It may be because I’m in personal finance that I feel like everyone and their cousin is podcasting, writing books, and doing videos about finance. There are a lot of voices out there and it’s hard to sift through them all, but I have found a few podcasts I really like.
First, personal finance is a huge subject area. I try to focus on the information I can use to help my clients (and my own household) save money, reduce debt, increase earnings or stay better organized. I like specific recommendations that regular people can implement because they can see how the recommendations fit their specific lives.
I know liking a podcast is by definition subjective, and can be hard to define. I tried break down what I value in a personal finance podcast and came up with the following:
- subjects relevant to my clients’ or my life – no hot stock tips or discussions about the yield curve
- specific tips my clients or I can use right away
- keeping my interest – the podcaster is charismatic enough to keep my interest for 20, 30 or even 60 minutes.
With that in mind, here are my top three podcasts for personal finance in no particular order, because they are very different types of podcasts:
- Freakonomics Radio – I find myself quoting some of their research on index fund investing all the time. They also take up non-financial topics like medical trials, language and philanthropy and look at the economic implications. Good dinner party fodder.
- Easy Money with Elisabeth Leamy – she helps you actually find money. I took her tip on searching for my own unclaimed money and found over $400! Her podcasts are also shorter (20-30 mins) and very to-the- point, which is something I highly value.
- Who Knew? – life hacks and money saving tips you can use right away. Did you know you should buy plane tickets on a Tuesday or Wednesday, because studies show fares are lowest on those days. It’s also about 20-30 minutes, which is great.
I also like Planet Money from NPR, but did not want to fill my list with NPR entries, which I could easily do. Take a listen and let me know what you think. Let me know if you have a favorite podcast or blog about personal finance or saving money. I’d love to hear it.