April is here and many of us are done with taxes. Now what? April is also Financial Literacy month and celebrated locally as Houston Money Week. Houston Money Week is a financial education initiative for people of all ages. FREE workshops are scheduled from April 11 - April 18, 2015. We were joined today by Houston Money Week Partner Ogadi Fields You can find out more about Houston Money Week by visiting the website at: www.houstonmoneyweek.org You can listen live by going to www.kpft.org and cl...
Apr 04, 2015•29 min
We are at about 75,000 Energy and Oil job losses nationwide since the drop in oil prices began. Here in Houston we all have friends or family members who might have been in this initial round of layoffs. The bad news in that it is not over yet. According to our guest the 2nd round of cuts will be coming shortly down the road. The good news is that there is hope. If you know someone who has been let go or is worried that they might be let go soon then please share this episode with them. On today...
Mar 28, 2015•29 min
Learn the secrets to maximizing your Social Security benefits and earn up to thousands of dollars more each year with expert advice that you can’t get anywhere else.Want to know how to navigate the forbidding maze of Social Security and emerge with the highest possible benefits? You could try reading all 2,728 rules of the Social Security system (and the thousands of explanations of these rules), but Kotlikoff, Moeller, and Solman explain Social Security benefits in an easy to understand and use...
Mar 21, 2015•29 min
When your child has picked a school and decided they want to go to college the next step is paying for it. After we get over the sticker shock that is the current cost of college tuition we most figure out where the funds to pay for school actually come from. Today we answer the question how do we pay for college. Jackie Aguilera has over 20 years experience in adult education and curriculum development. She has taught literacy, college success courses, and workforce readiness skills development...
Mar 14, 2015•29 min
For me a car has always been a tool to get you from point A to B. I have said in the past that a car is a depreciating asset as soon as you drive it off the lot. The only exception to this rule is classic and/or collectible cars. I recently toured a classic and collectible car facility here in Houston that made me change my thinking. After learning about how much some of these cars have recently gone for at the auction I wanted to learn more about collecting cars. Even more interesting than the ...
Mar 07, 2015•29 min
In Jane Austen's "Persuasion," Captain Wentworth writes to his love interest, "I must speak to you by such means as are within my reach." When it comes to actual persuasion, however, not all learning leaders know exactly what that reach is, let alone what's within it. We were joined today by Author Juliet Huck. I wrote The Equation of Persuasion™ to empower you to reach your highest potential as a communicator, both personally and professionally. Based on my decades of experience as a coach, a s...
Feb 28, 2015•25 min
For many of us who speak for a living our business and careers depend on making powerful presentations. For others you might have to occasionally make a presentation in front of a group of co-workers or clients. How do you go from a good speaker to a great speaker? We kicked off the show today with Houston Business Journal's Money and Law reporter Suzanne Edwards for our 2nd installment of a local Houston economy update. We discussed the recent changes in the oil market and what that means for W...
Feb 20, 2015•28 min
When spring fever hits and you start tossing out old clothes and scrubbing the floors, don't forget to give your finances some fresh air, too. Today we discussed how do we get started Spring cleaning our finances. Today we were joined live in the studio with AVP of South Texas Community programs with Comerica Bank and Houston Money Week partner, Vanessa Reed Vanessa Reed, AVP of the South Texas Community Reinvestment programs for Comerica Bank. Reed's priorities include affordable housing, educa...
Feb 13, 2015•29 min
For many college-bound students, the end of January means wrapping up applications and waiting to hear back. But getting into college is one thing. Paying for it another. Just as students talked with guidance counselors about finding the right schools to apply to, families may turn to help about figuring out which schools make fiscal sense. Today we were joined live in the studio with Houston Hispanic Forum 1st VP, Fernando Gil to discuss the Career and Education Day coming up on February 14th, ...
Feb 06, 2015•28 min
How creative are you? How do you know? How can you discover and develop your real creative powers? These questions lie at the heart of Creativity on Demand, and Michael Gelb explores them with an assurance and compassion that come from a lifetime of expert practice and deep reflection. There's enormous interest these days in creativity. Businesses everywhere, for example, know that their survival and their success depend on a constant flow of new ideas for products and services. Today we were jo...
