friends on FIRE

In this week’s episode, we share our early retirement plans, goals, and why we’re both still working. We get this question a lot from our listeners, so we’ve finally decided to address it. We share how we’ve both reached our financial independence numbers, are still working, but still plan to retire in our early 40s. We talk through how we’ve been able to leverage hitting our FI goals to negotiate...

In this week’s episode, we review important end-of-year financial reminders and do a goals check-in. First, we review the 2021 financial checklist we shared at the start of the year and focus on the most important items to remember before the end of the year, such as using your FSA dollars, maxing out your 401k and IRA, and Don’t worry; there’s still time! We also discuss our 2021 goals, how we di...

In this week’s episode, we talk about how to spend less at Target or fill in the blank on whatever your version of Target is. We’re talking about those stores where you walk in for a $5 item, and you walk out with $75 or even $150 worth of things you didn’t know you needed. We share actionable tips for intentionally approaching your shopping lists and trips in a way that will help you spend less a...

In this week’s episode, we talk with Court from the Modern FImily. Court and her wife Nic are a married couple who lived significantly below their means, paid off their debt, started investing, and were able to retire in their 30s to raise their two young kids in Canada. Court shared how she grew up financially and how she first learned about financial independence. We then cover a range of topics...

In this week’s episode, we share one simple thing you can do to plan for traditional retirement successfully. The one simple thing is to invest in your 401K, 403bs, and/or IRAs as young as possible and as much as you can afford to put in. The more, the earlier, the better. These tax-deferred retirement accounts are ubiquitous, but do you know how to maximize it? We talk through the power of compou...

In this week’s episode, we talk with Joel O’Leary about outrageous generosity, charitable giving, giving back, and gratitude. Joel is one of the most generous people we know, and from an early age, his parents taught him about the importance and value of giving back. Joel shares some ideas for being outrageously generous and giving back without spending large amounts of money. We also talk about t...

In this week’s episode, we share 30+ years of wisdom and advice from our combined 30+ years working in Corporate America. We talk through our experiences working in Corporate America, what we’ve learned, and what has made us successful over the years. We share the importance of worrying about yourself, being kind, choosing your battles, making good choices, being indispensable, always looking for...

In this week’s episode, we share 25 tips to take control of your holiday spending. Holiday retail sales are projected to grow between 7% and 9% this year, but you can buck the trend and reign in your holiday spending to end the year on a strong financial note. Our favorite part of the holidays is having more time to spend with friends and family and life slowing down a bit, and none of that costs...

In this week’s episode, we talk with Jesse Cramer from The Best Interest. Jesse paid off $50,000 in student loans in six years and built a net worth of $250,000 before 30. He is an engineer by day and a blogger and podcaster on The Best Interest in his spare time. The Best Interest is on a mission to improve lives by teaching valuable personal finance and investing knowledge. He shares his financi...

In this week’s episode, we get ready for benefits enrollments, which happens at most companies each fall, by discussing what plans are typically available to colleagues and how to pick the right ones. We combine topics we have covered in previous episodes into a single benefits crash course. First, we break down how medical insurance works, what considerations to think about, and how to select the...

In this episode, we discuss how one simple software changed our lives, and it’s called Evernote! Maggie has been using Evernote for over ten years to reduce her paper use and keep her life clutter-free. She recently turned Mike onto Evernote, and he quickly fell in love! Now we are paper-free and have developed our own unique methodologies to keep track of the thousands of pieces of paper that fin...

In this week’s episode, we bring on Maggie’s brother, Alex, to talk about all things cryptocurrency. Alex is a self-taught expert on cryptocurrency and shares his experiences and thoughts as we define blockchain, cryptocurrency, bitcoin, NFTs, and more. We talk through the pros, cons, and risks of investing in these types of assets and what you should consider if you’re thinking about investing. W...

In this week’s episode, we discuss how you can learn anything for free. We share some of our favorite resources and tips for learning how to do things for free. Resources such as youtube, the Libby app, your public library, podcasts, Instagram, and Pinterest offer access to top-notch content and advice from legitimate and trusted experts for free. While you’re leveraging content from these resourc...

In this episode, we explain the 3 types of Roth retirement accounts and how you can leverage them on your financial independence journey. We talk through the differences between IRAs and Roth IRAs, what tax-deferred and tax-free mean as it relates to retirement, and then how to choose where to put your money.

In this week’s episode, we talk about the importance of financial wellness and share eight tips for achieving financial wellness. First, we compare financial wellness to physical wellness and talk about why both are important. Then we break down eight foundational steps to getting more financially fit! We talk about tracking your net worth, expense tracking, caring about what other people think, e...

In this week’s episode, we talk about how the FIRE community traditionally defines Financial Independence (FI) and how you can use that information to help you plan your own life. We explain the ever-popular 4% rule and dig into the benefits and drawbacks. Finally, and most importantly, we share how you can establish your own criteria for FI.

In this week’s episode, we discuss the gift economy and how you can use it to improve your finances, community, and happiness. We talk about how to join and leverage buy nothing groups, borrow things from neighbors on facebook neighborhood groups, and other ideas to drive a gift economy for yourself and those in your community. Changing your mentality about consumerism and what you need to persona...

In this week’s episode, we talk about using automation to improve your finances and create strong financial habits. We explain why automation can be so impactful and then talk through the specific ways you can automate your finances and some extra tips and tricks to make the most of automation. You can automate your savings, investments, paying your bills, tracking your expenses, tracking your net...

In this week’s episode, we share tips and advice for how to talk to your partner about money. Getting aligned with your partner about money can be such a positive boost for your relationship. Money is the number one issue couples fight about, and it’s a topic many couples avoid discussing altogether. It’s great if you and your partner are already on the same page when it comes to money, but this i...

In this week’s episode, we share a mid-year expense review for both of our families. And for a special treat, we invite our spouses to join us as we share and review our 6-months of expense tracking. We start by reminding everyone why we track our expenses and specifically how we each track our expenses. Then, finally, we talk through what we’re feeling good about, what we’d like to continue to im...

In this week’s episode, we talk about one of the most popular debt payoff strategies, Dave Ramsey’s Debt Snowball Method. It’s been around for a long time and has helped many people get rid of their debt. But this doesn’t mean it’s the best strategy for paying off your debt and maximizing your financial recovery. We discuss our thoughts on this method and explain why you should ignore it. And then...

In this week’s episode, we talk with A Purple Life, who recently retired at the age of 30 after spending a decade getting her cost of living low through a mix of frugal living, lifestyle decisions, and geoarbitrage. In her 20s, she realized she didn’t want a traditional career, wanted a different life, and created an intentional plan to retire by 35. She shares her journey with us, and we dig into...

In this week’s episode, we reflect on our recent family vacations, more recently known as vaxications. Mike went to Colorado; Maggie went to the US Virgin Islands. They were very different trips, but you can learn a lot from the details of other people’s travels, especially when they share their detailed costs. So we’re sharing the specifics, including all the costs. We break down what we spent ac...

In this week’s episode, we share how you can and should appeal your annual property tax assessment. If you can do this successfully, you can save hundreds or potentially even thousands on your annual real estate property taxes. Maggie has successfully done this twice, using a 3rd party service and doing it herself. We talk through the step-by-step process, and like all things, you do it yourself o...

In this week’s episode, we talk about spending more time with our kids, friends, and family and how this is a strong case for achieving financial independence. We share the reasons it’s hard to spend quality time with your kids as they age, through what’s left of you at night and on the weekends, and through limited vacations. We also talk about how tragically brief the time is we have with our ki...