Choosefi | Financial Independence Podcast For The Stealth Wealth Community

050 | In this podcast we discuss domestic geographic arbitrage with Mr. Groovy from Freedom is Groovy. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A conversation with Mr. Groovy from Freedom is Groovy to discuss domestic geographic arbitrage How Brad made a similar decision to Mr. Groovy to move from Long Island to a lower cost of living area How Mr. Groovy was a “financial moron” until he was in his 40s until Mrs. Groovy found Dave Ramsey What did their financial lives look like before finding Dave Ramsey and the concept of an emergency fund How creating a budget and putting it on paper was a game changer for them What changes did they make after creating a budget? Their debt situation: They had about $30,000 in consumer debt How they created a “transition fund” to help them move off of Long Island to a lower cost of living area They managed to pay off debt and save $80,000 in cash for this transition fund by 2008 Their families were supportive of their move off of Long Island The peculiarities of living on Long Island and

049R | In the Friday Roundup we discuss our big takeaway from Episode 49: The Aggregation of Marginal Gains. Plus, upcoming plans for the ChooseFI website, a FI Festival and local meetups. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A review of Episode 49 with Alan Donegan and Barney from The Escape Artist The growth of the FI community throughout the US and now the world Jonathan just returned from his 2 week trip to South Africa with his family How did Jonathan fare with his use of electronics on his trip? Jonathan used travel rewards points to book his flights for free and he stayed with family so his entire trip was free Brad’s upcoming travel for summer 2018 to Europe where he used travel rewards points and then his trip to Santiago, Chile for 2019 The power of the Aggregation of Marginal Gains and how important it is for the FI journey How small examples can make a huge difference over time We were voted the #1 most popular Personal Finance Podcast at Rockstar Finance The benefits of fasting and why Jonathan does mult

049| We discuss The UK Path to FI with Barney of The Escape Artist and Alan Donegan of PopUp Business School, plus much more in the way of life optimization hacks from both Alan and Barney.    In Today’s Podcast we cover: An interview with Barney from The Escape Artist and Alan Donegan from PopUp Business School Voicemail from Sarah from the UK with questions about reaching FI outside the US Barney started the website after he put his notice in at work once he reached FI How Barney found the financial independence community Barney’s story on what his financial upbringing was like and how his parents had financial issues because of a large mortgage payment How the ‘keeping up with the Jones’s’ is alive and well in the UK Alan’s family doesn’t understand why they don’t spend more money and why they don’t work in the traditional sense Is there a FI community in the UK? There is a London Facebook group, but not a thriving community in the UK The different options of choosing a job you love versus one that pays a

048R | In this podcast we recap Episode 48 with Jeff from The Happy Philosopher plus a life hack update from Brad and a question on how to present the FI concept to others. In Today’s Podcast we cover: Recap of Episode 48 with Jeff from The Happy Philosopher Jonathan and Brad’s recap of the Fincon conference How Brad and Jonathan brainstormed the future of ChooseFI at Fincon How the FI community is growing significantly at Fincon and how people were coming up to us saying they were listening How much value we can get from FI-centric events going forward, such as Camp FI How taking action is essential with the pursuit of happiness Happiness through subtraction and the process and mindset necessary Removing news and television from your life as well as sports How Jeff cultivated happiness in his life by “adding kittens” Finding the little moments that add value to your life How important gratitude is in life and how Jeff introduced that to us Decluttering and how it impacts Brad psychologically Jonathan’s exper

048 | Jeff from The Happy Philosopher joins us on the show to discuss the pursuit of happiness including how he reached a burn out point in his job as a radiologist and how his focus on happiness helped him find a path forward. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion with Jeff from The Happy Philosopher An introduction to Jeff’s background story Jeff found himself burned out about four years into his full-time profession and he was stressed out and anxious and just not happy He reached a breaking point where he discussed with his wife his plan for five more years of work He had shortened his “prison sentence” but hadn’t made his “cell any more comfortable” (we discussed suicide in the episode and Jeff asked that we include a phone number for the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline) He couldn’t wait five years to be happy – he had to experiment now to find that happiness Was there something about his job that led him to this breaking point or was it that he hadn’t found what made him happy? Early Retirement

