So Money With Farnoosh Torabi

What is the True Living Cost in America? How do the CPI - Consumer Price Index - and Unemployment Rate fall short of measuring our economic realities? Guest Gene Ludwig is a former Comptroller of the Currency and now chairman of the Ludwig Institute for Shared Economic Prosperity. LISEP provides a more accurate picture of the economic reality for families through the creation of a cost of living metric called TLC, or TRUE LIVING COST, which factors in housing, food, transportation, healthcare, childcare, technology and other miscellaneous. For more related content in our "Priced Out" series on CNET Money, click here.

This week's Ask Farnoosh addresses questions about side hustles, the best financial apps, leasing a car, calculating life insurance needs and the myth of imposter syndrome.Check out: Farnoosh's biggest money mistakeStuck on what to give your friend (or yourself) this holiday season? The 2023 So Money Page-a-Day calendar is chock-full of Farnoosh's best tips and insights to help you live a richer life. Use the code CALENDAR22 and save 20% at pageaday.com

Choose your hours, choose your work, be your own boss, control your own income. Welcome to the gig economy, a nebulous collection of online platforms and apps that promise to transcend capitalism. Supporters argue that the gig economy will reverse economic inequality, enhance worker rights, and bring entrepreneurship to the masses. But does it? Guest Alexandrea J. Ravenelle, Associate Professor of sociology at UNC-Chapel Hill and author of Hustle and Gig, shares the personal stories of nearly eighty predominantly millennial gig workers, underlining the volatility of working in the gig economy.For more related content in our "Priced Out" series on CNET Money, click here.

We're exploring the *real* cost of living over the next couple of weeks, examining how everyday Americans are struggling to cover basic needs. Today's focus is the cost of health care and what we need to know, as we attempt to secure our essential health care and pay for medical bills. Guest Emily Maloney is the author of Cost of Living, a collection of essays about her life experience dealing with illness, money and medicine, from the perspective as a patient and a professional -- an EMT, an emergency room tech, and a drug rep. She is a survivor of the difficulties many Americans face while navigating the healthcare system and has a great deal of insights and advice to share. For more related content in our "Priced Out" series on CNET Money, click here.

All new Ask Farnoosh. Listeners want to learn about the best tax-wise way to invest for retirement, the smartest places to save (CDs or I Bonds?), whether short or long-term disability leave can hurt your chances of qualifying for Public Service Loan Forgiveness and whether it's wise to buy universal life insurance.Grab your copy of the SO MONEY Page-A-Day CALENDAR. Save 20% with the code SOMONEY23 on PageaDay.com

The modern family is often a blended one. How should couples with step children manage expenses? What are the important conversations to have before getting married? Expert Cameron Normand, co-founder of The Stepmom Summit, joins to share insights from her work and real life as the stepmom to four children.More about Cameron: She is founder/CEO of This Custom Life, where she provides stepmoms with tools and advice to help them manage their blended family lives. She is a Certified Stepfamily Coach, the creator of the BLENDED Family Formula For Stepmom Success, and author of The Stepmom’s Gratitude Journal.  Cameron is married to a recently-retired Army veteran and has four stepchildren. The link for Cameron's freebie is www.stepfamilymoney.com. 

As Treasury Secretary, former Federal Reserve Chairwoman and Chair of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, Janet Yellen is one the most powerful woman in American economic history. Award-winning economics writer and author Jon Hilsenrath joins with insights about her life and work from his new book, Yellen: The Trailblazing Economist Who Navigated an Era of Upheaval. He shares how she navigated the sexism in her industry and in politics, her unconventional partnership in marriage and work with Nobel Laureate George Akerlof and why she didn't always "lean in."More about Jon Hilsenrath: He is a senior writer for the Wall Street Journal, where he has been since 1997, reporting from Hong Kong, New York, and Washington, DC. He was a Pulitzer Prize finalist in 2014 for his coverage of the Federal Reserve; part of a team of 2009 Pulitzer finalists for coverage of the global financial crisis; and contributed on-the-scene reporting from the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, which helped the WSJ win a

This episode originally aired on Friday Oct. 7On today's show: benefits of a financial adviser, managing savings ahead of buying a house, FAFSA fun facts and a crazy but true strategy for affording a pricey prescription not covered by insurance.More from Farnoosh:Farnoosh's New Hot Mic column https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/what-my-iranian-parents-taught-me-about-financial-autonomy-and-creating-luck/Sign Up For the So Money Newsletter https://www.cnet.com/so-money/

The Financial Independence, Retire Early movement dates back to the early 1990s. How has it evolved and how are some followers creating new FIRE rules? NextAdvisor senior editor Nick Wolny joins to give us the full download of this popular personal finance trend, including how to calculate your FIRE number, why some people in the movement don't want to retire early...and what the heck is "Barista" FIRE?

Cindy Zuniga-Sanchez, founder of Zero-Based Budget, returns to So Money to share insights from her new book, Overcoming Debt, Achieving Financial Freedom. It chronicles her own debt freedom journey, as. well as her 8 pillars for building wealth.

Farnoosh is back with savings insights from her Paris trip. Listeners want to know about: curbing spending in a high-cost-of-living spending, the best robo-advisors, building a career in PR, how to prepare for working past age 70 and more.Grab the 2023 So Money Page-a-Day Calendar here. Use the code CYBER22 for 30% off until the end of the month.Click here to see CNET's pick of the best robo advisors: https://www.cnet.com/personal-finance/investing/best-robo-advisor/Sign up for Farnoosh's weekly newsletter and receive a free gift: https://www.cnet.com/feature/signup-so-money/

Guest Hadley Hagen is a nervous system educator and money coach. She cares profoundly about the connection between money and the nervous system and believes that without an understanding of how the nervous system works, you can’t make real, lasting changes in your money life. With a background in business and economics, Hadley combines tactical, practical money management with a trauma-aware, body-first approach to help her clients develop deeper self-trust with money.Visit her website and grab her free online kit.

Learn how a divorce led Andresa Guidelli to claim her financial freedom and expand her real estate portfolio. She began flipping dozens of properties and building new construction. Could real estate be the respite she was seeking from her past relationship? Could more women benefit from investing in real estate? Together with Liz Faircloth, Guidelli started The Real Estate InvestHER in 2018, a community that supports women real estate investors in a market traditionally led by men.

In today's Ask Farnoosh: Is lifestyle creep, the idea that your expenses grow as your income grows - a bad thing? A listener wants to know about resources for navigating your finances when disabled. Also: The truth about whole life insurance. Why it may be wiser to take out a term policy or simply invest in the stock market.Join Farnoosh's weekly newsletter and receive a free PDF of So Money Secrets, a compilation of insights from top episodes.

Rendel Solomon is a recovering engineer, reformed private equity investor, and an aspiring anti-capitalist, dedicated to spreading financial literacy and the importance of investing to Black youth in America. We discuss his upbringing, raised on the Westside of Chicago, and how his family, schooling and career in private equity led him to his work today focusing on addressing systemic pressures that hold Black Americans back from achieving wealth and career success.Be sure to watch Rendel's TEDx talk entitled "Sharecropper to Shareholder."

Julien and Kiersten Saunders are the married couple behind Rich & Regular, a podcast and blog in which they talk about sharing finances with your partner, raising kids to have a positive relationship with money, and creating generational wealth. Listen to learn how the couple initially broke up over Kiersten’s spending habits. The Saunders are changing the perception of financial independence to include more regular Black families like theirs. The Saunders are on this year's list of Next Up Honorees.

Social Security is one of the hottest financial search terms on the internet right now. Interest in the topic spiked after recent news that current benefits would be adjusted significantly higher for a cost-of-living increase. And as the midterm elections approach, we're hearing again how some Republican politicians want to throw these federal benefits on the chopping block. Listeners weigh in with their biggest questions over Social Security's future and what it means for retirement. For more, check out Farnoosh's latest Hot Mic column on CNET.To join Farnoosh's CNET So Money weekly newsletter, click here. Receive a free PDF of So Money Secrets, a compilation of insights from top episodes.

Vanessa Menchaca-Wachtmeister is a 29-year old, Mexican-American, travel tech professional and creator of travel and personal finance blog Wander Onwards. Learn why she ditched the path to law school to pursue life abroad. She offers negotiation tips on how she doubled her salary after switching jobs. She has 10 revenue streams and big plans for a business supporting immigrants. Vanessa is a NextUp honoree.

Dyana King is a NextUp Honoree, a single mom of 2 and the creator of Money. Boss. Mama. This “do-it-my-way” Money & Mindset Coach stumbled into the personal finance world after signing up for an auto loan that took one of her bi-weekly paychecks. After becoming debt-free on a moderate income she’s now on a mission to help other single moms maximize their 9-5 income to get out of debt and build their savings. Follow Dyana on Instagram and YouTube.

On this week's Ask Farnoosh, a listener asks about timing her 401(k) rollover so that she avoids losses. Also, what's the best way to establish credit in college: open a credit card or get a student loan? A listener also wonders about the best ways to pay for a full-time caregiver for her baby. Farnoosh selects a reviewer of the week. To read her latest So Money Hot Mic column on student loans the racial wealth gap, click here.For Farnoosh's weekly email offering current financial insights and advice, sign up for free and receive a free gift: So Money Secrets, a PDF of select interview highlights.