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035R | In today's podcast we discuss our takeaways from Episode 35 with Big Ern from Early Retirement Now, plus paying off mortgages and student loans early and frugal wins of the week from the community. In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup after Episode 35 with Big Ern from Early Retirement Now This episode was long awaited, but was necessary to wait for until we provided the background of FI for the audience Ern's information made us both feel more hopeful for the future of FI and sequence of returns risk Both 'savers' and 'early retirees' can't both simultaneously win with the sequence of returns risk Savings rate is the most important part of living a FI lifestyle and succeeding with long-term savings The concern with sequence of returns risk is only when you see a prolonged and significant drop in the markets. To the tune of 5+ years and 20%+ drop Question from the audience to Big Ern about inflation being included in the safe withdrawal rate and Ern's response Ern does indeed take inflation into account when he performs his calculations How does preserving your capital factor into "success" when looking at your FI plan? How does inflation factor into it? Your personal look at what constitutes success – it always depends on "facts on the ground" for your personal situation Should you pay off your mortgage early? How sequence of return risk factors into this decision The math suggests you should always invest the money and not pay off your mortgage early However, there is a great psychological allure to paying off your mortgage What would have happened if Jonathan had invested his money in VTSAX instead of paying off his student loans? Dollar cost averaging versus lump sum investing Input from Danny from our Facebook group on flexibility and early retirement The value of mentally rehearsing what would happen in a downturn to avoid selling at the bottom How are people taking action in our ChooseFI Facebook community this week to improve their lives in one simple way Travel Rewards voicemail from Andrew about his successful trip to Argentina How to win with travel rewards: flexibility with your dates of travel, plus planning far enough in advance, being ready to pull the trigger when you find availability and then looking at all your options when booking with UR points Frugal win of the week from Ashley: 300,000 miles on her Toyota in 18 years! The value of finding a trustworthy mechanic ChooseFI meetups are popping up across the country Itunes reviews of the week Links from the show: Early Retirement Now JL Collins NH Dominick Quartuccio (link for the book Design Your Future)

035 | In today's conversation with Big Ern from Early Retirement Now we discuss safe withdrawal rates, sequence of returns risk and much more. In Today's Podcast we cover: A wide ranging discussion with Big ERN from Early Retirement Now on sequence of return risk and safe withdrawal rates This is Big Ern's first podcast! And a thank you to him for helping with Paul's case study Ern's thoughts on social security Ern's origin story and his thoughts on early retirement He had a student loan that he invested since he went to college for free. So he ended up with a positive net worth after graduation Why do we need to be concerned with sequence of return risk? Ern says that sequence of returns risk is the "reason why people run out of money in retirement" from getting unlucky with low returns in the first 5-10 years What are "real returns"? Adjusted for inflation The years to worry about having poor returns are the first 5 to 10 years and it has to be prolonged and significant Hypothetical example of the 4% rule and what Ern thinks about it Resources to game out your chances of success Example of sequence of returns risk for an early retiree who is withdrawing money from the portfolio How sequence of return risk impacts the saver and buy-and-hold investor If you're a saver during downturns, you benefit significantly Buy and hold investors should not be impacted as long as they didn't sell during the downturn Talking through the 'stubborn' 4% withdrawals and the impact on success of early retirement. Ern's look at the real-world ramifications of a market drop and withdrawals 'If you're unlucky, you can get screwed twice by sequence of return risk' example How to alleviate sequence of return risk Mortgaging your future contributions by buying on margin and front-loading Spreading out your contributions to the equities market over years lowers your sequence of returns risk Ern's thoughts on front-loading and a description of his investments Thoughts on Bogle's prediction that 4% returns can be expected in the near future The "4% rule of thumb" What worries Ern about someone retiring early in the next 10 years? What do you do if you inherit $100,000? Ern's thoughts on 30x expenses saved up and what his safest safe withdrawal rate would be

034R | In today's podcast we discuss our thoughts on Part 2 of the Stock Series conversation with JL Collins, risk tolerance, doomsday scenarios and rebalancing. In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup and the episode Part 2 of our discussion with JL Collins from The Simple Path to Wealth and JLCollinsNH What do you do when there's a large crash in the stock market? Big takeaway from Jim's episode You can't sell at the bottom, so you need to steel yourself mentally beforehand If you're starting investing, one of the best thing that can happen to you is a market crash You can't time the market There are doomsday scenarios, but since they are so rare it is silly to plan for the absolute worst case and ignore the other 99.9% likelihood Follow the math when making the best decision with the information at hand Question from Kevin about when to "take all your chips off the table" That event would have to be extraordinary and destructive for our country and economy Spend less than you earn and invest in broad based index funds Feedback from Nancy on asset allocation and comfort with volatility and her belief that you shouldn't take a lot of risk if you don't need to Jonathan's example of rebalancing and a hypothetical $1,000,000 portfolio and a 50% market crash Equities will return significantly higher than bonds over the long term. Bonds do "smooth the ride" but lower long-term returns You want to rebalance in accounts like IRAs, 401ks that won't trigger a taxable event Brad's example of his parents investing strategy Over the long term which option is truly riskier? Investing in stocks and facing volatility or lowering your expected return by investing in cash or bonds The 4% rule is based on getting a return while pulling out money each year, so you can't just stick it in cash and expect the money to last forever The power of the 'perpetual money making machine' to last forever ChooseFI was mentioned on Forbes as one of three financial podcasts for people of all ages to listen to We need panelists to select the finalists for the business building contest with Alan Donegan Lance on our Facebook group pulled the trigger on FI today – congrats! What did Brad and Jonathan put into place this week as one life optimization? Jonathan's salad hacks Jonathan is now saying "stimulus and response" out loud when finding something habitual in his life ChooseFI is not just limited to finances. It is a life optimization project Voicemail from Scott (Brad's brother) Frugal wins of the weeks Itunes reviews of the week

034 | This podcast is Part 2 of the Stock Series discussion with JL Collins, author of The Simple Path to Wealth and the website JLCollinsNH; we discuss the Great Depression and the mindset you need to be a successful long-term investor, plus how to allocate between equities and bonds. In Today's Podcast we cover: Part 2 of the Stock Series conversation with Jim Collins If you have not yet listened to Part 1 you can listen to it here Be sure to check out the associated Friday Roundup here for Brad and Jonathan's take-aways A discussion of what happened during the Great Depression and the Crash of 1929 A large portion of the crash was due to many people buying stock on margin Jim's explanation of leverage and buying stocks on margin Jim's Four Lessons to watch out for Making peace in your mind when a crash/correction happens. What caused it? Psychology or something legitimate? Unless you believe the US economy has permanently collapsed, then "the market always goes up" over time according to Jim Jim says the best thing that can happen to a young investor is a market crash as you get to purchase stocks "on sale" for potentially years Savings rate is the most crucial aspect for the FI community since it allows you to continually invest in good markets and bad Bull markets and bear markets are a part of life. We need to toughen up mentally to prepare for both Jim's explanation of the 40 year period starting in 1975 showing the calamities that happened and yet how far the market increased Nobody knows what the next 40 years will hold, but we have a dynamic economy What stage of investment life are you in? It varies depending on your age Wealth building and wealth preservation stages and the discussion surrounding both When you're in the wealth building stage you need to have your psychology correct: Keep pumping money into the market and take advantage of sales when the market goes down 100% equities in the wealth building stage per Jim When you stop working for money you are in the wealth preservation stage What percentage should you have in stocks and bonds in the wealth preservation stage The more you have in bonds the smoother your ride will be, but the lower your return will be Your tolerance for volatility will determine your percentage in equities and bonds Would Jim ever consider going back to 100% equities? Mathematically you are always better off in stocks than bonds over the long-term Even Jim contemplated selling during recent market plunges, so everyone is susceptible to this

033R | In Today's Podcast we cover: Unpacking Episode 33 with Dominick Quartuccio and our takeaways from the episode Intentionality allows you to purchase your freedom, and we want to expand that intentionality beyond just personal finance Our focus on living a happier, more content and optimized life The ultimate luxury is the 'perpetual money making machine' to provide time and focus on what matters in life How Dominick spent $28,000 this year on personal development. Have you spent any time or money on your own personal development? Spending on things that you value, and directing money and resources as such How to improve your life for $0 and learn and grow Brad's challenge: Make one change in your life this week that will make your life better Break some negative habit and disrupt it in your life this week Jonathan's change this week: Eating carrots and salad without salad dressing Meditation and breathing. Take one deep breath. Brad's description of his meditation practice What gets you excited or nervous about life coming up in the near future? How are you expanding your horizons? How Jonathan has learned by starting ChooseFI and how it has been the excitement in his life this past year Discussion surrounding guilt over not feeling content with your "perfect" life Limiting beliefs: Don't let them hold you back and also go back and analyze the beliefs and stories you have been carrying with you your entire life The value of making small changes over time to improve your health Jonathan's search for better tea Feedback from the audience on Episode 33 with Dominick Frugal Wins of the Week: Holly saved money by not going to the movies and bought the game Outburst Adlay fixed his air conditioner after watching videos on replacing a capacitor on YouTube Quote from Paige how she only has control over her spending and savings rate Discussion about contest with Alan Donegan on building a business Voicemail from Jessica with new segment we're calling "Highlighting the Hamster Wheel" Voicemail from Royce who used our voiceover guy for his side hustle contest submission Voicemail from Thomas about a side hustle to teach English to Chinese students Itunes reviews

033 | In today's podcast we speak with Dominick Quartuccio from DominickQ.com and the author of the book Design Your Life about disrupting your behaviors and 'creating a future you can't wait to live into.' In Today's Podcast we cover: Our guest is Dominick Quartuccio the author of Design Your Future who is here to talk about 'designing a future you can't wait to live into' This is a very personal episode for Brad, as Dom is a close friend and the person Brad goes to for advice and motivation FI is focused on freedom and that is what Dominick focuses on, but with an emphasis on energy People in Dominick's world were asking questions about 'where to go from here', even though they seemingly have everything Community is such an essential aspect of life We all need to be intentional and not drift through life Dominick's explanation of the term 'drift' as defined by Napoleon Hill and what happens if you live an unintentional life How to know if you're drifting in life? Are you reacting based on fear? Progress is an essential aspect of being a human What is on your life horizon that gets you 'excited like a kid on Christmas morning'? How beliefs impact how you live your life and how Dom's belief held him back from leaving his corporate job Systemic spending. How Dom's gym impacts his entire system An awakening: Most are unintentional, but Dominick advises looking for intentional awakenings Disrupting: How to disrupt your behaviors, stories, etc. Possible disruptions would be to abstain from a behavior for a period of time ("no Netflix for 60 days", etc.) 'The space between a stimulus and the response' How to interrupt your normal response after a standard stimulus How 95% of your thoughts, feelings, behaviors, etc. fall below your conscious thinking How the 5% of conscious thought can impact and change the 95% of habits, behaviors and become habitual How to design the future you can't wait to live into Writing your own eulogy to focus on the 'celebration of life' How long do you want to live? What do you want to experience in life? What did you leave behind – what lives on beyond you? Shifting your focus to realize you have 'ultimate authority' over your life Dominick's Eulogy A 90 day action plan to set a defined goal to help design your future The value of small changes and process improvements over time What happens to your energy when working through a 90 day plan and tips to sustain the plan How to curate an internal state that makes you stronger Hot Seat Questions Meditation is Dom's favorite life hack Dom's biggest financial mistake: spending too much money launching his business

032R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 32 with Joel from FI 180 on the 'Milestones of FI', plus a life hack voicemail from Noah and Frugal Wins of the Week from our Facebook community. In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup after the Milestones of FI episode with Joel from FI 180 We're having a FI get together in Richmond and hope to expand beyond Richmond The gamification aspect of personal finance and the milestones When your 'financial freedom clock' starts and discussion of where certain types of debt plays into the calculation Financial freedom clock equals positive net worth and all junk debt is paid off Milestone two is when you have a $100,000 net worth (when Personal Capital starts calling you for a personal consultation) The next milestone is 'FU Money' and there is discussion on where this fits into the continuum as the concept is nebulous Should there be a milestone before $100k net worth and FU money? Adding in 'checkpoints' along the way on the journey to FI in addition to milestones Milestone four is 'Half FI' which means you have 12.5x your annual expenses saved up Milestone five is 'Lean FI' which means you have enough to cover all your core expenses for life (not including your discretionary expenses) The discussion surrounding the math and psychology of paying off your mortgage or not paying it off The next milestone is the "crossover point" where your investments earned more than you did from working in a given month The many catchphrases of Brad and Jonathan Milestone 7 is Flex FI, followed by Financial Independence as Milestone 8 and Milestone 9 is Fat FI The power of the concept of Flex FI and how you have an 82% chance of succeeding even at this milestone The conversation surrounding where Brad is on the path to Financial Independence and where the side hustle factors into the calculation Our ask that the community helps us refine the milestones and checkpoints How Joel's FI journey and drawdown strategies can be a case study going forward Voicemail from Noah from Money Metagame on hacks to save on utilities Take action and make the calls to compare prices on auto insurance, utilities, etc. Frugal win of the week from Michelle about unclaimed property Frugal win of the week from Vicki about Magical Iced Coffee Input from Don and Scott about buying cards and gift giving Focus on our discussion about gift giving from a prior episode and the Five Love Languages

032 | In today's podcast we discuss the Milestones of FI with Joel from FI 180; this is a new look at the path to FI and the milestones along the way. In Today's Podcast we cover: The 'Milestones of FI' with Joel from FI 180 We welcome Joel as our first repeat guest on Choose FI The Milestones of FI as a 'master's degree' journey after Dave Ramsey's baby steps Joel plans to be fully FI in January 2018 Joel is completely debt free and is shooting for $25,000 per year in other spending FI creates a "magic money making machine" that spits out yearly 'checks' (the 4% rule) FI is the ultimate luxury purchase to save for this 'magic money making machine' The Dave Ramsey Baby Steps explained To get started on the Milestones of FI: Debt Free and/or $1 of positive net worth First FI Milestone: $100,000 net worth when you first start getting calls from Personal Capital to setup a phone consultation 2nd FI Milestone: 'FU Money' set; 2-3 years of yearly expenses saved up 1st and 2nd milestone can be similar depending on your yearly spending The 3rd milestone is 'Half FI' which puts you halfway to FI in total spending, but actually more than that in terms of time on your FI path The path to FI is not linear and Joel explains Milestone #4 is 'Lean FI' which means you have enough money to stop working forever if you cut out the discretionary aspects of your budget (about 30% of Joel's budget) Lean FI is an 'emergency fund that would last forever' as it covers your housing, food and other essentials Lean FI is perfect for people with a side hustle to do it with no risk The 'crossover point' could be another Milestone of FI. This is where your portfolio increase is more than the income you're earning from your job The next milestone is 'Flex FI': This is a '5% rule' or 20x your annual spending in your total net worth Flex FI is only viable for people who can build flexibility into their lives from year to year depending on the market returns, etc. FI is not one milestone but a smooth continuum towards this goal Flex FI has an 82% chance of success according to the Trinity Study (75% stocks, 25% bonds) Financial Independence is the 7th 25x your annual spending. All the work you do after you reach FI is completely optional. Now you can do what you want with your time. When you reach FI you can pick and choose what you want to do at work and in life The 8th milestone is 'Fat FI': This is 30x your annual spending which is the "closest thing to a sure thing" you can get in life Where is Brad in milestone continuum? Where is Jonathan? What does Alexis and Joel's milestone celebration look like? Links from the show: The Milestones of FI at FI180.com Mad Fientist's FI Laboratory cFireSim Early Retirement Now Fiery Millennials Personal Capital (affiliate link) Slowly Sipping Coffee

031R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss travel rewards, flipping holidays upside down, buying presents, the upcoming FI Documentary and much more. Submit your applications for the contest to win a one-on-one business coaching relationship with Alan Donegan from PopUp Business School Brad's slow travel vacation through New York State this August How we'll publish episodes while on vacation and living a FI lifestyle Discussion of Episode 31 on travel rewards What to do with your strategy after Chase cards Clarification of Brad's past and future travel rewards strategy Noah's feedback about an alternate option for staying under the Chase 5/24 rule Feedback from the audience: Pastor FI on how he switches Mother's Day and Father's Day Feedback from Frank on not doing things on holidays or other busy times. Don't wait in line "with the lemmings" If you're busy all the time, you need to come up with strategies to make your life better How Jonathan feels that buying cards for holidays are a terrible waste of money Brad and Laura don't exchange presents for any holidays/birthdays/etc. Jonathan's spending habits for presents for his friends and family How essential the concept of progress is in the pursuit of FI and the pursuit of happiness Voicemail from Scott Rieckens on how he's starting a documentary about the FI community How we can grow the FI movement through this documentary and by spreading the word We're going to have Scott on the podcast and he's going to tell us about his Kickstarter campaign for the documentary Question from Bonnie about tax implications in early retirement Response from Keith from the Wealthy Accountant Follow up from Brad on action he took to sell his comic book collection Email from David how he wants to hire Jonathan's wife Dani to do an audio book version of the book he intends to publish Frugal wins of the week from our community Can you share items with your neighbors and save money?

031 | In today's podcast we discuss Part 2 of our Travel Rewards series including what to do after you've focused on Chase credit cards plus whether you should focus on one trip or a general strategy. In Today's Podcast we cover: Part 2 of the travel rewards podcast series on where to go when you're done with the Chase credit card options Does it make sense to go after cards for a particular trip like Walt Disney World or should you focus on Chase cards while you are under the "5/24 rule?" Brad and his wife Laura are both trying to get back under 5/24 and waiting to open up cards If you are doing this with a spouse you can realistically open 10 Chase credit cards (5 each) What cards would you get from other banks such as American Express, Citibank, Barclaycard and Capital One? American Express has a one bonus per card per lifetime rule Amex has a transferable points program called Membership Rewards that is a quality program (similar to Chase Ultimate Rewards) The transfer partners we like from Chase Why we like "fixed value" cards such as Arrival Plus and Venture To branch out beyond Chase cards or not? If you're a member of the FI community it would be hard to ignore the Chase cards to focus on a specific trip like Disney For people not aware of travel rewards, a "quick win" like booking the Disney Dolphin hotel is a great way to get huge value from your points Buying Disney tickets from Disney does not count as "travel" for credit cards, so you need to use Undercover Tourist (or aRes Travel for Disneyland) Orlando International Airport is a huge hub for Southwest, which is our favorite airline rewards program Southwest does not limit award ticket availability – it is just based on cash price You have a lot of flexibility with Southwest Airlines miles Flexibility will help you succeed with travel rewards

030R | In today's podcast we have the biggest announcement in the history of ChooseFI thanks to Alan from PopUp Business School, so be sure to listen and get your responses in ASAP. Brad's thoughts on not doing what everyone else is doing: July 4th, Valentine's Day, Mother's Day, etc. Jonathan's wife loved the episode with Alan and she is going to use these skills on a side hustle herself You don't need a lot of money to start a business – the big takeaway from the episode for Brad Bartering skills and maximizing unused resources were two takeaways for Jonathan's wife Mutual benefit from establishing relationships even when you can't see where the value might come from Sell your value first and then create the product or service You won't know if your product or service is legitimate until you actually make people buy. That's the only real feedback Feedback from Luis on the ChooseFI private Facebook group on his wife's side hustle How Brad's business history set him up for success, as he failed and learned along the way How to find low-cost ways to attempt new businesses The different mental approach when using a side hustle as a means to get to FI Brad's personal approach to his side hustles and what would happen if they 'went away' Huge announcement of a competition: Alan will work with one winner one-on-one for 12-24 months to help them build their own side hustle business Submit your voicemail submission on our website and tell us why we should select you How this will impact the entire ChooseFI community We'll bring in our other in-house experts on this project as well Small world stories of meeting other members of the FI community Email from Evan from Bellingar Estates Winery in Oregon What to think about mentally in good times and bad in the financial markets

030 | In Today's Podcast we cover: How Alan Donegan of PopUp Business School has turned starting businesses on its head similar to how FI has turned personal finance on its head and caused us to think differently How starting a business is truly one of the 'pillars of Financial Independence' Brad and Jonathan started up their own business with ChooseFI based on similar principles to what Alan is teaching You need to know what you're running to in FI and not just what you're running from with your old job Alan's FI journey and his goal to get to FI by the age of 40 How Alan was nearly scared off from starting a business by the course he took through the British government with Business Link Started up PopUp Business School with his business partner Simon Why Alan believes you don't need any startup capital, business plans, etc. to start a business Story of a popup café/restaurant in London and how this person didn't spend a dollar to get started The value of networking and genuine human connection What stops you from starting a business? Money is the biggest issue. Confidence and scared that it will fail are two others and knowing what to do on a day-to-day basis The value of learning with no risk 5 ways to start a business with no risk #1: What can you get for free? Actionable steps: Search on Google "where can I get X for free" #2: What can you borrow? Story of minivan rental business and how they borrowed the minivan and saved 99% of the original business plan amount The only way to truly test your business and get an honest response is if you ask for a sale and see if they buy #5: Sell Your Value Before You Create It: Sell the idea first, get the money, then produce the content/product Story of Dennis selling lasagna and collecting the money first in order to purchase the ingredients #3: Could you barter instead of using money? In order to feel comfortable asking for things, focus on relationships and giving value. We all have skills that others would value #4: Sell stuff you already have Another option is to sell someone else's stuff and split the profits! Brad's idea for an online consignment store How passion and helping others motivates you to work on your business How Alan's business is helping those who most need the support and how people pay $0 to attend PopUp Business School Hot Seat Questions Favorite life hack: Geographic Arbitrage

029R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss our key takeaways from Episode 29: The Reluctant Frugalist vs. the Aspiring Minimalist, plus feedback from the audience as well as two of our in-house experts. How Jonathan used travel rewards points to book two round-trip flights to South Africa to visit his wife's family. Only 128,000 points! How to think through a travel rewards redemption and where to start The essential nature of the psychology when considering financial independence How to approach your spouse/significant other about FI and what to avoid – namely the word "retirement" What is Brad willing to spend significant money on? Email from Bo about a new term: A 'Valuist' and how this applies to Brad Feedback from our Facebook group from Christopher about a 'false dichotomy' Feedback from Jessica – there are no rules of being a minimalist, it's a journey and a mindset Voicemail from Geoffrey about reducing stuff and choice with a cool challenge with your clothes How the KonMari method tidying has transformed lives How to have a conversation with friends and coworkers about FI when they know nothing about it The difficulties of talking about FI at work and how to navigate that Know your audience when discussing FI and figure out an approach that will resonate with people Update from in-house experts: Millionaire Educator released his 2017 Free Money tables Big Ern responds to Mark's question on the pluses and minuses of ETFs and mutual funds and how to choose between the two New in-house expert: Noah from Money Metagame who will share life hacks Voicemail from Noah about how to save on purchases using discount gift cards as payment Voicemail from Marilyn challenging the 'sacred cow' of always buying used cars and how it can be a smarter decision to buy a less expensive new car that you plan to keep for a long time Can a car loan make sense if you have a lower interest rate? How to negotiate on purchases by mass emailing multiple competitors and Brad's challenge to the audience Frugal wins of the week from our private Facebook group Book giveaway and iTunes review Links from the show: Decision Fatigue article at Wikipedia Headspace Mad Money Monster: Early Retirement Resistance - When Friends Push Back 1500 Days ESI Money Mr. Money Mustache Millionaire Educator's 2017 Free Money! Tax tables Early Retirement Now Money Metagame Gift Card Wiki Books Mentioned in the Show: The Life Changing Magic of Tidying Up

029 | In today's podcast we go through a discussion of the mindset differences between a 'reluctant frugalist' like Jonathan and an aspiring minimalist like Brad. In Today's Podcast we cover: The reluctant frugalist (Jonathan) vs. the mindset of the aspiring minimalist (Brad) How both these mindsets are valid and strong approaches to the concept of Financial Independence How do you talk to your spouse or significant other about financial independence? Voicemail from Royce about how he can get his wife on board with FI? You need to have a conversation with your significant other about what you want out of life and where you want to go as a team The pursuit of FI can bring you closer together as it can make you wealthier and happier Jonathan's story about FI and his wife plus a story of the 'addictive nature' of buying stuff How Jonathan changed his entire life with the pursuit of FI FI as the ultimate life hack You need to see the other person's motivation and incentives when trying to persuade them Being near or at FI transforms your relationships with your family and friends How Brad aspires to be a minimalist and live in a hotel Excerpt from Physician on Fire's article: Minimalism vs. Frugality Frugality and the scarcity mindset How people outside the FI community have to deal with a cash flow scarcity mentality The differences between a minimalist and a frugal person How free your brain becomes when you remove the clutter from your rooms and your life How Brad's daughters are different by nature regarding minimalism and clutter Would you throw out all the items in your house that you haven't used for some set period of time? 90 days? 1 year? The sharing economy has changed the value of ownership Jonathan's board game obsession and the value he gets from buying things What a week in Jonathan's FI future life looks like A minimalist buys one item that fulfills multiple purposes, but is quite expensive and high quality Brand names: Is there any value? Can you actually find a break-even point on certain purchases? The wardrobe differences between minimalists and frugal people How your brain operates better when you don't make as many decisions and avoid 'decision fatigue' A minimalist doesn't want a lawn/yard whereas a frugal person enjoys doing it themselves

028R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss tax-deferred accounts, the Roth IRA conversion ladder, frugal wins of the week, an 'expert answer' from the Millionaire Educator as well as the Hot Seat with community member Chad! In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup after Episode 28 where we discussed the order of operations for savings as well as the available 'buckets' Brad's discussion of his new health targets: CrossFit and Gracie Jiu-Jitsu and how he saves money through a Gracie Garage Our preference is to fill your tax-deferred buckets as much as possible Message from Amy on the Facebook group on maxing out Roth IRAs How the FI community thinks differently in regard to Roth IRAs and investing in general Explaining the Roth IRA conversion ladder Voicemail from Stephen about the Roth IRA conversion ladder and how the calculation changes when you are making income in FI The essence is living a frugal lifestyle and everything else takes care of itself Brad's explanation of how to mentally approach having income in FI and even having a higher income than you anticipated Frugal wins of the week: Call from Eric from our Facebook group about how he saved big on his Chicago apartment The love for the InstantPot from the ChooseFI community Anne Marie raised the deductible on her insurance and saved money on her premiums; Brad saved on car insurance with Geico Congrats to Eli on his new baby and the newest 529 account! Question from Scott about 457s and pensions to help with early retirement and the expert answer from the Millionaire Educator Voicemail from SaraEllen about how to save as a solo entrepreneur in the legal profession and by extension to other professionals as well How you can save on office space by using a coworking space The Hot Seat with ChooseFI community member Chad How people in the FI community can consider giving back Favorite life hack: Using Swagbucks The danger of cosigning on someone else's loan If Jonathan loans someone money he mentally writes it off as never being paid back and that's how he approaches the decision to loan money Voicemail from Eron from San Diego on financial advisors and the potential benefits A fee only financial advisor would be the best option for most people (especially in the FI community)

028 | In today's podcast we discuss the four different "buckets" available to savers plus an in-depth look at the Roth IRA and the 'Backdoor Roth.' In Today's Podcast we cover: The order of operations for how you should approach the different "buckets" available to you both for retirement accounts and for your taxable savings Four basic ways for your retirement and investment funds to be taxed Best case is an account similar to the HSA which is not taxed when you put the money in nor when you pull it out Option 2 is the Roth IRA which is taxed upfront but not when you pull the money out Option 3 is a traditional IRA, 401k, etc. where it is not taxed when you contribute but is taxed when you withdraw Option 4 is your regular savings/investment accounts We focus mostly on tax-deferred retirement accounts because that is the best way to lower your taxable income in the current year and reduce your tax liability. Because of advanced FI concepts such as the 'Roth IRA conversion ladder' there is a chance you can pull this money out nearly tax free once you reach financial independence You want to max out your tax-deferred options The FI community looks at this problem differently than traditional financial planners and doesn't focus on the Roth IRA generally Roth IRA makes sense if you are nearly certain that your tax rate will be higher in retirement than it currently is now (think children under 18) The issue is this is unknowable at the time of contribution (unless you are at a 0% rate) You can pull out your Roth IRA contributions at any time tax and penalty free Flexibility of your bucket #4 (taxable savings) is a big positive of that investing option over a Roth IRA The concept of a marginal tax bracket and an understanding of how your income is taxed Financial planners focus on the 'tax diversity' play of the Roth versus traditional retirement accounts Income limitations do exist for the Roth IRA There are also contribution limitations yearly for these accounts How to reduce your Adjusted Gross Income on your tax return to qualify for a Roth IRA The Backdoor Roth IRA option for high income individuals Discussion of the White Coat Investor article on the Backdoor Roth IRA and how you can convert your money from a nondeductible traditional IRA to a Roth IRA (the 'backdoor' Roth) Avoiding the pro-rata calculation How to contribute to the traditional IRA account as a nondeductible contribution and then convert it to a Roth

027R | In today's podcast we highlight our takeaways from Episode 27 with Jay from Slowly Sipping Coffee, plus we discuss the 'Mount Rushmore' of FI and help debunk a lot of the misinformation surrounding the value of the mortgage interest deduction. In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup bringing in many aspects of our audience and community plus our thoughts on the Episode 27 with Jay from Slowly Sipping Coffee How to join the Choose FI Facebook group Looking at the great team of Mr. and Mrs. Slowly Sipping Coffee and how they gained flexibility and freedom How they made a game out of personal finance and that enabled them to save big on their credit card bills Just by being more conscious of their spending allowed them to save over 50% of their discretionary spending How 'grazing' by shopping at stores like Target can help fuel lifestyle inflation It's important how we spend our time. Batch processing with intentionality is a way to fix our inefficient use of time How Jonathan can come up with a system in his life to find a work/life balance between the ChooseFI site and podcast and his 'real' life Multitasking is not a real thing What does your life look like post-FI? And when do you start thinking about that life? The Mount Rushmore of Financial Independence: Who do we put on that list? Who would you as the community put on the Mount Rushmore of FI? What do you want to do with your time when you reach FI? Fully Funded Lifestyle Change as an alternative to "retirement for the sake of quitting work" Risk tolerance and cFiresim Article submitted by Luis on CNNMoney on a couple who achieved FI Hot Seat conversation on the Facebook group The power to spread the message beyond of FI beyond this community Message from Austin who is a former student of the Millionaire Educator Voicemail from Ed Mills from the Millionaire Educator on ways to get your children involved in saving money Voicemail from Juan from Finance Clever about the value (or lack thereof) of the mortgage interest deduction and only getting value from it if your itemized deductions are above the standard deduction Brad's example of the benefit of itemized deductions Feedback from the audience from Grumpus Maximus about retirement calculators and one in particular from Darrow Kirkpatrick at CanIRetireYet.com Voicemail from Kris with incredible feedback about the action she took after hearing Noah's voicemail about removing escrow accounts Voicemail from Steve about the importance of umbrella insurance policies plus feedback from Tiffany about the same More information from Ken about ESPPs and call options

027 | Today we welcome Jay from Slowly Sipping Coffee to the podcast to talk about his reluctant path to FI, the amazing Mrs. SSC and a Fully Funded Lifestyle Change. In Today's Podcast we cover: Our interview with Jay from Slowly Sipping Coffee How they came up with the name of their blog and how they'd enjoy 'slowly sipping coffee' in a more relaxed and free Friday morning The origin story of their Financial Independence journey: SSC googled and found Mr. Money Mustache SSC already had a spreadsheet where she tracked everything and believed they could retire at 45 before finding the concept of FI How Jay resisted the concept of financial independence because he thought living off $25,000 would be absolute deprivation The Lightbulb Moment where Jay finally saw the light and started believing in the spreadsheet They set up challenges to cut credit card spending and they reduced spending just by being intentional Eating food at restaurants was a huge portion of their prior budget that they were able to cut Costco can be a great way to save money or it can be an expensive indulgence How Mrs. SSC is the CFO of their household and the 'best financial decision' Jay has ever made How the possibility of layoffs made them consider their lifestyle and what that would look like in FFLC The psychological value of knowing they will 'come out on top' even if something bad does happen Have they spoken about Financial Independence and their blog in their real lives? How their friends, family and coworkers react to their FI plans Jay's mentees and how he is trying to educate them on all things financial How to balance risk with a safe withdrawal rate – Mrs. SSC's thought process as compared with Jay's How you can always keep working due to fear and wanting to pile on your nest egg, but Mrs. SSC's rebuttal to that You can get to FI without having a six-figure salary Hot Seat questions Favorite life hack: Roasting his own coffee Biggest financial mistake: Cashing out a 401k for absolutely no reason Advice to your younger self: Don't spend more than you earn and don't use student loans for additional expenses

026R | In today's podcast we discuss our takeaways from Episode 26 with Physician on FIRE plus some exciting developments in the Financial Independence world as well as feedback, questions and comments from the ChooseFI community. In Today's Podcast we cover: The Friday Roundup after the Physician on FIRE interview from Episode 26 Information for the high income professionals and how it's important to give details for that aspect of our audience Does the perfect answer exist for high income professionals pursuing FI? It might not be possible to defer enough money to get them out of that high marginal tax rate "A dollar saved is two dollars earned in the 50% tax bracket." A brilliant quote from Physician on FIRE Everything comes down to living a frugal lifestyle "Doesn't your spouse deserve a really great lifestyle?" asked the White Coat Investor. "Well yes, and she'll have one, but she deserves my time." Responds PoF. The fundamental flaw in the 'retirement calculators' that are published online for "normal people." Your current income is not relevant when considering your retirement number. It is all about your expenses. For new physicians, you need to avoid the blowup in spending on cars and expensive homes when you get that first big paycheck You need to keep your fixed expenses down to a manageable level and you can splurge at the margins on other things Don't fall into peer pressure to live an expensive lifestyle. Maybe move to a smaller town and practice geographic arbitrage in the US Brad's own geographic arbitrage in his life moving from Long Island to Richmond, VA Optimized charitable giving with a 'donor advised fund' Discussion of the 'backdoor Roth' that Physician on Fire mentioned on the episode and the applicability for high income earners A new Camp Mustache event was announced for January 2018 and the tickets are available The ChooseFI private Facebook group is running and extremely vibrant and we'd love for you to join us Scott Rieckens contacted us about a documentary on the FI community that he is embarking on The FI community is on the verge of a breakthrough in the US Brad's mom is listening to the podcast and had a frugal win of the week Feedback from PastorFI: College hack for student housing Discussing the call from Mark from Student Loan Freedom from Episode 25R about permanent life insurance Feedback from about Ken's prior call about the ESPP from Olaf. He clarified the tax treatment on the purchase through the Employee Stock Purchase Plan Don't let paying taxes get in the way of making a smart financial decision Noah from Money Metagame's call about how to remove escrow to potentially save hundreds of dollars per year Part 5 of the case study with Paul including Paul's feedback on his daughter's college plans plus Paul's summary of the case study Frugal Wins of the Week from the ChooseFI Community Itunes Reviews of the Week and Book Winners Links from the show: Physician on Fire Frugalwoods article on Donor Advised Funds Camp Mustache tickets Join our private Facebook group Scott Rieckens website Mr. Money Mustache on the Tim Ferriss podcast Student Loan Freedom KeepThrifty.com Money Metagame Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia ToDoIst Early Retirement Now Google Docs from Big Ern at Early Retirement Now: Google Doc master file for Safe Withdrawal Rates Big Ern's explanation on how to use this file Doc with Paul's case study numbers with Social Security Doc with Paul's case study numbers without Social Security Fiery Millennials

