Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors

Diania Merriam is the founder of the EconoMe Conference, an exclusive gathering for the FIRE community (financial independence, retire early). Inspired by FIRE, Diania hit an impressive 60% savings rate and retired at 33. Of course, in retirement, you've got to stay active; what's the point of financial freedom if you've got nothing to do? Diania joins Jesse today to discuss CoastFI, SlowFI, and t...

Jeremy is the voice behind Personal Finance Club, a community of champions of the individual investor dedicated to bringing accessible financial education to all. The Personal Finance Club believes financial education improves lives and it should be taught in school. You might have seen Jeremy and Personal Finance Club on Instagram where he posts eye catching financial graphics to almost 600, 000...

Sean Mullaney is the FI Tax Guy (FI = Financial Independence). He's a financial planner and the president of Mullaney Financial and Tax Incorporated which offers fiduciary, fee-only, and advice-only financial planning. In this episode, Jesse dives deep on capital gains taxes, while Sean and Jesse dissect the Roth vs. Traditional debate, the efficacy of 529 Plans, and how to think about changes to...

Rose Lounsbury is a keynote speaker, an Amazon bestselling author, simplicity coach and the still-sane mom of triplets. She helps overwhelmed people create open spaces in their homes, their workspaces, and more importantly in their minds by letting go of the excess stuff that gets in the way.   In today's episode, Rose teaches us why towels are a great place to start when we're looking to simplify...

Today, Jesse shares some financial lessons from humble beginnings. There's much to learn from his first entrepreneurial endeavor: a baseball concession stand. Then, Andrew Giancola joins the pod to share his "Hero's Journey," from a bottom point where he found himself unable to afford a fill-up of gasoline. Andrew has thoughts about peoples' biggest problem with money, about opportunity costs we a...

In the day-to-day hustle of parenting, thinking long-term, especially regarding finances, is often challenging. With studies showing an estimated cost of over $300,000 to raise a child from birth to age 18 (excluding college expenses), addressing your monetary matters becomes utterly crucial before you embark on parenting. Today, Jesse sits down with Andy Hill to discuss combining finances with a...

Do you see yourself dying on top of a pile of gold like Scrooge McDuck? Today's guest, Chris Hutchins, shares his story of how he balances hacking his life: credit cards, chores, out of the box thinking, you name it, with keeping his end goals in mind. But, first, Jesse recounts his travels. He may have learned a lesson or two from the busy street traffic in Vietnam vs the quaint pubs of Ireland. ...

Nonillion… That's a number so big, I hadn't heard it before recording this episode. Should you budget and track every single dollar you spend? Should you put 10 percent of your income into your 401k? These are just two of the typical questions I get asked when it comes to money management. In fact, when you think about the hundreds of decisions the average person is faced with in their financial j...

How do you know when you are taking the right financial road? Should you prioritize saving money to be better off in the future? Or is it more beneficial to ensure you are using money as a resource for happiness in the present? Our guest today, Carl Jensen, has chosen the first option for the majority of his life, using money not as a resource for happiness, but one to defend against hardships. Re...

Today on the podcast, we have a fascinating guest. He's a gentleman by the name of Fritz Gilbert. He runs a blog called The Retirement Manifesto. As you might guess from the name of Fritz's blog, it's all about retirement. Now, yes, Fritz covers the nuts and bolts, the numbers of retirement, but we talk even more regarding the softer side of retirement, the things that retirees ought to be thinkin...

What exactly does it mean to live a regret free life? Our guest today, Jordan Grumet aka Doc G, shares the observations he's made as a hospice doctor. We get into a discussion about how money is a mirage. Many people view it as this big important thing, but in reality it's just a construct. It helps us achieve other things, and it's those other things which are truly important, not the money itsel...

Today, I'm going to share the five false proxies leading people astray in their financial goals. In fact, what if I told you a recent study revealed your $1 million investment principal was more likely to quadruple than remain flat even after decades of enjoying a 4% withdrawal rate? Would you rethink your saving strategy? Would you consider passing along some of your inheritance sooner in life? W...

