Catching Up to FI

Latest Episodes:

International Living | Jeff Opdyke | 050 Dec 10, 2023

Show notes

Bill and returning guest co-host, Jackie, sit down with Jeff Opdyke to talk about raising financially savvy children as well as the pros and cons of living internationally.

Jeff was born and raised in South Louisiana but grew up traveling the world and has never really stopped. He spent 17 years covering personal finance and investing for The Wall Street Journal, and seven years writing the Journal's nationally syndicated "Love & Money" column that chronicled the real ways personal finances and personal relationships clash.

Jeff has traveled to more than 70 countries and currently works as a digital nomad living and writing from Cascais, Portugal about retirement lifestyle, travel, and global investing. Jeff Opdyke is the editor of The Global Intelligence Letter and contributor to International Living.

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Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show:

Replay: Your Second Chance to Invest in the American Dream by Jeff Opdyke

Financially Ever After: The Couples' Guide to Managing Money by Jeff Opdyke

Bite Your Tongue Podcast Episode 2: MONEY...and Your Adult Children!

Money Letters 2 My Daughter by Jackie Cummings Koski

4% Rule

International Living

International Living Conferences

Disclaimer: We are not lawyers, financial advisors, accountants or tax experts. Please consult your own professional advisors before making any important decisions. Our content is for entertainment and education purposes only.

Single Player FI | Jennifer Mah | 049 Dec 03, 2023

Show notes

Jennifer Mah is an FI enthusiast, and you can find her wit and wisdom all over many FI social media channels. She is an administrator of the Afford Anything Facebook Group and is active in the Choose FI Community locally and worldwide. Her home base is in the San Diego area where she is an entrepreneurial financial coach at Your Money, Your Life Financial Coaching. Jen's services are designed to reduce anxiety and stress, help people take control of their money, and empower them to build the life that they want.

Jen's personal and money stories are moving to say the least. Bill and guest co-host Jackie Cummings Koski dive deep with Jen to explore the intersection of personal and financial trauma and inspirational resilience. Please be aware that some of the topics we discuss in today's show can be triggering. It is with great pleasure that we welcome Jen to the Catching Up to FI Family!

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Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

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Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show:

988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline

Letters 2 My Daughter by Jackie Cummings Koski

FinCon

Afford Anything Facebook

Your Money, Your Life Financial Coaching

Die With Zero: Getting All You Can From Your Money and Your Life by Bill Perkins

Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk | Cameron Huddleston | 048 Nov 26, 2023

Show notes

Cameron Huddleston is the author of "Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances." She is an award-winning journalist with 20 years of experience writing about personal finance. Her work has appeared in Forbes, Kiplinger's Personal Finance, Chicago Tribune, MSN, Yahoo and many more print and online publications.

Cameron is a mom of three young kids and is also a daughter; she juggled raising her kids while caring for her mom, who had Alzheimer's disease. It was a stressful situation, but it gave her great insight into how financially devastating Alzheimer's and dementia can be. It also made her realize how necessary it is for adult children to be having conversations with their parents about their finances before a health issue or emergency leaves their parents unable to manage their own finances.

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Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show: (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Mom and Dad, We Need to Talk: How to Have Essential Conversations With Your Parents About Their Finances by Cameron Huddleston

Cameron Huddleston Website

Scam Red Flags

ICE (In Case of Emergency) Binder

My Other Vehicle is a 401(k)! | Diana Falck | 047 Nov 19, 2023

Show notes

Diana Falck is a 52-year-old retired wife, stepmom to six, Glamma to six, and financial literacy advocate residing in Arizona. She is also on the staff of Catching Up to FI as our Facebook group administrator and social media maven.

Diana has an inspiring story of persistence, diligence, and compassion. Burdened with a six-figure MBA debt for over a decade, the Chicago-born Italian was determined to become debt free and enrolled in Financial Peace University. She went gazelle intense to pay off debt, save for an emergency fund, and invest for retirement.

Due to the overhaul in her life, she wanted freedom for others and volunteered in stewardship ministries and then the Financial Independence community. Diana married at 48 and went around the debt mountain for a second round. She is passionate to help and encourage late starters as the journey hits very close to home.

