Vivian | Households of FI Update

ChooseFI | Financial Independence Podcast

Jonathan Mendonsa & Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media, Inc

Business, Investing, Careers

4.8 • 5.2K Ratings

🗓️ 21 October 2022

⏱️ 42 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Maxing out retirement accounts while battling cancer, fighting a custody battle, and raising a child solo — Vivian is doing it, yet she still questions whether she's doing "enough." Brad Barrett welcomes her back to confront the gap between financial accomplishment and emotional overwhelm. Vivian, a pharmacist from Texas, previously appeared on the podcast after eliminating $300,000 in debt. Now in remission from breast cancer and navigating a custody battle as a single mother to a four-year-old, she returns to discuss the emotional toll of maintaining financial progress through crisis. Despite maxing out retirement accounts and rebuilding her emergency fund, she feels stuck — caught between rising costs, inflation fears, and the relentless pressure to stay on track. Brad challenges her to recognize what she's already achieved while addressing her concerns about car payments, Mega Roth conversions, and whether she's making the "right" financial moves. The conversation highlights the non-linear nature of financial independence — life's "lumpy" reality — and the critical role of community support in staying accountable and motivated when you feel like you're failing. Timestamps: [00:02:01] Vivian's Journey [00:06:01] Community and Support [00:16:00] Financial Decisions and Challenges [00:40:00] Encouragement and Motivation Key Quotes: "It's hard, but I'm not giving up." — Vivian [00:02:41] "I'm not alone." — Vivian [00:06:27] "I feel like I'm in a midlife crisis." — Vivian [00:03:06] "Life is lumpy." — Brad [00:32:33] "You have to ask for what you deserve." — Vivian [00:19:44] Resources: NerdWallet: Understanding Megabackdoor Roth [00:33:02] Related Episodes: Episode 221: Introduction of Vivian [00:02:09] Episode 255: Single Parenting Discussion [00:02:09] Episode 302: Sandwich Generation Challenges [00:13:10]

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to ChooseUpFy. Today on the show we have another update from one of our households
0:05.2	of five members, which I'm really excited to welcome Vivian back to the podcast. So for those of you
0:11.5	that remember Vivian is a pharmacist from Texas. She has a now four year old daughter who at the time
0:18.3	we met her incredibly was was a one year old daughter. Vivian has gotten out of 300,000 dollars of
0:24.8	debt and she's faced some challenges just like we all have and I think that's what's so wonderful
0:31.0	about these stories is is we all can see each other in these stories right. I'm not alone in my
0:37.7	journey because Vivian's going through this because somebody else you can learn from somebody else
0:43.2	from another households of five member or from my story that's the beauty of being part of a community
0:49.3	and Vivian has bravely fought breast cancer and she's in remission now which is wonderful and she had
0:57.4	a child custody battle. So while she makes a nice income as a pharmacist she has certainly dealt
1:03.5	with her share of issues and and this is real life. So with that welcome to ChooseUpFy.
1:09.7	You're listening to ChooseUpFy. The blueprint for financial independence lives here.
1:25.1	If you're looking to unlock his secrets to financial independence and early retirement
1:30.1	you're in the right place stay tuned and join a community of like-minded people who are getting
1:35.5	all things to do and taking control of their lives in the pursuit of financial independence. ChooseFy.
1:42.4	You're home for financial independence online.
1:57.2	Vivian welcome back to ChooseUpI am so happy to have you here. Thank you. I appreciate
2:02.8	coming back here. Yeah it's so great it's been about 18 months since we last chat with you so
2:08.5	for people who are looking to catch up on your story which we're certainly going to give an
2:12.4	overview here but you were originally introduced in episode 221 and then you had an episode with
2:19.6	Leslie Tain in episode 255 and that was talking about being a single parent and you said one of
2:26.7	the most beautiful quotes I've ever heard is quote it's hard but I'm not giving up and that's
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Jonathan Mendonsa & Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media, Inc, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of Jonathan Mendonsa & Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media, Inc and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.