What kind of mood would you find yourself in if a tree fell onto your house? Would it ruin your day? Our guests might have something to say about that…   Joining me today are two of the most outrageously optimistic, enthusiastic experts in personal finance, Joel O'Leary and Joel Laarsgard.   I'll often have clients come in and say, "Jesse, we really want to approach things conservatively. I mean a...

Today's episode starts in Minnesota, during an experiment where young men were intentionally starved. They knew starvation would affect their body, but were shocked by how it affected their brains. We then travel to Johnsonburg, a small town in Pennsylvania, where an unexpected event involving deer and a newly constructed bridge made headlines.    Did you know that mammal brains, including ours, s...

You might've seen it on the nightly news or read it in the morning paper, but things got a little tense on Capitol Hill leading into Memorial Day weekend. Today we're going to talk about the debt ceiling crisis that almost happened in the US. Luckily, politicians figured it out, or at least kicked the can down the road. So, what does that mean for your finances?   Well, hopefully nothing. But what...

Investing can be stressful. We worry when our accounts are going down and grow overconfident when our accounts are going up. So how do we find a good baseline?    Surprisingly, one of the answers has to do with chess and a Chinese emperor.    Sit back and let Jesse improve your investing mindset as he explains 7 intriguing stories and facts about how the stock market works.   Mentions: *Actual Sto...

Time is coming for us all, and according to one survey, 73% of adult children haven't had detailed conversations with their parents about their parents' finances. In fact, many of them don't know how to even start the discussion.   Today, on The Best Interest Podcast, Jesse explains a few ways to bring up this conversation, gather information, and details which topics you should discuss not just w...

Today, we explore the concept of FIRE, a community of individuals dedicated to the principles of achieving financial independence and early retirement.    Jesse plays devil's advocate against FIRE, dives into the nuance of the 4% rule (a widely misunderstood concept in the FIRE community), and demonstrates how to shape financial independence to work for your personal goals.   Then, Brad Barrett, t...

Three things are certain in life: death, taxes, and a couple weekly articles from The Best Interest. Today we explore the intersection of two of the most important components of personal finances, taxes and investing and why you might save thousands of dollars off your tax bill.   Jesse tackles the topic of taxes from a few different angles: the most common mistakes in understanding taxes includin...

Uncle Jim is certain Tesla stock is about to go up. He's been right before. I mean he's also been wrong, but only when something unpredictable happened. So, should we trust Uncle Jim knows what he's talking about?   Well, I'm confident the average "Uncle Jim" is way too overconfident. Larry Swedroe says the biggest risk to most investors is staring them in the mirror, and I'd have to agree.    So,...

Why is personal finance so complicated? Even worse, the Internet is full of personal finance "experts" providing short-sighted, error-prone, and outright bad financial advice.    Sure, we all need the basic advice - investing 101, budgeting, how to avoid financial frauds. But then there's the more complicated stuff…   What happened at Silicon Valley Bank in March 2023?  Why did bonds - a supposedl...

If a guy from Facebook messages you about whole life insurance more than your mom texts you, it's time to be suspicious. He may have more interest in your wallet than your well-being.   But not all insurance is bad. Insurance is meant to protect wealth, not create it, and anyone who's crashed their car or broken their clavicle knows this to be true.    So, what insurance is right for you? Jesse br...

Bank runs, collapses, and bailouts. Anyone else getting GFC PTSD? The Silicon Valley Bank collapse is the largest bank collapse since the 2008 Great Financial Crisis,, and the second largest U.S. bank collapse ever. So, why did it happen? Will this spark a larger contagion throughout the banking sector and the U.S. economy, and should everyday savers be concerned?   Jesse breaks down the larger in...

So what did Warren Buffett mean by silver tongued demagogues and slaying dragons? Jesse sits down with Rob Bradley, a fellow Berkshire Hathaway shareholder and CFP in Rochester, NY, to discuss the wealth of knowledge behind Berkshire Hathaway's latest annual letter to shareholders.    Buffett is widely regarded as one of the greatest investors of all time and his investing style has been studied a...

Truth be told, personal finance is simple. There's only a small number of foundational rules and a sprinkle of middle school math involved.    But our natural human short-comings make personal finance difficult to enact. So, how can we overcome the biases and behaviors that prevent us from successfully achieving our financial goals?    Jesse simplifies personal finance into three basic rules: spen...