So Money With Farnoosh Torabi

On today's episodes: Wise ways to prioritize savings goals and potential risks (and rewards) to quitting your job in this economy. Also, special guest Corey Timlin, Head of Consumer Deposits at American Express, offers insights on how to pick a good checking account.This episode is brought to us by American Express. For more visit AmericanExpress.com/RewardsChecking.

Today's guest is a friend and top financial journalist, Diane King Hall, who's been covering business news for more than 20 years. King Hall was most recently a correspondent and fill-in anchor for CBS News. She cut her teeth in the leading newsrooms in the country, and embedded on Wall Street. King Hall has worked at Bloomberg, BBC, NY1, and CNN. She is passionate about sharing the principles she has learned to help uplift people and improve their financial lives. She shares wisdom and practical steps from her own journey navigating the world of money.

Zarna Garg is one in a billion, an Indian immigrant mom stand-up comedian who believes brown women everywhere have a right to laugh at anything and anyone they want–including the sacred cows: brown men and their mothers. She is a regular at the iconic Comedy Cellar and Carolines on Broadway in NYC, has performed in Vegas and the famed Kennedy Center, and is touring nationwide in 2022. A TikTok comedy sensation with over 100 million views and 510.7k followers (and growing FAST), Zarna won Kevin Hart’s Lyft Comics comedy competition on Peacock and the 2021 Ladies of Laughter Newcomer Award. She also won the Top Comedy Feature Screenplay Award at the 2019 Austin Film Festival and was a Nicholl Fellowships Semi-Finalist. Zarna talks about her pivot to comedy in her 40s, motherhood, money and laughing about the "sacred cows": brown men and their mothers.

This week's Ask Farnoosh covers leveraging the equity in a primary home to buy a second property, how to choose a CPA, whether to invest in a Roth IRA or pay off high interest student loans, and the risks that come with parents helping their adult children pay down debt. Plus, a new reviewer of the week earns a free money consult.

Integrity. Kindness. Substance and value. These may not be the words used to describe today's media moguls or Fortune 500 CEOs, but it is how many remember the late Frank Biondi, the former CEO of HBO, Universal Studios, and Viacom. Today's guest is Jane Biondi Munna, Frank's youngest daughter and co-author of his memoir, Let's Be Frank, where she shares how he made good relationships alongside great deals, earned respect while earning multi-million dollar returns, and maintained character even when surrounded by an industry full of characters.More about Jane: She is an executive at JPMorgan Chase. She has served for over a decade in roles across marketing, finance, strategy, and communications, including as the executive communications partner to the co-president and COO of the firm. Her twenty years of experience began with investment banking and included a few years in marketing and special events for the Los Angeles Dodgers where she booked celebrities to throw out the ceremonial first pitch or sing the n

We are midway through January and the overwhelm of financial resolution setting may already be setting in. How to navigate your finances and achieve your savings and investing goals more gracefully in 2023? Guest Nicole Stanley is the founder of Arise Financial Coaching, a company dedicated to helping professionals who have tried everything finally ditch debt, save more, and enjoy financial confidence. In five years, she went from battling financial anxiety to building her family’s net worth to over $250K on an annual salary of $56K. In 2020, after her husband became furloughed, Nicole officially started her coaching practice and became the sole breadwinner in her household. She speaks candidly about that pivot.Fun fact: The average Arise client saves $20K in six months without giving up the things they love. Nicole lives in Denver, CO with her husband and two children.Learn more about Nicole on her website and Instagram. Check out her So Money interview from May 2022.

This week on So Money: A listener has a question about losing her house in a divorce and the financial considerations to make before breaking up. How to invest for yourself and your kids under one roof? My best advice for college students seeking a return on their experience? How did I structure my business? And more. Plus, a new reviewer of the week.

How to reconcile the fact that while your immigrant parents want you to be financially safe and secure, their advice doesn't speak to your ambitions or search for happiness? Financial planner Anna N'Jie Konte is our guest. She is the founder of Dare to Dream Financial Planning: a fee-only, virtual financial planning firm that serves the needs of 30/40 something women of color who want to live boldly and make a lasting impact on their family tree.  Konte is also the host of the “First-Gen Realness” podcast. There, she engages in conversations with her fellow first-generation Americans in order to reinforce their value and immense contributions to the fabric of America.

With the new year comes new decisions: Should I quit? Take the new job? Get married? Have kids? Start a business? Buy a home? Guests today are Stanford Professor Myra H. Strober and social innovation leader Abby Davisson, co-authors of the new book Money and Love: An Intelligent Roadmap for Life’s Big Decisions. In our conversation, they share a road-tested strategy for making high-stakes decisions with confidence and personal alignment. 

Kicking off 2023 with a fresh episode of Ask Farnoosh. Farnoosh talks about the #1 financial lesson she wants her kids to learn, thoughts on new year goals and opportunities for home buyers in 2023. Plus, a new reviewer of the week wins a free 15 minute money call.

Globally-recognized personal finance educator, podcast host, and social media star Tori Dunlap joins the show to talk her book, Financial Feminist: Overcome the Patriarchy's Bullsh*t to Master Your Money and Build a Life You Love. It is an inclusive guide to all things money—from managing debt to investing and voting with your dollars.More about Tori: She quit her corporate job in marketing and founded Her First $100K to fight financial inequality by giving women actionable resources to better their money. She has helped over three million women negotiate salary, pay off debt, build savings, and invest.

Happy New Year! This episode revisits some of Farnoosh's fave financial wisdom shared on So Money in 2022 that she hopes we'll carry into the new year. Hear from: Caroline Dooner, author of Tired as F*ck, Eve Rodsky, author of Find Your Unicorn Space, Chelsea Fagan, CEO of The Financial Diet and Barbara Sloan, author of Tipped.

A replay from April 8, 2022, this Ask Farnoosh covers how to save and invest in your 30s. Also: How badly will a car refi damage my credit score? How to best afford a new home for my parents? This week’s Ask Farnoosh addresses audience questions with guest co-host Georgia Lee Hussy, CFP and founder of Modernist Financial in Portland, Oregon.

So Money explored money and mental health throughout the year with the country's leading experts on burnout, anxiety and financial fear. Revisiting some of those discussion in today's episode with guests Cait Donovan, host of FRIED: The Burnout Podcast, Dr. Ellen Vora, author of The Anatomy of Anxiety, entrepreneur Ellie Diop and Katie Gatti, host of Money with Katie podcast on Morning Brew.

Revisiting some of the year's most powerful interviews about financial equity with Christina Blacken, founder of The New Quo, Rendel Solomon, racial justice advocate, and Xavier Ramey, CEO of Justice Informed.

This episode originally aired on August 19, 2022.Farnoosh shares thoughts on an article about households earning $250,000 but living paycheck to paycheck. Audience members want to know: Can I retire early? What to do with an inheritance? How can doctors and healthcare workers improve their finances without leaving the industry? How to be fiscally responsible with a new raise?Subscribe to Farnoosh's weekly So Money newsletter for the latest updates and advice.

Vee Weir, founder of Vee Frugal Fox, speaks candidly about how guilt, shame and anxiety plagued her financial life after college...and how some of her darkest periods were while following the principles of financial businessman D*ve R*msey. She recognizes that his advice has helped millions of people, but has an important message around how to be more thoughtful and critical of the financial advice we follow and the experts that guide us. Vee Frugal Fox is an inclusive online brand for those paying down debt, saving money, and living their best financial lives. Vee began her path to financial independence in 2016, She has paid off $71k in five years. She fell in love with personal finance and opened her digital marketing firm, which services other finance brands in the online space. Check out her podcast, Not Another Personal Finance Podcast.

Though inflation is showing signs of cooling, food prices remain higher than they've been in decades. Gina Zakaria, a personal finance educator and grocery expert, shares some of her road-tested strategies for reducing her grocery bill by 50%.Through her Saving Whiz platform and social network of over 3 million people, she teaches simple strategies that make it easy to save money. Her mission is to empower others to save in a way that doesn’t feel depriving. She’s been featured on Good Morning America, NBC Today, Forbes, Money, and others. Gina also runs her online community, Super Savers, where she coaches and guides members to save money the easy way, so they have more money for things they love. Grab her free Freeze List.

This week: A listener's company is offering to help pay for the downpayment on a home. Is it too good to be true? How to share the cost of furniture when moving in with your partner? Special guest and Farnoosh's friend Laura Belgray, Founder of Talking Shrimp stops by at the end of the episode to talk about The White Lotus finale (spoiler alert!) and what we learn about money and power. Grab Laura's freebie, Story Goldmine, here.

Alissa Quart, the author of several books, including Squeezed: Why Our Families Can’t Afford America, offers insights into her in-depth reporting on economic hardship. We discussed the people who now make up the “middle precariat,” those considered middle-class professionals living a precarious economic life, who are just barely making it, underemployed and/or saddled with debt. We discuss how generations are being squeezed, what inequality looks like and how to build a better future. To listen to Alissa's audio series Going for Broke, click here. For more related content in our "Priced Out" series on CNET Money, click here.