Fire Drill

What if you could get married and never leave your honeymoon? Brittany and Drew are doing just that. They got married two years ago, flew to Europe, bought a van, and have been on their honeymoon since! We’ll talk about how they planned for the van life, what living in a van full-time is really like, and what’s next for this adventurous couple! You'll love their story! We also chat about... their adorable meet cute story (tent emoji) life on the road Brittany’s on point handwiriting providing value to society the kindness of strangers They were an absolute delight to speak with! Enjoy this chat with Brittany and Drew, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Lauryn Williams competed in Track & Field and Bobsled in 4 Olympic Games.  Now she is a financial planning coach and helps athletes and young professionals manage their money and achieve their goals.  Lauryn gives us the 'behind the scenes' of what it's like to be an athlete pursuing the Olympic Games.  Spoiler Alert:  It's not all rosy and fully-funded like you might think. In fact, most athletes don't receive a dime and it's really, really hard.  For the athletes who do receive financial support, financial planning predators swoop in and try to take advantage of their youth and lack of financial knowledge.  Lauryn worked her way through all of this and now gives her time to helping others with their own money journeys. For show notes: https://firedrillpodcast.com/lauryn-williams-worth-winning

It doesn't take a financial genius to successfully manage family finances into the black.  Just ask Andy Hill! He and his wife Nicole were a DINK (dual income, no kids) couple earning 6 figures. They thought they were doing really well with their finances.... until the day they sat down and reconciled all their accounts. They didn't like what they found and immediately resolved to work on getting their finances into shape.  With a little googling and some changes to their life, they went from a -$50k net worth to having over $700k! Even more impressive, they accomplished this in less than 7 years and while navigating a growing family! You'll love Andy's incredible story and how they managed to turn their finances around! We also chat about... Meet cute stories  Succeeding at sales Travel hacking Andy was an absolute delight to speak with! We hope you enjoy this chat, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Paula Pant built a real estate portfolio that generates over $40,000 per year in income for her (after expenses) and also a thriving online business. She's traveled all over the world since she left her full-time job a decade ago. Today we talk to her about her family, growing up between Nepal and Ohio, and how her childhood influenced her mindset as an adult. We also talk in depth about what she would do if she wasn't Paula Pant and had to start all over from scratch today. Hint: She would start an Amazon FBA business. I'm sensing a theme here.. We also chat about... How do you structure your life after you achieve the goals you had for yourself? Revisiting places you've already been to versus visiting brand new places How Paula's goals have changed as she has aged How to bid for a trailer or RV on Ebay What Paula would do if she had to start all over again. Getting caught up in the game of FIRE. For Show notes and Takeaways: https://firedrillpodcast.com/paula-pant-interview

The man. The myth. The legend. Jeremy from Go Curry Cracker joined us for an episode and it is POPPIN'. We didn't want to record the same ol' episode with him that's been done on other podcasts. Oh no. This episode covers entirely NEW content from Jeremy.  You won't want to miss this epic episode with him! We also chat about... tips for traveling with kids optimizing the tradeoffs for retirement contributions and the foreign earned income exclusion

Brianna Moller Greene was a tenured teacher when she got divorced and was stuck with the bills.  She discovered Ebay and quickly started making money turning clothing and other household items online. Soon she was making more on Ebay than she was making in teaching.  She took a leave of absence from teaching and decided to never go back.  She now has a million dollar e-commerce business across Amazon and Ebay. You'll love her incredible story and how she breaks down e-commerce into simple things the average person can do. For show notes and takeaways: https://firedrillpodcast.com/ebay-amazon-ecommerce-brianna-moller-greene We also chat about... Getting started from day 1 on Ebay or Amazon FBA, How surprisingly easy it is to ship items, Retail arbitrage, Private labeling and turning profit at the Dollar Tree, T-shirt design, Finding virtual assistants, LLC and S-Corps, and Building businesses as a team.

All the success books talk about picking a person doing what you want to do and emulate what they're doing. If you want to be an Executive in the C-Suite at 31 years old, you should look to emulate Dom from GenY Finance Guy. He is CRUSHING it on the corporate ladder and income. Instead of being super frugal and retiring lean, Dom looked to increase his salary and save a ton. How much is a ton? He wants to retire with $10 million in the bank! That's right, 10 million US dollars.  You'll love Dom's story and the knowledge bombs he dropped on us! We also chat about... the benefits of sitting vs. standing desks! leadership valuing gray matter over gray hair being a manager is hella difficult how life isn't all about work what helpy means Enjoy this chat with Dom from Gen Y Finance Guy, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

John from ESI Money set a retirement number of $4 million dollars and walked away from his career at age 52.  He achieved executive status and was a President of a company by the time he walked away.  We talk to John about real estate, career, life advice for his kids, and what he would do differently if he could go back in time.  We also give nods to Dave Ramsey and John's beginnings in money and finance.  Last but not least, we have an in depth discussion about diversity on Rockstar Finance, based on an iTunes review Gwen & J got on the podcast recently. For show notes and takeaways: https://firedrillpodcast.com/esi-money-early-retirement You'll love John's story and the wisdom he shares with us. We also chat about... Dave Ramsey Being financially independent in his early 40's Tradeoffs of career success versus early retirement Helping your children find their own path Optimizing for money or pursuing your passion Real estate as a small chunk of his net worth but high-performing assets Diversity on Rockstar Finance

