Couple Money Podcast

Do you feel like you guys are kind of stuck with your finances? Have you hit a wall and don't know the next move? Today I'll share how you can find the best financial advisor for you!  Finding the Right Financial Advisor What do you think about when you hear financial advisor? You may have been to one of those luncheons where you get some information about investing or maybe insurance but the financial advising piece really isn't there. It's left a bad taste in your mouth and you're wondering if it's really a smart move to hand over money to someone to manage your money. From personal experience, there are some great financial advisers out there, ones that are not only looking at what's in your portfolio but the real big picture. sometimes, though, it takes a little bit of effort upfront to find a just the right person for the job.  Today Michael Kay is sharing his expertise along with some tips to make the process less stressful. He's a fee-only financial planner at Financial Life Focus.  In this episode we

Do you feel like all of your paycheck plus some is going towards your bills and making no headway on your goals? Today we'll cover 5 ways you can get caught up and begin getting out from under your debts! Struggling to Make Ends Meet? I've been getting your emails and I want to say thank you. Sharing your wins and questions has been wonderful and I'm grateful that I can help in some small way. I try to find positive stories and offer practical ways to save more, get out of debt, and start investing for your future, but we're all at different points in our financial journey. Some of us are working paying off that debt ASAP while others are saving for their home, baby, or business. You might be working hard towards that dream of traveling together or exploring the possibility of financial independence. Or you might just be starting your journey. perhaps you've heard some of the stories here or on other personal finance sites and you want to join in. However, currently, you're in a really tight spot with money.

Are you a parent of a child with special needs? We share some of the essential conversations and resources that help you cope and succeed!  Taking Financial Care of Your Child with Special Needs Being a parent is an incredible gift and responsibility. Even though the most important things in life are free, I think we also know there are expenses with raising kids. When you have a child with special needs, those expenses can skyrocket. It can be a challenge to keep things manageable, but it's not impossible. Today we'll get into the essentials and conversation to have so you two can get started. Since this is something I'm not qualified to speak on, I'm grateful that Michelle Gershfeld is here today. Michelle is a certified financial counselor and attorney. Michelle also a mother who has had to work hard to make sure her daughter's special needs was taken care of. So this isn't an academic exercise, it's something she understands well. In this episode we discuss: putting together a team to help make sure you

Have you ever felt stressed and limited with options because of an emergency that came up?  Today we're going to share how you can prepare and protect yourselves from financial disasters! Keys to Avoid Financial Disasters While we can't predict every curve ball thrown at us, we can improve our chances of minimizing the damage done with a little bit of work upfront. Shannon Harvey is here to offer up some ways you can be better prepared. He has over 15 -years of experience as a Trusted Risk Advisor, and owns an insurance agency in Greenville, South Carolina. In this episode we get into: what financial disasters you need to be on the lookout for why cheaper is not always better with insurance how to prepare your family should the worst happen Hope you enjoy! Resources to Avoid Financial Disasters If you two want to be better prepared dealing with financial disasters and bumps in life, here are some resources to get you started. How To Avoid Financial Disaster: Protect Yourself From The 7 Biggest Risks You Fa

Do you feel like your health care costs have exploded? Get the tips you need and learn how you can save money on your health insurance! Working to Lower Healthcare Costs I remember not too long ago, it used to be that the three biggest expenses we had were rent, food, and the car. We then paid off the car loan early and now avoid loans on them. We worked hard and were grateful to get a good deal on our mortgage on this current house. Food, well it's food. We're smarter about what we spend. But there is one expense that has shot up since we got married and Im almost sure you have seen it explode as well - health insurance. We actually had to switch out Though we have had some wins dealing with insurance, Michael Dinich is here to offer his expertise. He's a financial Advisor who helps hardworking people get the retirement they deserve. Part of that includes making sure they're getting good deals with health insurance. In today's episode we get into: the trend of shifting costs from the insurance companies to

Want to make sure your loved ones are taken care of should something happen to you? Learn the essentials about wills and choosing a guardian for your kids!    Essentials on Wills and Choosing Guardians So this topic - creating your will and making sure you have your guardians in place if you have kids - is one of those areas of finances we tend to shy away from.   I get it.   It's boring at best and depressing.  So today I want to give you the essentials to wills and choosing guardians for your kids without weighing you down.   Thankfully I'm not alone. Jean Dillion is here to help. She's a certified financial planner at Freedom Financial Counseling and an Accredited Financial Counselor.  In this episode we discuss: the essentials of a will choosing guardians to take care of your loved ones whether or not those do it yourselves will online kits are worth it Hope you enjoy! Resources on Estate Planning If you want more information about setting things up for your loved one, here are some posts to check out:

