Financial Independence Podcast

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I finally got to interview the person who introduced me to the concept of financial independence and early retirement in the first place…

Jacob Lund Fisker from Early Retirement Extreme!

To my mind, Jacob is the founder of the modern-day "FIRE movement" so hope you enjoy the interview!

Highlights

• What Jacob has been up to since stepping away from ERE
• His experience being a financial quant and how it impacted his personal investing
• The problem with set-it-and-forget-it index investing
• The importance of staying flexible with your investing strategy
• Predictions for the next decade and the post-COVID world
• A systems approach to lifestyle design and why it's beneficial
• Jacob's thoughts on early retirement how they've changed since publishing Early Retirement Extreme
• His current projects and his plans for the future

Last year, I conducted an experiment in Ultralearning that I hoped would help me achieve a lifelong dream of mine of writing and releasing an album.

I'm happy to say it was far more successful than I ever imagined it would be!

As I mentioned in the initial Ultralearning podcast episode, the hope for the 3-month experiment was that it would accelerate my progress towards my goal and make the process more enjoyable.

Well, it did all that and more…

I ended up finishing a song during that 3-month experiment and I can't believe it but I just released that single today!

Not only did I write a song during the experiment, I continued writing music since then and I now have enough material for an album!

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this experiment would help me make so much progress but it has! In today's podcast episode, I go through everything I learned and explain why the Ultralearning Experiment helped me push past the self-doubt and self-destructive habits that have plagued me in the past.

I also describe the new routines the experiment helped me develop and why those new habits have allowed me accomplish more than I ever have before!

Highlights

• How to get your brain ready (and why it's essential for making progress)
• The best way to make developing new habits easier
• What you should focus on and why
• How to be original and creative
• Why you should make your project "real" (even if it makes you feel silly)
• When it's worth spending more money instead of less
• Why you should expect to encounter the "gap" and how to get over it

One of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel, is on the Financial Independence Podcast today!

I'm not the one conducting the interview this time though (all is explained in the episode).

Morgan's insight into how to handle uncertainty, market crashes, and this weird stock boom that we now find ourselves in is invaluable so hope you enjoy it!

Big thanks to Gouri, Morgan, and the Bogleheads for making this happen!

It's been four years since I left my full-time job and what a crazy year it's been!

To celebrate this anniversary and to recap the things I've learned during this last year of post-FI life (and the COVID market crash), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Bear markets are a normal part of investing but is this time different?

As the coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the world, governments are struggling to limit the economic impact of the disease.

In today's unplanned episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, JL Collins (author of The Simple Path to Wealth) joins me to talk about this stock-market crash, how it differs from previous crashes, and what you should do about it.

Note: Apologies for the audio quality of this episode. Since this wasn't planned in advance, I didn't have my normal microphone so I had to use the microphone on my iPhone headphones :/

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm excited to introduce Scott Young!

I first heard about Scott when he decided to complete MIT's entire computer science curriculum in a year.

Scott has taken on a lot of these types of impressive learning projects and he just wrote a great book about it – Ultralearning.

As you know, I'm attempting to tackle a very intimidating project myself so what better way to kick off that effort than with my own 3-month ultralearning project!

In today's interview, we dive into the details of ultralearning and we design a new ultralearning project from scratch.

Ultralearning projects seem perfect for anyone who is FI or hopes to achieve financial independence one day so hope you get as much out of this discussion as I did!

Highlights

• Why ultralearning can help you get to FI quicker (while making the journey more enjoyable)
• How Scott was able to complete MIT's computer science curriculum in one year
• Why the first part of learning something new is the hardest and how to use ultralearning to get past that phase sooner
• How to learn new languages as quickly and efficiently as possible
• Details about my own ultralearning project and how Scott suggests I design it
• The imporantance of breaking big goals into concrete stages
• Why limiting scope is so important when diving into something new
• What is meta-feedback and why it's important
• The power of direct practice and how to use drills to fix specific issues
• What to do when you hit a block or a plateau in your learning

I can't believe it but it's already been three years since I left my full-time job!

To commemorate this special anniversary and to recap the things I've learned during this last year of post-FI life (which happened to be the best one yet), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Personal-finance icon Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to be Rich joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast!

Ramit first published his New York Times best-selling book, I Will Teach You to be Rich, back in 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis.

He just released the second version today so we discuss what's changed in the last decade and also talk about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) – a concept that's taken the financial world by storm in recent years.

This is the first time Ramit has talked about FIRE so it was great getting his opinions on it, especially since he's often thought of as being on the opposite end of the financial spectrum (my first podcast guest, Mr. Money Mustache, has even jokingly referred to him as his "arch-rival in personal finance").

Ramit didn't hold back (does he ever?) so hope you enjoy this one as much as I did!

Highlights

• What Ramit likes about FIRE (and what he doesn't)
• When you should pay more instead of less
• How to cure yourself from extreme frugality
• Why you need to maximize for value instead of cost
• How to break out of the spreadsheet and start living life

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm very excited to introduce author Cal Newport!

I've been a huge fan of Cal's writing for many years so it was a treat to get to talk to him.

We explore many important issues related to early retirement that aren't often talked about so if you're thinking about retiring early (or if you already have and are struggling to build the life that you envisioned before leaving work), today's episode is a must-listen!

Highlights:

• Why pursuing your passion is overrated
• How to love your job
• What is "Focused FIRE" and why it's likely the best option
• How to get good at something valuable
• Why you should replace relaxation with difficult, meaningful activity
• The importance (and increasing rarity) of deep work
• Why skillful management of attention is the key to a good life
• How to perform a digital declutter
• The importance of high-quality leisure activities
• Why technology could be ruining your personal life and how to stop it

On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, my buddy Grant from Millennial Money joins me to talk about how he went from having $2.26 in the bank to $1.25 million in just 5 years, 3 months, and 6 days!

We dive into the strategies and tactics he used but we also go deeper and discuss some of the unexpected challenges of FIRE.

We also explore Grant's new book, Financial Freedom, which is out today and features parts of my own story!

Highlights:

• Why you don't need to hit FI or save a million dollars to get the benefits of saving
• How to make the most of your full-time job
• Why you should strive for peace instead of money or happiness
• How to find pleasure in mundane moments