036 | In today's podcast with Jim Collins from The Simple Path to Wealth and JL Collins NH, we discuss the Chautauquas, in-person events plus an 'Ask Me Anything' series of questions from our ChooseFI community. The old saying, the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, and the second best time is today/. JL: It’s been a while since I’ve written it. I watch that and I think to myself, wait a second, you’ve had a managerial position for 20 years and you are so financially weak that you’re going to lose your house in three months. He is a prolific world traveler, having visited more than 30 countries on five continents via motorcycle, car, train, plane, boat—and even elephant. Thanks Davorin Robison for being our sound engineer. I was like, well, I kind of feel bad about this, but then I was reading you, I was like, oh, well, like JL He has been doing it for decades and not here yet. We’ll check it out. JL Collins, a.k.a., the Godfather of FI, talks about two recent interviews on the “Afford Anything” podcast with Suze Orman (personal finance expert and former CNBC talk show host). It’s amazingly difficult to outperform the market. F-you money, in my mind, wasn’t enough to never work again. We offer tools for this, and then if you want to talk to an advisor, you can, but we only charge for time, any of that stuff. It’s just like we’ve seen more and more people go index funds. That alone is not a guarantee. JL: We had conversations over the years and it probably took me 10, 15 years before I really finally looked at it with an open mind. Right? I also maybe a little bit more on the F-you money. Episode 1013: Why Your House Is A Terrible Investment by JL Collins on The Home Buying Decision & Should I Rent Or Buy . By Danielle Bautista, Tim Ranzetta | Jun 29, 2018 | Podcasts, Index Funds, Investing, Budgeting, Behavioral Finance It started out innocently enough...he wanted to write letters of financial advice to his daughter. That’s awesome. The great irony, by the way, is Jack Bogle started Vanguard, and I believe he started the first index fund that S&P 500 index fund in 1975. Written by. Apr 26. Today, we’re going to be talking with JL Collins, a bestselling author and financial independence guru about the what, why and how of financial independence, and his book, The Simple Path to Wealth. That’s him above. Well known author and blogger, JL Collins, is on the show discussing his path to Financial Independence through index investing and his successful book, The Simple Path to Wealth. He ran a series of ads which Bogle evidently had framed and put up in his office condemning index funds, calling them unAmerican among other things, because I think he recognized the incredible threats that they posed to the golden goose that was high fee active management. Clearly, if you value your freedom, if you value having control over your time, the more financially independent you are, the better off you are. Right. They’re trying out different areas. Of course, as we know now, the market hit that 33%, 35% bottom, and then immediately turned around and shot right back up. But again, I was never in a situation where I had to worry about paying the rent or the mortgage or putting food on the table because I’d always save 50% of my income, and it built up this pile of F-you money that gives you a lot of freedom, a lot of power. One of the biggest destroyers of wealth is divorce. Well, it’s been quite a journey since then. When you make a decision about your money, do you weigh how that plays against your long term goals? Is that right? The market is falling. JL: Yeah. I’ve learned by making many mistakes with investing. Some debt is necessary debt, but if you look at getting a mortgage for a house, and people say, well, that’s good debt. The market is falling. JL: I self published it. I was reading your blog again, and that you have the nine basics. Episode 884: Stocks – Part XV: Target Retirement Funds, The Simplest Path To Wealth Of All by JL Collins on 401k Choices. ... From podcasts to videos and radio campaigns, Dan Weinberg makes his living through voice acting. JL: Now, some of them are going to perform poorly, and ultimately, companies go out of business. If you made it this far, I encourage you to check out jlCollinsnh.com, his Google talk as well, and his book, The Simple Path to Wealth. I think our worldview is the same, like we’re sitting here cranking out this planning software out of our garages. The interesting thing there is that they can certainly rise 100%, but they’re not limited to that. It was very, very slow to catch on because it’s so counterintuitive. I think because I didn’t have to do it all the time, because I could step away whenever I chose, that’s probably one of the reasons I enjoyed it as much as I did. Mostly because these new income streams don’t feel “real,” or, more accurately, they feel temporary. Listen to BiggerPockets Money Podcast episodes free, on demand. or. A podcast about voluntaryism, free markets, agorism, radical unschooling, peaceful parenting and self improvement. We believe that you have all the tools to improve your finances because you and your family deserve it. We do read them and try to adapt as we go. All content, tools, financial products, calculations, estimates, forecasts, comparison shopping products and services are presented without warranty. JL: Well, I think it’s … everything we’ve been talking about so far today is what’s in the book, and it’s written primarily for my daughter. As you alluded to the market, goes up 75% of the time. Then it was a journey of different kinds of investing, as I learned primarily by making every possible mistake you could make. Maybe we got that sense of each other as we were dating without the conversation. I don’t recommend that because that’s simply not the most effective or efficient way to do it, but it certainly is possible to do it that way. Sometimes it can be, if carefully used, a useful tool to enhance your lifestyle in a way that you want to enhance it. This week’s Journey to Launch podcast episode lifts up the veil of overcomplicated investing strategies to show you a more simple path to wealth. 