Start100K
The podcast designed to help people get to their first $100,000 dollars of net worth – and beyond! Follow along as host Brandon Lovingier shares his past financial failures, how he overcame those setbacks, and how you can too! His family was able to become debt free and get on track to financial security and independence before ever earning more than $50,000 per year. His passion for helping others has led him on a journey to share practical tips that anyone can apply. Now go get started!
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36 - Crosspost from the Financial Feels Podcast
05/15/2024
36 - Crosspost from the Financial Feels Podcast
This was an episode I recorded on the Financial Feels podcast. I had a great conversation with Melissa Mazard! We talked about my childhood, joining the military, my relationship with money and my wife, and many other deep and interesting topics around money. I hope you like it!
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35 - What is Enough?
02/01/2024
35 - What is Enough?
How do you define enough I know for me this is kind of a difficult question and it's something that I wanna get into a little bit deeper this month with some of my other writing and I just think about this in terms of so many things um you know I mean is this money is it time is it lifestyle is it freedom and you know for me I think there's a little components of all of that I think that whenever it comes down to you know enough or we'll call it enoughness then you know we're we're looking at or at least I'm looking at you know there is a money component to that because there's a certain amount of money that I'm going to need to have in order to set myself up in a way that I think I need to be happy but yet there's also so many other examples of people that have so much less than me and they seem to be happy there's an incredible amount of variance in you know what human beings think is enough and what it takes for us to each individually be happy and so I think I just wrestle with this idea quite a bit because I I guess maybe I don't feel like I've achieved enough or I've experienced enough so it's hard to really define exactly what that's gonna be for me I mean I think I have an idea of what that looks like you know for me I think it really boils down to am I able to live in a way that is aligned with what I feel is important in my life so for me and this is you know I'm just speaking for me not for anybody else but for me that really boils down to living a life in a way that I'm able to openly express myself in terms of my faith my creativity my love for others and also be able to just feel safe to express my opinion I think that is one thing that I've really had a hard time with most of the time I've been in the military it's just I've been so throttled you know as far as like opinions and stuff like that like good ideas like actual good ideas not you know the the good idea fairies that we joke about but you know actual creative ideas that actually move the needle toward you know making things better you know those a lot of times get shot down and that's one of those things that yeah I just I don't know I I just get so excited about being outside of that system and and being able to just express myself I mean of course you know I'm able to do stuff like this and things like that but even that with it is within limits you know there's a lot of things that I can't say there's a lot of things that I can't divulge about myself publicly because it could be misconstrued in in a certain way and so I think that's one of the biggest things that I think is going to be good for me and because we have made some good choices I'm gonna be in a pretty good spot to not need you know this not need this JB for a long time but you know I just kind of wonder like what does that look like for you like um you know jail Collins uh I think famously you know created the you know FU money you know which is just you know that concept actually you know it did a episode on it a while back on FSU money and really you know it's just you know the how much do you need to be able to just say no I don't want to do that and able to live in a way that that you want you know so I think you know that's kind of a a first step but then you know beyond that like what is it you know what does it take to to craft the the life that you want to live and so you know that's really just something that you know I've really thought about here lately real quick I guess I'll give you kind of what I currently think is going to give me umm you know all those things you know like what what what do I think enough is going to be for me and honestly I think that enough for me is actually pretty small compared to maybe some other people that I see in the the news and you know other influencers and stuff like that but really I just I wanna have our house paid off I want to have access to woods so I can go and take a walk or run in the woods every day and I want to have the freedom to do creative projects and stuff like this without any limitations and most importantly I want to have the ability and the But umm you know it it does wear on you overtime whenever you know especially whenever we lived much closer you know like hey you know the expectation is we're we're always supposed to go and do stuff with them and you know even my last reenlistment you know I had a lot of family that could have come but did it and so you know that kind of stings a little bit you know and so I don't want you know that's that's one thing that I I wanna make sure that I provide for my son I I think if anything I'll be the annoying dad that you know at least whenever he's younger you know teens and you know maybe early 20s or whatever is gonna go ohh my goodness dad is so annoying he's always here all the time but later on in life I I hope he'll look back and go man dad is there all the time anyway all right well that's kind of what I'm what I'm thinking about and you know I'm trying to think about ways to you know put some parameters around that I'm actually working on our article right now about you know kind of how much you need to save for retirement and stuff like that for my unlisted money project and working on like a little calculator and stuff there so I don't know been playing around with it I I think it's looking pretty promising but but either way I think you know at the end of the day I think it's really important to think about what you really want so then you can chart a path forward so that you can eventually achieve that I think you know what where I end up is probably going to be a little different than what I think it's going to look like right now I think it's hopefully gonna be better but you just never know I mean I guess the saying goes you know plan for the best prepare for the worst so to speak and that's kind of what I've been trying to do so just trying to make sure I've got all my bases covered and and be in a position to where I can seize opportunity whenever it it comes up they say that you know luck is when preparation meets opportunity so trying to create my own luck in the world but either way I hope this is helpful if you have thoughts on this or whatever feel free to shoot me a note and um yeah I guess yeah I guess you can still hit me at you know podcast add star100k.com or if you wanna hit me over on the enlisted money side you can just shoot me a note at [email protected] but either way have a fantastic day
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34 - Money Day 2024 Was a Success!
01/13/2024
34 - Money Day 2024 Was a Success!
If you’re a money nerd like me, you’ll love creating your own little “holiday” for it – Money Day! I originally got this concept from . Our annual Money Day has evolved over the years, but it’s a great forcing function to keep us on track financially. This also serves as an excuse for me to nerd out and annoy with money talk for a day. To be clear, she plays a huge role in Money Day and our financial success – she just doesn’t like talking about money like I do.
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33 - Hunting for a New High-Yield Savings Account HYSA
01/12/2024
33 - Hunting for a New High-Yield Savings Account HYSA
It has been years, actually, over a decade since we changed banks for our high-yield savings account (HYSA). But this is the year, I had a bad experience. I’m actually kind of embarrassed about it, but more on that later. Long story short, we were not being valued as loyal customers and I refuse to stay with a bank that treats me unfairly. Housekeeping note: I have no affiliate or partnership relationships with any of the banks mentioned. This is just my own experience and opinion. There are no referral or affiliate links in this article. A Quick Backstory and What Happened Originally, we’d started our first high-yield savings account with a company called ING Direct. I’d spent quite a bit of time researching different banks and settled on ING Direct because they had great rates, I could easily open several accounts, nickname my accounts (this actually wasn’t that common 10+ years ago), and their customer service was great. Fast forward, they were purchased by Capital One and rebranded as CapitalOne 360 Savings. Okay, no problem. Customer service was still great, rates were great (or so I thought), no worries. I was checking my accounts and renaming one for a goal we’ve established in conjunction with Money Day this year. I noticed my interest rate on my accounts was 0.3% - not the 4.35% that Capital One shows on the site. I called and they said I had a “legacy product” and would need to reopen my accounts in order to get the current rates. Needless to say, I was pissed! If I have to open brand new accounts, I’ll be opening them with a different bank. The hunt begins. My Criteria for High-Yield Savings Accounts I am very particular about my high-yield savings accounts – up to a point. I’m very aware of my tendency to analysis paralysis. I’m a natural overthinker, but once I settle on a decision, I generally feel very confident about it. There’s also a couple other reasons why I’m not too particular about some things but more particular about others. Chasing high fees or jumping on the “trendy” HYSAs can get you into trouble or end up not being quite as awesome as the marketing makes it seem. Because I tend to go overboard comparing, I have to set my criteria and not get too wrapped up in the tiny details. In reality, when I set clear criteria, there’s likely only a few banks that will fit the bill. Here’s the main things I look for in a high-yield savings account: 1. Competitive Rates 2. No Fees! 3. Ability to Open Multiple Accounts 4. Checking Account Available at Same Bank 5. Quality Customer Service 6. No Hidden Rules and “Gotchas”
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32 - I'm Back! Kind of...
01/07/2024
32 - I'm Back! Kind of...
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Episode 31 - The Value of Military Pay and Pensions
01/14/2023
Episode 31 - The Value of Military Pay and Pensions
Episode 31 - The Value of Military Pay and Pensions As a service member getting closer and closer to retirement myself, I like to look at and think about how to value my military pension. I recently received my last promotion I plan to get before I retire, so I’m getting a lot more serious about how this fits into our overall plan for financial security and independence. Erik has posted a few different articles that I thought were interesting and he’s also created some nifty spreadsheets (who doesn’t love a good spreadsheet?) that I felt were handy to have. In this episode, I talk with Erik about why he created these tools, how to use them, and what things military members need to think about as they look toward transitioning to civilian life whether you’re retiring or leaving service after your initial enlistment or commission. All the links to resources mentioned in the show are below. Erik’s LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/erikbaskin/ Erik’s Calculators and Blog Military Pay and Pension Calculators Kate Horrell’s Checklists Doug Nordman – Don’t Gut It Out To 20: Leave Active Duty For The Reserves Or National Guard Doug Nordman – Military Guide to Financial Independence & Retirement
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Episode 30 - Let’s Talk Crack Money with Zac Spainhour
12/14/2022
Episode 30 - Let’s Talk Crack Money with Zac Spainhour
Crack money??? Listen in as Zac Spainhour and Brandon talk about what “crack money” is and what to do about it. Hear about ideas to keep your crack money in check while still living life. Simplicity and ease of use are definitely keys to keeping your finances on track and under control. To learn more about Zac Spainhour, please follow him on LinkedIn and check out his YouTube channel! Links refenced:
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Episode 29 - Financial Wisdom of a Six-Year-Old
11/18/2022
Episode 29 - Financial Wisdom of a Six-Year-Old
My son, Owen asked to record a podcast episode with me, so here you go. Enjoy!
