Afford Anything
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
January 6, 2026 • 69 mins
#678: Anonymous (01:52): "Victoria" is 51, single, and still enjoying their W2 job while building a side business from a passion hobby. They’re thinking about heavy Roth conversions, planning for retirement, and wondering how much traditional money to leave untouched. Should Alex prioritize tax efficiency, or focus on growth and flexibility?
Anonymous (34:29): "Gwyneth" and her husband moved to the U.S. to start a sanctuary for s...
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January 2, 2026 • 41 mins
#677: Happy New Year! We're kicking off 2026 with a reality check on where your money stands right now.
The Good News: Gas prices dropped below $3/gallon. Inflation cooled to 2.7%. The Fed cut rates again. GDP grew 4.3% (surprisingly strong). Gold hit $4,500 an ounce. And 19 states raised minimum wages.
The Not-So-Good: Health insurance jumped 10-18%. Unemployment ticked up. Mortgage rates are stuck around 6.2%. And 80% of homeow...
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December 30, 2025 • 67 mins
#676: Ally:How can I optimize my asset allocation and Roth contributions now that I’m over $1 million in assets?
I’m 45, single, never married, with about $1.2 million in assets. Roughly $100,000 is in stocks, which might scare some people.
Here’s my breakdown:
Vanguard brokerage account: VTSAX $132,000, ISCV $5,000, VOO $5,000
Vanguard Rollover IRA: VTSAX $65,000, IVV $25,000, VOO $62,000
Vanguard Roth IRA: VTSAX $...
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December 26, 2025 • 45 mins
#675: Welcome to Greatest Hits Week – five days, five episodes from our vault, spelling out F-I-I-R-E.
Today’s letter E stands for Entrepreneurship. This episode originally aired in September 2018, at a moment when startup culture was loud, venture capital was abundant, and entrepreneurship was often framed as something that involves outside investors and rapid growth.
____
In this episode, we rewind the clock to 2018. Remem...
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December 25, 2025 • 77 mins
#674: Welcome to Greatest Hits Week – five days, five episodes from our vault, spelling out F-I-I-R-E.
Today's letter R stands for Real Estate. This episode originally aired in May 2022, but the insights on long-distance investing remain just as relevant for anyone feeling priced out of their local market.
We tackle the five biggest challenges of investing far from home – from fear of the unknown to managing contractors remotely ...
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December 24, 2025 • 47 mins
#673: Welcome to Greatest Hits Week – five days, five episodes from our vault, spelling out F-I-I-R-E.
Today's second letter I stands for Investing. This episode originally aired in April 2022, but the framework remains one of the most practical guides we've shared for building wealth at any age.
Nick Maggiulli joins us to reveal why most young investors obsess over the wrong metrics — and shares his Save-Invest Continuum that sh...
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December 23, 2025 • 63 mins
#672: Welcome to Greatest Hits Week — five days, five episodes from our vault, spelling out F-I-I-R-E.
Today's letter I stands for Increasing Your Income. This episode originally aired in August 2024, but the strategies are more essential than ever.
Jeff Wetzler, Ed.D., reveals why the people around us withhold crucial information — and how asking better questions can transform your negotiations and net worth.
__________
Y...
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December 22, 2025 • 45 mins
#671: Welcome to Greatest Hits Week — five days, five episodes from our vault, spelling out F-I-I-R-E.
Today's letter F stands for Financial Psychology. And we're diving deep with a conversation that changed how thousands of our listeners think about money.
This episode originally aired in November 2022, but the insights feel more relevant than ever. Dr. Daniel Crosby reveals why your brain is your portfolio's worst enemy — and w...
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December 19, 2025 • 60 mins
#670: As we close out 2025, premium credit cards are more expensive and more complicated than ever. It’s fair to ask whether the points game is still worth the effort.
We sit down with Chris Hutchins, host of All the Hacks, to talk about what’s changed in credit card rewards, and how to decide whether to stick with travel points, switch to cash back, or run a hybrid strategy that keeps your life simple.
We dig into the “value...
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December 16, 2025 • 55 mins
#669: Slade (01:43) - Slade, 44, and his wife plan to downshift careers in the next five to seven years while raising their 11-year-old daughter. They want to know how to reallocate their $685K brokerage account and plan withdrawals to make the transition financially smooth.
David (21:50) - David has a high school senior and is deciding how to pay for college. Should he tap the $60K 529 plan now or the $200K 457(b) from his wife’s...
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December 12, 2025 • 113 mins
#668: We’re joined in-studio by David Bach, bestselling author of The Automatic Millionaire and The Latte Factor. He’s updated his most popular book (over two million copies sold) and this is his last big launch as he heads into retirement.
Together, we wrestle with a problem our listeners know well: what happens when you’ve built the habit of saving, investing, optimizing … and then feel weirdly unable to spend.
We talk abo...
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December 9, 2025 • 63 mins
#667: Home prices have outpaced wages for more than a decade, and first-time buyers are stretching further every year. Now a new idea is entering the conversation, the 50-year mortgage. It promises lower monthly payments, yet it reshapes everything from equity growth to long-term risk.
In this episode we sit down with Karsten Jeske, PhD, CFA from Early Retirement Now, a former Federal Reserve economist known for forensic finan...
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December 5, 2025 • 43 mins
#666: In this First Friday economic update, we explore the paradox defining our current economy: record-breaking retail numbers alongside plummeting consumer confidence.
In this First Friday economic update, we explore the paradox defining our current economy: we're spending more than ever, while feeling worse about money than we have in years.
The Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn't released jobs data for two consecutive months. ...
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December 2, 2025 • 54 mins
#665: If you’ve ever stared at an insurance quote and wondered, “Is this really worth it?”, you’re not alone. Liability and umbrella policies can feel like an expensive mystery, especially when your net worth is growing and your risks are shifting.
In today’s episode, we dig into a listener’s dilemma about soaring liability and umbrella insurance costs, and we explore how to think clearly about protection, exposure, and the parts ...
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November 28, 2025 • 63 mins
#664: Have any of these thoughts ever crossed your mind?
If I had more willpower, I’d achieve my financial goals.
I’m doomed to fail with money.
Budgets suck. They only show me what I did wrong and make me feel horrible.
If so, you’re not alone.
It’s not that you lack willpower.
It’s not that you’re doomed to fail with money.
It’s not that you’re a horrible person for blowing your budget.
It’s that you’re human.
And humans...
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November 25, 2025 • 67 mins
#663: We’re living through the first era in which an investor can ask a machine to read a decade of SEC filings in seconds. That sounds powerful, but also a little terrifying. Can we trust it? And how do we use it without falling for hallucinations or built-in optimism?
In this episode, we dig into the practical, real-world ways AI can strengthen our investing process while avoiding its biggest pitfalls. If you’ve ever wondered ...
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November 21, 2025 • 79 mins
#662: Most teams hire for skills. The best teams hire for wiring.
What if the reason someone accelerates your organization, or quietly derails it, has more to do with their response time, processing style, or sense of mission than their résumé?
This episode dives into the hidden patterns that shape how people work, make decisions, and handle pressure; the clues we often overlook, and the tiny tells that reveal who will thriv...
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November 18, 2025 • 80 mins
#661: When your income drops, debt spikes, and a rental property starts bleeding cash, it can feel like your entire financial foundation is cracking beneath you. Veronica, our first caller, is navigating all of it at once, from a near-foreclosure to a luxury car payment that’s strangling her budget. Her question is simple but enormous, how do you rebuild when you’re overwhelmed and out of margin?
Once we work through her path fo...
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November 14, 2025 • 62 mins
#660: Caring for an aging parent can morph into a second full-time job, and even the most financially savvy adults get blindsided. Bank accounts freeze, home sales stall, and family savings disappear faster than anyone expects.
In this episode, we dig into what really happens when you take over a parent’s financial life, from the first power of attorney to the final tax return.
We explore the emotional and logistical realiti...
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November 12, 2025 • 68 mins
#659: Imagine that you’re at the absolute peak of your career. You’re the CEO of a prominent advertising company at the age of 36, but you feel like you’re driving in the wrong lane. It’s wrong.Then you make a hard career pivot and it works out beautifully.My guests today know exactly what that’s like. We’re joined by James Patterson, the author who has sold more than 425 million copies of his books. He has co-authored books with P...
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