Shows
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Buy Income-Producing WebsitesIt is no secret that Andrew and I each own multiple online businesses that earn us passive income. Before we started we had no idea what we were doing. It’s not easy to start a website from scratch and if you’re not already building an online business you might not even know what a great idea looks like. Today we’re talking about how you can buy an existing online business. We have a special guest on the show today, Blake Hutchinson, the CEO of Flippa.com. We’ll get into the details of buying on the pl...
2020-03-2354 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Personal Money Horror Stories (Rebroadcast)It’s almost Halloween and nothing is more frightening than money horror stories. Close the blinds, turn off the lights, light a candle and prepare to be scared. Matt and Andrew haven’t always been smart with money, well Andrew mostly has. But even they have finance horror stories and will share them with us.This episode was first published on October 31 2014Show NotesHopfish IPA: An English style IPA.The Bowery Boys Haunted Brooklyn: Here’s a special Halloween treat. One of my favorite podcasts. If you like history or just scar...
2019-10-2836 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Start and Monetize a Blog QuicklyAndrew and Matt share their stories and the lessons they learned creating a blog that makes passive income but more importantly, they are going to spell out the exact steps they took to achieve financial independence. They will cover:How to Start a Blog (Step-by-Step Guide) – Everything you need to get started in under 10 minutes with $160. The act of paying someone to host a blog for you is easy.How to Monetize your Blog – The only two ways that matter and the one you should avoid at all costs.Your Creation Stra...
2019-08-0549 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Three P’s of SuccessEveryone wants to find success both in their personal lives and their professional lives. Because success is an almost universal desire, there are thousands of books, podcasts, articles, TV shows, and seminars that claim they can teach us how to be successful.And all of the people selling those books and other things have a vested interest in making finding success seem harder and more complicated than it needs to be. But we like to keep things simple and assume you want the same. We love Marcus Lemonis of the TV show The Profit. He is a...
2019-07-2252 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: The 4% Rule, Staying Financially Motivated and Passive IncomeWe get dozens of emails a week asking financial questions. Sometimes we get a question so good, we want as many people as possible to hear it and the answer. That's how 5 questions episodes were born. We have questions about the 4% rule, staying financially motivated, and making passive income. Let's answer some questions.Full Article HereShow NotesGose Dragon's Milk-White: A white stout.Matt's Home Brew: A Kolsch. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
2019-07-1551 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Increasing A Property's Value With Home ImprovementsFor most people, their home is their most significant investment. As such, you not only want to protect your investment but increasing a property's value is important too. The right home improvements can do it. Doubling your property’s value might be a little too ambitious for anyone who isn’t a professional real estate flipper or property developer, but some money spent in the right places will improve your property’s value.Full Article HereShow NotesOak and Orchard :A sour from Epic Brewing. Hammertime Porter...
2019-06-0348 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.You Can't Time The Market - But Can You?If you are interested in personal finance, you’ve probably heard the term timing the market. There is some debate about whether market timing is a good investment strategy or something impossible, or nearly impossible to do. You probably can't time the market. Unless you’re Warren Buffett which you are not.Even if you’re just a casual observer of economic news, you hear a lot of questions about what’s happening with the stock market or the housing market. These questions create a lot of speculation, but what should the average investor which most of...
2019-05-2042 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Become A Profitable PersonIf you run your own business, you go to great lengths to make sure that your business is a profitable one. Both Andrew and Matt run their own businesses. They regularly go over their accounting to see if the businesses are spending too much money and if they are, where? Do the profit margins need to be increased? How much money is being held in reserve in case of a period of lower cash flow?But how many of us do these things and ask these questions when it comes to our personal finances? We watch every...
2019-05-1335 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Money Advice We Would Give Our Younger SelvesOh to be young again or even just younger than you are now. Just think of all the things you would do differently. You wouldn't waste so much time dating losers, you would have taken better care of your health. So many mistakes. Youth is wasted on the young as the saying goes. But perhaps no mistakes sting quite so much as the money mistakes we made.Maybe you got into credit card debt, bought a house you couldn't really afford or lost a bundle on a bad investment. Or perhaps worse, waited so long to invest...
2019-03-0451 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Case Study: Andrews 3 Rental Properties 2.5 Years LaterRental properties can be a great source of passive income but there are a lot of variables. What do you need to know to make sure you buy the right rental properties? Well, doing is the best way to learn anything.We podcasted about rental properties and wrote about rental properties and built a tool to help you find and compare rental properties. Oh, and Andrew and Laura bought 3 rental properties in quick succession.Mistakes have been made and lessons have been learned. Is cash flow the most important determining factor? Do you...
2019-02-1856 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Smart Saver, Student Loans and S-CorpsWe love 5 questions episodes because they are based on questions our listeners want answers to. We’re going to cover questions related to Betterment’s Smart Saver Account, student loans, investing with Fidelity versus Vanguard, your house as a retirement fund, and incorporating a business.Full Article HereShow NotesSide Squeeze: Gun Hill BrewingEchos: Outer Range Brewing CompanyKeep Em Coming!Thanks to everyone who wrote in with questions. We choose questions that cover topics lots of people are writing in abou...
2019-02-1149 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.What Should Matt Do With His Rental Property?The American Dream. Most of us were brought up with the idea of the American dream and home ownership has been sold to us as a fundamental part of that dream. But what’s so great about owning a home? Is it a great investment? No, it isn’t, not if you’re planning to live in it yourself. An investment is something that makes you money. A house does not make you money, not even after you’ve paid off your mortgage because you still have to pay for things like repairs, maintenance, and property taxes. Ide...
2019-01-2841 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Vesting, Budgeting Styles and Starting a BlogThis weeks we are covering five listener questions are on vesting, budgeting styles, starting an opportunity fund, IRA's and starting a blog.Question One: Balance between the spender and the saverWhat I struggle with the most it getting my spouse to follow the budget. I have tried mint, and YNAB and a cash envelope system. How do I get her to follow a budget. Or maybe how do I 'trick' her into it? I'm not going to leave my spouse because of some money issues that don't cause us negative effect. We...
