Inside Out Money

This week, we have a guest discussing how to prepare for and pay less for college; Dr. Rebecca Sandidge, Vice President for Enrollment Management at Oglethorpe University, joins and shares her perspective and knowledge from an expert in college admissions and enrollment. Rebecca shares how to maximize your aid across various buckets of money available to college students and their parents. We discuss the alphabet soup of federal loans and grants and explain FAFSA, EFC, and SAI. Rebecca also explains the discount rate at private universities, which was 56% in 2022-2023. She wraps up by sharing how parents and kids can mentally and financially prepare for the college admissions process mentally and financially, and what parents vs. students should focus on to divide the labor. We discuss the ROI of investing in SAT or ACT test prep, how early to get started, if the cost of college is negotiable, and more! Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/035-does-anyone-actually-pay-sticker-price-for-college-expert-dr-rebecca-sandidge-answers-that-and-more/

Greg joins this week's podcast, and we discuss Mint shutting down and our review of other budgeting and expense-tracking software and tools. We tried out Tiller, Monarch, YNAB (you need a budget), and Copilot. We share our thoughts on each tool and the pros and cons. After many years of using Mint, we reveal what we’re choosing to switch to now that Mint is merging into Credit Karma. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/032-rip-mint-expense-budgeting-tracking-software-review/

Andrew joins this week's podcast, and we discuss the pros and cons of paying off your mortgage early. We share our mortgage payoff stories and various considerations for deciding whether or not to pay off your mortgage. If you want to pay off your mortgage early, we discuss key tactics and what helped us on our pay-off journeys. Although we both paid off our mortgages early and feel very good about our decisions, we also share some regrets if we could go back and do things over again. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/029-the-great-mortgage-debate-payoff-or-invest/

Greg joins this week's podcast, and we share nine tips for navigating and mastering financial communication in a relationship. Talking about money effectively with your partner has a substantial positive impact on your relationship. We share advice for implementing and improving your financial discussions, from setting money dates to establishing shared goals to compromising and being flexible. We also share how we met, started talking about finances and deciding to retire early, and more about our money story. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/028-love-and-money-navigating-finances-in-a-relationship/

Liz and Erica join this week's podcast, and we discuss Happy Sexy Millionaire by Steven Bartlett. We share some of the book's central themes and our top insights and takeaways. We discuss the impact of social media, whether money buys happiness, the power of gratitude, love, the importance of hard work and patience, death, and much more. The author debunks many topics around finding your passion and the binary boxes in which we try to put people. We also get some fun tangents discussing The Golden Bachelor, Bachelor in Paradise, and the Atlanta Braves. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/027-happy-sexy-millionaire-book-review-two-thumbs-up-one-thumb-down/

Maggie’s mom joins this week's podcast and shares many financial lessons and stories from her and Maggie’s childhood. She shares how she learned the importance of saving at a young age and how credit cards and debt were not typical when she was a kid. She shared some of her financial memories, how they impacted her into adulthood, and what she taught her children. She talks about not worrying about money and how that comes from knowing she has enough. We also discuss separate finances, the importance of getting your kids to have some financial “skin in the game,” having agency over our money, and advice for the grandkids. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/026-how-to-raise-a-millionaire-according-to-maggies-mom/

Andrew joins this week's podcast, and we share our biggest financial regrets and all the things we wish we had gotten right when we were younger. We hope you learn from our mistakes and realize the many benefits of tax-advantaged accounts and compound interest. And most importantly, take advantage of these things as early as possible so time is on your side. We discuss investing in index funds, Roth IRAs, 401Ks, 457Bs, HSAs, 529s, and more. Andrew also convinces Maggie to sell her Bitcoin and gives her some homework. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/025-our-biggest-financial-regrets-and-what-wed-have-done-differently/

Greg joins this week's podcast, and we share how we’re both feeling 500 days into early retirement. We share some surprising truths about what’s working, what’s not working, and what we’re committed to changing for the future. We discuss the concept of value and how we’re striving to feel accomplished, and we wrap up by answering some listener questions about how early retirement is going. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/024-the-surprising-truth-of-early-retirement-500-days-early-retired/

Liz joins this week's podcast, and we delve into the many reasons why HSAs, or Health Savings Accounts, are awesome! We explain what an HSA is, the requirement of a High-deductible health insurance plan (HDHP) to participate, and the annual limits the IRS sets. Additionally, we share four reasons why HSAs are an incredible financial tool and how to maximize their benefits. We explain the triple-tax advantages that HSAs provide and some often overlooked benefits and loopholes. Get the full show notes, show references, and more information here: https://www.insideoutmoney.org/023-4-reasons-hsas-are-awesome-and-how-to-maximize-the-benefits-of-health-savings-accounts/