In this episode, we discuss 401k and 403b investment options and how to pick the right ones for you. We start with a refresher on 401ks and 403bs and discuss the tax structure of these plans. We then explain the various types of funds available and the key considerations for making your personal choices about how to invest your 401k.
In this week’s episode, we bring back the original friends on FIRE to give Maggie advice and counsel as she embarks on her early retirement journey. The original friends on FIRE are Mike’s dad Jack and his long-time friend Mark, who met at work, became fast friends and retired at 42 and 55. We first interviewed them on episode 78, and now they are back to advise Maggie on this specific stage of her early retirement journey. We talk about celebrating the change, taking risks, acclimating to a new...
In this week’s episode, Maggie shares a glimpse into how she plans to spend her retirement, or as she describes it, what’s on her early retirement bucket list. She introduces the concept of her Freedom Five and walks through each of her top five focus areas of how she plans to spend her time in early retirement. The Freedom Five includes slowing down and being more present, focusing on health and fitness, learning new things, helping people and causes she cares about, and incorporating more adve...
In this week’s episode, Maggie shares her plan for medical insurance in early retirement. The reality is insurance is expensive, and either your employer is subsidizing the cost for you, or you’re paying the higher price tag in exchange for your freedom and flexibility. First, we discuss some factors to understand about medical insurance during early retirement and the various types of insurance options you can choose from. Maggie then shares her specific approach and plan and a detailed cost br...
In this week’s episode, Maggie shares how her family of 5 is retiring at her age of 41 and her husband at the age of 43. She shares how they financially got to the point of retiring early and how they plan to finance the next 40+ years of their lives, and her feelings as she gets closer to taking the plunge into early retirement.
In this week’s episode, Maggie shares some big news that she’s resigned at the age of 41 after 20 years working in Corporate America and is retiring early! And it’s not just Maggie, her husband Greg also quit his job, and they are taking this plunge together. Their last day will be in early May, and they have an interesting next few months ahead. Maggie shares why she’s retiring early, how she resigned, how she’s been feeling since telling her employer, and Mike shares his many reflections and t...
In this week’s episode, we talk about going from financially illiterate in her 20s to retiring from W2 work in her 30s with Diania Merriam. Diania is the host of the Optimal Finance Daily podcast and the creator of the EconoMe conference, which has been described as the Ted Talks of the FIRE community and a “party about money.” Diania spent her 20s living it up in New York, discovered Mr. Money Mustache, and then got out of $30K in debt in 11 months. She used her newfound financial freedom to ne...
In this episode, we talk about how to save money while dating. The dating process can get really expensive, yet there are some simple and proactive steps you can take to make dating more affordable and effective. We discuss the various factors that can influence the financial etiquette of dating. Then we share general tips for how to deal with the financial aspects of the dating scene and end with tons of practical tips for how to save money during the various stages of the dating process.
In this episode, we discuss our individual goals to earn 500,000 airline, hotel, or travel points this year for a friends on FIRE total of one million points! Travel hacking is a fun and lucrative activity if you learn how to do it right. We discuss our strategies and experiences accumulating points. We also share our travel plans and real-world examples of how we’re using points.
In this episode, we share ideas for putting a dollar value on your time and using that to decide what to buy vs. make, do yourself vs. hire, or purchase new vs. keep using. Of course, everyone is different and everyone’s time has a different value, but we can all begin to evaluate the decisions within a similar framework. We share a few key myths, give real-world examples, and talk through how we value our time.
In this week’s episode, we share what both of our families spent in 2021. We give a full-year expense review and break down our top spending categories, which areas we’re feeling good about, and where we’d like to improve in 2022. These conversations are best to have with your partner and family members, so we do that and bring on our spouses to join us as we run through all of this. We also share additional reflections and financial goals as we kick-off 2022.
In this week’s episode, we talk with Chris and Deb from Go Bucket Yourself. Chris and Deb are a married couple living in Colorado with two daughters and two dogs. They had built a safe and secure life and slowly realized the white picket fence life with only a couple of weeks of vacation each year wasn’t their dream. They started to question the idea of putting their dreams on hold until retirement, so they made some big changes in their lives. They decided to put conventions and expectations as...
In this week’s episode, we discuss the amazing benefits of meditation and how it can positively impact your money. Meditation has some pretty impressive benefits that have been scientifically proven, from reducing stress and anxiety to reducing coronary disease and lowering your blood pressure. First, we dig into what meditation is, its many benefits, and how it can improve your finances. Then we teach you how to meditate and suggest some free apps that can help support your meditation journey....
In this week’s episode, we reflect on another unique year, 2021! We share it all, from what we’re most proud of personally to what we’ve learned and reflected on. We also share some of our favorite podcasts from the year, along with some of your favorite podcasts based on the numbers. Finally, we reminisce through everyone we’ve met and interviewed this year and give some teasers for what we’re most excited about in 2022.
In this episode, we share ideas and tips for challenging typical medical insurance norms so you can save money on your medical expenses. Most people think there’s only one path for all of their medical expenses if they have traditional insurance, but that’s just not true. In reality, there are many ways to save on medical expenses, whether through your traditional insurance or outside the traditional insurance ecosystem. We share 10+ tips and tricks for saving money on your medical expenses, fro...
