The Financial Wellbeing Podcast

Episode 106 – Does More Money Equal More Happiness? The guys dive into the age-old question: Does more money equal more happiness? Join them as they navigate contrasting findings of renowned academics Daniel Kahneman and Matthew Killingsworth. Get ready to challenge conventional wisdom and discover the key question we should all be asking in the pursuit of true financial wellbeing. As ever a thought provoking episode with a light-hearted #tightasstommo money saving tip. Welcomes & Introductions The Financial Wellbeing Book has been updated and re-issued Want to work with Producer Tommo and a like minded team? Come and have a chat with Ovation What’s on Todays Podcast? Exploring the age old question, does more money make you more happy? Tight Ass Tommo A recap of the #tightasstommo origin story Featuring a grocery theme with the avoidance of brands, the world food aisle in supermarkets and shopping around. Top tip – Check out Your Prime on Amazon, for exclusive offers Does more money make you more happy? Research by Daniel Kahneman states – after a certain level, more money doesn’t make you more happy. However, research by Matthew Killingsworth says – people with more money did report being more happy. Daniel Kahneman Professor at Princeton University, Nobel laureate and Co-authored “Thinking, Fast And Slow.”Conducted a 2010 study with Angus Deaton titled “Does Money Buy Happiness?” surveying 450,000 individuals. Aimed to offer a definitive answer on money’s relationship with happiness. Identified two wellbeing types: Experienced and evaluated.Low income associates with low wellbeing.Evaluated wellbeing rises with income, peaking at $75,000.Conclusion: High income correlates with life satisfaction, not happiness. Matthew Killingsworth University of Pennsylvania researcher.Conducted a study based on data from over 1 million reports by 34,000 employed US adults.Criticized previous studies for not collecting real-time data on experienced wellbeing.Used smartphones to gather genuinely in-the-moment responses.Results aligned partially with previous studies:Evaluated wellbeing increases with income.Conclusion: experienced wellbeing also rises with income, without limit. Two respected academics, two surveys suggesting the opposite thing. What happens next? Adversarial Collaboration – they focused on the disagreement in their findings Their conclusion They both had wrong assumptions. Turns out some people are always unhappy and some are always happy Link to Episode 104 – Crack the Happiness Code with Set Point Theory Conclusions From the Guys Asking does more money make us more happy is the wrong question. We should be asking what makes us happy first, and then seeing how our approach to money may help us achieve this. Do you have any financial wellbeing questions you would like us to answer? Or do you have a #tightasstommo money saving tip you would like to share with our listeners? If so, let us know by going to Twitter @Finwellbeing or email – contact@financialwell-being.co.uk

Episode 105 – Stress on our Finances with Sonya Lutter In this episode, we sit down with Financial Psychology expert Dr Sonya Lutter. Delving into the root causes of our financial decision-making, from the impact of societal expectations on our spending to the role of inner conflict and psychological stress on our financial choices. With some great exercises you can explore with your partner and yet another brilliant #tightasstommo money saving tip, this is an episode not to miss. Introductions The Financial Wellbeing Podcast has been going for 8 Years Want to work with Producer Tommo and a like minded team? Come and have a chat with Ovation What’s on Today’s Podcast? Interview with Financial Psychologist and founder of The Financial Therapy Association in the USA, Sonya Lutter Tight Ass Tommo Avoid the sneaky January price hikes with streaming servicesRing providers to get lower costs (from Episode 95 with Paul Lewis) Interview with Sonya Lutter Bridging the gap between therapy, counselling, coaching and financial planning. What is at the root of our bad money making decisions? We act how others think we should – often in conflict with our own values. Inner conflict and psychological stress In fight or flight mode blood is not pumping through our brain to aid thinking – when stressed we are protecting ourselves in the moment, not thinking long term. The disconnect between what we do, due to how we perceive others think we should act, versus acting on our own personal values. Why it’s hard to be content with what you have Your friends friends have more impact on your happiness than a salary increase. So pay attention to how your friends make you react. Happiness doesn’t just happen, it takes effort How joint bank accounts lead to better relationships – talking about money together Exercise for couples – tell your partner about your earliest money memory Suggestions for financial advisors to help make an impact in their clients lives Conclusions from the guys Get past superficial thoughts and get deeper understanding of your core values Another exercise for couples talk about your values individuallycompare each others values to find common ground and outlierscompare common ground with current spending Dr Sonya Lutter is Director of Financial Health and Wellness Director of Financial Health and Wellness at Texas Tech University School of Financial Planning and founded the ELITE academy to help bridge the gap between financial planning and mental health. Come and connect with Dr Sonya Lutter on LinkedIn for more information.

Episode 104 – Crack the Happiness Code with Set Point Theory All the guys are back in this episode and exploring the Set Point Theory of happiness and its links to financial wellbeing. With the usual #tightasstommo money saving tips with a festive twist and genial waffle we have a lovely episode for you . . . Welcomes & Introductions Want to work with Producer Tommo and a like minded team? Come and have a chat with OvationInterested in reading Chris Budd’s books? They can be purchased here on Amazon. What’s on Todays Podcast? Exploring our relationship with money thorough Set Point Theory We have spoken about this before in Episode 39 – Theories Of Happiness Tight Ass Tommo Featuring charitable donations, secret Santa’s, making gift’s double up and selling your parents vinyl records! David is no longer writing scripts for long running TV series Doctors – leading to exploring the bereavement of loosing a sense of identity, a topic we spoke of in detail with the brilliant interview from Amy Florian in Episode 65 Set Point Theory We reach adult life with a set level of happiness, and whilst we can move around this level we return back to the set level. Agreement of definitions; Wellbeing = long-termHappy / Sad = short-term We get used to the feelings of happy/sad and return back to our set point To get back to our set point we often spend money – as we found out in Episode 64 The Financial Wellbeing Junkie What can we do for that short-term hit and avoid emotional spending? The link to financial planning and working on our relationship with money. Short term spending can prevent long-term happiness. Where does our set level of happiness come from? 50% is inherited10% from our circumstances40% from our intentional activity This 40% is the part we can influence by understanding ourselves – what is a healthy relationship with our finances, so we can do morewhat is a bad relationship with our finances for us so we can work on improving Tips on how to purposefully improving our intentional activity. Conclusions From the Guys Do you have any financial wellbeing questions you would like us to answer? Or do you have a #tightasstommo money saving tip you would like to share with our listeners? If so, let us know by going to Twitter @Finwellbeing or email – contact@financialwell-being.co.uk