040 | Take A Gap Year | Money Metagame

September 11, 2017
Jonathan Mendonsa

Today we have Noah and Becky from Money Metagame on the podcast to discuss their story, their upcoming ‘Gap Year’ of travel plus an incredible college hack they used to get full-tuition scholarships.

Podcast Episode Summary

A discussion with Noah and Becky from Money Metagame
Noah and Becky’s history behind their path to FI
Travel Rewards was what initially got them into the world of Financial Independence
How Noah introduced this idea to Becky originally
Becky was originally hesitant but after seeing some stress in their lives became more open to it
How the personal finance and financial independence sub-Reddits became Noah’s go-to sources for information
The story behind the name Money Metagame
How Noah and Becky both got full-tuition scholarships to Purdue University through the Evans Scholars program
How they found out about this program to get these college scholarships
The background on how others can benefit from this scholarship opportunity
What was the thought process behind them buying a house in Seattle upon moving there?
The mortgage on their house was actually less than what they were paying in rent
What was the process behind them getting rid of PMI (Private Mortgage Insurance) on their home?
After they found the concept of FI they started maxing out their 401ks, HSAs and Roth-IRAs, plus regular brokerage accounts
Their savings rate went from 6% in 2014 to 58% in 2015 after finding FI. It has since gone up from there
Becky wasn’t happy in her job and that gave them the push to quit their jobs and take a ‘Gap Year’ to travel around the United States
They are past “Half FI” on the list of FI Milestones
What do they plan to do with their home in Seattle?
What did the conversation look like when they told their family and friends?
Could Becky dial back certain aspects of the nursing profession and only focus on the parts of the job she loves?
Noah’s decision to leave his particular company and job
What do they have to consider when embarking on a trip like this?
There is room for FI optimization since they’ll have minimal income in 2018
How does the interplay work between realizing “income” through capital gains and getting subsidized health care
What does their trip look like in general and what are their plans for the actual travel?
They will be focusing on lower level redemption hotels through Hyatt, Starwood and IHG
How will they get their mail while on the road?
What scares them about this trip and experience?
This was all possible because they found FI
Information on their honeymoon to Fiji as their best travel rewards win
Does it make sense to use miles for business class or first class?
Hot Seat Question

Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here. Links from the show:

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