The great thing about technology is the ability to have an entire world full of knowledge and information at your fingertips. And in my opinion, one of the best ways to get information is through the medium of podcasts. There’s almost no other way to turn what might be considered idle or wasted time, into something really productive. Being able to gather information while commuting to work or walking around town is a major game-changer. After all, we only have so many hours in the day, so podcasts are a great way to get some of those hours back.
In fact, my own foray into the personal finance world didn’t start with blogs. It started with podcasts. If it weren’t for podcasts, I probably never would have found my way into the personal finance world. Heck, I’d probably still have no idea what I was doing with my money.
In this post, I’d like to share some of the podcasts that I listen to on a regular basis. I find these podcasts extremely informative and I’m sure you’ll find them informative too.
The Right Way To Listen To Podcasts
But first, I want to talk about the right way to listen to podcasts. I know, this sounds pretty dumb, but hear me out! There is a right way to listen to podcasts, at least if you want to maximize your time.
First, I highly recommend listening to podcasts when you’re doing something that might otherwise be unproductive time. Going to work, walking to the store, or cleaning your house? Use that time to listen to podcasts. You’ll learn so much and basically turn that time into productive time. Or at least you’ll get more use out of that time. You don’t really think about it, but it’s easy to spend several hours a day commuting, walking around, or doing other stuff that isn’t all that useful. If you use that time to listen to podcasts, you’ll be surprised at how much knowledge you can acquire.
Second, you’ll want to listen to certain types of podcasts at about 1.5x speed. If you’re listening to an NPR podcast or something similar, by all means, you’ll want to listen to it at regular speed. Those shows are about the way the story is presented, so listening to it on extra fast speed will ruin the experience. But, for basically all personal finance podcasts, it really doesn’t matter what speed you listen to it. What we really care about is the information, not the production value. Save time and listen to your personal finance podcasts at 1.5x speed or so.
Third, you’ll want to download an app to listen to your podcasts. Since we’re listening to these podcasts while we’re out and about, we need an app that downloads the podcast right to your phone. We also need an app that has speed controls, since all we care about is getting the knowledge. The absolute best podcast app out there for iPhone is Overcast. It lets you download the podcast directly to your phone and has speed controls that let you listen to the episode at 1.5x speed or more. Once you’re subscribed to a podcast, Overcast will download new episodes as they come out. The app also has a feature called “Smart Speed” which removes all the dead air from the podcast. If someone pauses during a podcast, Overcast recognizes that dead air and skips right through it. That’s a huge time saver.
*Unfortunately, I’m not too familiar with Android phones, so if anyone has any suggestions for an Android podcast app, please feel free to share.
Podcasts I Always Listen To
I have a number of podcasts that I always listen to as soon as they come out. Here’s what I recommend:
The Dough Roller Money Podcast
This was one of the first shows I found when I started getting interested in personal finance. The show is hosted by Rob Berger, who is an attorney like I am (so I might have a soft spot for him). While his shows aren’t produced as frequently as some of the other shows on this list, almost every show he puts out there is chock full of information. He gets really deep into investing topics, and especially emphasizes low fee, index investing. His shows vary in length from 30 minutes to an hour.
Financial Rockstar
Another show I listen to on a regular basis. This show is hosted by Scott Alan Turner. As he explains on his podcast, he was a “money moron” who eventually became a self-made millionaire 13 years later. The show is more of your standard Q&A type radio show. Folks send in their questions and Scott answers them. Typically he’ll answer about 5 questions or so per show. He also usually starts his show with a featured topic that he discusses for the first 5 or 10 minutes. This show is a bit more basic, but still useful for people like me who just want to get all the personal finance information they can. His shows are about 30 minutes long.
His and Her Money Show
If you’re looking to get out of debt, then the His and Her Money Show is for you. Talaat and Tai McNeely host the show and bill themselves as “America’s Number 1 Money Couple.” They also recently won two Plutus Awards at Fin Con 2016! In each show, Talaat and Tai interview a new person who shares their own debt free story. It’s really a great way to learn about all the ways you can pay off debt and a great source of inspiration if you are in the process of paying off debt yourself. I was actually fortunate enough to be able to share my debt free story with them back in August. Their shows are about 20-30 minutes long.
Million Dollar Plan
Once a week, Pete the Planner learns about a listener’s financial life and gives them actionable steps. I find this show particularly useful because we’re getting real numbers from real people. It’s always interesting to see how others are doing and what they are doing right or what they could be doing better. When you get those real numbers, you can really see what you can do as well. Shows are about 30 minutes long.
Sound Investing w/Paul Merriman
This is probably one of my favorite podcasts. Paul Merriman is a former financial advisor and hosts one of the more technical podcasts out there. If you are an investing nerd, you’ll love this show. I like to think of Paul Merriman as sort of like JLCollins. He tells you exactly what index funds you should invest in – giving you the ticker symbol and everything. Paul does emphasize weighting towards small cap value funds and he convincingly explains why using empirical data. If you are ever worried about the long term performance of the market, Paul will be able to comfort you. Shows range from 30 minutes to an hour long.
Radical Personal Finance
Oh man are these podcasts long! Joshua Sheats hosts Radical Personal Finance and goes extremely in depth into all sorts of financial topics. His shows are usually between 1 and 2 hours long, so you’ll really want to make use of your speeded-up playback settings in your podcast app. But seriously, listen to his show. You’ll come out much, much smarter for it!
Afford Anything
Paula Pant’s show is just terrific. It’s more of an interview based show, but the guests on her show are some of the biggest names in the personal finance community. Paula and her guests share a lot of information about real estate, investing, and topics that aren’t directly related to personal finance as well, such as how to be more productive in your work. Shows are typically about an hour long.
Stacking Benjamins
Joe Saul-Sehy and O.G. host a sort of variety show on money topics, three days per week. This is another one of the first podcasts I discovered. They claim they don’t teach anything, but that’s just a plain lie. You’ll learn a lot from this show. Shows are about 45 minutes long.
Other Personal Finance Podcasts I Recommend
The below are shows that I also recommend. If you still have time, try to throw these into your listening schedule as well.
Millennial Money. Shannah (Compton) Game distills fairly basic money topics for Millennials. If you’re young and trying to learn about money, this is a pretty good show to listen to.
The Money Guy Show. Brian Preston and Bo Hanson also discuss various money topics. This show has apparently been around forever (2006 or so), so the fact that they are still producing shows speaks volumes about their commitment to helping people with their money.
Money Tree Investing Podcast. Hosted by the Stacking Benjamin’s crew of folks, this show is more about the technical side of investing. Really good stuff here for those that are looking for more advanced money topics. I typically listen to this show as soon as it comes out as well.
The Retirement Answer Man. Another great show. Roger Whitney talks about various money topics related to retirement. Like Stacking Benjamins, it’s also more of a variety type show, with Roger jumping around to various money topics.
Financial Independence Podcast. This show is hosted by the Mad Fientist. He typically interviews people and learns about their financial independence story, or shares information about achieving financial independence. The only downside is that new episodes aren’t released very often.
So Money. Farnoosh interviews people four times per week, and then does a Q&A session on Fridays. I often skip a lot of the interviews simply because they aren’t particularly relevant to me, but every once in a while, she does interview people I’m interested in, and when she does, I stop in and listen. Otherwise, I tend to mainly just listen to her Friday Q&A sessions.
Quick Hitter Podcasts
There are a number of podcasts that are super short shows – 10 minutes or less. I call these shows my quick hitter shows. Since I listen on 1.5x speed, I can usually listen to these shows in 5 minutes or less. These are great for when I need something really quick to listen to.
Money Peach. This is a pretty basic and straightforward show, but I like hearing Chris Peach talk and it’s always good to brush up on the fundamentals.
You Need A Budget. The folks over at YNAB do a quick podcast every week or so that has pretty useful information on budgeting and planning.
Side Hustling Podcasts
Readers know that I love side hustling, so I have a variety of shows that I listen to that are geared towards the side hustling crowd. These aren’t directly personal finance related, but if you enjoy side hustling, you’ll want to take a look at these shows.
