Two Personal Finance Podcast Eps That You Should Totally Listen To

Photo credit: Andreas Dantz, CC BY 2.0.

I have two personal finance podcast recommendations for this Monday. Both episodes are about 30 minutes long, so if you’re looking for something to listen to while you eat lunch or commute or work out, here you go:

99% Invisible: The Finnish Experiment

I need to hat tip Billfolders Adastra, Cryptolect, and SarahSalt for sharing both this podcast episode and the Planet Money episode that adapts this story during our discussion of Y Combinator’s Basic Income project last Friday.

99% Invisible explains that Finland has set up a similar Basic Income experiment, in part because they’ve realized that many unemployed Finns can’t afford to take available jobs (because the jobs or freelance gigs pay less than the unemployment benefits they’d lose). The team interviews Sanna Leskinen, a 39-year-old Finn who wants to work but can’t find a good job, and looks at how her life changes once she receives Basic Income.

It’s interesting to see that Finland has the same problem America does: jobs aren’t paying enough. But that’s not the subject of the podcast.

Friendshipping: You Don’t Have to Hang Out With Tom Felton

Friendshipping, if you’re not familiar, deals with “how can I be a good friend in XYZ situation” questions—and one of this week’s questions is about a person who can’t afford to attend their best friend’s bachelor party. Should this person put the cost of the steakhouse, the post-steakhouse bar, and the post-bar poker game on a credit card? Or should they be the friend who sits in the restaurant and orders a side salad while everyone else orders steaks and drinks?

Jenn and Trin’s answer, as the saying goes, may surprise you.

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