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Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

Afford Anything | Get Smarter With Money

By: Paula Pant Personal Finance Expert | Cumulus Podcast Network
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45 million downloads. One question: what does it actually take to build wealth? Each week, Paula Pant brings in economists, investors, business leaders, authors, and researchers to dig into the five pillars of financial freedom — financial psychology, increasing income, investing, real estate, and entrepreneurship. Deep insights rooted in economics and behavioral finance. First-principles thinking. No surface-level tips. to hear new episodes every Tuesday and Friday. Get smarter with money. Build wealth.© Afford Anything LLC Economics Leadership Management & Leadership Personal Finance
Episodes
  • Is AI Making You Dumber? With Lorraine Marchand

    Is AI Making You Dumber? With Lorraine Marchand
    Jul 10 2026
    #731: What if the best way to test a new hire wasn't a resume, but a two-hour breakfast? One CEO built his entire hiring process around it — and it worked. Lorraine Marchand spent three decades in leadership roles at companies like IBM, Bristol-Myers Squibb, and LabCorp, and interviewed more than 120 CEOs for her book on what actually makes teams innovate. Now she teaches at Wharton and Columbia Business School, and in this episode she joins Paula to share what really works. In this episode, we discuss: How one CEO used a casual team breakfast to test whether a new hire was the right fit before they came on board A simple three-question test to figure out if a bad job culture is fixable, or if it's time to start looking elsewhere Why a weekly 30-minute habit of talking about what's not working can make a team stronger How to network your way into opportunities early in your career, even if you're worried AI will replace you first What new research on memory loss and heavy AI use means for how you should be using these tools How to protect your job in your 50s and 60s as companies push AI adoption on everyone Where Marchand thinks the next wave of entrepreneurial opportunity is actually hiding (hint: it's not another app) Whether you're building a team from scratch, trying to decide if a toxic job is worth fixing, or just trying to use AI without losing your edge, this episode gives you practical takeaways you can put to use right away. ⏱️ TIMESTAMPS Note: Timestamps may vary slightly depending on dynamic ad placements. (02:00) – The team breakfast test: how one CEO used a shared meal to hire the right people (17:38) Should you try to fix a bad culture, or start looking for a new job? (26:29) Why people follow good bosses, not companies (28:26) Networking advice for people early in their career (30:25) What heavy AI use might be doing to your memory and thinking (31:06) AI job displacement and the skills worth building now (50:56) Using AI as a thought partner to build emotional intelligence (58:23) Advice for workers in their 50s and 60s worried about AI and ageism (1:06:00) Building a team of humans and AI "agents" — including an AI board of directors (1:14:43) Where Marchand sees the next wave of entrepreneurship and innovation heading 🔗 RESOURCES MENTIONED THE SIMPLE THREE-STEP PROCESS THAT CHANGES HOW YOU THINK ABOUT EVERYTHING 👉https://affordanything.com/turnitaround Landit – The AI-powered interview and communication prep tool mentioned in the episode 👉 https://www.landitinterview.ai/ Lorraine Marchand's website 👉 https://www.lorrainemarchand.com/ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 17 mins
  • Q&A: We Have $1.5 Million. Can We Stop Now?

    Q&A: We Have $1.5 Million. Can We Stop Now?
    Jul 7 2026
    #730: What does it actually mean to have "enough" — and how do you know when it's time to stop optimizing and start living? AVOIDING THE REAL ESTATE MISTAKES IN THIS FREE GUIDE COULD SAVE YOU $10,000 OR MORE 👉https://affordanything.com/mistakes In today's episode: Jax, a longtime listener, has hit a mindset shift — prioritizing sabbaticals and shared experiences over pure accumulation. He wants to know if his financial strategy still matches his values, how to deploy his home sale proceeds, when to assemble a financial team, and whether he and his wife have truly reached Coast FI. Megan and her wife are realtors in Baltimore who also flip houses. They're weighing whether to keep flipping, build a rental portfolio, or lean harder into retirement accounts and index funds — and want a framework for balancing it all as they plan for more travel and time with family. And Reema lives with her husband in the home she grew up in — which her mother still owns. As they plan renovations and think ahead to her mother's eventual estate, she's looking for guidance on how to split the inheritance fairly with her siblings. Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your dog sitter4: https://affordanything.com/episode730 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 3 mins
  • First Friday: Jobs Are Cooling, Prices Are Climbing, and NYC is Freezing the Rent

    First Friday: Jobs Are Cooling, Prices Are Climbing, and NYC is Freezing the Rent
    Jul 3 2026
    #729: The U.S. added 57,000 jobs in June. Economists expected 115,000. Meanwhile, inflation hit a three-year high. The Personal Consumption Expenditures index - the Fed's favorite inflation gauge - jumped 4.1 percent year-over-year. That combination creates a problem. Weak jobs usually push the Fed to cut rates. Hot inflation pushes them to hike. In this First Friday episode, we break down which way the Fed might lean at its September meeting, and why traders see an 80 percent chance rates stay frozen for now. We also dig into Kevin Warsh's debut as Fed Chairman. His first official statement ran only 132 words, one of the shortest in Fed history. He cut forward guidance – the practice of making guesses about what the Fed will do next. He removed the names of dissenting voters. His statement mentioned price stability but skipped maximum employment, and we explain why that omission matters. Central banks around the world moved in the opposite direction. The European Central Bank raised rates for the first time since 2023, responding to a 10.9 percent surge in energy prices. The Bank of Japan hiked rates to their highest level in 31 years. Australia, Norway, Indonesia, the Philippines and Israel joined in. Brazil was the only country to cut rates – down to 14.25 percent. We cover China's consumer spending decline, the first since the pandemic ended, driven by a 16.1 percent drop in auto sales and a real estate crash that drained middle-class wealth. We end the episode with a deep dive into NYC's rent freeze – who gets the benefit, and who pays the price? ⏱️ Timestamps: Note: Timestamps will vary on individual listening devices based on dynamic advertising segments. (00:00) US Job Market Cooling Off (04:52) Fed’s Stance on Interest Rates (07:29) New Fed Chair Kevin Warsh’s Priorities (17:21) Global Interest Rate Hikes (21:47) Impact of Stable US Rates & Global Trends (26:24) Inflation Data and Predictions (30:38) Consumer Sentiment: US vs. China (40:00) NYC Rent Freeze: History, Policies, and Today Share this episode with a friend, colleagues, and your landlord: https://affordanything.com/episode729 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
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    1 hr and 6 mins
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