In this week's episode, Brad and Jonathan are joined by none other than the "FI Tax Guy" himself, Sean Mullaney. Together, they highlight reasons why your tax return may not be such a great thing, and the different ways you can leverage your tax planning to your own advantage! Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation From Tax Returns To Tax Planning Solo 401(k) to Reduce 2021 AGI Want to start your own journey to Financial Independence? Sign up for the free 5-Day FI Challenge here!...
Jul 05, 2021•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 332
Big ERN (a.k.a. Karsten) from "Early Retirement Now" makes his return to the podcast in this week's episode! With Brad and Jonathan, Big ERN gives us the lowdown on what inflation is, the role inflation plays in the world economy, and the effect inflation can have on a variety of investments! Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation Start Your Journey to FI Here Want to start your own journey to Financial Independence? Sign up for the free 5-Day FI Challenge here!...
Jun 28, 2021•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 331
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan sit down with Paula Pant, author of the ebook Escape and creator of the blog and podcast Afford Anything . As a group, the trio discuss the current landscape of the housing market, whats different between it now and 14 years ago, some tips and ticks for buyers, and whether or not the current housing market is in a bubble! Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation Sign up for Paula and Jonathan's Live Event on 6/28! Want to start your own journey to Financial ...
Jun 21, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 330
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan take a look at popular portfolios in the financial independence community and lay down a structure of comparison for them in a fashion similar to that of a horse race! Join us during the longitudinal study to find out which of these various investment strategies is the right fit for you! Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation All The Hacks with Chris Hutchins Level Up Your Dividend Strategy and Optimize Your Portfolio JL Collins Paul Merriman Paula Pant Wa...
Jun 14, 2021•55 min•Ep. 329
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan discuss investment strategies with Brian Feroldi, a seasoned veteran of the stock market and author for The Motley Fool . Brian shares with Brad and Jonathan some insight into the current landscape of the market, why some stocks perform the way they do, and why it is important to take a look at the business behind the stock and not just the value of that company's shares. Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation ARK Fund Brian's Checklist and Early Book Acce...
Jun 07, 2021•50 min•Ep. 328
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan are joined by Alan Donegan, an entrepreneurial guru and host of the "Rebel Entrepreneur" podcast. Together, the trio discuss their own entrepreneurial journeys, tips and strategies for up and coming entrepreneurs, and where entrepreneurship could fit within your FI journey! Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation Salesforce 5-Day Challenge ChooseFI Facebook Group The Four Hour Work Week by Timothy Ferris Millennial Revolution Mr. Money Mustache Want to star...
Jun 04, 2021•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 327
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan take a look at the ways in which people aren't properly marketing themselves. By running through a thought experiment, Brad and Jonathan uncover skills, abilities, and valuable traits that may be absent from your resume. They also discuss imposter syndrome and how it can lead to selling yourself short. Resource from the episode: Salesforce for Everyone...
May 31, 2021•49 min•Ep. 326
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan reexamine the stages and checkpoints of Financial Independence. In our community, many people are just trying to figure out where they are on this path to FI. While every individual’s journey will be unique, when you can gamify the process, the journey can be more rewarding and enjoyable. Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation Raising Your Money-Savvy Family For Next-Generation Financial Independence Subscribe to Brad’s newsletter, The FI Weekly The Simple...
May 28, 2021•48 min•Ep. 325
In this episode, Brad and Jonathan reexamine the stages and checkpoints of Financial Independence. In our community, a lot of people are just trying to figure out where they are on this path to FI, and while every individual's journey is going to be unique, when you can gamify the process, the journey can be more rewarding and enjoyable. Want to start your own Journey to Financial Independence? Sign up for the free 5-Day FI Challenge here!...
May 24, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 324
Curious about cryptocurrencies? Is it investing or is it gambling? It’s a topic the community has a lot of questions on, so in this episode we create. framework for the conversation and explore the nuances. In the US, we generally want for nothing and true scarcity is something we haven’t recently experienced until this year and suddenly being presented with it creates some interesting psychological reactions. It’s good to position yourself to be ahead of the game and be prepared when you hear r...
