friends on FIRE

We answer top personal finance questions submitted by college students. We share our advice on everything from explaining how taxes work to how to start investing to how to deal with credit cards. And we are again joined by our college summer intern Mia.

We share our top 10 tips and advice on how to save money in college. Students are returning to school in the upcoming weeks, so it’s the perfect time to think ahead on how to save money and not break the bank while you’re in college. We share advice on how to save money on everything from housing to books to food. And best of all, on this episode we are joined by Mia, our summer college intern - G...

Maggie shares that she’s considering buying a new car, and Mike shares all of the reasons why she should not buy a new car. This is part debate, part intervention, and part friendly podcast discussion amongst two friends. Maggie unpacks all of the reasons why she wants this specific new car, and Mike debates all of her reasons and gives her new rationale to consider. Mike had a slight advantage in...

We talk with Ben from FIafter40 about the financial impact of divorce and more broadly relationships and money. We dig into Ben’s childhood and how his family talked about money, what Ben’s first marriage was like and how they treated and talked about money, and how Ben discusses money in his current relationship. In many ways Ben’s divorce was the moment that prompted him to take a closer look at...

We discuss if credit monitoring is really worth the expense or if it’s throwing your money away. Do you really need credit monitoring? We discuss what credit monitoring actually covers and provides, how you can do a DIY version of credit monitoring by freezing your credit, and other tips and considerations. We also talk briefly about what you can do if your credit is stolen.

We have a fun discussion with Jen + Jill from the Frugal Friends podcast where we discuss values-based spending and how to avoid extremes with your money and find your own radical middle. We dig into a wide-range of other topics like the value of budgeting, time vs. money, paying off debt, being intentional and connected to your spending decisions, not treating frugality as a race to the bottom, t...

We discuss how to stay motivated during quarantine with a 2020 mid-year goals check-in. We revisit why it’s important to set goals, how to set them, and how to measure them. We talk about the importance of setting SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Attainable/Assignable, Relevant/Realistic, Time-Bound) and the importance of tracking against your goals to make progress. We then share our progress o...

We discuss Greg McKeown’s book Essentialism: The Disciplined Pursuit of Less and how it relates into money. Essentialism is about focusing your time and energy on only the most important things, AKA the most “essential” for your personal happiness, your personal success, for your job, etc. We would add money to the list; essentialism should be about focusing your time, energy, and money on only th...

In this episode we discuss what a credit score is, how it’s calculated, and most importantly if it really even matters. As we delve into the concept of credit scores, Mike shares why he’s passionately angry about the business of credit scores while Maggie’s more in the ambivalent camp. Credit scores may not be the most exciting topic to many people, but it’s one of many things you should understan...

In this episode we talk about how you should know and use the various benefits your credit cards offer to you. Credit cards offer tons of great benefits, and most people don’t use them! And on top of not using them, many people are actually paying for duplicative services through other companies. Some of the many credit card benefits available include: Global Entry or TSA Pre Fee Credit, Baggage D...

We interview Jess and Corey from The Fioneers. They are a married couple in their early 30s living in Boston, and they both work for non-profits. They coined the term SlowFI and believe that FI is best understood as a pioneering journey that requires courage and vision to create a new way of life. Their vision is as much about creating a fulfilling and meaningful life along the journey as about ma...

We share tips and advice for how to save money on vacation. Summer vacations are happening now or around the corner for many, so it’s the perfect time to think ahead on how to save money and not break the bank while you’re traveling this summer. We share advice on how to save money on booking your location whether it’s a hotel or rental property, and how to save on food, activities, and buying “st...

We interview attorney Elaine Levine about Estate Planning. Elaine is a graduate of Harvard College and Yale Law School. Her firm, Kwartin & Levine, LLP, focuses on wills, trusts, probate, family law and elder law. Elaine walks through the key documents you need to properly estate plan: wills, revocable trusts, advanced directives for healthcare, financial power of attorney, HIPAA authorization, an...

We talk about adulting and how to handle your money if you want to act like an adult. We share advice on how to enter financial adulthood, and all the things we wished we had done more of when we were younger. We cover advice like avoiding debt, not overspending on things like housing and cars, managing your mindset and avoiding lifestyle inflation, take advantage of company benefits, investing ea...

We cover six recommendations for what to do next if you find yourself temporarily furloughed or permanently unemployed. Our six steps include: (1) Accept it emotionally, it’s not your fault. (2) Cut back on your spending and reevaluate all financial commitments. (3) File for unemployment insurance. (4) Request mortgage forbearance. (5) Research and extend your medical insurance. (6) Prep for findi...

We interview Joel from the How To Money podcast, which is a popular podcast that covers a wide range of personal finance topics. The hosts also enjoy and discuss a different craft beer every episode. Joel shares how he started the How to Money podcast years ago with his good friend Matt. He also digs into his childhood and how it shaped his views around money, what it’s like to work for Clark Howa...

Maggie + Mike interview Ronnie Farzad from Spark Cooperative, an innovation consultancy specializing in strategic new product development. Ronnie is one of the 3 founders of Spark and he walks us through his career journey, the best advice he’s ever received from mentors, and of course we dig into his personal finances a bit. This is one of our longest podcasts ever, but we really enjoyed our conv...

In this episode, Mike and Maggie share 10 FIRE Extinguishers, that is 10 items that can extinguish your financial independence journey. We talk through things like mindset, keeping up with the Joneses, FOMO, saying no to your kids, lifestyle inflation, a job loss, and much more. If you can recognize these potential pitfalls along your personal finance journey, then you can proactively avoid and/or...

In this episode, Mike and Maggie talk about split and combined finances for a household and the many considerations that should go into your decision on how to handle finances in your relationship. There is no right or perfect answer, and it’s more important that you and your partner have open and honest communication regarding finances.

Mike explains the economy in this episode, while Maggie chimes in with some random comments and thoughts, and growls like a bear (market). Mike explains the situation around the world, from the unemployment rates to the things the Fed is doing to attempt to improve the economy. He compares how a CEO runs a company to how a person runs their personal finances.

Mike and Maggie interview Scott Vance, host of the Sheepdog Financial podcast. Scott retired after 22 years in the Army, and now runs a financial planning and tax practice. Scott shares his own personal finance journey, and some helpful perspective on many financial considerations for those in the military. His insights and learnings are equally applicable to military and civilians.

In this episode, Mike and Maggie review their March and April expenses to give a view into their monthly spending levels, and more specifically how the corona pandemic quarantine has impacted them. This is a more casual conversation and episode, and we hope hearing what others are spending their money on is helpful as you consider your own spending levels.

In this episode, Mike and Maggie follow-up on their minimalism + money episode with a more tactical discussion on decluttering. This episode will help inspire you to declutter with specific tips and recommendations on how to get started, what to focus on, inspirational resources, and much more. We talk through three key areas of focus - (1) Decluttering tips for minimizing what you already have, (...

In this episode, Mike and Maggie kick-off their new mentor series with a discussion with Mark Horstman, the co-founder of Manager Tools. Manager Tools is a management consulting firm with a dual mission to make every manager effective and every professional productive. Mark co-hosts a podcast also called Manager Tools, which has millions of downloads a month and has won tons of awards, being named...

In this episode, Mike and Maggie talk about the relationship between minimalism and money. We discuss what minimalism is, the idea of intentionality and bringing more of it into your life. We also dive into the differences between being frugal and minimalism, how more stuff does not create happiness, and much more. We wrap up the discussion with some thoughts on taking some time to evaluate what r...