Are you ready for an emergency, medical or otherwise? In this episode, Joel and Maria discuss the importance of planning for the unexpected. And they are joined by a special guest, CNBC Senior Personal Finance Correspondent Sharon Epperson, who shares her personal experience with a life-threatening medical emergency and provides valuable insight on how to prepare for financial emergencies.

This podcast can help you decide whether ETFs are right for you. And you'll find out why ETFs and mutual funds aren't mutually exclusive.

In this episode, Maria and Joel use household tasks to help us understand whether we need financial advice. To add a broader perspective, they’re joined by a very special guest, Barry Ritholtz, co-founder and chief investment officer of Ritholtz Wealth Management and host of the Masters in Business podcast.

In this episode, Maria and Joel are joined by Dr. Michael Finke, chief academic officer at The American College of Financial Services and a leading authority on retirement savings and investor behavior.

In this episode, Maria speaks with two trained economists (the Geek being one of them). Joel and Maria are joined by Roger Aliaga-Díaz, Vanguard's chief economist for the Americas and a member of Vanguard Investment Strategy Group.

Joel is 50! What is he thinking about when it comes to saving for retirement? Is he making any changes to his portfolio? How is he thinking about his retirement readiness? Tune in as Joel, Maria, and Morningstar’s Director of Personal Finance Christine Benz talk about all things related to getting ready for retirement.

What kind of IRA is right for you? What criteria do you use to decide? Tune in and hear Joel and Maria’s take on how to think about the most effective ways to save for retirement. And listen to what their special guest—noted author and retirement expert Allan Roth—has to say about the benefits of Roth and traditional IRAs.

Just entered the working world and don’t know how to start investing? Are you an experienced investor who wants to help a young person achieve investing success? Tune in to this episode of The Planner and the Geek to hear Maria and Joel explain why it’s important to start early and what to do right away.

Maria Bruno is Vanguard’s head of U.S. Wealth Planning Research. Joel Dickson, global head of Advice Methodology at Vanguard, teams up with Maria on The Planner and the Geek podcast series.