When your income drops, debt spikes, and a rental property starts bleeding cash, it can feel like your entire financial foundation is cracking beneath you. Veronica, our first caller, is navigating all of it at once, from a near-foreclosure to a luxury car payment that’s strangling her budget. Her question is simple but enormous, how […]
By Paula Pant
#660 The Brutal Math of Caring for Aging Parents, with MarketWatch Columnist Beth Pinsker
Caring for an aging parent can morph into a second full-time job, and even the most financially savvy adults get blindsided. Bank accounts freeze, home sales stall, and family savings disappear faster than anyone expects.
In this episode, we dig into what really happens when you take over a parent’s financial life, from the first […]
By Paula Pant
#659: James Patterson Shows Why Comfort Can Be a Trap
Disruption is no longer a buzzword, it’s the new baseline. In this episode, bestselling author James Patterson and Vanderbilt professor Patrick Leddin explore how disruption reshapes careers, industries, and even personal identity. They share a framework for becoming a positive disruptor, someone who turns upheaval into opportunity.
From reinventing the publishing industry to navigating AI […]
By Paula Pant
#658: First Friday: When the Gov’t is Closed, Where Do We Find The Numbers?
An unusual First Friday episode because we don’t have a jobs report.
However, we do know that in October, U.S. companies announced more job cuts in a single month than they have over any single month of the last 20 years. In other words, October was peak job cut month.
By contrast, private payrolls, as […]
By Paula Pant
#657: Can You Really Beat The Market By Copying Members of Congress?
This week, Paula and Joe dig into a listener’s question about ETFs that track the stock trades of U.S. politicians — including the Democratic “NANC” fund and its Republican counterpart “KRUZ.” They explore whether this strategy is smart investing or just expensive entertainment.
Then, they shift gears to home ownership headaches. Another listener asks how […]
By Paula Pant
#656: Would You Shock a Stranger? What a 1960s Experiment Reveals About Your Money Decisions [Rerun]
What would you do if an authority figure told you to do something that felt wrong? Today’s episode dives into the surprising psychology behind why we often comply — even when our gut tells us not to.
Paula revisits one of her favorite interviews of the year with Dr. Sunita Sah, […]
By Paula Pant
#655: Q&A: How to Choose Between Financial Freedom and a First Home
What would you do if, at the age of 23, you found yourself with $70,000 a year leftover after expenses? Would you pour everything into retirement and coast to financial independence, or stockpile a down payment before life gets pricier with kids, a mortgage, and maintenance costs?
This week, we dive into that real-life dilemma […]
By Paula Pant
#654: How to Stop Fighting About Money
Fights about money are common, but they’re rarely about math. They’re about power, shame, vulnerability, and trust. And no amount of data or fancy spreadsheets is going to fix it.
What you need is a better system for fairness, more open communication, and a shared ambition.
In this candid conversation with Heather and Doug Boneparth, […]
By Paula Pant
Radical Transparency in Real Estate Predictions [RERUN]
What happens when we actually check our predictions? In this episode we play clips from our 2023 conversation with Scott Trench from BiggerPockets and ask the uncomfortable question: were we right?
Two years ago we made some big calls about the housing market. Mortgage rates had doubled. Prices hadn’t crashed. Inventory was vanishing. Everyone had […]
By Paula Pant
#652: Why High Earners Stay Broke – with Rose Han
What if you did everything “right”, earned the degree, landed the six-figure job, and still felt broke?
That’s exactly where Rose Han found herself. Fresh out of NYU with a finance degree and a Wall Street paycheck, she had a negative net worth, mounting stress, and a sinking feeling that traditional success wasn’t the path […]
