The Financial Independence Show

In this episode, Cody and Justin walk listeners through six unique and relatable paths to financial independence. We cover the assumptions and profile and then determine exactly how long it will take that person to retire. This was a fun episode that involved a lot of research going into the backgrounds of these scenarios. At a high level, the six paths include: Dual Income, no kids, high W2 earners, high cost of living area Single Income, two kids, lower W2 earner, low cost of living area Dual Income, two kids, medium W2 earners + real estate, medium cost of living area Dual Income, two kids, business owners, medium cost of living area Single Income, no kids, W2 and side hustles, high cost of living area Dual Income, no kids, real estate investors, low cost of living area We think you’ll find at least one scenario you resonate with and potentially the motivation to swap paths for a faster option. If you got value from this episode, please share it with a friend! Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab our FREE Budget Planner Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Sam Dogen aka Financial Samurai and author of Buy This Not That. Sam is one of the original voices of financial independence. He started his blog way back in 2009 and actually let Mr. Money Mustache write an early guest post before he hit it big. Sam is known for his analytical approach and he comes with a stacked set of credentials. He spent 13 years working at Goldman Sachs and Credit Suisse, studied economics at William & Mary, and got his MBA from UC Berkeley. Now, he’s going beyond his 2,500 articles and millions of readers and expanding into print. With his book, Buy This Not That, he looks to give readers the courage to tackle tough money decisions without being saddled with regret. Some of those decisions include: Pay for private school or public school Join a startup or work for an established company Job hop or stay a loyal soldier Invest in real estate or stocks When to rent or buy When to invest in tax-advantaged versus taxable accounts Marry for love or marry for money Have children early or late Combine your finances or keep separate accounts Buy or lease a car Keep The Bank Of Mom And Dad open or closed for your adult children Sam is an insane wealth of knowledge so if you liked this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Financial Samurai Buy This Not That <- Sam’s new book Sam’s Twitter YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/wejKdW0WYco Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Justin David Carl aka Dragon, creator of Alchemize Life and Fit Rich Vegan. If you look at Justin today you’ll see Life Alchemist, Entrepreneur, Holistic Wellbeing Thought-Leader, Podcaster, Fitness & Money Coach, Fashionista, Spiritual Hipster, and the list goes on. That wasn’t always true though… Justin had spent most of his younger years with the singular goal of getting into Stanford, which he eventually did. However, he found himself leaving Stanford for a career in nightlife. It was there that Justin started realizing his entrepreneurial abilities… but they came at a cost. Although he was making great making, he was struggling with abuse, depression, addiction, eating disorders, etc. Luckily, Justin realized he was headed down the wrong path and returned to Stanford. There, he would get the opportunity to join an early-stage company in a sales role and increase his net worth from -$80K to over $1M in just two years. If you enjoyed Justin’s story as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Alchemize Life Fit Rich Vegan Justin’s Instagram YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/2B-6-kMQB48 Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Vitaliy Katsenelson, author of Soul in the Game and creator of Contrarian Edge. Vitaliy spent the first eighteen years of his life in Murmansk, Russia, a city located above the Arctic Circle in the northwestern corner of Russia. He and his family then emigrated to the U.S. in 1991 where he would study to become a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). Vitaliy entered this country with a very strong scarcity mindset, even being blown away by the idea that you could have soda whenever you wanted. Over the years, Vitaliy would begin writing with a focus on value investing. He started with a more analytical approach that covered financial topics, but over time, his audience grew to ask more and more for his personal stories. Today, he fully embraces that form of author he has become with his new book Soul in the Game. We cover some of the topics from his book such as a method to reduce decision fatigue which Vitaliy calls half-binary decisions, the importance of sinking funks, and how emotional intelligence affects investing. Vitaliy has so much more to offer in this episode as well as in his books so we hope you find a nugget to help you live a more meaningful life. If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Soul in the game – Vitaliy’s New Book Contrarian Edge 6 Commandments of Value Investing The Intelectual Investor Podcast YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/s0NgyNJQOqk Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Heather Blankenship, an RV park investor expert, who also runs Wealthy Woman. Heather had no RV park industry experience and really no capital to get involved either. A great financing option and a big leap of faith left her as the new owner of a struggling park near Dollywood. Originally a money pit, Heather finally turned the park around and became profitable after three years. Since then, she’s far surpassed breaking even. Today, Heather owns over $30M worth of real estate and has turned that rundown park into a money-making machine. Heather continually evolves her business and adds more income streams such as golf carts, tiny homes, boat rentals, a country