111R | Jillian from Montana Money Adventures gives advice for laying out roadmap in your life, right after and Brad and Jonathan review Monday's episode and highlight activities from several local groups around the globe.

• Brad and Jonathan reflect on last week's episode with Billy Banholzer.
• A video inspires Brad to learn swimming from his daughter.
• Your current behavior or mistake doesn't have to define you for the rest of your life.
• One of the first steps to Billy's success was setting goals.
• What are Brad's suggestions for developing into a better writer?
• Billy found ChooseFI while he was looking for a community of people who were pursuing the same things he wanted to pursue.
• Getting started on the path to financial independence can be really hard at first, but it gets easier as you move further down the path.
• Brad shares excitement about a local meet up and changes people are making locally.
• Highlight reel of local group activities:
  • Combined Southern California and San Diego groups have a sold-out meeting where Jillian from Montana Money Adventures will speak.
  • The Nebraska local group is meeting every two months with specific topics.
  • A new group in The Netherlands has more than 20 members.
  • The local group in Portland, Ore., met every week in 2018.
  • A Northern Ireland local group doubled its membership in the past month.
  • Alex, an admin from the Baltimore group, is setting up mastermind groups.

• Jillian, from Episode 84, talks about building a life roadmap:
  • Focusing on your values is the first step to building a better life.
  • How did Jillian and her husband create space to talk about their values and what they wanted their life to look like?
  • Be. Have. Do.
  • Jillian uses sticky notes to brainstorm her ideas and organize her thoughts.
  • What is a Quit List?
  • How does Jillian consider seasons of life?
  • Each person's superpower includes:
    • What you're passionate about.
    • What you're naturally good at.
    • What activities you get caught up in and find really fun.
  • Brad talks about listening to where there's resistance in your life.
  • Could. Should. Want.
  • Writing down your thoughts helps clarify and anchor them.
  • Tickets for Chautauqua 2019 will go on sale soon.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/111R

111 | Billy B., a writer, entrepreneur and blogger at Wealth Well Done, shares his story of finding freedom in prison, starting over in his 30s and pursuing financial independence despite the setbacks.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/111

110R | Voicemails from the ChooseFI community about saving on grocery bills, making life changes to optimize your circumstances, and a travel suggestion, as well as a review of Monday's episode and updates from Brad and Jonathan about bills, travel, solar panels and more.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/110R

110 | Rocky Lalvani, blogger at Richer Soul, shares his story of growing up as an immigrant's child, learning how to save money in his early years, and how he's teaching his own children about finances now.

• Rocky's parents came to the U.S. in 1968, when Rocky was 2 years old.
• Among Rocky's parents' friends and their community, money was an open topic, and in pursuit of the "American Dream" his family consistently climbed the financial ladder.
• When Rocky was 7 his father became a single dad, and Rocky started learning how to be more independent, personally and financially.
• Paying attention to what customers and supervisors actually wanted helped Rocky advance at work.
• How much was Rocky saving when he was working in his youth?
• Rocky worked through college by delivering pizza and working at the university, finishing without any student debt.
• When he got his first post-college job, his dad helped him set up all the available automated savings accounts – 401k, company stock, etc.
• After realizing he needed to get out of consumer debt, what was Rocky's strategy?
• Rocky's plan was always to be a millionaire – he had been calculating and trying strategies since early on.
• Seeing people lose their life savings in an economic downturn motivated Rocky to get himself into a steady financial position.
• What steps did Rocky take to get himself to FI?
• • Started saving early.
  • Always spent less than he made.
  • Rocky paid off his mortgage as early as possible.
• How is Rocky teaching his children about money?
• At this point, Rocky's children are young adults – they don't need things to be confident.
• Rocky wishes that in addition to teaching how to save money, he had also taught his children to earn money.
• Rocky's strategy to help his daughter do well on the SAT, and hopefully earn a good scholarship, was to download an app on her phone and answer one SAT question a day for three years, prior to taking the exam.
• Earning a scholarship to college is a sliding scale – a student might earn scholarship at a lower tier school, when they would not earn anything at a "better" school.
• Rocky and his son went a step further and did their best to figure out how to pay for college with the lowest price tag.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/110

109R | Big ERN from Early Retirement Now joins the show to talk about the current market climate: How is it impacting investors, who could benefit, and what markers he uses to evaluate its actual condition? We also share a voicemail from Abby, who provides a few more helpful hints for teaching abroad. Highlights from the show:

