So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

What would change if we paid as much attention to how we spend our time as how we spend our money?

Fran Hauser joins me to explore that question. A former media executive, owner of Bedford Books and author of Twenty Minutes Is the New Hour, Fran challenges us to ask how much time something deserves before deciding how much time to give it.

In midlife, that question gets especially personal. We’ve spent years becoming capable, dependable and very good at getting things done. The reward? More things to do. Fran’s approach offers a way to reconsider those commitments and make room for the work, relationships and experiences we actually want.

Our conversation explores:

• The four habits that quietly consume our time: padding, perfectionism, people-pleasing and procrastination.
• Why some tasks deserve your A game, while others can survive a perfectly respectable B or C.
• What opening a bookstore in eight weeks can teach us about deadlines, clarity and starting something new.
• The cost of always being the reliable one, including the resentment that follows an unwanted yes.
• How to decide when to spend less time, pay for help or stop doing something altogether.
• Where AI can help, and how to avoid filling every saved minute with more work

Learn more about Fran and her book at https://www.franhauser.com/.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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This week on Ask Farnoosh, we're tackling one of the biggest money questions of all: When can I retire?

Inspired by a viral Instagram reelabout repeatedly refreshing a retirement calculator in hopes of finding financial freedom, Farnoosh breaks down how to determine your retirement readiness—and why retirement may not be the right goal at all. Instead, what if the goal is optionality?

In this episode:

• Why so many Gen Xers are obsessed with retirement calculators
• How to calculate your "freedom number"
• The 4% rule explained simply
• Why Social Security may be worth more than you think
• How home equity changes the retirement equation
• Four retirement personality types
• Practical ways to move your retirement date closer
• Why burnout—not retirement—may be the real issue

Plus:

• Farnoosh weighs in on the controversy surrounding Belle Burden's bestselling memoir Strangers following a recent New Yorker investigation.
• An update on the new Trump Accounts program, including why Farnoosh believes it could become one of the most powerful wealth-building tools for children.

Related Listening:

Retiring on Social Security Alone

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Today's episode is sponsored by Bank of America. To learn more about BofA Rewards and see where you land, head to http://bofa.com/bofarewards

Welcome to So Money, everyone. You know the loyalty economy when you see it. Airlines have status tiers. Your grocery store has a rewards app. Hotels want you to hit the next level of points before your trip. But did you know your bank could be another place to unlock exclusive benefits? I didn’t until now, and here's the part that got my attention: Access is changing. More banking customers than ever now have access to real rewards, and the kinds of benefits available to them are expanding, too. If you haven't looked at what's available to you lately, it's worth a review.

My guest today has spent her career inside that shift. Shikha Narula is Managing Director and Head of Consumer Deposit Products and Rewards at Bank of America. Before this, she led US consumer lending products at American Express, and spent 16 years at Citi in cards and marketing. So she's watched this industry rethink, again and again, what it actually means to reward a customer for sticking around.

In our conversation, we're going to talk about

• The forces actually reshaping banking right now
• What that means for how we should evaluate our own banking relationship and
• Shikha will walk us through BofA Rewards, which launched this year and represents a pretty different approach to who gets rewarded and for what.

By the end of this episode, we’re going to walk through a bank check in that takes less time than waiting for your coffee, and it could be worth real money that you don't even know you have access to.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Love is beautiful. But love is not a financial plan.

What happens when you're the breadwinner in your marriage? When your aging parents haven't saved enough for retirement? Or when protecting your financial future means having some pretty uncomfortable conversations with the people you love most?

This week, I'm joined by Jannese Torres, creator and host of Yo Quiero Dinero, author of Financially Lit, entrepreneur, and one of my favorite voices on women's financial independence.

Jannese is no stranger to challenging traditional expectations around money and relationships. She's the breadwinner in her marriage, runs a real estate business with her husband, and is a passionate advocate for prenups and financial boundaries. She's also navigating something many of us in midlife can relate to: the growing realization that our parents may be counting on us for financial support.

We get into the messy intersection of love, money, marriage, and family obligations, including Jannese's remarkable experience of getting divorced for just $500, thanks in part to financial protections she put in place.

