The Financial Independence Show

By Cody Berman and Justin TaylorBusiness Entrepreneurship Investing Careers

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The Financial Independence Show episodes

April 23, 2019 Professional Tennis Player Turned Real Estate Addict | Sunitha Rao
In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Suni. Suni lives in the Boston area and has an amazing story.
She became a professional tennis player at age 14 after coming from some very humble beginnings with immigrant parents. That career lasted nine years with some very interesting financial and personal implications. Then she found herself 23 with no real savings and way behind on the educational curve.
Don't worry this story has a happy ending and a surprise twist that lands us in the remote real estate discussion.
Now it's time to go take a listen and see what you think for yourself.
Episode Summary
Her parents came over from India in the 80s and were very poor
They started to work their way out of it over time and her parents instilled savings in her
When she was 14 she started playing tennis professionally
She was using a lot of those winnings to pay for travel, PR, training, etc.
In the sport, you're really just breaking even at that level even though it's professional
She was able to get a lot of training provided through scholarships in return for advertising
The income that she would make was extremely variable.
Some weeks she might make $20k and some she might make $100
While that could seem like a lot of money at times she also had extremely high expenses because she had to hire full-time coach along with their travel
Suni actually dropped out of school in the 6th grade and was supposed to be teaching herself but that wasn't really feasible with 8 hour training days
After 9 years of playing professionally, she retired at age 23 in 2009 to return to school
At 23 she only had a couple of thousand dollars to show for her career
She then walks us through the struggles of professional athletes being able to handle money and look out for their future
The recession actually played a part in when she retired because many businesses didn't have extra money to sponsor an athlete
After retiring she spent some time taking remedial classes to get her up to speed at a local community college
After that, she was able to attend a prestigious private school through scholarships and need-based grants
Now she's 27 and looking for a job
She landed a job in a large firm in their management training program
She stayed there 2.5 years before coming to her current job in corporate financial planning
Feeling compelled to get her finances in order she felt like going after a career that really made a difference wasn't reasonable
She then came across the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which really changed her outlook
Then she gets into real estate as a path towards passive income
She closed her first property in April of 2018 and was up to 5 units before 2019
While she lives in the Boston area, these homes were purchased around Indianapolis and never even saw them before purchasing
She decided on Indianapolis based on a ton of technical statistics such as population growth, income growth, diversity of employment, and price to rent ratio.
Networking was the key to actually finding the team to help her manage these properties
She doesn't see herself walking away from work altogether but her goal is to replace her current income with real estate so she has the flexibility
Then we discuss finding people to surround yourself with who understand the journey to FI and some of the difficulties that come with that
We also spend a lot of time throughout the episode covering the psychological impact of growing up poor and then becoming a professional athlete and how that just impacts her outlook and drive
Her closing advice is for those looking to get into real estate which revolves around building your network and understanding the technical drivers that make or break a market and understand your cash position so you know if you're prepared for an investment
Key Takeaways
Don't envy: It would be easy to feel jealous of a teenager traveling around getting paid to play a game. What you might not see though is all the struggle and the end result of being behind your peers. Just a friendly reminder that the grass isn't always greener.
Start Late? Start fast: No one is ever going to stop preaching the importance of getting a solid financial base early. Time will always be the most powerful variable, but it's not insurmountable. Suni had a late start, but when she started, it was a dead sprint and that has made all the difference.
Invest in the process: Lots of side hustles are tempting. Lots are profitable. However, they can all be a money pit if you don't spend some time in analysis. Suni knew real estate was a great option, but she didn't just assume it would work out. She put in countless hours breaking down the variables and optimizing her chance of success.
Call to Action
Whether it's real estate or not, you probably have something in your life you're trying to succeed at. Whatever it may be, go out and do some critical thinking. Develop a list of the most powerful variables and study them to see how or where you should focus your energy for maximum gain.
Join the Community
We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community!
Sign up for our exclusive newsletter
Join our Facebook Group
Leave us a voicemail
Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com
If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review!
The FI show on iTunes
The FI show on Android

Links from the Show:
Bigger Pockets
Contact Suni:
LinkedIn: Suni Rao
Learn More About Your Hosts:
Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)
Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)
44 min
April 23, 2019 Professional Tennis Player Turned Real Estate Addict | Sunitha Rao
In today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Suni. Suni lives in the Boston area and has an amazing story.

She became a professional tennis player at age 14 after coming from some very humble beginnings with immigrant parents. That career lasted nine years with some very interesting financial and personal implications. Then she found herself 23 with no real savings and way behind on the educational curve.

