Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough

And Other ScandalsWomen getting together to talk about money is totally radical. In that, it used to not be…encouraged?…so it breaks societal norms, and it’s also cool. I think we’re all familiar with that simple math equation of money = power. So, talking about money is really talking about - and, dare I say? - stepping into that power.And yet.Growing up without female role models or movie characters who sit around and talk about stocks makes it hard to know what it would even look like. Can’t we just talk about sex and leave it at that?No! On our last episode of Season 4 (!!!) we talk about why it’s so important for women to share their money stories and insights with other women in the company of our lovely guest Sheila Schroeder, wealth advisor, former Wall Street executive, and author of It’s Time to Talk: A Woman’s Guide to Navigating Money Conversations.Sheila brings nearly 30 years of experience from the trading desks of New York and San Francisco to a deeply human conversation about shame, silence, power, and choice. Her vast experience gave us a chance to dig into why women are so often discouraged from engaging with money, how that silence impacts our lives and relationships, and how we can start changing the narrative, without needing to be “good at finance” or share personal numbers.Here’s where you can find Sheila, and here’s her book It’s Time to Talk: A Woman’s Guide to Navigating Money Conversations.And yes - this is the last episode of Season 4, but stay tuned for next season where we’re going back to the basics. Because some of us have to live in the basics for a few more years before they really sink in.What’s a stock again? We’ll figure it out! In the meantime, send us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo. Transcripts for Season 4, Episode 14: Women Talking About Money Caitlin [00:00:03] Welcome to Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough, where we're figuring out finance one dumb question at a time. I'm Caitlin Meredith, a mediator and coach based in the Bay Area. Sara [00:00:18] I'm Sara Glakas, investor, advisor, and founder of BlackBarn Financial, and the Austin Women's Investing Group, which you can find on Meetup. Caitlin [00:00:26] And this is our last episode of season 4. If you enjoyed this season, would you consider giving us a rating on Apple Podcasts, writing a little review? It would be so helpful to get more people listening, more women on the verge, and to give us inspiration to do season 5. Spoiler alert, we're going to be doing some Back to the Basics episodes. See you next season! Caitlin [00:00:54] Oh Caitlin [00:01:00] So today we have Sheila Schroeder. And Sheila, I saw you sparkling as the, I was gonna say curator, it's not curator. What were you? The interview? Moderator. There we go, an ater. You were the moderator at this coming together of women in San Francisco by now a couple months ago. What was that? It was like women in money, women talk about money. Women in wealth, women in wealth essential conversation. Essential conversations. And of course, my friend Sara invited me, who is one of your colleagues, a different money Sara that I know. I know, Sara, you have competition. Sara [00:01:37] How dare you. Caitlin [00:01:39] And the whole point of it was this panel of women professionals in various fields talking about money and women talking about money and being women in their profession, advice that they would give to women and you gave them various scenarios. But first I wanna, before we go into that, why were you the moderator? You work for, you're an investment advisor, but you've had a long storied past in finance. Sheila [00:02:10] Yes. I have a few gray hairs. Yes. So the reason they asked me to moderate is so my role is I'm a consultant, a business development consultant, regional head of business development for wealth spire advisors. So wealth spier is a large RIA registered investment advisor based out of New York. That's where our home offices are central offices. And I work with advisors on the west coast. Caitlin [00:02:42] Okay, but you had a long history in Wall Street, which I know that's not why you're coming on here to talk about, but I can't resist asking you. I feel like women who worked on Wall Street are like these unicorns I have to corner and ask, what was that like? Sheila [00:03:00] Oh my gosh, it raises my blood pressure to even talk about it. I'm not sure that's part of why not, but yes, I spent almost 30 years on Wall Street. And what that meant is, and it is relevant to what I do now. And I was working in the Japanese and the Asian equity markets. So that meant that I was looking at the Hong Kong stock exchange, the Thai stock change etc. Stocks that traded on those exchanges. And what I did with that is I was speaking to large institutional investors. So for example, all of us have money invested in a mutual fund, for example. I was talking to mutual fund portfolio managers who are buying