Jill On Money With Jill Schlesinger

Mom always said, ”money can’t buy happiness,” but it sure can make life easier. So it was with some skepticism that I invited this week’s guest Rachel Sherman, associate professor of sociology at the New School in New York City, on the show. Sherman’s recent book, Uneasy Street: The Anxieties of Affluence, explores what’s going on inside the heads of the one percent. I know, I know...who wants to hear unhappy, wealthy people whine about all their problems? Cue the sarcastic “Oh those poor things...” But Sherman wants to know why so many wealthy people have a hard time accepting the fact that they’re financially secure. To find out what it’s really like for people living on “easy street,” Rachel conducted interviews with fifty affluent New Yorkers, including hedge fund financiers and corporate lawyers, professors and artists, and stay-at-home mothers, to examine their lifestyle choices and their understanding of privilege. The findings were enlightening, and include the subjects wishing to be “normal,” d

Instead of the usual Tuesday BONUS call, we’re doing something different for this week only.   Today is “Giving Tuesday”, a global day of charitable giving, which was created to balance the vast consumerism that flourishes during Black Friday weekend through the end of December. To help explain the importance of philanthropy and how to maximize your annual giving, we’re fortunate have Michael Thatcher, the CEO of Charity Navigator as our guest. Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has become the nation's largest and most-utilized evaluator of charities. Their team of professional analysts has examined tens of thousands of nonprofit financial documents. Using the information they’ve gathered, they have developed an unbiased, objective, numbers-based rating system to assess over 8,000 of America's best-known and some lesser known, but worthy, charities. The timing is perfect, because our sponsor, Betterment, is now offering a service that will allow customers to donate shares from taxable accounts to charitab

Since this episode is dropping on Thanksgiving we thought we’d do something a bit different. Instead of focusing on bettering ourselves financially, we wanted to introduce you to StoryCorps, a non-profit organization that strives to make the world better off by preserving and sharing stories, build connections and create a more just and compassionate world. In short, it serves as a good reminder of the things that matter most. And who better to help us stay in the giving thanks spirit than our guest Dave Isay, the founder and president of StoryCorps. His goal is simple: to use stories to remind us of our shared humanity, to strengthen and build the connections between people, to teach the value of listening, and to weave into the fabric of our culture the understanding that everyone’s story matters. At the same time, StoryCorps is creating an invaluable archive for future generations--every interview is housed at the Library of Congress. So as you’re sitting around this Thanksgiving weekend with family

Today on the BONUS call we're discussing my favorite topic of annuities with Roland who has a sneaking suspicion that his financial advisor may not be steering him in the right direction. Have a finance question? We want to hear from you! Email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com and we'll arrange to get you on. Don't forget, a brand new episode of the Better Off podcast comes out Thursday so stay tuned for more listener questions plus an informative interview. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast

For the second time this year we have a repeat guest on Better Off. When you have a chance to grab Michael Lewis, you grab him, and that’s what we did! In early June, Michael was on the pod to discuss his latest book, The Undoing Project: A Friendship That Changed Our Minds. (He’s a prolific writer and chances are you’ve picked up at least one of his books, including Moneyball, The Big Short or Flash Boys.) Since the Undoing Project is now out in paperback, and Richard Thaler was just awarded the Nobel Prize in Economic Sciences, it made for a perfect opportunity to revisit the topic of behavioral economics. But that was only part of this interview. The bulk of it was spent talking to Michael about his current work, which is penning articles for Vanity Fair. His latest piece, Inside Trump’s Cruel Campaign Against the U.S.D.A.’s Scientists, is a wild tale about various Department of Agriculture programs that are under siege.   From food stamps to meat inspection, to grants and loans for rural developm

A 401(k) or a Roth 401(k)...which one is right for you? That's what Pat from Virginia wanted to know on the latest BONUS call. Have a finance question? We want to hear from you! Email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com and we'll arrange to get you on. Don't forget, a brand new episode of the Better Off podcast comes out Thursday so stay tuned for more listener questions plus an informative interview. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 Learn more abo

