You’ve got your PhD – now to work for the rest of your life until you die!
Sorry to spoil the party, but as much of an accomplishment as earning a PhD is (we know from experience!), calling yourself “Doctor” doesn’t make anyone throw money at you. Even if you have your dream job – and congratulations if you do, you deserve it – you’re still going to need all the help you can get with managing your finances, saving for retirement, and paying off debt. Definitely paying off debt, if you just finished your PhD.
Podcasts = Your Post-PhD Free Education
So for your edification and entertainment, Online PhD would like to present our favorite money podcasts, financial podcasts, and investing podcasts – the 30 Best Finance Podcasts for the Smart Student. Some of these are generally focused on economics, and some are very specific. There’s a diverse range of hosts and guests, and together they cover every topic under the sun. From practical tips to motivation and inspiration, academic seriousness to sarcasm and satire, these financial podcasts are audio advisors in your earbuds.
1. Actuality
Produced by American Public Media, Actuality is a Marketplace economic podcast hosted by Sabri Ben-Achour and Tim Fernholz. Actuality exposes the unique ways in which the modern global economy affects our lives. Season 2 revolves around the theme “They Said It Couldn’t Be Done,” discussing surprising answers to impossible questions. It’s APM – quality is a given.
2. Another Round
Another Round is a tipsy (literally) podcast from hosts Heben Nigatu and Tracy Clayton. Nigatu and Clayton discuss the serious and the hilarious with some of the most important cultural voices of today, from Lin-Manuel Miranda to Roxane Gay. Previously produced by Buzzfeed, Another Round is returning independently in 2018 – stay tuned to the Another Round Facebook page.
3. The Art of Manliness
Founded by Bret McKay, The Art of Manliness is an independent web magazine and community dedicated to redefining masculinity. McKay talks with guests like Tim Ferriss, Malcolm Gladwell, and Mike Rowe on everything from work and money to parenting and hobbies. The Art of Masculinity isn’t your dad’s masculinity – it’s 21st century woke.
4. Bigger Pockets
Bigger Pockets isn’t about sewing; it won’t give you bigger pockets. It will tell you how to make your wallet fatter, though. Co-hosts Joshua Dorkin and Brandon Turner turn up the fun with humor, real talk, and a little audacity. Bigger Pockets brings hundreds of successful entrepreneurs and investors together for the truth about wealth – how they got there, how they stay there, and how you can get there too. It’s easily one of the best financial podcasts today.
5. Cashflow Diary
Cashflow Diary comes from real estate investor and developer J. Massey, who uses the Cashflow Diary blog and investing podcasts to pass on his secret recipe for success. Massey’s experience fuels Cashflow Diary’s training courses, while the big money podcast features a who’s who of advisors, experts, entrepreneurs, and characters who share their own methods – well over 400 and counting.
6. The Clark Howard Show
Nationally syndicated radio host Clark Howard is one of America’s leading consumer experts, a guru of the “save more, spend less” revolution. From the Consumer Action Center to clark.com, Howard covers everything from avoiding scams to budgeting. The Clark Howard Show money podcast brings Howard’s radio show online, anytime and anywhere you want to listen.
7. CNBC’s Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer Podcast
There’s no bigger name in financial news and opinion (lots of opinion) than Jim Cramer, and the Mad Money host has more to say than just one CNBC prime-time show can cover. The Mad Money w/ Jim Cramer Podcast has a lot more to say, day in and day out, about making money, investing money, and making more money. It’s the granddaddy of all investing podcasts.
8. The College Investor
Since 2009, Robert Farrington has had one all-consuming mission – to help millennials get out of student loan debt, invest their income, and create wealth. It ain’t easy, but it’s a living. The College Investor covers all those topics, and the College Investor Audio Show does it in short, tight segments perfect for the Millennial listener – or anybody who wants the goods, quick.