Don't worry this story has a happy ending and a surprise twist that lands us in the remote real estate discussion.

Now it's time to go take a listen and see what you think for yourself.
Episode Summary

Her parents came over from India in the 80s and were very poor
They started to work their way out of it over time and her parents instilled savings in her
When she was 14 she started playing tennis professionally
She was using a lot of those winnings to pay for travel, PR, training, etc.
In the sport, you're really just breaking even at that level even though it's professional
She was able to get a lot of training provided through scholarships in return for advertising
The income that she would make was extremely variable.
Some weeks she might make $20k and some she might make $100
While that could seem like a lot of money at times she also had extremely high expenses because she had to hire full-time coach along with their travel
Suni actually dropped out of school in the 6th grade and was supposed to be teaching herself but that wasn't really feasible with 8 hour training days
After 9 years of playing professionally, she retired at age 23 in 2009 to return to school
At 23 she only had a couple of thousand dollars to show for her career
She then walks us through the struggles of professional athletes being able to handle money and look out for their future
The recession actually played a part in when she retired because many businesses didn't have extra money to sponsor an athlete
After retiring she spent some time taking remedial classes to get her up to speed at a local community college
After that, she was able to attend a prestigious private school through scholarships and need-based grants
Now she's 27 and looking for a job
She landed a job in a large firm in their management training program
She stayed there 2.5 years before coming to her current job in corporate financial planning
Feeling compelled to get her finances in order she felt like going after a career that really made a difference wasn't reasonable
She then came across the book Rich Dad, Poor Dad which really changed her outlook
Then she gets into real estate as a path towards passive income
She closed her first property in April of 2018 and was up to 5 units before 2019
While she lives in the Boston area, these homes were purchased around Indianapolis and never even saw them before purchasing
She decided on Indianapolis based on a ton of technical statistics such as population growth, income growth, diversity of employment, and price to rent ratio.
Networking was the key to actually finding the team to help her manage these properties
She doesn't see herself walking away from work altogether but her goal is to replace her current income with real estate so she has the flexibility
Then we discuss finding people to surround yourself with who understand the journey to FI and some of the difficulties that come with that
We also spend a lot of time throughout the episode covering the psychological impact of growing up poor and then becoming a professional athlete and how that just impacts her outlook and drive
Her closing advice is for those looking to get into real estate which revolves around building you...
44 min
April 16, 2019 How to Get Your Spouse on Board with FI | Andy Hill from Marriage, Kids, and Money
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Andy from Marriage Kids and Money. He tells us his relatable yet inspiring story of living a life with far too much spending brought on by lifestyle creep.
Lifestyle creep is when you get used to a certain way of living but then as you make more money you increase that style of living little by little until it becomes unsustainable or at least larger than you intended. Andy and his wife were spending every bit of their salaries which totaled over $100k. Reality struck when she became pregnant and they knew they needed to change their ways.
Now listen to the story and hear their remarkable turnaround and how Andy is now helping people walk in his footsteps.
Episode Summary
Andy and his wife go together in 2010 with a combined earning over $100,000 but they were carrying a good bit of debt and spending everything they earned
That debt included $50k in student debt, a nice car loan and frequent use of their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
They had a wake-up moment when he realized they were going to be having their first child
Quickly he started pouring over podcasts, blogs, and anything to help them learn
They’re currently living around Detroit which has shown a huge turnaround
He bought a house right out of college in mid-2000s and realized he couldn’t afford the mortgage
To help with the bills he ended up bringing in several roommates who paid the mortgage for him...Another house hack win!
When he got married they realized the roommate situation wasn’t going to work so they bought a new house with the goal of paying off the new $350k house in 5 years
He was able to get back all of his money from the first house but didn’t make anything off of it
The first material that helped Andy really turn things around was Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover
Once a month, he and his wife would sit down and review their budget until they got it under control
