Life Meets Money Show

In today’s show I announce my new name, Work Pants Finance, and say goodbye to Life Meets Money. Please subscribe to the new show, Work Pants Finance wherever you play your podcasts and thanks for joining me on the Life Meets Money journey from June to October 2020. LMM RIP. Onward and upward at WorkPantsFinance.com, the show for MBAs, entrepreneurs, and other professionals who want a financial plan that works as hard as they do!

It’s all about entrepreneurship, post-MBA career blues, and seizing the day. Nick Palmisciano, Albert Chou and I share their stories and experiences as serial entrepreneurs and conclude that the most important thing, whatever you want in life, is to start. I almost titled the show “Time Goes By and you Can’t Get it Back” but “Marketing that Doesn’t Suck” was too tempting. Learn more about Nick and Albert’s business at https://dieseljackmedia.com

Today’s show features imaginary clients Mike and Jennifer Murray. Mike is a consulting engagement manager with a big-four accounting firm earning $250,000 per year. His wife homeschools their three children ages 10, 8, and 6. They own a $600,000 home in a leafy Atlanta suburb and we’re going to make sure they’ve taken the necessary steps to protect themselves in the event something terrible happens. This episode is not about insuring your iPhone or cordless drill. It’s about protecting what you can’t afford to lose: A lifetime of income, a big judgment entered against you in a liability matter, the replacement value of your home and personal property, and the massive contribution any spouse – even a non-working spouse – makes to the family’s financial life. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/21

Today’s show expands on our risk management discussion as we dip a toe in the water of physical preparedness. Whether you wear a tinfoil hat is up to you, but everyone can learn the lessons of Covid-19 and the Great Toilet Paper Crisis of 2020. We discuss disaster preparedness planning, Joshua’s career in podcasting where he reminds us you miss 100% of the shots you don’t take. We recommend coupling risk-taking with good planning. We address the role of independent media as a communication and marketing tool and the importance of niching down. Lastly, Joshua discusses the role good advisors can have in your life – cutting years off your learning curve on almost any topic. Joshua calls financial advisors the link between your dreams and where you are today. Sweet! Enjoy Part 2 of my conversation with Joshua Sheats! For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/20

Today’s interview with Joshua Sheats is loaded with life and money wisdom focused on the broad topic of Risk Management. We begin our conversation with the seven stages of financial independence, Stage 0 – Total Financial Dependence, Stage 1 – Financial Solvency, Stage 2 – Financial Stability, Stage 3 – Debt Freedom, Stage 4 – Financial Security, Stage 5 – Financial Independence, Stage 6 – Financial Freedom, and Stage 7 – Financial Abundance. Disability and other types of Insurance, which occupy a bunch of time in this episode, come into the picture as you reach financial stability – current on today’s obligations, with a plan to take care of tomorrow’s! Disability Income insurance may be the most important insurance you need to own. Despite this fact, it’s one of the least owned, least understood, least paid attention to types of insurance, because people underestimate the value of their income and underrate how much better their life is when they’re properly insured for disability. Besides insurance, we address emergency funds, including credit cards and currency - $100 bills, y’all. Sit back, relax, and enjoy the conversation! For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/19

J. Money lets it all hang out as we discuss his career to date participating in and serving the personal finance blogging industry. J.’ll shoot you straight on managing creative tasks like blogging - cadence and consistency, mixed with stubbornness, trump inspiration every time. We discuss ideas and business that failed, as well as J.’s decision to quit his successful M.O.N.E.Y. Podcast collaboration with Paula Pant. His recommendation is straightforward and a longtime habit of my own: J. tracks his net worth manually, on a monthly basis. For more information, go to https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/18

Benefits planning offers real tax savings to employees who are thoughtful about this important part of their financial plan. It’s kinda dry, and you have to interface with HR, but the payoff is totally worth it. Today’s show covers employer-provided retirement plans, including pre-tax and Roth contributions, Health Savings Accounts and QHDHP (Qualified High Deductible Health Plan) insurance offerings, along with the childcare tax credit and the DCFSA (Dependent Care FSA). For more details, go to https://lifemeetsmoney.com/17

On the same page with your spouse when it comes to money? Elle Martinez of Couple Money discusses how she and her husband made progress toward that goal, even though – and you’ll find this shocking - they turned up in the marriage with their own personalities and different money histories. We discuss money dates and paying a price to win. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/16

