August 24, 2026 • 49 mins
According to the National Association of Realtors, the median age of a first-time homebuyer in America is now 40 years old, up from 28 in 1992. Jessica Inskip is not buying either, and she is waiting on one number before she does. What is she watching, and why does it matter more than anything the Fed announces?
In this episode of The Money Signal: From Main Street to Wall Street, two women who cover the markets for a living answer that from opposite ends of the business. Jessica Inskip, the former Fidelity active trader desk broker who now hosts the Market MakeHer podcast, explains which part of the yield curve sets your mortgage rate, why the two-year Treasury front runs the Fed, what makes a high yield savings account pay 5 percent, and how to decide when to refinance. She also explains why she compares the business cycle to a menstrual cycle to teach it, and why she thinks the first wave of financial influencers left people with dangerous advice.
Sam Vadas, who spent five years in Singapore covering China for CNBC before landing on the New York Stock Exchange floor as a Schwab Network anchor, describes what she learned from a co-founder of Hint, the AI home management app Martha Stewart launched this summer, and why Zillow cannot build the same thing. Sam also explains why she had to build a credit score, a 401k and a college fund from zero after moving to the United States, and what the tariff story did to financial media ratings.
We also discuss:
- The 30 million conversations Americans had about tariffs on social media in 2025
- Why the low income consumer feels a rate change first
- What Peter Tuchman did to go from 250,000 followers to nearly a million
- Why people are now buying homes with friends instead of spouses
- The job Martha Stewart had on Wall Street long before the catering business
If you're interested in when to refinance, mortgage rates, the bond market, the 10-year Treasury, financial literacy, teaching kids about money, or women in finance, this episode is for you.
#financialliteracy #financialfreedom #mortgage #stockmarket #refinance #highyieldsavings
🎙 Host:
Tsvetta Kaleynska — Consumer Data & Social Listening Expert
Peter Tuchman -- NYSE Floor Broker, "Einstein of Wall Street"
📡 About The Money Signal: From Main Street to Wall Street — founders, CEOs, investors, and Wall Street veterans on money, business, and what success actually costs.
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The content presented on The Money Signal: From Main Street to Wall Street is for informational and entertainment purposes only and does not constitute financial, investment, legal, tax, or other professional advice.
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Episode Transcript
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Tsvetta Kaleynska (00:00):
Today I'm joined by literally the
representatives of Wall Streetwith Jessica and Skip.
SPEAKER_03 (00:06):
The way that I started in the stock market was
a complete accident.
I mean, before that, I wascleaning hotel rooms.
I worked at Fidelity.
I was the first female on theactive trader desk.
I hate this connotation that thefinance bro is gatekeeping Wall
Street from you.
The people who say that havenever worked in Wall Street,
first of all.
And we've all been aroundfinance bros.
(00:26):
What's the one thing that theydon't do?
Shut up about stuff.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (00:30):
Actually, this episode gets even better
because we are joined by SamBadaz.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
New to the US, um obviously hailing from
Australia.
I've always been a journalist,but I kind of fell into finance.
And he asked me, Where is WallStreet?
And I said, This is Wall Street.
You're here.
You're here.
And he said, Where is the famousbuilding?
I said, The New York StockExchange?
Yeah, the famous one.
I said, it's there.
And he was like, Where is thebull?
(00:56):
And I said, The bull is downthere.
And then it just hit me, and Iwalked away and I thought, wow,
I work in a famous building.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (01:06):
Welcome to the Money Signal podcast from
Main Street to Wall Street.
Today I'm joined by literallythe representatives of Wall
Street with Jessica and Skip,who is a TV contributor who
actually ran into multiple timeson TV networks across the board.
SPEAKER_03 (01:23):
We have.
Oh, is it?
Oh my god, it is.
Yes.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (01:29):
And I was totally impressed by you, which,
as someone from the Balkans, I'mnever impressed by people.
So that's actually a fact.
I was very impressed by you, sothank you.
So I'm honored to have you on.
Thank you.
And this show, actually, thisepisode gets even better because
we are joined by Sam Vadas, whois the anchor of Schwab Network
and leads several shows inSchwab Network.
(01:50):
And she's an ex uh CNBC and ex abunch of fancy TV networks that
I can't even name.
So this is like the episode oflike women talking about money,
finance, and just life.
And we're all all three of usare also moms, which I actually
love.
So for today, I initially wastrying to think do we start with
(02:12):
statistics about women infinance or investing?
And then I said, you know what?
I actually think that we havemuch more to talk about, which
is again like the fact that weare all working women, that
we're all within somewhat of thefinance investing range or
industry, and we all have havekids.
(02:32):
So the I wanted to start off,and I'll be acting more as a
moderator today, which I'm surefor Sam is different dynamics.
SPEAKER_01 (02:40):
Yeah, it's like a reverse of the table because you
guys are usually my guests on myshow, which is so nice.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (02:46):
Yeah, so this time we actually would get to
ask you questions.
Um, I was actually thinking, whydon't we start off first and
foremost with like properintroduction?
So obviously we'll include yourbios, but I'd love to hear more
from you in your own words.
Like who are you?
Like, what do you do?
And like how you how would youdescribe yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (03:05):
Wow, uh depends on which version of me you want to
hear about.
But yeah, I mean, new to the US,um, obviously hailing from
Australia, I've always been ajournalist, but I kind of fell
into finance because I wascovering China, which is such a
big business story.
And at the time, I don't think Ireally realized that until you
(03:28):
know, I was obviously coveringthe second biggest economy in
the world, and people wereasking me obviously about GDP
and car sales and e-commercesales, and I was covering all
these stories about you knowApple in China and Huawei in
China and Amazon in China, and Ijust became kind of like a
(03:50):
business nerd because of that,and that kind of launched my
career into the finance world.
And I think I would justencapsulate it in saying that
having become a mom, uh, it'smade me think very differently
about finances as well.
Um, because I grew up where ummy parents got divorced when I
was young in Australia, and myassociation with money was
(04:14):
always very volatile.
We didn't come from a lot ofmoney, and growing up, I went to
public school, and um, you know,I had those separated parents
where we were going back andforth, and you know, we always
didn't get what we wanted aschildren, or as the latest
Furby, or whatever it was, andwe compared each other to other
(04:36):
school kids.
Um, but it made me who I amtoday and really appreciate what
I had and what I worked for.
And my sister and I have bothworked really hard to become
female, you know, workingprofessionals and really try to
um be at the top of our game.
(04:56):
My sister is a partner of a realestate firm in Sydney and
high-end real estate, and youknow, we we came out of it.
So that's how I would look at mylife in you know, my career and
what has driven my ambitions andhow I kind of fell into finance,
which was so serendipitous aswell, because I met so many
(05:16):
fantastic women throughout theway as well.
And one thing I would notice, Iwould just start off by saying
as well, is that I waspleasantly surprised moving to
New York how many incrediblytalented, smart females are in
finance here in this city.
I've never seen anything likeit.
I've I've worked all over theworld and I've I've met many
(05:38):
women across finance in in Asiaand where I was working in
London as well.
But here it's very different,and everyone's really supportive
of each other as well.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (05:49):
I love hearing that.
I actually would probably say Iecho with all of it, but getting
back to the fact that obviouslyyou're brand new to New York, I
have a follow-up question toyour introduction, which is can
you imagine and did you everthink that every day you'll be
walking into the New York StockExchange and that will be your
(06:11):
place of work?
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Did you ever think of that?
No, and you have these momentswhere just today I came off air,
I was covering Kevin Walsh'sfirst press conference as the
third chair, and we broke thedecision, we followed the press
conference, and then you comeoff air and you think, oh,
that's just a normal day.
It's just like driving down theroad and filling up your car at
(06:34):
the gas station.
It's just like a normal part ofyour day, like brushing your
teeth for me.
But then you have to realizethat's a real pinch me moment.
Like I'm at the New York StockExchange covering a moment in
history as far as the financialworld is concerned.
And then I got my bag, walkedout to come here to meet you,
and a tourist stopped me becausethere's a lot of tourists here
(06:55):
on the streets at the moment,it's summer, and and he asked
me, Where is Wall Street?
And I said, This is Wall Street.
You're here.
He said, Where is the famousbuilding?
I said, The New York StockExchange, yeah, the famous one.
I said, It's there, and I justwalked out of it.
And then some other tourist cameup to me at that moment.
I was like a tour guide for likea second, and he was like, Where
(07:18):
is the bull?
And I said, The bull is downthere, and then it just hit me,
and I walked away.
And I thought, wow, I work in afamous building where people
come from all over the world tosee, and I work there and I
cover huge moments in history,and it was just nice to have had
that moment, and then you askingme this question like a couple
of hours later.
(07:38):
I think you know, you take someof those moments for granted,
and then you have these, youknow, um experiences where you
go, Oh wow, like this isactually really cool.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (07:49):
It is really big.
Yeah, I'm it's really cool.
I'm very happy for you, althoughI don't know you as well.
I I've always, I mean, the NewYork Stock Exchange as someone
who moved to America to merepresents obviously capitalism.
And I have to say, I lovecapitalism.
I'm glad that I live in Americaand we live in a country where
(08:11):
opportunities you create yourown opportunities, and there's
the free market access basicallyfor everyone.
And I've always, in myexperience, have been shocked
that New York Stock Exchange isone of the most closed-off
institutions in the whole of theUS.
And when I say that, I trulymean it.
So I'm very happy for you, and Ilove that I'm honored to have
(08:33):
you on the show, but also tohave met you, um, but also to
have met Jess as well, anotherum incredibly inspiring woman
who I'm not even kidding you.
When I watch your segments, Ialways try to follow.
And I think that you're so farahead of where my financial and
my financial literacy knowledgeis that sometimes I actually
(08:56):
struggle.
SPEAKER_03 (08:57):
So I well that means I need to do a better job,
actually.
But that's common.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (09:02):
I actually mean it as a compliment because
you are so you understandobviously finance and investing
in so much depth.
And I know that you've, youknow, with within your role,
you've always been within theresearch space, which is
actually my space, like in termsof research, but not finance
research, obviously.
Um what when did you grow fondof I guess research and money?
SPEAKER_03 (09:24):
So it's so interesting listening to Sam
because I feel so relatable,actually.
I in every woman that I talk toin finance, we kind of
accidentally fall into it.
So I accidentally fall into it.
And also, I think when you getin this side, the especially in
New York, you get thistrajectory, and happiness is in
the now, you know.
So sometimes you have to take amoment and say, Oh my gosh, that
(09:47):
just happened, you know.
And so I can definitely feelthat.
Um, so I actually wanted to bean engineer originally.
No one in my family is in stockin the stock market, and I was
in this engineering program inhigh school and I actually got
really good at AutoCAD.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (10:01):
I've always been autocon, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:03):
I was always a nerd, did not know what my eyebrows
were before then, so I lookedvery different.
Once I discovered my eyebrows,things changed.
Um, but actually, my first yearof college, I just Googled
internships and I found a paidone for Scot Trade, and I could
get an elective at the sametime.
