So Money With Farnoosh Torabi

Kids grow fast, which means a whole new set of clothes every few months, which means constantly having to spend money on items your kids will use and then outgrow before you can blink an eye. So how can you keep your kids clothed without throwing money out the window? Thankfully, my guest today, Shannon Wilburn, has an answer: consignment sales.It started in 1997, when Shannon and her friend, both young moms in Tulsa, OK, had the idea to hold a small kids clothes sale in Shannon’s living room with 17 consigners. They sold $2000 in merchandise and each walked away with $150. From there the business, which they named Just Between Friends, grew, and within a few years they were holding multiple day sales in an expo-center in Tulsa and helping other moms start their own sales. In 2004, Shannon franchised the company and now Just Between Friends sales are held all over the country. Some of them even gross over a million dollars each!

In my Ask Farnoosh episodes I received a number of questions from  you about financial advisors. How do I know I’m ready to work with one? How much do they cost? Is it worth it?I also receive a number of questions about the growing market of “robo advisers” or online advisors that offer more affordable financial planning. You don’t get to meet with an advisor one-on-one but you receive a virtual plan that addresses your goals…And many people are participating. ..Still many are not sure if this is right for them.That’s why I’ve invited today’s guest…co-founder and CEO of Betterment, Jon Stein.  Betterment launched in 2008 and is, as the company says, “a smarter automated investing service that provides optimized investment returns for individual, IRA, Roth IRA & rollover 401(k) accounts… Through diversification, automated rebalancing, better behavior, and lower fees, Betterment customers can expect 4.30% higher returns than a typical DIY investor.” The company also practices automation and passive investing. I

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answers your biggest questions about breaking down credit scores, prioritizing your expenses, helping family members with finances and saving to buy a house.

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answer your biggest questions about quitting your job, AmEx returns, starting investing, budgeting for young couples, my favorite guest financial habits and diversifying your investments.

I have a guilty pleasure. And that guilty pleasure is an entire channel… known as Bravo.  From the Real Housewives of Beverly Hilss to Watch What Happens Live with Andy Cohen. And today, we have one of my favorite Bravolebrities: Millionaire Matchmaker Patti Stanger. She is the star and executive producer of the network’s hit series “The Millionaire Matchmaker” currently in its eighth season. If you’ve never watched the show Patti connects high net worth clients with women seeking love. The idea being that busy successful men don’t have time or the wherewithal to really make a meaningful connection on their own… And she flips it sometimes, too. I’ve watched her match millionaire women with men... and she’s also connecting same sex couples too, which is wonderful.What I admire most about Patti is her business savvy. She’s an experienced third-generation matchmaker. She founded her company, the Millionaire’s Club, in January 2000 and 15 years later it boasts more than 100,000 members available for its clients.

Imagine earning six figures…but being broke. Earning over $100,000…but facing the same amount in credit card debt.This is where the story of Brian Brandow begins. When trying to book a family vacation back in 2010, Brian says he hit a wall. All of his five credit cards were maxed out and he had no available cash. At the time he was making a great salary of $120,000 as an IT manager – more than enough to afford a vacation – and he quickly realized he and his wife needed to make a change. They were living far beyond their means, and had accumulated a whopping $109,000 in debt.So Brian and his wife set out to take control of their finances and their journey t tp financial freedom began. Brian educated himself on personal finance, his wife went back to work to bring in extra income, and they were able to clear the debt in just over 50 months or 4 years. Without having to worry about paying off debt, they now are able to contribute to an emergency fund, retirement savings and college funds for their three kids.Tod

A few weeks ago, my friend Kathy Braddock, the managing director of real estate company William Raveis, joined me for an interview. She had some great advice and insights on real estate and growing a successful business. Today, I am continuing that conversation with the founder of William Raveis, Mr. Bill Raveis himself.Bill founded William Raveis in one room over a grocery story in Fairfield, CT in 1974. He borrowed $2,000 to launch his firm – a firm which last year sold more than $8 billion worth of real estate. It is now the largest family-owned real estate company in the northeast with over 100 offices.Bill was the 1988 recipient of the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, among many others for his achievements in business. He also gives speeches across the country and has been published in numerous financial and real estate publications including Forbes Magazine and Real Estate Today.

Today’s guest proves that some people can transform a quirky hobby into a profitable business.Joe Brewer reached out to me with his story a few weeks ago.  His quirky hobby is arcade and pinball repairs and restoration. Salvaging an old, abadoned Ms. Pac Man arcade machine turned into a hobby of restoring vintage arcade and pinball machines which were found through Craigslist, online forums, or simply word of mouth.Joe has such a passion for this that he even has a full-blown arcade – Brewer's Arcade, it’s called -  in his home that you can actually visit. It’s open to the public a couple times per year.To date, he’s made a profit flipping games that he has restored and then sold and makes extra income running a YouTube channel, Brewers Arcade, which specializes in left handed guitars and you guessed it, arcade games!A little financial background on Joe - He and his wife live an anti-debt and fairly frugal lifestyle – their only debt is a mortgage where they make extra payments when possible.  They both live

Today I have the great honor of welcoming on the show my friend and design guru Nate Berkus. I've wanted to interview him since launching, but he’s had quite a busy year including celebrating the 20th anniversary of his design firm, and even more excitingly, becoming a father. He and husband Jeremiah are now the proud dads to Poppy Brent Berkus. Some background on Nate: In 2002 Nate was invited to make over a small space for “The Oprah Winfrey Show," after which he became a featured design expert for the show and continued to garner national press in publications such as Elle Decor, Architectural Digest, House Beautiful, Us Weekly, People, O Magazine, Lucky and InStyle, among others. Following the debut of his branded line of home products, Nate’s first book, "Home Rules" (Hyperion) was released in 2005 and went on to become a New York Times bestseller. “The Nate Berkus Show,” a daily syndicated first-run talk show hosted by Nate, launched in September 2010 and returned for a second season in the fall of 2011

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answer your biggest questions about selling collectibles, pre-tax and post-tax money decisions, finding side-hustles, multiple savings accounts and what to do with inheritance.