Jan 30, 2015•29 min
So we made it through Christmas, but here it is January and we still are barely juggling the bills? How do you make a plan of attack to get back on track? Do you have a Christmas credit card hangover? We explored a cure for the Christmas credit card hangover w/Jennifer Guzman from Texas Capital Bank and Houston Money Week Partner. Native Houstonian Jennifer M. Guzman lived in Washington, DC and San Antonio, TX before returning home to Houston. Jennifer obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree with a m...
Jan 23, 2015•29 min
Could falling oil prices actually be a good thing for certain industries in Houston? If Houston is doing well why is there such a large unbanked or under banked population compared to the rest of the country? We explored both of these questions on a new monthly segment with Houston Business Journal's Legal and Money Reporter, Suzanne Edwards. Edwards most recently comes from Shanghai, China, where she was an editor at SinoMedia and, before that, a contributor to China Economic Review. Edwards is...
Jan 16, 2015•29 min
In the past if someone wanted to rob you they would buy a knife. They would wait in a dark alley and when you passed by they would stick you up. With the invention of the locomotive the same thief was able to scale his business by robbing hundreds during a train heist. Fast forward to last year December. 1 out of every 3 Americans were exposed to the Target data breach last year. Millions of people had money and personal information stolen. With the recent SONY hack we are looking at the possibi...
Jan 09, 2015•29 min
Doctors may be experts at treating patients. But when it comes to running their own businesses, many are making rookie mistakes. In an environment of rising health-care costs and declining reimbursement, many physicians often find themselves having to see twice the amount of patients to earn the same amount of money. The burden on physicians to navigate the cost of doing business while remaining cash-flow positive results in less than 20-20 vision when it comes to managing their finances. Sworn ...
Jan 02, 2015•30 min
If you went to school to do something creative for a living, you were probably taught the latest software (at the time). You were probably taught how to develop a concept and defend the finished product. You were probably taught the basic principles of your craft. BUT you probably never learned things like: What if my client refuses to pay? Should I work for free to build my portfolio? How do I find new clients and new projects? What is proper email etiquette? How much do I charge? We were joine...
Dec 26, 2014•29 min
Retirement income literacy is of essential importance to the financial security of retired Americans. With limited or no ability to earn additional money through work, this group must know how much they need to accumulate by the time they retire and know how to manage their money during retirement. Further, retirement income literacy will become more important as the number of people entering retirement with defined benefit plan guaranteed lifetime income decreases, life expectancy at age 65 inc...
Dec 19, 2014•29 min
"I can think of no other condition that places such heavy burden on society, families and communities and of course the economy." - Dr. Margaret Chan, Director General, World Health Organization More than 5 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's, the most common form of dementia, and unless a medical breakthrough is discovered that number is expected to soar to more than 7 million by 2025 and may be as high as 16 million by mid-century. While deaths from other diseases, such as breadt can...
Dec 12, 2014•28 min
When life hands you lemons what do you do? Well complaining certainly doesn't help anything, and nobody really listens anyway. Truth is, most successful people have failed their way to the top. For every successful person that you see, what you don't see is the trail of bankruptcies, failed partnerships, and pricey mistakes that made them who they are today. So does that mean every entrepreneur has to go through the same horrors, heartaches and pain? Is there any way to avoid this?Well one way i...
Dec 05, 2014•27 min
How do some startups go from zero to billions in mere months? How did Alexander the Great, YouTube tycoon Michelle Phan, and Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon climb to the top in less time than it takes most of us to get a promotion? What do high-growth businesses, world-class heart surgeons, and underdog marketers do in common to beat the norm? One way or another, they do it like computer hackers. They employ what psychologists call "lateral thinking: to rethink convention and break "rules" that a...
Nov 29, 2014•29 min
By 2015, 77 million Americans will be 50 to 69 years old! As the first generation to be so long-lived, we face the challenge of taking personal responsibility for the quality of our extended lives. Well be log-term pioneers, making the second part of our lives as rich and rewarding as the first, if not more so. But aging isn't the point. The point is lifelong development- our ability to live skillfully each day with the opportunities, choices, and changes that will happen inside and outside of o...
Nov 14, 2014•30 min
Feeling financially tapped, emotionally trapped? Do you feel the heat rise in you every time you pay bills or feel the aggravation of watching a loved one waste money? Is your money nerve pinched? We were joined today by CPA and author, Bob Wheeler. We discussed the The emotional side of money, the suffering artist syndrome and his experiences as the CFO of the Comedy Store, George Carlin and how comedians handle money. Bob Wheeler is a CPA with over twenty-five years of experience. His world tr...