So I was like, oh, this isgenius.
(10:24):
I can get college credit, getpaid, and I have an internship
that'll help me figure outsomething, but it was a Scot
Trade in the retail world andfinance.
And I kind of fell in love withit.
I was definitely uh I was 19actually.
I started in July of 2009, and Ijust gave away my age.
It's fine.
(10:45):
Uh but nonetheless I digress.
I had a hard time with peopletalking to me, and but I've
always gravitated towardseducation, which was really
weird, and I've noticed thatkind of reflecting on my entire
career, that's sort of happened,but nonetheless, it was an
accident.
But I had to overcome the beingyoung, looking different, being
(11:07):
the only female in the office,the way that I could get people
to talk to me is actually theperson in the back would talk
about derivatives and options.
And I said, you know what?
I'm gonna get really good atthat.
And then I fell in love with Ilove options, that's what I'm
known for is options.
I'll go talk literally in mybachelorette party in London.
(11:28):
I was talking about optionsproblem, which I mean I can do
it in my sleep now, and Iappreciate that.
But that really helped meunderstand that was a big step
in my career because I learnedthat I needed a wow factor to
overcome everything else and ledto maybe sometimes the way that
I can I go down rabbit holes andI like to understand the why of
(11:50):
things, and I think it's theengineering background and the
puzzle solving that comes intoplay in the way that I analyze
the market.
But the way that I started inthe stock market was a complete
accident.
I mean, before that, I wascleaning hotel rooms, I really
was.
And then I had a kid, and then Irealized when you have a kid,
and as we're moms, we all know,you're responsible for another
(12:12):
life, and there is nothing moremotivating than having a child.
I attribute my entire career tomy baby boy.
He's not a baby anymore, he's asix foot two, 15-year-old.
But umetheless, but he really Ihad to live for someone other
than myself, and that helpedreally skyrocket my career.
And what I love now is I get toshare it with him.
(12:33):
He got to meet Jim Kramer, andwe do so much fun stuff
together.
He goes on brand trips with me,got to go play at the Chicago
Bulls Stadium, and the kid lovesbasketball, basketball is life,
so I it's been really thestruggle at the beginning was
absolutely paying off now,especially from the mom aspect.
It was a complete accident, andI find that happens with a lot
(12:55):
of women in finance, and thenthen we all roll it together.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (12:59):
Yeah, then you stumble.
So you mentioned obviously we'reall we have kids, and um your
son is actually the older one ofthe I guess the kids crowd here.
So, how do you help teach kidsabout money?
SPEAKER_03 (13:13):
So, I'm gonna tell you now, we have all done some
serious media, right?
I do career day, and I did itfor when he's in high school
now.
Yes.
I did it in middle school.
That is the hardest presentationI have ever given in my entire
life.
He's talking to a bunch ofmiddle schoolers because he they
just judge you, you can readtheir faces very quickly.
(13:34):
The first thing they say is,What do you drive?
Like they and but I learned andI changed the presentation, so
he's an advocate for it, whichis amazing.
He's also very sarcastic and hesays, Why do I need to learn
about money, mom?
I have you, you can just manageit for me.
And he's got a point.
But um, there are great appslike Greenlight, does chores, so
that helped start understandingbudgeting.
(13:55):
They have an investing portionof that.
So he chose a stock, he actuallyinvests five dollars a week into
NVIDIA.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (14:01):
That's very good.
SPEAKER_03 (14:02):
He's been doing that for two years, that's been doing
really great.
Um, but he has exposure to itjust simply by watching my job.
But what I've learned, I made ithappen to you as well.
Sometimes I feel really badbecause I'm working late at
night because I have to researchsomething.
RBG says spend at least an hourwith your family and have that
(14:22):
time and then go back to it.
So I always live by that, butthen you feel bad that you're
working on other things.
But what I've realized is I'vetaught him a really valuable
lesson is if you put in thework, you can do anything you
want.
Like he thinks he's gonna be anNBA player, and he actually has
a real shot because he uh putsin the work.
He's got a trainer, which I'mable to afford because of my
(14:45):
job, thankfully.
But he also goes to the park, hehelps his friends, he even when
he plays video games, it'sbasketball.
But I've taught him that if youput in the work, really good
things will happen purely justfrom example.
Yeah and so all that hard workwhere I I felt like I wasn't
spending enough time with him,I've realized his made a really
good lesson, and that that'smade me really thankful.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (15:08):
I was with my five-year-old yesterday who was
home with me for a few weeksbetween summer camp, and I
decided to take her to the icecream shop.
And I still have cash, I carrycash for nannies and obviously
um just to have.
And I said, Okay, you have topay for ice cream.
And I said, Could you please askthe gentleman who was serving
(15:30):
you the ice cream how much youowe?
And the gentleman said, Sevendollars, please.
And then I opened my wallet andI said, Could you identify seven
dollars?
So she knows how to do basicmath.
I mean, five-year-old, she knowsthe numbers, she knows one plus
one, five plus one, etc.
etc.
And I was trying to, I'm noteven kidding, like explain she
understands somewhat the conceptof money, but she doesn't
(15:52):
understand why there's cashversus a card, and then how
basically all of that money hasto be given away for something,
right?
And I was just literally sittingthere thinking, I'm so good with
money, I think because I grewup, as Sam mentioned, like
abroad, maybe with obviouslylike different currencies and
(16:16):
just like different situations.
And I was better managing moneybecause I didn't have any money
to manage.
And then here is my daughterwho's sitting there and trying
to like calculate how much moneyto basically give the ice cream
man and understand the conceptwe have to give to the ice cream
man this money.
And I was trying to figure outliterally in my head like how
can I help my own child andteach them about finances and
(16:40):
money and also investing, whichobviously is in the future.
Um, but how do you actuallyteach them about compound growth
and like a compound interest andlike the idea that basically
money can grow?
Um, and I know that within likeour day-to-days, we meet all the
different people.
Sam, you sit down with multipleguests every day, yeah, and many
(17:01):
of them have wealth managementcompanies, many of them are
traders themselves.
Is there one trait that you'veseen in these people that you
could say, oh, this trait maybethat's something that I could
pass on to my child now?
And it could be like the focusor you know, attention or even
like skill set.
(17:22):
How do we equip our kids tobetter understand?
SPEAKER_02 (17:25):
I think it comes back to what you were saying,
Jess.
I mean, I think if you'refocused on something, it has to
be all-encompassing, it has tobe a case of okay, I want to be
this type of sports person, Ihave to go and be a good student
of my coach, but I also want tocoach other people, but I also
play video games about thatsport.
(17:45):
And I don't know, it kind ofreminds me of me when I was a
reporter back in Australia.
I always wanted to be this Chinacorrespondent, which I ended up
doing, but I it had to become mylife.
I mean, obviously, my dad movedto China when I was young, but
my whole life became associatedwith that goal of learning
Chinese and associating myselfwith Chinese people back home in
(18:06):
Australia and making sure that Iwas always kind of just talking
to them.
And I think that's similar inthe finance world where it kind
of has to be all-encompassing.
I can't think of a specifictrait or someone in particular,
but I would say that I had areally interesting conversation
with Vivian too, who is a verywell-renowned educator of and
(18:27):
also advocate for females in infinance.
Um, but she also talks aboutthat generational wealth as
well.
And I mean, just over a yearago, I didn't have a 401k, I
didn't have a baby college fund,I didn't have a lot of things, I
didn't have a credit score herein America, and I've had to
build all of that, and I'm soproud that my daughter, who's
(18:50):
not even three, has more savingsthan I had right now than I had
in my 20s, because I've beenresponsible with my finances,
and I'm going to give her thatopportunity that I never had.
I only paid off my student debtin my early 30s.
Tsvetta Kaleyn (19:10):
Congratulations.
SPEAKER_02 (19:11):
And it was only because of COVID, because COVID
kept us restricted from beingable to spend money.
So I was like, I'm gonna work onthis now, I'm just gonna smash
it.
Um, and I did.
I just like smashed out in likea couple of years.
So that's how I think about youknow, um, opportunity, money,
how you actually have to sort ofpass that down, and you've
(19:33):
obviously passed those values toyour son as well.
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
Well, I think we've come to a conclusion.
It's lead by example, but thebest gift you can give your
child is setting them up forsuccess.
Yep.
But then I think it's a commontrait.
We all do become obsessed.
Sometimes I think, am I tooobsessed with finance?
Does that happen?
But I think I'm curious if thishappens to you.
I I call it like seeing thematrix.
All of a sudden, once you get soengraved, everywhere you look,
(19:59):
you see the stock market, evendown to this is equipment and
how is equipment doing rightnow?
Oh, data is really important.
This is really expensivematerial.
But we can you can point, but Ido that with my son.
We're literally, I will say, Oh,there's Chase Bank, that's a
stock.
I did that even when I waslittle.
There's McDonald's, that's astock.
(20:21):
The your phone in your hand,that's a stock.
Just showing them that whatcapital markets are in little,
little tiny ways and exposingthem.
And there's also a lot of reallygood books and a lot of really
great, I wish I could rememberthis content creator's name.
I will find her.
She does budgeting and she doesit with her.
Um, she's got three children,and she learned that actually
(20:42):
physical money is better.
So she'll give them anallowance.
She has these little bookletsthat she sells.
It's so incredible.
I wish I would have done this.
So if I could go back in time, Iwould 100% do this.
And she will have her kids takea portion and put it into
investing.
She gives them interest, but shephysically hands them cash.
And that helps attribute in yourmind.
It's very different when you seeit digitally, but that physical
(21:05):
aspect actually I think makes abig difference.
Yeah.
I mean, even down to them payingrent and tax.
And then you just take that andput in another fund for them,
obviously.
But it's a good, it's a goodlesson because I remember when I
first got my first paycheck, Iwas like, where did it go?
Tsvetta Kaleynska (21:19):
Yeah, what happened to it?
How did it be?
SPEAKER_02 (21:22):
Your your story, and then that woman with three kids
and and cash being king remindsme of a really funny story that
my girlfriend told me a coupleof years ago where um she has
three girls, and um one of themopened her her purse or her
wallet and said, Mummy, you haveno money.
Oh, because she had no cash inher purse at that time.
(21:43):
So she thought, What how do wehave this house?
And and how do you pay for yourgas and your car?
And how do you pay for our stuffif if you've got no money in
your purse?
And so I always thought it'skids' perceptions are so
interesting when it comes tomoney.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (21:56):
Yeah, but so are adults too, aren't they?
So you talked about Matrix andhow you see the matrix.
So funny when we're coming upwith the idea for the Money
Signal podcast, I always kept onsaying, like, signal is my word,
because I see signals.
I just see these, I connect thedots, like I see all these
signals, and it's interestingthat I mean I ended up somehow,
(22:16):
surprisingly, on Wall Street aswell, although I don't have any
financial background whatsoever.
But seeing like the signalsalong the way.
And then same thing is like askids, we get the perception of
that of like what money is, whatmoney can buy, and how it can
help ease our life.
(22:37):
But then we don't really thinkof, I guess, teaching the kids
about value.
So like investment.
And this is where we get to thenow as an adult.
What I've learned aboutinvestment and also like money
management is well, do you rentor buy?
Yeah.
So what's long term?
Do you own a car or do you leaseit?
(22:58):
Do you own stock or do you not?
Like, do you have a 401k or not?
Like basically, what are thoseright decisions?
And it's you know, it's so hard.
It's so hard to understand.
Like, I still to this day I'mlearning so much about again,
like Wall Street and how financeworks, and that's why I'm trying
to break it down.
At least I know my girlfriendsare watching this podcast, so at
(23:19):
least for them to help themunderstand how money works and
like what other people aredoing.
But it's just interesting as aconcept how tough it is for even
us as adults to understand likewhat's that, what's the right
and women too.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Yes.
Yeah.
I wanted to ask you actuallybecause a question that I get
asked very often from people whoare friends and family that
aren't necessarily in financebut are very good at their
finances, you know, they've gotinvestments, what have you.
They're interested in stocksfrom probably from a surface
level, they understand thecompanies that I'm talking
about, but I always get thisfeedback.
(23:55):
Oh, I watch your videos everyday, I have no idea what you're
talking about, but they lookgood.
Do you get that?
Because I try to simplify it asmuch as I can, but I also,
you're not trying to dumb itdown.
I mean, you believe or assumethat people know what you're
talking about because moneymakes the world go round.
I mean, everybody has it,everybody has those investments
and their retirements, etc.
(24:15):
But I'm very surprised at a lackof engagement in how it's talked
about and how what I'm saying isabsolute jargon to them.
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (24:25):
Oh, it happens.
So it's interesting, and I thinkthere's something happening
right now in the world.
We have a convergence of financemedia and social media, and I
feel very lucky that I get a sitin both worlds.
So I'm gonna attribute this tomy mother.
My mother watches me on FoxNews, CNBC, whatever it is, has
no idea what I'm saying.
She says that doesn't make anysense.
(24:47):
But then when I made thatseries, I want to start
investing, I don't know where tostart, someone tell me what to
do, which is the worst name, butthe best name because it's very
descriptive.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (24:57):
Which I love watching.
SPEAKER_03 (24:58):
I loved that series.
Um, but that I really broke itdown, and that's the first time
my mom actually got interestedin what I do for a living
because it actually made senseto her.
Because it really, really brokeit down because we do start
speaking a foreign language.
And if you think about when youlearn foreign languages, you
start with nouns and then youstart giving them action with
(25:19):
verbs, and then you'd addadjectives, and before you know
it, you start speakingsentences, and you are better
learning a foreign language whenyou're really surrounded in that
environment, and before you knowit, someone else can't
understand you, and that happensto us when we're there, right?
But I'll give you a story.
So when I worked at Fidelity, Iwas the first female on the
active trader desk.
(25:40):
Wow, and it was awesome, it wasterrifying at first, though.
50 men, wow, and I was theirfirst women or female,
nonetheless.
Um they I hate this connotationthat the finance bro is
gatekeeping Wall Street fromyou.
The people who say that havenever worked in Wall Street,
(26:01):
first of all.
And we've all been aroundfinance bros.
What's the one thing that theydon't do?
Shut up about the stock market.
They just talk about itconstantly.
And when I was at the ActiveTrader Desk, they were very
helpful, but they were giving mefootball analogies.
They're saying this is like yourfirst down, this is your yellow
flag.
What is that?
Yeah, and I felt like I had tolearn football in order to do my
(26:25):
job, and it actually was reallyhard.
And then I realized I had to goback to the literal books to
figure it out and then come upwith my own analogies, and
that's why on social media I'llsay the business cycle is like a
menstrual cycle.
Now, men are tell me that theyunderstand it more actually when
I use that, but it is speaking adifferent language to help women
(26:48):
understand it too, and we dohave to realize that we live in
a world that was built by men,it really was, and so and then
we start speaking theirlanguage, which we're all fluent
into their language in thisroom, and sometimes we forget we
need to bring it down, andthat's why my podcast, Market
McCur, that I was the one of themost humbling experiences ever
(27:08):
because I was teaching my friendJessie, and she'd stop me.
She literally goes, I'm sorry,what's market cap?
That doesn't make sense.
Yeah, I loved those videos.
Thank you.
Yeah, but yes, to answer yourquestion, absolutely it happens,
and in and I think in financemedia you do guest after guest
after guest after guest, and soyou take something like eight
hours of research and condenseit into three to five minutes,
(27:32):
whereas on social media you cantake your time, turn it into a
series, educate for a moment,have some visuals and break it
down, and yeah, that's I thinkthere needs to be a change for
finance media, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02 (27:45):
Yeah, and and it was interesting how you talked about
the convergence between socialmedia and financial media, or
what I noticed when I moved tothe US last year when we had the
tariff tantrum and Trump'spolicies around the trade, was
that there were statisticscoming out saying that there had
(28:08):
been no other time more inhistory where people were
turning to financial media.
Um and you had actually hadfinancial media channel channels
uh ratings going up becausepeople all of a sudden cared
about hold on a second, whatdoes this mean for my
investments?
Which, okay, that they might bepassive, I might not be, you
(28:31):
know, investing in the stockmarket or you know, changing it,
but but I'm interested inwhether things are going up or
down because it will it willaffect me.
Yeah.
And so people were starting topay attention to all of a sudden
what had become a huge financialstory that you know impacts
everyday people's lives when weget stickershop when we go to
(28:51):
the grocery store.
Um, and I found that reallyinteresting, and I was I was
quite chucked because when I gotover here I thought, oh, okay,
perfect time to be you knowcoming over to China US
relationship, yeah, and thenthen also bringing my value add
because you know I don't want tosit here and finance splain
Americans in their country abouttheir own economy.
(29:11):
I love being able to compare itto my uh experiences having
covered China because they aresuch a different economy.
Um, but it's nice to bring thatinternational perspective to the
trading floor as well.
And I think now with thepolicies and particularly with
the wars that are going on,people are more in tune saying,
(29:33):
hey, look, actually, we do careabout supply chains and where
stuff is coming from and howimportant America is with
respect to the onshoring and youknow making stuff here and our
friendshoring and who we haverelationships with.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (29:48):
So very much so.
And that's been reallyinteresting.
To add to that, last year weanalyzed um so I analyzed
consumer conversations andsocial media.
And I help brands, my team andI.
We work primarily withpharmaceutical companies, but we
do obviously work withgovernments, with financial um
(30:10):
businesses as well to predictlike stock movements because we
do a lot of API work, basicallyintegrating social media
conversations via an API, viathe back end, so then financial
like investment firms canpredict if the stock's gonna go
up or down, so whether theyshould invest in or not.
Last year, 2025, in all of 2025,the two top trending
(30:31):
conversations on social media inthe US in English language were
inflation and tariffs.
And they were pretty much nickto nick in terms of the numbers.
So at the end of the year, therewere about 30 million
discussions on social media inthe US in just English language
about tariffs.
And it was basically freakingall the consumers out, as you
(30:54):
said, sticker shock, becausethey're the for the first time,
they're like, wait, why am Ipaying this?
It was$19.99.
Now it's$29.99.
Like, how come?
And that's where, interestinglyenough, I don't know if we can
draw a parallel, but on socialmedia, which again I'm very
ingrained in, a lot of thefinancial media and financial
(31:15):
influencers kind of like grew,including Peter.
So Peter, our my podcastco-host, Peter Tuckman, known as
the Einstein and Wall Street,last year alone.
These are statistics that I'mhappy to share and I'm allowed
to share.
Uh he had 250,000 followers inJune of 2025.
By September, that amount wentto almost a million.
(31:39):
And what he went to 900,000,after which, like, he surpassed
even more.
SPEAKER_03 (31:43):
It's amazing.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (31:43):
How come?
Why is that?
Can we think about what the typeof content that he posts?
And that's what he's doing isactually financial literacy and
investment literacy.
Like, what are the markets?
What's happening with themarkets?
Should we invest or should notinvest?
I mean, he never gives advice,but he's breaking it down in
plain language that people likemyself can actually understand.
(32:04):
Oh, we the the Dow went to50,000.
What does that mean?
SPEAKER_03 (32:09):
You gotta explain what the DAO is.
SPEAKER_02 (32:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, I interview Peteroften, and he does have a real
knack for breaking those complexkind of I guess ways of talking
about the markets, just boilingit down to how everyday people
speak, and I think that's reallythe appeal.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (32:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
I mean, it's so different to how I speak to a
lot of the portfolio managersand the wealth managers and some
of the guys from the banks, youknow.
Um, Peter really has a a stylethat people are drawn to.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (32:42):
Yeah, because he simplifies it.
I mean, again, he he's able tosimplify it.
And going into the financialeducation point, and I guess
Jess, with you, you're aninfluencer.
Like, I have you seen have youseen this like interest among
any specific generations?
Are you seeing like maybe theyounger generation is more
(33:03):
interested in investing?
Do you see any trends in youraudience and like how you grew
as an influencer over the lastfew years?
SPEAKER_03 (33:09):
Oh, yeah.
So I want to say there was thefirst wave of financial
influencers, and that happenedduring COVID.
And I was actually working atMerrill during the time, and
we've all been preparing for thegreat wealth transfer.
And we thought that was via roboadvisors.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (33:24):
Oh.
SPEAKER_03 (33:25):
That's not what Gen Z wants.
It started, you know, withGameStop and Yellowing, and then
there were these differentcohorts, but it's interesting
because the first wave offinancial influencers were born
during a bull market.
And now we have the second wave,which I'm involved in and
Peter's involved in, and I callthem the ones with real
experience, if you will.
(33:46):
But we have a duty to educateand explain.
But what's interesting is Iactually pulled my statistics
the other day, and I should bebetter at this.
I have right down the middle 50%female and 50% male, which is
awesome.
I love that.
But it's all age ranges, it'sdefinitely a little more younger
on TikTok because that's wherethey go.
(34:08):
It skews a little bit older.
I went viral on Facebook.
I literally do nothing on myFacebook, I just repost.
That's an older generation.
So it's just where they are,yeah.
Is shows the demographics.
But what's interesting is it isthis hunger for knowledge.
So they have these first wave offinancial influencers that
taught index, fund, and chill.
I do think it's a little bitdangerous because the market is
(34:31):
dynamic and it adjusts, as weall know.
And saying things like my way isthe way, and things don't
change, is dangerous because themarket is ever changing.
You know, it's the way I'llbring this back, I promise.
I I did this presentation theother day where I was explaining
(34:51):
to a company just how the stockmarket works, and I had this
idea of how I could show themmarket mechanics.
And thankfully it was, you know,a couple hundred people and it
was virtual.
So on Zoom, I just shoot Ishowed some headlines.
So I said, um this AI stock allof a sudden is going viral on
(35:13):
social media.
Do you buy or sell or donothing?
And I had multiple ones likethat.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (35:17):
Nice.
That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_03 (35:19):
Once I was done, I showed the results and I said,
see, I didn't even know what youwere gonna say.
That's a market.
That's why no one can really wecan use our tools to understand
and predict price.
But it's actually just people inan auction system who are buying
and selling.
So that's when we say, like themarket literally has feelings.
We say, uh, that's that is ourwhat we say though, we say, How
(35:41):
is the the market's perceivingthe Fed right now very hawkish?
And so therefore it's declining,and multiples are doing
whatever, and like it, so it'sjust easier to say, buyers and
sellers, this is where peopleare putting their money, and
sometimes we just throw jargonon top of it.
Um, so point is the trends arechanging where retail
(36:04):
participation is just incrediblyup.
It started with COVID, but nowpeople just want to do it
themselves so much more, and ofcourse it has to do with
inflation.
That's why we invest is toooutpace inflation.
Otherwise, your money sitting ina savings account is just gonna
lose its purchasing power.
But what the trend that I'mhaving on my social media is I'm
forcing them to learn about thebond market because it matters
(36:26):
right now.
You want to know when to buy ahouse, know how the bond market
works.
You want to know when torefinance something, know how
the bond market works.
Literally everyone.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (36:33):
Why is that curve?
Help me understand why.
SPEAKER_03 (36:36):
Yeah, so because the the yield curve is tied to
consumer debt.
It's what the government paysfor their debt, and it is what
we pay for our debt.
And even if you're not involvedin the money system, you are the
front end of the curve, highyield savings account became a
trend when the Fed startedraising interest rates.
(36:58):
High yield savings accounts wereat 5% because that's attached to
the front end of the curve andthe Fed influences the front end
of the curve.
So it started inverting becausethe Fed uh increased interest
rates, it inverts because theywant to slow down the economy so
you can see the slowdown withthe slope.
And then once the Fed startedlowering interest rates, at
(37:21):
least the front end was startingto come down, that affects your
high-held savings account, thataffects your credit card.
So people had a lot of debt.
The low-income consumer,unfortunately, is the one that
gets hit the quickest becauseyou're gonna just immediately
have a higher expense.
The tenure affects yourmortgage.
We want to see the tenure, thetenure shot up today.
(37:41):
If the 10-year goes down, andthen you've got a little margin
that shows what your mortgageis, and then of course the your
personal credit score and thingslike that are attached to it.
But if you see the 10 year godown, or you know or expect it
to because you understand whataffects it, that's the better
time to refinance your home.
Because that's literally what'sdetermining the rate.
(38:02):
So if you think that interestrates are gonna come down or at
least have reasons to, as inright now, I'm holding off, I'm
not buying a new home until Isee interest rates move, and
then I'll make that decision.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (38:15):
That's then thank you for the education.
I am constantly learninglearning new things, which now
brings me to the question.
So when is a good time torefinance?
When you're looking in themarket now, obviously, we have
the news of today.
Yeah.
Like if you had a mortgage and ahouse, like when do you actually
how do you make that decision?
When do I refinance?
SPEAKER_03 (38:35):
So investing is personal, so I don't know your
personal situation or no nor theviewer's personal situation, but
it's being whatever you'recomfortable with.
But if you're looking for lowerinterest rates, we know that the
the bond market is investordemands.
And I like to say it's a littlelove triangle.
So the equity markets areriskier, their growth.
(38:59):
The bond market is your safedating person, right?
They're gonna be kind of boring,but you know that they're gonna
provide for you.
Whereas the stock market's gonnabe risky and super fun.
So the bond market is gonna movebased on what investors demand
for certain reasons.
So if you expect higherinflation, so we see a higher
inflation print, you'll see wesaw the two-year increase more
(39:23):
than the 10-year.
The two year tries to front-runthe Fed.
So literally, it's actually verysimple.
You take the Fed funds rate andthen the amount that the two
year is above that, that is themarket pricing and a hike.
Yeah, I don't know why peopledon't explain it like that.
Um but so point, I'm giving youthe long answer, and I'm sorry
about that.
But if you expect inflation, ifyou expect growth, so the AI
(39:46):
trade also steepens the curve,if you have more debt because
the government has to pay morejust the government has its
credit score as well, like withMoody's and SP, all of that will
increase the yield curve.
So then it's understanding okay,do I think inflation is gonna
come down?
Do I think growth perhaps isgonna slow down because the bond
(40:08):
market is saying, I'm going tolose more of my purchasing
power, give me more yield.
That's investor demands.
So the stock market's investorfeelings, mood, bond market's
investor demands.
So then understanding that, thenthat will help you understand
when you want to refinance.
But you have to have an opinionon inflation and growth and
government debt.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (40:27):
And that's when we monitor the consumer uh
index, obviously, report andlike other reports and obviously
consumer sentiment.
Now, as Jess was speaking, I wasthinking I could not help but
think as someone who came as animmigrant and we share that in
common.
Obviously, you came from anEnglish-speaking country, I came
from not English-speaking.
(40:48):
One of the things when I came tothe US, I was like, Oh, this is
so confused.
Like, why can money just besimple and like going and buying
a house?
You know, why can't you buyoutright?
Like in Bulgaria, when people,at least until literally before
COVID, if you go and you buy anapartment, you just buy it out
right away because you have itused to be very cheap.
(41:09):
You go and say, here's 20,000 ofmy currency, and I'm just gonna
buy this, and there's no suchthing as like mortgages and then
interest rates and thecomplexity of it.
Interestingly enough, sinceCOVID now with Europe and you
know, like how things change,things have gotten a bit more
expensive, more complicated,more complex.
But then having been in theStates myself for so long, I'm
(41:32):
I've always been so confused howthis whole system works, like
between 401k.
And then there's the healthcare,like you have a you know, you
can invest, you can havebasically like an HSA, then you
have an FSA, which is like yourother healthcare fund, and then
you have like multiple accountsthat you can open for your kids,
(41:52):
which happy to share like whatI've done, what I've learned,
like the tricks, not it's nottips, but tricks that I've
learned.
So, Sam, like you're brand newto the US.
I call you brand new becauseI've been here for almost
whatever, 18 years.
So I'm like, I'm I've had a fewdecades.
Like when you listen to all ofthis and you work in this every
day, you speak to literally thepeople who come up with a lot of
(42:17):
these strategies.
Like, what do like how do you,when you talk to your friends
back home, how do you explainthis complexity of money and
like everything that happenshere in the US?
Because I know for a fact thatit's not as complicated in even
Australia.
SPEAKER_02 (42:33):
Yeah, it has been a lot more straightforward in
other places that I've lived forsure.
Um, but I can lean on theconversations that I have with a
lot of my guests at Schwab.
I mean, you know, people who areinvolved in uh financial
advising companies who talk topeople about how to save for
retirement.
(42:54):
Um, we talk about the propertymarket, I talk to a lot of
researchers, and yeah, it allcomes back to the fact that
things are changing a lot.
I spoke to a company, an app, anAI app that was just set up by
Martha Stewart.
I spoke to her co-founder theother day, right?
And she is obviously buildingand drawing on all her
(43:18):
proprietary knowledge and dataof you know what she's been very
good at, um, to kind of feedinto helping people, I guess,
aggregate and simplify all thesereally confusing elements of
purchasing a house, like yourinsurance, when you need to get
maintenance done on your airconditioning and find a plumber,
(43:42):
and all the things that you needto do with your mortgage, and
you know, when things are due,etc.
So I was talking to a guest theother day about this particular
technology, and it it made merealize that yeah, I mean, it's
extremely overwhelming.
And it's a very differentgeneration where I think a lot
(44:02):
of that has been typically beenhanded down almost like a manual
by your grandparents or yourparents, but that's no longer
the case now because I I speakto so many of my guests about
the fact that the average age ofa first home buyer now is 40
since COVID.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (44:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (44:20):
Um, and these aren't people going and getting
married, like traditionally,maybe that's what the sort of
path was.
Now it's just people going inwith their friends or going in
with randoms or their parentsbuying them a property with that
added caveat of okay, but it hasto be down the road, right?
What are you gonna do for me?
(44:40):
So yeah, the world's sodifferent now.
Um, and I think that also isthat the kind of added element
to the confusion and just howmuch it's changed even from one
generation.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (44:52):
Yeah, indeed.
And do you do you guys think Iknow Jess probably I already
probably know the answer foryou, but Sam, do you think that
social media helps educatepeople on money?
SPEAKER_02 (45:05):
Yeah, I do.
And I've been surprised, I'vebeen so pleasantly surprised to
meet people like Jessica and tomeet people like Vivian who are
doing such a wonderful job oftrying to educate people and
such nice people as well in reallife.
You know, I mean such relatabledown-to-earth women who just
(45:26):
want to help others, yeah,educate.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (45:29):
Yeah.
I I'm not even kidding when likeI share this, but I've actually
grown my businesses, I've ownedseveral businesses through the
help of social media because Ihave I started in social
listening by social mediabasically in 2011, not by
choice, but because that was myfirst internship and I was
placed to do that.
And then since then I'veactually seen this trajectory of
(45:51):
how social media has penetratedin people's lives.
Obviously, we all depend on it.
That's how we consume everythingfrom news to education.
And I've seen my wealth actuallychange drastically with
education that I've receivedfrom influencers.
So kudos to the influencer toeducate us.
SPEAKER_03 (46:11):
I have such a hard time calling myself an
influencer.
Well, you're accepting it.
No, but yes, thank you.
I think there's good and bad.
I think there's some but I thinkthat it takes just more good
content creators.
Like, I want to see more of youon my for you page in two as
well.
Because it's so helpful, youknow.
Um, did you know that MarthaStewart used to work on Wall
(46:34):
Street?
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:34):
No.
Did you when?
How?
Well, what would she do?
SPEAKER_03 (46:38):
She was a broker.
She was?
Yes.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:40):
What?
SPEAKER_03 (46:41):
Watch the she always amazes me the second you said
that.
I'm like, oh, I'd love to meether.
That's very cool that she'sdoing that.
Yeah, she went to Wall Streetfor a little bit, just a year,
and then she decided to go doher um the amazing thing she was
doing with the catering andthings that came up right after
that.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:59):
Well, she has 500 businesses.
SPEAKER_02 (47:00):
And that's what I asked them.
I said, you know, how come aZillow can't just go and adopt
AI and come up with this kind ofplatform um where it basically
is this kind of organizer ofyour life once you become a
homeowner.
And I think it's because, as Imentioned, of that proprietary
data that Martha Stewart has,that loyalty, that branding,
(47:21):
that following, and all that,she's so smart, which AI cannot
replicate.
They can't, and that's why Ithink you know, um, this is a
really interesting productbecause it's everything that
she's kind of fed into this touh create a product for people
to basically simplify and itkind of will aggregate
(47:44):
everything um that's out therealready because all this
information is out there.
Um it's in your emails, it's inyour I I guess you know, your
real estate agent has it on filesomewhere, social media just
needs to be kind of pulledtogether into one location.
What a powerhouse.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (48:05):
I know that's where I always go, like, oh my
god, amazing.
That's where I need to stopmyself at not creating the next
business because I'm like, ohwait, I just got a new idea for
a business.
Um, but I always like give kudosto people who are able to see
the signals and just like go gofor them and create something
new.
Yeah.
Oh guys, this is such an amazingconversation.
I feel like I I want to talkeven more and I want to get into
(48:28):
even more education and alsolearning more about obviously
the type of uh traits that yousee from your guests um in terms
of like entrepreneurs and whatthey do.
But now that you mentioned thatwe'll be continuing the
conversation with more episodes,hopefully.
I'll have you guys both back.
Thank you.
I uh wanted to thank you bothfor coming on the show and for
(48:49):
the amazing conversation.
Pleasure to have you guys, andwe'll continue, hopefully, the
conversation soon when we learnmore about uh traits, education,
social media, and much, muchmore.
Uh, from Main Street to WallStreet, this is the Money Signal
Podcast.
Thank you guys so much for beingwith us, and stay tuned for more
exciting content.
Today I'm joined by literally the
representatives of Wall Streetwith Jessica and Skip.
SPEAKER_03 (00:06):
The way that I started in the stock market was
a complete accident.
I mean, before that, I wascleaning hotel rooms.
I worked at Fidelity.
I was the first female on theactive trader desk.
I hate this connotation that thefinance bro is gatekeeping Wall
Street from you.
The people who say that havenever worked in Wall Street,
first of all.
And we've all been aroundfinance bros.
(00:26):
What's the one thing that theydon't do?
Shut up about stuff.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (00:30):
Actually, this episode gets even better
because we are joined by SamBadaz.
SPEAKER_02 (00:34):
New to the US, um obviously hailing from
Australia.
I've always been a journalist,but I kind of fell into finance.
And he asked me, Where is WallStreet?
And I said, This is Wall Street.
You're here.
You're here.
And he said, Where is the famousbuilding?
I said, The New York StockExchange?
Yeah, the famous one.
I said, it's there.
And he was like, Where is thebull?
(00:56):
And I said, The bull is downthere.
And then it just hit me, and Iwalked away and I thought, wow,
I work in a famous building.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (01:06):
Welcome to the Money Signal podcast from
Main Street to Wall Street.
Today I'm joined by literallythe representatives of Wall
Street with Jessica and Skip,who is a TV contributor who
actually ran into multiple timeson TV networks across the board.
SPEAKER_03 (01:23):
We have.
Oh, is it?
Oh my god, it is.
Yes.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (01:29):
And I was totally impressed by you, which,
as someone from the Balkans, I'mnever impressed by people.
So that's actually a fact.
I was very impressed by you, sothank you.
So I'm honored to have you on.
Thank you.
And this show, actually, thisepisode gets even better because
we are joined by Sam Vadas, whois the anchor of Schwab Network
and leads several shows inSchwab Network.
(01:50):
And she's an ex uh CNBC and ex abunch of fancy TV networks that
I can't even name.
So this is like the episode oflike women talking about money,
finance, and just life.
And we're all all three of usare also moms, which I actually
love.
So for today, I initially wastrying to think do we start with
(02:12):
statistics about women infinance or investing?
And then I said, you know what?
I actually think that we havemuch more to talk about, which
is again like the fact that weare all working women, that
we're all within somewhat of thefinance investing range or
industry, and we all have havekids.
(02:32):
So the I wanted to start off,and I'll be acting more as a
moderator today, which I'm surefor Sam is different dynamics.
SPEAKER_01 (02:40):
Yeah, it's like a reverse of the table because you
guys are usually my guests on myshow, which is so nice.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (02:46):
Yeah, so this time we actually would get to
ask you questions.
Um, I was actually thinking, whydon't we start off first and
foremost with like properintroduction?
So obviously we'll include yourbios, but I'd love to hear more
from you in your own words.
Like who are you?
Like, what do you do?
And like how you how would youdescribe yourself?
SPEAKER_02 (03:05):
Wow, uh depends on which version of me you want to
hear about.
But yeah, I mean, new to the US,um, obviously hailing from
Australia, I've always been ajournalist, but I kind of fell
into finance because I wascovering China, which is such a
big business story.
And at the time, I don't think Ireally realized that until you
(03:28):
know, I was obviously coveringthe second biggest economy in
the world, and people wereasking me obviously about GDP
and car sales and e-commercesales, and I was covering all
these stories about you knowApple in China and Huawei in
China and Amazon in China, and Ijust became kind of like a
(03:50):
business nerd because of that,and that kind of launched my
career into the finance world.
And I think I would justencapsulate it in saying that
having become a mom, uh, it'smade me think very differently
about finances as well.
Um, because I grew up where ummy parents got divorced when I
was young in Australia, and myassociation with money was
(04:14):
always very volatile.
We didn't come from a lot ofmoney, and growing up, I went to
public school, and um, you know,I had those separated parents
where we were going back andforth, and you know, we always
didn't get what we wanted aschildren, or as the latest
Furby, or whatever it was, andwe compared each other to other
(04:36):
school kids.
Um, but it made me who I amtoday and really appreciate what
I had and what I worked for.
And my sister and I have bothworked really hard to become
female, you know, workingprofessionals and really try to
um be at the top of our game.
(04:56):
My sister is a partner of a realestate firm in Sydney and
high-end real estate, and youknow, we we came out of it.
So that's how I would look at mylife in you know, my career and
what has driven my ambitions andhow I kind of fell into finance,
which was so serendipitous aswell, because I met so many
(05:16):
fantastic women throughout theway as well.
And one thing I would notice, Iwould just start off by saying
as well, is that I waspleasantly surprised moving to
New York how many incrediblytalented, smart females are in
finance here in this city.
I've never seen anything likeit.
I've I've worked all over theworld and I've I've met many
(05:38):
women across finance in in Asiaand where I was working in
London as well.
But here it's very different,and everyone's really supportive
of each other as well.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (05:49):
I love hearing that.
I actually would probably say Iecho with all of it, but getting
back to the fact that obviouslyyou're brand new to New York, I
have a follow-up question toyour introduction, which is can
you imagine and did you everthink that every day you'll be
walking into the New York StockExchange and that will be your
(06:11):
place of work?
SPEAKER_02 (06:13):
Did you ever think of that?
No, and you have these momentswhere just today I came off air,
I was covering Kevin Walsh'sfirst press conference as the
third chair, and we broke thedecision, we followed the press
conference, and then you comeoff air and you think, oh,
that's just a normal day.
It's just like driving down theroad and filling up your car at
(06:34):
the gas station.
It's just like a normal part ofyour day, like brushing your
teeth for me.
But then you have to realizethat's a real pinch me moment.
Like I'm at the New York StockExchange covering a moment in
history as far as the financialworld is concerned.
And then I got my bag, walkedout to come here to meet you,
and a tourist stopped me becausethere's a lot of tourists here
(06:55):
on the streets at the moment,it's summer, and and he asked
me, Where is Wall Street?
And I said, This is Wall Street.
You're here.
He said, Where is the famousbuilding?
I said, The New York StockExchange, yeah, the famous one.
I said, It's there, and I justwalked out of it.
And then some other tourist cameup to me at that moment.
I was like a tour guide for likea second, and he was like, Where
(07:18):
is the bull?
And I said, The bull is downthere, and then it just hit me,
and I walked away.
And I thought, wow, I work in afamous building where people
come from all over the world tosee, and I work there and I
cover huge moments in history,and it was just nice to have had
that moment, and then you askingme this question like a couple
of hours later.
(07:38):
I think you know, you take someof those moments for granted,
and then you have these, youknow, um experiences where you
go, Oh wow, like this isactually really cool.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (07:49):
It is really big.
Yeah, I'm it's really cool.
I'm very happy for you, althoughI don't know you as well.
I I've always, I mean, the NewYork Stock Exchange as someone
who moved to America to merepresents obviously capitalism.
And I have to say, I lovecapitalism.
I'm glad that I live in Americaand we live in a country where
(08:11):
opportunities you create yourown opportunities, and there's
the free market access basicallyfor everyone.
And I've always, in myexperience, have been shocked
that New York Stock Exchange isone of the most closed-off
institutions in the whole of theUS.
And when I say that, I trulymean it.
So I'm very happy for you, and Ilove that I'm honored to have
(08:33):
you on the show, but also tohave met you, um, but also to
have met Jess as well, anotherum incredibly inspiring woman
who I'm not even kidding you.
When I watch your segments, Ialways try to follow.
And I think that you're so farahead of where my financial and
my financial literacy knowledgeis that sometimes I actually
(08:56):
struggle.
SPEAKER_03 (08:57):
So I well that means I need to do a better job,
actually.
But that's common.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (09:02):
I actually mean it as a compliment because
you are so you understandobviously finance and investing
in so much depth.
And I know that you've, youknow, with within your role,
you've always been within theresearch space, which is
actually my space, like in termsof research, but not finance
research, obviously.
Um what when did you grow fondof I guess research and money?
SPEAKER_03 (09:24):
So it's so interesting listening to Sam
because I feel so relatable,actually.
I in every woman that I talk toin finance, we kind of
accidentally fall into it.
So I accidentally fall into it.
And also, I think when you getin this side, the especially in
New York, you get thistrajectory, and happiness is in
the now, you know.
So sometimes you have to take amoment and say, Oh my gosh, that
(09:47):
just happened, you know.
And so I can definitely feelthat.
Um, so I actually wanted to bean engineer originally.
No one in my family is in stockin the stock market, and I was
in this engineering program inhigh school and I actually got
really good at AutoCAD.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (10:01):
I've always been autocon, yeah.
SPEAKER_03 (10:03):
I was always a nerd, did not know what my eyebrows
were before then, so I lookedvery different.
Once I discovered my eyebrows,things changed.
Um, but actually, my first yearof college, I just Googled
internships and I found a paidone for Scot Trade, and I could
get an elective at the sametime.
So I was like, oh, this isgenius.
(10:24):
I can get college credit, getpaid, and I have an internship
that'll help me figure outsomething, but it was a Scot
Trade in the retail world andfinance.
And I kind of fell in love withit.
I was definitely uh I was 19actually.
I started in July of 2009, and Ijust gave away my age.
It's fine.
(10:45):
Uh but nonetheless I digress.
I had a hard time with peopletalking to me, and but I've
always gravitated towardseducation, which was really
weird, and I've noticed thatkind of reflecting on my entire
career, that's sort of happened,but nonetheless, it was an
accident.
But I had to overcome the beingyoung, looking different, being
(11:07):
the only female in the office,the way that I could get people
to talk to me is actually theperson in the back would talk
about derivatives and options.
And I said, you know what?
I'm gonna get really good atthat.
And then I fell in love with Ilove options, that's what I'm
known for is options.
I'll go talk literally in mybachelorette party in London.
(11:28):
I was talking about optionsproblem, which I mean I can do
it in my sleep now, and Iappreciate that.
But that really helped meunderstand that was a big step
in my career because I learnedthat I needed a wow factor to
overcome everything else and ledto maybe sometimes the way that
I can I go down rabbit holes andI like to understand the why of
(11:50):
things, and I think it's theengineering background and the
puzzle solving that comes intoplay in the way that I analyze
the market.
But the way that I started inthe stock market was a complete
accident.
I mean, before that, I wascleaning hotel rooms, I really
was.
And then I had a kid, and then Irealized when you have a kid,
and as we're moms, we all know,you're responsible for another
(12:12):
life, and there is nothing moremotivating than having a child.
I attribute my entire career tomy baby boy.
He's not a baby anymore, he's asix foot two, 15-year-old.
But umetheless, but he really Ihad to live for someone other
than myself, and that helpedreally skyrocket my career.
And what I love now is I get toshare it with him.
(12:33):
He got to meet Jim Kramer, andwe do so much fun stuff
together.
He goes on brand trips with me,got to go play at the Chicago
Bulls Stadium, and the kid lovesbasketball, basketball is life,
so I it's been really thestruggle at the beginning was
absolutely paying off now,especially from the mom aspect.
It was a complete accident, andI find that happens with a lot
(12:55):
of women in finance, and thenthen we all roll it together.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (12:59):
Yeah, then you stumble.
So you mentioned obviously we'reall we have kids, and um your
son is actually the older one ofthe I guess the kids crowd here.
So, how do you help teach kidsabout money?
SPEAKER_03 (13:13):
So, I'm gonna tell you now, we have all done some
serious media, right?
I do career day, and I did itfor when he's in high school
now.
Yes.
I did it in middle school.
That is the hardest presentationI have ever given in my entire
life.
He's talking to a bunch ofmiddle schoolers because he they
just judge you, you can readtheir faces very quickly.
(13:34):
The first thing they say is,What do you drive?
Like they and but I learned andI changed the presentation, so
he's an advocate for it, whichis amazing.
He's also very sarcastic and hesays, Why do I need to learn
about money, mom?
I have you, you can just manageit for me.
And he's got a point.
But um, there are great appslike Greenlight, does chores, so
that helped start understandingbudgeting.
(13:55):
They have an investing portionof that.
So he chose a stock, he actuallyinvests five dollars a week into
NVIDIA.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (14:01):
That's very good.
SPEAKER_03 (14:02):
He's been doing that for two years, that's been doing
really great.
Um, but he has exposure to itjust simply by watching my job.
But what I've learned, I made ithappen to you as well.
Sometimes I feel really badbecause I'm working late at
night because I have to researchsomething.
RBG says spend at least an hourwith your family and have that
(14:22):
time and then go back to it.
So I always live by that, butthen you feel bad that you're
working on other things.
But what I've realized is I'vetaught him a really valuable
lesson is if you put in thework, you can do anything you
want.
Like he thinks he's gonna be anNBA player, and he actually has
a real shot because he uh putsin the work.
He's got a trainer, which I'mable to afford because of my
(14:45):
job, thankfully.
But he also goes to the park, hehelps his friends, he even when
he plays video games, it'sbasketball.
But I've taught him that if youput in the work, really good
things will happen purely justfrom example.
Yeah and so all that hard workwhere I I felt like I wasn't
spending enough time with him,I've realized his made a really
good lesson, and that that'smade me really thankful.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (15:08):
I was with my five-year-old yesterday who was
home with me for a few weeksbetween summer camp, and I
decided to take her to the icecream shop.
And I still have cash, I carrycash for nannies and obviously
um just to have.
And I said, Okay, you have topay for ice cream.
And I said, Could you please askthe gentleman who was serving
(15:30):
you the ice cream how much youowe?
And the gentleman said, Sevendollars, please.
And then I opened my wallet andI said, Could you identify seven
dollars?
So she knows how to do basicmath.
I mean, five-year-old, she knowsthe numbers, she knows one plus
one, five plus one, etc.
etc.
And I was trying to, I'm noteven kidding, like explain she
understands somewhat the conceptof money, but she doesn't
(15:52):
understand why there's cashversus a card, and then how
basically all of that money hasto be given away for something,
right?
And I was just literally sittingthere thinking, I'm so good with
money, I think because I grewup, as Sam mentioned, like
abroad, maybe with obviouslylike different currencies and
(16:16):
just like different situations.
And I was better managing moneybecause I didn't have any money
to manage.
And then here is my daughterwho's sitting there and trying
to like calculate how much moneyto basically give the ice cream
man and understand the conceptwe have to give to the ice cream
man this money.
And I was trying to figure outliterally in my head like how
can I help my own child andteach them about finances and
(16:40):
money and also investing, whichobviously is in the future.
Um, but how do you actuallyteach them about compound growth
and like a compound interest andlike the idea that basically
money can grow?
Um, and I know that within likeour day-to-days, we meet all the
different people.
Sam, you sit down with multipleguests every day, yeah, and many
(17:01):
of them have wealth managementcompanies, many of them are
traders themselves.
Is there one trait that you'veseen in these people that you
could say, oh, this trait maybethat's something that I could
pass on to my child now?
And it could be like the focusor you know, attention or even
like skill set.
(17:22):
How do we equip our kids tobetter understand?
SPEAKER_02 (17:25):
I think it comes back to what you were saying,
Jess.
I mean, I think if you'refocused on something, it has to
be all-encompassing, it has tobe a case of okay, I want to be
this type of sports person, Ihave to go and be a good student
of my coach, but I also want tocoach other people, but I also
play video games about thatsport.
(17:45):
And I don't know, it kind ofreminds me of me when I was a
reporter back in Australia.
I always wanted to be this Chinacorrespondent, which I ended up
doing, but I it had to become mylife.
I mean, obviously, my dad movedto China when I was young, but
my whole life became associatedwith that goal of learning
Chinese and associating myselfwith Chinese people back home in
(18:06):
Australia and making sure that Iwas always kind of just talking
to them.
And I think that's similar inthe finance world where it kind
of has to be all-encompassing.
I can't think of a specifictrait or someone in particular,
but I would say that I had areally interesting conversation
with Vivian too, who is a verywell-renowned educator of and
(18:27):
also advocate for females in infinance.
Um, but she also talks aboutthat generational wealth as
well.
And I mean, just over a yearago, I didn't have a 401k, I
didn't have a baby college fund,I didn't have a lot of things, I
didn't have a credit score herein America, and I've had to
build all of that, and I'm soproud that my daughter, who's
(18:50):
not even three, has more savingsthan I had right now than I had
in my 20s, because I've beenresponsible with my finances,
and I'm going to give her thatopportunity that I never had.
I only paid off my student debtin my early 30s.
Tsvetta Kaleyn (19:10):
Congratulations.
SPEAKER_02 (19:11):
And it was only because of COVID, because COVID
kept us restricted from beingable to spend money.
So I was like, I'm gonna work onthis now, I'm just gonna smash
it.
Um, and I did.
I just like smashed out in likea couple of years.
So that's how I think about youknow, um, opportunity, money,
how you actually have to sort ofpass that down, and you've
(19:33):
obviously passed those values toyour son as well.
SPEAKER_03 (19:35):
Well, I think we've come to a conclusion.
It's lead by example, but thebest gift you can give your
child is setting them up forsuccess.
Yep.
But then I think it's a commontrait.
We all do become obsessed.
Sometimes I think, am I tooobsessed with finance?
Does that happen?
But I think I'm curious if thishappens to you.
I I call it like seeing thematrix.
All of a sudden, once you get soengraved, everywhere you look,
(19:59):
you see the stock market, evendown to this is equipment and
how is equipment doing rightnow?
Oh, data is really important.
This is really expensivematerial.
But we can you can point, but Ido that with my son.
We're literally, I will say, Oh,there's Chase Bank, that's a
stock.
I did that even when I waslittle.
There's McDonald's, that's astock.
(20:21):
The your phone in your hand,that's a stock.
Just showing them that whatcapital markets are in little,
little tiny ways and exposingthem.
And there's also a lot of reallygood books and a lot of really
great, I wish I could rememberthis content creator's name.
I will find her.
She does budgeting and she doesit with her.
Um, she's got three children,and she learned that actually
(20:42):
physical money is better.
So she'll give them anallowance.
She has these little bookletsthat she sells.
It's so incredible.
I wish I would have done this.
So if I could go back in time, Iwould 100% do this.
And she will have her kids takea portion and put it into
investing.
She gives them interest, but shephysically hands them cash.
And that helps attribute in yourmind.
It's very different when you seeit digitally, but that physical
(21:05):
aspect actually I think makes abig difference.
Yeah.
I mean, even down to them payingrent and tax.
And then you just take that andput in another fund for them,
obviously.
But it's a good, it's a goodlesson because I remember when I
first got my first paycheck, Iwas like, where did it go?
Tsvetta Kaleynska (21:19):
Yeah, what happened to it?
How did it be?
SPEAKER_02 (21:22):
Your your story, and then that woman with three kids
and and cash being king remindsme of a really funny story that
my girlfriend told me a coupleof years ago where um she has
three girls, and um one of themopened her her purse or her
wallet and said, Mummy, you haveno money.
Oh, because she had no cash inher purse at that time.
(21:43):
So she thought, What how do wehave this house?
And and how do you pay for yourgas and your car?
And how do you pay for our stuffif if you've got no money in
your purse?
And so I always thought it'skids' perceptions are so
interesting when it comes tomoney.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (21:56):
Yeah, but so are adults too, aren't they?
So you talked about Matrix andhow you see the matrix.
So funny when we're coming upwith the idea for the Money
Signal podcast, I always kept onsaying, like, signal is my word,
because I see signals.
I just see these, I connect thedots, like I see all these
signals, and it's interestingthat I mean I ended up somehow,
(22:16):
surprisingly, on Wall Street aswell, although I don't have any
financial background whatsoever.
But seeing like the signalsalong the way.
And then same thing is like askids, we get the perception of
that of like what money is, whatmoney can buy, and how it can
help ease our life.
(22:37):
But then we don't really thinkof, I guess, teaching the kids
about value.
So like investment.
And this is where we get to thenow as an adult.
What I've learned aboutinvestment and also like money
management is well, do you rentor buy?
Yeah.
So what's long term?
Do you own a car or do you leaseit?
(22:58):
Do you own stock or do you not?
Like, do you have a 401k or not?
Like basically, what are thoseright decisions?
And it's you know, it's so hard.
It's so hard to understand.
Like, I still to this day I'mlearning so much about again,
like Wall Street and how financeworks, and that's why I'm trying
to break it down.
At least I know my girlfriendsare watching this podcast, so at
(23:19):
least for them to help themunderstand how money works and
like what other people aredoing.
But it's just interesting as aconcept how tough it is for even
us as adults to understand likewhat's that, what's the right
and women too.
SPEAKER_02 (23:34):
Yes.
Yeah.
I wanted to ask you actuallybecause a question that I get
asked very often from people whoare friends and family that
aren't necessarily in financebut are very good at their
finances, you know, they've gotinvestments, what have you.
They're interested in stocksfrom probably from a surface
level, they understand thecompanies that I'm talking
about, but I always get thisfeedback.
(23:55):
Oh, I watch your videos everyday, I have no idea what you're
talking about, but they lookgood.
Do you get that?
Because I try to simplify it asmuch as I can, but I also,
you're not trying to dumb itdown.
I mean, you believe or assumethat people know what you're
talking about because moneymakes the world go round.
I mean, everybody has it,everybody has those investments
and their retirements, etc.
(24:15):
But I'm very surprised at a lackof engagement in how it's talked
about and how what I'm saying isabsolute jargon to them.
Yes.
SPEAKER_03 (24:25):
Oh, it happens.
So it's interesting, and I thinkthere's something happening
right now in the world.
We have a convergence of financemedia and social media, and I
feel very lucky that I get a sitin both worlds.
So I'm gonna attribute this tomy mother.
My mother watches me on FoxNews, CNBC, whatever it is, has
no idea what I'm saying.
She says that doesn't make anysense.
(24:47):
But then when I made thatseries, I want to start
investing, I don't know where tostart, someone tell me what to
do, which is the worst name, butthe best name because it's very
descriptive.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (24:57):
Which I love watching.
SPEAKER_03 (24:58):
I loved that series.
Um, but that I really broke itdown, and that's the first time
my mom actually got interestedin what I do for a living
because it actually made senseto her.
Because it really, really brokeit down because we do start
speaking a foreign language.
And if you think about when youlearn foreign languages, you
start with nouns and then youstart giving them action with
(25:19):
verbs, and then you'd addadjectives, and before you know
it, you start speakingsentences, and you are better
learning a foreign language whenyou're really surrounded in that
environment, and before you knowit, someone else can't
understand you, and that happensto us when we're there, right?
But I'll give you a story.
So when I worked at Fidelity, Iwas the first female on the
active trader desk.
(25:40):
Wow, and it was awesome, it wasterrifying at first, though.
50 men, wow, and I was theirfirst women or female,
nonetheless.
Um they I hate this connotationthat the finance bro is
gatekeeping Wall Street fromyou.
The people who say that havenever worked in Wall Street,
(26:01):
first of all.
And we've all been aroundfinance bros.
What's the one thing that theydon't do?
Shut up about the stock market.
They just talk about itconstantly.
And when I was at the ActiveTrader Desk, they were very
helpful, but they were giving mefootball analogies.
They're saying this is like yourfirst down, this is your yellow
flag.
What is that?
Yeah, and I felt like I had tolearn football in order to do my
(26:25):
job, and it actually was reallyhard.
And then I realized I had to goback to the literal books to
figure it out and then come upwith my own analogies, and
that's why on social media I'llsay the business cycle is like a
menstrual cycle.
Now, men are tell me that theyunderstand it more actually when
I use that, but it is speaking adifferent language to help women
(26:48):
understand it too, and we dohave to realize that we live in
a world that was built by men,it really was, and so and then
we start speaking theirlanguage, which we're all fluent
into their language in thisroom, and sometimes we forget we
need to bring it down, andthat's why my podcast, Market
McCur, that I was the one of themost humbling experiences ever
(27:08):
because I was teaching my friendJessie, and she'd stop me.
She literally goes, I'm sorry,what's market cap?
That doesn't make sense.
Yeah, I loved those videos.
Thank you.
Yeah, but yes, to answer yourquestion, absolutely it happens,
and in and I think in financemedia you do guest after guest
after guest after guest, and soyou take something like eight
hours of research and condenseit into three to five minutes,
(27:32):
whereas on social media you cantake your time, turn it into a
series, educate for a moment,have some visuals and break it
down, and yeah, that's I thinkthere needs to be a change for
finance media, to be honest.
SPEAKER_02 (27:45):
Yeah, and and it was interesting how you talked about
the convergence between socialmedia and financial media, or
what I noticed when I moved tothe US last year when we had the
tariff tantrum and Trump'spolicies around the trade, was
that there were statisticscoming out saying that there had
(28:08):
been no other time more inhistory where people were
turning to financial media.
Um and you had actually hadfinancial media channel channels
uh ratings going up becausepeople all of a sudden cared
about hold on a second, whatdoes this mean for my
investments?
Which, okay, that they might bepassive, I might not be, you
(28:31):
know, investing in the stockmarket or you know, changing it,
but but I'm interested inwhether things are going up or
down because it will it willaffect me.
Yeah.
And so people were starting topay attention to all of a sudden
what had become a huge financialstory that you know impacts
everyday people's lives when weget stickershop when we go to
(28:51):
the grocery store.
Um, and I found that reallyinteresting, and I was I was
quite chucked because when I gotover here I thought, oh, okay,
perfect time to be you knowcoming over to China US
relationship, yeah, and thenthen also bringing my value add
because you know I don't want tosit here and finance splain
Americans in their country abouttheir own economy.
(29:11):
I love being able to compare itto my uh experiences having
covered China because they aresuch a different economy.
Um, but it's nice to bring thatinternational perspective to the
trading floor as well.
And I think now with thepolicies and particularly with
the wars that are going on,people are more in tune saying,
(29:33):
hey, look, actually, we do careabout supply chains and where
stuff is coming from and howimportant America is with
respect to the onshoring and youknow making stuff here and our
friendshoring and who we haverelationships with.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (29:48):
So very much so.
And that's been reallyinteresting.
To add to that, last year weanalyzed um so I analyzed
consumer conversations andsocial media.
And I help brands, my team andI.
We work primarily withpharmaceutical companies, but we
do obviously work withgovernments, with financial um
(30:10):
businesses as well to predictlike stock movements because we
do a lot of API work, basicallyintegrating social media
conversations via an API, viathe back end, so then financial
like investment firms canpredict if the stock's gonna go
up or down, so whether theyshould invest in or not.
Last year, 2025, in all of 2025,the two top trending
(30:31):
conversations on social media inthe US in English language were
inflation and tariffs.
And they were pretty much nickto nick in terms of the numbers.
So at the end of the year, therewere about 30 million
discussions on social media inthe US in just English language
about tariffs.
And it was basically freakingall the consumers out, as you
(30:54):
said, sticker shock, becausethey're the for the first time,
they're like, wait, why am Ipaying this?
It was$19.99.
Now it's$29.99.
Like, how come?
And that's where, interestinglyenough, I don't know if we can
draw a parallel, but on socialmedia, which again I'm very
ingrained in, a lot of thefinancial media and financial
(31:15):
influencers kind of like grew,including Peter.
So Peter, our my podcastco-host, Peter Tuckman, known as
the Einstein and Wall Street,last year alone.
These are statistics that I'mhappy to share and I'm allowed
to share.
Uh he had 250,000 followers inJune of 2025.
By September, that amount wentto almost a million.
(31:39):
And what he went to 900,000,after which, like, he surpassed
even more.
SPEAKER_03 (31:43):
It's amazing.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (31:43):
How come?
Why is that?
Can we think about what the typeof content that he posts?
And that's what he's doing isactually financial literacy and
investment literacy.
Like, what are the markets?
What's happening with themarkets?
Should we invest or should notinvest?
I mean, he never gives advice,but he's breaking it down in
plain language that people likemyself can actually understand.
(32:04):
Oh, we the the Dow went to50,000.
What does that mean?
SPEAKER_03 (32:09):
You gotta explain what the DAO is.
SPEAKER_02 (32:11):
Yeah, absolutely.
And you know, I interview Peteroften, and he does have a real
knack for breaking those complexkind of I guess ways of talking
about the markets, just boilingit down to how everyday people
speak, and I think that's reallythe appeal.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (32:29):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (32:30):
I mean, it's so different to how I speak to a
lot of the portfolio managersand the wealth managers and some
of the guys from the banks, youknow.
Um, Peter really has a a stylethat people are drawn to.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (32:42):
Yeah, because he simplifies it.
I mean, again, he he's able tosimplify it.
And going into the financialeducation point, and I guess
Jess, with you, you're aninfluencer.
Like, I have you seen have youseen this like interest among
any specific generations?
Are you seeing like maybe theyounger generation is more
(33:03):
interested in investing?
Do you see any trends in youraudience and like how you grew
as an influencer over the lastfew years?
SPEAKER_03 (33:09):
Oh, yeah.
So I want to say there was thefirst wave of financial
influencers, and that happenedduring COVID.
And I was actually working atMerrill during the time, and
we've all been preparing for thegreat wealth transfer.
And we thought that was via roboadvisors.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (33:24):
Oh.
SPEAKER_03 (33:25):
That's not what Gen Z wants.
It started, you know, withGameStop and Yellowing, and then
there were these differentcohorts, but it's interesting
because the first wave offinancial influencers were born
during a bull market.
And now we have the second wave,which I'm involved in and
Peter's involved in, and I callthem the ones with real
experience, if you will.
(33:46):
But we have a duty to educateand explain.
But what's interesting is Iactually pulled my statistics
the other day, and I should bebetter at this.
I have right down the middle 50%female and 50% male, which is
awesome.
I love that.
But it's all age ranges, it'sdefinitely a little more younger
on TikTok because that's wherethey go.
(34:08):
It skews a little bit older.
I went viral on Facebook.
I literally do nothing on myFacebook, I just repost.
That's an older generation.
So it's just where they are,yeah.
Is shows the demographics.
But what's interesting is it isthis hunger for knowledge.
So they have these first wave offinancial influencers that
taught index, fund, and chill.
I do think it's a little bitdangerous because the market is
(34:31):
dynamic and it adjusts, as weall know.
And saying things like my way isthe way, and things don't
change, is dangerous because themarket is ever changing.
You know, it's the way I'llbring this back, I promise.
I I did this presentation theother day where I was explaining
(34:51):
to a company just how the stockmarket works, and I had this
idea of how I could show themmarket mechanics.
And thankfully it was, you know,a couple hundred people and it
was virtual.
So on Zoom, I just shoot Ishowed some headlines.
So I said, um this AI stock allof a sudden is going viral on
(35:13):
social media.
Do you buy or sell or donothing?
And I had multiple ones likethat.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (35:17):
Nice.
That's a great idea.
SPEAKER_03 (35:19):
Once I was done, I showed the results and I said,
see, I didn't even know what youwere gonna say.
That's a market.
That's why no one can really wecan use our tools to understand
and predict price.
But it's actually just people inan auction system who are buying
and selling.
So that's when we say, like themarket literally has feelings.
We say, uh, that's that is ourwhat we say though, we say, How
(35:41):
is the the market's perceivingthe Fed right now very hawkish?
And so therefore it's declining,and multiples are doing
whatever, and like it, so it'sjust easier to say, buyers and
sellers, this is where peopleare putting their money, and
sometimes we just throw jargonon top of it.
Um, so point is the trends arechanging where retail
(36:04):
participation is just incrediblyup.
It started with COVID, but nowpeople just want to do it
themselves so much more, and ofcourse it has to do with
inflation.
That's why we invest is toooutpace inflation.
Otherwise, your money sitting ina savings account is just gonna
lose its purchasing power.
But what the trend that I'mhaving on my social media is I'm
forcing them to learn about thebond market because it matters
(36:26):
right now.
You want to know when to buy ahouse, know how the bond market
works.
You want to know when torefinance something, know how
the bond market works.
Literally everyone.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (36:33):
Why is that curve?
Help me understand why.
SPEAKER_03 (36:36):
Yeah, so because the the yield curve is tied to
consumer debt.
It's what the government paysfor their debt, and it is what
we pay for our debt.
And even if you're not involvedin the money system, you are the
front end of the curve, highyield savings account became a
trend when the Fed startedraising interest rates.
(36:58):
High yield savings accounts wereat 5% because that's attached to
the front end of the curve andthe Fed influences the front end
of the curve.
So it started inverting becausethe Fed uh increased interest
rates, it inverts because theywant to slow down the economy so
you can see the slowdown withthe slope.
And then once the Fed startedlowering interest rates, at
(37:21):
least the front end was startingto come down, that affects your
high-held savings account, thataffects your credit card.
So people had a lot of debt.
The low-income consumer,unfortunately, is the one that
gets hit the quickest becauseyou're gonna just immediately
have a higher expense.
The tenure affects yourmortgage.
We want to see the tenure, thetenure shot up today.
(37:41):
If the 10-year goes down, andthen you've got a little margin
that shows what your mortgageis, and then of course the your
personal credit score and thingslike that are attached to it.
But if you see the 10 year godown, or you know or expect it
to because you understand whataffects it, that's the better
time to refinance your home.
Because that's literally what'sdetermining the rate.
(38:02):
So if you think that interestrates are gonna come down or at
least have reasons to, as inright now, I'm holding off, I'm
not buying a new home until Isee interest rates move, and
then I'll make that decision.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (38:15):
That's then thank you for the education.
I am constantly learninglearning new things, which now
brings me to the question.
So when is a good time torefinance?
When you're looking in themarket now, obviously, we have
the news of today.
Yeah.
Like if you had a mortgage and ahouse, like when do you actually
how do you make that decision?
When do I refinance?
SPEAKER_03 (38:35):
So investing is personal, so I don't know your
personal situation or no nor theviewer's personal situation, but
it's being whatever you'recomfortable with.
But if you're looking for lowerinterest rates, we know that the
the bond market is investordemands.
And I like to say it's a littlelove triangle.
So the equity markets areriskier, their growth.
(38:59):
The bond market is your safedating person, right?
They're gonna be kind of boring,but you know that they're gonna
provide for you.
Whereas the stock market's gonnabe risky and super fun.
So the bond market is gonna movebased on what investors demand
for certain reasons.
So if you expect higherinflation, so we see a higher
inflation print, you'll see wesaw the two-year increase more
(39:23):
than the 10-year.
The two year tries to front-runthe Fed.
So literally, it's actually verysimple.
You take the Fed funds rate andthen the amount that the two
year is above that, that is themarket pricing and a hike.
Yeah, I don't know why peopledon't explain it like that.
Um but so point, I'm giving youthe long answer, and I'm sorry
about that.
But if you expect inflation, ifyou expect growth, so the AI
(39:46):
trade also steepens the curve,if you have more debt because
the government has to pay morejust the government has its
credit score as well, like withMoody's and SP, all of that will
increase the yield curve.
So then it's understanding okay,do I think inflation is gonna
come down?
Do I think growth perhaps isgonna slow down because the bond
(40:08):
market is saying, I'm going tolose more of my purchasing
power, give me more yield.
That's investor demands.
So the stock market's investorfeelings, mood, bond market's
investor demands.
So then understanding that, thenthat will help you understand
when you want to refinance.
But you have to have an opinionon inflation and growth and
government debt.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (40:27):
And that's when we monitor the consumer uh
index, obviously, report andlike other reports and obviously
consumer sentiment.
Now, as Jess was speaking, I wasthinking I could not help but
think as someone who came as animmigrant and we share that in
common.
Obviously, you came from anEnglish-speaking country, I came
from not English-speaking.
(40:48):
One of the things when I came tothe US, I was like, Oh, this is
so confused.
Like, why can money just besimple and like going and buying
a house?
You know, why can't you buyoutright?
Like in Bulgaria, when people,at least until literally before
COVID, if you go and you buy anapartment, you just buy it out
right away because you have itused to be very cheap.
(41:09):
You go and say, here's 20,000 ofmy currency, and I'm just gonna
buy this, and there's no suchthing as like mortgages and then
interest rates and thecomplexity of it.
Interestingly enough, sinceCOVID now with Europe and you
know, like how things change,things have gotten a bit more
expensive, more complicated,more complex.
But then having been in theStates myself for so long, I'm
(41:32):
I've always been so confused howthis whole system works, like
between 401k.
And then there's the healthcare,like you have a you know, you
can invest, you can havebasically like an HSA, then you
have an FSA, which is like yourother healthcare fund, and then
you have like multiple accountsthat you can open for your kids,
(41:52):
which happy to share like whatI've done, what I've learned,
like the tricks, not it's nottips, but tricks that I've
learned.
So, Sam, like you're brand newto the US.
I call you brand new becauseI've been here for almost
whatever, 18 years.
So I'm like, I'm I've had a fewdecades.
Like when you listen to all ofthis and you work in this every
day, you speak to literally thepeople who come up with a lot of
(42:17):
these strategies.
Like, what do like how do you,when you talk to your friends
back home, how do you explainthis complexity of money and
like everything that happenshere in the US?
Because I know for a fact thatit's not as complicated in even
Australia.
SPEAKER_02 (42:33):
Yeah, it has been a lot more straightforward in
other places that I've lived forsure.
Um, but I can lean on theconversations that I have with a
lot of my guests at Schwab.
I mean, you know, people who areinvolved in uh financial
advising companies who talk topeople about how to save for
retirement.
(42:54):
Um, we talk about the propertymarket, I talk to a lot of
researchers, and yeah, it allcomes back to the fact that
things are changing a lot.
I spoke to a company, an app, anAI app that was just set up by
Martha Stewart.
I spoke to her co-founder theother day, right?
And she is obviously buildingand drawing on all her
(43:18):
proprietary knowledge and dataof you know what she's been very
good at, um, to kind of feedinto helping people, I guess,
aggregate and simplify all thesereally confusing elements of
purchasing a house, like yourinsurance, when you need to get
maintenance done on your airconditioning and find a plumber,
(43:42):
and all the things that you needto do with your mortgage, and
you know, when things are due,etc.
So I was talking to a guest theother day about this particular
technology, and it it made merealize that yeah, I mean, it's
extremely overwhelming.
And it's a very differentgeneration where I think a lot
(44:02):
of that has been typically beenhanded down almost like a manual
by your grandparents or yourparents, but that's no longer
the case now because I I speakto so many of my guests about
the fact that the average age ofa first home buyer now is 40
since COVID.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (44:20):
Yeah.
SPEAKER_02 (44:20):
Um, and these aren't people going and getting
married, like traditionally,maybe that's what the sort of
path was.
Now it's just people going inwith their friends or going in
with randoms or their parentsbuying them a property with that
added caveat of okay, but it hasto be down the road, right?
What are you gonna do for me?
(44:40):
So yeah, the world's sodifferent now.
Um, and I think that also isthat the kind of added element
to the confusion and just howmuch it's changed even from one
generation.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (44:52):
Yeah, indeed.
And do you do you guys think Iknow Jess probably I already
probably know the answer foryou, but Sam, do you think that
social media helps educatepeople on money?
SPEAKER_02 (45:05):
Yeah, I do.
And I've been surprised, I'vebeen so pleasantly surprised to
meet people like Jessica and tomeet people like Vivian who are
doing such a wonderful job oftrying to educate people and
such nice people as well in reallife.
You know, I mean such relatabledown-to-earth women who just
(45:26):
want to help others, yeah,educate.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (45:29):
Yeah.
I I'm not even kidding when likeI share this, but I've actually
grown my businesses, I've ownedseveral businesses through the
help of social media because Ihave I started in social
listening by social mediabasically in 2011, not by
choice, but because that was myfirst internship and I was
placed to do that.
And then since then I'veactually seen this trajectory of
(45:51):
how social media has penetratedin people's lives.
Obviously, we all depend on it.
That's how we consume everythingfrom news to education.
And I've seen my wealth actuallychange drastically with
education that I've receivedfrom influencers.
So kudos to the influencer toeducate us.
SPEAKER_03 (46:11):
I have such a hard time calling myself an
influencer.
Well, you're accepting it.
No, but yes, thank you.
I think there's good and bad.
I think there's some but I thinkthat it takes just more good
content creators.
Like, I want to see more of youon my for you page in two as
well.
Because it's so helpful, youknow.
Um, did you know that MarthaStewart used to work on Wall
(46:34):
Street?
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:34):
No.
Did you when?
How?
Well, what would she do?
SPEAKER_03 (46:38):
She was a broker.
She was?
Yes.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:40):
What?
SPEAKER_03 (46:41):
Watch the she always amazes me the second you said
that.
I'm like, oh, I'd love to meether.
That's very cool that she'sdoing that.
Yeah, she went to Wall Streetfor a little bit, just a year,
and then she decided to go doher um the amazing thing she was
doing with the catering andthings that came up right after
that.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (46:59):
Well, she has 500 businesses.
SPEAKER_02 (47:00):
And that's what I asked them.
I said, you know, how come aZillow can't just go and adopt
AI and come up with this kind ofplatform um where it basically
is this kind of organizer ofyour life once you become a
homeowner.
And I think it's because, as Imentioned, of that proprietary
data that Martha Stewart has,that loyalty, that branding,
(47:21):
that following, and all that,she's so smart, which AI cannot
replicate.
They can't, and that's why Ithink you know, um, this is a
really interesting productbecause it's everything that
she's kind of fed into this touh create a product for people
to basically simplify and itkind of will aggregate
(47:44):
everything um that's out therealready because all this
information is out there.
Um it's in your emails, it's inyour I I guess you know, your
real estate agent has it on filesomewhere, social media just
needs to be kind of pulledtogether into one location.
What a powerhouse.
Tsvetta Kaleynska (48:05):
I know that's where I always go, like, oh my
god, amazing.
That's where I need to stopmyself at not creating the next
business because I'm like, ohwait, I just got a new idea for
a business.
Um, but I always like give kudosto people who are able to see
the signals and just like go gofor them and create something
new.
Yeah.
Oh guys, this is such an amazingconversation.
I feel like I I want to talkeven more and I want to get into
(48:28):
even more education and alsolearning more about obviously
the type of uh traits that yousee from your guests um in terms
of like entrepreneurs and whatthey do.
But now that you mentioned thatwe'll be continuing the
conversation with more episodes,hopefully.
I'll have you guys both back.
Thank you.
I uh wanted to thank you bothfor coming on the show and for
(48:49):
the amazing conversation.
Pleasure to have you guys, andwe'll continue, hopefully, the
conversation soon when we learnmore about uh traits, education,
social media, and much, muchmore.
Uh, from Main Street to WallStreet, this is the Money Signal
Podcast.
Thank you guys so much for beingwith us, and stay tuned for more
exciting content.
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