9. Death Sex & Money
What can’t you talk about in polite company? Anna Sale talks about it in Death, Sex, and Money, an NPR podcast that gets to the down and dirty about topics like social class, education, and the opioid epidemic. Quality is high, content is informative, and Sales comes at the whole thing as a consummate professional – straightforward and trustworthy.
10. The Economist Radio
The Economist is the nation’s foremost magazine for politics, global goings-on, and economics (of course), and The Economist Radio is all those things without the reading. The Economist Radio publishes several podcasts, all dedicated to giving listeners informative, well-researched, and engaging “long reads” in audio form.
11. Edge of the Web
Edge of the Web is a top business podcast for digital marketers, covering topics like SEO optimization, social media, and content marketing. Hosts Erin Sparks and Tom Brodbeck bring listeners a weekly, hour-long show sitting down with the leading names in social media, podcasting, and web marketing for tips, techniques, and inspiration.
12. The Femtrepreneur Show
The Femtrepreneur Show is hosted by Mariah Coz and Megan Minns, who take on the crazy contemporary world of freelancing and web entrepreneurship. For women, by women, Femtrepreneur teaches women everything they need to take control of their own careers and make their own way through blogging, online course creation, and marketing.
13. Freakonomics Radio
Freakonomics Radio, hosted by Freakonomics co-author Stephen J. Dubner, takes the wild and unlikely truths of Freakonomics into the podcasting realm. From what a CEO actually does to why there is so much ground beef in the world (yes, really), Freakonomics Radio tells it like it is – even when how it is sounds wrong.
14. The GaryVee Audio Experience
Gary Vaynerchuk is the definitive social media guru – a self-made whole lot-aire who happily tells everyone else how to do it, and never really stops. The 24/7 GaryVee show has Gary’s insights on everything from whether to be an entrepreneur (only if you really want to work) to what it means to be an overnight success (there’s no such thing).
15. How to Be Amazing
It’s really all there in the title. Hosted by comedian and all-around genius Michael Ian Black, How to Be Amazing talks to amazing people about how they got to be amazing. Celebrities, entrepreneurs, artists, and musicians sit down with Black to talk about their childhood, their goals, their fears, and anything else that makes them pretty darn special.
16. How to Do Everything
To be fair, How to Do Everything hasn’t quite delivered on its name – not yet, anyway. Give them time. Hosts Mike Danforth and Ian Chillag – producers of Peter Sagal’s long-running NPR quiz show “Wait, Wait… Don’t Tell Me” – answer direct questions from listeners, bringing in experts to explain everything from making Velcro soundless to inventing childhood memories. It’s on Facebook too!
17. The James Altucher Show
Entrepreneur, angel investor, and pretty wild and crazy guy James Altucher is one of the most recognizable names (and voices) in social media. He’s been at the top and at the bottom, and through The James Altucher Show he teaches his mantra: Choose Yourself. The key to wealth, maybe, but the key to smart advice and inspiration, absolutely.
18. The Leap
From National Public Radio and KQED, The Leap tells the stories of people who took crazy risks to change their lives or change the world. Award-winning journalists Amy Standen and Judy Campbell report on topics ranging from leaving Hasidism to dozing troubled children with LSD. Not the usual story, not the usual podcast.
19. Like a Mother with Emma Johnson
Emma Johnson, founder of Wealthy Single Mommy, struck a nerve when she began writing about the life of a professional single mother, and it remains the only finance blog of its kind. Johnson’s influential voice carries over to the Like a Mother podcast, where she uses her newfound fame to interview some of the most important women in business, media, and entertainment.
20. Listen Money Matters
Listen Money Matters is a finance podcast for today – “not your father’s boring money show,” as their tagline says. Hosts Andrew Feinberg and Thomas Frank approach personal finance like the funniest guys at the pub, if the funniest guys at the pub actually knew what they’re talking about. From getting out of debt to property investment, Listen Money Matters is the real poop.
