Financially Independent Teachers

Send a text Married (PA) teacher's Dale and Kendra love taking advantage of their summer time teacher schedule. Each year, they load up and hit the road with their twins and make memories together that wouldn't be possible without the schedule of a teacher. In PA, they have the option to take a lump sum instead of their pension. Instead of having "golden handcuffs", they will take the lump sum and both retire before 50. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send a text A married Michigan teacher couple uses each summer to scratch their travel itch. Last summer, they spent over 50 days in Europe. Before that, they spent much of summer in Indonesia. This summer, they are headed to Belgium! With a combined teacher income of around 135k, they own a home, have 500k invested in the stock market, and save for their summer vacations. Starting with Dave Ramsey and the Minimalists helped lead frugal lives with intense desire to be debt free, they are now working on accumulation. This teacher duo is FIT approved! Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text Early in their marriage, Dave and Stephanie took part in a local Dave Ramsey FPU class. After "graduating", they started using the cash envelope budgeting system. Fifteen years later, and some financially milestones met, they decided to switch to strictly credit cards, as long as they didn't carry any monthly debt. After 6-8 months of this system, they realized they weren't maximizing their financial lives. Tomorrow, they are back on the envelopes and they share why. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text On this week's episode, I welcome national financial voice and host of the Personal Finance Podcast, Andrew Giancola back to the show. He shares the importance of automation and how to set up your accounts and make your personal finance life automatic! This is a must listen if you want to successfully set up your accounts and bills. Check out Andrew's Money Automation Checklist https://courses.mastermoney.co/automate-your-money-checklist Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text No lotto winnings, no inheritance, no real goal of becoming a millionaire. However, a 42-year old Cobb County GA PE teacher recently crossed over $1,000,000 in investments. Now in his 20th year teaching, he moved from NE Ohio to ATL as a 22-year old... with $1,000 to his name. 20 years later, he is in the double comma club. He has no children, has never been married, and is taking advantage of the aggressive GA salary schedule by maxing out his higher education to earn more, all while coaching, and side hustling. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text A little over five years ago, Dave started Financially Independent Teachers...a passion project to inspire other educators to get smart with their money and maximize their finances. Up until the birth of FIT, Dave and his wife Stephanie started getting very serious about finances (mid 30's), shocked at how much time they had wasted in the past. Some might call it extreme, but the couple wanted to get back on track and ahead of the curve, so they lived strictly off of Dave's teacher income and side hustle money, sold cars, downsized houses and started investing. Being in a family of 4 while living off of one spouses income for a handful of years meant lots of sacrifice, but the experience showed Dave it CAN BE DONE. Last summer, Dave (host) was approached by the Bigger Pockets Money Podcast to share his personal finance journey. Dave was featured on Episode #650. Check out Dave's story as he gets transparent with his journey. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAgJgSFOkVE&list=PLZAaD29urNMNjO9TJq1LJulMZO9MPr6sw&index=60 Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text This week, I interview Jermaine, a TA and coworker at Jacksonville High School. At 45, with the last of his three kids almost out of college, he's ready to start his financial journey. From working for the Philadelphia Eagles to being a real estate agent, and having a video production company, Jermaine made the move into education last year. For the next 12 months, Jermaine will be going through FIT financial coaching. Follow along as we document Jermaine's money progress in 2026 over multiple episodes throughout the year. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text Greg is a retired teacher living in the Dallas area who decided to come back to the education space and work part time. Even though he has a net worth of 6+ million dollars, Greg had a major health scare that had him start making some critical lifestyle decisions as he heads toward full retirement. His advice to teachers is to think BEYOND the financial numbers as you plan for retirement. Check out his story! Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text In our last episode of the season, I welcome back fan favorite, Justin Garritt back on the show to discuss 8 timeless lessons surrounding our lives and money. In addition, we are joined by Justin's wife, Paulina, as she shares insight on the topic as well! Have a great holiday season! Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text On this episode, we welcome Lucretia Ryan back to the show! Raised by educators in NYC, Lucretia has a heart for teachers and providing her expertise and free resources. With recent changes, SS is now on the table for ALL teachers, even if you don't pay into it as an educator. Have you paid into it in the past? Should you get your 40 quarters to get SOMETHING? Lucretia Ryan is the founder of FinancialFreedomforWomen.org. She is a financial writer, educator, and philanthropist. After graduating from Cornell University and spending her career at IBM, Lucretia is now helping women to gain financial independence. Her goal is to simplify complex saving and investment decisions to help women make financial decisions that are in their best interest. Because Lucretia does not accept any fees, commissions, advertising, or donations or sell any financial products, she is able to expose the hidden fees and financial traps and help women avoid being taken in by financial predators. She conducts pro-bono, one-on-one retirement optimization workshops for women so they can understand their retirement options and make educated financial decisions. She teaches “Financial Literacy” and “Medicare: What the Insurance Companies Won’t Tell You”. https://www.financialfreedomforwomen.org/

Send us a text

Send us a text Last November, North Carolina elected a new state treasurer, Brad Briner. Briner, 47, has 25 years of experience managing investments and recently retired as co-chief investment officer from Willett Advisors, the firm that manages assets for Michael Bloomberg. He studied economics at UNC Chapel Hill (Morehead Scholar) and has an MBA from Harvard. He lives in Chapel Hill with his wife and four children and serves on the UNC Board of Trustees. On this episode, we learn a little bit about Brad's background and ask questions about the NC pension and the new raise to healthcare premiums in NC.

Send us a text After achieving financial independence for herself and her family through real estate, Whitney knew that she didn’t want her knowledge to go to waste. So, she developed a wealth-building blueprint for her daughter, which became her new book, Money for Tomorrow. In it, Whitney teaches you how to build a wealth legacy that will endure for generations to come and ensure that your descendants won’t gamble or spend away your life’s work. Whitney turned to wealth-creation strategies to build sturdy financial freedom for herself and her family. Whitney is now on a mission to help families implement sound financial principles to create passive income and long-term wealth for generations to come. Be a guest on the show: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/contact-8 Check out our website: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/ Sign up for FIT coaching: https://www.financiallyindependentteachers.com/services-4

Send us a text We've all seen the Ramsey Solutions research, "teacher" was the third most common career in his survey of 10,000 millionaires...Do most teachers think it is possible to join that club...after 20 years as a teacher, I would say the answer is a resounding NO. As the FIT Podcast has shown time and time again, there are PLENTY of net worth millionaire educators. No, this doesn't mean they have a briefcase with 1 million dollars worth of cash. However, it does mean that when you add up the individuals assets and subtract their liabilities, they have a net worth of one million dollars. In this episode, Dave will lay out a road map for young teachers and run through how it is possible.

Send us a text James Stout has been a teacher for 25 years in North Carolina. Investing in his first mutual fund at 12 years old, James as always had an affinity for money and planning for a brighter future. After seeing many of his colleagues struggling to live paycheck to paycheck, James put advice together in the form of his new book to help out the educator community. James has plenty of experience seeing basic money principles work in his own life, as he has become a net worth millionaire teacher! In this episode, we discuss teacher pay, pensions vs. match, retirement, budgeting, hope, and much more! GET THE BOOK! https://www.amazon.com/Educators-Financial-Journey-Finances-Brighter-ebook/dp/B0FLZTCN5Y/ref=books_amazonstores_desktop_mfs_aufs_ap_sc_dsk_0?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_w=fsiMs&content-id=amzn1.sym.299f645c-0a78-440a-94a2-fb482e7cb326&pf_rd_p=299f645c-0a78-440a-94a2-fb482e7cb326&pf_rd_r=138-2852063-4480255&pd_rd_wg=U0uez&pd_rd_r=eb957c13-77cd-4ec4-9539-a8aed978013a

Send us a text Matt and Lauren are both 43 years old while living south of Nashville, TN. Matt has his own practice as a vet, but relies on his wife for her health insurance. Matt is the child of a teacher and has a heart for educators, he says we actually make the best pet owners! Listen in as we talk to this husband/wife duo about how Lauren's "Steady Eddy" job as an educator enabled Matt take chances on his career and how it has all shaken out.

Send us a text Scott is a NC custodian, married to a 30+ veteran NC educator...together, they have a NW of around 2 million! Scott's wife retired with 30+ years of NC service and is back in the school system while collecting her pension. Scott is also retired, he became a custodian to give back to his community and be on the same schedule as his wife. Growing up in Western PA, Scott remembers what it was like to be a student who received free and reduced lunch. Now, he gets the chance to inspire students at Jacksonville High School and make a difference every day!

Send us a text Matt and his wife just celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary, they have two kids, one in college and one getting ready to graduate from HS. Matt didn't enter education right away, but his wife was a teacher while he was a financial advisor and computer programmer. Even though he took a 50k pay cut to become an educator, he has never been happier, and him and his wife are well on their way to financial independence.

Send us a text The BIG BEAUTIFUL BILL...will it hurt me? Will it help me? No, this isn't a political episode AT ALL...However, we welcome Sean Mullaney, the FI Tax Guy, to the show to discuss how this new piece of legislation will impact teachers and middle income earners and their money. Sean Mullaney is an advice-only financial planner and the President of Mullaney Financial & Tax, Inc. Through Mullaney Financial & Tax, Sean provides advice-only financial planning for a flat fee. He is the co-author, with Cody Garrett, of the book Tax Planning To and Through Early Retirement. Sean writes the Plutus Award winning blog FITaxGuy.com on the intersection of tax and financial independence. He also has a personal finance YouTube channel. Sean has discussed personal finance and tax on numerous podcasts, including ChooseFI, The Stacking Benjamins Show, How to Money, and BiggerPockets Money. He has been quoted in media outlets including The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and MarketWatch. Check out Sean's new book on tax planning! https://www.amazon.com/Tax-Planning-Through-Early-Retirement/dp/B0FNNVXY16