The Financial Independence Show

Starting from a 3rd world Country TJ shares his story and what life was like growing up in Nigeria. Born in a middle-class family, his father instilled basic money ideas that have stuck with him even as he pursues financial independence. He learned from his father to be frugal, and intentional with money. Only focusing money on things that bring true value to his life. Always Capitalize on Opportunity TJ shares how there are only so many opportunities growing up in a third world country. However, being in the US, or other first world countries, we have so many more opportunities available to us. And it is so important that we take full advantage of them. “a lot of times our world gets so small” This quote is so powerful and true. We forget that all over the world there are millions of people who do not have access to the opportunities we have. We should always recognize that privilege and always capitalize on these opportunities. Believing in the Midst of Adversity After earning his Masters in Mechanical Engineering TJ struggled finding work. It was the lowest point in his life, and it forces him to grow as a person. In those days, TJ and his wife had a combined household income of $24K/year. He credits The Alchemist, as the spark for finding hope in the midst of a hopeless situation. This was what broke the chains and made him start making changes. Finding Personal Finance After picking up reading, TJ found Dave Ramsey, who first introduced him to personal finance and other money concepts. At this point, their income had significantly increased, as well as their savings rate. The first couple years focused on paying off debt as Dave suggests. After the debt was gone, it was time to move on to bigger and better things! Starting a FIRE Naturally after graduating from the Dave Ramsey mindset, TJ dove deep into the personal finance world, and found the concept of FIRE. Following other bloggers, and learning from them, TJ and his wife started to implement these strategies that have essentially changed their life! “The people that are doing this are no better than you”, we can’t stress this point enough. You only need to make an intentional choice with your money to crush the FI game. Think Differently Our message is to be more open-minded. VTSAX is an awesome investment lever, but it is not the ONLY way. We want to encourage people to be more open-minded, and learn all these different strategies that exist out there, like possibly investing a small portion of your net worth in single stocks. Or using leveraged real estate to build wealth vs buying 100% cash down. We want to be open-minded enough to explore all these strategies. Focus on Growing Income Don’t settle for a $20K a year income. Let that be your starting point. Each one of us has the capacity to make more income, we just need to pick up more skills to command more income in the marketplace. It is not about putting anyone down; it is about encouraging people to reach their full potential. Random Fun Facts: TJ had his first McChicken at age 17!!! Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Resources Tools of Titans The Alchemist Personal Capital Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)

How to Find FIRE Being naturally frugal, Brad kind of stumbled his way into FIRE. After starting the 9-5, Brad anticipated working like the typical employee and retiring at age 59 ½ with millions of dollars. Before long on this path, Brad came to the realization that he didn’t find a lot of joy in spending a lot of money. That is when the FIRE was sparked and Brad dove in headfirst into learning more about escaping the hamster wheel. Getting Your Spouse on Board Brad and his wife Ashley have always been on the same page with money. They both realized that spending money on frivolous things was not a priority. Rather saving and focusing on happiness outside of material things was their top priority. Brad’s Tip on Marriage: Make sure you are looking for a spouse that has a similar mindset as you about money. Otherwise, you will have a lot bigger issues than money down the line! The Limiting Belief of the Cost of Having Children There is a popular misconception in the FIRE community, that kids cost too much money, and that they can be a drain on finances. The truth is, it doesn’t have to be that way. Yes, diapers and baby food, and toys cost money, but if you are intentional about finances, having children shouldn’t drastically affect your budget. Another mistake we make is ripping the things that bring our kids joy, out of their hands BECAUSE it costs money. And that is just no way to live, they are the reason we pursue FIRE, we shouldn’t make their lives miserable to save money. Traveling with a kid isn’t easy, Brad and his wife are constantly tiptoeing around the RV at certain hours because their daughter is asleep, but it’s all worth it for them. Actionable Quote: “You just lean into that discomfort and go with it!” Making the Jump from Banking Brad started his career in banking as a financial advisor after studying economics in college. He quickly realized 6 months into his career, that this wasn’t the life for him, and he started plotting his way out of this “lucrative career”, literally willing to accept any job that came his way. Next, he landed a tech job using Salesforce as a junior administrator. He leaned into the career and gave it 100% effort. Within 6 months he was stacking certifications which ultimately led to him making more money. He went from $36,000 a year to $110,000 within 2 years! Designing a Life Worth Living When Brad found out he and his wife were expecting, he decided to transition to part-time work as a sales force consultant. He could have continued along the trajectory he was already going, but he decided to spend more time with his wife and daughter were much more important. He messaged local companies via LinkedIn looking for part-time work. One gave him a shot by means of a 2-week contract, and he absolutely knocked it out of the park. Starting Your Own Company With all the freed up mind space from going from working 60-80-hour work weeks to only working 20 hours a week, Brad decided to step outside of his comfort zone and start his own business. Again, as we see consistently in Brad’s story, he jumped in head first, started his company over a weekend and started taking on new clients. Now he is only working 25 hours a week and making over $150,000 a year Brad’s Actionable Tip: Google “your state” + “how to start an LLC” I know it sounds funny, but it is really that simple, yet most people won’t do it! Traveling the Country Brad and his wife are traveling the country in an RV. This isn’t something that has been a lifelong passion for them. They literally heard a friend talking about it one day, and in 6 weeks they had rented out their house bought a truck and RV and hit the road. Brad and Ashley hardly stay places longer than a week. They are constantly exploring new spots ad locations. Trips are planned not much more than 2-3 weeks in advance. They just dive in and explore! Quote of the Episode: “Back yourself into a corner and figure out how to make it work” Life Optimization Brad leaves us an awesome piece of advice if you are burned out on optimizing, take a breather. That is what FI is about in the first place. Be sure to enjoy the journey, instead of burning out trying to hit some arbitrary number. This is all about the pursuit of happiness, not just hitting FI. What does this Lifestyle Cost? This entire trip is only costing Brad and his wife about $40,000 for the entire year. Compared to their normal $45,000/ year lifestyle back home they are actually saving money. Random things will pop up that are unexpected and cost money, but this journey is all about flexibility. Bottom line, if you can afford to buy a truck and a trailer and then you can afford $700 a week after that, then you can afford this lifestyle! Brad’s #1 Goal: Dominating parenting! That is the most important thing, regardless of if he has to work till 65. Fun Fact of the Episode: Brad grew up on a farm, and his family never really subscribe to the idea of Television. He never watched Nickelodeon! Brad’s favorite cartoon was Pokémon. He still has a Pokémon hunter sticker on the back of his car today! Join the Community Thank you so much for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Leave us a voicemail Resources Salesforce Personal Capital Travel Rewards Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog) Follow Brad’s Journey HeadsCarolinaTailsCalifornia YouTube Instagram Facebook

