Journey to Financial Independence: Introduction to Mark’s Money Mind | Episode 001

This episode is an introduction to the Mark’s Money Mind show hosted by Mark Trautman, CFP® from Crested Butte, Colorado. He shares his passion for financial education and his plan to share timely topics, personal stories and community wisdom through his new show.

Mark shares his own journey to financial independence, beginning from taking the first step of learning about personal finance through books as the internet was not popular back then.

From there, he shares how he and his wife made smart financial decisions like maximizing their 401k contributions, house hacking and maintaining a minimum 20% savings rate. He talks about getting his Certified Financial Planner designation for his own knowledge and transitioning into retirement at age 50.

The story takes a turn with the unfortunate cancer diagnosis of his wife and her subsequent passing. The incident made Mark realize the importance of a living a life of balance, between saving for the future and living in the present, and he encourages listeners to do the same.

The goal of the show is to discuss a wide range of financial topics along with audience participation via submitted questions.

Send your questions to [email protected] (put “Podcast Question” in the subject line)

Episode Links:

The Wealthy Barber by David Chilton

The Millionaire Next Door by Thomas J. Stanley and William D. Danko

Who Let That Lifestyle Creep In?

Timestamps:

• 00:00 Introduction to Mark’s Money Mind
• 00:28 Why I Started This Podcast
• 00:53 My Journey to Financial Education
• 01:41 The Importance of Community in Financial Learning
• 01:58 My Experience Teaching Personal Finance
• 03:14 My Involvement in the Financial Independence Community
• 04:12 The Range of Topics We’ll Discuss
• 05:43 My Personal Financial Journey
• 12:19 The Importance of Saving and Investing
• 15:18 Our Experience with Housing and Debt
• 27:31 The Decision to Move to Colorado
• 32:42 The Impact of My Wife’s Cancer Diagnosis
• 35:30 The Importance of Purpose in Retirement

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