The Financial Independence Show

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by the prolific Jim Dahle from the White Coat Investor. Jim came full circle from a middle-class Alaskan upbringing all the way to a successful physician with a blog that makes over $1M per year! So how did he get there… Well, that’s what the episode is for so go take a listen, leave that 5-star review and give us some feedback! Episode Summary He feels like he made all the same mistakes you’ve heard everyone makes but he did so with small amounts of money and he did so early After years of feeling like he was getting ripped off, he started reading through finance books at a used book store and was hooked Then he started getting heavily involved with online forums He also realized no one was doing this kind of education for doctors so he started White coat investor in 2011 He was a resident at age 29 and making around $37k per year His first investment ever was $500 into options at age 10 that he got from a fund provided to Alaskan residents and lost every bit His mom didn’t go to college but his dad was an engineer They felt like they were middle-class where they didn’t go hungry or anything but after age 18 he was on his own When he started college he took out a $5k loan for his freshman year but he used that for housing and got scholarships for tuition and would work the rest of the time for expenses He got married at the end of his undergraduate degree but realized he wasn’t going to really be able to provide at the rate he was at His wife’s family had a heavy military background so he decided to join the military to pay for his graduate degree in return for four years of active duty but he was able to enter active duty as a captain. He would make Major just before getting out His four-year obligation started at age 31 and would end at age 35 While he was on most of the same base pay as other officers he actually made more through incentives which totaled over $36k more per year! If he would have stayed longer, he could have even had more bonuses but it still wasn’t near what he’d make on the outside Now back to his forum legacy…He had a prolific amount of posts (10k+) over the course of 7 years with a special focus on physicians and military His blog, starting in 2011, was actually at almost the exact same time as Mr. Money Mustache The goal that started the blog was to make money and to help people get a fair shake on Wall Street To stand up his blog he just taught himself how to build the website from the ground up Then we transition into the mindset of high income earners such as Doctors He goes through a few reasons why you find broke physicians They’re often financially illiterate They go from no money to too much money overnight Expectations from coworkers, patients, and family that they should live rich Huge student loan sums ($400k+) No real work until ~31 years old He gives us some rules of thumb to help avoid some of these pitfalls The first is trying to stay under 1x for college debt 1 times your eventual income. Ex: Eventual income $250k = up to $250k loans are doable but strive for lower obviously The second is understanding what your potential payments will be based on specialty because the pay can be very different but the school is often the same With that being said, don’t burn yourself out because then you probably shortened your career length Then we get deep off into taxes The first step is just flat out understanding your taxes. You can do this by getting more involved in doing your taxes instead of just offloading it each year. He calls out how most of these high-income earners aren’t familiar with some retirement accounts such as profit-sharing plans, individual 401ks, defined benefit plan, health savings accounts, and back door Roth IRAs For Health Savings Accounts employers actually help you out with the contributions it’s tax-free going in, growing, and if you use it for health, when you use it! Also, don’t forget that health savings accounts can be invested And if you either forgot or don’t want to use your HSA money when you actually have a health event, you can always use it later as long as you have proof If your employer’s account doesn’t have the investment options you’re looking for, you can always roll it over to the account you really want once a year It’s also interesting to note that he still does his taxes Then we discuss his “accidental” rental property because he ended up with the house in 2006 and found himself stuck with it Then we shift gears into how exactly he turned his blog into such a profitable business This covers advertising, affiliate marketing, your own products, and selling your own time To just show his growth, in just 4 years he was making $180k per year and has now grown over $1M per year Even though he makes more on the blog versus practicing medicine, he still loves his job and wants to keep working at least half time All that drives home the fact that he feels like he’s already living his ideal life and has no pressure to retire Key Takeaways Income doesn’t solve all: We try to put a decent focus on earning potential and not just savings rates but this is another example of which one is a must. If you don’t have a balanced spending plan, no amount of income will save you as we see with so many high-income earners. Get your hands dirty: I loved that Jim recommended getting into the weeds with your taxes. Something that important might be handled by someone else on a larger scale but you should absolutely get in there and learn as much as you can to protect yourself. Retirement isn’t everything: It was so awesome to see someone who wasn’t even focused on retirement. Coincidence that he’s also one of the most successful people in personal finance? I think not. His energy is solely focused on getting better, not getting out. Call to Action Figure out a way to increase the aspects of your job you love and minimize the parts that you don’t. That could include going off on your own but if that’s not you, just focus on doing this within the bounds of your current employment 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Additional Links Check out Cody and J’s Side Hustle Course! Contact Jim: White Coat Investor Facebook White Coat Investor Twitter White Coat Investor Blog Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)  

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Marc from Vital Dollar. Marc’s story is so impressive with being able to walk away from his job after just 18 months of blogging. Even more impressive is the fact that he’s shown the ability to repeatedly create, grow, and sell his blogs which have amassed over $1 Million in total revenue. So listen up and learn how to grow and monetize your digital efforts and hear what it’s like to sell a website for over $500k! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary He was raised by fairly low-income parents but was always raised to take care of what he had He went to college for business and bible After college, he wasn’t making much income but started tracking every single purchase and focusing on a plan for retirement In his late 20’s he started swapping his focus from just saving to also increasing his income In 2007, at age 28, he started doing some web design work and a blog for web design His only formal education was an HTML class but just kept teaching himself He didn’t really love client work and focused more on his blog It took 6 months for the web design blog to make any money Once he reached a certain traffic count he added ads for a profit After 18 months, he had enough income to quit his day job In 2012 he started a photography based blog and sold the web design blog for $500k We discussed how these six-figure website sales go down He generally doesn’t bring on employees except for some freelance writers and graphics from time to time It’s not all sunshine and rainbows. We discuss the difficulties of keeping up with things like memberships and invoicing when tech changes get pushed from dependencies like Paypal For those first two big website sales, he put in the contract that he’d stick around for 30 days to help transition the site to the new owner He normally keeps one high revenue site while also running two others that can hopefully become money makers and sell the main one as the small ones grow We then dive into how to select a subject matter for a blog and then how to monetize it He also discusses how it might be good to start with a service but since it doesn’t scale it’s probably good to look towards a digital course or something One method he used to earn money early on was to get his product/service into someone else’s email list who already had some established traffic For investing he keeps most of it in index funds and target funds while also lowering liabilities like his mortgage Even though he works for himself building websites it still feels like work for him and he looks forward to retiring in 10-15 years with his wife and two kids Marc’s current spending is about $60k for the family We asked why he doesn’t just start traveling now since his job is location agnostic but he points out the pains of traveling with kids and spotty internet He is prepared for when retirement hits though with a big spreadsheet of locations he’s looking to visit including all 59 national parks Marc’s parting advice is just understanding that it’s going to take time to grow your business but you have to be consistent and be patient Key Takeaways Patience: Once you’ve heard so many experts say something…it’s worth taking note. Marc is yet another advocate for being honest with yourself on growth and being consistent with your efforts. Passions to Paydays: We loved how Marc started his online enterprises with a foundation in something he probably would have written about for free. Passions make that first takeaway of patience so much easier. Instagram Life Isn’t Everything: Marc could absolutely hit the road today. He doesn’t need to wait until retirement to work remotely, but he also understands the reality of his family dynamics. It’s ok to not be a nomad. Find what works for you. Call to Action Really focusing in on patience today. Find a goal that you absolutely  can’t complete in less than three months. Now break it down so you have lots of small wins for motivation. Finally, make a chart, checklist, or some form of tracking so you can keep yourself honest. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Contact Marc: Vital Dollar Facebook Vital Dollar Twitter Vital Dollar Blog Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Cody’s very own mom Ruth Berman! We wanted to do something special for Mother’s Day this year and we think this interview hits the mark regardless of the holiday. We cover her origins and the unique jobs she and her own parents had. Then, we spend a good bit of time discussing how to raise children in a matter that makes them both savvy and comfortable with money. We think there’s a ton of great nuggets in there for parents. Finally, we discuss some of the ways she’s diversifying her income streams and maximizing every dollar. Ruth doesn’t see retirement coming anytime soon but she’s making some fantastic money moves. If that doesn’t sell you then stick around to possibly catch some dirt on Cody! After you listen be sure to let us know what you think. Episode Summary Raised by parents who were older (41 / 57) when they had her They went through the great depression which really impacted the families relationship with money Her parents taught her about savings and opened up all the kids’ savings accounts Her mom stayed at home and her dad was a Christmas tree farmer Since money only came in one little part of the year, they had to be good at budgeting Ruth was always incredibly frugal because of this Her first real job was manual printing press work in someone’s basement She started college for music and then swapped to nutrition and massage therapy Her parents paid for college but she did pay them back $10k As a follow on to college she had jobs as an exercise therapist and health screener She had Cody at age 30 while her job as a massage therapist Ruth discovered investing a few years prior where you would just pick out stocks and fill out a form and mail that check-in… what? Then we transition into how to raise financially responsible kids. Her first tip is to simply lead by example. Cody and his brother knew when they went to the store that they were headed to the clearance section. She also tried to put incentives on learning in order to learn things like screen time. Ruth also came up with all kinds of creative games to promote exercise and learning even if it’s just for a few pennies..kids will still do it! She says she has some mixed feelings on allowances if they’re not gained through doing some kind of chore Cody also talks about how his dad would match anything he was willing to