Do you doomscroll?

Do you watch the news?

Are you excited or nervous about the economy?

Despite sensational news headlines and social media panic, most households aren't experiencing a collapse, and many financial indicators remain strong. On this week's episode, Shawn & George talk about terrifying headlines, the actual economic indicators (not what social media wants you to believe), personal economic indicators, and how to doomscroll detox!

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Often people burdened with debt feel bullied, hopeless and that there's no way out. But what would you do if you were in a near fatal accident and had to re-learn how to walk, talk or eat?

How do you deal with trauma in your life?

At 14, Nick Prefontaine suffered a traumatic, life-threatening snowboarding accident and was put in a coma. His parents were told he wouldn't ever walk, talk, or eat on his own again. He did and set a personal goal of not walking, but running out of the hospital. Nick does a lot of speaking work to help those suffering from brain injuries.

Today, Nick is a 7-figure business owner, Rhode Island-based real estate investor, speaker, and Partner of Smart Real Estate Coach.

Shawn, George & Nick talk about the S.T.E.P. system - Support, Trust, Energy and Persistence. You can download Nick's S.T.E.P. system at www.nickprefontaine.com/step and you can check out Nick's Real Estate Coaching website at www.SmartRealEstateCoach.com.

Plus, we talk about the costs of hospital bills and the need for medical insurance prior to a major catastrophic event, and how Nick paid off the debt he used to start his business within three years!

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

When should parents help their high schoolers with College Applications?

Should kids stay in state or out of state for college? Private or public schools?

What are some of the top things that colleges look for in applicants?

Is it better for your kid's application to be involved in extracurricular activities? Scouts? IB Programs? AP Programs? Honors Programs?

Today's guest on the show is Lee Norwood, the founder of www.CollegeSharks.com and www.AnnapolisCollegeConsulting.com. Lee Norwood is a nationally recognized leader in college consulting. College Sharks is a groundbreaking virtual membership program designed to help families navigate the college admissions process with ease. With over 50 years of collective team experience and visits to more than 500 colleges, Lee’s mission is simple: to lower family stress, save time and money, and find the perfect college fit for students academically, socially, and financially. As a peer mentor on the CounselMore Executive Board, Lee contributes to shaping the future of college counseling software while mentoring professionals in the field. Her expertise has been featured in prestigious publications and podcasts, solidifying her reputation as an industry innovator.

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Are you ready for retirement?

Do you know what you need or need to do, so that you can retire?

When my late wife would ask me when I wanted to retire, my answer was normally "yesterday." But are we ready for retirement? Can being a podcast host only support me in retirement?

Today's podcast guest is Michael A. Scarpati, co-founder and CEO of www.Retire.US who shares a vision in financial empowerment. His platform caters to over 35,000 soon-to-be retirees, providing guidance to help them plan for retirement while also supporting their families. With over 15 years in the financial services industry, Michael aligns perfectly with your podcast's mission of eliminating financial bullies, offering unique insights on achieving financial flexibility across generations.

Shawn, George and Michael talk about financial consciousness, the mindset of debt, paying off debt, and retirement. We talk about the four Levels of a healthy mindset: (1) Mindfulness, (2) Basic Planning, (3) Tax Mastery & (4) Wealth Mastery. We also talk about removing red flags, goal planning and cash flow planning during retirement.

'More information can be found on Michael's website, or you can follow him on Instagram and LinkedIn.

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Have any spare change?

Do you still use cash and coins?

The US Treasury Department and US Mint announced that it will stop making pennies after it runs out of the blank templates used to make the coins, saving the government $56 million a year in materials costs. There is no indication that pennies will be taken out of circulation, only that new pennies will not be produced.

This move should have no impact on electronic purchases - ACH, Wire, Debit, Credit, etc.

A few news articles on the subject:

• https://www.axios.com/2025/05/22/penny-coins-end-production-2026
• https://www.axios.com/2025/05/24/treasury-penny-production-trump-shopping-change

This issue is not unique to the United States. Canada, Australia and New Zealand stopped producing their penny-equivalents years ago.

The cost to produce $0.01 is now approximately $0.0369 per penny, causing a loss to the US Mint of approximately $85.3 million. And our other coins are similarly expensive to produce:

• $0.05 nickel costs $0.1378 per coin
• $0.10 dime costs $0.0576 per coin
• $0.25 quarter costs $0.1468 per coin

It may be time to start using all those pennies we're currently saving in jars and piggybanks.

What do you think? How will stopping the production of the penny impact you?

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

Everything on the Internet is true, right?

What can Tik Tok (and social media) teach us about getting out of debt? How much of the advice is legitimate and how much is, shall we say, a bit "out there"?

On this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podccast, Shawn & George watch (or listen to) Tik Tok videos from influencers who are trying to help people get out of debt. We'll then comment on the good, the bad, and the ugly of the advice given. As with any social media platform, you have to do your own due diligence and utilize strategies that will work for you.

You can listen to similar former episodes of the show like

• Episode 413 - Tik Tok Money Hacks
• Episode 388 - Money Lessons from Tik Tok (our Girl Math Episode)

The Tik Toks on this weeks episode cover topics such as:

• What is a normal amount of savings?
• Bankruptcy
• Frugal Hacks
• How to turn $60 into $1,000
• Girl Math
• Why NOT to save money

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com. And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders (the link will be live until June 2025): http://support.pancan.org/goto/MYLegacy8

Why are garage sales the perfect sales and negotiation training ground?

What is the golden rule of negotiating?

What are some negotiation tactics that work, and some that don't?

Each year, in October and May, Shawn's neighborhood hosts a community-wide garage sale. Shawn has tested and practiced different sales techniques at these bi-annual events in a low-risk, low-pressure environment!

Please go back and listen to these previous garage sale episodes, which have covered lessons such as:

• 68 - negotiations
• 86 - preparation
• 118 - patience
• 168 - preparation
• 241 - approach
• 270 - target market
• 373 - delegate
• 393 - sales presentation

In this week's episode, Shawn & George talk about the benefits of practicing negotiation skills at a garage sale, some negotiation tactics that have worked for them and some that have not worked for them, and getting the younger generations involved early in selling and negotiation (lessons taught to Shawn's kids).

Let us know if you enjoy this episode and, if so, please share it with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MYLegacy8 This link will be live until June 1, 2025, and then we start on the 2026 team and fundraiser.

What is Soft Savings?

Why would you want to embrace it?

What are some tips to balance soft savings and hard savings?

What are some red flags to avoid with Soft Savings?

In this week's episode of the Crushing Debt Podcast, Shawn & George talk about Soft Savings, basically savings practices that may not be measurable or something that can be quantified. It involves spending for experiences, rather than saving for later. Soft savings is really just a mindset around what and how to save.

Let us know if you practice soft savings, hard savings, or some combination. And please this episode with your friends!

Please also visit our sponsor Sam Cohen of Attorneys First Insurance for Attorneys and Title Companies looking to get a quote on Errors & Ommissions (malpractice) Insurance coverage. www.AttorneysFirst.com.

Or, you can support the show by visiting our Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/crushingDebt

To contact George Curbelo, you can email him at GCFinancialCoach21@gmail.com or follow his Tiktok channel - https://www.tiktok.com/@curbelofinancialcoach

To contact Shawn Yesner, you can email him at Shawn@Yesnerlaw.com or visit www.YesnerLaw.com.

And please consider a donation to Pancreatic Cancer research and education by joining Shawn's team at MY Legacy Striders: http://support.pancan.org/goto/MYLegacy8 This link will be live until June 1, 2025, and then we start on the 2026 team and fundraiser.