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As a lawyer / engineer / MBA, how can you achieve FIRE (financial independence, retire early) rapidly to quit the rat race, pursue your passions, and live life on your own terms? Andrew Chen – founder of the Hack Your Wealth Blog and lawyer, financial expert (CFA graduate), and tech industry veteran – shows you strategies and tactics to (1) earn, (2) save, (3) invest, and (4) protect as a high earner so that you can build massive wealth and create a portfolio that’s a FIRE machine. Through solo lessons, expert interviews, and side hustle profiles, you’ll learn about tax strategies, retirement account optimization, asset allocation & rebalancing, passive income (real estate investing, side hustling, online business, digital nomading), family finances (e.g., strategizing college education costs), travel hacking, estate planning, and career transitions. Andrew podcasts about the big picture concepts, then adds step-by-step implementation guides downloadable from the Hack Your Wealth website to help you FIRE strategically, methodically, and rapidly.
95 Episodes
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#95: The biggest concern many would-be retirees have, at least in the US, is the cost of healthcare.Not only is healthcare more expensive in the US than in every other industrialized country. There’s also no national health insurance system to control costs or standardize care quality…unless you’re a senior or very poor (or both).In fact, were it not for worries about healthcare, there would undoubtedly be way more US retirees out there today. The average retirement age would drop noticeably....
#94: Real estate investing changed a lot the last couple years, but one asset class consistently punched above its weight: short-term rentals, a.k.a., STRs, e.g., Airbnbs.In 2020, when people couldn’t go on vacation by hopping on a plane to Europe, South America, or Asia, they got in their cars and drove to national parks and mountain / beach / lake towns. Short-term rentals, often seen as safer than hotels, were on 🔥.In 2021, this trend exploded. 🔥🔥In 2022, when flying became a thing again, ...
#93: Early retirees often fill their early years in retirement with lots of travel. There is even a vibrant community of nomadic early retirees who travel long-term.But what do you do about health insurance, especially if you’re American? Unlike in most other industrialized countries that have universal health insurance, American health insurance is generally tied to your employer, at least before you’re old enough to qualify for Medicare. That means if you don’t have a job, you generally don...
#92: Most FIRE stories are of men. A lot seem to be of ex-software engineers (on blogs anyway). It’s rare to see profiles of early retired women, especially single women who retired early from ambitious careers.Also, most FIRE stories focus on strategies for things like accumulating enough assets to FIRE. Investment selection. Portfolio allocation. Safe withdrawal rates. Sequence risk.These are important topics for sure. I’ve covered many of them on HYW. But they are also very much about the ...
#91: It’s no secret that many healthcare professionals earn lots of money. So, you might think it’s relatively easy for them to achieve financial independence and retire early (or at least step back from demanding clinical hours).Aaaand….you’d be right about that!Sure, earning healthcare money is not a requirement for FIRE. But if you do, you certainly have more options…even if you also have large expenses (like kids).This week, I talk with Dr. G (anonymized, his request), a dentist with two ...
#90: It’s back to school season, and that means it’s also the time of year for high school seniors to start agonizing over college applications.Applying to college is an anxiety-filled rite of passage for high school seniors, but it’s often just as anxiety-inducing for parents who bang their heads on how to pay for it.That’s because paying for college is, for many families, the biggest single expense they’ll have for their child. It’s also often the second biggest life expense a family will i...
1#89: Summer is fast approaching, and that’s traditionally when home-buying season ramps up.This week, I share insights on how to conduct due diligence when you’re looking to buy a home. Whether you’re buying a primary residence or investing in rental real estate, rigorous due diligence is critical to ensuring you get a good property at a reasonable price. In this episode, I explain my entire process for thoroughly analyzing a property before writing an offer.You learn:10 key things to look fo...
#88: Have you maxed out your backdoor + mega backdoor Roth conversions yet?For high earners, direct contributions to a Roth IRA, and tax-deductible contributions to a traditional IRA, are limited by income thresholds.But ALL taxpayers – even high earners – can still invest money into a Roth via backdoor Roth conversion. And if your employer’s 401k has the right plan features, you can turbo-charge your Roth conversions another 7x by doing the “mega backdoor” Roth conversion.What the heck do th...
#87: Remote work and digital nomadism have always been of particular interest to folks in the FIRE community.After the pandemic, remote work was suddenly thrust upon the entire knowledge workforce. And after two long pandemic years, the possibility that remote work for many professions will persist and become long-term viable options is tantalizingly close.What is the state of remote work right now? Where is the future of remote work headed? What jobs are most in-demand for remote work, and h...
