ChooseFI
691 episodes - English - Latest episode: 26 days ago - ★★★★★ - 4.8K ratingsHow would your life change if you reached Financial Independence and got to the point where working is optional? What actions can you take today to make that not just possible but probable. Jonathan & Brad explore the tactics that the FI community uses to reclaim decades of their lives. They discuss reducing expenses, crushing debt, tax optimization, building passive income streams through online businesses and real estate and how to travel the world for free. Every episode is packed with actionable tips and no topic is too big or small as long as it speeds up the process of reaching financial independence.
Homepage Apple Podcasts Google Podcasts Overcast Castro Pocket Casts RSS feed
Episodes
290 | We're Talking Millions | Paul Merriman
January 25, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 85.9 MBDoes your portfolio own enough of the companies that carry a lot of the growth over extended periods of time? When you buy index funds, you aren't as diversified as you think you are. Cap weighted index funds mean you are buying a lot of the companies that are doing really well. But there are two asset classes Paul Merriman is a fan of that he thinks don't get enough attention, small cap and value. Although many people claim to believe in a buy and hold strategy with investing, their b...
289 | The Roth 401K and Meal Planning Made Easy
January 22, 2021 06:00 - 58 minutes - 81 MBFor almost 12 months, we've all been trying to do the best that we can. As frequently discussed on the show, we try to do things slightly different, optimize in the ways that we can, and make the best of the situation. Jonathan's wife Dani has been coming up with all kinds of creative little activities for the kids. Even Jonathan was recruited for a rock painting project. Brad has been listening to a new podcast, Ordinary Sherpa, created by Heidi, a member of Jonathan's Talent Stacker ...
288 | Mad Fientist
January 18, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 92.7 MBShould you rush to reach FI? Or use it as a map in a lifelong pursuit to master your relationship with time, money, and happiness? Brandon, from the Mad Fientist, wishes he would have found more free time to work on other goals while on his journey to FI. When Brandon was first on the show four years ago, he had just reached FI and discussed the psychological hurdles he had to overcome. What's changed for him since then, and with the benefit of hindsight, what would he do differently? ...
287 | The Examined Life
January 15, 2021 06:00 - 50 minutes - 70.1 MBAre you the kind of person who sets New Year's resolutions? Like many Americans, Jonathan used to set weight loss goals for the new year, but not this year. Instead, he and his accountability partner, JD Roth, spent the previous nine months working on it and began the year, at or very close to their goal weight. Not having to work on big weight loss goals is allowing Jonathan to be aware and focus on testing smaller adjustments that will make him feel better and have more energy. Brad ...
286 | I Like to Dabble
January 11, 2021 06:00 - 39 minutes - 54.1 MBMany industries we once believed were recession-proof have proven otherwise. What can we do to build multiple streams of income and the resilience needed so that we're not reliant on anyone else for financial security? Side hustles and passive income are key strategies. Daniella worked for an IT company for four years when they laid her the weekend before her wedding. Luckily, she quickly found a remote job working as a contractor but was laid off from it as well. The layoffs ruined Da...
285 | Beginning of a New Era
January 08, 2021 06:00 - 50 minutes - 70.3 MBWhat You'll Get Out Of Today's Show 2021 kicks off the fifth year of the ChooseFI podcast. Despite being at different points in their own financial journeys, Brad and Jonathan have experienced the benefit of incremental growth with both their finances and self-improvement. While it may seem simple and even mediocre, they are living amazing lives. You need to control what you can control, starting from wherever you are. If you can optimize at the margins, you can reclaim decades of your li...
284 | JL Collins Returns
January 04, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 98.9 MBWhen it comes to investing strategies, one of the most influential books available claims that if you keep it simple, you'll actually do better. Here to talk about the philosophy behind his investment strategy is one ofChooseFI's most requested guests, JL Collins, author of The Simple Path to Wealth, and popular blog series, The Stock Series. The influence of JL Collins cannot be overstated. The content he produced changed the trajectory of Brad's life and made him feel comfortable inv...
283 | End of Year Wins | Part 3
January 01, 2021 06:00 - 1 hour - 86.7 MBIt's Part 3 of ChooseFI's end-of-year wins where we hear directly from our community members. During this live event, listeners shared the actions they've taken during the past year that have helped them to spend less, earn more, and enjoy the journey. This year, the year-end-win episode took place in a three hour live Facebook and YouTube event featuring around 20 members of the community. Are you building an amazing life or are you a cog stuck in a very depressing wheel? It could be ...
282 | End of Year Wins | Part 2
December 28, 2020 06:00 - 56 minutes - 78.3 MBIt's Part 2 of ChooseFI's end-of-year wins where we hear directly from our community members. During this live event, listeners shared the actions they've taken during the past year that have helped them to spend less, earn more, and enjoy the journey. This year, the year-end-win episode took place in a three hour live Facebook and YouTube event featuring around 20 members of the community. After listening to the podcast for months or years, how did individual members of the community ...
281 | End of Year Wins | Part 1
December 25, 2020 06:00 - 41 minutes - 57.5 MBIt's the ChooseFI Christmas Edition where we hear end-of-year wins direct from our community members. During this live event, listeners shared the actions they've taken during the past year that have helped them to spend less, earn more, and enjoy the journey. This year, the year-end-win episode took place in a three hour live Facebook and YouTube event featuring around 20 members of the community. Despite how tough this year has been, many people were able to implement some of the str...
280 | The Debt Free Guys
December 21, 2020 06:00 - 52 minutes - 71.9 MBIs it possible to live fabulously without being fabulously broke? The Debt Free Guys say you can. After a year and a half of dating, John and David finally came out of the closet to each other regarding their finances. Between the two of them, they had $51,000 in credit card debt even though they had 15 years of experience in financial services helping others with managing their money. Starting with the first credit card his parents gave him for emergencies, David began a 17-year run ca...
279 | Be Wise, Your Financial Future is at Stake | Dan Otter
December 18, 2020 06:00 - 39 minutes - 55 MBTeachers have been getting taken advantage of when it comes to their investment options. Thankfully, the internet and technology have made it easier to get the word out and help teachers wanting to do better. During his first year of teaching, Dan Otter was asked if he cared about his financial future. He politely listened to a hardball sales pitch about an investment scheme he didn't fully understand. Rather than blindly following other teachers at his school who had invested in it, D...
278 |Retire Early...For You | Amy Blacklock
December 14, 2020 06:00 - 45 minutes - 62.9 MBDon't fall for the misconception that financial independence is just for 20 and 30-year-olds. It is for everyone at any age and it's not too late to get started. Amy had a wake-up call in her early 40s. Starting with no net worth, through flexibility and adaptability, she got started and reclaimed decades of her life. Amy describes herself as a trier of many things. She used to wonder how other people do it. How do other people drive new SUVs, live in a large home, dine out, and save fo...
277 | Gauging the Weight of your Portfolio
December 11, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 83.1 MBSetting up your financial life includes updating your investor policy statement and examining the rationale for equal weighting inside your index funds. Brad is giving his physical fitness a boost in December with a month-long burpee challenge. A full-body exercise that can be done quickly at home without any equipment, Jonathan asks what would change about your life if you took the challenge of doing 10 burpees every day for the next year? Brad was inspired to take on the burpee challe...
276 | How to Set up Your Financial Life | Investing and Banking
December 07, 2020 06:00 - 52 minutes - 72.3 MBContinuing the conversation discussing financial basics, today's episode covers how to get started investing, banking, and setting up your financial life. As a recent college graduate, Brad had the motivation to get his financial life together but didn't really know how to go about doing it. During his first job, he wanted to open up a Roth IRA after learning about the power of compound interest. Unfortunately, the investment advisor who helped get him set up invested in a fund with a ...
275 | Board games and War Games
December 04, 2020 06:00 - 51 minutes - 71.2 MBIt's no secret that Brad and Jonathan's families are board game fans. One way they can typically save 20-60% on the cost of board games is by watching for price drops on Amazon using CamelCamelCamel. Brad was able to save a substantial amount on the purchase of a squat rack simply by being able to stand by and wait for the price to drop. Listener Liz heard about CamelCamelCamel on the podcast and added a list of board games to her watchlist. She was eventually able to purchase all of th...
274 | Tax Planning 2020 | Sean Mullaney
November 30, 2020 06:00 - 53 minutes - 74.5 MBIt's end-of-year tax planning time. As you get further along in your financial independence journey, there are likely more end-of-year tax planning items you'll need to be aware of. Having a checklist to review annually is useful. It's been an unusual year and December is that time to begin making end-of-year tax considerations. In addition to the normal checklist, there may be additional items to consider in this remarkably different year. Sean Mullaney says unique to 2020 are Roth con...
273 | What's an Emergency?
November 27, 2020 06:00 - 48 minutes - 67 MBWe're going back to basics and taking a deep dive into the Roth IRA and the levers, tools, and investing strategies available to investors. Although ChooseFI offers the free FI101 course, taking small actions are important. Get up to speed and start taking action with the free five-day challenge by going to ChooseFI/start. ChooseFI has presented basic investing strategies over the years and will revisit in the coming months to distill and hash out all of the different methods to unders...
272 | Understanding Compound Interest & Investing for Beginners
November 23, 2020 06:00 - 39 minutes - 54.2 MBAs the ChooseFI community continues to grow, it's necessary to discuss some fundamental basics that serve the audience who are just getting started, as well as provide a refresher for those who have been on the path for a long time. In this episode, we revisit the magic of compound interest and investing for beginners. Getting to financial independence where work becomes optional and your investments are producing enough income to live off of for the rest of your life is easier when you u...
271 | Future Proof
November 20, 2020 06:00 - 1 hour - 92.4 MBIn a world of uncertainty, how can we future-proof our skillset and also create an environment to help our kids thrive as adults? Growing up, Brad never thought about entrepreneurship, but as he has gotten more into this FI mindset, the concept has shifted for him and how he is a model and mentor for his girls. While Brad initially thought virtual learning might not be good, he has reframed it and now believes his daughters will look back on this year as a time when they were living th...
270 | Designing your Year for 2021 | Dominick Quartuccio
November 16, 2020 06:00 - 52 minutes - 72.6 MBOne of ChooseFI's most popular guests is back! Dominick Quartuccio returns to talk about after the shock of 2020, how to bounce back and what it looks like to design your life for next year. Brad's relationship with Dominick goes back to when they were in college together. After reconnecting several years ago, Dominick has become a source of inspiration and a mentor to Brad. In previous episodes, conversations with Dominick have centered around the idea of drift. It's the state of exist...
269 | Let's make Lemonade with a Twist
November 13, 2020 06:00 - 52 minutes - 72.5 MBChooseFI Facebook Community Manager recently posted a meme that hit home with Brad. It said, “Plot twist: 2020 has actually been the best year of your life. You faced challenge after challenge, you've adapted, and you've overcome. 2020 has forced you to grow exponentially. Don't take that for granted.“ 2020 had been Jonathan's best year ever. Instead of giving in to fear, doubt, and insecurity, he decided to lean in. By being more intentional with the things that were important to him, li...
268 | We Want Guac | Financial Independence for Gen Z
November 09, 2020 06:00 - 48 minutes - 67.1 MBOptimize your finances during your 20s, no matter what your income is, and build significant wealth. But what are your options when working an entry-level job when you have a large amount of student loan debt? Amy's first job out of college was an entry-level position earning $30,000. By the age of 25 had a $100,000 net worth and has tripled her salary in the last few years by learning how to market herself. The average cost of a four-year college degree in 2019 is $122,000. Amy was for...
267 | Timing the Market
November 06, 2020 06:00 - 47 minutes - 65.1 MBFollowing US Election Day results, it's important to remember the alligators and kittens, a concept to approach overall mental wellbeing. The negative influences in life are alligators and all of the things that make life better are kittens. Focus on getting rid of the alligators. It's a human bias to focus on the negative. How do you focus time and attention on the things that make life better? For Brad, he cut watching the news out of his life which has helped him to achieve a better m...
266 | Breaking the Cycle of Poverty | Yanely Espinal
November 02, 2020 06:00 - 53 minutes - 73.8 MBYanely grew up in a low-income household in Brooklyn and then attended Brown University. But by the time she graduated, she had accumulated a bunch of credit card debt that she was hiding from her family. She tried to figure out dealing with her debt on her own by reading books, listening to podcasts, and watching YouTube videos. After paying it off, she thought it was ridiculous she had never learned it in school and started her own YouTube channel to share her story. That eventually le...
