The F. Word

Priya Malani

The F. Word with Priya Malani is the lifestyle-centric money podcast for high-earning 30-somethings who want to take control of their cash—no finance degree required. Whether you’re financially free or still figuring it out, Priya’s got your back. In each episode, she cuts through the jargon & teaches you the financial truths no one else is talking about—so you can make smarter money moves, without the stress. Disclaimer: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational & educational purposes only. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal.

  1. 8h ago

    Ep 75 | Wealth Building with AI expert, Professor Israni

    In this episode, Priya sits down with Sunny Israni - Wall Street veteran, Columbia Business School professor, and co-founder of AI automation startup LightSwitch - to cut through the noise on what AI actually means for your money. The conversation anchors on Elon Musk's claim that retirement savings will be irrelevant in an AI-abundant future. Priya and Sunny dismantle it methodically. But more importantly, they answer the question most high earners are quietly asking: what does building wealth actually look like when the rules are changing this fast? Takeaways: How the people closest to AI - the ones who actually build it - invest.The vast majority of AI users use it as a glorified search engine - which means the real AI opportunity is still wide open.Outsourcing your financial security to a prediction about AI abundance requires technology, human adoption, and policy to all align simultaneously. Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube Guest Bio: Sunny Israni started his career in fixed-income trading at Bank of America Merrill Lynch and built analytics infrastructure at Bloomberg that powered investment decisions across Wall Street. He is a CFA, a Columbia Business School professor, and co-founder of LightSwitch, an AI automation company for CPG brands. Guest Links: Personal Site: https://sunny.expert/ YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SunnySaysYes Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sunnysaysyas/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sunny-israni/ X/Twitter: https://x.com/sunnysaysyes TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@sunnysaysyes The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    35 min

  2. Jun 18

    Ep 74 | Your 401(k) Explained: Max vs Match

    In this episode, Priya strips the 401k back to first principles - what it actually is, how the employer match works, and when maxing it out might be the wrong call. The catalyst: a smart, well-educated client who went years without contributing because nobody ever explained what "match" meant. Priya fixes that, then goes further - covering the traditional vs. Roth decision, why flexibility beats tax optimization, and the one rule that is genuinely non-negotiable no matter what else is going on in your financial life.   Takeaways: A 401k is not an investment - it is a tax-advantaged container. The investments you put inside it are an entirely separate decision.Your employer match is the only guaranteed 100% return available to anyone.If you are in your 30s building toward near-term goals - a home, a career change, a sabbatical - maxing your 401k might actually mean over-allocating to retirement at the expense of everything else.Most people who try to perfectly optimize the traditional vs. Roth decision end up with regrets about optionality.  Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    17 min

  3. Jun 4

    Ep 73 | When Can You Actually Call Yourself Rich?

    In this episode, Priya asks the question most high earners don’t realize they are avoiding: are you actually wealthy, or have you built a very convincing appearance of it? Drawing on the timeless learnings in The Millionaire Next Door, she breaks down two types of high earners - prodigious accumulators of wealth and under-wealth accumulators - then runs the real math on what a completely normal lifestyle on $320K in New York City actually leaves behind to build with.  Takeaways: There is a version of success that looks like wealth, feels like wealth, and costs like wealth, but never actually becomes it.On a $320K salary in New York City, a normal lifestyle leaves roughly $25K a year to build with.Under-wealth accumulators don't feel broke - they just happen to be winning the wrong game. Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    16 min

  4. May 28

    Ep 72 | Solid Income and Still Stressed About Money?

    In this episode, Priya names what she calls the "HENRY version of money silence" - the isolating experience of earning a high income and still feeling anxious, behind, or quietly out of control. Drawing from almost 12 years of client conversations, she breaks down the three specific ways silence shows up at high incomes. This episode is a permission slip to stop pretending - and a roadmap for what to do instead.   Takeaways: There's an unspoken rule that at mid-six-figure incomes, you're not allowed to feel stressed about money. 40% of Americans in relationships can't accurately tell you their partner's income. Clients earning $350-400K often have no clear picture of what their household spends each month - not because they're irresponsible, but because looking felt scarier than not looking.  Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    14 min

  5. May 21

    Ep 71 | First Gen was Taught to Save. Not to Build Wealth.

