Your Money Guide on the Side

• Ep 29 - The Portfolio Sanity Check: 7 Steps to Vet Your Own Investments Like a Pro (Without Having a Nervous Breakdown)

  This week on Your Money Guide on the Side, we’re tackling one of the questions I used to get more than any other—right after “Should I buy gold?” and “Is my advisor secretly bad at this?”We’re talking about how to vet your own portfolio. Not how to invest—that’s for another episode. This is about taking the pulse of your current investments and asking: Does this still make sense for my life?You’ll walk away with 7 practical steps to audit your own portfolio, whether you DIY, use an advisor, or have a Frankenstein’s monster of accounts stitched together from every job you’ve ever had. We’ll walk through questions like:Do you understand what you own—or is it the Donkle McFlonkerton Growth Fund?Can you see all your accounts in one place—or are they scattered like mustard packets in your fridge?Are your fees reasonable—or are you quietly tipping a deli worker $18 to assemble your own sandwich?Can you access your money when you actually need it?Is your portfolio accidentally built for a version of you who can stomach rollercoaster markets…but actually can’t?Are you diversified—or just holding Apple stock four different ways under four different fund names?And finally: Is it simple enough to forget about?Because believe it or not, that’s the goal. Not to beat the market, but to build something so clean, boring, and well-designed that it just hums along in the background—freeing up your brain for better things. Like your family. Or your dog. Or binge-watching season three of Is It Cake? without guilt.🎯 This episode is for you if:You’ve got multiple accounts and no idea what’s inside them.You’re unsure what you’re paying in fees—or if those fees are fair.You want clarity, simplicity, and confidence in your investments, without learning Latin.You suspect your portfolio is more complicated than it needs to be.You want a clear, evergreen checklist to revisit any time your finances feel murky.Quick Favor? If this show has been helpful, I’d be grateful if you’d leave a review on Apple Podcasts or share it with someone who might need a financial tune-up. Every episode is built to be evergreen—so whether you’re listening today or in 2035 while AI dogs are walking themselves, my goal is for it to still make sense, still help, and still cut through the noise.Thanks for being here.Let’s run the sanity check.

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• Ep 28 - Taylor Sohns - 3 (Rational) Reasons to Take Social Security at 62 (Or: How to Stop Deferring an Already Deferred Life)

  How secure is your future benefit and what should you actually do about it?Taylor Sohns is a Certified Financial Planner™ and co-founder of Life Goal Wealth Advisors. Before starting his own firm, Taylor spent over a decade inside some of Wall Street’s biggest investment shops — the ones that build the ETFs, mutual funds, and hedge funds you’ve probably been pitched. Now he works on the other side of the table, helping everyday investors align their portfolios with their real-world goals.📚 What We Discuss with Taylor Sohns:🧮 02:30 — “Coming back to the math” — social security basics 📊 05:20 — The cumulative payout — monthly benefit vs. break-even point ❤️ 08:15 — Spousal benefits — why your timing affects more than just you 📉 11:50 — Social security cuts — what to consider beyond just “take it early” 💼 15:55 — Working after you start social security — common myths 📅 18:00 — Who should wait, who shouldn’t — the role of base rates and earning history 🧠 22:20 — Investment management = behavior management — risk, emotion, and real-life planning 🎯 26:15 — How risk tolerance is actually measured — and how firms get it wrong 📺 29:00 — Reactive news and robust markets — longterm vision ⚖️ 33:30 — Passive vs. active investing — ETFs, experience and exposure. 🔀 37:00 — Is there a middle ground? When active management makes sense💡 What You’ll Walk Away WithHow to assess your own social security timing with math — not fearWhat to know about spousal and survivor benefits before you make a moveHow potential cuts to the system could affect your plan (and what not to panic about)What it really means to “work while claiming” — and who that works forWhy risk tolerance isn’t just a form — and how to think about your own appetite for volatilityA clearer understanding of the real debate between passive and active investing🧾 Resources MentionedLife Goal Wealth Advisors → www.lifegoalinvestments.comTaylor on Instagram → @lifegoalinvestmentsSocial Security calculator → www.ssa.gov/benefits/retirement/estimator.htmlCFP Board → www.letsmakeaplan.orgIf you're still game to support the show, leaving a quick review really helps — even one sentence goes a long way!You can also join thousands of other investing-minded folks by subscribing to the newsletter:https://socialcapconnect.substack.com/Check out episode 26 with Tess Waresmith — a financial educator who shares the costly investing mistakes she made in her 20s, how to vet financial advisors, and why your ignorance is often someone else’s profit.

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• Ep 27 - 5 Ways to Make ChatGPT Your (Free) Financial Advisor (Without Getting Sued or Sold a Timeshare)

  What if your smartest financial sidekick never sleeps, never judges, and doesn’t charge 1% AUM?In this episode of Your Money Guide on the Side, Tyler Gardner explores how to use ChatGPT—not as your stock-picking guru, but as your emotionally-stable, algorithmic thought partner. One that can help you think better about money, values, timelines, and fees—without selling you a whole life policy disguised as “peace of mind.”We break it down into five key ways AI can help you think more clearly, not just calculate faster:🧭 Clarify Your Values Ask ChatGPT: “What do I actually want money to do for me?” Spoiler: “Retire early and drink wine in Italy” is not a core value—it’s a Pinterest board. Let AI help you write a personal money mission statement and filter out everyone else’s goals.🧠 Understand Your Risk Profile Forget the nonsense quizzes (“If the market drops 20%, do you: A) Buy more, B) Cry in the tub...”). ChatGPT can simulate scenarios, unpack your financial behavior, and help you discover if you’re actually more golden retriever than honey badger when volatility hits.📆 Map Your Timeline Your life isn’t one big finish line. It’s a winding trail with sabbaticals, pivots, slow travel years, and expensive hobbies you haven’t picked yet. Use AI to draft your financial timeline and test your plan against reality—before your knees give out.💸 Analyze Your Fees The 1% “small” fee isn’t small when you compound it for 30 years. ChatGPT can help you unpack your advisor agreement or prospectus, run cost projections, and tell you whether you’re paying for advice—or just someone else’s lake house.📊 Review Your Portfolio Paste in your holdings and let AI review your diversification, concentration, expense ratios, and risk alignment. You may find out your “balanced” portfolio is just three tech stocks in a trench coat.🔍 Bonus: Ask it to roleplay your 65-year-old self reviewing your current plan. You might learn what your future self wishes you’d done while you still have time to do it.Bottom Line: This isn’t about replacing all humans with robots. It’s about using sharper tools to ask better questions:– What do I value? – What’s my actual risk tolerance? – When do I want money to matter? – What am I really paying? – Is my current strategy aligned with who I want to become?If AI can help you do that without judgment, jargon, or sales tactics—why not use it?So go ahead. Paste your plan. Ask the “dumb” question. And remember: the smartest people in the room aren’t the ones with all the answers—they’re the ones still curious enough to keep asking.If this episode made you laugh, think, or recheck your advisor’s fee schedule—leave a review on Apple Podcasts or send it to a friend still paying 1.75% and calling it “normal.”

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• Ep 26 - Tess Waresmith - 3 Silent Wealth Killers Hiding in Plain Sight (Or Small Print)

  Tess Waresmith is a financial educator, speaker, and investor known for helping people reach financial independence with simple investing. She’s the founder of Wealth With Tess, where she helps women build wealth and confidence through investing. Tess has been featured by CNBC, Business Insider, and Fox 5 NY, and is a self-made millionaire focused on helping others avoid the mistakes that cost her… well let’s not go there.📚 What We Discuss with Tess Waresmith:🔍 03:15 — Early mistakes and financial wake-up calls — who should handle your money? 💸 06:40 — Millions lost in fees — how hidden costs quietly eat your future 📈 08:15 — “It’s not that hard” — building confidence by learning the basics 🧠 10:00 — Asset allocation 101 — understanding fiduciary duty and financial jargon 🧾 13:00 — Learned money scripts and access to real financial literacy ⚖️ 15:00 — Avoiding absolutes — why personal finance isn’t one-size-fits-all ⏳ 17:20 — The time investment of investing — and why it’s worth it 🚫 20:00 — Breaking up with your advisor — navigating the money manager minefield 🚩 25:55 — Red flags in your fees — questions to ask and answers to expect 🤫 29:00 — Your ignorance is someone’s profit — staying sharp in a noisy market 🎓 30:30 — $50K of financial education in 4 minutes — a crash course curriculum ⚡ 35:30 — Lightning round! — quickfire investing truths and final thoughts💡 What You’ll Walk Away WithHow to spot hidden fees that quietly drain your portfolioThe confidence to make financial decisions without outsourcing everythingWhat to ask before trusting someone with your moneyA basic framework for asset allocation and fiduciary responsibilityWhy there's no single “right” way to investTools for becoming an informed investor, even if you’re starting from scratch🧾 ResourcesTess’s website: www.wealthwithtess.comFinancial independence mini-course: www.wealthwithtess.com/fiFollow Tess on Instagram: @wealthwithtessFeatured on:CNBCBusiness InsiderFox 5 NYIf you're still game to support the show, leaving a quick review really helps — even one sentence goes a long way.You can also join thousands of other investing-minded folks by subscribing to the newsletter: one practical idea, once a week, zero fluff — www.tylergardner.com/newsletters.Check out episode 23 with Bill Perkins — a hedge fund manager and author of Die With Zero, who explains why the best return on investment might be spending your money now on experiences that matter.

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• Ep 25 - The ONLY 6 Accounts You Will Ever Need (And How to Use Each of Them Strategically)

  In this solo episode, Tyler breaks down the only six financial accounts you’ll ever truly need—and more importantly, how to actually use them. Whether you’re just getting started or managing a more complex portfolio, this is your streamlined, nonsense-free guide to designing a system that works.No more chasing every new fintech app or wondering if you’re missing something. If you’ve ever felt overwhelmed by the alphabet soup of financial tools, Tyler’s here to cut through the noise and give you a clear path forward. These six accounts are enough to build wealth, protect your downside, and create long-term flexibility. And anything beyond them? Likely just extra complexity disguised as “optimization.”What You’ll Learn:Why a regular checking account should be boring—and how to keep it that wayHow to think about a High-Yield Savings Account (HYSA): the “glovebox” for your cash—not your investment engineThe power of a Roth IRA—and how it’s often misunderstoodWhy a pre-tax IRA or 401(k) still matters, even if retirement feels far awayThe secret weapon of the wealthy: the HSA (Health Savings Account) and how to use it for more than doctor’s visitsHow a taxable brokerage account unlocks true flexibility—and why you might want to use it before maxing everything elsePlus:A better metaphor than “bucket strategy”Why most emergencies aren’t emergencies at all (and what that means for where your cash lives)The order Tyler recommends for prioritizing contributionsWhen not to use these accounts (because yes, even the Roth IRA can be misused)Whether you're 25 and just opening your first Roth, or 55 and wondering how to consolidate accounts, this episode gives you a timeless roadmap to simplify your finances without oversimplifying your life. As always, Tyler brings the clarity, the nuance, and just enough humor to make talking about tax-advantaged accounts… well, weirdly fun.

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