Zero-Based Everything: FI, Travel, and the Art of Starting Fresh | Katie & Alan Donegan | Ep 559

ChooseFI

Brad Barrett | Choose FI Media

Financialindependence, Investing, Firemovement, Passiveincome, Frugalliving, Personalfinancepodcast, Daveramsey, Careers, Business, Earlyretirement, Habits

4.8 • 5K Ratings

🗓️ 11 August 2025

⏱️ 83 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Join Brad, Katie, and Alan in a candid conversation about financial independence, travel rewards, and lifestyle choices. They discuss the importance of zero-based thinking, share experiences as digital nomads, and challenge conventional views on net worth by introducing the concept of a "freedom fund."

Timestamps:

00:03:48 - Zero-Based Thinking Discussion
00:04:54 - Experiences as Digital Nomads
00:11:04 - Traveling vs. Stability
00:18:44 - Understanding Investments
00:28:00 - Shifting Perspectives on Net Worth
01:20:00 - Closing Thoughts

Key Takeaways:

Zero-Based Thinking: Evaluate your decisions with the question, "Knowing what I know now, would I choose this again?"
(Timestamp: 00:16:19)
Traveling vs. Stability: Digital nomads navigate the challenge of balancing fast-paced travel with the need for stability.
(Timestamp: 00:11:04)
Freedom Fund Concept: Shift your focus from traditional assets to a 'freedom fund' that emphasizes financial independence over liabilities.
(Timestamp: 00:28:44)
Probabilistic Nature of Life: Embrace the understanding that decision-making incorporates probabilities and not just outcomes.
(Timestamp: 00:24:20)

Actionable Takeaways:

Reflect on your choices: knowing what you know now, would you choose that option again? (00:18:36)
Consider categorizing your investments as a 'freedom fund' rather than traditional assets. (00:28:44)

Key Quotes:

"Achieving financial independence allows us to control our time and pursue our desires." (00:17:43)
"Evaluate your choices: if you wouldn't choose them again, it's time for change." (00:18:36)
"Your entire net worth is in your freedom fund." (00:28:44)

Discussion Questions:

How can you apply zero-based thinking in your life to evaluate choices? (00:16:19)
In what ways can we better balance travel experiences with financial stability? (00:11:04)
What does having a freedom fund mean for you? (00:28:44)

Resources Mentioned:

Rebel Finance School (Timestamp: 00:19:08)
What's Your Split? Visualizing net worth (Timestamp: 00:19:08)
PDF Guide to Optimize Your Life (Timestamp: 00:57:41)

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Hello and welcome to Choose a Phi. Today on the show, we have our good friends, Katie and Alan Donegan. And we're just going to do a fly-on-the-wall conversation amongst friends. We're going to let you in on this conversation that we'd be having anyway. The three of us are great friends. We've traveled the world together. And we have these fun, far-ranging conversations. And we usually talk about life and FI and everything in
0:22.0	between, what we're up to, how we change our minds, what we're reading, what we're watching,
0:26.0	what we're playing, I don't know, maybe commiserating on some things that we have come up in the
0:30.8	world that we're not so thrilled with, et cetera. But at the end of the day, it's about
0:35.2	just thinking and talking and looking at the world and trying to have fun and explore.
0:40.8	And I think that's what Alan and Katie do best.
0:43.1	And yeah, we talk about travel, which they've been doing as digital nomads for five and a half years now.
0:48.6	We talk about zero base thinking, which is an interesting concept they've come up with that I love.
0:52.9	A little bit about Robin Hood and Tesla and selling shares and how difficult or not
0:56.9	difficult that may be, a little bit about dividend investing and then just a lot of fun of what
1:01.5	we're up to in our own lives.
1:02.7	I think you're really going to enjoy this.
1:04.1	And with that, welcome to choose FI.
1:17.1	Katie and Alan Donegan, welcome back to the podcast.
1:17.8	Hello.
1:19.0	We are back.
1:20.2	We are back.
1:20.5	Yeah.
1:22.1	So this is going to be fun.
1:23.8	We envision this episode.
1:26.1	Basically, we talk all the time.
1:27.1	We're great friends.
	...

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