In this week’s episode, we share our early retirement plans, goals, and why we’re both still working. We get this question a lot from our listeners, so we’ve finally decided to address it. We share how we’ve both reached our financial independence numbers, are still working, but still plan to retire in our early 40s. We talk through how we’ve been able to leverage hitting our FI goals to negotiate more flexibility at work and what we’ve learned since having more flexibility. We also dig into the...
In this week’s episode, we review important end-of-year financial reminders and do a goals check-in. First, we review the 2021 financial checklist we shared at the start of the year and focus on the most important items to remember before the end of the year, such as using your FSA dollars, maxing out your 401k and IRA, and Don’t worry; there’s still time! We also discuss our 2021 goals, how we did, and our takeaways from the year. Finally, we encourage you all to take some time to review your 2...
In this week’s episode, we talk about how to spend less at Target or fill in the blank on whatever your version of Target is. We’re talking about those stores where you walk in for a $5 item, and you walk out with $75 or even $150 worth of things you didn’t know you needed. We share actionable tips for intentionally approaching your shopping lists and trips in a way that will help you spend less and save more. Some of our tips include limiting your trips, avoiding walking inside the store, lever...
In this week’s episode, we talk with Court from the Modern FImily. Court and her wife Nic are a married couple who lived significantly below their means, paid off their debt, started investing, and were able to retire in their 30s to raise their two young kids in Canada. Court shared how she grew up financially and how she first learned about financial independence. We then cover a range of topics from how they live below their means, finding a community of people, her best frugal tips and life ...
In this week’s episode, we share one simple thing you can do to plan for traditional retirement successfully. The one simple thing is to invest in your 401K, 403bs, and/or IRAs as young as possible and as much as you can afford to put in. The more, the earlier, the better. These tax-deferred retirement accounts are ubiquitous, but do you know how to maximize it? We talk through the power of compound interest and time and hope it encourages you to max out these accounts as young as you can. We al...
In this week’s episode, we talk with Joel O’Leary about outrageous generosity, charitable giving, giving back, and gratitude. Joel is one of the most generous people we know, and from an early age, his parents taught him about the importance and value of giving back. Joel shares some ideas for being outrageously generous and giving back without spending large amounts of money. We also talk about the importance of an abundance mindset, paying it forward, prosocial activity, inter-dependence, and ...
In this week’s episode, we share 30+ years of wisdom and advice from our combined 30+ years working in Corporate America. We talk through our experiences working in Corporate America, what we’ve learned, and what has made us successful over the years. We share the importance of worrying about yourself, being kind, choosing your battles, making good choices, being indispensable, always looking for solutions, giving back, and taking care of yourself. If you do all these things, we believe you’ll f...
In this week’s episode, we share 25 tips to take control of your holiday spending. Holiday retail sales are projected to grow between 7% and 9% this year, but you can buck the trend and reign in your holiday spending to end the year on a strong financial note. Our favorite part of the holidays is having more time to spend with friends and family and life slowing down a bit, and none of that costs any money, yet somehow we all end up spending so much around this time of year. Our 25 tips for savi...
In this week’s episode, we talk with Jesse Cramer from The Best Interest. Jesse paid off $50,000 in student loans in six years and built a net worth of $250,000 before 30. He is an engineer by day and a blogger and podcaster on The Best Interest in his spare time. The Best Interest is on a mission to improve lives by teaching valuable personal finance and investing knowledge. He shares his financial journey, his five financial pillars, the financial order of operations, his thoughts on net-worth...
In this week’s episode, we get ready for benefits enrollments, which happens at most companies each fall, by discussing what plans are typically available to colleagues and how to pick the right ones. We combine topics we have covered in previous episodes into a single benefits crash course. First, we break down how medical insurance works, what considerations to think about, and how to select the right plan. We then dig into all of the different types of benefits your company, such as critical ...
In this episode, we discuss how one simple software changed our lives, and it’s called Evernote! Maggie has been using Evernote for over ten years to reduce her paper use and keep her life clutter-free. She recently turned Mike onto Evernote, and he quickly fell in love! Now we are paper-free and have developed our own unique methodologies to keep track of the thousands of pieces of paper that financial institutions and retailers throw our way. We share our thoughts and best practices to help yo...
In this week’s episode, we bring on Maggie’s brother, Alex, to talk about all things cryptocurrency. Alex is a self-taught expert on cryptocurrency and shares his experiences and thoughts as we define blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, NFTs, and more. We talk through the pros, cons, and risks of investing in these types of assets and what you should consider if you’re thinking about investing. We also share our own personal stories and experiences with bitcoin and NFT.
In this week’s episode, we discuss how you can learn anything for free. We share some of our favorite resources and tips for learning how to do things for free. Resources such as youtube, the Libby app, your public library, podcasts, Instagram, and Pinterest offer access to top-notch content and advice from legitimate and trusted experts for free. While you’re leveraging content from these resources we share some additional ideas and tips for getting the most out of the resources.
In this episode, we explain the 3 types of Roth retirement accounts and how you can leverage them on your financial independence journey. We talk through the differences between IRAs and Roth IRAs, what tax-deferred and tax-free mean as it relates to retirement, and then how to choose where to put your money.
In this week’s episode, we talk about the importance of financial wellness and share eight tips for achieving financial wellness. First, we compare financial wellness to physical wellness and talk about why both are important. Then we break down eight foundational steps to getting more financially fit! We talk about tracking your net worth, expense tracking, caring about what other people think, emergency funds, 401ks, HSAs, and more!
