The Stacking Benjamins Show

Why are college costs increasing so fast? While there are lots of theories, only one researcher has reached out to many middle-class families to directly ask them how much money they've spent on college and to get the direct story. Today we talk to her. Caitlin Zaloom joins us on today's podcast to dig in to the problem with college funding. 529 plans? Saving directly with the state using pre-paid...

What would you say to someone who said they could teach you to be rich? Would you have a hard time believing them? Today we'll sit down with the person who has already done just that for thousands of people across the country: New York Times best-selling author Ramit Sethi. In our headlines segment, what's the deal with gold? We'll take a look at one article from InvestmentNews that makes the case...

Is it frustrated watching successful people work? They seem to do it so easily....and sometimes they even tell you that it IS easy. But is that the truth? What's really behind the success of many people who wisely handle money, or make better business decisions, or seem to juggle priorities easily? There IS a secret...and once you know it you think about the working world differently. Today our sp...

Ever wonder what it would be like to buy a van and hit the road? Van life is an exciting reality for many people you read about online...but would it be for you? Today we talk to Lisa and Harrison from the Mad Money Monster Podcast, who together decided to try it out. The results? Let's just say it may not have gone exactly the way many bloggers act like it will. In our headlines segment, we're al...

Hoping to retire someday? What about retiring early? On today's show we'll sit down with Chris Mamula who retired at...wait for it....41, about how he did it. He's the co-author of the newly released book, Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence , and also is an award-winning blogger at CanIRetireYet.com . He and his wife blazed their own trail toward freedom after meeting with advisor...

Does it makes sense to hire a coach? Our roundtable discussion today is all around the pros and cons of finding a coach--why do you need one in the first place? How do you find a good one? How do you know it's a good fit? We'll cover all of these and more on today's show with two coaches and a guy who doesn't have one....Sharita Humphrey joins us from Family, Faith and Finance, along with Roger Wh...

Have you ever wondered if you're handling your money right? Sure you have. More important, have you ever worried that you aren't doing LIFE correctly? Our main guest has been there. She's the best-selling author of the philosophical guide to life in the age of overwhelm titled, Am I Doing This Right?, Colleen Bordeaux. Colleen will share her deeply personal search for more meaning in life and less...

How does a guy with a great job at Facebook end up as a standup comedian? Today we talk to Paul Ollinger, host of the new Crazy Money podcast, about chasing your dream...in his case, the dream of becoming a comedian. It's a compelling conversation if you've ever hit the wall with your career, or you've ever made a spur-of-the-moment decision, or you realized that you needed to sharpen the saw to g...

We spend more and buy stuff to make us happy, but does it? Does more really equal better? On today's show we dive into a recent blog post from the Four Pillar Freedom blog to look at the nature of happiness. Money is always intertwined in our view of "happy," probably because advertisers love making us think that if we just buy one more thing we'll finally get that elusive joy that we've been crav...

At some point you feel fried. Been there? Today's guest, Nicole Lapin, has been there. She thought she could outrun her problems and find success...and today we'll hear how that worked out. Nicole is a New York Times best selling author of both Rich Bitch and her second title Boss Bitch. Today she's back with a new guide to help us figure life out. We'll talk about balance, acceptance, and not try...

Would you know what to do in the 24 hours after a car accident? What about that next 7 days? The days following an accident is a stressful time, but following the right steps can make a big difference. On today's show we'll talk to Elizabeth Calora, partner at PCVA Law, to talk about what you should do after you are involved in an accident. During our headlines segment, one retiree placed her life...

"Speed kills" is a popular phrase, but in business, you already hear that faster = better. But is it? If you make a mistake with your money, whether it's making it, spending, tracking or investing...how important is speed (or slowing down) in your decisionmaking? We'll take this philosophical discussion and dive in today with Amy Blacklock from Women Who Money, Len Penzo from LenPenzo.com, and our...

Have you ever thought about investing in the wide world of real estate but weren't sure whether it was for you? Today's guest, Michele Cagan, says that it probably IS for you...but maybe not in the way you'd traditionally think. Sure, you can go fix up and flip houses or become a landlord, but Michele shares LOTS of other ways to invest in real estate as well, and gives us five reasons why you sho...

Do you want better answers in your life? It may seem like a simple solution, but Andy Andrews, New York Times best-selling author, says you just need to be asking better questions. He'll share secrets from his new book, Bottom of the Pool, on today's show! In our headlines segment, we'll ring up Christine Benz on Joe's Dad's shortwave radio. She's the director of personal finance at Morningstar, a...

The Fintern is finishing out our rewind week with one of our old school roundtable favorites: we're talking about lies about retirement. You can read the original show notes below:  On today's podcast we're talking about lying. A recent news piece reports that there are nine lies we're told about retirement planning. We'll break them down with Greg, Paula, and special guest Rich Jones from the hit...

Time for something a little different in the basement! While it's still "rewind week" here, instead of playing an old SB episode, we instead are serving up our little sister show, Money With Friends! This show appears six days a week wherever you listen to Stacking Benjamins. Money With Friends is news and commentary with diverse thought leaders. It's performed in front of a LIVE Facebook audience...

Welcome to our Stacking Benjamins rewind week! Normally doing this week we would play you some of our favorite episodes from the past that you may have missed... but this week we're mixing things up. Monday and Friday will go as planned, but stay tuned on Wednesday for a special surprise. The Fintern is kicking off the week by queuing up our time with Shannyn Allen, who lost over $50,000 to a hack...

What do YOU worry about when it comes to money? Is it the same thing others worry about? Today we head to sunny Orlando, the home of Podcast Movement (the nation's biggest podcasting conference), and catch up with some top financial podcasters at the FinCon booth in the expo hall (they were nice enough to set up a podcasting booth for shows to use!). Today we talk to Mindy Jensen from Bigger Pocke...

Ever walk into a wine store and wonder what all the labels mean? Looking for a way to upgrade your Labor Day celebration without spending a ton of money? Today, wine expert Dave Falchek from the American Wine Society joins us to talk all things vino. How do you pick a wine? What are some clues that a wine is good for your party? What do those ratings mean in a wine shop? What wines go best with bu...

We're celebrating Labor Day in style (and a week early) with Frankie Celenza, the chef at Struggle Meals on the Tastemade network. We'll talk not only how to make your holiday weekend grilling perfect, but also how to make smart and frugal food choices in the kitchen. Not only will he share tips on how to make your perfect burger, but also grocery ideas in general, how to make sauces, and the key...

We see people without children retiring early all the time. Is that because children are the speed bumps on the road to the financial heaven? We'll ask our panel for their thoughts, including a woman who has six kids and is chasing financial freedom, Wendy Mayes from the House of FI podcast. We'll discuss meal planning, where you live, your transportation costs, child expenses and more, on today's...

Len Penzo is the king of the sandwich study...and of independent thinking ABOUT sandwiches (and many, many other topics). On today's show we dive into the latest iteration of our favorite way of talking about inflation: comparing the rise and fall of prices among popular school lunch/work brown bag sandwiches. How much do different sandwiches cost? How much more do they cost than last year? What a...

Today we sit down with Rob Berger, host of the Dough Roller podcast and author of  Retire Before Mom & Dad  about the five lies we all are told about money. Because we fall into these traps, we're duped to live a life on the hamster wheel, working harder and harder, but getting nowhere. Today we'll talk about debt, investing, insurances, advisors and more, so that you can take charge of your f...

Today our roundtable discussion focuses on one set of homeowners who successfully sold their house, but realized that they could've saved $60,000 if they had instead rented and never purchased the home in the first place. Is buying a home a waste of money? Did the couple make some big mistakes that we can all avoid? Did they use professionals wisely or make some bad decisions? Discussing this head...

Who wouldn't want to be one of the Grateful Dead (love the play on the rock band name, don't you?)? Today we'll ask the question, "When's the last time you've thought about your estate plan... (if you've made one)?" Making a will or even a full trust may seem like a daunting task that's best done tomorrow, or the day after that, but we all know that it's an important piece of your financial life t...