Afford Anything
You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life.
How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles?
On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing.
But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think.
In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models.
Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.
526
Your Money or Your Life -- with Vicki Robin, be...
#123: In the 1970's, a woman named Vicki Robin teamed up with a man named Joe Dominguez. They came from different backgrounds: she was an Ivy League graduate with a comfortable upbringing; he was raised in Spanish Harlem on "welfare cheese." But they...
63 min
527
Ask Paula - I'd Like to Airbnb a Yurt. Should I?
#122: Tony lives in Chicago, where the returns on rental properties are so-so. He's thinking about investing in Indianapolis, where he consistently finds rental properties with cap rates that are greater than 8 percent. Should he invest locally, so...
48 min
528
How I Retired at Age 32 - with Liz Thames from ...
#121: After Liz Thames graduated from college, she couldn't find a job. "Nowhere would hire me," Thames says. "I had what I thought was this nice resume, and I sent out over 50 applications. Nowhere called me back." She took a temporary job at a...
61 min
529
Ask Paula - I'm Retiring at 53. How Will Early ...
#120: Roger Whitney, age 51, calls himself The Retirement Answer Man. As a financial planner, investment analyst and podcast host, he focuses on helping Baby Boomers craft a traditional (past-age-60) retirement. Today, he joins me to answer two...
45 min
530
How Much Can I Spend in Retirement? - with Dr. ...
#119: Once upon a time, in southern California in 1994, there lived a man named William Bengen. He read many claims, widespread at the time, that said that since the markets return at least 7-9 percent compounding rates on average, retirees could...
59 min
531
Ask Paula - How Do I Buy a Foreclosure? - and O...
#118: Questions -- I get questions! Today, I’m tackling four queries about real estate investing that come from the audience. Here are the details: Sam says: I work full-time and I’m not handy, so I definitely need a property manager. I’ve found...
44 min
532
How to Avoid Killing Your Spouse (and Should Yo...
#117: My friend and financial expert Farnoosh Torabi joins me to answer a relationship & money question from a listener named Janice.⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ Janice is engaged, and she calls to ask: Should she get married?⠀⠀ ⠀⠀ She earns double what...
53 min
533
Ask Paula -- Help! I'm Underwater on My Car!
#116: Stacy and her boyfriend would like to downsize to one vehicle. But they're collectively $14,500 underwater on their car loans.
Stacy owes $11,000 on her car, but its trade-in value is $7,200. She's paying a 12.74% interest rate and her...
80 min
534
How Dave Ramsey Taught His Kids About Money -- ...
#115: Rachel Cruze was born the year her father, Dave Ramsey, filed for bankruptcy. During her childhood, she watched her parents transition from struggling and rebuilding from their bankruptcy, to becoming debt-free multimillionaires. Her dad went on...
56 min
535
Ask Paula -- How Should I Invest $100K in Real ...
#114: This week, I answer four questions about real estate investing from the audience. Joelle asks: I own a home outright on the West Coast. I’m thinking about taking out $100,000 from my home equity, and using this money to buy a rental property....
58 min
536
How I Run a Six-Figure Business and Host an Air...
#113: Natalie Sisson was tired of the corporate world. She wanted freedom, adventure and fulfillment. In 2008, she quit her job and co-founded a tech company -- but soon she discovered that running a company felt a lot like having a day job. Two years...
55 min
537
Ask Paula - How to Convince a Spouse to Invest ...
#112: How can I convince my spouse to invest in low-fee index funds? How should my fiancé and I combine our finances? If I'd like to invest in rental properties, should I also buy stocks? Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to tackle...
49 min
538
How We Retired at Age 38 and 41 -- with Tanja H...
#111: Tanja Hester and Mark Bunge used to have demanding but fulfilling careers as political and social cause consultants. While they loved the mission behind their work, they grew tired of the exhausting hours and grueling travel. Their home felt...
55 min
539
Ask Paula -- Get Ready for the Next Recession
#110: Happy New Years! We're kicking off this year on a bright and cheerful note -- with a conversation about the impending recession! Yay! The U.S. stock market is at a peak, continuing its 9-year bull run. The markets have been rising since March...
50 min
540
How to Create a Complaint-Free World -- with Wi...
#109: Happy holidays! I thought it would be nice to wrap up this year with a lighthearted holiday episode about the importance of keeping a positive attitude. Will Bowen, my guest on the final episode of 2017 (wow!), started a campaign to motivate...
38 min
541
Ask Paula - I Don't Know How to Invest
#108: Former financial advisor joins me to answer audience questions about investing strategies, early retirement, and tax planning. Whitnee calls in with this: I'm 31, and my husband and I save half of our combined income. We've maxed out our H.S.A....
48 min
542
How Scott Harrison Brought Clean Water to 7.3 M...
#107: Scott Harrison spent 10 years as a New York City nightclub promoter, partying until sunrise every morning and ingesting almost every substance imaginable. But when he was 28, he realized his life lacked meaning. "My tombstone might say, 'here's...
69 min
543
Ask Paula - How to Estimate Repair Costs, File ...
#106: How do you search for rental properties out-of-state? Should I offer a lease-option contract to my friends? How can I estimate repair and maintenance costs? And can you deep-dive into bookkeeping and taxes for rental real estate? I tackle these...
66 min
544
Life as an Experiment -- with A.J. Jacobs
#105: A.J. Jacobs is the Editor-at-Large of Esquire Magazine and the New York Times bestselling author of multiple books. His three TED Talks have collectively garnered more than three million views. He describes himself as "a father of three, husband...
55 min
545
Ask Paula - How Can I Learn about Money from th...
#104: This week, I answer 4 questions about quitting a depressing job, learning how to ask probing questions, saving for a downpayment, and more. Edward asks: How can I learn from other people around me? I'm 28, and my wife and I have some money that...
36 min
546
Random Smattering of Lessons on Money, Work and...
#103: On today’s show, I'm sharing this random smattering of lessons on money and life.⠀ ⠀ 1) Simplify everything.⠀ 2) Risk = Probability x Magnitude.⠀ 3) Curate.⠀ 4) Never delay gratification.⠀ 5) Know your net worth, relative to your...
54 min
547
Ask Paula - Should I Sell My Rental Property an...
#102: This week, I'm back to answering questions posed by listeners of the podcast. An anonymous listener asks: Should we continue to rent out our home, or should we sell it? We bought a home in California but have since moved to New York and have...
53 min
548
The Code of Trust, with Robin Dreeke
#101: Robin Dreeke is former head of the FBI’s Counterintelligence Behavioral Analysis Program. His primary role, at the time, was to thwart foreign spies and recruit American spies. That's not an easy task. To accomplish this, Dreeke needed...
51 min
549
Life After Financial Freedom, with Brandon - th...
#100: Over a year-and-a-half and two million plus downloads later, the Afford Anything podcast has hit another awesome milestone: the 100th episode! To celebrate, I recorded this one live from Ecuador with my good friend Brandon, otherwise known as...
54 min
550
How I Grew BiggerPockets From 0 to 870,000 Memb...
#99: Thirteen years ago, Joshua Dorkin's friends teased him about starting a website that seemed to have no future. "I would get calls from my buddies who would literally call me on my cell phone [and say] 'Hey Josh, we just walked past a penny on the...
60 min