026 | Today we welcome the Physician on FIRE to the podcast to talk about his path to FI as well as tips and hacks for other high income and medical professionals to get on the path to Financial Independence. In Today's Podcast we cover: Our guest on the show today is Physician on Fire, who is here to tell us his story as well as some Financial Independence hacks for doctors and other high income individuals His message is for people with high incomes who aren't looking to live an ultra-frugal lifestyle What does a conversation look like with a fellow physician in person or on his blog? How difficult is it to delay gratification and not spend significantly when physicians get their "first big paycheck" after many years of not making much money He recommends physicians paying down their student loan debt so it isn't hanging over your head Physician on Fire's own personal history and path towards Financial Independence He took a "permanent" job at a hospital, which went out of business after 4 years when he lost his job He was financially independent on paper after about a decade of working as an anesthesiologist, but didn't realize it until he read an article about Mr. Money Mustache How Brad and Physician on Fire each had moments early on in life where a compound interest calculation opened their eyes to the power of compounding over decades What was Physician on Fire's plan before he read that article about Mr. Money Mustache? He has a "bigger" FI number than many people, but he wants a margin of safety and wants to potentially spend more in early retirement than he spends now Could he potentially "retire" from medicine and still come back if he so desired? Are there ways he could make his job better and focus on the aspects of the job that he enjoys? Dealing with high marginal tax brackets and working additional time How does FI impact his "real" life? His wife is excited about the FI lifestyle of living abroad and having more time with POF. Physicians who don't live in the high cost of living areas on the coasts actually make more money and have lower cost of living Strategies for high income earners pursuing FI: lower your taxable income as much as possible with tax-deferred retirement and HSA accounts Backdoor Roth for high income earners. You can do this for yourself and your spouse up to $5,500 each His distinction between financial independence and financial freedom and the plan to get there How he is donating half the profits from the blog through a Donor Advised Fund Hot Seat questions Favorite life hack: Geographic Arbitrage Biggest financial mistake: Building their 'dream home' and losing $200,000 upon selling it Advice for someone starting out in the medical profession: Be smart with the large expenses like housing and cars

025R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 25 with Keith from the Wealthy Accountant, Part 4 of the case study with Paul including a look at his line-by-line expenses, plus questions and feedback from the audience. In Today's Podcast we cover: Friday Roundup after Episode 25 with Keith from The Wealthy Accountant The firehose of information that Keith unleashed was incredible! Feedback from the audience about Keith's episode The value of an S-corp election for small businesses How to find a top tier accountant with passion for helping you When should you form an LLC when starting a side business and are there any benefits of doing so? Danielle's feedback about our working of "taxable savings." She used "post-tax savings" which we really like Dominic's feedback about reinvesting dividends Careers that help you get to FI: Nursing and feedback from the audience on why this is such a positive career on the path to Financial Independence Announcing the ChooseFI private facebook group! Discussion of Camp Mustache Brad's FI conversation in real life with his friend Justin about $2 per person per meal for dinners How to portion out dinners to save money Laura is going to share her recipes in the new private Facebook group Frugal wins of the week from Jake and Brad Mark Resnick from Student Loan Freedom: Voicemail with a hack on saving money on student loans Discussion of Mark's voicemail and our request to get one audience member to work with Mark on student loan forgiveness programs Voicemail from Bryce on hacking college How Brad and Jonathan wish they had the knowledge Bryce passed along when they went to college How to start planning early to apply for these scholarships Case study update: Going through Paul's expenses and analyzing them. What does his post-FI expenses look like? Paul's expenses drop significantly in his post-FI life $23,000 of his $73,000 annual expenses were on vacations and this can drop significantly in a post-FI life by using travel rewards points and pursuing slow travel Looking at Paul's actual expenses and what else is "fluff" on top Our update on future case studies: We can't do these once per month. More likely 3-5 per year. Jason from Winning Williams is putting together a 'crowdsourced FI plan' excel sheet Travel rewards question on how to save on cruises. You can use a 'fixed value' card to offset cruise expense Itunes reviews of the week and book giveaway Links from the show: Wealthy Accountant Aubrey's blog: moneyenergyfreedomlife.com Dominic's link from Bogleheads on reinvesting dividends Emiko: Beetsandlilacs.com ChooseFI.com/Facebook to get access to our private Facebook group Winning Williams Money Metagame Seonwoo's site: FIby40.com FI180 Popup Business School Dash Go Rapid Egg Cooker Student Loan Freedom

025 | In today's podcast we have Keith from The Wealthy Accountant on the show to discuss tax optimization for individuals and small businesses with plenty of tax tips for your FI tool chest. In Today's Podcast we cover: Keith from the Wealthy Accountant presents his tax optimization strategies for individuals and small business owners Keith is the most knowledgeable accountant we have ever met. We met him in Florida at Camp Mustache and his exuberance for tax optimization was infectious Keith became the official accountant of Mr. Money Mustache after a presentation at Camp Mustache in Seattle A discussion of how to save FICA taxes by being taxed as an S-Corporation instead of as a pass through entity such as an LLC Keith's discussion of potential tax law change based on the President's proposal For people starting a business, where would Keith start? Business structure, getting kids and spouses involved, etc. Keith believes when you have business income over $50,000 that you should be an LLC taxed as an S-Corp Is there value for someone over the FICA cap in their 'day job' for their business to be treated as an S-Corp? Home office deductions vs. renting part of your home to your business entity and how to make it official with a formal contract What Keith recommends for retirement savings and the rules you need to understand whether you are an employee or if you own a business Keith's recommendation to speak with your HR department to max out your 401k if they only seemingly offer a certain percentage of your income Tax optimization strategies for real estate investors including the tangible property rules and how to benefit from expensing items that would have otherwise needed to be depreciated Cost segregation studies and how that can save you money on depreciations Healthcare for small business owners and the lack of options Discussion of Keith's writing at The Wealthy Accountant. The goal was for people to "think like an accountant" and to live your life 'right.' He believes in saving half your income and investing in broad-based index funds. If you do those 2 things you'll be successful

024R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 24 with Joel and Alexis from FI180 as well as some expert voicemails from Chad Carson about real estate plus Ken talking about ESPP options. In Today's Podcast we cover: Friday Roundup after Episode 24 with Joel and Alexis from FI 180 Camp Mustache tickets for January 2018 are available for sale, so come and join us! The letter Joel wrote to his younger self and the emotional value of it The sacrifice for living an opulent lifestyle is too great in our opinion as you have finite resources and have to make the best choices Joel and Alexis had a true choice and inflection point where they chose Financial Independence They looked at FI as a game and had fun trying to gain a quicker path to FI. It made them happier and brought them closer together The 72 hour no buying rule that Liz from Frugalwoods informed us about Brad's new favorite card game: Monopoly Deal Feedback from the audience: Austin's email about his path to FI with a career that didn't require a Bachelor's Degree. He is now earning 6-figures at 25 years of age Itunes review from Derek who is teaching his 5th grade students how to look at money, index fund investing and much more. Geri's question about reinvesting dividends when you invest in mutual funds. You generally want to reinvest the dividends Question from John about investing in VTSAX in a "taxable" investment and what bucket to put it in? Our advice is to open a standard brokerage account and invest in VTSAX Index fund investing is the most tax efficient investing since there is low turnover and thus lower capital gains that would be taxed in the current year Email from Matt describing how he's thinking more deeply by listening to our show and reading FI blogs ChooseFI mentions on other blogs FI hack from Ken on ESPPs and Jonathan's response since he can benefit from it at his job and purchase his company stock at a 10% discount Follow up from our in-house expert on real estate: Chad Carson who gives us a background on how to evaluate the financials behind a rental real estate purchase Travel rewards question about how to review flight and alliance award options. Our thought is to look at traveling differently and build in flexibility and find saver award availability Travel rewards question about combining Chase Ultimate Rewards points Hot Seat intro music update Itunes reviews and The Simple Path to Wealth book giveaway Links from the show: FI 180 Monopoly Deal card game Winning Williams The Green Swan article: Never Pay Taxes Again Done by Forty article: Spending is Arbitrary Ken's blog: TheOptionToSell.com Chad Carson's articles: How to Run the Numbers for Rental Properties How to Travel & Invest in Real Estate - 10 Essential Tools of the Trade Award Hacker

024 | Today we have Joel and Alexis from FI180.com on the podcast. They changed their financial lives dramatically, going from spending over $100,000 per year to having an 85% savings rate and on the path to FI in just a few short years. In Today's Podcast we cover: Joel and Alexis from FI180.com tell their story of how they went from spending over $100,000 per year to having an 85% savings rate FI can only be a few steps away and this story is the perfect example They bought new cars, a new house and didn't track their spending at all In 2014 Alexis was in a terrible car accident and that led to the awakening that changed their financial lives. They took the $10,000 they received from the car and invested it in Vanguard The costs (financial and health) and opportunity costs of a long commute Every month they tried to make one change to improve their finances Their savings rate was only 7% at their lowest and last year it went up to 85% (since lowered to about 75%-80% to add happiness) Joel's brother is also on a path to FI now and is "racing" them to FI It isn't a race though – it's about enjoying the journey and finding happiness Their happiness has increased after finding this path to FI. "Happiness is the goal" "We were using our spending as a way to try to numb the effects of a workday" They have learned how to cook at home and save money and eat better. Previously were going out to eat twice per day! Line items from their 'Our Savings Snowball' article on what they were previously spending and what they are spending now The awakening when they chose to pursue FI after the car accident in 2014 There are certain things that are in your control and others that aren't. Focus on what is in your control Hot Seat Questions Favorite blogs: Mr. Money Mustache and The Wealthy Accountant Favorite life hack: Alexis was not allowed to go shopping without a list and couldn't buy anything not on the list. As well as not using a shopping cart or basket Food shopping game called the "$3 rule" where they tried to see how many "luxury items" they had over $3 at Aldi each week How to save big at Aldi on your food bill

023R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss career hacking with ESI Money, Big ERN's analysis of Paul's case study, plus hear our answers to an interesting question posed by audience member Jason about the value of frugality. In Today's Podcast we cover: Friday Roundup after Episode 23 with ESI from ESI Money Looking at compound interest on the earnings side of a career instead of just on the savings side ESI is now an author on Business Insider. Our question of how he made that connection What jumped out to us from the episode with ESI? Starting at a higher salary, managing the boss, etc. Commonalities of career paths for people pursuing FI and for Second Generation FIRE? Options for seasonal work (such as tax preparation) while pursuing FI Managing the boss: Telling your boss you want to be a high performer and how to quantify it How this sets you up to 'win' either in this current job or to land a better job elsewhere The power of networking for Choose FI and our growth Personal relationships matter, even in a digital and connected world Itunes review about us "mainlining the secret truth of the universe" Our definition of FI being 25x your annual expenses. There is also the conversation of 'safe withdrawal rates' Big ERN's feedback on Paul's case study and his in-depth analysis of Paul's early retirement plan ERN's calculations plus his look at the real-world implication of social security on Paul's plan Paul's response to our question about his $70,000 per year of expenses. A full $23,000 is based on travel they took last year With "slow travel" and intentionality they can reduce the cost of their travel while actually traveling more Excluding travel their post-FI expenses are actually only $37,000 Many expenses are reduced once you reach financial independence and Paul has actually identified many of those reductions Feedback from the community: Jason posed a question to us about what we're "missing out on" by pursuing FI and if the finer things in life are something we should pursue Brad thinks that pursuing FI is a 'superpower' that enables him to live a life he enjoys. And if that means "sacrificing" BMWs and Maine Lobster to get there, it is a trade he's more than willing to make If money is no longer an issue, what changes then? That is the real question Responses from the community on Jason's question and how they would spend their money College hacking article coming from Edmund Tee on Choose FI Frugal wins of the week from the community Life hack from Steve on life insurance Itunes reviews and winners of The Simple Path to Wealth Links from the show: ESI Money ESI's article on Business Insider: I retired at 52 with a $3 million net worth — here are the 10 worst money mistakes anyone can make Early Retirement Now

023 | ESI from ESI Money is on the podcast today talking about Career Hacking and how you can set yourself up to earn millions more over a working career with seven simple steps. In Today's Podcast We Cover: ESI from ESIMoney.com is here to discuss ways you can increase your earnings through Career Hacking ESI retired at 52 and reaching "financial independence" in his early 40s. He lives in Colorado, which is where many FI bloggers live Your career is a multi-million dollar asset and it is important to focus on maximizing your earnings There are steps you can take to increase your lifetime earnings while in the same job Start with a higher beginning pay and how to get there Start with a career that has a higher opening pay; negotiate your starting salary; increase your pay through education/degrees How we can use this knowledge and apply it to our kids for 'second generation fire' How to get higher than 3% raises per year and how that can lead to millions of dollars of extra income through a career Seven actionable steps to earn more money on yearly raises and grow your career Step 1: Perform as well as possible in your job Sit down with your boss and discuss expectations and make them quantifiable Document your success and keep your boss informed, which helps "manage your boss" Step 2: Be likeable or 'more likeable' People like to reward and promote people they like, so be nice and considerate Step 3: Networking is essential You need to help others as much as possible so they will be willing to help you in the future ESI's actionable tips on how to use LinkedIn to create and foster a network of valuable connections. How ESI reached out to his network when he was looking for a new job and he landed a job in Colorado through the network Step 4: Be more attractive Dress a little bit nicer and pay a little more attention to your appearance; "date your career" Step 5: Continue learning and developing your skills How Warren Buffett believes public speaking increases your career value 50% Scott Adams' 'talent stack' to create a valuable set of skills for your life and career Trying to get better at life skills a little bit at a time every day Step 6: Manage Yourself Life skills you need to navigate life and your company politics, etc. Create a system to getting things done in life for personal motivation and drive Find yourself a mentor to guide you How ESI uses a system he learned early on in his career to manage himself How Brad and ESI both use ToDoIst to manage their lives Step 7: Market Yourself How you can get huge pay increases when you move to a new job and how to find new options Hot Seat

022R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss the True Cost of Car Ownership, how to maximize your travel rewards points plus a big announcement on a new in-house 'expert' for ChooseFI! In Today's Podcast we cover: Episode review of our podcast Episode 22 on The True Cost of Car Ownership Your best-case scenario is buying a 5 to 10 year old gas sipping car Even a low cost car is going to cost you at least $2,000 per year Your fixed structural expenses move the needle significantly on your path to FI, and the car is the easiest one to change. Comment from Matt on how he introduced this to his algebra class on why buying a new car is a bad decision and what it amounts to when compounded Second generation Fire: Starting out right and not buying an expensive car (plus house hacking) will set people up for Financial Independence by 35 Question on Saverocity about living close or far from work and how that impacts your path to Financial Independence Is bicycling a pillar of FI or is it unrealistic for the vast majority of people and might even turn people off from pursuing FI? In a post-FI lifestyle, does bicycling make more sense? Comment from the audience on Cargo Bikes Voicemail from Rebecca on what to do with her car situation Our thought is that it makes sense for Rebecca's life and financial situation to move towards the Honda Fit Our final thought on cars: Don't buy a new car; buy a used car and drive it into the ground Choose FI is bringing on in-house experts on real estate, taxes, business building and all things number crunching Alan's brainstorming ideas for helping the community build businesses Should building a side hustle be a Pillar of FI? Travel Rewards question from Noah: Should he cash in his miles & points and invest them in VTSAX or save them for future travel? Brad's advice is to save them for future value where the value can be 2x-4x or more How the Millionaire Educator takes his rewards points to invest in an ESA fund Travel rewards question from Satya on travel to India using Chase Ultimate Rewards points Feedback from the audience: Kevin's follow up to Friday Roundup 18. He spoke with his wife and she just wants to spend more time with him where she gets his full attention Human connection is the most important aspect of happiness FI in the news: Our upcoming guest ESI from ESI Money was featured on the Washington Post FI in the News: Article that Brittinni sent in about net worth being the key to wealth, not income Frugal Wins of the week from the audience Aaron's feedback about the true cost of car ownership and he teased us with how he sells boats for a profit Final word on Jonathan's pullups

022 | Do you know what your car is actually costing you each year? What about over an investing lifetime? In this episode of the ChooseFI Radio Podcast we cover the True Cost of Car Ownership and you'll be absolutely amazed at the numbers. In Today's Podcast we cover: ChooseFI: The Ultimate Guide to the True Cost of Car Ownership Your car payment is a terrible way to spend your hard earned money We'll present two different perspectives: Brad will show the long-term compounded cost of buying/leasing new cars continually versus holding a car for 15 years while Jonathan is going to present the yearly cost of your car Brad wanted to see what it was costing someone to constantly "manage their car payments" at a set number forever by buying/leasing new cars This example is too conservative so a FI person would actually save even more money! In Brad's example the FI person is buying a new car every 15 years. They have payments for the first 5 years and $0 car payments the final 10 years. Person B is constantly paying $300 per month. This is a 45 year study, so Person A bought 3 new cars in the 45 year period At the end of the 45 year period, Person A's savings compounded to be worth $742,000 versus Person B who was constantly paying $300 per month. Takeaways: Don't buy new cars and continue to drive your car as long as possible with no car payment! Most people can't truly afford an expensive car and house even on a large salary. This is a true key to FI Astounding that $300 per month for 30 out of 45 years are ending up with $742,000 while most people don't have anywhere near that much money after a lifetime of working and "saving." That also shows how little money most people are saving Jonathan's bad track record with buying cars in his life The True Cost of Car Ownership Calculator Jonathan's example for yearly car cost compared a new car for $30,000, a 5 year old car for $15,000, and a 10 year old car for $5,000 Went through yearly depreciation calculation for Jonathan's three examples Went through a calculation of annual opportunity cost of the year-by-year amount lost at 8% annual return if you would have invested based on these 3 examples Calculation of maintenance, insurance, taxes, inspections, etc. Also calculate the cost of gas each year depending on the type of car The 20 year difference from having a used car versus a new car is almost $250,000 Jonathan's determination is you should buy a 'gas sipper' that's at least 5 or 10 years old

021R | In today's episode of the Friday Roundup we review our discussion of the Pillars of Financial Independence, take questions and comments from the community and go in-depth on Paul's live case study. In Today's Podcast we cover: Review of Episode 21, the Pillars of Financial Independence What areas of financial independence did we leave out of the episode? Might have under-discussed savings rate as a pillar of FI Choose FI as one of the '5 people you spend the most time with' The value of $100 savings per month after 20 years or 40 years Can Jonathan really do 50 pullups? Comment from the audience: Charlotte mentioned Geographic Arbitrage as a pillar of financial independence Comment from the audience: Mary suggests that taxes are the largest line item in your budget, not housing like we mentioned Comment from Frank: He thinks we can do an entire episode on how to educate your children on money Comment from Matt: The expense ratio on Vanguard's VTSAX fund was just lowered to 0.04% FIRE in the News: Anti-frugal event that Isaac showed us and Financial Panther's list of best new podcasts The value of travel rewards for people in the FI community Frugal wins of the week from the audience: Andrew starting his own Gracie Garage, Tom's list of incredible life changes, Cassie's reduction in car insurance, Neal maximizing gift cards that were lying around the house, Tanner saving on free and used items, Heidi cutting cable Live case study from Paul – his responses to our questions from last week's episode Paul's response to "how much do your expenses cost you each year" Paul's response to the question, "do you want to quit your job?" Paul's response to "what does your post-FI life really look like?" Brad's thought that the pursuit of FI is not about money – it's what you value in life and finding happiness both in the journey and post-FI Frank's question to Paul about what they have planned for his daughter's college education Will $43,000 of savings be enough to fully fund a four year college education? Thoughts on college education and the value of that education Question to Paul about what is psychologically holding him back Question to Paul about his plans to include Social Security into his FI plan Question to Paul about the breakdown of his investment accounts between different 'buckets' Paul's plan for a Roth-IRA conversion ladder Paige's comment about the 'Age of 55' rule for distributions from your 401k if you are 55 or older after your separation from service Our follow up questions for Paul based on his case study Itunes reviews and book giveaways Links from the show: Money Confident Kids article: Parents are likely to pass down good and bad financial habits to their kids Article from Isaac: Fyre Festival: When a $12,000 luxury festival in paradise turns into chaos Financial Panther article: 9 Best New Personal Finance Podcasts Seonwoo's article about FAFSA: How a Millionaire Retiree Could Get as Much Aid for College as Someone Who's Broke

