Most people think you need to wait until retirement to finally live the life you want. Jillian Johnsrud proved otherwise by spending eight months traveling with her husband, five kids, and multiple pets in a 26-foot camper—and she did it while building a career. Jillian shares the framework her family created to ensure everyone (including parents) actually has fun during extended travel. She breaks down what qualifies as a mini retirement—stepping away from your main job for a month or longer to...
Aug 21, 2023•52 min•Ep. 451
Bill Young changed his spending from near zero savings to a 35-40% rate in just one year — as an emergency room physician who had already blown through a high income. This episode features Bill and Becky Heptig, hosts of the new podcast Catching Up to FI , who share how they rebuilt their financial lives after starting at age 50. Becky recounts her journey from net worth zero at 50 to achieving FI, while Bill discusses the lifestyle inflation traps he fell into despite a physician's salary. Both...
Aug 14, 2023•49 min•Ep. 450
Most people who lose money on land never want to touch it again. JT Olmstead went the opposite direction. After spending years as an IT network engineer, he turned land investing into a systemized business that lets him work on his own terms. His path to financial independence started the same way many others do — stumbling across Mr. Money Mustache in 2011, cutting expenses, chasing the early retirement dream. But somewhere between his first failed commercial real estate deal and building a thr...
Aug 07, 2023•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 449
Most people think financial independence means maximizing every dollar saved—but what if the real win is knowing when to spend? Brad Barrett teams up with listener Ginger for a roundup of the month's most compelling takeaways, from Carl Jensen's evolution on spending for happiness to Brian Feraldi's case for dead-simple investing. This episode synthesizes insights from multiple recent shows, tackling listener questions on Roth IRAs as emergency funds, breaking up with a financial advisor, and wh...
Jul 31, 2023•56 min•Ep. 448
Your financial advisor's 1% fee just cost you $10,000 this year — and next year it'll be even more. Jason's question about breaking up with his advisor isn't unique; it's one of the most common technical dilemmas Brad receives. The core challenge isn't just leaving — it's executing the transfer without triggering unexpected taxes or losing your cost basis information along the way. Brad and Sean Mullaney (the FI Tax Guy) tackle the mechanics of transitioning from high-fee advisors to low-cost in...
Jul 23, 2023•58 min•Ep. 447
Most real estate investors obsess over adding more properties to their portfolios. Chad Carson spent years doing the opposite—and found it made him wealthier, happier, and far less stressed. Chad returns to discuss his newly released book, 'The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor,' which challenges the real estate community's relentless focus on acquisition. Drawing from his experiences during the Great Recession and his introduction to the FIRE community, Chad redefines success in real estate...
Jul 17, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 446
Most investors are guaranteed to be wrong—a lot. Brian Feroldi learned this truth the hard way over 18 years, and it's just the beginning. Brad sits down with Brian, an investing educator with nearly half a million Twitter followers, to unpack the psychological traps and strategic insights that separate successful long-term investors from those who flame out. Expect counterintuitive lessons on why losing money stings three times harder than gains feel good, why history matters more than technica...
Jul 09, 2023•38 min•Ep. 445
Carl Jensen wants to give you $200,000—but only if you spend it right now, before you die. That's the essence of a shift happening across the FI community, away from hoarding every dollar and toward intentional spending that creates lasting happiness. Brad Barrett sits down with Carl Jensen and Doug Cunnington from the Mile High FI podcast to examine how the FI movement has evolved beyond hardcore frugality. They explore the cognitive frameworks around spending, the trade-offs between experience...
Jul 03, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 444
Only 3% of American workers have a pension. If you're one of them, you might be making a costly mistake in your FI calculations. This mashup episode covers everything from snagging hotel rooms with points during Taylor Swift concerts to the hidden lifetime cost of car ownership, but the pension question reveals a simple math adjustment that could shift your FI date by years. [00:00:12] Introduction to Travel Rewards Brad welcomes Ginger from FI is Fun for a roundup covering multiple listener que...
Jun 26, 2023•55 min•Ep. 443
Unlocking Travel Rewards: Strategies for Financial Independence Travel rewards can be a game changer on your journey to financial independence, allowing you to travel luxuriously at little to no cost. Here, you will learn actionable strategies to maximize your travel rewards based on insights from experts in the field. Understanding Travel Rewards The world of travel rewards can be complex, but mastering it can yield incredible benefits. Begin by grasping the foundational concepts: Travel Reward...
