HerMoney with Jean Chatzky

At HerMoney, we're always trying to make money a little less intimidating; breaking down the big, complicated stuff into things you can actually use in your real life. And when it comes to understanding the economy, nobody does that better than today's guest.

Alex Mayyasi is a contributor to Planet Money, the NPR podcast that has spent seventeen years making economics genuinely entertaining, and he and the team have just written a book: Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life. Alex also stuck around for a Mailbag, answering listener questions about tariffs, tax-loss harvesting, and why everything you buy seems to be getting more expensive but less high quality at the same time.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why the economy feels so broken right now, even when GDP is growing, inflation is down, and wages are solid

Baumol's Cost Disease: the simple but powerful concept that explains why childcare, healthcare, and college keep getting more expensive

What the history of the ATM tells us about AI and whether it's really going to take your job

Why it's nearly impossible to beat the market, and what a cute animal experiment reveals about how stocks actually work

The one economic principle Alex has found most useful in his own life, and why it applies to way more than just your money

Resources mentioned in this episode:

Planet Money’s new book, Planet Money: A Guide to the Economic Forces That Shape Your Life

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You've heard the rules. Subtract your age from 100. Go 60/40. Play it safer as you get older. But what if those long-held guidelines have been steering you wrong and costing you?

Yale finance professor James Choi returns to HerMoney to share groundbreaking research that could change the way you think about your investments forever. His new asset allocation formula goes far beyond the traditional rules of thumb, factoring in your income, your savings, your risk tolerance, and something most investment guidelines completely ignore: the future paychecks you haven't earned yet.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why the "100 minus your age" rule and the classic 60/40 portfolio have a critical blind spot 

The concept of "human capital" and why your future paychecks function like a bond in your overall wealth portfolio

How the formula shifts dramatically for mid-career investors, and why the size of your nest egg matters more than you think

What near-retirees and women already in retirement should really know about how much risk to take on

Resources mentioned in this episode:

James Choi's allocation spreadsheet calculator

The Wall Street Journal piece on James's research

Jean's new book, The Forever Paycheck (coming Sept 2026)

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Q1 2026 has been a lot. Tariffs. Oil above $100 a barrel. A war in the Middle East. Recession chatter. Stock market swings. And the creeping feeling that something has shifted in the economy… and not for the better.

This week, Jean Chatzky sits down with economist and fan-favorite guest Kathryn Edwards for a full Q1 economic report card and a roadmap for what Q2 might bring. 

In this episode:

The K-shaped economy explained

Why the White House's 4% growth projection was never realistic, and how we got from boom talk to recession odds so fast

How long oil prices need to stay elevated before the economic damage becomes truly lasting

Why Kathryn is still an optimist, and why she believes Americans are resilient to change

Links mentioned:

Follow Kathryn on socials: @kedseconomist

Subscribe to Optimist Economy wherever you get your podcasts

Join InvestingFixx — your first two classes are free!
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When was the last time you felt truly in control of your time? Not your calendar, not your to-do list…your time? If the answer is "I can't remember," this episode is for you.

Jean Chatzy is joined by Andy Hill, AFC, founder of Marriage, Kids, and Money, and author of Own Your Time: 10 Financial Steps to Put Your Family First and Escape the Corporate Grind. Together, they tackle your most pressing mailbag questions about the real tension so many of us are feeling right now: how do you balance saving aggressively for the future with actually enjoying your life today?

In this episode:

A 41-year-old high earner wants to know what to do with extra money beyond maxing out her accounts

A 54-year-old asks whether her financial advisor is right that fully funding her 401 (k) won't make much difference. 

A 52-year-old is stretched thin between her career and caring for her aging mom and wonders: Is it financially irresponsible to step back during her peak-earning years?

Andy also shares how he and his wife hit their Coast FIRE number, redesigned their lives around a 20-hour workweek, and what the first move looks like if you want to do the same.

Ready to make your money work harder so you don't have to? Join InvestingFixx and learn how to build a portfolio that buys back your time.
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You're earning more than you ever have. You're doing everything you were told to do. So why does it still feel like you can't get ahead?

This week, Jean sits down with Hanna Horvath, CFP, personal finance journalist, and writer behind the Substack Your Brain on Money, to talk about why so many women are struggling with money right now, and why it probably has a lot less to do with your choices than you think.

In this episode, you'll learn:

Why GDP being up and your life feeling hard are not contradictory, and what's actually driving the disconnect

The concept of mattering, and why losing your sense of economic contribution can feel like an identity crisis

The four money behaviors that show up when economic anxiety takes hold

Why community investment is one of the most underrated strategies for financial resilience

The one question to ask yourself before every spending decision

Join InvestingFixx, our twice-monthly women-only investing club. Your first two classes are always free.
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