save.. don’t we wish our 401k was like that? Ruth is now finding all these amazing health surveys like wearing an Apple watch and sleep studies which pay $2k & $7k respectively These kind of random income streams are one reason she has no fears that Cody will be just fine despite quitting his job She is also keeping her big costs low by renting out part of her house and running that house on solar power Then we start discussing how to handle your kids’ college tuition bills Cody and his brother decided on their own to skip going to a private school and hit the state school instead which was a huge sigh of relief Ruth then opens up about going through her divorce and the personal transformation following it She didn’t know how anything worked or how any of the bills were paid prior to the divorce But she just kept trying new things and learning and has become more and more independent Justin tries to pull some dirt out on Cody from Ruth but Easter egg thievery was about the best we could do…but Cody may have warned her ha Looking back she wishes she would have saved more earlier, built a smaller house, and went into medical research Ruth thinks she’ll keep working for the foreseeable future but hopes to back off the 40 hour weeks after age 60 and increase the side hustles Key Takeaways Try, Fail, Repeat: Ruth found herself with a lot of new responsibilities after the divorce. She could have tried to throw money at them but instead, she tried to do them herself. It wasn’t always pretty but she always learned and eventually had a new skill. Lead By Example: Whether your raising kids or just trying to teach a friend about money, you’ll need to practice what you preach. Growth Mindset: You can either have a growth or a fixed mindset. A growth mindset means that you believe you can grow your skillset through hard work and dedication. Call to Action Whether it’s your own children or through some volunteer program, find a young person out there and help raise the bar on their financial education! 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Contact Ruth Send Ruth an Email! Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)  

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Bobby Hoyt from Millennial Money Man.  Bobby started off as a music teacher but today is changing lives with his wildly popular Facebook Ads course that the FI Show guys have seen change lives first hand. In that course, Bobby teaches people how to contract yourself out to businesses and run their Facebook marketing. We’re talking $1k+ per month of income with Bobby’s first job himself bringing in $3k per month. Somewhere in between teaching band and teaching ads, he realized he had to be his own boss. Now go take a listen to Bobby’s story and see how he pulled off such an amazing transition. Episode Summary Bobby didn’t talk about money at all with his parents growing up His dad was an engineer and his mom was a secretary He said he didn’t care about money and all and ended up choosing to be a music major in college He graduated with $40k in student debt His big goal after college was to buy a new Camaro A family friend of his who owned a pool installation business started mentoring him one day on debt payoff and general finance and because the friend was wealthy, Bobby really took it to heart When he first started teaching music he really loved it By year 3 of teaching, he knew he wanted to work for himself that teaching began to be a drag on him He toyed with the idea of also starting a pool business but instead started putting a lot of effort into his blog His main focus with the blog was focusing on living below your means and student loan debt He was doing some extreme house hacking by renting a room from his in-laws He realized he had about $50k saved up, which was about three years of expenses, and that’s when he took the leap of full-time blogging His first six months were pretty scary with not earning hardly any money Their jeweler came across his blog and mentioned he needed someone to help him with his marketing and hired Bobby at $3k per month He got discovered by CNBC which really pushed his blog He had installed the Facebook pixel days before that story went live and that allowed him to make lookalike  audiences Those audiences really helped him market to the right people and started making a couple of grand per month off the blog He’s always tried to really focus on a personal connection with his audience vs simply numbers He admits he waited far too long to hire on help because he was getting really overwhelmed Bobby admits he actually let his mental and physical health take a downturn with the overload Now that his business has taken off so successfully he has plenty of money so while not wasting tons of money he also isn’t super frugal He also realizes that as an entrepreneur he can’t guarantee his future income so when he does want something nicer he buys it in cash so monthly expenses aren’t a problem Bobby doesn’t really see himself retiring anytime soon and looks to continue growing the business He’s now doing courses to help others get into the business of doing Facebook ads for local business so you too can step away from the grind His last remarks are about letting people pass you up and by that he means while you’re grinding and saving you’ll see those around you spending money and seemingly passing you but you’ll slingshot past them soon enough Key Takeaways We need to reach the youth: Bobby made a decision to go follow his passion. Which is fine, but he didn’t do so considering all the implications, such as the financial ones. We have to reach out and introduce these topics to the high school age kids to at least make it a consideration. Prep makes bold easy: It seems super bold to walk away from your job to try and be your own internet boss. No doubt it’s bold but it’s a lot easier when you’ve prepped and saved three years of living expenses just in case things don’t pan out. Learn, refine, monetize: First you have to find a new skill, preferably one you’re really passionate about. Then you need to work towards becoming the expert, steadily refining your skills. Then you monetize it whether it’s through providing the service or teaching others. Call to Action The call to action this week is to consider some premium content. Whether it’s Bobby’s course or some other content designed to make you happier or wealthier. Try to find reviews from folks you can trust and invest in yourself! 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the Show: Millennial Money Man Facebook Ads Course Laptop Empires Podcast Contact Bobby Facebook Instagram Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)  

