In today’s podcast we discuss the Roller Coaster Path to FI with Lisa from Mad Money Monster, including a new term she coined: F.I.O.R
Podcast Episode Summary
- A conversation with Lisa from Mad Money Monster on the ‘Roller Coaster Path to FI’
- Lisa grew up in a trailer, but in a great school district on the ‘right side of the tracks’
- She only recently started telling people she grew up in a trailer as it impacted her self esteem
- She graduated from high school and didn’t plan to go to college as she didn’t think she was “smart enough”
- One meeting with an engineer at her first job led her to community college where she “secretly” applied
- The limiting beliefs and lack of a mentor behind her not even contemplating college
- How her friend’s parents told her to not even start college as she “wasn’t going to finish”
- Lisa’s belief that she is coachable as a major life talent
- She graduated with a scientific degree from a four year university and had $25,000 of student loan debt
- Her employer paid for 100% of her master’s degree
- She then started saving significantly into her 401k, etc., but got into a bad relationship with a big spender
- She was still saving into her 401k, but her significant other’s bad habits rubbed off on her
- They spent $60,000 on a pool in their backyard and had friends over every weekend
- She had “cyclical credit card debt” that she paid off and then racked up again and then kept cycling
- What was holding her back from leaving the relationship? She didn’t want to move “backwards” in her life
- How she left the relationship and unchained herself financially
- This was a defining character moment for her and let her believe she could do anything
- She then bought a property at the height of the real estate bubble in 2007 and moved her parents out of the trailer and into this home
- Though she could have lived “with her parents” at her house, she decided to move out into an apartment and stopped contributing to her retirement accounts
- How meeting Mr. Mad Money Monster was what put her on the path to Financial Independence
- They put an offer on a house they couldn’t comfortably afford and after the inspection came back negatively, they actually backed out and changed course
- They quickly found the FI community after that inflection point
- They paid off all their debt and maxed out retirement accounts
- Their savings rate is between 50% and 70% and they are well on their way to Financial Independence
- Financial Independence Optional Retirement
- Hot Seat Questions
Listen to Brad and Jonathan’s thoughts about this episode here.
Links from the show:
