Afford Anything

Tag: whole life insurance

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#385: Ask Paula: How to Invest When You’re Unsure of the Goal

Anonymous (“Jennifer”) keeps hearing us say that you should “start with the end in mind” – that your investments should match your goals and timeline. But what if you don’t have any specific financial goal? What if your risk tolerance is different than you once thought?

Rachel’s new employer won’t let her contribute to retirement for more than a year – what should she do??

Carri’s parents are in poor health and can’t work much – what should they do about their life insurance policy and their health insurance?

Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.

Enjoy!

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#380: Ask Paula: How to Optimize Your Investments Along the Efficient Frontier (If You Dare!)

Anonymous and her spouse are both in the military and about to reach retirement. They have an expensive whole life insurance policy, costing $550 per month, and wonder if they should switch to term life insurance.

Ionnie just rolled over her Roth IRA and would like to understand how to withdraw her contributions without getting penalized

Matt wants to optimize his portfolio and wants to know if he should invest along the Efficient Frontier – despite the fact that the asset allocation it recommends is absolutely bonkers; it’s wild and risky and tilted like nothing he’s ever seen before.

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

Enjoy!

P.S. Also – we’re launching a book club!! Each month, we’ll read and discuss a book written by an Afford Anything podcast guest, starting with Morgan Housel, James Clear, Ken Honda, and Dr. Susan David.

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#378: Ask Paula: Should I Take a Higher-Paying Job if I Can’t Save As Much for Retirement?

Anonymous is 25. She has a job offer that comes with a substantial raise. Hooray!

Buuut … there’s a problem. If she accepts this job offer, her new employer won’t allow her to contribute as much money to her company retirement accounts.

How should she think about the trade-off between increasing income and funding her retirement?

Meanwhile, Dan from California is retiring soon and wants to know what he and his wife should do with the loan they took out against their 401(k).

Finally, an anonymous caller who goes by “Daughter” has a whole life policy that only costs her less than $50 per month. Since her policy is so cheap, should she keep it?

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#350: Ask Paula: How Much Should We Spend on a Wedding?

Anonymous and her husband have set themselves on the path of saving for retirement. But an old mistake haunts them: a financial planner convinced them to buy a mix of whole and term life insurance, which costs them $700 per month. Do they need whole life insurance, and where else can they save their money?

Mike has $60,000 in cash earning one percent interest. He has plans to buy a home and get married in three to five years. Where else can he put his cash to earn a little more? Is the stock market too risky for such a short time horizon?

Anonymous and her future husband are wondering: what’s a realistic amount to spend on a wedding?

My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer these questions on today’s episode. Enjoy!

Do you have a question on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing? Leave it here and we’ll answer them in a future episode. 

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By Paula Pant

#203: Ask Paula – Early Retirement and The Four Percent Rule

Many people in their 50’s or 60’s warn us about catastrophic or ‘black swan’ events. But what’s the likelihood that this will actually happen?

How can you use the 4 percent withdrawal rule for early retirement planning, given that your portfolio will be split among accounts with different tax treatments? How do you adjust your retirement plan for future taxes?

Should a couple in their 30’s switch from term life to whole life insurance?

Should a couple in their 50’s with adult children bother buying life insurance in the first place?

Is it okay to keep all your assets at one investment brokerage, like Vanguard or Fidelity?

And can you deduct rental losses if your income is over $150,000?

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

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By Paula Pant

#108: Ask Paula – I Don’t Know How to Invest

Former financial advisor Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer audience questions about investing strategies, early retirement, and tax planning.

Whitnee asks:

I’m 31, and my husband and I save half of our combined income. We’ve maxed out our H.S.A. accounts and we’re getting an employer match in our 401k. We have $80,000 stashed as cash […]

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