30%, 40% of people were like, fine, I’ll pay AUM fees, even though it’s like, hey, this is a lot more expensive. Most people, it’s their last priority and somehow never makes the list at the end of each month. So, that’s always the number one priority in my spending of my money, but I recognize, as we talked earlier, very few people have that priority. Now, back in those days, stepping away from a job for several months or, on occasion, several years was not very well accepted, and so I had to be creative with my resume at times to account for those gaps, so to speak. They actually pick stocks that will outperform to avoid those that will underperform. A great example, real quickly of what I mean by those conflicting interests is let’s suppose you sit down with your money manager and your question is, should I pay off my mortgage? The most dramatic drop any stock can have, of course is 100%, and that’s pretty bad. The circumstances of life changed, and they just were like, okay. See, just like I promised, Bear Markets can happen! JL: Well, the interesting thing about achieving it in 1989 is I didn’t realize it at the time. 1% seems like nothing but compounded over time, it’s significant. You can be sure those stories will appear at the moment they’re available. No info to show. Now, you can debate whether or not it’s a good idea, but he couldn’t get any advisor, and he talked to a number of them who were all fiduciaries to say, “Hey, this could work.” Instead, they wanted to do bond ladders or other kinds of fixed income strategy that they would manage the money, and he felt like they had a conflict of interest, but they weren’t calling that out clearly. Steve: You’re the most famous, most popular non-famous person, but actually, you are becoming famous. Anything, so the Simple Path to Wealth, and we’ll link to it from the post on this, but anything you want to call out from the book that you think are especially important lessons for folks? At the very least, solo investors should call the support line for their online brokerage.. right? JL: Yeah, it’s coming up. JL, I really appreciate your time and thanks for coming on our show. Almost, anyway. JL: Yeah, no, you’re right. There is so much nonsense swirling around COVID-19, right down to the correct name, I was starting to get lost sorting it out. Most recently, in the spring with COVID, I had people on my blog commenting that this time is different than in March when the market had taken a 30, almost a 35% plunge, and they’re like, “This time is different. Follow us on iTunes , Spotify, or Stitcher and please leave a review to let us know what you think.. Also, listen to the very end for a short but satisfying blooper reel! I suggest that, by the time you do the kind of homework you would need to recognize that kind of money manager, you could have easily taught yourself to do it yourself. Then finally, we’re trying to build the audience for this podcast, so any reviews are welcome. That’s one of my very earliest posts. JL Collins author of The Simple Path To Wealth takes over the podcast and interviews Doc G about his views on COVID-19. Mr. Money Mustache, my friend is fond of saying, if you have debt, it’s like your hair’s on fire. In my world, my savings rate is big enough that I have the capital to make those Roth conversions when the opportunity permits. JL: Sure. For your money manager, it is always a bad idea for you to pay off your mortgage, because by definition, that takes capital, that that person is managing for you and getting paid on away from your portfolio and into the bank, paying off that mortgage. Change has to come from outside of it, from your book. I think also, within that, if you do that, theoretically, you can achieve financial independence in 14 years, is that right? While JL wasn’t pursuing FIRE by name, he certainly understood the appeal of financial independence. At least the silly people will. JL: Then I look back at the first year and the second year and found in both those years, that was also true. Steve: Yeah. Steve: In Idaho. JL Collins) In this episode, we interview JL Collins, Author of the book “Simple Path To Wealth: Your Roadmap To Financial Independence and a Rich, Free Life." It’s SO VOLATILE, it can be scary to stay invested—especially if you’ve never been through a market downturn. Steve: What percent of people, if you had to give an estimate, do you think might take on attempting to get to FI? I know you mentioned Mr. Money Mustache but anyone else? Maybe I’m an example. The other fees, which actually costs much more money, because they’re buried and the customer doesn’t see them as clearly, the customer, ironically enough, is more comfortable with them. I think you have to appreciate, and hopefully your audience will appreciate that there was no internet or very little internet, no internet I was aware of in those days. I’m doing the math, that’s like 20,000 a year in fees, and they’re kind of like, hmm, that’s a couple nice vacations or whatever it is, a new car. They’ll probably actually drop off the index before that happens, because if they get too small, then they fall off the index, but they can have a pretty sharp drop. Doc G (in an interview originally aired on the Plutus award-winning Earn and Invest podcast) caught up with Collins last year, and asked him many questions, that we'll play for you today.What's your first response after finding out your online portfolio has been liquidated and cleared of its cash? I have people who say, “Oh, you’re not aggressive enough.” Then I have people who say, “You’re too aggressive.” I have people who’ve talked about socially responsible investing, so Too Hot, Too Cold and Not Pure Enough. My first professional job, I made $10,000 a year. Any highlights you want to share with us about kind of your journey to where you are today? JL: I can imagine that for somebody who’s hearing this for the first time, and they’re say 35, and they’ve been out in the workforce for 10, 15 years, and has built up a certain kind of lifestyle, it can be hard to back away from that, and that’s tough, but that’s the choice you’re going to have to make in that situation. I would have to pull those up in front of me myself. I had frequently stepped away from my various jobs at different times for sabbaticals that I wanted to take. Doug was feeling generous today with his dino-trivia, and opted for multiple choice responses... enjoy! JL Collins – The Simple Path to Wealth from Financial Independence Podcast on Podchaser, aired Tuesday, 21st June 2016. DR Podcast 276: JL Collins' Tips for Achieving Financial Independence. Steve: No, I think that’s right. If people free up from, or are free to pursue what they are most interested in, then they tend to do better work, like you’re seeing in your own life. There is so much nonsense swirling around COVID-19, right down to the correct name, I was starting to get lost sorting it out. Yeah, some debts are worse than other debt. Most people will never take it on, most people are not even aware that it is a possibility or an opportunity. Beyond travel, did you take any extra risks in your career? With that, thank you and have a great day, Do it yourself retirement planning: easy, comprehensive, reliable. JL Collins from jlcollinsnh.com and author of "The Simple Path To Wealth" joins the show today to talk about the essentials of investing! Again, I reached FI doing that. Steve: Okay. What’s key about my daughter is that she doesn’t really care about this financial stuff. Debt is never a good thing. Episode 48 of the NewRetirement podcast is an interview with JL Collins —a best-selling author and financial independence guru — and discusses the what, why, and how of Financial Independence as well as Collins’ book, “The Simple Path to Wealth”. We strongly recommend that you seek the advice of a financial services professional who has a fiduciary relationship with you before making any type of investment or significant financial decision. This is a weekly podcast for Nurses who are on the path of or are interested in Financial Independence. I don’t know if you have an opinion on that. I, by the way, my wife and I never had that discussion when we were dating, and just very fortunately for both of us, as it happens, we share exactly those values. If you want to participate in the upside, then get in the game as soon as possible. Steve: Yeah. Someone who had the education and training… [Continue Reading] Filed Under: Life. Then when you add onto that, the layer of cost, that active management it requires with the managers and the research and the analysts and what-have-you, it becomes literally impossible over extended period of time. You have enough money that … well, money that, that money earns is enough to pay all of your bills. NewRetirement strives to keep its information and tools accurate and up to date. I’m always pleased to hear from readers who have benefited from the book under any circumstances, but the ones that particularly stand out to me are the ones who say something like, I’m really not interested in this, but for the first time reading your book, I understand it, and this is something I can do and have done. It was my privilege to chat with JL Collins, author of The Simple Path To Wealth, which is quite simply the greatest personal finance book ever written. My response to that is, you’re just like my daughter. Just like if you’re willing to tolerate hurricanes, there’s some pretty nice living Florida. That’s another way of saying don’t live paycheck to paycheck. Hence, I wanted to create a simple path that was simple to understand, simple to implement that you could put on autopilot. I heard the F-you money very early on in my career too. Steve: Nice. I knew the more I had, the more power I had, if you will, more freedom I had, the bolder I could be in my choices, but I actually achieved financial independence without even being aware of the concept, but that allowed me to periodically step away from jobs and take sabbaticals. More About JL Collins: JL Collins has an extensive amount of experience and knowledge around investing. 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