Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money
45 million downloads. One question: what does it actually take to build wealth? Each week, Paula Pant brings in economists, investors, business leaders, authors, and researchers to dig into the five pillars of financial freedom — financial psychology, increasing income, investing, real estate, and entrepreneurship. Deep insights rooted in economics and behavioral finance. First-principles thinking. No surface-level tips. to hear new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Get smarter with money. Build wealth.
Episodes
July 10, 2026 • 76 mins
#731: What if the best way to test a new hire wasn't a resume, but a two-hour breakfast? One CEO built his entire hiring process around it — and it worked.
Lorraine Marchand spent three decades in leadership roles at companies like IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and LabCorp, and interviewed more than 120 CEOs for her book on what actually makes teams innovate. Now she teaches at Wharton and Columbia Business School, and in this ...
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July 7, 2026 • 63 mins
#730: What does it actually mean to have "enough" — and how do you know when it's time to stop optimizing and start living?
AVOIDING THE REAL ESTATE MISTAKES IN THIS FREE GUIDE COULD SAVE YOU $10,000 OR MORE 👉https://affordanything.com/mistakes
In today's episode:
Jax, a longtime listener, has hit a mindset shift — prioritizing sabbaticals and shared experiences over pure accumulation. He wants to know if his ...
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July 3, 2026 • 65 mins
#729: The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June. Economists expected 115,000.
Meanwhile, inflation hit a three-year high. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index - the Fed's favorite inflation gauge - jumped 4.1 percent year-over-year.
That combination creates a problem. Weak jobs usually push the Fed to cut rates. Hot inflation pushes them to hike. In this First Friday episode, we break down which way the Fed might lean at its ...
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June 30, 2026 • 60 mins
#728: What do you do when you suddenly have $850,000 and no idea what to do with it?
GET TOTAL CLARITY ON WHERE EVERY DOLLAR BELONGS 👉 https://affordanything.com/cornerstone
On today’s Q&A, one caller recently inherited $850,000 from his mother. He's already wealthy, earns over $500K a year, and has a solid net worth — but he's anxious, lost, and doesn't want to make a decision he can't undo. Paula and Joe wa...
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June 26, 2026 • 80 mins
727: Not sure what your next money move should be? Start with the free FiiRE Playbook 👉 https://affordanything.com/fiire
Dr. Julia Garcia is a psychologist, behavioral researcher, and author of The Five Habits of Hope — and she's spent years studying why smart, hardworking people stay stuck.
What if the biggest thing standing between you and your financial goals isn't your income, your debt, or the housing market &md...
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June 23, 2026 • 79 mins
#726: Hey, we're mixing it up today with a super deep dive. We normally go fairly deep on this show, but today we're going even deeper and turning one caller's question into a case study.
Download the Four Cornerstone Worksheet to follow along: www.affordanything.com/cornerstone
An anonymous caller is reevaluating their finances after a series of health challenges, caregiving responsibilities, and major life changes. With m...
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June 19, 2026 • 89 mins
#725: Most people assume their financial advisor is legally required to put their interests first. That's not always true.
Andrea Baumann Lustig, a wealth advisor with 30 years of experience, joins us to walk through the blind spots she sees most often in legacy planning -- the deeply held beliefs that quietly undermine people's financial futures.
We start with something most people never think to ask: how is your advisor act...
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June 16, 2026 • 58 mins
#724: Linda Hill, a Harvard Business School professor, and Jason Wild, an innovation consultant who has led projects in 40 countries, join us to break down how organizations innovate.
Linda and Jason have spent decades studying companies that consistently produce breakthroughs - from Pixar to Delta Airlines to Cleveland Clinic - and they've identified three leadership roles that matter most: the Architect, the Bridger, and the C...
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June 12, 2026 • 72 mins
723: This episode originally aired in July 2025.
Here's the thing about personal finance advice: what works when you have $10,000 won't work when you have $1 million.
Yet most financial guidance treats everyone the same, whether you're scraping together a $1,000 emergency fund or deciding whether to upgrade to business class.
Nick Maggiulli, author of "The Wealth Ladder," joins us to break down how money strategies must ...