265 | Talent Stacker
October 30, 2020 05:00 - 51 minutes - 70.5 MBWhat's in your talent stack? Inspired by content discovered over the last four years while producing ChooseFI, Jonathan has spent the last couple of months hard at work on the side on a new passion project. As said many times here on the show, financial independence isn't about doing less, like sitting on a beach sipping cocktails. It's about aligning your what you value with your life and having the freedom to pursue what you are passionate about. ChooseFI has given Jonathan the oppor...
264 | Recognizing Scarcity and Uncertainty | Leisa Peterson
October 26, 2020 05:00 - 39 minutes - 54.3 MBYour money story informs so much of your life even if you're not aware of it. For 30 years, Leisa Peterson has been researching and studying how trauma in early life contributes to the money challenges faced later in life. Growing up with a scarcity mindset, money became an escape that gave her motivation. Leisa decided in her mid-twenties that she was going to have money in her life and not have any stresses about it as her parents did. Earning money became an all-consuming response to ...
263 | Pick Your Five: Accountability & Decision-Making
October 23, 2020 05:00 - 46 minutes - 64.6 MBJonathan draws a parallel between the episode on Monday with professional poker player Annie Duke and hitting his weight loss goals. Finding himself well over his desired weight, Jonathan took a health challenge and has kept the weight off for six months making him a weightloss statistical abnormality. Where most people diet and get to a goal weight, because the effort was a diet, they end up regaining the weight. What Jonathan did was make a lifestyle change. Tying to the discussion w...
262 | How to Decide | Annie Duke
October 19, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 92.8 MBAnnie Duke is a world champion poker player and author of Thinking in Bets, a book which makes the case for embracing uncertainty in our decision-making framework. In Annie's latest book, How to Decide: Simple Tools for Making Better Choices, she answers the question, what does a good decision-making process look like and how to incorporate that into your own life. The only way we can become better at making decisions is from our own experience, and our experience is going to be the outc...
261 |"Nothing Gold Can Stay" | What is a HELOC?
October 16, 2020 05:00 - 49 minutes - 68.3 MBAfter 18 years of ownership, Brad says goodbye to his beloved Honda Civic, Golden Boy. When it comes to car ownership, ChooseFI often talks about only buying a new car every 15 years. Over a 45 year adult lifetime, the savings, when invested, can amount to almost $750,000 when compared to someone who leases or just manages a constant car payment. Although Brad wanted to keep the car, it had been having some mechanical issues and his family was no longer comfortable riding in it anymore...
260 | What's your Survival Number? | Jully-Alma Taveras
October 12, 2020 05:00 - 44 minutes - 60.7 MBImmigrating to the United States as a child, by early adulthood, Jully found herself caught up in our consumer culture and had acquired five figures worth of debt. After working to dig her way out and starting on her path to finical independence, she's become an advocate. Drawing from her experience, she now help Latinas become financial powerful through investing. At the age of four, Jully moved from the Dominican Republic to New York. Her extended family all began making the move as we...
259 | Kristi & Big ERN
October 09, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 94 MBIn our eighth Households of FI touchpoint episodes, Kristi was successfully following the standard path with a six-figure job and keeping up with the Joneses but waiting to take a breath and enjoy life. After finding FI, she realized the money was no longer the goal but simply a tool. Kristi has been connected with Big ERN, from Early Retirement Now, and over several conversations, they discuss Employee Stock Purchase Plans, 401K contribution strategies, the phase of retirement, and more...
258 | Back to Basics Part 2: The Income Side of the Equation
October 05, 2020 05:00 - 40 minutes - 55.7 MBBrad has been taking part in a mastermind group and teaching its members about financial independence. While they understood the “Why of FI”, how to get started wasn't as clear. The Back to Basics series of episodes covers just that, how to get started on the path to FI. The journey to financial independence is not about deprivation. It is about a life of personal choice and abundance. Its starts with understanding your “why” and then setting goals for the next 5, 10, or 15 years. Ther...