And we explore what it really means to build generational wealth. Spoiler: Sometimes the greatest financial gift you can give your children is making sure they'll never have to support you.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why love isn't enough: The financial conversations every couple should have, especially when one partner earns significantly more.
• The case for prenups and postnups: How Jannese protected her investments and business during divorce, and why these agreements aren't just for the wealthy.
• Being the female breadwinner: How to navigate traditional gender expectations and build an equitable partnership.
• Working with your spouse: What Jannese learned about trust, money, and stepping back while investing in a house-flipping business with her husband.
• When your parents have no retirement plan: How to set financial boundaries without abandoning the people you love.
• Raising financially independent kids: Why funding your own retirement may be more important than paying for every dollar of your child's college education.
• Redefining generational wealth: The lessons, examples, and financial confidence we pass down matter just as much as the money.

A powerful takeaway from Jannese:

"The most generous form of wealth that you can give your kid is a financially independent parent."

More about Jannese Torres

Jannese is the founder of Yo Quiero Dinero, a personal finance platform dedicated to helping women build wealth and achieve financial independence. She's the author of Financially Lit and is working to bring a new financial empowerment conference to Puerto Rico in 2027, creating space for women, especially first-generation wealth builders, to have honest conversations about money and opportunity.

Follow Janesse: IG @yoquierodineropodcast | https://yoquierodineropodcast.com

Learn more about her fundraiser for DiversiFI, a financial freedom conference created for Latinas and Black, Indigenous, and other people of color, to Puerto Rico in fall 2027.

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This episode of So Money includes a paid partnership with Google Workspace with Gemini. Farnoosh takes us behind the scenes of how an episode goes from an initial idea to a conversation ready for the mic. Get AI tools for work. Upgrade to Google Workspace with Gemini and try it free for 14 days at https://goo.gle/workspacewithgemini.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Take Farnoosh's midlife survey

What if the retirement you’re saving for isn’t the life you actually want?

This week on Ask Farnoosh, we unpack a story about Gen X’s willingness to “blow up” their lives—from downsizing to moving overseas—to make room for more freedom. Plus, a closer look at a headline about retirement savings at age 84, what those numbers really tell us, and this week’s mortgage-rate news.

Then, three questions adapted from public Reddit conversations:

• I inherited $25,000. Should I pay off debt, invest—or enjoy some of it? How to prioritize competing goals, weigh a nine-percent car loan, and make a thoughtful decision without making a joyless one.
• We want to pay our nieces’ and nephews’ college tuition. What if one doesn’t go? Setting clear expectations, supporting different paths, and understanding a useful gift-tax distinction.
• Someone sent me money through Zelle by mistake. Why shouldn’t I just send it back? Sending a new payment doesn’t undo the original transaction—and that difference could leave you paying for someone else’s fraud.

Stories discussed

• Upworthy: Gen X is redefining what retirement means
• FinanceBuzz: Average retirement savings of 84-year-old Americans — The cited figures cover households age 75 and older with retirement accounts, rather than specifically all 84-year-olds.
• Freddie Mac: Weekly mortgage-rate survey archive

Mailbag sources and resources

The inheritance question

• Original Reddit discussion
• Investor.gov: Paying off high-interest debt
• Investor.gov: Making the most of a lump-sum payment

The college-gift question

• Original Reddit discussion
• IRS: Gift-tax guidance, including the educational exclusion

The Zelle question

• Reddit: Why are some Zelle payments reversible?
• Related Reddit discussion: An unexpected $500 payment
• Oregon financial regulator: “Payment sent by mistake” scams
• Zelle: Reporting fraud or a scam

Have a money question or a midlife decision you’re wrestling with? Visit https://somoneypodcast.com and click Ask Farnoosh.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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You’re not ready to retire. But you might be ready to stop working—and living—the way you have been. How do you figure out what you can afford to change?

Farnoosh welcomes certified financial planner Sara Stanich, founder of Cultivating Wealth and author of Crossroads: A Financial Fable for Women Navigating the Decisions, Transitions, and Pivots of Peri-Retirement.