21. The Mad Fientist
The Mad Fientist Podcast is about one thing and one thing only – achieving Financial Independence (that’s the FI part of “Fientist”). Host Brandon “The Mad Fientist” _____ (his last name is the best-kept secret in personal finance podcasting) discusses the means for young people to achieve financial independence and retire early, from clearing debt to saving wisely – and sometimes extremely.
22. Millennial Podcast
Millennial Podcast host Megan Tan is anything but the stereotypical arrested-development millennial – and her podcast proves there’s no such thing. Tan talks with young people about the trials of coming of age in the 21st century, from money and work (or the lack thereof) to politics and culture. Recognized by publications like The Guardian and The Atlantic, Tan is one of the most promising young voices in American culture.
23. Money for the Rest of Us
If you’re trying to figure out how to make the most of your investments so you can actually retire (the new American Dream), Money for the Rest of Us is there for you. Host David Stein makes investing clear, practical, and, most of all, achievable. Topics on the podcast include paying off student loans, why we pay taxes, and how immigration affects the economy.
24. Planet Money
NPR’s Planet Money, hosted by a rotating team of top finance and economics journalists, began during the 2008 financial crisis and is coming up on a full decade of giving listeners award-winning, creative ways to explain what’s going on in the economy. Recent episodes have covered phosphorous mining, 3D-printed guns, and cracking the M&M conspiracy (shhhh – it’s a trade secret).
25. School of Greatness
From a broke, former professional football player to a New York Times bestselling author and entrepreneur, Lewis Howes has all all-American inspiration story. The School of Greatness Podcast brings Howes’ insights to interviews with lifestyle gurus, celebrities, professional athletes, and more to inspire and motivate listeners.
26. Side Hustle Nation
Everybody needs extra cash, but not everyone has the ambition to make their side hustle their main hustle. Host Nick Loper tells listeners how to do just that – to pay off debt, to escape the cubicle, to make the most of free time, all by being brave enough (or crazy enough) to try something new. Loper’s quarterly progress reports are probably the most transparent reporting anyone’s ever done, publicly, about where the money comes from, and where it goes.
27. Stacking Benjamins
An award-winning money podcast hosted by Joe Saul-Sehy and The OG (Other Guy), Stacking Benjamins may be the most fun you can have talking about personal finance. Joe, OG, and a cast of characters from all over the internet talk about freelancing, paying off debt, saving for retirement, and life decisions like buying a car. So goofy, it might be genius.
28. This is Your Life
Leadership consultant Michael Hyatt has been CEO of Thomas Nelson Publishers, a best-selling author in his own right, and one of the most successful entrepreneurs in modern history. He’s also serious about mentoring managers, administrators, and leaders, helping over-extended over-achievers make the most of their life along with making the most of their business. His podcast, This is Your Life, reminds his peers of what really matters.
29. The Tim Ferriss Show
Entrepreneurship guru Tim Ferriss made his name on The 4-Hour Workweek, but he sure doesn’t live it. The Tim Ferriss Show is nonstop, and the podcast ain’t the half of it. Ferriss’ big ideas, big pronouncements, and big personality are front and center, but his guests are the real stars – some of the greatest achievers in every field, from sports and entertainment to science and technology.
30. You Need a Budget (YNAB) Podcast
Hosted by You Need a Budget founder Jesse Mecham, the YNAB Podcast preaches the gospel of budgeting your way to financial security. Since 2004 Jesse has built a worldwide network of partners, and the YNAB Podcast draws on experts and real folks for stories of paying off loans, creating more free time, de-stressing and living better, all from managing money better.
Bonus: The Joe Rogan Experience
The Joe Rogan Experience doesn’t quite fit into our personal finance/money management framework, but if you only know Rogan from News Radio and Comedy Central Roasts, you may be surprised by the insights Rogan and his guests bring to topics as varied as money, science, culture, and MMA fighting. It’s not everybody’s cup of tea, and you may not want to listen with your mom, but Joe’s got something to say, and you might need to hear it.