257 | Back to Basics: Getting Started with FI
October 02, 2020 05:00 - 52 minutes - 72.4 MBIn this ChooseFI Back to Basics episode, we review Health Savings Accounts (HSA). What happens when you need to finally pull money out after funding it year after year? ChooseFI Chief Content Officer, MK, is just weeks away from having her baby. For years, she and her husband, Jason, have been funding separate HSA accounts without making any withdrawals. They now contribute to a family plan HSA and decided it was a good time to test out how complicated the process was to withdraw HSA f...
256 | Double Your Income by Flipping the Second-Hand Market | Flea Market Flippers
September 28, 2020 05:00 - 37 minutes - 52.2 MBHow can you recognize the value in the secondhand market, begin optimizing a strategy, and turn it into income? Today's guests, Rob and Melissa Stephenson, the Flea Market Flippers, have built a six-figure business flipping the bargains they find. Rob spent weekends as a child with his parents visiting yard sales. They bought items and then listed them for sale to a bigger market using the newspaper classified section. Rob followed in their footsteps, flipping items as another side job w...
255 | If People Can Do it Then I Can Do it Too | Leslie Tayne Connects with Vivian
September 25, 2020 05:00 - 57 minutes - 23.6 MBPicking back up with the Household of FI series, Vivian is a single mom who found FI in the last year, but initially, it seemed impossible. It wasn't until she was introduced to the ChooseFI podcast and saw real people reaching financial independence that she believed she could do it too. Vivian has been dealing with a number of challenges: a cancer diagnosis, a child custody battle, and caring for parents who have no savings of their own. As a pharmacist, she earns a significant incom...
254 Creating a lifestyle not a Job | Corbett Barr
September 21, 2020 05:00 - 42 minutes - 59.2 MBBuilding a business online has never been easier than right now, but Corbett Barr was forging his path in the early 2000s when it was hard. We're diving into his origin story to learn what gave him motivation and why he believed entrepreneurship was for him. Working as a consultant in Fortune 500 companies, Corbett had the kind of job a lot of people really wanted and could build a career around. Though he wasn't aware of financial independence at the time, he didn't want to climb the la...
253 | Back to Basics
September 18, 2020 05:00 - 56 minutes - 77.3 MBGoing back to the basics of ChooseFI being a crowdsourced show, Brad and Jonathan address what's going on in the FI community with a wild card Friday episode. Why revisit content that's already been discussed? After several years of introducing new ideas, the ChooseFI audience may be in a different place financially and ready for a refresher on some of the more advanced concepts presented earlier in the show's history. And newer listeners may not have combed through the archives and miss...
252 | Life Rebuilt | Julia Harder
September 14, 2020 05:00 - 53 minutes - 74.1 MBEveryone's path to FI is going to look a little bit different and there is so much we can learn from each other. Hoping to inspire and share lessons learned through conversations with community members, Brad and Jonathan speak with Julia Harder, an active duty member of the Coast Guard, is already well on her path to FI. Always a natural saver, Julia was influenced by her dad, who stressed the importance of investing, and Dave Ramsey's teachings that debt is bad. She was on a good financ...
251 | Should I Pay off the Mortgage on the Path to FI? | Brad Connects with Martin and Ayesha
September 11, 2020 05:00 - 59 minutes - 81.5 MBMartin and Ayesha are both natural savers who have been great about living below their means but lacked a real plan. Their goals are to maximize investments for retirement and finding ways to utilize dividend funds. After stumbling across the ChooseFI podcast, they felt like their financial independence number and retirement seemed obtainable which has helped push them to commit and make even bigger changes. While Martin and Ayesha had a 20-25% savings rate before finding FI, Brad comm...
250 | Money Lessons From My Grandparents | Anne Zonca
September 07, 2020 05:00 - 41 minutes - 56.9 MBOnce you realize financial independence is possible for you, how do you ensure the money lessons you've learned are consistently passed down to future generations? Anne Zonca's family is well ahead of their time when it comes to financial independence. When many are focused on second-generation FI, Anne herself is third generation FI working to pass along her family's lessons to her own children. Children of the Great Depression, Anne's grandparents were deeply effected by having lived...
249 | Carol connects with The Retirement Answer Man Roger Whitney
September 04, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 90.3 MBBrad is back after taking August off of work as his Red X month. Though his original vacation plans were changed because of COVID, he made the best of it. They spent three weeks in Long Island visiting family, enjoying the pool, board games, and a digital detox. While Brad was away relaxing, Jonathan used that time to work on a couple of big passion projects. During the month of August, Jonathan created a podcast course and membership group. He also started a new podcast as a way to demo...
