Irish Financial Independence & Personal Finance Podcast

All Podcast Episodes

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91. Good & Bad Money Spending Habits

Sunday, 25th February 2024

In this episode, Michael takes a close look at intentional money spending. He explains how becoming good at spending money is a skill and gives examples of good and bad money spending habits.

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90. Travel & FIRE, with Stephen

Tuesday, 13th February 2024

In this episode, Michael talks to Stephen about travel and FIRE. Stephen is originally from Ireland but has spent time in Canada as well as countries all over the world.

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89. Property VS Stocks, With Andrew

Sunday, 28th January 2024

In this episode, Michael talks with Andrew, who was last on the podcast in 2021 talking about Investment Trusts. This time, Michael and Andrew compared property VS stock. Likely the most discussed topic on many FIRE groups, what is the better investment, property or stocks?

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88. I Don't Really Want to Retire Early - Interview with Tom - Part 2

Monday, 15th January 2024

In this episode, Michael continues his conversation with Tom, a 26 year old pharmaceutical salesperson based in Wexford.

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87. The Gen Z FIRE Blueprint - Interview with Tom - Part 1

Friday, 15th December 2023

Tom, a 26 year old pharmaceutical salesperson based in Wexford, shares his FIRE story with Michael. Tom was able to save €40,000 by the time he was 25 and purchase his first house aged 26.

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86. The Money Flamingo Tribute

Friday, 10th November 2023

In this episode, Michael pays tribute to the Money Flamingo website. He mentions how Tina's work has been a huge motivator for him, especially since 2021 and explores how many attributes from the Money Flamingo website are starting to apply to his own FIRE journey.

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85. Your Questions Answered 2023

Tuesday, 10th October 2023

In this episode, Michael answers a few questions that he has received over the last few weeks from podcast listeners.

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84. How to Get Started in Buying Investment Property

Friday, 22nd September 2023

In this episode, Michael discusses the basic things that one needs to do to become a property investor. He covers the ins and outs of looking for the right property to buy, to negotiating through the sales process. The episode covers things such as the Rent Pressure Zone in Ireland, but is also suitable for listeners overseas.

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83. Ways to Increase Your Income - Part 4

Friday, 8th September 2023

In this episode, Michael adds another chapter to his original episodes released back in 2019 on income. He reviews various additional methods of potential ways to increase your income, including some of the recent methods being adopted by some members of the FIRE community.

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82. Introducing the 20:20 Rule

Thursday, 24th August 2023

In this episode, Michael introduces the 20:20 rule.  A simple concept that is a great starting point for anyone new to the FIRE movement.  He also gives some quick starting points on how to reduce expenses and increase income.

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81. The Great Supermarket Ripoff

Friday, 11th August 2023

In this episode, Michael discusses some strategies around how he and his family grocery shop. He mentions some of the traps that he see's when shopping for food and shares some tips on how you can reduce your grocery bill.

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80. Are Solar Panels a Good Investment?

Friday, 28th July 2023

In this episode, Michael discusses everything solar panels related!  He goes through his own experience of having solar panels installed 12 months ago and lists the pro's and con's of installing solar panels.

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79. The Art of Money and Communication Interview

Saturday, 15th July 2023

In this episode, Michael is interviewed by Joshua from The Art of Money and Communication Podcast. The interview covers various aspects, from trying to FIRE with children, embracing FIRE in a high inflation environment, discussing other FIRE influences and discussing some of the core aspects of FIRE - such as being uncomfortable and compounding your ability to earn, save and reduce expenses.

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78. FIRE is for Everyone - Interview with Joshua

Friday, 30th June 2023

In this episode, Michael interviews Joshua from The Art of Money & Communication Podcast. Joshua is originally from Wales and now living in London. He is an Opera Singer and has been pursing FIRE for a number of years.

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77. The Elephant in the Room

Friday, 16th June 2023

In this episode, Michael responses to a listener email. The email asked Michael why he doesn't look to apply more moderation and consistency to his FI journey. Michael responses by talking about the elephant in the room - that FIRE is extreme and that to make it work long term, it often needs to be done in phases.

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76. Mortgages with Laura Mansbridge

Friday, 2nd June 2023

In this episode, Michael talks with Laura Mansbridge, a mortgage broker based in Limerick. Michael and Laura talk everything mortgages, including mortgages for first time buyers, equity release, buying property through a company and a pension, advantages of using a mortgage broker and associated costs.

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75. My 12 FIRE Rules - Part 2

Friday, 19th May 2023

In this episode, Michael covers the second part of his 12 FIRE rules. In part two, he covers his 5 rules related to income and investing. Michael shares his advise around why income is the most important FIRE attribute, the importance of an emergency fund, why keeping investing simple is the best approach and that average market returns are OK!

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74. My 12 FIRE Rules - Part 1

Friday, 5th May 2023

In this episode, Michael covers his 12 FIRE rules. In part one, he covers his 7 rules related to managing expenses. Since 2018, Michael has actually decreased his annual expenses, even with rising inflation. He lists his 7 rules related to how his family have reduced expenses overtime.

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73. 5 Takeaways from 'Die With Zero'

Friday, 21st April 2023

In this episode, Michael gives his five key takeaways from the book 'Die with Zero', which has because a bit of a stable for FIRE enthusiasts. He lists his five main takeaway points from the book and gives his own take on how he has implemented changes after listening to the book.

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72. The Element of Luck

Friday, 7th April 2023

In this episode, Michael discusses one of the hidden secrets of the FIRE movement - the element of luck, or chance! Luck (both good and bad) plays a huge role in one's ability to hit FIRE and is often underrated. Michael gives examples of those in the FIRE community that have experienced good luck on their journey, as well as giving examples of his own good luck from the last 5 years.

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71. Planning for Withdraws in Early Retirement

Friday, 10th March 2023

In this episode, Michael provides insights into his thinking around how to plan for withdrawals in early retirement. He discusses the challenge of working out whether to pay down current mortgages on investment properties, or continue to buy new properties.

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70. Is the Traditional FIRE Movement Dead?

Friday, 24th February 2023

In this episode, Michael asks the question, is the traditional FIRE movement dead?  With so many great FIRE alternatives available now, he considers if the traditional route of work hard and retire is no longer applicable, especially in a post COVID world, where so many other income alternatives are available.

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69. Coast FI with Anders, The Coast FI Guy

Friday, 10th February 2023

In this episode Michael talks with Anders Skagerberg, AKA The Coast FI Guy. Coast FI is the concept of building a smallish portfolio and let it compound in the background, while you work part-time and wait until your portfolio grows enough large enough to fully retire.

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68. Why I Buy Property

Friday, 27th January 2023

In this episode, Michael shares his reasons why he has been buying rental properties.  He explains that while landlords are currently leaving the property market, he is buying and his reasons for doing so.

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67. The Great FIRE Myth

Friday, 13th January 2023

In this episode, Michael discusses the great myth or lie about the FIRE movement, the notion of early retirement.  He mentions that most people that achieve FIRE don't actually retire in the traditional sense and continue bringing in some form of income.

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66. Money Principles with Jesse Borst

Friday, 30th December 2022

In this episode, Michael talks with Jesse Borst from Money Principles. Jesse is a professional investor and has his own Youtube Channel, where he shares tips on financial freedom, personal finance and covers topics such as generational wealth.

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65. My Property Strategy

Friday, 16th December 2022

In this episode, Michael discusses how he goes about buying investment property in Ireland. He lists the requirements from the banks, to working with auctioneers, to the in's and out's of putting a property deal together in Ireland.

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64. A FIRE Conversation with Alva Damon

Friday, 2nd December 2022

In this episode, Michael has a conversational style catch up with Alva Damon, who last appeared on the podcast back in early March 2020.

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63. My Top 10 FIRE Regrets

Friday, 18th November 2022

In this episode, Michael reflects on his FIRE journey over the last 5 years and lists the top 10 regrets that he has had to date.

