On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to Be Rich! I needed someone to come on the show to provide some tough love and Ramit was the only person for the job. As Ramit mentioned during our last interview, FIRE people are great at knowing what NOT to spend on but we’re not good at knowing what to spend on. Spending is going to be a big focus on the Mad Fientist this year and I can’t think of a better way to kick off this discussion than by getting yelled at by Ramit so hope you enjoy it! Highlights Why we doubled our annual spending (and was it worth it) What Ramit did to make me get all clammy and uncomfortable Why pay less when you can pay more How to imagine your own rich life Why you should start wasting some money at a certain point

Over the last few years, I interviewed members of my family to find out two things: How I became the Mad Fientist (i.e. where did I get my extreme ideas about money) What advice they'd give to parents hoping to raise money-smart children This is a short but sweet holiday episode to end the year and I hope you enjoy it!

Cody Berman and Justin Taylor, hosts of the FI Show, have both achieved financial independence but they've taken drastically different paths to get there. Listen to this Podcast Takeover episode to hear the similarities and differences between an employee's path to FI (Justin's) and an entrepreneur's journey to FIRE (Cody's)! Highlights Live-in flip vs. house hacking Sweet spot for buying used cars Why focusing on fixed expenses is important How to 5x your corporate income The unlimited upside of entrepreneurship How to get started investing if you're scared/nervous Nest-egging vs. cash-flowing your way to financial independence The benefits of a Solo-401(k) for entrepreneurs Why the corporate world is great for certain types of people Benefits and downsides of entrepreneurship Why it's important to not keep up with the FI Joneses either Show Links The FI Show - https://thefishow.com The FI Show's Mega Backdoor Roth Episode - https://thefishow.com/mega-backdoor-roth-solo-401k-explained/ The Mad Fientist's Mega Backdoor Roth Article - https://www.madfientist.com/after-tax-contributions/

Life has completely changed. And because of this major change, I'm even more grateful for the freedom, flexibility, and time that financial independence and early retirement provide. In this short episode, I fill you in on what's been happening and I discuss the reasons for my newfound appreciation of FI.

Welcome to another podcast-takeover episode of the Financial Independence podcast! This time, Mathias from the Financial Independence Europe podcast takes over the show to talk to Luke Freeman (from Giving What We Can) and Rebecca Herbst (from Yield and Spread) about Effective Altruism! Highlights What is Effective Altruism How to give efficiently and effectively Benefits of joining the effective altruism community How giving is evolving Differences between the US and Europe with regards to philanthropy How to give to charity while pursuing FI Show Links Financial Independence Europe - https://financial-independence.eu/ Yield and Spread - http://yieldandspread.com Give What We Can - https://www.givingwhatwecan.org Give Well - https://www.givewell.org Original Show Link - https://financial-independence.eu/uncategorized/episode-147-how-to-give-effectively-luke-freeman-and-rebecca-herbst/

Exactly 10 years ago, I released the first episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! To celebrate this big birthday, I’ve collected all the best advice from my interviews with my very first podcast guest – Mr. Money Mustache! Highlights Mr. Money Mustache’s investing strategy Thoughts on real-estate investing vs. stock-market investing How to invest in a raging bull market The benefits of hitting FI before having kids Why you’ll likely make money after retiring early Mr. Money Mustache’s biggest splurge How to decide whether to pay off your mortgage early The best part of financial independence How to find meaning after early retirement Most challenging part of post-FI life The impact of financial independence on personal relationships

On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I speak to Patrick Aime from Aime to Invest! Patrick’s journey to FI is an incredible one. He… Moved from his home in Rwanda to attend high school in Europe and college in America Stayed in America after college and started working in the feast-or-famine world of sales Started his own company and grew it to $5 million in revenue in four years Used his success in business to invest in rental properties and live a lavish lifestyle Lost everything during the 2008 global financial crisis and had to declare bankruptcy Found FIRE and drastically reduced his expenses and started saving for the long term Rebuilt a smaller business and started investing in short-term rental properties in Mexico Utilized geographic arbitrage to lower his expenses even further Hit FI 8 years after declaring bankruptcy and became a millionaire 2 years after FI Patrick shares everything he learned during his rollercoaster financial journey so hope you enjoy the interview!

