Financial Independence Podcast

After decades of saving/investing, it's hard to immediately flip a switch and go into spending mode. Spending is a skill that you should develop on your way to FI, so that you're better at it when the time comes to really do it. Here's what worked for me over the last few years! Highlights How to reframe expenses and recalibrate how you value money (e.g. College Calculation, 0.01% Rule, etc.) Why...

In 2021, I decided to stop doing annual updates. At that time, I thought I had FI figured out and was just living a "normal" life (so no need to talk about it anymore). Well, a lot has changed since then. Turns out, I didn't have everything figured out :/ I explain more in today's short podcast episode!

Saving up a bunch of money gives you power - power you can use to make your life better and your journey to financial independence quicker. The only way to take advantage of the power though is to use it. Full Article: https://www.madfientist.com/power-of-quitting/

If you want to use money to make you happier, stop thinking about what you can buy with it. Instead, think about how you can use it to remove the things in your life that make you unhappy. Full Article:  https://www.madfientist.com/happiness-through-subtraction/

Out of all the episodes of the Financial Independence Podcast, this is the one I wish I heard when I was on my journey to financial independence. Bill Perkins, author of Die with Zero, joins Chris Hutchins on the All the Hacks podcast to discuss what money is really for – maximizing net fulfillment. This interview is incredible, so I reached out to Chris to ask if I could share it with you all, an...

To celebrate the release of JL Collins' new book, Pathfinders, I collected all the best advice from his Financial Independence Podcast interviews!   Jim has been on the show three times:   First, back in 2012 (he was my second guest ever!) Second, when his hit book, The Simple Path to Wealth, was released Third, during the depths of the Coronavirus crash   That last interview may be my proudest mo...

Health is similar to finances in that there are many overly-complex things people say you need to do, but there are just a few simple things that actually matter. What is the "spend less than you earn, invest in a diversified/low-fee portfolio, and leave it to grow/compound" of the health world? That's what today's episode is about! Parker Hewes wrote a book called Lifelong Youth: The Simple Path...

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Chad Carson from CoachCarson.com! Chad just released a new book,  The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor , and I wanted to get him back on the show to talk about it. I'm not a real-estate investor myself though. So rather than interview him myself, my real-estate-investor friend, Jillian Johnsrud, did the interview for me!...

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to Be Rich! I needed someone to come on the show to provide some tough love and Ramit was the only person for the job. As Ramit mentioned during our last interview, FIRE people are great at knowing what NOT to spend on but we're not good at knowing what to spend on. Spending is going to be a...

Over the last few years, I interviewed members of my family to find out two things: How I became the Mad Fientist (i.e. where did I get my extreme ideas about money) What advice they'd give to parents hoping to raise money-smart children This is a short but sweet holiday episode to end the year and I hope you enjoy it!

Cody Berman and Justin Taylor, hosts of the FI Show, have both achieved financial independence but they've taken drastically different paths to get there. Listen to this Podcast Takeover episode to hear the similarities and differences between an employee's path to FI (Justin's) and an entrepreneur's journey to FIRE (Cody's)! Highlights Live-in flip vs. house hacking Sweet spot for buying used car...

Life has completely changed. And because of this major change, I'm even more grateful for the freedom, flexibility, and time that financial independence and early retirement provide. In this short episode, I fill you in on what's been happening and I discuss the reasons for my newfound appreciation of FI.

Welcome to another podcast-takeover episode of the Financial Independence podcast! This time, Mathias from the Financial Independence Europe podcast takes over the show to talk to Luke Freeman (from Giving What We Can) and Rebecca Herbst (from Yield and Spread) about Effective Altruism! Highlights What is Effective Altruism How to give efficiently and effectively Benefits of joining the effective...

Exactly 10 years ago, I released the first episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! To celebrate this big birthday, I've collected all the best advice from my interviews with my very first podcast guest – Mr. Money Mustache! Highlights Mr. Money Mustache's investing strategy Thoughts on real-estate investing vs. stock-market investing How to invest in a raging bull market The benefits of hit...

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I speak to Patrick Aime from Aime to Invest! Patrick's journey to FI is an incredible one. He… Moved from his home in Rwanda to attend high school in Europe and college in America Stayed in America after college and started working in the feast-or-famine world of sales Started his own company and grew it to $5 million in revenue in four yea...

I'm excited to share with you the first Podcast Takeover episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Carl and Doug from the Mile High FI podcast take over the Financial Independence Podcast to talk about their early retirement successes and failures. Enjoy! Highlights Test drive early retirement by going part-time or taking a sabbatical Why finding a community is even more important for early r...

I have some big news… I am now a British citizen! In honor of finally getting my UK passport, and therefore completing this long journey to citizenship, I am releasing my UK FIRE episode. Barney, from The Escape Artist, joined me in my Edinburgh apartment (before the pandemic) to discuss all things related to financial independence and early retirement in the UK. Hope you enjoy it! Highlights The...

Last year, I published an interview with one of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel. You may remember that the interview was recorded as part of a Bogleheads meeting and the interview was actually conducted by my buddy, Gouri. Well, Gouri recently invited me to join the Bogleheads to talk about life after FIRE and today's podcast episode is a recording of that discussion! Big thanks to Go...

If you've followed me for a while, you'll know that I've released an annual update every year since I quit my job. It's now been five years since I stopped working so this is my fifth (and final) annual update. Why is it my final one? I explain in today's short episode. Highlights How the pandemic highlighted the power of having savings Why FI is the ultimate shock absorber and cheat code The reas...

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I finally got to interview the person who introduced me to the concept of financial independence and early retirement in the first place… Jacob Lund Fisker from Early Retirement Extreme! To my mind, Jacob is the founder of the modern-day "FIRE movement" so hope you enjoy the interview! Highlights What Jacob has been up to since stepping awa...

Last year, I conducted an experiment in Ultralearning that I hoped would help me achieve a lifelong dream of mine of writing and releasing an album. I'm happy to say it was far more successful than I ever imagined it would be! As I mentioned in the initial Ultralearning podcast episode, the hope for the 3-month experiment was that it would accelerate my progress towards my goal and make the proces...

One of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel, is on the Financial Independence Podcast today! I'm not the one conducting the interview this time though (all is explained in the episode). Morgan's insight into how to handle uncertainty, market crashes, and this weird stock boom that we now find ourselves in is invaluable so hope you enjoy it! Big thanks to Gouri, Morgan, and the Bogleheads f...

It's been four years since I left my full-time job and what a crazy year it's been! To celebrate this anniversary and to recap the things I've learned during this last year of post-FI life (and the COVID market crash), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Bear markets are a normal part of investing but is this time different? As the coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the world, governments are struggling to limit the economic impact of the disease. In today's unplanned episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, JL Collins (author of The Simple Path to Wealth) joins me to talk about this stock-market crash, how it differs from previous crashes,...

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm excited to introduce Scott Young! I first heard about Scott when he decided to complete MIT's entire computer science curriculum in a year. Scott has taken on a lot of these types of impressive learning projects and he just wrote a great book about it – Ultralearning. As you know, I'm attempting to tackle a very intimidating project mys...