She Retired at 32. Then Came Guilt—and a Moral Crossroads.

Rebecca Herbst reached financial independence at age 32 during the tenuous early days of the pandemic, and volunteered shortly thereafter to be furloughed from her job in commercial real estate—and so began her (extremely) early retirement. But spending her days exactly as she wanted featured an unexpected side effect: guilt. What do you owe to others when you’ve gotten everything you wanted? Rebecca alchemized her sense of duty and founded Yield & Spread. In detail, we cover: What the “FI-lanthropy” pledge entails How she squares the desire to retire early with the idea of “hoarding money” Where Rebecca gives for the highest impact Who donor-advised funds might make sense for, and how they work How to donate appreciated stock, and why it might be preferable to giving cash Subscribe to my weekly newsletter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://moneywithkatie.com/newsletter⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Get your copy of Rich Girl Nation, one of Barnes & Noble's Best Business Books of 2025:⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.moneywithkatie.com/rich-girl-nation⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Transcripts, show notes, resources, and credits at: https://moneywithkatie.com/the_mwk_show/the-filanthropy-pledge/ — Money with Katie’s mission is to be the intersection where the economic, cultural, and political meet the tactical, practical, personal finance education everyone needs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices