Martinis and Your Money Podcast

For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode554-The-End

After 10 years of podcasting and 554 episodes, we're coming down to the final episodes of Martinis and Your Money. These final three episodes before Happy Hour will be a chat between me and you. When I was thinking about how I wanted to end this podcast, all I could think was, “I have to make it epic for my fans and listeners,” who have supported me for almost a decade. I have shared so much with you over these past 10 years, but I've also held some things back.    My intent with these final three conversations with you is to answer all of the questions, spill all of the tea, and share all of the lessons I've learned not only over the past 10 years but also over the past 46 years I've been on this earth.    I am splitting the final three episodes before Happy Hour into three categories: my personal experiences, my work and professional experiences, and my blogging and podcasting experiences. You can listen to all three, one or none.    I know that many of you have come here for years for money-related advice and guidance, and I will have that in these final episodes, but I'll also have more. My intent in sharing all of this with you is in the hopes that my journey and the lessons I've learned can help you or someone you know who has been on a journey. I have faced a great deal of challenges over my life, and I would face all of them again if I knew that my story could help just one person. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode553-podcasting-blogging-friends

After 10 years of podcasting and 554 episodes, we're coming down to the final episodes of Martinis and Your Money. These final episodes before Happy Hour will be a chat between me and you. When I was thinking about how I wanted to end this podcast, all I could think was, “I have to make it epic for my fans and listeners,” who have supported me for almost a decade. I have shared so much with you over these past 10 years, but I've also held some things back.     My intent with these final three conversations with you is to answer all of the questions, spill all of the tea, and share all of the lessons I've learned not only over the past 10 years but also over the past 46 years I've been on this earth.     I am splitting the final three episodes before Happy Hour into three categories: my personal experiences, my work and professional experiences, and my blogging and podcasting experiences. You can listen to all three, one or none.     I know that many of you have come here for years for money-related advice and guidance, and I will have that in these final episodes, but I'll also have more. My intent in sharing all of this with you is in the hopes that my journey and the lessons I've learned can help you or someone you know who has been on a journey. I have faced a great deal of challenges over my life, and I would face all of them again if I knew that my story could help just one person. For more information, visit the show notes:  https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode552-FinGym-friends

We are officially in the second to last month of the podcast. So, I decided my final topic would be around side hustling and entrepreneurship, which, you can imagine, are subjects near and dear to my heart. The Financial Gym has taken me on an 11-year entrepreneurial journey, and it would have started as a side hustle if I was allowed to coach people on the side from my day job as a financial advisor. In August of 2013, I made the wild decision to jump full force into an entrepreneurial journey without testing it via a side hustle. While I'm thankful for the journey, I would advise everyone else to start with the side hustle before it becomes the full hustle.  So this month I'm going to share with you stories from side hustle through full entrepreneurship and everywhere in between. Joining me today is Cadence Dubus, who combined her love of dancing and her need to make money into a career in fitness that started from instructor to multi-gym owner to virtual business owner. Like me, Cadence didn't set out to become an entrepreneur, but she's become an amazing one in her own right. I am inspired by Cadence's strength and tenacity, and I hope you are too. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode549

We are officially in the second to last month of the podcast and it's my final month of guest interviews. So, I decided my final topic guest interviews would be around side hustling and entrepreneurship, which you can imagine are subjects near and dear to my heart. The Financial Gym has taken me on an 11-year entrepreneurial journey, and it would have started as a side hustle if I was allowed to coach people on the side from my day job as a financial advisor. In August of 2013, I made the wild decision jump full force into an entrepreneurial journey without testing it via side hustle, and while I'm thankful for the journey, I would advise everyone else to start with the side hustle before it becomes the full hustle.  So this month I'm going to share with you stories from side hustle through full entrepreneurship and everywhere in between. Joining me today is long time podcast listener and long time Financial Gym client, Amanda, who has recently launched an HR-based side hustle called Now What HR. She joins me to share her journey to side hustling and why she decided to start one now, especially when it was never a destination on her financial roadmap. And now here's Amanda.    For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode548

We are officially in the second to last month of the podcast and it's actually my final month of guest interviews. So I decided my final topic guest interviews would be around side hustling and entrepreneurship, which you can imagine are subjects near and dear to my heart. The Financial Gym has taken me on an 11-year entrepreneurial journey and it would have started as a side hustle if I was allowed to coach people on the side from my day job as a financial advisor. In August of 2013, I made the wild decision jump full force into an entrepreneurial journey without testing it via side hustle, and while I'm thankful for the journey, I would advise everyone else to start with the side hustle before it becomes the full hustle. So this month I'm going to share with you stories from side hustle through full entrepreneurship and everywhere in between. Joining me today is Gala Aranaga, a lifelong creative who allowed her creative energy to lead her to various side hustles from composing music to buying a theater. Gala joins me today to talk about her journey, about why the word hustle gets a bad rap and why you should never be afraid to try anything once.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode547

Today is the last Friday of the month, and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast, where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This month, I've talked about a number of topics with my Financial Gym teammates, and we're talking about them during happy hour. You'll hear our thoughts on buying vs. renting, the financial challenges we've had as pet owners, and our biggest learning lessons from investing our own money. As usual, this is a great conversation and there will only be two more Happy Hours after this one.   For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode546

This month I've got a mixed bag of topics to talk to you about and I'm tagging in my amazing training team at Financial Gym to help me Gymsplain some of these topics and also give perspective on what they see on a daily basis from clients. I just discussed home buying decisions and when to buy or rent and then next logical financial topic to me was thinking about who or what would you have in your home and that's pets. I have said this many times throughout the years but at Financial Gym, we have more clients who have goals of having fur babies rather than human babies and the large majority of our clients are already fur parents and from a trainer perspective, we see the financial challenges being a fur parent presents. Joining me today is Sara Belhouari, Financial Gym trainer and also fur parent to discuss how she helps her client's budget for and plan for their fur babies but also the challenges she has had in her journey. And now here's Sara.   For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode544  

This month, I've got a mixed bag of topics, and I'm tagging in my amazing training team at Financial Gym to help me Gymsplain some of them and also give perspective on what they see on a daily basis from clients. In these first two episodes of this month, I'm talking about home ownership. I always say that it's expensive to get into a home, and it's expensive to get out of a home. Given how expensive it is these days, it's a decision not to be taken lightly, and honestly, it's a decision that is becoming less and less important for many of the clients we see.   Joining me today is Financial Gym Trainer Jill Wagner, who is also a licensed real estate agent and mortgage broker, to talk about what mortgage brokers do, why and when you would want to utilize a mortgage broker, and common mistakes and misconceptions when people are buying homes, especially first time home buyers.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode543

Hello Martinis and Your Money Listeners! We've got four months to go until the end of this podcast and I couldn't be more excited about all of the new episodes coming your way. It's July and because of the July Fourth holiday I always think about Financial Independence this month. For the past 15 years of my life, I have coached dozens of individuals to and through Financial Independence and the biggest factor I see between people who are close to achieving it or have already achieved it is a belief or manifestation in something big. And when I say something big, I want to clarify that “big” is a relative term and it's different for every single one of my clients, but if you are someone living in a scarcity mindset, you will have a difficult time getting to FI and you may be your biggest roadblock to getting there. This month, I am going to share with you three people's stories that will blow your minds. All of them started probably similar to wherever you are now and within 5-10 years they have achieved some massive goals and yes you heard me right 5-10 years. FI is not a goal to be achieved overnight, but it's a goal that with enough mindset and manifestation can be accomplished sooner than later. Doesn't it make sense to work really hard for 5-10 years to have the next 20+ of freedom for yourself? I think so. Joining me today is Malyia McNaughton founder of Made by Malyia. Malyia has been on the show twice before, so if you want more of her backstory, I recommend you listen to those previous episodes, but spoiler alert she has built a successful jewelry brand with no real experience and bootstrapped much of her journey. I have been a fan of Malyia's since I saw her progression hoops on display in Financial Gym's headquarters almost 5 years ago now. Malyia joins me to share her story of not only survival but how she's thriving despite all of the naysayers and challenges that have come her way.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode540

It's July, and because of the July Fourth holiday, I always think about Financial Independence. For the past 15 years of my life, I have coached dozens of individuals to and through Financial Independence, and the biggest factor I see between people who are close to achieving it or have already achieved it is a belief or manifestation in something big. When I say something big, I want to clarify that “big” is a relative term. It's different for every single one of my clients, but if you are someone living in a scarcity mindset, you will have a difficult time getting to FI, and you may be your biggest roadblock to getting there.   This month, I am going to share three people's stories with you that will blow your minds. All of them started probably similar to wherever you are now, and within 5-10 years, they have achieved some massive goals, and yes, you heard me right, 5-10 years. FI is not a goal to be achieved overnight, but it's a goal that, with enough mindset and manifestation, can be accomplished sooner than later. Doesn't it make sense to work really hard for 5-10 years to have the next 20+ of freedom for yourself? I think so. Joining me today is long-time Financial Gym client Sam Mellone, founder of CoCo Marketing. Sam joins me to discuss her journey from making less than $40,000 a year to the 6-figure business she has built in less than 5 years. For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode539

Today is the last Friday of the month, and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast, where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This month, I've focused on risk management, which means thinking about financial products like insurance or trust and estate management. These are pretty much the subjects of financial planning that no one likes to talk about because they involve planning for potentially bad things happening.   After fifteen years of financial planning, the one lesson I have learned is that bad things happen all the time (typically when we're not expecting them), and the best way to weather the storm, so to speak, is planning in advance for it. My friends joined me to talk about how planning for the worst not only helped them financially but also helped them feel confident and secure during those tough times.        For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode537

This month I'm talking about Risk Management on the podcast, also known as the area of financial planning that no one wants to talk about and today's subject is certainly the subject I find clients the least interested in and that is Trust and Estate Planning or planning for a death. Planning for death is certainly not something any of us would get excited about but as a financial planner for almost 15 years, I can tell you that I've seen clients experience it and I've seen clients suffer from not being prepared for it. There is nothing worse than losing a loved one, but the only thing I can imagine worse than that is also not having a plan for when they pass, it creates a tremendous amount of stress and burden on those they've left behind. Today's episode is unfortunately going to have to be a replayed episode but the content is still what I would recommend. Full disclosure, I was hoping to get Lillie back on to record another episode but she just had her first baby and having been in her seat 18 years ago as the working mom of a newborn baby, I know that the last thing she has time for is a podcast recording with me, but I want to continue to shine a light on the work Lillie does and has done and hopefully you'll want to work with her and her team so she can start saving for her child's college savings. Anyway, joining me for this replayed episode is Lillie Nkenchor, President of Lillie Nkenchor PC and she discusses why she became a trust and estate attorney and why you don't have to be wealthy to think about trust and estate planning.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode536

This month's topic is Risk Management. Risk management is an area of financial planning that no one wants to talk about or think about, but it's a necessary component. If you're not prepared for what could be the worst-case scenario, then you'll not only experience a personal shock like an accident or death, but you'll also experience a series of unfortunate financial surprises. You may be surprised about today's guest as the show doesn't align with typical risk management subjects like insurance. I'm talking about having a healthy relationship with money with Kara Stevens, founder of Frugal Feminista. Kara joins me to talk about her book, "Heal Your Relationship with Money," her personal journey, and all of the financial benefits she has received from developing a better relationship with money. As much as any financial product can impact your finances, I think nothing can impact it more than your mindset. I highly encourage you to invest time in this episode and book if you don't have a healthy relationship with money.   For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode535

This final season of my show is going so fast, and I only have a little over five months left to share with you the remaining topics and guests before we say our final goodbye in October. You know that I have had a theme for months, but every now and then, I take a break from the theme to bring a voice or concept to you that I think is thought-provoking or important.    Joining me today is James Robert Lay, founder of the Digital Growth Institute and author of the book Banking on Change. I have had multiple conversations with James Robert over the past few years and think he has a truly brilliant view of where financial institutions need to go and how many of us, as leaders and teammates, should be viewing change and how that impacts the future of our companies. This episode is a conversation I don't think you should miss, no matter what industry you work in.  For more information, visit the show notes at  https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode532-james-robert-lay   

This final season of my show is going so fast and I only have a little over five months left to share with you the remaining topics and guests before we say our final goodbye in October. I have a number of shows this month focused on travel in anticipation for summer. I've been a financial planner now for over 14 years and in all those years I think every single one of my clients was always planning for some trip during the summer months and this summer is no different. Whether the trips are for weddings, family reunions, kids' baseball games, concert events or just because, travel is something we are always planning with our clients.   Joining me today are my longtime clients Todd and Chelsea. They've been on the show before and they join me this month to talk about how travel literally changed not only how they view life but how they now live their lives as digital nomads, and soon Baby Parker will be joining her parents for the digital nomadic lifestyle. I am always so inspired by Todd and Chelsea's adventurous spirits and I hope you are too.   For more information, visit the show notes at https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode531-todd-and-chelsea.  

This final season of my show is going fast and I only have six full months left to share with you the final topics and guests before we say our final goodbye. I initially intended May to be focused on travel in anticipation for summer. I have been a financial planner now for over 14 years and in all of those years, I think every single one of my clients was always planning for some trip during the summer months and this summer is no different. Whether the trips are for weddings, family reunions, kid's baseball games, concert events or just because, travel is always something we're planning with our clients.   Joining me today is Jillian Johnsrud, Progress Coach and founder of the site Retire Often. Full disclosure, we were going to talk about travel more but you'll see that our conversation took a turn into a subject matter that I think is travel-adjacent and that's mini-retirements and sabbaticals. I think this is actually the perfect kickoff episode to the month as nothing else could get you motivated to book travel than knowing you don't have to work for the next month. Curious about why you should plan your mini-retirement, stay tuned. For more information, visit the shownotes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode530-retire-often  

This final season of my show is going fast and I only have six full months left to share with you the final topics and guests before we say our final goodbye and I have devoted the month of May to discussing travel and all things travel adjacent. I have been a financial planner now for over 14 years and in all of those years, I think every single one of my clients was always planning for some trip during the summer months and this summer is no different. Whether the trips are for weddings, family reunions, kid's baseball games, concert events or just because, travel is always something we're planning with our clients.  Today's episode is my first and hopefully last replay for this final season. Due to scheduling challenges and the death of a close friend of mine, Austin and I were not able to get together to record a new episode; however, most of what we shared in this episode is still true and Austin is still continuing to work with and support people looking to travel with rewards points. I just finished working with Vinnie on booking our travel to Ireland in June to celebrate Will's high school graduation and every time we went to use our points, I kept thinking “I should have turned this over to Austin to begin with.” Earning travel rewards is key, but more so than earning them is also spending them the best way and that's where resources like Austin can really help you get the most bang for your travel rewards points.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode529-travel-af

If you're listening to this episode on the day it debuted, you're officially listening on my birthday, April 19th. For my final season of the show, I thought I would bring on the woman who was there from the beginning. Not only the woman who gave me life but also my hero, my mother, Jamie. She joins me to share family stories, especially how my grandparents built a church in Queens, NY, and relive some funny stories of my youth and what I was like growing up  (spoiler alert, I've always been a type A overachiever). I hope you enjoy hearing more about the woman who raised me and the family that inspired my journey.   For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode527-shannons-mom

We are now in April, and I only have seven more months left of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money. As sad as I am to say goodbye to this podcast, I'm equally excited about the final season of episodes I'm delivering to you every Friday. Each month of this final year is broken down by subjects that are important for anyone's financial health journey, and I'm bringing to you the best guests around each of these subject matters but also sharing with you the best tips and practices I've learned in the last 15+ years.   April is a short month as far as Fridays are concerned, and it's also my birthday month, so I decided to talk about a subject that I personally used to hate but now I love, and that's budgeting and frugality. Joining me today is who I consider to be my OG Queen of Frugality, and that is long-time Martinis and Your Money friend, guest, and Happy Hour Co-Host, Liz Thames, aka Mrs. Frugalwoods. Liz joins me today to talk about why we both love the frugal approach and the crazy expensive purchase she recently made, and she shares her best tips and suggestions for someone new to a frugal journey.   For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode526-frugalwoods

I only have seven more months left of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money. As sad as I am to say goodbye to this podcast, I'm equally excited about the final season of episodes I'm delivering to you every Friday. Each month of this finally year is broken down by subjects that are important for anyone's financial health journey and I'm bringing to you the best guests around these subject matters but also sharing with you the best tips and practices I've learned around these areas in the last 15+ years. April is a short month as far as Fridays are concerned and it's also my birthday month so I decided to talk about a subject that I personally used to hate but now I love and that's budgeting. Joining me today is Kim Bigby, a financial trainer at Financial Gym and longtime budget lover. Kim joins me today to share her thoughts on budgeting and we both share best practices on finding budgets for clients and our secret for success here at Financial Gym. For more information, visit the show notes:https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode525-budget-dirty-word

2024 will be a big year for me personally and professionally, but unfortunately, it means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money in October. My plan for this final season is to highlight a new financial topic each month. This month, I'm talking about relationships and money. It's estimated that money problems lead to 20-40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 12 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate.   This month, we're going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships and the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate. Last week, I spoke with Tracy Coenen about financial infidelity, and this week, I'm talking to podcast listener and Financial Gym client Dolores about her personal experience with financial infidelity. Dolores joins me to share how she hid tens of thousands of dollars of debt from her partner and why their relationship is stronger than ever despite the infidelity.      For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode522-financially-naked-dolores

2024 is going to be a big year for me personally and professionally but it unfortunately means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money. It's been quite the journey and I still have seven more months to go. This month I'm talking about relationships and money. It's estimated that money problems lead to 20 - 40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 12 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate. This month we're going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships but also the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate.This week I'm talking about financial infidelity and joining me to discuss this topic is Tracy Coenen, a forensic accountant and author of the book Find Me the Money. Tracy joins me to share some of the lessons she's learned about financial infidelity after years of uncovering it as well as what people should know if they suspect it's happening in their relationship.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode521-financial-infidelity  

2024 is going to be a big year for me personally and professionally, but it unfortunately means the end of new content for Martinis and Your Money in October, culminating in 10 years of podcasting. It's been quite the journey, and I still have seven more months to go. My plan for this final season is to be the best of the best, where each month, I highlight a new financial topic. This month, I'm talking about relationships and money.  It's estimated that money problems lead to 20-40% of divorces and from my seat as a financial planner for over the last 10 years, I can tell you that those numbers are accurate. This month, we're going to talk about the pitfalls money can have on relationships but also the solutions to building a financially healthy and safe foundation for two people to navigate. Kicking off this month is the guy I'm in a relationship with, my fiancé, Vinnie. Vinnie joins me to talk about how and why he got financially naked with me and how we handle money choices as a couple. For more information, visit the show: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode520-relationships-and-money

2024 will mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 9 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 9 months, I'll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I've learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics, and so much more.  Each month will be a new theme and the theme of February is children. If becoming a parent is a life goal, you have to prepare for the financial challenges of having children and college planning is certainly high on that list. Joining me today is Alicia Lazarto, COO of the Financial Gym, and more importantly parent to two college-aged kids to talk about helping your children find the best college if that's where they're headed, why you should budget for campus tours and preparing for the eye-opening expenses of sending them away that have nothing to do with tuition, room and board.  For more information, visit the show notes: https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode518-college-planning  

2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement on my end, personally and professionally, but it will also mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 9 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 9 months, I'll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I've learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics and so much more. Each month will be a new theme and the theme of February is children. People who already have children know this, but if becoming a parent is a high life goal, you have to prepare for the financial challenges of having children. Managing those challenges is hard enough if you and your partner are living together, it becomes even more challenging if you're divorced. Joining me today is my ex-husband, Bill, to share what the co-parenting journey has looked like for him and we both talk about the ups and downs of when families transition into a new sort of family unit. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode516-coparenting

Today is the last Friday of the month and my regular listeners know that on the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics.  This is the first Happy Hour of what will be the final year of Martinis and Your Money and we're talking about all things jobs, specifically managing through toxic work environments, getting paid what you deserve and expectations your company or manager may have of you. As always, it was a great conversation with my friends that I hope you enjoy. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode515-jobs

Each month will be a new theme and the theme of January is jobs and salaries. January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you'll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in. Listeners, this is an episode along with it's episode notes that you are going to want to bookmark, save, share, re-listen to, etc because it's a great one!  Joining me today is Sara Belhouari, our Trainer Management Lead at Financial Gym to discuss how she's coached clients through lay offs, job hunting, salary negotiation and everything in-between. I am sure everyone will find important takeaways from this episode.  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode514-salary-negotiation

2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement on my end, personally and professionally, but it will also mark the end of Martinis and your Money in October after 10 years of podcasting. The good news is that the year is just beginning, and I still have 10 months of amazing new content to share with you. Over the next 10 months, I'll be delivering to you the best of the best. The best of what I've learned over the past 9 years of podcasting, the best guests, the best topics and so much more.  Each month will be a new theme and the theme of January is jobs and salaries. January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you'll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in. Many people think about making extra income in the new year with the possibility of maybe starting their own company.  Unfortunately, for a number of people, especially women, the dreams of entrepreneurship are mired by the opportunities out there. Joining me today is Roberta Blevins, founder of Life After MLM to talk about why you should be hesitant to start one of these businesses and how you can save time, money and aggravation by learning what's a scam and what's not. And now here's Roberta.  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode513-roberta-blevins

Welcome to a new year! 2024 is going to be filled with lots of excitement at the show and at The Financial Gym, January is typically a time for change where companies are more likely to lay people off and employees are more open to change and making a change, so I hope you'll find this content helpful no matter what stage you find yourself in.  Joining me today is Hannah Williams, the mastermind behind the TikTok account Salary Transparent Street to share what she's learned after doing the crazy thing and asking random strangers on the street what they do for a living and how much they make doing it. As you can imagine, she's filled with lots of great insights from her experience that I'm excited to share with you.  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode512-salary-transparent-street

On the last Friday of the month, I host the happy hour on the podcast where I gather great friends with me to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics. This is a very special Happy Hour, as we're not only talking about our thoughts around Financial Independence but it's also the year end happy hour, so we'll be sharing our highs and lows of the year and we'll set our goals for next year. I also have a very special surprise for you listeners in this show and I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode511-hh-financial-independence

I have a special bonus episode for you this month. As you know, this will be my final December of new episodes for Martinis and Your Money, and I've spent this month highlighting my favorite financial goal for clients and that's Financial Independence, butno matter what your financial goal is, the end of the year is the perfect time to identify goals and plan for the coming year which is why I'm excited to share this bonus episode with you. Joining me today is Kelly Lannan, Senior Vice President of Emerging Customers at Fidelity to talk about Fidelity's 15th Annual Resolutions Study. She joins me to share the surprising finding of the study and also best practices for setting yourself up to achieve some of those resolutions you may make this year. This is the perfect episode to listen to and hopefully inspire you to set those New Year's resolutions or goals in this last week of the year. I apologize in advance for my voice now and on the episode as I'm currently fighting a seasonal bug that's going around. Despite my cold, this is a great episode with so many helpful takeaways.  For more information, visit the show  https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode510-Fidelity

This December is my final year end month for Martinis and Your Money and around this time every year, I'm always talking to clients about goal setting for the following year. And if you've listened to this show before, you know that one of the most important financial goals that I am most passionate about is Financial Independence and that's the ability to work because you WANT to work and not because you HAVE to work. Fi is the number one goal we give to all of our clients at Financial Gym and it's the number one goal I beg of you to set for 2024 and beyond. Joining me today is Tanja Hester, founder of the Our Next Life blog and author of the books Work Optional and Wallet Activism. I have always appreciated Tanja's approach to Financial Independence and she joins me today to share more of that journey and what she and her husband have been up to since the declared Financial Independence six years ago.  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode509-tonja-hester

This December is my final year end month for Martinis and Your Money and around this time every year, I'm always talking to clients about goal setting for the following year. And if you've listened to this show before, you know that one of the most important financial goals that I am most passionate about is Financial Independence and that's the ability to work because you WANT to work and not because you HAVE to work. It's the number one goal we give to all of our clients at Financial Gym and it's the number one goal I beg of you to set for 2024 and beyond.  Joining me today Brad Barrett, co-founder of the ChooseFI podcast and website. Brad joins me today to share not only his own journey to FI, but what factors unite people on an FI journey and his answer will likely surprise you. And now here's Brad. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode508-chooseFI

This December is my final year-end month for Martinis and Your Money, and around this time every year, I'm always talking to clients about goal setting for the following year. One of the most important financial goals that I am most passionate about is Financial Independence, and that's the ability to work because you WANT to work and not because you HAVE to work.  It's the number one goal we give to all of our clients at Financial Gym, and it's the number one goal I beg of you to set for 2024 and beyond. Joining me today is Jessica, co-founder of the Fioneers and a voice for the SlowFi movement. She joins me today to share about her journey to FI and the lessons her community has taught her along the way. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode507-the-fioneers

One of the financial goals that I am most passionate about is Financial Independence and that's the ability to work because you WANT to work and not because you HAVE to work. It's the number one goal we give to all of our clients at Financial Gym and it's the number one goal I beg of you to set for 2024 and beyond.  Joining me today is Jamila Souffrant founder of Journey to Launch and Author of the new book Your Journey to Financial Freedom to discuss how she became a voice in the FI space and why her book is the perfect guide for you to start your own FI journey. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode506-jamillasouffrant  

Today is the last Friday of the month, and on the last Friday of the month, we host the happy hour on the podcast, where we gather great friends to drink cheap drinks and talk about money topics.  This month of the show, we've been discussing investing to celebrate the launch of Financial Gym's investment management subsidiary, FG Advisory Services, LLC. This happy hour is a time to share more with friends what was shared with this team, and that's why this business line is so important to me and why we've fought so hard to make it happen. For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode505-hh-investing

This month, we're focusing on investing. We're very excited to announce that the team at Financial Gym will finally be able to start investing our clients' money. For the past 10 years, we have coached clients to become first-generation wealth holders, and we want to continue on the journey with them and help them grow and build that wealth.  Today, Garrett and Sara, both long-time trainers at Financial Gym who plan to help grow our investing division, join the show. They join to share some situations we've witnessed with clients that have motivated us to change the wealth management industry.  For more information, visit the show https://www.martinisandyourmoney.com/show-notes/episode504-RIA