MONEY WITHOUT MATH

Love and money are deeply connected—even when we avoid the conversation. In this episode of Money Without Math , Karen Coyne sits down with attorney and Love Richer creator Jackie Combs to explore how women can set themselves up for financial success at every stage of life—single, dating, engaged, or married. From subtle money conversations you can have on a first date, to the truth about prenups,...

Where you live shapes more than your lifestyle—it influences your health, relationships, and long-term financial outcomes. In this episode, Karen sits down with Ryan Frederick, founder of HERE and author of Right Place, Right Time, to explore why place is one of the most overlooked drivers of well-being and wealth. They discuss how your environment shapes your habits, why most people underestimate...

You might assume that receiving a financial windfall would feel exciting, freeing, or even relieving. But for many people, sudden wealth brings something much more complicated: overwhelm, identity shifts, grief, uncertainty, and emotional paralysis. In this episode of Money Without Math, Karen Coyne is joined by financial coach and speaker Marin Laukka to explore the psychology of sudden wealth an...

Negotiation is often equated with high-stakes conversations: salary offers, contracts, or tense back-and-forths across a conference table. But leadership coach and consultant Ranieka Weston says negotiation is happening constantly, often in the smallest moments of everyday life. In this episode of Money Without Math, Karen Coyne sits down with Ranieka to unpack the mindset behind effective negotia...

Historian and generational expert Dr. Eliza Filby, author of Inheritocracy: It's Time to Talk About the Bank of Mum and Dad, joins Karen Coyne to explore why economic outcomes increasingly depend more on access to parental support and less on income or education. An estimated $80-$120 trillion is set to pass from Baby Boomers down family trees over the next two decades, but this transfer is l...

What if the key to feeling more financially secure, more successful, and more at peace had nothing to do with your account balance? Gratitude might sound like a soft skill, but the science says otherwise. In this episode of Money Without Math, Karen Coyne is joined by Dr. Peggy DeLong, the Gratitude Psychologist, to explore how a daily gratitude practice can literally rewire the brain, shift your...

Parenting around money is messy for almost everyone. Your kid blows through their allowance or your college student burns through the semester’s food budget–and without intention, you might find yourself responding in a way that’s more controlling than it is constructive. In this episode of Money Without Math, Karen Coyne is joined by parenting speaker, author, and coach Mary Wilcox Smith to explo...

You don’t make decisions about your later life in later life, you make them in midlife. And one of the biggest decisions? Where you choose to live. In this episode of Money Without Math, Karen Coyne is joined by demographic strategist Bradley Schurman to explore how declining birth rates, aging populations, climate risk, and technological disruption are reshaping the future of cities, and what tha...

Have you ever dreamed about relocating abroad? As many as 34% of Americans say they would move overseas if they could, and interest is only growing. Concerns about quality of life, cost of living, and a desire for a different pace are motivating more people to explore life beyond the U.S. In this episode of Money Without Math , Karen Coyne is joined by Michele Collu, co‑founder of Sardiamo, a relo...

In this heartfelt and deeply practical episode, Karen Coyne sits down with Kathi Balasek—educator, grief literacy advocate, and founder of Grief Ready Communications—to talk about how to support someone through loss. Drawing on her experience as a young widow raising five children, Kathi shares why our culture often gets grief wrong, how well‑meaning comments can unintentionally wound, and how to...

In this thought-provoking conversation, Karen Coyne sits down with Ken Stern, author of Healthy to 100, founder of the Longevity Project, and former CEO of NPR, to explore the critical but often overlooked role of social health in living longer, healthier lives. Drawing from global research and firsthand reporting from places like Japan, Singapore, and Italy, Ken reveals why countries with the hig...

What do medical bills, group dinners, canceled flights, and even premarital counseling all have in common? According to Matt Schulz—Chief Consumer Finance Analyst at LendingTree and author of Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More —they’re all opportunities to take back control of your financial life simply by asking the right questions. In this insightful conversation, Matt and Karen uncover the ev...

