The Money School: The Complete Financial Education You Were Never Given

Nicole's most comprehensive book yet, the financial curriculum that should have been taught in school but never was. From your first paycheck to investing, buying a home, building wealth, and planning your legacy, The Money School is the full course in plain English. Go check it out: https://nicolelapin.com/money-school-book

Caitlin Sarian — better known to millions as "Cybersecurity Girl" — has spent her career on the inside of online safety and today she joins Money Rehab to show us exactly how the scams draining Americans' bank accounts really work. - The scam that's quietly emptying retirement accounts right now

• She tells me the one word that should make you hang up the phone every single time
• The safe word every family needs before the next phone call comes in
• And the one way to pay that can actually get your money back…

Chapters 00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?

01:57 The Toll Road Scam Text, Live Read

04:13 Is AI Making Scams Scarier Than Ever?

05:14 How to Spot an AI-Generated Scam Message

06:39 Fake Podcast Invites and Meta Account Takeovers

08:21 Impersonation Scams Targeting Financial Influencers

09:45 Why Banks Can't Get Your Money Back After a Zelle Scam

11:22 The Wrong Phone Number Scam Hiding in Google's AI Summary

14:39 The AI Voice Clone Scam That Terrifies Every Parent

16:02 Setting Up a Family Safe Word

20:19 Two Red Flags: Urgency and "Don't Tell Anyone"

21:36 Why Scammers Target the Elderly and Kids

22:38 Pig Butchering Scams, Explained

27:02 Nicole and Caitlin Share Their Own Scam Stories

36:06 The $100K Invoice Scam That Hit Money News Network's Own Partner

41:11 Why You Should Never Use a Debit Card

42:10 The Fake Bank Fraud Department Call

49:39 Real or Scam? Testing Common Scam Texts

57:06 SIM Swapping and Why You Need an Authenticator App

1:00:17 Freezing Your Credit (and Your Kids' and Grandparents' Credit Too)

1:04:06 What's a Good Budget for Identity Protection Apps?

1:06:56 Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank ----------------------- MORE FROM NICOLE LAPIN

🎥 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoneyRehabPodcast

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyrehab/

📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolelapin

🌐 Nicole's website: https://nicolelapin.com

OTHER THINGS WE DO

💳 SoFi: https://SoFi.com/MNN

💰 Private Wealth Collective: https://privatewealthcollective.com

🏦 The Money School: https://themoneyschool.com

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The Money School: The Complete Financial Education You Were Never Given

Nicole's most comprehensive book yet, the financial curriculum that should have been taught in school but never was. From your first paycheck to investing, buying a home, building wealth, and planning your legacy, The Money School is the full course in plain English.

Go check it out: https://nicolelapin.com/money-school-book

Bill Ackman called the 2008 financial crisis years before Wall Street did, and he built one of the most legendary trades in modern investing along the way. Today, Nicole breaks down the money lessons from her sit-down with Bill that she can't stop thinking about, and why they matter for your portfolio even if you don't run a hedge fund.

She unpacks the "durable compounder" philosophy Bill uses to find unkillable businesses, and how Warren Buffett has influenced his strategy. Then things get cautionary: Bill's blunt warning about borrowing against your stocks, the margin call math that can crush you, and his take on the one-day options trend flooding retail trading apps.

Watch Nicole's full interview with Bill Ackman: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9eSLJZJpOYo

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MORE FROM NICOLE LAPIN

🎥 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoneyRehabPodcast

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyrehab/

📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolelapin

🌐 Nicole's website: https://nicolelapin.com

OTHER THINGS WE DO

💳 SoFi: https://SoFi.com/MNN

💰 Private Wealth Collective: https://privatewealthcollective.com

🏦 The Money School: https://themoneyschool.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

My latest book, The Money School: The Complete Financial Education You Were Never Given, the financial curriculum that should have been taught in school but never was. From your first paycheck to investing, buying a home, building wealth, and planning your legacy, The Money School is the full course in plain English.  Go check it out: https://nicolelapin.com/money-school-book

Dr. Shefali is the psychologist behind the conscious parenting movement -the idea that you can’t raise healthy kids without looking at your own crap first. And she is the author of two new books, Raising Conscious Sons and Raising Conscious Daughters, https://www.drshefali.com/raisingconscious-daughters-sons/ Today she joins money rehab to teach us how to raise healthy kids mentally and financially.

In this episode, you’ll learn

• the impact the idea that “good girls don’t talk about money” is having on our daughters

• the importance of how you talk about finances around your kid

• and how to make sure your kids are resilient with money

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MORE FROM NICOLE LAPIN

🎥 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoneyRehabShow

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyrehab/

📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolelapin

🌐 Nicole's website: https://nicolelapin.com

OTHER THINGS WE DO

💳 SoFi: https://SoFi.com/MNN

💰 Private Wealth Collective: https://privatewealthcollective.com

🏦 The Money School: https://themoneyschool.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

The Money School: The Complete Financial Education You Were Never Given

My comprehensive book yet, the financial curriculum that should have been taught in school but never was. From your first paycheck to investing, buying a home, building wealth, and planning your legacy, The Money School is the full course in plain English. Go check it out: https://nicolelapin.com/money-school-book

I'm going to sound an alarm today about the least sexy topic in finance: the bond market. Stick with me, because this one lands directly in your wallet. Over the past few weeks, investors have been dumping U.S. government bonds, and the 10-year Treasury yield just hit its highest level in years. That one number is quietly driving up your mortgage rate, your car loan, and your credit card, whether you ever buy a bond or not.

I break down what a bond actually is (spoiler: it's just an IOU), the biggest myth I hear constantly about the Fed and your mortgage rate, and the real reasons investors are suddenly nervous about lending Uncle Sam money.

----------------------- MORE FROM NICOLE LAPIN

🎥 Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@MoneyRehabPodcast

📸 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/moneyrehab/

📽️ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@nicolelapin

🌐 Nicole's website: https://nicolelapin.com

OTHER THINGS WE DO

💳 SoFi: https://SoFi.com/MNN

💰 Private Wealth Collective: https://privatewealthcollective.com

🏦 The Money School: https://themoneyschool.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Brian Armstrong is the CEO and co-founder of Coinbase, the largest crypto exchange in the U.S. and the first crypto company to crack the S&P 500. He joins Nicole on the exact day Congress failed to pass the Clarity Act, a bill Coinbase has spent millions lobbying for, to break down what it actually means for anyone who owns crypto, or even just an index fund.

Brian explains why he still believes regulatory clarity for crypto is coming either way, what percentage of a portfolio he thinks should be in Bitcoin, and the real difference between how the SEC and CFTC would police your crypto investments. He also digs into the fight with big banks over stablecoin rewards, why he thinks the bank lobby are trying to kill competition, and his ongoing rivalry with Jamie Dimon.

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Start investing at https://SoFi.com/MNN Private Wealth Collective: Nicole's boutique wealth management practice for people who want more than a robo-advisor and less than a hedge fund minimum. Real strategy, real relationship. https://privatewealthcollective.com The Money School: Nicole's $149 investing course that actually breaks down stocks, ETFs, crypto, and building a real portfolio, no jargon, no judgment, lifetime access. https://themoneyschool.com

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Maye Musk is a model, dietician, and author. But before any of that success, she was 50 years old, newly single, and unable to make rent. Today, Maye joins Nicole to talk about her new memoir, Timeless, and the financial reinvention that came after everything fell apart.

Maye opens up about the financial abuse she experienced in her first marriage, including how her ex-husband removed her signing rights from their joint account and took her savings, and why she still advises women to keep some money of their own, no matter how it might be received. She shares what it was like starting over in a new city with almost nothing, working her way back from a $2,000-a-month apartment she could barely afford, and the confidence it took to build two entirely new careers from scratch in her 50s.

Then, Maye and Nicole get into why she didn't become a full-time model until her 60s, how she reframes aging as an asset instead of something to hide, and the mindset that let her keep saying yes to jobs, rejection, and reinvention well past the age most people consider their prime.

Here's what Nicole covers with Maye:

00:00 Maye's Life Starting Over at 50

02:00 Not Being Able to Pay Rent for the First Time

06:38 Escaping a Financially Abusive Marriage

08:41 Why Maye Advocates for Women Having Their Own Bank Account

11:02 Starting Over With Nothing

21:45 Confidence, Rejection, and Getting to "One Out of 20"

23:04 Becoming a Full-Time Model at 60

26:36 Why Age Became an Asset, Not a Liability

27:11 Having to Stop Her Practice as Her Fame Grew

37:31 Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank

----------------------- Start investing at https://SoFi.com/MNN Private Wealth Collective: Nicole's boutique wealth management practice for people who want more than a robo-advisor and less than a hedge fund minimum. Real strategy, real relationship. https://privatewealthcollective.com The Money School: Nicole's $149 investing course that actually breaks down stocks, ETFs, crypto, and building a real portfolio, no jargon, no judgment, lifetime access. https://themoneyschool.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You don't need a Bloomberg terminal, a private jet, or a research team to invest alongside the world's most famous hedge fund managers… you just need to know where to look. Today, Nicole breaks down five real ways everyday investors can piggyback on billionaire money managers like Bill Ackman, David Einhorn, and Warren Buffett, from closed-end funds and copycat ETFs to buying the "tollbooth" instead of the cars driving through it.

Check out Nicole's financial literacy course ⁠The Money School⁠ 

Find a Financial Advisor or Financial Coach from Nicole's company ⁠Private Wealth Collective⁠ 

Watch video clips from the pod on ⁠Money Rehab's Instagram⁠ and ⁠Nicole Lapin's Instagram⁠ 

Here's what Nicole covers today:

00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?

00:15 Piggyback on a Billionaire's Portfolio

00:33 Option 1: Buy a Closed-End Fund Like Ackman's PSUS

01:33 Why PSUS Trades at a Discount to NAV0

2:25 Option 2: Buy the Manager, Not the Fund

03:04 Option 3: The Insurance Float Trick (Einhorn's GLRE)

03:45 Option 4: Buy Berkshire Hathaway

04:31 Option 5: Copycat ETFs Like GURU

05:12 Which Option Is Right for You?

05:31 Confusing a Great Investor With a Great Investment

05:54 Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank

All investing involves risk, including loss of principal. This episode is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always consult a licensed professional before making financial decisions.

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Jim Kwik has coached Fortune 500 companies, Oprah, Will Smith, and Richard Branson on how to think faster and remember more. Today, he joins Nicole to explain why your brain, not your bank account, is your greatest wealth building asset. Jim breaks down what he calls "digital dementia," the MIT study showing what AI is doing to our memory and critical thinking, and why he believes AI will not replace humans so much as reveal them. He also gets into the emotional side of wealth: why purpose beats motivation, how tiny "micro-commitments" trigger the dopamine that actually creates momentum, and why self-image, not goals, determines what we achieve. Then, Nicole puts Jim's favorite biohacks to the test, and he rates everything from walking and sauna to meditation and TikTok on a scale of 1 to 10. Jim also shares the real story behind a $50 million deal that fell apart because of a forgotten name, his 12-minute morning routine with his toddler, and the writing ritual he started in the hospital the day his daughter was born. Start investing investing at SoFi.com/MNN Private Wealth Collective Nicole's boutique wealth management practice for people who want more than a robo-advisor and less than a hedge fund minimum. Real strategy, real relationship. https://privatewealthcollective.com The Money School Nicole's $149 investing course that actually breaks down stocks, ETFs, crypto, and building a real portfolio, no jargon, no judgment, lifetime access. https://themoneyschool.com ----------------------- Find other exclusive content at— Instagram: @moneynews TikTok: @moneynewsnetwork Website: https://moneynewsnetwork.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

A listener named Lauren DMed Nicole with a simple question: what is she doing to make sure her daughter has more money than she did growing up? Today, Nicole answers in full, walking through the exact accounts, strategies, and tax moves she is using to build wealth for her toddler from day one.

Nicole breaks down the three accounts she opened for her daughter (a 529, a custodial Roth IRA, and a custodial brokerage account), why she gifts directly into the 529 for every holiday, and how she is legally paying her daughter through her business to shift income into a lower tax bracket. Tax strategist Karlton Dennis joins with a clip explaining the rules around paying your kids: what counts as reasonable compensation, how the standard deduction plays into it, and why starting a custodial Roth IRA early can turn a few thousand dollars into over a million by retirement.

Nicole also gets into the life insurance decision every parent needs to make. She explains the real difference between term and whole life insurance, why she chose term for her family, and when whole life actually does make sense.

Start investing investing at SoFi.com/MNN

Private Wealth Collective

Nicole's boutique wealth management practice for people who want more than a robo-advisor and less than a hedge fund minimum. Real strategy, real relationship.

https://privatewealthcollective.com

The Money School

Nicole's $149 investing course that actually breaks down stocks, ETFs, crypto, and building a real portfolio, no jargon, no judgment, lifetime access.

https://themoneyschool.com

-----------------------

Find other exclusive content at—

Instagram: @moneynews

TikTok: @moneynewsnetwork

Website: https://moneynewsnetwork.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know Codie Sanchez as the woman who made buying a laundromat sound cooler than launching a startup. Today, she's back to talk about her new book, Own or Be Owned, and why so many founders are secretly addicted to their own businesses.

