So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Joining Farnoosh this week is Megan Gorman, founder of Chequers Financial Management. She is a Forbes contributor and has her own blog, The Wealth Intersection, where she writes about the intersection of personal finance and daily life.Together they tackle your questions, including:Should I pay down student loans or invest?Should we drain our 529 to pay for an emergency fund?How do I know if I'm being paid fairly?How can I optimize my savings?Follow Farnoosh on @Instgram and send her your questions there!Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Our guest today was suddenly stricken with a brain aneurysm in 2016, an occurrence that is typically fatal. But CNBC senior correspondent Sharon Epperson survived and is here on our show to share her journey through that experience and how key financial preparations helped her and her family avert a financial catastrophe.I first interviewed Sharon back in 2015. She is a well-known financial expert who can be seen regularly on CNBC and other media platforms. As the network's senior personal finance correspondent, Sharon was named one of "12 to Watch in TV News" in 2018. When I interviewed her years ago, we talked about her career as a journalist and her upbringing, but today, we’re going to talk about her major health scare. Sharon is now healthy, back at work, and is now an advocate for raising awareness about brain aneurysms and raising money for research.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the next few decades, America will experience one of the biggest wealth transfers in history: $30 trillion dollars. Women will be the ones receiving most of that money. Are we going to be ready for it? Well, our guest today is dedicating her profession to helping everyone, men and women, become more financially empowered and admits that she, too, didn't always understand some of the basics of personal finance. Veronica Dagher is the host, co-creator and producer of The Wall Street Journal Podcast called Secrets of Wealthy Women. She interviews successful women who aren't afraid to charge what they're worth, pursue their ideas and build a life of fortune. Notable guests have included Gloria Steinem, Maria Sharapova, Mary Higgins Clark. I actually joined Veronica on her podcast on New Year's Day, along with some incredible women in personal finance; Jean Chatzky, Bobbi Rebell, Sharon Epperson and Deirdre Bolton.Veronica's podcast is more than just a job for her, it's a passion. After losing her father early in life, she watched her mother struggled to learn how to just write a check during the worst moment of her life. That memory has stayed with Veronica, fueled her desire to manage not just her own finances, but to teach others how to also live a full life.  Veronica is on Twitter and Instagram @VeronicaDagher.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Talking about financial infidelity on Ask Farnoosh today. A listener asks what she should do about her husband who secretly amassed $65,000 in debt...while they were supposed to be saving up to buy a house.Joining Farnoosh is Emily Gershen, an avid So Money listener. When not binging on So Money, Emily Gershen is a designer, freelancer and entrepreneur. Formerly a New Yorker, she now spends her time in Grenada, West Indies.  Her company, Florecera Design is rooted in her loves for travel, indigenous textiles and intentional design.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Gemma Hartley is the author of the new book  Fed Up: Emotional Labor, Women, and the Way Forward. The book was inspired by a viral article that Gemma wrote for Harper’s Bazaar called “Women Aren’t Nags - We’re just fed up.” It was read more than 2 billion times, so clearly it struck a cord and it definitely resonated with me. In our conversation Gemma pulls from her own life experiences as a mother and wife that I think we’ll find all-too familiar. We discuss how she defines emotional labor, how women often find themselves bearing the brunt of it...And what is the way forward to living a fuller and more satisfying life? To learn more about Gemma, visit www.GemmaHartley.com and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Is this the year you’re going to go for it? It’s New Year’s eve and you might be on the precipice of a big change in 2019, but only if you really want it. Today’s guest is Sara Bliss. She is a New York Time’s bestselling author of 11 books. Today, she’s here to talk about her most recent, which is called Take the Leap: Change Your Career, Change Your Life. It profiles over 60 people who radically changed their careers. If this is the year you want to try something completely different, make a shift, this interview is for you. Sara believes you’re never quite stuck. You might feel that way, but it’s just a feeling. It’s not the reality. In her book, she showcases how 60 successful people transitioned to show readers that the life you want isn’t as unrealistic as you think. Now she profiles some pretty high-profile people from Bobbi Brown, the makeup guru, to Barbara Corcoran and Barneys’ creative ambassador Simon Doonan, NFL athletes. Just want to say, don't be intimidated by the list of names in her book. Sara says she wants people to know that anyone can make a change, even if they're terrified of the process, even if they don't know how to get started. If you're in need of some career inspiration today, well I hope this episode will help. To learn more about Sara Bliss, please visit www.SaraBliss.com. You can also follow her on Instagram @SaraBlissNYC and on Twitter @SaraBlissNYC.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

EP 755 Replay: Farnoosh and co-host Kara Stevens, founder of The Frugal Feminista, discuss your biggest money questions including how to manage money with friends who like to spend more than you do ... as well as the best ways to save and invest and sell real estate.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Ever dream of retiring early? Or just having enough in the bank so you can truly live a life on your terms? We’re looking back at the year and we had quite a few individuals on So Money in 2018 who are part of the so-called FIRE movement, have you heard of this? It stands for Financial Independence Retire Early. Now, just to be clear - because I know there is a bit of back and forth on what this actually entails- from my understanding and having interviewed so many people who are a part of this movement, retiring early does not mean quitting working, it just means you’re not tethered to your 9 to 5, you’re not working a job that you don’t love. You may be still making money even though - but you’re doing it on your terms. One of our guests this year from episode 687 was Tanja Hester, who arrived on the podcast having just retired and she’s not even 40 years old. After saving half of her income for years, she and her husband finally reached financial independence at the end of 2017. They left their careers and currently are enjoying outdoor life in Lake Tahoe. Along the way Tanja started a blog called, Our Next Life, to document the couple’s journey and she does monetize this so herein is how she’s making her early retirement money. But here’s the beginning of our interview when Tanja shared the specifics behind how she arrived at early retirement. Also mentioned in this episode: Mrs. Frugalwoods, Vicki Robin and Andy HillLearn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Today’s episode is dedicated to looking back at all of the great interviews we’ve had over the course of this year, related to health and wealth. All of the tremendous insights shared by guests on So Money that have to do with physical and mental well-being, and the positive impact that all can have on our finances. We’re going to hear from a medical doctor, a meditation expert, a pelvic healer and an entrepreneur who recently detoxed her way out of a stressful divorce and a business.  And in each excerpt, my goal is to help us see the bigger picture of how health and wealth do intersect. First up is Dan Harris, Episode 712. You may know Dan Harris as the co-anchor of ABC News Night Line and the weekend edition of Good Morning America. He’s also the bestselling author of 10% Happier and his most recent book is called Meditation for Fidgety Skeptics. He’s been very vocal about once himself having a panic attack in front of millions of people while filling in on Good Morning America. It was that experience that set him off on a path to discover why he had a panic attack and he embarked on this journey of self-discovery, eventually leading to meditation. Now, Dan admits that he himself was an inspiration for his latest book. That he is that fidgety skeptic and despite that he learned how to meditate. In this clip, I ask Dan, ”How can meditation benefit our bottom lines?”  Also featured in this episode: Dr. Habib Sadeghi, Petra Kolber, Isa Hererra and Cathryn Lavery, Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This episode originally aired on February 16, 2018.Is my debt to income ratio too high to be considered for a mortgage?What ways are good ways to payoff my mortgage faster?My new job offers a 3% match for our 401K. What are my best options for my current 401k ($150K+)?  Do I rollover into the new plan? An IRA?Answering these questions of yours and more on this week's Ask Farnoosh with co-host and former So Money guest Erin Lowry of Broke Millennial.Learn more about Farnoosh's upcoming literary workshop Book to Brand. Early bird registration is now open! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.