitha wants to start a non-profit organization in memory of her uncle. She wants to know: what does this process look like?

Margie went under contract on a primary residence listed as a six-bedroom property. She found out that, legally, it’s a four-bedroom home. Should she re-negotiate the price, or ask for credits at closing?

I answer these questions in today’s episode. Enjoy!

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

#269: How to Ask Better Questions, with Charles Duhigg

Are you scared to take the first step toward the habits that you want to build?

Do you believe in your ability to change?

Or are you completely lost as to where to start?

Charles Duhigg, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of the best-selling books The Power of Habit and Smarter Faster Better joins us on today’s show to tackle these questions.

On his podcast, How To!, Charles explores the “why” behind our habits and helps listeners overcome life’s biggest challenges. Among them, finding a new career before it’s too late, walking away from an impossible parent, fighting racism in your town, and saying the right thing at the worst time.

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

PSA Thursday: How to Get Ready for a School Year Like No Other, with Mandy Bert and Rob Phelan

Welcome back to PSA Thursday, a mostly-weekly segment in which we talk about how to handle money, work, and life in the middle of a pandemic.

Do you have school-age children? If so, then brace yourself for a school year like no other.

This year, some children will return to school five days a week. Others will learn from home five days a week, and yet others will experience a hybrid of the two.

You and your kids may face wildly different schedules and challenges than anything you’ve encountered before.

How can you cope with this? Mandy Bert and Rob Phelan, who both work as teachers and are on the K-12 Education Team at the ChooseFI International Foundation, join us to share tips to help your children – and you! – survive the school year.

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

PSA Thursday: How to Talk To Your Tenants About Financial Difficulties

Welcome back to PSA Thursday, a mostly-weekly segment in which we talk about how to handle money, work, and life in the middle of a pandemic.

This week, we continue the conversation on evictions. No landlord wants to have to evict their tenant. No tenant wants to get evicted. What can we do, upfront, to prevent such issues from happening? That’s the question we explore in this episode.

We discuss what landlords can do to create and maintain open lines of communication with tenants. Inviting your tenants to communicate with you can help you avoid a situation in which they ghost you.

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By Paula Pant

#267: This Year’s Financial Reckoning, with Farnoosh Torabi

This week, one of the most acclaimed names in the world of personal finance journalism joins us to reflect on the events of 2020.

Farnoosh Torabi started covering personal finance in 2003 as a reporter for Money Magazine. She later became a correspondent for Jim Cramer’s The Street and the host of CNBC’s primetime show Follow the Leader. She’s the host of the award-winning So Money podcast and the author of several bestselling personal finance books, including When She Makes More: 10 Rules for Breadwinning Women.

She’s a contributing editor to NextAdvisor, a personal finance platform in partnership with TIME, as well as a financial columnist to O, The Oprah Magazine and a contributing editor for Bloomberg Business.

She joins us to discuss how the events of 2020 have led to a great financial reckoning.

You’ll enjoy this if:

  • You want to hear candid discussion about race, privilege, and the wealth chasm
  • You’re curious to hear about how the personal finance landscape has changed in the last two decades
  • You’re wondering if, in fact, “this time it’s different”

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By Paula Pant

#266: Ask Paula – Your Real Estate Questions, Answered

Ali is a travel nurse and wants to get into real estate investing. Should she buy a duplex that needs fixing up or a cheaper apartment that’s rent-ready?

Max is torn between investing in a rental property or taking advantage of a mega backdoor Roth 401k through his company. Which is the better option?

Paul’s parents own a property worth $100,000, and they owe $80,000 on the mortgage. If he wants to buy this property from them, how should he do it?

Kate and her husband own a townhome that has appreciated substantially, but they need a bigger house. They’re wondering: is it wise to keep it, rent it out, and use a cash-out refinance as a downpayment on their next property?

I answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

PSA Thursday: The Impact of Evictions, with Princeton University Eviction Lab expert Alieza Durana

Welcome back to PSA Thursday, a mostly-weekly segment in which we talk about how to handle money, work, and life in the middle of a pandemic.

This week, we shift our focus to handling tenants who can’t pay, a concern that many the landlords in our community have voiced since March.

If you’ve asked yourself:

  • What can we do to help if our tenants are unable to pay, but we still have bills to pay?
  • How can I make sure my tenant doesn’t ghost me during this time?
  • Is there any alternate resolution that doesn’t require an eviction?

then this episode is for you.

For this topic, we asked Alieza Durana to offer her expertise. She’s a journalist and media strategist who works with the Eviction Lab at Princeton University.

The Princeton Eviction Lab is a group that rigorously researches the causes and consequences of the affordable housing crisis, housing instability, and the impact of evictions.

On this episode, Alieza shares data that Princeton has gathered on evictions, and tips for landlords who want to be part of the solution, but struggle with the reality of having bills to pay.

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

#265: Personality Isn’t Permanent, with Dr. Benjamin Hardy

Who will you become in five years? 

Will you be the same person you are today, living a similar lifestyle? 

Or will you be a radically different person, with contrasting beliefs, goals, and preferences? 

According to research, most of us believe that we’ll maintain the same beliefs, goals, preferences, and behavior as our past selves. We believe that we’ll continue to plod along the trajectory our past selves set, destined for the same end-goal. 

That belief is flawed, and in some cases, downright wrong. 

Our personality is constantly evolving. The person we are today is not the same person we’ll be in five years. 

            What? That’s silly. I’m me either way, aren’t I?

Think about it this way: are you the same person you were five years ago? Ten years ago? Fifteen years ago?

Of course not. Things in your life have changed: your interests, hobbies, decision-making process, and habits are different than they were a decade ago. 

Past you ≠ present you. Present you ≠ future you.

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By Erin @ Team Afford Anything

PSA Thursday: How to Stay Safe as the Nation Re-Opens

Welcome back to PSA Thursday, a mostly-weekly segment in which we talk about how to handle money, work, and life in the middle of a pandemic.

This week, we focus on life and how to stay safe when venturing outside of your home.

Many of us are concerned with reducing the risk of coronavirus infection in places like a grocery store, gas station, or backyard BBQ, but the guidelines on how to stay safe aren’t always clear.

In this episode, we discuss the precautions to take…

  • When using a public toilet
  • When picking up food at a quick-serve restaurant or fast food place
  • When you’re exercising at the gym
  • When filling your car with gas
  • In your general day-to-day life when you’re out and about

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