Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie–four women we know by first name–were collectively much of the “voice” of early NPR, bringing the fledgling network into millions of homes during an era when women weren’t expected to report news, let alone host shows or control what topics were discussed. Today we hear a few of their stories from master researcher and storyteller Lisa Napoli, journalist and the author of Ray & Joan among others. She’ll share how you too can achieve your goals and create your dream job – even if it doesn’t yet exist.
While these stories are downright interesting on their own, they also serve as great examples of achieving your goals, not limiting yourself, and learning how to thrive in environments where you’re not expected to win.
During our headlines we tackle an issue most of the world’s procrastinators have faced since working from home: keeping the ball rolling on your work. Studies show that the last year has been difficult for most, and we still have many lessons to learn about maximizing productivity and staying active when we’re sometimes only feet from our bed (or the XBox/kids/fire pit/whatever). We’ve had experience figuring out how to keep productivity and workflow up, and we don’t mind passing that advice on to you, along with some help from a great piece from the Wall Street Journal.
In our second piece, should you trust all of the new, up-and-coming “buy now, pay later” services? While you should always use some judgment while considering any purchases, there’s a bigger question to answer here: WHY use these services? If you’re already financially responsible enough to use credit, there are plenty of great credit card rewards programs to utilize instead. If you’re not responsible… well we’re back at square one, aren’t we? We’ll discuss the “why?” with these services and detail how they work.
We finish today’s show with a question on HSA investing from Stephen who asks: should he pay for medical expenses out of pocket to allow his HSA contributions to grow interest? Similar to our “buy now, pay later” thoughts, it’s not that our answer is necessarily no for Stephen, there are so many things that can go wrong here we have to take a moment to air some concerns.
Of course, there’s always time for Doug and his trivia.
Enjoy!
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Our Headlines
- Productivity Tips for Procrastinators (Wall Street Journal)
- Is It Safe to Use Buy-Now-Pay-Later Services Like Affirm, Afterpay, and Klarna? Here’s What You Need to Know
Tik tok of the week:
Lisa Napoli: Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie
A big thanks to Lisa for joining us today! You can find links to all of Lisa’s book, including Susan, Linda, Nina, and Cokie, at LisaNapoli.com.
You can hear our previous conversation with Lisa here: Creating and Giving Away Billions
Doug’s Trivia
- Which United States president took America off the gold standard?
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- Stephen asks: should he pay for his healthcare expenses out-of-pocket to give his HSA contributions a chance to grow and gain interest?
Written by: Richie Rutter-Reese
Thanks guys for an entertaining and informative podcast. Listened to today’s episode and I’m confused by the follow-up comments on HSAs; spending the money now (in the year you contribute) or leaving the money invested and spending more money later.
On the episode where this was first raised the argument against leaving the money invested seemed to be that you have to keep your receipts – for up to 40 years. This is assuming that you are going to claim reimbursements for TODAY’s medical expenses at some time in the future using the money that’s grown due to being invested.
Speaking for myself, but guessing this applies to a large number of other listeners, I chose to pay out of pocket for my (usually smaller) medical expenses while I was younger so that my HSA money could remain invested to be spent in the future for FUTURE (often larger) medical expenses.
I’m not keeping medical receipts for decades to claim reimbursement later. Instead I hope to use my HSA in my 60s, 70s, 80s, or however long it and I last, to pay the medical expenses that occur at that time.
Your HSA should have a cap on the amount that you have to pay out of pocket. Why wouldn’t you keep the receipts to spend the money on whatever you want pre-60’s?