2018-11-1942 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Science of Buying HappinessCan money buy happiness? Science is here once again to save the day and show us exactly how to spend our money (or our time) to increase our level of happiness. We'll investigate the science of buying happiness. If you aren't buying happiness, you're using your money the wrong way. Full Article HereShow NotesBeer Geek Breakfast: An Oatmeal Stout.Rumpkin: A pumpkin beer aged in rum barrels.Join the Listen Money Matters Community on Facebook by visiting listenmoneymatters.com/c...
2018-10-2254 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Making Money, REI and Timing the MarketWe get all kinds of great questions, and it can be hard to choose just five, but everyone is interested in making money, we have a ton of questions about real estate investing, and timing the market is something we covered years ago so wanted to revisit it for our newer listeners. We love listener questions, and we have good ones. Here are 5 questions about making money, REI, and timing the market.Full Article HereShow NotesSouthern Tier Pumpking: The first pumpkin beer of the season!...
2018-10-1550 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Simple Rules That Will Help You Make Better Financial DecisionsThere are dozens and dozens of figures and formulas around anything related to investing but some of us (me) are math deficient and even if we are math savants. Sitting around calculating things before making any investment decisions is the total opposite our LMM’s Set It And Forget It philosophy. So if you have these few back pocket rules in mind, the mathematics of investing will be less mysterious. We know math is hard, but the mathematics of money are really straightforward and can help you make better financial decisions.Full Article Here...
2018-10-0852 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Women and Money with Suze OrmanIf you’re interested in personal finance, you know who Suze Orman is. She has written nine best-selling books, is a financial advisor, a speaker, and a television and podcast host. Suze’s book Women & Money addresses some of the financial issues that are unique to women.Full Article HereShow NotesSchlafly India Pale Lager: A clean, malty lager.Brunch: Matt’s homebrewBe Good or Be Gone:Suze sold out the legendary Appollo theater. The event was filmed. You can catch Suze Orman: Women...
2018-10-0134 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Big Money Mistakes + Big ChangesIf you’ve listened to LMM from the beginning, you’re going to hear a familiar voice today. If you’ve never heard our early episodes, the voice is going to become familiar. Matt was the original co-host of LMM and was there for about the first 250 episodes of the show. He and Andrew disagreed about the direction of the show, and after a frustrating recording session, things blew up, and Matt left. But like Liz Taylor and Richard Burton, Andrew and Matt just can’t stay apart.Full Article HereShow NotesSo w...
2018-07-231h 00
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Do Things That Scale: Starting a Business That Will Take OffThere are only so many hours in a day so you need to build a business that can grow while you’re sleeping, on vacation, or working on your next business. You have to do things that scale when starting a business that will take off. While we are discussing scaling a business, there are plenty of other areas of life that you can scale including investing and video games. To scale a business means to create a system, product, or service that can generate more money through some resource that isn’t your time. Scale is a concept that...
2018-06-041h 01
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Scariest 1%: The Impact of Fees in the Long TermYou’re paying your money manager for his or her expertise, right? They know all the secrets and tricks to picking the right stocks and making the right investments. They know things you will never understand. Well, they don’t. According to the analysis, 99 percent of actively managed US equity funds sold in Europe have failed to beat the S&P 500 over the past 10 years. You need someone with expertise to make sure you don’t lose all of your money when the market is volatile. You don’t. Andrew did the math.Full Article Here...
2018-04-0255 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Knowledge is Power: Why Knowledge Is More Valuable Than MoneyThe most valuable thing in the world is knowledge. Everything else in our lives, money, health, things, love, they can all come and go. They can all be taken away from us. The one thing that no one can ever take from you once you have acquired it is knowledge. You can lose your money, all of it, and all of the stuff it brought you in an instant and through no fault of your own. But the knowledge you have earned is something that no one and nothing can ever take from you.Full...
2018-03-0547 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Amazing Tax Benefits Of An LLCThe two most expensive things in life are taxes and interest, and we want to avoid both. One of the best ways to avoid taxes is by starting a business. We want to illustrate the massive tax advantages allowed to small businesses and how utilizing these advantages can be as beneficial if not more so as compared to traditional retirement accounts. Also, they can be used in conjunction with retirement accounts for an added big advantage. Today we will discuss LLC vs S Corp and the amazing tax benefits of having a business.Full Article Here
2018-02-261h 08
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Invest or Pay Off Debt? That is the Question.There are a lot of questions in personal finance but maybe the biggest is invest or pay off debt? That is the question we get at LMM most often. There is a lot of emotions involved when it comes to making financial decisions but this framework largely removes emotion. This is straight up what you should do to optimize your finances. So, what should you do first, invest or pay off debt? Today Andrew has done the math.Full Article HereShow NotesEven More Jesus Evil Twin Brewing: An Imperial...
2017-09-1839 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Master the Decision Making Process With Matt BodnarDo you hate making a decision? Sometimes the fear of making a decision means we miss out on a good opportunity. We make dozens of decisions every day. Some of them are minor like what to wear to work, and some are major like deciding between buying a rental property or a house to live in. When you learn to master the decision-making process you can improve every aspect of your life, your job, your health, your relationships and not least of all, your finances. Today we will get you off the fence and show you how to master t...
2017-04-1756 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Land a Job With Mark FiebertFinding the perfect job is a daunting task. You send out tons of resumes, create custom cover letters, go on interviews, anxiously wait for a call and then end up not getting an offer. Rinse and repeat.It can be incredibly frustrating when you send out application after application and don’t hear back anyone. If you have been searching for a new job for some time, it might be time to step up your game.Today the guys talk to Mark Fiebert (Andrews dad) and pick his brain on how to land a job. Af...
2017-02-0657 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Are You Financially Ready For The New Year?Yep, it’s time of the year again for New Years Resolutions to kick-in and for many of us, that means getting your finances in order. Are you financially ready for the new year? As we slowly approach the new year, it’s a great time to financially prepared for what’s to come. Whether you want to save for a home, get a new job or start a side hustle, you need to financially prepare you and your family. Today the guys review their last year in business and finance and talk about how they are going t...