I'm excited to share with you the first Podcast Takeover episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Carl and Doug from the Mile High FI podcast take over the Financial Independence Podcast to talk about their early retirement successes and failures. Enjoy! Highlights Test drive early retirement by going part-time or taking a sabbatical Why finding a community is even more important for early retirees How to give yourself permission to slow down and be inefficient/unoptimized Why you can (and should!) reinvent yourself after you leave your job How to stop worrying about running out of money Why meaningful work is still the key to happiness after FI Show Links Mile High FI - https://milehighfi.com My interview on the Mile High FI podcast - https://milehighfi.com/podcast/048-mad-fientist/

I have some big news… I am now a British citizen! In honor of finally getting my UK passport, and therefore completing this long journey to citizenship, I am releasing my UK FIRE episode. Barney, from The Escape Artist, joined me in my Edinburgh apartment (before the pandemic) to discuss all things related to financial independence and early retirement in the UK. Hope you enjoy it! Highlights The cultural differences between US/UK that affect pursuing FI How to escape from the prison we create for ourselves Translating US investing terminology to the UK (e.g. 401k→pension, IRA→ISA, etc.) Is it easier to reach FI in the US or UK Class structure in UK and how pursuing FI forces you to traverse all classes Why FIRE isn’t bigger in the UK Difference between the different types of ISAs Is tax hacking possible in the UK Real-estate investing in the United Kingdom and the fantastic Rent-a-Room scheme How to use geographic arbitrage to reach FI sooner

Last year, I published an interview with one of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel. You may remember that the interview was recorded as part of a Bogleheads meeting and the interview was actually conducted by my buddy, Gouri. Well, Gouri recently invited me to join the Bogleheads to talk about life after FIRE and today’s podcast episode is a recording of that discussion! Big thanks to Gouri and the Bogleheads for making this happen and hope you enjoy it! Highlights How your views on spending change after you retire Why you should treat FI as a spectrum rather than a finish line How to plan for all aspects of post-FI life The unexpected benefits and challenges of early retirement

If you’ve followed me for a while, you’ll know that I’ve released an annual update every year since I quit my job. It’s now been five years since I stopped working so this is my fifth (and final) annual update. Why is it my final one? I explain in today’s short episode. Highlights How the pandemic highlighted the power of having savings Why FI is the ultimate shock absorber and cheat code The reasons this annual update will be my last What to do when money is no longer a source of motivation Why “Lean FIRE” may be a bad idea Warren Buffet’s plan for leaving money to his kids (and why it may change your FI target)

On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I finally got to interview the person who introduced me to the concept of financial independence and early retirement in the first place… Jacob Lund Fisker from Early Retirement Extreme! To my mind, Jacob is the founder of the modern-day “FIRE movement” so hope you enjoy the interview! Highlights What Jacob has been up to since stepping away from ERE His experience being a financial quant and how it impacted his personal investing The problem with set-it-and-forget-it index investing The importance of staying flexible with your investing strategy Predictions for the next decade and the post-COVID world A systems approach to lifestyle design and why it’s beneficial Jacob’s thoughts on early retirement how they’ve changed since publishing Early Retirement Extreme His current projects and his plans for the future

Last year, I conducted an experiment in Ultralearning that I hoped would help me achieve a lifelong dream of mine of writing and releasing an album. I’m happy to say it was far more successful than I ever imagined it would be! As I mentioned in the initial Ultralearning podcast episode, the hope for the 3-month experiment was that it would accelerate my progress towards my goal and make the process more enjoyable. Well, it did all that and more… I ended up finishing a song during that 3-month experiment and I can’t believe it but I just released that single today! Not only did I write a song during the experiment, I continued writing music since then and I now have enough material for an album! Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought this experiment would help me make so much progress but it has! In today’s podcast episode, I go through everything I learned and explain why the Ultralearning Experiment helped me push past the self-doubt and self-destructive habits that have plagued me in the past. I also describe the new routines the experiment helped me develop and why those new habits have allowed me accomplish more than I ever have before! Highlights How to get your brain ready (and why it’s essential for making progress) The best way to make developing new habits easier What you should focus on and why How to be original and creative Why you should make your project “real” (even if it makes you feel silly) When it’s worth spending more money instead of less Why you should expect to encounter the “gap” and how to get over it

One of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel, is on the Financial Independence Podcast today! I’m not the one conducting the interview this time though (all is explained in the episode). Morgan’s insight into how to handle uncertainty, market crashes, and this weird stock boom that we now find ourselves in is invaluable so hope you enjoy it! Big thanks to Gouri, Morgan, and the Bogleheads for making this happen!

It’s been four years since I left my full-time job and what a crazy year it’s been! To celebrate this anniversary and to recap the things I’ve learned during this last year of post-FI life (and the COVID market crash), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Bear markets are a normal part of investing but is this time different? As the coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the world, governments are struggling to limit the economic impact of the disease. In today’s unplanned episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, JL Collins (author of The Simple Path to Wealth) joins me to talk about this stock-market crash, how it differs from previous crashes, and what you should do about it. Note: Apologies for the audio quality of this episode. Since this wasn’t planned in advance, I didn’t have my normal microphone so I had to use the microphone on my iPhone headphones :/

On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I’m excited to introduce Scott Young! I first heard about Scott when he decided to complete MIT's entire computer science curriculum in a year. Scott has taken on a lot of these types of impressive learning projects and he just wrote a great book about it – Ultralearning. As you know, I’m attempting to tackle a very intimidating project myself so what better way to kick off that effort than with my own 3-month ultralearning project! In today’s interview, we dive into the details of ultralearning and we design a new ultralearning project from scratch. Ultralearning projects seem perfect for anyone who is FI or hopes to achieve financial independence one day so hope you get as much out of this discussion as I did! Highlights Why ultralearning can help you get to FI quicker (while making the journey more enjoyable) How Scott was able to complete MIT’s computer science curriculum in one year Why the first part of learning something new is the hardest and how to use ultralearning to get past that phase sooner How to learn new languages as quickly and efficiently as possible Details about my own ultralearning project and how Scott suggests I design it The imporantance of breaking big goals into concrete stages Why limiting scope is so important when diving into something new What is meta-feedback and why it’s important The power of direct practice and how to use drills to fix specific issues What to do when you hit a block or a plateau in your learning

I can’t believe it but it’s already been three years since I left my full-time job! To commemorate this special anniversary and to recap the things I’ve learned during this last year of post-FI life (which happened to be the best one yet), I recorded a short podcast episode.

Personal-finance icon Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to be Rich joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Ramit first published his New York Times best-selling book, I Will Teach You to be Rich, back in 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis. He just released the second version today so we discuss what’s changed in the last decade and also talk about FIRE (Financial Independence, Retire Early) – a concept that’s taken the financial world by storm in recent years. This is the first time Ramit has talked about FIRE so it was great getting his opinions on it, especially since he’s often thought of as being on the opposite end of the financial spectrum (my first podcast guest, Mr. Money Mustache, has even jokingly referred to him as his “arch-rival in personal finance”). Ramit didn’t hold back (does he ever?) so hope you enjoy this one as much as I did! Highlights What Ramit likes about FIRE (and what he doesn’t) When you should pay more instead of less How to cure yourself from extreme frugality Why you need to maximize for value instead of cost How to break out of the spreadsheet and start living life

On today’s episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I’m very excited to introduce author Cal Newport! I’ve been a huge fan of Cal’s writing for many years so it was a treat to get to talk to him. We explore many important issues related to early retirement that aren’t often talked about so if you’re thinking about retiring early (or if you already have and are struggling to build the life that you envisioned before leaving work), today’s episode is a must-listen! Highlights: Why pursuing your passion is overrated How to love your job What is “Focused FIRE” and why it’s likely the best option How to get good at something valuable Why you should replace relaxation with difficult, meaningful activity The importance (and increasing rarity) of deep work Why skillful management of attention is the key to a good life How to perform a digital declutter The importance of high-quality leisure activities Why technology could be ruining your personal life and how to stop it