and selling stocks in the Asian markets. So that was my focus. It was incredibly, I loved it. Absolutely loved it, it was super exciting. And I did it for a long time. I didn't leave because I didn't like it. I had done it for long time, and I just wanted to try something new. I wanted to have a little more work-life balance in my life. I mean, almost 30 years. When you work on a trading desk, you are in New York, you're in it 6.30 in the morning, and sometimes you don't leave until many, many hours later. Uh... You know, when I worked in San Francisco, I would be at my desk at 4 a.m. And it wasn't unusual to be working until 7 p.m., and I traveled almost every week. So it was just, yeah, I'd go home and go to sleep and get up, you know? And again, I loved it. It was interesting work and it paid very well. And it certainly helped me create a financial foundation for myself. That was in me and my family. But there also came a point where I was ready to do something different and I pivoted to private wealth okay and that's and so Caitlin [00:05:04] I want to talk to you about the private wealth part, but I just have to ask about being a woman in this equities Asian markets thing. I have to assume there weren't that many other women. Is that an outdated assumption? Sheila [00:05:19] There were not a lot of women. However, there were a lot more women on the Asian desk or the Japanese desk, because we studied Mandarin or Japanese in college. Sara [00:05:32] Is that how you ended up in the Asian markets versus US markets is because of your language background. Sheila [00:05:39] Yeah, I couldn't get a job on the U.S. Desk. Sara [00:05:41] That's so interesting. Caitlin [00:05:43] So women that were interested in languages might've had an in in getting these jobs that they wouldn't otherwise because they had that piece. But without that piece, they would maybe not have been considered. Yeah, I think that's true. Sheila [00:06:02] And years later, as I, you know, I did this for a long time, I was the head of the Asian desk for many, many years at various firms. And if you looked around, there were a lot of other women at other firms who were also the head at the Asia desk, because they had started out when they were young, they got their foot in the door because of their language, obviously, they could do the job. And over time, they became head of a desk. But it wasn't unusual to have a female be the head of the Asian desk or head of the Japan desk because of the language skill. Sara [00:06:34] Did you know that, Sara? I did not. That is fascinating to hear how you got there, because it sounds like what you mentioned is it is more difficult, for whatever reason, for a woman to become the head of. Caitlin [00:06:50] We know the reason. Sara [00:06:51] The U.S. Trading desks, right? There's no language barrier, and so maybe the foot in the door is a little bit more difficult when you were starting out. Sheila [00:07:03] That's my experience. That is why I got the chance. That's fascinating. Caitlin [00:07:10] Sheila, the money part also came like you were adept at languages, but also you had to have some interest in the stock market investing finance. What led to that as someone who didn't have any interest and actively closed my ears that this any talk of stocks and investing until the age of 40 or, you know, yesterday, what was it about? Sheila [00:07:35] It that intrigued you. You guys are asking such different questions than anyone else has asked. I appreciate it. So this book is a very personal book. In the introduction, I talk about some situations that I was in that were difficult. And I'm not sure I can talk about it without getting emotional, but. Caitlin [00:08:00] You're welcome to talk about it or not talk about it and you're welcome to talk about it and get emotional. All of that's okay, but whatever you're comfortable with. Sheila [00:08:08] So, and it's in the introduction, but so I certainly made some mistakes and I was in a situation in high school that I needed to get out of and it was I needed money to do it. And I also realized, so I didn't, I grew up in Indianapolis, great town etc but it was not for me and i wanted to go to college. And go live in the big city. Those were my Indiana dreams. And I realized from a very young age that if I was going to get away, I needed to have some money. And so my intention was to, my parents were very international. I wanted to join the foreign service. Caitlin [00:08:57] Mm-hmm. Sheila [00:08:58] And studied political science, etc. But I did my junior year abroad in Japan. I was in Tokyo and the junior year broad program had a lot of kids from Ivy League schools whose parents worked on Wall Street. So I had started r

Most of this episode is about what both partners should know - or at least be able to know - in a romantic partnership where one person does all the money stuff. Sara even does a “the four numbers every non-money partner should know” clickbait thing. It’s good stuff. And helpful, and useful and food for thought.But the REAL subject of this episode is how Sara deals with laundry in her household. Caitlin will never not be shocked and awed by this and needs to talk to as many people as possible about the arrangement as soon as possible. So please listen immediately. Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Two episode drops in one day?? What the what??This special mini episode is a quick (but mighty!) follow-up to Season 4, Episode 11 about stepping out of the workforce to care for kids. What happens when you’re ready to work again (or just need to for $$$)? You might not be sure how to start. What is a TPS report again?Pulled from our conversation with career development expert Susanne Aronowitz, Sara, Caitlin and Susanne brainstorm practical ideas for rebuilding your network (even if all your old work contacts were handwritten in a 1997 Filofax), translating the skills you developed during your “break” into powerful professional strengths, and finding small opportunities that can lead to bigger roles.It’s short! (ie. mini) but might spark some of your own ideas and gives you full permission to start exactly where you are. You can do it!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

What’s the point of having a salary if the whole thing goes to paying for daycare?The back-of-the-napkin math for many couples says that it’s “cheaper” for one partner to stay home and take care of the kids because childcare is so freaking expensive. Because statistically women earn less than men (how is this still true??), in heterosexual couples, it often “makes more sense” for it to be the woman who steps out of the workforce in the child-chasing years until some undetermined “later”.In this episode, Caitlin and Sara get help from pod favorite Kacie Swartz to lay out all of the questions women and couples should ask and answer while making that decision, and what financial and professional decisions might protect the financial and emotional well-being of the family during and after that transition.“There’s a math answer and there’s a heart answer - and they are not always the same.” said Yoda. Or, whoops, Kacie. Kacie said that. And also she and Sara talk about how that math answer might only be a short term one, and the longer-term math equation is totally different. There’s a lot to consider here. And Kacie is hella funny so it’s fun to consider.As always, you can find fan favorite podcast guest Kacie Swartz at Black Barn Financial.Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Hello and welcome to all of you anxious/avoidant attachers out there! And a shout out to you secure attachment weirdos, too!On this episode, Sara and Caitlin talk to New York-based financial advisor Rebecca Pino about how our relationship to money is like any other relationship we have. Uh oh.Don’t worry - there’s a financial strategy for all of us, no matter how much or little we ghost our retirement accounts and emergency savings funds.Much like our romantic attachment styles, patterns in our behaviors around money have to do with messaging we received in childhood, but also societal scripts and a little thing called capitalism. You should look it up - it’s like, a big deal.And OMG - come for the attachment styles and stay for Rebecca’s mind-breaking insight about how our money decisions are actually more important that the amount of money we might have. Call back to compounding interest!You can find Rebecca here, and subscribe to her Money Her Way Substack to learn more about her money behavior theories. Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

When a man loves a woman very, very much….lol. Baby-making / family-creating can be hella expensive and complicated. Is egg freezing tax deductible? Can my partner’s FSA pay for my fertility shots? Is IVF a legit topic to bring up with a financial advisor?Our guest Anna Bell Gall, Austin-based financial advisor, has the answers to all of these questions and more. All the single ladies, LGBTQ pairs, cancer survivors, military couples, tech career powerhouses, fertility-challenged straight couples and a million others facing creative family-making, you know that the price tag can be one of the major planning and pain points. This episode is a place to start. Anna Bell is not only experienced and knowledgeable, she’s really nice and friendly and handles all our dumb questions with grace.Here are some of the fertility info resources Anna Bell mentioned:SART (Society for Assisted Reproductive Technology) data portal – Publicly available clinic success rates for egg freezing and IVF outcomes.Baby Quest Foundation - Offers financial grants for fertility treatments.The Cade Foundation - Provides grants for fertility assistance and adoption.And here’s where you can find Anna Bell herself!