Financial Independence Podcast
by The Mad Fientist
Join the Mad Fientist as he interviews personal-finance icons like Mr. Money Mustache, Ramit Sethi, and JL Collins to discover the strategies they used to achieve financial independence and retire early! Learn about investing, tax avoidance, entrepreneurship, travel hacking, real estate, and all things related to financial independence and early retirement!
Episodes
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A Decade of Freedom
I can't believe it… It's been 10 years since I left my job! What a wild ride it's been. I'm more content with my life/finances than I've ever been before, but I'm also more unsure about what the future holds. I explain everything in today's short podcast episode, so hope you enjoy it :)…
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Learning How to Spend Money (While Enjoying Every Dollar Spent)
After decades of saving/investing, it's hard to immediately flip a switch and go into spending mode. Spending is a skill that you should develop on your way to FI, so that you're better at it when the time comes to really do it. Here's what worked for me over the last few years! Highlights How to...
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Valuable Lessons from My Eighth Year of Freedom
In 2021, I decided to stop doing annual updates. At that time, I thought I had FI figured out and was just living a "normal" life (so no need to talk about it anymore). Well, a lot has changed since then. Turns out, I didn't have everything figured out :/ I explain more in today's short podcast...
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The Power of Quitting
Saving up a bunch of money gives you power - power you can use to make your life better and your journey to financial independence quicker. The only way to take advantage of the power though is to use it. Full Article: https://www.madfientist.com/power-of-quitting/
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Happiness Through Subtraction
If you want to use money to make you happier, stop thinking about what you can buy with it. Instead, think about how you can use it to remove the things in your life that make you unhappy. Full Article: https://www.madfientist.com/happiness-through-subtraction/
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Bill Perkins - Memory Dividends, Time Buckets, and Maximizing Net Fulfillment
Out of all the episodes of the Financial Independence Podcast, this is the one I wish I heard when I was on my journey to financial independence. Bill Perkins, author of Die with Zero, joins Chris Hutchins on the All the Hacks podcast to discuss what money is really for – maximizing net...
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The Best Advice from JL Collins
To celebrate the release of JL Collins' new book, Pathfinders, I collected all the best advice from his Financial Independence Podcast interviews! Jim has been on the show three times: First, back in 2012 (he was my second guest ever!) Second, when his hit book, The Simple Path to Wealth, was...
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Parker Hewes - Your Money and Your Health
Health is similar to finances in that there are many overly-complex things people say you need to do, but there are just a few simple things that actually matter. What is the "spend less than you earn, invest in a diversified/low-fee portfolio, and leave it to grow/compound" of the health world?...
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Jillian Johnsrud & Chad Carson - Small and Mighty Real Estate Investing
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Chad Carson from CoachCarson.com! Chad just released a new book, The Small and Mighty Real Estate Investor, and I wanted to get him back on the show to talk about it. I'm not a real-estate investor myself though. So rather...
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Ramit Sethi – How to Spend (and Actually Enjoy It)
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to Be Rich! I needed someone to come on the show to provide some tough love and Ramit was the only person for the job. As Ramit mentioned during our last interview, FIRE people are great at...
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My Family - Raising Money-Smart Kids
Over the last few years, I interviewed members of my family to find out two things: How I became the Mad Fientist (i.e. where did I get my extreme ideas about money) What advice they'd give to parents hoping to raise money-smart children This is a short but sweet holiday episode to end the year…
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Podcast Takeover: The FI Show - Employee vs. Entrepreneur
Cody Berman and Justin Taylor, hosts of the FI Show, have both achieved financial independence but they've taken drastically different paths to get there. Listen to this Podcast Takeover episode to hear the similarities and differences between an employee's path to FI (Justin's) and an...
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Mad Fientist Jr. - Why I'm Appreciating FI More Than Ever Now
Life has completely changed. And because of this major change, I'm even more grateful for the freedom, flexibility, and time that financial independence and early retirement provide. In this short episode, I fill you in on what's been happening and I discuss the reasons for my newfound…
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Podcast Takeover: Financial Independence Europe - Effective Altruism
Welcome to another podcast-takeover episode of the Financial Independence podcast! This time, Mathias from the Financial Independence Europe podcast takes over the show to talk to Luke Freeman (from Giving What We Can) and Rebecca Herbst (from Yield and Spread) about Effective Altruism!…
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The Best Advice from Mr. Money Mustache
Exactly 10 years ago, I released the first episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! To celebrate this big birthday, I've collected all the best advice from my interviews with my very first podcast guest – Mr. Money Mustache! Highlights Mr. Money Mustache's investing strategy Thoughts on...
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Aime to Invest – From Bankruptcy to FI in 8 Years
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I speak to Patrick Aime from Aime to Invest! Patrick's journey to FI is an incredible one. He… Moved from his home in Rwanda to attend high school in Europe and college in America Stayed in America after college and started working in the...
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Podcast Takeover: Mile High FI - Early Retirement Failures & Successes
I'm excited to share with you the first Podcast Takeover episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Carl and Doug from the Mile High FI podcast take over the Financial Independence Podcast to talk about their early retirement successes and failures. Enjoy! Highlights Test drive early…
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The Escape Artist - FIRE in the UK
I have some big news… I am now a British citizen! In honor of finally getting my UK passport, and therefore completing this long journey to citizenship, I am releasing my UK FIRE episode. Barney, from The Escape Artist, joined me in my Edinburgh apartment (before the pandemic) to discuss all…
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Bogleheads - Life After FIRE
Last year, I published an interview with one of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel. You may remember that the interview was recorded as part of a Bogleheads meeting and the interview was actually conducted by my buddy, Gouri. Well, Gouri recently invited me to join the Bogleheads to…
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Fifth (and Final) Annual Update
If you've followed me for a while, you'll know that I've released an annual update every year since I quit my job. It's now been five years since I stopped working so this is my fifth (and final) annual update. Why is it my final one? I explain in today's short episode. Highlights How the…
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Early Retirement Extreme - A Systems Approach to Lifestyle Design
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I finally got to interview the person who introduced me to the concept of financial independence and early retirement in the first place… Jacob Lund Fisker from Early Retirement Extreme! To my mind, Jacob is the founder of the modern-day...
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8 Key Lessons from the Ultralearning Experiment
Last year, I conducted an experiment in Ultralearning that I hoped would help me achieve a lifelong dream of mine of writing and releasing an album. I'm happy to say it was far more successful than I ever imagined it would be! As I mentioned in the initial Ultralearning podcast episode, the hope...
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Morgan Housel - The Psychology of Money
One of my favorite financial writers, Morgan Housel, is on the Financial Independence Podcast today! I'm not the one conducting the interview this time though (all is explained in the episode). Morgan's insight into how to handle uncertainty, market crashes, and this weird stock boom that we now...
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Valuable Lessons from My Fourth Year of Freedom
It's been four years since I left my full-time job and what a crazy year it's been! To celebrate this anniversary and to recap the things I've learned during this last year of post-FI life (and the COVID market crash), I recorded a short podcast episode.
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Coronavirus Market Crash - Is This Time Different?
Bear markets are a normal part of investing but is this time different? As the coronavirus COVID-19 spreads around the world, governments are struggling to limit the economic impact of the disease. In today's unplanned episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, JL Collins (author of The…
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Scott Young - Ultralearning
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm excited to introduce Scott Young! I first heard about Scott when he decided to complete MIT's entire computer science curriculum in a year. Scott has taken on a lot of these types of impressive learning projects and he just wrote a…
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Third Year of Freedom
I can't believe it but it's already been three years since I left my full-time job! To commemorate this special anniversary and to recap the things I've learned during this last year of post-FI life (which happened to be the best one yet), I recorded a short podcast episode.
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Ramit Sethi - I Will Teach You to be Rich
Personal-finance icon Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You to be Rich joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Ramit first published his New York Times best-selling book, I Will Teach You to be Rich, back in 2009 during the depths of the financial crisis. He just released the...
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Cal Newport – Deep Work, Digital Minimalism, and the Key to a Happy Retirement
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm very excited to introduce author Cal Newport! I've been a huge fan of Cal's writing for many years so it was a treat to get to talk to him. We explore many important issues related to early retirement that aren't often talked about so…
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Millennial Money - From Broke to Millionaire in 5 Years
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, my buddy Grant from Millennial Money joins me to talk about how he went from having $2.26 in the bank to $1.25 million in just 5 years, 3 months, and 6 days! We dive into the strategies and tactics he used but we also go deeper and discuss...
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Tony - Going Back to Work After Early Retirement
It's easy to think that early retirement will be the answer to all your problems. After all, how could you not be happy when you don't have to work anymore? I've written about why early retirement is not a magic bullet but what if it actually makes your life worse? On today's episode of the...
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Monumental Strength – How to Get Fit (and Actually Enjoy It)
I made two big mistakes when I was pursuing financial independence… The first was I put off happiness until I hit FI. The second was I also put off my health. In today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I chat to my personal trainer, Doug from Monumental Strength. Doug has spent the...
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James Clear - Atomic Habits and Building a New Identity After Retirement
A challenging aspect of early retirement is the loss of identity you may experience when leaving a career you've spent a big chunk of your life building. However, one of the most exciting parts of early retirement is that you have the time, money, and freedom to create a completely new identity!...
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Travis Shakespeare - Playing with FIRE
If you've been reading about financial independence for a while, you've likely seen that the topic is getting more popular lately. Although FIRE (Financial Independence / Retire Early) is far bigger than it was when I created this site in 2012, it's still nowhere near mainstream. That may change...
