NerdWallet Personal Finance
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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...
Based on 6 episodes we listened to · September 2026
Smart Money makes household finance legible by testing possible choices against listeners' actual accounts, relationships, habits and competing goals.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast turns personal finance into a series of decisions with real constraints. Sean Piles and Elizabeth Ayola work from listener questions, asking about income, shared accounts, existing habits and competing goals before discussing possible next steps.
A $2,000 annual-fee wallet is your cue to ask what your own cards are earning.
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Short reviews from the PlayNext desk, based on the episodes we processed.
A practical episode that links consumer protection to the realities of retiring sooner than planned.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast uses this episode to connect a policy shift at the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau with a more immediate question: what happens if retirement comes sooner than planned?
A practical money episode that moves from a buyout headline to streaming habits and everyday budgeting.
The episode starts with the Warner Brothers buyout fight and treats it as a doorway into streaming habits and the entertainment budget. It then settles into the budget-app discussion, where the strongest material is the everyday account management: a joint account, a side…
Tariffs open the door, but the episode mostly makes the case for sinking funds and labeled savings buckets.
Tariffs set the frame, but the episode quickly turns that headline into a practical question about what it can mean for a wallet and bank account.
Climate pressure and impulse spending get a practical, low-drama airing.
The episode frames climate change as one factor in the larger question of whether home ownership still makes economic sense. It keeps the discussion on shelter, risk, and long-term cost, which suits the segment's purpose because the hosts are really asking how to spot financial…
Practical couple-money talk with early-retirement planning.
This NerdWallet conversation frames a familiar money problem in a useful way: how a couple with similar incomes handles rent, shared spending, and keeping finances separate while still thinking toward early retirement.
A practical listen about aging costs and the money talks that shape relationships.
NerdWallet starts with a dating-and-money conversation before settling into the harder question of how to handle senior care when family help is uncertain.
A practical reset on spending habits and the tradeoff between student loans and a new house.
NerdWallet opens on a money reset and a listener question that turns over a familiar tradeoff: keep student loan payments moving during grad school, or put that money toward a new house.
Gold's record high and the 80% retirement rule get a practical, skeptical check.
The episode uses gold's record high against the dollar as a clean entry point into two familiar money questions: why investors reach for precious metals when uncertainty rises, and whether the 80% retirement benchmark still earns a place in planning.
Paul Haavardsrud unpacks Canadian money stories, from ski-hill VIP pricing to French butter tariffs.
Real-estate freedom, taught in plain numbers.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast takes on “frugal fatigue,” the burnout that can show up when savings goals start feeling like punishment.
NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast turns to Built 2.0, where Megan Coyle and Sally French explain three new cards, a $0 Blue card, a $95 Obsidian card, and a $495 Palladium card.
This episode discusses how AI might help in home buying and features a segment where hosts ask each other what they would do in various financial scenarios.
A personal finance podcast answering listener questions and providing tips on budgeting, saving, and investing.
The hosts promote their free newsletter and discuss how they handle financial mistakes, blending personal stories with actionable advice.
This episode discusses the risks and benefits of owning investment properties, with a weekly money news roundup.
A listener asks what to do with an extra $1,000 in their budget, and the hosts discuss investing versus spending.
The hosts promote their free newsletter and then introduce an episode exploring whether AI can be trusted for financial advice.
Filed yet?
Sean Piles opens with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
This episode helps listeners choose between airline credit cards and other options, featuring expert Sarah Rathner who breaks down pros, cons, and strategies for families.
This episode explores how to align retirement investments with personal values, focusing on the challenges of target date funds that may include companies like Tesla or private prisons.
The show opens by asking who really wins if Warner Brothers gets bought and whether consumers come out ahead too.
This episode explores the aftermath of a Supreme Court decision on tariffs, discussing its impact on trade policy, manufacturing jobs, and economic uncertainty with expert Lourdes Casanova.
The episode starts with a simple question about how your brain can quietly drain your wallet.
The episode opens with a couple trying to figure out how to share money without making the relationship more complicated than it already is.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast opens with a study revealing that 54% of Americans would consider a partner lying about finances a dealbreaker, while 50% have actually lied to their current partner about money, and that 17% say any amount of credit card debt would disqualify a potential partner.
NerdWallet hosts Sean Piles and Elizabeth Ayala, joined by personal finance writer Amanda Barroso, explore the no-spend challenge phenomenon and how to make month-long spending resets actually work — distinguishing between challenges that help reset your relationship with money versus those that trigger binge-and-purge spending cycles.
This episode explores whether it's too late to invest in gold amid record highs and critiques the 80% retirement income rule.
NerdWallet’s Smart Money Podcast starts with a pop quiz on a mega backdoor Roth, then shifts into tax-time scam defense.
Smart Money opens with Sean Piles and Elizabeth Ayola circling back to a weekly money-news roundup.
Sean Piles opens with a question about Elizabeth Ayola's high-yield savings account, and that quickly turns into a gripe about APYs falling.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast begins 2026 with economist Elizabeth Renter reviewing the previous year's economic shocks, including Liberation Day tariff announcements in April, the government shutdown, and the Federal Reserve resuming interest rate cuts in September after holding steady through political uncertainty.
The hosts of NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast are joined by investing expert Alana Benson to discuss strategies for investing in 2026.
NerdWallet hosts Sean Piles and Elizabeth Ayala kick off their 2026 money series by sharing their own financial goals for the year — paying off a car loan, rebuilding post-wedding savings, saving at a 30-40% rate, increasing income — and then pivot to the psychology of building good money habits, arguing that anchoring financial goals to personal values rather than willpower is the key to actually following through.
Sean Piles and Elizabeth Ayola open with holiday greetings and bring a special episode from the archives back into the feed.
This episode features a conversation with financial therapist Asia Evans about untangling money relationships and a listener, Brie, who discusses navigating finances after a sudden job loss.
The hosts review key personal finance stories of 2025, including tariffs, stock market volatility, housing trends, and interest rates, then dive into a travel credit card consultation to optimize spending and annual fees.
This episode explores NerdWallet's 2026 Consumer Outlook Survey, revealing mixed feelings about financial security, and answers a listener's question on maximizing $1.2 million in retirement savings for inheritance, covering investment strategies, tax rules, and estate planning.
The hosts promote their free newsletter and then introduce a segment on managing prescription costs.
NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast provides actionable personal finance advice on budgeting, saving, investing, and credit cards.
This episode discusses the 'infinite workday' phenomenon and offers advice on saving money as a stay-at-home parent.
Hosts Sean and Elizabeth promote their new free newsletter and introduce the show's mission to answer listener money questions with expert advice.