Afford Anything Podcast Por Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network capa

Afford Anything

Afford Anything

De: Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network
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 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.2024 Afford Anything LLC Economia Finanças Pessoais Gestão e Liderança
Episódios
  • Q&A: Rebuilding After Debt Overload and a Near-Miss Foreclosure

    Q&A: Rebuilding After Debt Overload and a Near-Miss Foreclosure
    Nov 18 2025
    #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 forward, we shift to a listener on the opposite end of the spectrum. Daniel has maxed his Roth IRA, HSA, 401(k), and 457, and now sits on growing surplus cash. We talk about where extra money belongs when you’re aiming for early retirement and wondering whether to invest, save, or crush a low-interest mortgage. And to close, we take on a question dominating every financial feed right now, what if AI stocks really are in a bubble? We break down what it means to short the market, whether put options are actually a “safe” bet, and how to position a portfolio if you’re worried about tech valuations. Listener Questions in This Episode Veronica asks (02:06): How do I dig out of debt, repair my credit, and stabilize my rental after nearly going into foreclosure. Daniel asks (28:17): What should I do with my surplus side hustle cash when I already max tax-advantaged accounts and have a 3.5 percent rental mortgage. Scarlet asks (49:20): If AI stocks are in a bubble like the dot-com era, is there any relatively safe way to profit from a crash, such as put options. Key Takeaways Why tackling the right problem first can change the entire trajectory of a debt recovery plan. How downsizing one major expense can unlock breathing room you didn’t realize you had. The surprising factor that often matters more than interest rates when choosing between investing and debt payoff. Why flexible money becomes essential when planning for early retirement. What most people misunderstand about betting against a bubble, especially in fast-moving tech sectors. The simple portfolio shift that can help calm bubble anxiety without trying to time the market. Resources and Links GreenPath Financial Wellness – nonprofit credit counseling and debt management support for people overwhelmed by payments and afraid of bad actors in the debt relief world. Our course: Your Next Raise – a deep dive on how to negotiate a higher salary at work, with a special comp offered in this episode. Paul Merriman Four-Fund Portfolio – the simple, diversified investing framework Daniel uses inside his retirement accounts. The Big Short movie Michael Lewis and the film adaptation. 1929 book by Andrew Ross Sorkin – a historical look at bubbles and crashes. Chapters Note: Timestamps are approximate and may vary greatly across listening platforms due to dynamically inserted ads. (0:00) Veronica’s debt crisis and rental challenges (16:46) Cutting car costs and rebuilding cash flow (22:28) Debt relief programs and avoiding bad actors (28:17) Daniel’s surplus cash and retirement strategy (37:52) Brokerage vs mortgage payoff discussion (49:20) Can you profit from an AI bubble burst (1:00:40) Why shorting and puts rarely pay off (1:08:18) Safer ways to position your portfolio Got a question: Call it in: https://affordanything.com/voicemail Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hora e 20 minutos
  • The Brutal Math of Caring for Aging Parents, with MarketWatch Columnist Beth Pinsker

    The Brutal Math of Caring for Aging Parents, with MarketWatch Columnist Beth Pinsker
    Nov 14 2025
    #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 realities of dementia care, Medicaid, trusts, probate, and why a single smartphone setting can determine whether you can access the information you need. Veteran financial journalist and certified financial planner Beth Pinsker joins us to share the hard lessons she learned while managing her parents’ money, housing, and estate. She opens up about the “you don’t know what you don’t know” moments that hit even experts. We look at why almost every caregiver reaches a breaking point, the two documents that can save a year of stress and tens of thousands of dollars, how a forgotten zero-balance home equity line nearly torpedoed a real estate deal, and why phone access now belongs at the center of estate planning. We also confront the brutal math of long-term dementia care, the real differences between Medicare and Medicaid, how to evaluate facilities beyond brochures, and what happens when a parent dies without updated paperwork. Through it all, we focus on how clear conversations about wishes and values can reduce guilt and burnout for the people left steering the ship. Key Takeaways Financial caregiving comes for almost everyone eventually, and even experts hit roadblocks, so the goal is not perfection but reducing avoidable chaos. Power of attorney and healthcare proxy documents are foundational, often more urgent than a will, and they need to be current, state-appropriate, and shared with the people who may need to use them. A locked smartphone without a legacy contact can become a financial brick, cutting caregivers off from essential clues about accounts, subscriptions, and bills. Long-term dementia care can run five to six figures per year, outlasting even solid nest eggs, so families need to confront the realities of Medicaid and state-specific safety nets before the money runs out. How assets are titled, from bank accounts to real estate, determines whether heirs inherit smoothly through a trust or spend years and thousands of dollars navigating probate. The most important “plan” is knowing a loved one’s wishes for quality of life and end-of-life care, so financial and medical decisions feel like honoring them instead of guessing in the dark. Key moments (0:00) Why financial caregiving blindsides even the experts (05:18) The hidden home equity line that almost killed a real estate deal (10:54) Two documents every adult in your life should have (14:29) The critical phone setting that protects access to accounts and memories (21:23) What Prince’s estate taught us about wills and inertia (31:39) Planning for a decade of dementia care without going broke (35:16) How Medicaid really works and why “running out of money” is a process (38:46) The menu of care options from in-home help to CCRCs and nursing homes (44:31) The “smell test” for evaluating facilities in the real world (51:06) What to do in the first weeks after a parent dies (54:38) Trusts, titles, probate, and how one frozen account cost $5,000 to unlock (01:01:04) Knowing their wishes so money decisions feel like honoring, not guessing Resources and Links Beth Pinsker’s website: bethpinsker.com Beth’s retirement and financial planning columns at MarketWatch Beth’s book, My Mother's Money, on financial caregiving and planning for aging parents and loved ones Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and anyone who is thinking about caregiving: https://affordanything.com/episode660 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hora e 3 minutos
  • James Patterson Shows Why Comfort Can Be a Trap

    James Patterson Shows Why Comfort Can Be a Trap
    Nov 12 2025
    #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 President Clinton, Dolly Parton, and now his latest co-author is Dr. Patrick Leddin, who also joins us to talk about disruption. Timestamps: Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths. (0:00) Defining disruption versus gradual change (5:20) Positive disruption mindset and overcoming fear (8:12) Process for uncovering personal passions (10:25) Patterson disrupts publishing with six books per year (13:45) Research reveals 16 disruptive behaviors (16:30) Academia embracing different voices and perspectives (21:00) Mountain climber story shows gradual disruption (24:14) Framework for navigating career transitions (28:19) Limiting beliefs and psychological barriers (30:55) Being open to change versus stability (35:00) Taking ownership of disruptive choices (41:00) Mission versus purpose distinction (46:37) Advice for embracing positive disruption Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and James Patterson book fans: https://affordanything.com/episode659 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hora e 9 minutos
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