Ways to Means

Pursuing a career in art and running your own business are two of the most insecure and challenging pursuits in the realm of personal finance. It’s a commitment that requires accepting uncertainty, persevering through setbacks, mental grit and a lot of hard work. Finding success on this path, therefore, is an impressive achievement that warrants celebration.

On this episode, we talk with Jessica Wachter, an abstract expressionist artist based in Bismarck, North Dakota. Her pieces have been shown in public and private collections throughout the world and are her sole source of income. After years of uncertainty, setbacks and side gigs, Jessica says she’s living the life she once dreamed of as a professional artist We caught up with her to learn more about the journey of her career and the ins and outs of running of a business based off your art.

And now for something completely different! This week, Hannah and I decided to take a break from guests and get a little introspective. The way we cover personal finance topics on this podcast is influenced by our own money mindset, as our guest from last week, Walli, calls it. One thing we’ve made sure to emphasize is that we are not finance experts, but just as important is to expose our own biases, and be transparent about how our backgrounds and perspectives color our opinions here. This week, you get to know your hosts a little better, as Hannah and I ask each other questions about our upbringing and cover broad themes in personal finance with a few differently formatted segments. We have a lively debate about the “latte factor,” examine how we value purchases with a new game show segment, talk about the intersection of Marx and minimalism, and evaluate a series of famous quotes in the context of personal finance.

Walli Miller is a financial coach from the Bronx who guides women towards financial wellness and freedom, and has made it her mission to help 25 women become the first millionaires in their families. She takes a holistic approach with her clients that includes helping them to understand how their mindset and attitudes affect their money management habits.  In this episode, we talk about the difference between living within your means and building wealth, how to build generational wealth and mitigate the allure of materialism in younger generations, the importance of financial independence for women, and how knowledge is power for communities like hers that have had restricted access to political influence and wealth-building opportunities.

In this episode we mention:

Get Good With Money  by Tiffany Aliche (the Budgetnista)

A professional degree or accreditation is a huge factor that influences your personal financial outlook. In some industries, a masters degree comes with new job opportunities and wage premiums, and in others it doesn’t boost your earning potential at all. Getting an advanced degree means time spent not earning and money spent, not saved, so it’s a weighty decision. In this episode, Susanna does a retrospective, back-of-the-napkin cost-benefit analysis of her own masters degree, before we bring our guest Taylor on to talk about her decision to pursue an advanced degree in accounting. Taylor spent her early career working low wage jobs in a high cost city, and looking for jobs in a saturated field while slowly going into debt. She describes her moment of reckoning, how she found her way out of debt, into new-found confidence, and onto a career path that has already paid dividends.

This week we are covering the stock market with an introductory primer tailored to the uninitiated and intrigued. Investing in the stock market can feel opaque and overwhelming, but it’s something anyone can learn and everyone should aim to understand when planning their long term finances. We’re no Gordon Gekko or Wolf of Wall Street, but you don’t have to be in order to enjoy the benefits of managing your money. Over the past few months, we have both sought to gain knowledge and confidence in investing, and we’re sharing what we’ve learned so far. If you think investing in the stock market means shouting orders into a dial-up phone a la Giovanni Ribisi in the Boiler room; if you think you ought to be investing in the stock market, but don’t know where to start; if you have a large or growing savings account and want to know why I’m telling you that’s not as good as it sounds; if you think you’re too old and it’s too late; or if you have found internet resources on the topic overwhelming, this episode is for you.

In this episode we mention:

- The Simple Path to Wealth: Your Road Map to Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life  by J.L. Collins

- The Automatic Millionaire: A Powerful One-step Plan to Live and Finish Rich by David Bach

Susanna spent the first ten months of the pandemic transitioning a city's housing department to remote work and launching an emergency rental relief fund, while trying to keep existing projects on track and her sanity intact. She saw an opportunity to take an extended career break in early 2021 and she seized it. Learn how she financed her mid-career sabbatical and how it's going.

At the top of the episode, Hannah mentions that Susanna’s sabbatical mirrors a broader trend among employees in the covid era. These are the sources that Hannah used for the statistics she shares in this segment:

- https://www.npr.org/sections/money/2021/10/19/1047032996/why-are-so-many-americans-quitting-their-jobs

- https://www.npr.org/2021/06/24/1007914455/as-the-pandemic-recedes-millions-of-workers-are-saying-i-quit

Amy is an optimizer, and she also knows how to pace herself. She approaches her lifestyle and personal finances by setting objectives and periodically reflecting on her progress towards them, an approach that also serves her well in her career as a product manager. She wants to enjoy her life along the way so she strives to balance her short and long term goals and to value joy as well as financial stability. In this episode we discuss budgeting, setting authentic goals, lifestyle minimalism, and more.

For reference: Amy mentions Gabrielle Collard and the Coach Space blog. Check out the blog and read about the deathbed manifesto here: https://thecoachspace.com/gabriellecollard/

Renai is ready to retire at the age of 36. No, she’s not a tech founder who just sold her company; she was raised working class by a single mom and has worked in non-profits most of her life. We asked Renai to come on the podcast and share how she was able to reach financial independence so early in her career, because unlike many such stories, hers is as attainable as it is aspirational.

A few things that come up in the episode:

-- We discuss the FIRE lifestyle movement. FIRE stands for Financial Independence / Retire Early. Read more at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FIRE_movement. We reference the term “coast FI.” When someone has reached “coast FI” this means they have enough money in their retirement accounts that they’d have enough to retire at a typical retirement age without making any additional contributions-- simply by letting their current balance accrue interest.

-- Renai references the book “Work Optional,” written by Tanja Hester of the Our Next Life blog. Read more here: https://ournextlife.com/2018/10/24/work-optional/

-- Renai discusses using a down payment assistance loan from a state agency to finance her first home purchase. Many public entities offer such support to first-time home buyers. Find out more about the program Renai accessed via the Washington State Housing Finance Commission here: https://www.wshfc.org/

https://www.seattle.gov/housing/renters/buy-a-home

-- We discuss house hacking, which essentially refers to buying a property for use as both your primary residence as well as a rental property. Read more about house hacking here: https://www.forbes.com/sites/davidgreene/2018/12/04/house-hacking-how-financially-savvy-people-live-in-expensive-markets-while-saving-money/?sh=4cf4a65470f0

-- One of Renai’s ventures is running a vacation rental, and we discuss some of the mechanics of that starting at around 14:50.