Jun 18, 2023•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 442
Most people wait until they have "enough" to start living intentionally — but what if you've been thinking about this backwards? Bo Loy returns to unpack "valuism," the principle that has shaped ChooseFI's philosophy since 2017: spend on what you truly value, not on what you think you should. Brad and Bo explore how the FI community is shifting from pure numbers-chasing to second-generation FI — a focus on fulfillment, happiness, and living your values now rather than postponing joy until some a...
Jun 12, 2023•54 min•Ep. 441
Most successful super-savers eventually realize their strategies need to evolve — but Amy Minkley discovered hers were almost destroying her. After two decades of rigid financial discipline led her to burnout in Bangkok, she found the FI community at exactly the right moment. Brad sits down with Amy, who he met at the Economy Conference, to unpack her winding path from high-paying corporate job to international teacher to slow traveler in Bali. Amy's journey touches on leaving secure employment,...
Jun 05, 2023•54 min•Ep. 440
Your daily routine evaporates the instant you leave your job—but most people obsessing over their FI number never prepare for what happens next. Chris Terrell left his career in April 2020, right as the pandemic began, and discovered that achieving financial independence was just the beginning of a much larger journey. While the FI community excels at optimizing savings rates and investment strategies, the psychological transition to unstructured time often catches people completely off guard. B...
May 28, 2023•58 min•Ep. 439
Psychology shapes every dollar you spend, yet most financial advice ignores the irrational thoughts that drive your decisions. Brad Barrett sits down with licensed therapist Ginger and Growth Guide podcast host Clint Murphy to unpack Dollars and Cents by Dan Ariely and Jeff Kreisler, a book that examines the mental shortcuts sabotaging your wallet. Their conversation reveals why paying for things in advance makes spending feel painless, how sunk cost fallacies keep you locked into bad choices, a...
May 22, 2023•59 min•Ep. 438
Student loan borrowers who took out loans before 2010 now have access to forgiveness options that didn't exist six months ago—but only if they know to consolidate those loans before time runs out. Travis Hornsby returns with critical updates on the Income-Driven Repayment (IDR) waiver that expands eligibility well beyond the original Public Service Loan Forgiveness program. While the previous PSLF waiver helped public servants, this new policy allows anyone with sufficient repayment history to p...
May 15, 2023•33 min•Ep. 437
A software engineer earning six figures still carried $15,000 in credit card debt — until a YouTube autoplay changed everything. Rakesh had money but no purpose for it, saving aimlessly while assuming he'd work forever. After stumbling onto ChooseFI in January 2020, he and his wife didn't just learn about financial independence — they acted. Within three years, they automated their finances, negotiated a 50% salary increase, relocated to cut housing costs by 30%, and built a plan that turned vag...
May 08, 2023•58 min•Ep. 436
The federal sub-minimum wage for tipped workers is $2.13 per hour — the same rate it's been since the 1960s. Barbara Sloan, author of Tipped and creator of TipFinance.com, spent 20 years working for tips before building a financial education company aimed at service industry professionals. With more than 5.5 million individuals in the U.S. relying on tip income, she highlights a critical gap in standard financial independence advice: it doesn't speak to workers whose income fluctuates, who often...
May 01, 2023•54 min•Ep. 435
Want to stop treating your student loans like a permanent houseguest? One key insight from the Economy Conference—the world's largest FI gathering—is that intentional payoff strategies can free you years ahead of the standard 30-year timeline. This roundup episode covers listener questions on travel rewards for modest spenders, the stages of behavioral change you go through on your FI journey, and why local meetups might be the missing piece in your financial plan. Key Topics [00:03:17] The Econ...
Apr 24, 2023•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 434
Most people need a job to survive—but what if that same job is quietly stealing your health? Greg realized his tech career was keeping him in a chair 60+ hours a week, so he committed to moving at least one mile outside every single day , no matter the weather. Nearly 1,700 days later, he's not only healthier but clearer on what actually matters—and he's living out of a van on his own terms. Greg, the founder of Outside 365, shares how a simple daily practice transformed his relationship with wo...
Apr 17, 2023•49 min•Ep. 433
Most people don't realize spending is a skill — Pete Adeny (Mr. Money Mustache) does, and it's completely changed how he thinks about money. When you master spending the same way you'd learn to lift heavier weights or run faster, you don't give anything up. You actually get more out of every dollar while building wealth faster than you thought possible. Brad Barrett sits down with Pete to explore how spending efficiently enhances quality of life rather than diminishing it. Pete explains that the...
