#734: Depending on which source you ask, the U.S. is short somewhere between 1.2 million and 10 million homes — and the reason for that wild range says as much about who's counting as it does about the shortage itself.

👉 Free cheat sheet: which investments belong in which account: https://affordanything.com/assetlocation

This week, Paula and Joe tackle three listener questions: whether the housing shortage is real or a wealth-concentration problem, whether a 26-year-old should pay off his mortgage or keep investing toward financial independence, and how to simplify a portfolio spread across 13 funds.

We discuss:

• Whether the housing shortage is real — or just wealthy people buying vacation homes
• Why entry-level starter homes are in shorter supply than luxury homes - A simple way to add housing supply in your area while increasing your own rental income
• How to simplify a $1.5 million portfolio spread across 13 funds without losing tax efficiency
• Which investments belong in a Roth account vs. a 401(k) vs. a taxable account
• Why taking a 30-year mortgage (and paying it off fast) can beat a 15-year mortgage
• How to decide whether to pay off a mortgage early or invest the difference instead

Whether you're trying to make sense of housing headlines, tidy up a portfolio that's grown out of control, or figure out what to do with extra cash each month, this episode will help you think more clearly about the trade-offs.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(01:41) Is America's housing shortage actually real?

(06:29) The real numbers behind the housing shortage

(14:29) A stunning stat on building permits vs. new jobs

(24:32) A simple way to add housing and earn more

(28:23) A caller's plan to retire in 15 years

(33:01) Which accounts should hold which investments

(40:22) Why more funds can beat fewer funds

(52:19) A costly bias that skews money decisions

(58:46) Should a 26-year-old rush to pay off his mortgage?

(1:09:04) A gut-check for choosing between two paths

🔗 RESOURCES

👉 Free cheat sheet: which investments belong in which account: https://affordanything.com/assetlocation

👉 7 Expensive Rental Property Mistakes to Avoid (free guide): https://affordanything.com/rent

👉 Practical Investing and the Efficient Frontier, with Joe Saul-Sehy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tz59b5H5puw

👉 Submit your own question for a future episode: https://affordanything.com/voicemail

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#733: Venture fund managers can collect years of fees before a single dollar comes back to investors — and the bar to hand over your money is lower than you'd think.

David Bell spent 20 years as a chaired professor at Wharton before co-founding the venture firm Idea Farm Ventures, where he's backed early-stage brands like Bonobos, Warby Parker, and Jet.com.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How venture funds actually make money, and why nearly every one runs on the same fee formula
• Why fund managers get paid before they've invested anything
• Why the bar to invest in risky private deals is lower than you'd think
• What to ask before trusting any fund manager with your money
• The one red flag that should make you think twice about an eager fund manager
• How some investors make an all-or-nothing bet on a single breakout company
• Why taking outside money can quietly change what a founder is optimizing for

Whether you're weighing becoming a fund investor yourself or you're a founder deciding whether outside money is worth what it costs, this episode gives you a clearer read on how the venture world actually works.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(03:41) How venture capital actually works, in three tiers

(06:09) The fee formula nearly every venture fund runs on

(10:30) Why fund managers get paid before they invest anything

(14:19) The surprisingly low bar to invest in risky deals

(26:52) What to ask before trusting any fund manager

(29:27) How investors make an all-or-nothing bet on one company

(34:33) The red flag hiding in an eager fund manager

(42:16) What separates a great fund manager from a mediocre one

(48:10) How outside money quietly changes what a founder optimizes for

(55:47) Why kids today may never remember life before AI

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 The free FiiRE Playbook breaks down all seven entrepreneur types — from bootstrapper to funder — so you can see which game you're actually playing: https://affordanything.com/fiire

👉 David Bell's website: https://www.davidbell.co

👉 Lost and Founder by Rand Fishkin: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/547217/lost-and-founder-by-rand-fishkin

👉 Burn Rate by Andy Dunn: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/653309/burn-rate-by-andy-dunn

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#732: Where you live is already deciding what you'll buy today, before you've even made up your mind. And it turns out the customers your local stores ignore completely are often a brand's most valuable ones.

David Bell spent twenty years as a Wharton marketing professor before becoming one of the earliest investors in Warby Parker, Bonobos, and Diapers.com. He's now co-founder of the consumer venture studio Idea Farm Ventures.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why the same person makes different purchases depending on where they live
• How four college students' "nutty idea" became Warby Parker
• Why the customers your local store ignores can become your best customers
• Why a failed meal-kit startup accidentally proved a rule about demand
• How a founder turned a boring hand sanitizer into a ten-dollar status symbol
• Why AI can now replicate a $100,000 market research study for almost nothing

This episode is for anyone building — or dreaming of building — their own brand, product, or side hustle, and who wants to understand why people really open their wallets.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(00:00) Introduction: the invisible forces behind your spending

(02:08) From Wharton professor to venture capitalist: meet David Bell

(07:32) The Warby Parker origin story: born in office hours

(11:27) The "preference minority": why location shapes what you buy

(23:12) Beyond necessities: targeting discretionary spending online

(31:00) Getting creative offline: postal routes, school buses, and neighborhood showrooms

(43:37) Where AI actually fits into consumer innovation

(50:49) Touchland: how a "boring" category became a status symbol

(55:13) Building a business — and an AI board of directors — from scratch

(57:32) Recap: three key takeaways, and what's coming Friday 

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

👉 Not sure which kind of entrepreneur you are? Our free 10-day guide helps you find your path — and add the emotional layer that makes people pay more: https://affordanything.com/fiire

👉 David Bell's work at Idea Farm Ventures: https://www.davidbell.co

👉 David Bell's book, Location Is (Still) Everything: https://amzn.to/4aUO3Gh

👉 Touchland, the hand sanitizer brand: https://touchland.com
👉 Brad Stone book The Everything Store - Jeff Bezos and the Age of Amazon https://amzn.to/4w6ZT8I

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your mailman: https://affordanything.com/episode732

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#731: What if the best way to test a new hire wasn't a resume, but a two-hour breakfast? One CEO built his entire hiring process around it — and it worked.

Lorraine Marchand spent three decades in leadership roles at companies like IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and LabCorp, and interviewed more than 120 CEOs for her book on what actually makes teams innovate. Now she teaches at Wharton and Columbia Business School, and in this episode she joins Paula to share what really works.

In this episode, we discuss:

• How one CEO used a casual team breakfast to test whether a new hire was the right fit before they came on board
• A simple three-question test to figure out if a bad job culture is fixable, or if it's time to start looking elsewhere
• Why a weekly 30-minute habit of talking about what's not working can make a team stronger
• How to network your way into opportunities early in your career, even if you're worried AI will replace you first
• What new research on memory loss and heavy AI use means for how you should be using these tools
• How to protect your job in your 50s and 60s as companies push AI adoption on everyone
• Where Marchand thinks the next wave of entrepreneurial opportunity is actually hiding (hint: it's not another app)

Whether you're building a team from scratch, trying to decide if a toxic job is worth fixing, or just trying to use AI without losing your edge, this episode gives you practical takeaways you can put to use right away.

⏱️ TIMESTAMPS

Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements.

(02:00) – The team breakfast test: how one CEO used a shared meal to hire the right people

(17:38) Should you try to fix a bad culture, or start looking for a new job?