The biggest changes they had to make was cutting out entertainment like food and drinks
He talks about how tough it was saying no to friends in family in order to pay down their debt so aggressively
We discuss the struggles with getting your spouse on board with this new financial plan
He said his biggest mistake was focusing on the process and numbers vs the outcomes, emotions, and the “why” behind the plan
Once the subject went from percentages to a discussion of having more time with their kids, Andy’s wife became equally as fired up about the journey
A powerful exercise he discusses to help with this is to just sit down with your significant other and talk through your perfect day/life if money wasn’t an issue
Then we swap to start discussing how their life is changing now that their finances are in a good place and they’re starting to build their financial independence lifestyle
With their kids starting school, his wife has begun a home organization business which is just another great example of how you will discover your true passions when you step away from a full-time job and those passions will probably bring you unexpected income
We then shift the discussion back to their debt pay-down where Andy gave us the tangible steps to paying off their house in 4 years
The first piece was a $150k down payment after a lot of aggressive savings
That got their mortgage down to $200k
They continued their monthly expense reviews
Every bonus or additional dollar they received they put towards the house
Andy’s wife actually stepped completely away from her day job to be a stay at home mom with $80k left on the mortgage
That mortgage was completely paid off a little over a year ago
That down payment that they had been saving up for was all in cash after some shady dealing Andy had with a financial advisor
Andy admits that these were major financial mistakes but worth it due to the amount he learned throughout the process
Other ways Andy recommends getting your spouse on board with financial goals is simply leading by example along with the help of the great modern FinTech tools out there such as Tiller, YNAB, or Mint
If you’re significant other has a taste for fancy things and nice things seems like a real priority, Andy suggest simply writing out items to show what can and can’t fit and not make it just theoretical
For him and his wife, one of these examples would be travel hacking where they turned the journey to getting these elaborate trips paid off with points into a game but also warns that credit card hacking should only be done if you’re really smart with credit cards
We then shift gears to paying for their children’s education
They don’t plan on providing all the money for their college expenses but between their 529, scholarships and working they believe their kids can graduate debt free
He also admits that traditional college may not be the answer anyway and calls out the student debt epidemic in America
Andy himself has an undergrad in communications and a masters in business but admits many people don’t need a college degree
For the digital nomads, he thinks it can be a great idea but cautions that you should be extremely passionate about your craft because if you don’t love it, you’ll probably quit because the money won’t be there in the beginning.
Now Andy is focusing on the next level of his journey after feeling really solid on the basics and that next piece for him will be rental properties
He admits that the debt-free mentality makes it hard to take business ventures and loans but the plan is to buy a rental property with mostly cash savings
His number one tip for people on their financial journey is taking time out to talk to your significant other and family about what their dreams are and what drives them in order to make a plan you can be passionate about
Key Takeaways
Life has curve-balls: Andy and his wife were spending away without a care in the world until life happened. It's all too familiar that some life event pushes people to adapt and overcome. We hope you'll make the decision for positive changes before it's forced on you.
Find middle ground: Andy was hyper-focused on saving money, his wife still wanted to travel as we all do. They made it work via travel hacking. It would have been easy for one side to try to win but instead, they walked away both as winners.
Know your audience: Listen, most people in this community are guilty of being way too excited about numbers but not everyone is inspired by math. If you don't want to be on this financial journey alone, you need to find a way to talk to others and get them in lock step with you.
Call to Action
Sit down, no phones, no television. If you have a significant other, friends, or family, sit them down with you. Now, walk through a perfect day, month, etc where money isn't a concern. Not hit the lottery style but just imagine you had the same income you do now but you weren't working. What would your days look like? Be detailed. Write it down and reference it often.
Join the Community
We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community!
Sign up for our exclusive newsletter
Join our Facebook Group
Leave us a voicemail
Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com
If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review!
The FI show on iTunes
The FI show on Android

