7 Vital Money Questions You Need to Ask Yourself

Welcome to the Money Talks News Podcast.

In this episode, we're talking about how asking the right money questions can help you find your own version of financial freedom.

When it comes to money, most people want answers. But sometimes getting ahead isn't about getting answers, it's about asking the right questions. Like WHY we're doing what we're doing and where we want to end up when we do it.

As usual, host Stacy Johnson is joined by financial journalist Miranda Marquit. Listening in and sometimes contributing is producer Aaron Freeman. This week we welcome back Matt Schulz, the chief credit analyst at Lending Tree and author of the book Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How to Take Control of Your Financial Life.

Remember, even though we sometimes talk about money and specific investments on this show, don't take them as recommendations. Before investing in anything or making any money moves, do your own research and make your own decisions.

You can watch this episode below, or if you'd prefer to listen, you can do that with the player at the top of this article or download the episode wherever you get your podcasts:

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Don't forget to check out our podcast page for more episodes designed to help you make the most of your money.

The money decisions you make have an impact

Understanding the impact of your money decisions is an important part of long-term financial success. Part of that is asking the right questions. In this episode, we cover the questions you can ask to improve your understanding of money—and make better financial decisions.

We also have some resources on the website that can help you navigate your money choices:

• 5 Bad Decisions That Harm Retirement Readiness the Most — and 5 Choices That Boost It
• The Best Sources to Help You Make Great Financial Decisions
• 5 Tips to Make Better Financial Decisions
• 5 Decisions That Can Make or Break Your Retirement
• 15 Tips for Making the Best Social Security Decisions
• Depression-Era Hacks and Frugal Living Ideas to Save Money Now
• 6 Clever Ideas to Make Money While You Sleep
• 11 Cheap Business Ideas You Can Start for Less Than $1,000
• 9+ Flexible Job Ideas for Retirees With Little or No Savings

Learn more about important financial areas of your life

Our guest, Matt, takes us through some of the best questions to ask about important financial areas of your life, including credit, housing, health and more. We also have a lot of great resources that can help you navigate various money issues.

• How to Protect Your Kids' Credit
• 6 Ways to Keep a Stellar Credit Score in Retirement (and Why)
• How I Got a Perfect Credit Score in 4 Steps
• How to Raise Your Credit Score Without Getting Ripped Off
• 7 Ways to Get Your FICO Credit Score for Free
• 8 Telemedicine Options for Affordable Health Care Without Insurance
• 13 Habits of Happy and Healthy Aging
• 6 Medicare Mistakes To Avoid for a Healthy Retirement
• 98 Tips for a Healthy, Wealthy and Happy Retirement
• 7 Ways Anyone Can Save on Out-of-Pocket Health Care Costs
• What To Do When You Can't Find Affordable Housing
• How to Buy a Home Responsibly
• 7 Signs That You're Not Ready to Buy a Home
• 9 Grocery Shopping Mistakes That Will Cost You
• How the 6-1 Method Makes Grocery Shopping a Breeze
• A $50-a-Week Meal Plan for 1 When Shopping at Aldi
• 10 Ways to Save Money Shopping for Clothes
• Shopping Secrets Revealed: 6 Tricks the Pros Use to Save Hundreds
• 7 Sneaky Travel Charges to Avoid
• How to Travel Europe on a Budget
• 20 Traveling Jobs That Let You See the World
• Frugal Travelers Love These Economy Hotel Chains

Meet this week's guest, Matt Schulz

Matt Schulz is a personal finance expert and author of Ask Questions, Save Money, Make More: How to Take Control of Your Financial Life (March 2024), a money manual that empowers you to pay less, earn more and keep more of your hard-earned money by asking the right questions in everyday, real-life situations.

A nationally recognized money expert with more than 15 years of experience helping Americans make smarter money decisions, Matt is also the Chief Credit Analyst at LendingTree. He has been featured in various media outlets including CBS Evening News , The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Fox Business , CNN Business, Yahoo! Finance, The TODAY Show, NBC Nightly News, Bloomberg, ABC World News Tonight, CNBC, and many more – always with the goal of making the often-complex world of personal finance easier to understand.

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About the hosts

Stacy Johnson founded Money Talks News in 1991. He's a CPA, and he has also earned licenses in stocks, commodities, options principal, mutual funds, life insurance, securities supervisor and real estate.

Miranda Marquit, MBA, is a financial expert, writer and speaker. She's been covering personal finance and investing topics for almost 20 years. When not writing and podcasting, she enjoys travel, reading and the outdoors.

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