B (4:25)

Yeah. Did you see that thing about the lego? Is it the copyright is it is expired or I don't know the right verb for that, but that now that's why you can buy sets that are compatible with lego.

A (4:38)

Interesting.

B (4:39)

Which is so cute. Yeah. I got in a fight with my son about it because he was like, oh, these fit. These are the same. And I'm like, no, this is impossible. And it turns out, no, it's a thing now yeah, you can get some pretty fancy sets now that aren't actually Lego brand, but fit with Lego.

A (4:55)

Yeah.

B (4:55)

Which is pretty cool.

A (4:56)

That is very cool. Okay, so I'll turn the question around on you. What are you looking to give this holiday season?

B (5:02)

You had such a cool answer. I thought I had a cool answer. I.

A (5:06)

It's not a competition. Come on.

B (5:08)

I am getting my son a YODO player. Do you know what that is?

A (5:12)

I do not.

B (5:12)

Y o T o. I think it is. So he's 9, and it's a screen free audio player.

A (5:20)

Okay.

B (5:21)

So it's like you can play audiobooks and you can play music, but there's this physical aspect where you put in this little card, sort of the equivalent of a cassette tape. And so you're not scrolling through anything or doing any of those other things that I think break your brain. So I'm really excited for him to have a personal kind of electronic thing that he'll be really excited about, but that meets my requirements for his brain.

A (5:48)

I love that. Yeah, I'm looking. I just googled it real quick. YODO mini, or at least is one of them that came up. And yeah, it's this cute little thing. I like that. And I like the old school kind of analog. Like you have to insert something to actually get the music. That's neat. Yeah, very cool.

B (6:03)

Okay, before we jump into the wins from the community, should we talk about our wins? I would like to know kind of what your answer to this question is like. What were your big wins, financial or otherwise?

A (6:17)

Yeah, that's. That's a good one. I should have taken a page out of everyone's book and written them down. But yeah, my year has been an interesting one. And I know earlier, way earlier in the year, you interviewed me and I mentioned how I was getting divorced, and I did finalize that this year. So it's. It's been a. It's been a very interesting year, needless to say.

B (6:40)

Yeah.

A (6:41)

And I really appreciate the outpouring of support from the community. It's been really just heartwarming, to put it mildly. But it's funny, I was talking to my friend Keith the other day, and when we were chatting, I was telling him just how I feel like I'm really living the Phi life now. And all these years I've planned for this and I've thought about it and I've saved money, and even though I was phi on paper, I wasn't living the life. And while obviously I believed it, I believe it in. I've always Believed it in the core of my soul. It's a different thing to actually live in and experience it and to live all the benefits. And what Keith said to me, he challenged me. He's like, have you told your community this? Like, have you. Have you talked on the podcast about this? This is so powerful where people can actually, even though they know it's true, they know they know this works. Like, to hear you talk about it might actually be really beneficial. And yeah, I mean, I am. I'm living the life that I always thought was possible with Fi. And what that looks like on a regular basis is I get to control my time exactly how I want to. And it's not just about the money. It's also about a mindset where I know for years I've talked on the podcast and I never want to complain. I certainly about Choose a pie. This has been honestly ginger, the most miraculous thing that's ever happened to me. So I never want to be complain that, oh, poor me, I have to work too much or I, oh, poor me. I get these emails that are of people just pouring their hearts out of how this has changed their lives. But I've really got a good balance now. I think for the first time in my working career, certainly since Shades of I has come into existence nine years ago, it feels like it all works. It feels like my life works and I have control over my time. I now live in this incredible community. I'm very intentional about my life, and I just moved recently and it's this wonderful walkable community that is the closest thing I've found in Richmond, Virginia, to like a. Almost like Europe. What I love about going to London or Barcelona is you can walk anywhere in a couple minutes and go to a little grocery store or go to a restaurant or find if you're in a neighborhood, find a gym or whatever it is. Like, it's all just there. And that's what my life's like. It feels like I'm on vacation now, where we walk to the gym that's five minutes down the road. It's the best gym in Richmond. And spend a couple hours there a day. Like, either not just working out, but going in the hot tub or the sauna or going on the treadmill and just listening to a podcast. Like, I'm doing all the things that, like, I've learned over these years in terms of my health from Dr. Peter Attia and Andrew Huberman and all these things that, like, I always had plans to do. And I really tried to be directionally Accurate, but, like, I'm actually living into it now. Ginger. It's just really. It's just wonderful. Like, my life is easy right now.

B (9:43)

Can you talk a little bit about what clicked for you?

A (9:49)

Yeah, yeah, that's. That's a good question. I think. I think it's an intersection of a lot of things. And one of my guiding principles in life is simplicity. And I think I've really embraced that in every aspect of life and just understanding that even though I have 16 waking hours a day, it goes fast. And when you try to do too much, you can make yourself miserable. Even though it's ostensibly like a really nice thing of like, oh, I want to do all these amazing things. Like, I just tried to do too much and there was too much around me. There were too many things to do. Like, I have pared back everything in my life, like, with the goal of utter simplicity. Obviously, we've talked ad nauseam about, like, my minimalism, which is, you know, in terms of like, getting rid of all the clutter, getting rid of all the things. But that's just a piece of it. It's also even things that are working. Like, for instance, I had these real estate properties down in Georgia that they were rental real estate properties. They were wonderful, but for a number of reasons. First off, it's. It's this now potentially like 5Co housing community, which is in and of itself but a separate story. But I just didn't want them as complexity in my life. Even though it was very minimal, it just was easier to not have to worry about it. So I sold them this year. I've tried to pare down over the years. I've. Not that I've ever gotten away from VTI or VTS X, but just to dabble in things, you know, because I'm a podcast host in the financial independence space, I've tried to learn things. So I had a little bit of money here in some crowdfunding real estate thing and over little bit of money there, and I just ruthlessly tried to pare all of that down. So all these things, because everything takes up mental space and it wasn't doing anything good for me. It was just taking up mental space. And I think just that sincere focus on simplicity has just made a huge difference to me. And also just realizing on a very visceral level, like, this is the time. Like, now is the time. It's easy to push things off to the future. The future is quote, unquote, always there. But is it really, you know, like, I'm 46 years old. Like, the future is now. Like, the future has to be now. I'm fi. I have this amazing opportunity. I'm extremely healthy. I'm trying to focus on my health even more. I want to live, you know, a couple decades, three, four, five more decades of really healthy life. And I'm making that happen now. And I'm just focusing on what's important. So hopefully these aren't too many generalities. Ginger, I think this is where I am right now. So I'm curious if you have follow ups.

B (12:24)

Yeah, I think that was a really useful answer because what I heard you say, I said, okay, well, what clicked for you? What changed? And you said some really specific things. Like, I cut things out in my physical world and I cut things out mentally. And not just things that were a hassle, but also things that were good but were not in service of this greater goal of a more simple life. And I think that does really give people a place to start as they're thinking about. Well, that's really appealing to me, but kind of, where do I get started?

A (12:56)

Yeah. Yeah. Well, thank you. I'm glad. I'm glad it resonated. And, and I'm not saying that this is the answer for everybody. It's clearly not. But, like, there are seasons of life, right? So, like, I was the treasurer of my girl's swim team for five or six years, and I gave that up and passed that off to somebody else this past year. So, like, things like that, I could have kept doing it, but again, it was just something else that was cluttering my life and, and to get down to this essence. And I can build from there. Like, that's a nice thing. It's like, you can always build things back into your life if you find that there's a hole or there's something else you want to do, etc. Like, I would love to volunteer in some way. I would love to give back, and I think that will happen. But I think for me, it was just getting back to the essence and trying to build a life around that and go from there. So, so far, so good. I mean, it's the. The end of 2025. I'm in a really good place mentally. I'm in a really good place physically, and relationships are great. Like, things are. Are doing wonderfully. And. Yeah, so I'm. I'm in a good spot right now.

B (14:01)

Big win.

A (14:01)

Yeah, big win.

B (14:02)

Did it. You won it. Life.

A (14:04)

Yeah, I'm trying. I'm certainly trying. So any wins, jump to mind for you.

B (14:08)

Okay, well, the big financial win that we have talked a little bit about is that we paid off our. It could be worth talking about briefly again for this reason, because we talked about how I was like, I know it's not the most optimized thing to do, but I wanted to bring it up as an option that you could pay it off a little early. That's what we did. Not 10 years early. And that you could kind of have both good things about it. But the other thing I wanted to say about it is kind of the reason or how I got there was this idea that I could work a little bit more to pay it off a little sooner. So it wasn't about, I'm going to reallocate certain things. It was this idea that became popular in the Dave Ramsey world of Gazelle intensity, which I find really appealing. And maybe there's a way in which people in the FI community are always at gazelle intensity. And so that kind of concept isn't as powerful, but this idea that, hey, I could do something a little bit more extreme for a little amount of time, and that would feel amazing. Right? And so I guess in that way, to think of, like, that's another way to kind of go at some of these things. It doesn't have to be a, this is for the rest of my life that I'm going to work this many hours, or, hey, if I'm going to do this, then that means I have to cut out my retirement or whatever my other goals are. But, like, could I make a little bit more money for a year so that I could get to this really exciting finish line?

A (15:48)

Yeah, I like that. Both as a mental construct and, of course, congratulations again. That's got to feel absolutely amazing to have that paid off.

B (15:55)

It feels great.

A (15:56)

Yeah, that's pretty cool. I like that. And, yeah, there are seasons, and I hope everyone knows at this point, nine years into Choose a Phy and probably, what, 800 or so episodes in. This is not about being Gazelle Intensity, if you will. I've never used that phrase before. But this pedal to the metal intensity all the time, every day of your life, to just maximize and optimize, that doesn't lead to a wonderful life. And I think that really is the secret of what we're doing here. We're trying to build wonderful lives. However you define that. I think that's very important. There's no doctrine. There's no specific holes to punch on. This is my FI card or something like that. It doesn't work that way you build the life that works for you. And I think it is important. Ginger and I know to some degree the FI community has gotten a little bit away from this. But frugality is important. It always will be. I think saving money is really important. Little things amount to big things in fi, especially when you're talking cutting things out of your, your recurring budget. We've gone over this so many times. It's for every hundred dollars you cut out of your budget per month, it's $30,000 less you need to reach FI and you're investing that money along the way, which will amount to additional tens of thousands of dollars. So, I mean, it's a massive change. Just every hundred dollars. So don't let anybody ever tell you that little things don't matter, because they do. But we're not trying to live like misers here at all. There's a balance and it's incumbent on you, every one of you, to figure out what that balance is for your life. And I think that's the best thing that I can say as we close out this year is, is really try to figure out and get closer to what that balance is for you today. And it's always going to change. Things are constantly changing. Nothing in life stays the same. But you do need to keep looking at this. You do need to keep updating your thinking. You do need to scrutinize what makes sense for me now, where I am in this season of life, and understand that it is going to change.

B (17:55)

Yeah. What a great jumping off point for us to sort of look at what this is like in our community because some of the wins that we're going to read today are from people who are in really different seasons and who envision really different lives for themselves.

A (18:10)

Agreed. All right, Ginger. We have a lot of wins to read and we're going to try to get through as many as we can, but there's no world where we can go through. We have almost 30 pages of wins, so it's impossible that we can do this in one episode. What I do is I put these in my newsletter towards the end of the year, the last two or three weeks of the year. So if you're listening to this episode and you're not getting my newsletter just in general subscribe, it's genuinely, it's quite good. And just go to choose a comm, subscribe and just quickly put in your email. I send out an email every Tuesday and we have multiple of these year end wins emails towards the end of the year. So I think you're going to like it. All right, Ginger, you start.

B (18:50)

Okay. I'm going to start with a message from Meg. She said, I've always been a saver, and my sister has been the spender. After my sister got divorced, she had to start from ground zero with everything, including her finances. Finances. She was open to learning more about how to manage her bills and increase her savings. We started consistent money with Meg phone calls where we chatted about different topics. We then started reading through the Simple Path to Wealth together, and it has been a special time for both of us. I have loved seeing her knowledge and confidence grow in so many areas. She told me that she'd read a section on finances in one of her magazines and understood most of what the article stated. She's far more confident in her skills than prior to reading the book. We have five chapters left to talk about, and so we will finish by the end of the year. I love that one.

A (19:36)

That is beautiful.

B (19:37)

They're having a phone book club about the Simple Path to Wealth.

A (19:41)

That is incredible.

B (19:42)

It is incredible.

A (19:43)

That's just awesome. Talk about. Yeah, like spreading the love. I love the, you know, getting to do that together as sisters.

B (19:49)

Yeah.

A (19:49)

What a really cool way to bond, to help each other and to move forward. That's really great. All right, Ginger. I'm going to read one from Andy. So andy said, In 2025, I made two bold moves that put me well outside my comfort zone, but led in a direction that feels right to me. First, I signed on with my local department as a volunteer firefighter. I've been working shifts and training ever since. And while it's not a role I had ever previously considered, it does feel so satisfying to be doing vital work for the community. Second, I left my corporate software job in September. Second, after years of considering the move, I purposely left without an answer for, quote, what's next? And for now, I am content to focus on spending time with my two young kids, 6 and 9. Support my wife in pursuing her own demanding career, my volunteer work, and personal projects. 2025 was a year of asking and answering the question of if not now, when? I am so enormously grateful to have the resources to enable these big changes. And that's beautiful, Andy. That's absolutely beautiful.

B (20:52)

You know what stuck out to me about that one was the this was not a role I had ever considered. And I love that. Just like, that's so inspiring to me to think that you could be doing something next year that you had never thought about doing that might be really Exciting and satisfying and like to be the kind of person who's that open. That's who I want to be.

A (21:13)

You know, that is beautiful. And especially something so consequential. I know I come from a family of volunteer firefighters and so I know what that is. I grew up with my grandpa being a fire captain and my grandma was a dispatcher actually for the fire department. So, yeah, we spent a whole lot of time in the fire department. So, Andy, that's incredible that A and B, to answer those questions, and if not now, when? And that's a challenge I'd give to everybody. If not now, when? And the answer might not be now, frankly, but you can make the plan, you can think about it. Right? That's what we're doing here. You're thinking, you're trying to look at your life holistically and take these challenges, see what other people are doing and make moves. Absolutely. Make moves. Thank you, Andy.

B (22:00)

Okay, I want to share one from Zach and Farrah and they talked about some really exciting financial wins that they had crossed the million dollar net worth milestone that they had maxed out a bunch of account. Good job, you guys. But here's the most exciting part that I want to read that I think you'll be really blown away by. Okay. We also wanted to briefly share a win from last year. Perhaps it will sound familiar to some and absolutely bonkers to everyone else. We rented out our house, sold our cars and traveled to 25 countries over 367 days using Geo arbitrage and budget travel strategies. South America, Central America, Europe, Southeast Asia, New Zealand, Hawaii. One might expect this year long adventure to obliterate our finances. Plot twist. We came out net positive for the year. We gained new perspectives, built friendships around the world and grew tremendously in our marriage. That said, we were honestly a bit worried about how the job search would go after the trip. Fortunately, we both landed roles with higher pay and higher satisfaction that our employers valued. The experience confirmed something important. These were the type of organizations we wanted to work hard for. We were only able to take that mini retirement because our finances were in order. The high savings rate we prioritized early in our marriage gave us the freedom to make an unconventional choice that changed our lives. Thank you to ChooseFi for the practical strategies and reminder that financial independence isn't just about numbers. It's about designing a life we don't need to escape from. As many of you have shown us, it turns out the boring middle can include some extraordinary detours.

A (23:39)

Wow.

B (23:40)

Great writing.