• Brad maxed out his HSA for 2019, and talks about how he's prioritizing fitness.
• Easy choices, hard life. Hard choices, easy life.
• Preview of who will be at the coming CampFI that Brad plans to attend.
• Review of Monday's episode about teaching abroad, and the wide variety of opportunities available.
• A voicemail from Abby H., who is currently teaching in China and has experience in several other countries as well.
• Abby tried teaching in Kuwait, but found that despite a high salary the cost of living was also extremely high.
• Suggestions from Abby:
• • Don't just look for jobs in the Middle East, or other "high salary" locations.
  • Try negotiating your salary/benefits offer.
  • Look for options that don't require purchasing a car.
• How did Rob and Scott, from Monday's episode, replace fear with flexibility in each of their lives?
• Big ERN joins the show to talk about the current market situation:
• • What is "sequence of returns" risk, and why does it matter?
  • Under the assumption that the great recession or the dot-com bust will not repeat, Big ERN thinks it's too early to worry about the current market climate.
  • The 4% rule isn't as untouchable as people think. With a small market downturn, it's possible that some people will need to draw as much as 5%.
  • If someone's portfolio decreased this year, should they work a few more years to rebuild it, or count on the market recovering?
  • If someone is still many years away from retirement, they shouldn't worry too much about the market, and might actually be benefit from low stock prices.
  • If you have a 50% or higher savings rate, you are going succeed financially, regardless of this drop in the market.
  • The U.S. economy is still strong, so the value of the market isn't necessarily going down – the price is just down.
  • If someone has a sum of money ready to invest, should they invest it all at once, or employ "dollar-cost averaging"?
  • Who should be concerned about the market and what should they be looking for?
  • Look at the fundamentals of the U.S. economy to evaluate the conditions of the market.
  • Big ERN just retired. His family is just settling in to a new house in Washington.

Links:

• ChooseFI Local Groups are helping to build on-the-ground community
• TeachAway
• Early Retirement Now

109 | Scott, a math teacher in Santiago, Chile, and Rob, a blogger at Getting Canned, share their experiences teaching abroad, including the financial and lifestyle benefits, and the how-to for making it happen.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/109

• Jonathan is back from 20 days with family in Zimbabwe, and Brad recaps his Christmas vacation.
• Brad and his family added 12 board games to their collection.
• William, from Monday's episode, set out a road map for people who want or need to safe guard finances for special needs children or other dependents.
• Key: fund your trust as a part of executing your will to minimize tax liability.
• Start with a 529 Able, but as you reach $100k, begin to look at the next steps.
• Comment from Rebecca, that the 529 Able accounts in Nevada have higher fees than she preferred, so she's funding a traditional 529 Plan and will eventually rotate it into a 529 Able.
• Every state currently has its own set of 529 Able options.
• Voicemail from Penny, who has a special needs trust and was on disability for 16 years, but has been back to work for the past 12 years and is now working to help her parents with their healthcare and financial needs.
• Financial independence is the ability to do the things that bring you joy, whether they bring in money or not.
• In 2019, ChooseFI is bringing in experts to answer specific, technical questions.
• William is helping to build the website, and a more user-friendly local group site.
• Brad is going to Camp FI in Florida soon.
• How to calculate your savings rate:
• • Three different ways to calculate:
  • • Gross total compensation divided by how much you saved or invested.
    • Take-home pay divided by how much you saved or invested.
    • After-tax compensation divided by how much you saved or invested.
  • Brad uses an excel sheet with three tabs: Profit & Loss (P&L), Net Worth, Accounts.
  • In the Accounts tab, Brad records savings in each account at the beginning and end of the year, and totals up monthly expenses (cost of electric in Jan., Feb., Mar., etc.).
  • Does Brad track every one of his credit card expenses?
  • Net worth = add up all your assets and all your liabilities.

For more information, including links mentioned in today's show, visit the show notes at http://ChooseFI.com/108R

108 | William McVey, ChooseFI's Chief Technology Officer, walks through investment options available to meet the financial demands of special needs children, and the strategies he's used to prepare for his children's future.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/108

107R | A year-end episode featuring voicemails and messages from the ChooseFI community sharing successes, progress, exciting discoveries, and hopes for next year of our journey toward financial independence.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://ChooseFI.com/107R

107 | Craig Attkinson, owner and founder of Green Side Up, a landscaping company in Richmond, Va., explains how he started his business in his mid-20s, what it took to grow and optimize the business, and how he's optimized other aspects of his life as well.

• Craig started out his career on a golf course, with a degree from Virginia Tech in turf grass and horticulture.
• Green Side Up started in one weekend when Craig bought a truck, a trailer and a mower all at once.
• Craig mowed lawns since he was 10 years old and saved it all until he bought his supplies.
• Jumping straight into landscaping required Craig to do everything himself, and learn on the go.
• When Craig brought on his first partner, he gave him 50% of the company, and guaranteed a salary, knowing that they would have to build up that amount of business.
• How did Craig get contracts in the mid 2000s?
• Craig has a marketing company now that helps now, but early marketing for Green Side Up involved phone books, purchasing ads and a lot of networking.
• Having a partner to build ideas, and watching to see how other similar businesses function is helpful to build efficiency.
• Finding a good system for managing the work processes and clarifying expectations for employees hugely increased the business' efficiency.
• How can Craig build the company to a point that he can step away?
• As the business gets bigger, purchasing things in bulk, or at higher volumes, helps Craig get better prices.
• How did Craig find the FI community?
• Craig's goal in life is to not have to ever worry about money.
• Craig's saving rate is about 70-80% because he benefits from company vehicles, cell phone plan, etc., which makes his personal expenses much lower.
• Craig's family farm houses the equipment for the business.
• How and why did Craig design his own tiny home, next to his sister's house?
• Craig loves life optimization; what aspects of his tiny home are most optimized?
• • Took advantage of a 4' x 6' nook for his office.
  • Used leftover granite from someone else's kitchen remodel for his own small kitchen.
  • Built a bed with drawers underneath for his closet.
• Craig is technically FI, but is still loving his work, so he's not retiring anytime soon.
• His next adventures are climbing in Patagonia and biking in Norway.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://choosefi.com/107