So Money with Farnoosh Torabi

In this Ask Farnoosh Friday, we’re tackling one of the biggest questions right now: how do you stay financially steady when everything feels uncertain?

Joining me is returning guest and trusted voice in personal finance, Georgia Lee Hussey, CFP and founder of Modernist Financial. [Grab her free financial toolkit] Together, we unpack the emotional and practical realities of this moment—from market volatility and recession fears t...

Brooke Taylor is a former Google executive turned researcher and coach who has spent years studying a phenomenon called the success wound —interviewing more than 5,000 women to understand why so many accomplished, capable people still feel like it’s never enough.

Her new book, Healing the Success Wound: Align Your Ambition, Find Lasting Career Fulfillment, and End the Cycle of Never Enough, puts language—and solutions—to somethi...

What would you do if caring for a parent meant putting your own financial future—and your kids’—on hold?

That’s not a hypothetical. It’s the reality facing millions of Americans right now, including Senator Andy Kim—a father of two, a son navigating his own father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis, and now, one of the leading voices in Washington pushing for change.

Today’s episode is a deeply personal and urgent conversation about the...

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In this episode, Farnoosh opens with a candid reflection on media narratives around Iranian identity and addresses a recent editing glitch from a prior interview.

From there, the conversation turns to a growing concern on many economists’ minds: Are we heading toward a recession in 2026?

With oil prices climbing past $100 per barrel and historical data linking...

What would you do if your life completely spun off course…before you even had a chance to understand who you were?

My guest today, Nikki Mammano, says she didn’t set out to become a drug dealer in Hawaii—she was a teenager running from trauma, searching for a fresh start, and instead found herself pulled into a dangerous underground economy that nearly cost her everything.

In her new memoir Breaking Good, Nikki shares the raw...

or as long as I’ve known him — which is now more than fifteen years — he’s had the same signature look: a sharp mohawk and an even sharper perspective on money.

Today on So Money, we welcome back one of the original voices of the personal finance internet: J. Money, the longtime blogger behind Budgets Are Sexy and the founder of Budgets Are Sexy, a platform that helped shape the early personal finance blogging community. When th...

This week on Ask Farnoosh, Farnoosh kicks things off with a behind-the-scenes look at a whirlwind week in journalism and media. She shares highlights from her recent interview with Senator Cory Booker about his bold new “Keep Your Pay Act” proposal, which would eliminate federal income tax on the first $75,000 of income, and discusses what that could mean for working Americans. She also reflects on being featured in Kiplinger’s lat...

U.S. Senator Cory Booker of New Jersey joins us for a wide-ranging conversation recorded in one sitting for both podcasts - The Montclair Pod and So Money.

Senator Booker first rose to national prominence as the mayor of Newark, where he built a reputation for hands-on leadership and bold policy ideas. He has now served more than a decade in the U.S. Senate, becoming one of the most prominent voices in the Democratic Party.

He’s ...

If you’ve ever looked at the FIRE movement — Financial Independence, Retire Early — and thought, that sounds great… but what about kids? — today’s episode is for you.

For years, the assumption has been that FIRE works best for people without children: dual-income professionals willing to live extremely frugally in pursuit of early retirement. But what happens when you want both financial independence and a family?

My guest today,...

On this week’s Ask Farnoosh, Farnoosh answers listener questions about navigating complicated financial decisions — from inheriting retirement accounts to protecting yourself from tax fraud.

First, Farnoosh shares personal reflections on the unfolding war in Iran and how global conflict can ripple into markets, oil prices, and the broader economy.

Then she dives into listener questions, including:

• What happens when you i...

Many parents believe college now costs $100,000 a year. But the truth is far more complicated.

Today on So Money, I’m joined by Ron Lieber, longtime New York Times “Your Money” columnist and author of the bestselling book The Price You Pay for College. Ron has spent years investigating how college pricing really works—and why the “sticker price” is often not the price families actually pay.

In our conversation, Ron explains w...

For many women, the word “millionaire” can still feel uncomfortable. Not just financially, but culturally. Many of us weren’t raised to imagine ourselves as wealthy, powerful, or building seven-figure net worths.

My guest today wants to change that.

Bola Sokunbi is the founder and CEO of Clever Girl Finance, one of the largest financial education platforms for women in the U.S. She’s a Certified Financial Education Instructor...

As promised, I’m re-airing one of the most requested interviews from the archives: my conversation with Nate Berkus, originally recorded in 2015—ten years ago.

A lot has changed for Nate since then, but when I listened back, I was struck by how timeless this episode is—especially right now. My mother-in-law and I are huge fans, and for my birthday she gave me Nate’s latest book, Foundations: Timeless Design That Feels Personal. ...

Today’s guest is someone who has been shaping the personal finance conversation for nearly two decades — long before money podcasts were mainstream, long before “side hustle” was a buzzword, and long before financial literacy for women was framed around building wealth instead of just clipping coupons.

Laura Adams is the host of the wildly successful Money Girl podcast, a show that has been downloaded more than 43 million times ...

Farnoosh reflects on her appearance on the TODAY Show, where she shared practical strategies to maximize your finances during tax season — from last-minute IRA contributions and new tax deductions to choosing the smartest way to file and setting yourself up for next year.

She also discusses the latest money headlines, including the Supreme Court’s decision on sweeping tariffs and what it could mean for small businesses and marke...

Today’s episode is for the woman who’s doing well on paper…earning more, climbing higher, checking the boxes of financial success— and yet still wondering if she’s making the smartest moves with her money. Because here’s the truth: more income doesn’t automatically mean more clarity, more confidence, or even more security.

In fact, high-earning women often face a unique set of financial blind spots—from over-relying on tax strat...

Our guest today is truly one of the original voices in personal finance and someone whose work has shaped how millions of Americans think about debt, credit, and financial freedom.

Lynnette Khalfani-Cox joins to share insights from her powerful new book, Bounce Back: The Ultimate Guide to Financial Resilience. We talk about why despite decades of financial education, so many Americans are still drowning in debt, how systemi...