Q&A: My Friend Won’t Invest - How Can I Help?

Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices

Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network

Entrepreneurship, Investing, Business

4.7 • 3.6K Ratings

🗓️ 23 September 2025

⏱️ 78 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

#645: Mike (02:50): After 15 years of intentional living, Mike is 80 percent of the way to financial independence. Now he’s trying to help friends take control of their own financial future. But what happens when one spouse is eager to learn and invest, while the other isn’t interested? Michael (27:07): For two years, Michael has tracked his net worth monthly. So far, growth has been driven almost entirely by how much he saved. But when will investment returns begin to take over and shift that steady line into an exponential curve? Alvaro (34:00): After 15 years of investing in U.S. and European real estate, Alvaro has a big decision to make. Should he leverage a commercial loan to build an ADU for short-term rental income, or take on more personal debt to expand their family home? Jonathan (58:50): After hearing Paula and Joe discuss the efficient frontier — and then listening to Big ERN, Paul Merriman, and JL Collins — Jonathan can’t help but wonder: has Joe’s perspective evolved? Is the simple path still enough, or is there merit in a more complex approach? Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these three questions in today’s episode. Enjoy! P.S. Got a question? Leave it ⁠here⁠. Resources Mentioned: JL Collins Part 1 and Part 2 Karsten Jeske (Big Ern) Episode 643 Paul Merriman Episode 550 Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths. Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, your veterinarian: https://affordanything.com/episode645 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Joe, do you have any friends who are just not that interested in money?
0:03.9	Oh, yes. Absolutely. I think everybody has those friends, don't we?
0:07.2	Yeah, I definitely have those friends as well. The question, though, is what do you do when you want to help your friends, but you don't know if they're open to listening?
0:18.7	Wow.
0:19.6	We're going to discuss that today.
0:21.1	We're also going to tackle a question from a listener who's wondering at what point
0:25.6	his investment returns will matter more than his contributions when it comes to growing his
0:30.9	portfolio.
0:31.9	We're also going to address a question from a listener who's wondering if he should borrow
0:37.1	money to build an ADU or if he should borrow money to build an
0:37.8	ADU or if he should extend his primary residence. And we're going to hear from a listener
0:44.6	who's wondering if you've rethought some of your teachings on the efficient frontier in light of
0:50.3	new information. So we've got four questions today, Joe. Buckle up. Welcome to the Afford Anything Podcast, the show that knows you can afford anything, not everything. This show covers five pillars, financial psychology, increasing your income, investing, real estate and entrepreneurship. It's double-eye fire. I'm your host, Paula Pant. I trained in economic reporting at Columbia. Every other episode-ish, I answer questions that come from you. And I do so with my buddy, the former financial planner, Joe Saul See-high. What's up, Joe? Man, I got my coffee and I'm ready to go, Paula. How about you? Oh, I am. I've got my Diet Coke right here. Hashtag not product placement. Okay, we're both caffeinated. We're ready to go.
1:31.4	You know what? I just ordered a case of Celsius.
1:34.4	Oh.
1:35.0	Which is also a caffeinated beverage.
1:36.8	Celsius is really good.
1:38.0	I've heard that. I've literally never tried it, but it's on its way to my apartment right now.
1:43.7	Did you see in the news recently that Celsius, by the way, also makes high noon an alcoholic
1:49.8	seltzer beverage?
1:51.8	Oh, like a white claw competitor.
1:54.0	Yes.
	...

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