Josie is a 30 year old entrepreneur who lives the ultimate lifestyle on a boat in the Bahamas. She was a flight attendant until her husband wanted to sail around the world. One year later, they found themselves in the Bahamas on a sailboat! We talked to her about her discovery of the financial independence community, how they set themselves up for financial independence, and more! We also chat about... the beautiful bluffs on the Mississippi river her awesome meet cute story how important it is to find your why She was an absolute delight to speak with! Enjoy this chat with Josie, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Angela is a 30 year old frugal friend from Washington who blogs about financial independence, gardening, and recipes on her blog, Tread Lightly Retire Early.  Angela and her husband were saving a comfortable 20% of their take home pay, which was just over six figures combined.  They recently bumped up their savings rate north of 50% after experiencing some unexpected expenses that required them to dip into their emergency fund.  They are huge proponents of frugal living and minimizing their impact on the environment.  They also don't believe you have to spend excessive amounts of money when you have kids.  They have a three year old son and do just fine. For show notes and takeaways: https://firedrillpodcast.com/fire064 We also chat about... How Angela and her husband met (we love meet cute stories), Their house of pets, Lifestyle inflation when they started their family, How they expect to hit financial independence in their 40's, Is there a problem with people who are putting off their happiness for FIRE?, Making every day better, and Angela's awesome camping truck hack.

Carl and Mindy from 1500days.com add a ton of color to the financial independence community. Don't let their goofy demeanors fool you though! They are serious real estate investors with a TON of knowledge to share. They've got experience in pretty much every aspect of investing: single stocks, index funds, flipping single family properties, being hard money lenders, and even syndicating a deal to buy a trailer park! You'll love hearing their stories with their fun loving personalities! We also chat about... the FI community's love of craft beer (for those that can drink it!!) the importance of fitness the difference between biological and chronological ages crazy people biking in January in Minneapolis Maine being beautiful how awful Colorado is [OR IS IT?!] tax gain harvesting They were a blast! Enjoy this chat with Carl and Mindy, and please subscribe to us in iTunes if you enjoyed it!

Dr. Jim Dahle of White Coat Investor is an Emergency Medicine Physician who is also a popular financial blogger and podcaster. He takes podcast hosts J & Gwen step by step through what doctors should do financially at all phases in their careers, from undergraduate to medical school, to choosing their specialty and residency. Jim is financially independent but continues to work and blog because that is his purpose in life. He has become a millionaire through making smart financial decisions throughout his career. You'll love Jim's advice. We also chat about... Reducing medical school debt Public Student Loan Forgiveness Program Choosing your specialty The Military and evaluating the financial benefit Term life insurance - what is it and why do you need it https://firedrillpodcast.com/fire062

Matt and his wife went from living paycheck to paycheck to saving 60% of their income in just a few short years! They did this through a combination of prioritizing debt payoff, increasing income from career hacking and house hacking, and by lowering their expenses.  They saved over $50k the last 2 years, which allowed them to take a leap of faith and quit their W-2 jobs to be entrepreneurs. Matt is now working as a start-up consultant and making bank! You'll love Matt's story and the inspiration he passes on. We also chat about... the best pizza in Chicago best passive investments for every level of investor how Matt got started in consulting why Matt is moving to Hawaii (as if he needs a reason...)

Bionca Smith is a single mom who completely uprooted her life in San Francisco to live on the road with her young son, Carter. She is now homeschooling him through Connections Academy and the two of them travel around the U.S. in a van.  At first Bionca was worried about the effect of van living on Carter but she feels the experience has been incredibly positive for him. His reading levels have skyrocketed and now they get to spend quality time together every day. For show notes and takeaways: https://firedrillpodcast.com/fire060 and thank you to our episode sponsor, Peti Morgan of The Leveraged Mama. Get her debt reduction cheat sheet: https://leveragedmama.com/firedrill You'll love Bionca and her courage to change her life. We also chat about... The Facebook post that catapulted Bionca on this journey How to talk to your child about alternative living and van life How homeschooling on the road works Bionca's upbringing and how that shaped who she is today Making friends on the road Buying a van and the specific van she has How van life gives you a different perspective on homelessness

What if you didn't have to work for 10+ straight years to retire? What if you could take short breaks on the way to early retirement? Today's guest does just that. Lauren works as a relief veterinarian 6 months of the year and goes on jealousy-inducing long thru-hikes the rest of the year. A relief vet is like a traveling nurse.... but for animals, not humans. She has set up an amazing lifestyle and is living life on her terms. By keeping her expenses and debt to a minimum early in life, Lauren was able to craft the kind of lifestyle she wanted..... not what the world told her to do. Lauren is in absolute control over her life and she is crushing it! We also chat about... finding relief work how to help animals resources for thru hiking her plans for the Appalachian trail the difference between Coast FI and FI https://firedrillpodcast.com/hiking-path-fi-lauren/