ChooseFI

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For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/082R

082 | A Wife's Perspective | Laura Barrett and Dani Mendonsa

2 juli 2018 | 71 min

081R | The Fear of Letting Go

29 juni 2018 | 58 min

081R | Strategies for decluttering and living with less (reflecting on Cait Flander's interview with us on Monday), life hacks from the community, and a winner for the free ticket to CampFI in Joshua Tree!

The ChooseFI community is growing and gaining national attention.
- How This Couple Saved $1 Million in 11 Years and Became Financially Independent Before 40
- Nine Money Podcasts You Should Be Listening To
Local Groups are really effective in some parts of the ChooseFI community.
Jonathan joined some members of the Richmond local group to purchase a mosquito fogger to share between them.
What else could be a shared purchase?
Cait Flanders, from Monday’s episode, talked about taking control of your life, and decluttering her whole life.
How do you take control of your life?
Could you live with less?
Why doesn’t Brad use a budget, and how does he still manage his finances well?
Why does Brad hope his daughter reads Harry Potter?
Voicemail from Kristyn, from fortheloveoftidy.com and the Spark Joy podcast, talks about her FI progress, and tips for decluttering:
- Map out your ideal living environment; think about how your clutter fits into that.
- Ask yourself tough questions about the clutter in your life.
What is tough about decluttering for Jonathan?
How does Kristyn keep track of her “bit-sized wins”?
Why did Jonathan finally get rid of his grad-school notes?
Voicemail with a suggestion based on advice from The White Coat Investor, to employ children as models for his website, to add legitimate money to his kids’ retirement accounts.
Facebook post from Heather about how her son found a job without a car.
Message from Louima, who was inspired by Cait’s Monday episode, and is contemplating a reduction of her FI number.
Email from Mark with some FI hacks:
- Food:
- - Choose smaller dishes
  - Put chips, pretzels, etc., in a dish, don’t eat directly from the bag
  - Don’t eat alone: Why Eating Alone May Be Bad for You
  - Don’t eat while watching TV: The Danger of Eating in Front of the TV
- Finances:
- - Use credit cards for travel rewards
  - Shopping portals – some opportunities to earn 4-10x more points
  - Earny: a price drop protection app
  - Feex.com: finds hidden fees in your investment accounts
Update: Brad is working to establish a scholarship for a Treehouse student to learn coding, in partnership with Every Child’s Hope.
Winner of the ticket to CampFI in Joshua Tree: Danielle!

Links:

Mr. Money Mustache: From Zero to Hero

081 | The Year of Less | Cait Flanders

25 juni 2018 | 66 min

080R | A Case for Survivor Compost and 2nd Generation FI.output

22 juni 2018 | 67 min

080 | FI is an Amazing Race | AlabaMalaysia

18 juni 2018 | 55 min

080 | Khai Shing, a former contestant on The Amazing Race, and blogger at ALABA+MA+LAYSIA, talks about balancing her pursuit of FI while finding ways to travel, worldwide, at discount prices.

Did Khai start with global travel, or with The Amazing Race?
Took about 3 months from applying to The Amazing Race with her twin brother, to being selected for the show - traveling all over China.
Khai grew up in Malaysia, and plans to return there for retirement, once she achieves FI.
How did Khai and her brother set themselves up to be selected from their video application?
What was the highlight of The Amazing Race for Khai?
Is it easier to achieve FI living in Malaysia versus living in the US?
When Khai calculates her FI number, does she base her living expenses off US expenses, or the expected cost of living in Malaysia?
Why does Khai use 35x as her multiplier for calculating a FI number?
How long is Khai’s FI path?
How does world travel fit into Khai’s lifestyle and financial plan during the next 8 years of her path?
How and when did Khai and her husband embrace the FI mentality?
How does budgeting and saving work for Khai’s family?
How do Khai and her husband manage travel with family and work?
How does Khai travel the world for $1,600?
A layover is less than 24 hours, but a stop over a has much more relaxed time frame.
United Airlines had an “excursionist” perk - a free stopover in a city within the same region: Excursionist Perks.
Where will Khai go next?
What perks still exist with Alaska Air?
What does Khai like to see and do when she travels to a new country?
Why does Khai like to document her trips on her blog?
What are Khai’s favorite experiences from her travels?
Khai met her husband during an exchange program to the US.
What advice does Khai have with regard to keeping life balanced?
Gratitude: “when we focus on appreciating and being content with what we have in life, it helps us to focus on what's truly important.”
“The fact that we can even dream about FI, and a good chance to make it a reality is a great privilege that we should be thankful for.”