2016-12-1846 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Debt, Real Estate Investing and FreelancingThis week the guys tackle five questions from the audience on debt, real estate investing and freelancing. Question one: Hi, Andrew, Tom, and Laura, I think an important, and sorely needed topic is finance for freelancers. And not even those who use invoicing systems. I’ve been freelancing for more years than I care to admit, and there are so many like me who copyedit, proofread or design book jackets. We’re one-person shows, with little-to-no cushion, where times are feast or famine. I would love to talk about this more or hear...
2016-12-1247 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Types of Budgets: What Is Your Budgeting Style?Budgeting sucks. No one really wants to do it. It’s hard to stick with, it’s a chore to review it every month and it makes you feel like crap when you spend way too much on lattes. But, you’re an adult so you need to do it. There are a few types of budgets, which one is right for you? We’re getting back to basics of budgeting. Both Thomas and Andrew have been off the rails with their own budgets so get ready for some confessions. They will discuss different types of budgets, how they...
2016-12-0555 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.This Financial Life With CoreyWe like to check in with our listeners and see how their financial life is going. Today we will take a look at This Financial Life with Corey. We will show him how to make more money by starting a music teaching business. Corey lives in the Boston Area, and he sure is a hustler. He currently, works six different jobs throughout the year and has been saving as much as he can to improve his financial life. One of his gigs is teaching private lessons on trombone, and he wants to expand that to make it a...
2016-10-1043 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Case For Owning Rental Property (Plus a Case Study)Owning a rental property can be a great player in your overall investment strategy and an excellent way to build wealth.It typically isn't affected in the same way as the stock market so that it can provide diversification in your portfolio.However, it's important to understand the risks of the real estate market. Andrew just started investing in rental properties earlier this year soon today's episodes he will give us a broad overview of why real estate can be a great investment and what he has learned from his experience.
2016-09-051h 08
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.What 10 Years of Small Business Taught UsBecoming an entrepreneur is not for the faint of heart. Running and growing a business can be challenging – that’s why about 90 percent of all new businesses fail. Since the odds are stacked against you, it takes hard work and perseverance to achieve success. Whether you have a business or looking to start a one, it’s important to listen to your peers and mentors. Some lessons you will have to learn on your own but some small business tips you can learn from others. Collectively, Thomas and Andrew have ten years of experienc...
2016-08-0854 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Get Focused And Do More of What MattersThis episode was inspired by a tweet we received from one of our listeners Alexa who asked, How many side hustles are too many? She has been working on a few things that she loves and was questioning if she should just focus on one and ditch the rest for now. Both Andrew and Thomas have struggled with focusing on one project from time to time. When trying to build a business you have a lot on your plate. Staying focused can be tough with a constant stream tasks and new ideas demanding your attention. In...
2016-07-2540 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Lending Club, Green Mutual Funds and Having FunWe love to answer questions from our listeners, and sometimes we make a whole episode around it. Today we answer five questions about drinking on the job, Lending Club, borrowing from family, green mutual funds, having fun, buying a first home, Bonus Question: I have noticed that you tend to be drinking beer on each of the podcasts, let me just first say, fuck I’m jealous.I would like to know what kind of job I can get that will let me drink beer in the morning (without the whole judgey this guy is prob...
2016-07-1849 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Better Habits for Financial IndependenceHappy 4th of July! While you are watching fireworks, remember how much hard work and dedication it took the founders of the United States to declare independence. It takes the same effort and dedication when it comes to financial independence. These are the best habits for independence. Finding financial independence takes a lot of hard work too. Today the guys talk about building habits for independence and what mindset you need to become more freedom financially. What Retirement Should Be Andrew was recently having a conversation with his father about retirement. He said eve...
2016-07-0438 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.10 Lessons in 100 EpisodesSeason two of Listen Money Matters has officially reached 100 episodes. Thomas and Andrew have learned so much from each other and from the excellent guests we’ve had on the show. Today the guys discuss the top 10 things they have learned in 100 episodes this season.
Andrew’s Lessons
Having routine changes everything. Andrew learned the power of habit and made better use of his time. Having a routine has done wonders for his productivity and has actively and consciously built himself a daily routine so he can achieve more throughout that day. #gettingshitdone.
Alliso...
2016-06-2743 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Selling Wholesale On Amazon With Edward LichsteinEver wonder how to people make money selling wholesale on Amazon? Andrew trawled Quora and found someone to teach us how to do it. Eddie Lichstein has been in the e-commerce business for 13 years selling wholesale on Amazon. He has always been a car nut and runs a site, TH Motorsports, which is the Amazon of car parts. He also runs Rejoiner, a site to help e-commerce business owners improve sales. Eddie has been very generous answering questions on Quora and he came here today to answer our questions. America Was Built On Small Business
2016-06-131h 04
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Profit Sharing, Tradelines, 403B’sWe get a lot of listener questions, and sometimes we get the same question several times. When that happens, we know a five questions episode is in order! Today we bring you give questions on profit sharing, tradelines, 403Bs, 401ks, and paying off debt. Question One: Can you guys explain the difference between a regular 401k vs. profit sharing 401k? What’s the difference between the two and can you withdraw from both early? Profit Sharing is solely employer-funded. You’re not putting money from your paycheck into it like you would a 401k. It i...
2016-05-2350 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Better Know A Millionaire With Matt ShoupIt’s been a while but we are back with our Better Know a Millionaire segment and today the guys talk to an entrepreneur, speaker and house painter Matt Shoup. Matt has an incredible story from being six figures in debt to becoming a millionaire. There were many ups and downs on his journey of success. Listen to hear how he started his business with a hundred dollars and how a customer’s baby ended up completely covered in paint. Yup, true story. From early on in his life, Matt had that entrepreneurial spirit. At the a...
2016-04-0436 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Lotto, Stock Games, APR, Diversification and Student Loans It’s been too long since we’ve done a five questions episode. Today we talk about lotto, stock games, APR, diversification, and student loans. Five questions are back! We answer questions we get through e-mail and the LMM Community. 1. What would you do if you won the lottery? Thomas doesn’t want money he didn’t earn so if he somehow won the lottery, he would hand it over to various charities. Andrew actually did buy tickets, $20 worth. He thinks winning the lottery would ruin his life because it would take away his...
2016-01-2548 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Getting Your Significant Other On Board Financially with Laura Fiebert Fights over money are a leading cause of divorce. Andrew’s wife Laura joins us to talk about getting a reluctant spouse on board financially. Laura does a lot behind the scenes for LMM but this is her first time on the show! She was the spender to Andrew’s saver when they met. But after a few years, he whipped her into shape. Laura’s parents aren’t bad with money but they didn’t teach her enough growing up to be good with money. By the time she met Andrew, her wages were bei...
2015-08-101h 02
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.This Financial Life with Andrew M.
Today we dissect listener Andrew’s finances. What is he doing right, what is he doing wrong, and what can he do better. This financial life.
Andrew is a long time listener and today he shares his financial situation with us to get some advice.
Before Andrew found LMM he had student loan debt, credit card debt, high fees on what investments he had, no budget AND he bought a new car. Andrew recently married and brought about $75,000 of debt into the marriage while his wife had about $22,000 from student loans.
The...
2015-07-0639 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Finding Your Productivity Sweet SpotIt’s important to get the most out of your day. But you can take the quest for productivity too far resulting in burn out. Find the productivity sweet spot. During Andrew’s recent burnout, he realized he was taking the need for productivity too far. Sometimes you just need a night vegging out in front of a video game. We’re all motivated by different things, the key is to find out what motivates you so your productivity isn’t scattered and ineffectual. External forces, internal? Are you a morning person or a night owl? Knowi...
2015-06-0835 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Home Equity Loans, Student Loans, and Mortgages Today we’re answering listener questions. Student loans, home equity loans, over paying your mortgage and a day in the life of a data engineer. We love to answer your questions on the podcast. If you are wondering, odds are someone else in the audience would like to know too. 1. I miscalculated and took out too much in student loans. Should I pay it back right away? Yes, pay it back if you don’t need it. Pay off the higher interest rate loan first. 2. Should I take out a home equity loan to pay f...
2015-04-1329 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Anatomy of a Well Balanced PortfolioBalance is important in all aspects of life, including your financial portfolio. Find out what well-balanced means when it comes to your portfolio. What makes up a well-balanced portfolio? Andrew breaks it down for us. Part of it depends on your age. The younger you are, the more risk you can afford. Diversity is important too. Many Americans have the majority of their wealth locked up in their home. Owning stocks and having retirement accounts is important too. If your employer offers any matching, take it. Even if you have debt, it’s free...
2015-04-0643 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Bonds, Interest Rates, and Retirement
We haven’t done a five questions for awhile. Today it’s back! Andrew and Thomas answer five questions submitted by our listeners.
Today we answer questions about bonds, interest rates, and one of our favorite subjects, retirement.
1. If you’re young and looking to grow wealth, why bother have 10 or even 5% invested in bonds? If you’re in your early 20’s, go ahead and go 100% stocks. As you get closer to retirement, you move more to bonds. This is what a life cycle fund does for you.
2. Am I going to incur a lo...
2015-04-0145 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.My Name is Bond, Treasury BondWe’re talking all things treasury today on Listen, Money Matters. Treasury bills, notes, and bonds. Which, if any should you invest in? Were you given bonds as gifts when you were a kid? It may have seemed like a lame gift at the time but there probably aren’t many other gifts you still have decades later. A Treasury Bill has a maturity date from 91-364 days. A Treasury Note, from 2, 3, 5, or 10 years. And a Treasury Bond, 30 years. Buying a bond is buying debt. Buying bonds is less risky than buying stock because bon...
2015-03-0943 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Playing To Your Strengths With The MBTI TestKnowing and understanding your personality type can help in lots of areas of life. Everything from choosing a job to saving money. What type are you?The MBTI, or Myers-Briggs Type Indicator is not one of those Buzzfeed quizzes that tells you which Disney Princess you are. This test is science-based and has been in use since the 1940’s. There are no right or wrong answers. There are sixteen personality types on the MBTI scale. The answers just indicate your preferences, how you perceive the world around you, and how you make decisions. There is...
2015-02-2045 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Should You Start a Side Business?We talk a lot about side hustles on the show. Today we’ll discuss if you should start your own side business. A side business can be lucrative and the creative outlet that your 9-5 job isn’t. But it can be a lot of work and time. We’ll break it down so you can decide if it’s the right decision for you. Both Andrew and Thomas have had various side hustles. In fact, Thomas’s site College Info Geek, which is now his full time job, started as a side hustle. That won’t be the case...
2015-02-1145 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.This Financial Life with Thomas Frank Part 2Today is Part 2 of our delve into Thomas’s financial life. There wasn’t much to critique in Part 1. Will Part 2 also make the rest of us feel like losers? At just 23 Thomas is doing better than many of us a decade or more older. Let’s see if he’s make any mistakes Andrew can help correct. (I like Thomas so I’m slightly ashamed of this but I hope he’s made at least one, tiny mistake.) While it’s impressive that Thomas makes about $69,000 a year, he pays more in taxes because he’s self employed t...
2015-02-0242 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Something Is New In Season 2Listen, Money Matters is back! We have a new host, former guest Thomas Frank of College Info Geek. We’re excited to kick of Season Two. We missed you! There have been some changes to LMM since our last episode but we are more committed than ever to being your one stop, go to resource for all things finance. If you’ve been a listener to the show for awhile, you’ll remember Thomas Frank from episodes about money mindfulness, how to choose the best cell phone plan, and our round table discussion dedicated to saving mon...
2015-01-0537 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Finding Your Financial Weak SpotsWe all have them. Dinners out, the newest gadgets, clothes. Our financial weak spot, our Achilles’ heel. Find out what we can do to strengthen them.
It might not be just a spending problem though. Maybe you’re afraid to invest because it seems so intimidating. Maybe you have the money to pay all of your bills but you aren’t organized and always pay late.