Nov 07, 2014•28 min
On November 4th citizens in Alaska, Florida, Oregon and Washington will cast ballots on marijuana initiatives. Other states are likely to consider legalization in upcoming elections. Just how much money is at stake? We were joined today by managing partner of MedMen, Adam Bierman. We discussed the financial implications of states that have either medical dispensaries or legalized marijuana. Adam Bierman has become an industry leader featured on CNBC, Huffington Post, LA Times and more. He has ap...
Oct 24, 2014•24 min
"What changes do I need to know about before enrolling in health insurance for 2015?" Last year at this same time of the year I got certified for ACA enrollment to help people in enrolling in the new ACA exchange. Its hard to believe that a year has gone by since ACA rolled out. Open enrollment for the Affordable Healthcare Act begins Nov 15th 2014 - Feb 15th 2015 For 2015. On todays show we were joined by Ben Geyerhahn. Ben is a member of New York Governor Cuomo's Health Benefit Exchange Adviso...
Oct 17, 2014•30 min
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson recovers a crucially important—yet almost always overlooked—chapter of George Washington’s life, revealing how Washington saved the United States by coming out of retirement to lead the Constitutional Convention and serve as our first president. After leading the Continental Army to victory in the Revolutionary War, George Washington shocked the world: he retired. In December 1783, General Washington, the most powerful man in the country, stepped...
Oct 10, 2014•30 min
On todays show we were joined by Steve Scanlon Co-Founder of GuardVest. We discussed what questions you should ask a Financial Advisor before working with one. We also discussed what to avoid when working with a Financial Advisor. Before co-founding GuardVest, Steve Scanlon enjoyed a stellar career for more than 20 years as a financial executive with an inherent understanding of how investment performance should be inexorably tied to productivity. A 10-year veteran at AllianceBernstein, one of t...
Oct 03, 2014•27 min
Molly Fletcher has learned a lot over the past two decades while negotiating $500 million worth of deals on behalf of hundreds of the nation's premiere athletes, coaches and television commentators. She reveals the strategies, tips, and insights that have made her wildly successful first as a sports agent and now as a corporate consultant and keynote speaker. On todays show we were joined by Author, Molly Fletcher. We discussed her new book A Winner's Guide to Negotiating - How Conversation Gets...
Sep 26, 2014•30 min
Many people fear public speaking more than death. Most wish they could do it bettter, or at least avoid the sweating, stuttering jitters that plague them before any presentation or speech. Vikas Jhingran has been there. He was so poor at speaking in public that his supervisor wouldnt let him make presentations to clients-even though he had done all the work Surprisingly, few professional speakers and presenters understand speeches or presentations at a fundamental level. Their overly prescriptiv...
Sep 19, 2014•32 min
We are in the midst of a momentous event in the evolution of human consciousness, but they won't be talking about it in the news tonight. - Eckhart Tolle, self-help guru Open up your mind, in pours the trash. - Meat Puppets, "desert punk" band On todays show we were joined by Emmy award winning correspondent for ABC News and co-anchor for Nightline and the weekend edition of Good Morning America, Dan Harris. We discussed his new book 10% Happier. After having a nationally televised panic attack ...
Sep 12, 2014•32 min
Ms Pig E. Banks is all about change-- change in the piggy bank and change in the way readers think about money! On todays show we discussed teaching children how to save at an early age. We were joined by author and speaker Ajshay James. We also discussed credit,budgeting and communicating about money in a relationship. To learn more about Ajshay James you can visit her website at: www.mspigebanks.com You can listen live by going to www.kpft.org and clicking on the HD3 tab. You can also listen t...
Sep 05, 2014•30 min
Swords to ploughshares is a concept in which military weapons or technologies are converted for peaceful civilian applications. The ploughshare is often used to symbolize creative tools that benefit mankind, as opposed to destructive tools of war, symbolized by the sword, a similar sharp metal tool with an arguably opposite use. --Wikipedia On todays show we discussed using drone technology for peaceful, civillian applications. Specifically we looked at improving agriculture and energy by using ...
Aug 29, 2014•33 min
