Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

We know that the global pandemic has disrupted life as we know it. None of us could have imagined the scale and nature of the changes to our daily lives experienced in the past few months. As lockdown restrictions begin to ease, many of the lasting changes from the virus will remain. We all need to consider what will happen next. My guest on the podcast today is Beth Kempton, author of We Are in This Together; a fantastic new book designed to help you prioritise different things and feel less vulnerable to sudden change in the future. Beth is an award-winning entrepreneur and self-help author. Her books have been translated into 24 languages, She describes herself as a wanderer, an adventurer and a seeker of beauty, with an incurable addiction to chocolate and Japanese stationery. As Founder of Do What You Love (dowhatyouloveforlife.com) Beth has produced and delivered online courses and workshops that have helped thousands of people all over the world to discover their passion, explore their creativity and live a more inspired life. This conversation is for you if you’re feeling anxious about the uncertainty and long-term implications of the pandemic. Here’s my conversation with Beth Kempton, author of We Are in This Together, in episode 497 of Informed Choice Radio.

We all lead increasingly hectic lives, in many cases shaken up beyond recognition today during the Covid-19 pandemic. My guest on the podcast today is Gail Golden, author of a leadership development guide called Curating Your Life. Gail describes a new approach to finding work-life balance. In the same way a museum curator creates a beautiful and meaningful exhibit by sorting, selecting and arranging artifacts from the museum’s collection, curating your life is about sorting, selecting and arranging your commitments. The end result should be a the alignment of productivity with personal fulfillment and joy. Gail has helped hundreds of business leaders achieve high levels of success by teaching them to curate their choices about where to spend both their time and, more importantly, their energy. She’s the Principal of Gail Golden Consulting, LLC, a management psychology firm specializing in executive coaching and organizational consultation on leadership development. Gail earned her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University. For the first half of her career, she led a psychotherapy practice, taught in the psychology department and the medical school at Western University, and wrote an advice column in The London Free Press. In mid-career she was ready for a new professional challenge, so she went back to school to earn her MBA from Western University. She combined her clinical experience with her business expertise to become a management psychologist in Chicago. Here’s my conversation with Gail Golden, author of Curating Your Life, in episode 496 of Informed Choice Radio.

How much is your life worth? And why? Everyday decisions made by governments, businesses and individuals place a price on human life. Your personal price tag is made up of the economic and social value, but the calculations behind these figures can be complex. My guest on the podcast today is data scientist and health economist Howard Friedman. His academic work includes teaching at data science, statistics, and program evaluation at Columbia University. Howard has authored or co-authored over 100 scientific articles and book chapters in areas of applied statistics, health economics and politics. In his new book, Ultimate Price: The Value We Place on Life, he explains in simple terms how economists, corporations, regulators, and insurance companies make and use these price tags. He illustrates how chauvinistic, white supremacist, or elitist values are reflected in the value we place on life. Here’s my conversation with Howard Friedman, author of Ultimate Price, in episode 495 of Informed Choice Radio.

There's no getting around the fact that tough times hurt. Right now, we're all living through some pretty tough times. My guest on the podcast today is Suzy Reading. Suzy is a chartered psychologist (B. Psych (Hons), M.Psych (Org)) and qualified yoga teacher from Australia, specializing in wellbeing. In her latest book, Self-care for Tough Times, Suzy offers a gentle yet powerful process for developing a self-care toolkit to call on during difficult periods. As Financial Planners, we often witness the tough times in life experienced by our clients; relationship breakdown, illness or death in the family, financial strain, times of change and transition. During these times, and indeed at all times, self-care is so important. The practices I discuss with Suzy are designed to promote healing and hope, and many are quick and easy for times when you feel exhausted or vulnerable so that you can both cope in the moment during tough times, then recover and restore after these difficult chapters of life. Here's my conversation with Suzy Reading, author of Self-care for Tough Times, in episode 494 of Informed Choice Radio.

Lockdown life has given many of us a glimpse of what our retirement might look like. What will you do with your free time when you retire? My guest on the podcast today is FIRE practitioner Fritz Gilbert. Fritz retired early after more than three decades in corporate America, where he progressed through the various levels of a multinational corporation serving the global aluminium industry. He’s the founder of award-winning FIRE blog, The Retirement Manifesto, which is focused on helping people achieve a great retirement. I spoke to Fritz from his idyllic cabin in Blue Ridge, Georgia. In this conversation, he explains why accurate assumptions about retirement spending are essential, how right now is the perfect opportunity for a ‘test retirement’, the importance of finding structure in your day, and much more. Here’s my conversation with Fritz Gilbert, author of Keys to a Successful Retirement, in episode 493 of Informed Choice Radio.

What financial support is available for individuals and businesses during the coronavirus pandemic? In this special episode of Informed Choice Radio, I'm joined by Philip Wise to discuss the ins and outs of the various government schemes. Phil is a Chartered Financial Planner and Retirement Income Planning Director at Informed Choice. Within our discussion, we cover the full raft of financial support measures in place, including some little-known issues with these schemes.

Every day, financial technology (or fintech) is creating seismic changes within the banking and finance sector. My guest today is author of the dramatic story of fintech’s major players, exploring how these disruptions are transforming even money itself. Dan Simon is chairman of the Museum of American Finance communications board and CEO of Vested, a global financial communications firm. He represents some of the most recognizable brands in finance and fintech, including Morgan Stanley, Bloomberg L.P., and Goldman Sachs. Dan is author of The Money Hackers, focusing on some of fintech’s most powerful disruptors. He describes these disruptors as a ragtag collection of financial outsiders and savants, telling their incredible stories to explain how the technology works and how it is changing the entire industry. Here’s my conversation with Daniel Simon, author of The Money Hackers, in episode 492 of Informed Choice Radio.

In this special episode, Martin talks to Informed Choice managing director Shelley McCarthy. They chat about what the coronavirus crisis means for life at Informed Choice, how the teams are working remotely and adapting to this new way of life. Martin and Shelley also talk about the impact of the virus on the markets and economy, and what could happen next.

You receive investment advice from a financial adviser, your tax return is completed by an accountant, and your estate planning is carried out by a solicitor. When was the last time these three key consultants got together to discuss your overall financial game plan? My guest on the podcast today believes you’ve taken all the right steps, yet the mousetrap has been set. You’re basically working with three blind mice, and that can end up being very costly to you … because the blind mice don’t pay the price; you do. Scott McLean has worked in the financial services sector since 1983. He founded McLean Advisory Group in 2008. Since then, McLean Advisory Group has become known for helping individuals and families in the Jersey Shore area plan for life events. In his new book, Three Blind Mice, Scott supplies the understanding you need to keep your key consultants connected and operating off the same financial game plan—because your financial future depends on it. Scott is the host of the weekly educational radio show, Financial Insanity, on WBNJ and he has also appeared on numerous radio and TV shows as a guest or host. Here’s my conversation with Scott McLean, author of Three Blind Mice, in episode 491 of Informed Choice Radio.

We could all do with a little self-nourishment right now. My guest on the podcast today is Dr Alka Patel. Alka is a GP, lifestyle medicine physician and health coach. She's been a medical doctor for more than 20 years but realised her professional career meant her own health was placed on the backburner. The resulting burnout left Alka in a hospital bed. Alka discovered the hard way that her career in isolation wasn't supplying her with the energy, resilience, strength and happiness she needed. And that prioritising her health was by far the most important thing she needed to do to help her career flourish. According to Alka, creativity, productivity and longevity are all achieved when you give yourself the self-nourishment you need to feed your professional soul. Here's my conversation with Dr Alka Patel, in episode 490 of Informed Choice Radio.