Nobody wants to think about the possibility of losing their spouse to Alzheimer's. But what if planning ahead meant considering something as unexpected as divorce? That's exactly the question Susan is grappling with today.

Susan is 62, still working, and earning around $100K a year. Her husband is 65 and already retired. Together they've built a solid financial foundation — over $778K in investments, $181K in savings, and more than $762K in assets, all with no debt. By most measures, they're in great shape. But the potential cost of memory care and assisted living has them worried that everything they've worked for could be wiped out.

In this episode, Jean and Susan cover:

• What a "Medicaid divorce" actually is, and whether it's a legitimate financial strategy
• How Medicaid spend-down rules work and what they mean for married couples
• What asset protection strategies exist beyond divorce

How to think through the emotional and financial costs of planning for a spouse's cognitive decline

If today's conversation made you think about how to protect your retirement, Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck, is the perfect next step.

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What if the most important phase of retirement is the one nobody talks about? This week, Jean sits down with Dana Anspach, CFP, to walk through the four phases of retirement outlined in her new book, Living Off Your Acorns: Your Guide to the Four Phases of Retirement, including the phase she argues matters most of all: the Pre-Go years.

Dana breaks down what to expect at every stage — from building your foundation before you retire, to navigating the emotional and financial shifts that come after — and shares the real stories of clients who had to course-correct, pivot, and reimagine what retirement could look like for them.

In this episode, Jean and Dana cover:

• What the Pre-Go phase is, why it matters, and when it typically begins
• Why so many high achievers struggle to envision retirement
• What a $1 million retirement savings goal actually buys you in 2026
• How to course-correct if you're behind on savings in your 50s and 60s

If today's conversation made you think about saving enough for your retirement, Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck, is the perfect next step.

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The economy added 172,000 jobs in May, nearly double what economists expected. So why did consumer sentiment just hit a record low? Why does everything still feel so hard?

In this episode, Jean sits down with Sarah Foster, Personal Finance Reporter at Bloomberg, to break down what's really going on beneath the surface of those headline numbers, and what it means for your job, your home, and your retirement savings.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why keeping your money in a traditional savings account right now means you're slowly losing ground
• What the lock-in effect really means for women who want to downsize before retirement
• How to think about home equity as a retirement tool
• The one financial move Sarah says everyone should make right now

Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck, is available for pre-order now. It's your guide to building a secure, steady income stream that actually lets you enjoy the retirement you've worked so hard for.

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Annuities might be one of the most misunderstood financial products out there – and they come with plenty of opinions…as well as questions. Are the fees really that high? Do advisors just push them for the commission? Could an annuity actually be the missing piece of your retirement plan? 

On this episode of the HerMoney Podcast, we’re cutting through the noise with two leading experts: Michael Finke and Tamiko Toland of LIMRA’s Retirement Income Institute. They’re busting the biggest annuity myths, answering questions straight from our HerMoney Community and helping you figure out whether this type of protected income deserves a spot in your financial future. 

Listen in to hear them cover:

• A jargon-free explanation of annuity types and terms to be aware of
• What to know if you’re buying an annuity – including how fees work
• Whether there’s a “right” age to purchase an annuity
• The next steps to take if an annuity sounds right for you

Learn more: Most people want protected income for life. Few realize that’s what annuities provide. This resource from LIMRA covers everything you need to know.

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For white-collar workers, the recent headlines about AI are more than a little bit fear-inducing. AI could automate millions of white-collar jobs within 18 months. College graduates are booing commencement speakers who bring it up. And women — whose jobs are three times more likely to be automated — are falling behind on AI adoption. So what do you actually do?

Pulitzer Prize-winning New York Times journalist Jodi Kantor has answers. Her new book, How to Start: Discovering Your Life's Work, grew out of a question her Columbia University students asked her that she couldn't shake: how, in this environment, are we supposed to find our life's work? The answer, it turns out, applies just as much to a woman reinventing herself at 52 as it does to a 22-year-old just starting out.

In this episode, Jean and Jodi get into:

• The two things every successful, happy person has: craft and need
• Why your messy, nonlinear résumé might be your biggest asset right now
• How to get a real human being to respond to your job outreach in the age of AI screening
• Jodi's three tips for cold outreach that actually work

And if you're thinking about what your financial future looks like through all of this change, pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck — your guide to building income that lasts as long as you do.

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A new study shows Americans expect to delay retirement by four years as the cost of living rises…and 4 in 10 aren't confident they'll have enough money to last. If that sent you into a spiral, this episode is your permission to exhale.

Historian, real estate investor, and early retiree Joseph S. Moore, PhD, spent years stress-testing three centuries of American financial advice, and what he found will reframe the way you think about retirement. His new book, How to Get Rich in American History: 300 Years of Financial Advice That Worked (and Didn't), makes the case that retirement anxiety is nothing new, and that every generation that's felt it has ended up being fine.

Then, Jean sits down with Lacy Garcia, founder and CEO of Willow, an award-winning platform that connects women with vetted fiduciary financial advisors who actually understand their lives. Jean and Lacy get refreshingly honest about the money moves they wish they'd made sooner: investing earlier, finding an advisor before they felt "ready," keeping an emergency fund, and having the money conversations they'd been putting off. 

Find a fiduciary advisor through Willow: hermoney.com/findanadvisor 

📚 Pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck

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We've been told to lean in, speak up, ask for the raise, and take up space. But what happens when doing everything right still isn't enough?

Journalist and financial expert Stefanie O'Connell joins Jean to talk about her deeply researched new book, The Ambition Penalty: How Corporate Culture Tells Women to Step Up — and Then Pushes Them Down.

In this conversation, Jean and Stefanie dig into why the girlboss era failed us, why women are penalized not for a lack of ambition but because of it, and what we can actually do about it.

They cover:

• Why being fluent in the language of empowerment is not the same as actually being empowered
• How the ambition penalty follows women outside the workplace 
• Why you can't outwork inequality, but you can outorganize it
• What it really takes to build a life where your ambition is championed, not penalized

And if you loved today's conversation, don't miss Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck — your guide to building a secure, steady income stream that lets you actually enjoy the retirement you've worked so hard for.

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If you've been feeling financially anxious lately, the numbers back you up. A record 55% of Americans say their financial situation is getting worse, and 67% say they're more afraid of running out of money than dying. 

This week, Jean sits down with Carrie Joy Grimes, author of the new book The Joy of Money, for a candid, wide-ranging conversation about financial anxiety, behavioral science, and exactly what wealthy people are doing with their money right now.

In this episode, we cover:

• What wealthy people do differently with their money during volatile markets
• The Life Happens Fund: why a basic emergency fund isn't enough and how to build a real financial cushion
• The three-step self-compassion practice backed by behavioral science that helps you stop shame-spiraling over money mistakes
• The "Good Enough Retirement Vision" exercise that will help you stop feeling paralyzed about the future

And if today's conversation got you thinking about your financial future, don't miss Jean's brand new book, The Forever Paycheck.

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She's been famous since childhood, but Brooke Shields might be having her most interesting chapter yet, and she's the first to say she's done waiting to be picked.

This week on HerMoney, we're thrilled to share a special replay of one of our favorite recent episodes from our sister podcast, How She Does It with Karen Finerman. Karen sits down with the actress, author, and entrepreneur for a wide-ranging conversation about reinvention, resilience, and what it really means to come into your own at 60.

In this episode, you'll hear about:

• Why Brooke got tired of waiting for Hollywood to cast her and decided to develop her own show
• The very real moment she stood up to a dismissive VC
• Her experience with postpartum depression and why breaking the silence still matters
• What it's really like to serve as president of Actors' Equity 
• The beauty industry's failure to represent women over 50, and why Brooke decided to do something about it

And if Brooke's story of betting on herself got you thinking about your own financial future, Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck, is the perfect next read. It's all about building income that lasts, so you can keep funding the next chapter.

How She Does It is part of HerMoney Media. Subscribe and catch every episode wherever you listen to podcasts.

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There are people who change the way you think about money. And then there are people who change the way you think about life, and do it through the lens of money. Jonathan Clements was one of those people.

The beloved personal finance columnist and Wall Street Journal veteran passed away in September 2025, leaving behind a remarkable legacy and one final book: Money and Me: How to Make Your Finances Work Harder for You and Your Family. This week, Jean sits down with Jason Zweig, Jonathan's dear friend and fellow Wall Street Journal columnist, to honor that legacy and dig into the lessons Jonathan left behind for all of us.

They cover:

• The investing philosophy he championed for nearly 40 years, and why it's still the best advice out there
• The three dimensions of money and happiness: freedom from worry, spending on experiences, and using money to create meaning
• Why the shift from saving to spending in retirement is one of the hardest psychological transitions we face, and how to make it easier
• Jonathan's take on how much money to leave your kids 
• Why spending small is actually the smartest spending strategy of all

And if today's conversation got you thinking about your own relationship with money, Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck, is the perfect next read.

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What does a week of grocery shopping actually look like for real women right now? Jean Chatzky teams up with Yasmeen Khan, writer of Consumer Reports' Bread and Butter newsletter, for a special edition of A Week in Her Wallet, focused entirely on the grocery store.

First, Jean and Yasmeen sit down with Lori, a mom of two boys in Massachusetts, who spent the week bouncing between Trader Joe's, Costco, and Stop & Shop. Then, Jean and Yasmeen dig into the bigger picture: what three women's grocery weeks revealed about how savvy shoppers have become, why store brands deserve a second look, and Consumer Reports' best tips for cutting costs at the checkout line right now.

Links mentioned:

• Subscribe to Bread and Butter by Consumer Reports
• Yasmeen's recent newsletter on saving on groceries
• Fill out this form to be considered for a future A Week in Her Wallet episode
• Pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck

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