Meaning Over Money

We invest, invest, invest, and invest some more, only to look at our numbers and get frustrated by little progress we’ve made. Sound familiar? It’s common for people to experience immense frustration and fatigue about 10 years into their investing journey, sometimes leading to apathy….or quitting altogether. Did you know that $100,000 is 1/3 of the way to $1M? It sounds ridiculous, but it’s true. In today’s episode, host Travis She...

We’re all going to die. Yeah, morbid, we know. What will your obituary say about you? In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton talks about the exercise of writing our own obituary. What do we want to be remembered for? What impact do we want to make on this world? How do we want the end of the story to read? Then, once we do that, we reverse engineer it; work our way backwards to fill in the gaps between today and when that obituary...

Would you take a pay cut to pursue work that would provide you with more meaning and a higher level of well-being? In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares the story of a friend who recently weighed this very decision, and chose meaning. His decision may be counter-cultural, but through the lens of pursuing work that matters and living a fulfilling, meaningful life, he might have cracked the code.

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You know what the problem is with more? Every time we get more, more is still, well, more. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares an intense story about a couple that is painfully losing the battle for more. It’s a brutal story to share, and one that far too many people can relate to, but perhaps this story can help to shift the perspective of many. We hope you enjoy. 

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travis...

Whether you know it or not, there’s a hidden force at play in your life. It’s called recency bias. It’s a phenomenon where we humans place too much emphasis on recent experiences when making decisions. It’s present in all areas of our lives, but nowhere as impactful and prevalent as in our finances. We’re notorious for allowing recent events and experiences to cloud our judgment and pollute our decision-making skills. In today’s ep...

Budgeting is simple on paper, but we don’t live on paper. We live in a chaotic, volatile, and ever-changing world. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton discusses how best to live in a budget when the real world decides not to cooperate with our best laid plans. It’s not easy, but it is simple. 

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travisshelton.com/podcast⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ 

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We’re living in crazy times. Never before has our culture seemed so divided, so polarized. This sentiment also applies to businesses, unfortunately. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explores the dangers of what happens when businesses decide to adopt human beliefs, values, and polarizations. It may seem like a zero-sum game, but it’s far from it. The consequences may not be immediately evident, but they can sneak up on us be...

Buy low, sell, high, right? That’s the motto when it comes to stock market investing. One problem: It doesn’t work. It’s nearly impossible to time the right moment to buy, and even if we get lucky, it’s also nearly impossible to time the right moment to sell. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares a cautionary tale from one of his “expert” investor buddies. The costs of trying to game the market are severe, and unfortunatel...

Have you ever intentionally made a decision that hinders your finances? Good! That’s great news! It means there are more important things in life than money. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares his controversial perspective about how the mission should matter more than the money. Sometimes, in order to pursue the mission (and the meaning behind it), we must make decisions that will inevitably hinder our own personal fina...

It seems like our culture has grown accustomed to mediocre. We’ve normalized bleh. It almost feels like every time we engage with a business and they hit a home run, we’re shocked. We didn’t expect that. We expected to be let down like every other time. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton discusses why the bar is so low today, and how that has created countless opportunities for each of us to step into the gap. Let’s step up an...

In the personal finance world, experts are typically keen to recommend all sorts of cutting, saving, hacks, and frugality. Don’t get us wrong, all of these have value! However, sometimes, the only prescription is more income. Sometimes, there simply isn’t enough fat to cut in order to get on the other side of our financial tensions. Sometimes, we just need to get to work. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explores this idea a...

Whenever we spend money, there’s a tension in the air. Do we buy cheaper items so we have the resources to buy more, or do we focus our resources on buying fewer, but higher quality items? In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares why he believes quality over quantity is almost always the right answer. Not only that, but buying more expensive items is often a cheaper long-term strategy. 

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://w...

For more than four years, we produced two episodes per week.....like clockwork. 419 episodes in a row without a single miss. Then, something happened. We decided to skip one episode, which led us to take a week off, which led us to take two weeks off, which eventually led us to take nearly three months off. If we give ourselves an inch, we'll take a mile. In today's episode, host Travis Shelton discusses the dangers of excu...

If sugar is what makes cake taste good, why don’t we just replace all the flour with more sugar? It would taste like crap, that’s why. However, we live in a culture that continually tells us that we should replace the flour in our lives with more and more sugar. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton explores the idea of finding a healthy balance of sugar (leisure and fun) and flour (work, purpose, and impact) in our lives. Just a...

Compounding is a powerful phenomenon, but it’s staggering how much so for young people. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton shares some insights from a recent talk he gave to young adults. In short, young adults have a particularly massive opportunity to embrace the power of compounding. All it requires is the willingness to start…..and a ton of patience.

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.travisshelton.com/podcast⁠⁠...

This money stuff should be simple, but simple doesn’t mean easy. In fact, some of the simplest things in the world are the hardest to actually do. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton discusses this important distinction, and will challenge you to aggressively and obsessively pursue simple. While it might be tremendously difficult, it might also be one of the best things you ever do. 

Podcast website: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https:/...

Humans have an interesting knack of overestimating the probability of something bad happening, but underestimating the severity of said bad outcome. The net result of these dynamics can be utterly destructive. In today’s episode, host Travis Shelton discussed the importance of understanding the true downside risks of xyz decision. If we do, we’ll make better choices and protect our family from potentially devastating outcomes. 

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Worried about a possible stock market crash? You aren’t alone! With the volatility we’ve experienced in the first three months of 2025, many people are getting nervous. Will the market crash? Is this just a bump in the road? Are bad days ahead? We aren’t fortune tellers, but we can say with 100% certainiy that a stock market crash will happen……at some point. If true, what do we do with that information. In today’s episode, host Tra...

Did you know that host Travis Shelton recently had a midlife crisis? Well, that’s what most people would call it, anyway. In the Meaning Over Money world, we simply calling it living for the meaning, not for the money. In today’s episode, on the one-year anniversary of Travis purchasing an 18-year-old Nissan 350Z, Travis discusses the costs, benefits, and overall takeaways. In short, it’s pretty freaking awesome!

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