Links from the show:
Our Favorite Travel Rewards Cards
Book: Total Money Makeover
Podcast: Marriage Kids and Money
Contact Andy:
Blog: Marriage Kids and Money
Twitter: @AndyHillMKM
Facebook: Andy Hill MKM
Learn More About Your Hosts:
Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)
Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)
47 min
April 16, 2019 How to Get Your Spouse on Board with FI | Andy Hill from Marriage, Kids, and Money
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Andy from Marriage Kids and Money. He tells us his relatable yet inspiring story of living a life with far too much spending brought on by lifestyle creep.

Lifestyle creep is when you get used to a certain way of living but then as you make more money you increase that style of living little by little until it becomes unsustainable or at least larger than you intended. Andy and his wife were spending every bit of their salaries which totaled over $100k. Reality struck when she became pregnant and they knew they needed to change their ways.

Now listen to the story and hear their remarkable turnaround and how Andy is now helping people walk in his footsteps.
Episode Summary

Andy and his wife go together in 2010 with a combined earning over $100,000 but they were carrying a good bit of debt and spending everything they earned
That debt included $50k in student debt, a nice car loan and frequent use of their Home Equity Line of Credit (HELOC)
They had a wake-up moment when he realized they were going to be having their first child
Quickly he started pouring over podcasts, blogs, and anything to help them learn
They’re currently living around Detroit which has shown a huge turnaround
He bought a house right out of college in mid-2000s and realized he couldn’t afford the mortgage
To help with the bills he ended up bringing in several roommates who paid the mortgage for him...Another house hack win!
When he got married they realized the roommate situation wasn’t going to work so they bought a new house with the goal of paying off the new $350k house in 5 years
He was able to get back all of his money from the first house but didn’t make anything off of it
The first material that helped Andy really turn things around was Dave Ramsey’s Total Money Makeover
Once a month, he and his wife would sit down and review their budget until they got it under control
The biggest changes they had to make was cutting out entertainment like food and drinks
He talks about how tough it was saying no to friends in family in order to pay down their debt so aggressively
We discuss the struggles with getting your spouse on board with this new financial plan
He said his biggest mistake was focusing on the process and numbers vs the outcomes, emotions, and the “why” behind the plan
Once the subject went from percentages to a discussion of having more time with their kids, Andy’s wife became equally as fired up about the journey
A powerful exercise he discusses to help with this is to just sit down with your significant other and talk through your perfect day/life if money wasn’t an issue
Then we swap to start discussing how their life is changing now that their finances are in a good place and they’re starting to build their financial independence lifestyle
With their kids starting school, his wife has begun a home organization business which is just another great example of how you will discover your true passions when you step away from a full-time job and those passions will probably bring you unexpected income
We then shift the discussion back to their debt pay-down where Andy gave us the tangible steps to paying off their house in 4 years
The first piece was a $150k down payment after a lot of aggressive savings
That got their mortgage down to $200k
They continued their monthly expense reviews
Every bonus or additional dollar they received they put towards the house
Andy’s wife actually stepped completely away from her day job to be a stay at home mom with $80k left on the mortgage
That mortgage was completely paid off a little over a year ago
That down payment that they had been saving up for was all in cash after so...
47 min
April 09, 2019 Launching Out Of Debt With a Facebook Ads Business | Monica Louie
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Monica from MonicaLouie.com. She tells us her inspiring story of tackling debt and putting family first.
Monica and her husband both came together after college with some debt and Monica wasn't a saver naturally. Her husband brought those characteristics to the household and she took to them quickly and soon started leading their debt pay down efforts. While on her way to becoming a mother of two, she decided she wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with her children and step away from the workforce.
Unfortunately, even though they had made great strides on their spending, one income just wasn't enough. So Monica started a blog and experimenting with Facebook ads. She then started her own Facebook ad consulting business in 2016 with her as the single employee. Today she employs 13 and is on the fast track to being debt free.
But you don't want just an overview, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary
Grew up with a single mother where money was often a struggle and she knew she wanted a different life
She took the traditional college route but struggled some after graduating
Then she found herself in credit card debt
A couple of years later she had a good job, got out of debt and vowed to never get in debt again.
When she met her husband, he was frugal and she became conscious of saving for the first time
They were on a good steady path and then she had her first child and her priorities shifted
She decided she wanted to be a stay at home mom so they started saving really hard
Then she was pregnant with her second child and stepped away from her job
A couple of months into this, they noticed their savings starting to decrease a looked for something to help out
On top of this, they had over $300k in debt including their mortgage
Within two years they had paid down $120k in debt
Her husband had reservations about sharing finances because she was more of a spender and he was a saver so she made it a point to build that trust by being financially responsible
The idea of her blog came from people asking questions about how she burned down so much debt
With this first blog, she started discovering Facebook ads and noticed she had a knack for it
Then her fellow blogging friends started asking for help with Facebook ads
In 2016 she ended up selling her blog and becoming a full-time Facebook ads coach
Facebook ads are great for just broadening your reach as well as funneling people towards paid content or even a transition funnel to get a customer to free content which will then get them to paid content
Therefore often it’s best to save your Facebook ad promotions for posts with affiliate links
We also discuss the ever-changing landscape of Facebook ads with new features and algorithm tweaks
Her business has already grown from her being the single employee to a team of 13
They’re still paying down debt with the goal of being debt free by age 40
With her job being location independent, even if she’s working they can live a lifestyle very similar to one many expect when they are financially independent
The business hasn’t been making a ton of money right away because she’s been growing the company but is now transitioning to focus on the profit
We also discuss the example she gets to set for her kids as they see her make income from home doing something she really enjoys
Then we get into some more technical aspects of how to do Facebook ads
Some of the tips she recommends is testing against different groups and optimizing the ads by constantly testing and tweaking
Facebook can also help you find a look-a-like audience which is where you feed Facebook some information about the audience you already have and it finds more people like you
She recommends static images when you are looking for someone to click on a blog post
Then using videos for things like webinars
She is also starting to test expanding the business to Instagram and Pinterest
Her #1 tip for people starting a business or trying to reach FI focuses on building goals
Key Takeaways
Savers can be made: Many of us in gravitate towards this content because we have always been frugal but that's not a requirement. You can learn to be a saver. It's a skill set like any other. While some are naturally more gifted, anyone can become expert with enough training and practice.
Taking a step back can open up options: Often people are terrified of quitting their day job due to concerns about their money not lasting. That's a fair concern but realize when you stop spending 50 hours a week on a job you don't love, you may discover a passion that given time will become profitable. Yes there are bad unknowns, but there are also positive ones
You are worthy of an investment: People invest in businesses, their children, maybe even their employees, but we are so reluctant to invest in ourselves. The world moves at too fast of a pace to be complacent and frankly you deserve some investing too.
Call to Action
Consider giving in and buying that premium content or tool that you believe will help you grow your business, land your dream job, or just bring happiness to your life.
Join the Community
We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community!
Sign up for our exclusive newsletter
Join our Facebook Group
Leave us a voicemail
Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com
If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review!
The FI show on iTunes
The FI show on Android

