Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

#754: Four months of savings in the bank, a goal of eight, and a career break she's excited to fund. Does everything else really have to wait? Paula and Joe's answer: don't turn your emergency fund into an emergency.

A 42-year-old UK listener asks how to split money between an emergency fund, a career break, and retirement. Then we map out a 30-something couple's sabbatical and ask whether you can objectively grade a politician on the economy.

In this episode, we discuss:

If you're juggling short-term plans and long-term goals and feel pulled in every direction, this episode will help you decide what gets funded first, and what can wait.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(05:30) The real difference between emergencies and expenses

(07:28) Why a former planner never said "emergency fund"

(13:13) The monthly math that breaks most wish lists

(18:36) One question that reveals what you really want

(26:37) Why four months of savings is enough for now

(33:48) Fund the sabbatical before earmarking a down payment

(37:00) Why a career break is prime time for Roth conversions

(43:24) How to test if you can handle a 22% drop

(1:01:53) Judge politicians on policies, not short-term results

(1:09:42) Why focusing on what you control grows your influence

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Emergency fund, sabbatical, retirement? See which box each dollar belongs in with this free one-page worksheet: https://affordanything.com/cornerstone

👉 Paul Merriman's free model portfolios and investing courses: https://paulmerriman.com

👉 Adventure Capitalist by Jim Rogers: https://amzn.to/4xOaEg3

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#753: New York City is short roughly half a million homes, yet at least 60,000 rent-regulated apartments sit empty. Under current rules, many owners lose less money by leaving them vacant than by fixing them up.

Kenny Burgos is CEO of the New York Apartment Association, which represents owners of rent-stabilized buildings, and a former New York State Assemblymember from the Bronx.

In this episode, we discuss:

Whether you own rentals, hope to, or just want to understand the rent-control debate, this episode shows what happens when costs keep rising and rents can't.

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Ready to buy your first rental property, or get more out of the one you already own? Join the waitlist for Your First Rental Property. You'll be the first to know when enrollment opens: courses.affordanything.com

👉 New York Apartment Association: https://housingny.org

👉 Housing New York podcast with Kenny Burgos: https://housingny.org/housingnypodcast

👉 Kenny Burgos on X: https://x.com/KennyBurgosNY

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(03:44) Why New York's 1969 emergency rent rules never ended

(04:58) The surprisingly low rent most New Yorkers actually pay

(23:33) Why buildings now sell for $50,000 an apartment

(25:12) Costs rose 4.5%. Rents were frozen at 0%.

(31:39) The rent-freeze program that actually works

(39:38) Who really pays when rents are frozen

(47:13) Why 60,000 apartments sit empty during a shortage

(01:01:53) Buyout or pressure? The $150,000 question

(01:06:52) What Vienna gets right that New York doesn't

(01:16:18) Should you buy a rental in New York?

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#752: A caller's rental is performing fine, but a late-paying tenant and a roof replacement have her ready to sell it before she moves to Madrid for her MBA. Paula argues the real fix isn't selling — it's a hire she hasn't made yet.

This week, Joe joins Paula to help a caller decide whether to sell a rental property from abroad, then dig into new data on why women's labor force participation dropped in July while their share of new jobs surged in August.

In this episode, we discuss:

This one's for anyone facing a big financial decision that feels more emotional than mathematical — whether that's a rental property, a career move, or a job you're not sure is worth keeping.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(01:45) Why she wants to sell a rental that's "objectively good"

(03:25) When it's actually okay to sell a good investment

(10:03) One hire that stops panic-selling a rental property

(14:44) The simple math to compare rental returns vs. stocks

(17:31) Paula's own confession about hating her first rental property

(22:22) Why doing what you're best at beats doing everything yourself

(30:11) 100% of last month's labor force drop was women

(31:54) The real reasons women are leaving the workforce right now

(32:18) Why women got 85% of new jobs created this year

(47:00) The industry that could fix jobs and housing at once

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Torn on selling a rental? Get our free 10-day guide, which includes a deal-analysis exercise to help you decide with the numbers, not just your gut: https://affordanything.com/fiire

👉 Sign up for our newsletter (get the new site first): https://affordanything.com/newsletter

👉 Leave us a voicemail with your own money question: https://affordanything.com/voicemail

👉 Read the BLS jobs report Paula cites in this episode: https://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm

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#751: The belief that’s quietly sabotaging your progress might not even be true. Free worksheet to question it: https://affordanything.com/turn-it-around

Two people can grow up with the exact same test scores — and as adults, one of them ends up earning double the other. Psychologist Marisa Franco says the deciding factor isn't intelligence, and it isn't luck. It's whether you actually believe good things are allowed to happen to you.

Dr. Marisa Franco is a psychologist and professor at the University of Maryland, and the New York Times bestselling author of Platonic. She's back to talk about her new book, Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment.

In this episode, we discuss:

How self-worth — not intelligence or family income — predicts how much you'll earn as an adult

Why some people quietly sabotage their own portfolio right before they hit financial independence

The difference between "good" and "bad" high self-esteem, and why one of them wrecks relationships

Why getting more love or praise than you expect can make you pull away instead of lean in

How to actually process a hard emotion instead of shoving it down

Why hitting a big financial goal can leave you feeling strangely empty once you get there

How to rebuild your sense of self after losing an identity you were attached to

Whether you've ever undermined your own progress right before a finish line, or wondered why reaching a goal didn't feel the way you thought it would, this episode gives you a framework for understanding — and changing — that pattern.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(02:05) The two very different types of high self-esteem

(04:36) Self-esteem vs. self-worth: the real difference

(05:37) Why self-worth predicts income more than SAT scores

(12:21) Sabotaging your own portfolio right before you hit FI

(14:15) The self-fulfilling prophecy behind financial fear

(23:36) Why too much love can make you pull away

(25:05) How low self-worth blocks promotions and job offers

(36:13) The memory trick that can change your brain

(46:19) Why self-worth matters most in a bad market

(1:06:10) Does self-worth actually drive your net worth?

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Worth: The New Science of Self-Esteem and Secure Attachment: https://drmarisagfranco.com/worth-the-book/

👉 Marisa's website (speaking, articles, more): https://drmarisagfranco.com

👉 Marisa on Instagram (for signed copies via Lost City Books): https://www.instagram.com/drmarisagfranco/

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#750: Free worksheet: question the belief that might be keeping you stuck — before reality forces the update for you: http://affordanything.com/turn-it-around

Alec Litowitz spent three decades building one of the world's largest hedge funds, and he says the highest-IQ people in the room are often the last to notice the world has changed. His answer isn't more intelligence — it's the willingness to be wrong, quickly, and update before everyone else catches up.

Alec co-founded Citadel alongside Ken Griffin and later founded Magnetar Capital, one of the largest alternative asset managers in the world. His new book, The Adaptability Quotient, is out September 15.

In this episode, we discuss:

How adaptability quotient (AQ) differs from IQ and EQ — and why it matters more now

What a doomed Antarctic expedition reveals about real adaptability

Why AI makes knowledge abundant and judgment scarce

How to stop needing to be right so you can update faster

The real reason Blockbuster lost to Netflix (it wasn't a bad decision)

A 4-part test for telling a temporary shift from a permanent one

Why a "diversified" portfolio might secretly be one big bet right now

This episode is for anyone whose career, portfolio, or plans feel less certain than they used to — a way of thinking that doesn't require predicting the future, just noticing when your old model has stopped working.

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#749: Michael Hingson was on the 78th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when the first plane hit on Sept. 11.

He felt the impact, but couldn’t see it. Michael has been blind since shortly after birth.

Alongside his guide dog, Roselle, they descended 1,463 steps – escaping just before the South Tower, 100 yards away, collapsed. They then helped a woman who was temporarily blinded by the dust.

Michael's story answers the question – What do you do when something terrifying is happening, you don't have enough information, you cannot control the outcome, and everyone around you is beginning to panic?

Michael's answer is surprisingly practical.

1. Prepare before you need the preparation.

2. Know what you know, know what you don't know.

3. Stop mentally rehearsing outcomes you cannot control

4. Keep acting on the part that remains within your control.

He had deliberately learned the World Trade Center's exits, emergency procedures, physical layout, and systems long before Sept 11 because he believed that was part of being responsible for his office.

When the building was struck, he describes that preparation as a “mindset” that simply kicked in.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(00:00) Life before September 11

(24:34) The plane hits the North Tower

(34:03) Fear takes over in the stairwell

(1:04:01) Turning tragedy into a new career

(1:28:02) Challenging attitudes about blindness

(1:38:01) Supporting guide dog organizations

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

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#748: The real question behind quitting a job you love or paying off debt anyway? Your money mindset. Take our free quiz to find yours: https://affordanything.com/fiire

A listener with $686,000 saved and a job she loves wants to take her family on a year-long trip — but Paula says her real question isn't about money at all. Later: a dad chooses to stop maxing his IRA to pay off a mortgage, even though the math says otherwise.

Joe joins from the road to help answer three listener questions: a family weighing a year off against a job she loves, a dad debating whether to stop maxing his IRA to pay off a house, and a longtime listener with a smarter way to save for college.

In this episode, we discuss:

Whether you're weighing a big life pivot, deciding what to do with extra cash, or just trying to make saving feel less abstract, this episode offers frameworks — not just formulas — for making the call.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(07:12) Can you afford to quit a job you love?

(11:09) Three things that actually predict job satisfaction

(17:05) Why this window with your kids won't come twice

(22:20) Why retiring often beats retiring early

(30:14) Why bad trip experiences count as good data

(34:18) Why paying off debt can beat the math

(36:49) Why coasting on your current savings pace is risky

(44:26) How to think like a CFO about your mortgage

(51:09) Why one bucket per goal makes saving easier

(53:46) Why your 401k isn't really about retirement

🔗 OTHER RESOURCES

👉 The real question behind quitting a job you love or paying off debt anyway? Your money mindset. Take our free quiz to find yours: https://affordanything.com/fiire

👉 Camp Fi, the financial independence retreats Paula and Joe swap stories about this episode: https://campfi.org

👉 Heavy Metal Money, Chris Luger's personal-finance podcast (Joe recorded this episode from his place): https://heavymetal.money

👉 Got a question of your own? Leave a voicemail for Paula: https://affordanything.com/voicemail

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#747: We have good news on multiple fronts to share about the job market, the stock market, the commodities market, and volatile news around the bond market.

And we begin it with some great news coming out of Nepal.

Welcome to the First Friday episode for September 2026.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(00:00) Rescued workers in Nepal

(04:53) Strong August jobs report

(10:14) Conflicting employment data

(12:27) Strong jobs, weaker stocks

(17:43) Why bonds matter more

(23:17) Inflation drives Treasury yields

(29:45) Hidden risks in bonds

(36:50) Treasury buyback controversy

(43:32) Liquidity versus warning signs

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Build a Life of Financial Freedom with our free workbook: https://affordanything.com/fiire

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#746: We begin today’s episode with a discussion of the disastrous flash flooding in Nepal, a personal topic for Paula given her family there. There’s both a human story, one of the resilience of the Nepalese people and the strong community bonds there, and an economic story, where poor infrastructure and a lack of economic development have hindered disaster response and exacerbated the tragedies of recent events. 

Listeners can donate to help the victims here: 

The Prime Minister Relief Fund: https://pmdrf.nchl.com.np/

Caritas Nepal: https://www.caritasnepal.org/donate-now/

Learn more about the ongoing rescue efforts at https://help.ekantipur.com/

A caller wants to put part of her mom's $80,000 home-sale proceeds into an annuity — and it left her financial-planner co-host doing a double take. Turns out it might be the first caller in the show's history the product was actually built for.

This week's Q&A tackles two retirement questions from listeners: when it makes sense to ease off maxing out a 401k in favor of a more flexible brokerage account, and whether a guaranteed-income annuity is the right move for a retiree who isn't great at managing money on her own.

In this episode, we discuss:

How to know when to stop maxing out your 401k and start filling a taxable brokerage account instead

The real "deal" you're making with the government every time you use a tax-advantaged account

Why an insurance company can keep 100% of the money if the annuity holder dies too soon — and how to avoid it

The one type of person a guaranteed-income annuity is actually built for

A simple daily habit trick for building consistency, borrowed from a world-class choreographer

Why doing everything right doesn't guarantee a good outcome, and what that means for your own decisions

What Nepal's disaster response reveals about the real payoff of economic development

Whether you're mapping out an early-retirement bridge or helping a parent build guardrails around a windfall, this episode will help you think more clearly about the trade-offs each option carries.

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Not sure which investments belong in your 401k, your Roth, or your taxable account? Grab our free guide to figuring out where each one goes: https://affordanything.com/assetlocation

👉 Morgan Housel on the split-second decision that changed everything: https://affordanything.com/488-gut-instincts-and-big-decisions-with-morgan-housel/

👉 Our interview with retirement researcher Dr. Wade Pfau on annuities and retirement income: https://affordanything.com/271-retirement-planning-in-2020-with-dr-wade-pfau/

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#745: A friend once asked Sahil Bloom how often he saw his parents. About once a year, Sahil said.

How old are they? Mid-60s.

His friend did the math out loud. If they live to 80, you'll see them 15 more times.

Sahil was 30, living in California and making great money at a venture fund. Within 45 days of that conversation, he quit his job, sold his house and moved across the country to be near family.

He's now managing partner of SRB Ventures, an early-stage fund backing more than 60 startups, and he writes The Curiosity Chronicle, a newsletter read by millions. His book, "The 5 Types of Wealth," is a New York Times bestseller.

His framework starts with a scoring problem. Financial wealth gets measured every day. Time, social, mental and physical wealth run in the background, unmeasured, until something forces you to look.

You'll get exercises for each. Build an energy calendar that tracks which activities charge you up and which drain you.

Map your relationships by how healthy and how frequent they are. Ask what your family and your community need from you. Define what "enough" means in dollars, then write the number down.

Sahil also walks through anti-goals — the things you refuse to sacrifice on the way to a goal — and Memento Mori, the Roman habit of keeping your own death in view.

Two questions run underneath all of it. Think about how you spent yesterday. Would your 10-year-old self be impressed? Would your 90-year-old self?

You don't experience all four seasons in a single day. Sahil argues your life runs on seasons too. Some stretches call for financial growth. Others call for family.

Find Sahil at the5typesofwealth.com.

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