Overwhelmed by paying down debt, saving for emergencies, and investing for retirement? Learn how to prioritize where your money should go to maximize returns! How's this year going for you? For us, it's pretty good. We made some big goals at the beginning of the year including saving up to finish our basement, planning a family trip outside the country, and paying down our mortgage faster. If you're trying to tackle several goals at once, you probably understand how slow progress feels sometimes.  Today financial advisor and Family Inc author Doug McCormick and I chat about how to prioritize your goals.  Hope you enjoy!  Resources to Define Your Priorities and Big Goals Whether it’s a joint or personal goal, there are handy resources available to help you two achieve your dreams. What is It Like to Be Married to a Financial Planner?  How Our Financial Goals Followed Our Family What’s Your One Page Financial Plan? Jumpstart Your Marriage and Money Course Want to give your marriage and bank account a boos

Want to stop living paycheck to paycheck and start moving towards financial independence? Learn the process the Frugalwoods took to retire early together!  What are you two working towards, big picture wise? How often do you guys talk about it? Talk can be cheap or it can be the start of an incredible journey. Four years ago a conversation Liz had with her husband Nate was a trigger to achieving their huge dream of becoming financially independent and retiring early. Working as a Team to Retire Early Together What would you do if you were retired right now?  You might expect me to say you too can retire early with just a few easy steps. But the truth is it's much more complicated than that to break the cycle of consuming and working. It's going to take something very powerful a change in your mindset your finances and your lifestyle. Today Liz, author of Meet the Frugalwoods: Achieving financial Independence Through Simple Living, is here to share their journey and hopefully inspire you to examine where you c

Are you a foodie? Is eating out killing your budget? Learn insanely smart ways you two can eat well while slashing your food bills! Slashing Your Food Bills Since this America Saves Week, I thought that this would be a perfect time to tackle a typically huge expense - food. Whether it's groceries, lunch out at work, or going out as a family, this is something that can snowball quickly. It's tricky because food at the essential level is a true need. Many of us go, though, beyond the essentials and if we truly evaluate how we're eating and spending, there's much room for improvement. However, this is not an episode of roughing it or deprivation. I personally find food to be an awesome part of my social life and we enjoy eating. Just like fad diets rarely lead to anything meaningful, seriously slashing and burning your groceries to their bare minimum can backfire. I'd like to share a way to be balanced and to disprove this myth that clean eating and delicious meals are expensive. Amy and Tim Rutherford, the coup

Ready to merge finances? Find how you can master your bank accounts together and get the most out your hard earned money!  Master Your Bank Accounts Together How are things going with your money? Do you feel like the two of you have a strong handle on things? When we were first married, it took some time for us to find our footing. Besides figuring how to manage money as a team, we had to move our money because the bank we were with gave us more hassle than help. Fast forward now and we're much happier because we found a system and banking options that work for us. Today we're looking at how you can master your bank accounts together and get the most bang for your buck! Joe Mecca from Coastal Credit Union is here today to help out. In this episode, we get into how to find the best way to manage your money as a couple stashing your cash in the best place possible managing your money like a boss Hope you enjoy! Resources to Get the Most Out of Your Bank Accounts Are you two ready to master your joint accou

Does it seem like you two keep having the same argument over and over? Do you feel like you're spinning your wheels with money? You're not alone. Today we're going over how we form our money habits and how we can change them for the better to finally achieve your big goals together!  Mindsets and Money Stories  It's funny how unaware we can be about our money habits. When we first began talking about money, it was a real eye-opener and not just because of the numbers. Here we were ready to spend our lives together and we realized that we had completely different views when it came to money.  But digging into how we pick up those habits and figuring a way to work with what we have so to speak is somewhat tricky - which is why I'm really happy Jen Hemphill here. She's an accredited financial coach and author of her new book, Her Money Matters: The Missing Truths From Traditional Money Advice. It's a fantastic book and one aspect I really appreciated is how Jen dives into mindsets and money stories. In this epi

Do you want your wedding day to be beautiful, memorable, and meaningful without spending a ton of money or getting into debt? Learn how you can plan your dream wedding on a budget!  How to Plan Your Dream Wedding on a Budget Right now in the United States, the average wedding costs over $35,000! Thankfully the Budget Savvy Bride, Jessica Bishop is here to help. In this episode we discuss: defining your dream wedding ways you can splurge and where you can save a handy resource to help you plan your dream wedding without breaking your budget Hope you enjoy! If you want to hear from another bride who had a beautiful wedding on a small budget, listen to my interview with Jessi Fearon. she and her husband managed a sweet and special wedding for $500! Resources to Plan a Fantastic Wedding If you're getting married, please check out these resources so you can plan out your special day without going into debt. The Budget-Savvy Wedding Planner & Organizer: Checklists, Worksheets, and Essential Tools to Plan the