(26:29) Why people follow good bosses, not companies

(28:26) Networking advice for people early in their career

(30:25) What heavy AI use might be doing to your memory and thinking

(31:06) AI job displacement and the skills worth building now

(50:56) Using AI as a thought partner to build emotional intelligence

(58:23) Advice for workers in their 50s and 60s worried about AI and ageism

(1:06:00) Building a team of humans and AI "agents" — including an AI board of directors

(1:14:43) Where Marchand sees the next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation heading

🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED

THE SIMPLE THREE-STEP PROCESS THAT CHANGES HOW YOU THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING 👉https://affordanything.com/turnitaround 

Landit – The AI-powered interview and communication prep tool mentioned in the episode 👉 https://www.landitinterview.ai/

Lorraine Marchand's website 👉 https://www.lorrainemarchand.com/

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#730: What does it actually mean to have "enough" — and how do you know when it's time to stop optimizing and start living?

AVOIDING THE REAL ESTATE MISTAKES IN THIS FREE GUIDE COULD SAVE YOU $10,000 OR MORE 👉https://affordanything.com/mistakes 

In today's episode:

Jax, a longtime listener, has hit a mindset shift — prioritizing sabbaticals and shared experiences over pure accumulation. He wants to know if his financial strategy still matches his values, how to deploy his home sale proceeds, when to assemble a financial team, and whether he and his wife have truly reached Coast FI.

Megan and her wife are realtors in Baltimore who also flip houses. They're weighing whether to keep flipping, build a rental portfolio, or lean harder into retirement accounts and index funds — and want a framework for balancing it all as they plan for more travel and time with family.

And Reema lives with her husband in the home she grew up in — which her mother still owns. As they plan renovations and think ahead to her mother's eventual estate, she's looking for guidance on how to split the inheritance fairly with her siblings.

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your dog sitter4: https://affordanything.com/episode730

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#729: The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June. Economists expected 115,000.

Meanwhile, inflation hit a three-year high. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index - the Fed's favorite inflation gauge - jumped 4.1 percent year-over-year.

That combination creates a problem. Weak jobs usually push the Fed to cut rates. Hot inflation pushes them to hike. In this First Friday episode, we break down which way the Fed might lean at its September meeting, and why traders see an 80 percent chance rates stay frozen for now.

We also dig into Kevin Warsh's debut as Fed Chairman. His first official statement ran only 132 words, one of the shortest in Fed history. He cut forward guidance – the practice of making guesses about what the Fed will do next. He removed the names of dissenting voters. His statement mentioned price stability but skipped maximum employment, and we explain why that omission matters.

Central banks around the world moved in the opposite direction. The European Central Bank raised rates for the first time since 2023, responding to a 10.9 percent surge in energy prices. The Bank of Japan hiked rates to their highest level in 31 years. Australia, Norway, Indonesia, the Philippines and Israel joined in. Brazil was the only country to cut rates – down to 14.25 percent.

We cover China's consumer spending decline, the first since the pandemic ended, driven by a 16.1 percent drop in auto sales and a real estate crash that drained middle-class wealth.

We end the episode with a deep dive into NYC's rent freeze – who gets the benefit, and who pays the price?

⏱️ Timestamps:

Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments.

(00:00) US Job Market Cooling Off

(04:52) Fed’s Stance on Interest Rates

(07:29) New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Priorities

(17:21) Global Interest Rate Hikes

(21:47) Impact of Stable US Rates & Global Trends

(26:24) Inflation Data and Predictions

(30:38) Consumer Sentiment: US vs. China

(40:00) NYC Rent Freeze: History, Policies, and Today

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your landlord: https://affordanything.com/episode729

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#728: What do you do when you suddenly have $850,000 and no idea what to do with it?

GET TOTAL CLARITY ON WHERE EVERY DOLLAR BELONGS 👉 https://affordanything.com/cornerstone

On today’s Q&A, one caller recently inherited $850,000 from his mother. He's already wealthy, earns over $500K a year, and has a solid net worth — but he's anxious, lost, and doesn't want to make a decision he can't undo. Paula and Joe walk him through exactly what they'd do.

Then, a federal law enforcement officer responds to Jane from episode 722. He pushes back on our diagnosis of her stress — and makes a compelling case that it's not the mandatory retirement age that's the problem. It's the minimum. He shares how he's survived the final stretch of a career he no longer loves, and what he'd tell Jane about the years she still has ahead.

