Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: Helene relief, mega backdoor Roth, dockworkers strike against automation, time to book holiday travel, Southwest switcheroo, online passport renewals, Robinhood hidden fees, Gen Z out-investing Boomers, student loan shifts, fintech faux pas, bustling brick and mortar branches, and political economic malpractice.

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money. Have an awesome weekend!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ok, here us out: retirement is a topic that we talk about all the time here at How To Money, but simultaneously we probably don’t talk about it nearly enough! How is that possible you might ask? Well, we are oftentimes discussing retirement through the lens of investing – spending less and cutting costs so you can invest more… for retirement, maxing out your Roth IRA… for retirement! We’re typically approaching retirement from our personal perspective and it’s no surprise to anyone that we’re not actually retired. We still *think* we’re young bucks even though we’re arguably in mid-life, but because of that we might not cover the nuts and bolts that go into actually retiring, as often as maybe we should. We definitely don’t do it as well as Christine Benz which is just one of the reasons we’re pumped to have her join us today. Christine is a long-time contributor to Morningstar, the fantastic investment research site that we often reference here on the pod. Specifically, she’s the director of personal finance for Morningstar as well as author of the new book, “How to Retire: 20 lessons for a happy, successful, and wealthy retirement.” We get into Chrinstine’s investing shortcomings, how the Morningstar rating system has evolved over the years, how the definition of retirement is also evolving, the value of work, the impact of retirement on relationships, and more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
• Don’t be cheap and forego getting a life insurance policy. Compare rates with Policygenius.

During this episode we enjoyed a Strangest of Places by Pure Project! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Let’s dive into the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - What are some pros and cons of combining our finances as newlyweds?

2 - How much more should I be willing to pay for health insurance if it means I can contribute to an HSA?

3 - Should I consider extra money over the limit in my 401k as an emergency fund or as retirement savings?

4 - I purchased an expensive car during the pandemic at 5%. I’m currently paying extra on it but should I unload it completely?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

• Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
• Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
• Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
• Find the best credit card for you with our new credit card tool!
• Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Head Full of Dynomite by Fremont Brewing! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.