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.
Show episodes
#627: Jlyn and her husband are 20 years from retirement, but they’ve got their eye on a second home they’ll live in when the time comes. Should they make the purchase now, or keep saving? Reese was recently laid off, and she’s struggling to choose between two financially responsible paths. Should she continue her long-
#626: A software programmer and an accountant walk into retirement planning. Are they being creative? Dr. Zorana Ivcevic Pringle, a senior research scientist at Yale University's Center for Emotional Intelligence, says absolutely. Pringle defines creativity as something that's both original and effective, whether you'r
#625: What do you do when you've reached financial independence? JL Collins says it depends entirely on your spending rate, not just your net worth. Collins joins us for part two of our conversation about what happens after you reach financial independence. He tackles the question of whether you should invest different
#624: JL Collins, author of "The Simple Path to Wealth" — the guy synonymous with VTSAX and chill — joins us for Part 1 of a two-part series where we skip the basics and dive straight into the complex stuff. We ask him whether his simple approach actually beats more sophisticated strategies, and his answer might surpri
#623: An anonymous caller feels trapped in a no-win situation with her financially reckless mother. She has the means to bail her out, but it doesn’t feel right. What should she do? Shannon is excited about investing in several companies overseas. But she can only access them using American Depository Receipts. What a
#622: #622: The headlines said America added 147,000 jobs in June. The reality? Private companies actually cut 33,000 positions. Grad students just lost access to unlimited borrowing. Parent PLUS loans now cap at $65,000. And tariffs are about to jump as high as 70 percent. Everything is changing at once — taxes, tarif
