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In this episode, Farnoosh opens with a candid reflection on media narratives around Iranian identity and addresses a recent editing glitch from a prior interview.

From there, the conversation turns to a growing concern on many economists’ minds: Are we heading toward a recession in 2026?

With oil prices climbing past $100 per barrel and historical data linking energy shocks to economic downturns, Farnoosh breaks down what this could mean for your money—and how to prepare with what she calls a mindset of “healthy panic.”

The episode also dives deep into the rising costs of long-term care, why traditional insurance options are becoming less accessible, and what newer hybrid solutions could offer families trying to plan ahead.

Plus, a powerful excerpt from Senator Andy Kim, who shares his personal connection to elder care through his father’s Alzheimer’s diagnosis.

Finally, Farnoosh answers listener questions about:

• Supporting aging parents while still saving for your own future
• Navigating financial misalignment in relationships when one partner is giving more to family

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What would you do if your life completely spun off course…before you even had a chance to understand who you were?

My guest today, Nikki Mammano, says she didn’t set out to become a drug dealer in Hawaii—she was a teenager running from trauma, searching for a fresh start, and instead found herself pulled into a dangerous underground economy that nearly cost her everything.

In her new memoir Breaking Good, Nikki shares the raw, unfiltered story of addiction, survival, incarceration—and ultimately, rebuilding her life from nothing. We talk about how she rose through the ranks of a drug operation, why she chose loyalty over leniency when she was caught, and the moment that changed everything: discovering she was pregnant and deciding to start over.

This is a conversation about second chances, financial survival, and what it really takes to rebuild—not just your bank account, but your sense of self.

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or as long as I’ve known him — which is now more than fifteen years — he’s had the same signature look: a sharp mohawk and an even sharper perspective on money.

Today on So Money, we welcome back one of the original voices of the personal finance internet: J. Money, the longtime blogger behind Budgets Are Sexy and the founder of Rockstar Finance, a platform that helped shape the early personal finance blogging community. When this podcast first launched more than a decade ago, J. Money was one of my earliest guests — back when sharing your net worth online was considered radical and the idea of building a career from a blog about money was still pretty new.

In this conversation, we catch up on what’s changed — and what hasn’t. The mohawk is still there, thankfully. But J.’s life looks very different these days. He’s stepped away from blogging full-time, sold his site to The Motley Fool and later bought it back, and now spends much of his time running something called a “Free Closet,” giving away thousands of clothing items every week to people in need in his community.

We talk about the early days of the money-blogging world — when transparency about debt, savings, and net worth helped motivate an entire generation to take control of their finances. We also talk about what happens when you actually reach financial independence. Does money stop mattering? What motivates you next?

J. shares why the blogging magic eventually faded for him, how social media changed the tone of personal finance conversations, the surprising lessons he’s learned from working closely with unhoused communities, and why he believes the real power of money is simply the freedom not to think about it anymore.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.