021 | In this episode of the Choose FI Radio Podcast we focus on the essential Pillars of Financial Independence including index investing, affordable housing, the psychology of FI, tax optimization and more. In Today's Podcast we cover: ChooseFI Episode 21: The Pillars of Financial Independence While we intend to focus on the roughly 10 pillars of FI, we assuredly have missed some so we hope the audience sends us the ones we've missed Low-cost index fund investing is the way to go with investing in the stock market over decades and the best way to grow your wealth We love Vanguard and VTSAX but Schwab and Fidelity have similar funds with similar expense ratios Even the Mad Fientist realized that he couldn't out-research the market and stuck with index funds while he pursued tax optimization strategies to grow his wealth even faster Another sub-pillar is to not try to time the stock market. You will screw it up since you need to be right on the buying and selling side Affordable housing as a pillar of Financial Independence, since this is the largest line item in your budget Even if you live in a high cost of living area, you can still pursue FI. You just might need to think a little bit differently Sometimes pursuing FI requires tough decisions Car ownership as a pillar of Financial Independence We do not believe in buying new cars – let someone else pay for the depreciation the first few years Look for fuel efficient cars that are inexpensive to repair Your food budget as a pillar of Financial Independence You should focus on $2 per person per meal as a guideline for home cooked dinners Most pillars of FI come down to thinking a little bit differently and being a little bit smarter Jonathan lost 25 pounds during his 3 month challenge to lose weight before his son's birth Tax Optimization as a pillar of Financial Independence Max out your tax-deferred accounts is the advice for the FI community since you theoretically can take it out without paying taxes on it if you use the strategies we've previously described Hacking your college education as a pillar of Financial Independence Ways to save a significant amount of money on a college education Travel Rewards maximization as a pillar of Financial Independence Use rewards points to help travel the world for nearly free. You must pay your cards off on time and in full every single month Cutting the cord on your cable subscription as a pillar of Financial Independence Intentionality and how you choose to spend your money is important when assessing FI Reducing your cell phone bill as a pillar of Financial Independence Making a small 'hard choice' to save big money and have an 'easy life' The 4% Safe Withdrawal Rate explained Philosophy as a pillar of Financial Independence Unconventional thinking – looking at a problem differently that can help you live the same lifestyle as everyone else while getting wealthy instead of living paycheck-to-paycheck Maximizing the rules: Knowing the rules of the game and planning in advance Planning and creating a framework for life makes everything easier Patience is what makes FI "incredibly difficult." This is the simplest concept but it takes many years For every $100 you can cut from your budget each month, if you invest that money and earn an 8% return over 20 years it is worth $60,000. Understand the math behind the decisions and know that even small decisions can earn you large results

020R | In today's Friday Roundup we introduce our first crowd sourced case study from a listener and we have a challenge to you: Implement one life hack this week that will make your life easier and less stressful and send it to us at [email protected] (or leave a voicemail on our homepage!) and we'll read it on next week's Friday roundup. In Today's Podcast we cover: Our first Friday roundup after a non-guest episode which leaves lots of time for audience input, questions and voicemails We want the podcast to be 'By FIRE for FIRE' and make it truly crowdsourced Jonathan and Brad are living a normal middle class lifestyle, just smarter. We aren't doing anything especially different – just optimizing Brad and his wife Laura had a conversation about what makes their spending different than their friends and neighbors While the fixed expenses are essential (home, cars, cell phones, cable, etc.) the discretionary expenses also make the difference between a non-FI mindset and one pursuing FI How Brad's kids are not constantly 'wanting' new toys, to redecorate their rooms, etc. It wasn't intentional on the parent's part, so the thought is that they saw the lack of wanting modeled in the house Jonathan's frugal win of the week: He superglued a broken lamp in his house and it is still working 1.5 years later! Upgrading your house not only wastes money, but it wastes a ton of valuable time searching for these items and getting it "perfect" Stressed lives and an ask of the audience: Implement one life hack this week that will make your life easier and let us know about it! It's so easy to get bogged down in the details of life, business, etc. that you miss the truly essential items that could move the needle and make a difference Brad focuses on things he can get better at over a period of many years such as Brazilian jiu-jitsu and stretching/mobility "You are going to be the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with" and discussion surrounding it Feedback from Deidra: She recommended SBLI for life insurance after hearing our Episode 20 show Brad had a conversation with a friend of his this past weekend on FI and on his plan to retire in 16 years with a pension, fully paid off rental homes and his primary residence paid off, plus 401k and 457 balances Voicemail from Harrison: Info on an alternative to Vanguard and VTSAX. He recommends SWTSX which has a lower expense ratio and no minimum balance Voicemail from Paul: Part 1 of 3 as a live case study with his life Our questions for Paul for Part 2 of the case study Voicemail from Isaac with a question on travel rewards and how to deal with Chase's 5/24 strategy Feedback from Nia – international perspective and info for UK listeners Itunes reviews and the 2 winners of The Simple Path to Wealth Where ChooseFI is going: Ideas from the audience and future episodes Links from the show: Todoist SBLI life insurance Mutual Assurance Society of Virginia UK Monevator Blog - How to Invest Books Mentioned in the Show: The One Thing by Gary Keller The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

020 | The Entry Level Middle Class Lifestyle is a tool that you can use to supercharge your path to FI. Jonathan and Brad go through their expenses one line item at a time. Then they start the conversation about a FI approach to insurance, with an emphasis on life insurance In Today's Podcast we cover: What Jonathan and Brad's lifestyle and budget look like. We go in-depth into our actual spending and budget line items What have we talked about previously? How to crush your food budget, how to get fit while being frugal, basics of investing, how to save 75% of your income, tax loss and tax gain harvesting, travel rewards and the unfair advantage for teachers. Housing prices and mortgages for Brad and Jonathan Jonathan was looking for an older neighborhood with a generational shift going on with kids coming in Brad's net cost per month is under $800 per month on his house in a great school district in the Richmond-metro area How to maximize insurance: be sure to shop around and get quotes and don't be complacent. Also determine realistically how much coverage you need and don't just follow the advice of your agent. Increase your deductible as much as possible to save money. Life insurance: Get term life insurance until you don't need the insurance any longer (when you're at Financial Independence). The insurance agent will always attempt you to buy whole life insurance; in the vast majority of cases term life is the best possible option. Once you're at FI, you can self-insure since you don't need the lump sum Car expenses: Jonathan mentioned the forthcoming 'true cost of car ownership' article Jonathan does currently have a car payment Brad has not had a car payment on either car for well over 5 years Cell phones: Jonathan has Project FI and Brad has Republic Wireless By being smart about your cell phone you should easily be able to save $100 per month "Easy choices, hard life; hard choices, easy life" Cable bills and internet packages from Comcast and Verizon Jonathan buys an internet-only package from Verizon What happens when you give up screen time entirely? Talk, play board games, etc. Gym memberships: Brad pays $20 a month for Crunch fitness. Jonathan does not have a membership any longer. He paid $1,000 to build a top-notch home gym for a one-time cost Brad now does Brazilian Jiu Jitsu through Gracie University and the free Gracie Garages Take a step back and see what you can work on long-term to get better at life? Keep track of your food and alcohol budget and it will help you cut down Where do we spend that might be "frivolous" but where we get a lot of value? Financial independence is not deprivation. It is about being intentional

019R | In our Friday roundup Jonathan and Brad discuss the highlights and takeaways from the Monday episode with JL Collins. Then the podcast is opened up and crowd sourced to the community. Find out the specific travel reward perks that are available for active duty military and how to get started with VTSAX if you don't have $10,000 to invest The Friday Roundup #8: Review of podcast with Jim Collins Jonathan's baby was born! And he's here recording the Friday Roundup two days later 2nd Generation FIRE and the impact on Jonathan with his new son The value of starting a child on the path to FIRE from the very beginning Index investing as one of the main 'pillars of Financial Independence' Jim's Stock Series changed the trajectory of Brad's investing life and will benefit him to the tune of millions of dollars in his lifetime There are no investing gurus out there who will help you outperform the market over decades when including fees into the calculation Jim is such a fantastic storyteller Fidelity study of the classes of investors who do the best: dead people and those who forgot they had accounts The best thing that can happen to someone who is young is for the market to drop while they are pumping money into the market. Index investing: Losers can only go down 100%, but winners can go up indefinitely. The index is self-cleansing Why stock picking contests promote the wrong behavior The stock market always go up over decades. You only lose money in the market when you try to "dance in and out of the market" Warren Buffett will invest in a Vanguard S&P 500 index fund Vanguard is growing faster than all of its 4,000 competitors combined (to the tune of 8.5x) Feedback Stitcher reviews – thank you for leaving them and letting us know they exist! Sharing ChooseFI with friends and family Feedback from Steve and Amy on the action they've taken since first listening to ChooseFI How police officers and firefighters can access their 401K's without penalty Travel Rewards and Investing Questions Travel rewards question about travel in Europe for hotels and Ryanair from Anthony and Abby Question from Alyssa about different retirement account options and different investing options and how to get started for younger listeners who don't have $10,000 to invest in VTSAX in one lump sum The standard advice doesn't apply for people on the path to FI, so they should max out traditional IRAs and 401k instead of Roth-IRAs Links from the show: The Stock Series at JLCollinsNH.com ChooseFI podcast with JL Collins Vanguard is Growing Faster than Everyone Else Combined at the NY Times Neal Landfield article HR2146 how cops, firefighters and EMS can access their 401Ks without the 10% penalty Friday Roundup 7 talk about hotel redemption options including Hyatt and Starwood AwardMapper to see reward hotel options Award Wallet to track rewards programs for free Books Mentioned in the Show: The Simple Path to Wealth by JL Collins

019 | In Today's Podcast JL collins from JLcollinsnh.com joins Jonathan & Brad on the podcast to bring the Stock Series to life. The Power of Index Investing is one of life's greatest secrets & JL Collins is the ultimate travel guide. This multi part series turns the stock series into an interactive audio companion and this first part is sure to compel you to stick around for each additional entry The Stock Series | Part 1 Our guest: Jim Collins from JLCollinsNH.com The Stock Series Part 1: "There's a Major Market Crash Coming!!!! And Dr. Lo Can't Save You" Lo claimed that "buy and hold investing doesn't work anymore" and that raised Jim's ire quite a bit which led to the Stock Series An overview of the Stock Series and how Jim would explain it Jim's eight rules that you need to understand in order to succeed with long-term stock market investing "The Market Always Goes Up" which is very counterintuitive to people, but over the long-term it invariably does The market is always going to stumble or have corrections and you can't predict when they are going to happen and you have to accept them. Nobody can possibly predict or time the market The stock series came out of a series of letters to his daughters on financial education When it comes to investing (once you get the basics down correct) the less you pay attention, the better off you'll be. Fidelity study of the best classes of investors based on performers: Dead people and those who lost their accounts! You can't panic when the stock market goes down significantly. You must "know yourself." If the market is already down 50% would you still be able to hold the course and not sell if you still thought it was going to do down an additional 2/3's? Quotes from Warren Buffett about not being fearful and buying when others are selling For a new investor who is investing significant money each month, the best thing that can happen is a huge plunge in the market because they get to purchase new shares on a huge sale In a wealth-preservation state, you should consider buying a percentage of your portfolio in bonds Jim has a 25% bond allocation, which is actually considered very aggressive for his age Warren Buffett quotes about investing in low-cost mutual funds from Vanguard How does index investing deal with winners and losers in the index? Downside of each company is limited to them losing 100%, but the upside is unlimited The Dow Jones is not the "market." Just an index with 30 large companies Stock picking contests in schools in the US are fundamentally looking at it the wrong way and are incentivizing short-term thinking Hot Seat Questions Favorite blogs: Mad Fientist, Go Curry Cracker, Millenial Revolution, The Wealthy Accountant Favorite life hack: Public Libraries and geographic arbitrage Biggest financial mistake/advice you'd give your younger self: Understand the power and value of index fund investing much earlier

018R | In Today's Podcast we cover how to harvest long term capital gains tax free. Friday Roundup 7 Review of Monday's episode with Jeremy from Go Curry Cracker Brad and his family just visited Washington DC for the weekend and used Chase Ultimate Rewards points to stay at the Hyatt Place National Mall Brad's trip to Walt Disney World with his family, parents and in-laws Jonathan now understands harvesting capital gains and losses after the episode with Jeremy Unconventional choices: Jeremy and Winnie haggling at the farmer's market near the close of business. Brad going to Disney World before Molly turned 3 so they could get her park ticket for free. Jeremy taking his son on a flight the day before he turned 2 so he could be a lap child on a business class flight Quick hit takeaways from the Jeremy episode: He told his mom he had a '60 year emergency fund'; he opened a Roth-IRA for his son for earned income on the website. The power of having money and financial independence enabled Jeremy to walk out of his job instead of doing something that he didn't want to do. Brad's story of when he left his job and taking the power back from corporate America Investing philosophy and the importance of taking your brain out of financial decisions His financial freedom clock started when he 'got to broke' and paid off his student loans Capital Gains Harvesting | Avoiding long term capital gains tax Case study: Married couple with one child. 30 years old. $120,000 of income and maxing their 401k ($36k in total) Qualified dividends and long-term capital gains are taxed at 0% if you're in the 10% or 15% marginal tax bracket Understanding how marginal tax rates work for income taxes The definition of FI: having 25 times your annual expenses saved up and invested The long term capital gains tax The long term capital gains tax defined & explained How the Roth-IRA conversion ladder would work for this couple and how they can harvest long term capital gains tax free by using advanced FI techniques Itunes reviews and questions from the community Reader case study from Kevin: How to work with a spouse from an ultra-wealthy lifestyle and bring them over to the FI lifestyle Find what makes you happy in life and what you value and spend accordingly Kevin's scenario is almost exactly like our case study on this episode Travel Rewards question: How to maximize hotel points with Hyatt and Starwood hotels What's coming up on ChooseFI: JL Collins talks about the Stock Series, the Stapes of FI, JD Roth and Kristy from Millennial Revolution, the true cost of car ownership Links from the show: Podcast episode with Jeremy from Go Curry Cracker Hyatt Place Washington DC National Mall How to take a nearly free trip to Disney World with rewards points from Richmond Savers Personal Capital signup link – free net worth and financial tracker JL Collins' Stock Series Podcast episode: Travel Rewards points Hyatt House Emeryville, CA Recommended Content Introduction to Free Money Part 1 of the Never Pay Taxes Again series

018 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Our guest: Jeremey from Go Curry Cracker Jeremy and Winnie are living the geo-arbitrage life: currently in Taipei, Taiwan and then on to a four month trip to Europe They are using travel rewards points to get nearly free business class flights from Taipei to Europe. Using Alaska Airlines miles on Cathay Pacific they got nearly 20 cents per point in value! "Retiring in your 30s is simple but not necessarily easy" The biggest contributing factor is saving a high percentage of your income It's easier to save a high percentage of your income when you have a larger income Make unconventional choices to save a high percentage 2nd Generation FIRE and how college costs can be lowered Jeremy had $40,000 in debt when he came out of college They have already opened a Roth-IRA for their son and used the income he earned from 'modeling services' for Go Curry Cracker He used the 80/20 rule to look at where 80% of their spending was going Sold his car and rode a bicycle Winnie made it so her cooking was the best food in town and they never wanted to go out to eat They spend approximately $2 per person per meal for delicious gourmet home cooked meals Most of their entertainment was community based with friends where they weren't spending money How did he get started on his FI journey? He took the first 6 years to pay down his $40,000 in debt. Didn't take vacation, worked overtime to earn more money. On his first vacation he realized he didn't want to work forever and started formulating his plan He set a 10 year plan and retired in 10 years plus 1 day from when he started! What was it like when he actually quit his job? The power of FU money and not needing to work plus how much more power it gives you while you are actually working How is he investing his money? 100% of his money is in 2 index funds Wait for compound interest to take hold so you can benefit over decades Unpacking his article 'Never Pay Taxes Again' Harvesting Capital Gains and how it enables you to get up to $90,000 in tax free income each year and increase the basis in those funds so you are never paying taxes on the gains Wash sale rules aren't relevant to harvesting capital gains, only capital losses Harvesting capital gains actually makes it easier to harvest capital losses in the future They also do the Roth-IRA conversion ladder to effectively make their regular 401k tax free Harvesting capital losses to offset other income Avoiding the wash sale rules: Need to buy back another fund (example: Sell Total Stock Market Index fund and buy S&P 500 Index fund) Hot Seat questions Favorite blog: JLCollinsNH.com Favorite life hack: credit card rewards points Links from the show: Go Curry Cracker Frugalwoods Podcast Episode: Introduction to Maximizing Travel Rewards points Jeremy's guest post on Budgets are Sexy Stock Series on JLCollinsNH.com Mad Fientist Never Pay Taxes Again on Go Curry Cracker Favorite articles: How to Give Like a Billionaire on JLCollinsNH.com They Will Kill You for Your Shoes! on Go Curry Cracker Favorite purchase: Iphone 7 Plus Google Project FI Go Curry Cracker on: Facebook Twitter Instagram Books Mentioned in the Show: The New Artisan Bread in Five Minutes a Day

017R | In Today's Podcast we cover: Friday Roundup # 6 This is our 23rd episode and providing a home for the FIRE community Thank you for our 50th review on Itunes (from Chad Carson!) – we plan to implement the voicemail feature on the website so we can use your input on the show Episode with Brandon from the Mad Fientist This podcast humanized Brandon and you got to hear his story "Early retirees are such a different breed…I'm looking at this through the very focused lens of early retirement." The built-in benefits of financial independence aside from just the dollars and cents: College, health care, taxes The Roth IRA Conversion Ladder The Roth IRA conversion ladder is the key to early retirement and accessing your 401k/retirement funds and pay little to no taxes on the money It was amazing how open and honest Brandon was: depression, 'quarter-life crisis', deprivation period Brad went to a retreat over the past weekend for "designing the life you want to live into" Quote from Keith: "I never dreamed past here." Dream bigger and find what brings you joy and happiness in life Money is not the end goal. It is a tool to let you live a better life How Brandon tested the upper limits on their spending and how it impacted their happiness (and only a couple of thousand dollars per year) Brad thinking differently: How could he spend a little more money to bring more joy to his life Roth IRA conversion ladder step-by-step scenario: 20 year old guy earns $60,000 per year, has $30,000 of expenses per year and is on a 20 year plan for FI. How does he take advantage of the Roth IRA conversion ladder to pay little to no tax and still fund his early retirement. The Key for the Roth IRA Conversion is to max out the 401K Itunes reviews – thanks to the audience! Question from the audience: Heather about what to do with her 401k after leaving her job. Should she leave it in her company's 401k or roll it out to Vanguard and her own IRA? Question from Bryan: How the 4% rule works on pulling out money from Roth, 401k, IRA, etc. and how to manage your tax liability in early retirement When you reach FI, you aren't going to sit back and do nothing when "retired" Where ChooseFI is going: college hacking from Edmund Tee and Seonwoo Lee Tax hack from an audience member: if you can't itemize every year, consider putting all deductions (donations, state taxes, etc.) into every other tax year so you can itemize every other year and in the off year you get the standard deduction Frugal hack of the week: Jonathan created a standing desk for his treadmill For More Tax Related Content Tax Optimization for FI Links from the show: Mad Fientist Dominick Quartuccio – Take Command Subscribe to Chad Carson's email list Dual Enrollment article on college hacking Oristand standing desk

017 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Today's guest: Brandon from MadFientist.com and the origin story of the Mad Fientist How did the Mad Fientist website come about? He first stumbled on the Early Retirement Extreme website He thought there'd be investing strategies to get him to financial independence more quickly, but he realized index funds were the best way to go about it Then he stumbled upon tax optimization and tax avoidance strategies Finding Get Rich Slowly and other personal finance blogs got him interested, but he looked at it through the eyes of an early retiree and realized the standard advice didn't necessarily apply "Early retirees are such a different breed" and optimizations can be had when looking at the problems differently for FIRE He took a core tax strategy and pivoted it to the best way to optimize for early retirees He uses his audience feedback to help come up with ideas for new posts or as ways to update and augment posts The Roth IRA conversion ladder changed the entire game for him and made him max out as many pre-tax accounts as possible How to get retirement money out earlier than the traditional 59.5 age without a penalty? Building a 5-year conversion ladder with traditional savings to cut your effective tax rate down to almost 0% on your traditional IRA and 401k Brandon's college choice and how it impacted his financial life with minimal student loan debt Brandon took a software developer's position at an Ivy League University and worked towards a free Ivy League master's degree Did Brandon max out his 401k his very first year? What's the most expensive car Brandon every bought? He leased a Toyota RAV4 but other than that every car he has ever owned is at least 10 years old What financial mistakes has Brandon made or where does he not follow his own advice? Timing the market and sitting with too much cash Take your brain out of your investing decisions once your plan is set What type of investing does Brandon do? All index funds from Vanguard and cash How has Brandon evolved psychologically as he has approached Financial Independence? Reaching your FI number doesn't by definition make you happier. You have to find your passion in life They actually loosened up their spending for a year to enjoy life as much as possible. Total tally: $35,000 of yearly spending. As compared to their normal $30,000 - $33,000 spending. An insignificant increase in money spent for such a large increase in satisfaction What is the most surprisingly positive aspect of post-FI life? What does his life look like 5 years from now/what does he want to do with his life? Hot Seat Questions Favorite life hack: Find out what makes you happy Advice to your younger self: Just get started today

016R | In Today's Podcast we cover: Friday Roundup #5 Recap of house hacking episode with Chad Carson from CoachCarson.com Real estate investing is one of the pillars of Financial Independence 'Keep it super simple and try to do the fundamentals well' quote by Chad Chad put in the extra effort to walk neighborhoods on Saturday mornings to learn about real estate House hacking is essential knowledge for someone getting started with FI The main levers to pull to get on the path to financial independence Housing is the biggest line item in most budgets and this can be a game changer House hacking for '2nd generation FIRE' Brad lived at home after college graduation and saved many thousands of dollars instead of renting an apartment If you have a solid income and you aren't saving money then you aren't a "success" Moving forward ChooseFI will bring in other real estate mentors to help educate all of us Itunes reviews Feedback from Libertarian Investments about our appearance on Radical Personal Finance on earning more than $100,000 income and how it makes paying down debt much easier Can you earn $100,000 a year without going to college? That wasn't what we were arguing on Radical Personal Finance Unconventional choices: Brad and his wife Laura decided to pick up their entire lives and move 400 miles south to Richmond, VA. This was a long-term play to afford the FI lifestyle on one income. Message from Ken on the benefits of libraries and the assortment of ways you can get value out of your local library. He also thought the 10 year timeline to reach FI was unrealistic We agreed and thought 10-15 years is much more realistic. And even if people take 20-25 years it is still a huge win over where they would have been otherwise Debt-free isn't the goal – it is financial independence Comment from Tallis on how the podcast has been "life changing" for them. They already put a plan on paper for early retirement! Feedback from Isaac that the Roth IRA is the "worst" investment vehicle and we're going to unpack this in the future Jonah said dollar cost averaging provides far below average market return. While we agree mathematically, it is still difficult psychologically for people to dump a bunch of money into the market at one time Travel rewards question from Ben on the timing of the Southwest Companion Pass Travel rewards question about hotel rewards and how to maximize Hyatt and Starwood Episode 17 coming up: Behind the scenes look at the Mad Fientist Links from the show: Podcast episode: Coach Carson Coach Carson's website Sign up for Chad's email list Article about Chad as a Clemson Tiger football player Chad's first house hack & house hacking guide ChooseFI podcast episode on travel rewards

016 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Real estate investing and house hacking with Chad "Coach" Carson. On the path to financial independence, how much of your own budget is going towards housing? After Chad graduated college at Clemson, he got started with real estate investing in his college town. How financial independence and real estate investing have allowed Chad to move his family to Ecuador for about 1.5 years. When they moved to Ecuador they sold most of their possessions and rented out their house for 2 years. When Chad graduated college he kept his expenses extremely low and actually moved into his business partner's spare bedroom to help save money. This led to his concept of "house hacking" as a way to keep housing expenses down to nearly zero House hacking: buy a multi-family rental unit and live in one unit while you rent out the rest and have them essentially pay for your house payment entirely Easy to become rich saving the money you'd otherwise be paying for your house and car payments Keep it simple and pay attention to the fundamentals with your financial life How do you get started with real estate? Where do you find a multi-family unit to buy? What to look for: neighborhoods with charm, safe, public transportation nearby Avoid cookie-cutter neighborhoods on the outskirts of town with new construction Chad recommends hiring a real estate agent at the beginning. Have them run searches based on your desired neighborhoods and automatically send you new listings. It is essential to walk the neighborhoods and talk to people to gather intel. Tip: walk with your kids to seem less intimidating and go on a Saturday morning when they are out It's important to think differently and take that extra step to find great deals. Have to reach out to people and get outside your comfort zone Real estate: The numbers crunching has to come into play at some point. Put together a profile of what makes a good deal upfront Follow the '1% rule': You are looking for the monthly rent to be 1% of the purchase price ($1,000 per month rent = $100,000 house price) Chad was able to pull his equity out and invest in another deal Small investors need to avoid 5 or more unit complex in order to get the most favorable owner-occupied financing Once you have an owner-occupied financing, you can move out and keep the favorable financing rates and rent all the units How to get started finding financing if you have no money saved and no contacts? Options: FHA 203k Loan in order to remodel and do a house hack or Fannie Mae Remodeling loan Building relationships with local real estate investors and private lenders Real estate debt snowball to fully own these properties as a path to wealth and financial independence Chad's personal strategy: 15% of his assets are currently in index funds with a goal of up to 33% and the vast majority of the rest is in real estate, cash and financing/note investing Chad and his business partner have approximately 90 rental units currently Chad is not interested in growing as large as possible – he wants to find a balance in life and keep it as simple as possible to meet his financial independence goal Hot Seat Questions Favorite life hack: Planning and actually writing it out. Weekly, monthly, yearly Biggest mistake: buying into other people's goals and getting sloppy with purchasing a lot of properties at the height of the 2007 bubble Links from the show: CoachCarson.com Root of Good House Hacking Guide - How to "Hack" Your Housing, Live For Free, & Start Investing in Real Estate How to Retire Rich With Ugly Houses and Embarrassing Old Cars Stock Series at JLCollinsNH.com The Debt Snowball Plan - How to Get Free & Clear Rental Properties The All-Cash Plan - How to Get Free & Clear Rental Properties How Many Rentals Do I Need to Retire FHA 203k Loan information

Keeping up with the Joneses' will cost you 1. Allocation when Investing in a Bubble? Kyith points out that allocation matters as the Early Retiree approaches their FI date 2.Paul wants to know where he should put his emergency fund 3. Should Brad Pay off His Mortgage? Kevin challenges Brad & Jonathan on whether they should pay off their mortgage using the Dave Ramsey litmus test 4. Matt would like to see ChooseFI tackle Effective Altruism 7. Sharing Resources Links Mentioned in Show https://www.choosefi.com/start https://www.choosefi.com/CIT https://www.choosefi.com/Disney https://www.choosefi.com/book Travel Rewards | Southwest companion pass and how to travel to Disney

015 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Our guest: Justin from Root of Good Justin had access to 401k and the 457 retirement plans 457 plan is an extremely valuable took for early retirement as there is no 10% early withdrawal penalty Justin's early retirement journey: Retirement at 33 Saved over 60% of his income to help retire early Justin has a wife and 3 kids and was still able to retire early What does a day in the life look like for Justin and the Root of Good family? "Optimal spouse selection" is important on the path to early retirement. You both need to align and be compatible with the savings mindset Being early retired gives you the flexibility to spend your time as you choose and live like a billionaire from a prior era Justin followed the Early Retirement Forums to model the behavior as he was learning about the path to financial independence Does it really cost $300,000 to raise a child? They spend $29,000 to $34,000 per year including luxurious vacations Quote of the day: "If you want to be average, it's going to cost 300 grand" How they save money on cruises for the family: Go in the off season, look for deals online and book through a shopping portal like Ebates, don't book excursions through the cruise line How does early retirement impact your children? Great lesson to teach your kids: I worked really hard for 10 years, saved money, and now can enjoy life for the next 50 For people who save money, it isn't a stressor, it's a tool to live a better life You have so much extra time to spend with your children when you are early retired Significant tax savings from having children 2nd Generation FIRE: How to pass this concept on to our children and to teach them to get started even before we did Planning for children's college while early retired How to get college credit while still in high school (AP classes, classes from local university, etc.) Once you get to college, how do you pay for it? How to hack the FAFSA: they don't look at retirement savings or home equity for calculation Don't pay sticker price for college! Financial aid and scholarships are plentiful Some elite schools offer full scholarships to "lower income" people of which early retirees may qualify Will college still be relevant in 10 years and how will you pay for it?

Control your Tax Rate by understanding how our marginal brackets work and eliminating consumer debt and taking advantage of tax deferred accounts Get Started on Path to FI https://www.choosefi.com/start Free Travel Course https://www.choosefi.com/travel For Net worth Tracker https://www.choosefi.com/pc Community Questions 1. Brian has a question about separation of service 2. Jason questions whether to use Vanguard vs Schwab 3. Kristen wants to know why she was denied for a premium credit card despite having 700+ credit score 4. Tyler shares how he used geoarbitrage to supercharge his path to FI Jonathan and Brad introduce a new segment with the FWOTW of the week (Frugal Win Of The Week)

014 | The Phases of FI with 1500 days (Mr 1500) Our Guest: Carl from 1500 Days The Phases of Financial Independence Close-knit community at Fincon and FI generally, Its amazing how much you have in common with somebody when you share a philosophy about money What is your philosophy about money? It isn't about money – it's a tool to a better life The goal of his site 1500 Days to freedom Their real estate investing experience Buying a McMansion and selling it within 2 weeks How one bad day at work led him to MMM and the concept of early retirement The importance of health Surrounding yourself with the best possible people Live in a place that has outdoor pursuits, the best possible library and a strong community Raise your children to be good, hardworking people and raise your knowledge every day Explore the world and give back by volunteering Time is the most essential resource, and it's slipping away from you unless you plan for it Develop passions to design the life you want to live with the time available. Without passions, FI would be a prison The Four Phases of FI Financial independence doesn't mean not earning money. It means following your passions Hot Seat Questions

Control your Tax Rate by understanding how our marginal brackets work and eliminating consumer debt and taking advantage of tax deferred accounts Get Started on Path to FI https://www.choosefi.com/start Free Travel Course https://www.choosefi.com/travel For Net worth Tracker https://www.choosefi.com/pc Community Questions 1. Brian has a question about separation of service 2. Jason questions whether to use Vanguard vs Schwab 3. Kristen wants to know why she was denied for a premium credit card despite having 700+ credit score 4. Tyler shares how he used geoarbitrage to supercharge his path to FI Jonathan and Brad introduce a new segment with the FWOTW of the week (Frugal Win Of The Week)

013 | Our guest: Millionaire Educator shows us how to invest your money. He shows how teachers, firefighters, police officers and public employees can leverage the power of pretax savings to supercharge their retirement , and become millionaires. Take this information to learn how to invest your money and retires decades before your peers Ed's journey from a college basketball player to a Spanish teacher Graduate school led to $45,000 total debt at age 33 Taught ESL in Saudia Arabia and paid off debt Returned to the US from Saudia Arabia with a $110,000 net worth Had to figure out the concept of FIRE before it even existed Taught in public school in Georgia for the next 7 years The two retirement plans available to public sector employees: 403(b) and 457 Teachers can fully fund both of these accounts ($18,000 to each in current year) Putting away this money helps dramatically decrease your taxes In 2007 his net worth was $400,000 2009: Next phase of their retirement journey 403(b) fees are significant, so it was to their benefit to move jobs to roll their 403(b) accounts to a lower fee ('separation of service' clause) 457b is a special account as it doesn't have the 10% penalty for pre-59.5 age withdrawals Phase 3 of retirement plan: Starting in 2014 they worked for 2 years and saved $238,000 What they are living on: a) $90,000 from 457s b) 72-T withdrawals from IRAs How to control your tax bracket for big savings (potentially down to $0) Debt avoidance: debt is paid with after-tax dollars Geo-arbitrage and living abroad or even just a lower cost state 457b account is an emergency fund that is pre-tax dollars How Brad and Ed are not "perfect" with their investing Pay increases for teachers when attaining new degrees. Raises that last a lifetime Earning extra money for coaching and extended day teaching to max out retirement accounts How they saved over $100,000 in a year towards retirement accounts

The Friday Roundup acts as a way to connect the FI community bringing in your feedback questions, and corrections. https://www.choosefi.com/Start Text choosefi to 44222 for FI made simple Ebook On Todays episode Feedback on the Frugalwoods episode Email from Isaac: How have others responded to you being "openly FIRE" in your real life? Email from Evan: Has some tax hacks he wants to pass along Questions about travel rewards – do Chase points expire and how to transfer? Update on Jonathan's goal to lose 30 points by April 22nd Jonathan and Brad's Favorite networth tool FI made Simple Ebook Travel Course Personal Capital Review

012 | Living Frugal is a Powerful FI Tool Liz from Frugalwoods coaches us through the ultimate guide to frugal living The benefits of minimalism and living frugal Frugalwoods family saving 70%+ of their income Their conscious decision in March 2014 to pursue financial independence Entirely possible to pursue living frugal anywhere including large metro cities. In fact these cities may have built in advantages like transportation What is the difference between someone who saves 70%+ and everyone else? First ask 'where you want to be' Not a sacrifice but a reorientation of how you spend and your priorities The benefits of living frugal: happiness & joy How they actually moved forward in March 2014 with their newly ultra-frugal lifestyle How the Frugalwoods family saves on food & groceries Does it make sense to pay off your mortgage? How they spend nearly $0 on entertainment Bring your own food to work every day and save $20+ per day No car payments & buying used cars Buying nearly everything used No impulse buying – wait 72 hours after you want to make a purchase Embracing imperfection: why & how they cut each other's hair living frugal can simplify and streamline life The Frugalwoods homestead in Vermont Educating yourself when making a major purchase You don't need to spend money to be happy: frugal substitutions Hot Seat Questions Favorite Life Hack Hacking the soda stream

011 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Future guests and how our interviews will be different than other podcasts Introduction to the "hot seat" What's your favorite blog that you're currently reading? What is your favorite article of all time Favorite Life Hack Biggest financial mistake What advice would you give to your younger self?

010 | In Today's Podcast we cover: Fitness and nutrition from a financial independence mindset Jonathan's quest to lose 30 pounds in the 3 months leading up to his son's birth JD Roth's talk at the Camp Mustache event to create a personal mission statement Jonathan's post-it note goals for his next 3 months of losing weight Be intentional about your goals Eating to live, not living to eat The dangers of carbs and processed sugar Frugal, ripped, lean and wealthy Set a goal and find some accountability partners Brad's goals: 15 pullups and a six-minute mile Go to sleep on an empty stomach: benefits and discussion Drink more water: ½ to 1 gallon per day How to eat a better breakfast and why to avoid sugar and carbs 24 hour fast one day per week in Jonathan's plan Bulletproof Coffee, intermittent fasting and ketosis Prepare your meals ahead of time Avoid a deprivation mindset Movement is essential Take breaks during the workday to walk Interval training: HIIT on treadmill The benefits of lifting weights Building exercise into your day Take these actionable tips and implement them