Andrew is willing to take a leap that some people wouldn’t and it has gotten him in trouble in the past, failed business ventures, risky investments that didn’t pan out. He...
2014-11-2344 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.What to Expect Before, During, and After You Buy a HomeBuying a home is uncharted territory for many of us. Both Matt and Andrew have done it and will tell us what to expect before, during, and after you buy a home.
Before
Your mortgage payment shouldn’t be more than 30% of your take home salary. Don’t buy a home with a person you are not married to. Property is hard enough to untangle when you have some legal protections, it’s much worse when you don’t.
The bank wants to see more than your down payment liquid in your checking account. T...
2014-11-2238 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Inside Final Card with Matt RothsteinMatt Rothstein of Get Final will discuss a new kind of credit card for the 21st Century designed to be a consumer ally rather than a consumer predator.
The card will go Beta soon with a wait list of over 30,000 people. It’s a physical credit card that assigns a different number to each merchant, giving you more control over your account.
And it’s chip and pin, at last! There is still a magnetic stripe because not all retailers are set up for chip and pin yet.
You can assign a dollar amount...
2014-11-1531 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Refinancing, Rebuilding Credit, and Being a Spendaholic Time for listener questions. We’ll discuss refinancing, repairing damaged credit, and being a spendaholic. We love answering your questions. If you want to know, your fellow listeners are probably wondering too. 1. How do I turn my spendaholic friends into the budgeting, investing machine LMM has turned me into? First, tell them about the show! You have to let each person realize they need help. New Year’s resolutions are around the corner and money is a big one. If they resolve to improve their finances, suggest some learning materials. Podcasts, books, blogs that will help t...
2014-11-1344 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Veteran’s Day Special with Ryan Carlson
In honor of Veteran’s Day we join other podcasts in giving voice to Veterans. Matt’s friend Ryan Carlson joins us to share his story.
Ryan joined the Air Force immediately after high school. He was in college and then his entire base was activated after 9/11. The base had jets in the air nearly 24/7 for almost a year.
Ryan graduated in 2005, the same year his enlistment was up. He entered the private sector and didn’t like it so re-enlisted for six more years. He worked as an avionics technician until 2012 and then was commissione...
2014-11-1154 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Being Charitable With and Without Spending MoneyBeing charitable is important but when you’re minding your money it isn’t as simple as writing a big check. But you don’t have to give money to contribute.
A lot of people start to think about the best way to give around the holidays. But with so many demands on your money this time of year, how can you best give back to your community and the world around you without going broke?
When you’re a kid being charitable is set up for you. Through the Boy or Girl Scouts, through your school...
2014-11-0939 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Become a Minimalist with Joel ZaslofskyMinimalism can be defined many ways. We’ll talk to Joel Zaslofsky about how to become a minimalist. He has embraced the lifestyle to learn why and how it has improved his life.
What is a minimalist? Joel defines it as embracing what is important to you and stripping away the excess. He began down the path of minimalism five years ago when he and his wife were expecting their first child. Prior to that, he was following the prescribed American path, college, wife, house, dog, kid.
Having a child was the kick in the ass he...
2014-11-0743 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Life insurance, Budgeting, and Buying a Home
It’s time for five listener questions. Today we talk about life insurance, budgeting, and buying a home.
1. What do you guys know about life insurance? Not everyone needs it but if you have someone who depends on your financially, then you should have it. Term is the best option. If you can get it through your employer, take it. We did a deep dive on this subject in Episode 140.
2. When accounting for expenses like travel, do you mark it when you decide to spend the money or once it’s actually spent? Mark it when...
2014-11-0442 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Personal Money Horror StoriesIt’s Halloween and nothing is more frightening than money horror stories. Close the blinds, turn off the lights, light a candle and prepare to be scared.Matt and Andrew haven’t always been smart with money, well Andrew mostly has. But even they have finance horror stories and will share them with us.In 2007 everything Andrew touched turned to gold. He read in that secret magazine for high rollers, Forbes, that a housing company was basically printing money. In 2007. A housing company. He lost between $2-3000.Matt’s first foray into the market was...
2014-10-3138 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Book Yourself Solid and Public Speaking with Michael PortOn a list of biggest fears, public speaking is #2, death is #6. So we’d rather be dead than give the eulogy. Michael Port will help us overcome our fear.
And Michael doesn’t drink so his tips don’t involve liquid courage. We allowed him to finish the interview anyway even after that disturbing revelation.
Matt and Andrew lost their fear of public speaking through “exposure therapy.” This is Episode 217 so they’re comfortable now. But most of us don’t have the chance to practice that much. We need a short cut. Michael suggests the “act as if” techni...
2014-10-271h 04
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Exploring the Investor Money MindsetIf you’re not an investor they can seem like a different species. But they’re human too, we’ll discuss how the investor money mindset is different.
Nerd culture is having its moment. No one is afraid to admit they love Doctor Who or Lord of the Rings. But no one really goes around bragging that they’re an investor, not even Andrew.
We would describe an investor as someone looking for long term benefit. And we don’t mean buying and holding Beanie Babies. If you love Beanie Babies, great. Buy all you can afford. Bu...
2014-10-2337 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Finding Cheap Flights with Nathaniel BoyleWish you could travel more but think it’s too expensive? Nathaniel Boyle has devoted his life to travel and will school us on finding cheap flights.
There are so many air travel booking sites now, Expedia, Travelocity, Hipmunk however the prices are all about the same. Nathaniel recommends booking directly through the airlines. It’s often cheaper and can offer more protection than booking through a third party. It’s much easier if you need to make a change to your itinerary and some low cost carriers like Southwest only offer direct sale.
The most impo...
2014-10-2054 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Expensive Taste May Be Prohibiting Your Financial Growth
Does champagne taste hurt your wealth building? Unless you’re a Russian oligarch, the answer may be yes. We like nice things even if we can’t afford them.
There comes a time when we have to live within our means. Easier said than done when you have expensive tastes. Even harder to do in a big urban area like New York City. The reason we are so revolted by mediocrity is because we are surrounded by excellence. But when it comes to wealth building, this is a dangerous mindset.
