This Year Everything Changes | Ep 580

Hello and welcome to Choose a Fi. Today on the show, we're starting off 2026 with a bang and saying this year, everything changes. And that shows up in a lot of ways, both for the podcast and for each and every one of us in the Fi community. And it starts today. We've always called this the ultimate crowdsource personal finance show, and we redouble our efforts starting today. This is your call to action to become part of the community and more critically, for you to take action to make your life better in every way. We're going to provide the motivation and accountability, and we're all in this together. We're moving forward stronger as a community where you can share, and then we can amplify everything you're doing in your own life to succeed, from small life hacks to celebrating your frugal wins and then sharing them with the community for us all to learn from. We have the technology in place to make this happen. And to make this even more fun, I'm happy to bring back my cofounder of Chooseify, Jonathan Mendanza, to help me not only with this episode, but many to come in 2026. This is going to be a lot of fun. And no matter where you are on your path to PHY, you're going to wanna be here each and every week. And with that, welcome to ChooseFI. Before we get started, I keep this podcast entirely ad free for two reasons. First, this is a Fi podcast, and I don't want to promote products that I don't want you to buy in the first place. And second, I really like the clean listening experience of a show where you don't have to fast forward ads. To keep it ad free, all I ask of you as a listener is the next time you open a travel rewards credit card, go to choosefi.com/cards. And with that, onto the show. Alright, Jonathan. How are you doing, buddy? You're gonna come at me with how you doing, buddy? I say how you doing, buddy. Come on. It's been my show for three years. I get to do what I want. Well, you know, I'm doing quite well, Brad. Doing quite well. Okay. I I hear you. You one up me. 2026? This is pretty wild. This is the year everything changes. I like that. You know you know what? I found that extra bit of gravel after I hit 40. Did you notice that? That's what happens as you get older. It just keeps going. You know? Who anybody need me to do an intro for them? In a whirl. Yeah. I gotcha. You're at the edge of your seat. Because we're about to talk about the path to financial independence. Heck yeah. How many old school listeners are like, oh, I remember I remember that voice. What was it? Spike Reel in a world? Oh, he was so good. Yeah. I I …