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Send us Fan Mail The Millionaire Math Teacher is approaching his 70th birthday, I figured it would be the perfect time to have him reflect on his life and money.  With a 2.5 millionaire dollar net worth, the retired math teacher and his retired nurse spouse were never HIGH income earners, but they built a great life together.  In this two-part discussion, John will give his general thoughts on money advice for almost every phase and stage in life. We start in the teens and work all the way up to legacy plans.

Send us Fan Mail Check out Part II of my special Q&A episode with Justin and Jeff from Garritt Financial Solutions. Two teachers, who are now financial advisors will answer YOUR audience questions!  https://garrittfinancialsolutions.com/

Send us Fan Mail You had questions, Justin and Jeff had answers! In what might be a few of our best episodes yet, we are blessed to have a special TWO part Q&A episode with Justin Garritt and Jeff Venables. Both are former educators who are now helping others in the financial industry.  FIT fans submitted their fan questions, and they have answered!  Section 1: Getting Started & Building Financial Confidence Section 2: Investing Priorities During Your Career Section 3: Career & Pension Decisions Section 4: Retirement Saving & Roth Strategies Section 5: Education Planning & Family Goals Plenty more!  https://garrittfinancialsolutions.com/

Send us Fan Mail Brad is a Long Island music teacher who is passionate about helping fellow teachers with their finances. Brad grew up being somewhat interested in saving money, but never saw himself being a personal finance coach.

Send us Fan Mail The Durham All-Star team is here to discuss health benefits. Retired NC teacher and coach, David Norman, and former principal and classroom teacher, Greg Mitchell, have over 55 years of combined experience in NC.   Open enrollment is coming! Whether you live and teach in NC or another state, open enrollment can be a head scratcher. My cafeteria benefits book last year was around 60 pages.  Disability insurance, cancer plan, universal life, term life, accident insurance....what do I need? In this episode, we discuss TWO main things.... 1. The NC state health plan open enrollment and big upcoming changes.    2, How to navigate your cafeteria benefits options. Open Enrollment for 2027 (NC) benefits takes place from October 12 to October 30, 2026. You can review your choices and make updates through the NC State Health Plan and NC Office of Human Resources NCFlex portals.

Send us Fan Mail Did you know you can make over 100k in a foreign country and NOT pay any US income taxes? What a way to STILL make a living, but take advantage of Roth conversions to move money from pretax accounts to tax free Roth. George did just that as this NC teacher had three stints teaching in Africa. While in Africa, he rented out his home and let others pay off his mortgage.

Send us Fan Mail Debbie grew up in Northern NJ, at the age of 12, her mom and dad split up. This was devastating to the family and she had to pick up 3 jobs to help mom make ends meet. As an adult, she moved to Washington state with her husband who was an engineer...after 7 children together and homeschooling her children, Debbie realized "I was the only married person in the home". At 37, she had to start all over again, raising the children and going back to school to become a teacher.  Her first teacher salary was 41k per year, and she had to do many side jobs to help pay the bills and keep a roof over her head. Debbie earned her masters and national board teacher certification in a low wealth district that paid nice supplements for each as she climbed her way to the top of the pay scale. Now 67, Debbie is a multimillionaire, recently retired after 26 years in the classroom, and is a key member of Washington's Financial Education Public-Private Partnership.  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 Fan Mail Samuel lives in Fresno California and is the founder of The Academy of Financial Education. Samuel didn't start in the world of finance, but after seeing a family host a local car wash to raise funds for the funeral of a lost loved one, he became a financial advisor within a year. After five years, he knew he had a higher calling and started his non profit. In this episode we discuss how to build credit, how to raise your credit score, and the concept of financial therapy.  The Academy of Financial Education  https://taofe.org/ How to Repair Your Credit DYI https://taofe.org/diy-credit-repair 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 Fan Mail Jermaine is a NC teacher assistant and football coach who moonlights as a real estate agent, DoorDasher, professional photographer, and student. When he started this financial journey in January, he had less than $500 to his name, no investments and was renting.  What is Jermaine up to now? Did he reach his summer goals? Listen in as Jermaine tells all in Part II of 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 Fan Mail Todd is getting ready to start his 27th year teaching as a California Personal Finance educator. Growing up in a lower middle class family, he ended up marrying his college sweetheart from Arizona State University. As a teen, his wife spent some time being homeless. Together, they decided they would NEVER live the way they grew up and wanted more for themselves. Teaching has taken Todd from AZ to TX and now California.  Todd's took some risks in life and they have paid off, for the most part. He believes his job as a teacher enables him to take risks that others cannot because he has the pension and so much time off to study deals and make moves.  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 Fan Mail Megan is a New Bern elementary PE teacher who is "Dave-ish" when it comes to Mr. Ramsey's plan. Their family uses the Every Dollar app, and keeps track of every dollar that comes in.  The dollars that Megan brings in is where it gets interesting. A NC Unicorn with masters and nationally board pay, Megan also drives the school bus, making an extra 10k+ each school year. In addition, she runs summer camps for her local parks and rec. She even helped one of her kids get a gig helping a local catering business. Guess what? Megan decided to get on board, too!  Through all the extra hard work and debt payoff, she made a commitment that when she had kids, she would always take a two week vacation with them each year. Even though she could have been debt free by now, she is balancing travel, family, extra work and the debt.  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 Fan Mail Brian is a father, husband, educator & coach in small town Nebraska. He enjoys travel, the outdoors, camping & sports. As a high school science teacher, Brian coached four sports & mowed lawns in the summer to stay ahead between athletics, travel & kids' activities. Like many young educators, his family was living paycheck to paycheck, blindly putting money into various "investments" & hoping someday they'd have money for retirement. He had no formal financial education, little understanding of account types or investing vehicles, & no goals or investing strategy. One thing he had going for himself was being debt-averse...but they still always had debt. Somewhere in the messy middle, Brian started learning about finance & his missteps. Over time he read & listened to dozens of finance books, consumed thousands of hours of podcasts & YouTube, & used & created several tools to streamline & automate our finances. What started as a dream of F.I.R.E. (financial independence retire early) eventually evolved into a business model around financial planning for educators. Now his goal is to help others on their financial journey. After 18 years in the classroom, Brian is now full blown in the finance world.  Brian's Website https://youreverydayroi.com/ 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 Fan Mail Eric's story is rooted in real-life experience. After a divorce, he found himself rebuilding as a father of three children. Along the way, he met an incredible woman, and together they committed to paying off debt and creating a strong financial foundation. As Eric learned more about managing money, he began teaching personal finance to high school juniors, turning a personal challenge into a professional passion. Today, after seven years of marriage, Eric and his wife make budgeting and financial planning a priority, and that commitment has helped them build a thriving life together. Together, they are now NW millionaires!  Financial success wasn’t the result of having all the answers from the beginning—it came from being willing to learn, make adjustments, and keep moving forward. That mindset has transformed their finances, strengthened their marriage, and given Eric the opportunity to help the next generation make better financial decisions than many of us weren't taught to make. 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 Fan Mail Eric walked away from his W2 job in education at the age of 50. He didn't have enough years of service to access his pension at 50, but him and his wife had over 1 million dollars in a taxable brokerage account to live off of in retirement. One day, the pension will come, until then, Eric still works as an educational consultant.  With a paid for home, Eric and his wife plan on eventually selling, whenever their find their "forever" location. Currently, they are adventuring throughout the US doing what they call SLOMADING. Annoyed with quick travel and only seeing the "touristy" spots, they are dabbling into a slower paced travel, utilizing platforms like Furnished Finder to stay for 2-3 months in one spot, living like a local.  So far, they have tried this approach in Omaha, NE...Coastal NC/SC, and their next pit stop is in the high desert in NM. They are trying to find their retirement spot, and they will travel the nation until they do so!  Check out their website...Early Exit, Open Road! https://earlyexitopenroad.com/?fbclid=IwY2xjawTKcQtleHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFOWTNMSWJ6N2FoNnpDdU1vc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHufomQCj17Inha7QhA-h8YJ-i_sjVzwXouhUiLNhi6CUdJ0hb2tTRPf9QRZS_aem_x2wxbnS0VvlcraB6cB-Lpg 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 Fan Mail These married NC music teachers are making it happen! Mid 30's and maxing out Roth IRAs, two future NC pensions in their early 50's, social security in the future...they will have a combined income of 130kish in their 60's. They take advantage of their time off in the summer by running a fireworks rent for 2 weeks each summer. They hustle extremely hard for the two weeks leading up to the 4th and make TWO MONTHS worth of teacher income in those two weeks.  They are Dave Ramsey inspired, but have had to work through different financial backgrounds to come together and "make it happen" on their NC teacher salaries.  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