Afford Anything

Tag: financial independence

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#195: Ask Paula – I Make $168,000 Per Year and Spend $5,000 Per Year. What’s Next?

Alex makes $168,000 per year, combined between her full-time job and her side hustle. Her company pays for breakfast, lunch and dinner during the work week, plus a cell phone subsidy, health, dental and vision insurance, a gym membership, and commuting costs. She also househacks, so her living expenses are only $400 per month. What should she do with her ample savings?

Christine is 38 and earns $70,000 per year running her own business. She holds $70,000 in investment accounts, has another $16,000 in savings, bought a condo with 20 percent down, and has no debt. What can she do to fast-track her path to financial independence?

Amy is unsure whether she should pay off her mortgage, downsize to a smaller home, or invest.

Katherine is 23 and househacking into a duplex. How much should she set aside for cash reserves?

Miriam started a podcast and wants to know how to morph a passion into a lucrative income stream.

Nick wonders if the FIRE movement should plan an annual gathering … you know, like a FIRE Festival. (But not like the Fyre Festival.)

I tackle these six questions in today’s episode.

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#186: How We Retired at Age 30 and 29, with Mike and Lauren

Mike and Lauren reached financial independence at age 30 and 29, respectively.

But their story begins a dozen years earlier.

Mike and Lauren started dating high school. Mike worked as a restaurant server in high school, earning $19,000 per year. He built his first net worth tracking spreadsheet in December 2005 as a high school student. He had a net worth of $416.

In 2007, Mike dropped out of college to start a commercial cleaning company. He made $76,000 that year. As history would have it, that was the couple’s second-highest-earning year ever.

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So I Gave a Talk at Google …

A few months ago, I got an invitation to speak at Google.

“Cool,” I thought. “That’s, like, grown-up stuff!”

The invitation came from one of my podcast listeners, David Moltz, who works at the company’s Los Angeles office and who hosted the hour-long Q&A.

“Could you talk about financial independence,” he asked me, “but maybe leave out the part about everyone quitting their job?”

“Haha! Sure thing,” I replied.

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#178: How to Make Work Optional, with Tanja Hester

Tanja Hester retired at age 38.

She had a negative net worth until her late 20’s, thanks to a combination of student loans, buying expensive cocktails and clothes, living far beyond her means, and not paying attention to her money. If you were to have met the 27-year-old version of Tanja, you wouldn’t guess that she’d be a likely candidate for retiring early.

Yet a decade later, she’s saved 40x of her annual cost of living.

How? Tanja worked as a political consultant in Los Angeles, and during her career, ascended to important high-ranking roles. Every promotion came with more grueling hours, accompanied by a raise.

Tanja maintained her same standard of living, banking every raise. This simple strategy allowed her to rapidly grow her net worth.

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“We are literally the millionaires next door”- says me, to the Washington Post

Guess what? The Washington Post published an interview with me about the Financial Independence, Retire Early movement (the FIRE movement).

They asked if it’s possible to save half of your income. They asked about the accuracy of Suze Orman’s statement that you’ll need $5 million to retire early. (Spoiler alert: No. You don’t.) And they asked if everyone who reaches financial independence then spends their time blogging about said topic, because if that’s true, then what’s the point?

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#160: The Paradox of FI — with Jonathan Mendonsa and Brad Barrett of Choose FI

When Jonathan Mendonsa was 18, he researched which college degrees lead to the highest income.

Pharmacy was near the top of the list of high-paying degrees, so Jonathan decided to become a pharmacist. He wasn’t motivated by passion or calling. His decision was purely tactical. He wanted to make money.

He spent four years in college, followed by another four years of graduate school. By age 28, he held a Doctorate in Pharmacy and an astounding $168,000 in debt.

This debt burden might have been bearable if Jonathan loved his chosen profession. For people who love their fields, tuition is the price of being able to enjoy a lifetime of work they love.

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#158: What I Love About the FIRE Movement – with Clark Howard

Clark Howard loves the FIRE movement. That’s because he’s one of us.

Clark began investing in real estate at age 22, started a travel agency at age 25, and retired at age 31.

He sold his travel agency, moved to the beach and relaxed for four years; then he started a second career as the […]

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Why the FIRE movement is misunderstood

The FIRE movement is misunderstood. The drama of the last two weeks proves it. The question is, how can we fix this?

Ohhh we have a new supporter!!

Last week, Suze Orman called FIRE “dumb and stupid.”

“When I was 30 I was dumb and stupid as well, okay?,” she said in an interview with Yahoo! Finance, adding that she’s “pissed off” at people pursuing early retirement.

But since then, she’s taken more time to learn about the movement — and she’s in support.

In a Facebook post titled “What I Hate — and Love — about FIRE,” Suze writes…

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“Why I Hate the FIRE Movement,” says Suze Orman

A few weeks ago, I received an email from Suze Orman’s publicist, asking if I’d be interested in interviewing Suze on my podcast.

“Duh,” I replied.

Suze is a legend in the world of personal finance. She’s appeared on Oprah multiple times, published 10 mega-bestselling books, and hosted The Suze Orman Show on CNBC from 2002 to 2015. She’s one of the most famous voices in this space.

I read her most recent book, Women & Money, and sketched out a framework for the interview. Then I threw it away, feeling dissatisfied with my questions, and I turned to the Afford Anything community on Facebook and Twitter.

“I’m interviewing Suze Orman,” I wrote. “What would you like me to ask her?”

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