You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life.
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First Friday: Tariffs Grab Headlines, But These Financial Changes Nobody Is Talking About Will Impact You Too
#596: Yesterday, the White House rolled out the biggest tariffs in a century, sending markets into their worst decline since the pandemic. While headlines focus on supply chains and inflation, there are important economic stories you're not hearing about.
During the first half of this month's First Friday episode, we dig into what nobody's talking about. And in the second half, we grapple with the headlines.
Student loan rules just changed again. The government added new limits to Public Service Loan Forgiveness. Right now, 9.2 million people — one in five borrowers — can't keep up with payments. Many folks don't even know payments started again after that four-and-a-half-year break.
S&P just dropped a new report that backs what smart money already knows: index funds crush actively managed funds 90 percent of the time. Even with all those tech stocks dominating the market, you still come out ahead with simple indexing.
You know who's gobbling up the mortgage market? Rocket Companies. They just bought both Redfin and Mr. Cooper. They'll handle one of every six mortgages in America. They've positioned themselves at every step of the homebuying journey — from when you search for homes on Redfin to financing and monthly payments for the next 30 years.
The White House just made a surprising move with Bitcoin. They're setting up a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve to hold coins long-term. They're also creating a separate stockpile for crypto they seize in legal cases. Pretty clear signal that Bitcoin stands apart from other cryptocurrencies.
In the second half, we dive into those significant new tariffs making headlines.
The S&P 500 dropped 4.8 percent on Thursday — we haven't seen a drop like that since the pandemic. The new rules put at least a 10 percent tariff on everything coming into the country. Then come the "reciprocal" rates: 20 percent for European goods, 27 percent for items from India, and a combined 65 percent for Chinese imports.
We bring in Bob Elliott to make sense of this situation. His credentials are impressive — he spent 13 years at Bridgewater Associates (the world's largest hedge fund), served as head of Ray Dalio's investment team, and graduated magna cum laude from Harvard.
During the 2008 crisis, he directly advised the Treasury, Federal Reserve, and White House.
Bob offers a reality check about bringing back manufacturing jobs: you can't build factories overnight. These investments take years, and companies hesitate to make 30-year commitments when policies change every few months.
Bob breaks down four economic forces all hitting at once: tariffs jacking up prices, government cutting spending, tax policies on hold, and the Fed moving like molasses. Put them together? Yikes. He doesn't sugarcoat it — the short-term outlook looks "pretty negative."
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1:01:02
Q&A: The Scary Shift from Saving to — Gulp! — Actually Spending Your Money
#595: Eva is finally closing in on her financial independence goals, but she’s grappling with how to make a smooth transition from accumulation to decumulation. What should she consider?
John has noticed a game-changing omission from recent discussions about traditional versus Roth IRAs. Is this as big of a deal as he thinks it is?
An anonymous caller is excited to convert his primary residence into a rental property. But he’ll only make a profit if he first sells some equities to pay down the mortgage. Is this a good idea?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it at https://affordanything.com/voicemail
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode595
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1:05:06
How to Travel on $75 Per Day, with Nomadic Matt Kepnes
#594: Ever wonder if you could afford to travel for months at a time? According to Nomadic Matt, who's visited more than 100 countries over the last 19 years, you can see the world on just $75 a day. That's about $27,375 per year, less than many people's current cost of living.
Matt Kepnes, better known as Nomadic Matt, joins us to challenge common assumptions about travel costs. He explains that long-term travel can actually be cheaper than staying home.
When you're traveling, you shed many regular expenses that eat into your budget back home, like car payments, home insurance, and utility bills.
The key is to "travel like you live," as Nomadic Matt puts it. This means using public transportation instead of taxis, shopping at local markets, and seeking out free activities — just like you might do in your hometown.
It's not about staying at five-star resorts, but experiencing destinations authentically while keeping costs reasonable.
Nomadic Matt also breaks down several travel myths. The old advice about booking flights on Tuesdays? Outdated in today's algorithmic pricing world. Using incognito mode to get better flight prices? No evidence supports this idea.
He does confirm that booking round-trip flights often costs less than one-way tickets, even if you don't use the return portion.
For those interested in credit card points, Nomadic Matt recommends choosing cards based on your specific travel goals rather than chasing the most popular options. Consider which airlines you use most and what perks you'll actually take advantage of.
The pandemic has transformed travel in significant ways. While prices have increased and some budget travel services have disappeared, new opportunities have emerged — especially for remote workers who can now take advantage of digital nomad visas to live abroad while maintaining their income.
Whether you're planning a two-week vacation or dreaming of becoming location-independent, Nomadic Matt's practical advice shows how international travel is more accessible than you might have thought.
Timestamps:
Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.
(0:00) Intro to Nomadic Matt and $75/day budget
(1:00) Modern hostels aren't grungy anymore
(3:00) Origins of the $75/day travel budget
(5:00) "Travel like you live" approach saves money
(8:50) Mix accommodations based on trip needs
(9:40) Choose travel cards matching your specific goals
(16:40) Use points before devaluation happens
(20:00) Best booking times for flights
(37:00) Social media's impact on global travel
(42:00) Overcoming language barriers easily
(48:30) Post-COVID travel costs and changes
(56:20) Remote work visas for long-term travelers
(1:02:40) Why travel costs less than staying home
(1:05:50) How location independence evolved from unusual to mainstream
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode594
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1:19:29
Q&A: You Made a Money Mistake. Now What?
#593: An anonymous caller is brooding over a mistake he made in 2023 when he decided to contribute to his Roth instead of a pre-tax account. How does he get over this?
June is annoyed that she triggered short-term capital gains and wash sales when she sold assets in her taxable brokerage last year. How does she avoid these issues in the future?
Zerai wants to add mid and small-cap exposure, but his 457 plan has a limited selection of mutual funds. What’s the proper way to select the best fund among the available options?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these questions in today’s episode.
Enjoy!
P.S. Got a question? Leave it https://affordanything.com/voicemail
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode593
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1:01:27
Why Your Brain Rewards You for Avoiding Your Boss, with Dr. Joel Salinas
#592: Ever wonder what's happening in your brain right before you knock on your boss's door to ask for a raise? Dr. Joel Salinas, neurologist and brain health expert, joins us to explain the neurology of negotiation.
When you avoid difficult conversations, your brain actually rewards you with a small dopamine hit. That temporary relief feels good, reinforcing the avoidance behavior.
But Dr. Salinas explains this creates a problematic loop: the more you avoid conflict, the more uncomfortable it becomes when you face it.
Breaking this cycle starts with a simple but powerful step: taking a breath. A long, slow exhale activates the more deliberative parts of your brain, helping you move beyond knee-jerk reactions.
Dr. Salinas suggests focusing on what he calls the "Bigger Better Offer" — the meaningful reward that comes from pushing through discomfort. Thinking about what happens if you don't ask for that raise (struggling to pay bills, missing career advancement) can motivate you to overcome avoidance tendencies.
Beyond workplace conflicts, we explore fascinating brain facts:
Your brain constructs reality like "one great big hallucination"
Neural pathways that fire together wire together
Conflict isn't a sign of failure — it's actually necessary for authentic connection
Want to boost your brain health? Dr. Salinas recommends regular exercise, brain-healthy foods like leafy greens and berries, quality sleep, supportive social connections, and challenging yourself with new skills.
The conversation meanders through various aspects of brain function — from why humans are visual creatures to how trauma impacts neural pathways — all explained in accessible, engaging terms.
Whether you're looking to have difficult conversations more effectively or simply curious about the remarkable three-pound organ controlling your reality, this episode offers practical insights into the science of your mind.
Timestamps:
Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.
(0:00) Intro
(3:00) What happens in your brain when asking for a raise
(6:30) How negativity bias shapes interactions with authority figures
(10:41) The "Bigger Better Offer" technique for breaking behavioral loops
(19:22) Why avoiding conflict creates reward pathways in the brain
(29:12) Training your brain to tolerate disagreement
(34:52) How salience and valence affect what we perceive as conflict
(40:42) The role of internal conflict in decision-making
(55:08) Understanding the structure and functions of different brain regions
(1:00:53) Why imagination of possibility matters for breaking rumination cycles
(1:06:45) How challenging our brain creates new neural pathways
(1:11:42) Five key behaviors that improve long-term brain health
(1:17:03) Brain plasticity and how it changes throughout our lifetime
(1:22:51) Resources for learning more about conflict resilience
For more information, visit the show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode592
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You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life.
How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles?
On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing.
But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think.
In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models.
Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.
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