So Money With Farnoosh Torabi

On today's Ask Farnoosh, CFP and founder of Modernist Financial Georgia Lee Hussey joins to answer your latest money questions: How to adjust college savings plans with the new administration? Who's responsible for the student loan debacle? Really? Farnoosh and Georgia have a healthy debate. Also: Can you use health insurance as a bargaining chip when negotiating a salary?

Today’s episode is the second of two bonus shows dedicated to answering your student loan questions, a collaboration with TIAA, a leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields.TIAA has been working hard to help its participating employers provide student loan repayment solutions to workers. You may have heard of some companies providing benefits related to student loan debt repayment. Well, TIAA is part of this movement. To help, they’ve created a collaboration with Savi, a social impact technology startup that’s working to solve the student debt crisis by helping workers discover new repayment and loan forgiveness options, specifically the Federal Public Student Loan Forgiveness program enrollment.If you missed last week’s BONUS episode, the part one of our two-part series, please check it out. We talked about how to negotiate a refinance with your PRIVATE student lender and whether or not we can count on the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program?

You might be great at making money in your business...but can you manage it, too? The pain point of many business owners and entrepreneurs is, funny enough, figuring out the money stuff and running that aspect of the business more smoothly. Guest Melanie Hopkins, founder of Finance Friend, helps business owners become empowered in their financial management. Finance Friend is a business management and financial consulting firm. Her client roster ranges from human rights nonprofits to artisanal cheese makers to tech startups. She's saved businesses from financial ruin and can help them find better ways to keep the money they make.

Mastering money has little to do with math. Instead, behavior is the most important side of investing, says today's guest Morgan Housel, author of the top-selling book The Psychology of Money: Timeless Lessons on Wealth, Greed, and Happiness. We discuss many of his insights including the underestimated power of luck and risk, how the only way to stay wealthy is being both frugal and paranoid, and the fallacy of 'earned success' and 'deserved failure.'

*This episode is brought to us by COUNTRY Financial.We're looking ahead and helping you answer some of your 2021 money questions today.I’ve recently partnered with COUNTRY Financial, and they conducted a survey checking in on how Americans are feeling about their finances. Are we optimistic? worried?Well, 38% say they believe their finances will improve in the New Year. And ahead of this episode I asked YOU on Instagram for your top financial questions as we ring in 2021, so we'll be tackling some of those in a moment with special co-host Troy Frerichs, Vice President of Investment Services at COUNTRY Trust Bank.We've got questions about what to do with an inheritance someone recently received, whether to max out a 401(k) before the tax deadline and whether to use savings for paying down debt or keeping it put?The COUNTRY Financial Security Index, a survey conducted by Ipsos, an independent research firm, on November 6-9, 2020 of 1,015 American adults (18+). The full survey results can be found in the COUNTRY

Today’s episode is one of two bonus shows dedicated to answering your student loan questions, a collaboration with TIAA, a leading provider of financial services in the academic, research, medical, cultural and government fields.TIAA has been working hard to help its participating employers provide student loan repayment solutions to workers. They’ve created a collaboration with Savi, a social impact technology startup that’s working to solve the student debt crisis by helping workers discover new repayment and loan forgiveness options. The solution helps individuals with their student debt, specifically their Federal Public Student Loan Forgiveness program enrollment.My guest is Snezana Zlatar, Senior Managing Director and Head of Financial Wellness and Innovation for TIAA. We navigate some of your student loan questions - from how to negotiate lower rates on your private loan and whether it’s wise to put extra money towards your student loans or a retirement plan?Snezana also shares more about the TIAA Savi

While 2020 was a step backwards for female employment, my guest believes that big changes are afoot to support professional women in the workplace. Kristy Wallace is the CEO of Ellevate Network, and is responsible for executing Ellevate Network’s mission of changing the culture of business from the inside out by providing professional women with a supportive community to lean on and learn from. She directs the Network’s staff, is responsible for business growth and strategy, and works closely with Ellevate's Chapter Leaders, Business Partners, and Champions to further Ellevate's impact.Kristy is host of the Ellevate Podcast: Conversations with Women Changing the Face of Business and is also a regular speaker and thought leader on Leadership, Diversity, Social Entrepreneurship, Networking, and Entrepreneurialism. Most recently, Kristy was recognized as a Woman of Influence by the New York Business Journal. 

Negin Farsad was named one of the 53 Funniest Women by Huffington Post and her TEDTalk on social justice comedy has been seen by millions. She is author of How to Make White People Laugh, host of political comedy podcast Fake the Nation, regular panelist on NPR’s Wait Wait Don’t Tell Me, and frequent co-host on Neil DeGrasse Tyon’s Star Talk. She’s been on HBO's High Maintenance and Comedy Central’s Nightly Show among others. She wrote/directed The Muslims Are Coming! (Netflix) with Jon Stewart and David Cross. Her latest 3rd Street Blackout is on Peacock.

On this week's Ask Farnoosh, a listener requests financial advice for her relationship. Another fan wants to know how to best save for a child's college education. Also, will housing prices cool in 2021?

What does it cost to produce a documentary? Can you get rich selling a project to Showtime or Amazon?Wendy Sachs recently pivoted from her career as a bestselling author and speaker to produce a documentary. She spent three years on the road following the political campaigns of, among others, Lauren Underwood, the youngest Black woman to ever be elected to Congress. Fresh from that experience, she's on So Money to discuss the behind-the-scenes reality of raising money for her project and how she ultimately negotiated deals with two major streaming channels. Her documentary, Surge, is about the record number of first-time female candidates who ran, won and upended politics in the historic 2018 midterm election. It premiered on Showtime this fall and is currently airing on Amazon, as well.

Rha Goddess and Deepa Purushothaman were brought together over five years ago. Deepa was a “first” Senior Partner at Deloitte. Rha left corporate America and the chemical industry as an “only” two decades ago to focus on helping leaders find their passion, purpose and calling. Deepa has spent years focusing on women’s leadership and inclusion strategies to help WOC navigate corporate structures. Rha has helped hundreds of high impact leaders realize they can work in ways that honor their values and uplift new definitions of power, profitability and success. Together, they have discovered that there is a collective untapped power that WOC have yet to harness and leverage. Visit n2formation.com to learn more.

(Replay) I recently had an experience that was proof positive of all the advice shared on So Money about how to negotiate your worth. The following episode offers the the play-by-play that happened over email and my notes to you. It's the actual script (with some omissions for privacy). Plus, answers to your money questions about building credit and making the most of a lump sum payment. This episode originally aired on January 31, 2020.

From Snoop Dogg to Martha Stewart and suburbia, marijuana has entered the mainstream. What drove this movement? It's a story about business, race, politics and of course, money. Our guest is Heather Cabot, award-winning journalist and author of The New Chardonnay: The Unlikely Story of How Marijuana Went Mainstream.More about Heather: Her book was named a Good Morning America “must-read” and has earned praise from Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, Booklist and Katie Couric for the book’s deep reporting and entertaining storytelling. Heather also hosts The New Chardonnay podcast and is a former ABC News correspondent and anchor. Cabot serves on the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism alumni board and is a contributor to Forbes. She is also the co-author of the WSJ-acclaimed book Geek Girl Rising: Inside the Sisterhood Shaking Up Tech (St. Martin’s Press). 

When Broadway went dark in March 2020 following the pandemic, countless artists and performers found themselves suddenly out of work, including Margaret Skoglund, a Broadway show manager. Her pivot in the following months would not help her to rebound, but many of her creative colleagues. She founded Virtual Broadway, a platform that connects people to the world's most successful performers with professionally-produced, custom video experiences for your business or for your friends and family. More about Margeret: A former Duke Women’s Basketball manager, she traded games for performances and practices for rehearsals when she moved to New York City to manage Broadway shows. Over a dozen years later, favorites include Rock of Ages, Mamma Mia!, What the Constitution Means to Me, and Once On This Island as well as The Lion King and Newsies First National Tours. Other credits include Executive Producer of The Seagull (2018 Tribeca Film Festival) and Associate Producer of the inaugural Festival of New American Mus

Questions this week about how business owners can raise prices without turning off existing clients. Also, how to find a mentor and earn more media for your company? And if you had to choose: would you save an extra $2,000 a month for retirement or for a future home?

Arian Simone knows what it’s like to experience financial highs and lows. She went from being abruptly fired, forced to live in her car, and living off food stamps to becoming a philanthropist and running her own venture capital fund. Her book, The Fearless Money Mindset, is like a booster shot of optimism and can help transform how you look at your finances.Her book The Fearless Money Mindset provides a close-up view inside the life of Arian detailing her life lessons, business wins, and humorous adventures that have impacted her personal and professional journey. Arian's open transparency illustrates that a simple shift in perspective can ultimately move you closer towards achieving what's possible.“Many people have more fear in being broke, rather than faith in having abundance,” says Simone. Her journey is one of perseverance, business savvy, and faith. And it’s a testament to believing that when your luck is down, it’s only temporary — an essential reminder this year.

Can you *really* ask for a raise right now? In a recession? Our guest Alexandra (Alex) Carter says it's not impossible. She's spent that last 11 years helping people negotiate successfully in all realms of life. Her first book Ask for More: Ten Questions to Negotiate Anything, was published May 5th by Simon & Schuster and became an instant Wall Street Journal bestseller — the first negotiation book solo-authored by a woman to make that list.More about Alex: She is a Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Mediation Clinic at Columbia Law School. She has spent the last eleven years helping thousands of people negotiate better, build relationships and reach their goals. In 2019, Alex was awarded the Columbia University Presidential Award for Outstanding Teaching, Columbia University’s highest teaching honor.

This week's edition of Ask Farnoosh responds to audience questions related to home buying. Is it OK to buy a home if you don't have a lot of cash for a downpayment? Also, what's better for retirement savings, a Roth IRA or 401(k)? Plus, Farnoosh provides an overview of her latest column about what President-elect Biden's plans may mean for our finances.

A special drop! In case you missed it, Jessi Hempel, host of the amazing podcast Hello Monday, interviewed me about the relationship between money and work, why money is really important (and when it is not), and what we all can be doing to take control of our finances—especially this year. Jessi was also a guest on So Money this past Monday. As two female podcast hosts determined to grow our shows, we thought it would be fun to air our episodes on each other's feeds. Hope you enjoy!

A recession is historically a great time to start a successful business. Shark Tank star and serial entrepreneur Robert Herjavec joins Farnoosh to discuss the start-up opportunities he sees for entrepreneurs, as well his own journey learning about money and being raised the son of immigrants.