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June 9, 2026 • 50 mins
#722: Free lesson: affordanything.com/mistakes
Ask us a question: affordanything.com/voicemail
What happens when your financial plan is technically working — but emotionally, it still doesn’t feel secure?
Caitlin and her husband have their core expenses covered, but her side hustle brings in an extra $600 a month. With young kids, daycare costs, and long-term retirement goals all competing for attention,...
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June 5, 2026 • 35 mins
#721: The US economy showed robust job growth in May, adding 172,000 new jobs, exceeding expectations. This suggests a broadening of economic recovery beyond essential services.
Treasury yields have climbed significantly, reflecting investor concerns about inflation.
Inflation remains a significant concern, driven largely by surging energy costs.
And there's good news emerging in prescription drug prices.
We're going ...
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June 3, 2026 • 62 mins
#720: At what point does making the “right” financial decision start to feel emotionally harder than the math itself?
Rebecca: is wondering whether the Rule of 72 means she can ease up on retirement contributions—or whether continuing to max out her Roth 401(k) is still the smarter move despite multiple mortgages, car loans, and college savings goals.
Kate: feels trapped between the math and psychology of ho...
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May 29, 2026 • 84 mins
#719: Most of us spend 93 percent of our time indoors, and it's making us sicker, more tired, and less productive than we realize.
Dr. John La Puma is a physician and researcher who studies what happens to the human body when it's indoors too much.
He joins us to explain the science behind what he calls the indoor epidemic: the chronic diseases, burnout, insomnia, and cognitive decline that stem from a life lived almost entirely...
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May 26, 2026 • 41 mins
#718: What happens when the financial strategy that once felt obvious suddenly becomes a lot more complicated?
Les is approaching financial independence but has realized there’s one thing missing from the traditional FIRE equation: how do you continue meaningful charitable giving after you stop earning a paycheck?
Jaime has built a sizable retirement portfolio, but now he’s wondering whether the complexity inside ...
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May 22, 2026 • 65 mins
#717: Clare Flynn Levy was a hedge fund manager in London in the summer of 2007, watching her trading screens turn red — every single day. Merger arbitrage spreads were widening. Investors were pulling out. She didn't yet realize she was watching the early tremors of a global financial crisis.
Clare joins us to talk about what that experience taught her about investor behavior, emotional bias, and the hidden forces that driv...
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May 19, 2026 • 73 mins
#716: When does a financial decision stop being purely about maximizing returns—and start becoming about building the life you actually want?
Karen recently inherited sizable trusts for their children and is now navigating the complicated intersection of investing, taxes, legacy planning, and future financial aid eligibility.
Matt has spent years building a solid index fund portfolio, but as retirement gets closer, h...
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May 15, 2026 • 69 mins
#715: She grew up with a Goldman Sachs dad. She still ended up broke in her 20’s. Here's what changed.
Haley Sacks - known online as Mrs. Dow Jones - joins us to talk about the five-step financial framework she calls IBIZA.
Despite every advantage, she spent her twenties anxious, financially dependent, and charging dinners to her parents' credit card.
One birthday trip to a Toronto restaurant crystallized the problem: sh...
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May 12, 2026 • 55 mins
#714: When you’re making big financial decisions, what matters more: optimizing for the best long-term outcome, or choosing the path that gives you the most flexibility and peace of mind right now?
Melissa retired early and now lives off rental income, but she’s considering selling one property to pay off another. The catch? Her monthly income would stay about the same—so the real question is whether giving up ...
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The US economy added 115,000 jobs in April -- and the numbers look solid on the surface.
But dig a little deeper and you'll find a tech sector in freefall, a housing market frozen in place, and consumer sentiment that hit a 74-year low.
This bonus episode breaks down the May jobs report, which came out a week late because the Bureau of Labor Statistics pushed its release from the first Friday to the second Friday of the month.
...
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May 8, 2026 • 74 mins
#713: Tiffany Aliche spent her 30th birthday in her childhood bedroom, $300,000 in debt, unemployed, and freshly foreclosed on.
Sixteen years later, she's generated over $50 million in gross revenue as a business owner.
She joins us to talk about what actually happened in between.
Aliche - known as The Budgetnista - built her personal finance platform almost by accident. After a friend stole $35,000 from her and the 2008 reces...
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