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh, I answer your biggest questions about paying off medical bills, starting a 529 plan, building your online brand and buying vs. leasing a car.

We are rounding out our series today with a Penn State grad, a fellow Penn State grad. I didn't know he was a Penn State grad until after we booked him, but very excited to introduce all of you to Jeff Johnson. He is a millionaire next-door at the ripe age of 37. He and his wife, Amanda follow disciplined, pragmatic and balanced financial behaviors, and they've acquired a net worth of more than a million dollars. They simply live a rather modest lifestyle in a two-bedroom townhouse in New Jersey, they enjoy the simple life experiences with their family and friends. Jeff and Amanda met while they were at Penn State University, similar to my husband and I. After graduating, they had a five-year long distance relationship. Amanda actually completed her doctorate of Clinical Psychology during that time frame and during the relationship while they were long distance, they had become each accustomed to certain conservative spending habits that they now continue to follow during their marriage. It's really nice to f

Welcome to the fourth episode of Millionaires Next Door! Today I’m chatting with Julie Rains, a freelance writer specializing in investing and mortgages from North Carolina! She has a finance degree from UNC Chapel Hill and has had experience working in financial analysis and accounting for Fortune 500 corporations, as well as personal experience in stock investing and paying off a mortgage.She shares her financial advice based on her own experiences and expertise on her blog Investing to Thrive, and she’s joining to today to tell us how she and her husband became millionaires.

Welcome back to So Money. I'm your host Farnoosh Torabi. Thanks for joining me. Doing something special this week. If you've been listening since Monday, you know it is millionaire's next door week. Dedicating the week to people across the country, in some cases across the globe, who are millionaires and you wouldn't really know it. They're frugal, they save their money wisely, they don't buy material things necessarily, they have sacred financial philosophies and we're gonna learn all about it this week. So inspired to introduce today's couple, we have a couple on So Money today. Jeremy Jacobson and Winnie Tseng. They run the personal finance blog Gocurrycracker.com. They are two normal people from lower income families, chasing the American dream, until they realized, you know what? The chase wasn't making them so happy. They sold their house, they sold their car, and started saving 70%, or more than 70% of their combined income. And in a short 10 years, while still in their 30's, they became financially in

Today is the second installment of the “Millionaires Next Door Series,” with another great guest Luann Abrams from Bend, OR. Two years ago she and her husband hit the $1mil mark, and are almost 2/3 of the way to the second million already! She is a former aerospace engineer, and is now a stay at home mom (but has a few side-hustles). And now that the couple has made it this far, her husband will be quitting his job soon to be a part of a start-up. He wont be making a salary for some time…So how are they going to manage?

We’re kicking off ‘Millionaire Next Door Week’ on So Money today.  We’ve been revving up for this spectacular week for some time, I’ve been enlisting your help to either nominate yourself or people you know and excited to say that we received many more entries than we could record for this first week…But perhaps we’ll do a second week later in the fall. So many nuggets of wisdom to share… Our first guest is Darrow Kirkpatrick, the author of Retiring Sooner: How to Accelerate your Financial Independence and who runs the blog Can I Retire Yet? And the answer for Darrow, at least is, YES. He, in fact retired when he was 50 years old with over a million in the bank. You wouldn’t really know…He has a modest home, rides his bike most places…And when I visited at his home a few years ago on a story for Yahoo News, I don't recall seeing a TV in his living room. Darrow graduated from the University of Virginia with a degree in Civil Engineering. He started and sold his own business…After 29 years of programming, desig

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh I answer your biggest questions about rewards credit cards, paying off loans, saving for retirement, financial issues with your partner and credit scores.

In today's episode of Ask Farnoosh I answer your biggest financial questions about creating money boundaries with family, rebuilding credit, real estate, crowdfunding, how to invest your inheritance, 401(k)s, pre-nups and compound interest.

Today's guest is Ryan Holiday. I had this wonderful guest on earlier this Spring and Ryan is a thought-provoking media strategist, bestselling author of three books, and he's not even 30 yet - I'm so jealous! Most recently his very successful books is called, The Obstacle is the Way: The Timeless Art of Turning Trials into Triumph. He has been responsible for a number of manipulative stunts and media controversies, and has been accused of being a "media manipulator" which he writes about in his first book Trust Me, I'm Lying. And he’s only 27 years old! After dropping out from University of California at 19 to apprentice under Robert Greene, author of The 48 Laws of Power, he went on to advise many bestselling authors and multiplatinum musicians, including 50 Cent and Tim Ferriss, whom I had the honor of interviewing earlier this year (check out episode 60).Ryan also served as Director of Marketing at American Apparel for many years, where his campaigns ended up being used as case studies by Twitter, YouTube,

Today’s guest has a really interesting story and is a woman after my own heart, helping young professionals navigate debt while teaching financial independence and what it means to be “financially fit.” Shannon McLay is a financial planner who left a stable job at a traditional financial services firm to start her own company, The Financial Gym. She felt that all traditional financial services firms did not offer the proper tools or resources to help young people in their 20s and 30s who are looking to build assets while also managing debt. Shannon believes that the key to long-term personal financial success is commitment to financial fitness and making smart financial choices. Well, amen to that! Through her company, Financially Blonde blog, her first book, “Train Your Way To Financial Fitness” and podcast, Martinis and Your Money, Shannon is covering all platforms so that financial fitness can be fun, easy and accessible to everyone! You can tune into her podcast every Friday to hear more from her.Three ta