Journey To Launch

Home
United States
New York, NY
Journey To Launch

Call Website Contact the business

Join me on the journey to reach Financial Freedom. Get helpful tips on how to get out of debt, save, Get started with the Jumpstart guide.

GET THE INSPIRATION YOU NEED TO Launch To Financial Freedom & Independence. We provide the ideas and resources to help you skyrocket your savings, blast through your debt and ultimately launch you on your journey to Financial Freedom & Independence.

10/15/2026

New Podcast Episode! Funding Your First Rental Property, Homeschooling, and Redefining Financial Freedom w/ Erika Brown

High interest rates and high prices don't mean the door is closed on real estate. It means the strategy has to change.

Erica Brown, who has nearly 40 rental properties and co-founded a Georgia brokerage with over 250 agents, returns to the show to talk about where the opportunities are for a first-time investor. We cover the long-term mindset real estate takes, owner vs. operator, landlord-tenant laws, and how to tell if a market is still appreciating.

On funding, Erica explains the step-up strategy of buying a new home and renting out your current one, how new construction incentives can bring a rate down to around 4.5-5%, and how a 401(k) loan or self-directed IRA can cover a down payment, typically 20-25% on an investment property.

We also talk about her current season of life: paying off properties, doing less hustle, and where homeschooling stands today.

In this episode, we talk about:
- The step-up strategy: turning your current home into a rental after buying your next one
- How new construction incentives can lower your interest rate, and how 401(k) loans and self-directed IRAs can fund a down payment
- Owner vs. operator, landlord-tenant laws, and how to spot an appreciating market
- Paying off properties, downsizing a portfolio while increasing cash flow, and homeschooling

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MfQuBLz2QrI
Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode499
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

10/05/2026

If you're saving for retirement or early retirement, healthcare belongs in the plan, and long-term care is the piece many people leave out.

Medicare and health insurance don't pay for long-term care, and it can cost $15,000 to $20,000 a month. Hospice physician Jordan Grumet shares how people approach it: setting aside a dedicated, invested bucket, buying long-term care insurance, using life insurance with long-term care riders, building mutual-support communities, or moving into a continuing care community.

We also cover what healthcare costs before and after retirement, from COBRA to ACA subsidies to Medicare choices. Jordan also explains how the system got here and what you can do as a patient to protect yourself.

In this episode, we talk about:
- Why health insurance can eat up a huge share of an early retiree's budget, and where the options fall short
- How Medicare, Medigap, and Medicare Advantage differ, and why the choice matters
- Long-term care planning: self-funding, insurance, riders, communities, and the Medicaid five-year lookback
- Practical ways to protect yourself from rising costs: appeals, generics, practice ownership, and direct primary care

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rueN_RSGbg8&t=502s
Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode497
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

10/01/2026

New podcast episode! The Healthcare Heist: Why Our System Is Broken & How to Protect Your Wealth w/ Jordan Grumet

$3,500 a month- That’s about what Jordan Grumet says COBRA costs for a family of four. And if you're working toward financial independence, planning to retire early, leave your job, or start a business, healthcare can completely change the numbers.

Financial independence is a privilege. Systemic factors make it harder for many people to pursue it, and healthcare is one of the biggest.

When I left my corporate job, I had the advantage of staying on my husband's health insurance. It wasn't an expense I had to build into my exit strategy. Without that option, I would have had to think very differently about when and how I left.

In this episode, returning guest, physician and author Jordan Grumet joins me to unpack not only how healthcare can impact your financial freedom journey, but why he believes the system itself is broken and what we can do to better protect ourselves while pushing for change.

We talk about:
• Why healthcare can be one of the biggest obstacles to financial independence and early retirement
• The reality of paying for insurance when you leave employer-sponsored coverage
• How income, investments and subsidies can intersect when planning for healthcare
• The potentially massive cost of long-term care—and why planning years ahead matters
• How third parties and financial incentives have shaped the healthcare system & much more

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rueN_RSGbg8&t=459s
Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode498
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

09/23/2026

New Podcast Episode "How To Quit Like a Millionaire So You Can Stop Working & Start Living With Kristy & Bryce"

Financial independence isn't only for people who started ahead. Kristy Shen went from a childhood of poverty in rural China to retiring at 31.

She and her husband Bryce Leung left their software engineering jobs in Toronto after putting their house savings into investments instead. They have been traveling the world for almost four years.

In this conversation, they explain how hardship built the skills that got them there. They also cover why Kristy followed the money before her passion and the simple math tools they use for big decisions like choosing a degree or buying a home.

In this episode, we talk about:

- The CRAP framework: creativity, resilience, adaptability & perseverance
- Why following the money first can fund your passion later
- The POT score and the rule of 150
- How the tax system favors the wealthy

Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode497
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

08/12/2026

🚨 New podcast episode! 🚨🎧 How to Live a Rich Life & Make Your Own Money Rules w/ Ramit Sethi

In this conversation with Ramit Sethi, we get into why most people freeze when asked that question. They say "freedom" or "a million dollars," but they can't say what they'd actually do with it.

We talk about why a rich life is lived outside the spreadsheet, the numbers matter, but the psychological and emotional side of money, the "invisible scripts" we picked up as kids, is where the real work happens.

Ramit also breaks down his CEO framework for building wealth: Cut costs on the two categories where you spend the most, Earn more through skills and negotiation, and Optimize your spending with a few phone calls that can save you real money today.

In this episode, we talk about:
- What "rich" really means once you get specific about it
- Why cutting back on lattes isn't the answer and what is
- The CEO framework: Cut, Earn, Optimize
- Developing a point of view before you ever write a book or build a platform

Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode491
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

08/03/2026

What if your bank actually knew you and used that knowledge to help you, not extract fees from you?

Fernando Espuelas, founder of Verde, joins me to talk about Vera, an AI money coach built around one encrypted file only you and Vera can access.

She learns your goals and habits, and suggests when you should move unspent money, that trip you skipped, the stray cents in checking into a high-yield savings account instead of letting it sit there earning nothing. It's built on abundance, not the scarcity model most budgeting apps use, and you're always in control.

In this episode, we talk about:
- Why most banks fail to actually serve their customers
- How Vera's privacy-first, encrypted approach works
- The abundance-based philosophy behind Vera's savings tools
- How auto-save finds money you didn't know you could save

Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode489
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

Download Vera for Free www.journeytolaunch.com/vera

07/31/2026

Fernando Espuelas immigrated to the U.S. from Uruguay at 10 years old and built his career from a history degree, into journalism, into advertising, and eventually into founding one of the internet's first major Spanish-language platforms.

We talk about his path from Madison Avenue to co-founding Star Media during the early internet boom, and how those same instincts led him to start Vera, an AI banking platform designed to help Gen Z and millennial people manage financial anxiety without hidden fees or data selling.

In this episode, we talk about:
- Fernando's immigrant story and his mother's sacrifices to get him an education
- How a history degree shaped the way he thinks about reinvention
- Co-founding Star Media and building the first Spanish-language search engine
- Why he built Vera and how its business model avoids subscription fees and data selling

Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode489
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

Download Vera for Free www.journeytolaunch.com/vera

07/29/2026

🚨 New podcast episode! 🚨🎧 Building Through Failure, Reinvention & the Future of Money with Fernando Espuelas

Before the tech companies and the AI startup, Fernando Espuelas pumped gas for $1.25 an hour and cleaned cages at a pet store for $2.50.

In this part of our conversation, he talks about how those early jobs shaped him in two ways: they pushed him to want more for his life, and they made him more human, someone who never forgets what it's like to do that kind of work. He also shares what it was like being the poorest kid in his friend group, and how having people around him who showed him a different version of life made a real difference in what he believed was possible for himself.

In this episode, we talk about:

- The early jobs that shaped Fernando's work ethic and ambition
- How service jobs build lasting empathy
- Why proximity to different possibilities matters
- Turning that early drive into building his own

Download & try Vera for free at journeytolaunch.com/vera

Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LIUVz5o2NXA&t=32s
Listen here: journeytolaunch.com/episode489
Listen on Apple Podcasts: journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: journeytolaunch.com/android

06/24/2026

This week on the Journey to Launch Podcast, I'm sharing an update on what life and financial independence look like for me right now.

In this episode, I share what my days look like working just two hours a day, why I'm choosing flexibility over income, and what I'm still figuring out when it comes to the next chapter of Journey to Launch.

In this episode, we talk about:

- What the Commander stage of FI looks like in real life
- How I balance parenting three kids and protecting my time
- The FIRE Calc and what's new with Journey to Launch
- Honest reflections on hustle culture and why I've stepped back
- Why the journey is about so much more than the money & more

Listen here: journeytolaunch.com/episode484
Listen on Apple Podcasts: journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: journeytolaunch.com/android

05/28/2026

New Podcast Episode: What Full Financial Independence Actually Looks Like: Island Life, Time Freedom, and Living on Your Own Terms w/ Ericka Barnes

This week on the Journey to Launch Podcast, I'm catching up with Ericka Barnes who shares how she navigated lean FIRE, a divorce, two layoffs, a new marriage, and eventually reached chubby FIRE in 2023. She and her husband now split time between Atlanta and St. Croix in the US Virgin Islands, where they house hack, garden, and live a truly work-optional life. She also talks about buying property in a US territory, the power of prenups, and why she is finally returning to her dream of creative writing.

In this episode, we talk about:

- Going from lean FIRE to chubby FIRE and what the difference really feels like
- How a prenup saved her financially and emotionally through divorce
-Buying a home in St. Croix and using geo arbitrage in a US territory
- Shifting from real estate heavy to index fund investing
- Returning to creative writing and the two books she is publishing this year & more

Listen here: www.journeytolaunch.com/episode480
Listen on Apple Podcasts: www.journeytolaunch.com/applepod
Listen on your Android device: www.journeytolaunch.com/android

Address

New York, NY

Telephone

+12127312144

Website

http://www.journeytolaunch.com/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Journey To Launch posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Business

Send a message to Journey To Launch:

Want your business to be the top-listed finance company in New York?