Sara calls this stage “peri-retirement”: the stretch when your relationship with work, money and identity begins shifting, even though retirement may still be years away. Her book follows four childhood friends navigating caregiving, divorce, career burnout and entrepreneurship—and the financial decisions that come with each.

The conversation explores why midlife calls for a different financial playbook, one that makes room for both future security and a better life today.

Topics include:

• What peri-retirement means and why it can begin earlier than you expect.
• How to assess whether you can afford a career change, lower income or more flexibility.
• Why earning good money doesn’t always translate into feeling financially secure.
• Balancing support for children and aging parents with your own needs.
• Rebuilding financial independence after divorce.
• Why Sara chose fiction to tell these money stories.
• A five-year vision exercise to help clarify what you want next.

Learn more:

Explore Sara’s work at Cultivating Wealth.

Find Crossroads and accompanying resources at https://crossroads-book.com/.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Can you afford to retire—and what do you want life to look like when you do?

Financial advisor and former Wimbledon quarterfinalist Dan Goldie joins Farnoosh to discuss his new book, The Retirement Answer: The Six Key Decisions Every Retiree Needs to Make, and the financial and emotional decisions that shape life after full-time work.

From growing up with a single mother facing financial insecurity to navigating his own early exit from professional tennis, Dan shares the experiences that inform his approach to helping people plan for their futures.

In this episode:

• How to figure out what you need for retirement beyond the intimidating headlines.
• Social Security timing and the tradeoffs of waiting to claim benefits.
• Opportunities to boost retirement savings in midlife.
• Why Dan favors flexible withdrawals over a rigid application of the 4% rule.
• How to prepare for changes in identity, purpose and daily routine.
• Why retirement can be a gradual transition, including consulting or part-time work.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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When does a bad shopping experience deserve a public callout? Farnoosh weighs in on Kelly Clarkson’s mechanical bird brouhaha and the responsibility that comes with an audience. Then, this week’s Ask Farnoosh tackles three money worries: Is six months of emergency savings enough? How do you choose health insurance without an expensive mistake? And what if your peak earning years end before your biggest bills do?

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Today's episode is for anyone who has ever stood in the vitamin aisle reading about the exact right creatine dosage for a woman "in this stage of life" and thought... okay but where's the aisle for my retirement savings?

I'm right in the thick of this myself. Midlife money is basically all I want to talk about lately, because I think we are the forgotten demo. There's an entire industry telling us how to optimize our sleep, our supplements, our skin. But when it comes to actually managing our money at this stage, when the stakes are higher and the runway to retirement is shorter, the advice mostly dries up.

So I'm thrilled to have Lindsay Goldwert here. She's the co-author, with Gabrielle Moss, of The Midlife Plot Twist, and she's spent a lot of time talking to women about the money moment we're in right now: the shame, the catching-up, the marriages where one partner has quietly been steering the ship, the total reinvention some of us are doing in our forties and fifties. Lindsay, welcome to So Money.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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What would you do if caring for a parent meant putting your own financial future—and your kids’—on hold?

That’s not a hypothetical. It’s the reality facing millions of Americans right now, including Senator Andy Kim—a father of two, a son navigating his own father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and now, one of the leading voices in Washington pushing for change.

Today’s episode is a deeply personal and urgent conversation about the true cost of caregiving in America—financially, emotionally, and systemically.

This interview is also a special crossover with The Montclair Pod, my local news podcast, where I co-host alongside Michael Schreiber—who you’ll hear in this conversation as well. Together, we sat down with Senator Kim to talk not just about policy, but about what happens when aging, illness, and money collide inside your own family.

Before serving in the Senate, Andy Kim worked in national security and diplomacy, and today he represents nearly 10 million New Jersey residents. But in this conversation, what stands out most isn’t his title—it’s his story.

He opens up about his father’s battle with Alzheimer’s, the impossible trade-offs of being in the sandwich generation, and how quickly a family’s financial plan can unravel in the face of long-term care costs.

We talk about why so many families are blindsided, what Medicare does—and doesn’t—cover, why long-term care insurance is falling short, and what changes may be coming.

