305 | Finding Your Locus of Control | Stereo Live Q&A

<ul> <li>It’s the third edition of ChooseFI’s live and interactive show via Stereo. You can submit a question, feedback, or comment, and find out how to join us for the live event by visiting <a href= "https://choosefi.com/live" target="_blank" rel= "noreferrer noopener">ChooseFI.com/live.</a></li> <li>Brad and Jonathan are getting high on life. Not only have Brad’s daughters started back at in-person school, but he and Laura were also able to attend a Crossfit class together. Meanwhile, Jonathan is successfully combating fatigue by getting the right amount of sleep, cutting out caffeine, and maintaining high hydration levels with juices.</li> <li>In an ongoing effort to get 1% better, Brad recently reviewed his credit card bills. He found a $50 recurring charge for his daughter’s saxophone rental and decided to buy it for $500 rather than continue incurring the rental fee. He suggests doing this twice a year and asking if those recurring charges are continuing to serve you.</li> <li>Jonathan recently canceled his Netflix subscription and wonders if there is a way to the effort of it and streamline our finances.</li> <li>In a hypothetical example of a $2,000 car loan with a 2-3% interest rate, Jonathan asks if Brad would just pay the balance off versus keeping a monthly payment. At that low of an interest rate, Brad would not, but because of the intersection between math and psychology, there are others so debt adverse that they would pay it off.</li> <li>For higher interest debt or 8-12% or more, Brad believes that is more of a hair-on-fire scenario in which paying the debt off as quickly as possible would be best.</li> <li>Regardless of which side of the scenario you fall on, there is nuance and stigma. Rather than allow others to tell you what you can and can’t do, it’s important to know yourself and why you make the choice you do.</li> <li>Understanding the why behind the car payment is a better thought exercise. If it’s because it gives you the cash flow to finance even more stuff, it can grow to become a di