    In this episode, Priya sits down with Gigi Gonzalez, financial educator and author of Cultura and Cash, to unpack why traditional money advice consistently misses the mark for first-generation professionals. The real issue is that first-gen wealth building comes loaded with inherited scarcity mindsets, cultural expectations around communal money, and family guilt that no mainstream personal finance book addresses. Listeners walk away with a concrete framework for building their own financial foundation without abandoning the people they love.   Takeaways: Traditional financial advice was designed for people with an existing safety net, not people building one from scratch.Scarcity mindset is inherited, not fixed. Recognizing where it came from is the first step to building past it.Sharing a promotion with family often means absorbing the financial consequences of their decisions.Building your own financial floor is not a betrayal of your culture. It's what makes sustainable generosity possible.Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube Guest Bio: Giovanna "Gigi" Gonzalez is a Financial Educator, Influencer, and a 3x award-winning author. She teaches personal finance to First Gen professionals at various organizations. In 2025, she was honored as the Best Personal Finance Influencer for Racial Equity by Bankrate. Her book, Cultura & Cash, was also selected as a “must-read money book for women’s financial growth in 2026” by Forbes. She has been featured on dozens of publications including Nasdaq, CNBC Make It, and The Wall Street Journal. She is originally from California but currently resides in Spain. Guest Links: Instagram: @gigithefirstgenmentor https://www.instagram.com/gigithefirstgenmentor/ TikTok: @thefirstgenmentor https://www.tiktok.com/@thefirstgenmentor LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/giovannagonzalez/ The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    43 min

  6. May 14

    Ep 70 | A Smarter Way To Approach AI For Your Finances

    In this episode, Priya Malani unpacks why more access to AI-powered financial advice hasn't translated into more financial confidence. She breaks down the two core problems: AI that hallucinates regulations with total confidence, and AI that gives population-level answers to questions that are deeply personal. The real issue isn't that AI is wrong, it's that most people don't know the right follow-up question to ask. You walk out of the episode with a four-variable framework that pressure-tests AI financial advice so you can feel confident trusting it.  Takeaways: More access to financial advice hasn't produced more financial confidence, because most people take the first AI answer at face value without knowing what's missing.AI gives population-level answers to individual-level problems, and without the right follow-up, the advice could be technically accurate and completely wrong for your situation.The four variables that most often change the right answer are time horizon, tax situation, liquidity needs, and income stability.AI is a research assistant, not a financial advisor. An advisor knows your life. AI responds to what you put in front of it. Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    15 min

  7. May 7

    Ep 69 | When Two Huge Incomes Don’t Add Up To Much

    High-earning couples are some of the most financially anxious people and the math explains why. In this episode, she walks through what $300K actually leaves a couple with after taxes, rent, and life in a major city, and the number is not what anyone expects. But the real issue isn't the math. It's that most couples are making financial decisions in parallel instead of as a team. If this is you, this episode highlights the conversation you’ve been avoiding and the questions to finally have it.  Takeaways: Two incomes without a shared financial picture is not a partnership strategy.Income is a data point. What someone actually does with money is a different question entirely.The problem is almost never that couples disagree on money. It's that they've never gotten aligned.Getting aligned is not a financial strategy. It is THE financial strategy.  Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    18 min

  8. Apr 30

    Ep 68 | You Don’t Have to Buy a Home to Build Wealth

    In this episode, Priya Malani makes the case that buying a home is probably not the smartest financial move for high earners in their 30s. The math is less obvious than the cultural script suggests — and most people never bother to run it.   Takeaways: The mortgage calculator leaves out the costs that actually catch people off guard.Renting is not throwing money away. It might be the smarter capital allocation.Wealthy people own real estate, but their primary home is not the cornerstone of their wealth.The right question is not "can I buy?" It is "have I actually thought about this, or am I just following a script I inherited?" Follow Priya Malani: LinkedIn | Instagram | Stash Wealth | YouTube The Stuff Our Lawyers Want Us to Say: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational and educational purposes only and is not intended to make an offer or solicitation for any specific securities product, service, or strategy. Consult with a qualified investment adviser (that's us) before implementing any strategy. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal. Past performance does not guarantee future results. There…we said it.

    15 min
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About

The F. Word with Priya Malani is the lifestyle-centric money podcast for high-earning 30-somethings who want to take control of their cash—no finance degree required. Whether you’re financially free or still figuring it out, Priya’s got your back. In each episode, she cuts through the jargon & teaches you the financial truths no one else is talking about—so you can make smarter money moves, without the stress. Disclaimer: Stash Wealth is a Registered Investment Advisor. Content presented is for informational & educational purposes only. Investing involves risk, including the loss of principal.

Information

  • Creator
    Priya Malani
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    76
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Priya Malani
  • Show Website
    The F. Word

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