Dinners, cars, clothes. We all have o...
2014-10-1832 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Negotiating, Side Hustling and Student Loan Debt with Stephanie HalliganFellow Best New Blog winner Stephanie Halligan talks to us about student loan debt, negotiating and Matt’s favorite, the side hustle.
Like a lot of teenagers, Stephanie took out a lot of college loans without realizing what that meant. She graduated with $30,000 in debt. She was asked through an internship if she wanted to teach personal finance to newly migrated refuges.
The more she learned, the more she wanted to help her students and herself manage money and get out of debt. Prioritizing not only debt, but what mattered to her most was the first...
2014-10-1643 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Prioritizing Your Financial Plan
By now as a long time LMM listener, you have a financial plan. But do you know how to prioritize it? We’ll explain how best to get your ducks in a row.
Matt and Andrew got into a pillow fight the last time they tried to do a show on this topic this takes two. The good folks over at LearnVest set out a list of three financial priorities. Retirement, emergency savings and debt.
1. Retirement comes first. Because of inflation, the dollars you have now will be worth less than when you retire so...
2014-10-1253 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The 200th Episode Special!
Two hundred episodes! To mark this special milestone we look back at five of the best episodes as voted by our listeners. Here’s to two hundred more!
It’s not even been a year and we have two hundred episodes in the books. We’ll look at some of the highlights from the past one hundred episodes.
1. Mr Money Mustache. MMM is a legend in the world of personal finance and you were as excited to hear the interview as we were to conduct it. If you want the road map to retire early...
2014-10-1043 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Networking with John Corcoran from Smart Business RevolutionJohn Corcoran from Smart Business Revolution is a networking expert. He tells us why networking is important and how he paid off $600,000 in debt.
Between 2006-2010 John racked up over half a million dollars in debt mostly through equity lines of credit. He was working during that period which is why he was able to get so much credit but he went back to law school and incurred $129,000 in student loan debt.
He graduated law school at the worst time to find work as an attorney and worked a series of jobs for small firms. Du...
2014-10-0648 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Stop Being a SpendaholicDo you love buying all the things? You might have a problem. We all love buying stuff but it can become a real problem. Let’s tackle it together.
“It’s ok, I deserve it.” Is that something you find yourself saying a lot? Whether or not you deserve it is not the question. I’m sure you do, you work hard, take care of a family. Of course you deserve it! But can you afford it? That’s the question that needs to be answered.
Shopping becomes a habit. It’s a way to entertain yourself, to r...
2014-10-0341 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Matt’s Financial Checkup
Matt started LMM knowing very little about personal finance but almost 200 hundred episodes in, he’s learned a lot. We’ll see how he’s doing now.
We all should have financial goals. It helps keep us on track and helps us see, in real numbers, that our dedication is paying off. If you use Mint, make sure you put all your numbers in there. It makes you feel good to see a positive net worth but if you left out your mortgage, the picture is not accurate.
Matt’s goal is to get to a zero...
2014-09-2738 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Brokerage Accounts, Car Payments, and Credit Card FraudIt’s time for your questions. We’ll cover brokerage accounts, car payments, and credit card fraud. You know where to come for the answers.
1. Why us Betterment over Vanguard S&P 500 for index funds? Betterment has a much lower minimum for investing. To get into that Vanguard fund, the minimum is $10,000.
2. Is it worthwhile to have more than one brokerage account? It depends on your goals and how involved you want to be. Betterment is the hands off option. A good reason to have multiple accounts is SIPC protection. Each account is guaranteed up to $500,000. ...
2014-09-1736 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Quit Trying to Find Your Passion AlreadyFinding your passion has become a hackneyed cliche but there is some merit in doing so, we just have to think of a less Oprah way of phrasing it.
People say it as if it’s something easy to do. What if you’re passionate about sitting around smoking weed all day? How do you parlay that into income? You don’t. What it really means is to figure out what you like to do that can also generate income and do that to make money.
It doesn’t have to make you a lot of money, no...
2014-09-1434 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: IRA Migration, Financial Gifts, Establishing CreditFive listener questions answered, establishing credit, monetary gifts, Betterment security, IRA migration, and the pros and cons of renting out a room.
1. What is the best way to establish credit? A secured credit card is a good start. You give the bank a set amount of money and that amount is the card limit. So it’s a bit like a debit card but it helps build credit. It’s no risk to the bank because they have your money. Getting a store credit card is usually pretty easy and will build credit. If your landlord uses something...
2014-09-0338 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Andrew’s Lending Club StrategyWe check in with Andrew’s Lending Club strategy to find out if he’s making any money and if it might be a good investment for the rest of us.
Lending Club is a peer-to-peer lending company. If you need a loan, rather than going through a bank, you make a pitch and a pool of hundreds of people will lend you the money. Kind of like crowdsourcing for a loan. The interest rate you’re charged will be lower than what most banks would offer. And the return for the lenders can be high.
On Lendi...
2014-08-2036 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The Story of Andrew’s New DebtAndrew has $12,000 of debt! And yes, I did mean Andrew and not Matt. Has he forsaken his Listen Money Matters principles? Find out the shocking details.
It’s not as scandalous as it sounds. Half of this is on a zero APR Home Depot credit card and those were expenses to remodel the kitchen. The other half is a series of things that all hit at once, conference tickets, a vacation, mortgage tax. Life got in the way and he did end up with finance charges.
This episode is one of the reasons I was a fan of L...
2014-08-1534 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Changing the Definition of SuccessHow do you define success? For many it’s making a certain amount of money, driving a certain car, living in a big house. But that is changing.
The actual definition of success is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.” That gives us a little more leeway than defining it solely based on making a lot of money. If your aim was to get to work on time today and you did, you’re successful! Success can be measured in small things too, not just a big bank balance or fancy vacations.
For some of us, succe...
2014-08-1237 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Know the Show and How We Make MoneyEver wonder what goes on behind the scenes at Listen, Money Matters? Trust me. It’s as glamorous as you probably imagine it to be! No, it’s really not.
Andrew started the LMM website while he was displaced by Hurricane Sandy. He wanted to share what he had learned about personal finance with others and one day make some money through sharing that knowledge. Matt and Andrew met in late 2013 on Fizzle, an online business training service and community.
The two of them started out by advising each other on their respective projects, LMM and Swim...
2014-08-0855 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Create Your Own OpportunitiesThe job market is still pretty bad and wages are stagnant. It might be time to create your own opportunity. We’ll discuss ways to do just that.
If you can’t find a job, just start your own business! Well, it’s not as easy as that. And that isn’t an option for everyone. Creating an opportunity is also about being able to see an opportunity and being ready to take advantage of it.
This podcast was created because Matt saw the website that Andrew started and reached out to him. They talked and worked tog...
2014-08-0735 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Best Time To Buy Things
Just like produce, a lot of what you buy has a season. If you know what’s “in season” you can save a lot of money. We’ll find out when to buy what.
Kitchen Appliances: According to Money Crashers, September and October because that’s when new models come out. Last year’s version will be reduced. This point will be a recurring theme in the episode. And it’s not like from year to year there are great innovations in refrigerators. Getting last year’s model doesn’t mean you won’t have the new fridge that makes y...
2014-07-3037 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Home Renovations, Side Hustles, Stock Earnings It’s time for listener questions. We’ll discuss stock earnings, home renovations, side hustles, emergency funds, and money for freelancers. 1. How does a company’s quarterly earnings report affect my stock? Yes, but it’s not just about whether the company made or lost money. The report also contains information about what is going on inside the company. So just because the company made money doesn’t necessarily guarantee a positive report. It’s more important to read the report and get a sense of what’s happening within the company than to just make decisions based st...
2014-07-2941 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Moving on a Budget? This is How to Save Money MoneyMoving is third on a list of life stressors behind the death of a partner and divorce. Learn how to save money during the process to help reduce the stress.
1. Don’t pay for boxes. There are lots of sources of free boxed, but Matt knows a tip to get extra sturdy boxes for free. Ask at a hospital, lab, or pool store. The reason is that all of those places are shipped chemicals so the boxes are thicker and more durable.
2. Move less stuff. We don’t recommend Andrew’s method of having all of your belonging...
2014-07-2637 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.My Personal Investment StrategyThe finer points of my personal investment strategy including emergency funds, checking and savings accounts, and investing beyond Betterment.
An emergency fund is vital as we discussed in Episode 64. But we define that a bit differently than a lot of people. You should not have a savings account. You need a checking account that contains one month’s expenses plus 150%.
So if you spend $2000 a month, your checking account should contain $5000. In lieu of a savings account which makes less than 1% interest, you should use a tool like Betterment to stash your emergency fund. The money he...
2014-07-0935 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Creating The Perfect Resume with Mark FiebertYour resume can make all the difference in a tough job market. We’ll find out what you need to build the perfect resume so you land that job.
If you haven’t done a new resume for a while, some things have changed. Since most resumes are sent electronically, you don’t have to buy the fancy paper. It’s a good idea to have a few copies to bring to interviews but plain printer paper will do.
Keywords are important. Some companies have a program that will scan through them. Use the words that are in t...
2014-07-0741 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.The 100th Episode Special
Listen, Money Matters celebrates our milestone 100th episode by reminiscing over listener voted best episodes. Enjoy these classics!
Some of the favorite episodes surprised us. The first one? Others, like Adam Carrol’s interview are favorites of our’s too. Here they are, in no particular order.
Episode 1: Introducing the Listen, Money Matters Podcast. Our debut! We learn that Andrew is the money guy and Matt is the listener, there to learn with the audience. We also learn Andrew’s first foray into entrepreneurship was selling porn to the other kids in the sandbox.
...
2014-07-0245 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Saving Money Around the HouseLittle tips can save you big at home. Get some money savings tips and find out if anything you’re doing now would cause Matt to punch you in the face.
People love numbered lists and we found a good one giving tips on ways to save money on energy costs around the house. Most of the savings are small but can add up over time and many of the tips are pretty simple to accomplish. We picked out a few good ones for you.
Your house doesn’t need to fill like the tropics in the winte...
2014-06-3035 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Should You Buy or Lease Your Next Car?Matt and Andrew bicker like two five-year-olds fighting over a toy about what is the better choice, buying a car or leasing one. Andrew gets sweary and Matt gets hangry. Who will prevail?
Unlike some of our topics, there is no clear answer to this question. Should you invest? That one is easy. Yes you should. Should you go to college? That question does not have a black or white answer. The decision to buy or lease a car is one that will depend on the stability of your current situation and your priorities. We’ll list some pros a...
2014-06-2334 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Father’s Day Money Special
In this special Father’s Day episode Matt and Andrew interview their dads to find out what mistakes and victories they had with money and what lessons they have for their sons and us listeners.
The apples don’t fall far from the trees. Andrew’s dad has been good with money for a long time. Andrew’s father didn’t grow up with money and learned important lessons watching his own parent’s struggle. He wanted to be a musician but soon realized that life was not a secure one. He got a full time job and went to scho...
2014-06-151h 20
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.5 Questions: Emergency Funds, Debt vs Invest, and Frugality?
We answer your questions about emergency funds, whether should you prioritize debt or investing, and is being frugal the latest hipster trend? Find out!
I have $30,000 in a savings account and am moving it into Betterment as LMM recommends. How much should I move over monthly until it’s all relocated?
The answer will be different for everyone. Andrew followed up with Dillon and found he was saving $1100 a month. Andrew advised 2.5 times that amount be put into Betterment. Once Dillon has $20-30,000 in Betterment, he should stop contributing and consider that his emergenc...
2014-06-0936 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How Much Money Can You Really Live On?Andrew and Matt calculate the absolute minimum they could each live on. We hope it will inspire you to cut some of the frills out of your spending.
If you cut your expenses to the bone, how much could you live on? And what does “live on” mean? Would you be willing to eat ramen for every meal or would you still need a weekly Whole Foods run? Is it realistic to get rid of your car?
We pad our expenses with a lot of unnecessary fluff. If you lost your job or if you decided t...
2014-06-0337 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.This Financial Life With Matt’s Brother
Meet Dan, Matt’s financially savvy brother to discuss what he’s doing right, wrong, and what he could do better. Are money smarts genetic?
We learn early on the difference between Matt and Dan. As children, Dan asked for stocks for Christmas while Matt asked for XBox games. Their Mom told me they still do that actually. Dan also took personal finance classes while in high school, again underscoring the importance of teaching PF in school.
Dan started college majoring in finance but changed to management information systems after one semester. He graduated with $45,000 in studen...
2014-05-2559 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Mother’s Day Money SpecialIt’s Mother’s Day. Matt and Andrew interview their mom’s to find out what financial lessons they’ve learned. This is a very personal episode for us at Listen Money Matters. Both Andrew and I sat down, face to face, with our moms and talked to them about their past experiences with money. I know for me, it was a very endearing event as I’m sure it was for Andrew. We found out a lot about what made our moms so good with money. I want to keep this short because it’s Mother’s Day and you should...
2014-05-111h 07Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How Stocks, Bonds, and Funds WorkWe’ll discuss a boring subject, how stocks, bonds, and funds work but make it less boring by using Arrested Development to illustrate our points!Recently, we published a post called, An Illustrated Guide to Investment Types. Before writing, Matt asked Andrew to explain to him how stocks and bonds are born. Andrew knows that Matt’s favorite show is Arrested Development, so he put it in terms Matt could understand – The Banana Stand. He described the whole scenario using characters and businesses from Arrested Development. For those familiar with the show, this will make things...
2014-03-2439 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Find The Perfect Credit CardThere are a million credit cards out there and some are better than others. We’ll help you find the one that will best meet your needs. When used responsibly, a credit card can be a great tool. You can earn all kinds of rewards from travel points to cash back. They also offer much more protection than a debit card. Full Article HereShow NotesThe Andrew Sangria - Rum, wine, triple sec and sprite. Perhaps Andrew will delight us and share his actual recipe. I'll ask him. (edited...
2014-03-1040 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Streamline Refinancing My Home MortgageOn this episode, we talk about Streamline Refinancing. Specifically, how Matt used it to shave over $130 a month off his mortgage payment without being hit with more interest or increasing the term of his mortgage. The refinance also bought him a month without payment and the closing costs were less than the monthly mortgage payment he saved. Matt also doesn’t have a steady paycheck and the way he streamlines refinanced didn’t require a pay stub. We calculated that over the remaining term of his mortgage he will save over $13,000. Lower p...
2014-03-0334 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.How to Master Your Wealth, Gangsta Style!Don’t manage your money like an old white dude. Manage your money like a gansta! Learn how via our rap video and new book, Mastering Mint. 1. The Personal Finance Rap Video - We are very excited! Tomorrow (February 18th 2014) we debut our first personal finance rap video called “All My Money.” We spent over two months working on this project. Matt wrote and recorded the song in December, and after another month of planning, drove up to New York for a weekend with Andrew to film the video. We are very proud and hope t...
2014-02-1748 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Money Management and Productivity Tools We UseOn this episode, we discuss our favorite money management and productivity tools, including Mint, Betterment, Lift, Evernote, and more. We believe in making money management as easy as possible. With all of the apps and software out there, it’s easier than ever. No need for complicated spreadsheets. Everything you need can be downloaded right to your phone.Boosting your productivity will enhance your life. From your health to your money, using the right tools can help you get the most out of your day. Mint is our favorite money ma...
2014-02-1034 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Managing Small Business Finances with Caleb WojcikMatt and Andrew were excited to talk to Caleb because they met through Fizzle.co. Fizzle is an online resource and forum for entrepreneurs looking to start an online business. Because of what Caleb helped to build, Listen, Money Matters exists. Caleb manages the finances for several small businesses including Fizzle, his website, CalebWojcik.com and his wife’s photography company JenWojcikPhotography.com. Caleb recommends paying small business taxes quarterly. It saves you getting a big bill at the end of the year that you weren’t expecting. Managing finances for your business doesn’...
2014-01-1647 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Our New Year’s Resolutions for 2014
It’s that time of year again, New Year’s Resolutions. Matt and Andrew discuss their resolutions, all the biggies, money, health, and fitness.
Are you making resolutions? Have you made them for so many years running that they’re more like traditions now? Yeah, us too. Let’s see what we can do to get serious this year.
The key to creating a good New Year’s Resolution list is to keep it actionable and measurable. For instance, just “getting healthy” or “make more money” isn’t really a good place to start — how will you know if you’re su...
2014-01-0241 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Stop Being Nickel and Dimed: How to Avoid Bank FeesIs your bank nickel and diming you with their bullshit fees? Learn how to avoid them and dispute the ones you may have already been charged. Banks have enough of your money that they use to make more money for themselves. Don’t let them steal more with tacked on fees. Maintenance fee, minimum balance fee, foreign transaction fee, paper statement fee. Those are just a sampling of the fees that some banks charge. Banks rake in a ton of cash on these fees because they know a lot of...
2013-12-0938 minListen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Credit vs. Debit vs. Cash: The Ultimate ShowdownEvery time we make a purchase, we have to decide between using a credit card, a debit card, or cash. They all have their pros and cons. Will there be a clear winner? Credit vs. debit vs. cash: the ultimate showdown. Those shiny credit card offers with their promises of free flights, and cash back can be seductive. We like our debit cards because they help keep spending under control. And some die-hards still like cash because it can make some purchases cheaper. What and when should you choose when it comes to credit vs. d...
2013-11-0631 min
Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.Introducing The Listen Money Matters PodcastWelcome to Listen, Money Matters. We are a personal finance podcast for people who love beer and swearing as much as they love money! Andrew is the finance expert. He’s always been a guy predisposed to ranting about money. His parents taught him the value of a dollar as a little kid. He has managed to build up an impressive portfolio at 28 and plans to retire at 35. On the other side of New Jersey, Matt, his co-host, is not very good with money. In fact, as he puts it, “I flat out suck with money a...
2013-10-3043 min