Real Money Stories Podcast

This week, I talk to NHS doctor Nikki Ramskill who, having seen firsthand how money stress affects the health and wellbeing of her patients and colleagues, is also a money coach.

Nikki candidly shares her early relationship with her finances which, largely influenced by her money personality, was full of impulse spending, accumulating debt and never saying ‘no’.

Now Nikki is helping women build abundance into their lives by providing financial literacy and gradually breaking down the taboo around talking about money.

You can find out more about Nikki’s money coaching here.

This week, I have the pleasure of speaking to Paul Lewis, financial journalist, speaker and presenter of BBC Radio 4’s Money Box.

Paul talks very candidly about his early experiences with money, including how important he believes it is for parents to discuss money with their children.

Paul also shares his stories about managing money during his university days and dabbling with bank loans.

Paul has won more than a dozen awards, including Headline Money Journalist of the Year in 2010 and Association of Investment Companies Broadcaster of the Year in the 2012 Roses Media Awards.

I really loved being able to talk to Paul in-depth about his money beliefs and experiences and I hope you gain a lot of insights from listening to it.

I also review the options for buying an electric car, including the tax benefits. Plus, I look at a recent research paper which examines whether financial markets properly account for climate change risks.

The Economics of Climate Change:
https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3715848

This week, I speak to Megan Brennan, portfolio manager at Sarasin and Partners LLP.

Megan explains the timeless money lessons her father taught her, which are the foundations of her relationship with money, and how she ended up as a fund manager, despite not knowing what she wanted to do after university.

She also discusses why aligning your investing style with personal values is becoming more popular and essential to long-term returns. We also explore how to reconcile differences in money values, beliefs, priorities and styles when forming a relationship.

Plus, I report on the findings of a new report on the essential elements of high financial wellbeing, review a new book on how to get out of debt fast, and share what new content is coming to my YouTube channel.

This week, I speak to Tim Harford, “the Undercover Economist”, Financial Times columnist, BBC broadcaster, the author of nine books and the presenter of BBC Radio’s “More or Less” and “How To Vaccinate The World”.

Growing up in what Tim describes as 'a very British way’, the topic of money was one rarely discussed in the Harford household. The cost of living was a lesson learned during Tim’s teenage years and early adulthood that was not void of a few trip-ups along the way.

Tim’s personal stories of progress, years of research and recognition as an expert in his field offer a unique and insightful perspective to our ongoing discussion about the journey to mastering our money, worrying less, and living more.

You can check out Tim’s latest book, How To Make The World Add Up, by clicking here.

This week I speak to Holly Morphew, award-winning financial coach and founder of Financial Impact, the company helping people create wealth and feel confident when it comes to money.

Holly and I discuss the fear around money and how to change this, building wealth by plugging spending leaks and maximising your income, and how behaviour around money is far more significant than strategy. She also offers some great advice to younger generations about not being afraid to live frugally while you build some solid foundations for your future.

Holly has such a lovely, vibrant and positive way about her and I really enjoyed speaking to her.

This week, I speak to Daniel Mangena, author, entrepreneur and motivational speaker.

Daniel describes his early relationship with money as a mixed one. His parents were Zimbabwe immigrants and they initially lived a comfortable lifestyle. However, through various business foibles, Daniel saw his family’s financial situation shifted from abundance to scarcity over the course of his upbringing.

Undergoing many highs and lows in his own business ventures, Daniel found himself exploring the path of mindset and manifestation when it comes to living a fulfilled life and crafting your own path.

Wishing to help others do the same, he has made it his mission to help people find an alignment with their dream life of abundance, joy and purpose.

You can check out more of Daniel and his work here.

This week I speak to Kalpana Fitzpatrick, finance editor for Hearst magazines, which includes Good Housekeeping, Red, Prima, Cosmopolitan.

Kalpana’s parents taught her the importance of education and a good career to achieving financial independence. After university Kalpana pursues a career in journalism; which evolved into writing about personal finance.

Determined and ambitious, Kalpana now holds the position of finance editor for Hearst magazines and is the resident money expert for BBC Sounds Money 101 podcast. Her passion for talking about women and money, financial literacy for children, and young people and money see her featured regularly on TV, radio and conference panels.

This week I speak to David Blatt, founder and CEO of CapStack Partners, real estate expert and international speaker.

David had a very modest upbringing and always had an innate desire to work hard and apply himself. As a young man trying to break into real estate David ‘interviewed’ people in the industry to find out the essential principles of what it took to make it in the industry.

David was prepared to take a pay cut to become a receptionist at a real estate firm, in return for instruction on how to do deals. Eventually, he began to get involved in these deals, and the rest is history.

A fantastic episode that explores the benefits of putting money into assets, which will, in turn, provide you with a passive income to fund your lifestyle after you no longer wish to work. My recent blog post The Truth About Renting Versus Buying Property might be of interest if you want to explore this further.

This week, I speak to Lucy Mullins, Co-Founder and COO of StepLadder, a fast-growing and award-winning FinTech company pioneering collaborative finance and revolutionising the home buying process. Through their collaborative lending circles StepLadder are supporting people to buy their first home faster, reach their financial goals, and championing financial wellbeing.

Lucy won the Female Founder award at the Unbound Innovation awards in 2019 and delivered the winning pitch for StepLadder in the Future of FinTech Battle. She got to the final of The Pitch in 2019, was shortlisted for TechWomen100 and won the Innovator of the Year at the Women in IT awards in January 2020.

This week, I speak to Asesh Sarkar, Global CEO and co-founder of Salary Finance, a fast-growing FinTech platform working to improve the financial health of employees in the UK and US.

Asesh was born in the UK to immigrant parents, who had no support and little money. Just as he had seen his parents toil to provide for the family growing up, Asesh also had to overcome his lack of academic ability by working extra hard.

Pursuing the career that suited him, as opposed to what his parents originally suggested he should do, led to a decade in finance and consulting, before eventually becoming the youngest ever partner at PA Consulting. From there he took a leap into the unknown to become a social impact entrepreneur, founding breakthrough FinTech platform, Salary Finance, in 2015.

A great episode with some great takeaways, especially for those with self-limiting beliefs about careers and money who have an entrepreneurial vision.

Bonus: I also unpick some of the latest money statistics and give you my take on what they all mean for your financial wellbeing.

Make sure you are following me on Instagram and Twitter @jbthewealthman for daily money content.

This week I speak to Tamsin Caine, Chartered Financial Planner at Smart Financial and Director of Financial Planning at Smart Divorce, the specialist financial advice group for people facing divorce.

Tamsin began Smart Divorce following her own experience with a marriage breakdown. She now advises people in the same situation as she once was, enabling them to take back control of their life and finances. Tamsin sees her work as all about helping their clients live their best possible life.

Tasmin is a very down-to-earth lady and easy to talk to. If I was going through a financial calamity in my life, I think she is someone who I would want on my team!

In this episode, I speak to Ryan King, assurance associate at EY and social media finance enthusiast.

Ryan discusses the beginning of his interest in and around the subject of money and investing, as a teenager in school to a young adult making his way through university.

This desire to educate himself through reading and media spurred Ryan on to create his own online platform, Making Money Simple. Through this, he aims to help those in their 20s and 30s educate themselves about all things financial through easy to understand graphics, audio, and video.

A very genuine discussion from which young people, in particular, can draw many useful insights from.

If you would like to check out Ryan’s page, click here.

This week I speak to Davinia Tomlinson, founder of rainchq, which helps women take control of their money.

Born and raised in Birmingham, during her formative years Davinia benefited from a strong female financial role model, in the form of her Windrush generation Caribbean grandmother.

Davinia’s early career in the investment management sector involved a close shave with debt, with overdrafts and credit cards enabling her to keep up with high spending colleagues. However, she quickly realised it was not the relationship with money she needed or wanted to have.

Now, via her online platform and social media, Davinia is on a mission to help women build financial resilience and sustainable wealth to live their best life.

You can check out Davinia’s website and Instagram here.

This week I have the pleasure of speaking to one of the leading expert in financial psychology, Dr Brad Klontz.

I uncover answers to questions that even Brad himself has never discussed before: what was his understanding of ‘wealth’ in childhood? How did this evolve and change in adolescence?

We also discuss the role of money scripts (a concept first coined by Brad himself), the role of mindset in helping or hindering your path to financial success and avoiding money conflicts in relationships.

Few know more about the psychology of money than Dr Klontz, so listen, learn and enjoy.

You can check out more about Brad here: https://www.bradklontz.com/

Also, do check out his upcoming book, Money Mammoth, available to pre-order here (I’ve ordered mine!): https://www.amazon.co.uk/Money-Mammoth-Unlocking-psychology-extinction/dp/1119636043

This week I speak to former investment banker, Stacey Lowman, about why and how she swapped her high earning city job for a much simpler life travelling around Europe in a camper van.

Key insights include:

• Why careers which use money as a measure of success can make you unhappy.

• Why you need to be wary of the amount of time you spending earning and working.

• The tenuous link between a high income and being good with money.

• How redefining success so that it is aligned with your values helps in developing a plan to achieve it.

• Why you need to be happy when you are single, so you can be happy in a future relationship.

• Why you need to track your progress with money.

Stacey’s story is a wonderful example of how you can loosen money’s power over your life, and make sure that your money habits, decisions and behaviours are intentional and effective.

You can check out Stacey’s work at https://www.pachiramoney.com/.

This week I speak to Emmanuel Asuquo, qualified financial advisor and founder of the financial empowerment company, The Eman Effect UK.

Riding high as the youngest ever financial adviser at Barclays, a flash company car and extravagant spending. Emmanuel had it all. Then new financial rules led to redundancy, a bad credit rating and a massive rethink of the role of money.

This is a great conversation with a very engaging and humble man who knows the effect of childhood poverty scars, the true role of money, and what it means to live life on purpose.

I laughed a lot during our discussion. I think you will as well. Enjoy!

And do check out Emmanuel on instagram @theemaneffectuk.

This week, my guest is Dr. Daniel Crosby, psychologist, behavioural finance expert and Chief Behavioural Officer at Brinker Capital.

Daniel talks about financial sacrifice and the relationship between happiness and money (it might not be what you expect!). He also shares his ‘three Es’ when it comes to financial wellbeing: education, environment and encouragement.

An episode absolutely jam-packed with great insights and priceless gems from a world expert on behavioural finance.

This week, I speak to Tara Gillespie, investment consultant at Redington Ltd and co-founder of the financial community, Best Intentions.

Tara describes her early memories of “wealth”, growing in in an ex-pat community in Dubai, and her “never again” moment when she got into money trouble at university.

There are lots of great money insights in this episode including Tara’s "‘Just get started’ approach to investing, why you should be wary of willpower, and the importance of financial boundaries and barriers.

This week I speak to Sam Sloma, Chartered Financial Planner and Managing Director at Engage Financial Services.

After a career as a professional footballer, Sam retired at 26 and set his sights on the next chapter of his life. 

Six years into his career change, Sam became a Chartered Financial Planner and went on to set up Engage Financial Services in 2017.

Sam is a wonderfully warm and "down to earth" guy. His openness makes this money story a great listen.