Real Money, Real Experts

"The greatest gift we can give our clients is providing that space where they can find the presence of the feeling that they are not alone.”  Today’s guest, Dr. Erika Rasure, is a financial therapist and deep transformational coach; the Chair of the Research Board for the Financial Therapy Clinical Institute; and a Client Financial Therapist for Beyond Finance. In this episode, we discuss the...

Our guest today, Michael Kothakota is the head of research at the CFP Board. In this episode, we learn about Michael’s path into financial services, and how the AFC curriculum - on the way to becoming a planner - helped broaden his perspective and enabled him to better support clients. We discuss how critical it is for financial professionals to be able to effectively connect solutions to human ne...

"Don't let fear and hesitation hold you back."  This week's guest is two-time Olympian and financial coach, Keturah Orji (“K.O.”). Keturah is a decorated Track and Field athlete, who is balancing the pursuit of her athletic dreams with studying for the AFC and building a financial coaching practice.  Keturah is as authentic as she is driven. We talk about why she became a finan...

This week on "Real Money, Real Experts", Rachael and Mary sit down with psychologist and behavioral finance expert, Daniel Crosby. This conversation was a fun one, covering everything from epic failures to Chat GPT to the power of authenticity - which starts with doing the hard internal work on ourselves. Daniel reminds us that technology is our friend, shares some great book and podcast...

Today’s guest believes that personal finance is a topic to sing and dance about! Julie Beckham, AFC® has taken her passion and turned it into a career, marrying her love for the arts with financial education. Her musical, Ms. Money and the Coins, has been shared with more than 80,000 elementary-age students in Massachusetts and is now available nationwide as an online learning platform - in both E...

Our guest this week is Kia McCallister-Young, AFC, Director of America Saves. With a background in marketing and communications, Kia knows how to create a compelling message that moves people to action. And it’s a skill she uses often in her work at America Saves. Today Kia shares some of these tips and strategies, and gets us up-to-speed on all the America Saves campaigns (including this month’s...

Heather Jarvis is an attorney and a nationally recognized expert specializing in student loan law. As a first-generation college student, Heather got her start in the nonprofit space and was an early advocate for policy change.  In this episode, we take a deep dive into all thing student loans - from forgiveness to bankruptcy to changes in trends, regulations, and legislation. A must-listen for an...

“If you want to belong, there is a place for you.”  Our guest this week is Dr. Cherie Stueve, an AFC, a military spouse, and a self-described consummate learner. Cherie shares her journey from farm life to spouse life, the money lessons she learned along the way, and why she is such a strong advocate for the AFC designation. We learn about her journey to the FINRA Foundation Military Spouse Fellow...

This week we sit down with Chris Browning, the creator and host of the award-winning, short-form podcast Popcorn Finance. Chris is an OG in the personal finance podcast space with more than 350+ episodes that cover popular finance topics in about the time it takes to make a bag of popcorn. In this episode, we dive into his start as a podcaster (spoiler, it literally started from the front seat of...

Andy Hill, AFC® candidate, is the award-winning family finance coach behind Marriage, Kids, and Money - a platform dedicated to helping young families build wealth and happiness. Andy believes that money is a tool that helps you move toward the life you want to have, and is on a personal mission to help more people get there.  In this episode, we learn more about Andy's business model, the im...

Show Notes: 2:22 What led Meghan to financial counseling 5:15 Inside Meghan's business model 6:36 How she serves her clients 7:25 The setup of her business 8:53 Advice for approaching employers without a financial wellness program 10:57 How to best network with businesses 13:26 Advice for other counselors interested in this work 15:35 Meghan's final 2 cents Show Note Links: Connect with...

This week we are excited to welcome Sasha Grabenstetter to the show! Sasha is a new AFCPE Board Member and the Financial Planning Education Consultant at eMoney Advisor who shares AFCPE's passion for creating a more integrated field that better serves all individuals and families. In this episode, we discuss the benefits of building financial planning practices that offer wrap-around services...

We’re kicking off 2023 with award-winning journalist and the founder and CEO of HerMoney Media , Jean Chatzky! In this episode, Jean shares her journey into journalism and personal finance and discusses the importance of building camaraderie and accountability when talking about money. We learn more about her coaching programs FinanceFixx and InvestingFixx and why she values the AFC. Jean leaves u...

In the final episode of this season, Mary and Rachael are joined by AFCPE’s Board President, Michele Godfrey, AFC®. Two weeks ago, we kicked off the 2022 AFCPE Symposium with a trip down memory lane – celebrating where we’ve been and where we’re going as we wrap up celebrations for the #30YearsofAFC. In this episode, we’ll recap some of the highlights from our opening general session, answer your...

This week, we're speaking with joint #AFCPE2022 keynote speakers from the FINRA foundation: Ritta McLaughlin,  the Director of Investor Education Community Outreach & Olivia Valdes, Senior Research Analyst. In this episode, we dive into trends across multiple areas of the market such as the idea of intergenerational wealth and its contribution to massive wealth gaps, and the importance of...

In this week’s episode, we sit with Jason Craige Harris, a voice for healing and transformation who works across communities and organizations to promote dignity, belonging, and compassion. Jason is also one of our keynote speakers at the 2022 AFCPE Symposium this November. Jason takes us through the importance of building genuine empathy with others and the need for a Revolution of Compassion. Le...

In this week’s episode, we get to know Robin Hauser: an award-winning documentary filmmaker and a keynote speaker at the 2022 AFCPE Symposium. Her film, $avvy, was inspired by her own personal experience with money. It led her to wonder, why do women tend to abdicate major financial decisions to someone else (often the man in their life)? And why is that so dangerous? Our hosts and Robin talk abou...

Download the transcript here. This week on Real Money, Real Experts, we're back with Ryan Law, CFP®, AFC®,  a recognized expert in client communication, student loans, financial counseling, and behavior change. He recently served as President of AFCPE, and in 2021 Ryan received the AFCPE Distinguished Fellow Award! In this episode, Ryan takes us through the current state of federal student lo...

In this week's episode of Real Money, Real Experts, our hosts speak with Bill Gustafson, who is a professor emeritus in the Personal Financial Planning Department at Texas Tech University. He has been educating students and conducting research related to personal finance for over 36 years and helped to create what we now know as the Association for Financial Counseling and Planning Education....

This week on Real Money, Real Experts, we are joined by Dorothy "Dottie" Durband,  who is known to many as the "Godmother of Financial Counseling." Dottie is the associate dean for academics and faculty and a professor of personal financial planning in the College of Human Sciences at Texas Tech University. She's been an Accredited Financial Counselor for over 20 years and...

This week on Real Money, Real Experts we catch up with Dr. Michael G. Thomas, Jr., AFC®.  Michael is a lecturer at the University of Georgia, the founder of Modom Financial Solutions, a co-founder of the Financial Behavior Keynote Group, and a member of the AFCPE Board of Directors. Dr. Thomas’ life-long goal is to help underserved communities establish, grow, and sustain their wealth utilizing an...

Financial planning, financial counseling, and financial therapy are separate but complementary financial services designed to support clients' financial goals and well-being. But how do you know which service you, or your client, needs at any given moment? In this episode, we're joined by two leaders in the financial therapy space, Kristy Archuleta & Sonya Lutter. Kristy and Sonya sh...

This week, we're talking all about student loans with Rita Green, Ed. D. AFC®. Rita is an AFCPE board member and new author of How to Survive a Personal Financial Pandemic . In this episode, we dive straight into the Public Student Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program and all of its requirements,  how you may be able to take advantage of the waiver by October, and many more insights on all types o...

This week we are joined by Dr. Kate Mielitz, AFC®. Kate joined the AFCPE staff in 2022 as the Special Programs Manager, but has been an AFC and a passionate member of the AFCPE community for many years. In this episode, Kate gives our listeners a candid look at how she got to where she is today – we love seeing how all the disparate pieces come together to create change and impact. We talk about t...

Download the transcript here. On this week’s episode, Mary and Rachael had the privilege to sit down with Accredited Financial Counselor®, Kumiko Love, more widely known as The Budget Mom. Kumiko is as authentic as they come. She openly shares her own money story, what led her to start The Budget Mom, and what she’s learned along the way. We dig into imposter syndrome, the power of community, the...