Links from the show:
Book: Profit First
Free Facebook Ads Course: MonicaLouie.com/FIshow
Contact Monica:
Blog: MonicaLouie.com
Twitter: @MonicaRLouie
Facebook: Monica Louie
Learn More About Your Hosts:
Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)
Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)
42 min
April 09, 2019 Launching Out Of Debt With a Facebook Ads Business | Monica Louie
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Monica from MonicaLouie.com. She tells us her inspiring story of tackling debt and putting family first.

Monica and her husband both came together after college with some debt and Monica wasn't a saver naturally. Her husband brought those characteristics to the household and she took to them quickly and soon started leading their debt pay down efforts. While on her way to becoming a mother of two, she decided she wanted to be able to spend as much time as possible with her children and step away from the workforce.

Unfortunately, even though they had made great strides on their spending, one income just wasn't enough. So Monica started a blog and experimenting with Facebook ads. She then started her own Facebook ad consulting business in 2016 with her as the single employee. Today she employs 13 and is on the fast track to being debt free.

But you don't want just an overview, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary

* Grew up with a single mother where money was often a struggle and she knew she wanted a different life
* She took the traditional college route but struggled some after graduating
* Then she found herself in credit card debt
* A couple of years later she had a good job, got out of debt and vowed to never get in debt again.
* When she met her husband, he was frugal and she became conscious of saving for the first time
* They were on a good steady path and then she had her first child and her priorities shifted
* She decided she wanted to be a stay at home mom so they started saving really hard
* Then she was pregnant with her second child and stepped away from her job
* A couple of months into this, they noticed their savings starting to decrease a looked for something to help out
* On top of this, they had over $300k in debt including their mortgage
* Within two years they had paid down $120k in debt
* Her husband had reservations about sharing finances because she was more of a spender and he was a saver so she made it a point to build that trust by being financially responsible
* The idea of her blog came from people asking questions about how she burned down so much debt
* With this first blog, she started discovering Facebook ads and noticed she had a knack for it
* Then her fellow blogging friends started asking for help with Facebook ads
* In 2016 she ended up selling her blog and becoming a full-time Facebook ads coach
* Facebook ads are great for just broadening your reach as well as funneling people towards paid content or even a transition funnel to get a customer to free content which will then get them to paid content
* Therefore often it’s best to save your Facebook ad promotions for posts with affiliate links
* We also discuss the ever-changing landscape of Facebook ads with new features and algorithm tweaks
* Her business has already grown from her being the single employee to a team of 13
* They’re still paying down debt with the goal of being debt free by age 40
* With her job being location independent, even if she’s working they can live a lifestyle very similar to one many expect when they are financially independent
* The business hasn’t been making a ton of money right away because she’s been growing the company but is now transitioning to focus on the profit
* We also discuss the example she gets to set for her kids as they see her make income from home doing something she really enjoys
* Then we get into some more technical aspects of how to do Facebook ads
* Some of the tips she recommends is testing against different groups and optimizing the ads by constantly testing and tweaking
42 min
April 02, 2019 The $80,000 Lifestyle Change | Joel from FI 180
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Joel from FI 180. It's so inspiring to hear someone who had real spending issues and quickly got them under control. Joel wasn't forced to in order to take on debt, he had a wake-up call in the form of a car crash involving his wife.
Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a potentially life-altering event to step back and reevaluate your life. Thankfully Joel's wife is fine and they don't miss their old spending ways.
The transition they made was remarkable. They were set for a life of working into their 70's and quickly make changes that have allowed Joel to retire at 34 and his wife the option to do so whenever she chooses.
Well, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary
Joel’s parents never made a lot of money ($35k per year)
Out of college though Joel started making ~$55k
Never having money before he just started blowing it all on crazy things like $3500 t.v.
