Meaning Over Money

Often, people will share financial advice and conclude with the line, "well, it worked for me."  It's great if a certain way of doing things "works" for someone, but it doesn't mean it's good advice.  In today's social media world, bad advice is flying at us left and right, disguised as sound wisdom.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton rants about this...

After a decade of the stock market going up, up, and up, people are starting to see the end of the run is coming.  Well, the wise people are anyway.  After all, there are lots of things to be nervous about in our country and our economy.  With that naturally comes the question, "well then, what should we be doing to prepare?"  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton unpacks this ques...

In our culture, we tend to put a lot of value on independence, self-sufficiency, and individual achievements.  So much so that it can oftentimes breed a sentiment that we SHOULD do it all on our own.  Life, money, career, parenting.....you name it.  It can be a lonely road, but luckily it doesn't have to be!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton explains why he believes this is a false...

If you're a young adult, you've likely been exposed to the hustle culture that permeates Instagram and TikTok.  You know, go, go, go, more money, more money, more money.  This never-ending pursuit of hustling for more.  Then, it goes one of two directions:  a) glorifying having more stuff and a fancier lifestyle, or b) glorifying an early retirement and a life of leisure.  Both are as equa...

Aside from fear, the perceived availability of health insurance is the #1 reason why people abandon their dreams.  Yes, health insurance is important.....vitally important!!!  But we oftentimes let health insurance dictate our career decisions without considering the bigger picture or the alternative options.  It's a tragedy health insurance is tied to our employment in modern America, but we...

As Travis's mentor Dr. Gary Hoag always says, we need to invest in mission and memories.  Recently, Travis and his wife celebrated their 12-year wedding anniversary with a quick trip to Chicago to attend a Twenty One Pilots concert at the United Center.  Aside for ranting about how amazing Twenty One Pilots is, Travis discusses the fact this 27-hour trip cost $1,000.....yikes!  It's import...

In the wise words of Steve Jordan, "never end on a miss."  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton reflects back on the habits of his childhood best friend and how this silly and simple mantra has the power to transform our lives.  Fast forward several decades, these same principles are carried forward to a new generation.  When Travis's son Finn recently fell off his bike and to...

If you're a regular listener, you know generosity is one of our favorite topics.  This is Meaning Over Money, and very few things provide as much meaning as joyful and sacrificial generosity.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses a unique way to handle our month-to-month giving that provides so much more freedom, intentionality, and flexibility.  This method has changed his li...

Sometimes crap happens!  It always does.  No matter how good things are going in life, finances, or career, some form of trouble is right around the corner.  We don't say that to be pessimistic.  Far from it!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the topic of turmoil.  Whenever something bad happens to us (whether it's our fault or not), a story will be told.  The beautifu...

When it comes to the topic of luck, our culture tends to have two polarizing views.  One perspective is luck is totally random and completely unpredictable.....kinda like a lottery ticket.  The other perspective is luck doesn't exist....."I earned it!"  Here's what we believe:  sometimes we get lucky.....and that's ok!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton reflects on...

You know the person who bottles up their feelings over and over and over, only to eventually explode?  I think we can all agree this isn't healthy.  Well, there's a financial version of this person.  After a fun conversation with a client, we coined it the "guilt, guilt, guilt, screw it" syndrome.  We feel guilt so we don't spend....over and over and over.....until we reach a...

We're doing something a bit different today.  Cole recently walked into the office and said, "Travis, you gotta check out these comments on a TikTok video I saw."  After pausing, he added "no, let's turn the mics on, then show you the comments."  Thus, this episode was born.  We aren't huge Dave Ramsey fans, but there is most certainly an overlap on some topics.  In...

In the final episode of our in-the-wilderness series, we talk about the importance of planting seeds.  The things we say, the behaviors we model, the decisions we make, the positive we try to instill in others.  Oftentimes, it can feel like it's all for nothing.  Then, every now and then, there's a moment we're reminded good has, is, and will come from our efforts.  Not all seeds grow....

In the third installment of the in-the-wilderness series, host Travis Shelton reflects on all the ways society defines our identity:  income, job title, social status, neighborhood, cars/houses, schools, degrees, etc.  When we boil it down, none of these things actually matter.  In fact, they matter so little, one day they will be gone in an instant.  Instead, we have the privilege of focusing on...

Do you ever get so focused on your goals you fail to enjoy the process of working to achieve them?  Whew, we're glad we weren't the only ones.  In the second installment of our in-the-wilderness series, host Travis Shelton reflects on how we can often find ourselves fixating so much on the destination that we forget to enjoy the journey.  What if the journey was actually more important tha...

This is the first in a 4-episode in-the-wilderness series Travis recorded on a recent trip to the Boundary Waters.  If you're an active listener of the show, you probably know his annual trip to the Boundary Waters has been transformational in his life, his marriage, and his career.  During this year's trip (6th trip in 7 years), Travis recorded four episodes while deep in the wilderness....

In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares the story of his new friends, Jake and Meredith.  Jake and Meredith are a young adult couple who model exactly what it looks like to dive head-first into life, calling, and community.  There's so much we can learn from this young couple and how they approach life together.  In a world that says we should do what's safe, comfortable, and ea...

We believe in generosity!  In fact, it's one of the foundations of our work and our own personal lives.  There's one problem: when we start to become generous, we tend to condition ourselves to deny the generosity of others.  After all, I am the generous person.  I am the one blessing others.  I don't NEED anything from anyone.  Pride starts to take over and we find ourselves slamming...

We often perceive our current reality as a permanent state of being. When things get tough, it’s easy to believe this is just our new reality. Good news: it’s not! In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the concept of looking at life as a series of seasons. Good seasons, bad seasons, easy seasons, challenging seasons. Often multiple seasons at the same time. When we can view life in thi...

Whether we want to believe it or not, using debt has many psychological and emotional effects, and it alters our decision-making process. We think it’s a clever tool to do what we would have otherwise done anyway, but with extra side benefits. However, it’s not that simple. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explains the psychological warfare we subject ourselves to by using debt, and one ver...

Most fun things we can spend money on fall into one of two categories:  memories or things.  Experiences or possessions.  Doing things or having things.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton makes his case for why memories are always better than things.  It's not to say things are bad, but given the choice, memories win every single time.  Younger Millennials and Gen-Z already know this...

Do you ever find yourself comparing yourself to someone else and wish you were as far along as them?  Whew, we're glad we weren't the only ones!  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton shares a lesson he learned from Jon Acuff about keeping things in perspective.  It's easy to (unfairly) look at someone else's accomplishments and feel like we aren't good enough, but we for...

Can we be honest? We really don’t care about money. Seriously. It may seem ironic for a financial podcast to explicitly state they don’t care about money, but it’s true. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explains why he really doesn’t care about money…..and the four primary (and awesome) repercussions that naturally happen when you stop caring about money. This will most certainly be a count...

One of the biggest psychological hurdles we face with money is we subconsciously spend our money in accordance with the world's values.  When we do this, it robs us of our joy because we are spending money on things that don't truly add value to our lives.  Every time we spend a dollar on something we don't care about, it's one less dollar we get to spend on something we do care ab...

Sometimes we make mistakes, screw up, let people down, and embarrass ourself.  It happens to all of us.  In today's episode, host Travis Shelton confesses in real-time about making two embarrassing mistakes in the same day.  These mistakes are equally as embarrassing to talk about as they are to make in the first place, so why not just discuss them publicly with thousands of our clo...