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Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices

Ask Paula - How to Repay $50k in Student Loans on a $31k Income, What's the Deal with Bonds, and Do I Really Need Insurance

Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices

Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network

Entrepreneurship, Investing, Business

4.73.6K Ratings

🗓️ 24 April 2017

⏱️ 67 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#74: Former financial planner and friend of the show, Joe Saul-Sehy from Stacking Benjamins, joins me to answer the following listener questions: Kicking off today's episode, Nicky asks: I'm young and healthy. My car is old and not-worth-much. And my personal property isn't exactly fancy-pants. Do I *really* need health, auto and property insurance? Or can I drop these insurances and save the money? _______ Next, Shelbi says: I'm 26, recently earned a graduate school diploma, and I'm taking the first steps into my career. I take home $2,600 in monthly income, and my cost-of-living is $1,900 per month. I maintain a $5,500 emergency fund and invest 20% of my income into a Vanguard Target Date Retirement account, with a Roth tax setup. I'll get an employer match after I've spent another year on the job. My employer also contributes $100 per month into my H.S.A. account, which is the only money that I'm putting into that fund. I hold $49,000 in student loans (yikes!!) at 6.8% interest. I pay $400/mo towards this debt, which is included in my $1,900 cost-of-living and is more than the minimum required. My goal is financial independence and early retirement. She asks these three questions: -- Should she lower the 20% she's putting into her 403b in order to max out her Roth IRA and HSA, instead? -- Should she prioritize repaying her student loan debt over retirement savings? -- Should she schedule a private coaching call with me? (Surprisingly, I said no. Tune into the episode to find out why.) _______ Next, Nicole asks: What types of investments can you hold inside a self-directed IRA? If I open one of these accounts, what custodian should I use? _______ Finally, our friend anonymous asks: What's the deal with bond investing? What's a coupon payment? A maturity date? WTF? Can you help me make sense of the world of bonds and bond funds? _______ Joe and I tackle these four questions ... plus reveal a top-secret recipe for the Best. Oreo. Cookie. Dessert. EVER. Like, *ever.* Enjoy! -- Paula _______ For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode74 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

You can afford anything but not everything.

0:11.7

Every decision that you make is a trade-off against something else.

0:14.7

You can choose one thing or choose the other, but you can't necessarily always have both.

0:19.9

So which one is more important?

0:22.7

This is the Afford Anything Podcast.

0:24.2

My name is Paula Pat, host of the podcast, and today I am answering questions that you,

0:28.9

the listeners have submitted, and I'm doing so with a buddy of mine who is virtually in

0:34.3

the studio with me by which I mean he's in Texas and I'm in Nevada.

0:37.9

Joe Sol C. High, host of the award-winning Stacking Benjamin's podcast.

0:42.4

Here we are.

0:44.4

Joe!

0:45.4

Hey, you're back!

0:47.4

That's where we start this every time now.

0:50.2

Like we scream at each other.

0:51.2

It just feels like coming home now.

0:53.2

Yeah, move over home.

0:54.8

Joe, take out the trash.

0:56.4

That sounds totally like home.

0:58.4

You promise all about that.

1:00.0

So how have you been?

1:01.0

I'm good.

1:02.0

I'm questioning your judgment.

...

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