Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

Latest Episodes:

Ask Paula - Could This NYC Couple Contribute Only $10,000 Per Year Towards Retirement? Oct 06, 2020

Show notes

#280: Amy and her husband have $900,000 saved for retirement. They’re 40 years old and plan to retire at 65. Due to a job change + pay cut, they might only have $10,000 per year to save for the next 25 years. Will this be enough, given their yearly expenses of $144,000?

Janie wants to get a solar power system for her house, but isn’t sure how to pay for it. Should she borrow funds from her seven-month emergency fund, or use funds from a taxable brokerage account that were earmarked for retirement?

CJ and his wife netted $200,000 from the sale of their home. They aren’t sure when they’ll purchase their next home – their timeline could be as short as three years or as long as six years. Where should they keep the $200,000 to use towards a downpayment on their next home?

Brandon wants to retire in the next five to ten years. He contributes 20 percent to his Roth 401k. Since he can’t withdraw those contributions early, does it make more sense to contribute up to the match of his 401k and invest the rest in an IRA with the goal of doing a Roth conversion?

Anonymous “am I missing out?” wants to know the deal with tax-loss harvesting. When is it worthwhile?

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

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode280

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How to Avoid Financial and Life Disasters, with Dr. Gleb Tsipursky Oct 02, 2020

Show notes

#279: You might know several decision-making principles, but do you have a step-by-step strategy that pieces those principles together?

Dr. Gleb Tsipursky is an internationally-recognized thought leader on decision-making strategies. He shares two decision-making techniques for any aspect of your life in this episode.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode279

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Loopholes That Destroy Our Ability to Form Habits, with Gretchen Rubin Sep 29, 2020

Show notes

#278: Does this sound like you?

You want to exercise, but you can never find the time for a workout. Eventually, you grow tired of putting exercise off. You commit to working out every morning. You become so enthusiastic, you buy new gym clothes for the occasion.

Your enthusiasm carries you for five days, and on day six, you’re swamped with work. You promise yourself you’ll exercise tomorrow - after all, taking a break for one day won’t hurt. And then … you never get back on the wagon. The cycle repeats.

Most habits and routines start with good intentions. But good intentions aren’t enough to carry you through tough times. Good intentions aren’t enough to overcome the excuses you’ll make, either.

That’s what today’s guest, Gretchen Rubin, is here to explore.

Gretchen Rubin is the New York Times best-selling author of The Happiness Project, Better Than Before, and The Four Tendencies. She joins us on the podcast to discuss the loopholes that we use - the excuses that we make - when it comes to breaking bad habits and forming good habits. Why is this important? The more aware we are of loopholes, the better we can resist them.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode278

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Timeless Financial Lessons from My Grandma, with Michelle Singletary Sep 21, 2020

Show notes

#277: Michelle Singletary writes The Color of Money, for The Washington Post and is a winner of the prestigious Gerald Loeb Award. Her column is syndicated in more than 100 newspapers nationwide. She’s the author of three finance books and holds an MBA from Johns Hopkins University.

But her strongest financial education came from her grandmother.

Her grandmother raised five grandchildren while working full-time as a Nursing Assistant at a hospital. She earned $13,000 per year, but never took welfare, was never late on a bill, and “handled her money like a pro.”

In this podcast episode, Michelle shares timeless financial lessons she learned from her grandmother, including:

Save from every penny or dollar you receive

Live below your means

Hate debt like it’s the devil

Save for the future

Don’t buy more than you can afford

Don’t care about what other people think about what you wear or drive

Michelle’s grandmother taught her resourcefulness, humility and the value of a strong work ethic.

Michelle joins us to chat about the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement, emotional spending, how her experience growing up poor gives her a unique perspective in financial media, and the falsehood behind the phrase “it’s not what you earn, it’s what you save.”

You’ll enjoy this episode if…

You’re new to the world of personal finance or FIRE and want to learn more about the basics. (#lessonsfromgrandma)

You can’t relate to some of the discussion around FIRE because it seems unachievable to you.

You love down-to-earth guests who tell it like it is.

