Build Financial Independence, Escape the 9-to-5, and Live Your Boldest Dreams
Like many people, Nick Loper used to work a full-time job that didn’t excite him.
Unlike most people, Loper decided to escape his uninspiring work life.
First, he launched a shoe-comparison website that began collecting side income. Over time, this side project grew increasingly profitable, until — finally — he thought he could run this website full-time.
Loper quit his job.
That’s when all hell broke loose.
This week, I tackle your questions with my good friend, recovering financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy. Here’s what we answer:
1. I’m asking for a friend — no, really, I’m asking for a friend!
My friends are married and buried. They’re a married couple, buried in $500,000 of debt.
Some is federal student loans, some is private student loans, and some is credit card debt. They’re paying the minimum on their student loans, with the hope that these loans will be forgiven after 25 years. They’re also saving money in their retirement accounts.
Is this a terrible plan? Should they stop saving for retirement while they wipe out their student loans? If so, how can I convince them?
Hey. It’s time we talked.
I’ve made many tough decisions in my business.
I’ve said “no” to thousands of pitches, turned away countless advertising requests, and made difficult choices about content and tone.
And sometimes I don’t know whether or not I’ve made the right choice.
Welcome to another Ask Paula episode!
This week, I answer three real estate questions:
#1: What criteria do you use when you’re shopping for an investment property? What qualities make you say, “heck yeah I’m buying this!!” — and what qualities make you say, “No way!”
#2: I enjoy renting my personal home, but I still dream of investing in rental properties. Does it make sense to buy a rental property, even while I’m still a renter myself?
Jenny Blake used to have an enviable job.
As a Career Development manager at Google, she enjoyed the perks of a Silicon Valley life, plus the satisfaction of helping people everyday. She co-founded Google’s Career Guru Program, and helped countless Google employees find their right career “fit.”
But, ironically, Blake sensed that her own career wasn’t on the right track.
Chris, age 30, makes $200,000 per year and saves 50 percent of his income. What accounts should he use in order to maximize his tax benefits?
Dee, age 39, is getting tired of apartment living. She found a great neighborhood in which she’d like to own a home, and she’s saving for a 20 percent downpayment. But she’s nervous about the high cost of home maintenance. How can she deal with this?
Chelsea just moved into a new house with her husband. He purchased the house outright, in cash, and she wants to pay him so that she can share in the home’s ownership and equity. But she also has student loan and credit card debt. Should she make progress towards all three of these goals (build equity, pay off student loans, pay off credit cards) at the same time? Or should she prioritize one — and if so, which one?
When Laura Roeder was 22, she quit her job to become a full-time freelancer.
She earned $30,000 in her first year as a freelancer; $60,000 in her second year.
Ten years later — (Laura is now 32) — her company earns $4 million in annual revenue.
(Can I repeat that? Did I bury the lede? *Laura went from making $30,000 per year to owning 100% of a company that earns $4 million per year.* And she did this within a decade. Oh, and she also had a baby.)
(Like, whoa.)
Eating avocado toast. Yeah, I went there. đ
Imagine that you’re looking for a rental property. It’s a warm Saturday afternoon, and you decide to cruise through a few open houses in the area.
Your autonomously-driving electric vehicle pulls into the driveway. Your wifi-enabled contact lenses automatically register the property’s details: square footage, year of construction, sales history, tax assessment, price-to-rent ratio, average neighborhood occupancy rates, and multiple cap rate estimates.
As you walk through the property, your contact lenses display the digital history of every item — the furnace, dishwasher, windows — keeping you up-to-date with the full installation and service history of every home component.
Welcome to the future of real estate investing.
âHave you ever tried to stop-peeing midstream? Itâs like trying to put spray cheese back in the can. The damage has been done, and the only thing left to do is try to enjoy yourself.”
Thatâs a quote from a deleted chapter in a book written by (in my opinion) one of the funniest bloggers on the internet, Geraldine DeRuiter.
Geraldine is an âaccidentalâ travel writer. Nine years ago, she found herself laid-off from a copywriting job and decided, âscrew it, Iâm gonna travel.â Sheâs since visited around 30 countries, and her resulting travel blog, The Everywhereist, describes itself as âan award-winning cry for help.”
TIME Magazine calls it “consistently clever” and FORBES Magazine named it one of the Top 10 Lifestyle Websites for Women for three consecutive years.
Five years ago, Geraldine was diagnosed with a brain tumor. She jokes about her resulting brain surgery on her website â â[I get to] make cracks like, âI need this like I need another hole in my headâ â but in all seriousness, her tumor re-framed importance of travel (and living your dreams) in a new light.
This week, my buddy Joe Saul-Sehy joins me to answer another round of listener-submitted questions.
Our first question comes from Hillary:
She’s a recent college graduate in an entry level job. She’s saved up an emergency fund, but keeps depleting it as things pop up. She’s also going to law school in a year and a half, which means massive student loan debt.
She wants to know: does she have to put her financial planning on hold during this time? Is there anything else she can do now to set her up for crushing debt in the future?
