Anyone who read my previous posts, An Unintentional Meander Up Grumpus Avenue Part 1 and Part 2 understands the cost associated with my  decisions to either work with a money management professional, or go it alone.  While I can’t promise that I will never use a professional service again, currently I am a dedicated DIY investor.  However, it is not like I forgo all professional advice.  It is simply that these days I do not pay for it.  In this post I intend to show you how I saved thousands of dollars over the last three years, while obtaining professional level money and investing advice.  I will also point you in the direction of where you might be able to obtain the same level of advice for free, or almost free.

This is supposed to be a picture of someone giving financial advice. I feel like it is missing … beer. That would probably ease the pain of the 1% AUM fee.

The Other Woman In My Life

A couple of my readers might remember a passing comment I made regarding interviews during my podcasts post.   I specifically mentioned that I had phoned into the radio show/podcast “Jill on Money” on two separate occasions to conduct interviews and obtain advice.  I was holding back a bit though because it turns out that for the past three summers I’ve conducted radio interviews in order to obtain professional advice.  In the summer of 2014, I conducted an interview with the “Marketplace Weekend” radio show.  I called to confirm my inclination to let go of my wealth manager, start managing my own money again, and seek assistance in determining my portfolio balance.  I received all the advice I hoped for and more.  I realized then that people often pay hundreds to thousands of dollars for the advice I received for free.  I knew right then that I was on to a winner.

Unfortunately “Marketplace Weekend” changed their format and stopped phone interviews shortly after I conducted mine.  I swear the two events are not related.  As a result, though, I had to search for a new program which provided the same sort of service.  I don’t recall how long it took me to find “Jill on Money” but unlike “Marketplace Weekend”, whose format only hosted call-ins at the end of the show, “Jill on Money” spent the majority of its time answering people’s calls, emails, and questions.  By the summer of 2015, I was ready for another check-up.  I emailed the “Jill on Money” contact address with a question regarding my stock to bond ratio, talked to Jill’s producer Mark for a bit, and before I knew it, I was on the air talking to Jill Schlesinger.   It proved to be another great experience in which I received thousands of dollars of advice for free.   I found it so valuable that I repeated the experience the following summer in 2016.

Now maybe you are thinking “that is great Grumpus Maximus, but I do not have an awesome online persona like you, and I do not want my personal details splashed all over the interwebs and radio free airwaves”.  To that I say thank you, it took me a long time to develop Grumpus Maximus into the little read and oft laughed at blogger that he is today.  More to the point was that at no point in time did I have to provide anything more than my first name.  In fact, I could have told them not to use my real name, and it would have been kosher.  I’m not kidding, it would have been kosher; Jill often jokes about being the Jewish aunt I’ve never had.

So I realize that not everyone can call into Jill, and to be honest she may not be everyone’s style.  Jill is a Certified Financial Planner (CFP), which is great because you get professional advice from her.  But she is also fairly traditional in her when it comes to retirement age, stock/bond ratios, etc.  In other words, she is not hip with the kids and in the Financial Independence (FI) movement.  You can find my review of her podcast in my previously mentioned post on podcasts.   I suggest you give her show a few listens, and if you like what she has to say, then email her your questions and see if it gets you on the show.

You will notice that she has a formula when she interviews people, where she asks them what their initial issue is, and after they explain, she gets them to tell her what else is going on in their life.  It must be something she was trained to do, and I imagine she does it to get a better understanding of a person’s financial situation prior to providing advice.  Her advice is almost always more holistic than just answering the initial question, which I think is great.

My preferred formula includes barley, wheat, hops, yeast and water.

With that, I thought I would compile a list of some other shows that I know dole out financial advice based on interviews or questions from their audience — most of them for free.  I will try not to make it a repeat list of my podcast post, but you will notice a few repeat offenders.  To be honest, I only know of a few podcasts or radio shows that provide the type of in-depth financial advice that “Jill on Money” does.   Many shows will specifically avoid providing investment advice, unlike Jill.  I suppose it is a liability thing, since not every show host is a CFP — which is something worth keeping in mind when getting your free (or close to free) advice.