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Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

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Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Corrections:

12:30 Study abroad in Spain was a program that Marquette sponsored at Universidad Complutense de Madrid.

29:07 Gig was for three weeks

29:14 21 days

30:11 three weeks

42:21 2020, not 2000

49:30 Jan 2020, not Dec 2020…it took 19 months

Diana's favorite links

Resources mentioned on the show:

EconoMe Conference

Peace Corps: The Toughest Job You'll Ever Love

Food for the Hungry

House Hacking

CURE International (Afghanistan)

Taxes

Geoarbitrage: Physical Presence Test

Begin at 14:40 for scene: Break the Chains of Debt

Gazelle Intensity

Debt Snowball vs Avalanche

Episode 31 Top Gun Finance

Legacy Drawer (Dead Box-Jeremy Personal Finance Club)

Financial Literacy Education - ChooseFI

The Shockingly Simple Math Behind Early Retirement

FatFI defined

Fight back and WIN - "Bankrupt" - Taylor Swift Bad Blood Parody

Ben & Arthur Chart

Resources that helped Diana's/Falck's Money Journeys

Apps that saved our marriage

Google Calendar: shared

Life360

YNAB & Nick True for YNAB Help

Movies

Playing with FIRE

Books

The Total Money Makeover ~ Dave Ramsey: For Debt ONLY

ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence

I Will Teach You to Be Rich ~ Ramit Sethi

Financial Freedom ~ Grant Sabatier

48 Days to the Work You Love ~ Dan Miller

Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life ~ Jordan Grumet, M.D.

Diana would like to dedicate her first podcast to her late cousin, Ida and brother, Tony.

If you or someone you know is struggling with addiction, help is out there, and freedom is possible. As with any program…the steps work:

12-step

Celebrate Recovery

Live from Bali! | Stacking Benjamins | 046 Nov 12, 2023

Show notes

Today's episode is a live recording from the FI Freedom Retreat that took place in Bali, Indonesia in October 2023. Amy Minkley organized this awesome event and there were around 45 people in attendance from all over the globe.

Becky Heptig and Joe Saul-Sehy from Stacking Benjamins Podcast hosted a few of the attendees to get their unique and interesting stories. You'll meet Annie, who has tried out Van Life, Chris, a full-time digital nomad, and Tania, who discovered she was FI and didn't even know it!

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show: Stacking Benjamins

Stacked: Your Super-Serious Guide to Modern Money Management by Joe Saul-Sehy and Emily Guy Birken FI Freedom Retreats EconoMe CampFI

Year End Tax Planning | Sean Mullaney | 045 Nov 05, 2023

Show notes

We welcome back Sean Mullaney to the show! Also known as The FI Tax Guy, Sean is a financial planner who offers fee-only and advice-only financial planning at Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. He was first on the show back in Episode 013 to discuss the basics of retirement accounts and the tax aspects of those accounts in the accumulation and drawdown years. Sean sits down with Bill and Becky for a second time today to discuss important year-end tax planning, a very timely and important topic. Sean will give us a taste for what we should be thinking about for 2023 and planning for 2024.

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show: (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

FItaxguy.com

2023 Year-End Tax Planning

What is a Donor Advised Fund?

Daffy

GuideStar

Solo 401(k): The Solopreneur's Retirement Account by Sean Mullaney

Backdoor Roth IRA for Beginners

Split-Year Backdoor Roth IRAs

Roth Conversions Before It's Too Late?

Disclaimer: The discussion is intended to be for general educational purposes and is not tax, legal, or investment advice for any individual. Becky, Bill, and the Catching Up to FI podcast do not endorse Sean Mullaney, Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. and their services.

SpongeBob and Drawdown Strategies | Frank Vasquez | 044 Oct 29, 2023

Show notes

Frank Vasquez is a mostly retired lawyer with over 30 years' experience in investing for his own accounts. He holds degrees in Economics and Engineering from the California Institute of Technology and a law degree from Georgetown University. He is extremely active in the Financial Independence community, answering questions of all types in forums and Facebook groups. He has appeared as a guest on the Choose FI, What's Up Next and Security Analysis podcasts, and run workshops at the EconoMe Conference. His involvement in FI topics and issues predates the FI Community as it is known today. He is the founder and host of Risk Parity Radio, a laboratory or dive bar devoted to asset allocations for the DIY investor and drawdown portfolios.

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Buy CUtFI a coffee

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show: (As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.)

Interview Notes for Frank Vasquez

What's Up Next Podcast

Security Analysis Podcast

FinCon

Risk Parity Radio

Histories of the FIRE Community

Early Retirement Extreme With Jacob Lund Fisker

Retirement Planning Education with Andy Panko

What is a Drawdown?

Retirement and IRA Show

Dave Ramsey

Catching Up to FI Episode 022 with Jordan Grumet

Open Social Security

Bill Bengen's 4% Rule

Liz Ann Sonders With Charles Schwab

📕 Cashing in on the American Dream: How to Retire at 35 by Paul Terhorst

Catching Up to FI Episode 033 with Allan Roth

Morningstar Portfolio Manager

A Wealth of Common Sense Blog with Ben Carlson

Risk Parity Radio Episode 289

Big Ern's Safe Withdrawal Rate Series

📗 The Little Book of Common Sense Investing by John Bogle

Walk4McKenna

Retire Often | Jillian Johnsrud | 043 Oct 22, 2023

Show notes

Jillian Johnsrud is the author of "Fire the Haters: Finding Courage to Create Online In a Critical World," a blogger at montanamoneyadventures.com, a podcaster at Everyday Courage and Retire Often, and a Life Coach.

When Jillian and her husband married, they had $55,000 in debt. They also had big dreams: take mini-retirements, travel the world, and adopt children. In the last 21 years, they have paid off all their debt, traveled to 27 counties, lived abroad for 4 years, taken 12 mini-retirements, and adopted 4 kids (plus had 2 biological kids!). They paid cash for their very first home and bought 2 rental properties that they fixed up themselves. They have served on boards of nonprofits, mentored kids from tough situations, and volunteered in all sorts of roles.

At 32, Jillian became financially independent. Now it's her mission to help others build a life that perfectly lines up with their values, passion and purpose

🔗 Connect with us

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show:

Fire the Haters: Finding the Courage to Create Online in a Critical World by Jillian Johnsrud

Retire Often

Retire Often Podcast

Catching Up to FI Episode 019 with Fritz Gilbert

Catching Up to FI Episode 022 with Jordan Grumet

retireoften.com/intentional

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The Banes of Financial Independence | Camp FI Midwest Live | 042 Oct 15, 2023

Show notes

On this special addition of Catching Up to FI, we get to hear a live panel from CampFI Midwest 2023 hosted by Becky, Diania Merriam of Optimal Finance Daily, and Jordan Grumet of Earn & Invest. The hosts discuss the surprising and maybe not-so-fun sides of financial independence and how to work through them. We also hear personal stories from the panel's audience.

🔗 Connect with us

Buy CUtFI a coffee

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show:

Optimal Finance Daily with Diania Merriam

Earn & Invest with Doc G

Camp FI

EconoMe

Money for the Rest of Us | David Stein | 041 Oct 08, 2023

Show notes

David Stein is the host of the personal finance podcast Money for the Rest of Us. The show has over 20M downloads and reaches more than 40,000 listeners per episode. Prior to launching his podcast, David advised and managed assets for institutions and financial planners. He was a Chief Investment Strategist and Chief Portfolio Strategist at Fund Evaluation Group, LLC. David perfected his teaching style as an investment consultant to numerous not-for-profit institutions. His book Money for the Rest of Us: 10 Questions to Master Successful Investing is different from many of the investing books our audience may have read. It is pivotal in helping "the rest of us" make less emotional and risk conscious decisions when making any investment.

🔗 Connect with us

Buy CUtFI a coffee

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Thank you to our sponsors:

Personal Finance Club (Use code CUTOFI to get $30 OFF any course or PFC investing course only!)

Measure Twice Money ($100 OFF "Create Your Own Financial Plan" Comprehensive Video Course)

Nectarine: Advice-Only Financial Advisors

Resources mentioned on the show:

Money for the Rest of Us

Money for the Rest of US: 10 Questions to Master Successful Investing by David Stein

Catching Up to FI Episode 025 with Rob Berger

assetcamp.com