Also check out: Caring for Aging Parents with Beth Pinsker

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Can you pause your 401(k) contributions when life gets expensive? This week on Ask Farnoosh: balancing retirement savings with immediate needs, navigating student loans after SAVE, and helping parents who have little saved for retirement. Plus, why some retirees are returning to work, a lawsuit challenging McDonald’s use of AI in pricing, and updates on Book to Brand, MidiCon and So Money’s midlife-focused next chapter.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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Today I’m joined by Carrie Joy Grimes. founder of WorkMoney(opens in new tab) and the author of the new book The Joy of Money(opens in new tab). She’s a former union organizer who spent years helping workers fight for better wages and benefits while also trying to untangle her own complicated relationship with money — debt, shame, financial anxiety, all of it.

In this episode, we talk about why so many women still avoid taking ownership of their finances, how to rebuild confidence after money mistakes, whether homeownership still makes sense, and how to separate what society tells us should make us happy from what actually does.

We also talk about the inspiration behind her new book, The Joy of Money, and why she believes financial security is not just about numbers — it’s about feeling safer, freer, and more in control of your life.

This episode originally aired on May 13.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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If you've ever felt like the math just doesn't work anymore, you're doing everything right, still coming up short on your housing payment, groceries, student loans, this episode's for you.

My guest, Freddy Smith, spent nearly 20 years acting, including nine of those years on Days of Our Lives, before a business manager, who was supposed to be handling his money, stole it and stopped filing his taxes. Then came the pandemic. He lost the show. He moved to Florida and had to rebuild his finances from zero in a brand-new career. That personal collapse turned into a mission.

Freddy started sharing what he was learning about taxes, investing, inflation, and the Fed on TikTok and Instagram, not as an expert, but as someone figuring it out in real time alongside his audience, and that honesty struck a nerve. He's now built a community of two million people in three years, and it's now the subject of his new book, Generation F'd: How Millennials and Gen Z Were Robbed of the American Dream and How We Can Fix Our Futures.

In this conversation, Freddy and I get into why he thinks the real crisis for millennials and Gen Z is not financial illiteracy, it's wages that haven't kept pace with the actual cost of living.

We talk about his big four: housing, student loans, childcare, and healthcare, why he thinks college needs a hard math test before anyone signs on the dotted line, his wild but genuinely compelling case for how a young person could retire with millions just by investing early, and why he's cautiously optimistic that his generation is about to be the one that finally changes the system.

This episode first aired on July 27.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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This week on Ask Farnoosh, we unpack the latest updates to Trump Accounts, including new workplace contribution options that could make these child investment accounts more appealing for families. We also dive into the rise of "money maxxing"—what this viral trend gets right (and where it goes too far)—plus the surprising economics behind the stay-at-home boyfriend phenomenon.

Also on the show: why customer service frustrations are fueling record levels of consumer rage, what Realtor.com's hottest ZIP codes reveal about today's housing market (including why Montclair, NJ, ranks #2), and answers to two listener questions on avoiding common pre-retirement mistakes and deciding where to put your next dollar after you've built an emergency fund and are saving for retirement.

This episode originally aired on August 14, 2026.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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What happens when you've checked all the boxes? The career, the family, the financial success, the home. You've done everything you were supposed to do, and yet something still feels...off.

Maybe you're exhausted. Maybe you've become so good at achieving that you don't actually know how to stop. Or maybe, as you move through midlife, you're starting to wonder: Is this really what I want? And who am I when I'm not busy getting things done?

My guest today knows this reckoning intimately.

Unni Turrettini is an author, speaker and former Wall Street professional whose latest book, Soulware, explores how we can reconnect with ourselves in a world that increasingly rewards productivity, performance and external validation.

Unni spent years in high-pressure legal and financial roles, pushing herself so hard that she once physically collapsed at a professional event. But even after building what looked like a picture-perfect life, she found herself questioning why she still felt unfulfilled.

Today, we're exploring the difference between healthy ambition and what Unni calls fear-driven overachieving. We'll talk about why midlife can trigger a crisis of identity, how to stop operating in constant survival mode, and why giving yourself permission to work less might actually make you more creative, productive and even profitable.

