Afford Anything | Make Smart Money Choices
You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life. How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles? On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing. But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think. In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models. Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.
Episodes
May 8, 2026 • 74 mins
#713: Tiffany Aliche spent her 30th birthday in her childhood bedroom, $300,000 in debt, unemployed, and freshly foreclosed on.
Sixteen years later, she's generated over $50 million in gross revenue as a business owner.
She joins us to talk about what actually happened in between.
Aliche - known as The Budgetnista - built her personal finance platform almost by accident. After a friend stole $35,000 from her and the 2008 reces...
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May 5, 2026 • 92 mins
#712: Jeff Hurst, CEO of Furnished Finder, joins us to break down what midterm rentals are, who they're for, and why now might be the best time to get in.
A midterm rental is a furnished unit rented for 30 days or longer - longer than a hotel stay, shorter than a traditional lease. Cities have been regulating Airbnb-style short-term rentals out of existence, leaving a wave of furnished properties with nowhere to go. That supply is...
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May 1, 2026 • 60 mins
#711: A computer science degree used to feel like a sure thing. Job placement rates topped 90 percent. Starting salaries cleared $80,000. You could do the math on your student loans before you enrolled.
That math doesn't work the same way anymore.
New York Times "Your Money" columnist Ron Lieber joins us to walk through what families actually need to know before borrowing for college.
He covers how to use the federal Colle...
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April 28, 2026 • 72 mins
#710: What does it really look like to balance financial optimization with real-life tradeoffs—whether that’s choosing meaningful work, spending down your savings, or deciding where your next dollar should go?
Mike is planning to retire at 60 with $1 million saved and a clear goal: spend it all during his lifetime. He wants to know how to structure his withdrawals so he can maximize income now while still covering the decades ...
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April 24, 2026 • 60 mins
#709: Keith Wargo has spent decades navigating one of the most daunting financial planning challenges a family can face: raising a child with a developmental disability. He joins us to share what families need to know.
The financial stakes are significant. Keith, who is the CEO of Autism Speaks, estimates lifetime care costs for a person with a developmental disability can run between $1.4 and $2.4 million - and that figure may be...
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April 21, 2026 • 69 mins
#708: What’s the smartest way to handle big financial transitions—when the stakes are high and the “right” answer isn’t always obvious?
Anonymous “Cyndi Jr.” is helping their 73-year-old mother relocate across the country and needs to decide how to use the proceeds from a home sale to balance long-term housing security with inflation protection.
Anonymous is trying to figure out how to handle quarterly estimated taxes on investme...
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April 17, 2026 • 50 mins
#707: Joe and I traveled to the campus of Texas A&M University-Texarkana for a very special live recording. We were joined by Jay Davis, the Executive Director of Financial and Entrepreneurship Engagement, to answer questions from an incredible audience of students. Whether you’re just starting your career or looking to "reset" your habits, this episode covers the essential transition from the classroom to the professional world.
...
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April 14, 2026 • 72 mins
#706: When the numbers look straightforward—but the rules, timing, and future are uncertain—how do you decide what to do next?
KJ has $90,000 in student loans, a recent inheritance, and a lot of uncertainty around changing repayment policies, and is trying to decide whether to pay down debt now or hold onto cash in case future payments become unaffordable.
Anonymous (let’s call her Andrea) is about seven years away from...
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#705: Jon McNeill, former president of Tesla and COO of Lyft, starts with a simple problem: his teenage son is about to start driving, and he’s worried about texting behind the wheel.
Instead of setting rules, he builds a solution. That idea becomes TruMotion, a company that uses smartphone sensors to track driving behavior. You hear how the app figures out whether someone is actually in the driver’s seat, and how that technology ...
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April 7, 2026 • 52 mins
#704: How do you make smart financial decisions when you’re balancing debt, investing, and big life changes … all at the same time?
Today, Brigham and his wife, ages 25 and 23, wonder: can they buy a $500,000 home AND still support a stay-at-home parent?