For more, visit https://affordanything.com/episode277

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Cut the Fluff and Become a Digital Minimalist, with Dr. Cal Newport Sep 15, 2020

Show notes

#276: Have you found yourself mindlessly scrolling through social media feeds over the last few months? Have you also found yourself in a state of sadness, anxiety, or aggravation afterwards?

We live in an increasingly noisy world. A world in which many of us use social media, or the internet in general, to escape. But our escapes often leave us feeling empty and annoyed at ourselves for wasting several hours of precious time.

Here’s one possible remedy for this tiring, relentless cycle: embrace the philosophy of digital minimalism.

"Okay, I’m in. But...what’s digital minimalism?"

Digital minimalism is a term coined by Dr. Cal Newport, today’s guest.

It describes a three-step process:

Cull the time you spend staring at a screen
Spend more time on digital activities that align with your values
Ignore everything else

For more information, visit https://affordanything.com/episode276

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Avoid These 13 Hidden Money Mistakes That Most People Make, with Jill Schlesinger Sep 08, 2020

Show notes

#275: Even the nerdiest of money nerds are susceptible to making a dumb financial mistake. “Nope, not me! There’s no way I make any financial mistakes. I live and breathe this stuff.” You’re not capable of making any financial mistakes? Even 'hidden' mistakes, like having the wrong life insurance policy, not having an estate plan, or listening to the wrong ‘experts'? Exactly.

Jill Schlesinger, author of The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money, sets the record straight on 13 things you shouldn't do with your hard-earned cash.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode275

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Finding Hope and Happiness in a Confusing World, with Mark Manson Sep 04, 2020

Show notes

#274: What does it take to create a sustainable sense of hope? That’s the question that I invited Mark Manson, megabestselling author of Everything is F*cked and The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck, to answer. Mark says that three basic factors contribute to a sense of hope: 1) autonomy, 2) purpose, and 3) community.

Mark and I keep these three factors in mind as we discuss how to define success, find new challenges, and choose what’s meaningful in life. We touch on the importance of emotional regulation and avoiding crises of hope. And we talk about how they relate back to the financial independence retire early (FIRE) movement.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode274

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The Emotional Complexity of Money, with Dr. Dan Ariely Aug 31, 2020

Show notes

#273: Dr. Dan Ariely, famed behavioral economist and best-selling author of Predictably Irrational, returns to discuss how to handle the emotional and financial volatility of 2020.

Specifically:

Preparing for a job loss
The value of resilience
Handling emotional spending
Cutting through the noise to find a signal.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode273

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

PSA Thursday - How to Avoid Parental Burnout, with Andy Hill Aug 27, 2020

Show notes

Andy Hill, father of two and founder of Marriage, Kids, and Money, joins us to discuss parental burnout in the midst of the pandemic.

He shares his best tips on creating a family schedule, learning to embrace the reality of working from home with interruptions, and maintaining sanity as kids venture back to school - all while being a good enough parent and partner.

For more PSA Thursday episodes, go to https://affordanything.com/psathursday

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ask Paula: I’m Three Years from Retirement. How Should I Invest? Aug 24, 2020

Show notes

#272: “Anonymous Moving-Back-home” and her partner earn $150,000 per year after taxes. They’re currently saving 80 percent by living with family. What should they do with their savings?

Leigh and her husband are three years away from retirement. They have an extra $50,000 in income this year and plenty of options for where to invest this money. Which one is the best?

Kelsey doesn’t feel comfortable investing in total stock market index funds and would rather invest in ESG funds. How can she tell if she has the necessary $2,000 invested in a company to submit a proposal to participate in a proxy voting? Also, Vanguard has a poor history of supporting shareholder resolutions. What can we do about this?

Dylan and his wife rolled her 401k into a rollover IRA with pre-tax contributions. They’ve continued contributing to this IRA with post-tax contributions. Should they separate the accounts, or can they worry about this when they’re ready to retire?

Anonymous wants to buy and househack one duplex every year to achieve financial independence and leave his office job within the next three to four years. Is his plan realistic?

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

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode272

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Our TOPPODCAST Picks

Follow Us

Stay Connected

Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

Related Podcasts

Links

Stay Connected