Afford Anything Podcast

Everyone talks about a loneliness epidemic. Luke Burgis thinks we've got the opposite problem — too much easy, frictionless community, and not enough of the kind that actually shapes who you are.

He's back on the show to talk about his new book, and along the way: why cutting someone off has become our default response to conflict, the real number of close friends you actually need (hint: it's not 150), and the zero-tolerance rule he enforces at his own company against passive-aggressiveness.

Also — the wildly humbling job he got assigned during his years discerning the priesthood, before he became an entrepreneur instead.

New episode is up now 👇
https://youtu.be/FEz8W3N1TGs

What's the closest thing you have to a "zero-tolerance" rule for how people treat you?

3 days ago | [YT] | 4

Afford Anything Podcast

You've hit your retirement number early and have a low-rate mortgage left. What do you do?

5 days ago | [YT] | 5

Afford Anything Podcast

If you'd already hit your retirement number three years early, would you walk away immediately — or keep working?

Joe and I dig into three listener questions this week: hiring your first accountant once your taxes get complicated, whether to pay off a low-rate mortgage once you've already hit your number, and why Joe still won't touch a popular "safer" investing strategy, even though he agrees with its biggest advocate on almost everything else.

Even if you feel like you've got your own money decisions figured out, this one might make you rethink at least one of them.

Watch the full episode → https://youtu.be/8f_Bnjr0kB4

5 days ago (edited) | [YT] | 3

Afford Anything Podcast

If you could go back to your 20s, what would you prioritize more?

1 week ago | [YT] | 7

Afford Anything Podcast

Are you supposed to spend your 20s building your career and saving aggressively… or actually living while you still have the freedom to?

Jack Raines joins me for a conversation about money, ambition, risk, comparison, and the choices we make when we're young that can shape everything that comes next.

Even if your 20s are long behind you, this one might change the advice you'd give someone who's just getting started.

Watch the full episode →https://youtu.be/YZ5RriISKk8

1 week ago (edited) | [YT] | 10

Afford Anything Podcast

You don’t become happy because you’re successful.

✨You become successful *because* you’re happy.✨

Happiness is the precursor, not the consequence.

——
Note: Plenty of successful people are also unhappy, as well — they’re the ones who pursued success as a means to happiness

1 year ago | [YT] | 32

Afford Anything Podcast

A few weeks before he died, Charlie Munger was asked if he had any regrets in life.

Only one, he replied.

"I would have paid any amount to catch a 200 pound tuna when I was younger. I never caught one," he said in an interview with CNBC's Becky Quick.

But at age 99, he didn't have the youthful strength and vitality of a 96-year-old, he said.

"I am so old and weak compared to when I was 96 that I no longer want to catch a 200 pound tuna. It’s just too goddamn much work to get it in. Takes too much physical strength ...

"...Now if you give me the opportunity, I would just decline going after [the fish]. There are things you give up with time.”

Lessons:

✨At the end of your life, you don't think about your net worth. (Charlie's is estimated at $2.6 billion.) You think about the experiences that your money, time and health could afford you. Don't trade the opportunity to enjoy experiences for the sake of clutching onto your cash.

✨If you're under 96, stop complaining that you're too old. The future version of yourself will regard your current age as young.

✨There's no alternative but to act now. Opportunities are fleeting.

1 year ago | [YT] | 137

Afford Anything Podcast

Myth: When interest rates rise, home prices fall.

Fact: Historically there's a weak positive correlation between interest rates and home prices -- they both rise together.

Since 1976, mortgage interest rates and home prices have tended to climb together. There is a weak relationship, but directionally, the relationship is that when one rises, the other rises.

This is the opposite of what many people erroneously assume -- which is that when interest rates rise, home prices fall.

Why do both tend to rise together? Historically, this may be because higher interest rates tend to reflect strong economies. (The Fed raises interest rates to cool off an economy that is growing too quickly). When the economy is strong, home prices tend to rise.

How is our current economy? GDP rose 4.9 percent (annualized) during Q3 2023, the fastest rate of growth in two years. Unemployment is near historic lows, holding steady at 3.8 - 3.9 percent for three consecutive months. These are indicators of a robust economy.

In addition to the economy, home prices are also heavily impacted by supply. The U.S. needs 5-6 months of inventory to have a balanced supply. In Sept 2023, we had 1.13 million units of existing homes for sale, an 8.1 percent decline from last year, and only a 3.4 month supply.

Housing supply is curtailed for a few reasons: (1) high interest rates make it more expensive for builders to build; (2) existing homeowners are disincentivized from selling their homes due to the "lock-in effect" from lower interest rates.

Home prices are likely to be *higher* in the future. If you're going to buy, do it now. Waiting will only result in homes becoming more expensive, not less.

____
Sources:
The Urban Institute, US Bureau of Economic Analysis, Black Knight Home Price Index, Freddie Mac Primary Morgage Market Survey, Bankrate, Fortune

1 year ago | [YT] | 12

Afford Anything Podcast

If you gave someone your calendar and asked, “Can you guess what my priorities are?” …

— would they get it right?

If you handed them a your credit card statement, and asked: “What’s most important to me?” …

— would they know?

2 years ago | [YT] | 14

Afford Anything Podcast

Median age of a repeat homebuyer (someone who’s NOT a first time homebuyer) — 58 years old

Building wealth takes TIME.

———-
Source: National Assn of Realtors

2 years ago | [YT] | 6