Freedom Before FI | Life Design, Purpose, Sabbaticals, Coast FI & Financial Independence (FIRE)

Meghan quit her high paying corporate tech job and downshifted to Barista FI and now works part time as an actual Barista in a coffee shop. She now has a less stressful job and has time to explore other hobbies like book writing and spending more time with her hubby. Meghan is the host of the awesome Everyday FI Podcast where she explores the lives of everyday people on their financial independence journey and she's based out in North Carolina, US.

Things you’ll learn:

• About her part time Barista job 
• Her FI Progress and Investing Strategy
• Household income with husband
• Savings rate after transitioning to Barista FI
• Net worth and portfolio split
• How she’s enjoying the journey now before getting to FI
• Where she heard about FIRE
• Career pivot from art historian to tech
• Art historian salary v her tech salary
• How she went from 55k to 150k in salary
• Being a couple on the FI journey
• How therapy was one of the best decisions for her
• Why and how she quit her high paying tech job
• Dealing with toxic bosses
• Writing a post on Linkedin about quitting 
• Getting depressed after not working 
• What she does now outside of part time work
• Perks of working in a coffee shop as a barista

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something she wished she done 10 years ago
2. Her daily habits that helped her in life
3. Her most important lesson in life
4. Her podcast recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Meghan Combs (Links):

One of the ways you can enjoy your path to FI is by finding work you enjoy. That might involve quitting a career thats not serving you, or making some changes in your current work place. Today, we’ve got Ben Fox on the show to talk to us about career transitions. Ben is a career coach - based in New York - and his coaching niche is primarily helping senior software engineers break free from the golden handcuffs and into careers they love

Things you’ll learn:

• Quitting his job and going full time as a solopreneur
• First year as a solopreneur and struggles experienced
• The power of joining online community / group programs
• The power of having the right people around you when starting businesses
• How he niched down to coaching tech professionals
• Reasons why people go to him for coaching (their initial career struggles)
• Coaching clients: example case studies
• Case study 1: Garth: accountant of 23 years in toxic environment
• Case study 2: Mel: mid 30s, 2 kids, 15 years in sales, but does not like it
• Why we find it hard to quit jobs we hate
• Advice for people struggling to leave the golden handcuffs
• The risks of staying in a bad job
• His coaching process outline
• Creating healthy boundaries in your current job 

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something he wished they done 10 years ago
2. His daily habits that helped him in life
3. His most important lesson in life
4. His book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Ben Fox (Links):

We’ve reached the 100 episode milestone at Freedom Before FI! Over the course of two years I’ve been sharing tips and strategies to help you find your version of freedom before getting to Financial Independence and I’ve also interviewed some amazing guests from different areas of the FI community. In this episode I’ll be sharing some of the biggest takeaways that could help you on your journey to creating and living a life that you love.

Related Episodes:

How do you design a life you don’t want to retire from? Jess is one half of the awesome Fioneers platform which started in 2018 with her husband Corey and their aim is to help answer that exact question. On this episode we discuss the step-by-step framework on how to design your life so you can enjoy it before getting to FI. 

They coined the term Slow FI and popularised Coast FI. Since starting their blog, they’ve taken sabbaticals, reached Coast FI, quit work to focus on passion projects, renovated a camper van to experiment with van life and they also relocated from to the city to the mountains to be closer to nature. 

What I love about what they’ve done is they’ve gradually designed a life they absolutely love while still on their journey to FI.

Things you’ll learn:

• Jess’ FI progress and overall financial strategy (Coast FI journey)
• Why she hasn’t been tracking her progress to FI
• Why Life Design is important for someone on the path to FI
• Lessons from early retirees who wished they took a slower path
• Her ‘Design a Life You Love’ life design programme
• Her life design process (the 3 step framework)

• How she used the life design process to create her life now
• How life design can be used for other life areas and not just work
• Life design student case studies and examples of transitions
• The barriers holding people back on taking leaps 
• The power of experiments to reduce fears
• Her Slow FI Retreats and what’s involved
• How ‘Aha!’ moments come when off the grid and outside of normal routine
• The experience she’s trying to curate for people on retreats
• The importance of finding your tribe on the FI journey
• How the FI journey is better as a ‘team sport’ than a ‘solo sport’
• Importance of getting inspiration from other unconventional stories
• Potential Fioneers book in the future

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something she wished they done 10 years ago
2. Her daily habits that helped them in life
3. Her most important lesson in life
4. Her book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

The Fioneers (Links):

If you’re unsure wether to take that extended break from work or to continue working until you get to FI, this episode may be for you. On this episode I’ll be looking at 3 popular barriers or concerns that arise when thinking about taking a sabbatical (or career break or mini-retirement). I’ll also provide my views on how to tackle these barriers if a sabbatical is something you’ve been yearning to do for a while now.

Related Episodes:

On this episode we’ll be focusing on two popular milestones, Coast FI (which you reach before you get to FI) and Lean FIRE (which is the earliest of the FIRE milestone and where you’ve actually reached Financial Independence). I’ll be sharing 5 questions you can ask yourself that can help you choose which FIRE milestone to aim for.

Related Episodes:

Choosing which FI milestone to aim for on your journey can be a bit paralysing, especially with so many different milestones and strategies. On this episode we’ll be focusing on two popular milestones, Coast FI (which you reach before you get to FI) and Lean FIRE (which is where you’ve actually reached Financial Independence). Both options lead to early retirement at different times and I discuss the differences and reasons why each path might be suitable for someone.

Freedom Before FI Links:

How can you get to Lean FIRE faster? One of the best ways to do that is to move to a low cost of living area and usually its somewhere warm with a tropical climate. That’s where Geographic Arbitrage (or Geoarbitrage) comes into play. I talk about how Geoarbitrage can speed up your journey to FI, some cities in the world where you can do this and I also share an example of someone who hit Lean FIRE and relocated to Bali in Indonesia to live a life they love.

I’ve recently been considering targeting Lean FIRE in the future and today I share 3 compelling benefits I’ve pondered on in favour of Lean FIRE, compared to ‘Traditional FIRE’ and ‘Fat FIRE’. The FI community was more towards Lean FIRE in it’s early days, although recently there has been more of a push towards Chubby FIRE and Fat FIRE. There’s no right or wrong mind you, only what’s right for our own personal situations at specific times in our lives (each to their own as they say!).

Freedom Before FI Links:

On our journey to FI we may encounter what’s called the ‘boring middle’ or we may have so many things on our endless to-do list we forget to do things that are fun and bring us joy. This little tweak in your calendar can help remedy this issue. 

Freedom Before FI Links:

Ato Jay is the awesome founder and host behind the Savvy Wallet platform, which he started back in 2020 where he interviews the brightest minds in business & finance. The podcast has now over 200 episodes and around 50,000 subscribers on YouTube. Along his journey, Ato has built a wealth of personal finance knowledge, in particular saving and investing from a UK standpoint. His goal is to become work optional by 45 and today Ato shares his strategy (and numbers) on how he plans to get there. 

Things you’ll learn:

• Ato’s current career in tech (Agile Coach)
• Interests outside of work
• Early money influences from his parents
• Money lessons on his journey
• How he got involved in the finance/business space
• Budgeting advice for others
• How he was able to save for a deposit to buy a house
• His current investments 
• His early side hustles
• Advice for others wanting to start a side hustle
• Freedoms & options unlocked from managing his money better 
• 'Bridge Pot’ early retirement/work optional strategy and numbers
• Step by step advice for others wanting to get to work optional
• Step by step advice to start investing in the stock market
• Challenges of investing in UK
• How the Savvy Wallet platform started and what makes it a success
• His weekly schedule running the Savvy Wallet while in full time work
• His advice on how to survive in todays evolving society

Quick-fire round questions:

1. Something he wished they done 10 years ago
2. His daily habits that helped him in life
3. His most important lesson in life
4. His 2-3 Book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Ato Jay (Savvy Wallet) Links:

Don’t know what goals to aim for this year? Today I’m giving you a quick refresher on the ‘333’ goal setting method which is good timing as we kick off the new year. This method will help you pinpoint the actual goals that are relevant to you (in case you’re not sure where to start) and it also helps you create a simple plan that will actually help you execute on your goals.

Using the ‘333 method’, I take you through 8 easy steps. At the end of the exercise you will have created a simple 3 month plan to take on the first quarter of the new year. You can do this exercise in your free time in just under one hour.

Freedom Before FI Links:

As I turn 40 this month, I reflect on some of the life lessons throughout the years that have helped me on my Financial Independence journey so far. Some of these lessons I wish I knew earlier and I hope they can help you on your journey as well. This episode is Part 2 where I share life lessons 7-12.

Freedom Before FI Links:

As I turn 40 this month, I reflect on some of the life lessons throughout the years that have helped me on my Financial Independence journey so far. Some of these lessons I wish I knew earlier and I hope they can help you on your journey as well. This episode is Part 1 and I discuss six of the twelve life lessons, Part 2 will showcase the remaining six lessons.

Freedom Before FI Links:

I share some of the things I have let go in life that seemed important at the time (and sometimes immovable), to regain some of my freedom back. Freedom can come in all shapes and sizes like location freedom, freedom from stress, financial freedom, freedom from negative stuff, freedom from unhealthy things and so forth. When you let go of things holding you back, this creates more space and freedom for the positive things you want to bring more in your life. 

Freedom Before FI Links:

Nicole and Tylor are the awesome writers behind the Not Your Ordinary Plan blog, they are travel and FIRE movement enthusiasts which is what their blog is all about. They have been on their FI journey for a number of years paying off student loan debt initially then building up their nest egg whilst hitting a number of FI milestones on the way. They recently decided to take advantage of the flexibility that FI gives them and have embarked on a long term mini-retirement (or what their calling their retirement ‘test-drive’) by slow travelling around the world - currently around Asia - and have been dong so for over a year so far.

Things you’ll learn:

• Where they are in the world on their current retirement test drive
• How they both met
• How they work as a team on the FI path
• How they paid of 90k of student loans in 2 years
• Their 8 year Financial Independence journey to date
• How their love for travel started
• Hitting Coast FI and taking 3 month sabbatical
• Achieving Lean FIRE
• The car accident that changed their lives
• Their FI number target and how far along they are
• Saving and investing strategy
• Annual expenses and salaries during investment period
• Getting there Masters Degrees
• Their why of FI
• Travel expenses
• Why they decided to go on retirement test-drive
• What they have done so far on retirement test-drive and plan after
• About their Not Your Ordinary Plan blog

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something they wished they done 10 years ago
2. Their daily habits that helped them in life
3. Their most important lesson in life
4. Their book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Nicole & Tylor (Links):

The 4% rule has been one of the pillars of the FIRE community. It represents how much we can safely withdraw from our investment portfolio in retirement and It’s how we’ve calculated our FIRE number (or Nest Egg). It’s a great starting point to get into FIRE. The person who came up with the rule in 1994, Bill Bengan has now updated the rule to 4.7%. This now brings a lot of positives, one of them being we might be able to retire sooner than we originally thought. On this episode I discuss this amongst other pros and cons of the new update.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Being semi-retired is a transition period between working full time and being retired. It typically involves working on a part-time basis to cover your expenses. The FIRE milestone Barista FI is considered to be under semi-retirement and it too consists of working part time to help cover a portion of your living costs. The part time job in semi-retirement is usually a slower paced role with less stress. So what jobs can you actually do part time in semi-retirement? In this episode, I discuss 18 part time jobs ideas, I’ll also share 4 part time jobs I’ve done in the past and also 2 key things to consider before scaling down to part time.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Coast FI and Barista FI are both milestones on the Financial Independence journey. Both have pros and cons and on this episode I discuss some of the differences to think about when choosing which strategy is best for you. I’ll discuss the differences around 4 perspectives consisting of time, financial, work and risk. I also discuss some of the similarities too.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Barista FI is a milestone you can use along your Financial Independence journey to free up more time earlier on to do the things that you enjoy in life. This is a strategy you can utilise before reaching full FI, and it gives you time freedom and can help reduce your stress. On todays episode I’ll be giving an example of how you can achieve Barista FI with an average salary.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Continuing the money mistakes theme, I share 3 purchases I’ve made in the past that I’ve kinda regretted and hopefully you can learn from them on your journey to FI, or share them with your younger friends or family members so they’re aware of them too.

Freedom Before FI Links:

I share 3 money mistakes I made when I was in my 20’s, some of which I’m literally still paying for to this day. Hopefully you can learn from them on your journey to FI or share them with your younger friends or family members so they are aware of them too.

Freedom Before FI Links:

One of our main aims on the journey to Financial Independence is finding our life purpose. Today we delve into the wrong way to find purpose and an alternative approach that helps you find it the right way. This episode is inspired by the book The Purpose Code by Jordan Grumet.

Freedom Before FI Links:

We dive into case study stories from amazing early retirees and highlight some of the the key lessons they have learnt in their first few years of early retirement. As this show focuses on enjoying our journey to Financial Independence it's useful for us to be aware of any pitfalls or downsides to FI so we can plan around them in advance.

Case studies on this episode:

• Youtuber Jean Voronkova
• Alan and Katie Donegan (a.k.a The Donegan’s) from Rebel Finance School

Freedom Before FI Links:

In part 2, we dive into more case study stories from amazing early retirees and highlight some of the the key lessons they have learnt in their first few years of early retirement. As this show focuses on enjoying our journey to Financial Independence it's useful for us to be aware of any pitfalls or downsides to FI so we can plan around them in advance.

Case studies on this episode:

• Richard & Jackie from Early Retirement Wanderlust
• Joel Hart from the Camp FI Community

Freedom Before FI Links:

We dive into case study stories from amazing early retirees and highlight some of the the key lessons they have learnt in their first few years of early retirement. As this show focuses on enjoying our journey to Financial Independence it's useful for us to be aware of any pitfalls to FI so we can plan around them in advance.

Case studies mentioned on this episode:

• Maggie from the awesome Inside Out Money Podcast and platform
• Amon and Christina from the awesome Our Rich Journey finance platform.

Freedom Before FI Links:

If you’re feeling stuck and not sure what path to take in life, having the right tools in your bag might just be the key to getting unstuck. It may be that you’re trying to figure out what career to take, what business to start or what university course to take. Today I’ll be discussing the 5 tools or mindsets that designers use to help them create amazing designs, which we can also use in our lives too.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Michelle Varghese left her corporate career in tech sales in 2021 to take a sabbatical and pursue her passion projects. What was supposed to be 1 year sabbatical turned into an indefinite one. She started creative projects (like the Build a Wealth Spirit Podcast with her sister Sammie), which led to different work opportunities and collaborations. They worked together on the podcast for 4 years, she’s built a readership of 1,200 on Substack, an engaged audience of over 2,300 on X, has worked with communities like Small Bets, The Pathless Path, Write of Passage. She also created courses and now focus on being a writing coach.

We wanted to get her on the show as she is an inspiring example of how to go about pursuing work that is meaningful to you whilst balancing your finances at the same time.

Watch the full interview on YouTube:

https://youtu.be/3zjkNJdd_8A

The things you’ll learn:

• The 3-5 projects keeping her busy right now
• How she got into writing coaching  
• Her experience and advice for others taking a sabbatical
• How she got into FIRE and reaching Coast FI  
• How entrepreneurship has affected her FI strategy
• Her investment portfolio
• How she affords her creative journey and her monthly expenses
• How she is less focused on retirement and is already enjoying her life
• Her creative journey from leaving corporate until now
• Running a podcast with sister for 4 years (Build a Wealthy Spirit)
• Creative projects that stemmed from podcasting
• Finding creative mentors
• Getting into writing
• Creating a sabbatical course
• Working with online communities
• Challenges on the creative journey 
• About her journey and purpose
• Her ‘Sparketypes’ - Performer and Maven - how it shoes up in her life now
• Her writing coaching and the process of being a writing student
• Advice for beginner writers 
• Advice about taking a leap into creative journey

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something she wished she done 10 years ago
2. The daily habits that helped her on her journey
3. Her most important lesson in life
4. Her transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Michelle Varghese (Links):

There are some obvious and common benefits to being on the FI journey, although there are a few little aspects that are not talked about as much when in fact they are superpowers. On this episode I talk about the hidden benefit of saving and investing and how it can significantly help you especially when faced with difficult moments in life.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Justin Peters the host of the FI Minded Podcast (formerly the Struggle is Real Podcast). Started in 2020 and now has over 175 episodes. FI Minded is for anyone who wants to achieve financial freedom, live life on their own terms, and, most importantly, enjoy the journey along the way! After a 7 month sabbatical in 2020, he got into entrepreneurship after 7 years in corporate and now runs a podcast production company (SimplePod Studios), reducing his 9-5 job to part time. I really wanted to get Justin on the show because we share a similar message, which is about enjoying the journey to FI and taking advantage of the incremental freedoms you unlock on the way. Justin’s reached Coast FI and has unlocked a few of those things on his journey and its what we’ll be talking about today...

The things you’ll learn:

• His FI number target and progress to date
• His investment portfolio split
• His 8 year FI journey and what started it
• His salary, expenses and savings rates
• Transition from corporate to entrepreneurship
• How he’s less concerned about saving now
• His 7 month mini-retirement
• Advice for taking a sabbatical and what to do on one
• The projects he started while on sabbatical 
• His podcasting story
• Going back to work after a sabbatical
• Downshifting to a part time role to focus more on his business
• How his business aligns with his identity 
• How to negotiate part time work with your boss
• Reaching Coast FI & incremental freedoms on FI journey
• How he structures his week for success (juggling podcasting, part time role and business)
• What would change in his life if he reached FI 
• Working towards building a life you don’t want to retire from
• The power of ‘FI Bucket Lists’

“There are smart managers out there that realise they’d rather get a portion of a very high performing employee than a 100% of an underperforming employee” (Justin on negotiating part time work)

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something he wished he done 10 years ago
2. The daily habits that helped him in his life
3. His most important lesson in life
4. His transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Justin Peters (Links):

Slow FI (or Slow Financial Independence) is a philosophy coined by the Fioneers that focuses more on intentionally enjoying your journey to FI as oppose to focusing purely on the numbers and speed at which you get to retire early. Its about designing your life intentionally with your values so that you can enjoy the fruits of your hard earned savings now, instead of grinding it out to the finish line. On this episode I talk about 3 ways that I’ve implemented the Slow FI concept in my journey to bring about more happiness and alignment with my values.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Slow living is about making intentional choices that prioritize your well-being and happiness. It’s about finding balance and being aware that you don’t have to fill every moment with tasks and to-do lists to feel accomplished. By slowing down, you allow yourself to fully experience your life, savoring each moment rather than rushing through it. On this episode I discuss some ways you can incorporate slow living in your Financial Independence journey to bring about more peace and balance.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Slow FI (or Slow Financial Independence) is a philosophy coined by the Fioneers that focuses more on intentionally enjoying your journey to FI as oppose to focusing purely on the numbers and speed at which you get to retire early. Its about designing your life intentionally with your values so that you can enjoy the fruits of your hard earned savings now, instead of grinding it out to the finish line. If you are regularly feeling burnout on your journey, it may be a sign to adopt a slower approach. On this episode I talk through 5 basic steps to transition over to a more Slow FI lifestyle.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Brenda is the founder of the Firespark Retreat, a weekend FIRE-focused event held in Victoria, Australia. The weekend is full of workshops and seminars about frugality, purpose, lifestyle design, sharing personal stories and just enjoy the company of like minded FI enthusiasts. Brenda recently moved to Brisbane in Australia from Melbourne and is around two thirds of her way to FI with her partner, however she’s been enjoying the benefits being on the journey has offered, like taking a 12 month sabbatical recently, travelling, building a FIRE community and negotiating work perks like a 4 day condensed work week.

The things you’ll learn:

• Brenda’s quick background
• Moving from Melbourne to Brisbane
• What’s life like in Brisbane
• Brenda’s interests and hobbies
• How her first investment was property 
• Current Investment portfolio (now mostly in Shares)
• Superannuation for Australians
• Half way numbers wise, but two thirds of the way to FIRE
• Current work situation and working for the government
• Condensed work weeks: 4 days a week (Fridays off)
• Asking for perks at work
• How being on FI journey gives you a superpower 
• Importance of FI community
• 7-8 years on FI journey so far
• How she started her FI journey
• Moving from property investment to shares
• The FI bloggers that inspired her 
• Doing FI with her partner
• Couple dynamics on FI journey
• Freedoms unlocked for her
• Her 12month sabbatical  
• The FIRE Spark FI Weekend Retreats
• Benefits of attending the retreats (connecting with others)