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62. All Roads Lead to Semi Retirement

Saturday, 5th November 2022

In this episode, Michael gives an update on his overall FIRE progress and explains why semi-retirement will likely be the best path for his FIRE journey.

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61. Dealing with the Daily Grind

Wednesday, 21st September 2022

In this episode, Michael describes daily working life for him. He briefly described what has happened to him work life over the last 12 months or so and explains how he handles getting through the daily grind. He discusses how he views work and how he comes up with early exit strategies in the event that he decides that the daily grid isn't worth it.

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60. 12 Inflation Busting Money Saving Tips

Friday, 26th August 2022

In this episode, Michael shares a list of 12 ideas to help reduce expenses. With inflation running at 40 year highs, reducing expenses can be a great way to tackle the impact on inflation.

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59. Buying Property in 2022

Friday, 10th June 2022

In this episode, Michael shares his story of buying an investment property in 2022. He shares his high's and low's of activity looking for an investment property in Limerick - and explains what has changed in 2022 when buying a property.

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58. Flamingo FIRE - The Money Flamingo Interview

Saturday, 23rd April 2022

In this episode, Michael talks to the author of the Money Flamingo Blog. Tina is originally from Europe and is now living in Australia. She become "Flamingo FI" in 2020 and has been living a semi retired lifestyle since then.

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57. Some Things Are More Important Than Money!

Tuesday, 22nd March 2022

In this episode, Michael takes a moment to reflect on the Ukraine War. He mentions that it is hard to discuss personal finance when there is a war going on in Europe. He talks about luck and the impact that that has on one's FIRE journey.

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56. The Three Phases of FI

Monday, 14th February 2022

In this episode Michael discusses the three phases for FI.  Michael shares how he is currently at a full throttle FIRE stage, where he is looking to maximise his income potential.

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55. Investment Trusts with Andrew

Saturday, 5th June 2021

In this special two year anniversary episode, Michael interviews Andrew.  Andrew has been investing for a number of years and is well on his way to FI. In the interview, we talk about Investment Trusts, which are a great way to get around the horrid Deemed Disposal tax that exists in Ireland.  Invest Trusts are taxed at 33% and dividends are taxed at your Income Tax Rate - so they are a tax efficient way to invest in Ireland.

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54. The Barista FIRE Approach

Tuesday, 25th May 2021

In this episode, Michael discusses The Barista FIRE Approach - the concept of building a small portfolio and letting compounding grow the portfolio while not withdrawing from the portfolio until when you retire.

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53. What Should I Be Investing In?

Friday, 16th April 2021

In this episode, Michael discusses the options around what he invests in 2021 and provides an update on how his investments has changed over the last 3 years.

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52. Selling up and moving to the Canaries

Wednesday, 24th March 2021

In this episode, Michael answers a question from Sinead, who has recently sold up her property in Ireland and has moved to the Canaries.

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51. The Irish Savers Action Group Interview

Saturday, 20th February 2021

In this episode, Michael interviews Sean and Sinead from The Irish Savers Action Group (ISAG) Interview. They are on a mission to promote financial literacy and to push positive progressive changes in the Irish investment tax rates.

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50. Passive Income - The Alternative Way to FIRE?

Thursday, 28th January 2021

In this episode, Michael explores an alternative way to becoming financially independent - by building passive income streams. Michael defines passive income as any income that isn't generated directly to your time (e.g. selling your time for money).

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49. Should I set up a company for my investments?

Saturday, 16th January 2021

In the first episode of 2021, Michael announces that the format of the show for 2021 will change slightly. Michael will answer questions he gets on financial independence from listeners this year - typically answering two or three questions per episode.

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48. Saying No to 50% Tax

Monday, 7th December 2020

In this episode, Michael discusses the strategies he has adopted to reduce his tax bill.  He explains how he is able to reduce his actual effective personal tax rate to less than 9% living in Ireland (a high tax country).

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47. Financial Independence with Dave G

Friday, 6th November 2020

Michael interviews Dave G, a co-host of the Limerick FI meet up group. Dave is based in Newcastle West, in Co. Limerick. Dave is originally from the UK and is a PAYE earner. He has a unique FIRE journey is looking to become FI through real estate investing.

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46. Embracing Frugality

Thursday, 22nd October 2020

In this episode, Michael mentions how his family embraced frugality and how they were able to reduce their expenses by a significant amount.

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45. Name Your Sacrifice

Monday, 7th September 2020

In this episode, Michael discusses the sacrifices one needs to make when pursuing financial independence.  He relates it back to his own decision and mentions why he realised that his time freedom movement was taking him away from his ultimate goal of becoming FI.

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44. Talking Financial Independence with Ken, from the Humble Penny

Monday, 17th August 2020

In this episode, Michael talks with Ken, who runs the blog "The Humble Penny". Ken is based in the UK and become financially independence at aged 34.

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43. Buying an Investment Property with No Deposit

Tuesday, 4th August 2020

In this episode, Michael provides specific details about how he was able to put a deal together to use equity from his home to purchase an investment property in Ireland.

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42. Talking Property with Gavin J Gallagher

Monday, 27th July 2020

In this episode, Michael talks with Gavin J Gallagher about property.  Gavin owns and operates the East Point Business Park in Dublin, but has also worked on hundreds of property deals over the last 25 years.

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41. The Realities of Dealing with Bad Investments

Tuesday, 14th July 2020

In this episode, Michael shares his recent experiences (in story telling format) of some of his failed investments and ventures and the outcomes and downsides from dealing with the consequences.

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40. The Four Pillars of Success

Tuesday, 23rd June 2020

In this episode, Michael reflects on how financial independence ties into success and how wealth is only 25% of deemed success. Michael discusses why one needs to target all four pillars of success to find true happiness and reflects on his own story about how he is applying the four pillars.

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39. Talking Financial Independence with Alan Donegan

Friday, 5th June 2020

In this special first anniversary episode, Michael talks with Alan Donegan, a 41 year old entrepreneur from the UK, who became financially independent 18 months ago.

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38. Realisations of 2020

Monday, 25th May 2020

In this episode, Michael reveals his realisations of 2020 and the changes he has made in response to learning from COVID 19.

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37. Life After Rugby - The Jamie Heaslip Interview

Tuesday, 28th April 2020

In this episode, Michael talks with former Irish Rugby International Jamie Heaslip. Jamie provides insights into what hes doing after rugby, but we also talk about the processing of success when playing rugby.

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36. Investing During a Downturn

Tuesday, 14th April 2020

In this episode Michael talks about how he is investing during a downturn. He talks about some of the mistakes he has made and how he is looking to invest going forward.

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35. What is Money Anyway?

Tuesday, 31st March 2020

In this episode, Michael looks into the history of money and how the economy works.

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34. What's your Edge

Tuesday, 17th March 2020

In this episode, Michael gives an update on life in Ireland since the Coronavirus outbreak. He mentions how he is taking new opportunities with the change of market conditions and what changes he has made since the Coronavirus.

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33. Investing & Money Saving Tips with Alvar Damon

Thursday, 5th March 2020

In this episode, Michael chats with Alvar Damon, who provides a follow up interview after appearing on the podcast in 2019. Alvar lists some of the active investing and money saving tips, and also discusses how he manages time and energy.

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32. Money doesn't grow on trees, or does it?

Monday, 17th February 2020

In this episode, Michael talks about how he might just be a bad investor! In the last two years, he has been involved in so many investment scams, that he is now looking at ways to change direction when it comes to investing.

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31. Bye Bye Envestio

Monday, 3rd February 2020

In this episode, Michael shares the story of the Envestio scam, which he unfortunately got caught up in.

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30. The Day I lost €6,000

Monday, 20th January 2020

In this episode, Michael shares the story of the day he lost €6,000, caused from being over leveraged in his trading account. The story details how he reacts to some huge mistakes he made when trading the markets and the lessons that he learned from losing such a large amount of money in a short space of time.

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29. Time VS Energy

Monday, 6th January 2020

In this episode, Michael explores the energy that one puts into various tasks - from work, personal projects, investing and life in general. He noticed that while he had cut down his working hours to as little as possible, he still found himself without enough time.

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28. Becoming the Mexican Fisherman

Monday, 25th November 2019

Michael makes a big announcement in this episode. Michael has made the decision to start living in a "semi-retired" status. He talks about how the story of "The Mexican Fisherman" inspired him to work towards reducing his working hours as much as possible.

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27. The Opportunist Butterfly

Tuesday, 12th November 2019

In this episode, Michael explores what can happen when you start to take opportunities, and the long term impact that that has when you start to take opportunities. He gives examples from his own hockey coaching business, as well as other examples.

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26. How Not to Start a Business

Friday, 8th November 2019

In this episode, Michael lists the common errors he sees when it comes to starting a business. He lists some of the common errors, and then gives his advise on how to start a business quickly and more effectively.

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25. How I became Financially Independent with Robert White

Tuesday, 5th November 2019

In this episode, Michael talks with Robert White. Robert is in his 30's and he and his wife Emma became financially independence in 2015.

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24. Robert Kiyosaki VS Financial Independence

Friday, 1st November 2019

In this episode Michael looks at some of the lessons that Robert Kiyosaki teaches and compares them against the FI movement.

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23. Financial Independence with Mrs Money Hacker

Wednesday, 30th October 2019

In this episode, Michael talks with Meagan from Mrs Money Hacker.

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22. What I learnt from the Madrid FIRE 2019 Conference

Friday, 25th October 2019

In this episode, Michael provides feedback from what he learnt at the Madrid FIRE 2019 conference. For example: Financial Independence isn't about money. Money is a tool to give you freedom with your time.

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21. Financial Independence as an employee with Alvar Damen

Tuesday, 22nd October 2019

In this episode, Michael talks to Alvar Damen. Alvar is a co host of the Financial Independence Europe podcast, is 26 years old and originally from The Netherlands, currently living in Scotland. Alvar talks about how he is trying to archive FI as an employee. He talks about some travel hacks that he has and touches on how important side projects are for him. He gives some examples of various side hustles that one could start. He also talks about his FI number and the types of investments he has and how him and his girlfriend work together on their FI journey.

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20. The 3 paths to financial independence

Friday, 18th October 2019

In this episode, Michael lists the three potential paths to financial independence in Ireland. He explores a new path which he hasn't considered before, after talking to a person at the Limerick FI Meet Up who had recently retired by pursuing this method.

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19. Happiness VS Financial Independence

Friday, 11th October 2019

In this episode, Michael explores the idea that happiness and financial independence is a trade off. He challenges the listener to start living their life as if they were retired, and to start doing the things that they want to do now - rather than waiting until retirement.

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18. Should you cruise your way to financial independence

Tuesday, 8th October 2019

In this episode, Michael explores a concept known as cruise FI - where you focus your engery on building a large pension pot which you can then access in retirement. Once you have that retirement saving, you can then relax, knowing that you have the large pension available.

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17. How to get started on your financial independence journey

Tuesday, 1st October 2019

In this episode Michael lists the 7 steps that he followed when he started pursuing financial independence. Michael tackles the "how" to FI, and gives practical steps for you to get started on your own FI journey.

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16. Talking money with Aoife Gaffney

Thursday, 26th September 2019

In this episode, Michael talks to Aoife Gaffney, AKA Prudence Money Penny. Aoife is a Certified Behavioural Money Coach (CMC), Accredited Business All Stars Thought Leader, professional speaker and writer and former financial adviser. Michael interviews Aoife about a person's relationship with money, how you can improve your view point with money and just share general tips and advise when it comes to managing money!

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15. How we use credit cards to manage our cash flow

Wednesday, 18th September 2019

In this episode, Michael shares how he uses credit cards to manage his daily cash flow. He gives a history of how he found himself in €30,000 in credit card debt 12 years ago and what he learned from that experience.

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14. Talking Pensions with Ralph Benson from Moneycube

Wednesday, 11th September 2019

In this episode, Michael talks to Ralph Benson from Moneycube. Ralph is on a mission to add more transparency to pensions and investment products.

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13. Pay off debt or invest... how about both!

Friday, 6th September 2019

In this episode, Michael tackles the question of should you focus of paying debt (or your mortgage) quicker by making extra repayments, or should you invest.

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12. Financial Independence with Guy Davis

Wednesday, 4th September 2019

In this episode, Michael talks with Guy Davis. Guy is a long time friend who Michael meet back to 2004. Guy started his financial Independence journey when he was 18 (he is in his mid 30's now.) What makes his story special, is that he began investing before the 2008 financial crisis, so has survived a recession and came out the other side better for it.

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11. The Financial Independence Trap

Friday, 30th August 2019

In this episode Michael discusses the trap between time and money. He mentions that there is no magic number and that what we are ultimately looking for when we aim for financial Independence, is time freedom.He mentions to start micro managing your FI journey and focus on yearly goals, rather than focusing on the final "big number".

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10. Talking Financial Independence with Alvar Damen

Wednesday, 28th August 2019

In this episode, I am interviewed by Alvar Damen from the Financial Independence Europe podcast. We discuss various FI topics, from trying to be financially independent in Ireland to trying to be financially independent with kids.

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9. Legal tax deducations when you own a company

Monday, 19th August 2019

In this episode, Michael looks at some of the tax deductions available for corporations. The episode covers expenses which can be claimed for both international listeners, as well as expenses specific to Ireland. He highlights that company owners can take advantages of so many tax reducing methods that are not available for PAYE earners.

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8. Is financial independence a journey or a destination?

Friday, 16th August 2019

In this episode, Michael explores the concept that financial independence is as much about your mindset and enjoying the journey of financial freedom. He suggests that perhaps there is no "pot of gold at the end of the rainbow" and explains why his decision to cut down to part time work was to help enjoy the journey to financial independence.

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7. Welcome to the information age

Wednesday, 7th August 2019

In this episode, Michael explores the idea around what the information age means to the new way to earn money and challenges some of the traditional conventions, such as the 9-5 working hours, the 8 hour work day, working 5 days a week and working in an office. He challenges the listener to think about their own career choice to ask is there another way that you could be considering to make money?

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6. Ways to increase your income - part 3

Monday, 5th August 2019

In this episode, Michael explains how to increase your income by building scalable businesses. He gives specific examples by explaining about some of the scalable businesses he is developing and challenges you to see if you could start your own scalable business.

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5. Ways to increase your income - part 2

Friday, 2nd August 2019

In this episode, Michael explores the option of being a contractor or freelancer by invoicing through a corporation. He discusses the various ways of invoicing and how changing to a "value based" billing model had significant advantages to the traditional time billing model. He also discusses the tax advantages of contracting through a corporation VS the traditional PAYE employee model.

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4. Ways to increase your income - part 1

Wednesday, 31st July 2019

In this episode, Michael discusses the best ways to increase your income, while avoiding paying excess tax. It can be very difficult in Ireland to get ahead financially when the personal tax rates hit 50% on only a very average income. Michael discusses ways to minimum your tax liability, while giving you a vehicle to increase your income in a tax efficient structure. This is part 1 of a 3 on ways to increase your income.

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3. Financial Independence with Vince Doherty

Saturday, 27th July 2019

On this episode Michael has an interview with Vince Doherty. Vince has been interested in financial independence for the last 3 years and is the founder of the 'Financial Independence Ireland' meet up group. Vince shares his own story, explains what he invests in and shares details about his meet up group.

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2. Let the good times roll

Tuesday, 2nd July 2019

What has really changed between now and the recession? Michael explores the differences between the hard times and now and asks the question "are you really any better off?".

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1. Introduction into financial freedom

Wednesday, 5th June 2019

Michael gives us his background about moving to Ireland in 2011 and explains about how he is planning on being financially independent, by cutting expenses, investing for monthly income, leaving the rat race and taking more opportunities.

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