Afford Anything Podcast

Quick poll before you watch this week's episode 👇

How many months of expenses are in your emergency fund right now?

[Poll options: Less than 1 / 1–3 months / 4–6 months / More than 6]

A listener in the UK has four months saved and wants eight. She asked whether everything else, like travel, a career break, and retirement, has to wait until she gets there.

Joe's answer: "Oh, hell no."

Full episode 👉 https://youtu.be/QNg-_Jn-Lhk

2 days ago | [YT] | 1

Afford Anything Podcast

A listener in the UK has four months of expenses in her emergency fund. Her goal is eight.

She also wants to fund a career break, travel, and some home improvements. So she asked: does everything else have to wait until the emergency fund is full?

Joe's answer: "Oh, hell no."

Mine was a little more polite, but same idea. Four months is good enough for now. Keep adding a little every month, but don't turn your emergency fund into an emergency.

We cover that, plus how to plan a 1–2 year sabbatical on $80K in cash, in this week's episode 👉 https://youtu.be/QNg-_Jn-Lhk

Then come tell us: how many months are in your emergency fund right now? Reply in this week's discussion thread. I'm curious where everyone lands.

2 days ago | [YT] | 0

Afford Anything Podcast

Rent stabilization is a famously thorny topic. On our newest episode with Kenny Burgos, we examined the issue from the perspective of landlords for rent-stabilized units in New York City. Where do you come down on in the issue? Feel free to get specific in the comments.

6 days ago | [YT] | 0

Afford Anything Podcast

New York City is short roughly half a million homes.

And at least 60,000 apartments are sitting empty.

Not because nobody wants them. There are literal lines around the block for listings. They're empty because, under the current rules, many owners lose less money by keeping them vacant than by renting them out.

So how does that happen?

On this week's episode, I sat down with Kenny Burgos, CEO of the New York Apartment Association and a former New York State Assemblymember, to untangle it. We get into:

1| Why the typical New Yorker pays about $1,600 in rent while listings ask $5,500
2| Why some apartment buildings now sell for $50,000 per unit (and why Kenny calls that "a warning, not an advertisement")
3| What happens when operating costs rise 4.5% and rents are frozen at 0%

(Note: Kenny represents landlords, and this is one of the most hotly debated policy fights in the country. You may not agree with all of his conclusions, and that's fine. The math he walks through is worth understanding either way, especially if you own rentals, want to, or live anywhere rent control is on the ballot.)

🎧 Listen here: https://youtu.be/gaTPrKwsdIA

So I'm curious: do you think rent control helps or hurts the people it's meant to protect? Tell me in the comments. I genuinely want to hear both sides.

1 week ago | [YT] | 0

Afford Anything Podcast

When is it okay to let go of a good investment?

Nieves is 30, living in Madrid for her MBA, and owns a St. Louis duplex that brings in $3,100 a month on a $1,500 mortgage.

On paper? Solid.

In real life? Her tenants are paying late, the roof needs replacing, and she doesn't have the cash to cover it.

So… should she sell?

Joe and I don't tell her what to do (we rarely do). Instead, we walk through the questions I'd want answered first. Is this a temporary problem or a permanent one? Would a property manager solve the same thing selling would? And if you sell, what's the next best use of that money — after taxes and fees?

Plus: women made up 100% of July's labor force decline. Here's why that stat doesn't mean what most headlines imply.

🎧 Watch the full episode: https://youtu.be/QdGH7XO7HNw

Have you ever sold an investment that was "objectively good"? Tell me what tipped the decision 👇

1 week ago | [YT] | 3

Afford Anything Podcast

What predicts your income most?

1 week ago | [YT] | 11

Afford Anything Podcast

New episode: self-worth might predict your income better than your SAT score does.
Psychologist Dr. Marisa Franco walked me through the research — and why some of us sabotage our own success right as it starts to happen.

Pulling money out of investments. Avoiding the promotion. Staying in a job that's going nowhere.

Have you ever caught yourself doing that? Curious how common this actually is. 👇

Full episode is up now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bbqT1...

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 6

Afford Anything Podcast

New episode's up — with Alec Litowitz, who helped found Citadel alongside Ken Griffin and later started Magnetar Capital.

His argument stuck with me: the smartest people in a room are often the last ones to notice the world has changed. Not because they're not smart. Because they're too attached to having already been right.

Curious — when's the last time you had to admit a long-held belief was just... wrong? 👇

Full episode here: https://youtu.be/QlOBNLF_8HM

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 3

Afford Anything Podcast

Alec Litowitz (co-founder of Citadel, founder of Magnetar Capital) says it's better to make decisions right — meaning fast to update when you're wrong — than to make the right decision the first time.

Where do you land?

2 weeks ago | [YT] | 2

Afford Anything Podcast

In our episode with Michael Hingson, he talked about how humans “what-if ourselves to death” in a way that guide dogs don’t.

What’s the thing you "what-if" yourself about the most?

Full Interview here: https://youtu.be/8mZ496yMYUo

3 weeks ago | [YT] | 12