By Paula Pant
Antonia, 27, wants to retire in 15 years. She’s trying to figure out whether to contribute to pre-tax or after-tax retirement accounts.
Most financial advice for 20-somethings that she’s encountered says to contribute to after-tax (Roth) retirement accounts. These articles assume that a 27-year-old will continue earning money for the next 30+ years, presumably […]
By Paula Pant
This week, former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer five questions about investing, retirement, insurance, travel and selling an expensive car.
Eliana is 25 and makes $63,000 per year, plus a little extra from freelance work. She holds $95,000 in cash, $67,000 in retirement investments, and no debt. She doesn’t necessarily hold early retirement […]
By Paula Pant
Roger Whitney, age 51, calls himself The Retirement Answer Man. As a financial planner, investment analyst and podcast host, he focuses on helping Baby Boomers craft a traditional (past-age-60) retirement.
Today, he joins me to answer two questions that come in from our community.
Our first question is from Emily, who says:
“I’m trying […]
By Paula Pant
Stacy and her boyfriend would like to downsize to one vehicle. But they’re collectively $14,500 underwater on their car loans.
Stacy owes $11,000 on her car, but its trade-in value is $7,200. She’s paying a 12.74% interest rate and her payoff date is 2021.
Her boyfriend is in worse shape. He owes $18,500 on his […]
By Paula Pant
How can I convince my spouse to invest in low-fee index funds? How should my fiancé and I combine our finances? If I’d like to invest in rental properties, should I also buy stocks?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to tackle these audience questions and more.
Thomas asks:
My wife is suspicious […]
By Paula Pant
How much money should you invest in a side hustle or side business?
How do you know if your side hustle idea is viable?
What if you want to start 5 or 6 side businesses? Should you lump these together under a common business umbrella? Or should you separate them out?
These are the questions […]
By Paula Pant
This week, former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer 4 questions from the Afford Anything community.
We chat about how to control lifestyle inflation, how to break up with a financial planner, how to invest your first $10,000, and whether or not sector-specific or theme-specific funds are a good idea.
#1: Laura is transitioning […]
By Paula Pant
This week, I tackle your questions with my good friend, recovering financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy. Here’s what we answer:
1. I’m asking for a friend — no, really, I’m asking for a friend!
My friends are married and buried. They’re a married couple, buried in $500,000 of debt.
Some is federal student loans, some is […]
By Paula Pant
This week, my friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me for another round of Q&A in our (newly!) biweekly segment called Ask Paula!
Kicking off today’s episode, Nicky asks:
I’m young and healthy. My car is old and not-worth-much. And my personal property isn’t exactly fancy-pants.
Do I *really* need health, auto and […]
By Paula Pant
My buddy Joe Saul-Sehy, host of the Stacking Benjamins podcast, joins me this week for another episode of “Ask Paula (and Joe!)” — in which we workshop through questions that came from you, the Afford Anything community.
This week, Joe and I answer questions such as:
[…]