May 21, 2021•1 hr 5 min•Ep. 323
Dennison, a member of the FI community and recent Salesforce success story, joined the guys today for a special interview. He expressed to us that being adaptable and willing to change your world viewpoints on the fly (especially in the face of the COVID pandemic) has allowed him to achieve great financial and personal success. Resources Mentioned In Today’s Conversation Talent Stacker Salesforce 5-Day Challenge ChooseFI Episode 117 Making the Case for Part-Time With Bradley Rice...
May 17, 2021•44 min•Ep. 322
What You’ll Get Out Of Today’s Show Picking back up with our ChooseFI Households of FI family, Zach and Marilyn to hear about all of the incredible progress they’ve made since their last episode. Like most people, the last year has turned Zach and Marilyn’s life upside down, only their’s has been positive. Following their conversation with Paula Pant in Episode 247, they were felt encouraged to move forward with a real estate investment when the numbers made sense rather than waiting for a prope...
May 14, 2021•58 min•Ep. 321
The nature of work has drastically changed over the last year. Has its impact on you been negative or positive? And does that impact your choices on the path to financial independence? As a result of these changes, how we do work is something we can now question and work to make it align with how we want our weeks and months to look like. The concept of a Red X month is something first introduced to us by Vincent Pugliese and one that has been sacred to the Barrett Family. Brad puts a big red X ...
May 10, 2021•44 min•Ep. 320
What You’ll Get Out Of Today’s Show Do you want to give your children the tools they need to guarantee their path to financial independence? If you give them the right skills, becoming a millionaire can be a mathematical certainty. Achieving the objective of becoming a millionaire isn’t nearly as important as the process of getting there. Success is in the journey. For many of us, we made a lot of mistakes before finding the right information and learning that there is a better way. When you und...
May 07, 2021•42 min•Ep. 319
After four years of talking about the aggregation of marginal gains and the idea of getting 1% better, ChooseFI has accumulated quite a lengthy list you can stack together. If you can invest a little bit of time to fix something, you’ll never have to invest that time again. Brad recently decided to move away from paper files and bills to join the digital age, while Jonathan has been using a subscription service to stop the paper junk mail sent to him. Chris Hutchins shared a final hack with Brad...
May 03, 2021•58 min•Ep. 318
Life gets busy when you have a new baby, so Chris Hutchins is on a quest to learn all the hacks, optimize his life, and share what he’s learned with you in his new podcast, All the Hacks . The goal of the podcast is to help listeners upgrade their lives by living more exciting, fulfilling lives without spending a lot more money and optimizing it all along the way. Life hacks tend to fall into one of three camps. It clicks with and becomes second nature, you find a way to automate it so you don’t...
Apr 30, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 317
Back in another installment of ChooseFI’s Households of FI series are Troy and Lindsay. In episode 241, Brad helped them calculate their FI number, but Lindsay is a teacher with the potential to earn a pension. In this episode, they touch base with Grumpus Maximus to discuss the health of their pension. While the conversation is geared toward the health of the Virginia Retirement system, others who are eligible for pensions will learn where to access data about their own pensions and interpret i...
Apr 26, 2021•51 min•Ep. 316
In last week’s Facebook Live episode with Frank Vasquez, he pointed out that we are in the Golden Age of Investing. In this episode, we explore what that means and if we appreciate how good we have it. In an ideal world, we would all like to maximize investment returns while reducing volatility. Holding uncorrelated assets helps to prevent catastrophe. But what is the goal of investing? Although it’s a broad question, Brad believes the ultimate goal is to accumulate wealth. Investing itself is a...
Apr 23, 2021•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 315
The Households of FI series continues! In this episode, we touch base with Kristi, the single mom from Minnesota who. New to FI, Kristi is working to get on the path but has questions about her company’s Price-to-Earnings (P/E) Ratio and the Employee Stock Purchase Plan (ESPP). How to evaluate what a company’s stock is worth is not something many of us index fund investors know a lot about, but it’s good to be familiar with it. Individual stock selection is something that Brian Feroldi gets exci...
Apr 19, 2021•28 min•Ep. 314
The goal of diversification is to ensure access to a lot of upside without being exposed to an unacceptable downside. But are you as diversified as you think you are? Long-time community member, Frank Vasquez says there are three roles bonds have in your portfolio, income, stability, and diversification. The Holy Grail Principle focuses on what the concept of diversification really means. It doesn’t mean different, it means uncorrelated. Investors can use online websites to calculate the correla...
