So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

**This episode is a replay. It first aired on November 7, 2025.**

We’re doing something a little different this week. My guest is my friend and financial planner, Georgia Lee Hussey, founder and CEO of Modernist Financial, and together we’re unpacking the Big Beautiful Bill and what it means for your taxes in 2025 and beyond.

We explore how this new legislation could impact everyday taxpayers, what it reveals about our national priorities, and how we can each align our financial decisions with our values. It’s a thoughtful and, yes, sometimes political conversation—because as Georgia reminds us, taxes are political.

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January always asks big questions of our money—and this one felt especially heavy. In this solo episode, Farnoosh takes a step back to reflect on what the first month of the year has revealed about our finances, our fears, and our priorities. From midlife money check-ins to the idea of “financial coasting,” this conversation is about being honest about where you are—not where you think you should be—and redefining progress as stability, maintenance, and intention.

Farnoosh revisits standout moments from January’s most impactful conversations, including a full-circle interview with David Bach, whose Automatic Millionaire helped shape her own financial life, and a candid discussion with Jesse Mecham of You Need a Budget on why being “good at money” has far less to do with income and far more to do with clarity and calm. She also breaks down her recent conversation with college-planning expert Patricia Roberts on the true cost of college, the ROI question families are wrestling with, and how student debt can quietly shape a lifetime.

The episode closes with a reflection on the emotional weight of the month and a call for accountability, drawing on recent remarks from Andrew Ross Sorkin about systems, responsibility, and leadership.

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College today can easily cost six figures — even at public universities — and yet so many families still feel completely in the dark about how to prepare for it without sacrificing their own financial future.

My guest today knows this stress intimately.

Patricia Roberts grew up in a low-income household and nearly didn’t attend college at all. A guidance counselor once suggested she stick with her waitressing job instead. But she pushed forward, working multiple jobs, sending money home, earning not just one degree, but eventually a law degree. That education changed her family’s life… but it also came with over $100,000 in student loan debt that took two decades to repay.

That lived experience is what fuels Patricia’s passion today. She’s spent more than 25 years working with 529 college savings plans — from helping launch some of the earliest plans at Citigroup to advising families and employers on how to use them smarter, earlier, and with far less fear.

In this episode, we break down what 529 plans really are — and what they’re not. We tackle the biggest myths, from “What if my kid doesn’t go to college?” to “Will this hurt financial aid?” to “Is college even worth it anymore?” We also dig into major new changes that make 529s far more flexible than most people realize — including using them for trade schools, certifications, student loan repayment, K-12 expenses, and even rolling unused funds into a Roth IRA.

More about Patricia: She is Chief Operating Officer of Gift of College, Inc., where she helps employers improve employees’ financial well-being by offering student loan repayment assistance and matching contributions to 529 college savings and ABLE (disability savings) accounts.

Patricia is also the author of Route 529: A Parent’s Guide to Saving for College and Career Training with 529 Plans, a book she wrote with some extra time on her hands during the pandemic to help educate and inspire even more parents.

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On this episode of Ask Farnoosh, we kick things off with a very real reminder that homeownership is never just the mortgage. A burst hose, unexpected water damage, and rising insurance premiums spark a broader conversation about the hidden and often underestimated costs of owning a home—and why even “fixed” housing expenses rarely stay fixed. From the mailbag: questions about navigating Parent PLUS loan arrangements while buying a home, how to invest after finally paying off student loans, and whether market uncertainty means it’s time to move money out of U.S. investments.

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We are talking today about parenting boundaries, money, and what it really means to raise independent kids in a world that feels more expensive, more anxious, and more overwhelming than ever.

My guest is Randi Crawford, a life coach known for her refreshingly no-nonsense approach to parenting teens and young adults, and for helping parents stop over-functioning so their kids can actually grow up. Randy works with families navigating everything from launching kids into college, first jobs, and post-grad life to adult children living at home, financial dependency, and the emotional minefield of comparison culture and social media at the same time.

She's a powerful voice for women and midlife. Who are craving reinvention, balancing aging identity shifts, hormones, entrepreneurship, and the emotional labor that so many women carry quietly. What I love about Randy's work is that she brings so much clarity, humor, and compassion without sugarcoating things.

Learn more at https://www.randicrawfordcoaching.com/

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.