What FIRE Means to Us Cody and TJ share their biggest reasons for pursuing financial independence. On their path, they’ve learned that money is just a tool, and it should not control your life. This concept simply allows you to buy your time back. It allows you take back control of your future, and focus all of your waking hours on things you are absolutely passionate about. This what makes FIRE so important! Highlighted Idea: Cody says he is “not getting the best use of his life hours” by crunching numbers behind a desk or working on projects that mean nothing to him. A Backwards System TJ highlights how we have been conditioned from a young age to pursue things that don’t matter…. Like getting a good degree, so you can find a good job, to make the most money. What’s sad is, these things are never enough. So we double down, in hopes of getting a promotion, or a 10% raise. These things mean nothing! FIRE frees you from that hamster wheel mentality. Instead of going down a path that leaves you stuck for 40 years, spend the next 5-10 years designing a life you can’t wait to live! The Trappings of the Hamster Wheel Stop spending your money and all of your paycheck trying to keep up with the jones. When all you do is focus on buying new stuff, you literally trap yourself I the 9-5, with no possible means of escaping. “They cannot leave their job no matter how miserable they get, no matter how much they hate their job, they cannot leave…” Does this sound familiar? This is the sad reality many Americans are living today! Make a change. Choose a different future! It Takes Introspection These days we are constantly bombarded with ads about how inadequate we are. And about how we need all these external items to make us happy. So we spend 40 years doing the same thing every single day, in hopes of catching that ever elusive leprechaun…. Happiness! It takes introspection to realize that all you really want is your time back. Time to spend with family, and loved ones. FIRE will set you free! It is Simple Math Cody highlights an actual example, take the example of a person spending, $2,000 a month to rent a house, and $400 a month to lease a car. Just by being intentional and finding a way to cut those expenses I half, they can save close to $15,000 a year! Just choose value over keeping up with the Joneses. By making these types of choice in multiple other aspects of your life like this, it is easy to understand how one can quickly save tons and tons of money. Life After Retirement Both Cody and TJ are on the fast lane on the path to FI. TJ is realizing that he may want to pull the retirement trigger even long before officially hitting FI. When you find your passions, those are the things you want to spend most of your time doing. FIRE allows you to find yourself Cody’s post-retirement life involves not only podcasting but teaching kids in high school and college about money and finances, traveling the world with his girlfriend, and helping others who might be less fortunate. Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for another episode of the FIRE Below Zero Podcast. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Resources Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog) Personal Capital

What exactly is FIRE? Financial independence, retire early. Financial independence is based on the 4% rule which was formulated from the Trinity study, the idea is that if you can survive comfortably at a 4% withdrawal rate from your nest egg (invested assets), provided that the assets were invested in low-cost index funds, you essentially never had to work for money ever again. Which brings in the RE portion (retire early). If you can build up a nest egg with 25 times your annual expenses (inverse of 4%), you could essentially retire early. It just depends on how quickly you can build up those assets. Useful related resources: https://www.mrmoneymustache.com/2012/01/13/the-shockingly-simple-math-behind-early-retirement/ What’s the Alternative? The hamster wheel…. This is the path that awaits most Americans. 40 years in an unfulfilling job, doing something you completely hate. This is depressing, yet this is the path most choose! The Solution? Being intentional with money. Choosing to live way below your means. Cody mentioned working in a W2 banking job, yet ONLY spending $12K a year. This is a choice Cody made to escape the hamster wheel! Cody also talked about building side hustles that can cover his monthly expenses, like starting a blog, podcast and a disc golf company. Related resources: The 4-Hour Workweek SiteGround (website hosting service) “We’re on the same path but didn’t come from the same point” – This is such a powerful idea. Everyone’s journey will look completely different, but we can all implement these simple strategies and change our lives! Just a few years ago TJ was unemployed and in debt, now he and his wife are well on their way to financial independence. Moral of the story, just start! Our Gift to You Cody has a superpower he shares with us on the podcast. And we are so excited to share this with you! We will need some group participation, but this will be well worth your time for the gift at the end! Join the Community Thank you so much for joining us for the first episode. Here are some awesome ways to say in touch, and always have these ideas and strategies at your fingertips. Join our Facebook Group Sign up for our newsletter Resources Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog) Half Life Theory (TJ’s blog)