#86: Pretty much everyone in the FIRE community has heard of the 4% rule.It is the starting safe withdrawal rate number for a 30-year retirement horizon that was proposed a few decades ago by retirement researchers.And it has attained near pop culture status in the FIRE community because it’s such a simple mental shortcut to answer the question: “how much can I safely withdraw from my portfolio each year in retirement and have high confidence that I’ll be financially secure for the rest of my...
#85: Recently I’ve really started to notice the impact of inflation on daily spending. Have you?At first, it was just 1-2 things. Then it was a handful. Now it seems like everything is noticeably more expensive. (Assuming it’s even in stock in the first place.)Gas. Groceries. Takeout. Toiletries. Utilities. Car maintenance. Healthcare/supplies. Pre-school. Appliances.Everything seems to cost more and you just can’t buy as much with the same budget anymore.This got me wondering about how recen...
#84: Today's episode is about an important end-of-year planning topic: asset allocation and portfolio rebalancing.Many otherwise smart investors set their portfolio once, but then fail to rigorously monitor their asset allocation and rebalance regularly.Whether due to inertia or hassle, this inaction is costly. It results in lower returns and greater risk as your asset allocation drifts…bad for wealth-building.How do you set your target asset allocation optimally and rigorously? And how do yo...
#83: You’ve worked hard all your life. At retirement, it’s time to kick back and relax, right?Not so fast.You still have to get THROUGH retirement.That means knowing how to draw down your portfolio to:meet all your monthly cash flow needscushion against unexpected expensesminimize tax liabilityideally help your kids / grandkids, give to charity, or leave a legacyensure your retirement nut doesn’t run out before you doThis is very challenging because you have to forecast things you simply can’...
#82: Are annuities a good investment for retirement?With $250 billion in sales each year, and $2.5 trillion in retirement annuity assets under contract, annuities comprise a huge slice of US retirement assets.Understanding annuities – whether annuities are right for you, and how annuities fit into your retirement strategy – can get complicated given all the annuity options out there and the extreme uncertainty in today’s markets.So this week, I sat down with Stan Haithcock, aka “Stan The Annu...
#81: With the market rallying like crazy this past year, you might have significant capital gains on stocks right now.Now might be a good time for some of you investors to harvest some capital gains. Maybe you’re looking to buy a house. Or maybe you just want to rebalance your investments.But when you sell stock, you pay taxes on the sale.And capital gains taxes can get complex because the effective tax rate you pay when you sell stock depends on whether there are long-term vs. short-term cap...
#80: Teaching kids about money isn’t easy, but it’s crucial if you want to boot them off your payroll after they graduate from school.But while financial literacy is good, helping your kids build the mindset and momentum to achieve financial independence is even better.It requires that they internalize (and value) aggressive saving, investing, and compounding…not just living within their means.That’s why I was so excited to chat this week with Doug Nordman and Carol Pittner, father and daught...
#79: This one’s for you parents who have kids in college or soon going to college…In the COVID relief stimulus bill that passed at the end of 2020, there was a big chunk about federal student financial aid.New rules are bringing significant changes to college financial aid. This week, I deep dive with my friend Ann Garcia, aka The College Financial Lady, on what these changes are and how they will impact you and your family.We discuss:Overview of the federal student financial aid application ...
#78: For this episode, I polled other influencers in the personal finance community to ask for their best tip on teaching money lessons to kids.I had four different personal finance influencers weigh in – a range of bloggers, podcasters, authors, and community admins. All of them are parents themselves.I asked each person to answer one simple question:“When it comes to teaching your kids about money, what single method or strategy have you personally found to be most effective?”Check out thei...
#77: Teaching financial literacy for kids may seem like a tall order…when considering that financial literacy even for adults is a national deficiency.But teaching kids about money is crucial if you want your kids to grow up financially responsible and independent.As a parent, you will have a strong vested interest in it, because if you fail at it you’ll eventually pay the consequences (literally), e.g., if your adult kid can’t support themselves and move out of the house.And early retirement...
#76: Retiring early to travel the world is a common goal for FIRE aspirants.But full-time travel can lose appeal quickly. Churches and temples quickly start to look the same. Gardens and palaces quickly look the same.When you’re responsible for creating all the structure to your day – every day for weeks and months on end – it gets exhausting and can feel purposeless.But what if you could design early retirement travel around language learning?By enrolling in language immersion courses at loc...
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