Afford Anything Podcast Por Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network capa

Afford Anything

Afford Anything

De: Paula Pant | Cumulus Podcast Network
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You can afford anything, but not everything. We make daily decisions about how to spend money, time, energy, focus and attention – and ultimately, our life. How do we make smarter decisions? How do we think from first principles? On the surface, Afford Anything seems like a podcast about money and investing. But under the hood, this is a show about how to think critically, recognize our behavioral blind spots, and make smarter choices. We’re into the psychology of money, and we love metacognition: thinking about how to think. In some episodes, we interview world-class experts: professors, researchers, scientists, authors. In other episodes, we answer your questions, talking through decision-making frameworks and mental models. Want to learn more? Download our free book, Escape, at http://affordanything.com/escape. Hosted by Paula Pant.2024 Afford Anything LLC Economia Finanças Pessoais Gestão e Liderança
Episódios
  • Your IQ Won't Save Your Career. Your AQ Might. – with Liz Tran
    Feb 20 2026
    #691: Your IQ used to be your biggest career asset. Then AI scored in the 99th percentile on the LSAT, the SAT, and the MCAT — and suddenly the cognitive skills that once set you apart became something anyone can access for free. Executive coach Liz Tran joins us to talk about what actually drives career success and earning power now. Her answer: AQ, or agility quotient — your capacity to handle change, learn new skills fast, and keep moving when your industry shifts beneath you. The personal finance implications are real. The average half-life of a technical skill is five years. In tech, it's closer to two. That means the expertise you spent years building — and the salary that came with it — can become obsolete faster than a mortgage term. Tran argues the people who protect their earning power long-term aren't necessarily the most credentialed. They're the ones who can unlearn old ways and adapt quickly. We walk through her four AQ archetypes — the neurosurgeon, the astronaut, the firefighter, and the novelist — each with a different default approach to change. Knowing your type helps you understand where you might freeze up during a career pivot, a market downturn, or a high-stakes financial decision. Tran points out that analysis paralysis, something many real estate investors and career changers know well, often comes down to archetype — and there are practical fixes. We also cover her ABCD framework — anchors, bets, classroom, and discomfort — which maps out how to stay functional and decisive during volatile periods. And we get into the six thinking hats theory, specifically how pairing black-hat (downside) thinking with green-hat (future-focused) thinking can sharpen any major financial or career decision. Timestamps: Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising run times. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths. (00:00) Intro to AQ — agility quotient defined (03:19) IQ vs. EQ vs. AQ — how the three differ (04:09) Origins of IQ — born from industrialization (04:41) Birth of EQ — rise of the knowledge worker (05:01) Why AQ matters now — the tech revolution (06:19) AI and IQ — cognitive skills are now commoditized (07:51) Technical vs. durable skills — and why both matter (10:48) Half-life of skills — technical skills expire fast (13:41) Measuring durable skills — how to spot your gaps (15:59) The four AQ archetypes — neurosurgeon, astronaut, firefighter, novelist (25:08) Improving your weak spots — run toward discomfort (30:59) The ABCD framework — four pillars of high AQ (43:56) Anchors — people, places, routines that ground you (54:25) Six thinking hats — six ways to approach any problem (01:04:28) AQ is changeable — it's never too late to grow Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hora e 7 minutos
  • Q&A: Should My Teen Go to College?
    Feb 17 2026
    #690: Blanca (01:28): Blanca, an immigrant mother raising a 14-year-old, wants her son to think critically about college—not just as an experience, but as a financial decision. With the rising cost of higher education, she’s wondering how families can assess whether an undergraduate or graduate program is likely to pay off over time. Brandon (30:05): Brandon in his forties, recently left full-time work to pursue per diem work and a side project. Planning to draw down his taxable brokerage account for supplemental income over the next 20 years, he’s wondering whether to continue reinvesting dividends or take them as cash for flexibility. Anon (40:15): Anon has been following Paula’s advice on financial advisors. They’ve heard her recommend fiduciaries and caution against the assets-under-management (AUM) model. They’re eager to understand the reasoning and want guidance on finding trustworthy advisors. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hora e 6 minutos
  • Your Brain Is Your Most Important Asset, with Dr. Majid Fotuhi, MD, PhD
    Feb 13 2026
    #689: Most people think forgetting a name means their brain is failing. Dr. Majid Fotuhi, a neurologist who taught at Johns Hopkins and Harvard, sees thousands of patients convinced they have Alzheimer's – only to discover they're dealing with poor sleep or stress. Dr. Fotuhi joins us to break down the difference between cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer's disease. He explains why chronic stress physically shrinks your hippocampus — the thumb-sized memory center in your brain — and how twelve weeks of lifestyle changes reversed cognitive decline in 84 percent of his patients. We talk about the five hidden taxes draining your brain: sedentary lifestyle, poor sleep, junk food, chronic stress and mental laziness. Scrolling social media after work counts as mental laziness, even if your day job involves intense focus. Dr. Fotuhi offers a different framework: five pillars that compound over time. Exercise ranks first because it multiplies mitochondria in your brain cells, reduces inflammation and generates new neurons in your hippocampus. Walking 10,000 steps daily cuts Alzheimer's risk by 50 percent. Sleep comes second. Your brain rinses itself during deep sleep, flushing out amyloid — the core protein in Alzheimer's disease. One night of poor sleep increases amyloid in your brain. We cover nutrition (skip the junk food debate), mindset (heart rate variability breathing reduces Alzheimer's footprints) and brain training. Dr. Fotuhi memorizes 70 names in a single lecture and explains his technique for remembering credit card numbers using mental imagery. The conversation covers London taxi drivers who grew their hippocampus by memorizing 10,000 streets, why stress management beats supplements, and how Swedish students learning Arabic increased their brain volume in three months. Timestamps: Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments. The provided timestamps are approximate and may be several minutes off due to changing ad lengths. (00:00) Defining cognitive decline, dementia and Alzheimer's disease (05:19) Why cognitive issues don't always mean Alzheimer's (07:24) Thinking of your brain as an asset to manage (07:51) The five hidden taxes draining your brain (10:45) How poor sleep prevents brain rinsing and causes inflammation (14:20) Oral health and brain health connection (16:40) Brain plasticity and the Broca lobe (27:02) The five pillars of brain health (35:23) Cardiovascular fitness versus strength training for brain health (38:51) Sleep as the second pillar of brain health (48:05) When exercise beats sleep (51:33) Different types of intelligence beyond IQ tests (1:03:53) Reversing brain damage from decades of bad habits (1:10:25) Nutrition and avoiding junk food (1:25:09) Mindset and stress management as pillar four (1:33:35) Breathing exercises for stress reduction (1:39:24) Brain training as the fifth pillar (1:51:52) Memory techniques for names and numbers (2:02:46) Nootropics and supplements for brain health Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    2 horas e 2 minutos
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