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.
728 episodes transcribed#483: Competitive. Results oriented. Driven to be the very best. These are a few ways to describe achievement culture. Achievement culture can also be...
#482: A caller named “M” wonders if liquidating stocks for a larger down payment makes sense in a high-interest rate environment. An anonymous caller...
#481: Predicting the stock market is a terrible idea. But we can look at economic indicators and upcoming events to get a big-picture, 30,000-foot vie...
#480: The death of a sibling. Being declared dead after a head-on collision with a drunk driver. Suffering financially during the Great Recession. CAN...
#479: Nicole’s 78-year-old mom is paying huge fees for low returns. How can Nicole help her mom make better investments? Paul is a single dad, worried...
#478: Ever skipped that extra drink, pricey cheese, or a night out for the sake of your wallet? If this feels familiar, then you’ll appreciate today’s...
#477: Kayla is torn between paying off a loan early or catching up on missed retirement contributions. Josh wants to retire early and meets the thresh...
#476: Mike Massimino stared in disbelief at his TV. The date was July 16, 1969, and he marveled as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin landed on the moon....
#475: Born in 1924, Charlie Munger was raised during the Great Depression. At the time of his death on Tuesday, his net worth was estimated at $2.6 bi...
#474: When Tiffany Aliche was in her 20’s, she fell victim to a credit card scam. A crafty swindler convinced her to take out a cash advance against h...
#473: Sarah has cash to pay a $8,000 medical bill but she’s reluctant to drain her savings. Should she sign up for the hospital’s interest-free paymen...
#472: Imagine this: You’re a teenage musical prodigy, a world-class classical French horn player. You drop out of college at age 19 and spend your twe...
#471: Bob split a $350,000 windfall between savings and paying down his mortgage. But now he’s wondering if he made a good choice. Can Paula and Joe d...
#470: The economy is booming. GDP grew 4.9 percent last quarter, the fastest rate of growth since 2021. Consumer spending jumped 4 percent. Unemployme...
#469: Lindy feels like her $300,000 of accumulated equity could be put to better use. But she doesn’t want to buy more real estate right now. What’re...
Money management is all about setting priorities. Maybe you have the twin goals of sending your kids to college while also saving enough for retiremen...
#467: Should Knoxville use a higher-interest Home Equity Loan (HELOC) to pay off a lower-interest 401k loan? Joelle’s tenant is interested in a rent-t...
#466: The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau reported in 2022 that medical debt is the most common reason to get a debt collector call. A Census Bur...
#465: The Fed is holding interest rates steady for now. The jobs report is better than expected. Stocks and bonds are both going down. What's going on...
#464: More than ever, most people's lives are packed to the brim with activity. We are trying to fit in demanding jobs and families, commuting and a n...
