HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

What if the secret to never worrying about money again isn't earning more or spending less?

Jesse Mecham, founder of the beloved budgeting app YNAB (You Need A Budget) and author of the new book Never Worry About Money Again By Answering One Question, is joins us to dig into why so many of us carry a constant low-grade hum of money anxiety — even when the numbers are fine — and how asking three simple words, "What's it for?", can change everything.

Then, Lacy Garcia, founder and CEO of Willow, joins Jean to discuss Strangers: A Memoir of Marriage by Belle Burden, the book that has taken over book clubs, group chats, and DMs everywhere this year.

Willow is also hosting a follow-up webinar, Empowering Her Finances, August 18th at 1 ET: Register Here! You can find Lacy and the team at Willow at hermoney.com/findaadvisor.
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$100,000 used to mean you'd made it. Today, in some cities, it barely covers groceries — and there's a real reason that gap feels so wide. This week, Jean sits down with Mark Hamrick, Chief Economic Analyst and writer of The Hamrick Brief, to unpack why the official numbers so often miss how people actually feel about their money.

Mark recently built his own economic measure, HAPI (the Hamrick American Prosperity Index), designed to answer one question: are people actually getting ahead, or just running in place? Plus, Mark shares the one economic "skill" he believes matters most in this moment of nonstop change — and how to build it, even if it doesn't come naturally.

In this episode, you'll learn:

What HAPI measures, and why Mark built it as the mirror image of the Misery Index

Why real wage growth — not just unemployment — is the number that actually predicts how "ahead" people feel

The real odds of a recession in the next 12 months, according to economists

Want to make sure you never run out of money, no matter what’s happening in the economy? Pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck.
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You saved. You invested. You did everything right. So why does spending your own money in retirement feel so terrifying?

This week, Jean sits down with Terri Fiedler, President of Retirement Services at Corebridge Financial, to dig into why the spending side of retirement is so much harder than saving, and what you can do about it right now.

They cover:

The "retirement paradox": why 60% of retirees whose assets have grown still can't bring themselves to spend

Why guaranteed lifetime income is the single biggest confidence booster for retirees

The three questions everyone should be asking five to ten years before they retire

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Corebridge Financial's decumulation research: corebridgefinancial.com/decumulation

Jean's new book: The Forever Paycheck

HerMoney's conversation with Dana Anspach: The Retirement Phase Nobody Talks About

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You know that feeling when you're staring at two versions of the same appliance and have absolutely no idea which one is actually worth it? Today we're getting some answers.

Jean Chatzky sits down with Tanya Christian, Senior Home and Appliance Writer at Consumer Reports, for a special mailbag episode answering your real questions about the stuff you actually want to buy, or are wondering if you should.

In this episode:

Is a Vitamix actually worth $600? (And when to buy one if you want it)

Should you ever buy an extended warranty?

What actually matters when choosing a mattress

The truth about "cooling" pillows and sheets

Links mentioned:

Subscribe to Bread and Butter by Consumer Reports.

Send your mailbag questions to: mailbag@hermoney.com

Pre-order Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck
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Every few weeks, another tech titan promises to hand us our time back. Jamie Dimon says a shorter workweek is coming. Elon Musk says AI will make work optional. Bill Gates is predicting two-day workweeks. Sounds amazing, except we don't actually need AI to get there. The research proving a shorter workweek works has been sitting in front of us for over a decade.

This week, bestselling author and veteran journalist Joanne Lipman joins Jean Chatzky to unpack the gap between what these executives are promising in public and what they're actually demanding from their employees in private.

In this episode, Jean and Joanne cover:

Why the same executives predicting an AI-powered leisure future are also the most insistent on five-day, in-office weeks

What over a decade of four-day workweek research shows about productivity, revenue, and burnout

Why new technology almost never reduces our workload

Preorder Jean's new book: The Forever Paycheck is your guide to building a secure, steady income stream in retirement.
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