The Side Hustle Show. Nick Loper has a great show in which he interviews people about their various side hustles. Great for anyone looking for inspiration or interested in other people’s side hustle stories.
Get Paid For Your Pad. Jasper Ribbers wrote a book about Airbnb and hosts a podcast where he interviews people about their Airbnb experience. If you’ve thought about doing Airbnb or are a current Airbnb host, this is a show you’ll want to listen to.
Rideshare Guy Podcast. Harry Campbell hosts this podcast where he talks about Uber, Lyft, and food delivery services. I’m a big fan of these type of apps and the potential they have for making money on the side. Harry is particularly unique because he actually left his job as an engineer for Boeing in order to do Uber and work on his blog full time. I recommend this show if you’re interested in sharing economy/on-demand platforms.
Scavenger Life Podcast. This show appeals to my dumpster diving side. The hosts make a full time living by flipping items on eBay that they find in thrift stores, garage sales, or on the side of the road. They also own a home that they Airbnb and talk about on their other podcast, Shampoo and Booze. These two basically live a dream life to me and really demonstrate unique ways you can make a living in today’s world. The shows are really long and can often be all over the place, but are interesting to listen to.
Have you listened to these shows? Any of your own recommendations? I’m sure I left out tons of other great shows, so please let me know!
More Recommended Ebike/Scooters
Check out these other ebikes/scooters I've had the chance to do a review for:
- GEN3 Outcross Bike – The GEN3 Outcross is a solid, affordable fat tire ebike that does a good job of doing what I need it to do. It works great for city riding, giving me a smooth ride in all conditions. It’s works really well as a winter ebike since the fat tires give it good traction over snow and ice. Check out my GEN3 Outcross Review.
- Himiway Escape Bike – The Himiway Escape is an interesting bike for anyone looking for a moped-style ebike. If you’re a gig economy worker, the Himiway Escape is particularly interesting and it’s possible to think of it as an investment, especially if you can opt to do deliveries with the Himiway versus using a car. It’s not cheap, but you can definitely make your money back when you compare the mileage you’ll put on your car versus using an ebike. Check out my Himiway Escape Bike Review.
- Espin Sport Bike – The Espin Sport is a good ebike for someone who is looking for an ebike that feels and rides more like a regular bike. There are many ebikes that are really only bikes in name. In reality, they’re basically electric mopeds. The Espin Sport, by contrast, is a bike you could probably ride without the battery and you’d feel like you’re just riding a regular bike. Check out my Espin Sport Review.
- Varla Eagle One Scooter – The Varla Eagle One is an excellent scooter that can make sense for a lot of people. It can work as a primary mode of transportation. You can use it to work on gig economy apps like DoorDash, Uber Eats, and Grubhub. And it can also be a recreational vehicle if you’d prefer to use it for that. Check out my Varla Eagle One Review.
- Fucare H3 Scooter – The Fucare H3 is a fun scooter and I’ve enjoyed testing it out. For a daily commuter or quick trips or errands, the Fucare H3 is probably the scooter I’ll use. It’s portable and easy to maneuver, so it’s just easier to take on the road when I need it. Check out my Fucare H3 Scooter Review.
More Recommended Investing App Bonuses
For additional investing app bonuses, be sure to check out the ones below:
- M1 Finance ($10) – This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account. Check out my M1 Finance Referral Bonus – Step-By-Step Guide.
- SoFi Invest ($25) – SoFi Invest is an easy brokerage account bonus that you can earn with just a few minutes of work. Use my SoFi Invest referral link, fund your SoFi Invest brokerage account with $100 and you’ll get $25 of free stock. I also have a step-by-step guide for the SoFi Invest referral bonus.
- Moomoo (5 free stocks) – Moomoo is a free investing app currently offering 5 free stocks (usually worth around $75-$100) if you open an account using a referral link and deposit $2,000. Read my Moomoo referral bonus guide for more information.
- Webull (5 free stocks) – Webull also gives you 5 free stock valued between $3-$3,000 each if you open an account using my referral link. Here’s a guide I wrote about how to earn your free stocks using Webull.
- Robinhood (1 free stock) – Robinhood gives you a free stock valued between $2.50-$225 if you open an account using my referral link.
- Public (1 free stock) - Public gives you a free stock valued between $3-$70 if you open an account using my referral link.
More Recommended Bank Account Bonuses
If you’re looking for more easy bank bonuses, check out the below options. These bonuses are all easy to earn and have no fees or minimum balance requirements to worry about.
- Chime ($100) - Chime is a free bank account that offers a referral bonus if you use a referral link and complete a direct deposit of $200 or more. In practice, any ACH transfer into this account triggers the bonus. This bonus is easy to earn and posts instantly, so you’ll know if you met the requirements as soon as you move money into the account. I wrote a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Chime referral bonus that I recommend you check out.
- Digital Federal Credit Union ($100) – Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a saving account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000. Check out my in-depth post on how to set this account up.
- Upgrade ($100) – Upgrade is a free checking account that’s currently offering a $100 referral bonus if you open an account and complete three debit card transactions. These bonus terms are easy to meet, so it’s well worth doing this bonus as soon as you can. Importantly, this bonus says that it’s now scheduled to end on January 31, 2023. As long as you get your account opened before January 31st, you should be eligible. Here’s a post I wrote with more details: Upgrade $100 Referral Bonus – Step By Step Directions.
- SoFi Money ($275) – SoFi Money is a free checking account from SoFi. They’re currently offering a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi account with a referral link and deposit $10. You can also make an additional $250 as well if you complete a direct deposit. This is a good bank that is also 100% free, so you won’t have to worry about managing this account. Here’s a post I wrote with instructions on how to earn your SoFi Money bonus: SoFi Money Referral Bonus: Step By Step Guide.
- Current ($50) – Current is a free fintech bank that’s offering new users a $50 referral bonus after signing up for an account using a referral link.Current is an easy bonus to earn and also gives you access to three savings accounts that pay you 4% interest on up to $2,000. That means you can put away up to $6,000 earning 4% interest. That’s very good and makes Current an account I recommend to everyone. Check out my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Current Bank bonus.
- Fairwinds Credit Union ($100) – Fairwinds Credit Union is offering a referral bonus for users that sign up using a referral link. Fairwinds has no fees or minimum balance, so this is a particularly easy bonus to earn. Since this is a smaller credit union, my gut instinct tells me this offer won’t be around long, so if you’re in a position to meet the bonus requirements, grab this bonus before it’s gone. Here is my step-by-step guide on how to earn your Fairwinds Credit Union bonus.
- OnJuno ($60) – OnJuno is a fintech/neobank that is currently offering a $10 referral bonus if you open an account using a referral link and make a deposit of $50 or more. You will also get 1000 JCOIN. The 1000 of JCOIN is cryptocurrency. At the time I'm writing this, it'll be worth about $50. Check out my OnJuno referral bonus guide here.
- Varo ($30) – Varo is a free fintech banking app similar to Chime or Current. It’s currently offering a $30 bonus to new users that open a new Varo account with a referral link. The bonus for this bank is very easy to meet, all you need to do is spend $20 within 30 days of opening your Varo account. Check out my step-by-step guide to learn how to earn this bonus.
- Novo Bank ($40) - Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. In addition to being a good bank bonus, Novo is also a good business checking account. It has no monthly fees or minimum balance requirements and operates a good app and website. Indeed, it’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog. Check out my post on how to easily open a Novo account.
- Albert ($150) – If you can manage to do a real direct deposit, Albert is an easy account you can use to earn a referral bonus. Here’s a review about Albert I wrote. And here’s a step-by-step guide on how to earn your Albert referral bonus.
- Netspend ($20 + 5% Interest Savings Account) – Netspend is a company that provides 5% interest savings accounts. If you sign up using my referral link, you’ll get a $20 signup bonus once you make your first deposit into your Netspend account of $40 or more. That means you get a 5% interest savings account and a free $20 to start! Make sure to check out my in-depth guide on how to set up these accounts.
Kevin is an attorney and the blogger behind Financial Panther, a blog about personal finance, travel hacking, and side hustling using the gig economy. He paid off $87,000 worth of student loans in just 2.5 years by choosing not to live like a big shot lawyer.
Kevin is passionate about earning money using the gig economy and you can see all the ways he makes extra income every month in his side hustle reports.
Kevin is also big on using the latest fintech apps to improve his finances. Some of Kevin's favorite fintech apps include:
- SoFi Money. A really good checking account with absolutely no fees. You'll get a $25 referral bonus if you open a SoFi Money account with a referral link, and an additional $250 if you complete a direct deposit.
- DCU. Digital Federal Credit Union (DCU) is a free, nationwide credit union that I recommend to readers for two reasons. First, DCU has a $100 referral bonus if you open a free DCU checking account with a referral link. Second, DCU has a savings account that gives you 6.17% interest on your first $1,000.
- Novo Bank. Novo bank is a free business checking account that’s currently offering a $40 bonus if you open a Novo business checking account using a referral link. It’s the business checking account I currently use for this blog.
- M1 Finance. This is a great robo-advisor that has no fees and allows you to create a customized portfolio based on your risk tolerance. You also get $10 for opening an account.
- Personal Capital. One of best free apps you can use to monitor your portfolio and track your net worth. This is one of the apps I use to track my financial accounts.
Feel free to send Kevin a message here.
Some great recommendations. I am switching phones right now and will no longer have unlimited data. Downloaded podcasts sound like a great replacement to the music I used to stream.
It’s definitely a great way to use your time. Just think about all those hours you spend per week just going places or doing some menial task. If you’re learning something during that time, you’ll become an expert eventually! Make sure you have a phone with decent storage space though! Because those podcasts can take up a lot of space.
Thanks for the podcast recommendations. I’ve been fortunate that my commute has been cut dramatically and I am down to ten minutes in the car so I don’t normally get through too many podcasts during the week. (I’m not going to complain :))
I am always look for new things to listen to. Right now I have been listening to a lot of Motley Fool Money as I like to stay current on the stock market and listen to the stocks on their radar. But I will definitely check out the above.
Glad they are helpful MSM! Your podcasts don’t only have to be listened to during your commute. Just think about the times your walking around, doing dishes, cleaning, etc. You’ll probably be surprised. I do a good amount of biking and typically listen to podcasts while I’m biking (I know, that’s probably dangerous).
I listen to a lot of podcasts, but holy cow it would be tough to keep up with half of these! Definitely some new ones on the list that I hadn’t listened to before. Recently I’ve been listening to more marketing podcasts so I’ve had less time for personal finance podcasts.
It’s definitely not easy to keep up with everything. I’ve got a lot of podcasts that I’m way behind on, but I try to catch up as I can. Thanks for stopping by David! I enjoyed hearing you on Stacking Benjamins.
I listen to the BiggerPockets real estate podcast, the Rich Dad Radio Show Podcast, the CardonZone Podcast and a few others. I will have to look into some of the ones you laid out in your post. Thanks for the great content!
Glad you found it helpful.
I’m a big fan of the Afford Anything, Mad Fientist, and Radical Personal Finance podcasts, too. One thing I really like about the Mad Fientist is how he nerds out (I mean this as a compliment, as I’m a nerd) in great detail about some wealth building tools that aren’t covered frequently, like health savings accounts and backdoor Roth IRAs.
Love hearing about all the more advanced tactics out there. It’s unfortunate that his podcast doesn’t come out very often. It seems like only once a month.
My favorite ones that I already listen to are his and her money, and the side hustle show. The other podcasts I haven’t heard of as much so good to know they exist.
Thanks for letting us know. =)
Thanks Lila. I hope you heard my interview on the His and Her Money Show! 🙂
Thanks for this list! I picked up a few new podcast to add to my collection!
Happy to help Gary! Glad you found some useful podcasts here.
I’m a big fan of using podcasts to make your mentally dead time more productive. I’m always surprised more people don’t do it. Doesn’t have to be personal finance related. Everyone can find something that is interesting to them that will also improve their life in some way – finance, health, career, family, child rearing, etc.