A (23:41)

I was just Gonna say, that is beautiful writing. Truly beautiful writing.

B (23:45)

I know.

A (23:45)

I mean, I highlighted just as you were reading that the whole end of that is incredible. Like, this encapsulates fi. The high savings rate we prioritized early in our marriage gave us the freedom to make an unconventional choice that changed our lives. It's a reminder that financial independence isn't just about the numbers. It's about designing a life we don't need to escape from.

B (24:05)

I mean, Ginger, Zach, Farah, I have an idea for you. It's a workshop that you're going to run called Extraordinary Detours, and you're going to teach the rest of us how to copy this year that you had.

A (24:18)

I like it. All right. I got one from Nicole, and Nicole wrote in saying, for the second year in a row, I have maxed out my employer's 457 contribution and my IRA contribution. I also hit a major milestone in my retirement savings this year, all thanks to, quote, the Boring Middle and compounding in action. Lastly, I discovered free audiobooks and their availability at our local libraries, thanks to Frugal Friends and the Libby app. Very cool. Yeah, we. We actually. We had the Frugal Friends on earlier in the year, and. Yeah, that's really great. And it's interesting how multiple people now have referenced this quote, unquote, boring middle. And we talked about that with Jess from the Pioneers. And really, these are the years where, I think, historically, on the fi journey, they have been the boring ones. The waiting for you to hit that. That just number on the spreadsheet, and it just felt like a waiting game. But we've rebranded this to, this is the time to experiment. This is the time to take extraordinary action. This is the time to figure out what does life look like. And that is an iterative process. It's something you have to work at. So, yeah, the first year or 2 of FI are really exciting. It just. It's right, like, you're getting your finances in order. You're putting things on autopilot, you're saving money. You're seeing those balances rise from maybe virtually nothing to something significant. And once it's on autopilot, you feel like, oh, you mean that's it? It was actually that easy to get this set up. What do I do now? What do I do for the next 10, 12, 14 years? Well, you experiment with what does your life look like? Because, like I just told you at the beginning of this episode, once you reach five, once you've made this. This move, you have decades to actually do what you want with your time. It seems so foreign for all of us. It seems impossible to believe. But I'm here to tell you it's real. And you have to experiment to figure this out. Because if you just wake up on that day, day one post Fi, with nothing planned, with no idea of what you're going to do, it's going to feel like a gaping void and that's not good enough. And it's just cool to see people really leaning in. Ginger. To this. This quote, unquote boring middle and really turning it on its head.

B (26:31)

Yeah. Okay, the next one I'm going to read, I think gets back to something that we were talking about earlier, about how this can look really different for different people and you have to think about what you value. So this is from Taylor. He said we're in our mid-30s with two young kids and are about halfway to our Phi number. We've always dreamed of retiring to a small lake cottage this year. The neighbors to my parents cottage mentioned they wanted to sell and we moved quickly. We agreed on a price about $40,000 below market value and skipped realtors saving another 3% each. As of now, we do not plan to Airbnb it or turn it into a money maker. It is purely a lifestyle win. It absolutely slows our Phi date a few years, but being able to work remotely from the cottage a few days a week and spend weekends there is so great. Watching our kids make memories with their grandparents while they're still able bodied enough to fully enjoy it is exactly the life we have been working towards.

A (27:31)

Yes. We did it. Yes. Oh, congrats, Taylor. Exactly the life we've been working towards.

B (27:38)

Yeah. What a great example of someone who, hey, it's not about the numbers. It's not about getting there as quickly as. But having a little bit of freedom and understanding Coast Phi or understanding your Phi number, how that allows you to make really meaningful moves at many different points in your journey.

A (27:58)

Totally agreed. Congratulations. All right, Ginger, we got a couple of voice messages, so I'm going to play one from Victoria now.

B (28:05)

Hi, Brad, this is Victoria here. Before jumping into the wins of the year, I just wanted to say thank you so much for everything you do at Choose Fi. Your work here has made such a great impact on myself and I know so many others. As for the wins of this year, I'm excited to share that for the first time ever, I was able to max out my contributions to my HSA 401k and Roth IRA. This is huge considering I had no idea what a Roth IRA was until last year. Another huge win that I wanted to share this year was selling my previous car. With that, I was able to get rid of my huge monthly payment, get an older car that's now paid off, and I'm excited to save up and eventually put that towards a rental property to help accelerate my path to FI overall. These are my major wins for 2025, and I can't wait to see what 2026 has in store.

A (28:54)

That's really cool, Victoria. Huge congrats. And I just love that you're now maxing these vehicles out. And like you said, you didn't even know what this was last year. I mean, that's incredible, right?

B (29:07)

Yeah. Do I remember correctly that you never maxed out your 401k when I was working?

A (29:11)

No, never.

B (29:12)

Yeah. Oh, yeah, me neither. Right. So I always think, like, it's incredible when, when people are able to get there. And that's something to really celebrate.

