Financial Freedom Podcast Steven J. Richardson, Esq.

Life insurance is an important part of any financial plan. Your death can bring about financial hardship to those you leave behind without it. Term life provides a nice benefit for a lower premium (although it goes up as you get older), while whole or universal life provides coverage for a higher premium, but it grows in cash value over time to provide an asset.
But apparently that whole life policy is worth more than its cash surrender value! You can actually sell it! To tell you more about this, I talked with Rob Haynie about life settlements and how they work.
In this episode you will learn:
- What a life insurance settlement is
- What some of the most compelling reasons are for considering one
- How they can  aid in estate planning
- How they can help you achieve financial freedom in retirement
- How they can help you overcome debt and avoid foreclosure

Millennials are somewhat the "middle child" generation when it comes to saving for retirement. Although, on average, they began saving 10 years earlier than Baby Boomers, Gen Z started at the age of 19, which is 16 years earlier than the average baby boomer, and 6 years earlier than millennials.
As such, they do have an edge over Boomers, they do have to play catch-up vis a vis the Gen Zers. That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with retired attorney and investment guy Dan Solin on what millennials can do to get to the retirement finish line successfully.
In this episode you will learn:
- Whether Retirement Should Be Your Investing Goal
- How Your Behavior Will Determine Whether You Reach Your Retirement Goals
- What "Consumer Smoothing" Is
- Whether Adjustable Rate Mortgages are Better Than Fixed Rate Ones
- Should You Pay Off, or Keep, Your Mortgage

Although student loans continue to be a hot topic in personal finance news, there are many interesting articles and tips out there that can help you on your path to financial freedom.  These include Gen Z investment strategies that seem to be working, the cooling of the housing market competition, whether you should leverage the equity in your home, and how to maximize your vacation time.
Thant's why in this episode of the podcast I wanted to talk about these various news items, in hopes that they can give you some investing ideas, help you decide whether to buy or sell a home, whether to do something with your home equity, or get you the most time off from work.
In this episode you will learn:
- How Gen Z Investment Strategies Can Help You
- About the Cooling of Housing Market Competition and What It Means for You
- About If, When, and How You Should Tap Into Your Home Equity
- How to Maximize Vacation Days
 

One of the things that many couples and individuals think about, know they need, and fully intend to get one day, is an estate plan. But what is it? Is it just a will? What can happen if you put it off too long?
That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk with estate planning attorney Adam Zuckerman to get a good idea of what an estate plan is, why you need one, and why you shouldn't wait to get one.
In this episode you will learn:
- What an Estate Plan Is
- How It Differs from a Will
- About the Downsides of Not Having One
- What You Need to Think About in Making One
- About Revocable Living Trusts

One of the more mystifying subjects in personal finance is cryptocurrency (what most people identify as Bitcoin). The concepts behind digital currency are not obvious and can lead to people being hesitant to get involved in it.
That's why in this episode of the podcast I talk to former truck driver and cryptocurrency enthusiast Bitcoin Ben to tell us about what it is, how you can get some, and why you should consider doing so.
In this episode you will learn:
- What Cryptocurrency Is
- About the Easiest Way to Get It
- How to Store Cryptocurrency
- Whether You Should Invest in It

For my 100th episode, I did a look back on 9 of those guests and highlighted some of the great information they had for listeners. Now that I have reached the milestone of 200 episodes I wanted to do that again with guests from Episodes 101 forward.
I will leave links in the show notes to the full episodes if you haven’t already listened to them and want to hear more. In addition, due to the length of this episode, I will also be leaving chapter markings (so you can skip ahead if you wish) and time codes in the show notes.
In this episode you will learn:
- How to Deal with Financial Stress
- About Budgeting and Reducing Spending
- Alternative Ways to Pay Down Debt
- How to Look for a Better Job to Increase Income
- About Getting Started in the Stock Market
- About Forming a Millionaire Mindset
- How to Define Retirement for Yourself
- How to Talk to Your Kids About Money
- Strategies for an Affordable College Education for Your Kids
Chapter Markings
02:11   Dealing with Financial Stress (Dr. David Weiman)
08:32  Budgeting & Reducing Spending (Tightwad Todd)
14:29  Alternative Ways to Pay Down Debt (Jerry Fetta)
20:17   How to Look for a Better Job (Bonnie Negron)
28:58  Getting Started in the Stock Market (Markay Latimer)
36:11   Forming a Millionaire Mindset (Tony Bradshaw)
42:04  Defining Retirement for Yourself (Eric Brotman)
47:03  Talking to Your Kids About Money (Derrick Kinney)
55:02  Strategies for an Affordable College Education for Your Kids (Brad Baldridge)