Welcome to the Financially Independent Teachers Podcast- where educators come together to discuss their journey on the road to financial independence. Each week, Dave and Brandon interview teachers who are winning with money and welcome financial industry experts like JL Collins, Andy Hill, Andrew Hallam (Millionaire Teacher) and Rachel Cruze (daughter of Dave Ramsey). There are plenty of voices in the teachers' lounge telling you that you can't build wealth on an educator income, let FIT provide hope that you CAN!
Send us a text Where do teachers fit in on the socioeconomic scale? Are teachers middle class based on the data but not functionally middle class? Dave and Brandon discuss this hot button issue in Episode #43!
Send us a text Rob is a Maryland HS teacher who just authored his second book. His newest title is called "M Is For Money", a children's book that teaches kids the ABCs of money in an age appropriate manner. If you have kids, nieces/nephews, grandchildren or work with kids as a teacher, this book is a must have for your library! We often hear on the show "I wish I would have known about this money stuff earlier!"...Rob's book helps start the process now! Check out the new book below! https://www...
Send us a text How did Rashad and his teacher wife go from bankruptcy to a net worth over 500k? Rashad shares the trials and tribulations of how him and his wife are on pace to be educator millionaires in the next 5 years after hitting financial rock bottom just a decade a go. Check out Rashad's Youtube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCAV2cWBpO2xc-l4BcKrj55A
Send us a text Brandon is back on the show and we discuss 10 financial things that you need to accomplish before the start of the new year!
Send us a text Mike Turchan moved from NE Ohio to suburban ATL upon college graduation. Originally thinking he would only be gone for a few years, he is now in the midst of his 16th year teaching at North Cobb HS. Mike discusses advancing his education to maximize his GA teacher pay, side hustles, credit cards, maxing out retirement accounts, travel and how a minimalistic lifestyle has him on pace to be a millionaire before age 45....
Send us a text Aaron and his wife (both teachers) live in suburban Cleveland, Ohio. Aaron and his wife come from a long line of dual educator families who have navigated their finances on teacher salaries. In this episode, we discuss Aaron's journey to become a PE teacher, get married, have a child, decisions on whether to buy or sell their home, types of investments and potential cost of high investment fees. Over the last year or so, Aaron is becoming more intentional with his finances and is ...
Send us a text This week's guest is a former roommate of Dave's in North Carolina. AJ and his teacher wife Amy moved from Ohio/PA to NC upon college graduation. However, once they had children, they decided to move back home to PA to be near family. At his new teaching job, AJ quickly made friends with a few fellow teachers and they decided they wanted to get in the real estate game. Instead of having all of the pressure to handle rental properties individually, the team of 3 works together and ...
Send us a text Jake is a 33 year old personal finance teacher in Southern CA. After using a variety of resources to teach his students personal finance, Jake decided to write his own book that serves as a road map for success in the financial world. Jake serves up lots of great advice in this episode. His book would make for a great Christmas gift or graduation present. Here is a link to his book! https://www.amazon.com/How-Adult-Personal-Finance-World/dp/B08ZVZKD2H...
Send us a text Nancy is a retired HS Spanish teacher/administrator who suffered the tragic and unexpected loss of her husband while raising their two teenagers. Nancy discusses some of the successes and mistakes her family made when it came to proper planning and thinking about the unthinkable. Living trust, will, life insurance and more.
Send us a text Eric is a former middle school PE teacher who is now a teacher educator at Illinois College. His wife is also a high school teacher, so the family is fully immersed in the education profession. Eric is passionate about finances and recently published a book about the pension system in IL which is located in the link below. Link to the book on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/TL-Financial-Retirement-Optimizing-Decisions/dp/B098S1DYCT...
Send us a text In this episode, Dave and Brandon take a look at the 7 different money personalities and discuss how your money personality can shape your future.
Send us a text Dave welcomes Dr. Eric Creeger to the show in Episode 32. Eric and his wife are both Texas educators who have developed numerous side hustles over the years which has enabled Eric to retire before 50 years old. Both educators are in their second marriage and started over with nothing around 30 years old. Over the course of their 18 years of marriage, they went from a net worth of zero, to over 1 million dollars! One of the keys to his early retirement was not letting lifestyle cre...
Send us a text “Get good grades, get a college degree, take student loans, get a good job, and sit in a cubicle for 40 years.” Like everyone else he knew, Bryce Stewart believed this was the only realistic Economic Life Plan. But through real estate investing, he was able to retire from his middle school teaching job at age 35. He now spends his days with his wife and four daughters, free from the bondage of a traditional job. He loves to golf, supports Young Life, is involved at his church, tos...
Send us a text The housing market is scorching hot right now and In this episode, Dave and Brandon interview Stephanie Osborne Fleischer (Dave's wife) a multi-million dollar producing real estate agent in Eastern NC. What should you look for when buying/selling? How do you find the right agent? All of the questions are answered and more!
Send us a text Ben is a millionaire educator from Ft. Collins Colorado. He has a wealth of knowledge on teachers, financial independence and believes financial literacy is a critical social justice issue in America. Ben's financial life changed by listening to a story on NPR and finding a community of like-minded individuals on bogleheads.org.
Send us a text Chris is a middle school science teacher who lives in Queens NY and uses his athletic training background to side hustle his way to an extra 20k per year in income. Chris drives a paid for 10 year old car and lives in modest housing to save money and invest.
Send us a text Brian joins the show to discuss getting out of debt and shares how his family is making it happen as a two teacher family with two young children. Brian teaches in one of the fastest growing districts in Missouri and uses his background in athletics to win with money. From humble beginnings and paying off 80k in debt to a potential retirement income of 10K+ per month!
Send us a text In this episode, Dave and Brandon discuss the top 10 mistakes teachers make with their finances. We share mistakes we have seen over the course of our few decades as educators. Naturally, many of these problems aren't for teachers only but pop up for many middle income earners.
Send us a text Dave and Brandon had the opportunity to welcome our first administrator to the show. Kevin has risen through the educator ranks fast as he is a former math teacher who starts his first year as a head principal this fall (under 30 years old). He is married to a teacher and they discuss their plan to financial independence. Discussions on investing in real estate and the stock market!
Send us a text Jason is a tenured professor who has had a major financial turnaround (1.2 million)! In our interview, Jason gives advice to HS and college students as well as some of the money lessons he has learned when it comes to navigating a successful marriage.
Send us a text In this episode, Dave and Brandon have a casual conversation about investing and some of the investment vehicles available to educators. Keep in mind, neither are certified financial planners, we are just here to have some fun and give opinions on what we do. If you are interested in meeting with a CFP who is licensed and has the heart of a teacher, check out two of our former FIT guests and their info below. David Gourley (Episode #6) https://davidgourley.as.me/schedule.php?fbcli...
Send us a text Paige is a soon to be 2nd year guidance counselor at Jacksonville HS in NC. Paige graduated from Dave's 6 month "GET FIT" financial coaching program and paid off just over 24k during the last 10 months and is contributing $150 per month to her ROTH IRA. Paige has made many sacrifices to get where she is and hopes to be debt free in the next 18 months.
Send us a text The word BUDGET is a very controversial word. In this episode, Dave and Brandon share their personal budgets and talk about how they factor into financial independence.
Send us a text Dave and Brandon's "Mini Summer Episodes" continue as they discuss their perceptions of wealth and the realities based on research.
Send us a text Emily is a former engineering student who found a passion for education and teaching after college by teaching in international, public and private schools. Emily discusses the financial awakening she had in her early 30's and talks to the show about how she manages being a teacher in a high cost of living area like NYC. Emily has made it a personal goal to help other educators learn about their benefits and maximize their careers to the fullest! Happy Father's Day Everyone!...
Send us a text The first of our "mini" summer episodes...Dave and Brandon discuss summer income or "side hustle" opportunities for educators. We discuss what to look for before determining if the juice is worth the squeeze to make extra income. Work for someone else? Try to become an entrepreneur? Adjust budget to save money and not have to work? Short term vs. long term Much More......
Send us a text Gerry (Spanish Teacher) and his teacher wife started with humble beginnings. In their early thirties, they had $45,000 of student loan debt and both of their cars were kaput. Over an 18 year period, they went from having a net worth of ZERO to just over 2 million in 2021. Along the way they've have had many adventures, travel, an incredible son, and lots of fun. How does a teaching couple from GA invest over 50k per year? Check out his web site below! https://www.millionaireeducat...
Send us a text Victor is a fist generation US citizen and PE teacher in the Raleigh, NC area. He started his financial journey in 2020 and has a path to financial freedom paved for the future. Listen as he discusses how he and his wife have had to get on the same page and do a complete mindset change. Victor is wired as a natural spender and his wife is the natural saver.
Send us a text Bitcoin, Dogecoin, Elon Musk, Block Chain technology....You cannot escape these topics on social media, the news and pop culture. In Episode 15, we have the pleasure to interview 28 year old Western NC Science Teacher, Aaron Littlefield. Aaron has been studying Crypto for 4-5 years and stands by the statement "I'll be shocked if Bitcoin is not worth 100k per coin next year". The goal of this interview is to have Mr. Littlefield make the concept of this new technology understandabl...
Send us a text Crystal Parker Duffy is a soon to be retired (37) California HS choir director. She recently wrote the book "Retirement For Teachers". In this episode, we discuss basic retirement strategies for educators, investment plans and her journey to financial independence. If you would like to enter a drawing to win a free copy of her book, visit the Financially Independent Teachers Facebook page and fill out the Google Form!...