His wife has always had more financial restraint
Joel simply didn’t know how to manage money because he had never had it but wasn’t in debt
Joel’s wife didn’t want to merge finances because of his spending habits
To combat his spending, he would just continue to work more
About 6 years ago after his wife got in a bad car wreck Joel made his “financial 180”
He states that he really doesn’t miss the spending since making his changes
That lavish spending just became normal and wasn’t fun anymore
Now with low spending, anything lavish really seems like a treat
Joel comments on how people don’t see from the outside how much strain the work it takes to live a lavish lifestyle can take on your life when you’re simply viewing a lavish lifestyle on Facebook/Instagram
In 2012 they spend $107,000
$16k shopping, $13k food, $12k travel, $12k bills, $11k cars, etc
Now they spend between $25k-30k per year
Their first big move on lowering expenses was going to a one car household
They continued their transition to lower spending by targeting one thing each month
It took them about three to four years to fully make their transition
Joel states that for them cooking for themselves was the hardest part of the transition
They cut cable, extra car insurance, water delivery, and home monitoring and other things included slowing internet speed, lowering cell phone data package
After one year they cut an additional $1,080 a month from their budget
By 2015 they lowered their spending to $34k per year
They actually went too far and got over 80% savings rate and decided that was the deprivation
Joel has stepped away from working but his wife enjoys work and continues to do so
We discuss how the retire early part of FIRE gets all the attention while the Financial Independent part is much more important
Joel is 34 and they are considering having children but aren’t sure
He talks about how not having a job doesn’t ensure you’ll be productive that it still has to be something you’re motivated to do
It took Joel a few months to build that structure that led to a proactive day
Joel even discusses feeling younger since retiring
We then talk about how Joel built up the confidence to quit his job
He came up with the quote that “His worst case scenario, is everyone else’s everyday scenario”
That means that if he needs to go back to work, so what, everyone else works, it’s not that scary
They also decided to pay their house off quicker to remove that fixed cost and make it a little less scary
We end the episode with Joel stressing finding a good work-life balance and not focusing so much on one particular number
Key Takeaways
Having money can be a problem: Joel came out of college with decent pay and no major debt worries. Sounds good right? Well, he also wasn't prepared for how to handle it. He wasn't forced to learn frugal habits early on. While we may never feel sorry for someone in Joel's position, it is a real thing to be cautious of.
Don't wait for your crash: A crash involving his wife led Joel to make these radical changes. Luckily everything turned out ok, but it is often too late to make changes after a major disaster. Build a life that is resilient to trauma and unforeseen struggles.
You won't miss the money: You may be really nervous about reducing your spending. Won't it be painful? Take it from Joel, your spending becomes normal and unexciting. When you become more intentional, these treats are much more meaningful. Reducing your spending will actually add joy to your life.
Call to Action
Write out a 6 month calendar. Pick one subject area for each month. Reduce that spending or at least analyze it one month at a time and compare your end progress with where you started.
Join the Community
We’d love to hear your comments and questions about this week’s episode. Here are some of the best ways to stay in touch and get involved in The FI Show community!
Sign up for our exclusive newsletter
Join our Facebook Group
Leave us a voicemail
Send an email to contact [at] TheFIshow [dot] com
If you like what you hear, please leave a rating/review!
The FI show on iTunes
The FI show on Android

Contact Joel:
Blog: FI180.com
Twitter: FI180
Facebook: FI180
Learn More About Your Hosts:
Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)
Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)
45 min
April 02, 2019 The $80,000 Lifestyle Change | Joel from FI 180
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Joel from FI 180. It's so inspiring to hear someone who had real spending issues and quickly got them under control. Joel wasn't forced to in order to take on debt, he had a wake-up call in the form of a car crash involving his wife.

Unfortunately, sometimes it takes a potentially life-altering event to step back and reevaluate your life. Thankfully Joel's wife is fine and they don't miss their old spending ways.

The transition they made was remarkable. They were set for a life of working into their 70's and quickly make changes that have allowed Joel to retire at 34 and his wife the option to do so whenever she chooses.

