Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

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**Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money**

45 million downloads. One question: what does it actually take to build wealth?

Each week, Paula Pant brings in economists, investors, business leaders, authors, and researchers to dig into the five pillars of financial freedom — financial psychology, increasing income, investing, real estate, and entrepreneurship. Deep insights rooted in economics and behavioral finance. First-principles thinking. No surface-level tips.

Follow or Subscribe to hear new episodes every Tuesday and Friday.

Get smarter with money. Build wealth.

Latest Episodes:

How to Invest in Real Estate, Debt-Free, from Thousands of Miles Away, with Rich Carey Sep 24, 2021

Show notes

#339: Have you ever thought, “I’d like to invest in rental real estate but there are no cheap properties in my area!”

“Homes in my city are too expensive. I’d have to invest out-of-state, but that sounds terrifying.”

Or have you ever thought, “I’m curious about real estate but I’m not a fan of the idea of taking on all that debt.”

Today’s interview is right up your alley. We talk to Rich Carey, who bought 20 single-family rental properties in Alabama, totally debt-free, while stationed in Germany and South Korea.

He invested not just out-of-state, but entirely from outside the country.

He bought his properties free-and-clear. And he did it on a military salary while raising two kids.

This interview originally aired in June 2018. Enjoy!

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode339

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Why Investors Need a Latticework of Ideas, with Morgan Housel Sep 14, 2021

Show notes

#338: This month, we’re running four episodes based around the four pillars of F.I.R.E. — financial psychology, investing, real estate and entrepreneurship.

Today’s episode, which originally aired in April 2018, offers advice to investors who want to sharpen and hone their competitive edge.

Here are three lessons from this conversation with investment writer Morgan Housel:

Lesson #1: Great investors need patience and humility.

Lesson #2: Read broadly.

Don’t just read books about finance and investing. Read from a broad multi-disciplinary array of subjects, so that you can form a latticework of ideas.

Lesson #3: Play a strong defense.

On the surface, it seems like playing defense is a conservative strategy. Emergency funds and a strong income-producing allocation, for example, both sound conservative.

But in the long-term it could prove to be the opposite.

Enjoy this interview, which originally aired in April 2018.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode338

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Habits are Overrated, with Kristen Berman Sep 08, 2021

Show notes

#337: Meet Kristen Berman, a top researcher in the field of behavioral economics. She’s the co-founder of Irrational Labs, which designs products that are evidence-based in the behavioral sciences.

Her co-founder, Dan Ariely, is the James B. Duke Professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, and one of the most famous behavioral economists in the world.

Here are some of the (counterintuitive!) ideas that Kristen shares:

Habits are overrated. Automate instead
Budgeting doesn’t change your spending behavior
Commit in advance
Forget about the outcome
Focus on the process
You need accountability
Think about the Three B’s: behavior, barriers and benefits

Tune into this episode to hear Kristen elaborate on these research-backed, evidence-based ideas about how to improve our spending, saving and investing habits.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode337

*Note: This interview originally aired in October 2019.

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Ask Paula: Should We Sell a Condo if We’re Barely Breaking Even? Sep 03, 2021

Show notes

#336: Anonymous and his partner have a one-bedroom condo that they rent out in Pasadena, CA. The problem? They’re barely breaking even. Should they keep the condo, or sell it and make better use of the profits?

Sam wants to know: how much of an emergency fund does a rental property need?

Michael and his wife expect their taxable income to be less than $10,000 this year. Should Michael (age 56) take distributions from his 401k to minimize or eliminate their income tax burden?

Shanon wants to switch to an ethical bank with values that align with hers. How can she create a framework for making decisions about financial institutions when authentic information is scarce?

Sharon's husband purchased a property with a below-market loan in 2008. They now have an extra $4,000 per month, and Sharon wants to buy a property as a first-time buyer. They're torn between keeping the property or selling it. What should they do?

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.

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.

For more information and resources, go to https://affordanything.com/episode336

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What You Think You Want vs. What You Really Want, with Luke Burgis Sep 01, 2021

Show notes

#335: Have you ever spent years studying the wrong major, climbing the ladder at the wrong company, chasing the wrong career?

Have you spent years living in the wrong city? Wrong relationship? Wrong lifestyle?

It’s hard to discern what *we think we want* from what we really want.

Society teaches us what we’re “supposed” to want. And we follow along.

The result is keeping up with the Joneses. It’s the hedonic treadmill. It’s lifestyle inflation. And it causes conflict, both within ourselves and with others.