Codie explains why being "the hero" of your company is a trap (she compares it to heroin), the 12 owner archetypes she discovered after surveying 15,000 business owners, and why the goal isn't to work harder, it's to become unnecessary.

She also gets real about the parts of founder life nobody talks about: the years she put her personal life on hold chasing a revenue number, the fear of telling her team she was pregnant, and why she now believes "later" almost never actually comes.

Get Codie's book Own or Be Owned

Find boring businesses to buy on BizScout.com

What we cover

00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?

01:33 How to Buy a Laundromat: Cost, Margins, and Failure Rates

14:29 The Thesis Behind Own or Be Owned, and the 12 Owner Archetypes

20:40 Why Being "The Hero" Feels Like Heroin

25:03 Founder Mode vs. Owner Mode

31:03 Stepping Away From the Business She Built

39:12 Pregnancy, Business, and Life as a Founder

43:16 How Codie Invests and Manages Her Own Money

46:48 Boring Business Grades: A Through F, and What to Skip in 2026 All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal.

This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice.

Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions or investments.

Start investing investing at SoFi.com/MNN Private Wealth Collective Nicole's boutique wealth management practice for people who want more than a robo-advisor and less than a hedge fund minimum. Real strategy, real relationship. https://privatewealthcollective.com The Money School Nicole's $149 investing course that actually breaks down stocks, ETFs, crypto, and building a real portfolio, no jargon, no judgment, lifetime access. https://themoneyschool.com ----------------------- Find other exclusive content at— Instagram: @moneynews TikTok: @moneynewsnetwork Website: https://moneynewsnetwork.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Kate has good money habits. She's saving, she's investing, she's automated her high-yield savings account. So why does she still feel like she's behind? Today, Nicole sits down with a Money Rehab listener for a real-life financial intervention, digging into the exact questions so many 20-somethings are quietly Googling at 1am.

Kate walks Nicole through her real numbers: what she earns, what she spends, and how she's splitting money between a Roth IRA, a brokerage account, and student loan payments. Nicole breaks down the actual mechanics she never learned, like why you need cash in the account before you can buy anything, how to think about a Roth versus a brokerage account, and whether it's smart to max out one before touching the other. They also get into the emotional side of money: the guilt Kate feels every time she spends, why her financial goals always seem to move further away the more she achieves, and how giving herself a real number for guilt-free spending changes everything.

Check out Nicole's financial literacy course The Money School
Find a Financial Advisor or Financial Coach from Nicole's company Private Wealth Collective
Watch video clips from the pod on Money Rehab's Instagram and Nicole Lapin's Instagram

Here's what Nicole covers with Kate:
00:00 Are You Ready for Some Money Rehab?
02:28 Meet Kate: Her Money Goals
03:53 From Ice Cream Shop Paychecks to a 9-5
04:39 Breaking Down Kate's Budget
05:54 The High-Yield Savings Account Strategy
07:11 Using a HYSA as a "Don't Touch This" Account
08:01 Roth vs. Brokerage: Kate's Investing Confusion
09:25 Why No One Teaches You How to Actually Buy
11:06 Roth vs. Brokerage, Explained
13:28 Should You Max Out Your Roth First?
15:09 Why Kate Sticks to Index Funds
17:15 The Tax Truth About Brokerage Accounts
20:07 What Financial Freedom Actually Means to Kate
21:19 The Guilt Spiral of Spending
22:28 Why Sticking to the Plan Is the Hard Part
22:52 How Kate's Childhood Shaped Her Money Mindset
23:52 The Moving Goalpost Problem
25:25 Building (and Sticking to) a Budget
28:30 Solving Spending Guilt With a "Fun Money" Number
29:51 Where Kate Keeps Her Savings
31:05 Kate's 5 and 10 Year Money Goals
32:36 Is Money a Never-Ending Game?
34:41 How Kate Started Investing With Just $20
36:45 Nicole's Game Plan for Kate
45:05 Tip You Can Take Straight to the Bank

All investing involves the risk of loss, including loss of principal. This podcast is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, or legal advice. Always do your own research and consult a licensed financial advisor before making any financial decisions or investments.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices