Teach and Retire Rich

Teacher-turned planner, Justin Garritt goes deep on student loans including sharing an important deadline (December 31, 2023) for those looking to get maximum value out of PSLF (Public Service Loan Forgiveness). 

• Garritt Financial Solutions
• Teacher/Travel Hacker Turned Fiduciary
• Happy Travel Hacker
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Nothing presented or discussed is to be construed as investment or tax advice. This can be secured from a vetted Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). 

Scott talks TIPS (Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities), and the dramatic rise in their real rate of return.

• TIPS
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Nothing presented or discussed is to be construed as investment or tax advice. This can be secured from a vetted Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). 

403bwise Facebook Group reaches a Taylor Swift-like milestone. New Jersey school district throws teachers under the bus. 

• 403bwise Facebook Group
• New Jersey District Throws Teachers Under the Bus
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Nothing presented or discussed is to be construed as investment or tax advice. This can be secured from a vetted Certified Financial Planner (CFP®). 

Lily Katz of Redfin News discusses the recent story she co-wrote with her colleague Sheharyar Bokhari, Redfin Senior Economist, called: The Typical Teacher Can Afford Just 12% of Homes for Sale Near Their School, Down From 30% in 2019 

• The Typical Teacher Can Afford Just 12% of Homes for Sale Near Their School, Down From 30% in 2019
• The Price of 403(b) Enrollment
• Lily Katz
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Scott reveals the dirty little secret about K-12 403(b) enrollment: it's a loss leader which incentivizes agents to upsell. 

• The Price of 403(b) Enrollment
• School Benefits Official Who Did the Right Thing (from the Learned by Being Burned pod series)
• Transcript for pod about School Benefits Official Who Did the Right Thing
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Dan and 403bwise community honored by InvestmentNews. We tell the 403bwise origin story.

• How a Former Teacher is Educating the World About 403(b)s
• An Annuity for the Teacher — and the Broker (New York Times)
• 403bwise in 2000
•  Paying for College with Ron Lieber (podcast)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

NYC teacher and financial coach Emily Maretsky, who has more than 16k Instagram followers (@teacherfinancialcoach), talks family and moving from the classroom to full time financial coaching.  

• teacherfinancialcoach.com
• @teacherfinancialcoach
• Learned by Being Burned — teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Part 2 of our wide ranging interview with one of the most influential personal finance writers in the country, Scott Burns. A longtime columnist for the Dallas Morning News and the father of the “Couch Potato Portfolio” investing style, Scott is a longtime champion of teachers, and K-12 403(b) reform.

• Scott Burns
• Learned by Being Burned — teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Wide ranging interview with one of the most influential personal finance writers in the country, Scott Burns. A longtime columnist for the Dallas Morning News and the father of the “Couch Potato Portfolio” investing style, Scott is a longtime champion of teachers, and K-12 403(b) reform (part 1 of 2).

• Scott Burns
• Learned by Being Burned — teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

School counselor from Connecticut gets taken for an expensive ride. It could happen to you. 

• Fraud Is Flourishing on Zelle. The Bank’s Say It Is Not Their Problem.
• Stuck in AXA (First pod with Adam)
• Learned by Being Burned — teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Private equity is everywhere: emergency rooms, nursing homes, veterinarians, your favorite retailers, and maybe some day your retirement plan. Yet, according to our guest Brendan Ballou, author of Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America, few understand what these firms are or how they work.

• Plunder: Private Equity's Plan to Pillage America 
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Buffer annuities — sometimes called Structured Investment Options - are pitched as a no-cost investment. Sounds good, right? 

• The Risk of Buffer and Floor Strategies
• SEC Warning 
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Massachusetts 5th grade teacher Brian Kramer, who describes himself as an Aspiring Financial Literacy Advocate, discusses teaching, how he and his wife got out of Equitable, term life insurance, saving in a Roth IRA, and perhaps earning the CFP® designation.  

• Northborough School District 403(b) Plan
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Former teacher, current financial planner, and 24-7 student loan forgiveness guru, David Gourley returns to make sense of where student loan forgiveness stands in the wake of the Supreme Court ruling, and the recent Biden Administration announcement of a seemingly new program. David has a message for public sector borrowers: there is a lot to be optimistic about.

• Contact David
• studentaid.gov
• Biden administration announces $39 billion in student loan forgiveness
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

We talk to a real doctor — not a phony one like Dan — who after being burned by salespeople, started the White Coat Investor, the most widely-read, physician-specific personal finance and investing website in the world.

• White Coat Investor
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Former professional baseball player and current Florida high school teacher, Ole Sheldon, discusses his new book The Impact of Fees on Retirement Investing: Written by a Teacher for Teachers which grew out of his doctoral dissertation on this topic. 

• The Impact of Fees on Retirement Investing: Written by a Teacher for Teachers
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Yanely Espinal is the author of Mind Your Money and the Director of Educational Outreach at our favorite non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance. To her 58,000 youtube followers she is known as MissBeHelpful, a fin lit channel she founded in 2015 that has racked up more than 4 million views. Yanely also hosts the Financially Inclined, a podcast about "all the money lessons we wish we learned earlier."

In part 2 of this two-part interview, Yanely talks about her pivot from education to YouTube Fin Lit star and all of the opportunities it has led to. 

• Mind Your Money
• NGPF
• MissBeHelpful YouTube Channel
• Financially Inclined
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Yanely Espinal is the author of Mind Your Money and the Director of Educational Outreach at our favorite non-profit, Next Gen Personal Finance. To her 58,000 youtube followers she is known as MissBeHelpful, a fin lit channel she founded in 2015 that has racked up more than 4 million views. Yanely also hosts the Financially Inclined, a podcast about "all the money lessons we wish we learned earlier."

In part 1 of this two-part interview, Yanely talks growing up in Bushwick, Brooklyn; the economic challenges she and her family faced; earning a scholarship to Brown University; and working as an elementary teacher. 

• Mind Your Money
• NGPF
• MissBeHelpful YouTube Channel
• Financially Inclined
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Auto Enrollment has led to a massive increase in saving for retirement participation, especially among the young. We discuss data from new Vanguard 401(k) report, and what it could mean for the 403(b) and 457(b). We also talk a little travel hacking at beginning of podcast. 

• Report: Generational Changes in 401(k) Behaviors
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org

Micah Hauptman, the director of investor protection at the Consumer Federation of America, talks about his job and the fight to implement a fiduciary standard. 

• Consumer Federation of America
• Learned by Being Burned (teachers share how they were burned by sales agents and "trusted" advisors and how they got wise to the 403(b) plan)
• Meridian Wealth Management
• 403bwise.org