Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough

How do you know what kind of insurance you need, when you need it and how much you should pay for it? We have no idea!

So that’s why we invited certified financial planner Kacie Swartz back on the podcast to explain to us how to figure it all out. What does “term” mean? Should a young person get life insurance?? And are we supposed to get life insurance for our kids???

Kacie explains all of this, and more. And warns us that ignoring personal insurance can screw you or your loved ones if tragedy strikes.

So, women on the verge of a financial breakthrough really have to figure this insurance thing out to build out their financial futures, no matter how boring it sounds. We’ll help talk it through - it won’t be so bad. Promise.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram (Thank you, Gwen!) and Facebook and LinkedIn.

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

OK, so investment advisors are the people we go to to find out how to turn our money into more money, but how do they know??

 Are they on a secret call at 5am telling them what stocks are hot? Do they spend hours on some mysterious software machine that spews out a bunch of recommendations? Do they have financial tarot cards?

 On today’s episode, we find out what one financial expert does every day to make sure she knows about what markets are doing to give out advice: Women on the Verge co-host Sara Glakas!

 Join us as we discover what the hell she does with her time, and be thankful that the fact that she does it means we don’t have to.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram (Thank you, Gwen!) and Facebook and LinkedIn.

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

How does a bank run out of money?? Isn’t a bank just a place where it’s safer to store your money than in an empty ice cream container in your freezer?? And why is everything in the finance world so freaking complicated??!?

In this episode, Caitlin asks Sara a very simple question: What the fuck is a bank? And Sara answers with a way too complicated answer. AS USUAL.

To make a long story short, banks do stuff with our money to make them more money, but also we need them to do that so they can loan us money for our cars and houses and dream pony farms, and they need us to not allllll need alllll of our money alllll at the same time for the whole system to work.

It kind of makes sense. Kind of. But the important part is that most of us don’t have to do anything different than we’re already doing. You should listen.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

This week, we’re rebroadcasting an episode we recorded at the end of last summer in the midst of what one hoped was a temporary bear market. The stock market keeps doing scary shit, however, so we decided it was worth a re-visit to remind ourselves, I mean our listeners, to keep our eyes on the prize and to not get spooked. Let Sara soothe you with her steely-eyed confidence that all will be well. One day.

What do you do if you actually have money to invest in the stock market but the constantly sinking numbers are scaring the shit out of you? Are you really just supposed to pour perfectly good dollars into a sinking (market) ship?

And what about that whole “buy low, sell high” thing?? Is now the low?? But can it go even lower??

And, and what the fuck are iBonds and why is everyone talking about them?!

Sara explains to Caitlin, again, what risk means when it comes to investing in the stock market, and how we get the reward for taking so much risk. Which is supposed to be the whole point. (Spoiler alert: In order to get the reward you have to stay on the (stock market) boat, even during the lows. Especially during the lows?)

And there’s more set it and forget it for the lazy, I mean wise, investors!

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Taxes. Ugh. Whoops. I mean: What a great opportunity to save money and pay your fair share!

Many of us never learned how to take advantage of different strategies to avoid paying overly high taxes because we started out not making enough to have any money to protect. But, we have to learn all this stuff to build our wealth and be smart with our income. No matter how painful it is.

Oh, and what the hell is a capital gain?

In this episode, Sara and Caitlin grill Austin-based CPA Erica Fink who works for Mangold Anker Phillips, a professional accounting firm, about all the ways we can take advantage of tax saving programs and strategies. We promise there are only a few references to the tax code.

Erica tells us the one thing a woman on the verge of a financial breakthrough can do to level up her tax planning game through taking advantage of employer-supported retirement account matches, HSAs, FSAs and TSAs.

Just kidding about the last one. It’s hard to make taxes fun. We promise you’ll learn something and it’s the least boring version of tax learning that it could possibly be.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

The movies tell us one story about wealth and it looks a lot like white men playing golf and drinking single malt whiskey. But is that what we’re trying to build for our futures??? No thank you.