Links:

MadFIentist

The Lifetime Table

For more, go to http://ChooseFI.com/080

079R | Personal Brand

15 juni 2018 | 64 min

079 | Embracing Retirement | Amy and Tim Rutherford

11 juni 2018 | 60 min

078R | College Hacking Toolbox

8 juni 2018 | 60 min

078 | Student Loan Debt Repayment | Travis Hornsby

4 juni 2018 | 72 min

078 | Travis Hornsby, founder of StudentLoanPlanner.com, talks early retirement, traveling Europe, and developing a passion for helping people crawl out of student loan debt.

What you'll hear on today's show:

Why did Travis attempt retirement at 25?
If you’re unhappy before reaching FI, will you be happy afterward?
Where did Travis’ frugal tendencies come from?
How did Travis get paid to go to college?
Do many universities offer full scholarships, and where should students find that information?
Does attending an Ivy League university make a difference?
Travis retired with $230,000 saved, with a plan to spend just 20k a year.
Did Travis have a long-term plan for his retirement?
Living expenses in the United States are high relative to many other places in the world if you’re an adventurous person.
Why did Travis’ job performance improve after he decided to quit his job?
If you’re on the path to FI but haven’t made it yet: develop a product or service that you’re passionate about and give yourself a year or two of buffer during which you don’t depend on income from your venture.
How did Travis commit himself to helping people with student loan debt, having never been in debt himself?
How much research did Travis have to do in order to ensure his student loan spreadsheets were accurate?
Why didn’t Travis’ father-in-law give his initial blessing to Travis marrying his daughter?
How did the Student Loan business grow?
If you have less than 100k of student debt, your best option is likely to refinance for the lowest possible interest rate and pay it back as quickly as possible?
If you owe less than double your salary and you’re not working at a not-for-profit or for the government, you should probably refinance.
If owe more than twice your income with federal loans, there are loan forgiveness options, depending on your type of work.
Is loan forgiveness guaranteed, and who can qualify?
Adjustment to loan forgiveness policies will impact students taking loans beginning in July 2019.
How do Travis’ suggestions change if someone has private loans?
Federal loans provide the most flexibility for repayment or forgiveness.
Two recommended choices:
- Pay back loans as aggressively as possible
- Pay minimums, maximize forgiveness

Resources mentioned:

Student Loan Planner

[email protected]

Physician on Fire

For more information, visit the show notes at http://ChooseFI.com/078

77R | Side Hustle Coaching Series Part 2 | Alan & Tallis

1 juni 2018 | 61 min

077R | An second part to the conversation between ChooseFi community member Tallis, who teaches dance classes in retirement facilities, and Pop-Up Business School founder Alan Donegan, to help get Tallis’ side hustle off the ground.

Precursors to this episode: Episode 30 and Episode 56.
Tallis gives an update on her side hustle to-do list.
Client feedback: the questions you ask impact the results you’ll get.
What is the best way to sell Tallis’ dance classes to the retirement facilities.
Tallis continues to wonder how to best monetize her service?
Tallis hopes to facilitate workshops to train dance-class teachers.
Alan and Tallis previously discussed securing sponsorship, potentially from pharmaceutical companies.
Currently, Tallis’ dance class is endorsed (and paid for) by the American Parkinson's Disease Association, so classes are free for participants.
Could Tallis collect a fee from participants?
Most important considerations right now: how is going to pay, and how much to charge?
Different payment models can impact clients’ commitment to the classes.
Training an organization to facilitate its own courses will pay significantly more than providing courses directly to individuals.
How can Tallis decide on a price for her workshops?
People equate cost to value: if you charge too little, they’ll think the product isn’t valuable.
Alan recommending contacting potential clients (retirement communities) that are well outside her target geographical location in order to practice her pitch and get feedback on potential pricing.
Pricing has a lot to do with confidence.
Successful business models have repeatability.
Marketing is rarely starting from the ground up: find other businesses in a similar space, or businesses that are doing something that you think would be really effective the space you’re targeting and start there.
Pitch tip: don’t allow your voice pitch to go up when giving your price. Use a statement tone that sounds confident – even from beginning to end of your sentence.
What’s up next: get feedback from local contact about other offerings.
Go big! Don’t offer your service to just a few potential clients.
Expect that it’ll take 1-5 months to get the program from start to point of sale.
The only way to know if your business will be successful is to ask people to buy; before that moment, feedback is hypothetical.
Tallis is part of the Des Moines ChooseFI local group – contact her there.

077 | Advanced Travel Rewards From 3rd Generation FI | Marla Taner

28 maj 2018 | 80 min

076R | Race or Journey?

25 maj 2018 | 60 min

076R | Brad and Jonathan brainstorm ways to implement local adventure into their own lives and the lives of the ChooseFI community. Also, achat about high school reunions, local libraries, and a few clarifications about 401k contributions.

Jonathan's 26-year-old sister just hit an 85% savings rate.
Living at home can be super helpful to the recent college graduate, or young person entering the workforce.
Getting to $100k net worth is the hardest part: after that, compounded interest starts working for you.
Brad signed up his daughter for www.code.org, a website that teaches coding paired with Minecraft.
Review of Monday’s episode with Mrs. Adventure Rich.
Getting the right mindset is the most important part of getting on the path to financial independence.
How does Brad feel about not having a FI number or date?
Is the pursuit of financial independence a race or a journey?
What was positive about the way Mrs. Adventure Rich’s coworker introduced her to FI.
How has Mrs. AR lowered the barrier of entry for local adventures?
How can local ChooseFI groups apply these ideas to exploring their own cities?
How does the idea of exploring your own city connect with the idea of intentionally creating memorable moments, as introduced by Chris in ChooseFI episode 71.
Adventure is anything that makes you feel like, “Hey, this is really living.”
Have we traded adventure for convenience?
How can someone plan for those things that truly bring value to their life?
Check out ChooseFI episode 37, with Scott, talking about rolling out the red carpet for the valuable things in your life.
Follow up from Robert, from The College Investor: how much student loan debt has the ChooseFI community paid off?
Voicemail from Suzanne: in addition to physical books, her local library often provides access to online newspapers, to online language programs, STEM programs for students, as well as actual after-school programs for students from the public schools.
Voicemail from the Peerless Money Mentor : the local library in Baton Rouge, LA, provides some access to Treehouse coding courses.
How would Brad or Jonathan describe their lives at a high school reunion?
Once you have all your financial needs taken care of, what do you want to do? What's your purpose?
Email from Danny: how do employer contributions impact a 401k?
Employer matched contributions do not count toward the $18,500 yearly limit for your 401k.
There are some additional ways to maximize full contributions to your 401k, up to $55k a year.

Additional links:

The Reluctant Frugalist

076 | Planned Spontaneity | Mrs Adventure Rich

21 maj 2018 | 63 min

075R | Mainstream Adoption

18 maj 2018 | 50 min

075R | “Personal finance is becoming financial independence.” Financial independence doesn’t necessarily mean retiring early; it means allocating your resources in the way you see fit.

This is just a taste of what we discuss in this recap from Monday's interview with Brian Feroldi from The Motley Fool.

