My Two Cents: Finance for Teens & Young Adults

Is telehealth actually cheaper, or just more convenient? This episode of Your Health, Your Wealth breaks down what a video doctor's visit really costs compared to going in person - from the US to the UK to India - plus when it makes sense to skip the app and get seen in person instead.

Disclaimer: This episode is for educational purposes only and does not constitute medical or financial advice. Always consult a qualified healthcare provider for medical concerns and a licensed financial professional for financial decisions.

This episode digs into how the wellness industry turns "fix yourself" into a recurring charge on your card - often with little to no evidence it actually works - using the viral "Nature's Ozempic" trend to show exactly how.

Disclaimer:

This episode is for educational and financial literacy purposes only and is not medical, nutritional, or financial advice. Always talk to a doctor or qualified healthcare provider before starting, stopping any supplement or medication.

You drive for DoorDash, get sick, and realize there's no employer health plan waiting for you. This episode breaks down why gig work leaves millions uninsured  and what to actually do about it.

This episode is for educational purposes only and isn't personal financial, tax, legal, or health insurance advice. Always check current rules for your own situation.

Ever picked up a prescription expecting a normal copay and gotten hit with a $200 bill instead? We get into why that happens - why the same drug can have five different prices, and why Americans pay more for prescriptions than almost anywhere else in the world. Plus: how those costs sneak into your premium or your paycheck even if you've never filled a prescription.

Are you a teen / young adult? Heading to college in a few years? Starting a new job? Traveling out of your country for vacation or study abroad program? 

If you answered yes to any of these - this episode is for you.  

Learn the basics of health insurance, including key terms like premiums, deductibles, and copays. Explore different health insurance models around the world, practical tips for navigating health insurance and common myths that need debunking. 

Your health and your wallet are more connected than you think. In this episode of My Two Cents, we kick off a new series exploring how physical health, mental well-being, and money shape each other - starting with a real-world experiment that gave people $500 a month, no strings attached, and tracked what happened next. Backed by peer-reviewed research and data from around the world. For education and awareness only - not medical or financial advice.

Why do investors keep finding evidence that supports a stock they already believe in?

This episode of My Two Cents: Behavioral Insights into Investing explores confirmation bias through the dot-com bubble and a study of nearly 400,000 StockTwits users. We look at how investors create information echo chambers, interpret good and bad news differently, and allow an investment thesis to survive even when the evidence begins to weaken.

Research featured:

A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Change: Confirmatory Bias in Financial Markets
https://academic.oup.com/rfs/article/30/6/2066/2740622

Echo Chambers
https://academic.oup.com/rfs/article/36/2/450/6670640

Why does an investment feel safer when everyone else is buying it? In this episode of Behavioral Insights into Investing, we explore herding—the tendency to follow the crowd when markets feel uncertain. Learn how social signals can shape investor decisions, amplify booms and crashes, and make popularity feel like proof.

This episode is for educational purposes only and is not investing advice.

Research featured:
Herd Behavior in Financial Markets: A Review — International Monetary Fund
https://www.imf.org/en/Publications/WP/Issues/2016/12/30/Herd-Behavior-in-Financial-Markets-A-Review-3487

Why can losing $20 feel more powerful than gaining $20? In this episode of Behavioral Insights into Investing, we explore loss aversion, the disposition effect, and why investors may hold losing investments while selling winners too soon. We also look at how reference points, frequent portfolio checking, and emotion can shape investment decisions.

This episode is for educational and awareness purposes only and is not investing advice.

Research mentioned:

Kahneman and Tversky, “Prospect Theory: An Analysis of Decision Under Risk”
https://web.mit.edu/curhan/www/docs/Articles/15341_Readings/Behavioral_Decision_Theory/Kahneman_Tversky_1979_Prospect_theory.pdf

Terrance Odean, “Are Investors Reluctant to Realize Their Losses?”
https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/Papers%20current%20versions/AreInvestorsReluctant.pdf

Shlomo Benartzi and Richard Thaler, “Myopic Loss Aversion and the Equity Premium Puzzle”
https://www.nber.org/system/files/working_papers/w4369/w4369.pdf

In this episode of My Two Cents, we explore overconfidence bias: the tendency for investors to overestimate what they know, how well they can predict the market, or how skilled they are at picking winners. Listeners will learn how overconfidence can lead to too much trading, too much risk, and too little attention to what could go wrong.

Research mentioned in this episode:

Barber, B. M., & Odean, T. (2000). “Trading Is Hazardous to Your Wealth: The Common Stock Investment Performance of Individual Investors.”
 https://faculty.haas.berkeley.edu/odean/papers/returns/individual_investor_performance_final.pdf

Gao, H., Shi, D., & Zhao, B. (2021). “Does Good Luck Make People Overconfident? Evidence from a Natural Experiment in the Stock Market.”
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0929119921000547

Hoffmann, A. O. I., & Post, T. (2014). “Self-Attribution Bias in Consumer Financial Decision-Making: How Investment Returns Affect Individuals’ Belief in Skill.”
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214804314000597