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Robert from The College Investor.  Robert has been sharpening his money making skills since elementary school and hasn’t let up one bit. Robert used his career at Target as the foundation of his financial journey but always looked to expand his income streams through investing and side hustles. At a point, he realized how much bad advice there was out there for young people looking to build wealth, especially around debt pay off and investing so he started his own blog to help out. Now go take a listen to Robert’s self-made story and follow along with the show notes below. Episode Summary Robert was making money from day one by selling candy bars on the playground He even helped his dad with his taxes on old school Quicken His dad was in the Navy and then a defense contractor and his mom was a city government employee So his jump into entrepreneurship wasn’t seen as natural by his parents Robert started working at Target at 16 and stayed there while getting his undergrad degree He ended up working at target for 17 years Robert graduated with a political science degree after quitting a computer science program While he had a lengthy standard career, he’s always had side hustles One of his favorites is flipping deals or finding undervalued items at estate sales At 20 he started playing  in the stock market with just a few hundred bucks and had really good returns even though he didn’t really know what he was doing He started his blog in 2009 at age 24 and had some inspiration from Get Rich Slowly He and his wife were able to put a significant down payment a year later on a house because they had been living with their parents until they got married When he finished college he did have $43k in student loans but they paid them off in 3.5 years The house that they bought was a fixer and bought it at a fantastic time with the housing crash so they came out really well on that one Robert credits his ability to handle 17 years at one business was because he had pretty good luck with great managers for most of his career He worked from pushing carts all the way to a store manager going from just over minimum wage to making close to $200k per year Then we shift to things people can do to help themselves get hired from his experience as a manager He points to communication as the number one and problem solving as the number two most critical pieces when interviewing Robert highlights how young people have more communication than any group in history but don’t have as much experience with one on one communication Then we jump into healthcare and how that’s different working for yourself vs working for a company He reminds us that it’s really not that different it just means your premium isn’t being subsidized Then we get into some side tangents to minimalism and organization. His final thoughts are related to making a conscious effort to raise your income instead of only focusing on saving Key Takeaways Bloom where planted: Robert didn’t work his way up to some new exciting tech start-up. He started pushing carts at Target. Then, he went and turned that into a lucrative managerial position through hard and smart work over time. He made the most of his situation. Know your path: Robert’s story is pretty awesome in regards to increasing his income so much at a company. It’s important to keep in mind what your growth potential at a business is. When looking for jobs, don’t simply focus on the starting salary. Dig into what your potential for growth is. Live like no one else: One of the biggest life-changing moments Robert has was living at home a little longer. This allowed him to save aggressively, have a down-payment ready for a house at one of the best times in U.S. history, and start his financial journey off on a solid foundation. He could have moved out at 18 and found an overpriced luxury apartment to have some extra fun, but instead, he made the wise calculated decision and will forever reap the rewards. Call to Action The call to action this week is improving your soft skills, especially communication. No matter how remote or automated our workforce may seem to get, interpersonal communication will always be a powerful tool. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the Show: The College Investor Contact Robert Facebook Instagram Twitter Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

In today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Suni.  Suni lives in the Boston area and has an amazing story. She became a professional tennis player at age 14 after coming from some very humble beginnings with immigrant parents. That career lasted nine years with some very interesting financial and personal implications. Then she found herself 23 with no real savings and way behind on the educational curve. Don’t worry this story has a happy ending and a surprise twist that lands us in the remote real estate discussion. Now it’s time to go take a listen and see what you think for yourself. Episode Summary Her parents came over from India in the 80s and were very poor They started to work their way out of it over time and her parents instilled savings in her When she was 14 she started playing tennis professionally She was using a lot of those winnings to pay for travel, PR, training, etc. In the sport, you’re really just breaking even at that level even though it’s professional She was able to get a lot of training provided through scholarships in return for advertising The income that she would make was extremely variable. Some weeks she might make $20k and some she might make $100 While that could seem like a lot of money at times she also had extremely high expenses because she had to hire full-time coach along with their travel Suni actually dropped out of school in the 6th grade and was supposed to be teaching herself but that wasn’t really feasible with 8 hour training days After 9 years of playing professionally, she retired at age 23 in 2009 to return to school At 23 she only had a couple of thousand dollars to show for her career She then walks us through the struggles of professional athletes being able to handle money and look out for their future The recession actually played a part in when she