Today we're answering your big marriage and money questions. We'll discuss lending money to family, getting the best deal on insurance, and seeing if those high deductible health insurance plans really save you money!    This week we're doing a community mailbag show where I answer what's on your mind with marriage and money. In today's episode we cover quite a few things: how to save money on insurance finding out if those high deductible health plans are really good whether or not you should love to family Hope you enjoy!  Thank you for sending these in.    Jumpstart Your Marriage and Money Course Want to give your marriage and bank account a boost? Pick up Jumpstart Your Marriage and Money course. Jumpstart focuses on the big wins including earning more. Get LIFETIME access to a four-week course design to help you: Stop fighting about money and create a budget that you BOTH LOVE Automate your money Pay off your debt faster Plus more! You can get lifetime access here.  Music Credit Like the music in thi

Ready to dump the debt and build wealth together? Here are three crucial questions to discuss to achieve financial security together!    Finding Financial Security  Ryan Inman from Physician Wealth Services and Financial Residency is on the show to share three crucial questions to help you two build financial security together.  In this episode we discuss:  how you two can approach talking about money how Ryan helps his clients hone in on their priorities conversation starters you can use on your next money date Hope you enjoy!  Want to hear from another couple working together on their finances? Check out my interview with Tai and Talaat McNeely from His and Her Money!  Resources to Define Your Priorities and Big Goals Whether it’s a joint or personal goal, there are handy resources available to help you two achieve your dreams. How Our Financial Goals Followed Our Family What’s Your One Page Financial Plan? Ryan asked three crucial questions on the podcast.  I want you to imagine that you are finan

It's 2018 for some reason that beginning of a new year, Everyone is excited and thrilled this week making some big goals. Unfortunately, the majority don't reach them. I don't want that to happen to the two of you especially with your big money goals. So in today's episode, we'll get into: what are the top three money goals that people have how you can get your spouse on board with money this year  how to achieve the right money goal for the two of you. Hope you enjoy! Resources to Reach Your Big Money Goals Whether you're dumping debt, saving more, or investing for your future, here are some resources to help make managing your money easier this year!  Jumpstart Your Marriage and Your Money Budget Tools: Mint | Honeyfi | Tiller | Honeydue 

Whether you have a 9-5 job, are self-employed, or run a business, burn-out can be a real problem. Learn how you can avoid it ad setting up your finances to take the time off you need!  Wrapping Up a Big Year at FinCon LLast week, I went to Dallas to attend FinCon, a conference of independent personal finance publishers, fintech companies, and media focused on a positive money message. I had an incredible week chatting with buddies in the personal finance space. We've chatted throughout the year via Zoom or Skype, but it's special to hang out in person. Many of us got started because we were getting out of debt or saving for a dream. I also got to see what was going on with fintech. There are so many developments and right now, apps are coming out that are designed for couples. Got to enjoy some time with the HoneyFi team as well as a few others. And I was especially honored and grateful that Couple Money won best family finance blog for the second year in a row! But besides taking home a sweet trophy I also b

Not sure how to get your kids to understand budgets without boring them? Learn how a trip to the zoo gave our six-year-old a (fun) crash course on money! 

Think you can avoid money fights by not talking about it? Learn and use these conversation starters to develop financial intimacy, get on the same page with money, and have an extraordinary marriage!    Financial Intimacy and Marriage Normally people associate intimacy with physical or emotional, but a long-lasting marriage takes more. You two can connect with intellectual activities, spiritual moral values, having fun and relaxing, and yes, financial intimacy. If you been listening to the show for a bit, you know that the money itself is usually not the issue, but a symptom. To a degree, once the bills are paid, how we spend or use money is a reflection of our priorities. It's all connected. And we neglect or ignore talking and working through things, our marriage can suffer. What if you've been married for some time, can you turn things around? Not only fix your finances but become more open as a couple. Fortunately, Tony and Alisa DiLorenzo are on the show to share their story and help make things easier.

Want to retire early, but your spouse isn't ready? Learn how Jamila and her husband got on the same page with financial independence and saved over $80,000 last year!  Getting on the Same Page with Financial Independence You're making a good income, but... you're not getting anywhere. It's frustrating. Somehow, though, maybe through this podcast, some personal finance sites, or books, you've started running the numbers. While there would certainly need to be some changes, you can see a path forward. You can get out of debt, save more, and invest towards retirement. Maybe even retire early. But there's just one problem. It's not just about you. You're in this with your spouse. And you're not quite sure how to get them on board. As you heard at the top, today's guest Journey to Launch founder Jamila has been down this path. In this episode, we get into: how she and her husband first handled their money and paid down debt discovering financial independence and winning him over how they work together with money