Finally, a caller who is pregnant, recently promoted, and about to have a very hard conversation with her employer. She wants to go part-time after maternity leave — but HR is bureaucratic and the stakes are high. When should she ask? How should she ask? And should she be saving differently right now just in case they say no?

Mentioned in today's episode:

• Interview with Family Law Attorney Aaron Thomas https://affordanything.com/episode582
• Full show notes at https://affordanything.com/episode728
• Download the Four Cornerstones worksheet to see exactly where every dollar belongs https://affordanything.com/cornerstone

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#727: Not sure what your next money move should be? Start with the free FiiRE Playbook 👉 https://affordanything.com/fiire

Dr. Julia Garcia is a psychologist, behavioral researcher, and author of The Five Habits of Hope — and she's spent years studying why smart, hardworking people stay stuck.

What if the biggest thing standing between you and your financial goals isn't your income, your debt, or the housing market — but your own brain?

I sat down with Dr. Garcia to unpack the neuroscience of hope, why apathy is more dangerous than despair, and the five habits that can rewire your brain — and your relationship with money — for good.

(00:00) Hope is not a feeling — it's a cognitive process

(05:00) The real reason you can't save money (it's not imposter syndrome)

(08:11) Hopelessness vs. despair — and why the difference matters

(13:05) The biggest danger isn't despair — it's apathy

(21:10) How avoiding feelings leads to avoiding financial decisions

(23:45) The "maybe" technique that interrupts negative thought loops

(39:26) Habit 2: Risk — why comfort is killing your courage

(54:59) Habit 4: Receive — why you can't hold onto wealth you don't feel worthy of

(01:01:41) Habit 5: Repurpose — seeing worth where others see waste

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🛠 TOOLS AND RESOURCES:

Check out The 5 Habits of Hope, a book by Dr. Julia Garcia - https://amzn.to/4oUzoRj

Dr. Garcia’s Bio - https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjuliagarcia

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Watch the video of this episode https://youtu.be/hx1fJcok6Mk

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#726: Hey, we're mixing it up today with a super deep dive. We normally go fairly deep on this show, but today we're going even deeper and turning one caller's question into a case study.

Download the Four Cornerstone Worksheet to follow along: ⁠www.affordanything.com/cornerstone⁠

An anonymous caller is reevaluating their finances after a series of health challenges, caregiving responsibilities, and major life changes. With most of their wealth tied up in retirement accounts, they’re wondering how to balance tax advantages against the need for greater flexibility and access to their money.

We spend most of the episode answering this question in deep detail. At the end of the episode, we talk to another caller whose HOA hit her with a massive unexpected bill.

She bought into an HOA, turned her former home into a rental, and years later was hit with a surprise $15,000 special assessment—with only months to pay and no payment plan available. Now she's wondering why the risks of HOA ownership, especially the possibility of massive special assessments, aren't discussed more often—and what prospective buyers should know before purchasing in an HOA community.”

We'll dig into that in today's episode.

Resources:

• Download the Four Cornerstone Worksheet: www.affordanything.com/cornerstone
• 7 Expensive Mistakes Real Estate Investors Make: http://afforanything.com/mistakes
• Video: Japan's Soccer Fans with Blue Bags
• Video: Norway's Vikings Fans on Escalator

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#725: Most people assume their financial advisor is legally required to put their interests first. That's not always true.

Andrea Baumann Lustig, a wealth advisor with 30 years of experience, joins us to walk through the blind spots she sees most often in legacy planning -- the deeply held beliefs that quietly undermine people's financial futures.

We start with something most people never think to ask: how is your advisor actually registered?

There are three categories.

Registered representatives (stockbrokers) are held to a "best interest" standard - but they don't have to disclose when they earn a higher commission for recommending a specific investment.

Fiduciaries are held to a stricter standard - they must put your interests ahead of their own.