Money has a way of slipping into every corner of life, shaping how we feel, how we make decisions, and even how we show up for the people we love. So when the online noise insists that “nobody needs an advisor anymore,” it ignores the part of money that isn’t mechanical at all. In this conversation, Daniel Crosby brings a grounded, deeply human view of what advice actually does for people — the ca...

Patterns shape the way we lead, work, spend, save, and even show up in our relationships, and still, most of us rarely stop to notice the ones shaping us behind the scenes. In this conversation, Karen sits down with leadership strategist and keynote speaker Bukola Oguntala, whose work centers on helping people recognize the unconscious behaviors that drive burnout, miscommunication, and resistance...

Generation X has officially entered the “wait… how close is retirement?” era. And while most of us still feel mentally 35, the numbers are inching closer whether we’re ready or not. This conversation with Kerry Hannon and Janna Herron, co-authors of Retirement Bites: A Gen X Guide to Securing Your Financial Future , feels like a warm, clear-eyed check-in about where we stand, what we can do now, a...

Building a life with someone means blending histories, emotions, habits, and hopes, and money is woven through all of it. In this conversation, Karen is joined by author Heather Boneparth, who spent two years interviewing couples and experts to understand what truly helps partners feel seen, supported, and financially aligned.  Together, they explore how couples can move toward more fairness, more...

We spend so much time thinking about how to live longer, but not nearly enough time thinking about how to live better. In this episode, Karen sits down with Dr. Kerry Burnight, known as America’s Gerontologist and author of Joyspan: The Art and Science of Thriving in Life’s Second Half, to explore what truly drives quality of life as we age. They go through the habits, mindsets, and small daily ch...

When a loved one suddenly needs care, most people expect to handle the emotional and medical side, but few are ready for the financial maze that comes with it. In this episode, Karen sits down with journalist Beth Pinsker, CFP®, author of My Mother’s Money: A Guide to Financial Caregiving, to talk about what really happens when you step into someone else’s financial life. They cover power of attor...

We spend decades preparing financially for retirement, but far less time preparing emotionally. Retirement is often painted as the finish line, yet for many, it’s just the start of a very human transition filled with uncertainty and identity shifts in the search for a new purpose. In this episode, financial planner and retirement coach Dan Haylett, host of Humans vs. Retirement and author of The R...

What does it take to build both a thriving career and a lasting relationship? Dr. Julie Gurner has spent years working behind the scenes with executives, athletes, and entrepreneurs, and she’s seen the patterns that make or break couples under pressure. Spoiler: it’s not the flashy headlines or the dramatic stories we see in the news. It’s the quiet, intentional habits that keep partners aligned....

Life doesn’t always follow the plan we set for it. Bernadette Smith knows this well. From her early days as an “activist wedding planner” helping same-sex couples celebrate love, to her work today leading Equality Institute, she’s built a career on courage, authenticity, and connection. Along the way, she’s navigated personal and professional pivots that reshaped not only her business, but the way...

Today we're throwing it back to an incredible episode with Amani Zaveri, which you won't want to miss!  Quitting has such a negative connotation today. But quitting isn’t always a terrible thing. In fact, it can be a powerful and positive skill. In this episode, Karen Coyne and Amani Zaveri examine the misunderstood art of quitting. For starters, the Latin root word for quitting, quietus...

Some advice sounds harmless, but when it’s pulled out of context, it can quietly steer you in the wrong direction. Today we’re joined by Melissa Joy, founder of Pearl Planning, for a conversation about the kind of money “rules” that sound wise on the surface but don’t always fit your life. We explore the trouble with blanket statements like “you should never buy a new car” or “always max out retir...

Retirement can be one of life’s most rewarding chapters when it’s shaped around purpose, connection, and the freedom to design your days. In this conversation, we sit with Christine Benz, Morningstar’s Director of Personal Finance and Retirement Planning, to explore the choices that make those years meaningful. We discuss the lessons and limitations of the FIRE movement (Financial Independence, Re...

What does it mean to live a remarkable life—solo? Dr. Peter McGraw has spent the last five years exploring that question as a behavioral economist, author, and lifelong bachelor. In this conversation, we sit down with him to talk about how the world—and the financial industry—still defaults to couples, even as the number of single adults continues to rise. There’s also a bigger conversation about...