047R | In today's podcast we recap Episode 47 with Bryce and Kristy from Millennial Revolution including talk of home ownership and world travel, but a reader case study and voicemail. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A recap of our main takeaways from Episode 47 with Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution How Brad explained the concept of compound interest to his daughter Anna and it was a lightbulb moment How Brad’s daughter immediately took action and invested her money in Vanguard index funds Brad’s moment where he found the concept of compound interest as a 19 year old Calling for tips on how other parents have introduced financial skills to their kids How your house is not a great investment and for people in the FI community it isn’t “your biggest investment” Your home may be a terrible investment but it doesn’t mean it’s a terrible decision Home appreciation seems “magical” to people but it actually represents well below the 8% return benchmark we use as a guide Brad’s example of a $300,000 house and

047 | Today we have Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution on the podcast to discuss home ownership, international geographic arbitrage and much more... In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion with Kristy and Bryce from Millennial Revolution They initially were contemplating buying a house and were shocked by the process This is what led them to finding the Financial Independence community Home ownership seemed like a “cult” to them What did their financial life look like before finding financial independence and how did they save so much money previously? Who might be naturally included to FI and how everyone can be open to it FI opens up creativity that you otherwise wouldn’t have the time for Voicemail from David from Canada How difficult it is societally to not purchase a house You need to do the math behind home ownership and don’t succumb to the ‘fear of missing out’ All the other costs that are involved in home ownership that eat into your paper gains A house is not an investment, it’s a place t

046R | In today's podcast we discuss our takeaways from Episode 46 with Ms. ONL from Our Next Life plus community feedback and voicemails and a discussion of travel rewards. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A recap of Episode 46 with Tanja from Our Next Life Brad and Jonathan are on their way to Fincon – the annual financial bloggers conference Jonathan’s upcoming trip to South Africa with his family using travel rewards points Tanja’s reveal of her identity after being anonymous for the entirety of the blog’s life What do you want out of life and how are you going to approach that question in the leadup to FI? The ‘internet retirement police’ and people making money in early retirement ‘We are some of the luckiest people in human history’ as Tanja described The safety Mr. and Mrs. ONL have built into their FI plan The different stories and plans our various guests have and how there is no ‘one size fits all’ plan for Financial Independence How they are selectively hardcore about certain things like their heating

046 | In today's podcast we have a wide-ranging conversation with Ms. ONL from Our Next Life on her decision to stop being anonymous on the blog to what their journey looked like to FI plus what they expect life to be like after FI and much more. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A financial independence discussion with Ms. ONL from Our Next Life The big reveal: Their names are Tanja and Mark What does it feel like for them to come out behind the veil of anonymity? Why have they been so strict about remaining anonymous? How do they view the concept of early retirement? How they can pursue the aspects of their jobs that they still enjoy How is early retirement different than working for yourself? One of the best parts of early retirement is that you can try so many different things Their friends and family are extremely supportive of their early retirement plans Finding their ‘why’ behind early retirement A discussion of how silly the notion of being “bored” in early retirement truly is The Endless Winter: Followin

045R | In this podcast we discuss our takeaways from Episode 45 with JD Roth of Get Rich Slowly, including the big news that he just purchased GRS back, as well as our frugal wins of the week and the elegance of simplicity. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A review of Episode 45 with JD Roth from Get Rich Slowly and Money Boss Jonathan’s frugal win of the week on purchasing a new stove/oven What is the utility of Jonathan’s new oven over a standard oven? Jonathan’s insourcing to install the oven himself Brad’s frugal win of the week: Laura stained the deck on the back of the house JD’s big news of buying back Get Rich Slowly How JD’s story helped change the world for so many people and how much impact he has had on potentially millions of people JD’s impact on Brad’s life with travel rewards What a unique point in time to be able to start a blog for so little money and the positive impacts you can experience The power of the blog is in the story of the blogger and that individual’s personality JD’s concept of the

045 | Today we discuss JD Roth's backstory behind his financial journey, Get Rich Slowly and Money Boss, plus JD's philosophy AND a very special announcement... In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion with JD Roth from Money Boss and Get Rich Slowly How JD impacted Brad’s life and put him on the trajectory to becoming a travel rewards expert JD’s backstory and how he found the personal finance community JD started Get Rich Slowly to document his process to clawing out of $35,000 worth of consumer debt and becoming financially literate and successful JD started his ‘credit card habit’ in college Any actionable tips the audience could take away from JD earning a scholarship to college? JD focuses on being self-directed with an ‘internal locus of control’ JD started a blog before the word blog even existed and started his first webpage in 1994 and his first web journal in 1997 JD’s plan to get out of debt in 3 years and the article he wrote called ‘Get Rich Slowly’ April 2006 was when Get Rich Slowly started J

044R | Today we discuss our takeaways from Episode 44 with Brandon Pearce from Pearce on Earth plus feedback from the community and our thoughts on international travel with our families. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion of Episode 44 with Brandon Pearce from Pearce on Earth Jonathan’s frugal win of the week by having a potluck dinner and a movie in the backyard for his friends and neighbors Jonathan is on a 3-day fast and his explanation The importance of mentally anchoring when undertaking something difficult Jonathan wanted to prove to himself that he could do it and to help with his impulse control Brandon realized early that you don’t have security as a 9-5 employee The power in your life shifts when you start saving money and that margin increases with each paycheck The concept of ‘burn the boats’ in motivating you to success Jonathan’s thoughts on safety vs. burn the boats How your business can take over your life if you let it, so you need a work-life balance Where are the pain points in your

044 | Today we discuss how Brandon Pearce went from a call center job to being a full time entrepreneur, traveling the world with his wife and children and how he started the Family Adventure Summit. In Today’s Podcast we cover: Episode 44 with Brandon Pearce, who was recommended to us by Andrew from the ChooseFI community Discussion of geo arbitrage, starting your own business and designing your future all wrapped up in one person Brandon realizing that you have no control over your future as a regular employee and it started him thinking about getting moving with his own business His software for organizing piano lessons was what led to his business How he got his first sale and realized this could be a successful business How Brandon considered making this a full-time venture and that inflection point where he took the leap Did Brandon contemplate not going full time with his software or was this a slam dunk decision? The value of hiring from inside your own community to find someone who is passionate and

043R | In this podcast we discuss our takeaways from Episode 43 with Fritz from the Retirement Manifesto plus an in-depth discussion of the Roth IRA conversion and Mega Backdoor Roth, and taxable income scenarios for retirement contributions.  In Today’s Podcast we cover: Our big takeaways from Episode 43 with Fritz from Retirement Manifesto Brad as a ‘Mystery Reader’ for his daughter’s class plus their trip to Natural Bridge State Park and a FI lesson for his daughters How to tackle drawdown strategies and how that opened our eyes The concept of balance that Fritz brought up in Episode 43 How we each have a different path to Financial Independence and we have to find what we each value and how much safety we require How important the math is, but also how the personal side is an important part of the equation Jonathan’s decision to pay off his student loans early and how this may not have been optimal mathematically, but was the “right” decision for him Feedback from the audience on the episode, but specific

043 | In this podcast we have a far-ranging conversation with Fritz from the Retirement Manifesto about retirement drawdown strategies, his 'buckets' system, and his upcoming retirement. In Today’s Podcast we cover: Retirement drawdown strategies with Fritz from Retirement Manifesto How Fritz focuses on what life is about after retirement such as how you’re going to spend your time Fritz is 9 months away from retirement himself A background on his story in corporate America and his path to FI and early retirement The difference in perspectives between retirement dates and savings rates between the FI community and the population at large What would Fritz’s path have looked like if he found the FI community decades earlier Fritz stayed with the same company for 32 years and has a traditional pension Where did his interest in retirement spreadsheets and the blog come from? How writing a blog helps develop and formalize your own thoughts and plans What to consider when building your own retirement drawdown strat

042R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 42 with JW from The Green Swan, plus various discussions about community and feedback from the audience. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion of Episode 42 with JW from The Green Swan Scott Rieckens and his crew from the documentary Playing With FIRE were in Richmond this week filming our podcast, lives and a Richmond FI get together The importance of community in the Financial Independence world and the volunteers we’ve received to be ‘community leaders’ for Choose FI meetups How we’re going to setup Slack for the Choose FI community and we need someone to help organize it The future Choose FI Vault that will be a digital locker for useful files for the community The decision JW made to buy a business with his brothers and how unconventional that is How you need to consider all possibilities when going into business with anyone Brad and Jonathan didn’t have the discussion of all future possibilities and didn’t put together an operating agreement, but a

042 | In Episode 42 we have a wide ranging discussion with JW from The Green Swan about his FI path, going into business with family, buying an existing business and much more. In Today’s Podcast we cover: A discussion with JW from The Green Swan about financial independence and busing buying and ownership How JW got involved in the FIRE community A discussion of life insurance and how much someone in the FI community really needs to think about They were already on a path to financial independence even before finding the FI community online How JW approached college with the mindset of graduating early JW’s dad passed many of the tips and tricks of the FI community to him in his teens JW’s relationship with his older brother made a big difference in his FI journey and they long talked about buying a business The concepts discussed in the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad and how it could help you get multiple streams of income JW and his brothers were saving for many years in anticipation of buying a business How they

In this Friday Roundup we discuss Episode 41 with Paige and Sam on extreme frugality, radical insourcing and the high cost of living path to FI plus a voicemail from Big Ern and members of our community. In Today’s Podcast we cover: The discussion of Episode 41 with Paige and Sam about reaching early retirement through extreme frugality and radical insourcing in a high cost of living city like Los Angeles Jonathan’s story about visiting his childhood library and trying to find old computer games Book recommendations from the ChooseFI Facebook group The list of obstacles that could have stopped Paige from reaching financial independence, but she overcame anyway It’s easy to make excuses, but your journey almost invariably will be easier than Paige’s The aspects of high cost of living that would be universal to other people: Defraying the costs of housing by sharing an apartment “The alley will provide” as a perfect quote for ChooseFI and a way to think about not buying new items Making a fun game out of buying

041 | In today's podcast we discuss the High Cost of Living Path to FI with ChooseFI community members Paige and Sam who live in Los Angeles and have been pursuing FI in a HCOL with sub-$50,000 per year jobs. I n Today’s Podcast we cover: Episode 41: A conversation with Paige and Sam about pursuing Financial Independence in a high cost of living area on a lower income Paige pushed back on our limiting belief that you “can’t” achieve financial independence on a low income in a high cost of living area Sam introduced Paige to MMM but Paige ran with it from there Paige’s back story Paige had a negative net worth in her mid-40s Since Paige has earned and lived in the $30,000 range she is used to that and now that she’s making more she can save that difference Paige intends to hit early retirement in 2025 and has a 50% savings rate She uses her Roth IRA as an “emergency fund” since she can withdraw the contributions at any time tax and penalty free Sam’s story behind retiring “early and often” He did not have stud

040R | In today's Friday Roundup we discuss our takeaways from Episode 40 with Noah and Becky from Money Metagame, plus voicemails from the ChooseFI community and our in-house expert Keith from the Wealthy Accountant. In Today’s Podcast we cover: Discussion of Episode 40 with Noah and Becky from Money Metagame about the Gap Year Jonathan took action and followed Geoff’s advice to start culling his closet and decluttering his life Jonathan is struggling with how to categorize and track his donations For tax purposes you definitely do want to track your noncash donations It’s always easier to track things along the way as opposed to doing it all at the end of the year How is Jonathan mentally approaching the process of decluttering his life? How Brad would approach cleaning out closets by making a game out of it Noah and Becky found FI at a young age and incredibly have not made any major financial mistakes in their lives You have more and more power in your life as you go along your FI path and reach your Mile