What does being “good with money” actually look like?

It might look like steadily contributing to your 401(k). Or figuring out how to pay for summer camp while continuing to save for retirement. It might mean comparing health insurance plans, building an emergency fund, deciding how much house your family can comfortably afford, or simply asking the right questions before making a big financial decision.

In other words, women are making important financial decisions every single day — and there’s a good chance we’re doing many of them more successfully than we give ourselves credit for.

On this special episode of the HerMoney Podcast, Jean Chatzky sits down with FourLeaf Federal Credit Union President and CEO Linda Armyn to talk about the Money Like A Woman movement and the Five Pillars that they created: building financial confidence and independence; spending, borrowing, and planning with intention; building and growing wealth; protecting what matters; and strengthening your financial community.

Jean and Linda discuss why being “good with money” has traditionally been defined far too narrowly — and why we don’t have to be experts on Wall Street to build wealth. (In fact, many of the habits women may dismiss as “boring,” like saving slowly over time, trading less frequently, and staying invested for the long haul, can actually be some of the keys to financial success!) 

They also dig into what it means to spend with intention (yes, you can buy the 10 pairs of black shoes!), why protecting the people you love through insurance and estate planning is a form of love, how to protect yourself from increasingly sophisticated financial scams, and why talking openly about money can help strengthen our entire financial community.

Ultimately, as Linda explains, the goal is for “anyone and everyone” to be able to Money Like A Woman, regardless of gender.

Be curious. Ask questions. Think long term. Make deliberate choices. Prepare for the unexpected. Share what you’ve learned. And give yourself a little more credit for everything you’re already doing right.

LEARN MORE ABOUT THE MONEY LIKE A WOMAN MOVEMENT HERE!

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Ever moved money out of your vacation fund to cover a car repair, or dipped into your emergency fund for something that wasn't quite an emergency? That's exactly where sinking funds come in. 

This week, Jean sits down with Sean Pyles, CFP® and host of NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast, and his co-host Elizabeth Ayoola to break down the sinking fund strategy: separate, named savings buckets each tied to a specific goal. 

Plus, Lacy Garcia of Willow is back. She's sharing the five things worth splurging on before the end of 2026, and the trade-offs she makes to afford them. She and Jean also get into when a financial advisor is actually worth the money, and what Willow's version of an advisor looks like for someone who's just trying to get organized. 

Find NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast wherever you get your podcasts. Get guidance and connect with a vetted fiduciary https://hermoney.com/findanadvisor/.

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Medicare can feel like a maze of parts, plans and deadlines – and getting it wrong can cost you.

On this episode of the HerMoney Podcast, sponsored by LIMRA, Jean sits down with mother-daughter Medicare experts Diane Omdahl and Melinda Caughill of 65 Incorporated to break down exactly what you need to know: when to enroll, how to choose between Original Medicare and Medicare Advantage, and what's changing in 2027 that could catch beneficiaries off guard – from Part D drug plan shakeups to insurers pulling back from Medicare Advantage.

We cover:

• The basics of Medicare – who's automatically enrolled and who isn't, and when you should start prepping to make Medicare decisions

• A quick guide to Parts A, B, C and D, plus where Medigap fits in

• Original Medicare vs. Medicare Advantage: the key differences and why the choice matters more than you think

• What to know about switching plans later – and why timing is everything
• What's changing with Part D and Medicare Advantage in 2027
• A tool that can help simplify comparing your options during open enrollment

After you’ve listened, if you’re ready to dig in, LIMRA’s 5-step guide to planning for healthcare costs in retirement is a great place to start. It will help you get organized, understand your options, and know what to ask your advisor about building a healthcare strategy before you retire.

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Jenna joins Jean Chatzky on this week's episode for another AMA conversation, this time digging into a decision that sits right at the heart of Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck: Is it worth giving up more money on paper for the peace of mind that comes with guaranteed income?

In this episode:

• Why Jenna and her husband are reconsidering the lump sum after years of assuming it was the obvious choice
• Jean's take on why retirees with pensions tend to spend significantly more than retirees with the equivalent balance sitting in a retirement account
• How guaranteed income can free up the rest of a portfolio to be invested more aggressively
• Why Jenna says choosing peace over optimization is exactly how she and her husband got their finances in order in the first place

Want a signed copy of The Forever Paycheck? Leave The Forever Paycheck a review on Amazon, screenshot it, and email it to [email protected] to be entered to win.

