Drea Knufken
This is a blog post by Drea Knufken.
To grow money, you have to know money. And to know money, you need to study it: Its movements, who’s making it (and why), who takes it away, how to keep it, and how to grow your personal stash.
Unless you’re a child prodigy like Warren Buffett, or you have a trust fund, this stuff doesn’t come on its own. It takes years of learning and experience. And what better way to learn than to throw on a podcast in the car, at the gym, or in another convenient setting?
We compiled this list of audio resources to make you richer. Even a weekly listen will boost your moneymaking IQ. See which of these valuable podcasts suits you best:
1. The Dave Ramsey Show
Author, financial expert, and TV personality David Ramsey gives callers straightforward financial advice. People call in with problems ranging from retirement investing to leasing a car. Dave responds in a no-nonsense, but entertaining way. The result? A very listenable and satisfying podcast.
Bottom line: Dave’s original, quotable style sets this money advice podcast apart.
Duration: 40 minutes
Frequency: 5x/week
LISTEN to the podcast here.
2. Money Girl’s Quick & Dirty Tips for a Richer Life
Personal finance author and business consultant Laura Adams shares practical financial advice for regular people. Her clear, easy-to-understand podcast covers everything from tax breaks to transferring credit card balances. She keeps her show to-the-point, without rambling interviews or digressions.
Bottom line: Money Girl’s concise, direct financial lessons offer an easy way to improve your money prowess.
Duration: Varies; between 5-9 minutes.
Frequency: Once a week
LISTEN to the podcast.
3. Marketplace
Marketplace, a public radio production, gets you your news, current event, analysis, and commentary fix in a professional, put-together way. You get an intelligent big picture of the current economy and the people in it.
Bottom line: A professional, quick info-fix that keeps you up-to-date on news, events, and analysis.
Duration: 29 minutes
Frequency: 5x/week
LISTEN to the podcast.
4. Harvard Business Ideacast
The Ideacast, put on by the folks at Harvard Business Review, gives you the audio version of their valuable content. Hosts interview professors on their research and studies, give insight into everyday topics and trends, and tell you how you can use new findings to improve your career or business. Topics and guests are consistently interesting.
Bottom line: Gain cutting-edge business and career knowledge, insight, and tips here.
Duration:10-20 minutes
Frequency:4-5x/month
LISTEN to the podcast.
5. Manager Tools
Manager Tools gives you practical advice on how to become a better leader and manager. Instead of analyzing theory, the podcast offers techniques and specific actions you can take to improve your management skills.
Listening to Manager Tools is like talking to friends about business topics. You get useful, real-life advice and insight. The commentators sometimes insert fun, humorous discussions, keeping the podcast interesting.
Bottom line: This fun, practical, friendly show gives good business advice in general, whether or not you’re a manager.
Duration:25-35 minutes
Frequency:4-5x/week
LISTEN to the podcast.
6. Duct Tape Marketing
Marketing guru John Jantsch, creator of the well-known Duct Tape Marketing blog and books, interviews prominent guests for his informative show. Most of Jantsch’s guests, whether entrepreneurs or social media specialists, have some kind of marketing expertise to share. When you listen, you gain both marketing wisdom and insight into cutting-edge ideas.
Jantsch’s show sounds homegrown—both his interview style and studio sound quality reflect a relatively informal style. The upside is that you experience guests from an entrepreneur’s perspective, which gives you an intimacy with interviewees not found through the standard journalistic approach.
Bottom line: Stay in the business and marketing loop by listening to Jantsch’s guests.
Duration: 15-25 minutes.
Frequency: 2x/week (with exceptions—see Jantsch’s site)
LISTEN to the podcast.
7. The SalesRoundup Podcast
Entertaining, bantering hosts—and longtime salesmen–Mike and Joe discuss ways to improve your sales skills in this fun, engaging show. They tell stories to build their scenarios, analyze industry trends, and offer you ways to do it right. They also interview experts on all kinds of sales topics, including sales prospecting, recruiting, negotiating, dealing with “seemores,” and much more.
Bottom line: Build your sales skills. Make more money. Stay entertained in the process.
Duration: 35-40 minutes
Frequency: 1x/week
LISTEN to the podcast.
8. WSJ’s Your Money Matters
Listen to Wall Street Journal-quality personal finance reports, complete with expert input, on this mainstream media podcast. Learn the latest tax laws, corporate moves, technology, and other relevant business news in short order. This podcast is generally around 5 minutes long, allowing you to update yourself on topics quickly and easily.
Bottom line: Listen daily. Stay informed.
Duration: 5-7 minutes
Frequency: 5 days a week
LISTEN to the podcast.
9. Total Picture Radio
Host Peter Clayton displays interviewing mastery in his tri-weekly podcast. Radio interviews can sometimes be tedious or dense, but Clayton’s choice of interviewees, insightful questions, and range of topics make his show a must-listen.
