Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

#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 to gain people's trust -- even when they had no reason to trust him. He spent years developing and testing systems on how to develop trust with others in hig...

#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 the Mad FIentist. If you've been a listener since the early days, you may remember Brandon from episode #7. He was the first guest to appear on the pod...

#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 ground. We were thinking about picking it up and mailing it to you." At the time, Dorkin had just launched BiggerPockets, a then-nascent website abo...

#98: How much money should you invest in a side hustle or side business? How do you know if your side hustle idea is viable? What if you want to start 5 or 6 side businesses? Should you lump these together under a common business umbrella? Or should you separate them out? These are the questions about side hustles -- asked by listeners Adalia and Brionna -- that I answer in today's episode. My fri...

There are more heroes than villains in this world. We have seen a tremendous outpouring of love and support today. Please support the cause that's calling you, whether it's supporting the victims of the Las Vegas shootings, or disaster relief in Puerto Rico, or ongoing humanitarian crises that don't make headlines. Please support the victims of the Las Vegas massacre at https://www.gofundme.com/dr...

#97: How can you be awesome at your job? That's the question that today's guest, Pete Mockaitis, and I tackle on the latest Afford Anything podcast episode. Pete hosts one of iTunes' top 10 career podcasts, called -- appropriately -- How to Be Awesome at Your Job. In typical nerd fashion, I launch our interview by asking him: "What is the metric by which 'awesome' is determined?" Here are a few ot...

#96: Today I tackle 4 real estate questions that come from the listeners. Chris, age 25, says: Over the next 30 years, I'd like to acquire 15 rental properties. Then, at age 55, my wife and I can retire and travel. To begin, I'd like to buy a duplex, live in one unit and rent the other on Airbnb. Once I gain some equity and save enough for another downpayment, I'd like to purchase another duplex,...

#95: J. David Stein used to manage billions of dollars. He retired at age 46. Now that he's retired, he faces a different challenge: How should he invest his own money? What investing philosophy should he follow in his own life? And what can we learn from that? Stein, who now hosts a podcast called Money for the Rest of Us, joins me on today's show to talk about his big-picture investing ideas. Fo...

#94: Early retirement? Yes please. This week, I answer questions from the audience community around early retirement planning, health savings and debt pay-off. I'm interested in early retirement. How can I avoid early withdrawal penalties? How does early retirement impact the 4 Percent Rule? Should I use an HRA or an HSA? How do I open a Roth IRA? If you’re into early retirement, don’t miss today’...

#93: Do you enjoy spending time alone? Does your inner monologue chatter constantly? When you were a student, did you sometimes stay quiet even when you knew the correct answer? Do you avoid confrontation? Does small talk bore you? Have people told you that you're "too intense" or that you "get deep quickly?" Do you live inside your head? Do people see you as a good listener? Do you rarely interru...

#92: If you're interested in real estate investing, and if you've wondered how to assemble an all-star team, today's episode is for you. I'm hosting another edition of Ask Paula, in which I tackle three audience-submitted questions about building a team as a real estate investor. Salome from Cincinnati asks: Who are the people I'll need on my real estate team? How much will I spend in paying them?...

#91: Grow the gap between your income and your expenses: How to tackle the 4 biggest expenses in the average American household budget. Also, I share non-obvious tips on how to trim back on these costs. Enjoy! Paula For more details on this presentation, go to http://affordanything.com/episode91 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#90: Curious about real estate investing? I'm rocking the microphone solo on today's episode, tackling the rental property questions that you -- the listeners -- have asked. Rachel from the Ozarks asks: I'm inspired to start investing in real estate. I live in the Ozarks region, and the cap rates around here are fantastic. However, the online reviews for local property management companies are con...

#89: Imagine you’re financially secure. You have enough money to support yourself, your family and pursue your dreams. You’ll need to continue working, but it’s fulfilling work with a reasonable schedule. What would you do with both your time and money? Next, imagine you’re financially independent. You DON’T need to work anymore. Your investments create enough money to support yourself and your fa...

#88: Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer 4 questions from the Afford Anything community. We chat about how to control lifestyle inflation, how to break up with a financial planner, how to invest your first $10,000, and whether or not sector-specific or theme-specific funds are a good idea. #1: Laura is transitioning to a new job, and she's discovered that her new responsibilities r...

#87: A week and a half ago, I flew to Portland for the World Domination Summit -- a conference with an admittedly eyebrow-raising title. The conference is hosted by Chris Guillebeau, the New York Times best-selling author of multiple books, including The Art of Non-Conformity. He was also a previous guest on this podcast. I've wanted to check out WDS for years, so I was thrilled when Chris asked m...

#86: The real estate questions keep coming in, so today I’m answering questions from three Afford Anything listeners: Heather is ready to buy her first rental property. She wants to acquire about one house per year, following a buy-and-hold strategy. Salome and her husband are renting out an unused room in our house on Airbnb. We're interested in venturing into buying rental properties later. Then...

#85: Like many people, Nick Loper used to work a full-time job that didn't excite him. Unlike most people, Loper decided to escape his uninspiring work life. First, he launched a shoe-comparison website that began collecting side income. Over time, this side project grew increasingly profitable, until -- finally -- he thought he could run this website full-time. Loper quit his job. That's when all...

#84: This week, I tackle your questions with my good friend, recovering financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy. Here's what we answer: 1. I'm asking for a friend -- no, really, I'm asking for a friend! My friends are married and buried. They're a married couple, buried in $500,000 of debt. Some is federal student loans, some is private student loans, and some is credit card debt. They're paying the minim...

#83: Hey. It’s time we talked. I’ve made many tough decisions in my business. I’ve said “no” to thousands of pitches, turned away countless advertising requests, and made difficult choices about content and tone. And sometimes I don’t know whether or not I’ve made the right choice. Today’s podcast episode is a painfully personal one. I open up my mind, explaining exactly how I make decisions about...

#82: Welcome to another Ask Paula episode! This week, I answer three real estate questions: #1: What criteria do you use when you’re shopping for an investment property? What qualities make you say, “heck yeah I’m buying this!!” — and what qualities make you say, “No way!” #2: I enjoy renting my personal home, but I still dream of investing in rental properties. Does it make sense to buy a rental...

#81: Jenny Blake used to have an enviable job. As a Career Development manager at Google, she enjoyed the perks of a Silicon Valley life, plus the satisfaction of helping people everyday. She co-founded Google's Career Guru Program, and helped countless Google employees find their right career "fit." But, ironically, Blake sensed that her own career wasn't on the right track. So she took a brave p...

#80: Chris, age 30, makes $200,000 per year and saves 50 percent of his income. What accounts should he use in order to maximize his tax benefits? Dee, age 39, is getting tired of apartment living. She found a great neighborhood in which she'd like to own a home, and she's saving for a 20 percent downpayment. But she's nervous about the high cost of home maintenance. How can she deal with this? Ch...

#79: When Laura Roeder was 22, she quit her job to become a full-time freelancer. She earned $30,000 in her first year as a freelancer; $60,000 in her second year. Ten years later -- (Laura is now 32) -- her company earns $4 million in annual revenue. (Can I repeat that? Did I bury the lede? *Laura went from making $30,000 per year to owning 100% of a company that earns $4 million per year.* And s...

#78: Imagine that you're looking for a rental property. It's a warm Saturday afternoon, and you decide to cruise through a few open houses in the area. Your autonomously-driving electric vehicle pulls into the driveway. Your wifi-enabled contact lenses automatically register the property's details: square footage, year of construction, sales history, tax assessment, price-to-rent ratio, average ne...