How to Money

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Latest Episodes:

Ask HTM - Gifting $ to Other’s Kids, Most Affordable Protein, & Snagging the 529 State Deduction #1036 Sep 15, 2025

Show notes

Let’s kick off the week with some fresh listener questions we have lined up for you! And don't just stand on the sidelines- if you have a question you’d like us to answer, toss your voice memo our way. It only takes about 90 seconds to record and you can find a step by step guide over at HowToMoney.com/ask . Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - Health spending and protein: what are the best ways to invest in health and get affordable protein?

2 - VA vs. conventional Loan: which mortgage option makes more sense?

3 - 529 accounts: how do I ensure that I’m getting the best investment options AND the state tax benefit?

4 - Insurance rate hikes: are rising home and auto premiums normal, or time to shop around?

5 - Gifting 529 funds: keep for education, cash out, or roll it into a Roth?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Golden Ale by Northwoods Brewing! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday Flight - Flipping For Cash, Health Insurance Hikes, & Grim Googling #1035 Sep 12, 2025

Show notes

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: thinner iPhones, recipe for saving the most with cellular, flipping for cash, health insurance hikes, thrifty Teslas, the future of EVs, the most expensive hobbies, grim Googling, new homes cheaper than existing, Social Security is more valuable than you thought, & underperforming funds to avoid!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money. Have an awesome weekend!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Financial Freedom on Less than $40k w/ Hope Ware #1034 Sep 10, 2025

Show notes

Want to live joyfully and abundantly on a shoestring budget? Is it even possible or is it something from a bygone era?! With headlines shouting that even high income earners making $300,000 are living paycheck, achieving financial freedom on a $40,000 salary sounds like a pipe dream. But our guest today is proof that it’s possible and that you can have a good time along the way, too. Hope Ware runs the site & YouTube channel Under the Median along with her husband Larry, to instruct and inspire others to spend less, save more, and live joyfully on a mid five-figure income. She emphasizes the importance of proactively prioritizing, tracking expenses, and setting financial goals. Hope discusses the mindset shifts necessary for effective money management, the significance of teaching kids about money and the emotional aspects of spending, the importance of balancing frugality with building wealth, e-bikes, and plenty more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Hope and Larry's free guide to reduce expenses!
Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask HTM - Condo Cold Feet, Investing in ABLE Accounts, and the Best Interest Rate Ever #1033 Sep 08, 2025

Show notes

1 - Is it time to sell my condo or should I continue to rent it out?

2 - How do I financially prepare for our special needs son?

3 - Should I utilize a line of credit at 1% to pay off some credit card debt?

4 - Passive real estate investing apps: yay or nay?

5 - What tips or tricks to get my 12 year old invested in his Roth IRA?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Soulstice Sour by Almanac Beer! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday Flight - Forgotten 401k, Peaking Pessimism, & Loyalty is for Losers #1032 Sep 05, 2025

Show notes

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: Walden Pond and your wallet, stocks at all-time highs, more ETFs than you can shake a stick at, forgotten 401k, peaking pessimism, creating your own American Dream, loyalty is for losers, locking down 5 years of internet, Prime purge, travel tips, the cheapest flights, and what’s up with tariffs.

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Forgot about that 401k? Be sure and check out the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits.
Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Built to Borrow: The Hidden Forces Behind Debt w/ John Dinsmore #1031 Sep 03, 2025

Show notes

A lot of folks discover personal finance podcasts like this one after hitting a few bumps in the road – most often with debt. Maybe you’ve maxed out your credit cards, or you’re juggling more Buy Now Pay Later payments than you can keep up with. That kind of financial stress is heavy, and it often comes with a side of shame. But what if your money struggles aren’t just about willpower? What if the financial services industry is stacking the deck against you? Our guest today, John Dinsmore, is a marketing professor at Wright State’s College of Business. He studies how banks and lenders use clever marketing tactics to steer us toward debt. And he’s here to reveal the traps and show us how to spot and avoid them. Listen as we discuss how cultural attitudes towards debt can normalize harmful practices, when psychological factors like loss aversion affect debt decisions, avoiding status symbols that can lead to irresponsible spending, and much more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Learn more about John and his marketing research here.
Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask HTM - Is a 25% Savings Rate Overkill, Avoiding State Minimum Insurance Requirements, & Eliminating 401k Loans #1030 Sep 01, 2025

Show notes

1 - Should I not take a higher paying job because of a 401k loan I still need to pay back?

2 - My wife and I are younger investors but are looking to ramp up the savings: 401k or Roth?

3 - Is it possible to leave match money on the table by front-loading the sacrifice?

4 - Will my homeowners premiums go up if I make a claim with my insurance company?

5 - What are some ways to curb our grocery and restaurant spending?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Marbits by Southern Grist! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Friday Flight - Pre-K For Pay, Helicopter Savers, & Politics Shmoliticks #1029 Aug 29, 2025

Show notes

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: job skill certificates that don’t pay, pre-K for pay, death of the one page resume, debit card spending growth, BNPL saying the quiet part out loud, helicopter savers, politics shmoliticks AKA partisan politics (makes you) poor, working past retirement age, & cookie cutter financial advisors.

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Move to Puerto Rico to Axe Taxes w/ Rachel Farris #1028 Aug 27, 2025

Show notes

Some families have lived on the same plot of land for generations… what’s more Americana than passing down the family farm to the next generation?! But the US also has a history of moving towards opportunity – the settling of the west and the gold rush in California, returning veterans moved at higher rates in the aftermath of WW2, and then more recently the pandemic led to an uptick in people reconsidering their living situation. BUT, what if the next great place to move to is an island in the Caribbean Sea? Not just because it’s beautiful, but because it offers certain tax perks that are unavailable anywhere else. Rachel Farris, CPA and tax strategist, joins the show to share the unique tax benefits of moving to Puerto Rico, particularly under Act 60, which offers significant savings for individuals and businesses. We discuss the implications of relocating including cultural adjustments of expat life, cost of living, the eligibility requirements for tax benefits, the appeal for W2 workers and entrepreneurs alike, the community of expats on the island, and much more!

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

To learn more about the Act 60 Tax Strategy, head to MaximizeWealth.com and to reach out to Rachel directly, head to RachelFarrisCPA.com
Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Ask HTM - Acorns to Jumpstart Investing, Seasoning a Cash Gift, & Social Security Running Out #1027 Aug 25, 2025

Show notes

1 - Should I pay for Acorns to help me invest and what about real estate investing?

2 - How can I plan for the Social Security Trust Fund running out earlier than expected?

3 - Does it make sense to go with the financial advisor that my sister has recently hired?

4 - How long does a cash gift need to season in order for it to boost my credit score?

5 - FHA loan with a mortgage insurance premium vs waiting and saving up more?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:

Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.

During this episode we enjoyed a Dawn Patroller by Hana Koi Brewing! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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