Jonathan talks about blowing his budget on breakfast at the cold bar in Wegman’s, while Brad thinks that grocery shopping at Wegman’s is the same cost as Walmart.
Brad talks about meeting strangers who also in the FI community.
Brad and Jonathan wonder if financial independence is on the edge of mainstream adoption?
“Personal finance is becoming financial independence.”
Financial independence doesn’t necessarily mean retiring early; it means allocating your resources in the way you see fit.
Review of Monday’s episode with Brian Feroldi, about individual stock investment.
Do Brad and Jonathan own individual stocks?
What are the challenges to getting started with individual stocks?
Are individual stocks better as a hobby?
What are the strengths of the way Brian described investing in individual stocks?
A comment from Ray, in the ChooseFI community, that individual stocks requires too much individual management.
Cody wonders whether the current bull market might be playing in favor of individual investors, without having yet felt the consequence of the inherent risk?
How does Jackie, another ChooseFI community member, evaluate investment opportunities, and how did she get comfortable making investment decisions?
Tim reiterates the value of the Motley Fool, and the recommendations they make.
Frank, another community member, is concerned about a new investor’s learning curve: the time and money it takes to learn enough about individual investing to find success.
Is it possible to recognize large-scale Enron-type fraud by looking at investment research?
If you hold stocks from companies in similar fields, would it be better to simply hold a sector index stock?
Mr. 1500, Karl, worries about long-term investing with individual stocks.
Knowing when to sell individual stocks is an almost impossible task.
How are Brad and Brian getting their children started with investing?
How much did the ChooseFI community respond to the Treehouse scholarship proposal?
How can ChooseFI potentially connect students to mentors?

For more information, visit the show notes at http://ChooseFI.com/075R

075 | The Unfair Advantage of the Individual Investor | Brian Feroldi

14 maj 2018 | 61 min

074R | ChooseFI Scholarship

11 maj 2018 | 54 min

074 | Ryan Carson | Learn to Code | Treehouse

7 maj 2018 | 57 min

074 | Ryan Carson’s tech-education company, Treehouse, teaches computer coding as a trade skill, giving students an opportunity to enter the work force, or change careers in nine months, at a fraction of the cost of a four-year degree.

Ryan considers coding a trade skill, rather than profession that requires a four-year degree.
Ryan founded Treehouse to help people avoid student debt, get a job sooner and start saving for their 401k sooner.
There will be 1.4 million new jobs in tech, and only 400,000 will be filled by college graduates.
A trade job is composed of acquired skills, or “stackable skills”, like a mechanic or electrician.
Will the future be primarily trade jobs?
How is Treehouse different from other coding schools?
How does apprenticeship work in the tech industry?
What is TalentPath, and how does it help develop young coders?
For a skilled job, such as coding, landing a job is more dependent on a portfolio than a degree.
How does apprenticeship impact a person’s retirement savings, compared to earning a college degree?
Are there any degrees that are more valuable to a new professional than a year of on-the-job experience?
An apprentice has four more years of experience than a college graduate.
How can companies create talent, rather than hire talent, in order to compete with big tech companies like Apple, Facebook, Google, etc.?
How do employers measure a coder’s skill?
What development language is most in demand?
Trying out a school – traditional four-year university, or trade school, or treehouse – is important. How does TreeHouse allow students to do that?
Ryan started a company that facilitated large-file sending, but ultimately decided to pursue business that he felt contributed more on a human level.
TreeHouse originated from a desire to make coding education available and financially accessible to more people.
Students can trial for free. Basic treehouse course is $25 a month. Full coding school is $200 a month.
Success in life is mostly related to the ability to keep going when something is hard.
Most people are going to quit something because their internal “why” isn’t strong enough.
Coding is hard; it’s like going to the gym. Pursuing coding will require a certain amount of grit – but once you find your “why”, the grit comes.

Links to resources:

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3) Most importantly, find your friends, coworkers, and family members who may be open to this message and tell them about the podcast! (Episode 21 is a great starting place)

As Jonathan would say, "The FIRE is spreading my friends!"

073R | How to Make Money Online

4 maj 2018 | 58 min

073 | Jamila Souffrant | Fail Forward

30 april 2018 | 60 min

072R | The Five Most Important Financial Conversations you need to have with your Child

27 april 2018 | 61 min

072R | Lively discussion about cryptocurrencies as investments, review of last week’s MidAtlantic Camp FI, and several exciting contributions and questions from the ChooseFI community.

