Build A Wealthy Spirit

In 2019, I moved into “Mummy Daddy”’s House to save BIG for my retirement. I recently got into FIRE and was looking for a way to cut down on housing costs while living in the Bay Area. 

Though I was on the fast track to early retirement, my parents were barely on track for normal retirement. The culprit? A low savings rate. My parents spent too much money on things they did not care about. The would regularly spend $300 on groceries...

If you are finding yourself in an uncertain situation and wondering how to deal with uncertainty, this is the episode for you. Sammie and Michelle reflect on how uncertain life still feels in 2024 and share tips they've been using to deal with uncertainty.

Show Notes:

• The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen Covey 
• Seven Ways to Cope with Uncertainty by Christine Carter
• The Work of Byron Katie
• Insight Timer
• ...

If dependency is not a bad word, nobody told Michelle and me. Since we were children our mom has implanted us with the mantras: “You must be independent”, “Never depend on a man”, etc. 

Immigration to the United States of America probably self-selects for the most independent-minded people and we were brought up in an entire family of freedom lovers. 

Independence has served us well. We were eager to start working and provide for our...

What can the dying teach us about how to live our lives? This week we replay our episode with Doc G, a hospice doctor, who wrote the book Taking Stock: A Hospice Doctor's Advice on Financial Independence, Building Wealth, and Living a Regret-Free Life. 

Our conversation with Doc G inspired me to think about how I am living my life. I stumbled upon this article I wrote last year on my blog. At that time, I had just recovered fro...

I remember reading Shonda Rhimes's Year of Yes shortly after moving to San Francisco. In the book, Rhimes discusses how she spent a year saying yes to every invitation, request, and opportunity to play with her children that came her way. She found the experience brought her so much joy as well as new friendships and opportunities. What did I feel when I read this book? Guilt. 

I felt guilty because I did not want to say yes. I...

What if you could change from the negative to the positive without changing anything about your circumstances? No, this is not a multi-level marketing scheme! The key is changing our perspective. I remember when I was in my early twenties I would rarely have more than a few hundred dollars and I never felt any scarcity about this. When I think back on this I’m shocked. A flat tire, a broken arm, an unexpected night at a hotel could...

Here are the 5 parasocial relationships I have decided to surround myself with: 

1. At Home with Byron Katie Podcast
2. Tony Robbins Podcast 
3. Eckhart Tolle: Essential Teachings
4. Audiobooks, currently Not Nice and Map of Consciousness 
5. Oprah's Super Soul Podcast

Check out the HYPRfocus Podcast by our previous guest Harris! If you like self-optimization and hearing inspiring stories about other people’s lives you will love Harris’ p...

Law of Attraction is a great way to start visualizing and manifesting your dreams. However, sometimes we are blocking ourselves without even realizing it. Sammie and Michelle dive into Law of Attraction, how to clearly visualize what you want and blockers they ran into. 

Show Notes:

• Legally Blonde
• The Secret by Rhonda Byrne
• Jim Carrey interview with Barbara Walters 
• Finance Friday: Using Student Loan Forgiveness to Catapul...

Show Notes:

• Set Boundaries, Find Peace: A Guide to Reclaiming Yourself by Nedra Glover Tawwab
• Not Nice by Aziz Gazipura 
• The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho

Community Time

• Episode 173. Clearing the Mind: Using Byron Katie's Inquiry to Banish Negative Judgements
• IDR WAIVER EXTENSION: Payment Count Adjustments Toward Income-Driven Repayment and Public Service Loan Forgiveness Programs

AirHelp: Partner For This Episode
C...

My sabbatical has been a journey inward. I deeply appreciate how we arrive at this “earth school”, Byron Katie’s words, to break the disruptive thought patterns that otherwise play out repeatedly. For many years, I’ve enjoyed meditation in calming the mind and recognize thought patterns, but sometimes I need a little extra help when I am deep in my emotions. 

This is where I have found The Work of Byron Katie extremely helpful. Byro...

Michelle and I first heard about taking a sabbatical in 2017 from a woman at Artesa Winery in Sonoma pictured above. This is the first time we had heard of anyone taking a long break from work. The woman, of Indian heritage like us, inspired us by her easygoing approach to life. She mentioned nothing about her previous work life and nothing about plans to return to work. She was simply enjoying each day with her sweet German husban...

We received this piece entitled “Millennials want to retire by 60. Good luck with that.” from Michael, a listener of this podcast who wanted to know our thoughts. This piece, published in USA Today, reflects the click-bait content that is out there to scare people while not providing guidance on how to make changes. 

In this episode, Michelle and I go through this piece and point out the flaws in the article. We also talk about how ...

A sabbatical can change our perspective on time and money, changing how we perceive work. Since being on my sabbatical, I now prioritize my time over income. Of course, there may be jobs that provide me with both free time and a solid income, time freedom is the priority.

When considering your priorities and options after a sabbatical, here are some key factors to think about:

1. Time: How much time do you want to dedicate to work v...

This week Michelle and I discuss our insights after reading Same As Ever by Morgan Housel. In Same As Ever, Housel talks about how many things- patterns, behaviors, economic cycles- never change and how these constants can be more interesting than things that evolve. 

He quotes Naval Ravikant “In 1,000 parallel universes, you want to be wealthy in 999 of them. You don’t want to be wealthy in the fifty of them where you got lucky, so...

This week we are re-visiting one of our favorite early episodes interviewing Andrew Johnson. Andrew Johnson is know for his guided meditations and hypotherapy sessions. He created the first meditation app ever!

Michelle has been a huge fan of Andrew Johnson for years. She regularly uses his manifestation meditations and she genuinely feels these meditations helped bring in many of the blessings she received during her sabbatical. 

Mi...

When I started calculating my net worth in 2019, I felt like a complete fraud. I had -$164,000 in student loan debt and I knew I would continue to have this debt until my student loan forgiveness period is completed in April 2025. Previously, I also assumed that my net worth would be negative until the loans were forgiven. This is where I was completely wrong. 

As I started tracking I found that with my deliberate saving and investi...

When Michelle and I heard that James Clear, author of the renowned book Atomic Habits, launched Atoms, a habit-tracking app, we had to try it for ourselves. Michelle and I are HUGE fans of James Clear, to the point where Michelle may have had a less-than-wholesome dream about him ;). (ahahaha that’s what happens when you let me write the newsletter, Michelle!) He is the captain of our generation’s habit-forming ship. 

Putting Habit ...

Michelle and I often talk about the “FI Number”: your annual spending x 25. This is the amount of money you need in your nest egg to retire [based on the Trinity study, see show notes]. By retire, we mean you can live off this amount forever assuming you take a 4% withdrawal every year for your annual spending. 

Knowing my FI number helped me set a goal that I could move toward, but knowing these three additional numbers gave me a c...

In this episode, Michelle and I discuss knowing two numbers, (1) monthly spending and (2) net worth, provides a great framework for understanding how much money we have available for our sabbatical. We also talk about two additional numbers, (3) FI number and (4) Coast FI number, that help create a clear picture of what our financial situation looks like relative to our overall spending needs. 

We also discuss the fear of unproducti...