How to Stop Stressing About Money

Emily Anne is worried about her obsessive tracking behavior. She’s in great financial shape but struggles to shake the constant compulsion to check her accounts. What should she do?
An anonymous caller and his partner plan to use geo-arbitrage to retire early before reaching their financial independence number. Can they have their cake and eat it too?
Kevin and his wife are having second thoughts about their Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) real estate investments. How do they back out without compromising their estate plan?
Former financial planner Joe Saul-Sehy and I tackle these three questions in today’s episode.
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Emily Anne asks (at 01:38 minutes): Do you have advice for letting go of obsessive-tracking behavior and looking at finances more holistically?
I’ve kept track of my spending and savings in detail since I started working. I used Mint for 10 years and was a big fan. When I switched over to Monarch after Mint shut down, it was an even better experience.
The problem is I’ve become obsessive. I’m checking it too much - multiple times a day - even if nothing’s changed. I’m in a great spot with my finances. I don’t need to spend all this time on the apps but I can’t seem to curb this behavior.
What should I do?
Kevin asks (at 20:12 minutes): My wife and I are 69 and 70, retired, and wondering how to simplify our real estate investments for estate planning.
Several years ago, we sold a highly appreciated Southern California home that we used to live in but then rented out for 10-plus years. We no longer wanted to manage rental property, so we did a 1031 Exchange into Delaware Statutory Trust (DST) investments.
One of the main lures was passive mailbox money that also allowed us to defer capital gains and depreciation recapture until it became an estate issue and went away. But internal costs and fees are not trivial and I’m not excited about the future of the DST market.
We’re both in great health and although there are no guarantees, we don’t see the estate piece happening anytime soon. We’d still be short of income-related monthly adjustment amount (IRMAA) and Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) thresholds.
Does it make sense to strategically reduce our DST exposure over time to simplify our overall portfolio, particularly for our kids when the eventual estate events happen?
Anonymous asks (at 41:15 minutes): My partner and I want to retire before we hit our $3 million financial independence (FI) number. Could we use geo-arbitrage to quit our jobs now and still achieve our savings goals?
We have $1.8 million invested in the Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund (VTSAX). We’d like to relocate to a dramatically lower cost-of-living area where we could live off less than three percent of our current portfolio.
While this will slow down our savings, we’re flexible and would be open to part-time work in this new location. When we eventually reach our $3 million goal, we could move back home or to another high-cost-of-living area.
What do you think of this plan? Do you see any obvious problems? What else should we consider?
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[@BrokeMillionaire1]

Great episode!

[@eddiebrugal8660]

The anonymous call was my favorite - Geo Arbitrage!

[@JimMurray2]

Bali - great call. I might have to pick that as well. Loved it when i went 8 years ago!

[@nata3467]

I'd be heading to Guatemala
And if needs be I will be heading to Guatemala.