Financial Feminist

If there’s one piece of info to take away from today’s guest, it’s that there’s no "perfect" moment to buy a home. It's about timing your life, not the market. In today’s episode, I sat down with repeat guest Daryl Fairweather –– Chief Economist at Redfin and author of Hate the Game: Economic Cheat Codes for Life, Love, and Work. We got into the real, updated math on buying a home in 2026: mortgage rates, whether prices have already peaked, the climate risk nobody's pricing in correctly, and the creative paths (co-buying, ADUs, house hacking) more people are turning to because the old rules just don't work anymore. If you've felt priced out, behind, or like homeownership might not be "in the cards" for you, this episode will change how you think about the whole decision.

Daryl’s Links:

Website: https://www.redfin.com/

Hate the Game book: https://www.hatethegamebook.com/

Daryl's IG: https://www.instagram.com/fairweatherphd/?hl=en

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

01:06 Is it too late to buy a home?

03:00 What winning looks like when the system feels unwinnable

04:27 Smart next moves for stuck renters and would-be buyers

06:34 Why housing may get more affordable over the next decade

08:21 Climate change and the coming insurance crisis

11:22 When does buying actually make sense? (the 5-year rule)

14:53 How job stability and housing go hand in hand

17:05 Preparing to buy: talk to a lender early

19:58 Rethinking the 20% down payment

21:16 Creative paths to homeownership: co-buying, ADUs, house hacking

25:07 Starter home vs. waiting for the dream home

27:39 How housing costs will reshape households and family life

28:58 Will the housing market crash?

32:29 Misconceptions keeping people stuck

35:54 What to do if you're priced out right now

37:24 The mindset shift: timing your life, not the market
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There's a sentence I hear from women more than almost any other: "I'm bad with money." Today's guest spent six years proving that sentence isn't a fact — it's a belief, and beliefs can change. Nir Eyal, author of Beyond Belief, breaks down the science of why we get stuck telling ourselves the same money story, and exactly how to write a new one. In his new book, Beyond Belief, he digs into why the words that follow "I am" are so dangerous, and why getting comfortable with discomfort is the real skill behind almost every financial win. We get into identity, self-trust, why you can't see your own limiting beliefs (but can spot everyone else's), and the research that proves belief can override biology. This one will change how you talk to yourself about money.

Nir’s Links:

Free Belief Change Guide: www.nirandfar.com/beyond-belief-live

30-Day Belief Transformation Journal: nirandfar.com/beyond-belief

Website: http://nirandfar.com

LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/nireyal/

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

03:00 Facts vs. beliefs vs. faith

05:00 Identity and the danger of "I am" statements

06:00 Belief can override biology

09:00 Self-trust and building your own track record

12:00 The evolutionary reason your brain resists change

16:00 The mindset shift behind getting comfortable with discomfort

22:00 Byron Katie's four questions for examining a belief

26:00 Building a "portfolio of perspectives"

30:00 Naming systemic barriers without using them as an excuse

33:00 Choosing the belief that serves you

35:00 Locus of control — why believing you have agency changes outcomes

42:00 Challenging your thinking without tipping into toxic positivity

44:00 Why manifesting backfires (and what works instead)

49:00 Mental contrasting

52:00 Why chaos and struggle mean you're alive

54:00 Tori's own story of choosing to feel pain instead of avoiding it

55:00 The rat study — how belief in possible rescue changes persistence

1:00:00 Persistence over intelligence — the real predictor of success
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In this episode, I sat down with the “godfather of financial independence,” aka JL Collins, to demystify investing in the most approachable way possible. JL has been in the game for over 50 years and wrote The Simple Path to Wealth—a book that’s helped nearly a million people understand how to grow their money with confidence. And today, he’s breaking it all down for you. We get real about what investing actually is, why you don’t need a finance degree to build wealth, and how the entire financial industry has tried to gatekeep this information. JL shares why index funds are his go-to, how to avoid common investing mistakes, and why market dips aren’t disasters—they’re opportunities. Whether you’re brand new to investing or just want a no-BS refresh on the basics, this conversation is for you.

JL’s Links:

The Simple Path to Wealth: https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Simple-Path-to-Wealth-(Revised- Expanded-Edition)/JL-Collins/9798893310474

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan: ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠.

00:00 Intro

03:24 Personal Finance Beginnings

06:44 The Birth of a Financial Blog

14:26 Understanding Index Funds

28:31 The FIRE Movement Explained

36:02 Calculating Financial Independence

40:28 Market Volatility: Should You Change Your Strategy?

44:48 Adjusting Investment Strategies Near Retirement

53:44 Ethical Investing: Pros and Cons

01:01:21 The Role of Financial Advisors

01:06:53 Key Insights for Successful Investing
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College is expensive, but there's money on the table that most families never touch. Today's guest walked away from college completely debt-free, not because she was a straight-A student or a star athlete, but because she treated scholarships like a system instead of a luck-based lottery. Jocelyn Pearson, founder of The Scholarship System, has since helped families across the US secure almost $17 million in scholarships. We get into the myths keeping families from even trying, why the small-dollar scholarships matter more than the $100K ones, how to build reusable application materials so you're not starting from scratch every time. If you've got a student headed to college (or you're the student), this one is required listening.

Jocelyn’s links:

Free webinar: https://thescholarshipsystem.com/financialfeminist

Scholarship Superpower Quiz: thescholarshipsystem.com/financialfeministquiz

Not sure what to do with your money? Visit ⁠https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod⁠ and take our FREE quiz to get your personalized money plan, and find any resources mentioned on our show!

00:00 Intro

01:18 Jocelyn's $126K Scholarship Story

03:41 Why Strategy Beats Luck

04:13 The 4 Biggest Scholarship Myths

07:18 The Real Reason Families Don't Apply

10:51 The "All or Nothing" Mindset

13:43 Building a Reusable Essay System

16:32 Other Reusable Application Assets

17:13 What Committees Are Really Looking For

21:05 How to Talk About Your Major

21:59 Who Wins When Two Finalists Are Equal

23:31 How (and How Not) to Use AI

27:35 The Overlooked Small-Dollar Scholarships

33:28 Department Scholarships & Asking for More

33:30 When Your Financial Situation Changes

35:21 Navigating the Middle-Income Gap

47:47 The Student Loan Forgiveness Reality Check

49:52 The True Cost of Co-Signing

52:54 The #1 Trait of Successful Scholarship Families

54:53 Jocelyn's Free Resources & Quiz
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What does it mean to live a truly “rich life?” This is a re-release of one of our favorite conversations: Tori sits down with Ramit Sethi, New York Times bestselling author of I Will Teach You To Be Rich and host of the Netflix show How to Get Rich. They get into what it actually means to build a rich life, why renting can beat buying even when you can afford to buy, how to negotiate literally everything (including your rent), and what couples are really fighting about when they fight about money — hint: it's never actually about Target.

Ramit’s Links:

Website: https://www.iwillteachyoutoberich.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ramit/?hl=en

Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/money-for-couples-with-ramit-sethi/id1577864998

Learn the exact strategies to save money, pay off debt, improve your money mindset, and increase your net worth. Get your personalized plan here: https://herfirst100k.com/ffpod.

00:00 Intro: What Is a Rich Life?

01:13 Ramit's First Money Memory

05:01 It's Expensive to Be Poor

05:20 Playing the Game While Changing the System

07:25 Why High School Finance Classes Don't Work

11:13 The Case for Renting Over Buying

17:21 How to Negotiate Your Rent

22:38 Building a Course Business

24:44 What Couples Actually Fight About

27:58 Defining Your Rich Life

35:50 What Women Are Taught About Money

37:17 The Money Dial Exercise

38:37 The Michelin Star Story

40:38 Money & Marriage: Ramit's Personal Experience

42:30 The Monthly Money Date

44:03 Gendered Fears in Relationships

51:44 Women Out-Earning Their Partners

52:05 The $400K Debt Couple

53:02 Your Feelings About Money ≠ Your Balance
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