Getting all the education you can on investing and personal finance should be a goal of any money-minded individual.
The data shows that people who are more knowledgeable about money and investing tend to do better with their personal finances. In contrast, people who aren't as financially literate fare worse on key money issues like debt, savings, and poor credit.
Just ask the folks at the National Financial Educators Council, who sum up the importance of financial literacy as follows:
"The impact of financial literacy involves real behavior changes regarding financial matters that set people up for financially stable and secure lives," the NFEC states on its web site. "There are abundant studies that illustrate the very real impact of financial literacy: improved rates of savings, lower levels of debt, increased rates of asset accumulation, just to name a few. It is unfortunate, given these notable impacts of financial competency, that the public education system places little to no emphasis on developing basic financial literacy skills."
One of the best – and most modern – ways of getting savvier about money is by listening to investment podcasts.
Like most podcasts, investment broadcasts are hosted by financial experts, who often bring guests who specialize in key areas of money and finance. Investing an hour or so in a podcast where a guest breaks down bond investing, explains the impact of lower interest rates in stocks, and analyzes key commodities like oil and gas, for example, is well worth the time.
By listening in and absorbing the information, you're making yourself a better steward of your own money and your own investment portfolio. The fact that many investment broadcasts can be as entertaining as they are educational is just icing on the cake.
Job one with investing podcasts is choosing the ones that work for you, and meet your own unique personal financial needs. To make that process easier, we've listed 10 of the top investing podcasts on the air.
Choose one or all of the following podcasts, and make yourself a better investor.
With "So Money," host Torabi is able to grab some of the biggest names on Wall Street and in corporate America, and dig deeper into the concept of wealth creation, entrepreneurship, and money, debt and decision making. She's an easy-going and informative host, and has landed top-tier guests like Arianna Huffington, Tim Ferriss, Gretchen Rubin, Seth Godin, Robert Kiyosaki, Jim Cramer, Margaret Cho and more. The podcast airs on Fridays, giving listeners a good cap to the business week, and some food for thought on the weekend when many Americans make their portfolio investment and personal finance decisions.
Yes, it is possible to mix money and humor, and "Stacking Benjamins" is exhibit "A." Saul-Sehy and co-hosts OG, Doug and the Crew have been on the air since 2012, cracking wise and helping people cope with kitchen table money issues like budgeting, recovering from a job loss, and handling a 401(k) plan. While the laughs are at a premium, the goal is a serious one.
As the show's web site puts it, "Literacy rates around the world are dropping, and this podcast is meant to help foster much-needed conversations about money. Our hope is that people will think more seriously about money and financial well-being. While some podcasts hope to be the final expert in the chain of money lessons, 'Stacking Benjamins' hopes to introduce you to the broad spectrum of ideas, concepts, and technologies that can help you lock in a better financial future."
And they do it all from Saul-Sehy's mother's half-finished basement.
For a good table-setter on money, investing and finance, give "Listen, Money Matters" a listen. Fiebert and co-host Matt Giovanisci banter back and forth about key money themes like "how to invest your first $5,000" and "How one college graduate intends to retire at 40." The co-hosts usually crack a beer (and invite their listeners to crack one, as well.), curse, joke, and wind up offering a wildly entertaining and informative podcast for those both new to investing and those who've been at it a while and want to learn more.
This podcast, hosted by former Wall Street investor David Stein, focuses on the concepts of money and investing for do-it-yourself investors. Stein often reaches back into his experiences as an institutional investor to frame an issue, examine the portfolio management mistakes he made, and show how a better understanding of stocks, bonds and funds translates directly to a more robust investment portfolio. Recent episodes like "How to Better Manage Risk" and "How to Invest Like a Tesla" illustrate Stein's "go it alone" investment approach, a concept he brings to his listeners every podcast.
The "Radical Personal Finance" podcast, hosted by Joshua Sheats, offers a one-hour counseling session from a certified financial planner's point of view. Sheats covers personal finance from a specialist's vantage point, offering actionable tips and strategies for listeners who don't want or need the inspirational talk they get from other podcasts. As Sheats puts it, the show teaches you the critical thinking skills and the background knowledge to equip you to think for yourself, as an investor and as a household breadwinner. The podcast airs several times a week, giving you a regular dose of candid and unvarnished talk about money, in a real-world way.
Ramsey is a born audio entertainer and this podcast is his platform. A noted "tough talker" on the subject of money, Ramsey doesn't sugarcoat anything, as recent podcasts like "The Borrower Is Slave to the Lender – Even If the Lender Is Family" and "You Don't Have to Have a Car Payment" attest. Ramsey is especially adept at helping listeners in financial trouble, and he's never more upbeat when he hears someone has used his strategies to get out of debt – a frequent topic with the Dave Ramsey brand.
If you've already accumulated a fair amount of wealth and are on track to being what Wall Street calls a "high net worth investor", then the "White Coat" podcast is for you. The podcast is hosted by Jon Dahle, a practicing board-certified emergency physician with 12 years of practice. Dahle said he started the podcast because he was "sick of financial professionals ripping (him) off." His mantra that having a high income doesn't equate to high wealth shines through on every podcast, which is only quick-hit 15- to 30-minute shows. Dahle wants his listeners to walk away with a single actionable wealth creation theme every show and judging by his growing number of listeners, he's on the right track.
This podcast blends the finance and investment blog/content world with the podcast work, curating the best finance blogs of the week and digging down into the best information gleaned from those blogs for the listener's use. If you're in a rush and want to get the lowdown on the best finance and investment advice of the day, in 15-minute bites, look no further than OFD.
This podcast is for the serious investor, as host Sean O'Shaughnessy talks money and investing with some of the sharpest minds on Wall Street. The talk tends to be at a high-level pace and may not be the go-to podcast for you if you want some simple information on stocks, bonds, and funds. But if you want to take a bigger bite of the apple and delve into more complex investment themes like private equity, cryptocurrencies and foreign currency investing, then "Invest Like the Best" is a must-listen podcast.
There's stock market investing and there's real estate investing, and this podcast covers the latter. The BPP broadcast is currently the No.1-rated real estate investing podcast on the air. As the co-hosts, Brandon Turner and David Green describe it, the show (which airs on Thursdays) focuses on off-the-cuff interviews with investors of various backgrounds, niches, and experience levels – all of whom have a vast wealth of experience to share on one of the trickiest investment categories around. If you're looking to flip a house or buy a condo unit, this podcast is well worth a listen.
