Ellie Diop is a NextUp Honoree, representing one of the new, influential voices in personal finance.

After being laid off from her job, Ellie used her $1,200 stimulus check and years of experience in sales, marketing, and leadership to start the Ellievated Agency. In less than a year, she scaled the business to multiple 7-figures. Her mission is to educate women on how entrepreneurship and financial literacy can be used to create generational wealth. Ellie has been featured in various publications internationally, including Business Insider, Black Enterprise, Univision, Entrepreneur, The Sun, La Noticia, and more. You can find her on social media at @ellietalksmoney.

Farnoosh is under the weather and her voice isn't so hot, so the episode is a replay today. BUT, she did manage to record a fresh intro and pick a reviewer of the week!

Check out the latest Hot Mic on How to Befriend Your Financial Fears.

In this episode: Audience questions related to baby delivery costs, how to afford maternity leave when you're self-employed, how to choose a 529 plan and how a 401(k) rollover works. Also: Should one family sell their home and move if they don't like the school district in their town?

A new generation of voices is talking about personal finance in a more relatable way. NextAdvisor has just unveiled its NextUp list of the top 25 new thought leaders in personal finance who are centering stories and backgrounds that traditionally have been underrepresented. They come from groups that have had less access to financial information and resources. They are represent a more inclusive future for money. Editor-in-Chief Adam Auriemma joins with the behind-the-scenes. And over the next few weeks, we'll be featuring a member of the NextUp List. Stay tuned!

NextAdvisor is owned by the same parent company as CNET.

Learn how Jacent Wamala paid off more than $90K in student loans and credit card debt in three years. All this after getting divorced from her high school sweetheart and losing her father months later.

More about Jacent: She is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist turned Money Mindset Coach and the founder of Wealth & Wellness University. Millennial women of color hire Jacent for her expertise and been there, done that guidance and support to write the best financial chapters of their lives. They discover how to overcome debt, save, create additional income streams and achieve life-changing financial freedom.

Learn more about Jacent: Website, Instagram, Podcast

On this week's Ask Farnoosh, listeners ask about credit card pay-off strategies and why, no matter how much savings they build, they feel financially insecure.

Join Farnoosh's weekly newsletter and receive a free gift: https://www.cnet.com/so-money/

Learn how Bernadette Joy paid off a whopping $300,000 of debt in three years and grew her first $1 million of net worth in her thirties. She founded the Crush Your Money Goals® Academy for those overlooked and underestimated by traditional financial services.

Guest Tara Falcone, CFA, CFP®, is the Founder and CEO of Reason, a goal-based platform that helps people save and invest for specific goals in a more organized, intentional way. Tara grew up in a low income family, became mostly financially independent at age 14, and attended Yale on a full scholarship. After graduating in 2011, she began her finance career as a hedge fund analyst in New York City. It was there that her passion for investing was ignited, as was her desire to share that passion with others.

**Special Download Link for So Money listeners** https://reason.onelink.me/UehB/somoney 

This Friday: Benefits of a financial adviser, managing savings ahead of buying a house, FAFSA fun facts and a crazy but true strategy for affording a pricey prescription not covered by insurance.

More from Farnoosh:

Farnoosh's New Hot Mic column https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/what-my-iranian-parents-taught-me-about-financial-autonomy-and-creating-luck/

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