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 midli

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 s

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 tax

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: wh

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 a

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 fun

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. Hosted

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

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, ha

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

What if the secret to getting more done isn’t doing more, but getting ruthless about what you stop doing? My guest today, Mike Allen, has a pretty simple test for figuring out what stays and what goes. In fact, you just heard it: “Hell yeah.” If someone asks you to take on the project, go to the thing, have the meeting, make the commitment, and your reaction is anything less than hell yeah ? Mike

What if the thing standing between you and more success, more money, even better relationships…isn’t a lack of opportunity? What if it’s your ability to actually believe you’re worthy of what comes your way? My guest today is Dr. Marisa G. Franco , a psychologist, TED speaker, professor at the University of Maryland and New York Times bestselling author who has an incredible gift for taking compli

You’ve been asking for this episode, and today I’m finally pulling back the curtain on my own financial plan. Consider this a very special edition of Ask Farnoosh — except this time, you’re asking the questions about my money. For roughly 15 years, much of my financial life was on cruise control: automate the investing, save for retirement, fund the kids’ accounts, maintain the emergency fund, rep

We're taught our whole working lives to save. Nobody teaches us how to stop. That's the blind spot my guest today has spent the last several years staring down. Jean Chatzky has been one of the most trusted voices in personal finance for as long as I've been in this business, and she just published what she says is the best of her fourteen books, because it's solving a problem she's actually livin

What does it mean to build wealth when you don't come from money and when getting ahead financially isn't just about you? My guest today is Maria Melchor, founder of FirstGenLiving and author of the new book Always Have Enough: How to Build Wealth When You Don't Come From Money . Maria grew up in a Mexican immigrant family, at one point undocumented in the United States, watching her parents piece

Big changes are coming to So Money in 2027. Farnoosh opens the episode with an early preview of what’s ahead, including a more video-forward format and a sharper focus on the intersection of midlife and money — the season when careers, kids, aging parents, health, relationships and financial priorities are all shifting at once. She also reflects on the life and legacy of Gloria Steinem, who died t

My guest today owns land on the moon. And somehow, that is not even the most interesting thing about his approach to money. Joseph Moore is a historian and professor who spent years studying how Americans have tried to get rich over the last 300 years — from land speculation and market bubbles to stocks, crypto and today’s biggest investment trends. And after all that research, he came to a pretty

If you’ve been following the financial news lately, you may have noticed something unusual: the bond market is getting a lot of attention. After a year of tariff shocks, interest-rate whiplash, tax policy changes and persistent questions about inflation and the national debt, bonds have moved from the financial pages into the broader economic conversation. And whenever markets get nervous about wh

On this week's Ask Farnoosh Friday, we're tackling five thoughtful listener questions that touch on everything from career transitions and combining finances as a couple to insurance, retirement accounts, and planning for the future. Before we dive into the mailbag, I also share a few headlines that caught my attention this week—including a fascinating new trend in prenups designed to protect stay

Anthony O'Neal , had $6.32 to his name on a Wednesday night. He needed gas. He was hungry. He ended up cutting two McDonald's double cheeseburgers in half — that was his food for the next two days. He diluted his sweet tea with water to stretch it. And in that moment, eating a cold half-burger in his apartment, something shifted in him. He thought: there has to be a better way. Fast forward to his