Extreme Personal Finance Show

One More Year Syndrome: Why You’re Afraid to Retire Even When You Have Enough You reached your financial independence number. The retirement calculators say you are ready. Your expenses are covered, your investments are in place, and you no longer technically need the paycheck. So why are you still working? This is known as One More Year Syndrome , and it can keep financially independent people wo...

LEAVE A REVIEW on Apple Podcasts for a chance to Win JL Collins’ A Simple Path To Wealth!  Most budgets fail, and it's not because you lack discipline. It's because traditional budgeting is built backwards. In this solo episode of the Extreme Personal Finance Show, Chris breaks down why budgets collapse the same way diets do, and introduces values-based budgeting as the fix. Pulling from...

Money Scripts: Why You Handle Money the Way You Do | 107 There's a subconscious reason why and how you make every money decision. In this solo episode, Chris dives into money scripts, the subconscious beliefs about money that get programmed into us in early childhood and quietly steer our financial lives well into adulthood. Drawing on the research of financial psychologist Dr. Brad Klontz, C...

8 Money Rules with Nik Johnson | Chris on Everyday Money Heroes | 106 Chris Luger didn't grow up wealthy. He didn't have a finance degree. He started over from scratch after a divorce in 2015, barely knowing what a budget was. Nine years later, he walked away from his W2 at 50 with a $2.5 million portfolio. In this episode, Chris joins Nik Johnson on Everyday Money Heroes to tell that wh...

Creative Ways to Save Money Without Feeling Deprived with Roxanne Duckels of FinanceRox | 105 Saving money doesn't have to feel like punishment. In this episode, Chris sits down with Roxanne Duckels, accountant, personal finance coach, and the woman behind FinanceRox, for a real, practical, and genuinely fun conversation about creative and resourceful ways to save more without losing your min...

What happens when you put 88 financially intentional people on a cruise ship headed to Alaska? Apparently, a lot of really good conversations, a few late nights, and at least one episode of the Extreme Personal Finance Show recorded on the fly with a phone crammed between two guys. This week, Chris is joined by returning guest Kevin Sebesta, recorded live aboard the FinTalks Cruise somewhere off t...

From $100K in Debt to Financial Coach with Justin Bennett Financial coach Justin Bennett had the career, the house, and the wife by his mid-twenties. But, also over $100,000 in consumer debt he had no idea how to get out of. In this episode, Justin shares the raw, real story of how he and his wife turned it around, and how that experience launched nearly two decades of helping over 1,000 clients e...

What Nobody Told You About Money in School (And Why That Has to Change) with Dr. Paris Woods | 102 Dr. Paris Woods is back on the Extreme Personal Finance Show, and this time she's bringing the playbook she wrote specifically for the next generation. Her new book, "The Student's Guide to Financial Freedom," released in March 2026 and is already turning heads in schools, nonprof...

Money, Mindset, and No More Mondays: A Conversation with Angie Callen What does financial independence actually look like when you didn't start at 22 with a perfect plan? For a lot of us, the path to freedom started later, got derailed a few times, and looked nothing like the textbook version. That's exactly what made this conversation worth sharing. This week is a rebroadcast of my rece...

Starting Early Is the Ultimate Cheat Code To Building Wealth | 100 This is Episode 100 of the Extreme Personal Finance Show, and we're celebrating with one of the most refreshing conversations we've had on this podcast. Nolan Omitt is 25 years old, works as a Hall Coordinator at the University of Kansas, and has been building smart financial habits since he was a kid. Not a kid as in &qu...

Paying for college is one of the most stressful financial decisions a family will ever face — and most families are navigating it completely blind. This week on the Extreme Personal Finance Show, Chris sits down with Jack Wang, wealth advisor and host of the Smart College Buyer podcast, to pull back the curtain on how the college financial aid system actually works, and how families can stop leavi...

What if your employer could offer you a personal financial assistant at zero cost to you? Not a webinar. A real human being who sits with you in the mess and helps you find a way out. That's exactly what Brightside does, and this week's guest is here to break it all down. Kristy Talorico spent over 15 years leading enterprise sales at companies like Apple and Microsoft before a personal...

Feeling stuck and overwhelmed with your finances and not sure where to begin? You are not alone. In this episode of the Extreme Personal Finance Show, Chris sits down with Nik Johnson, host of Everyday Money Heroes, to break down exactly what to do when you are ready to take control of your money but have no idea where to start. Nik has one of the most real stories in the FIRE community. He and hi...

Do You Really Need a College Degree to Build Wealth? (REISSUE) | 096 This one keeps coming up in the comments, the inbox, and at meetups. So we're bringing it back. The college debate is louder than ever, and for good reason. Student loan debt just crossed $1.8 trillion in the U.S. Over 42 million Americans are carrying federal student loans, with the average borrower owing close to $39,000....

$250K in Debt to Millionaire as a Single Mom with Monica Scudieri What does it look like to stare down $250,000 in debt, a fresh divorce, two young kids, and a collapsing economy Gulp?! all at the same time! For most people, that's the point where you fold. Monica Scudieri didn't fold. She built a plan, worked it for 10 years, and crossed the millionaire finish line. In this episode of t...

Half of American Workers Have No 401(k). Trump Just Made a Big Promise | 094 Subscribe to the newsletter at moshpit.heavymetal.money During his record-breaking 2026 State of the Union address, President Trump made a surprising announcement that most financial media buried under the tariff headlines: he proposed giving roughly 56 million American workers without an employer-sponsored retirement pla...

Think You're Ready to Retire in Your 40s? Start Here. Retiring in your 40s sounds like the ultimate dream, kind of like your band selling out arenas, right? Everybody wants it. Most people talk about it. But very few actually pull it off, and even fewer do it without a few surprises waiting on the other side. In this episode, Chris breaks down what early retirement actually requires, beyond j...

Renting vs Owning: The Real Costs Nobody Talks About (REISSUE) | 092 originally published 8/18/21 Renting vs. owning. It’s the personal finance debate that never dies. In this REISSUE from 2021, Chris and co-host April dig into the real costs people forget when they say “renting is throwing money away.” We break down the sneaky homeowner expenses that don’t show up in your mortgage payment, like p...

In this episode of Heavy Metal Money, Chris discusses the importance of financial education and awareness, emphasizing that it's never too late to start learning about money and investing. He addresses common feelings of shame associated with late financial learning and highlights the significance of understanding retirement accounts, tracking spending, and building an emergency fund. Chris a...

Join the Heavy Metal Money Mosh Pit! The Extreme Personal Finance Community! https://moshpit.heavymetal.money/ Get your FREE Fast Track to Financial Freedom Guide! https://moshpit.heavymetal.money/ What Heavy Metal Teaches Us About Financial Survival In this solo episode of The Extreme Personal Finance Show , Chris from Heavy Metal Money breaks down the unspoken rules of the mosh pit and translate...

In this quick solo episode, Chris jumps behind the mic to share what he’s been building behind the scenes at Heavy Metal Money, fresh insights from Podfest, and why community matters more than ever when it comes to money. Chris introduces the Heavy Metal Money Mosh Pit , a brand-new private Facebook group built for real people who want honest conversations about personal finance This is a space fo...

What makes some people freeze when things get tough, while others rise to the occasion? In this episode, I chat with David Gillis, a former U.S. Air Force officer and the owner of Spark Financial Wellness, about making tough choices, staying financially healthy, and how to improve by just 1% every day. David uses military-level precision to help people manage stress, boost their decision-making, a...

Become Successfully Unemployed: Dustin Heiner’s Real Estate Playbook for Financial Freedom Ever dream of firing your boss, walking out of your 9–5 like a rockstar, and never waking up to an alarm clock again?  That’s exactly what today’s guest, Dustin Heiner , uses a simple but powerful real estate system he still teaches today. In this episode of The Extreme Personal Finance Show , Dustin breaks...

How to Retire Early with an Average Income and Intentional Living In this episode of The Extreme Personal Finance Show, I sit down with Rob Pietz! He's a guy who completely destroys the myth that you need a high-powered salary to achieve financial independence early. Rob built his entire retirement plan on average middle-class income, frugal living, smart decisions, DIY home upgrades, intenti...

In this episode, I sit down with Rebecca Herbst , the founder of Yield & Spread ! A not-for-profit investing course and movement designed to make financial education simple, empowering, and accessible to everyone. After retiring at just 32 through financial independence, Rebecca now dedicates her time to helping others build wealth and give back through effective altruism. We dive into how to...