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.
765 episodes transcribed#724: Linda Hill, a Harvard Business School professor, and Jason Wild, an innovation consultant who has led projects in 40 countries, join us to break...
723: This episode originally aired in July 2025. Here's the thing about personal finance advice: what works when you have $10,000 won't work when y...
#722: Free lesson: affordanything.com/mistakes Ask us a question: affordanything.com/voicemail What happens when your financial plan is technica...
#721: The US economy showed robust job growth in May, adding 172,000 new jobs, exceeding expectations. This suggests a broadening of economic recovery...
#720: At what point does making the “right” financial decision start to feel emotionally harder than the math itself? Rebecca: is wondering whether...
#719: Most of us spend 93 percent of our time indoors, and it's making us sicker, more tired, and less productive than we realize. Dr. John La Puma i...
#718: What happens when the financial strategy that once felt obvious suddenly becomes a lot more complicated? Les is approaching financial indepen...
#717: Clare Flynn Levy was a hedge fund manager in London in the summer of 2007, watching her trading screens turn red — every single day. Merger arbi...
RSVP for Paula's Open House to Your First Rental Property TONIGHT (May 19th): https://affordanything.com/openhouse #716: When does a financial de...
#715: She grew up with a Goldman Sachs dad. She still ended up broke in her 20’s. Here's what changed. Haley Sacks - known online as Mrs. Dow Jones -...
#714: When you’re making big financial decisions, what matters more: optimizing for the best long-term outcome, or choosing the path that gives you th...
The US economy added 115,000 jobs in April -- and the numbers look solid on the surface. But dig a little deeper and you'll find a tech sector in fr...
#713: Tiffany Aliche spent her 30th birthday in her childhood bedroom, $300,000 in debt, unemployed, and freshly foreclosed on. Sixteen years later,...
#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...
#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...
#710: What does it really look like to balance financial optimization with real-life tradeoffs—whether that’s choosing meaningful work, spending down...
#709: Keith Wargo has spent decades navigating one of the most daunting financial planning challenges a family can face: raising a child with a develo...
#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 “Cy...
#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...
#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...