And 45 percent of advisors are dually registered, meaning they can switch between those two standards depending on which account they're discussing with you.

Most clients have no idea this is happening.

From there, we dig into what Lustig calls the "quarterback" problem. Many people have a financial advisor, an estate planning attorney, an accountant, and an insurance agent - but those specialists never talk to each other. Without someone coordinating the full picture, opportunities get missed and risks go unseen.

We also talk through what happens when people try to manage everything themselves, why having multiple investment advisors can actually backfire (think: wash sale rule violations and hidden concentration risk), and why a revocable trust matters even if you don't think you're wealthy enough to need one.

Lustig explains the three Ps a revocable trust protects against - probate, incapacitation, and privacy - and why even people in their 30s and 40s should consider setting one up now.

The conversation closes with advice for small business owners on how to think about a business that might not be sellable - and how to plan around it anyway.

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.

(00:00) Intro

(04:52) Three types of financial advisors explained

(07:11) Fiduciary vs. best interest standard

(13:21) Dangers of dually registered advisors

(17:26) Why you need a planning quarterback

(22:42) Risks of using multiple investment advisors

(35:10) Who benefits from holistic wealth management

(38:50) The three Ps of a revocable trust

(42:19) Returning to the blind spots overview

(45:40) Risks of managing money yourself

(55:13) Key questions to ask a new advisor

(1:03:34) Index funds vs. active management

(1:10:04) Asset allocation and rebalancing strategy

(1:19:10) Legacy planning for small business owners

(1:25:54) How to spot your own blind spots

Resources:

• Book: Legacy on the Line: Overcome Blind Spots to Grow and Transfer Your Wealth by Andrea Baumann Lustig
• Free download: The FiiRE Playbook

Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your estate attorney: https://affordanything.com/episode725

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#724: Linda Hill, a Harvard Business School professor, and Jason Wild, an innovation consultant who has led projects in 40 countries, join us to break down how organizations innovate.

Linda and Jason have spent decades studying companies that consistently produce breakthroughs - from Pixar to Delta Airlines to Cleveland Clinic - and they've identified three leadership roles that matter most: the Architect, the Bridger, and the Catalyst.

The Architect builds a culture where people feel safe enough to take risks.

The Bridger - which Linda calls the "revenge of middle management" - spans the gaps between departments, partners, and outside organizations where innovation often stalls and dies.

The Catalyst builds coalitions across broader ecosystems to get things done.

We get into what separates co-creation from consensus - and why consensus almost never produces anything great. Linda explains what she calls "creative abrasion": the practice of rubbing ideas against each other through debate and discourse, rather than smoothing over disagreements to keep the peace.

We also talk about what individual employees can do when they work inside slow, tradition-bound organizations. The short answer: find the people who share your interests, build a coalition, and work your way up - not by chasing the most powerful person in the room, but by starting with whoever cares about the same problem you do.

The conversation touches on AI and what it actually takes to stay relevant as a knowledge worker. Linda and Jason both land on the same answer - the ability to build trust and relationships in low-trust environments is one of the hardest things for AI to replicate.

• Linda and Jason can be found at geniusatscale.com
• Download the FIIRE playbook: affordanything.com/FIIRE

Timestamps:

Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths.

(00:00) Innovation leadership and the ABC framework

(02:19) Architect, Bridger, and Catalyst roles

(04:18) Studying Pixar and innovation cultures

(06:14) Co-creation versus consensus thinking

(07:12) Creative abrasion and productive debate

(08:41) Bridgers connecting teams and partners

(10:50) Delta biometric boarding pass example

(12:56) Relationship skills in the AI era

(15:40) AI, trust, and human judgment

(18:50) Rio collaboration across government silos

(22:53) Innovating inside traditional organizations

(25:18) ANA teleportation project and coalition building

(30:49) Power of questions for innovation

(32:42) Shared purpose versus top-down purpose

(43:27) Better decision-making through clear criteria

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