#130: Anna and Dave want to get married … eventually. But they want to buy a rental property together first. How should they approach this from a paperwork/legal structure standpoint? Note: They’re thinking about having one partner purchase the home, with the other partner acting as a lender (with proper paperwork in place). Would this be a wise approach? Fred lives in Saskatchewan, Canada and owns two duplexes. He’s thinking of buying rental properties in the U.S., and he has 4 questions: What requirements or criteria do you establish ahead of time? For example, do you look for a minimum cap rate? Or a specific type of property? When you’re looking out-of-state, what steps do you take to identify a community? How about the type of property? What market research do you undertake? How would you caution an international investor who wants to start investing in U.S. properties? Jordana wants to build financial independence. She’s thinking about selling off stocks and index funds in order to buy her first rental property. Is this a good idea? Cheryl lives in Texas, where property taxes are astronomical. How should she factor this into her rental property decisions? Rachel is worried about bed begs. (Yuck!) Have I dealt with these in any of my rental properties? How do I protect against pests, termites and roaches? I tackle these five questions in today’s episode, which is dedicated to rental property investing. Enjoy! P.S. Need software to manage your rental properties? Collect applications, screen tenants, and collect rent online with Cozy.co/Paula. (And P.P.S. — If you’re not interested in rental investing, don’t worry! Check out last week’s episode about debt payoff with Laura Adams, or the previous week’s episode, in which Joe Saul-Sehy and I answer a smattering of general personal finance questions. Have fun!) For more information, visit the show notes at http://affordanything.com/episode130 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

#128: Antonia, 27, wants to retire in 15 years. She's trying to figure out whether to contribute to pre-tax or after-tax retirement accounts. Most financial advice for 20-somethings that she's encountered says to contribute to after-tax (Roth) retirement accounts. These articles assume that a 27-year-old will continue earning money for the next 30+ years, presumably escalating into higher tax brackets along the way. By paying taxes upfront, these articles say, you'll enjoy 30+ years of compounding gains, which you'll be able to withdraw tax-exempt. But what if, like Antonia, you're only 15 years from retirement? Should you stick with Roth tax treatment? Or is there wisdom in making retirement contributions with pre-tax money? _____ Marisa is young, high-income, and highly risk-tolerant. She'd like to know: what asset allocation would I suggest for a young, risk-tolerant person? And is rebalancing her portfolio necessary, or just a distraction? _____ Dylan owns his home outright. When he sells it, he'll collect about $100,000 after fees. He also has an additional $100,000 saved in cash. He'd like to buy a home free-and-clear. What's the best way to approach this? Should he take out a home equity line of credit? A bridge loan? Something else? _____ Pal lives in the San Francisco Bay Area. He recently bought his first rental property, and he's interested in building passive income and reach financial independence. He's curious about credit card piggybacking, a side hustle by which a person with a high credit score adds another person with a low credit score as an authorized user to their card. It seems like a legitimate way to earn extra money. Why aren't more people talking about this? Is there a problem he's overlooking? _____ Anonymous, 24, says she knows next-to-nothing about investing. She has $6,500 in her Roth IRA, invested in a Washington Mutual Class A mutual fund, which is an actively-managed mutual fund with a front load. Should she keep her money there? Or should she move it? Her second question is about her 401k. She contributes 5 percent of her paycheck into a Roth 401k account, from which she invests in a Target Date retirement fund. Her employer doesn't match any contributions. Her total contributions to both accounts (her Roth 401k and Roth IRA) equal $5,500 per year. Should she stop contributing to her Roth 401k, so that she can focus her contributions on her Roth IRA? ____ Jeff and his wife are both 64. When he reads about retirement, the information is ambiguous about Social Security. Let's say that he has $1 million saved towards retirement, which generates $40,000 annually at the 4 percent rule of thumb. Let's also say that he is eligible for Social Security income of $40,000 per year. Doesn't this mean he could retire on $80,000 per year? If so, then why do "4 percent rule" projections only talk about the portfolio portion? ____ Former financial advisor Joe Saul-Sehy and I discuss these questions on today's episode. Enjoy!   For links to resources mentioned in this episode, go to http://affordanything.com/episode128 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices