How to Money

This show exists to help you make smart decisions with your money. But if we’re being honest, How To Money might not be as necessary if the financial system weren’t so confusing in the first place. For a lot of people, navigating modern money realities feels like swimming in shark-infested waters with high stakes, unclear rules, and the potential for costly mistakes at every turn. Our guest today is Professor John Campbell, author of the book Fixed: Why Personal Finance is Broken and How to Make It Work for Everyone. John is an economics professor at Harvard, who believes the financial system has a responsibility to serve ordinary people with products they can understand, afford, and safely use. Today, we’re talking about what’s broken in personal finance and what real solutions could look like. We specifically discuss:
Disparities in financial products
Complexity in personal finance
Problematic financial products
Human behavior when it comes to money decisions
Dangers of loyalty
Limitations of individual responsibility
What a rebuilt financial system could look like
Balancing protection and freedom
… and additional topics!
Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:
John Campbell: Be sure and check out John’s new book, Fixed.
Credit card perks: Check out our favorite credit cards that we use to maximize rewards and optimize our spending.
Money Gears: Knowing what to do with your money is crucial to your personal finance journey.
Newsletter: Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Other money nerds: Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

We’re kicking off the week by answering your listener questions! And if you have a question that you’d like for us to answer on the show, we’d love for you to submit your own via HowToMoney.com/ask , send us your voice memo. Regardless of how random or bizarre you might think it is, we want to hear it!

1 - International investing: Should I look outside of the US if I’m concerned about “Mag-7-nondiversification” in the S&P?
2 - Grunt work: Is it frugal or cheap to work for beer at my local craft brewery? PLUS a healthcare question…
3 - 13 credit cards: As we eliminate our credit card debt should I close my cards or keep them around?
4 - Cell service: Where to go for the most affordable home internet and cell service?
5 - Tax refund: What’s the best use of a $2,000 refund that I’m expecting to receive?

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:
Credit card perks: Check out our favorite credit cards that we use to maximize rewards and optimize our spending.
Other money nerds: Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!
Newsletter: Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Money Gears: knowing what to do with your money is crucial to your personal finance journey.
MG7: and maybe you’re well on your way to financial independence but you’re looking for some financial reassurance, that’s when heading over to HowToMoney.com/Advisor and getting matched with a highly vetted financial advisor makes sense.

During this episode we enjoyed a Fire, Skulls, and Money by Toppling Goliath – thanks Clint for sending this one along to us! And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Thanks to Justin for having Joel on his show, FI Minded!
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The FI community is incredibly good at effort, optimization, and doing hard things for a long time. But somewhere along the way, many of us forget how to stop. Even after gaining more control over our time, we fill it back up with projects, commitments, and expectations, leaving us busy, tired, and quietly stretched thin.

Joel Larsgaard shares what it looked like to recognize that “doing it all” was no longer sustainable, even when the work was meaningful. After front-loading years of effort through saving, investing, and building How to Money, Joel began intentionally pulling back: working fewer hours, prioritizing family and health, and even taking a six-week sabbatical. This conversation explores why doing less isn’t laziness, but a necessary evolution after years of striving.

You’ll hear how financial independence can be used as a tool for time, not just wealth, along with practical ways to say no, resist constant expansion, and create space without losing ambition. If you’ve reached a point where more effort isn’t improving your life the way it used to, this episode offers a healthier path forward - one built on balance, presence, and intentional choices.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s best financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like:
Listener side hustles like Star Craft Cocktails!
Not so high prices at the pump?
Spooked mortgage interest rates
Warflation
Headphones or else
Does expensive oil lead to higher returns?
24/7 oil futures
Five minute bets
Ticketmaster LiveNation is the worst
Gambling on the missile strikes
Will Kalshi get shutdown?
Drones in our backyard
Downpayment assistance programs
Attractive ARMs
$40 billions towards youth sports

Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:
Credit card perks: Check out our favorite credit cards that we use to maximize rewards and optimize our spending.
Other money nerds: Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!
Newsletter: Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Money Gears: knowing what to do with your money is crucial to your personal finance journey.
MG7: and maybe you’re well on your way to financial independence but you’re looking for some financial reassurance, that’s when heading over to HowToMoney.com/Advisor and getting matched with a highly vetted financial advisor makes sense.

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Every year, patients are billed and stuck with $14 billion in medical debt that should be wiped out under existing hospital financial assistance rules. This debt isn’t inevitable, it’s unnecessary! Given the fact that medical debt is the number one cause of bankruptcy and a huge source of stress for families, is it a step too far to say that there is a medical debt crisis in America? We don’t think so and our guest today is doing something about it. Jared Walker is the founder of DollarFor, an organization helping people crush hospital bills they don’t legally owe. Since 2012, DollarFor has helped eliminate more than $125 million in medical debt nationwide. Some of the topics covered today:
The unnecessary strain of medical bills that many are not obligated to pay
Simply letting others know about “charity care” could drastically help their situation
Taking your time to negotiate bc medical bills don’t impact your credit score for a year
Hospitals often do not inform patients about available financial assistance programs
Medical debt impacting personal possibilities and economic progress
Avoiding products like Care Credit which sound nice but are just credit cards in disguise
And much more!
Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:
Dollar For: You must check out the resources and tools at DollarFor.org if you are staring down a medical bill because there’s a good chance you can get it waived! Health Care Bluebook was also mentioned but be sure and look into Jared’s organization.
Credit card perks: Check out our favorite credit cards that we use to maximize rewards and optimize our spending.
Money Gears: knowing what to do with your money is crucial to your personal finance journey.
Newsletter: Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
Other money nerds: Find a thriving community of fellow money nerds by joining the HTM Facebook group!

And please help us to spread the word by letting friends and family know about How to Money! Hit the share button, subscribe if you’re not already a regular listener, and give us a quick review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. Help us to change the conversation around personal finance and get more people doing smart things with their money!

Best friends out!
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.