What you'll hear in today's roundup:

Brad’s brother is visiting from Santiago, Chile – how is he managing his path to financial independence as an international teacher?
Review of Monday’s episode discussing Bitcoin with Myles Wakeham
What are drawbacks of cryptocurrency?
Is Bitcoin a good investment, or is it just a gamble?
How much energy is expended in the global mining of Bitcoin?
Michelle, from the ChooseFi community, wonders if Bitcoin’s apparently lax regulations (compared to companies like PayPal) opens it up to be used for terrorism and other illegal activities?
William suggests to Jonathan that regulation of Bitcoin is nearly inevitable, exposing investors to potentially difficult scenarios in regards to both taxes, and simply converting money back into tangible currency.
Brad and Jonathan attended the MidAtlantic CampFI event last week.
Tickets for SouthWest and South region CampFIs are still available here: CampFI
Steve tells listeners how he nearly eliminated a $1,900 tax bill by contributing to his Health Savings Account, prior to the April 17 deadline.
Brad talks about Camel Camel Camel, an Amazon product price tracker.
Brad is shocked about how much prices fluctuate on Amazon.com.
From Kelly: What 5 bullet points would ChooseFi give to college-bound students?
- Save at least 50% of your income (avoid large housing and auto payments).
- Consider “opportunity costs”: Every dollar you earn in your teens and 20s is worth more than later in life.
- Long-term, low-cost investing: ride the market through decades.
- Your career is a tool to get you to financial independence, but don’t just rely on your career as a sole source of income.
- Think about life a little bit differently: think at things through the lens of FI
Voicemail from Jim listing two careers that provide a great path to financial independence
- Firefighting – government pension, two 24-hr shifts a week
- Emergency room nurse – takes local “travel” assignments for double pay with 3 shifts a week
Jonathan is excited about the Giant Ocean Clean Up Machine, which will soon set sail to begin collecting plastic from the ocean, and is expected to collect 5,000kgs per month.

Links from things mentioned in the show:

It’s Like Summer Camp for Money Nerds: My CampFI Review

The Revolutionary Giant Ocean Cleanup Machine Is About To Set Sail

Fifth Wheel Physical Therapist

072 | Bitcoin| What Am I Missing? | Myles Wakeham

23 april 2018 | 83 min

071R | The Real Value of Soft Skills

20 april 2018 | 64 min

071R | Brad and Jonathan compare their college experiences to Chris Hutchins’ from the Monday episode, they discuss the importance of owning your own FI decisions, and we get updates from several members of the ChooseFI community.

Brad considers starting a blog for his daughter as second-generation FI.
Review of Chris Hutchins’ episode last Monday.
Brad compares his experience of packing meals ahead for vacation to Chris’ grandparents growing up.
What is value of cultivating relationships, and how did Brad find success in that?
What would Jonathan do differently if he was going to redo college?
How can students optimize the expense of college?
What was the benefit of Jonathan attending community college for two years prior to completing his degree at Virginia Tech?
Take an inventory of your all your skills, to market yourself for future opportunities.
Chris got his early start(s) because he made a significant effort to stand out among his peers. How can you stand out when looking for opportunities?
How do Brad and Jonathan explain their somewhat abnormal financial choices, in pursuit of financial independence?
Don’t be ashamed of your decisions – you need to feel comfortable with your choices.
Scott, a writer at Simply Finance, emails to say that listening to the ChooseFI podcast helped him clarify his beliefs and decisions about personal finance.
What is the worldview that matches up with pursuit of financial independence?
How are Brad and Jonathan processing Chris’ idea of creating memorable moments?
What problems did Chris seek to solve with his Grove financial planning business?
Jared, blogger at Fifth Wheel Physical Therapy, introduced Jonathan to M1 Finance.
What is M1 Finance, and what does it offer its customers?
M1 Finance allows customers to purchase fractional shares, and at a certain point offers loans backed by your own investments.
Voicemail from Tim, who is chipping away at his student debt, working toward his family’s FI number, and shares a little about his investment habits.
People get to “enough” long before they get to “rich”.
Another voicemail from a 29-year-old military man named Luke, who asked for house-hacking ideas a few months back via the ChooseFI Facebook, and reports back now that he opted to live in a renovated, vintage camper trailer.
An encouraging review from Arthur, who is making life changes in pursuit of FI.

Links:

Bigger Pockets

Scott’s Blog: Simpli [FI] nances

M1 Finance