Childfree Life by Design

In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Ilaria Rawlins, CEO of Fortuna Bank, to talk about why female entrepreneurs are denied business loans three times more often than their male counterparts, what it actually took to build one of only 15 women-owned banks in the country, and what every woman building a business needs to know about finding a banking partner who is genuinely in their corne...

Carol Marak spent years as a family caregiver before a single, sharp realization changed the course of her life: her parents had three daughters looking out for them, and she was navigating the road ahead solo. Rather than let that fear sit, she turned it into a decade of research, a widely followed community, and a body of work on how to age safely and securely as a soloist, without a spouse or k...

For Childfree adults over 50, the next wave of AI-driven job displacement does not have to be a crisis. It can be the push that finally makes starting something of your own feel not just possible but necessary. In this episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® and Alli Gage break down what it actually takes to launch a small business in the second half of life,  from the two questions every founder needs to...

In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® and Melissa Holcombe, DSW, LCSW sit down with Jennifer Crowley, registered nurse, certified life care planner, and founder of The Life Care Experts, for a conversation about what it actually takes to plan for aging with intention. Jennifer has spent over 30 years walking alongside individuals through the most vulnerable chapters of their lives, and she brings a clea...

In this episode, Maddy Roche sits down with Sherrill Wayland, Senior Director of Special Initiatives and Partnerships at SAGE, the country's largest and oldest organization dedicated to improving the lives of LGBTQ+ older adults. Sherrill brings over two decades of advocacy experience, a deeply personal connection to the community she serves, and a clear-eyed understanding of what it means to...

In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Nikolai Blinow for a conversation about wise mind decision-making, the real definition of rest, and what calm hustle actually looks like when you are building a business on your own terms. Nikolai Blinow built her entire practice around one idea, that you should not have to burn your life down to build a successful business. As a licensed mental healt...

In this episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® brings his TED Conference takeaways directly to the Childfree community for a straight-talking look at what the AI economy actually means for people building a future without children. He does not sugarcoat it. The next recession will likely be the one that takes the jobs and does not bring them back, and the people who will be okay are not necessarily the on...

Buying a home has been sold as the responsible, obvious next step for so long that most people have never actually stopped to ask whether it fits their life. Dr. Jay Zigmont CFP® owned homes from age 21 to 45 and now rents. Fiona Waller CFP® works with clients who have spent years in properties they quietly resented. In this episode, they take apart the financial math, the family voices, the passi...

For Childfree adults building a future without a traditional family support structure, the quality of your later years matters as much as the quantity. In this episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont CFP® sat down with Joshua Herring, President and CEO of the Longevity Science Foundation, to talk about what it actually takes to fund the research that could extend not just how long you live, but how well.  In Thi...

Rental properties, passive income, and long-distance real estate investing sound great on social media. The reality looks a lot more like what Justin Brown-Woods actually lived -- two properties across Michigan and Ohio, squatters, stolen copper pipes, three evictions in one year, and a net loss of $25,000 on the first property alone. Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Justin Brow-Woods, Accredited Fin...

In this crossover episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® sat down with Dr. Bill Yount, host and founder of the Catching Up to FI podcast, for a conversation that starts where most financial conversations never go. Bill recently hit financial independence and found himself in what he calls the fog of FI -- that disorienting stretch after you reach the number and realize the number was never really the poin...

Every major life change comes with a to-do list most people don't think about until they're already in the middle of it. The job switch that leaves you a month without a paycheck. The move that triggers a tax bill from a state you no longer live in. The divorce where nobody updated the beneficiary and the ex-spouse got the pension. Being Childfree means more flexibility to make bold move...

In this episode, Bri Conn CFP®, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP®, and Maddy Roche share four real client stories, the kind that start with someone doing everything more or less right, and then life intervening in ways nobody planned for.  These stories are not cautionary tales. They are honest, human reminders that planning is not about predicting the future, it is about being ready for the version of it tha...

In this episode, Bri Conn CFP® sits down with Hillary, a client who is Childfree not by choice, for a real-life Childfree Wealth® checkup. Hillary has already done much of the emotional heavy lifting, moving through grief, redefining what her future looks like, and arriving at a place of clarity and intention. Now she is ready to match that clarity with a financial plan that actually fits her life...

Sister Monica Clare knew from a young age that marriage and children were not her calling. She just spent decades being told otherwise. By the time she made it to the Groundlings in LA, she had checked every box society handed her: the career, the marriage, the full script, and none of it fit. What came next was a $150,000 debt payoff, a cross-country search for a convent that actually aligned wit...

Women could not open their own bank accounts without a man's signature until 1974. That is not ancient history. The people who lived through it are still alive. And the financial world Childfree women are navigating today was built in that shadow. In this episode, Bri Conn, CFP® sits down with Grace L. Williams, financial journalist and author of Give Her Credit, to trace the women's ban...

Finances have never been a level playing field for women, and for women who are Childfree, the landscape gets even more specific. It was only 1974 when the Equal Credit Opportunity Act gave women the legal right to open their own credit accounts, and the echoes of that delayed access still shape how women experience wealth, work, and financial security today. In this episode, Maddy Roche and Bri C...

In this episode, Maddy Roche sits down with Zeena Regis, MDiv,  Director of Priority Populations at Compassion and Choices, to explore one of the most requested, and most avoided, conversations in the Childfree community: medical aid in dying. Zeena brings nearly 20 years of end-of-life experience, beginning as a hospice chaplain and evolving into a national advocate for equitable access to end-of...

In this episode, Maddy Roche sits down with Chris Dale, CFP®, CeFT®, founder of Life After Grief Financial Planning, to share the real-life story of helping a client navigate aging, medical emergencies, and end-of-life decisions. From hospice-informed insights to a sudden car accident just weeks after estate documents were signed, Chris walks through what actually happens when someone declines, an...

In this episode, Maddy Roche and Bri Conn, CFP®, explain why legal documents alone aren’t enough. Estate plans grant authority. Care plans provide direction. They spell out the details that make real-world care possible: where to find your mailbox key, your alarm code, how to feed your pets, what medical history your doctors should know, and what living with dignity truly means to you. They also d...

Who makes decisions for you when you can't? For Childfree people, the answer has never been straightforward. Dr. Jay Zigmont sits down with Robert Allan and John Steiner from Welon Trust to reveal how they spent two and a half years building something that didn't exist: a trust company designed specifically for the Childfree community. This episode pulls back the curtain on creating Chil...

What happens to your pets if you're suddenly unable to care for them? For Childfree people with animal companions, this isn't just about planning for after you're gone. It's about having a solid plan for emergencies, temporary disability, and ensuring your pets get the care they need when you can't provide it. Bri Conn, CFP® and Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® tackle pet protection...

Who will make decisions for you when you can't? For Childfree people, that question has never had a good answer until now. In this episode, Maddy Roche and Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® introduce Childfree Trust®, the first nationwide professional fiduciary solution designed specifically for Childfree individuals. After three and a half years of research and development, Childfree Trust® solves a pro...

The Childfree Life By Design team just got back from CES in Las Vegas, and they're sharing everything: the coolest tech, the weirdest products, and what it's really like to run a booth at the world's biggest consumer electronics show. From hip airbags and remote dementia diagnosis tools to robot dogs and AI-powered picture frames that clone voices, this episode covers it all. The te...

What do you want the second line of your obituary to say? For most people, it reads "father of three" or "survived by spouse and children." For Childfree people, that line looks different. This episode tackles the identity crisis that comes when your career defines you and you're facing a major transition without the traditional markers of legacy. Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® sit...