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Chad Carson - Retire Early with Real Estate
Chad Carson from CoachCarson.com joins me again on the Financial Independence Podcast to talk about the various strategies you can use to retire early with real estate! Highlights: The best real-estate strategies to use to reach financial independence and retire early How real estate can be a…
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Second Year of Freedom
I can't believe it... It's already been two years since I left my full-time job! To celebrate this special anniversary, I decided to release a podcast episode containing my thoughts on my second year of freedom. Find out what a day in my life is like now, hear all the ways early retirement is...
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First Year of Freedom
On August 1st, 2018, it will be exactly two years since I left my full-time job as a software developer. To celebrate, I've decided to release two podcast episodes that contain all the valuable lessons I learned during my first two years of freedom. Today's episode contains everything I learned...
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Scott Trench - Set for Life
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I'm joined by the president of biggerpockets.com and cohost of the BiggerPockets Money Show, Scott Trench! Scott breaks down the journey to financial independence into three stages and explains what you need to focus on at each step (and...
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Marla Taner – Striving for Happiness After Early Retirement
My good friend Marla Taner joined me on the Financial Independence Podcast to go deep into some early-retirement topics that aren't often discussed. Marla and I met in 2014 at Camp Mustache and we've had a lot of fun (and sometimes heavy) conversations over the years so I thought it'd be great to...
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Money Talks – Live from the UK Chautauqua with Vicki Robin
Last August, I was down in England with Vicki Robin (author of Your Money or Your Life) for the FI Chautauqua. We were chatting about the new version of the book she was working on (which is out now!) and she mentioned that she created a game called "Money Talks" to go along with the new edition....
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Elizabeth Willard Thames – Meet the Frugalwoods
Today on the Financial Independence Podcast, I welcome back Liz Thames (a.k.a. Mrs. Frugalwoods)! Liz was last on the show over two years ago and a lot has changed. Since then, she's made her dream of retiring to a homestead in Vermont a reality, she's had two babies, and she's just published a...
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My Brother – Using the Power of Money to Pursue Your Passion
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I interview my little brother while drinking wine next to a canal in Venice! Brian, who is three years younger than me, isn't actively pursuing financial independence but he's done some really impressive things with his money and has used...
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Chris Hutchins – Why You Should "Retire" Before You Hit Your Number
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I interview a serial entrepreneur who has achieved financial independence three different ways! You'd think that selling a company to Google or buying San Francisco real estate before prices went crazy would be the best way to reach...
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Physician on FIRE – Geographic Arbitrage, Sunk Costs, and Gangsta Rap
It's been a while since I posted a new Financial Independence Podcast episode but I'm excited to share one with you today! Mr. and Mrs. 1500 from 1500Days.com joined me live at FinCon in Dallas to interview the Physician on FIRE! We sadly only had 25 minutes to record so it's a short interview…
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Michael Kitces – The 4% Rule and Financial Planning for Early Retirement
One of the internet's most-respected retirement researchers and financial planners, Michael Kitces, joins me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! You may remember that my Safe Withdrawal Rate post drew heavily from the incredible research Kitces has done on the topic so it was...
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The Happy Philosopher - Semiretirement and Finding Happiness
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, Jeff from The Happy Philosopher joins me to discuss the unique challenges that doctors and other professionals face on the journey to early retirement. When you invest so much time, money, and energy into your career, it's no wonder that...
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Mr. Money Mustache – Early Retirement Made Easy (Rebroadcast)
To celebrate the 5-year anniversary of launching the Financial Independence Podcast, I've republished the very first interview I recorded back in 2012 with Mr. Money Mustache. In addition to the original interview, this episode also contains an updated introduction that tells the story behind the...
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Think Save Retire - Selling Everything and Retiring to an RV
On today's episode of the Financial Independence Podcast, I had the pleasure of speaking with Steve from ThinkSaveRetire.com! Steve initially planned to retire at the age of 40 but after making some drastic lifestyle changes, he ended up walking away from his job at 35. One of the biggest factors...
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Your Money or Your Life – An Interview with Author Vicki Robin
I can't believe it… One of the founders of the financial independence movement, Vicki Robin, joined me for an episode of the Financial Independence Podcast! Vicki and her partner Joe Dominguez wrote the book, Your Money or Your Life – a New York Times Best Seller that many people consider to be…
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About this show
Join the Mad Fientist as he interviews personal-finance icons like Mr. Money Mustache, Ramit Sethi, and JL Collins to discover the strategies they used to achieve financial independence and retire early! Learn about investing, tax avoidance, entrepreneurship, travel hacking, real estate, and all things related to financial independence and early retirement!
Hosted by
The Mad Fientist