So, what’s a more inclusive vision of wealth, and how do we find our own definition? Could wealth actually mean something that’s achievable for a normal person?

Caitlin asks Sara what it is we’re actually talking about when we talk about wealth, and finds out, yet again everything about money is complicated - even our fantasies.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

What do you get when two women combine forces to figure out finance, share the mental load and build wealth together?

Money sisters!! That’s what you get!

In this episode, longtime friends Emily and Kelly (who happens to be our co-producer) share their long history of making financial decisions small and large, and their deep, abiding love for the Splitwise app.

Most of us are used to the awkward dance of trying to figure out how to fairly split a restaurant meal or a girls’ trip, but what about buying a freaking house?? They tell us!

So many women face financial decisions on their own and it can be paralyzing and lonely. Emily and Kelly help us see a creative alternative that can open up our investing opportunities and turn our friendships into a financial partnership. Get yourself a money sister!!

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

So many of us want to invest in the stock market to make money for retirement, but feel pretty icky about where our money might be going. Do we just have to surrender to the greedy capitalists polluting our planet and perpetuating social inequities?

Listen to this episode to find out! (Spoiler alert: NO)

Sara and I grill sustainable investing expert Kacie Swartz about how to find funds that promote our values. And guess what?

They do just as well, if not better, as the traditional funds that have gotten away with regressive social policies and short-sighted slash and burn environmental damages in the name of profit.

Kacie explains how to find funds we can feel good about, without diminishing our returns, AND how this kind of activist investing is a very powerful way to change industries with our dollars.

Here are some of the resources Kacie mentioned that are good for researching sustainable, environmentally and socially-conscious funds:

Morning Star

Vanguard

MSCI

Green Money Journal

And here’s Kacie on LinkedIn.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

You can take that takeout pad thai out of my cold, dead hands. If budgeting means not being able to splurge on a stressful Tuesday anymore, then let’s go for broke.

But we’re supposed to have a budget, right?

How do we create budgets that take into account our mental health now and financial health later? We invited budget coach Kara Perez, founder of the finance education company Bravely Go to help us figure this out.

We talk about how to adapt a budget to the realities of your life without cutting out all of the joy, and making conscious choices about where your dollars go, and when.

Also, Caitlin tries to get Sara and Kara to square off on different money management approaches. Instead, they agree there are many ways to take on your finances, as long as you do something. Anything! (Well, not anything, but not get paralyzed by the choices to the point that you never start.)

For more of Kara’s financial wisdom, sustainable investing approach and budgeting tips, follow her on Instagram and YouTube.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page of our website!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Your credit score is one of those things that you don’t have to care about…until you really do. It’s a system that kind of makes sense, but also can be crazy unfair.

In this episode Sara and Caitlin (but mostly Caitlin) grill Lending Tree credit expert Matt Schulz on how credit scores are calculated and what it actually means. Do they stay the same for all of our lives? Can we make them better? Do they get worse if we check them every week?

He tells us some very bad news about how bad credit can cost you a ton of money over your lifetime, but also hopeful news about how to build up your credit score so you can get out of the cycle.

Here are some of the resources we mentioned in the episode:

The government’s consumer watchdog website: Consumer Financial Protection Bureau

You can check your credit report at AnnualCreditReport.com - it’s a no strings attached website that you can trust.

The three big credit bureaus where you can check your credit score and freeze your credit so no one can open up a credit card or line of credit on your behalf:

TransUnion Experian Equifax

And to find out more financial tips from Matt, follow him on Twitter @matthewschulz and subscribe to his newsletter. And watch out for his book in 2024 that promises to help people pay less, earn more and keep more of their money by asking the right questions in everyday situations.

Oh! And do you have a passive income story? A success? A failure? Tell us about it in a voice memo and e-mail it to: [email protected]

Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 2 on our Ask Us page!

This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.