Everyone loves seeing their hard-earned money dwindle away to the tax man right? Obviously not! The most powerful techniques generally come to business owners and real estate investors. Ryan Blakke, from Learn Like a CPA, is an expert in these techniques. He's seen hundreds of returns that individuals did themselves...and only 1 who actually did it correctly. That means if you're putting all your trust in turbo-tax, you're probably leaving money on the table. Cost segregation, the Augusta rule, ...
Nov 29, 2023•55 min
It's Thanksgiving and we've got so much to be thankful for. We kick off the episode with some shocking stats that show just how privileged we all are to be seeking financial independence in the first place. Stats across the world such as Average income Average net worth Average daily spending How many people own a car Most of our audience makes more in a week than some of the world makes in a year. We're incredibly thankful for the opportunities we've been given to chase after. We were fortunate...
Nov 22, 2023•32 min
Many people feel like a lack of capital and insider information for good deals is keeping them from starting their real estate journey. But what if you could just use someone else's money? And what if you could find deals directly on the MLS? Jaren, aka Finance Cowboy, is doing just that. He's not trying to implement any complex strategies. Jaren is finding deals on the MLS that need to be rehabbed, forcing appreciation, refinancing to get his money out, and moving on to the next property. This ...
Nov 15, 2023•52 min
Today, we're re-airing a fan favorite from 2019. Colin Jones was a substitute math teacher and a friend had given him a book on card counting. Once the friend was making $80/hr, Colin decided he should give it a try. To get started, he took $2k of the $6k that he and his wife had saved up. Eventually, after hundreds of hours and study and play, Colin was making $430/hr. And his team was regularly making $500k+ in a year. Now, he's more focused on teaching others the skill of card counting. If yo...
Nov 08, 2023•43 min
Real estate prices are out of control... right? In today's episode, you'll hear how Justin bought a house for just $5,000. No, that's not a typo, $5K! The craziest thing is that the place is in decent condition: Single level Concrete foundation Simplest roof possible No interior water damage This house is a big project, but Justin estimates he can finish everything for under $25,000. After running the numbers, this property should blow the 1% rule out of the water. Justin is expecting to rent fr...
Nov 01, 2023•25 min
Today, we're re-airing a popular episode from 2019 on frugal vs. cheap with Jen Smith, co-host of the Frugal Friends Podcast. In the beginning, Jen and her husband find themselves in $78k of total debt. They didn’t have a ton of income, so Jen tried to add on three side hustles on top of her job. This stressed her out so much that she ended up with shingles. In totality, between all their work and side hustles, they were bringing in up to $88k. Their original goal was to be debt-free in 5 years....
Oct 25, 2023•46 min
Today, we're re-airing one of our most popular episodes from early 2019. Paula Pant is always conducting great interviews herself but today she’s the one answering questions. She walks us through her amazing story of only three traditional years of employment, traveling the world, and the steps she took to secure her financial independence. There is something for everyone in this episode. You’ve got philosophy, entrepreneurship, freelancing, and even some great real estate tips. This discussion ...
Oct 18, 2023•56 min
Can you imagine owning a full-fledged brick-and-mortar business at age 15? That's exactly the position Sam Wegert found himself in. Sam was homeschooled with his seven siblings which allowed them to all focus on what they were best at. At 15 years old, with a loan of $15,000 from his parents, he purchased his first martial arts school and graduated high school that same year. Over the next 15 years, he expanded to 6 brick and mortar locations and through COVID built an online program. His compan...
Oct 11, 2023•55 min
In today’s episode, Cody and Justin bring you back to one of our favorite episodes ever! This is the story of Jimmy Ridenhour who, unlike most of our guests, has no blog, book, or podcast. This was actually Jimmy's first interview ever. That doesn’t mean his story isn’t remarkable. Jimmy’s story starts out with a very tragic start that involves murder and family turmoil but he amazingly finds his way to success and has an unmatched amount of positive vibes when you meet him in person. After that...
Oct 04, 2023•48 min
The goal for real estate is to generate as much cash flow as possible and/or own as many doors as possible right? What if you realized the real goal is just to generate enough income to satisfy your desired lifestyle? That may seem obvious, but too often investors fixate on a high score instead of focusing on happiness. Coach Carson has previously joined us on the very first episode of The Financial Independence Show. In that episode, we cover Chad's background in detail but today we focus on th...
Sep 27, 2023•57 min
Sometimes personal finance can just sound like a bunch of jargon. Today's episode gives you all the foundational definitions you need to navigate your FI journey. We have episodes that dive deeper into some of these topics (linked below). But today is all about explaining the lingo you might hear on the show week to week. Some of the investing terms we discuss include: ETFs vs. Index Funds Expense Ratios The 4% Rule / Rule of 25 Rule of 72 Tax-advantaged accounts IRAs / 401Ks We hope this empowe...
Sep 20, 2023•21 min
Can you really retire at 27? That's what Jon Farber is here to talk us through today. He was able to achieve financial freedom at 27 and leave his tech sales job via real estate. He started with house hacking, and then eventually scaled up to include a portfolio of long-term rentals and short-term rentals. He's also dabbled in online courses and runs a real estate software business helping people find deals. Since reaching financial freedom, Jon now splits his time between the U.S. and Columbia....
Sep 13, 2023•54 min
If you want to make it big in real estate you need some sort of advantage, right? A big social media following, experience, connections... something. Our guest today, Soli Cayetano from Lattes and Leases, will show you how that couldn't be further from the truth. In 2020, Soli was a senior in college trying to navigate a pandemic. She had no family in real estate, no rich uncle, and no investment experience. Plus, she lived in the Bay Area -- one of the most expensive real estate markets in the ...
Sep 06, 2023•50 min
Retiring early is certainly not a race, but the guests we have today are one of the fastest we've ever seen to do it. James and Emily retired in less than 2 years from the day they began making moves towards early retirement. They both had frugal habits with James coming from an especially low-income background. They met at a local community college and were both able to graduate college debt-free through a mix of financial aid and a little help from parents. Emily would take a job starting at $...
Aug 30, 2023•48 min
You can learn the mechanics and math needed to reach financial independence in a couple of weeks. The math is intimidating to so many people but it's not the math that keeps most people from reaching their goals. It's their mindset. That's where Adam Coelho's expertise comes in. Adam Coelho is the host of The Mindful FIRE Podcast, a show about crafting a life you love and making work optional using mindfulness, envisioning, and financial independence. Adam believes crafting a life you love start...
Aug 23, 2023•45 min
The internet is a dangerous place. It's full of amazing resources yet also some really bad advice. This is especially true in the realm of personal finance. TikTok has some of the most terrible and untrue statements about personal finance but Twitter (X) is always reliable right? Wrong. In this episode, we take you through some really terrible takes on personal finance and share our opinions. We hope you have as much fun listening to this as we did recording. The main tweets we cover include: "Y...
Aug 16, 2023•43 min
We like to think we put out some of the best financial independence content for you as a podcast listener. But it's hard to argue that Brad Barrett has influenced more podcast listeners than just about anyone else in the financial independence space. Brad is the host of the wildly successful podcast, ChooseFI. ChooseFI has been downloaded over 65 million times with 4,700+ 5-star reviews. In today's episode, we touch on some of the following with Brad: How he discovered financial independence His...
Aug 09, 2023•55 min
We're hopping in the time machine and re-airing one of our most popular episodes. In this episode, we share our opinion on some of the biggest money topics. While this episode originally aired in 2019, our views have remained largely the same. These tips have helped us grow our combined net worth to over $3.5M! So don't sleep on the fundamentals. Some of the major topics include: Credit Card Balances We discuss why you should ALWAYS be using a credit card The need for setting up autopay to pay o...
Aug 02, 2023•43 min
Buying a home and then flipping it or renting it isn't the only way to be a real estate investor. What if you could just find incredible deals on homes and then line up a buyer looking for a good deal to flip or buy? That's exactly what Mike DeHaan from the Collecting Keys podcast is doing, and it's the core of what wholesale real estate is. Mike started in real estate by hustling to complete a few flips and using the proceeds to buy his first rental properties. Eventually, he started to feel a ...
Jul 26, 2023•53 min
We typically focus a lot on the micro (saving, earning, and investing), but today, we're talking all about the macro. Emmanuel Daniel is a Singapore-based entrepreneur, writer and global thought leader in finance. He was listed as a top 10 global influencer in the “Fintech Power 50” list for 2021 and 2022. In simple terms... he knows his stuff. Some of the topics we discuss include: Interest rates - how they're set, where they're headed The banking industry as a whole The digitization of everyth...
Jul 19, 2023•51 min
Do you know deep down, what you're doing isn't what you're meant to be doing? That was Pete McPherson's situation. As Pete would put it, he used to be a boring accountant, complete with a CPA license, years of corporate experience, a fantastic salary–and pretty much the rest of the “American Dream”. But he decided to give all that up for entrepreneurship. After 50+ failed businesses, Pete found success in 2017 with his site Do You Even Blog, and the rest is history. In this episode, we cover: Mi...
Jul 12, 2023•52 min
Many people want financial independence to do whatever they want, go wherever they want, and spend time with whomever they want. But too often in this pursuit, people run themselves into the ground trying to obtain this freedom as quickly as possible. What if you could see the world and work toward FI? Wouldn't that take some stress off? Wouldn't you be able to enjoy the journey so much more? There is good news. This is all very possible, and more likely today than at any other time in history. ...
Jul 05, 2023•32 min
Have you always dreamed of owning a vending machine business? Probably not but Mike Hoffmann aka Mr. Passive is here to tell you why you absolutely should. Mike's passive income journey started at the time when he was working a 60-hour week job that paid him only $1,200/month. He then started experimenting with rental properties, Bitcoin mining, and a bunch of other income streams. One of those income streams quickly became his favorite: vending machines. Vending machines are an often overlooked...
Jun 28, 2023•46 min
You could lose your job, your business could fail, but even if your income drops to zero, there's one thing you won't lose: skills. In our last episode with Grant Sabatier, he said skills are the future currency and we couldn't agree more. With a good mix of skills, you will both increase your earning potential and decrease your income requirements. In this episode, we introduce a concept we came up with around offensive and defensive skills. With offensive skills being those used to generate in...
Jun 21, 2023•42 min
Today, we're re-airing our most downloaded episode featuring Grant Sabatier, owner of Millennial Money and author of Financial Freedom. Grant graduated with a philosophy degree and would bounce around 4 jobs after college while being laid off twice. He spent what money he had going on a big trip to Africa before he ended up back at his parents with $2.26 at age 24. It was 2010 and his parents gave him a 3-month time limit to figure things out. Grant realized that no matter what he did, he was go...
Jun 14, 2023
When it comes to building businesses, Nick Huber from The Sweaty Startup is the real deal. Back in college, Nick had some extra space in his apartment and someone was looking for storage. Seeing an opportunity, he gladly offers up his room as storage space. When that fills up, he starts collaborating with some of his roommates to use their rooms as storage for the summer. Fast forward a few years, and Nick had a 7-figure storage business on his hands. This wasn't some radical new idea and yet it...
Jun 07, 2023•53 min
We (Cody and Justin) have both achieved financial independence through drastically different paths. This episode was a takeover episode for The Mad Fientist's podcast where we break down the similarities and differences between an employee's path (Justin) and an entrepreneur's path (Cody) to FI! Highlights: Live-in flip vs. house hacking The sweet spot for buying used cars Why focusing on fixed expenses is important How to 5x your corporate income The unlimited upside of entrepreneurship How to ...
May 31, 2023•42 min
Today, we're lucky enough to bring you Marko Zlatic from WhiteBoard Finance. Marko grew up in a middle-class household raised by immigrant parents and is completely self-taught when it comes to money, investing, and financial literacy. His investing journey began when he started flipping Pokemon cards and selling mixtape CDs as a kid. He then graduated to invest in stocks at 18 years old. In December 2010, Marko graduated with a Bachelor's degree in Finance and started working full-time. After w...
May 24, 2023•54 min
Patrick McGrath, one half of the dynamic duo known as The Rental Property Couple, is a successful real estate investor, entrepreneur, and co-host of the popular podcast, The Real FI Podcast. Alongside his partner, Patrick has built an impressive rental property portfolio in just 5 years that totals over $5M. He began his portfolio with a humble single-family rental property. Dedicated to achieving financial independence, he expanded his portfolio of rental properties, adding a triplex, quadplex,...
May 17, 2023•51 min
We've interviewed countless people on buying real estate, but that didn't mean we were prepared when we purchased our first properties. The reality is that people who have purchased a lot of real estate tend to skip past some of those tiny details. This episode is meant to slow down and cover all those details that a first-time home buyer needs to remember. In this episode, we cover: Understanding how much you can afford Setting your housing criteria Understanding fair market value Getting appro...
May 10, 2023
