Episode 1 of The Unofficial History of Personal Finance.  In this new series, Beau goes back 12,000 years to the beginning of human civilization to attempt to answer the question:  ”How did we get here?”

Bob Lai (https://www.tawcan.com/) joins Beau at a conference in Washington, D.C. to share his personal finance story. (Recorded in-person on September 6th, 2019 before the pandemic. Published on April 11th, 2021.)  

In this solo episode, Beau attempts to answer the question: How does someone get into debt?

Week 18 of the COVID-19 series features Acquania Escarne. Acquania is the creator of The Purpose of Money which is a podcast and an online community for women building generational wealth for their families one dollar at a time. In this episode we discussed Acquania's COVID-19 experience so far and how as a US diplomat responsible for Asia, she has been working on COVID-19 related matters since January 2020. Acquania will be back to tell her full personal finance story on a future episode(especially how she started saving at 16 and lived in many places around the world), but in the meantime, if you want to hear more about her background, please check out her podcast: https://thepurposeofmoney.com/podcast/ https://thepurposeofmoney.podbean.com/e/how-i-saved-80k-for-retirement-in-2019/

Week 17 of my COVID-19 series is a solo episode where I talk about my experience being a parent during a pandemic. I don't pretend to know what it's like to be a single parent, have more than one child, or have older children, but I go through what it's been like for me since Henry was born almost 18 months ago.

Week 16 of the COVID-19 series features my friends Brynn Byrne and Aaron Yeger, co-hosts of the new podcast "That Was a Show?". We talk about Brynn and Aaron's COVID-19 experience and how the pandemic has affected their personal finances, but mostly I wanted them on to talk about their awesome new podcast.  I can't explain it better than them so here's the summary direct from their podcast page: The podcast about failed or forgotten sitcoms from the 80s and 90s. Many sitcoms have stood the test of time and have millions of adoring fans—but those shows were diamonds in the rough. This podcast is not about those diamonds, it's about the rough. Some sitcoms were briefly popular in their time, some were cancelled almost immediately. You probably won't recognize most of these, and you'll say 'that was a show?'

Week 15 of the COVID-19 series features my friend Rubina Ahmed-Haq. Every Sunday for the last 15 weeks, right before I record The Personal Finance Show, Rubina and I record an episode of the Dear Rubi podcast.  Dear Rubi is a column podcast where we take questions from listeners and discuss the personal finance issues of the day that concern most Canadians.  So if you like the conversation that Rubina and I had today on the show, search for Dear Rubi wherever you listen to podcasts and click the subscribe button.  

Week 14 of the COVID-19 series features Danielle Desir. Danielle is the founder of WOC (Women of Colour) Podcasters, travel and personal finance blogger, podcaster, and author of 2 books (with a 3rd on the way). In this episode we discussed Danielle's COVID-19 experience so far, starting with her trip to China in December 2019 just before the pandemic; her level of anxiety about leaving the house (which I understand well), let alone travelling anywhere during this time; and, why it's more important now than ever to have a space for women of colour podcasters.

Week 13 of the COVID-19 series features Jackie Porter Jackie is a Canadian CFP, author of "Single by Choice or Chance", financial confidant, and recent winner of the Mackenzie Investments award for "Female Trailblazer of the Year". In this episode we discussed: -Jackie's book and the importance of financial empowerment. -COVID-19 stories from Jackie's financial planning clients and how "we're all in this together but differently". -The importance of being able to pivot and constantly having "beginner's mind" and learning experiences in business and in life. -Jackie's personal experience with racism in her industry and personal life and how she has been impacted by the anti-racist protests going on in the world right now. Jackie will be back to tell her full personal finance story on a future episode, but in the meantime, if you want to hear more about her background, please check out this episode of the Mind Your Business podcast:   https://www.themybpodcast.com/podcast/episode/79b3a9a3/153-jackie-porter-author-and-financial-confidant

Week 12 of the COVID-19 series features Kassandra Dasent. Kassandra currently lives in Florida, was born in Trinidad and grew up in Canada (Montreal). In this episode we discuss Kassandra's experience with COVID-19 so far, and how it has affected her ability to see her mother in Montreal, and her step-child in Trinidad.  We also discuss the current anti-racist protests around the world, Kassandra's experience with explicit and implicit racism in her own life, and what we can all do to help change the way Black people are viewed in the US, Canada and everywhere. Kassandra will be back to tell her personal finance story on a future episode, but in the meantime, if you want to hear her story, please check out these podcast episodes: https://www.journeytolaunch.com/episode114/ https://paychecksandbalances.com/kassandra-dasent/ For more about the Black Tax, check out this interview on Journey To Launch with Shawn Rochester: https://www.journeytolaunch.com/episode158/

Week 11 of the COVID-19 series features Kara Perez from Austin, Texas. Kara's business Bravely Go was all about live in-person events, until the pandemic hit and she had to figure out how to pivot her business.  Kara decided to create an online event called the Financial Feminist Summit, which was at the end of May 2020 and attracted 3,300 registrants.  In the episode, Kara and Beau talk about her Summit, feminism, racism, intersectionality, and what the future holds for the events industry.

