Mar 07, 2016

NGPF Podcast: Author Helaine Olen Distills Financial Advice Down To What Can Fit On An Index Card

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Thank you to Helaine Olen, Slate columnist and author of Pound Foolish:Exposing the Dark Side of the Personal Finance Industry and The Index Card: Why Personal Finance Doesn’t Have to Be Complicated, for recently joining the NGPF Podcast show. Helaine shares what she has learned from her years as an author, columnist and researcher into the personal finance industry.

Listen to this podcast to get answers to such questions as:

  • Can you really fit everything you need to know about personal finance on an index card?
  • What is the best way to invest in the stock market?
  • Why is insurance so important to financial planning?
  • What does being a fiduciary mean and why does it matter when it comes to investment advice?
  • What is her favorite book focused on personal finance?

Details:

0:00-0:48: Introduction
0:48-2:56: How Helaine got started as personal finance columnist
2:56-3:51: Why Helaine likes the book, Personal Finance for Dummies
3:51-4:32: Why readers are captivated by personal stories about personal finance
4:32-6:03: How the idea for the The Index Card originated
6:03-7:05: The importance of insurance
7:05-9:26: Weaknesses of certain target date investment funds
9:26-11:05: Why is budgeting not included as one of the items in the Index Card?
11:05-14:13: Approach to buying stocks
14:13-17:07: Why does being a ‘fiduciary’ matter?
17:02-23:03: Why did you write The Index Card?
23:03-25:37: Investing in education
25:37-31:30: Raising financially responsible children
31:30-34:52: Book recommendations
34:52-35:55: How NGPF incorporated The Index Card into an activity
35:55-38:20: Parting thoughts
38:29-39:53: What was it like to be on The Jon Stewart Show?
Resources:

About the Author

Tim Ranzetta

Tim's saving habits started at seven when a neighbor with a broken hip gave him a dog walking job. Her recovery, which took almost a year, resulted in Tim getting to know the bank tellers quite well (and accumulating a savings account balance of over $300!). His recent entrepreneurial adventures have included driving a shredding truck, analyzing executive compensation packages for Fortune 500 companies and helping families make better college financing decisions. After volunteering in 2010 to create and teach a personal finance program at Eastside College Prep in East Palo Alto, Tim saw firsthand the impact of an engaging and activity-based curriculum, which inspired him to start a new non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance.

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