How to Money

Ok, here us out: retirement is a topic that we talk about all the time here at How To Money, but simultaneously we probably don’t talk about it nearly enough! How is that possible you might ask? Well, we are oftentimes discussing retirement through the lens of investing – spending less and cutting costs so you can invest more… for retirement, maxing out your Roth IRA… for retirement! We’re typically approaching retirement from our personal perspective and it’s no surprise to anyone that we’re not actually retired. We still *think* we’re young bucks even though we’re arguably in mid-life, but because of that we might not cover the nuts and bolts that go into actually retiring, as often as maybe we should. We definitely don’t do it as well as Christine Benz which is just one of the reasons we’re pumped to have her join us today. Christine is a long-time contributor to Morningstar, the fantastic investment research site that we often reference here on the pod. Specifically, she’s the director of personal finance for Morningstar as well as author of the new book, “How to Retire: 20 lessons for a happy, successful, and wealthy retirement.” We get into Chrinstine’s investing shortcomings, how the Morningstar rating system has evolved over the years, how the definition of retirement is also evolving, the value of work, the impact of retirement on relationships, and more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
• Don’t be cheap and forego getting a life insurance policy. Compare rates with Policygenius.

During this episode we enjoyed a Strangest of Places by Pure Project! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - What are some pros and cons of combining our finances as newlyweds?

2 - How much more should I be willing to pay for health insurance if it means I can contribute to an HSA?

3 - Should I consider extra money over the limit in my 401k as an emergency fund or as retirement savings?

4 - I purchased an expensive car during the pandemic at 5%. I’m currently paying extra on it but should I unload it completely?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Head Full of Dynomite by Fremont Brewing! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We have a very special episode for you this Friday as we were interviewed by our friend Jordan Grumet for his podcast Earn & Invest! Jordan is a friend of ours and we’ve had extensive conversations about personal finances but we always end up finding ourselves talking about life fulfillment and ultimate happiness. And that’s exactly what happened during this episode with Jordan as he asked us about our own personal spending, how we’ve seen our expenses swell, whether we should love or leave lifestyle creep, and plenty more during today’s episode!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money. Have an awesome weekend!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

This is the episode to motivate you to quit your 9-5 and start your own business, OR, to inspire you to use the skills you already have at your current job to moonlight on the side! Entrepreneurship – it’s not all that hard… right?! You might have a great idea, or you’ve stumbled upon a unique niche that you can step into, so you see an opportunity! But then you start thinking it through and some major questions start bubbling up to the surface, like how do you go about exiting your day job, or how do you know if you have enough work on the side to go all in? What about giving up W2 benefits? Or what about getting organized and paying taxes? These are questions that all would-be solopreneurs need to ask themselves, but luckily we’re joined today by the author of the Money-Smart Solopreneur, Laura Adams. Laura is actually the author of nine books, she’s the host of the Money Girl podcast, and by the end of this episode, we hope you’ll be empowered to hang your own shingle. She shares how she transitioned to self-employment, how to invest even more when you’re a solopreneur, ways to determine if you’re undercharging clients, mistakes that budding small businesses make, and more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
• Don’t be cheap and forego getting a life insurance policy. Compare rates with Policygenius.

During this episode we enjoyed a Head High by Kane Brewing – a huge thank you to Michael G for sending this extra delicious beer our way! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - Should I use a 529 account to fund some immediate private education costs that we have?

2 - Why doesn’t Chase allow me to use my credit card to pay off a Buy Now Pay Later purchase?

3 - Do you guys follow the 2 funds for life approach to investing?

4 - How should I discuss a penalty my tenants are incurring for breaking their lease early?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Hand Warmers by Carton Brewing – a big thanks to Michael G for sending this one our way! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: rock the vote, the long-awaited Fed rate cut, eliminating bad debt, rich renters, 15 year mortgages, 529 milestones, bribing kids to read, who keeps the $70,000 engagement ring, expensive therapy, dumbphones and work-life balance, returning to the office, the new Amazon Saver line, and costly coffee.

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money. Have an awesome weekend!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Wondering who you should vote for? Well we’re finally going to share our presidential recommendations!... Psych. And we’re actually not even going to get into recent presidential money stories like tax returns or whether candidates own any stocks or other shady business deals. In fact, we’re going to completely avoid the mud-slinging landscape that we find ourselves in today, and instead, we’re going to focus on personal finance, which is what we do best! And fortunately for us we’re joined by author Megan Gorman. Megan is a history buff, she began her career at Goldman Sachs, and then founded her own firm specializing in tax and financial planning for high-net-worth individuals. She’s a senior contributor to Forbes, is regularly quoted in the Wall Street Journal, and her new book “All the Presidents Money”, looks at the men who governed America in order to learn how they governed their money. For instance Jefferson buying wine on credit, John Adams take on having money conversations with your partner… listen as we cover the financial lessons we can all learn from Lincoln, Truman, JFK, and more during today’s episode!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
• Don’t be cheap and forego getting a life insurance policy. Compare rates with Policygenius.

During this episode we enjoyed a Jjjuliusss by Treehouse Brewing – a huge thank you to Michael G for sending this extra delicious beer our way! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - Does it make sense for me to put down 30% or even 50% on a home purchase?

2 - How should we go about cutting credit cards from our life without hurting our credit scores?

3 - Is it possible for multiple investing accounts to undercut the impact of compounding on my overall wealth?

4 - Should I be concerned about an unrealized capital gains tax on my 401k?

5 - Will pay-per-mile car insurance actually save me money?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a For Foolish Thinking by Burial. And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: the new most affordable cell phone plan, holiday spending (with a plan), reprobate returns, 401k millionaires, miserable millionaires, specious savings, HELOC piggy banks, election spending sprees, more shrinkflation, dumb dorm insurance, and AirPod Pro hearing aids.

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money. Have an awesome weekend!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Our guest today is Amanda Wolfe, better known as the SheWolfeOfWallStreet, and we’re grateful to have her share her story with us. Amanda was born into extreme poverty – not “I had a rough month after college so I slept in my car”, but more like “begging for food at gas stations” poverty. Her upbringing had a profound impact on her view of money and caused her to become a self-taught financial educator who has built a community of over 300,000 folks. She now helps countless families create debt payoff strategies, budget, and invest! Amanda is all over Instagram helping individuals achieve financial freedom, but how did she do it? What happened between those two extremes of poverty and prosperity? We’re excited for her to share her story, what she originally believed was a ticket to the middle class, how she learned to actually accumulate wealth, her take on side hustles, her relationship to money today, and much more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here. 
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
• Don’t be cheap and forego getting a life insurance policy. Compare rates with Policygenius.

During this episode we enjoyed an Enduring Belief by Treehouse Brewing – a huge thank you to Michael G for sending this beer our way! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.