NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast | Podcast Guru

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Episodes

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NerdWallet’s trusted finance journalists answer real-world money questions to help you make smarter financial decisions with confidence. Each episode dives deep into topics like budgeting, saving, investing, home buying, and credit cards, cutting through misinformation to bring you clear, actionable advice backed by thorough research. By the end of every episode, you’ll have the latest financial insights and the tools you’ll need to manage your money wisely, build wealth, and plan for life’s milestones. And if you have questions for the Nerds, you can leave them a voicemail at 901-730-6373. Join hosts Sean Pyles, CFP®, Elizabeth Ayoola, and other expert Nerds as they answer your biggest money questions and share strategies to help you build wealth and reach your financial goals, including: – Investing: Advanced investment strategies, integrating ETFs and mutual funds into a diversified portfolio, tax-efficient retirement planning, understanding Roth IRA conversions, and navigating robo-advisors. – Credit Cards: Top credit cards for travel rewards and luxury perks, balance transfer strategies, maximizing credit card points, and optimizing credit card usage to boost your credit score. – Personal Finance: Advanced budgeting tips, building generational wealth, creating effective savings plans, managing high-income expenses, and developing a strong money growth mindset. – Home: Smart strategies for homebuying in competitive markets, leveraging home equity loans and HELOCs, refinancing for long-term savings, first-time homebuying tips, and budgeting for major home improvements. If you’re searching for the best personal finance podcasts or want practical knowledge to make smarter money decisions, then follow NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast. You’ll love NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast if you like podcasts like: Planet Money, The Personal Finance Podcast, DIY Money, Afford Anything, How to Money, The Ramsey Show, Money Rehab with Nicole Lapin, NPR’s Life Kit: Money, Popcorn Finance, Money Girl,Money Guy Show, Everyone’s Talkin’ Money, So Money with Farnoosh Tarabi, The Money with Katie Show, All the Hacks with Chris Hutchins, The Stacking Benjamins Show, MoneyWatch with Jill Schlesinger, or Your Money, Your Wealth. NerdWallet Compare, Inc. NMLS ID# 1617539 NMLS Consumer Access: http://www.nmlsconsumeraccess.org/

Recent Episodes

Points and Miles vs Cash Back: Pick a Credit Card That Matches Your Spending

MAR 16, 2026

Points and Miles vs Cash Back: Pick a Credit Card That Matches Your Spending

Learn how to choose your next credit card by weighing airline perks, annual fees, and simple cash back rewards. How do you choose a credit card when the options feel endless? Should a family of four choose an airline credit card or a more flexible rewards card? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss travel rewards and everyday rewards to help you understand how to match a card to your real spending habits. Joined by credit card Nerd Sara Rathner, they discuss how co-branded airline cards differ from general travel cards, why store cards can be risky if you carry a balance, and how cash back cards can reward everyday spending like groceries and dining. They also discuss budgeting for annual fees, reevaluating cards at renewal time, tracking a sign-up bonus spending deadline without overspending, and what can happen to your credit score if you cancel or downgrade a card. Card benefits, terms and fees can change. For the most up-to-date information about cards mentioned in this episode, read our reviews: NerdWallet’s 2026 Best-Of Awards Winners: Credit Cards Best Travel Credit Cards of March 2026 Best No Annual Fee Credit Cards of March 2026 Atmos Rewards Ascent Review: Well Worth $95 a Year Chase Sapphire Reserve Review: A High-End, High-Maintenance Card American Express Platinum Review: Top-Notch Lounge Access, Big Credits American Express Blue Cash Preferred Review AmEx Blue Cash Everyday Review: Rewarding, for no annual fee Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 MIN