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Back to the basics, Women on the Verge! WTF is a stock??? LOL. Jkjk. (But that’s a totally legit question - find the answer here!)If you thought the annuities episode was boring, come on back for a real snoozer. This time Sara explains WTF CD ladders and money market accounts. Are you still awake? What’s wrong with you?!Poor Sara. If you have a bunch of money you can’t invest because you might need it sooner rather than later, you should probably pay attention here. CD ladders and money market accounts seem to be the kind of “safe” options that drive real investing people (Sara) crazy, but might have their place in a fully diversified money-type situation. Don’t worry, we cut her off before she tried to explain the “yield curve”. There’s only so much stimulants one can take before a podcast episode recording session. You’re gonna have to find out what that is on your own time.But, as usual, Caitlin learns 1/10th of what Sara explains, and you might, too! Fun!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Ugh. This is hard. So many of us are sandwiched between our kids and our aging parents with difficult decisions coming down the pike. We invited Julie Latson, an expert in helping families figure out what their options are when a family member starts needing care, including navigating how it’s going to get paid for, to walk us through what this all looks like. This is the episode where we realize we have no idea what our own definitions of “quality of life” mean, much less how we could decide that for someone else. Planning for family care isn’t just about money (although, I mean, it can be hella expensive). It’s also about getting and giving information about our wishes (and our family members’) now, before they’re needed in an emergency. I believe Julie’s quote was: “If you’re thinking about it, it’s time to start planning.” Uh oh. The bad news is it turns out we’re all aging and will eventually die.The good news is that Julie provides great info to help guide us through the process: - Why you should review your medical power of attorney - and what happens if no one really knows your wishes. - The real costs of in-home versus facility care ( “I want to stay home at all costs” is a major financial planning red flag). - Practical steps to take before a crisis hits, from family meetings to understanding insurance coverage.This is all real, and hard, and a bit overwhelming. So, come do it with us.Oh! And Julie recommended some great resources: - Here’s the Aging Life Care Association to find your own Julie - Age Your Way by Debbie Pearson R.N. - The Age Your Way workbook that goes along with the book. - Being Mortal by Atul GawandeFYI: Julie has moved on from her position at CareFor.Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

This week, Women on the Verge fan favorite Kacie Swartz returns, arms in the air, to hold forth on another man money myth. Money shouldn’t be emotional? What the eff are you talking about Uncle Warren?*Kacie kicks off with the radical notion that your money decisions are supposed to be emotional - we’re humans, not spreadsheets. The actual purpose of financial planning is matching up what’s important to us as individuals, what we’re emotionally attached to, with how we spend and save our money. She also tells us the name of her next hit single, following the record-topping success of her previous hit “Money is a River Not a Pond.”Sara bravely breaks new ground in the emotional ecosystem by asking if “fine” is a feeling, and Caitlin makes a groundbreaking metaphor comparing retirement savings to a crock pot. It’s getting deep in here, people.Together, the trio explore what it looks like to take your emotions seriously when it comes to financial planning, starting with how to figure out what they even are. If there’s a way to do this without a feelings wheel, could someone let Sara know?You can find fan favorite podcast guest Kacie Swartz at Black Barn Financial.*That is a reference to Warren Buffet who once said something that sort of sounded like the only rational way to make financial decisions is without emotions.Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

If you’ve bought six pairs of cheap, mediocre black leggings instead of one quality pair to “save money”, this episode is for you. Caitlin invited her lifelong family friend who happens to be an international home-organizing legend and life-decluttering queen, Shira Gill, to talk about how owning less stuff can actually buy you more time, money, and mental peace. What’s that like??Caitlin admits she might be Pigpen from Peanuts if Pigpen also had a kid, a car full of granola bar wrappers, leaking dog water bowls, and a complicated relationship with Buy Nothing groups.Shira tells us about her “rule of one” and Caitlin tries to hide her hostility towards someone who’s so “rational” and doesn’t have all available surfaces covered in 17-step projects that will never happen. (But seriously, what would you do with a maybe-non-working-but-maybe-valuable Frogger console from 1983??) Shira gives lots of good, practical, non-judgy advice about managing external chaos and the tyranny of following clothing and parenting trends.Oh! And Sara’s here too! She and Shira get in cahoots about how financial clutter and house clutter might actually be the same species.We highly recommend getting lots more Shira (she takes up no counter space!) at @shira_gill on Instagram, on Substack or buy her latest book, LifeStyled!