Apr 10, 2023•53 min•Ep. 432
Guest Brandon returns after becoming a father, and his transformation reveals something unexpected: achieving financial independence taught him less about cutting expenses and more about spending on what actually matters. Brad and Brandon explore how parenthood reshapes your relationship with money, why "memory dividends" might be more valuable than compound interest, and how the FI movement itself has quietly shifted from rigid frugality to values-aligned spending. Brandon shares how he's learn...
Apr 02, 2023•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 431
Most couples don't calculate their total debt until they're planning a wedding. Allie and Josh faced over $100,000 in student loans while trying to figure out if they could even afford to get married. That brutal conversation in 2017 became their turning point. Within five years, they went from drowning in debt to achieving financial independence through strategic moves that any couple could replicate. Their story centers on three critical decisions: learning to communicate openly about money wi...
Mar 27, 2023•53 min•Ep. 430
Most people discover a sport after it becomes popular—but what if you found it years before the world caught on? Brad Barrett met Chris Terrell back in 2014 at a local Mr. Money Mustache meetup, making Chris the first person in the FI community Brad ever encountered in Richmond, Virginia. Chris also introduced Brad to pickleball long before it exploded in popularity. Nearly a decade later, Chris shares how accessible sports like pickleball and strategy board games align perfectly with financial ...
Mar 19, 2023•1 hr 24 min•Ep. 429
Money anxiety peaks when you're doing everything "right" but still feel financially stuck. Brad Barrett and Ginger tackle this tension head-on, exploring why intentional living—not rigid rules—is the real path to financial independence. Ginger shares her journey in the FI community, including insights on investing in health and wellness as a long-term wealth strategy. They discuss behavioral finance through Dan Ariely's book Dollars and Cents and Bill Perkins' Die With Zero , examining why exper...
Mar 13, 2023•1 hr 14 min•Ep. 428
Most retirees stress about running out of money — but if you're reading this, you'll probably face the opposite problem: you won't spend enough. Karsten from Early Retirement Now and Fritz from The Retirement Manifesto both retired in June 2018 and have spent the past four years navigating wildly different market conditions with completely different withdrawal strategies. Karsten focuses on asset location and tax optimization, generating cash flow without selling assets. Fritz uses a bucket stra...
Mar 05, 2023•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 427
Scott Trench just dropped a financial planning bomb that most people miss entirely: you're building your portfolio backwards. Instead of imagining how you'd invest $2.5 million in cash if someone handed it to you tomorrow, you're sleepwalking into a portfolio shaped by inertia, not intention. Scott, CEO of BiggerPockets and co-host of the BiggerPockets Money podcast, returns to walk through this "investment inversion" — a Charlie Munger-style mental flip that forces you to work backward from you...
Feb 27, 2023•54 min•Ep. 426
What if you could start over with everything you know now about money? Brad Barrett gets that rare chance to lay out his entire FI journey—the wins, the regrets, and the hard-won wisdom he wishes he'd had at 25. In a role-reversal episode, Brad reflects on the decisions that shaped his path to financial independence and the choices he'd make differently today. He explores the tension between saving for tomorrow and living fully today, drawing on the "Die With Zero" philosophy to challenge the id...
Feb 20, 2023•59 min•Ep. 425
Paying off $47,000 in debt sounds impressive until you learn the real story behind it. Deanna didn't just tackle her finances—she rebuilt her entire life from the ground up, transforming addiction and trauma into a ministry that now helps others do the same. Deanna returns to share her continuing journey of recovery and financial independence. After conquering nearly $47,000 in debt through disciplined budgeting and discovering the power of investing, she's now focused on intentional living and ...
Feb 13, 2023•54 min•Ep. 424
Chris Hutchins runs the All the Hacks podcast, and two of his recent episodes changed Brad Barrett's entire outlook on money—so much that Brad stopped their usual catch-up call to hit record. What started as a casual conversation between friends turned into a candid look at how even financial independence advocates can get stuck optimizing the wrong things. Chris Hutchins joins Brad for a free-flowing discussion about recent shifts in their thinking. Key Topics Discussed Reflections on Recent Po...
Feb 06, 2023•1 hr 17 min•Ep. 423
Most teenagers aren't plotting their escape from the workforce—Devon started at 15. Influenced by his older brother's decision to drop out of college and build a nomadic photography career, this Michigan high schooler saw the trap of student debt and chose a different path entirely. Now 17, he's running two businesses—breeding dogs and building tiny houses with his father—while most of his peers are debating which college loans to accept. Devon's upbringing in an entrepreneurial family shaped hi...
Jan 30, 2023•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 422
