Most people treat all debt the same. They either feel guilty about all of it or they ignore all of it. Neither approach is actually useful.Not all debt is created equal. There is debt that works for you. There is debt that works against you. And when you have kids depending on you, a debt problem is not just your problem anymore.In this episode your host Zach Mineur breaks down a clear framework for thinking about debt: what kind is okay to carry, what kind needs to go as fast as possible, and how to prioritize when you have multiple debts competing for the same dollars.

New episodes of the Dad Math Podcast are out every other week. Subscribe so you never miss an episode.

This content is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.

According to a Bankrate and U.S. News survey in 2026, abouthalf of American households would struggle to cover a $1,000 unexpected expense without going into debt. One car repair. One emergency room visit. One broken appliance.

Now think about what it costs to run your family every month. If something went wrong tomorrow — a job loss, a medical emergency, a major home repair — how long could your family keep going?

That is the question an emergency fund is designed to answer. And for most families, including a lot of families doing well on paper, the honest answer is not very long.

In this episode your host Zachary Mineur, CFA, CFP® breaks down emergency funds: how much you need based on your specific situation, where to keep it, and the most common mistake people make that leaves them exposed when things go sideways.

New episodes of the Dad Math Podcast are out every otherTuesday. Subscribe so you never miss an episode./

This content is for informational purposes only and doesnot constitute financial advice.

Most budgets fail within a few months. Not because you lack willpower, but because tracking dozens of categories is a part-time job nobody has time for.

In this episode, your host Zach Mineur breaks down how to build what he calls the lifestyle budget: a budgeting system for families that requires zero spreadsheets.

Zachary Mineur is a Chartered Financial Analyst, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Chief Investment Officer at Independence Square Advisors, and the author of the forthcoming book, Dad Math.

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A high income isn't a financial plan. It's one of the raw materials that goes into one.

In this episode, Zach Mineur breaks down the income trap — the phenomenon where earning more actually makes it harder to build wealth. He walks through a scenario of a household pulling in $400,000 a year with $40,000 in an old 401(k), $20,000 in credit card debt, and no real emergency fund, and explains why that scenario is far more common than it sounds.

Zach covers the four forces behind it: lifestyle creep and the "budgeting Kármán line," the comparison trap that shifts as your income rises, complexity without systems, and the mistake of saving in dollar amounts instead of percentages.

Then he lays out the fix: know your actual savings rate, automate before lifestyle can spend it, and get aligned with your partner.

If you or someone you know just got a raise, this one's for them.

Zachary Mineur is a Chartered Financial Analyst, CERTIFIED FINANCIAL PLANNER™ professional, Chief Investment Officer at Independence Square Advisors, and the author of the forthcoming book, Dad Math.

Subscribe for new episodes on what it's really like to raise a family in the modern economy.