Dec. 10, 2025

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

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

A conversation with the founder of Yield & Spread, Rebecca Herbst.

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


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Transcripts, show notes, resources, and credits at: https://moneywithkatie.com/the_mwk_show/the-filanthropy-pledge/

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