retired because many businesses didn’t have extra money to sponsor an athlete After retiring she spent some time taking remedial classes to get her up to speed at a local community college After that, she was able to attend a prestigious private school through scholarships and need-based grants Now she’s 27 and looking for a job She landed a job in a large firm in their management training program She stayed there 2.5 years before coming to her current job in corporate financial planning Feeling compelled to get her finances in order she felt like going after a career that really made a difference wasn’t reasonable She then came across the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which really changed her outlook Then she gets into real estate as a path towards passive income She closed her first property in April of 2018 and was up to 5 units before 2019 While she lives in the Boston area, these homes were purchased around Indianapolis and never even saw them before purchasing She decided on Indianapolis based on a ton of technical statistics such as population growth, income growth, diversity of employment, and price to rent ratio. Networking was the key to actually finding the team to help her manage these properties She doesn’t see herself walking away from work altogether but her goal is to replace her current income with real estate so she has the flexibility Then we discuss finding people to surround yourself with who understand the journey to FI and some of the difficulties that come with that We also spend a lot of time throughout the episode covering the psychological impact of growing up poor and then becoming a professional athlete and how that just impacts her outlook and drive Her closing advice is for those looking to get into real estate which revolves around building your network and understanding the technical drivers that make or break a market and understand your cash position so you know if you’re prepared for an investment Key Takeaways Don’t envy: It would be easy to feel jealous of a teenager traveling around getting paid to play a game. What you might not see though is all the struggle and the end result of being behind your peers. Just a friendly reminder that the grass isn’t always greener. Start Late? Start fast: No one is ever going to stop preaching the importance of getting a solid financial base early. Time will always be the most powerful variable, but it’s not insurmountable. Suni had a late start, but when she started, it was a dead sprint and that has made all the difference. Invest in the process: Lots of side hustles are tempting. Lots are profitable. However, they can all be a money pit if you don’t spend some time in analysis. Suni knew real estate was a great option, but she didn’t just assume it would work out. She put in countless hours breaking down the variables and optimizing her chance of success. Call to Action Whether it’s real estate or not, you probably have something in your life you’re trying to succeed at. Whatever it may be, go out and do some critical thinking. Develop a list of the most powerful variables and study them to see how or where you should focus your energy for maximum gain. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the Show: Bigger Pockets Contact Suni: LinkedIn: Suni Rao Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Andy from Marriage Kids and Money. He tells us his relatable yet inspiring story of living a life with far too much spending brought on by lifestyle creep. Lifestyle creep is when you get used to a certain way of living but then as you make more money you increase that style of living little by little until it becomes unsustainable or at least larger than you intended. Andy and his wife were spending every bit of their salaries which totaled over $100k. Reality struck when she became pregnant and they knew they needed to change their ways. Now listen to the story and hear their remarkable turnaround and how Andy is now helping people walk in his footsteps. Episode Summary Andy and his wife go together in 2010 with a combined earning over $100,000 but they were carrying a good bit of debt and spending everything they earned That debt included $50k in student debt, a nice car loan and frequent use of their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC) They had a wake-up moment when he realized they were going to be having their first child Quickly he started pouring over podcasts, blogs, and anything to help them learn They’re currently living around Detroit which has shown a huge turnaround He bought a house right out of college in mid-2000s and realized he couldn’t afford the mortgage To help with the bills he ended up bringing in several roommates who paid the mortgage for him…Another house hack win! When he got married they realized the roommate situation wasn’t going to work so they bought a new house with the goal of paying off the new $350k house in 5 years He was able to get back all of his money from the first house but didn’t make anything off of it The first material that helped Andy really turn things around was Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover Once a month, he and his wife would sit down and review their budget until they got it under control The biggest changes they had to make was cutting out entertainment like food and drinks He talks about how tough it was saying no to friends in family in order to pay down their debt so aggressively We discuss the struggles with getting your spouse on board with this new financial plan He said his biggest mistake was focusing on the process and numbers vs the outcomes, emotions, and the “why” behind the plan Once the subject went from percentages to a discussion of having more time with their kids, Andy’s wife became equally as fired up about the journey A powerful exercise he discusses to help with this is to just sit down with your significant other and talk through your perfect day/life if money wasn’t an issue Then we swap to start discussing how their life is changing now that their finances are in a good place and they’re starting to build their financial independence lifestyle With their kids starting school, his wife has begun a home organization business which is just another great example of how you will discover your true passions when you step away from a full-time job and those passions will probably bring you unexpected income We then shift the discussion back to their debt pay-down where Andy gave us the tangible steps to paying off their house in 4 years The first piece was a $150k down payment after a lot of aggressive savings That got their mortgage down to $200k They continued their monthly expense reviews Every bonus or additional dollar they received they put towards the house Andy’s wife actually stepped completely away from her day job to be a stay at home mom with $80k left on the mortgage That mortgage was completely paid off a little over a year ago That down payment that they had been saving up for was all in cash after some shady dealing Andy had with a financial advisor Andy admits that these were major financial mistakes but worth it due to the amount he learned throughout the process Other ways Andy recommends getting your spouse on board with financial goals is simply leading by example along with the help of the great modern FinTech tools out there such as Tiller, YNAB, or Mint If you’re significant other has a taste for fancy things and nice things seems like a real priority, Andy suggest simply writing out items to show what can and can’t fit and not make it just theoretical For him and his wife, one of these examples would be travel hacking where they turned the journey to getting these elaborate trips paid off with points into a game but also warns that credit card hacking should only be done if you’re really smart with credit cards We then shift gears to paying for their children’s education They don’t plan on providing all the money for their college expenses but between their 529, scholarships and working they believe their kids can graduate debt free He also admits that traditional college may not be the answer anyway and calls out the student debt epidemic in America Andy himself has an undergrad in communications and a masters in business but admits many people don’t need a college degree For the digital nomads, he thinks it can be a great idea but cautions that you should be extremely passionate about your craft because if you don’t love it, you’ll probably quit because the money won’t be there in the beginning. Now Andy is focusing on the next level of his journey after feeling really solid on the basics and that next piece for him will be rental properties He admits that the debt-free mentality makes it hard to take business ventures and loans but the plan is to buy a rental property with mostly cash savings His number one tip for people on their financial journey is taking time out to talk to your significant other and family about what their dreams are and what drives them in order to make a plan you can be passionate about Key Takeaways Life has curve-balls: Andy and his wife were spending away without a care in the world until life happened. It’s all too familiar that some life event pushes people to adapt and overcome. We hope you’ll make the decision for positive changes before it’s forced on you. Find middle ground: Andy was hyper-focused on saving money, his wife still wanted to travel as we all do. They made it work via travel hacking. It would have been easy for one side to try to win but instead, they walked away both as winners. Know your audience: Listen, most people in this community are guilty of being way too excited about numbers but not everyone is inspired by math. If you don’t want to be on this financial journey alone, you need to find a way to talk to others and get them in lock step with you. Call to Action Sit down, no phones, no television. If you have a significant other, friends, or family, sit them down with you. Now, walk through a perfect day, month, etc where money isn’t a concern. Not hit the lottery style but just imagine you had the same income you do now but you weren’t working. What would your days look like? Be detailed. Write it down and reference it often. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the show: Our Favorite Travel Rewards Cards Book: Total Money Makeover Podcast: Marriage Kids and Money Contact Andy: Blog: Marriage Kids and Money Twitter: @AndyHillMKM Facebook: Andy Hill MKM Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Monica from MonicaLouie.com. She tells us her inspiring story of tackling debt and putting family first. Monica and her husband both came together after college with some debt and Monica wasn’t a saver naturally. Her husband brought those characteristics to the household and she took to them quickly and soon started leading their debt pay down efforts. While on her way to becoming a mother of two, she decided she wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with her children and step away from the workforce. Unfortunately, even though they had made great strides on their spending, one income just wasn’t enough. So Monica started a blog and experimenting with Facebook ads. She then started her own Facebook ad consulting business in 2016 with her as the single employee. Today she employs 13 and is on the fast track to being debt free. But you don’t want just an overview, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Grew up with a single mother where money was often a struggle and she knew she wanted a different life She took the traditional college route but struggled some after graduating Then she found herself in credit card debt A couple of years later she had a good job, got out of debt and vowed to never get in debt again. When she met her husband, he was frugal and she became conscious of saving for the first time They were on a good steady path and then she had her first child and her priorities shifted She decided she wanted to be a stay at home mom so they started saving really hard Then she was pregnant with her second child and stepped away from her job A couple of months into this, they noticed their savings starting to decrease a looked for something to help out On top of this, they had over $300k in debt including their mortgage Within two years they had paid down $120k in debt Her husband had reservations about sharing finances because she was more of a spender and he was a saver so she made it a point to build that trust by being financially responsible The idea of her blog came from people asking questions about how she burned down so much debt With this first blog, she started discovering Facebook ads and noticed she had a knack for it Then her fellow blogging friends started asking for help with Facebook ads In 2016 she ended up selling her blog and becoming a full-time Facebook ads coach Facebook ads are great for just broadening your reach as well as funneling people towards paid content or even a transition funnel to get a customer to free content which will then get them to paid content Therefore often it’s best to save your Facebook ad promotions for posts with affiliate links We also discuss the ever-changing landscape of Facebook ads with new features and algorithm tweaks Her business has already grown from her being the single employee to a team of 13 They’re still paying down debt with the goal of being debt free by age 40 With her job being location independent, even if she’s working they can live a lifestyle very similar to one many expect when they are financially independent The business hasn’t been making a ton of money right away because she’s been growing the company but is now transitioning to focus on the profit We also discuss the example she gets to set for her kids as they see her make income from home doing something she really enjoys Then we get into some more technical aspects of how to do Facebook ads Some of the tips she recommends is testing against different groups and optimizing the ads by constantly testing and tweaking Facebook can also help you find a look-a-like audience which is where you feed Facebook some information about the audience you already have and it finds more people like you She recommends static images when you are looking for someone to click on a blog post Then using videos for things like webinars She is also starting to test expanding the business to Instagram and Pinterest Her #1 tip for people starting a business or trying to reach FI focuses on building goals Key Takeaways Savers can be made: Many of us in gravitate towards this content because we have always been frugal but that’s not a requirement. You can learn to be a saver. It’s a skill set like any other. While some are naturally more gifted, anyone can become expert with enough training and practice. Taking a step back can open up options: Often people are terrified of quitting their day job due to concerns about their money not lasting. That’s a fair concern but realize when you stop spending 50 hours a week on a job you don’t love, you may discover a passion that given time will become profitable. Yes there are bad unknowns, but there are also positive ones You are worthy of an investment: People invest in businesses, their children, maybe even their employees, but we are so reluctant to invest in ourselves. The world moves at too fast of a pace to be complacent and frankly you deserve some investing too. Call to Action Consider giving in and buying that premium content or tool that you believe will help you grow your business, land your dream job, or just bring happiness to your life. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Links from the show: Book: Profit First Free Facebook Ads Course: MonicaLouie.com/FIshow Contact Monica: Blog: MonicaLouie.com Twitter: @MonicaRLouie Facebook: Monica Louie Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Joel from FI 180. It’s so inspiring to hear someone who had real spending issues and quickly got them under control. Joel wasn’t forced to in order to take on debt, he had a wake-up call in the form of a car crash involving his wife. Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a potentially life-altering event to step back and reevaluate your life. Thankfully Joel’s wife is fine and they don’t miss their old spending ways. The transition they made was remarkable. They were set for a life of working into their 70’s and quickly make changes that have allowed Joel to retire at 34 and his wife the option to do so whenever she chooses. Well, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Joel’s parents never made a lot of money ($35k per year) Out of college though Joel started making ~$55k Never having money before he just started blowing it all on crazy things like $3500 t.v. His wife has always had more financial restraint Joel simply didn’t know how to manage money because he had never had it but wasn’t in debt Joel’s wife didn’t want to merge finances because of his spending habits To combat his spending, he would just continue to work more About 6 years ago after his wife got in a bad car wreck Joel made his “financial 180” He states that he really doesn’t miss the spending since making his changes That lavish spending just became normal and wasn’t fun anymore Now with low spending, anything lavish really seems like a treat Joel comments on how people don’t see from the outside how much strain the work it takes to live a lavish lifestyle can take on your life when you’re simply viewing a lavish lifestyle on Facebook/Instagram In 2012 they spend $107,000 $16k shopping, $13k food, $12k travel, $12k bills, $11k cars, etc Now they spend between $25k-30k per year Their first big move on lowering expenses was going to a one car household They continued their transition to lower spending by targeting one thing each month It took them about three to four years to fully make their transition Joel states that for them cooking for themselves was the hardest part of the transition They cut cable, extra car insurance, water delivery, and home monitoring and other things included slowing internet speed, lowering cell phone data package After one year they cut an additional $1,080 a month from their budget By 2015 they lowered their spending to $34k per year They actually went too far and got over 80% savings rate and decided that was the deprivation Joel has stepped away from working but his wife enjoys work and continues to do so We discuss how the retire early part of FIRE gets all the attention while the Financial Independent part is much more important Joel is 34 and they are considering having children but aren’t sure He talks about how not having a job doesn’t ensure you’ll be productive that it still has to be something you’re motivated to do It took Joel a few months to build that structure that led to a proactive day Joel even discusses feeling younger since retiring We then talk about how Joel built up the confidence to quit his job He came up with the quote that “His worst case scenario, is everyone else’s everyday scenario” That means that if he needs to go back to work, so what, everyone else works, it’s not that scary They also decided to pay their house off quicker to remove that fixed cost and make it a little less scary We end the episode with Joel stressing finding a good work-life balance and not focusing so much on one particular number Key Takeaways Having money can be a problem: Joel came out of college with decent pay and no major debt worries. Sounds good right? Well, he also wasn’t prepared for how to handle it. He wasn’t forced to learn frugal habits early on. While we may never feel sorry for someone in Joel’s position, it is a real thing to be cautious of. Don’t wait for your crash: A crash involving his wife led Joel to make these radical changes. Luckily everything turned out ok, but it is often too late to make changes after a major disaster. Build a life that is resilient to trauma and unforeseen struggles. You won’t miss the money: You may be really nervous about reducing your spending. Won’t it be painful? Take it from Joel, your spending becomes normal and unexciting. When you become more intentional, these treats are much more meaningful. Reducing your spending will actually add joy to your life. Call to Action Write out a 6 month calendar. Pick one subject area for each month. Reduce that spending or at least analyze it one month at a time and compare your end progress with where you started. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android   Contact Joel: Blog: FI180.com Twitter: FI180 Facebook: FI180 Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)  

On today’s episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Ryan Jacob who has one of the more gutsy stories you’ll hear. Ryan has decided to step into a mini-retirement or super lean FIRE plan in order to get away from his soul-crushing job. He was in an extremely corporate setting with big money in his future but decided instead to take his nest egg of just over $300k and call it a day. Instead of a cubicle he now spends most of his time on the water catching some awesome fish. It’s obvious to see that Ryan is looking for more than fishing in his retirement and is itching to start his own business. Want to know what kind of business he has had and will have? Curious what life looks like when retiring on $300k? Well, go take a listen to today’s episode and let us hear what you think. Episode Summary Grew up middle class with a stay at home mom and his dad was a self-employed contractor His mom was a saver while his dad was a saver and his mom’s habits rubbed off on him He would always save everything even as a kid Ryan even started investing money at age 14 after he’d saved up $2k through a custodial account with his mom It’s the late 90’s during the dot com boom His mom sets him up with an adviser and he lost everything in that dot com bubble That experience actually pushed him to learn more about the market instead of discouraging him In college, he studied finance and he realized the adviser who was overseeing money for the whole family was actually doing some shady investing practices Ryan really wanted to start up his own business even at 18 but his mom pushed him to go to a traditional four-year college We talk about the huge gap in financial education in high schools and college He worked for 4 years after college as a consultant and an analyst at a management consulting firm making around $60-70K saving around 40% Part of that career path required an MBA so he went off and did that and came back to a salary of $110k-$120k Ryan talks about his path  wasn’t a flip of the switch that it was a very thorough and long term plan Even though he was marching towards retiring early he didn’t discover the financial independent movement until just under 2 years ago Ryan stepped away from work after fulfilling his last commitment with his company after saving up just over $300k He’s aware that he’ll probably need to work again but he’s in no rush A really interesting take was his discussion about how if he’d kept working longer and saved up so much to have a safe retirement, he wouldn’t have the push to start up his own business which is a big goal of his In college, Ryan had started up a business which was a painting service including a van that he paid $75 for The group made $70k over that summer From that point, we swapped into digging into Ryan’s investing strategy His first recommendation is to avoid the percentage based advisers and swap to one time fee-based advisers He also recommends robo advisers such as M1 finance, Betterment, or Wealth-front The number one recommendation though is Vanguard for their index funds Vanguard even has their own advisers We then transition into what Ryan was looking into doing in retirement His goals are related to ocean fishing, hunting, reading, spending time with family, brewing beer, and start a financial advisor business You can really tell how refreshing it is for Ryan to get to reconnect with his family after his profession took him away from them for so long He rounds out the episode by pleading with people to understand that the path to financial independence isn’t common and you’ll have a lot of people try to stop you or second guess but to stay the course and be confident Key Takeaways There is a middle-ground: Notice how Ryan accepts that he may need to go back to work? That’s totally ok with him. He chose to put himself first and get out of a toxic situation. He could have stressed and plunged through several more years of misery but decided instead to find some middle ground. Family time is ticking: One of the major issues with retiring normally is you get so little time with your family because at that point they are so old they may either be dead or much less functional. Set aside some time in your life for family now. Jump-ship moments: Ryan had a great plan on when to walk away because he knew he could retain his bonuses and have college paid for if he would just stick it out to a certain point. That point then became an easy way for him to retire since he met all his obligations. Keep an eye out for these jump-ship moments for yourself. Call to Action Take a good hard look at what you image your most rewarding day to look like and use that as your initial FI goal instead of stressing about the money for the additional things like entertainment. 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! Sign up for our exclusive newsletter Join our Facebook Group Leave us a voicemail Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review! The FI show on iTunes The FI show on Android Links from the Episode Bogleheads   Contact Ryan: Facebook: Ryan Jacob   Learn More About Your Hosts: Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)