Do you have to be an “entrepreneur,” replete with a big, fat business plan in hand, to make a little extra cash on the side? What if I told you that in 27 days you can come up with an idea, implement it, and potentially start making some extra income on the side? That is what you call a Side Hustle, which also happens to be the title of the latest book from Chris Guillebeau, this week’s guest on Better Off. While the thought of quitting your day job to pursue a business of your own may be intoxicating and even escapist, it may also be a bit unrealistic. Most of us can’t just up and quit a job that delivers a regular paycheck and benefits, to boot. But what if you could quickly and easily create an additional stream of income without giving up the security of a full-time job? Enter Chris and the Side Hustle. As someone who has launched more than a dozen side hustles over his career, Chris is more than qualified to help you select, launch and refine your new side hustle. Some of the things you’ll learn in

On the latest BONUS call it's Ralph from Missouri who may win the 2017 Father of the Year Award! Being the nice guy that he is, Ralph wanted to know the pros and cons of helping his daughter pay off a student loan. So nice! Have a finance question? We want to hear from you! Email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com and we'll arrange to get you on. Don't forget, a brand new episode of the Better Off podcast comes out Thursday so stay tuned for more listener questions plus an informative interview. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/ 

Surprise, surprise...it's a BONUS call on a Saturday! Since we haven't had any calls on the last few episodes, we thought we'd throw you guys a bone :) So sit back and enjoy our chat with Rod about whether or not he should pay off his mortgage. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We all fall into at least one of four personality categories: We’re either Upholders, Questioners, Obligers or Rebels, according to our guest Gretchen Rubin. Her latest book, The Four Tendencies: The Indispensable Personality Profiles That Reveal How to Make Your Life Better, is already a bestseller. Rubin says that understanding which category defines you, can transform what you do at home, at work, and in life by helping you make better decisions, meet deadlines, suffer less stress, and engage more effectively. [FYI, I’m an Upholder, as is Mark, which may explain why we work so well together!] The Four Tendencies hold practical answers if you’ve ever thought…People can rely on me, but I can’t rely on myself?How can I help someone to follow good advice?People say I ask too many questions.How do I work with someone who refuses to do what I ask—or who keeps telling me what to do?If you’re having trouble figuring out which tendency best describes you, fear not, as Gretchen has developed a very easy quiz for y

Imagine that you have a very cheap mortgage but the rate is adjustable and not fixed. Also imagine that you have the cashflow to lock it in. Should you do it? That's the scenario on the latest BONUS call as we're chatting with Matt in Pennsylvania. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe I’m dating myself, but there was a time that whenever I would hear the “Big Four,” I would always think of the big four accounting firms...Ernst & Young, KPMG, Deloitte and PwC. Well, it’s now 2017, and the new, much bigger, Big Four are Facebook, Amazon, Google and Apple. Given their outsized share of the marketplace, not to mention our lives, are these companies monopolizing our lives in a negative way? Our guest this week, Scott Galloway, certainly thinks so. Scott is a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, where he teaches brand strategy and digital marketing to second-year MBA students. A serial entre­preneur, he has founded nine firms, including L2. In 2012, he was named one of the “World’s 50 Best Busi­ness School Professors” by Poets & Quants. In his first book, The Four: The Hidden DNA of Amazon, Apple, Facebook, and Google, Scott explores how these massive companies infiltrate our lives so completely that they’re almost impossible to avoid.  Why does the stock mark

This week on the BONUS call it's Chipper from Atlanta with the age-old question of renting vs. buying. There is no rule that says it's always better to own. For some, renting can be a better long-term option. Chipper, currently a renter who despises debt, is wondering if he can make more in the stock market instead of tying up his cash in a house? Good question! Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastc

Ask some Wall Street veterans where they were on October 19, 1987 and they will likely regale you with details of any crisis. My life changed that day in ways that often creep up on me. Indeed, Black Monday was the single worst day in Wall Street history, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by more than 22 percent in one session--that’s the equivalent of the blue chip index diving by more than 5,000 points today. It was a “First Class Catastrophe”, according to our first class guest and storyteller supreme, Diana Henriques, who dropped by the studio to help us retrace the events that led up to that day. Diana joined us on the podcast earlier this year when her book, The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, was made into an HBO movie. This time around Diana is joining us to discuss her latest book, A First-Class Catastrophe: The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History.  As Diana recounts, Black Monday was more than seven years in the making and threatened nearl