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We've gotten really good at teaching people how to save for retirement. But almost nobody teaches you what to do the day you stop earning and have to start spending. That's the gap Jean set out to close in her new book, The Forever Paycheck: The New Retirement Strategy to Spend More, Worry Less and Never Run Out of Money, and on this episode, HerMoney Chief Content Officer Kathryn Tuggle turns the mic around and interviews Jean about it.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What a "forever paycheck" actually is, and how it fills the gap between Social Security and what your life will cost
• The surprising research on why retirees with a pension spend twice as much as those with the same money in a 401(k)
• How much of her own portfolio Jean is annuitizing, and how she decided on that number
• The one exercise Jean says is the best way to get comfortable with spending in retirement

And if you've already read The Forever Paycheck, leave a review on Amazon and send Jean a screenshot at [email protected]; you'll be entered to win a signed copy.

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Do you feel like you're middle class? You might not be. Pew Research shows the U.S. middle class has shrunk from 61% of households in 1971 to closer to half today. So what does building wealth actually look like for regular people right now?

This week, Jean sits down with Joel Larsgaard, co-host of the How To Money podcast, to talk about building wealth as a normal person, no finance degree or trust fund required. Joel opens up about the money struggles that shaped his childhood and led him into personal finance, then breaks down his "craft beer equivalent" philosophy: identifying the handful of things worth spending real money on, so you can cut back guilt-free everywhere else.

In this episode:

• Why fewer Americans are middle class than they think
• Joel's "craft beer equivalent" approach to spending
• How to handle "funflation" without going into debt
• Simple, specific investing advice for DIY investors

We're giving away signed copies of Jean’s new book, The Forever Paycheck! Leave HerMoney a review on Apple Podcasts, screenshot it, and email it to [email protected] to be entered to win.

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Gloria Steinem died today at 92, and we're revisiting a conversation that's stayed with Jean for almost a decade. Recorded live at the Paley Center in 2017 at an event called Winning Plays: Black Women, Feminism, and Empowerment, this episode brings together Gloria Steinem and financial journalist Stacey Tisdale for a wide-ranging conversation on money, power, and freedom.

It's a conversation about resilience, self-worth, and what it really means to bet on yourself financially at any age.

More from Stacey Tisdale:

Stacey's site, Mind Money Media: mindmoneymedia.com

Winning Play$, Stacey's financial literacy nonprofit for students: winningplays.org

Got a question about The Forever Paycheck, retirement, Social Security, or annuities? Send it to [email protected], and Jean may tackle it in an upcoming mailbag episode.

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The S&P 500 is on pace for a fourth straight year of double-digit gains, something that's only happened once before since 1928, and that last time ended with the dot-com crash. So naturally, a lot of us are wondering: is this too good to be true?

Jean sits down with friend of the show Karen Finerman, co-founder and CEO of Metropolitan Capital Advisors and longtime panelist on CNBC's Fast Money, to talk through what this run really means, and what (if anything) you should be doing about it.

They get into:

• What even counts as a "good" economy when companies are growing by doing more with fewer people
• Why Karen refuses to try to time the market
• The stocks and sectors she's excited about right now 
• Her simple, no-frills advice for anyone just trying to keep their 401(k) on track

Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts, send a screenshot to [email protected], and you’ll be entered to win a signed copy of Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck!

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Most of us pictured our lives as a straight line: high school, college, a job, marriage, a house, kids…one milestone after another. Then life happened. A divorce. A layoff. A move. A pandemic. 

This week, Jean Chatzky goes solo to make the case that a messy, non-linear life isn't a failure; it's just what a normal life actually looks like. 

In this episode, you'll learn:

• The "5 Ws and an H": six questions to ask before you retire
• How to apply design thinking to your own retirement plan
• Why the real risk in retirement isn't running out of money, but never spending the money you worked so hard to save

Want a signed copy of The Forever Paycheck? Leave HerMoney a review on Apple Podcasts, screenshot it, and email it to ⁠[email protected]⁠ to enter.

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FinTok is full of people giving confident financial advice… and a lot of it is dead wrong.

This week, Jean sits down with CBS News Business Analyst Jill Schlesinger, and host of the new podcast Money Moves, to call out the worst financial trends going viral right now, answer real questions from HerMoney listeners, and share how to tell good financial advice from the bad.

In this episode:

• Jean and Jill’s list of “5 things that are always worth the money” 
• Jill's top 3 worst pieces of financial advice circulating on TikTok right now, and what to do instead
• Jill's simple test for vetting any piece of financial advice before you act on it

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You've heard of FIRE, Financial Independence, Retire Early. And maybe your first reaction is: those people are a little extreme. But what if you stripped away the extreme version? What if early retirement just meant leaving the workforce in your late 50s, or stepping back a few years before 65… on your own terms?

That's exactly what we're digging into in this special mailbag episode with the co-hosts of the Catching Up To FI podcast. 

Together, Bill and Jackie answer your real questions, including:

• How do you plan for health insurance before Medicare kicks in?
• How much cash do you really need on hand when you retire early?
• I've been financially independent for three months. How do I reallocate my portfolio now that I'm in drawdown mode?
• How do you plan for FIRE when you're also caring for an aging parent?

📩 Send your questions to [email protected]

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