Adulting Is Easy: Making Personal Finance & Real Estate Easy

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with Joshua Schwadron. This episode is unlike any other because Lauren shares her own personal story of getting into a car accident. She was sandwiched on I-275 in Tampa, FL, when she was just 26 years old. The resulting physical, mental, and financial pain continues to this day. In a lot of ways, this is a 2-way interview in which Lauren and Josh compare...

This week, Lauren interviews Brian Feroldi about the stock market. They cover what stocks are, what the indexes are and where they came from, and why the stock market goes up and down. They talk index funds vs. individual stocks as well, and how you can buy and own them. If you're at all confused about the stock market or if you're trying to decide whether to invest at all, you should listen to th...

This week, Lauren interviews Nikki Rogers about reselling product. Nikki tells her story about how she got started and her journey over time to selling Amazon FBM (fulfilled by merchant) to Amazon FBA (fulfilled by Amazon). What started as a stay at home mom buying her own lunch once per week has grown into much more. She even tells you what you need to get started - and it's not nearly as much as...

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with Tiffany from Money Talk with Tiff. The two cover mindsets and goal-setting. As a financial counselor, Tiffany knows how to make getting started approachable and doable. Thinking and talking about your finances can be difficult, and Tiffany talks about her approach to helping clients set goals, get out of debt, and reach financial goals. There are no...

This week, Lauren interviews Joe about his rental business, which includes both long- and short-term rentals (STRs/Airbnbs). Joe makes a great case for having both in your portfolio for diversification purposes, and you can diversify even further if you learn to get direct bookings in addition to Airbnb and Vrbo. He uses a Facebook group to get more direct bookings. If you're wanting to learn more...

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with a tech CEO who has had one successful exit and is now on to his next venture. Litan Yahav is a wealth (pun intended) of knowledge about starting, growing, running, and exiting a business. He gives us his take on entrepreneurship, whether you're born or made one. He tells us how to pick a business partner - something called The Beer Test. Litan provid...

Lauren interviewed Tom 10 months ago for episode 60 (posted in September 2021) and so much has happened since then that she just had to interview him again! Tom left his 9-5 in January 2022 at the age of 39 with 17 rental doors. The two discuss a bit about Tom's journey, then focus on what life has been like since he retired. It's not all awesome, either. Tom's very real about the ups and downs (b...

This week, Lauren interviews Jesse Cramer, an engineer-turned-wealth-manager, about the behavior of his clients who are new to investing, whether young, medium, or older. The two discuss goal-setting, the importance of diversification, mistakes new investors make, inflation, the role cash should play in your portfolio, and yes, crypto (surprising answer from Jesse there tbh). You'll learn a lot in...

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with Marianne from Spokane. The two discuss one town's short-term rental regulation journey, and there's a lot to learn! They talk about the importance of regulation, hotels vs STRs, and even how Marianne almost had 2 STRs of her own. In short, this episode contains a little of this and that as it relates to STRs/Airbnbs and you should listen if you're in...

This week, Lauren interviews Sam about his new book Buy This, Not That . They cover what a financial samurai is (see core principles below) and then dive into three different ways to allocate net worth, with the main difference being how much you want to bet on yourself . Learn how to take action with 70% probability of success (and why that's enough) and also how to "forecast your misery." This w...

This week, Lauren interviews Rod Khleif about how to get and keep the right mindset to invest in real estate. He talks about his experience, which includes losing $50 million in 2008 and bouncing back from that. Rod's life and business experience combine to make this an excellent episode with actionable things you can do NOW to take action and succeed in real estate. About Rod: Rod Khleif is a mul...

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with Taylor Jones. If you're curious about the WHAT and the HOW behind short-term rental/Airbnb setup, this episode is for you. Taylor does an amazing job talking technology, renovation, furniture, supplies, and costs. About Taylor: Taylor Jones is a short term rental investor, property manager, and avid golfer. He helps lead acquisitions for Superhost La...

This week, Lauren interviews a couple who "cashed out" of their corporate careers and wrote a book about how you can, too! Julien and Kiersten tell Lauren about their book, with a focus on the 15-year career. Their framework lays out how you can cash out 15 years from wherever you're sitting, even if you have debt, a LOT of debt. If you're looking for a nuanced take on personal finance, this conve...

This week, Lauren interviews Les about syndicating deals and Short-Term Rentals. Les and his wife, Julie, have done multiple syndications across the country in the last 2.5 years and they're not stopping any time soon. Did they get everything right the first time? No! And that's OK. Tune in to learn what they've learned along the way, especially if you have an interest in partnerships and Airbnbs....

If you're looking for a relatable couple who was able to retire VERY early, then this episode is for you. From discovering FIRE until retirement was only 3 years, and they took the expense shaving to the extreme. Along the way, people wondered WTF they were doing. Favorite Quote: "From the outside looking in, we looked poor, even though we had more money than we had ever had in our lives." You wil...

This week, Lauren interviews the Landshark, who is entering early retirement. Except for his name, he's an open book in terms of salary, net worth, withdrawal strategy, and more. The Landshark is transparent about his family's journey, including not trusting the math for over a year. They discuss reactions of friends, family, and colleagues ("we're not as important to other people as we might thin...

As you may know, Lauren and her husband have really hunkered down on a short-term rental (STR) focus. If you're even a bit curious about that space (vacation rentals, Airbnbs, VRBO, etc.), then this episode is for you. Lauren learned a ton from Tracey, who is a 10-year STR veteran. Tracey Northcott, an Australian serial entrepreneur and multi-preneur based in Tokyo, Japan. She is one of the most s...

This week, Lauren brings you her interview with Michelle Jackson, of the Michelle Is Money Hungry podcast. The two discuss the origin of Michelle's interest in personal finance (she wrote a book at 7). Then, they dive into the topics at hand, including paying off debt, underearning, shaming others, and having empathy. They touch on the "if I did it, you can do it too" problematic attitude in the p...

This week's episode is all about how to "Be your best friend to your future self." Sean shares how he learned about personal finance, starting at only 19! He talks about side hustling through his 20s and how he invested his way (stocks, real estate) to financial independence in his 30s, all while building a family. We touch on his wealth "secrets" and of course - his famous tracking spreadsheet. S...

I (Lauren) am flipping the script this week. I'M BEING INTERVIEWED FOR MY OWN PODCAST. Chris from Heavy Metal Money was kind enough to come on the show and interview me about my real estate journey. A handful of people have asked to know more about the 6-unit, so Chris and I went back to the beginning in Part 1 and discuss the building in Part 2. Connect with Chris: https://twitter.com/MoneyHeavyM...

I (Lauren) am flipping the script this week. I'M BEING INTERVIEWED FOR MY OWN PODCAST. Chris from Heavy Metal Money was kind enough to come on the show and interview me about my real estate journey. A handful of people have asked to know more about the 6-unit, so Chris and I went back to the beginning in Part 1 and discuss the building in Part 2. Connect with Chris:  https://twitter.com/Money...

This week's interview is with Justin, creator of the Road to Wealth Podcas t. We discussed his personal finance journey, getting out of debt, building wealth, and now interviewing other about their own journey. There are also a lot of recommendations, from both Lauren and Justin, about how to dive deeper and learn even more. Justin Nacpil is the host of the Road to Wealth Podcast.  He is a Mi...

Lauren and Mary discuss Mary and her husband's real estate journey, in which the research phase started in 2019! If you think the market is too high to invest in, then you must listen to this episode! They have purchased 7 properties between March 2020 and late 2021. They're cash flowing, they're renovating, they're buying off-market deals. Mary's advice is this: don't wait to invest because you'l...

There's no question really that wealthy people and the rest have different mindsets. This week, Lauren interviews the Financial Imagineer to see where the rich mindset comes from. The two discuss changing mindsets (totally possible), taking responsibility for the things you can control, and getting curious about life. Matt the Financial Imagineer is a personal finance aficionado who has reached fi...

Have you ever wanted to travel the world? Thought about starting your own business? Most people are interested in personal finance for the freedom financial independence can provide. Well, starting your own business can be freeing as well. This week, Lauren interviewed Kat Rucker about how she traveled the world, settled in Cambodia, and started her own business - all in her 20s! If you're looking...