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Welcome to another buzzkill week here on the Women on the Verge pod! Close your eyes and think of the adult task YOU KNOW YOU SHOULD’VE ALREADY DONE but still haven’t….Let’s learn about estate-planning!!! That’s the bad news. But the good news is our charming special guest Carlotta Garza-Kilcullen, an Austin-based estate planning attorney, helps the medicine go down very easily. By the end of your listen, you’ll want to find your own Carlotta to help you make a plan and sign it in all the right places.What’s “power of attorney” and how can we get it for free without a lawyer? Carlotta tells us!What are the risks of DIY online cheapo legal forms? Carlotta tells us!Why aren’t estate plans one and done in our lifetimes? Carlotta tells us! (Though it’s a sore spot for Caitlin.)Carlotta very nicely and supportively reminds us that estate plans aren’t just about death, they’re also about having a say in our lives if we lose capacity to make decisions for ourselves. The estate plan isn’t only a boring pile of documents with random initials and signature lines, she claims, it’s actually the empowerment plan that ensures what happens before and after your death aligns with your values and wishes. What do we think about this?She also gives super helpful advice about how to find and screen a good estate-planning attorney when you get inspired. Team work makes the dream work!Oh! Oh! Oh! And someone in this conversation got a shocking high school graduation present and it wasn’t Caitlin or Sara. Have you ever heard of this? What the what?Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Welcome to the career class you should’ve gotten in college. This week, Sara and Caitlin ask Susanne Aronowitz, career and executive coach, how to talk about compensation without sweating through our pantsuits. How do we know what we’re worth? If they agree too fast to our ask did we go too low? If they say no, do we go back into our caves and never ask again? What about writing a number down on a piece of paper? Is that ever the right move?Susanne walks us through how to be our own She-Wolves of Wall Street, or at least learn how to approach these conversations with confidence and clarity. And helps us think outside the money box to bring all sorts of other things out on the negotiating table like benefits, flexibility, professional development and beyond. If you’re currently fuming silently at your desk thinking “these bastards aren’t paying me enough,” but the idea of saying it out loud makes you want to crawl into the office supply closet, we’re here for you. Or, Susanne is here for you.A little surprise here for the super avoidant is that a salary negotiation can actually be more of a collaborative “let’s make this work for both of us” conversation. Yes, please!Also, here are a few resources Susanne recommends to do salary research:o   www.dice.com/salary-calculator  o   www.glassdoor.com/Salaries/know-your-worth.htm o   www.payscale.com o   Robert Half Legal Salary Guideo   www.salary.com o   http://www.salaryexpert.com/o   https://www.salarylist.com/o   Top Salary Calculators OnlineAsk us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Turns out money baggage isn’t suitcase jammed with hundred dollar bills - it’s the stuff we drag around from childhood that sneaks into every tap and Venmo request of our adult lives. But don’t worry! Financial therapy, people. It’s a thing. And we have the wonderful Dr. Shaywanna Harris-Pierce on the pod to tell us all about it.Maybe you avoid your credit card statements and just swipe and pray? (Dr. Shay said that and now it’s our motto.) Maybe you’re living it up like yacht owner when your bank account is giving more…row boat with only one paddle?Or maybe you’ve got plenty in savings but still won’t splurge on the guacamole add-on to your burrito?If any of these apply to you, Dr. Shay is your person. She helps people sort through the feelings behind the finances. And how to work through those feelings to get in touch with your financial future. Also, we talk about how most money advice seems written for rich white dudes named Chad, where to find guidance that speaks to a much wider range of experiences and backgrounds, especially for women and people of color. It’s really a lovely conversation and we think you’ll feel better after you listen. Here’s where you can find Dr. Shay’s clinical practice, and here’s her podcast.Other financial information resources and support Dr. Shay recommends: - Strangers in Paradise: How Families Adapt to Wealth Across Generations by James Grubman - Feel-Good Finance by Aja Evans - Wealth in the Key of Life: Finding Your Financial Harmony by Preston D. Cherry - BernaAnat, Financial Hype WomanAnd finally, find your own financial therapist!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