Total Picture Radio started as Landed.fm, a show created to help professionals between jobs “land” a position. Its focus on helping professionals succeed remains, but its broad scope of both subjects and experts enables even non-business-minded listeners to glean wisdom from Clayton’s interviews. Bonus: The show’s frequency and range of interviewees lets you pick and choose interviews most relevant to you.
Bottom line: Experts talk about a range of topics–and the interviews are almost always gripping.
Duration: Between 9-30 minutes
Frequency: 3x/week (generally)
LISTEN to the podcast.
10. Planet Money
NPR’s Planet Money gives you a behind-the-scenes look at money, how people make it, and how people take it. The show is especially good at covering events related to the financial crisis, bailout, and government rescue.
They’re also adept at reporting on regular peoples’ experiences with topics. For example, recent shows feature regular joes dealing with health insurance bills, educating students about the financial crisis, and what kinds of plants (read: weeds) people ate during the Great Depression. Interviews, expert quotes, and relevance to everyday listeners make this podcast a good staple.
Bottom line: A daily listen will boost your understanding of how current events relate to everyday life.
Duration: Between 10-25 minutes
Frequency: Every other day
LISTEN to the podcast here.
11. Sound Investing
Seattle-based investment firm Merriman puts together this excellent financial podcast, which has aired on Seattle radio for nearly a decade. Timely topics, like how to hedge against a weak dollar, keep you up on handling the market’s blows. The show’s three announcers banter and joke, adding a teasing informality to potentially dry topics.
They lend their opinionated, often-funny approach to a variety of money topics, including mainstream finance trends, expert opinions, and interviews (Jack Bogle and Knight Kiplinger have been guests). They add music for variety. Some episodes run close to an hour, so you may want to pick and choose which shows to play.
Bottom line: Solid financial advice packaged in an entertaining show take the dryness out of dividends.
Duration: 50+ minutes
Frequency: 2x/week
LISTEN to the podcast.
12. Jim Canterucci’s Personal Brilliance Podcasts
Coach, project manager, and organizational change expert Jim Canterucci interviews up a storm in his discussion-based podcast. Each podcast is devoted to a fascinating interviewee, ranging from entrepreneurs and CEOs to marketing and social media. He covers the gamut of subjects relevant to business today.
Each short interview addresses one aspect of Canterucci’s four personal brilliance catalysts: Curiosity, focus, awareness, and initiative. The result is an engaging, enlightening podcast.
Bottom line: Canterucci’s podcast gives you insight into an expert’s world. This, in turn, helps you think brilliantly.
Duration: Varies; generally 10-15 minutes
Frequency: 3-4x/month
LISTEN to the podcast.
13. The Disciplined Investor
Experienced investment advisor Andrew Horowitz uses analysis and attention to detail to give lay investors a clear picture of the market they play in. While financial news generally reports what’s happening, it doesn’t pay attention to the consequences and strategies for dealing with events. Horowitz does just that. For example, a recent show addressed this question: Will the government stimulus result in inflation? What happens next?
He points out the bigger picture behind global markets, news analysis, and trends. He puts the missing pieces together. The level of detail makes it a bit dry if you’re not interested in investing, but if you are, don’t miss this show.
Bottom line: If you want to learn or stay informed about the investment world, Horowitz is your man.
Duration: Varies; usually 40-50 minutes
Frequency: 1x/week
LISTEN to the podcast here.
14. Inspiring Words of Encouragement
Once you get past each show’s cheesy introduction, motivation guru Zig Ziglar’s energetic stories will inspire you. His passionate narration, compelling voice, and lively stories instantly absorb you—and teach valuable lessons along the way. Most of Ziglar’s podcasts require a lot of attention to follow, so they’re ideal while you’re driving, exercising, or just sitting.
Bottom line: Zig Ziglar’s podcast helps you feel better while you learn.
Duration: 5-20 minutes
Frequency: 3-4x/month
LISTEN to the podcast.
15. Clark Howard
The Clark Howard show has a tagline: “Save more, spend less and avoid rip-offs.” That’s exactly what Clark, a well-known consumer advocate, shares in his podcast. By listening, you’ll learn what companies are ripping you off and how to avoid their traps.
Shows also cover how, when, and where to save money, and how to address business problems that affect consumers directly. Additionally, Clark and his team—who have two hours to talk each day–cover trends, company stories, common business problems, and personal experiences, offering a complete daily business show.
The combination of topics makes this consumer-centered show a useful addition to your listening lineup. Each show is 2 hours long, so pick and choose according to your topics of interest.
Bottom line: Clark keeps you up-to-date on rip-offs, savings, and more.
Duration: 2 hours
Frequency: 5 days/week
LISTEN to the podcast.
Drea Knufken is a freelance writer, editor, ghostwriter and content strategist. Her work has appeared in national publications including WIRED, Computerworld, National Geographic, Minyanville, Backpacker Magazine and others. For more information, please visit www.DreaKnufken.com. You can also find Drea via her blog, Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter.