A (29:21)

It is. Oh, it's not easy. And that's another thing also, like, I think sometimes people think if they can't do it perfectly, it's not worth it or, oh, all these other people are maxing everything out and how could they possibly do it? Well, like Ginger and I just said, like, neither of us max out our 401ks. I never did that in my working career as an accountant. I just never did. For whatever reason, it might have been a factor of not being able to save as much, having different priorities, et cetera, but like, it's not about doing it exactly how somebody would write it up. It's you do what works for your life. And yeah, it's just really cool to see Victoria crushing this and, and the car is a big win. Like all of these changes, like we always say, you have to take action. Okay. If you're coming in to choose a phi and you're getting all this life changing information, it's all well and good to have it in your head, but if you don't take action on it, nothing changes to make your life better. So you have to get up off the couch and do things. And sometimes it might be something difficult. Okay. Sometimes it might mean selling your new car or newish car and getting an older car. That's a decision you might make. It may not be. It depends on your life. But I mean, Ginger, there's so many things to change and it's just cool that we can pull all these levers.

B (30:34)

Yeah. I'm laughing right now because I'm thinking about in my day job where I'm a therapist, I don't get to tell people what to do. And so it's always like, oh yeah, you could do this and what would that look like? And so I'm just giggling over here when you're like, you have to do it. Like, yeah, yeah, everyone, you have to do it.

A (30:52)

You have to, you have to. Well, you have to take action. I don't care what it is that you do, but you have to take action.

B (30:59)

Okay, let's read a few of the harder emails, I think. And the reason that I chose some of these is because I do want to highlight we don't know what next year is going to bring. We don't. But we know that we can be inspired by other people's resiliency and so it can be good when we're being excited about people's wins to also look at what are the smaller wins or what does a win look like when you have a hard year. So this one is from Molly and she said my year end win is navigating one of the most challenging years our family has ever had. I was part of the federal government job cuts this year and began planning as soon as the year started. We ramped down our retirement contributions and we really tightened our spending so we'd have more cash on hand and now have a healthy 60k in an emergency fund. I am planning to switch to nursing, so I'd already started taking prerequisite classes and was able to apply to a top five nursing school for the next term. At the same time, our parents have all experienced health issues, so we're taking this extra time to support and help navigate the issues that come along with retiring without having saved much. We're about five years from financial independence before this year, and although that might be pushed a few years given our change in income, I'm finding it refreshing to recalibrate as needed and spend money that we've saved because it's a time need to do. So needless to say, we're experiencing the lumpiness of life and testing the plan and finances we've had in place. It's been an incredible testament that by controlling our spending and planning for larger emergencies, we can still find some ease during a time of turbulence. Thanks to Choose Fi for giving us the knowledge, tools and other case studies to rely on during this tough time.

A (32:41)

Wow.

B (32:42)

Okay, one more about a hard year. This one's from Lindsey. She says, honestly, I'm not sure how to write this. My dad was diagnosed in late 2024 with a form of ALS that has a one to two year life expectancy. So by March 2025 I had quit my job to focus on being a full time caregiver. I followed Choose FI since early 2023, taking actions such as moving accounts away from a financial advisor, calculating my fine number, and integrating DAI with zero into my PHI mindset. The small changes over time and the verifiable proof of concept built my confidence. But I won't lie. When I quit my job, I was an anxiety riddled 36 year old who worried I was putting a major pause in my highest earning years and missing retirement contributions and compounding to take care of my dad. I still maintain the spreadsheets I built when I started following Choose a Phi. I don't know when I'll rejoin the workforce, but thanks to careful planning, I had an ample emergency fund. I was ahead of my retirement goals such that the growth from this year alone exceeded any annual contribution I've ever made. In ALS communities, there's been folks who mentioned that their biggest regret is that they didn't give their loved one the time they deserve because they themselves were struggling to pay their bills and find time for care. My dad is now non verbal, so we spend the days watching tv, exchanging charades and looking at photos. I promised my dad he wouldn't die alone, and while things haven't been perfect, he's reasonably happy, continues to make dates with his friends, and we tackle each degenerative phase as it comes. The freedom to be there for someone I love. It may not be St. Kitts or an island in French Polynesia, but there's times I've thought to myself that this is as close to heaven as I've ever seen. Thank you for helping me build the financial independence to do something so deeply meaningful that I'll remember for the rest of my life.

A (34:29)

Oh my goodness. Geez, if you don't get chills hearing that. Wow. Yeah. I don't have anything to say other than Lindsay. Goodness. I'm just so glad you have the time and you could make that decision and you could spend the time with your dad. I mean, Ginger, that's remarkable.

B (34:47)

Yeah. Frank and I just did that episode where we talked a lot about regret. And so I was thinking of that as I was reading this about how Lindsay is going to be able to look back at this time and she's not going to regret having not contributed fully to her ira. Right. And that she's going to be able to look back on this time as really meaningful.

A (35:14)

That is beautiful. And yeah, I don't even have anything to say. Jenshen. That's amazing. The freedom to be there for someone I love. I've thought to myself this is as close to heaven as I've ever seen. I mean that says it all. All right Ginger, we are going to move on to a win that came in from Jen and Jen said my year end wins. Number one, this is the first year my husband and I have been able to max out both our 401 and IRA and we also reallocated our investment portfolio after breaking up with our financial advisor to be primarily in VTI. Number two, after reading the book Outlive by Dr. Peter Attia, we got some specific blood work done to look at genetic markers, hormones and more and did a very thorough gut health test so we have more control over our health journey. We were shocked by the things we learned we needed to focus on that our primary care doctor never brought up. And we've been fixing some health issues that we just had thought were quote, normal for our age. Number three, I got real nerdy about points and miles and after listening to a bunch of different travel podcasts I racked up a whole bunch of points and miles which I used to book a family trip to Disney World this year and I also booked our first international family vacation to the UK for next June. All flights and hotels were covered by the points and miles I earned. And finally, number four, I just finished up a course offered through the finers called Coast With Confidence where I learned how to calculate my Coast Phi number and what options this gives my family. I'm going to be Coast Phi in a year and with the knowledge I now have, I'm planning on switching to part time work by the end of 2026 so I can make spending time with my kids and my family my top priority going forward. Wow Jen, that is quite a list. That's really incredible. And it's interesting how a bunch of these are things that I've been doing as well. I've been really focusing on my health and a lot of these tests that Dr. Peter Tia and Andrew Huberman talk about. So I've been doing a lot of things with my cardiovascular fitness and with potential cholesterol issues and such that are maybe genetic. So it's actually been really, really interesting and illustrative to learn a lot of this stuff. And I love that you took a trip to Disney World. And Ginger, I don't know if you know this, but the way that I first became somewhat well known in the whole points and Miles World and any type of personal finance was putting together a family trip to Disney World way back in 2013. I think I was the very first person to figure out how to book Disney World tickets using the website undercovertourist.com and that was like my claim to fame at the time. I got in the New York Times and places like that. So we actually still have that plan on choose a VI's website. So for anybody who's interested, choose a vi.com disney and that'll take you to the step by step plan on how to use points and miles. And really, if you haven't gotten into the travel miles game, now is the time. It really is something special. And Ginger's had success with it. I've had success for well over a decade now, and you really pretty easily can take one or two close to free trips every single year just by being intentional. And I think that's what we do in the fight community is we're intentional. So as always, you can find my list of cards at choose a ride.com cards and yeah, just take action.

B (38:31)

Okay, next up, Kawana said, in July, I left the only job I'd known and started fresh in a new town doing something I absolutely love every day. A little more money and a lot more peace. I have done more with my more. I have reduced my credit card debt to hopefully zero by the time this publishes, increased my retirement contributions, increased my knowledge of investing, and I'm just overall happier with my day to day. More work to do. But I'm grateful for this project. I loved this one because I loved that phrase of I'm doing more with my more. And this is someone who has really taken a lot of steps, right? And she's really emphasizing, hey, I haven't gotten there yet. I don't know everything, but I've done a little here and I've done a little here and I've done a little here. And when you look at them all adding up, they're just incredible.

A (39:20)

Yeah, that's cool. I've done more with my more. And that's the thing, right? The benefits of FI start from the very beginning. It's not just I'm not fi or I'm fi. Yeah, that would be silly. I mean, that would be absolutely silly. You start accruing benefits from the very beginning. And Kawana, increased retirement contribution, increased knowledge, and just overall happier with day to day. I mean, that is. That is what it's all about. Huge congrats. All right, Ginger, we're going to play our next Voice message This one came in from Ashley.

C (39:48)

Hi Brad and Ginger, this is Ashley. My year end win is that we paid our house off this year. We actually bought the house on a 15 year fixed with a 2.8% interest rate and we had about three years left on it. So really mathematically it did not make that much more sense to pay it off. But we also had a flood insurance policy that we had on the house that we had to have on the house since it's in a flood zone and since we had money for if we did flood, it actually was a better savings to not have to pay that mandatory flood insurance. So that was our big year end when it's already made a huge difference each month. It's so nice not having to pay that payment. And we actually got our escrow refunded too, which is kind of a good head start for an emergency fund. Another year in when I have a 20 year old that is living with us working full time as an electrical apprentice and he's been able to save a lot of money this year working living with us. So just being able to see a 20 year old have a lot of money in savings when we are living in this whole student loan and housing crisis and everything is just a huge blessing. So those are my wins for the year.

A (40:55)

Woo hoo. I like it. I like it a lot. Huge congrats Ashley. And that's really neat. To be able to help that 20 year old and like you said, have a lot of money in savings and be able to put that money away. That's really, really something special. I love that.

B (41:09)

Okay, after that I want to read another one that gives us a different perspective on the housing situation. So this is from Alex and Alex says my year end win is getting married to a great man. We've been on the FI journey together for two and a half years and it's amazing to see how our net worth has grown over 500k since we started tracking our numbers in July of 2024. Two major factors contribute to our savings. We live in a one bedroom condo and plan to stay here for a while longer which keeps our expenses low. And second, my career has blossomed so I'm making almost double my salary from just a few years ago and I'm able to save a large portion of my take home pay. In a world of FOMO and many couples around us jumping into this crazy housing market shopping for million dollar plus homes, we are happily saving our way to freedom. J.L. collins lesser known book How I Lost Money In Real Estate Before It Was Fashionable is a great quick read that solidified for both of us that owning a house is a lifestyle choice more than an investment. We plan to buy a house in the future when we are ready for a lifestyle change in a lower cost of living area. Vicki Robin mentioned in one of the podcasts this year that a house should be the site of production, not consumption. And I love that way at looking at real estate as well. We hope to have an Airbnb or some sort of house hack when we eventually buy. We've also been more engaged with the FI community this year and appreciate all the great leaders throughout the community that encourage connection and engagement. So I just love this one because they're so thoughtful about how they want to make this house decision. Right. Showing like there's not just one way depends on what you value, it depends on where you're going. But I love this idea of we are going to buy a house when that is the right lifestyle for us.

A (42:54)

Yes, I absolutely love that. And it really is, as Alex said, that owning a house is a lifestyle choice more than an investment. And I think that's a perfect way of putting it. But because we're not doctrinaire about anything. Ginger, like I've told you, I am gleefully renting right now and I don't think that I will ever purchase a house ever again. I think that's highly unlikely. But never say never, right? But it is a lifestyle choice and like, that's, it's a really cool thing. And I think something we do wonderfully in the FI community is we think differently. And I would challenge everybody to try to think a little bit outside the box with everything and really scrutinize things that people tell you, like, this is in society, that owning a home is your biggest investment. And like, I just find that comical in the FI community that, like, if you are saving money diligently for decades, there is no world where your, your primary resonance is going to be your biggest investment or your biggest asset. There's. There's simply no world. It's just not. Not the case for most people who can't save money. It is so it seems like this magical investment, but it's just for savings and there's nothing wrong with that, but it is a decision and you can make other decisions and I think it's important. So, yeah, I'm glad you highlighted this one. And I also wanted to mention, since Alex said we've also been more engaged with the FI community this year, that we have built out something really remarkable at Choose a Better Comm Slash Local, where Jonathan, who you know is the co founder of Choose a Phi and my longtime podcast host, he has built something really special and it's really starting to make a difference where the local groups are seeing. I've heard from 30 to 50% increase attendance at local groups that are using this system. And we're hopefully trying to get everybody online where all these events now are emailed out to everybody and you get notification of it as opposed to having to log into Facebook and hoping that the algorithm shows you an event. And also everybody can make events. It's not just admins. So if you want to go on a walk every Saturday morning at the local park and throw it out to your community, you can do that and they're going to get notified of it. So this platform is really a way that we can build the FI community into our everyday lives better and better and more easily. So I think it's really something special and 2026 should just absolutely see it blossom.

B (45:15)

I love that.

A (45:16)

All right, the next one I want to read is from Nathan and Nathan said. In March 2025, my wife decided to leave her job due to a difficult work situation. At the time, we were at a crossroads. Should she find another job or take the leap and start our own business? We were also preparing for my upcoming quote, retirement from the coast guard after 21 years of service and we planned on her income to be the steady one during my transition out of the military. Because we had savings, we tried to save 40 to 50% of our income and were debt free except for our mortgage. We decided to open our own counseling practice. We were able to cash flow the startup without taking on any debt. Today we have one employee and plan to bring on a second in January. Our goal was for both of us to work about three days a week and between my Coast Guard pension, VA benefits and my part time work and the business, we're on track to increase our income by 50% in 2026. Best of all, this change has given us more time with our two daughters and we take mini vacations on our three to four day weekends. We couldn't have done this without the peace of mind that came from having a solid financial foundation and a strong nest egg. Thank you for all the inspiration your show provides.

B (46:26)

Woo hoo.

A (46:27)

That is something. That is something cool. I love that. Nathan, huge congrats to you and your family.

B (46:32)

Okay, this next one is from Carolyn. She says I'm 41 years young and my year end win. Is that able to quit my very stressful job at the end of 2024 and take this whole year off to work on healing my extreme burnout. I've been able to enjoy a slower pace of life and have finally had time to focus more on my health. I started playing pickleball in January and now play about three times a week at my local rec center and I love it so much. In July I also began strength training and dialing in my nutrition and other health habits and am overall feeling so much better. I am not sure what's next, but thankfully I have enough FU money that I have plenty of time to figure it out without stressing too much. An added bonus is that because I am solidly coast fi, I will only need to work part time to cover my expenses, which is such a relief. Thank you so much for everything that you and all the other FI content creators do. It has given me the tools and confidence to march to the beat of a different drum and I feel like I am finally in control of my life, my health and my happiness.

A (47:35)

And that says it all. Carolyn, congrats. I feel like I'm finally in control of my life, my health and my happiness and that is the power of fi. That's beautiful.

B (47:44)

Yeah.

A (47:44)

All right, Ginger, we're going to play the last voice message that came in from Marybeth.

C (47:49)

Hey y', all, this is Mary Beth from Huntsville, Alabama. This year has been a huge milestone on my phi journey. After 20 years in the micro optics industry, I finally resigned in April at the ripe young age of 43. I never thought I'd actually do it. I literally tried to resign last October and I just kept hanging on by the very last chain of those golden handcuffs. But finally I did it. My wife and I hit our fine number during COVID and we've been trying to pry ourselves away from the corporate world ever since. The comfort of the accumulation phase and the fear of the withdrawal phase was just too much for us. The struggle is real, y', all, and only my Phi community can really, truly understand this. My wife's taken a little bit longer in her journey to let go. She spent almost 30 years in her engineering career, but she's reduced down to 32 hours a week. A small win and I'm hoping she'll see how much fun I'm having and finally join me in 2026. I'm having a good old time. I picked up part time shifts at a golf course for free golf. I'm playing hours and hours of pickleball to my heart's delight, I'm traveling to visit old friends and family, reconnecting with loved ones I've missed for years. My life is so rich, and I feel like I'm becoming a better human in this journey. I'm so curious to see where this next chapter will take me. Can life really keep getting better than this? I guess we'll see. But for now, no regrets. I'm enjoying the ride.

B (49:21)

43, you rock star.

A (49:25)

Enjoying the ride. That really. That is everything. And the golden handcuffs are real. The one more year syndrome is real, and a lot of us struggle with that. But it sounds like Mary Beth and her wife are doing it. She made moves, and we have a little bit of movement down to 32 hours a week. And you never know where that goes from there. And that's the fun part.

B (49:47)

I gotta say that there's some way in which people who are high earners, when they do the thing and walk away. Like, I'm so impressed by that. And I guess maybe it's because I'm not really a high earner, but it seems like it takes a special kind of courage to do that. So good for you.

A (50:07)

Indeed. All right, Ginger. I had one come in from Oscar, and Oscar said, my year in win is finally maxing out my 401. I've been consistently maxing out my Roth IRA for years, and last year I came very close to maxing out 401, but fell a bit short. This year, I was a little too aggressive with my contribution. So I'll hit the max by the end of November, which unfortunately means I'll miss out on two opportunities for the employer match. While it wasn't perfect, I'm grateful for this position to be able to max out my 401k. Next year, I'll take a more balanced approach to ensure I can reach the maximum while also taking full advantage of the employer match throughout the entire year. So, Ginger, well, first, Oscar, congrats. And, Ginger, this is an interesting one, and. And this is a little niche, and so we won't spend too much time on it, but depending on your company and how they spread out the match, this actually might be pertinent. So we're not going to adjudicate the whole thing now, but if you look at your 401k, if you look at your pay stubs, just keep an eye on. If you do max out your 401k, see if the match stops at the point when you do that or if they spread it out through the entire year. And if so you might be somebody like Oscar who has to make an adjustment for the percentage that you put in the next year. So this is just something to be mindful of that will affect a surprising number of people listening to this.

B (51:23)

Okay, this is, this is the one I wanted to end on because Henry here just is an inspiration for all of us. Okay, so he said. 2025 was my year of Choose Fi. Well, we were doing well saving and investing prior to the podcast community late 2023. We took major actions this year inspired by Choose. Number one. Better understanding of the Coast Fi concept gave us the confidence to make big lifestyle changes. Number two. In April I started a mini retirement for my corporate job thanks in part to the framework set by Jillian and her group coaching shout out to the OG cohort. Number three. Number three. This has allowed me to spend a ton more time with family even when we are not specifically doing something. Being more present allows more opportunities to connect make memories akin to increasing the luck surface area. Number four. I started a handyman business to determine whether I would enjoy it or if it was just in my head. This was my plan for post retirement. Thus far I've discovered that I do enjoy it. It fulfills that little P purpose defined by Doc G. So it will definitely be part of my future plans whether I do it full time or as a side hustle. Taking my health more seriously, I spent money on a nutritionist, tested out some paid tracking apps and a new workout plan by Dean Turner. I'm currently down £20 and plan to continue getting my body fat percentage even lower. Number six from accumulating a ton of miles and points. This is how we discovered Choose Fi. My wife and I are splurging for our 15 year anniversary by celebrating in Bora Bora bookended with business class flights. We are saving $29,000 and it is safe to say that this trip would not be happening without points. Number seven. Despite being in a position of drawdown from our cash reserves that was part of the mini retirement plan, our net worth still increased 11%. While we recognize that this is not sustainable, it is a pretty cool experience and realization. Especially in preparation for retirement and drawdown at a later point in life. This can work. With all this set in place, we are looking forward to 2026 and excited about what's to come. Whether it be career, relationships or our next adventure.

A (53:41)

Wow, wow, wow wow.

B (53:43)

Talk about someone who just grabbed the ball and ran with it.

A (53:47)

I mean seriously, like Henry said, the year of Choose Fi and I love all the references to our friends and the episodes that we've done. Gillian John's root and her coaching on mini retirements to Doc G and little Pete Purvis, to Dean Turner, who I talk about all the time. I actually spent a good bit of time last week in episode 577 talking about my health and fitness and Dean's training specifically, and how it's just transformed my body and life and it's really something special. So. Deanturnertraining. Com. But check out that podcast from last week. I think it's something. But I mean, goodness, this is just a remarkable, remarkable list. And like Henry said, despite being in a position of drawdown, our net worth still increased 11%. And it's just really neat to see that, that this can work. And I think that's really the point of an episode like this is for all of us to realize that your community members, the people around you in the FI community, are taking action to make their lives better. And not only can this work, it does work. It's working in hundreds of thousands, if not millions of lives all across the planet of people just like you in situations just like yours. But they're getting up off the couch and taking action to make their lives better. And you can too. There's nothing special about any of us. There's nothing special. We're all, in many cases, we're middle class people just living a slightly more optimized life and winning at the process and winning in the best way possible, Ginger, which is reclaiming our time, having more freedom and autonomy and living happier, more connected lives. What else could we possibly ask for? And the ball is in your court. By you taking action, you are making your life better. That's everything. It is everything.

B (55:37)

This can work.

A (55:39)

This can work indeed. Ginger, as always, thank you for being here. Thank you for being my co host on so many episodes. Thank you for running with so many episodes on your own. This has been fun.

B (55:51)

Yeah. I was so excited to get to do this episode. And happy holidays.

A (55:55)

Happy holidays to you and to everyone. And enjoy this time. Use it as a time to rest, recuperate and plan for an amazing 2,026. Thanks for being part of the community. And as always, thank you for listening to Choose FI.