#473: Sarah has cash to pay a $8,000 medical bill but she’s reluctant to drain her savings. Should she sign up for the hospital’s interest-free payment plan?
Jennie is an independent consultant but gets paid as a W-2 employee. Without access to a SEP IRA or a 401k plan, is there another option to save for retirement?
An anonymous caller is wondering how to run a cost-benefit analysis on pursuing a graduate degree.
Brian is getting inundated with spam calls as a real estate investor. Is there a way to stop the madness?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these four questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it at https://affordanything.com/voicemail
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episodes473
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Ask Paula: How to Pay Off a $8,000 Medical Bill Without Going Broke

You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life.
How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles?
On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing.
But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think.
In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models.
Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.

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The Fed met earlier this week and elected to keep interest rates at a 23-year high, in an effort to wrestle inflation closer to its two percent target.

Despite this, the April jobs report, which was released today, shows that jobs grew for the 40th consecutive month, and unemployment remains under 4 percent, an historic low, for the 27th straight month.

The 12-month inflation rate is 3.5 percent, based on March CPI data.

Stocks remain on a tear, but performance is lopsided, with 10 companies driving 85 percent of this years’ gains.
We cover this and more in our First Friday economic update episode.

Enjoy!

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode502
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Fed Keeps Interest Rates High; Jobs Grow for 40th Consecutive Month

Drop the mic! ChooseFI's Brad Barrett takes the host role in this special episode, interviewing Paula Pant about the financial independence community.
This episode was recorded LIVE at a comedy club in Brooklyn, as the final installment of the Episode 500 and 501 celebration.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode501
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Mic Drop! ChooseFI's Brad Barrett Interviews Paula Pant

Enjoy Part 2 of our two-part Episode 500 special, recorded live at a comedy club in Brooklyn. Host Paula Pant and special guest Brad Barrett from ChooseFI answer questions from the audience, live on stage.
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LIVE EVENT Q&A: Episode 500, Part 2, with ChooseFI’s Brad Barrett

Enjoy Part 1 of our two-part Episode 500 special, recorded live at a comedy club in Brooklyn.
Brad Barrett, host of the ChooseFI podcast, joins us on stage to talk about what financial independence ideas and practices have changed … and what ideas and practices have remained consistent, universal and time-tested throughout the years.
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode500
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LIVE FROM BROOKLYN: Episode 500 with ChooseFI’s Brad Barrett

We delve into the world of Financial Independence (FI) with a pioneer -- Vicki Robin, the co-author of Your Money or Your Life.

In the 1970s, Vicki Robin and Joe Dominguez, from vastly different backgrounds, came together over a shared vision: FI as a life philosophy, not just a savings strategy. Their book, "Your Money or Your Life," which sold more than one million copies, outlined a three-dimensional approach to FI:

Financial Intelligence: Thinking clearly and objectively about money.
Financial Integrity: Aligning your spending and earning with your values.
Financial Independence: Breaking free from paycheck dependence and limiting beliefs about money.

In this podcast episode, Vicki will discuss a new dimension she's added:

Financial Interdependence: Recognizing the importance of giving and receiving within our communities and the world.

Vicki and I discuss how to move beyond "just the money" during the quest for financial freedom.

This episode originally aired in 2018.

We're sharing this as part of GREATEST HITS WEEK, a 5-day series in which we're sharing 5 episodes, across 5 days, that we produced during the earliest years of the Afford Anything podcast. You may have missed it then; enjoy it now.
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Ask Paula: How to Pay Off a $8,000 Medical Bill Without Going Broke

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