Clipping Chains Podcast

James McHaffie needs no introduction, at least in the United Kingdom. His approach to bold onsight climbing, particularly free solos, is unparalleled. He’s repeated the hardest sport climb in Wales, Big Bang (9a), sent Britain’s hardest sea cliff, Dave MacLeod’s The Longhope Direct (E10 7a), and made the first ascent of The Meltdown, a 9a slab in the slate quarries of his home in North Wales. And...

Years ago, we decided to one day try living abroad for at least a year. We always loved traveling and also always felt that we never had enough time to truly experience a place beyond the superficial. I wanted to stay for a while, learn the language, and slowly morph into a new life mode. But now I’m starting to question the wisdom of this decision. Is living abroad a bad idea?   Support this proj...

It’s often said that happiness equals what you have minus (or sometimes divided by) what you want. When our wants are many, what we have is of little consequence. That is why there are hordes of unhappy millionaires and high achievers who quietly suffer (yes, suffer) under the weight of lofty and insatiable desires and ambitions.  Western ideals place great importance on the “haves.” And despite a...

Jim Dahle is the founder of the White Coat Investor , a widely consumed personal finance and investing blog and podcast specifically designed for physicians and other high-income careers. What Jim created in 2011 as a simple blog has grown into a multi-media empire that now employs fifteen people and hosts content from a range of columnists. Jim has cut back from his full-time (plus) emergency phy...

In America, student loan debt has exploded over the last twenty years, with the average inflation-adjusted federal loan debt per student rising from under $29,000 in 2011 to nearly $40,000 in 2020. Students and their parents are paying an increasingly costly price for college education, outpacing growth in expected starting salaries. After more than three years, loan payments are coming due again...

We’re back to the digital mailbag to answer your questions! For this week: How has my lifestyle evolved since achieving financial independence and how do I spend my time? Updated thoughts on money and markets Are we putting too much faith in institutions like Vanguard? Can and should life insurance policies be used for retirement savings? Tax avoidance versus accepting higher tax rates What is a S...

Dave Rosen is a climber and ophthalmologist in his final year of residency. And Dave grew up like so many of us: broadly exposed to the importance of money and taught a thing or two about saving, but investing was a foreign concept and his lack of knowledge was a source of shame. While Dave skimmed over it, he’s no slouch as a climber. He has bagged a pile of double-digit boulder problems up to V1...

Frugality is an endearing element of saving money and living the good life. But interestingly, the recent discourse in personal finance circles has seemingly shifted to embrace spending over saving. What is going on, how did this happen, and why should we care?   Support this project: Buy Me a Coffee Get the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME! Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

In the summer of 2020, we sold our home in Denver, Colorado. Once all the costs were tallied, we were shocked to see the return on our home ownership investment. Should we have rented instead? Today we revisit this post in light of our recent move.   Support this project: Buy Me a Coffee Get the newsletter: SUBSCRIBE ME! Show Notes and Links at Clippingchains.com

Mike Piper is a CPA and the creator of the Oblivious Investor blog , where he teaches a philosophy of simple and low-maintenance investing. Mike’s simple philosophy distills down to three primary principles: Diversify your portfolio Minimize costs (commissions, fees, mutual fund expenses, taxes) Ignore the noise. Mike began his career as a CPA before realizing he could support himself by writing b...

I’m revisiting a post published almost exactly two years ago. At the time of writing, I’d been away from my corporate job for eighteen months. I spent six months of that time living in a tiny A-frame camper with my wife and dog before resettling in the St. George, Utah area . I was climbing a lot and working on this website, but I can now comfortably admit that I was in a bit of a low spot in term...

Today on episode 64 I’m excited to welcome Priti and Jeff Wright, two accomplished young professional alpinists from Seattle, WA. In 2020, Priti, a software developer, and Jeff, a mechanical engineer at Boeing, embarked on a year-long sabbatical to travel across the globe and climb alpine objectives in Patagonia, France, and Pakistan, finishing by the beach in Hawaii. The trip was wildly successfu...

Financial independence won’t solve life’s problems. We will never “arrive.” We will never achieve perfection. An impactful 2018 study, nicknamed the Blue Dot Effect, helps us to understand the mind’s tendency toward finding problems, even where none exist. The results have broad implications for individuals and members of a progressing society.   Support this project: Buy Me a Coffee Get the newsl...

Since the financial crisis of 2008 , two dominant views on stock market investing have emerged: Stock market investing is volatile and risky, akin to gambling. Stock market investing is reliable and free money. The Great Recession produced a decline in overall equity values in the range of 50%+ from 2007 to early 2009. The event created a lasting and widespread change in mindsets around personal f...

Today on episode 61 I’m pleased to welcome Heather Larsen, pro slackliner and climber and lover of southern Utah’s desert heat. What is probably less known about Heather is that, following humble beginnings, she graduated at the height of the Great Recession with a double major in finance and economics. In the intervening years, she struggled greatly to find work in her field, even competing for b...

Today on episode 60 I’m pleased to welcome back Chris Mamula, who you may recall from episode 3 . Chris is a writer, author, and partner at CanIRetireYet.com , who achieved financial independence at age 41 to pursue a life centered around family and the outdoors. Beginning in early 2022, in search of a new challenge, Chris completed the education and exam necessary to become a Certified Financial...

Today on episode 59 I’m pleased to host Brent Barghahn, a 29-year-old elite climber who used real estate investment as a way to effectively “retire” from his career as an engineer in the outdoor industry in his late twenties. Brent and I discussed a fascinating reality on the idea of dream jobs, the growing trend of short-duration careers (and what that means for society), and of course many detai...

We’re back to the digital mailbag to answer your questions! For this week: Are new investors part of an “unlucky cohort” that won’t achieve financial independence in the often-cited timelines? Is it worth it to hire a tax professional? And if so, how should I find one? Can you help me understand all these confusing public sector retirement accounts? Should I do a Roth conversion now or just make a...

Today on episode 57 I’m pleased to welcome Dawn Baker, a board-certified anesthesiologist, wife, mother, climber, coach, and now the author of a new book about the perils of, as she puts it, an intense need to achieve. And Dawn has walked the walk. After years of hard-driving pursuit of linear improvement in both career and climbing, she suffered crushing fatigue and malaise, and ultimately faced...

One evening, circa 2011, I sat over dinner with my future wife in our small and sweaty Houston, TX rented bungalow. I was and still am an occasional cheap bastard, so the air conditioning was almost certainly set to engage on an “as-needed” basis, far from anything resembling comfort. The concept of financial independence wasn’t on the radar. During downtime at work— I told you I was distracted —I...

Today on episode 55 I’m honored to welcome Darrow Kirkpatrick, former engineer, climber, investor, author, and the creator of the popular blog CanIRetireYet.com . Darrow began serious saving and investing in his mid-30s and retired at age 50 in 2011 from a career in software engineering. In this wide-ranging interview, we explore why Darrow stepped away from personal finance writing after creating...

We live in a distracted world where depth of investigation is discouraged. Despite increases in scientific spending, the number of publications, or the amount of PhDs being rewarded, major discoveries in science and engineering have declined significantly in recent decades. The new-music market is shrinking, and old hits are dominating. We are working more days and longer hours, but US productivit...

Today on episode 53 I’m pleased to welcome back Lee Cujes, this time as a podcast guest. Some of you may recall the written interview with Lee back in late 2020. Lee is an elite Australian climber and route developer, with multiple 5.13+ and 5.14 first ascents to his name. But most importantly as it relates to this platform, Lee has managed to climb and develop routes continuously while carving a...

Today I’m going to take a deeper look at a topic I know is near and dear to so many of you: the housing market. And we’re going to take a particular look at home ownership. Without a doubt, the housing market has been a wild and arguably unpredictable roller coaster ride since the pandemic began. At the core, the issue is fundamental: a mismatch of supply and demand. In large part, the seed for th...

Joy and Tyler shared a common early interest: debt. With a focus on paying down this debt, Joy was able to leave an unfulfilling desk job and begin her work as a coach, relying on Tyler’s steady income as a biologist to cover their life’s expenses. As Joy’s business grew, they were able to shift focus from debt paydown to pursuing financial independence. But along the way, Joy has managed the inev...