248 | You Are More Than Your Financial Capital | Laura Oldanie
August 31, 2020 05:00 - 47 minutes - 65.6 MBWhat does it look like when you are invested in building wealth, environmentalism, and sustainability? How do you combine raising your net worth while optimizing these other areas of your life? You build a holistic approach to the different types of capital. Laura learned about the different forms of capital through her experiences with permaculture, which is a design science that looks to nature as an example of a closed-loop, no waste system. Her introduction to permaculture through ...
247 | Zach and Marilyn Talk Real Estate Investing | Paula Pant
August 28, 2020 05:00 - 57 minutes - 78.8 MBContinuing the financial independence case study series, Households of FI family, Zach and Marilyn are a married couple with young kids. Using Dave Ramsey's baby steps, they no longer have any debt but have wondered what to do next. Looking to explore investing in real estate, ChooseFI connected them with real estate expert, Paula Pant. Though Zach and Marilyn once lived below the poverty line, they managed to pay off their debt, including student loans, a car loan, credit cards, and med...
246 | Overcoming and Battling Financial Abuse | Rachael Partleton
August 24, 2020 05:00 - 50 minutes - 69.1 MBWhat happens when someone is using your finances to prevent you from making decisions that are in your own best interest? What does financial abuse look like and can you reclaim your financial life? Rachael shares her story and how she's become passionate about economic empowerment. Although she had a successful career and what appeared to be a healthy relationship from the outside, Rachael found herself in a relationship with someone who walked all over her. Slowly over time, Rachael...
245 | Matt & Megan get International Tax Tips | Dave McKeegan
August 21, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 86.8 MBTo watch the video highlights, click on ChooseFI.com/245 Matt and Megan are a dual military family on the path to FI. Matt is serving in the UK Royal Navy and Megan is serving in the US Navy, making their tax situation unique. Currently, they plan on having Matt get a green card, allowing him to work in the US, while Megan finishes out her Navy career to earn a pension and then move abroad in about seven years. Once Matt gets his green card, he will be taxed like any other US citizen. H...
244 | Mentorz : A Second Generation FI Success Story | Ava and Don Wettrick
August 17, 2020 05:00 - 51 minutes - 71.2 MBWho do young people look up to today? The lifestyles marketed on MTV and social media not exactly something to aspire to, but where can the next generation go to find something different? Inspired by the work of her father, Don Wettrick, and feeling like she needed to take charge of the issue, Ava Wettrick created MentorZ, a platform designed to introduce great people to Generation Z. As a young child, Ava thought her dad was the smartest guy in the world. It wasn't until she got olde...
243 | Corinne and Jillian Johnsrud | Households of FI
August 14, 2020 05:00 - 58 minutes - 79.8 MBProgress Coach, Jillian Johnsrud, meets with Households of FI member, Corinne, to review the two exercises designed to help her understand how she can prioritize her life to focus on the things that matter the most. After taking a quiz to reveal which of the Four Tendencies she is, Corinne discovered that she is an Upholder. She has many things that she would like to do but struggles with feeling guilty about doing non-work related things that are important too. Corinne would like to find...
242 | The Financial Gym | Shannon McLay
August 10, 2020 05:00 - 44 minutes - 61.1 MBFor those on the path to financial independence, finance, fitness, and life optimization all intersect. During her career in the banking industry, Shannon McLay found it didn't work for the people she wanted to help. She set out to use her skill set and training to change the coaching industry and founded Financial Gym. Even for those who not physically fit, they know what it looks like and there are many resources available for achieving it. The path the financial independence is sim...
241 | Troy & Lindsay Calculate Their FI Number with Brad | Households of FI
August 07, 2020 05:00 - 1 hour - 82.9 MBThe Troy and Lindsay are new on their journey, finding FI several months ago after making a budget and realizing they had no money left over at the end of the month. Compared to other systematic approaches to becoming debt-free, they felt FI was creative and adaptable to a variety of lifestyles. The first step Troy and Lindsay took was to determine where all their money was going using a budget tracker, which enabled them to cut monthly expenses and continue to do the things they enjoye...