Next, JVR asks how to balance high-interest credit card debt, student loans, and a large cash reserve while planning for a future home purchase in the Bay Area.
Then we’l...
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April 3, 2026 • 40 mins
#703: April’s jobs report comes in much stronger than expected, with 178,000 jobs added and unemployment ticking down to 4.3 percent. That headline deserves a closer look, especially when other labor data still points to a slower, lower-hiring environment.From there, we break down what the latest Fed decision means, why mortgage rates remain elevated, and how a sudden spike in oil and gas prices could affect inflation, consumer sen...
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March 31, 2026 • 63 mins
#702: Olivia is saving for a specific three-year goal and wants to know whether a money market fund is the right place to store that cash, or if a traditional savings account would be safer.
Robert is planning to retire early in the next few years and is trying to decide whether to prioritize building taxable investments or continuing to grow Roth accounts.
And finally, we’ll hear from a listener with nearly 30 years of experienc...
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March 27, 2026 • 91 mins
#701: Forget the idea that you need a magic number to retire.
Jamie Hopkins is a certified financial planner, professor of taxation at the American College of Financial Services, director of the New York Life Center for Retirement Income, and Top 40 Under 40 financial services professionals from InvestmentNews.
His take on retirement planning will make you rethink a few things.
We start with the "no magic number" concept. Hop...
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March 24, 2026 • 70 mins
#700: Today we’re tackling three different financial questions from our listeners.
First, we’ll hear from Melanie, who is deciding whether to pursue a promotion that would increase her salary by $30,000 but may add more stress, even though she’s already close to financial independence.
Next, Ami wants to learn how options trading works and is wondering how to find legitimate training without falling into expensive or questionable...
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March 20, 2026 • 61 mins
#699: You've probably heard that mindset matters. But what does that actually mean, and is there science behind it?
Nir Eyal, author of Beyond Belief, joins us to break down the research.
Eyal, who writes about the intersection between psychology and technology and taught at Stanford Graduate School of Business, opens with a counterintuitive claim:
Motivation has nothing to do with rewards, he says.
All motivation, h...
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March 17, 2026 • 81 mins
#698: We explore financial decision-making at different stages of life:
A high-earning federal couple debates whether to pause retirement contributions to accelerate a $200,000 down payment.A part-time healthcare provider seeks clarity on balancing a 401k and a traditional IRA.And a longtime listener asks a more personal question: Is there anything we’re still figuring out ourselves?
We examine strategy, trade-offs, tax efficienc...
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March 13, 2026 • 81 mins
#697: Most people regret the things they never tried.
Venture capitalist Bill Gurley says that pattern shows up again and again in research on end-of-life regrets — including regret about the careers people never pursued.
In this episode, Gurley joins us to talk about how people actually discover work they enjoy - and why the cliché to “follow your passion” sends people in the wrong direction.
We start with a question many list...
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March 10, 2026 • 59 mins
#696:
(01:50) Jeremy has been a careful budgeter for years, but a surprise car repair has him tapping his emergency fund. With rates falling, he’s wondering if cash is enough or if he should try bonds or a CD ladder to keep up with inflation.
(22:22) A listener in Canada has a DIY portfolio but is tempted by Dimensional Funds, which requires a pricey advisor. At the same time, she’s thinking about leaving work and returning to s...
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March 6, 2026 • 42 mins
#695: The U.S. lost 92,000 jobs in February, pushing unemployment to 4.4 percent.That result contradicts a different report released two days earlier showing 63,000 jobs added, leaving economists trying to square the circle. Many agree that we're in a "low hire, low fire" jobs environment.We walk through several major economic stories using a three-layer framework: the household economy, markets and policy, and long-term forces sha...
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#694: There are about 90 million unique job titles in the U.S. labor market.
Ninety million.
If you are trying to negotiate a raise, switch companies or launch a side hustle, that number has consequences.
If titles do not line up, you cannot easily compare pay, scope or seniority. You might be doing the same work as someone with a higher title and higher salary - and never see it.
That problem is the focus of Part 2 of our con...
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