store, laundry, even milk & cookies brought out by their mascot for the kids — the list goes on and on. Oh, and did we mention she did all this while raising three kids as a single mom!? We are humbled to bring you Heather’s journey and couldn’t be more impressed with her story. If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode HeatherBlankenship.com Wealthy Woman Heather on Instagram Heather on TikTok YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/rKagYa0GWu0 Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In this episode, Cody and Justin walk listeners through the step-by-step flow of what to do with your money at each stage of your financial journey. Using an excellent flowchart from Reddit as a starting point, we break down the full decision tree and give you our own opinions as well (even the controversial ones). This flowchart is broken down into the following main stages: Budgeting Emergency Fund Employee-Sponsored Matching funds High-interest debt IRAs 401k/403b/HSA Financial Independence / Life Goals We think this will be an episode you’ll want to revisit again and again the further you go down your journey. If you did get value out of this episode, please share it with a friend! Links From the Episode Financial Journey Flowchart Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab our FREE Budget Planner Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Ryan Chaw from Newbie Real-Estate Investing, who has created over $10k in monthly rental income. Ryan did all this over a 5-year period of investing in California. His strategy is to buy large single-family homes and rent them by the room to college students. He even sometimes adds walls to these homes to increase the number of rooms. Ryan doesn’t just randomly pick tenants either, he uses his P.R.I.M.E method. P.R.I.M.E – Placement of ad, Review social media, Identify tenant’s personality type, Measure responsiveness, Ensure proof of income. And on top of all of this…. Ryan is a practicing pharmacist who became a millionaire at age 28! If you’ve been wondering how you could make money with real estate, take some notes out of Ryan’s playbook. And if you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Newbie Real-Estate Investing Ryan’s Free Starter Guide YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/MKtt5DYhjRM Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Jordan Grumet aka Doc G, author of Taking Stock. Doc G brings the best angles, analogies, and unique perspectives when talking about life and money. He himself found himself chasing what he thought was his dream and chasing money before slowing down and really critically thinking about what was important. In his book, Jordan takes us through his perspectives on living a purpose-driven life without regret. He challenges us to refocus our view of money as not the end goal but simply a tool. We all struggle with the balance of enjoying life to the fullest now and with delayed gratification. Doc G is here to help us uncover just how to find that balance. If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Doc G’s Book, Taking Stock Doc G’s Podcast, Earn & Invest YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/jZbSfJx5f7M Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Steve Rozenberg, author of Building an Empire: Failing Our Way to Millions.  He was an international commercial airline pilot who, after the tragedies of 9/11, was forced to realize that his “Safe and Secure career” was nowhere near as safe and secure as he had thought. Steve chose real estate investing to be able to control his own destiny and create his own generational wealth. With that decision, Steve would go on to create the fastest-growing property management company in the state of Texas. Managing over 1,000 properties across 3 major metropolitan cities. Steve scaled the business up and created maximum cash flow, positioning his company for a very profitable exit. Along with growing his property management company, Rozenberg has flipped, owned, and wholesaled hundreds of single-family homes and apartment complexes across the US. He’s a master of building and scaling businesses and shows you exactly how you can follow his blueprint. You’ll learn about the 4 pillars of every business and what you should outsource first. If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Steve’s Book – Building an Empire: Failing Our Way To Millions Steve’s Real Estate Course Steve’s YouTube Channel  YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/hM4snk2XpAA Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

Today’s episode features Joseph Hogue, creator of Let’s Talk Money! YouTube channel. Joseph served in the marines but upon getting out he went to college to chase the world of finance. He would become an investment analyst for some of the largest personal investors. Joseph is extremely qualified to talk about a huge variety of finance topics but we brought him on this episode for one reason. That reason was Series I Savings Bonds. I Bonds have been a hot topic in the community as we’re seeing high-interest rates which have led to almost 10% guaranteed returns! In this episode, you’ll learn how to invest, how much you can invest, and everything you could possibly want to know about I Bonds. If you enjoyed this episode as much as we did, please share! Links From the Episode Let’s Talk Money! YouTube Channel My Stock Market Basics My Work From Home Money YouTube Interview https://youtu.be/JqL5UfL0euY Join the Community We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community! Grab the Ultimate FI Spreadsheet Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFiShow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please subscribe and leave a rating/review! >> You can do that by clicking here << Learn More About Your Hosts CodyDBerman.com (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)