We’re back for season four, and ready to sneak into business class to live our best lives. Climb aboard!Caitlin’s friend Katherine Fan is a credit card and loyalty programs expert who was The Points Guy's first senior travel reporter, and has covered credit cards for NerdWallet, Condé Nast Traveler, AFAR, and Business Insider. So, like, super profesh. She’s our guest to answer all of our questions about credit card points, travel hacking, and how she’s managed to see every continent (and by “see” she means get very close to) mostly on points. She just got her second passport, that’s how jet-set-y sophisticated she is. Now, she does also call herself a lounge rat, so there are some nuances here to dig into.Listen for the discussion of how to convert your groceries into flights to Phoenix, stay for the repeated warnings to not get into this game if you might fudge it a bit on the want vs. need calculation for aspirational travel living. There is definitely some drama here. Like, did you know some of those fancy airport clubs stock their hot buffets with Sam’s Club hot dogs? (I think that’s what she said.)Oh yeah - and the Eras Tour story! As usual, we have some advice for the “normal” people in how to start small and still feel like a travel hacking goddess.Find Katherine on Instagram and subscribe to her Substack to catch all of her credit card tips and tricks so that you, too, can bask in the aquamarine waters of the Maldives, or just fly home to Guadalajara for your cousin’s high school graduation.Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions, or just say hi! on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Do you know anything about personal bankruptcy? Us neither. I mean, we knew the rumor that it ruins your credit and should be the OPTION OF LAST RESORT, but we actually didn’t know anything useful. Kind of the opposite - we knew just enough to be scared of it without any actual information. Sounds like the stock market all over again!So, for our last episode of Season 3, we decided to learn about something together. Finally we’re both the dummies!To walk us through the process, we invited Texas-based bankruptcy attorney Justice Pierce with Lincoln-Goldfinch Law. What a treasure! Justice is the most compassionate, understanding and knowledgeable expert we could’ve ever asked for. We learned a lot. The most important thing was something we talk about a lot on the WOTV - the intersection of shame and money.Guess what?Bankruptcy is not a moral failing. It’s just not. Justice explained that it’s actually a feature of the entire system that people are supposed to use. Politicians from both sides of the aisle support it - that’s how universally valued it is!So, if it’s not a reason to tar and feather yourself because of you moral failures, what is it? It’s actually a legal tool specially designed to help people escape overwhelming debt and start fresh that has different categories depending on what your situation is. Unexpected medical bills, job loss, or economic downturns can push even the most responsible people to their limits. But you know what, even people with some irresponsible blips also get our support. But it ruins your credit forever!! OR DOES IT?Listen as Justice tells us everything we didn’t know we wanted to know about this option. Oh! And we realized after the episode that we didn’t ask her how much hiring a bankruptcy attorney costs. It sounds like anywhere between $4,000 - $5,000, depending on where you live. If you’re curious, call one and find out! Report back!Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for….Season 4 (which will happen some day in the future!) on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Hey - if you’re super risk-averse (despite listening to our very soothing risk-encouraging podcast), this episode is for you!Caitlin learns that her big investment idea to get an annuity so she gets paid some amount of money every year actually has nothing to do with investing. It’s insurance??? Get the F out of here, Sara. Do you even know what you’re talking about??Sara goes on to explain that annuities are contracts with insurance companies to protect us from losing money in the stock market and guarantee a yearly income in our senior years. But ON THE OTHER HAND, you don’t get any of the advantages of compounding interest.The lows are higher and the highs are lower. That doesn’t sound like the way to make a million dollars. And it’s not. Sara says that they really only appeal to the moooooost risk adverse humans who are okay with giving up the chance to make more money in the stock market in exchange for a sure thing.In fact, we go so far as to claim that getting an annuity is more like a psychological strategy than an investing one. Look at us go! A couple of Freuds over here!We even (lightly) touch on actuarial sciences! (I know that has nothing to do with Freud, but it’s also very sophisticated.)Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 3 on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Can’t I just sell some stocks to make a bunch of money and then use that money to make more money and then I’ll be rich?Um. Sort of? Sara explains how there’s no such thing as free lunch, or, in the stock market world, tax-free income from your clever little (or big) trades. It’s all fun and games during the year while you’re buying low and selling high with individual stocks, but then, whoops!, there comes April and a tax bill for all of the money you earned for each transaction. Even though it might feel like “fun” money, you actually pay a higher income tax rate for quick trades! They don’t show that in the movies!Caitlin (AGAIN) asks WTF she should do with her Airbnb stock now that she’s gone to therapy to become un-emotionally attached to it. Sara walks her through selling it at the price she would feel good about, and Caitlin might as well be considered a stock broker now.Is buying individual stocks really worth it for normal people like you and me? Listen to this episode and decide for yourself. Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 3 on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

Did you listen to Season 3, Episode 1 where Caitlin grilled Sara about whether anybody ever knows if we’re in a recession or not, and Sara said we do because a brilliant economist named Claudia Sahm invented a rule called the Sahm Rule and male economists are always mansplaining the Sahm rule to Sahm?If yes, then oh my god, you’ll never believe who our special guest is this week: Claudia Fucking Sahm! The economist who invented the Sahm rule!!!Claudia Sahm, Chief Economist of New Century Advisors and former Federal Reserve economist, came on Women on the Verge of a Financial Breakthrough to answer our (Caitlin’s) dumb questions about her job and the economy. Like, for instance, what is the Federal Reserve again? And, just to review for people that missed the last class: What is “economics” again? Hmmm. This is tricky.Come listen in to Sara resisting the urge to ask all of her high-level fancy-pants-finance questions with every fiber in her body so Caitlin can complain about the price of Cheerios!Here is Claudia’s Substack to get all of her research and thoughts into your inbox. Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 3 on our Ask Us page! We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.

The wrong guy* is gonna win so the economy is going to go to hell in a hand basket and the stock market will tank and we’ll need our savings in the form of a pile of five dollar bills so we can buy milk and tangerines, right? (* I was gonna say “person” but who am I kidding? It’s always an effing guy.)Sara explains how people always freak out about presidential elections and threaten to cash out their investment accounts because of the inevitable apocalypse. And then the apocalypse doesn’t actually come, and surprise, surprise, the cold-hearted stock market is entirely indifferent to who we elect or defeat.Caitlin tries to catch Sara with some gotcha questions about specific areas of the economy that must suffer when the other side wins…only to be schooled, again. This time with a chart that even a Caitlin can understand.Look on our website to see the Bespoke chart Sara refers to that shows what our investment accounts would look like if we only kept our money in the stock market when our person wins the presidency, and what it would look like if we just left it the fuck alone compounding its little (actually big) interest.So, tune in to listen to Sara explain why all this fear mongering is way off base, and how we can thoughtfully respond to women that aren’t on the verge of a financial breakthrough with our facts and charts.We’re not falling for this alarmist bullshit! (But it still seems kind of counter-intuitive, right??) 

It feels like there are so many financial landmines when we buy a car, but maybe there aren’t as many as we think?Guest star Kacie Swartz from Blackbarn Financial joins Caitlin and Sara again to explain all the ways we over complicate the car-buying process and undervalue our time.It turns out no one gets gold stars at the end of life for the moral way they paid for their car. What??And maybe people that buy new cars right off the lot or lease aren’t suckers? What??Come on over and think through the options with us: borrow, save, lease, new, old, now or later. So many decisions. And Kacie and Sara have some pretty good answers, without shaming Caitlin about her tortured, overwrought and misplaced sense of moral smugness too much.Oh wait, and Caitlin pressures Sara to sell her own damn used car. And co-producer Kelly leaves her first podcast easter egg…you’ll know it when you hear it. Ask us your dumb investing and finance questions for Season 3 on our Ask Us page!We have the social medias!! Here’s our Instagram and Facebook and LinkedIn.This episode was edited by our co-producer Kelly West. Music by Bad Bad Hats and Devmo.