Well, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary

* Joel’s parents never made a lot of money ($35k per year)
* Out of college though Joel started making ~$55k
* Never having money before he just started blowing it all on crazy things like $3500 t.v.
* His wife has always had more financial restraint
* Joel simply didn’t know how to manage money because he had never had it but wasn’t in debt
* Joel’s wife didn’t want to merge finances because of his spending habits
* To combat his spending, he would just continue to work more
* About 6 years ago after his wife got in a bad car wreck Joel made his “financial 180”
* He states that he really doesn’t miss the spending since making his changes
* That lavish spending just became normal and wasn’t fun anymore
* Now with low spending, anything lavish really seems like a treat
* Joel comments on how people don’t see from the outside how much strain the work it takes to live a lavish lifestyle can take on your life when you’re simply viewing a lavish lifestyle on Facebook/Instagram
* In 2012 they spend $107,000

* $16k shopping, $13k food, $12k travel, $12k bills, $11k cars, etc

* Now they spend between $25k-30k per year
* Their first big move on lowering expenses was going to a one car household
* They continued their transition to lower spending by targeting one thing each month
* It took them about three to four years to fully make their transition
* Joel states that for them cooking for themselves was the hardest part of the transition
* They cut cable, extra car insurance, water delivery, and home monitoring and other things included slowing internet speed, lowering cell phone data package
* After one year they cut an additional $1,080 a month from their budget
* By 2015 they lowered their spending to $34k per year
* They actually went too far and got over 80% savings rate and decided that was the deprivation
* Joel has stepped away from working but his wife enjoys work and continues to do so
* We discuss how the retire early part of FIRE gets all the attention while the Financial Independent part is much more important
* Joel is 34 and they are considering having children but aren’t sure
* He talks about how not having a job doesn’t ensure you’ll be productive that it still has to be something you’re motivated to do
* It took Joel a few months to build that structure that led to a proactive day
* Joel even discusses feeling younger since retiring
* We then talk about how Joel built up the confidence to quit his job
* He came up with the quote that “His worst case scenario, is everyone else’s everyday scenario”
* That means that if he needs to go back to work, so what, everyone else works, it’s not that scary
* They also decided to pay their house off quicker to remove that fixed cost and make it a little less scary
* We end the episode with Joel stressing finding a good work-life balance and ...
45 min
March 26, 2019 The 10-Year “Mini” Retirement | Ryan Jacob
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Ryan Jacob who has one of the more gutsy stories you'll hear. Ryan has decided to step into a mini-retirement or super lean FIRE plan in order to get away from his soul-crushing job.
He was in an extremely corporate setting with big money in his future but decided instead to take his nest egg of just over $300k and call it a day. Instead of a cubicle he now spends most of his time on the water catching some awesome fish.
It's obvious to see that Ryan is looking for more than fishing in his retirement and is itching to start his own business. Want to know what kind of business he has had and will have? Curious what life looks like when retiring on $300k?
Well, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary
Grew up middle class with a stay at home mom and his dad was a self-employed contractor
His mom was a saver while his dad was a saver and his mom's habits rubbed off on him
He would always save everything even as a kid
Ryan even started investing money at age 14 after he'd saved up $2k through a custodial account with his mom
It's the late 90's during the dot com boom
His mom sets him up with an adviser and he lost everything in that dot com bubble
That experience actually pushed him to learn more about the market instead of discouraging him
In college, he studied finance and he realized the adviser who was overseeing money for the whole family was actually doing some shady investing practices
Ryan really wanted to start up his own business even at 18 but his mom pushed him to go to a traditional four-year college
We talk about the huge gap in financial education in high schools and college
He worked for 4 years after college as a consultant and an analyst at a management consulting firm making around $60-70K saving around 40%
Part of that career path required an MBA so he went off and did that and came back to a salary of $110k-$120k
Ryan talks about his path wasn't a flip of the switch that it was a very thorough and long term plan
Even though he was marching towards retiring early he didn't discover the financial independent movement until just under 2 years ago
Ryan stepped away from work after fulfilling his last commitment with his company after saving up just over $300k
He's aware that he'll probably need to work again but he's in no rush
A really interesting take was his discussion about how if he'd kept working longer and saved up so much to have a safe retirement, he wouldn't have the push to start up his own business which is a big goal of his
In college, Ryan had started up a business which was a painting service including a van that he paid $75 for
The group made $70k over that summer
From that point, we swapped into digging into Ryan's investing strategy
His first recommendation is to avoid the percentage based advisers and swap to one time fee-based advisers
He also recommends robo advisers such as M1 finance, Betterment, or Wealth-front
The number one recommendation though is Vanguard for their index funds
Vanguard even has their own advisers
We then transition into what Ryan was looking into doing in retirement
His goals are related to ocean fishing, hunting, reading, spending time with family, brewing beer, and start a financial advisor business
You can really tell how refreshing it is for Ryan to get to reconnect with his family after his profession took him away from them for so long
He rounds out the episode by pleading with people to understand that the path to financial independence isn't common and you'll have a lot of people try to stop you or second guess but to stay the course and be confident
Key Takeaways
There is a middle-ground: Notice how Ryan accepts that he may need to go back to work? That's totally ok with him. He chose to put himself first and get out of a toxic situation. He could have stressed and plunged through several more years of misery but decided instead to find some middle ground.
Family time is ticking: One of the major issues with retiring normally is you get so little time with your family because at that point they are so old they may either be dead or much less functional. Set aside some time in your life for family now.
Jump-ship moments: Ryan had a great plan on when to walk away because he knew he could retain his bonuses and have college paid for if he would just stick it out to a certain point. That point then became an easy way for him to retire since he met all his obligations. Keep an eye out for these jump-ship moments for yourself.
Call to Action
Take a good hard look at what you image your most rewarding day to look like and use that as your initial FI goal instead of stressing about the money for the additional things like entertainment.
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Contact Ryan:
Facebook: Ryan Jacob