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Episode 28 - Be a FI Leader - Interview with Doug Nordman - MilMoneyCon 2022
10/04/2022
Episode 28 - Be a FI Leader - Interview with Doug Nordman - MilMoneyCon 2022
Doug Nordman has been a really positive influence and great mentor for me. He was gracious enough to share some of his thoughts about how junior leaders in the military can take care of those they lead financially. For more from Doug, please visit his website, find him on Facebook, or send him an email at [email protected]. Be sure to pick up a copy of his books too! Please share this show with someone you know. You can also pick your favorite episode and share it on social media. I’d love to hear from you, shoot me a note at [email protected]. I read every email you send. Thanks for all your support! Now go get started!
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Episode 27 - Grab Your Slice of Financial Independence with Monica Scudieri - MilMoneyCon Interview
09/07/2022
Episode 27 - Grab Your Slice of Financial Independence with Monica Scudieri - MilMoneyCon Interview
Check out the interview with Monica Scudieri! We discuss her new book: Grab Your Slice of Financial Independence. Monica’s story is really inspiring to really anyone, but especially if you’re working through struggles on your journey to become financially secure and independent. Check out her website and where you can pick up a copy at : Please share this show with someone you know. You can also pick your favorite episode and share it on social media. I’d love to hear from you, shoot me a note at . I read every email you send. Thanks for all your support! Now go get started! Links: https://www.grabyourslice.com/
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Episode 26 - Google Forms Budgeting Experiment
08/18/2022
Episode 26 - Google Forms Budgeting Experiment
Budgeting isn’t particularly fun. We’ve recently started using a simple, homemade Google form to augment our envelopes and automation that we normally use. So far, we’ve had great success with it! Full article: https://start100k.com/google-forms-budgeting/ Even if you try and change the name to spending plan or whatever, its still a budget. It’s not fun. So I attempted to make it as simple as possible to track spending as we go. Please share this show with someone you know. You can also pick your favorite episode and share it on social media. I’d love to hear from you, shoot me a note at . I read every email you send. Thanks for all your support! Now go get started!
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Episode 25 - Flying Too Close to the Sun
06/09/2022
Episode 25 - Flying Too Close to the Sun
When you have a lot of goals in life, but only so much time and resources, you can suffer from burnout. I have a continual battle with this in my life. I'm working on it. I hope this is helpful. Regardless, please share your thoughts and feedback with me. Shoot me a note at
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Episode 24 - Removing Labels To Evaluate Opportunities
04/18/2022
Episode 24 - Removing Labels To Evaluate Opportunities
It gets really hard to evaluate things objectively sometimes. This is true for investments, large purchases, and even career opportunities. I want to talk a little today about how I like to think about things in a way that lets me separate my emotions temporarily in order to evaluate things more objectively. Here’s the “trick” if you want to call it that. Remove the names and labels of whatever you’re talking about. For example, if we were going to talk about investing in real estate, stocks, or treasury bonds, we could simply call them all investment A, B, and C. This takes one layer of emotion away – names. Please share this show with someone you know. You can also pick your favorite episode and share it on social media. I’d love to hear from you, shoot me a note at . I read every email you send. Thanks for all your support!
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Episode 23 - Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
04/04/2022
Episode 23 - Stop Comparing Yourself to Others
I believe that it is impossible to feel better about yourself by comparing yourself to other people. What does feel good? Comparing yourself to who you used to be. I talk about my personal mission statement of perpetual improvement in Episode 10. I work hard to improve every person, project, or organization I’m involved with. This includes myself. If I look back in time, I should be able to see that I’ve improved immensely over time. When I look back 5 or 10 years, I hardly recognize the person I was then. My personality is much the same, my personal drive to help others is still the same, but my education level, habits, accomplishments, and experiences have shaped me into someone I could not have dreamed up 10 years ago. Now, I love to dream about what kind of person I’ll be in the next 5 or 10 years. I honestly have no idea, but I have a couple rules to help me direct my curiosities and some questions that I use to help keep myself from stretching myself too far either. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this, shoot me a note at . Action Items: Think about some ways that you are comparing your life, financial or otherwise, to others. How has that comparison made you feel? Has anything positive came from that? Write down, no seriously, write it down, some things that are positive in your life that didn’t exist 1 to 5 years ago. Write down some positive things you want to happen in the next 5 years. Pick one item from your list of positive things you want to happen in your life and take a small action toward it. Then schedule some time on your calendar each week to think about how to make that happen. I suggest setting an alarm on your phone to go off once each week. You don’t have to do anything when the alarm goes off, but you can if you want. The rule is you can’t remove the alarm until to accomplish the goal or make that thing true in your life. This isn’t something you need to share. It’s just for you. Lastly, please share the show with someone else. Better yet, pick your favorite episode and share it on social media. Thanks for all your support! Now go get started! Links: The Psychology of Money by Morgan Housel You’re Not That Great by Dr. Daniel Crosby Standard Deviations Podcast
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Episode 22 - Extended Vehicle Warranty Tip
03/28/2022
Episode 22 - Extended Vehicle Warranty Tip
Have you ever purchased an extended vehicle warranty? Have you later decided you didn't want that warranty anymore? If so, take a listen to this short tip on how you might be able to get some of your money back!
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Episode 21 - Monetary Benefits of Military Service
03/21/2022
Episode 21 - Monetary Benefits of Military Service
Hear about monetary benefits of military service including how to get paid to go to college and evaluating what kind of a pay cut you might get when exiting military service. To ask a question, email and I’ll be happy to address your questions in a future episode. To contact David, please email: david@ dreamfinancialcoaching.com/ Now go get started! Links:
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Episode 20 – Is Getting a Tax Refund a Good Thing?
03/14/2022
Episode 20 – Is Getting a Tax Refund a Good Thing?
Is getting a tax refund a good thing? I used to think so, but now I feel a little bit differently. Here’s how I try to imagine the process of how we pay taxes in the US. Basically, we have what I like to think of as an imaginary cookie jar that you are filling up as the year goes on. You know that you have to give Uncle Sam a few of the cookies you made over the course of the year, but you’re not exactly sure how many he needs. Either we paid exactly what we were supposed to, which is highly unlikely, or one of two things happens. We give a few more cookies to Uncle Sam to properly fill the cookie jar or he gives us a few back. Regardless, the cookie jar gets emptied and we start all over for next year. So what’s really happening is that when you get a refund, you are getting paid back what you already set aside for taxes. If you have any questions, shoot me a note at and I’ll be happy to address your questions in a future episode. Action Items: File your tax return for the year if you haven’t done so already. IF you have, take a look at what you did with your return and decide if it would be better to have that cash during the year or in one big chunk at the end of the year. Make a plan for your tax return. If you don’t have an emergency fund, this might be a perfect opportunity to start one. If you don’t make a plan, you’d be surprised how fast that money disappears. Us the IRS Tax Withholding Estimator to figure out the proper number of exemptions. Keep in mind, the more exemptions you claim, the smaller your tax return will be. Now go get started! Links:
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Episode 19 – Is It Always Best to Do It Yourself?
03/07/2022
Episode 19 – Is It Always Best to Do It Yourself?
Doing it yourself, or DIY, is a common way for people to save money, but is it always the best choice? Let's talk about some wins and fails when it comes to DIY and some rules around how to decide when you should and should not do it yourself. To contact me, please email . Now go get started!
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Episode 18 - How To Save Money On Groceries
02/28/2022
Episode 18 - How To Save Money On Groceries
Food is one place we actually spend more on, but we are still pretty frugal. Here’s what I mean. We prioritize health and performance. We buy high quality meats and vegetables. We also use a lot of spices, so that adds a bit to the budget as well. To take advantage of all these tips, you might need to work on your cooking skills a bit. However, that's a very worthwhile goal! Here’s how we save on groceries: Keep an Eye Out For Free Food What's better than free? Obviously, there are some limitations and sometimes there's a good reason why its free. However, there's lot of free food to be had if you know where to look. Buy Nothing Groups We're a huge fan of our local Buy Nothing groups we've been a part of. This doesn't just apply to food though. We've gotten lots of great items for free and gotten rid of lots of things as well. If you like to save money and meet great people, you can't go wrong. Volunteer at Local Food Banks I've done this most of my life. Often once you've served everyone that comes through to get food, you can take what's left home. I like this one because it helps people in need and reduces waste. If you're military, check out your local USO. Sometimes they give away free food too. Plan out a menu and stick to it. And cook at home. Planning out a menu keeps us from buying a bunch of extra stuff. We know what we need to buy and don't buy a bunch of extra food we didn't plan to. This keeps us from buying too much and wasting from buying unnecessary food. Have “Brinner” Once a Week Egg omelets and bacon are pretty cheap for a whole meal. We started doing this because my son likes breakfast food – gets him to eat dinner. I also like a good omelette for dinner, so it's a win-win! Cook Enough for Leftovers We always make sure to cook enough to have leftovers for the next day. I literally split up the leftovers when we serve up food for dinner. This helps so I don’t overeat and makes sure I’ve got lunch for the next day. Keep Cheap Frozen Meals on Hand We keep pulled pork frozen flat in a baggie for nights when we don’t feel like cooking. This is our equivalent of keeping frozen pizza on hand. Make sure it’s pretty flat and you can just break a chunk off as needed. I cook up about 10 pounds at a time, so I only need to do this every so often. Plus, I like to . Have a Leftovers Night. Pretty self explanatory, but just save up extra leftovers and have that as a meal. Saves on cooking and saves you money! Buy in Bulk Buy in bulk and freeze up meal-sized portions. We buy in bulk at Sam’s or Costco. We currently have both because we’re trying to compare Sam’s and Costco. So far, we like Sam’s better, FYI. Shop at ALDI Seriously. They have surprisingly good food at generally great prices. I have no affiliation with them or get compensated in any way. We just like them. Grow Your Own Food Grow and can your own vegetables. We also got a ton of green beans from the food bank once and canned them all. Kept them from going to the trash and kept us fed. Action Items If you’ve never had Brinner, that’s breakfast for dinner, you’re seriously missing out. It’s time to try it. Plan out your meals. The more intentional you are, the better. Learn to cook. This one skill alone is probably the most valuable skill any person can have. It’s good for your health, happiness, and wallet! To contact me, please email .
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Episode 17 – How Income Tax Brackets Work
02/21/2022
Episode 17 – How Income Tax Brackets Work
Episode 17 – How Income Tax Brackets Work Have you ever wondered how the U.S. federal income tax brackets work? You might be surprised at what you didn’t know. Today, I’ll explain how income tax brackets work and why that’s important to understand as you unlock your earning potential. Action Items: Take a look at the IRS website and check out the current income tax brackets. Accept that income taxes are part of life and don’t let the idea of paying more in taxes keep you from making more money. Share and subscribe to the show. To contact me, please email . Now go get started! Links: https://www.irs.gov/newsroom/irs-provides-tax-inflation-adjustments-for-tax-year-2022
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Episode 16 - Budget Is Not A Bad Word
02/14/2022
Episode 16 - Budget Is Not A Bad Word
Creating a budget for the first time can be so intimidating, but it doesn’t have to be! Whether you know a little or a lot about personal finances, having a budget is vital. No matter what, you need to make a plan that works for you and others that you share a budget with. If you don’t have anything else to start with, you can use a simple budget template in Excel or Google Sheets and get started. We’ve got budget templates that you can download for free here. We won’t ask for your email or anything else – it’s yours without strings attached. That’s the Start100K way! Full article: https://start100k.com/how-to-make-a-budget/
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Episode 15 - Invest in Yourself
02/07/2022
Episode 15 - Invest in Yourself
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Episode 14 – The Cost of Earning More versus Saving
01/31/2022
Episode 14 – The Cost of Earning More versus Saving
Which is more important? Earning or saving more money? I’ll talk about the facts around both and how to strike a balance between the two schools of thought. Spoiler alert! They’re both important! Full article: Action Items: Check to see what your top marginal tax bracket is for your federal and state income. If you don’t understand how the marginal tax brackets work, don’t worry, I didn’t either. I’ll cover this in another episode. Take the Klontz Money Script Inventory to find out what your money scripts are. Think about what your natural tendencies are and how that might affect your decisions around money. If this has been even slightly helpful, please share the podcast with someone you know. I’m trying to reach my first 100,000 people, so every download counts and is greatly appreciated! To contact me, please email . I read and respond to every email. Now go get started! Links: Klontz Money Script Inventory IRS
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Episode 13 – The Importance of Having an Emergency Fund
01/24/2022
Episode 13 – The Importance of Having an Emergency Fund
Full Article: Imagine this, you’re working to get your finances on track, paying down debt, and your car breaks down or you have an emergency room visit and have to pay a deductible. If you have an emergency fund, you pay for it with your cash and then build it back up and move on. If you didn’t have the emergency fund, you would now likely have to borrow that money which would further compound your problems. I know for us, having the cash on hand for these things has greatly reduced our stress. What’s interesting is that we have never used the emergency fund, but we also avoid touching it like the plague. We are generally able to get creative and adjust our expenses if something difficult arises. We might end up running on thin margins or pulling from other savings, but having that buffer really puts us at ease. For us, we keep the emergency fund in a totally separate bank from our normal checking and savings so that way we aren’t tempted to use it for random things. We do have a checking account at that bank, so I can transfer and use the money almost instantly if needed. This might not be necessary, but for me, being able to keep it separate and label or nickname the account as the emergency fund creates physical and mental separation from everything else. In other words, it just keeps it simple. I hope this gives you something to think about and helps clarify some of my previous discussions on emergency funds. As always, I’ll leave you with some Action Items: Decide where to keep your emergency fund and name the account the emergency fund if possible Make a plan on how to build up your emergency fund and how much you need to save. Generally 3-6 months is considered a good baseline. If this has been helpful, please share the podcast with someone you know. I’m trying to reach my first 100,000 people, so every share counts and is greatly appreciated! To contact me, please email . Now go get started! Before you go, please remember this information is for educational and informational purposes only. Please seek tax, legal, or investment advice before making any decisions.
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Episode 12 – Book Review for The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
01/17/2022
Episode 12 – Book Review for The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
I’m reviewing The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. This book was introduced to me by JD Roth’s blog Get Rich Slowly. This is the book that started our journey to becoming debt free and put us on the path to financial independence. My wife and I read The Total Money Makeover chapter by chapter and discussed everything as we went along. I enjoyed reading it together and then talking about what things we would and would not do. Our journey to becoming debt free was a great accomplishment and really brought us closer together. I’ll talk about this more in a later episode. Action Items: Read The Total Money Makeover. No matter who you are, you can get something out of the book. Take action on what you read in the book! Give me a 5- star review and tell me what you think about the podcast! To contact me, please email Accompanying Article: https://start100k.com/book-review-the-total-money-makeover/ Links: The Total Money Makeover Book Student Aid Calculations Get Rich Slowly Book Review
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Episode 11 – FU Money for Military Don't Stay Only for the Money
01/10/2022
Episode 11 – FU Money for Military Don't Stay Only for the Money
I’m Chatting with my good friend David about the importance of building up FU money quickly and how this can help members of the military make the best decision for them based on just on money, but what will make them happy. I step-sold myself into staying longer and longer in the military and if I had the finances built up in my first enlistments, I might have taken a different path. Take it from me, if you’re not enjoying it, it’s time to look for an exit. I hope this discussion will be helpful to you! Action Items: Decide what FU money means to you. Build an emergency fund. If you’re military, visit Doug Nordman’s website at https://the-military-guide.com Check out our Facebook group and connect with others on their journey to financial security and independence! To contact me, please email . Now go get started! Before you go, please remember this information is for educational and informational purposes only. Please seek tax, legal, or investment advice before making any decisions.
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Episode 10 - Perpetual Improvement for the New Year and New Intro
01/03/2022
Episode 10 - Perpetual Improvement for the New Year and New Intro
Can you save an extra dollar a day? We’re now in the time of year where New Year’s resolutions are made. Big lofty goals are hanging in the air, but most will not stick. It’s not because the goals are wrong or too big. It’s because we forget about the power of the process. If you want to lose weight, start with 5 minutes a day of working out and never skip. Make a new rule that you won’t park at the front of the parking lot. Take the stairs exclusively. If you want to save more money, find $1 you can save each day. Better yet, find a way to make one extra dollar a day too. Seems pretty achievable, right? Well, that’s an extra $60 per month. That’s what I started my Roth IRA with and it grew to over $20 thousand dollars before I transferred it into my current IRA without adding any more than $50 dollars per month to it. That $50 per month is still growing today. I want you all to make 2022 a year that you celebrate the little things. Look for small ways to improve. Look for something you know you can sustain forever. If you want a great book on small, incremental improvement, read James Clear’s Atomic Habits. I wish I’d read that book when I was 18. The audio version is great too. Action Items: Find a small change that you can make to improve your financial life. Email me a small financial win. I’m considering adding a “Weekly Win” segment to the show, so please let me know if that would be interesting to you. Share the podcast and subscribe so we can complete this journey together! Check out our Facebook group and connect with others on their journey to financial security and independence! To contact me, please use the email . Links: James Clear Atomic Habits: Article on Start100K:
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Episode 9 - Money Day Annual Review
12/27/2021
Episode 9 - Money Day Annual Review
This week, I’m going to talk about how to start planning out our annual review which I call Money Day. I got this concept from the Get Rich Slowly Blog. In short, it’s a day to set aside and take care of financial stuff. Ours has evolved over the years, but we’ve been doing this for the past 10 years. I’ll link to the article in the show notes. I highly recommend checking it out because it does contain some great ideas which I won’t be covering here. Aside from Christmas and Halloween, Money Day is my favorite day of the year! I love to strategize and geek out about money stuff. My wife on the other hand, well, she doesn’t get too excited. Wine helps, but I try get everything prepped and ready so she can just help make decisions and move on. A lot of great things have come out of money day though. We started both of our IRAs, changed to better banks, started my son’s 529, saved for cars, planned out some great trips, and made some life-changing money moves for ourselves. Without a doubt, this meeting has a large impact on our financial success each year. Here’s the basic agenda for our money day every year: Calculate our Net Worth – It’s good to get a check on where your’re at. My goal is to make sure our net worth rises every year. We’ve been able to do this every year since we started tracking with one exception. That year, we had a lot going on, moved, bought a car, put my wife through school, and the market took a pretty decent hit right before I calculated our net worth. Rebalance investments – This might not be necessary depending on how you have things set up, but I do this every year regardless. Plan Trips for the year: We look at what trips we want to take in the year. For instance, if we have a wedding to go to, we’ll go ahead and plan that out. The most important part to this step is to set money aside for all these trips. Talk about and plan any large purchases coming up in the next year: Then we start setting aside money or a savings plan for these things. Reset the Budget: I keep track of this on a spreadsheet and we update it at least every year. We have additional items that we need to look at and decide every year as well. Some topics of discussion have been things like: Should we buy a Costco membership? Do we rent or buy a camper (we rented, just in case you’re wondering. I did a quick cost analysis and it was actually cheaper to rent for the # of times we would go). Here are some great things that have come from money day: Setting up our IRAs Transferring my IRA to a better company Paying off debt Putting my wife through school Saving for having a baby Taking some really fun family vacations Keep in mind, you can do this any time you want. You can have a money day more than once a year as well. There are definitely times that we have had little “mini money days”. The main thing is that you actually set time aside to make some positive change in your financial life. Don’t hold onto stuff all year waiting to discuss on money day. I keep a running list of topics for each year and add things to it. This is a great time to get organized and also to plan and dream. Make it fun! If you have any things like this that you do, please share! Send me a note. I love to hear from you all! Action Items: Pick a day for Money Day. Make time to spend time on your finances. Get a system to organize your financial life: App on your phone, spreadsheet, something. Share the podcast and subscribe so we can complete this journey together! Check out our Facebook group and connect with others on their journey to financial security and independence! To contact me, please email . Now go get started! Before you go, please remember this information is for educational and informational purposes only. Please seek tax, legal, or investment advice before making any decisions. Links: Money Day Article:
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Episode 8 - Setting Financial Goals and Checkpoints
12/21/2021
Episode 8 - Setting Financial Goals and Checkpoints
Links: Investment Calculator: 4% Rule Resources: This week, I’m going to talk about how to start planning out your financial future and start making some goals toward your first $100K as well as checkpoints well beyond that. First though, I need to announce the winners from last week’s contest. Congratulations to Drew in Missouri and Dom in California! I’ll be getting their books sent out this week. One will get a copy of I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi and one will get The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. Let’s talk about the check[points we’re going to calculate real quick. In Episode 6, I talked about these, but I’ll recap and expand here. Net Worth Ground Zero - Where you are now: Calculate your Net Worth Head above water - Positive Net Worth: Once your net worth is more than Zero. You may already be here, but if not, this is a really important and exciting milestone. $100,000 Net Worth $100,000 of investable assets: This is different from net worth. This is all your appreciating assets in investment or retirement accounts. IRAs, 401ks, brokerage accounts, etc. For me this is our TSPs, Roth IRAs, and investment account. Technically, the 529 we started for my son falls in this category, but I don’t count it because I consider it his even though it’s technically in my name. Pinnacle Point – There are a few different ways I’ve seen this before. When your money makes more than you contribute When your money makes more than you can contribute to retirement accounts per year (401k contribution limit) When your investments make more than your annual salary each year The pinnacle point isn’t anything anyone is likely to ask you, but I think it’s good to use one or all three as checkpoints along the way. It’s much easier to stay motivated if you have more things to shoot for. Plus, that’s just really cool to see how your invested money starts doing more and more for you! F-U Money: This is when you can say no to just about anything AND MEAN IT! If you can live on your savings for a year or more without affecting your financial journey too much, you’ve pretty much made it here. This can mean different things to different people, but that’s what it means to me – no longer having to do anything I don’t want to. $1 Million net worth When you hit this one, it’s cool because you can say you’re a millionaire. Pretty Cool, but you may or may not be done at this point. Financial Independence: This is what a lot of people call your FI number. Really, this is just how much you need to retire. To get this number, the rule of thumb is to take your annual expenses and multiply by 25. This is based on the 4% rule created by Bill Bengen. If you want to learn more about that, I’ll link to some resources in the show notes. The 4% rule is just a rule of thumb. There has been a lot of research suggesting that market conditions may allow for higher withdrawal rates and you can adjust this over time. Long story short, it’s still a good rule of thumb. If you are planning on retiring early, you might want to use 3.5% which is 28.5 times your annual expenses. Don’t get too wrapped up about this, it’s kind of arbitrary. The only reason why I talk about it is because we need it to chart out some of the other checkpoints along the journey. The 4% rule makes sure you don’t run out of money based on all historical 30-year periods – including the great depression. You are extremely safe to plan of being able to withdraw 4% in retirement. Keep in mind, you might hit these different points in a different order. You may already be past some of these checkpoints. We won’t know until you calculate your net worth and see for yourself. Refer back to episode 6 or my youtube channel for more info on calculating your net worth. So, how do I decide what these goals look like for me? Great question! Start with your current expenses – everything you spend per year. If you don’t know, that’s the first thing we need to address. If you know you spend everything you make, then your annual pay will work for now, but you need to know how much you’re spending. Now that you know how much you spend per year, you can calculate your FI number: 25 times annual expenses (or roughly 28.5 for early retirees or FIRE folks). Keep in mind, this is a rule of thumb. Now, you can punch this into the investment calculator at Calculator.Net. I like using theirs because there aren’t many adds and most importantly, it shows a spreadsheet by year. This is where we can get some of our other checkpoints along the way. I’ve put a link to this calculator in the show notes. You’ll have to play around with the numbers to get your monthly contribution figured out. The default shows a rate of return, you don’t have to use this, but I wouldn’t use super high numbers. I also won’t give you a number to use either. Anything between 6 to 8 is probably pretty safe. You should play around a bit just to see how much a difference it makes. Once you have the calculator dialed in, you should be able to see at the spreadsheet at the bottom. Look at the end balance column. That’s how much will be in your accounts. If you don’t have any debt, this is easy, just look at the years you’ll hit each target. To see the different pinnacle points, you want to compare the interest column for each year to your checkpoints to see when your money will start making more than you can contribute and then more than you make in a year. If your net worth is negative, then you can look at which year the end principal column would bring your net worth to Zero. For instance, if your net worth is a negative $50,000, then the year that your balance will hit $50,000, you’re zeroed out and are moving into a positive net worth. You can use this spreadsheet to see what year you should hit each goal. Write these down! Share your goals with others. You can go to our Facebook group for this too. It’s a private group and is a judgement free zone. We’re all in this together! What if I “Can’t” contribute enough to reach my goals? Well, you have 3 options: Make more Spend less Change your goals I’’ll talk about these in a later episode, but if the math doesn’t work out, you’ll have to make some adjustments. If you need help, reach out. Post in the Facebook group or email me at To Recap : Net Worth Ground Zero - Where you are now Head above water - Positive Net Worth $100,000 Net Worth $100,000 of investable assets Pinnacle Point – one, or all three if you’d like F-U Money $1 Million net worth Financial Independence Action Items: Start outlining your goals on your journey. We’ll take a deeper dive in later episodes, but it is critical to have goals. Share the podcast and subscribe so we can complete this journey together! Check out our Facebook group and connect with others on their journey to financial security and independence! To contact me, please email . Now go get started! Before you go, please remember this information is for educational and informational purposes only. Please seek tax, legal, or investment advice before making any decisions.
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Episode 7 - Holiday Giveaway 2021
12/13/2021
Episode 7 - Holiday Giveaway 2021
Holiday Giveaway 2021! Email me with a money question to enter to win a copy of I Will Teach You To Be Rich by Ramit Sethi or The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey. If you already have those, you can tell me who you would like me to gift it to and I’ll send it their way instead! Check out our Facebook group for a template net worth tracker and more. To contact me, please email . Now go get started!
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