HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

According to the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, while white women earn 82 cents for every dollar earned by a white man, Black women earn just 64 cents. Dasha Kennedy says that for Black women specifically, there are a myriad of reasons for that.  Dasha Kennedy is the founder of the Broke Black Girl, where she shares her personal journey of overcoming financial struggles and specific advice...

The promise and the peril of AI in the workplace seem to be all anyone can talk about these days and the biggest question on all of our minds is — will AI take my job?  According to Fortune 500 Human Resource Officers, the answer is yes, AI could be coming for your job. Gallup found that seventy-two percent of Fortune 500 leaders foresee AI replacing jobs in their organization in the next three ye...

In this Mailbag, Jean talks to Alyce about how to pay for home renovations for her special needs daughter and whether it's reasonable to adjust her retirement savings. She and her husband have a home equity line of credit (HELOC) and are concerned about the high interest rate. They also discuss whether they should consider a TSP loan or reduce retirement contributions to pay off the HELOC.  Have a...

When we talk about the question of whether women can have it “all,” successful careers, thriving marriages, and families, the messy truth is often, no, at least not all at the same time.  Alli Webb, founder of Drybar found that out the hard way when her business blew up seemingly overnight. She shares what fame, attention, and obsession with building a brand cost her and how she found herself agai...

We’re told to use money affirmations like “I am rich” and “I am always discovering new sources of income” to increase our abundance. We’re even told that we can manifest our way to a completely new life using the power of positive feelings and good vibes. But do money manifestations really work?  Amanda Montell had the same question. In her new book, The Age of Magical OverThinking: Notes on Moder...

It’s no secret that women’s wealth is growing (hello, Great Wealth Transfer) and that we’re investing in the stock market in larger numbers than ever before. A 2023 study by Fidelity found that 60 percent of women are invested in the stock market, up from just 44 percent in 2018. Michele Cagan, author of Stock Market 101, wants to see that number get even higher.  Cagan has spent her career as a C...

Ambition…let’s talk about it. We’ve been told it’s not a dirty word, that it’s ok (actually more than ok) for women to be ambitious. We’ve been told we should strive for C-suite positions, the corner office, and to continue reaching for higher and higher paying roles.  For Jennifer Romolini, these messages were working, yet reaching the top did not fulfill her in the way that she thought it would....

Here’s one thing we know — America runs on women – our paid work, our caregiving work, and our invisible work keeps the country going — and it’s taking its toll. According to the American Psychological Association’s 2023 Stress in America survey, women say they’re feeling stressed, misunderstood, and alone. The survey also found that women were more likely to say they “strongly agree” that no one...

According to the 2024 World Happiness Survey, we’re pretty unhappy as a country this year. And although there are plenty of external reasons for us to be unhappy — sky-high costs at the grocery store, mortgage rates hovering around 7%, and credit card debt soaring – we’re all about controlling what we can control and that includes prioritizing our well-being over all else (no summertime sadness he...

In this Mailbag, Jean talks to Patti and Patrick about the substantial student loan debt they’ve incurred on behalf of their daughter. They explore various ways to pay it down, including using a home equity line of credit or tapping into retirement funds. Jean gives detailed guidance on the best approach to consolidate the debt. The episode also touches on the broader financial responsibilities pa...

Is your budget working? The 50/30/20 budgeting rule — one of the most popular budgeting methods that has been around for 20 years — was created by Elizabeth Warren (yes, that Elizabeth Warren) and has largely been seen as the “gold standard” of budgeting ever since. But does it work for today’s economy? There’s also reverse budgeting, which we use in our Finance Fixx program, and has helped our pa...

In 2010, Lauren Cobello (formerly Lauren Guetman) created an entire brand as “the coupon lady” after she shared her story of how she got her family out of $40,000 in debt by couponing and budgeting. By 2016, she was posting multiple times a day, wrote a few books about couponing and budgeting, and was filming family finance videos with her kids and her husband as main fixtures in her online univer...

In this special Mother’s Day Mailbag edition, Jean talks to mother-daughter duo Mollie and Chris about Mollie’s recent divorce. Jean addresses questions on how to make sure Mollie’s ex-husband's finances are no longer tied to hers, and we tackle how best to combine Mollie’s multiple retirement accounts.  Join the HerMoney community! For the latest episode drops and financial news-you-can-use, subs...

Money touches everything in our lives. And for women, who have long been documented to earn less than men, save less than men, and invest less than men, the stereotype is often that we’re doing money “wrong.”  But it’s getting old. We know that statistically, women are better investors than men are, we fare better during times of recession, and we’re often more thoughtful about our budgets. Yet th...

In this special Mailbag edition, Jean and Kathryn Tuggle, HerMoney CCO, are on the mic answering questions from our listeners. First, we hear from a recently retired listener who has all of her money in Certificate of Deposits (CDs) and is wondering what to do next. We also hear from someone who is looking for resources that can help teach her three kids about money.  Join the HerMoney community!...

Eleven years ago, Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” hit the shelves and became an instant hit. Her feminist manifesto encouraged women to stop holding themselves back from working to reach positions of power and instead lean on other women’s experiences to help them. Now, many women are pushing back on the “lean in” approach that placed so much responsibility on individual women rather than the societal...

In this special Mailbag edition, we hear from a listener whose daughter is getting her first summer job. She’s wondering if it’s best to put the money in a high-interest savings account, or a Roth IRA. We also hear from someone who subscribes to the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Retire Early) and is so focused on saving that she’s not able to keep money in an emergency account for true em...

Lately, have you been more intentional about the time you spend working? What about putting more effort into finding financial freedom? These are two hot-button topics with Millennials these days, particularly with regard to the time we spend working — specifically, the four-day workweek.  About a month ago, Bernie Sanders proposed legislation that could make this the new reality for all of us. Bu...

A recent essay in the Wall Street Journal made the case that women are both happier — but also overall but sadder — in our daily lives than men are. Why? We’re juggling countless competing priorities on our never-ending to-do lists, including managing our jobs, wrangling our kids' schedules, and keeping up with everything at home.  Betsey Stevenson, economist and professor at the University of Mic...

Navigating money issues with your family is hard. Navigating money issues with your family is even harder when you’re a first-generation American. First-generation children of immigrants face unique cultural and emotional barriers and often find themselves at the intersection of building a financial life for themselves and supporting their parents financially.  Gigi Gonzalez found herself facing t...

Think, for a second, about all of the things you do before you head to the gym or go out for a run. Do you wear special running shoes? How do you tie them? Do you give yourself a pep talk on days when you’re just not feeling it? Is there a certain playlist you always listen to?  Dr. Mike Norton, author of: “The Ritual Effect: From Habit to Ritual, Harness The Surprising Power of Everyday Actions,”...

Money touches everything in our lives — including our health. And women know there’s one topic that has long been ignored in American society, to the detriment of millions of women: menopause.  It’s a big deal. By 2030, 1 billion women worldwide will have entered (or will be about to enter) menopause and on average, medical costs for menopausal women ages 45 to 54 are 47% higher than they are for...

How much of your money do you spend on the clothes in your closet? Now what about your time? In other words, how much time do you spend staring into the abyss of your wardrobe? One study says that over the course of her lifetime, a woman will spend a full year in front of her closet from age 16 to 60, just deciding what to wear. And this doesn’t include all of the other time we’re supposed to spen...

Have you ever gotten a message on Facebook that looks something like this? “HEY GIRL, I HAVEN’T SEEN YOU IN A WHILE, YOU LOOK AMAAAAZING. DO YOU WANT TO LOOK EVEN BETTER AT YOUR NEXT EVENT? BUY MY MASCARA AND I’LL THROW IN A FREE GIFT. BUT HURRY, SALE ENDS AT MIDNIGHT.” Yeah…those messages.  While it may be easy to brush these off, roll our eyes, and hit delete, a surprising number of women in Ame...

In this special Mailbag edition, listener Anya seeks advice on a real estate investment dilemma. She and her partner have invested in pre-construction property, but the property value has fallen, leaving them with a significant shortfall. We also hear from Christa, who recently got a new job and a big raise (go Christa)! She’s wondering how to best invest the extra money she’s getting every payche...