Week 10 of the COVID-19 series features my friend Eric Wong in Singapore.  We discuss his personal experience with the pandemic so far, how Singapore is handling the situation, and how Eric's industry, hospitality, has been devastated by this global crisis, and what the future might look like.

Week 9 of the COVID-19 series is a break from the global tour.  Matthew Siwiec joins me from his home in Toronto to review the "alphabet soup" of Canadian emergency benefits there are out there.  From EI to CERB to CESB to CEWS to OCECRA, among others, we try to make some sense of them.  Since these benefits change all the time is a good idea to talk about them as much as possible.  For the links mentioned in the episode, head to: https://www.thepersonalfinanceshow.com/e/covid-19-9/

Week 8 of the COVID-19 series features my cousin Jay who lives in Berlin, Germany. Every week during the pandemic Beau will find someone in a different part of the world with a different personal pandemic experience to share their perspective and tell their story for others to hear.  In this episode Jay shares his COVID-19 experience so far in Germany, where he currently lives with my cousin Liz and their son Hudson.  Jay works for a company called HERE Technologies and Liz is an experienced travel writer, having most recently researched and written for 20 Fodor's guidebooks over the last 8 years. For Jay, Liz and Hudson, travel is their way of life.  Though they are ok financially during this pandemic and acknowledge their privilege in this regard, this doesn't diminish the fact that they may have to rethink how they live and earn in the "new normal" that emerges after the COVID-19 dust has settled.   (As we discussed in the episode, Hudson has his own Instagram account called Hudson in Hotels and can be found here:  https://www.instagram.com/hudsoninhotels/)

Week 7 of the COVID-19 series features James Mwombela from North Carolina.   Every week during the pandemic Beau will find someone in a different part of the world with a different personal pandemic experience to share their perspective and tell their story for others to hear.  In this episode James shares his COVID-19 experience so far in North Carolina, which is currently on lockdown but that is changing this week as they enter Phase 1 of "reopening".  James was already working from home so his work situation has not changed much.  In fact, an interesting effect of this global pandemic is that people who may have been less focused on their finances are realizing this is the time to really figure things out.  As a Certified Financial Planner in the US, James is well equipped to help people with their finances during normal times, and the pandemic has provide him the opportunity to reach more people and help them make plans to survive and thrive in the future.

Week 6 of the COVID-19 series features César Tánchez from Guatemala.   Every week during the pandemic Beau will find someone in a different part of the world with a different personal pandemic experience to share their perspective and tell their story for others to hear.  In this episode César shares his COVID-19 experience so far in Guatemala, which has less than 700 cases of the coronavirus and only 17 deaths as of today.  For comparison, the global numbers as of today are almost 3.5 million cases with nearly 250,000 deaths.   César also explains how there is no employment insurance in Guatemala and how the pandemic is changing the way the people of his country view saving for the future and personal finance in general. Search for César's podcast, "Trascendencia Financiera con César Tánchez", wherever you get your podcasts.

Week 5 of the COVID-19 series features Tom Drake from Alberta. Every week during the pandemic Beau will find someone in a different part of the world with a different personal pandemic experience to share their perspective and tell their story for others to hear. In this episode Tom shares his COVID-19 experience so far, which includes getting officially tested and having to isolate under quarantine law. Tom and Beau also discuss investing during an economic recession like this and what to be careful of at a time when no one can predict how the economy will be affected and for how long.

Week 4 of the COVID-19 series features Jordon Cox of the UK.  Beau and Jordon discuss: -Jordon's trip to Disneyworld that was cut short and for which he's still trying to get some money back -His recent health issues and how that affects his susceptibility to the virus -How the UK is handling the COVID-19 pandemic and the rules in place to protect the British people -How 1/3 of the National Health Service (NHS) workers have been compromised by COVID-19 and the system is overwhelmed. -How the pandemic has affected Jordon's ability to make money and what financial relief exists in the UK -That a podcast host should never ask this question during a lockdown: "Where is your boyfriend now?" -How the British people are excellent at queuing(standing in lines) which is very evident during a pandemic.

In the third weekly episode of the COVID-19 series, Beau calls Australia to speak to Michelle from frugalityandfreedom.com to discuss: -How COVID-19 has affected her life -How Australia and New Zealand are handling the pandemic -How Michelle's personal finances have been impacted -Financial independence and frugality -The live event industry and how it has been decimated -The importance of staying positive and taking care of your mental health during times like this -Building other forms of capital other than financial capital to help you adapt to changes in the world or your circumstances

In the second weekly episode of the COVID-19 series, Beau talks about: Emergency-fund shaming and how we're in survival mode now and there is no point in telling someone they should have had an emergency fund. Hopefully going through a pandemic without an emergency fund will give you the perspective to start saving once you have surplus income again What if you are in a position where you have no surplus income so you can't build savings? The dangers of relying on credit as your emergency fund