by Kaitlyn Ranze | 8 December 2020
Reaching the end of this year has made us reflective. Maybe we’re craving an explanation for our current moment or celebrating the hard fought wins. Either way, we’ve survived a pandemic, economic recession, been part of a civil rights movement, and collaborated with some brilliant minds on our podcast.
As we looked back, our most popular podcasts have been optimistic and informative, tackling mindset, buying real estate, and banking systems.
Here are the most popular podcasts of 2020:
3) Nav.ing Real Estate Investments with Justine Chan
With interest rates rising and then falling this year, Justine Chan, founder of Live with Plum, provides a modern home-buying guide, educating women on how to buy property ensuring they have what they need to make an informed decision.
Why her groundbreaking focus on women homebuyers? Because what existed previously didn’t take into consideration the perspective and reality that female homebuyers are different: they’re more risk-aware. Their financial outcomes are different because women are interested in a different outcome.
Knowing this, the expert dives into how listeners can prepare for their own home-buying process.
She says to start by getting as much information as you can prior to looking for a house. Look internally at your current budget and credit score, assess how much you can afford, and prepare the documentation to prove income and salary. Negotiation and having a good credit score can increase your buying potential and reduce your overall expenses.
Erin Papworth, founder of nav.it, talks about her own experience nav.igating home buying while self-employed and what that meant for her mortgage options.
Plum then reviews hot tips like how shopping around with different banks for mortgages can save, cautioning that there are hidden expenses of real estate and explaining the cost of closing, inspection, real estate attorney, and more.
She goes over the ins and outs of how to decide the right length of a mortgage, the different types of mortgages, and how the right location can give you the most bang for your buck.
Speaking of value, Plum argues that in real estate that’s pretty personal. Being self-aware can improve the results of your research and improve your overall satisfaction living comfortably in a place long-term
Lastly, she tackles home-buying during times of Covid
Is this a good time for you to buy? It depends, but you’ll feel a lot more prepared after listening to Live with Plum.
2) Nav.igating Banks with Mighty Deposits
In this podcast, we evaluate the impact of banking in your community and other activist issues like sustainability, gender or racial equity, and small business investment with Megan Hryndza and Sophia Wagner, co-founders of Mighty Deposits, a bank comparison site that helps users find banks that are mission-aligned with their values.
Explaining how banks make money, Megan describes how banks are designed to take deposits and create loans for their communities, making them the first social impact investors of a community, currently valued at 500 billion. After all, more people have bank accounts than they do investments.
How does this impact community investment?
How can your deposits impact your home value, your small business, and your quality of life?
During this time of social change, how can you be sure your deposits are used in ways you support, such as investments in black communities?
Sophia and Megan explain this and more, including the process by which banks receive special designation by the FDIC for majority-owned by African Americans, while women in banking are the number three searched subject at Mighty Deposits (though there are only 11 women-owned banks).
Why focus on banking and investments? Megan and Sophia know that money is power, quoting the Racial Equity Institute “When we make power invisible, racism thrives.” They contend that if we don’t talk about money and who we bank with, we keep that power invisible and enable the continuation of a system that is not always accountable to a majority. Normalizing the conversation gives you the power to nav.igate the system on your own.
Some surprising details: the US has more data on its banks than any other country in the world.
This data is important and was originally offered to people in the banking industry, however, Mighty Deposits makes this data easy, digestible, and accessible to the average consumer in a few clicks. That’s why we tackle how banks make money with the experts, so you know what to ask your bank, and discover how just one deposit can contribute to economic prosperity wherever you call home.
1)Nav.igating Financial Wellness with Dr. Ellen Blau
There was a lot we couldn’t control this year, but mindset wasn’t one of them. As we nav.igated the world a little differently, we talk to psychologist Dr. Ellen Blau about building a growth mindset and how it contributes to your overall wellness.
With over 30 years of experience as a life coach and psychologist, she defines wellness as “not just doing ‘ok’ but as optimal functioning.
Dr. Blau breaks down the fundamentals of mindfulness and mindset and how you can use BOTH to optimize your functioning.
She explains that mindset is a system of beliefs that we bring to every situation. If your friend is feeling like he should be married with kids at a certain age, feeling down about it? This is a sign of a fixed mindset. She continues and addresses another important factor in mindset – resilience which is the ability to adapt in the face of disappointments, adversity, trauma, stress, and threats. A fixed mindset is mired in feelings of failure and shame.
How does this contrast with a growth mindset? And how can you cultivate a growth mindset and how does a growth mindset improve your financial fitness and resilience?
Dr. Blau reviews this as well as neuropsychology and how empirical research shows how 20 minutes of meditation for 6-8 weeks can actually increase resilience and improve overall wellness. But that’s not all she reveals.
How else can your mind impact your money management?
Dr. Blau answers this and so much more including how trauma impacts the brain and how a community can improve your resilience, so you can not just live but also thrive.
To check out the latest Nav.It Podcast Click Here.