Learn More About Your Hosts:
Fly to FI (Cody’s Blog)
Saving-Sherpa (Justin’s blog)
42 min
March 26, 2019 The 10-Year “Mini” Retirement | Ryan Jacob
On today's episode, Cody and Justin are joined by Ryan Jacob who has one of the more gutsy stories you'll hear. Ryan has decided to step into a mini-retirement or super lean FIRE plan in order to get away from his soul-crushing job.

He was in an extremely corporate setting with big money in his future but decided instead to take his nest egg of just over $300k and call it a day. Instead of a cubicle he now spends most of his time on the water catching some awesome fish.

It's obvious to see that Ryan is looking for more than fishing in his retirement and is itching to start his own business. Want to know what kind of business he has had and will have? Curious what life looks like when retiring on $300k?

Well, go take a listen to today's episode and let us hear what you think.
Episode Summary

* Grew up middle class with a stay at home mom and his dad was a self-employed contractor
* His mom was a saver while his dad was a saver and his mom's habits rubbed off on him
* He would always save everything even as a kid
* Ryan even started investing money at age 14 after he'd saved up $2k through a custodial account with his mom
* It's the late 90's during the dot com boom
* His mom sets him up with an adviser and he lost everything in that dot com bubble
* That experience actually pushed him to learn more about the market instead of discouraging him
* In college, he studied finance and he realized the adviser who was overseeing money for the whole family was actually doing some shady investing practices
* Ryan really wanted to start up his own business even at 18 but his mom pushed him to go to a traditional four-year college
* We talk about the huge gap in financial education in high schools and college
* He worked for 4 years after college as a consultant and an analyst at a management consulting firm making around $60-70K saving around 40%
* Part of that career path required an MBA so he went off and did that and came back to a salary of $110k-$120k
* Ryan talks about his path wasn't a flip of the switch that it was a very thorough and long term plan
* Even though he was marching towards retiring early he didn't discover the financial independent movement until just under 2 years ago
* Ryan stepped away from work after fulfilling his last commitment with his company after saving up just over $300k
* He's aware that he'll probably need to work again but he's in no rush
* A really interesting take was his discussion about how if he'd kept working longer and saved up so much to have a safe retirement, he wouldn't have the push to start up his own business which is a big goal of his
* In college, Ryan had started up a business which was a painting service including a van that he paid $75 for
* The group made $70k over that summer
* From that point, we swapped into digging into Ryan's investing strategy
* His first recommendation is to avoid the percentage based advisers and swap to one time fee-based advisers
* He also recommends robo advisers such as M1 finance, Betterment, or Wealth-front
* The number one recommendation though is Vanguard for their index funds
* Vanguard even has their own advisers
* We then transition into what Ryan was looking into doing in retirement
* His goals are related to ocean fishing, hunting, reading, spending time with family, brewing beer, and start a financial advisor business
* You can really tell how refreshing it is for Ryan to get to reconnect with his family after his profession took him away from them for so long
* He rounds out the episode by pleading with people to understand that the path to financial independence isn't common and you'll have a lot of people try to stop you or second ...
42 min

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Cody Berman and Justin Taylor believe in the concept of “Financial Independence For All”. The Financial Independence Show focuses on REAL stories of individuals on their journey to financial…