Plaid Radio: Episode 130: #Financial Friday Year in Review

This past year we have interviewed over 25 financial authorities on what they do with their personal income as well as how they advise their clients.  Generally these recommendations fall into three categories: savings, debt and relationships.

Savings

We all know we need to save for big things like retirement and kids college, but sometimes we get shiny object syndrome from something staring us right in the face.

We interviewed Chris Hogan on Plaid Radio, Episode 60, Dave Ramsey personality and author of Retire Inspire.  Chris advises that we need to dream big for retirement.  We need to have big goals that are so worth the sacrifice of today we decide to invest for tomorrow.  If we have a spouse or partner he recommends a dream date.  What do you both see for the future?

Dorethia Kelly also shared in Plaid Radio Episode 96 tactics on saving for college.  She recommended specialized savings accounts as well talking to your student so they understand their responsibility in the paying for college in addition to making the grade.

And along with savings we cannot ignore investing and the need to make our money work just as had as we do.  We have few episodes that address investing (Terry Savage), markets (Bobbie Rebel, Episode 102) and your personal risk levels (John Wasik, Episode 99).

Debt

Honestly, debt keeps us back from our financial goals.  We had several guests knock out big levels of debt through side hustles (Lisa, Episode 86) and other just save, save, save.

Bola from Clever Girl Finance shares her strategy in building up an emergency fund in Episode 119 and Melanie from Dear Debt helps clarify needs versus wants in Episode 106.  Both have different strategies, but are clear on their goals and working their way towards financial freedom.  They want to chose where their money goes not let debt tell them where they have to spend.

Relationships

As if having a personal relationship with money is not challenging enough, many times we have relationships with others that also involve money.  We are partners, married, parents and children which all come with their own set of money rules.

Nick True from Mapped Out Money shares his relationship with love and money in Episode 109.  Following the episode he jumped in a tiny house and is touring the US with his bride so we need to check in on that.

We also cover the tough topic of how to talk to your adult parents about money with Emily Stroud in Episode 121.  While we think the holidays can be a great time because the whole family, it's not.  Holidays are full of all kinds of emotions so plan this talk for another time.

Plaid Radio also interview the Dr. Phil named "Cheapest Family in America," Steve and Annette from Money Smart Family (Episode 115).  These parents share how they economized with a big family, saved for college and instilled a work ethic in their own children.

Check out these great episodes to learn more, get inspired and take control of your financial life.