Welcome! Bridget Sullivan Mermel and John Scherer talk introduce themselves and talk about why they started the channel, Friends Talk Financial Planning.

Buying I bonds can be a smart way to keep up with inflation and earn more interest. But who should buy I Bonds? How do you actually go about getting them? These are questions we'll talk about with our special guest, Linda Stratton, CFP(R). Linda first bought I Bonds in 2005 and she's recommended them to clients, too. She joins Bridget Sullivan CFP(R) CPA and John Scherer CFP(R) in talking about who I bonds work for and how to actually go about buying them. First, Linda expl

Money hurdles can make people feel helpless to improve their relationship with their finances. Darcy Luoma joins Bridget Sullivan Mermel...

Darcy Luoma describes how you can become more intentional with your money. Our Special Guest Darcy Luoma will help us understand! She's...

Bridget Sullivan Mermel CFP(R) CPA fields questions including: How should I handle allowances with kids? When should I take social...

How should you think through buying bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies? Let’s face it: Bitcoin, Dogecoin, and other cryptocurrency are fascinating. Many people think: should I invest in bitcoin? We talk about how we as financial planners think about cryptocurrency. More importantly, is it time to jump in and buy some? Cryptocurrency is fascinating and different currencies have some marketing and promotion muscle behind them. So, people want to know how they fit into a portfo

https://youtu.be/NHb1806npKM On this episode of The Chicago Money Show we talk about real estate and fun things to do in Chicago—and not...

Bridget got a question this week--what are the pros and cons of renting out your vacation home? John is a CFP® who owns a vacation home. He shares his experience on the pros and cons in this episode. We talk through if the tax benefits are what you might think (probably not) but what the benefits might be. Do you feel gratified because you may be helping other people create memories? Or are you going to get so annoyed that you leave a nastygram to all future renters when som

Many people feel that taxes are unfair. ProPublica recently reported how billionaires legally pay low taxes. We talk through—is there anything here you can use to help you save on taxes? Here are some angles that billionaires are using and you can, too: 1. Keep salaries low. Pay yourself with stock options or in other ways. Billionaire W-2s don’t say $1,000,000,000. ProPublica reports that one says $80,000. They pay themselves with stock options. That’s a strategy you m

Inflation is going up, yet interest rates remain low. We talk about how I bonds are looking very appealing because they earn better interest than banks. So what are the plusses and minuses of I-bonds? First, let's just stipulate--people have a difficult time with calculating interest. Regular banks are paying .01%. That means $10,000 earns $1 a year. If you can get 1% a year, that same $10,000 would earn $100, or one hundred times more. Even if you take money out of a

As a (reformed) life insurance salesman, John talks about what he tells people now that he isn't living off commissions anymore. Whole life insurance? Term insurance? Most of the time you want term insurance. John explains why. How do insurance companies successfully sell whole life policies? We also talk about how by telling customers that if they don’t die while having life insurance, they’ve wasted money. John suggests what to think about instead. While every situat

These days people talk about the pros and cons of rental property. People refer to this as passive income, dreaming of checks showing up automatically while you munch on Cheetos on the couch while watching your favorite show. John Scherer has owned multiple different investment properties and even owns one, now. We talk about the pros and cons of investing in real estate. What is the reality. We talk about investing in real estate versus working more in your regular jo

Since COVID restrictions are being lifted and people are wanting to do something--anything--we talk about how we think about vacation. Is vacation an investment? So, it makes things better and improves things. Or is vacation an expense? One of those things you spend money on then easily forget. Here are our key take aways: Vacation can give you a sense of happiness and meaning. Don't be afraid to spend money on it, although spending money is not directly associated w

If you’re graduating from high school and college and embarking on getting your first job, you’re going to start developing an important relationship—between you and money. New grads--It's important to understand the top two money tips! In this episode, we give our top two pieces of advice for new graduates. It’s the advice that we’ve seen gets you 80% of the way there on your finances— 1. Save 10% of your income 2. And don’t get into credit card debt. This seems simple,

I talk about day trading, cryptocurrency and investing to make the world a better place with Ann Logue. Ann has written five books on...

Using the rule of 72 makes it easy to figure out how much your money will grow over time. Most people think that it will grow pretty much in a straight line. However, that’s not how it works. We talk about a quick tool—the rule of 72—to help you understand how to estimate how much your money might grow. We discuss the key factors when using the Rule of 72—your initial investment, your return, and time. We also use examples of how to forecast how much your money might gr

What does Nomadland have to do with financial planning? Many people deal with intense fears of poverty in old age. The film Nomadland, starring Francis McDormand, portrays people who are living in cars, vans, and RVs. Some of these people are elderly, many are not. All of them are about more than the vehicle they live in. Bridget and John talk about fear of poverty in old age. We talk about the fears that people have concerning running out of money. Then we go into dept

If someone you know is celebrating a graduation, it's a great time to buy them a gift. We talk about 3 great graduation gifts that will help both you and the graduate feel good: 1. Give cash or an investment. If you're older than the graduate by a generation (or two or three) and you seem to have more money than they do, it's a great time to give the gift of cash. Since graduating seniors may not be the most mature and you might not want all that money going to spending, it

We’re facing what might be an inflationary people and many people are worried about it. We talk about three ways your financial plan can help protect you. First we talk about how buying stocks in the form of mutual funds and ETFs actually protects against inflation. Next, John explains how a 30 year fixed mortgage is a hedge against inflation. Jargon alert—hedge in this context mean that it protects you against inflation. Finally, Bridget talks about how Social Security

Life insurance agents will tell you that almost everyone needs life insurance. Really? One of the things that is great about operating as a fee-only financial planner is that we talk about life insurance but don’t sell it. Most people have never gotten any advice on insurance from someone who isn’t selling it. In this episode Bridget talks life insurance with someone who no longer sells it—John! We talk about when you need life insurance and when it’s optional. There

How do you avoid getting scammed? Investments can seem legit, but it’s a house made of cards. We discuss the tell-tale signs of Pyramid schemes and Ponzi schemes and other scams. Avoid getting ripped off by the unscrupulous Bernie Madoffs of the world. It’s not that difficult to identify, yet we can get sucked in. How do we know an investment idea seems too good to be true? Can you afford to pass it up? TRANSCRIPT Bridget: Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, investment scams

The real estate market is hot in many areas right now, with sellers getting multiple offers. What’s a buyer to do? How can you approach this decision and not ruin your financial future? In this episode, we talk about the basic guidelines about how much house to buy and how much to put down as a down payment. Then we get real. Bridget talks about what it was like when she over bought. That’s when we get into what buying a house has to do with camping. John talks about n

When CAN TV asked me to host a live call in money show about money, I couldn't resist! We talk about emergency funds, if it makes sense...

We don’t know when the stock market will crash, but we do know that eventually it will go down. It may stay down for two to three years. How do you prepare? In this episode we talk about John’s lifeboat drill. When you go on a cruise, one of the first activities is to talk and think through what do if you need a lifeboat. Then, if there’s an emergency, you know how to act and don’t panic. The stock market is going to go down. We just don’t know when. We talk about how

TRANSCRIPTION John: Do you think you might have a budgetary issue? Find out why not cutting back on your spending might be the best decision that you can make. Hi, I'm John Scherer and I run a fee-only financial planning practice in Middleton, Wisconsin. Bridget: And I'm Bridget Sullivan Mermel, and I've got a fee-only financial planning practice in Chicago, Illinois. John, a lot of times when people think they have to cut back their spending, they're not looking at the big