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 

009 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: Why Jonathan started with travel rewards: Wife’s family in Zimbabwe: $6,000 in flights every two years https://www.choosefi.com/travel What is this travel rewards strategy all about? Minimum spending requirement defined Options to meet minimum spending requirement Return on investment: instead of 1.5% rewards, you can earn upwards of 33% Impact on credit score and Brad’s personal experience Is this strategy right for you? The Chase Gauntlet and why you want to focus on Chase cards first Where to start? Chase Ultimate Rewards How to earn the Southwest Companion Pass (and the value of the pass) Business credit cards Ultimate Rewards points and three ways to redeem them Jonathan’s trip to Zimbabwe: Helping him save $6k in 5 minutes How to search for flights at United’s website If this strategy can take Jonathan to Zimbabwe, it can take you anywhere! Other destinations with ‘sweet spot’ options: Costa Rica, Hawaii, Europe If you want to take 1-2 nearly free vacations per year, this strategy is right for you  ChooseFI.com/Travel Travel Credit Cards

008 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: Don’t piss off the accountant: Bank Fees Americans spent $32 Billion in overdraft fees in 2016 Bank accounts and credit cards should be financial tools you use for free Overdraft fees mean you have no money and the bank is loaning you money for $35 at a time If you don’t have $1,000 in savings you have an emergency Jonathan had one overdraft in 2016 but his system for putting it on a credit card avoided a fee One fee leads to another. Come up with an action plan to avoid them If you get hit with a fee, call your bank to ask them to waive it If you threaten to leave your bank over a fee, they will almost always waive it Determine if you need a local branch for your bank to save more money If you’re getting hit with any fees, you need to sit down with your banker to come up with a plan 

007 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: America’s food obsession: We’re fat and broke How Brad’s family saves money on food Being smart with ingredients. How often does Brad’s family go out to eat? Go out for lunch instead of dinner Emergency meals in extra freezer Being efficient shopping at one store. Cut down on business Plan out the 2-3 meals you want to cook for the week Index of Top 50 recipes (A++ recipes) to cook Getting five nights of dinner out of cooking two meals Jonathan’s plan: cook for multiple nights and don’t waste food The waistline test and the fridge test Food budget programs Making food prep psychologically easy. Simplicity is key The Ultimate Costco Meal Plan and 10 items Jonathan buys 31 loaves of bread from one 25-pound bag of flour, 18 cents per loaf Find out your price per unit on your staple foods Jonathan doesn’t eat out at restaurants where he needs to leave a tip (goes to Chipotle and Panera) Health consequences – don’t overeat To cut down on portions, plan for leftovers Take willpower out of decision-making Small tweaks to make your life better over years Healthy lifestyle saves money on healthcare 

006 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: The Power of Partnerships How Brad and Jonathan met Our decision to partner up on Choose FI The importance of taking action The value of personal relationships in an online world What to look for in a partner Complementary skills and how it can help beat the learning curve How to find a partner in your niche Find people you connect with and meet in person if possible Split up the duties in the partnership to create an effective partnership Partnerships likely aren’t going to be 50%/50% in time spent, but you can still add value Have an understanding from the outset what the partnership will entail to avoid problems down the road 

005 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: Dave Ramsey and Jonathan’s history following him Dave’s unyielding stance on debt: don’t do it Review and evaluate Dave’s teaching philosophies Baby Step 1: Get an emergency fund of $1,000 Baby Step 2: Pay off all your debt except for your mortgage Explanation of the Debt Snowball Our hybrid approach to the Debt Snowball vs. Debt Avalanche Advice isn’t “one size fits all.”  You need to figure out what works for you! The 4% rule explained and the impact on financial independence Dave Ramsey says to not take advantage of 401k match if you’re paying off debt The math of personal finance vs. the psychology of personal finance Baby Step 3: Get 3-6 months of expenses in savings Our personal emergency fund strategies Baby Step 4: Invest 15% of household income into Roth IRAs and pre-tax retirement funds Baby Step 5: College funding for children Baby Step 6: Pay off your home mortgage early Baby Step 7: Build wealth and give Please leave us a written review on Itunes to help the podcast grow Corrections from the show Roth's do not require any seasoning period. You can withdraw your initial contributions tax free at any time for any reason. It does not have to season for five years. Practically this makes the Roth even more powerful as a possible savings vehicle during your teens and college years when your tax rate is very low 

004 | In Today’s Podcast we cover: Interviewing Jonathan to hear his story August 2013 Jonathan graduated from Pharmacy School with $168,000 student loan debt How did he get to that point? ‘Followed the rules’ to get his pharmacy degree but came out owing $1,000 per month in interest You don’t have as much money as you think: the impact of taxes How many years of work he gave up to pursue advanced degree and then pay down the debt just to get back to $0 net worth Would there have been a more efficient way to earn a $100k+ income? How Brad saved 90% of his income the first 2 years living at home and how it set him up for life Jonathan paid off his $168k of student loan debt in 3.5 years (!) What it takes: Incredible focus & intensity Create metrics to track to make paying down debt a fun game He looked at every single monthly expense to see if they could save money They were able to cut their cost of living from $60k per year to $38k per year Is there a need for an emergency fund? Differences in financial personality types When loans are paid off where does he go from here? Plans for 2017: emergency fund, create blog and podcast, create new streams of income 

Do understand how expensive your investments are?Jonathan and Brad explore how Expense Ratios and Assets Under Management Fees Erode your Returns and Portfolio over time. And why avoiding them is the difference of millions of dollars. Resources Mentioned Investment Calculator https://apps.choosefi.com/calculators/ https://apps.choosefi.com/start Check out our Book https://apps.choosefi.com/book