Does Your Retirement Portfolio Match Your Values? Plus: Apple’s New MacBook Neo

MAR 12, 2026

Does Your Retirement Portfolio Match Your Values? Plus: Apple’s New MacBook Neo

Learn what chip shortages could mean for tech prices and how to align your target-date fund with your values. Will chip shortages make laptops and phones more expensive? How can you make a Roth 403(b) target-date fund reflect your politics and values? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss values-based retirement investing to help you understand how to check what’s inside your portfolio and what options you have when your workplace plan feels limiting. But first, news editor Rick VanderKnyff and personal finance writer Tommy Tindall join Elizabeth to discuss the latest consumer tech headlines. They discuss the tentative Live Nation/Ticketmaster settlement and what it could change about fees, Apple’s new lineup including the budget MacBook Neo, and how an AI-driven memory chip crunch could push up PC and smartphone prices. Then, investing Nerd Bella Avila joins Sean and Elizabeth to discuss how to make your retirement portfolio better match your values without having to pick individual stocks. They discuss ways to find the “nested” funds and holdings inside a target-date fund, how to use tools like AI and third-party screeners to spot value conflicts and double-check what you find, and alternatives that may offer more control such as an IRA, a self-directed brokerage option in your plan, direct indexing, or a robo-advisor. Subscribe to MoneyNerd, our weekly email newsletter, at https://moneynerd-nerdwallet.beehiiv.com/ Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 MIN

Frugal Fatigue Is Real: How to Stop Saving Burnout and Start Spending on Purpose

MAR 9, 2026

Frugal Fatigue Is Real: How to Stop Saving Burnout and Start Spending on Purpose

Learn how to build a budget with room for fun so you can save money without guilt. How can you save toward big goals without letting frugality turn into burnout? How do you stop shaming yourself for spending on fun? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola respond to a listener named Michael who’s skipping trips, staying in, and feeling guilty whenever they spend. Joined by personal finance writer Kim Palmer, they unpack frugal fatigue and money shame, explore how “money stories” and scarcity mindset can fuel obsessive saving, and share practical ways to budget for joy. Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

22 MIN

Will Your Streaming Bill Jump? Plus, How to Pick a Budgeting App You’ll Actually Use

MAR 5, 2026

Will Your Streaming Bill Jump? Plus, How to Pick a Budgeting App You’ll Actually Use

Find out what Paramount’s bid for Warner Bros. Discovery could mean for streaming, then learn how to pick a budgeting app you’ll actually use. How do you pick a budgeting app that helps you see where your money goes? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola discuss budgeting apps to help you understand how to track spending without making budgeting your second job. But first, news writer Rick VanderKnyff joins the show to discuss Paramount’s bid to buy Warner Bros. Discovery with Anthony Palomba, a media scholar and assistant professor at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. They discuss what major brands and streaming platforms are on the line, how the bidding played out after Netflix walked away, and what the deal could mean for consumers. Then Sean and Elizabeth do a “Budget Rehab” with listener Rashondra, covering budgeting styles and the 50/30/20 framework, how big line items like a car lease and groceries can shift your “needs” category, and what to look for when comparing tools like Empower, YNAB, EveryDollar, Monarch, and NerdWallet’s budgeting app. Subscribe to MoneyNerd, our weekly email newsletter, at https://moneynerd-nerdwallet.beehiiv.com/ Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

49 MIN

The “Commingled Purchase” Problem That Budget Apps Don’t Warn You About

MAR 2, 2026

The “Commingled Purchase” Problem That Budget Apps Don’t Warn You About

Discover simple rules that can cut budget tracking fatigue and still show you where your money goes. How can you make a budgeting app reflect what you actually bought when one Costco or Target run covers five or 10 different categories? And how can you track those “commingled” purchases without spending your life itemizing receipts? Hosts Sean Pyles and Elizabeth Ayoola talk with personal finance Nerd Amanda Barroso about how to handle mixed transactions so your budget feels usable instead of exhausting. They begin with a discussion of why this problem is so common, features in budgeting apps like Monarch, YNAB, and EveryDollar that make categorizing easier, and how to decide when perfect tracking is the enemy of “good enough.” Then, they discuss practical ways to reduce budgeting fatigue while still learning where your money goes. They discuss how different apps approach splitting transactions, how to think about tradeoffs between accuracy and effort, and how to set simple personal rules that keep you consistent even when shopping gets messy. The Best Budget Apps for 2026: https://www.nerdwallet.com/finance/learn/best-budget-apps Want us to review your budget? Fill out this form — completely anonymously if you want — and we might feature your budget in a future segment! https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScK53yAufsc4v5UpghhVfxtk2MoyooHzlSIRBnRxUPl3hKBig/viewform?usp=header To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

24 MIN