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something she wished he done 10 years ago
2. The daily habits that helped her in her life
3. Brenda’s most important lesson in life
4. Brenda’s transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started 

Brenda’s Websites/Socials:

Michael Houghton is the host of the Irish FIRE Podcast and also shares his journey to FI through his monthly portfolio updates on his website. He also writes about FI for the Irish Independent. He moved from New Zealand to Ireland and in a short span of 7 years has become Financially Independent with a portfolio consisting of mostly property developments as well as index funds. He built his portfolio from hustling in the tech industry and being self employed. He is now transitioning to Semi-Retirement. Throughout his journey, Michael has realised the importance of lifestyle design and finding out what FI is really about, which is living an extraordinary life on your own terms.

The things you’ll learn:

• Michael’s background and upbringing
• Why he moved to Ireland from New Zealand
• Life in Limerick and what its like living there
• Michael’s personal interests
• His 700k+ Investment Portfolio (75% Property and 25% Stocks)
• His 40k target passive income for family of 5
• Living in Ireland during his FI Journey
• Financial Freedom v Financial Independence
• Property v Index Fund Investing pros and cons
• The silver lining that Covid had on his FI journey
• Michael’s take on Lifestyle Design
• Experiencing part time work
• How he worked on 2 jobs and having a 75% savings rate
• Working for the government in a seasonal role (around 200 days year)
• The Freedoms FI has unlocked for him
• How FI has improved family relationships
• How he teaches his kids about money
• About his kids investing in stocks
• Writing for the The Irish Independent newspaper 
• Filling your days with purpose activities 

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something he wished he done 10 years ago
2. The daily habits that helped Michael in his life
3. Michael’s most important lesson in life
4. Michaels transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started investing

Michael’s Websites/Socials:

In your financial freedom journey, one of the debts you may still have is student loan debt from University . Based on where you took your loan and the loan type the interest rate can vary massively. On this episode, I’ll explain from my point of view whether you should pay off all your student loan debt or use that money to invest instead, which is one crossroad you may find yourself in on this FI path. I’ll also share what I’m doing about my student loans.

Freedom Before FI Links:

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today, you will hear the transformational books that have helped them in their journeys. These books are mainly self development and personal finance/financial freedom related. There are also some podcast and YouTube channel recommendations as well.

On this second part you will hear from the following guests:

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today, you will hear the transformational books that have helped shape their lives. These books are mainly self development and personal finance/financial freedom related. There are also some podcast and YouTube channel recommendations as well.

On this first part you will hear from the following guests:

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today you will hear snippets of those golden nuggets and continuing with that theme you will hear the positive daily habits that have helped them in their journeys. On this second part you’ll hear from the following guests:

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today you will hear snippets of those golden nuggets and continuing with the theme you will hear the simple daily habits that have helped them in their journeys. On this first part you will hear from the following guests:

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today you will hear snippets of those golden nuggets starting with their most import life lesson so far in their journeys. On this second part you will hear from the following guests (guest 6-9):

In my first year of running this show I’ve interviewed some amazingly talented individuals and I wanted to package some of their pearls of wisdom in a few short episodes. Today you will hear snippets of those golden nuggets starting with their most import life lesson so far in their journeys. On this first part you will hear from the following guests (5 of 9):

Ryan is the host of Making Money Simple, a personal finance platform helping people (mainly based in the UK) save and invest. He’s been steadily investing for 7-8 years, amassing around 140k pounds in investments mainly through global index funds. He recently moved from the UK to Australia and calls himself a ‘normal bloke’. On this episode, Ryan breaks down the step by step process of how to invest in global index funds from his book ‘Stop Waiting Start Investing: Build Wealth With 10 Minutes Of Work’.

