New Money New Problems Podcast

Elections, Volatility, and Your Portfolio: What History Says About Markets After Midterms In this episode, Brenton discusses how the stock market may react after this week’s election, focusing on what it could mean for individual investors’ 401(k)s and brokerage accounts. He explains that markets typically see higher volatility and often weaker returns in the year leading up to midterm elections (...

EPISODE RESOURCES ESLD 2026 Employee Benefits and Your Student Loans  Qualifying Life Events Eligible FSA Expenses Eligible Dependent Care FSA Expenses 2026 Open Enrollment Guide: Health Plans, Insurance, FSAs/HSAs, and Retirement Contribution Limits Brenton Harrison presents the New Money New Problems Podcast’s annual 2026 open enrollment guide, and noting a companion episode on The Escape Studen...

EPISODE RESOURCES Why The Holidays Aren't Great for Money Talks A Place for Mom Elder Care Locator Benefits CheckUp Low- and No-Cost Ways to Financially Assist Aging Parents (The Sandwich Generation) Brenton discusses low- or no-cost ways for “sandwich generation” listeners—those supporting both aging parents and children—to begin organizing and assisting an elderly parent’s finances. He reco...

Is $2M of Life Insurance for Under $50/Month Actually a Bad Deal? In this episode, Brenton discusses Ethos Life, the online life insurance platform. He reviews the pros and cons of simplified issue policies that cap coverage, such as the reduced underwriting requirements in exchange for a narrower profile of people who qualify for affordable rates. He walks through key steps in buying life insuran...

From Cigars to Call Centers: Peter Roth on Pivoting, Cold Calling, and Resilient Entrepreneurship Host Brenton Harrison interviews entrepreneur Peter Roth, who runs Scalify Call Centers (building remote outbound cold-calling appointment-setting teams for home services and real estate) and MDCWholesaleCigars.com (a long-running cigar wholesaler that recently expanded to B2C). Roth shares immigratin...

EPISODE RESOURCES New Payment Guidelines Details Repayment Assistance Plan Explained Two Federal Student Loan “Deadlines” SAVE 90-Day Notices and the Auto-Pay Interest Discount Extension In an off-schedule New Money, New Problems/Escape Student Loan Debt episode, Brenton Harrison explains two federal student loan “pseudo deadlines” and related policy changes. First, some SAVE plan borrowers receiv...

For long-term investors, years where the stock market goes down can represent an opportunity, not an obstacle. In this episode, we prove it to you. Support the show

EPISODE RESOURCES Check out our episode on PMI National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators Retirement Savings Lost and Found Database Workers Owed Wages Database Mortgage Insurance Premium Refund Database Find Your Money Online: Unclaimed Property, PMI Refunds, Unpaid Wages & Lost 401(k)s Brenton opens the New Money, New Problems podcast by sharing recent heavy travel and an upco...

Estate Planning Starts Sooner Than You Think: Wills, Trusts, Incapacity, and Protecting Family Wealth EPISODE RESOURCES The Law Office of Sheuvaun Vernon Connect With Her Online! Host Brenton Harrison welcomes estate planning attorney Sheuvan Vernon (The Trusted Esquire), founder of the Law Office of Sheuvaun Vernon serving New York and New Jersey, to discuss how estate planning begins earlier tha...

EPISODE RESOURCES Updated Payment Guidance from Department of Ed Federal Student Loan Updates: MOHELA Default Letters, IDR Recertification Tips, New On‑Time Rules, PSLF Tracker Issues, Borrowing Limits Lawsuit, and PSLF Buyback Progress In this episode, we share major federal student loan updates, focusing on errors and rule changes affecting forgiveness and repayment. MOHELA mistakenly sent defau...

Trump Accounts Explained: Pros, Cons, and Whether Politics Should Matter In this episode we cover Trump Accounts, launched July 2026, which offer a $1,000 initial contribution for children born January 1, 2025–December 31, 2028. Brenton discusses the political and moral hesitation some parents feel, especially for marginalized communities. For those interested, we cover how to open the account cur...

Why the Amex Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve May Not Be Worth It (and How to Get Out of the Trap) In this episode, we explain why premium rewards cards like the AmEx Platinum and Chase Sapphire Reserve can be a costly trap, especially for high-income earners who may feel less urgency about carrying balances. Citing research that rewards incentives increase spending and debt, we argue that mult...

When You’re the One in the Family Who “Has the Money”: Boundaries, Planning, and Real Stories This week we join you from Maryland to share an episode on what it’s like to be the family member who “has the money". Brenton draws on what he observed with his parents and why it shaped New Money New Problems’ focus on high earners building wealth. Based on a Pew Research Center study, at least 70%...

How Childhood Trauma Shapes Money Disorders (Throwback Episode) This week we post a throwback wayyy back to the second New Money New Problems episode to set up a forthcoming discussion about being the only person in a family who “has money”. In the replay, we discuss how “money disorders” are foundational to understanding wealth building and reference a CNN article by Jean Sahadi on how early trau...

How Leases Work and Who Should Consider Them In this episode, we explain how car leasing works , comparing it to other overstated money “rules” like avoiding PMI on a home loan. We breaks down the elements of a lease payment: depreciation, interest, and taxes, and end-of-lease options such as walking away or a trade-in. We offer decision rules based on residual versus fair market value and highlig...

You Might Already Own SpaceX: How IPOs, Index Rules, and Heavy Weightings Can Increase Portfolio Risk In this episode, we explains how investors may already own SpaceX through index funds and 401(k)s, even without knowing it. Using SpaceX’s IPO as a case study, we distinguish stock exchanges (NYSE/Nasdaq) from stock indices (S&P 500, Nasdaq 100, FTSE Russell, MSCI ACWI), how each makes money (...

Who Should Avoid Roth Retirement Accounts? Key Scenarios Where Pre-Tax May Win Join us from our new recording studio as we explain when Roth retirement account benefits like tax-free withdrawals and no required minimum distributions, are not ideal for everyone. We contrast Roth versus pre-tax taxation timing and outlines cases where Roth contributions may be disadvantageous. Scenarios include peop...

Mortgage Recasting 101 In this episode, we discuss the most important question one can ask when determining their home down payment: “Can this mortgage be recast?” Using a $500,000 home example, Brenton explains amortization schedules and how recasting works: after a lump-sum principal payment, the lender recalculates the payment to keep the original payoff timeline while lowering monthly payments...

EPISODE RESOURCES Escape Student Loan Debt Podcast July 1 Deadline Changes, SAVE Ending, New Borrowing Caps, and Myth-Busting In this episode we explore major federal student loan changes tied to the key July 1 deadline and dispels common myths about what's to come. Key updates include new borrowing caps for Parent PLUS loans and the important distinction between a "standard" gradua...

10 Things I’d Do If I Had to Start Over Financially and Professionally In this episode, Brenton shares what he would do if he had to start over at ground zero in a new city with no money or relationships, inspired by a recent article about financial advice for Gen Z. He covers 10 steps he feels would give him a leg up, from collecting and organize email addresses, to prioritizing accessible capita...

529 Plans vs. UTMA/UGMA and Brokerage Accounts: Choosing the Right Way to Save for Kids In this episode we explain how 529 plans work and why they can be powerful education-savings tools, highlighting tax-deferred growth, tax-free withdrawals for eligible education expenses, transferability to other family members, and high contribution limits including five-year front-loading. The biggest limitat...

EPISODE RESOURCES Prizm Insurance Property & Casualty Insurance for High Earners: Umbrella Coverage, Home/Auto Gaps (with Dave Olchowka) In this episode, we host Dave Olchowka of Prizm Insurance to discuss why property and casualty insurance is often overlooked yet critical for high-income and affluent households. Dave shares his 20+ years in personal lines, his move from State Farm to the aff...

When Investment Real Estate Actually Works In this episode, we break down when real estate can be an excellent wealth-building activity, contrasting last week’s case against owning one or two rentals. We detail groups for whom real estate has low acquisition costs—military veterans using VA loans and medical/dental professionals using physician loans—and how it can make it easier to keep prior hom...

Why a Single Rental Property Often Disappoints High-Income Earners (Part 1) Today we introduce a two-part series on rental property, and why a single rental property (or a couple) is often a poor wealth-building strategy for high-income earners. We cover how using a starter home as a rental can compromise upgrading to a better primary residence, using Brenton's childhood home as an example. W...

EPISODE RESOURCES RISE Student Loan Regulations Fact Sheet ...I Just Lost $33,709 Episode Repayment Assistance Plan Explained Finalized DOE Student Loan Rules: New Caps, Repayment Assistance Plan, and Default Rehab Changes (Effective 2026–2027) In this episode we share newly finalized Department of Education regulations tied to the Working Families Tax Cuts Act and explain how they may affect stud...