Apr 16, 2021•1 hr 7 min•Ep. 313
In 2008-2009, the American dream of a home with a white picket fence turned into a financial nightmare, sending many families underwater for a decade. After looking at the numbers, there’s an ongoing debate over homeownership. Owning may not be the right decision for everyone. Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen from BiggerPockets join the show to discuss home buying and their new book, First-Time Home Buyer: The Complete Playbook to Avoiding Rookie Mistakes . Even if you’ve already purchased a home, ...
Apr 12, 2021•57 min•Ep. 312
Apr 09, 2021•1 hr 16 min•Ep. 311
“ When you are financially whole in the way I’ll teach you to be, you won’t have to live in fear. You’ll have a plan for each area of your finances so that they are constantly working on your behalf “. — Tiffany Aliche America’s favorite budget expert, Tiffany Aliche joins us to discuss her new book, Get Good With Money . Financial fear can come from financial trauma and drama. When you know that the money you are making isn’t quite enough for the things that you absolutely need, or you can fore...
Apr 05, 2021•44 min•Ep. 310
Winter is over, spring is here, and Brad and Jonathan have hosted their fifth live event on Stereo! With the new season and sense of hope, people are beginning to think more about traveling and travel rewards points. Start thinking about a trip you want to take and join us on Stereo next week for a live group travel rewards coaching call with Brad. The focus of this episode is college. How can you do college for less or do you even need to go to college at all? After more than 400 episodes, opti...
Apr 02, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 309
Do you have a budding entrepreneur at home? Help them bring their business ideas to life, learn the value of money, and gain future-proof skills. About a year ago, Rob Phelan, launched The Simple StartUp workbook and live coaching series aimed at helping kids aged 10-18 develop their first business idea. This episode will highlight lessons learned from his program. The Simple StartUp has given Brad a language to talk with his own girls about business and entrepreneurship. His daughter, Molly, ha...
Mar 29, 2021•46 min•Ep. 308
After four weeks of hosting the live weekly show via Stereo, Brad and Jonathan continue to refine the format and come up with ideas for improving the experience. Jonathan needs some specialized dental work performed and the dentist he found is out-of-network. Insurance isn’t going to cover much in this situation, but thankfully, it doesn’t put him in financial straits. As they reminisce about being children of the 80s, Brad and Jonathan come to the conclusion that time moves on and the rulebook ...
Mar 26, 2021•1 hr 15 min•Ep. 307
Diania Merriam is the Chief Economeist behind the EconoMe conference, a two-day event at the University of Cincinnati whose roots are in the FIRE movement. In 2019, Diania was preparing for the launch of EconoMe in the spring of 2020. She could not have anticipated the risk of a global pandemic impacting her conference, but it was successfully held on March 7, 2020, just before the event location’s shut down. The 2020 event hosted 250 attendees and nine expert speakers. After putting 20 months o...
Mar 22, 2021•45 min•Ep. 306
It’s the third edition of ChooseFI’s live and interactive show via Stereo. You can submit a question, feedback, or comment, and find out how to join us for the live event by visiting ChooseFI.com/live. Brad and Jonathan are getting high on life. Not only have Brad’s daughters started back at in-person school, but he and Laura were also able to attend a Crossfit class together. Meanwhile, Jonathan is successfully combating fatigue by getting the right amount of sleep, cutting out caffeine, and ma...
Mar 19, 2021•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 305
Jonathan checks back in with Corinne from the Households of FI series to look at her numbers, goals, and map out a FI plan. Financial independence is not about having the most money. In the pursuit of FI, the math is simple, but the math will change depending on your goals. It’s important to start with understanding what you want your ideal day to look like. Following Corinne’s last coaching session with Jillian, she learned how to build good habits and strategies to get closer to the goals she ...
Mar 15, 2021•52 min•Ep. 304
In the second episode in the series of taking the show live online via the Stereo app, listeners ask questions and interact during a replay of this live podcast from Tuesday evening. Experimenting with this new show format, Brad and Jonathan are adding to their talents stack and themselves getting better through the often mentioned concept of the aggregation of marginal gains. Unfortunately, just because you make progress in an area, it doesn’t always mean you hold on to those gains. While your ...
Mar 12, 2021•1 hr 6 min•Ep. 303
