9 to FI - Financial Independence Conversations

Elliot and Josh
  • 4.8 (8)
  • Investing
  • Updated Weekly

9 to FI is a Financial Independence podcast hosted by Elliot and Josh from St. Louis. Together, we share honest commentary on our journey to FI—covering wins, challenges, and lessons learned along the way. With real conversations and practical insights, we aim to help others navigate the same path, taking Financial Independence from dream to reality.

  1. 5d ago

    The Beginning Of The End? | 9 to FI 055

    Where Do We Go From Here? Rethinking the Podcast CadenceJosh and Elliot open by discussing 311 announcing a St. Louis show at The Factory in Chesterfield on November 11 (recorded August 11) and then shift to the future of their podcast after missing their first Monday release in a year. They compare it to pointless corporate reporting that no one noticed when stopped, noting they’ve received no listener complaints. They enjoy the conversations but find weekly editing, scheduling, and generating fresh topics increasingly taxing in a saturated personal finance/FI podcast space. They consider reducing frequency (possibly every other week), trying guests, solo episodes, or including their spouses, and they ask listeners for feedback and topic ideas, noting they average about 400 listens per episode. They also touch on Elliot being 6–7 months from retirement, Josh’s positive retirement experience, Elliot’s foot recovery and PT, and Josh’s colonoscopy with a benign polyp and a 7–10 year follow-up recommendation.00:00 311 Show Excitement01:34 Podcast Cadence Reality Check02:09 Corporate Report Déjà Vu06:09 Pros Cons of Continuing08:45 Finding Fresh Topics11:45 New Formats and Guests13:19 Listeners Feedback Matters17:16 Retirement Fears and Wins20:34 Injuries Recovery Updates21:41 Colonoscopy PSA26:05 Wrap Up and Next Steps Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  2. Aug 3

    Spending On Convenience | 9 to FI 054

    Convenience Spending Experiments: Lawn Care, Cleaning, Food, and Outsourcing for FIJosh and Elliot discuss “convenience spending” and how it fits into financial independence, comparing DIY habits with paying for services that save time or improve life. Josh shares success with professional lawn fertilization but struggles to outsource more, while Elliot happily pays for lawn mowing and considers home cleaning despite kids quickly undoing results. They cover other convenience spends and trade-offs, including haircuts, eating out, breweries/entertainment as community-building, and hiring a tax preparer for speed and confidence, especially with real estate. Josh describes negative experiences with contractors and quick-lube car maintenance, fueling his reluctance to outsource property management and repairs. They consider testing meal prep kits, grocery pickup/delivery, and house siding washing, and tie the topic to shifting from accumulation to drawdown and “Die With Zero” ideas. They agree to test outsourcing—Josh for real estate help, Elliot for house cleaning or grocery services—and revisit results in a month.00:00 Convenience Spending Setup01:39 Lawn Fertilizing Win03:17 Paying for Lawn Mowing06:10 Cleaning and Time Value10:51 Haircuts DIY vs Pro13:27 Eating Out as Convenience16:00 Breweries and Community18:24 Hiring a Tax Preparer21:37 Real Estate Help Needed24:44 Meal Kits and Groceries29:48 House Washing Experiment31:31 When Convenience Goes Wrong34:43 Mindset Shift and Drawdown40:10 Pick One Experiment41:35 Wrap Up and Next Steps Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  3. Jul 27

    Exploring New Perspectives at Camp FI | 9 to FI 053

    Camp FI Rocky Mountain Week 1.5 Takeaways: Community, Drawdown Strategies, and Life After FI Elliot and Josh recap their trip to Camp FI Rocky Mountain Week 1.5, comparing travel routes and sharing takeaways. Josh prepared by researching communication strategies to manage introversion and anxiety in groups, practiced meeting people, and noted how uniquely receptive the FI community is versus everyday life. They discuss the camp’s retiree-leaning vibe, insights from “veterans” on drawdown strategies and sequence-of-returns risk (including skipping COLA increases), and the challenge of giving themselves permission to spend after strong market returns and added income streams. Key themes include community as “chosen family,” physical and mental health, and sessions emphasizing emotional wellbeing and therapy. They mention mixed reactions to a crypto session, credit-card maintenance, using a fee-only advisor/CFP, 72(t) strategies, camp activities like hiking and pickleball, and Josh’s 4,000+ mile post-camp road trip and reflections on a personal “wonderful life” policy statement. 00:00 Saturday Morning Kickoff 00:27 Getting to Camp FI 01:48 Introvert Prep and Social Energy 06:37 Week 1.5 Vibe and Veteran Wisdom 09:57 Drawdown Strategies and Spending 15:43 Community and Friendship Building 23:51 Camp Highlights Pickleball and More 25:40 Rehab and Youth Sports Madness 31:53 Content Takeaways Therapy Focus 37:58 Finance Action Items CFP Cards 72t 44:10 Cons Sleep and Not Enough Time 49:02 Personality Types and Social Circles 53:20 Post Camp Road Trip Recap 57:49 Wonderful Life Statement and Wrap Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  4. Jul 20