The things you’ll learn:

• Ryan’s quick intro
• What life is like in Melbourne, Australia
• How he invests from Australia
• Ryan’s hobbies and interests on his FI journey
• Is Making Money Simple his Ikigai
• His investment portfolio allocation (140k GBP total invested)
• Global index funds and why he recommends them
• How much money Ryan has invested compared to gains
• Books that influenced his investing journey
• Mistakes he’s made on the journey
• Ryan’s FI target number
• Balancing saving and living a good life
• Why he wrote the book Stop Waiting Start Investing
• How beginners can start investing
• Part 1 - Investing foundation
• Part 2 - Index funds Overview
• Part 3 - 3 step blueprint to investing (platforms, tax-advantaged accounts, index funds)
• How much to invest monthly
• Potential Part 4 of the book

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something you wished you done 10 years ago?
2. The daily habits that helped Ryan in his life
3. Ryans most important lesson in life
4. Ryans transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to get started investing

Watch on Youtube:

https://youtu.be/Ik-6zVrjUVM?si=VS9M17utKTStE1vv

Ryan’s Websites/Socials:

Sometimes you need to shut off or put yourself in a situation without gadgets and gismo’s to reflect and think. Long distance running events are a great way to do that. I recently ran a 16km race in Manila and I was reminded of some key life lessons - on the financial independence journey - while on the race and I wanted to share them with you.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Our guest today Andy Ovaseas retired early at 35 and used Geoarbitrage (living in a low cost of living country) as well as tax advantages living in South America (Panama) to help him get there. Andy writes at the blog ’60 Seconds to FIRE’ and also is the author of the book the ‘Ultimate Mini-Retirement Guide'. He also runs a Facebook group ‘Retire with Geo FIRE’ which has over 2,700 members and counting.

The things you’ll learn:

• How long Andy has been FI
• The reality of being Financially Independent 
• How being FI has made him more productive
• His journey to get to FI by 35 
• How he started investing in Crypto 
• Why he moved to Panama (and Tax Advantages)
• The Basics of Options Trading and how he uses it to earn an income
• His monthly passive income targets
• How you can return an extra 10+ % from trading Options
• How Options pays for his living costs 
• How others can move to tax advantage country and also trade options for income
• Benefits and challenges of doing geoarbitrage in Panama
• Mini-retirement guide book - introducing the book and why he wrote it
• Advice for anyone thinking about geoarbitrage and mini-retirements - using the book as a guide - step by step process from before the trip to while on the trip
• Integrating into a new community 

Quick-fire round questions at the end:

1. Something you wished you done 10 years ago?
2. The daily habits that helped Andy in his life
3. Andy’s most important lesson in life
4. Andy’s transformational book recommendations
5. 1-2 small things listeners can do this week to help them retire early

Andys Websites/Socials:

• Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/share/g/15XJXUESbz/Retire with GeoFire 
• Andys Book: The Ultimate Mini-Retirement Guide: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0DWKVB2M4
• Substack: https://60secondstofire.substack.com/
• FAT FIRE Conference (more details in the FB group)

Freedom Before FI Links:

We have been trained since we were young to approach happiness in the wrong way. On this episode we talk about the alternative way to approach our lives so that we can lead fulfilled lives on our journey to Financial Independence. 

Freedom Before FI Links:

Most of us have it wrong when we are aiming for a goal or aspiration, this one mindset shift is very simple but profound and can really help push you to achieve success in your life. We can use this for aspirations like finding happiness, finding freedom, achieving our relationship goals, achieving our personal finance goals and so on.

Freedom Before FI Links:

We know what most of the benefits are for using Coast FI (or Coast Financial Independence) as a strategy to start enjoying our lives sooner. However, there are some pitfalls and downsides we do need to be aware of before jumping into Coast FI. On this episode I’ll be continuing on from the first part although the potential risks and downsides on this episode are not commonly talked about.

Freedom Before FI Links:

We know what most of the benefits are for using Coast FI (or Coast Financial Independence) as a strategy to start enjoying our lives sooner. However, there are some pitfalls and downsides we do need to be aware of before jumping into Coast FI. On the next two episodes I’ll be discussing what those are and some ways to tackle them. This episode will cover downsides 1-3.

Freedom Before FI Links:

Is Financial Independence only for those with high six figure salaries? On this episode, I discuss some example scenarios on how members of the FI community can achieve Coast FI (Cost Financial Independence) based on an average salary. Coast FI is a milestone on the way to traditional full FI and it can help unlock freedoms along the way.

Coast FI Calculator referenced on the show: