Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

Life is too short to put up with a job you hate. My guest today is happiness consultant Samantha Clarke, who wants you to say goodbye to the dread of Monday morning. Samantha is author of Love It Or Leave It, in which she helps you figure out ways to find that work-life balance and be happier and more fulfilled at work. As a happiness consultant, she is on a mission to liberate individuals from work they no longer love to find a path to true work happiness. Samantha is also a faculty lecturer at the School of Life and The Guardian Masterclasses, where she facilitates workshops on career potential, building a portfolio career, managing stress, confidence and authentic leadership. Her podcast series “Conversations with Samantha&” – sees Samantha geek out with philosophers, technologists, heads of people & talent, startup founders and communication experts on the impact of technology on our happiness in work, life and our cities. Here’s my conversation with Samantha Clarke, author of Love It Or Leave It, in episode 489 of Informed Choice Radio.

If you’re looking for fulfillment outside the day job, you might start a side hustle. But what happens when you have an idea but don’t know where to start, or you are held back by a lack of confidence, experience, time or money? My guest today is Bec Evans, a writer, speaker and business founder. With a background in innovation she turned her side hustle into a startup and now helps people make their ideas happen. Her first book How to Have a Happy Hustle is a finalist in the Business Book Awards 2020, and has been reviewed by the Financial Times, The Stylist and Red Magazine and been featured on The Lean Startup podcast and at The RSA. Here’s my conversation with Bec Evans, author of How to Have a Happy Hustle, in episode 488 of Informed Choice Radio.

Why do even the smartest among us make dumb mistakes with our money? I’m sure we all know someone who is super intelligent, has a successful career, maybe a graduate degree, but they keep on making the same dumb mistakes when it comes to their money. Maybe that ‘friend’ is you! My guest today is Jill Schlesinger, an Emmy-nominated and Gracie Award Winning Business Analyst for CBS News. She appears on CBS radio and television stations nationwide covering the economy, markets, investing and anything else with a dollar sign. Jill translates complicated business and economic news into understandable, relatable topics for everyday viewers and listeners. Jill’s first book, The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money: Thirteen Ways to Right Your Financial Wrongs, was published in February 2019 by Ballantine Books, and recently came out in paperback. Here’s my conversation with Jill Schlesinger, author of The Dumb Things Smart People Do With Their Money, in episode 487 of Informed Choice Radio.

My guest on the podcast today is Andy Ramage. Andy’s background in professional sport and running a busy financial brokerage in London has created a unique set of skills and experience that flow through his work. His love of learning and a masters degree in positive psychology and coaching psychology add a scientific approach to his upbeat, positive coaching style. Andy’s latest book, ‘Let’s do this’ is designed specifically for all those who struggle with willpower and who can’t quite achieve those new years resolution type goals. Which is almost everyone. Because willpower doesn’t work. Let’s do this is a 28-day masterclass that will show the reader how to master their motivation – because motivation is a skill that anyone can learn when they know how. Andy walks the reader through a motivational journey that will show them an exact process for achieving any goal. Andy is also a master practitioner of NLP, a mindfulness-based awareness coach, a much sought-after speaker, author and podcaster. Here’s my conversation with Andy Ramage, author of Let’s Do This, in episode 486 of Informed Choice Radio.

“In this rapidly changing world, spending your life pursuing security in the hope of winding up with freedom is insane”, says my guest today. “If you want to be financially free, you’ve got to start by getting free first.” A self-made millionaire in his early twenties, Matthew Klan walked away from a professional career and the promise of financial security and chose his freedom instead. He discovered along the way the power that freedom has to create prosperity, a universal principle that everyone can apply. Matthew is an author, entrepreneur, forecaster, investor and sought after public speaker. His new book is Freedom First: Escape the Income Trap, Unlock Your Potential and be Financially Free, Now. Freedom First challenges you to rethink your ideas about how to become financially free. Drawing on historical financial insights as old as Confucius, as well as lessons gleaned from modern psychology and economics, this book explores a counter intuitive approach to wealth creation: if you want to become financially free, you need to become free first. Here’s my conversation with Matthew Klan, author of Freedom First, in episode 485 of Informed Choice Radio.

