#420: Harvard professor Arthur Brooks described two types of intelligence – and explained, in scientific terms, the wisdom that comes with age.
Dr. Ellen Vora, M.D., shared insight into the roots of procrastination, offering evidence-based tips for how to overcome our own inner demons of anxiety, fear and laziness.
Psychology professor Bill von Hippel described why too much happiness is just as detrimental to our long-term health and wellbeing as too little happiness.
Wall St. Journal columnist Spencer Jakab observed the perfect storm of conditions that gave rise to meme stonks and other oddities of our era.
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy argued for “strategic under-diversification” and explained the Sharpe Ratio.
Data scientist Nick Maggiulli explains the save-invest continuum.
And financial planner Bill Bengen, the creator of the 4 percent retirement withdrawal rule, talks about what most people misunderstand about the safe withdrawal rate.
These are just some of the highlights from the Afford Anything podcast in this 2022 year-in-review episode.
Enjoy!

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode420
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What We Learned in 2022

You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life.
How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles?
On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing.
But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think.
In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models.
Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.

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JL Collins, the author of "The Simple Path to Wealth," achieved financial independence in 1989 with a surprisingly simple strategy: saving half his income and investing in index funds.

In this episode, JL breaks down his ultra-simple investing approach. He argues that keeping things uncomplicated leads to better results in the long run. "The less you mess with your investments," he says, "the more freedom you have to focus on what truly matters."

This episode is for anyone who feels overwhelmed by complex investment strategies. Learn how to set your finances on autopilot and get on with living your life.

We originally recorded and aired this episode in 2016.

We're sharing this as part of GREATEST HITS WEEK, a 5-day series in which we're sharing 5 episodes, across 5 days, that we produced during the earliest years of the Afford Anything podcast. You may have missed it then; enjoy it now.
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JL Collins: How to Beat Wall Street with a Boring Portfolio [GREATEST HITS]

Today’s guest is Jean Chatzky, financial editor for the TODAY Show, host of the HerMoney podcast and a frequent guest on TV shows like Oprah, Regis & Kelly, and The View.

We discuss six money rules to guide your spending, including:

#1: The more time you spend looking, the less happy you’ll be with what you find.
#2: Your retirement trumps their tuition.
#3: Losing money hurts more than it should.
#4: Big numbers make smart people do stupid things.
#5: Don’t lend money to friends & relatives, and don’t co-sign for loans.
#6: If it's 50% off, it’s still 50% on.

This leads us into discussing tactics to prevent wasteful spending, such as:

-- The 10/10/10 Rule: How will you feel about this purchase in 10 minutes? 10 months? 10 years?
-- The 24 Hour Rule: Delay the purchase by 24 hours. Do you still want it?
-- Only Pay Full Price: Paradoxically, avoiding sales – and ONLY buying items at full price – might help you save more money in the long run.

Finally, we chat about how to balance financial priorities when you and your spouse want different things. What if you want to retire early, but your spouse doesn’t? How do you handle this?

Jean shares her ideas on these topics in this episode, which we originally recorded and aired in 2016.

We're sharing this as part of GREATEST HITS WEEK, a 5-day series in which we're sharing 5 episodes, across 5 days, that we produced during the earliest years of the Afford Anything podcast. You may have missed it then; enjoy it now.
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Jean Chatzky: The 50% Off Fallacy & Other Ways You're Sabotaging Your Savings [GREATEST HITS]

At 2:13, we hear from Eugene. Eugene and his wife are retiring with a $10 million net worth and a guaranteed income that exceeds their annual budget. Do they still need things like life insurance and a financial advisor?
The next question, at 30:24, comes from an anonymous caller. Her HOA costs have doubled since she bought her condo. She’s wondering if it’s still a good investment. Should she keep it or sell it?
We answer Nandini’s question at 48:14. Nandini and her husband save tons every month toward no goal in particular. What should they do with all their extra cash?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these three questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it at https://affordanything.com/voicemail

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode499
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Q&A: We Save $5,000 Per Month. Where Should We Invest It?

Financial literacy includes understanding NFT's, DeFi, and cryptocurrency. But it's hard to separate education from hype.

Harvard Business School's Scott Duke Kominers, a professor in Harvard's Entrepreneurial Management Unit, and a Faculty Affiliate of the Harvard Department of Economics and the Harvard Center of Mathematical Sciences and Applications, joins us alongside Web3 expert Steve Kacizinsky to explain the financial, technological and social significance of NFT's.

NFT's, or Non-Fungible Tokens, are a rapidly growing digital asset. Comprehensive financial literacy requires understanding NFT's. While NFT's are emerging opportunity for investment diversification, they are also highly speculative and volatile.

NFT's also represent how digital ownership is evolving, and have implications for the economic futures of a myriad of industries. These assets stand at the intersection of art, technology and commerce.

This episode provides a deeper understanding of NFT's, taught by a Harvard Business School professor and a Web3 expert.

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode498
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Harvard Business Professor Explains Investing in NFT's

Princeton Professor Daniel Kahneman never took an economics class. But he won the 2002 Nobel Prize in economics, thanks to his advancements in understanding the psychology of money.
In today’s episode, we pay homage to the late Dr. Kahneman, who passed away on March 27 at age 90. We also discuss the jobs report, inflation data, the booming stock market, the next Bitcoin halving, Capital One’s acquisition of Discover, and the National Association of Realtors settlement.
Enjoy!

For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode497
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What We Learned in 2022

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