So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

Will a credit consolidation loan affect your credit score? Should you try investing in index funds if you're already investing in mutual funds?  Or should you build up an emergency fund or pay down student loans? I answer these questions and more on this week's Ask Farnoosh.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm the worst self-employer. I'm only giving myself like 4 weeks of maternity leave. And the only way I'm affording this is working my butt off in the months before and the months after. But honestly, I am also extremely lucky. I get to decide what works for me, as an entrepreneur. I can afford to hire the support I need to help my family and to help my business. I'm very fortunate, too, in that I have a husband who values his family and prioritizes it over his work. His company provides four weeks of paid maternity leave, too, for dads. Not bad.The issue of opting out and "family leave" is a topic I am deeply interested in and when I heard that our next guest had a book coming out on this issue, I jumped at the chance to invite her on the show.  LisenStromberg is here and she's the author of the new book Work Pause Thrive: How to Pause for Parenthood Without Killing Your Career. Lisen took time off after having her second child but then pivoted to another career shortly thereafter. In her research, she interviewed 186 women and surveyed 1,500 women to detail how other successful mothers leveraged their time off from work to achieve their personal and professional goals.Opting out comes at a cost, of course. And Lisen breaks down the financial trade-offs families need to consider when making the decision to leave a job temporarily. we also discuss the good pressure Millennials are placing on workplace norms to give workers more flexibility and family support. And the $1.6 million she walked away from to opt out of the workforce.More about Lisen: She is also the CEO and Founder of PrismWork where she and her team work with companies, leaders and advocates to ensure women and Millennials thrive in the workplace. She is also the COO of the 3% Movement, which is committed to changing the ratio of women in leadership in the advertising industry. Lisen was once a marketing and advertising executive herself.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

How involved are you within your company? Do you like the culture there? Do you connect with your coworkers or do you feel like you're just going in every day, sitting down at your desk and getting straight to work? I ask because our guest today is Erica Keswin and she's all about understanding the dynamics and relationships of people and technology in the workplace.This past fall she founded The Spaghetti Project in her living room with a group of fifty people. She got the idea to start the company after reading a 2015 Cornell Study that found that eating meals together improved firemen's performance. Intrigued by this idea she wondered how it was possible to get people to connect more with friends and colleagues in the workplace. So she started her research company to identify how smart companies are making this connection.But I think what really makes this interview worth listening to is the story of Erica's past... as a child, money was tight. Her mom, especially had a hard time, getting stopped at a store for shoplifting. It was a turning point for her. Listen to how it's impacted her financial life today.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode of Ask Farnoosh I answer your biggest questions about what your other retirement account options are if your employer's have high fees, where to park the money you're saving for a downpayment in the meantime and more.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I'm so excited to bring back our guest today. She's talking about a new era of feminism. That's been a big topic of conversation since the Women's March a few weeks ago. And we have to keep the momentum going. Sallie Krawcheck is back and she's out with a new book, Own It: The Power of Women At Work. It's her first book and in it she discusses the ways in which women can effect change, especially in business. She brings advice stemming from her life as an entrepreneur, as well as the former CEO of Smith Barney and Merrill Lynch Wealth Management, and the CFO of Citigroup.Sallie's been on So Money before... go back and listen to EP 349 if you missed it. It was right before Ellevest, her investment platform had launched, so we'll talk a bit more about how the company's doing, as well as the biggest financial mistake women are making.  For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

I received a book shortly after the election results that put a big smile on my face...I really needed it. The book is In the Company of Women. You have to read this and it's a great gift. The author GraceBonney profiles 100 female entrepreneurs of all ages, races, backgrounds and industries to share their practical and inspirational advice. It's a gorgeous book with outstanding photography, a book that you'll want to proudly display in your home.  Grace is a small business owner, herself. She's the founder of Design*Sponge, a daily website for the creative community that she launched back when she was only 23 years old. Today, it reaches nearly 2 million people per day and has been dubbed "Martha Stewart Living for millennials."For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode of Ask Farnoosh I answer your biggest questions about how to find stocks on sale, what to do with the extra income you're earning from a freelance job and more.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Rachel Blumenthal is the founder of Rockets of Awesome, which is this really smart company that I’ve actually engaged with. How it works is if you’re a parent or someone who wants to gift clothing to children, you can go on the website, sign up for a membership. They ask you a series of questions about your child; age, measurements, but also the taste of your kid. What kind of a kid do you have? Is he or she active? They gather all that information, all that intel and send you a personal box to your door with about 12 items for your child. It’s really functional, really affordable, and the clothing is very unique. I have to say, as someone who’s now been buying clothes for little people for the past two, three years. It gets very redundant. When you go on the playground, a lot of the kids are wearing the same things. It’s nice to find a resource, like Rockets of Awesome, that kind of does a lot of the work for you, brings the clothing to your house, catered to your family, and for very affordable price points.Prior to starting this company, she was the CEO of Cricket’s Circle, a trusted resource and editorial engine for everything baby and toddler. Her insights from Cricket’s Circle led her to the birth of Rockets of Awesome.Another fun fact about Rachel; she is the partner of Neil Blumenthal. Of course, if you watched Follow the Leader on CNBC, you remember Neil. He is the co-founder of Warby Parker along with Dave Gilboa. Of course, Warby Parker is, as they say in the tech world, in the entrepreneur world, a unicorn valued at over a billion dollars. They know how to run businesses and so does Rachel.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

We are obsessed with young retirees on So Money. And when I read about today's guest, I booked her immediately. Kristy Shen believes to be Canada's youngest retiree, calling it quits from her 9 to 5, along with her husband Bryce, at 31 years old. Today, they're traveling the world with $1 million in the bank (earning interest).Learn the inner financial workings of their early retirement strategy: how much they saved, how they invested their money and how much they're living of of now...and why they have no plans to ever make more money.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this week's episode of Ask Farnoosh I answer your biggest questions about whether it's worth it to purchase a car out of state to avoid paying higher taxes, how to stop the feeling of anxiety when pulling from your emergency fund and more.For more information visit www.somoneypodcast.com. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.