Episode 148

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Published on:

28th Aug 2024

Reverse Budgeting: Low-Stress Way to Spend Guilt-Free and Keep Your Finances Healthy | E148 Peter Lazaroff

Things can get complicated quickly in the world of personal finance. From investing and budgeting to estate planning and insurance, there are multiple ways to accomplish what you need to get done.

Let’s take investing for example. There are different strategies including but not limited to passive index investing, value buying, the 3-fund portfolio, rental real estate, stock picking, target date funds, 70/30 splits…Honestly, I could rattle off a hundred different options which is why I wouldn’t be surprised if you got overwhelmed by all of the choices.

The more experience I get, the more I realize, that simple is usually better. Although the word simple can mean different things to a lot of people, at the heart of the meaning, it means something is easily understood and easily done.

So how can we simplify money? Well, my friend Peter Lazaroff wrote a whole book about the topic called Making Money Simple and he is on the show today to share some of those tips. In particular, we focus on investing and budgeting.

On the investing side, we discuss why Peter chose to invest his personal portfolio into one index fund although he has gained a ton of knowledge managing six billion dollars as the Chief Investment Officer at Plancorp. And if you hate tracking every dollar you spend, we discuss an alternative to traditional budgeting, the reverse budget, which is a simplified way to make sure your spending is aligned with your income.

Key Takeaways:

  • What matters whenever it comes to successfully investing
  • Why Peter invests in only one mutual fund
  • The most important factor in investing
  • How to simplify spending by reverse budgeting
  • How to enjoy your money as it grows


Mentions:

Making Money Simple (free book): https://peterlazaroff.com/freebook

How Peter Invests Guide: www.HowPeterInvests.com


More of Peter:

The Long-Term Investor Podcast: https://peterlazaroff.com/podcast


More of The Struggle is Real:

Find show notes and more at https://www.tsirpodcast.com/

Connect with Justin on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/justinleepeters/

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About the Podcast

FI Minded - Financial Independence, Early Retirement & Lifestyle Design
Achieve Financial Independence & Have Fun Doing It
Pursuing financial independence, financial freedom, or early retirement often leads to the same questions: How do I become financially independent? How much should I save? What happens after I reach FI?

FI Minded helps you use money to create more freedom, without turning your entire life into a financial optimization project.

Host Justin Peters explores the decisions behind building a flexible, work-optional life, from reaching financial independence and navigating Coast FI and Slow FI to spending your money, changing careers, stepping away from work, and figuring out what comes after FI.

Each episode combines practical personal finance with conversations about early retirement, lifestyle design, work, spending, healthcare, self-employment, and life after financial independence. The goal isn't simply to reach FI as quickly as possible. It's to make progress toward financial freedom while actually enjoying your life along the way.

On FI Minded, you'll learn how to:
- Reach financial independence without burning out
- Build a flexible, work-optional lifestyle
- Navigate Coast FI, Slow FI, and other paths to FI
- Make smarter decisions about spending and saving
- Prepare financially and emotionally for early retirement
- Figure out what life can look like after financial independence
- Think through the tradeoffs behind major money and lifestyle decisions
- Make progress toward financial independence while actually living your life.

Some of our past guests include Carl Jensen (1500 Days), Jeremy Schneider (Personal Finance Club), Nick Loper (Side Hustle Show), Andrew Giancola (The Personal Finance Podcast), Jordan Grumet (Earn & Invest), Rachael Camp (Work Optional), Jillian Johnsrud (Retire Often), Sean Mullaney (FI Tax Guy), Jill Sirianni (Frugal Friends), Jackie Cummings-Koski (Catching Up to FI), Joel Larsgaard (How to Money), Cody Garrett (Measure Twice), Jesse Cramer (Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors), Jess (The Fioneers), Chris Hutchins (All The Hacks), Diania Merriam (EconoMe), Andy Hill (Marriage Kids Money), Fritz Gilbert (Retirement Manifesto), Maggie Tucker (Inside Out Money), Cody Berman (The Financial Independence Show), Joe Saul-Sehy (Stacking Benjamins), Doug Cunnington (Mile High FI), and and others helping you rethink how to approach financial independence.
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