Unpacking the theme of mentorship by connecting knowledge with skill, mentorship, and sponsorship in a model for career and business success. I also share a quick scan of the massive quantity of excellent books I read in August 2020. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/15

We all suffer tragedy and setbacks. How we respond to difficulties is a defining part of what we accomplish in life. In today’s show Brian discusses the founding of RestoraPet, the death of his co-founder Kenny Kramm, and the importance of excellent mentors. For more, go to https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/14

Home is where the heart is. Besides that, housing choices are ground-zero for your wealth building – or for making you poorer than you need to be. In today’s show we cover how much house and mortgage you can afford and still become wealthy, why house prices are shooting up in 2020 even though the economy is badly hurt, and how government policy favors incumbents – people further along in their wealth building journey. For more information, go to https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/13

Housing transactions are some of the heavy-hitters in your financial plan. Today’s interview with Steven Squires discusses how (and whether) to work with an agent when the time comes for you to buy or sell a piece of real estate. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/12

Informational Interviewing is your best tool if you’re in a transition or see one on the horizon. Today’s show covers what an informational interview is, the stages of this effort, and how to conduct a great informational interview that leaves everyone happy for spending time together. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/info-interviewing

Mary Beck brings world-class tips to structure your life so your work doesn’t feel like work, to create simplicity in the midst of complexity, and to build a career based on treating others the way you want to be treated. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/mary-beck-white-sutton

Lacey and I chat about when enough is enough education in your life. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/give-your-kids-the-gift-of-failure

Structuring your family, including your budget, to support homeschooling requires intentionality. And, homeschooling comes with its own direct costs. This episode addresses planning your money to make homeschooling a reality for your family. For more helpful details, visit https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/homeschool-budgeting

The Covid-19 pandemic compelled many families to pursue their children’s education from home. Through those efforts, and because of concerns about returning to day schools, some families are evaluating actual homeschool as an education choice for the first time. Today’s interview features Mrs Life Meets Money, Charity Miner, who shares the story of the Miner family’s homeschool journey. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/homeschooling-for-mere-mortals

Anne and I talk through how to part ways with an employer when things just aren’t working out – and the benefits that come from taking action in support of your values. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/anne-mercogliano-engineer-your-own-layoff

From a FuquaVision club president to a Twitter conference with Madeline Albright, Anne brings wisdom from a wide range of experiences. She challenges all of us to ask the right questions. When you think about your career, the question is, “What do you want to do after that?” Anne urges us to know what we’re aiming for but not be too rigid in our view of how or when it should happen. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/show-up-fearless

We put motives of folks providing financial information under the microscope, help you position your wealth for inflation or deflation, and discuss leveraging disruption to harness the force of habit to help you achieve your goals. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/inflation-deflation-and-habit-curation-living-through-the-pandemic-and-the-future-of-the-dollar

Shane imparts his passion for accounting and compassion for students along with the importance of grit in any endeavor (this world-class instructor bombed his teaching during his first term at UT Austin). We unpack the tried-and-true recipe to build wealth and close our conversation with four rock-solid pieces of life advice plus five book recommendations. Enjoy! For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/shane-dikolli-interview-passion-compassion-and-the-importance-of-grit

#2: Today’s quick tips: Don’t go bankrupt launching your business! and Make sure the boat is close enough to the dock before you jump will help anyone contemplating entrepreneurship – whether as a side-hustle or full-time. In addition, we cover tax planning for founders and owners of entrepreneurial businesses and how to cushion the blow when change comes hard and fast, disrupting whole companies and employees’ careers.   For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/life-meets-money-episode-2-planning-for-founders-and-employees

#1: The transition from “global expert” to “Manager of your own estate.” Wait, how does that work? Charlotte and her husband Caleb grew their firm, Analytics Pros, from a tiny startup to 75 employees before selling their business to AdSwerve in 2018. In this episode we explore entrepreneurship for kids and grownups, working and living well now and in the future, and how the sale of your business upends your life – and even your sense of self – in a big way. For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.lifemeetsmoney.com/podcast/charlotte-whitmore-interview-analytics-pros-sale-adswerve

We tell our children, “You can learn by words or learn by pain.” We recommend they choose door number one! The Life Meets Money Podcast is here to help everyone learn about life and money through the wisdom and experience of the accomplished, interesting, and amazing people I know and love. When you hear their stories, you’ll love ‘em too!