Podcast
The School of Financial Freedom Podcast
Hosted by Douglas Tsoi · EN
What does it mean to live a meaningful inner and outer life and how do our personal finances fit in that? We discuss money, personal & spiritual growth, budgeting, and how all of this relates to the life you were meant to lead. If you want to make financial and behavioral changes that lead to more empowerment, integrity, and gratitude in the world, listen in.
Each episode is a lesson in the course Financial Freedom 1, with alumni explaining the principle and what it means to them years after the course.
Links:
www.schooloffinancialfreedom.com
www.douglastsoi.substack.com
www.douglastsoi.com
10episodes
Episodes
Newest firstAll episodes
2.1 Status Roles and Tiny Details Exaggeration Syndrome
Sep 4, 202400:59:07Tap to summarizeThis lesson is one of the most disagreed-with lessons in the course. The premise is, after a certain level of income, all spending goes to create a status identity. Another way to put it, after a certain level of income, all spending goes to getting approval from the people we want approval from and to feel a certain way about ourselves. SOFF grad Jessica talks about setting a goal to hit financial independent in six years, at age 40. Now, six years later, at age 40, she hit it! She talks about how aligning her spending with her values (along with disciplined investing) has allowed her to reach her goal, and to set new financial goals.
Transcribe →Lesson 3.6: Inner Locus of Control and Brain Food
Aug 28, 202400:58:31Tap to summarizeIs your financial security in your control or is it dependent on the economy, the stock market, or who’s controlling Congress? Is your financial destiny something you direct or a product of your family history and circumstances? Can you make choices that build a future you want, or does circumstance matter more? We get to the critical question of Locus of Control. We talk to Dawn Robertson, a recent FF1 grad, long time Buddhist mediator, and communications expert, about the issue of attention. Are we focused on our external environment, or our power and agency. We'll talk about grief, rage, and the victim mentality. This is a juicy episode!
Transcribe →The Three Vows: Devotion with Sarah Selecky and Ryan Henderson
Aug 22, 202400:57:41Tap to summarizeEarlier this year, I had an idea of a new podcast called the Three Vows. In it, I translate the traditional three monastic vows, poverty, obedience, and chastity into modern vows of voluntary simplicity, integrity, and devotion. In this interview, I talk with my friends Sarah Selecky and Ryan Henderson, who run the Sarah Selecky Writing School. Sarah and Ryan use their wedding vows as an anchor for making decisions together and for how they will treat each other. They refer to their vows almost daily. They talk about how the WRITING of their wedding vows was a creative act that set the intention of the creativity of their lives together. Their marriage is a perfect example of how our commitments grow to define us. Let me know what you think! This podcast is an experiment so I'd love your feedback. Should I continue? douglastsoi2.0@gmail.com
Transcribe →Lesson 3.5: Your Money or Your Life, with Christen Kelly and Jorden Cummings
Jul 1, 202400:58:09Tap to summarizeWe get to one of the key concept in the financial independence movement: that we exchange hours of our life for money (i.e. jobs), so when we spend money, we're actually spending our life energy. So the idea is when we stop mindless consumerism, we can buy our future time. Christen Kelly and Jorden Cummings, recent FF1 grads and current FF2 students, come in and talk about their realizations after learning life-energy/money exchange, particularly doing their calculations of their Real Hourly Wage. When you figure out your RWH, you can calculate how much that pizza, or that article of clothing, or even the rent costs you in life energy, and how much longer it will take you to gaining your life back.
Transcribe →Lesson 1.3: Three Truths about Money, with Elle
Jun 24, 202400:53:31Tap to summarizeWhat are the benefits of financial independence? Is it worth the effort involved? What's wrong with working until normal retirement age? We address these questions with FF1 alumni Elle, a young primary care doctor. We talk about the sacrifices we make with paid employment: our time, our sense of agency, our personal ethics. Elle would not doctor the way she doctors, but for the requirements of paid labor. She would spend more time cultivating other parts of her life: time with her family, practicing her art, spending extended time in nature. And that's the true cost of financial literacy, a loss of the fullness of us.
Transcribe →Lesson 1.2: The Emotional Content of Money, with Lulu Cheng
Jun 17, 202400:55:51Tap to summarizeWhat if money wasn’t your real problem? What if your real problem was your relationship with money? Money is emotional. The unconscious beliefs and thoughts we have about money far outweigh the conscious ones. So much about how we deal with money is how we FEEL about money. Unconscious beliefs about money deeply influence how we live in the world. FF alumni and executive coach Lulu Cheng comes in to talk about how money scripts are an intergenerational legacy we inherit. She talks about what her grandmother living through the Chinese Cultural Revolution and her mother coming as an immigrant to the U.S meant for how she saw money. Lulu describes the process of uncovering what she learned about money from them, and charting her own path, as an artist and writer. Lulu and her work can be found at https://www.lulucheng.com/
Transcribe →Lesson 3.11: Budgeting Needs, Wants, and Bullshit, with Andrea Kelly and Brett Lyon
Jun 10, 202400:59:54Tap to summarizeAlmost everyone knows their annual salary, but 8 out of 10 people don’t know how much money they spend. Once you think about it, that’s incredible. This level of unconscious spending is the reason so many people live in financial fragility today. Andrea Kelly and Brett come in and talk about how they budget as a married couple with a newborn. They took FF1 separately and, after they moved in together, used the lessons to combine their finances. They'll talk about the intimacy it takes to talk about budgeting, and how they invented "strip budgeting," a hilarious and fun way to talk honestly about what is worth spending on and not.
Transcribe →Lesson 1.7: Douglas's Story - Financial Freedom at age 42
Jun 3, 202400:50:06Tap to summarizeYou may have read this on my newsletter, but this episode is my story of how I reached financial freedom at age 42 in 2014. The average American works 90,000 hours in their lifetime. I worked 30,000. In my 20 years of working, I only averaged $36k a year. But if you only spend $25k a year, the math works out: How I retired at age 42 only making $36k a year. So I generally believe that financial freedom is possible for any American making a middle-class income. I started teaching Financial Freedom in 2016 and have taught around one thousand students. Whether you want to sprint to FF or do "Coast FI", I believe that getting a hold of your finances is key to living the life you want.
Transcribe →Lesson 3.2: Inspiration through your Financial Manifesto, with Annie Bickerton
May 27, 202400:49:49Tap to summarizeMost people’s money problems are actually a lack of fundamental direction in their lives. I believe anyone in the middle class of America reach financial independence, if they know what they really want out of life. My dear friend Annie Bickerton joins me to talk about lesson 3.2, where students actually articulate what they want out of life. What's worth getting your finances in order for? Staying in the status quo is just easier. So the question is: Why do you want to do this work of personal finance? I can’t tell you why. Your partner can’t tell you why. Nor your parents. This is personal work you have to do yourself. What’s more important to you than continuing the cycle of work and consumption you do now? We'll see through Annie's example how knowing what's important to you is really the first step in getting your finances in order. And getting your life in order.
Transcribe →Lesson 2.2: Stress and Status in Capitalism, with Lindsay Kandra
May 20, 202400:54:26Tap to summarizeIn this episode, FF1 grad and licensed therapist Lindsay Kandra talks about the how capitalism exploits the body's reaction to stress. We talk about economic insecurity, the stress cycle, and how they lead to hyper and hypo vigilance. Today's use of addictive substances and activities a widespread way of managing feelings of agitation and overwhelm. We discuss how consumerism may be the only socially acceptable form of addiction in America. This is a wide-ranging conversation about gender, class, social expectation and dis-ease. If you might be interested in therapy with Lindsay, her email is lindsay.kandra@senuacounseling.com. She says feel free to reach out with any questions.
Transcribe →