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Life Kit

Curious about investing? Here's what to know

Life Kit

NPR

Health & Fitness, Self-improvement, Kids & Family, Education, Business

4.33.9K Ratings

🗓️ 2 December 2025

⏱️ 25 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Investing can be intimidating. How do you know which funds to choose? How do you diversify? How much should you be setting aside in a retirement plan versus a savings account or a brokerage account? This episode, we talk to Mary Childs, co-host of NPR's Planet Money, about these questions and more.

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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hey, it's Mariel. Before we get to the show, I want to make sure you know it's a special day for NPR, because it's giving Tuesday. NPR celebrates this global day of generosity every year, but we've never had a year quite like this one. You've probably heard by now that federal funding for public media was eliminated as of October 1st. That means NPR is now operating without federal support for the first time ever.

0:24.3

It's a big change and a big challenge, but it's one that we can overcome together.

0:29.5

We are so grateful for the listeners who've already stepped up to donate,

0:33.3

like Stephanie from Kansas, who says,

0:36.1

I frequently listen to Life Kit to jumpstart my morning.

0:39.0

Everything I learn helps me practice productive habits.

0:42.4

Stephanie, we are so glad to hear it.

0:45.0

Please make your Giving Tuesday gift right now by signing up for NPR Plus.

0:49.6

It's a simple recurring donation that gets you perks, like bonus episodes of NPR podcasts, and curated

0:55.6

collections of LifeKit episodes by topic like health and parenting.

0:59.9

Join us at plus.npr.org.

1:03.6

Thanks again for your support, and thank you if you're already an NPR Plus supporter.

1:08.0

All right, let's get on to the show.

1:10.3

You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.

1:15.4

I remember when I interviewed for my very first full-time journalism job at a corporate finance

1:20.9

magazine. I actually tried to talk my future boss out of hiring me. I told her, look, finance isn't

1:27.3

my thing. I was an English look, finance isn't my thing.

1:28.1

I was an English major.

1:29.4

I don't know anything about this.

1:31.5

She told me I could learn.

1:33.6

And that was true.

1:38.1

Over the years, I learned about accounting and taxes, city finances, macroeconomics, the Federal Reserve.

...

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