Informed Choice Radio Personal Finance Podcast

By the year 2050, $50 trillion will change hands in North America in the largest generational wealth transfer ever. It will remake the world and be the biggest money-making opportunity in history. "Business as usual", founded on exploitation and environmental ruin, is over. Climate catastrophe, reactionary politics, and widening inequity have put the world on edge. Meanwhile innovations are shifting the economic ground, and an entire generation is pounding the table for real change. Capitalism is evolving into a force that can restore the planet, transform the global economy, and bring justice to people. My guest on the podcast today is Joel Solomon, impact investor and change agent. His book The Clean Money Revolution is part memoir of an inspiring thought leader's journey from presidential campaigner to pioneering investor, part insider's guide to the businesses remaking the world, and part manifesto for a new vision of profit, power, and purpose. In this episode, I chat with Joel about how our economy is based on the extraction of natural resources or labour, how we might look at the next several hundred years, how technology has taken us beyond what got us here today, and much more. Here's Joel Solomon in episode 447 of Informed Choice Radio.

What are the signs of true wealth? After spending a few days this week staying in one of the most expensive places in the world, I've drawn up a list of six signs of true wealth, that go beyond the material and conspicuous. This isn't about big houses, fast cars and flashy watches, but real signs of wealth and prosperity.

The world of retail financial services is notorious for its poor communication, especially in written form. Communicating complex topics, such as pensions, can be challenging. When wrapped up with regulatory requirements, that communication can be confusing and lead to poor outcomes for consumers. My guest in this episode is Joe Craig, Development Lead at Quietroom. Quietroom works with its clients to be clear, vivid and real – so their story makes sense, so their ideas come to life, so their message sticks. They do it in three ways: thinking, writing and training. Joe loves exploring the world through the eyes of smart people doing interesting, challenging work. In this conversation, we talk about why verbal communication in financial services often beats the written form, the power of storytelling to get people excited about saving for the future, why effective communication is so important for building trust in financial services, and much more. Here's my conversation with Joe Craig from Quietroom, in episode 445 of Informed Choice Radio.

There's a great news story doing the rounds this week, about a chap who received a windfall of nearly £133,000 after a chance conversation with his financial adviser which led him to a state pension pot he didn't know existed. In this episode, why working with a financial adviser can lead to unexpected riches - or at least help make sense of your financial paperwork and remove a great deal of stress from your life.

The world of work is changing. Gone is the idea of a job for life. Instead, traditional employment is more uncertain than ever, leading a growing number of people to seek roles in the gig economy instead. Succeeding in the gig economy means shifting your mindset, acquiring new skills, and leveraging your knowledge and network to create your own career trajectory. Get it right, and your fortunes are no longer tied to the whims of an employer. Five years ago, before the Gig Economy was even a thing, my guest on the podcast today created and started to teach an MBA class called The Gig Economy. The class gained immediate traction and was named by Forbes as one of the Top 10 Most Innovative Business School Classes in the country. Diane Mulcahy is an active and enthusiastic participant in the Gig Economy. In between full-time jobs and consulting gigs in private equity and venture capital, Diane has been a Visiting Fellow at Trinity College in Dublin, an Executive-in-Residence at Babson College, and an Eisenhower Fellow. She has taken two different years off to travel around the world. Diane is currently a Senior Fellow at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and an Adjunct Lecturer at Babson College. She has previously written and published two books and a widely-read report on venture capital. Her work has been featured in The Economist, The Financial Times, Forbes, Fortune, Harvard Business Review, The Irish Times, The New Yorker, The Wall Street Journal, as well as numerous industry publications. Diane speaks and lectures at conferences and universities worldwide. In this conversation, we talk about how to construct a life based on your priorities and vision of success. Here's my conversation with Diane Mulcahy, author of The Gig Economy, in episode 443 of Informed Choice Radio.

In this episode, I answer a listener email, sharing my thoughts on how he can turn his passion into profit.

My guest on the podcast today is author of a book based on the popular undergraduate course he taught at Yale University. The course was called “Financial Booms & Busts” and it resulted in the book Boombustology, now in its second edition. Since writing his book Vikram Mansharamani has gone on to show business leaders and investors how to look at the world differently in order to manage risk and navigate radical uncertainty. His strategies help them peer into the future on crucial areas like China, food, the global economy, Africa, housing, investing, financial cycles, energy, and much more. Vikram believes that the future doesn’t have to surprise us – and won’t – if we regularly step away from our expertise and look at the world through multiple lenses, something we talk a lot about in this episode. He calls this the generalist’s mindset. When encountering information that seems irrelevant most people think, “So what?!” Generalists think instead, “Isn’t that interesting,” and look to connect disparate dots. When they do, the conclusions they draw and decisions they make may be very different from the more narrow-focused “experts.” I got a great deal of value from this conversation, and loved Vikram's views on India and index tracker funds in particular. Here's my conversation with Vikram Mansharamani, author of Boombustology, in episode 441 of Informed Choice Radio.

The United Kingdom has a new Prime Minister! Boris Johnson beat his opponent Jeremy Hunt to secure leadership of the Conservative Party this week, before taking the keys to Number 10 Downing Street from his predecessor, Theresa May. With the Brexiteer in power, and Leavers dominating his newly formed government, what can we expect from Prime Minister Johnson in the coming months? Should you worry about Boris when it comes to your money?

My guest on the podcast today is on a mission to help women become accountable, ditch debt, save money and build real wealth. Bola Sokunbi is a Certified Financial Education Instructor, finance expert, speaker, podcaster, influencer, and the founder and CEO of Clever Girl Finance, a personal finance platform for women. Her new book is Clever Girl Finance: Ditch debt, save money and build real wealth. In the book, Bola draws on her personal money mistakes and financial redemption to educate and empower a new generation of women on their journey to financial freedom. I love Bola's approach of "no shame, no judgement", which is so important when we're talking about money, because it's still such a taboo subject. In this conversation, Bola explains that the role of women, when it comes to personal finances, has changed dramatically. Women are now often the sole breadwinners, but the finance industry remains male-dominated. Here's my conversation with Bola Sokunbi, author of Clever Girl Finance, in episode 439 of Informed Choice Radio.

We're overdue a recession. Based on the typical length of an economic cycle, it's reasonable to expect a recession sometime soon. Throw some current affairs into the mix; Brexit, the US/China trade war, and everyone getting stroppy with Iran, and that recession could be triggered fairly soon. When the next recession comes, it looks set to be an 'interesting' experience. Since the global financial crisis, much of the recovery in developed economies has been fueled by artificial money, pumped out by the central banks. So the next recession could be deeper and more sustained than any seen before, with a significant impact on capital markets. In this episode of Informed Choice Radio, why the next recession will test your financial plan, and what you can do about it.