Financial Feminist

Today I'm answering your biggest questions about investing, retirement, and what to do with your money when the headlines start screaming recession. I get these questions constantly in my DMs, so I'm pulling the most asked — mortgage payoff vs. investing, the actual logistics of retirement withdrawals, what to do with an old 401(k) you've been ignoring, and how to finally get out of Edward Jones — and giving you real answers. My advice doesn't change based on who's in office or what the market's doing this week. It changes based on math, and I'm walking you through the math.

Additional resources:

How to Start Investing: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/how-to-invest/

What You Need to Know About Mortgages with NerdWallet’s Kate Wood: https://herfirst100k.com/financial-feminist-show-notes/how-to-get-a-mortgage/

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod.

00:00 Intro & Investing Mindset

04:41 Paying Off Your Mortgage vs. Investing

09:56 How to Withdraw Money in Retirement

16:51 Rolling Over Old Retirement Accounts

21:02 How to Leave Edward Jones

30:31 Wrap-Up & Credits
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I recently sat down on a couch in beautiful Laguna Beach with four women who've made over $100 million combined. And what they have to say will change the way you think about business. This episode is different from our usual format. It's a live panel conversation recorded at a seven-figure entrepreneur mastermind, where I'm joined by Adley Kinsman (founder of Viralish, Vanessa Marin (licensed sex therapist and co-founder of Vanessa and Xander), Maria Wendt (entrepreneur and educator who's sold over $21 million in low-ticket products), and Natasha Willis (co-founder of School of Bots). Together we get into the self-sabotaging beliefs that keep people from starting a business, what money actually buys beyond the sexy parts of entrepreneurship, whether ambition and rest can coexist, and the money beliefs each of us had to unlearn to get here.

Links:

Adley Kinsman (Viralish) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adley

Vanessa Marin (Vanessa and Xander) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/VanessaandXandr

Maria Wendt Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/maria.wendt

Natasha Willis (School of Bots) Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/NatashaTWillis

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:30 Self-sabotaging narratives and startup myths

04:25 From therapist to entrepreneur: overcoming the "business is dirty" belief

05:35 Making money is easier than you think

08:30 What entrepreneurship gives you beyond money

12:17 Identity before proof: what successful entrepreneurs know

14:55 The volume and obsession success requires

18:55 Ambition vs. rest: finding your version of "enough"

23:15 The moral responsibility to scale your business

29:43 Boundaries: what to share publicly

34:05 Money beliefs you had to unlearn

37:22 The ostrich effect: why you avoid your money

39:30 Making money vs. building a business
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If there’s one piece of info to take away from today’s guest, it’s that there’s no "perfect" moment to buy a home. It's about timing your life, not the market. In today’s episode, I sat down with repeat guest Daryl Fairweather –– Chief Economist at Redfin and author of Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work. We got into the real, updated math on buying a home in 2026: mortgage rates, whether prices have already peaked, the climate risk nobody's pricing in correctly, and the creative paths (co-buying, ADUs, house hacking) more people are turning to because the old rules just don't work anymore. If you've felt priced out, behind, or like homeownership might not be "in the cards" for you, this episode will change how you think about the whole decision.

Daryl’s Links:

Website: https://www.redfin.com/

Hate the Game book: https://www.hatethegamebook.com/

Daryl's IG: https://www.instagram.com/fairweatherphd/?hl=en

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:06 Is it too late to buy a home?

03:00 What winning looks like when the system feels unwinnable

04:27 Smart next moves for stuck renters and would-be buyers

06:34 Why housing may get more affordable over the next decade

08:21 Climate change and the coming insurance crisis

11:22 When does buying actually make sense? (the 5-year rule)

14:53 How job stability and housing go hand in hand

17:05 Preparing to buy: talk to a lender early

19:58 Rethinking the 20% down payment

21:16 Creative paths to homeownership: co-buying, ADUs, house hacking

25:07 Starter home vs. waiting for the dream home

27:39 How housing costs will reshape households and family life

28:58 Will the housing market crash?

32:29 Misconceptions keeping people stuck

35:54 What to do if you're priced out right now

37:24 The mindset shift: timing your life, not the market
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There's a sentence I hear from women more than almost any other: "I'm bad with money." Today's guest spent six years proving that sentence isn't a fact — it's a belief, and beliefs can change. Nir Eyal, author of Beyond Belief, breaks down the science of why we get stuck telling ourselves the same money story, and exactly how to write a new one. In his new book, Beyond Belief, he digs into why the words that follow "I am" are so dangerous, and why getting comfortable with discomfort is the real skill behind almost every financial win. We get into identity, self-trust, why you can't see your own limiting beliefs (but can spot everyone else's), and the research that proves belief can override biology. This one will change how you talk to yourself about money.

Nir’s Links:

Free Belief Change Guide: www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief-live

30-Day Belief Transformation Journal: nirandfar.com/beyond-belief

Website: http://nirandfar.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

03:00 Facts vs. beliefs vs. faith

05:00 Identity and the danger of "I am" statements

06:00 Belief can override biology

09:00 Self-trust and building your own track record

12:00 The evolutionary reason your brain resists change

16:00 The mindset shift behind getting comfortable with discomfort

22:00 Byron Katie's four questions for examining a belief

26:00 Building a "portfolio of perspectives"

30:00 Naming systemic barriers without using them as an excuse

33:00 Choosing the belief that serves you

35:00 Locus of control — why believing you have agency changes outcomes

42:00 Challenging your thinking without tipping into toxic positivity

44:00 Why manifesting backfires (and what works instead)

49:00 Mental contrasting

52:00 Why chaos and struggle mean you're alive

54:00 Tori's own story of choosing to feel pain instead of avoiding it

55:00 The rat study — how belief in possible rescue changes persistence

1:00:00 Persistence over intelligence — the real predictor of success
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In this episode, I sat down with the “godfather of financial independence,” aka JL Collins, to demystify investing in the most approachable way possible. JL has been in the game for over 50 years and wrote The Simple Path to Wealth—a book that’s helped nearly a million people understand how to grow their money with confidence. And today, he’s breaking it all down for you. We get real about what investing actually is, why you don’t need a finance degree to build wealth, and how the entire financial industry has tried to gatekeep this information. JL shares why index funds are his go-to, how to avoid common investing mistakes, and why market dips aren’t disasters—they’re opportunities. Whether you’re brand new to investing or just want a no-BS refresh on the basics, this conversation is for you.

JL’s Links:

The Simple Path to Wealth: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Simple-Path-to-Wealth-(Revised- Expanded-Edition)/JL-Collins/9798893310474

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

03:24 Personal Finance Beginnings

06:44 The Birth of a Financial Blog

14:26 Understanding Index Funds

28:31 The FIRE Movement Explained

36:02 Calculating Financial Independence

40:28 Market Volatility: Should You Change Your Strategy?

44:48 Adjusting Investment Strategies Near Retirement

53:44 Ethical Investing: Pros and Cons

01:01:21 The Role of Financial Advisors

01:06:53 Key Insights for Successful Investing
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