Financially Well

What would happen if we aimed to make the majority of our financial decisions within 15 minutes?

Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses how this is possible if you accept a simple premise: the most basic foundational financial decisions will determine whether you achieve the outcomes you seek.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

Natural wine, which lacks the mysterious additives that most conventional wines contain, continues to grow in popularity. It's a response to winemaking moving too far away from its simple, transparent, and natural origins.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses why, like winemakers, we have a choice to opt for simplicity over financial complexity.

Too often, we admire complexity in money, particularly new technology, and popular trends. But to what end? Making your finances more complex does not mean you're making financial progress.

You risk moving too far away from simple, easy-to-understand, and flexible finances. You risk losing sight of the essential point: turning your income into savings and investments that make your life better.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

After we set an ambitious financial goal, such as retiring at a specific age, we often feel stuck.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials,

discusses why, with money, most of the time, a good-enough solution is fine.

But by setting arbitrary stupid goals, we can experience more immediate, and enduring, benefits. And avoid that feeling of being stuck.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

Taylor Swift's fourth studio album, Red, was the fastest-selling country music album ever.

But one common critique of Red made Swift wince: it wasn't "sonically cohesive." The reason? Swift was stuck trying to please country music executives, despite her interests in pop music.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses how we become more empowered with our money once we stop trying to please others.

Swift ultimately parted ways with country music to pursue what was important to her. And at certain points in our financial lives, we also need to be willing to part ways — with the consensus for what we're "supposed to do" with our money.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

In 1975, Pepsi announced the "Pepsi Challenge." The marketing idea involved a simple blind taste test to determine the best soda in the country.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, explains why we wish our financial decisions could work like the Pepsi Challenge. No context. No peer influence or status implications. Only one variable, like sweetness, to consider.

But the Pepsi Challenge revealed the importance of keeping in mind the context. In personal finance (as with soda preferences), context matters. Status pressure is real. And our financial lives are full of different variables.

With money, we need more than calculations that, in theory, might maximize our wealth. We also need to understand the circumstances in which we're making these decisions.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

A "third place" is a place that is outside home (first place) and work (second place), where people gather and interact. The first coffee shop in England opened in 1652, served this purpose. As have bars, libraries, and public squares.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses why our money needs, but lacks a third place.

We have our checking and savings accounts for our daily cash flow needs. And we have tax-advantaged retirement accounts, like a 401(k), to work toward long-term goals. But what about a more flexible, multi-purpose investment option for that space in between?

Without a third financial place, we're willingly surrendering money that we might want to use before retirement. And we're essentially skipping over the next 5-15 years of our financial lives.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

More than 400,000 children around the world have learned to play the violin through the Suzuki Method. But Suzuki wasn't trying to produce world-class musicians. Instead, he viewed the violin as a means to an end.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses how Suzuki's experience with the violin mirrors our own experiences with money.

Like many childhood violin practices, the environment in which we make financial decisions often makes us miserable. We're taught to focus on numbers at the exclusion of almost everything else. But most of us aren't trying to reach the end of our lives with as much wealth as possible. Instead, we view our money as a means to an end.

And we can learn from Suzuki how to use our money to create the lives that we dream about for ourselves and our family.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

How often do you make unreasonable financial decisions? Probably not often enough.

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, shares 3 stories about unreasonable decision-making from the former general manager of the "World's Best Restaurant."

Most of our financial decisions conform with standard rules of thumb that we've picked up over the years. Understandably, we shy away from uncertainty. Our prudent financial decisions are good enough. But these stories show us that we can move closer to the exact life we envision when we act with thoughtfulness, creativity, and just a little bit of defiance.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

In 1997, Tina Fey left her home in Chicago for a job interview.

This opportunity ultimately traced back to her early career days at an improv school. And in this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses how that experience changed Fey's worldview.

Fey's improv school taught her four rules that helped her to create something on stage. And these same rules can help us to create something with our money, too. Out of loosely-defined ideas, interests, and individual perspectives, something very unique and memorable can emerge.

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.

What are the big rocks in your financial life?

In this episode, Kevin Mahoney, CFP®, who specializes in financial planning for Millennials, discusses how we spend too much time agonizing over small money decisions and not enough time on big decisions.

But when we focus on our "big rocks," we're saving our energy for truly costly financial decisions. And in doing so, we gain a new route for reducing our financial stress.

Big rocks aren't created equal, though. And we most likely can't fit all of them into our lives. So we must also identify what matters most to us in life. What uses of your money will positively change your life in the most significant ways?

Welcome to Financially Well, the finance podcast for Millennials.