Does having a job with a great pension mean you should stay there no matter what? That's what Nathan from Upstate New York is trying to decide. Nathan has a solid job with an awesome pension but was recently offered a new job without a pension. As I like to say, money makes life easier, but doesn't guarantee happiness. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://betteroffpodcast.com/  https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/better-off-jill-schlesinger/id431167790?mt=2 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many of you were impacted by the recent Equifax data breach? I was, Mark was, and considering 145.5 million other Americans were impacted, I’m going to guess that includes many of you too. Now that the news is out, heads have rolled (CEO Richard Smith has stepped down), Congressional hearings have taken place, where do things stand? More importantly, what should you do? Who should you trust? In times like these, there’s one go-to person: John Ulzheimer, the foremost authority on anything involving credit scores, credit reports, breaches, etc. John is so good that we did this interview on the phone! Formerly of FICO, Equifax and Credit.com, John is the only recognized credit expert who actually comes from the credit industry. He has served as a credit expert witness in more than 270 cases and has been qualified to testify in both Federal and State court on the topic of consumer credit. We’re going to get into all the dos and don’ts with John, but so you also have the vitals to reference, here are the m

Nowadays it's becoming more and more common for employers to offer a traditional 401(k) as well as a Roth 401(k). Our BONUS caller today, Andrea from Minnesota, has both options and is wondering which one she should use? Or should she use both? Have a finance question? We want to hear from you! Email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com and we'll arrange to get you on. Don't forget, a brand new episode of the Better Off podcast comes out Thursday so stay tuned for more listener questions plus an informative interview. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  http://be

So often on this podcast, and on my radio show, we field questions from recent grads with insane amounts of student loan debt. Sometimes it’s enough debt to wreck a life. There’s enough blame to go around, but so often it’s a case of students feeling the pressure to go to fancy, high priced colleges to study what seems like an obscure major. But before you think that I am about to argue that every able-bodied student should be studying for a degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field, read on... Let me pose a question. What is wrong with a well-rounded liberal arts degree? A degree, which I might add, can be earned at countless reasonably priced colleges.  George Anders, our guest this week on Better Off makes a strong case in his recently released book, You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a "Useless" Liberal Arts Education. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or know how to write computer code to succeed in today’s work environment.  When you really think about i

I love when we get calls from young people, and that's the case on the latest BONUS call with Ruth from Cleveland. Ruth, just 24 years old, is already a great saver but she's wondering if there's a better alternative to a plain old savings account? Have a finance question? We want to hear from you! Email us at askjill@betteroffpodcast.com and we'll arrange to get you on. Don't forget, a brand new episode of the Better Off podcast comes out Thursday so stay tuned for more listener questions plus an informative interview. Better Off is sponsored by Betterment. Please let us know what you think by leaving a rating or review in iTunes. Connect with me at these places for all my content: http://www.jillonmoney.com/  https://twitter.com/jillonmoney  https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney  https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/  https://www.youtube.com/c/JillSchlesinger  https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/  https://soundcloud.com/jill-schlesinger  http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-on-money  htt

How many of you rode an elevator today? Or Googled something? Or use index funds in your financial lives? I’m going to guess all of you did at least one of those things.  I’m also going to guess that you probably didn’t realize that those three things are among the 50 inventions that shaped the modern economy. That’s according to the list compiled by BBC and Financial Times journalist Tim Harford, our guest this week on Better Off and author of the new book, Fifty Inventions That Shaped the Modern Economy. The book paints a picture of change by telling fascinating and compelling stories of the tools, people, and ideas that had far-reaching consequences for the global economy. From the plough to air conditioning, from Gillette’s disposable razor to IKEA’s Billy bookcase, Tim is able to recount each invention’s own curious, surprising, and memorable journey. We also touched on Tim’s previous book, Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, which comes out in paperback this October. As someone wh