“Money is barely about money at all. It’s about the person. It’s about the emotions they struggle with or feel. It’s about the things they don’t say.”
— Colin Ryan
Guest Colin Ryan speaks to college-age kids nationwide and shares humorous anecdotes to help them grapple with money. He also encourages parents to see their children as the heroes of their financial stories, understand their kids’ unique perspectives and personalize conversations to foster connections. During his podcast appearance, Colin and host John Lanza discuss the concept of “earning by saving,” the role of money modeling and technology’s impact on financial well-being. They also chat about personal finance’s emotional and psychological facets, finding success and contentment in a consumer-driven society, social media’s power, vulnerability’s importance and the value of connecting through shared experiences.
Colin Ryan is a comedic financial speaker, an author and an award-winning storyteller who has been featured everywhere from NPR and PBS to The Moth Radio Hour and Reader’s Digest. He was named one of the top ten finance presenters in America and has spoken to over one million students and adults. He is also the author of A Comedic Guide to Money and the founder of the Public Speaking for Leaders Podcast. As a speaker’s mentor, Colin is dedicated to helping talented leaders and public figures become fun, memorable and impactful communicators. He now lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife, Lindsey, and their dog, Remy.
Links (From the Show)
- Connecting with Colin
- Colin’s website
- Money-Smart Mentions
- The Credit Union Financial Education Network
- Ramit Sethi’s book, I Will Teach You to Be Rich
- Communication theorist Marshall McLuhan
- Comedian Bo Burnham
- The Council for Economic Education‘s 2024 “Survey of the States“
- Podcast guest Carly Urban‘s study on a possible relationship between classroom financial education requirements and student money-smart behavior changes
- John’s short essay that mentions the hedonic treadmill
- Author Margaret Atwood
- Elizabeth Dunn and Michael Norton’s book, Happy Money
- Podcast guest Will Rainey‘s book, Grandpa’s Fortune Fable$
- Morgan Housel’s book, The Psychology of Money
- Helaine Olen and Harold Pollack’s book, The Index Card
- Zac Bissonnette’s book, How to Be Richer, Smarter, and Better-Looking Than Your Parents
- Yanely Espinal’s book, Mind Your Money
Show Notes (Find what’s most interesting to you!)
- Colin’s journey to become a comedic financial speaker [3:40]
- Colin discusses the biggest challenge to engaging college-age kids in money-smart conversations. [6:07]
- Bridging gaps in the money conversation [9:57]
- Compartmentalizing luxury: a unique approach to addressing spending [12:33]
- Colin explains that people aren’t rational when it comes to money. [16:15]
- “People are doing more right than they think they are.” [17:46]
- How Colin learned that money is more nuanced than a binary [19:16]
- Young people as the heroes of their stories [23:08]
- Colin explains his “earning by saving” concept. [26:50]
- Zombies and consumerism [31:33]
- Are we overcomplicating personal finance? [39:02]
- How do we help kids navigate the temptation to consume? [43:50]
- Confident vulnerability [52:11]
- The pitfall and goldmine of comparison [58:12]
- “Don’t win the point but lose the person.” [1:05:53]
- Money empowerment as not being structurally alone [1:08:47]
- Thoughtful listening [1:09:33]
- Understanding your definition of wealth and success [1:10:31]
- Our new podcast theme [1:11:24]
- Colin’s money-smart book recommendations [1:12:18]
- Colin on the web [1:14:36]
If you liked this episode …
Want to dive deeper into the emotional and psychological journey that often accompanies the money-smart one? In her episode of The Art of Allowance Podcast, award-winning financial educator Veronica Dangerfield discusses overcoming emotional ties to money to learn to use it as a tool. Tune in at 30:30 to discover how daily habits can help you control your mind to control your finances.
Worried that your past money mistakes prevent you from being an effective guide for your kids? Stacking Benjamins Podcast co-host Joe Saul-Sehy shares how he approached money with his children after his own financial faux pas. Start streaming his episode at 25:14 for his advice on working previous failures into money conversations.
Need more ideas on how to engage your children in meaningful money conversations? Check out John’s chat with financial advisor Tom Henske. He offers a slew of strategies during his podcast appearance, like avoiding “tell me about your day” language [4:06], asking older kids for help to teach them the money lessons they still need to learn [30:10] and relying on mail as a conversation catalyst [56:49].
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