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Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices

Ask Paula: I Make $168,000 Per Year and Spend $5,000 Per Year. What’s Next?

Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices

Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network

Entrepreneurship, Investing, Business

4.73.6K Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2019

⏱️ 80 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

#195: Alex makes $168,000 per year, combined between her full-time job and her side hustle. Her company pays for breakfast, lunch and dinner during the work week, plus a cell phone subsidy, health, dental and vision insurance, a gym membership, and commuting costs. She also househacks, so her living expenses are only $400 per month. What should she do with her ample savings? Christine is 38 and earns $70,000 per year running her own business. She holds $70,000 in investment accounts, has another $16,000 in savings, bought a condo with 20 percent down, and has no debt. What can she do to fast-track her path to financial independence? Amy is unsure whether she should pay off her mortgage, downsize to a smaller home, or invest. Katherine is 23 and househacking into a duplex. How much should she set aside for cash reserves? Miriam started a podcast and wants to know how to morph a passion into a lucrative income stream. Nick wonders if the FIRE movement should plan an annual gathering … you know, like a FIRE Festival. (But not like the Fyre Festival.) I tackle these six questions in today’s episode. For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode195  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.

0:10.4

Every decision that you make is a trade-off against something else and that doesn't just

0:13.4

apply to your money.

0:14.4

It applies to your time, your focus, your energy, your attention.

0:16.7

It applies to anything in your life that is a scarce or limited resource.

0:20.3

And so that leads to two questions.

0:22.4

Number one, what is most important to you?

0:24.8

Not what do other people say should be important to you?

0:27.8

But what do you actually value in your own life regardless of how unconventional it may

0:31.7

be?

0:32.7

And number two, how do you align your daily decisions in accordance?

0:37.9

Answering these two questions is a lifetime practice.

0:39.8

There are no simple answers and no shortcuts.

0:42.3

That's what this podcast is here to explore.

0:44.1

My name is Paula Pant.

0:45.1

I'm the host of the Afford Anything Podcast.

0:47.3

Every other week I answer questions that come from you, the community.

0:50.8

This week, here is what we're going to cover.

0:53.5

Alex has a massive gap between what she earns and what she spends.

0:57.9

How should she direct this money?

1:00.0

Christine is 38, just bought her first home and feels as though she's behind because she

1:05.5

started saving later in life.

...

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