Every investor makes mistakes. Private or professional, amateur or experienced, there is no exception. And many of these are common mistakes. Whether or not they want to admit it, many investors have committed the same errors. How can you avoid these mistakes? How can you distinguish yourself as an investor and improve your performance? My guest today is Joachim Klement, research analyst and former Chief Investment Officer with 20 years’ experience in financial markets. His new book is Seven Mistakes Every Investor Makes (And How To Avoid Them). It calls upon years of experience and scientific research to deliver expert insight into the most common mistakes plaguing investors. From there, Klement outlines his personal tools and techniques, developed, refined and successfully implemented over many years in the finance industry, to help avoid and mitigate such mistakes. His ultimate aim: to help you help yourself. In this conversation, we touch on a handful of these mistakes, including home bias, overconfidence, and short-termism. Here’s my conversation with Joachim Klement, author of Seven Mistakes Every Investor Makes, in episode 484 of Informed Choice Radio.

If you are in debt, bad with money, or looking for a straightforward way to take command of your finances, my guest today has written the book for you. This isn’t just another personal finance book or budgeting guide telling you how to live like someone else. Instead, his book is designed to give you the framework for success from dozens of people who have found their own path to financial independence. Chris Mamula is the author of Choose FI: Your Blueprint to Financial Independence. Chris writes about financial independence while expanding the conversation around what retirement is and can be at CanIRetireYet.com. His articles have been featured on MarketWatch, DoughRoller, and Business Insider. He achieved financial independence and retired from his physical therapy career in 2017, at the age of 41. In addition to writing, he now focuses on being a dedicated husband, stay at home dad and dirtbag/ski-bum depending on the season at his home in the mountains of Utah. Here’s my conversation with Chris Mamula, author of Choose FI, in episode 483 of Informed Choice Radio.

What are the most important prosperity life lessons we should pass on to the next generation? My guest today has experienced hardship, faced challenges, and found the mindset required to achieve financial freedom. John Soforic is a real estate investor from Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania. He's author of The Wealthy Gardener, a heartwarming series of stories and practical wisdom on entrepreneurship and wealth. John wrote The Wealthy Gardener for his son, as a way to share his prosperity life lessons. The parable of the Wealthy Gardener is far more than an admonishment to earn more or spend less; it is about timeless principles.As his lessons reveal, financial freedom is a means to power and control over our lives. Without money, we are subject to the demands and whims of others. With money, we are sheltered from the storm, and we can extend that shelter to our loved ones. Poised to become an intimate financial classic, The Wealthy Gardener inspires readers to find their own noble purpose and relieve their money worries once and for all. Here’s my conversation with John Soforic, author of The Wealthy Gardener, in episode 482 of Informed Choice Radio.

In today's podcast episode, I chat with Simon Gergel, head of the UK Equity team at AllianzGI, all about value investing. Simon manages The Merchants Trust and specialises in managing UK equity income portfolios. He joined AllianzGI in April 2006 from HSBC Halbis Partners where he managed over £900m in high income funds as well as core institutional and life UK equity portfolios. Prior to joining HSBC in 2001, Simon worked for 14 years at Phillips & Drew Fund Management / UBS Asset Management where he was involved in all aspects of UK equity fund management, including research, portfolio management and account director roles. He graduated in 1987 from Cambridge University with an honours degree in mathematics and is an associate of the UK Society of Investment Professionals. Merchants was established in 1889. Today the Trust invests in a diversified portfolio of large, well-established and well-known UK companies. These companies are able to grow their sales over time or cut costs in order to preserve or improve their profit margins. This enables them, in general, to maintain and increase their dividends over time. Here’s my conversation with Simon Gergel, portfolio manager of The Merchants Trust Plc, in episode 481 of Informed Choice Radio.

How did Warren Buffet go from $100m to $2bn? In this episode of the podcast, I chat with Glen Arnold, author of The Deals of Warren Buffett. In the second volume of the book series, Glen describes how Warren Buffett made deals over the course of two decades as he became a billionaire. It’s arguably the most exciting stage of Buffett’s career, during which time shares in his business Berkshire Hathaway jumped 29-fold from $89 to $2,600. Buffett made investments in GEICO, ABC, Disney, Coca-Cola, Gillette and several others during this period of his career. Investing expert and Buffett historian Arnold takes a deep dive into the process followed and individuals involved, to understand how Warren Buffett became arguably the greatest investor of all time. Here’s my conversation with Glen Arnold, author of The Deals of Warren Buffett, in episode 480 of Informed Choice Radio.