And in a very timely twist, we'll explore how Unni uses AI, including ChatGPT, to help reconnect with herself rather than become even more dependent on technology.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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If you’ve ever thought about starting a business in midlife, you probably know the idea is often the easy part. Finding the money, the support and frankly the confidence to actually do it? That’s where things get complicated.

Today we’re talking about what it really takes to launch and grow a business in your 40s, 50s and beyond, especially at a time when borrowing is expensive and traditional funding can be tough to come by.

My guest is Trae Bodge, longtime consumer expert, entrepreneur and co-founder of the Threadneedle Alley Foundation, a nonprofit helping midlife entrepreneurs turn their ideas into sustainable businesses through grants and mentorship.

Trae and I talk about where entrepreneurs can find funding right now, including grants that many business owners don’t even realize they qualify for, why applying for every grant you see may actually be a terrible strategy, and how even $5,000 can completely change the trajectory of a small business.

We also get into something I think is especially important in midlife: building your own board of advisors. The people who can help you think through the things you don’t know, make smarter decisions and keep you from operating in a vacuum.

Plus, Trae shares what she learned after reviewing more than 450 grant applications last year, including the surprisingly simple things that can move your application to the top of the pile.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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This week's Ask Farnoosh includes Farnoosh's best money moves in her 30's that led to more ease and financial flexibility in midlife. Plus: the cost of dinner and the iced coffee internet wars. Is it OK to bring an iced coffee to work?

Check out the WSJ article about the hell that is family dinner planning.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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What if the reason your habits never seem to stick isn’t a lack of discipline—but the way you’ve been taught to build them?

Today, I welcome back Monica Packer, founder of About Progress and author of the new book Sticky Habits: A Woman’s Guide to Reclaim Happiness, Ditch Perfectionism, and Create Habits That Last.

Monica is a certified habits and identity coach who has helped thousands of women move away from all-or-nothing thinking and toward sustainable growth.

We explore why so many of our best intentions fall apart the minute life gets busy, how perfectionism can sabotage our routines, and why lasting habits may have less to do with streaks, elaborate trackers, or waking up at 5 a.m. and more to do with identity, flexibility, and choosing progress over perfection.

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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How much of what you want for your life is actually yours — and how much of it has been negotiated around one very powerful question: What will they say?

What will your family say if you make more money? If you become too successful? If you leave the safe job, start the business, move away, ask for more, speak up — or simply decide you want something different?

My guest today, Denise Soler Cox, has spent years thinking about this, particularly through the experience of high-achieving Latinas who can find themselves caught between two competing messages: You’re not enough. But also? Don’t become too much.

Denise is a filmmaker, speaker and now the author of What Will They Say? Confront Cultural Taboos and Discover Your Inner Power.

And this conversation goes places.

We talk about the cultural scripts that can make ambition feel almost like betrayal. Why being taught not to ask too many questions can eventually affect everything from your career to your relationship with money. Why so many women are financially self-taught. And Denise gets remarkably candid about her own finances — including what happened when a thriving speaking business tied to corporate diversity initiatives began disappearing, tens of thousands of dollars at a time.

We also talk about being a breadwinner, taking up space, reclaiming your name and identity, and perhaps most importantly, learning to trust yourself after years of being taught to look outside yourself for permission.

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Big changes are coming to So Money. Farnoosh shares more about the show’s 2027 evolution into a weekly, video-first podcast focused on money in midlife—and why the overwhelming response from listeners has reinforced her decision to go deeper on the financial questions that emerge in our 40s, 50s and beyond.

Then, it’s time for the news. The Federal Reserve raised interest rates for the first time in three years, and Farnoosh breaks down what the move could mean for your credit cards, HELOCs, mortgages, savings and even the job market. Plus: why higher rates make this an especially important moment to review your debt, credit score and emergency savings.

In the mailbag, Farnoosh offers an order of operations for a listener wondering whether to prioritize paying off high-interest debt, building savings or continuing to invest. And a parent asks how to teach teenagers about investing. Farnoosh shares ideas including custodial Roth IRAs, investing tools for kids and some of her favorite resources for raising financially savvy teens.

The So Money midlife feedback form: https://www.jotform.com/form/262556781257063

How's midlife going? Fill out Farnoosh's survey and help shape the podcast in 2027.

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