In-depth Advice and Interviews

• Radical Personal Finance.  Joshua Sheets runs Radical Personal Finance which I believe started out as a podcast.  I see from his website he also has blog posts, resources, and a lot more.  I’ve linked to his (auto)biography page, so you can see what he is about.  I won’t bother to try to sum it up, but will simply say that his biography is expansive and lists his professional certificates — of which there are many.  In fact, pretty much everything about Joshua could be filed under the word expansive.  He covers a lot of territory within the financial universe and certainly has his own way of looking at things (thus the “Radical” portion of the title).  Each of his podcasts is typically an in-depth look at a specific financial topic, and with an archive of over 400 podcasts, there is hardly a topic that he has not touched at some point.  His podcast archive is a great resource for anyone looking to learn more about a personal finance topic, and his show only just missed my top five podcast list.
  • Most important to the topic at hand (i.e. almost free advice from a professional), Joshua typically reserves Fridays for interviews.  The catch is he only does interviews with his patrons — which means people who contribute to his podcast.  Truth in lending, I am not a paying patron of Joshua but I have contemplated it just so I could get access to him for the Friday interviews.  At last check $7 per month gets you access, a bargain if you ask me.  Just in case your math skills are failing you, my calculator says that is $84 a year for the potential to get thousands of dollars worth of financial planning.  Actually, my calculator does not say that last part, it just says $84.  I say the “potential” to get advice because there is no guarantee you would get on his show.  However, he stated recently that interviews were one of the least used features he provides to his patrons.  Thus, it did not sound like the bar was set too high to get on the show.
  • With all that said, Joshua is not for everyone.  Just like Jill, he comes across in a certain style, which you may not like.  I’ve seen some threads bagging on him in some of the FI oriented Book of Face groups I’ve joined recently.  Apparently, he questioned the viability of the Retired Early part of the FIRE acronym for people planning to live on small budgets like Mr. Money Mustache.  Personally, I say live and let live, and hold no ill will towards him just because he has a different viewpoint than me on a certain financial topic.  In my opinion, the guy is a fountain of knowledge, who has created so much content, that at some point everyone is bound to find something he says that they don’t agree with.  I suggest you listen to his podcast, read his blog, and then decide if he is the right show host from which to seek advice.
• The Million Dollar Plan Podcast. Peter (Pete the Planner®) Dunn hosts the Million Dollar Plan Podcast.  Peter is a former stand up comedian and financial planner who sold his practice to concentrate on helping people through his media presence, books, and workplace training business.  Part of his media presence is his podcast, which he also records on video and posts on Youtube.  Pete is obsessed with helping people realize their million dollar day, which he believes to be an statistically important and powerful sum of money in relation to retirement finances.  You can read more about him on his biography page, which also has FAQs and his money philosophy.
  • Most germane to the topic at hand is the fact that Pete interviews one anonymous caller a week to run through their financial issues, test their plan if they have one, and develop one if they do not.  It is fairly robust, but interestingly he doesn’t delve into investment advice.  His contact page is specific in that he will talk financial planning, but not investment planning.  Thus, he will discuss how much people have in their 401Ks, Roth IRAs, etc. but will not discuss optimal investment allocation or portfolio balance.  It is a sharp departure from Radical Personal Finance or Jill on Money.
  • On the other hand, much like Jill and Joshua, Pete also has his own style.  As one might expect from a former stand up comedian it is rather jovial with a lot of banter, but sometimes his jokes fall absolutely flat — awkward when it is at the expense of his guest.  Just like the previous two podcasts mentioned, it’s probably best to listen (or watch) some episodes first and decide if the “Million Dollar Plan” is for you.  And Pete, if by some weird coincident of fate you are reading this post, please return my email.  I am ready to run my retirement plan through your gauntlet and see if it survives.

Question and Answers

“What’s up Farnoosh? … Yea, I’m just hanging out …lookin’ for that missing beer.”

• So Money with Farnoosh Torabi.  Don’t tell Mrs. Grumpus but I have a bit of a crush on Farnoosh, so this paragraph may be a bit biased.  There are a lot of points about Farnoosh’s story that appeal to my financial (vice romantic) sensibilities: immigrant parents, working herself out of debt and being a woman in what is traditionally considered a man’s game (finance/personal finance).  You might recognize her name from the Mint.com column she writes, her television show on CNN, or any number of media outlets and venues she has had a presence in over the past decade.  That also includes a podcast where she answers questions from her audience every Friday.  While she is not a certified personal finance professional, she is a personal finance journalist, author of two personal finance books (**Please note I am an Amazon affiliate. See disclosures for more details**), and has won numerous awards for her work — which is my way of saying she provides solid advice.  Unfortunately, the format of her podcast does not include phone interviews; simply email or voicemail questions.  This typically translates to answering specific money questions, instead of providing holistic money and life planning.  While she will advise people to invest in low-cost index funds and use Robo advisors instead full-fee financial advisors, she balks at providing straight up investment advice (i.e. Should I invest in A or B?).
  • Like all the other podcasts, I suggest you give some of Faroosh’s back-log a listen to see if you like what she puts down.  She does other things on her podcast as well, like interview well-known guests.  Her interview of JL Collins is what turned me on to the FI community, so I guess I have her to thank for my FI awakening. These days I listen to the interviews when the guest is someone I am interested in.  I’ve moved a bit beyond her money advice though, so I listen less and less each month.  Oh, and while she sounds like someone I would love to have a beer with, her inability to structure and ask proper questions drives me a bit nuts.  So Farnoosh, if you are reading this, drop me a line.  I’ll gladly buy you a beer next time you’re in town, and would be happy to teach you how to ask a properly formatted question.  It’s the least I could do for someone so influential to my financial journey.

Found it!  And it’s in a proper pint glass!  Farnoosh, can I buy you one?

• The Scott Alan Turner Show.  I posted about Scott Alan Turner’s podcast in my previous podcast post, so I am not going to re-tread old territory.  Scott’s style will not appeal to everyone, but I like the way he keeps it funny and pokes fun at himself.  His fake commercials are the best.  During all his shows, save the Tuesday one, he typically answers questions at the end.  His advice is solid, but I do not necessarily know what qualifications if any, he might have.  Still, it is another resource if you are so inclined.  His motivational speeches might appeal to you as well.

Something Completely Different

• Choose FI Podcast.  Finally, I’ve also posted about the “Choose FI Podcast” in the past, so again, I will not belabor the point.  The hosts of “Choose FI” take questions on their Friday Round Ups if the question deals with the topic of the week.   More importantly, they’ve crowd sourced a financial plan for one of their audience members in the past, and claim they want to do it again.  The appeal of this would be your plan gets reviewed by a number of talented people within their friend network and their audience.  If you remember the post I wrote about them previously, their friend list is impressive as well. So while I view it as a long shot that your plan may get reviewed, it would be well worth it if you took the shot.

Well, if you hung around to the end of the post, congratulations.  I would have lost interest or gotten distracted by the Grumpus Minimi somewhere along the way.  Maybe it was all the references to beer that kept you interested?  In any case, let me know if any of these suggestions worked or help.  Also, let me know if there are any shows you routinely use to seek advice.  I am always looking to expand my list.