Send us a text After moving halfway around the US for college, the travel bug came again with a move overseas. With college came student loan and credit card debt...or what we usually call "normal". While overseas, our guest meets the love of her life, a German citizen with a completely different culture surrounding money. Unfortunately, the family dealt with historic flooding in Germany, leaving the family to ponder their future and move to Wisconsin. After moving back to the US, our guest and ...
Jul 06, 2025•53 min•Season 5Ep. 223
Send us a text Dave has cut grass, pressure washed, and given private pitching lessons as previous side hustles...last week, he gave Door Dash a shot. In this episode, Dave and his wife (Stephanie) discuss their experiment Dashing in Jacksonville NC for one week. What did they learn? Is it worth it? Hear all of their thoughts and how it could impact your financial future! Teachers, this episode is for you!...
Jun 29, 2025•40 min•Season 5Ep. 222
Send us a text We have discussed SO many side hustles on the FIT Podcast...pressure washing, baby sitting, lawn care, mail box beautification, Door Dash, tutoring, Airbnb cleaning, private lessons, and much more! In past episodes, we have even talked about teaching abroad...what if I told you there is a way to teach abroad but you don't have to resign from your current teaching position? Megan is a Raleigh elementary teacher who is getting ready to head to China make some extra cash this summer ...
Jun 22, 2025•30 min•Season 5Ep. 221
Send us a text Stephanie taught English for 30+ years in North Carolina. Unfortunately, throughout most of her career, she was not privy to financial literacy. Did she invest? If so, how much and in what? How is she making it in retirement off of her NC pension? As the saying goes "hindsight is 20/20"...what advice would she give to teachers who are currently working to prepare for life after education? Tune in to hear her story!...
Jun 15, 2025•55 min•Season 5Ep. 220
Send us a text In this conversation, Jillian and Dave discuss the concept of mini retirements and how they can lead to a fulfilling lifestyle while pursuing financial independence. They discuss "mini retirements" throughout your career, emphasizing the importance of taking breaks, traveling, and spending quality time family. We explore the challenges and benefits of unconventional choices, the gradual transition to early retirement, and the value of practicing mini retirements to prepare for a f...
Jun 08, 2025•44 min•Season 5Ep. 219
Send us a text Sweet 16...21.....these are HUGE milestone birthdays in life! Does the party end at 21? Tune in as I talk about MAJOR milestone birthdates that play a large role in your personal finance life. Spoiler alert...21 is just the beginning of the FUN!
Jun 01, 2025•50 min•Season 5Ep. 218
Send us a text Pat has been on DOZENS of cruises and was inspired to start her own social media page, giving tips and tricks to first time cruises and veterans alike. Have you ever considered a cruise or do you like to travel in general? Pat discusses the fun of cruising, how to find a deal, tips for packing, cruise line stereotypes, cost, and much more! As we prep for summer, it is time to start thinking of having fun! Check out Pat's Youtube channel below: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCCGe...
May 25, 2025•56 min•Season 5Ep. 217
Send us a text Daniel has been teaching in NC for almost 30 years. Unfortunately, the first few decades of his career, he wasn't very informed on his NC teaching benefits, his pension, or investing. Whether you start to learn in your first year or toward the end of your career, it is never TOO late! Now, Daniel is investing, becoming an expert on all things NC teacher benefits, and is even teaching colleagues in the Charlotte area about their benefits. If you want to hear someone who has had a l...
May 18, 2025•42 min•Season 5Ep. 216
Send us a text Cody Garrett (not to be confused with our good friend, Justin), is a CFP and a regular on the ChooseFI message boards and FB group. By know, most of us know about the Roth IRA, 401(k), 403(b), and 457(b)...but many of us (myself included) have been in the dark about a taxable brokerage account. Cody is here to talk about all the positives of having one of these amazing accounts. Remember, after you retire, you won't be able to contribute to your workplace 403(b), 457(b) etc. Also,...
May 11, 2025•1 hr 2 min•Season 5Ep. 215
Send us a text Eric is a teacher and coach in the Boston area. In the episode, he lays out ideas for building financial success in a HCOL, we discuss renting vs buying, and his mini stint with financial independence when he moved his family to France for a handful of years. What did he enjoy? What were the pros and cons of living internationally?
May 04, 2025•58 min•Season 5Ep. 214
Send us a text Nancy is in wrapping up "Act II" of her life journey. Act I was living in Ohio and working in HR in the corporate world. Act II brought her to the beaches of NC to become a CTE teacher at Jacksonville High School. With a few decades of teaching under her belt and only a few years left until retirement (Act III), Nancy has been gazelle intense, working on having her financial house in order as she gets ready to ride off into the sunset and travel the world as a part of her final ac...
Apr 27, 2025•41 min•Season 5Ep. 213
Send us a text While cruising the Western Caribbean, I had GRAND plans to read a book a received for Christmas titled "The Bucket Plan: Protecting and Growing Your Assets for a Worry-Free Retirement"...well, sometimes grand plans do not come to fruition! Luckily, we had a 6 hour wait in the Miami Airport, so I had a chance to finally read that book that I had planned on reviewing earlier in the week. In this episode, I give a brief review of the book and highlight the 3 main buckets to store you...
Apr 20, 2025•30 min•Season 5Ep. 212
Send us a text John Chester, the Millionaire Math Teacher is back on the show to continue our discussion on the current state of the stock market. As a retiree and in his late 60's, what is his perspective on the market? Will he get out? Will be buy more? We talk about his portfolio and diversification allotment. How do you mentally and emotionally handle large swings of 50k+ gains/losses? All of this and more!...
Apr 13, 2025•39 min•Season 5Ep. 211
Send us a text What a crazy week! The stock market is down around 10%...should I keep investing? Should I sell? What can I control when we face these uncertain times? Former teacher and current financial advisor, David Gourley joins us on the show, almost in REAL TIME to discuss! David is a former coach and high school math teacher, helping teachers from around the country build their financial foundation and grow their wealth. Check out David's website below! https://www.k-12planning.com/...
Apr 06, 2025•50 min•Season 5Ep. 210
Send us a text Allison has been a history teacher in NC for over a decade. Currently, she is teaching at a Charlotte area Early College and has taken on the task of learning new curriculum by teaching NC's new EPF course. The theme of Allison's story is resilience! Like many, she has regrets on how she used her student loans in college and has worked hard to overcome her mistakes. From credit card debt, and student loans to co-signing on a student loan for a former partner, Allison's pre EPF lif...
Mar 30, 2025•44 min•Season 5Ep. 209
Send us a text Paul has been a dedicated public educator for over 24 years. His goal is to blend the love for education with a passion about finances to help lay out a strategic plan to assist teachers with their retirement goals. Many financial advisors and supplemental retirement plans have both outrageously high fees mixed with limited knowledge about Ohio (or other state) pension plans. Paul believes that teachers deserve fair, specific and detailed assistance from someone who understands th...
Mar 23, 2025•42 min•Season 5Ep. 208
Send us a text Fritz Gilbert is an expert in the retirement space, and he is back on FIT to discuss the Top 5 Retirement Regrets and how to not make those same mistakes. You only get one chance at retirement, let Fritz (a retiree who has intensely studied retirement) help give us all a leg up on our future! Check out his website: https://www.theretirementmanifesto.com/blog/ Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financi...
Mar 16, 2025•49 min•Season 5Ep. 207
Send us a text Stac Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4...
Mar 09, 2025•42 min•Season 5Ep. 206
Send us a text Jeff lives south of Charlotte, across the border in Rock Hill SC. He is in his 30th year teaching, all at the time school but actually retired after his 28th year. He is now "double dipping" and making well over 130k to teach in South Carolina. A divorce in the middle of his teaching career really made Jeff rethink finances as he enrolled in FPU and went on to lead many through the program as well. Now, Jeff is teaching AND has also launched his own financial company called Venabl...
Mar 02, 2025•54 min•Season 5Ep. 205
Send us a text There are some important milestone birthdays in life...16, 18, 21, 59.5, 62 and 65. What is special about 65? This is the age you transition to Medicare. Did you know? There are two main choices in your healthcare at 65...Traditional Medicare OR a Medicare Advantage plan. Lucrecia Ryan takes us on a journey on which plan she likes best and why. As a 42 year old, I think a lot about retirement and investing, debt etc. However, I am pretty green when it comes to healthcare. This was...
Feb 23, 2025•51 min•Season 5Ep. 204
Send us a text Dennis is retired from the military, but recently made the move to work with special needs students in the public school setting. With the wiring to always want to help others AND have some work flexibility, Dennis and his wife have both found themselves working within the school system. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financ...
Feb 16, 2025•58 min•Season 5Ep. 203
Send us a text In 2011, Adam and his wife married with a net worth of ZERO. In 2025, their net worth has climbed to 1.7 million! Adam is a community college professor and his wife works part time as a substitute teacher. Although their family has W2 income of less than 100k per year, their lifestyle is enhanced by owning 3 rental properties. Listen in as Adam shares their journey from nothing to almost being a multi-millionaire...all on around 65k per year. Be a guest on the show: https://www.fi...
Feb 09, 2025•58 min•Season 5Ep. 202
Send us a text Zach graduated from the University of Houston with a degree in finance. In his mid 20's, he was clearing 100k+ and his wife had income as well. Even though he knew WHAT to do with money, the temptations that we all face (cars, travel, eating out) proved to be a major roadblock to building financial independence. After taking a pay cut to teach, Zach and his wife have tracked every dollar and are now making financial progress. Zach shares his journey and some of the important lesso...
Feb 02, 2025•47 min•Season 5Ep. 201
Send us a text Episode 200 is here! What better way to celebrate 200 than you sharing your wins with the FIT Family! Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4...
Jan 26, 2025•44 min•Season 5Ep. 200
Send us a text Kevin is a SS teacher/coach from Long Island, went to college in Upstate NY, but landed in the DC suburbs in Prince William county. Like many teachers, Kevin and his wife were "just getting by" as they had a 2k per month daycare bill in his mid 30's. Once the kids made their way out of daycare, they redirected their old payments to 457's, 403's, and eventually got into the real estate game. With only a handful of years left in education, Kevin discusses what their retirement plans...
Jan 19, 2025•54 min•Season 5Ep. 199
Send us a text From single parent to married again...Virtual HS Spanish teacher in her 24th year and auto worker husband are approaching NW millionaire status and just paid off their home. They each went through tough divorces with spouses who never got on the same page financially. After both went through tough financial issues in their first marriages, they wanted their lives to look different in chapter two. SHARE HOW FIT HAS IMPACTED YOU FOR EPISODE 200! https://forms.gle/RiqfrUzZJsMVJQ8T8 B...
Jan 12, 2025•48 min•Season 5Ep. 198
Send us a text Greg is a proud graduate of the University of Wisconsin (Madison) and has settled in Colorado after studying abroad and moving back to the states. Greg was able to buy his first house from an amazing program that enables teachers to buy a home for 50% of the listed price via the "Teacher Next Door Program". Greg and his wife enjoy frugal living and taking advantage of the amazing 457(b) that many teachers have access to. This will enable them to enjoy an early retirement. "Because...
Jan 05, 2025•45 min•Season 5Ep. 197
Send us a text Today's guest is Justin Garritt, he is the founder and owner of Garritt Financial Solutions, a financial planning and investment management firm that guides educators, young professionals, healthcare professionals, and first responders to become intentional, secure, and confident about their hard-earned dollars by creating and implementing a financial plan to reach their goals. Garritt Financial Solutions offers ongoing comprehensive financial planning, project-based financial pla...
Dec 22, 2024•1 hr 15 min•Season 4Ep. 196
Send us a text Danny was a special teacher in Georgia and is the author of four personal finance books - "The Wealthy Teacher: Lessons for Prospering on a School Teacher's Salary (JAN 2018), "A Bright Financial Future: Teaching Kids About Money Pre-K through College for Life-Long Success" (SEPT 2014), "A Simple Book of Financial Wisdom: Teach Yourself (and Your Kids) How to Live Wealthy with Little Money" (SEPT 2011) and "How To Survive (and perhaps thrive) On A Teacher's Salary" (OCT 2007). Dan...
Dec 15, 2024•38 min•Season 4Ep. 195
Send us a text Charlotte and her husband grew up on Long Island in NY. Floundering with their finances into their mid 30's with a few young kids at home, they decided to flee NY for a most cost effective lifestyle in SW Ohio. Selling their home in a HCOL enabled them to pay off their debt AND pay cash for a house north of Cincinnati. Shortly after their move, they were introduced to Dave Ramsey's 7 Baby Steps and worked through the process in 7 years. Charlotte didn't start teaching in the class...
Dec 08, 2024•58 min•Season 4Ep. 194