    Heading to Camp FI and What We're Reading | 9 to FI 052

    Camp FI Road Trip Plans, FI Book Takeaways, and Staying Positive in the Heat Josh and Elliot record a grab-bag episode before leaving for Camp FI Rocky Mountain 1.5, discussing midweek camps and travel logistics. Josh is extending the trip with a solo road trip to Colorado and on toward Montana near Glacier National Park to visit his son. They discuss Cody Berman’s book Retire by 30, including “cash flow FI” from rental properties and his ideal-day schedule, and Nick Maggiulli’s The Wealth Ladder about how strategies change across net-worth rungs, including starting scalable businesses. Josh mentions his part-time real estate work (~19.5 hours/week). They also touch on Bill Bengen’s “Safe Max” (4.7% vs 4%) and portfolio complexity, then Josh shares efforts to stay positive and active during a St. Louis heat wave. 00:00 Trip Plans And Camp FI 01:46 Road Trip To Montana 03:50 Prepping The Chevy Colorado 05:06 Book Review Retire By 30 12:04 The Wealth Ladder Framework 16:16 Real Estate Work And Time 18:58 Rethinking The Safe Withdrawal Rate 22:58 Staying Positive In The Heat 25:22 Wrap Up And Goodbye Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  5. Jul 13

    Planning For Early Retirement Healthcare Through HealthCare.gov | 9 to FI 051

    Estimating ACA Health Insurance Costs for Early Retirement: Subsidies, MAGI, and Plan Choices Elliot and Josh discuss healthcare as a major early-retirement cost and review a BiggerPockets Money episode featuring free tools for estimating ACA premiums. They compare the BiggerPockets calculator with healthcare.gov, noting discrepancies but agreeing both help illustrate key variables such as zip code, household size, ages, and modified adjusted gross income (MAGI), especially around the 400% federal poverty level subsidy cliff. Josh explains how to use healthcare.gov’s “Browse Plans & Costs” and shares that for a two-person household at $84,000 MAGI he sees about $700/month in subsidies and a $381/month bronze plan. They then run Elliot’s family-of-five example on healthcare.gov, exploring income inputs, a Medicaid-eligibility warning at $100,000, and a $1,011/month subsidy at $120,000 that yields a $505/month bronze plan versus a $949/month silver plan. They discuss tradeoffs between premiums and out-of-pocket costs, how premiums rise with age, and using these estimates for budgeting tools like ProjectionLab. 00:00 Welcome and Setup 00:51 Homework and Bloopers 01:20 BiggerPockets Tools Overview 03:17 Key Variables and Zip Codes 04:19 Healthcare Gov Walkthrough 06:15 Subsidy Cliff Strategy 08:29 Elliot Runs Numbers Live 13:18 Bronze vs Silver Tradeoffs 14:56 Aging Costs and Family Changes 15:45 Comparing Employer Plans 17:09 Projection Lab and BP Calculator 20:23 Wrap Up and Takeaways Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  6. Jul 6

    Keeping Up With The "FI" Joneses | 9 to FI 050

    Episode 50 Recap: Revisiting Our Biggest FIRE Decisions, Community, and Plans Josh and Elliot celebrate reaching 50 podcast episodes and recap prior discussions to see what changed. Josh’s high-mileage Chevy Colorado is still running and he plans a long road trip. Elliot revisits his housing case study and currently chooses to “do nothing” and stay put. Josh updates that his wife Lori remains full-time because part-time would lose benefits; they have “concepts of a plan” for a future withdrawal strategy involving possible 72(t), rental cash flow, cash/brokerage drawdowns, and Roth conversions, with a note to cover mechanics later. They discuss increased involvement in the FIRE community, including presentations and travel opportunities, and potential FOMO. Josh shares health and accountability updates (primary care completed, colonoscopy scheduled, dentist still pending). Elliot confirms canceling plans to move to France, staying off most social media, but using Amazon again. Josh decides against an early 401(k) withdrawal for home projects after high quotes and highlights listener feedback. They consider adding guests (including Lori) and recording in person, note the podcast loses money, and thank listeners for support. 00:00 Episode 50 Milestone 00:21 Why Recap Now 03:00 Car Series Update 04:53 Elliot Housing Decision 06:05 Josh Withdrawal Strategy 10:54 Listener Feedback Shoutouts 13:02 Can Elliot Retire Soon 14:19 Side Hustles Reality Check 17:51 Leaving FIRE Community 27:34 Health Accountability Goals 29:58 France Move Undo 30:41 Social Media and Amazon 36:59 401k Withdrawal Debate 41:07 Favorite Episodes and Regrets 43:07 Laurie Episode and Guests 44:13 Next 50 Episodes Plans 46:37 Podcast Money Talk 48:43 Final Thanks and Goodbye Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  7. Jun 29

    The Hardest Thing About Early Retirement | 9 to FI 049

    The Hardest Part of Early Retirement: Mental Health, Rumination, and Finding HappinessJosh and Elliot discuss common challenges of early retirement—shifting from saving to spending, boredom, healthcare uncertainty (ACA subsidies and planning), loss of identity and guilt when saying you’re retired, social isolation, and fear of running out of money (Monte Carlo simulations, one-more-year syndrome, expense lumpiness, and flexibility). Fourteen months into early retirement, Josh says most of these weren’t major issues for him, but his biggest struggle has been mental health and happiness: after an initial honeymoon, stress from helping with a newborn granddaughter in the ICU, sleep disruption, recurring funks, irritability, and rumination over trivial and family/tenant issues. He describes using reframing, reducing complaining, reading self-help and mental-health books, drafting an “It’s a Wonderful Life” personal policy statement, and focusing on controlling what he can; Elliot shares returning to therapy and the idea that money only solves money problems.00:00 Early Retirement Struggles01:10 Saver To Spender Shift02:58 Boredom And Purpose06:05 Planning The Tuesday Life10:18 Healthcare And ACA Fears13:16 Identity And Guilt21:31 Isolation And Community24:48 Running Out Of Money34:15 Mental Health Reality Check42:01 Tools To Stop Rumination45:10 Therapy And Taking Control57:33 Closing Thoughts Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

  8. Jun 22

    Why we didn't save for our kids college. | 9 to FI 048

    College Planning, 529 Tradeoffs, and Flexible Ways to Support KidsElliot and Josh chat about summer heat, an upcoming Colorado trip for Camp FI, and how long emails get ignored, then segue into college expenses and planning. Elliot references an Inside Out Money episode contrasting underfunding vs. heavy 529 saving (including a $600,000 example) and discusses 529 flexibility alongside concerns about over-saving and restrictions. Josh explains why his family avoided 529s, noting his children took varied paths (one degree, two partial, one no college), and describes focusing on controllable cost reducers like Missouri’s A+ scholarship (two years community college tuition) and earning credits in high school, plus covering books/fees and encouraging tuition reimbursement jobs. They debate ROI of expensive schools, the value of the “college experience,” alternative careers, and ideas for gifting money with guardrails or paying loans later to create “skin in the game,” acknowledging uncertainty about timing and kids’ choices.00:00 Summer Heat Banter00:54 Camp FI and Manitou Incline01:52 TLDR and Email Overload03:29 College Planning Kickoff04:19 529 Plans and Flexibility10:02 Scholarships and Community College12:56 Debt, ROI, and College Value21:35 Rethinking the Traditional Path28:14 Kids Finding Their Own Way37:53 Gifting Money and Skin in Game45:26 Wrapping Up and Next Time Do you have feedback or suggestions? We want to hear from you! Contact Elliot: Elliot@ninetofipod.com Contact Josh: Josh@ninetofipod.com Josh’s other podcast: Stuck In Beta Josh’s YouTube channel: How To Fix It Workshop Any of these products help the show. Thanks for your support! Buy Us a Coffee⁠ - One time donation or monthly, it’s up to you We both use ⁠Mint Mobile⁠ and save a ton on our phone plan: ⁠ ⁠Empower⁠ is Josh’s choice for Net Worth and Budgeting Wanna create a podcast? We use ⁠Descript⁠ Looking for a new credit card?  We’re big fans of ⁠Chase⁠ ⁠Want to save money on gas, groceries and dining out? Try ⁠Upside!⁠ Books mentioned in this episode: Come find us and subscribe on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/@9toFI

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4.8
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About

9 to FI is a Financial Independence podcast hosted by Elliot and Josh from St. Louis. Together, we share honest commentary on our journey to FI—covering wins, challenges, and lessons learned along the way. With real conversations and practical insights, we aim to help others navigate the same path, taking Financial Independence from dream to reality.

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