About this episode
After four weeks of hosting the live weekly show via Stereo, Brad and Jonathan continue to refine the format and come up with ideas for improving the experience. Jonathan needs some specialized dental work performed and the dentist he found is out-of-network. Insurance isn't going to cover much in this situation, but thankfully, it doesn't put him in financial straits. As they reminisce about being children of the 80s, Brad and Jonathan come to the conclusion that time moves on and the rulebook changes. If you are stuck in a world that doesn't exist, you aren't going to be successful. Be aware that things change and be open-minded. Google is coming out with its own certificate programs in project management, data analytics, and user experience design through Coursera what will cost most around $250. Google is partnering with 130 other companies to partner with them to hire the graduates of these programs. In past decades, a college degree may have mattered, but in 2020, employers are looking for what can you do or what have you done, not necessarily the degree. Listener Colin called in to say that he started a side hustle last year teaching people computer programming and asked about how to go about finding new clients. Jonathan says that as a business owner, Colin has a product he has created and needs to figure out how to deliver that product, ensure a great experience, find new customers, and finally scale and grow the business. For Colin's business, is there an awareness problem or is there a problem converting awareness into sales? Brad says something that has worked for him is making connections within his niche and be authentic. Jonathan suggests establishing yourself as a subject matter expert using LinkedIn and Quora and a blog or podcast to begin attracting people interested in the subject. Another thing Colin should do is demonstrate his course has value, get testimonials, and constantly test and iterate. Marjorie called in because she knows how much Jonathan loves the Paprika app, but recommends a similar app called Whisk. It can download recipes from the internet, but you can also take pictures of recipes to upload to the app. Plus, it organizes recipes really well, has a weekly meal planner, and can create a shopping list. The next caller said she loved the coaching call that Jonathan did with Corrine and would love to hear more of those kinds of episodes. Jonathan worked with Households of FI member, Corrine to map out her FI number. Jonathan recommends watching the video for that episode because he shared a lot of screenshots while working with Corrine. Similar to the recipe app Whisk, Brad said that he could have saved money on his recent CT scan using MDSave. Instead of being charged $2,093 for his scan, a provider found through MDSave would have cost him just $289. He was eventually able to negotiate the bill down to around $1,300, but that is still much higher than he needed to pay. The next caller from LA is a side hustle addict. He has been self-employed his whole life and realizes that his nest egg is very small. He wants to know where he should focus his investments for retirement. The caller has a choice between a SEP IRA, a Simple IRA, and a solo 401K. There may be some advantages to using one over the other depending on the size of the business. Brad has set up a SEP IRA and thinks that a solo 401K would have allowed him to defer more money by contributing as the employee and employer. A SEP IRA only allows for employer contributions. If he still meets the income thresholds, the option for a Roth IRA may also be available. There is little downside to contributing to a Roth IRS since contributions can be withdrawn tax and penalty-free. The next caller shared what they would do if looking for a career move. For their technology and financial services company, they would focus on people and find out everything they could about them so that they could engage in relevant small talk. This advice follows nicely with the points Chris Hutchins made in episode 121R. A weak point for a lot of is how can you build a system around building authentic relationships over time? This was something discussed with Jordan Harbinger in episode 233. The next caller wants to know how to account for a mortgage that you expect to pay off during retirement when calculating your FI number. Jonathan plans to pay his mortgage off before beginning to drawdown his investments, however, he calculates his FI number based on what his life costs with a mortgage. It gives him a bit of a fudge factor. Your FI number is calculated by taking your annual expenses and multiplying it by 25. If you plan on paying your mortgage off before retiring, remove the payment from your annual expenses. While principal and interest can be eliminated, taxes and insurance will not be and should be included in your annual expenses. A multi-phased approach will need to be employed to calculate your FI number if planning on paying off the mortgage during retirement. Listener Phil called and left a voicemail asking about tax tips for those with side hustle income and how to balance work-life, side work, and life in general. Jonathan thinks turning a hobby into a business is a great way to explore something within the confines of a business entity. Brad's tax tip is good record keeping and keeping things separate from your personal accounts. Jonathan also likes the thought of putting advertising expenses on a business card that earns travel rewards, like the Chase Ink Business Preferred, since advertising is a legitimate deductible business expense. A work-life balance can be tough. Jonathan says the biggest misconception is that you're always going to be balanced all of the time but there will be sprints and tilts. It's how it averages out over time. Experiment and test a bunch of different things, but don't put a massive amount of time into something with no ROI or thought to the balance and other areas of our life. If you aren't going to be in balance and there are other people relying on you, have a conversation about it. Communication will always buy you more room. Map out the cadence to your life and realize where you have control of your time. You might have a boss that needs to sign off on it, but if you work for yourself, you don't need to ask for permission to make time. Resources Mentioned In Today's Conversation ChooseFI Episode 121R How to Get Any Job ChooseFI Episode 304 Mapping Out Your FI Number | Households of FI with Corrine MDSave ChooseFI Episode 274 Tax Planning 2020 ChooseFI Episode 289 The Roth 401K ChooseFI Episode 233 Networking with Jordan Harbinger Join us for the next live show at ChooseFI.com/live. ChooseFI.com/cards ChooseFI Episode 168 Make Time Learn why the Chase Sapphire Preferred is one of our favorite cards. If You Want To Support ChooseFI: Earn $1,000 in cashback with ChooseFI's 3-card credit card strategy. Share FI by sending a friend ChooseFI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence .