Financial Freedom Podcast

Everyone these days knows that a college education doesn't come cheap. It's a major investment for families and, if not handled properly, can lead to financial hardship after graduation. But can you get a good education without paying full price?

To answer that question and to discover ways that parents and students can find the perfect college fit academically, socially, and financially, I talked with college consultant Lee Norwood to tell us all about it.

In this episode you will learn:

• When parents and students should start the college search process.
• How to set up a college planning timeline.
• What should be on your timeline.
• How to make a balanced list of potential schools.
• Whether test scores are still important.

As a bankruptcy attorney, I know that getting that discharge and fresh start in your financial life can be liberating. No longer having the stress of carrying debt is great, but the next question is: where do you go from there?

To answer that question, I talk to fellow bankruptcy attorney Barry Levine about the steps you can take to rebuild your financial life.

In this episode you will learn:

• What you can do to make sure that your fresh start lasts
• About the bad money habits you see that prevent some people from achieving financial freedom post-bankruptcy
• About what they can do to change that
• What you can do to rebuild your credit

Many people experience financial difficulties due to deep seated emotional feelings about money. These feelings often drive bad money decisions that keep them from achieving financial freedom.

To identify these emotional money beliefs and help people to get past them I talked with Certified Financial Planner Shannon Ryan to discuss solutions to this problem.

In this episode you will learn:

- The money beliefs that could be holding you back from financial freedom - How to change them - How to heal emotional money wounds - What "money shame" is and how to get over it

Even if you are on track with your savings and have a clear idea of what you want to do in retirement, there is one component that most people miss: their health. If you want to have a long retirement, your health is key.

That's why in this episode of the podcast I talked with Dr. Aleksandra Gajer about how you can optimize your most important asset: your body.

In this episode you will learn:

• About the health of the average American
• How much it needs to improve overall to ensure a long retirement
• About how to increase your energy
• How to avoid burnout
• How to rebuild and maintain your metabolism
• How to maintain hormonal balance and brain function

People struggling with debt deal with stress every day. Worrying about how they are going to deal with it can have a significant impact on their mental health, their lives, and their relationships.

That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with Dr. Erika Rasure, a financial therapist with a doctorate in personal financial planning on how to deal with this stress in a positive way.

In this episode you will learn:

• The most common mental health challenges that those with debt face
• How credit card debt impact someone's mental health
• How to address this stress and have improved mental health
• About Loud Budgeting

Achieving long term financial freedom involves learning new things. You need to know the basics of investing, saving, and good stewardship of your money. But the concepts and terminology can be difficult to grasp at times.

That's why on this episode of the podcast I talk with Jesse Hurst of Impel Wealth Management who uses pop culture insights to help people learn what they need to know and retire like a rock star.

In this episode you will learn:

• All about Popenomics
• How pop culture references can help you understand financial and economic concepts

Just about every day there are stories in the news about how President Trump's economic policies, including tariffs, will affect the economy. People are worried about higher inflation and a possible recession.

To address this issue I talked with Dr. Laquore Meadows about how you can plan for the future and achieve financial freedom despite what the political landscape may be.

In this episode you will learn:

• How to navigate the shifting political landscape to be successful
• Why what the politicians do really doesn't matter
• How to build a strategy for wealth and financial freedom that can hold up no matter the economy or the political environment
• How politics affect the stock market and how to respond

Everyone wants to be able to retire comfortably and to achieve financial freedom, but a lot of people think that building wealth is an impossible task. They feel stuck in their 9-to-5. But as I said in Episode 99, you can break free of this and be successful.

To take a deeper dive into this subject, and to discuss a formula for achieving this goal, I talk in this episode with wealth strategist and Marine Corps veteran Edgar Zavala, on how he did it himself and teaches others to do the same.

In this episode you will learn:

• The biggest myth that people believe about building wealth?
• The first step to breaking free of the paycheck to paycheck cycle
• The 5F Formula for Success

In light of the national student loan crisis, parents and students continue to struggle with college choice and financial aid to avoid an unaffordable student debt load upon graduation. I have dedicated several episodes to guests who help people with that.

One balancing act parents go through is educating their children while still saving and investing for a comfortable retirement. That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with Certified Financial Planner Paul Compeau about how to do just that.

In this episode you will learn:

• What happens when families pick a college without a solid financial plan
• What financial facts should parents know before the applications start
• Are high school guidance counsellors or the financial aid office of their top picks enough
• Why you should approach college planning like a CFO
• Should you always fill out the FAFSA

Serving in the military can teach you many things: discipline, the importance of service, focus, and the determination to carry out goals. But who would have thought that it would also teach you the skills to attain financial freedom?

To find out more about how this can happen, I talked in this episode of the podcast to Joshua Brooks about what he learned in his military career as an army chaplain about how to achieve your personal finance goals.

In this episode you will learn:

• What the army can teach you about handling your money and achieving financial freedom
• How you can apply these tips to your finances