Today’s guest, Luke Burgis, discusses mimetic desire — how our “wants” are imitative — and how we can find our deeper truths.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode335

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Ask Paula -- What Paintbrush Did Michelangelo Use? (said no one ever) Aug 25, 2021

Show notes

#334: In today’s episode, we answer three questions from a college senior named Rafael.

He asks about productivity tools and tactics, student debt, Robinhood and market investing, and how to establish yourself as an expert in a given domain.

We answer his questions by widening the lens.

People often ask about productivity tools. “Do you use Asana or Trello?” But nobody asked Michelangelo what paintbrush he used to paint the Sistine Chapel. The discussion around tools misses the point, which is to master the craft.

Sure, we answer his direct, overt questions. But we also dive deeper, refining these topics and exploring the questions *behind* his questions.

This is an episode in which we peel layers off the onion.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode334

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The End of Recessions?, with Ben Carlson Aug 18, 2021

Show notes

#333: In the 1890s and early 1900’s, we had recessions every two years.

From 2009 to 2020, we enjoyed an 11-year bull run, the longest bull run in history. And when we finally had a recession, it lasted only two months. It was the shortest recession in U.S. history.

The duration between recessions is growing longer (these days, we average 10 years between recessions, as opposed to two years at the turn of the previous century).

And when recessions strike, we recover faster. The average length of recessions is growing shorter.

What does this mean? If we project these trends into the future, are we bound for the end of recessions?

That’s the question that kicks off this discussion with Ben Carlson, Director of Institutional Asset Management at Ritzhold Wealth Management and the host of the Animal Spirits podcast.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode333

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Ask Paula: What’s the Point of Financial Independence if I’m Not Going to Retire? Aug 12, 2021

Show notes

#332: Ginger’s financial independence (FI) number is $2 million, but she doesn’t want to fully retire early. Once she hits ‘coast’ FI, she wants to 1) buy her time back with outsourcing, 2) take a mini-retirement, and 3) buy a vacation home. Does it make sense for her to divert retirement contributions to these goals, or should she aim to save $2M?

Wilson plans to have a two percent withdrawal rate in retirement. Given this low rate, should he go all-in on stocks? Or should he split up his retirement funds and invest one half conservatively and the other half aggressively?

Jennifer has a low-stress doggie-daycare, but she needs a bigger space to scale up. How the heck can she find a property to suit her needs in Austin, TX?

My friend and former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer another round of listener questions.

(If you have questions on business, money, trade-offs, financial independence strategies, travel, or investing, leave them here and we’ll answer them in a future episode.)

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode332

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Four Thousand Weeks, with Oliver Burkeman Aug 07, 2021

Show notes

#331:

Four thousand weeks.

That’s how long we live if we’re lucky enough to celebrate our 80th birthday.

We rarely think of our lifespan in terms of weeks. When we do, it seems painfully short.

And that’s the point that Oliver Burkeman, author of Four Thousand Weeks, wants to drive home.

Rather than fight a losing battle against time, Oliver recommends that we embrace our cosmic insignificance, redefine what a meaningful life looks like, choose what to fail at, burn bridges, and ruthlessly limit our works-in-progress.

If the financial independence movement is a rebellion against trading the rest of our limited time for pay, Oliver’s unconventional view on time management is a rebellion against trading the rest of our limited time for an illusion of productivity.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode331

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Ask Paula: How Do I Know If I’m Ready to Retire? Aug 02, 2021

Show notes

#330: Linda is 58 and wondering how to account for her Social Security benefits when thinking through the 25x expenditure equation. Her expected expenses are $100,000 - $150,000. How can she figure out if she’s ready to retire?

Alise has dreamed of living abroad for long periods of time and wants to buy a property in Portugal before the minimum spend requirement increases. Should she go through with this, or is there another way to gain dual citizenship or travel abroad for long periods of time?

An anonymous lawyer from Colorado has $250,000 in a SEP-IRA account that’s invested in mutual funds with fees ranging from 0.61 percent to 1.06 percent. Fees on these funds are projected at $200,000 over the next 20 years. Should he and can he transfer these funds to another SEP-IRA account? What are the consequences of doing that?

Mr. Man is eligible to retire with a full pension, health benefits, and social security at age 48. He has 20 years to go. Should he include his pension and social security benefits in his financial independence plan, or think of them as extras?

Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer more of your questions.

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.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode330

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