NGPF Podcast

What happens when a class of 5th graders who can multiply decimals in their heads freezes in an aquarium gift shop, unable to tell if they have enough money for a souvenir? That moment sent  Lauren Langlois from the math classroom into curriculum design, and on this episode, Tim talks to Lauren and Jessica Chung of FitMoney to talk about what personal finance education actually looks like in kinde...

NGPF Speaker Series: Join us for a conversation with Daania and Adriana, two inspiring high school students that have developed a strong passion for financial literacy, business, and youth leadership. They will share how their involvement in DECA has led them to create a financial literacy project that advanced to the international level. They will also share more about how they organized a school...

What if the most powerful shift in your financial education classroom isn't a new lesson, but a new way of talking about money? In this episode, Dr. Darla Bishop, author of How to Afford Everything, joins Yanely Espinal for an honest, energizing conversation about teaching money with possibility, not shame. From why struggling financially doesn't mean someone is "bad with money" to how small wins...

NGPF Speaker Series: Historian Jonathan D. Cohen, author of Losing Big: America's Reckless Bet on Sports Gambling, explores how the rapid expansion of legalized gambling has reshaped American culture, policy, and personal finance. Sports betting is no longer just about who wins the game—and today's teens are growing up with a casino in their pocket. Jonathan talks about the apps, parlays, and pred...

Ten years ago, Seema Hingorani founded Girls Who Invest to close the gender gap in investment management, and today the nonprofit has trained more than 4,000 alumni, partnered with the biggest names on Wall Street, and built one of the most respected pipelines into finance! In this conversation, Seema shares what it took to build the organization and draw on a three-decade career that has spanned...

Could the lessons you teach today change your students' financial futures by millions of dollars? In "The $5 Million Payoff for a Financially Literate High School Graduate," Paul Merriman uses historical returns and hypothetical investing scenarios to make the case for starting early, keeping costs low, and staying invested. He explores how choices about stocks, bonds, retirement accounts, and aut...

What does diversification really mean beyond "don't put all your eggs in one basket," and how can you make that lesson stick with students? In this episode, Paul explores "The Inside Story About Diversification," using historical examples to show why owning hundreds of stocks isn't the same as spreading risk across different types of investments. He highlights classroom-friendly tools, including a...

Is trying to beat the market actually holding your investments back? In this episode, investing educator Paul Merriman breaks down the case for index funds and explores how fees, taxes, and frequent trading can quietly chip away at your investment returns. He challenges common investing myths, explains why not all index funds are alike, and introduces approaches that look beyond the S&P 500. Plus,...

Could starting just five years earlier or keeping a little more of your investment returns for yourself really change your financial future by millions? In this episode, investing educator Paul Merriman explores the math and history behind small decisions with potentially life-changing results. He explains why fees matter, how diversification helps investors avoid chasing yesterday's winners, and...

Linda is the founder of Good For You Money, and she grew up translating bills for her immigrant parents in a two-bedroom apartment shared with strangers. She retired from corporate life at age 36! In this episode, Linda shares how she went from graduating into the Great Recession with five figures of student debt to achieving financial independence, and what a decade of managing nine-figure market...

Students are growing up in a 21st century global economy where money moves faster and farther than ever before. This session with the Wise Team will explore how modern financial technology is reshaping the way individuals, businesses, and nations interact economically. Dive into the latest innovations in fintech and digital banking, as well as the movement to have "money without borders" become a...

Sahirenys Pierce is a financial educator, content creator, and author of The High-5 Banking Method. She will share why so many people struggle with money management despite having access to more financial advice than ever before. She breaks down her refreshingly simple "2 Checking, 3 Savings" system, built from her own experience navigating nearly $100K in debt and her son's open heart surgery. We...

Fred Miller is a university professor and author of Earlier Than You Think: How Money, Time, and Simple Decisions Shape Your Future, a student-friendly personal finance book born from his two decades of teaching wellness courses. Drawing from his own experience of never having taken a personal finance course in high school, Fred explores how early financial knowledge—or its absence—quietly shapes...

What if the person calling themselves your "financial advisor" is really just a salesperson in disguise? In this episode, Yanely sits down with Pam, an award-winning finance journalist, founder and CEO of WealthRamp, and 30-year champion of fee-only fiduciary advice, who shares how witnessing brokers target vulnerable elderly clients made her walk away from a lucrative Wall Street career. Pam pull...

Jonathan Morales, Head of Community Banking at JPMorgan Chase, unpacks viral money trends reshaping how younger generations think about finances. Join the session to explore how transparency, accountability, and digital culture are redefining how families talk about, save, and spend money. Jonathan has extensive experience at JPMorgan Chase and will discuss both the promise and pitfalls of new tre...

Tune into this live panel discussion of leading financial journalists for an engaging conversation on investing, money management, and the financial knowledge students need to build confident futures. This was live during the NYC FinCamp in August 2026! The panel features Gunjan Banerji of The Wall Street Journal, Oyin Adedoyin of The Wall Street Journal, Jacob Sonenshine of Barron's, and Genna Co...

Financial education isn't just something that happens to students—many are actively driving the movement forward. In this panel discussion, you'll hear directly from students who are passionate about making financial literacy accessible to their generation. They'll share what sparked their interest in personal finance, which topics matter most to them and their peers, and the creative ways they're...

Jake Cousineau teaches personal finance at Viewpoint School, where what started as one trimester course now reaches nearly every eighth grader plus juniors and seniors. His first book "How to Adult: Personal Finance for the Real World" grew from a short guide for graduating seniors into a text adopted by schools and colleges nationwide. Now his second book "Face Your Financial Fears" tackles the m...

What if the most important thing you teach your students about money has nothing to do with budgets, credit scores, or compound interest? What if it starts with what they believe? In this special episode for teachers, Nir Eyal shares key ideas from his newest book, Beyond Belief. He connects these ideas to inner narratives students and teachers carry about money, time, and their own impact. Nir un...

For over 12 years, Carly Urban has been researching one question: does financial education actually work? As a Professor of Economics at Montana State University, she's co-authored the most comprehensive meta-analysis of financial education ever conducted, examining 76 randomized controlled trials. Her findings debunk decades of faulty research and confirm what teachers want to hear—financial educ...

Dr. Paris Woods is the bestselling author of The Black Girl's Guide to Financial Freedom. She is a lifelong educator and leading voice in economic mobility and financial empowerment who has been featured in Essence, CNN, and Insider, among others. Her forthcoming book The Student's Guide to Financial Freedom is a culturally grounded, peer-to-peer guide that empowers high school and college student...

For decades, Pete Colhoun brought Wall Street to Main Street as a panelist on Wall Street Week with Louis Rukeyser, helping millions of Americans understand investing and the economy. With an MBA from Harvard and experience in senior management at T. Rowe Price and as a general partner at Emerging Growth Partners, he's spent a career making financial markets accessible to everyday investors. In th...

Join us for a conversation with Christopher "Kit" Kauffman, NGPF Board Member and Adviser. He is a former attorney with a unique professional journey from corporate law to financial education advocacy. He will share insights on what motivates his passion for working with the NGPF Team on Mission2030 and why this is one of the top issues of concern to him in retirement. You'll gain perspective on h...

As Vice President of Education at the Tax Foundation, Zoe Callaway oversees TaxEDU, a tax literacy initiative born from a striking discovery: over half of Americans lack basic tax literacy, regardless of age, income, or education level. Even college graduates struggle to identify where the government raises most of its revenue. The consequences are real—people avoid earning more money because they...