Brian Feroldi joins the show to talk about the costs and benefits of installing solar panels and answers questions about his investment strategies, and Brad and Jonathan recap Monday’s episode with Paula Pant before announcing a new ChooseFI project on the horizon.
- Jonathan reports a travel-rewards win as his family gets ready to travel for the last half of December.
- If you want to learn something, you have to ask questions.
- You don’t need permission – if you want something, you have to take action.
- Paula, from Monday’s episode, wasn’t looking to pursue FI, she was aiming to create passive income to sustain her freelance lifestyle.
- ChooseFI is moving forward to create the ChooseFI International Foundation, and Paula Pant will be joining as a director on the project.
- Financial education
- Scholarships
- Update from Brian Feroldi, from Episode 75, who also recently wrote a cost analysis of solar panels.
- Brian started researching solar energy as a method for decreasing his electric bills.
- Depending on location, some people actually receive monthly payment from electrical companies for energy production.
- Local solar companies often provide better service and lower prices.
- The original price tag for traditional solar panels was $26k: Grants and tax credits cut the price half, and would’ve created a significant reduction to Brian’s energy bills.
- A second option for Brian disqualified him from some of the grants, but gave him the option to sell energy back to the power company at 2x the cost of purchasing it.
- Solar panels are essentially purchasing an asset as they have created a negative electric bill for Brian, so he actually gets paid every month.
- There are creative options even if someone doesn’t have $26k up front.
- Brian’s investment strategy was developed during a rise in the market, but his if his investments are impacted by a prolonged drop in the market, total stock market index funds will also be impacted.
- Brian only invests in a company if he’s interested in owning for the long term.
- Individual investing requires a time commitment: if someone isn’t prepared to spend the time, the default should be total stock market index funds.
- Is individual investing gambling?
- How Brian considers exit strategies:
- Is the company performing as expected?
- Are my investments too concentrated in one asset?
