Hey there, it's Stephen Dubner. Today, a follow-up from our previous episode, which was called

the stupidest thing you can do with your money. This one, we hope, is even more useful. It's called

everything you always wanted to know about money, but we're afraid to ask. Thanks for listening.

A bunch of years ago, I had just quit what I thought was my dream career, trying to become a rock star.

And now I was trying to figure out what came next. I was considering three options. Number one was to

become a shrink. I really liked psychology, but in the end, I decided I was too selfish to spend

my days helping other people with their problems. Number two was to become a financial advisor. I

really liked learning about saving and budgeting and investing, but again, I was selfish. I didn't

wanted to vote all my energy to other people's problems. Number three was to become a writer, and that's

what I did. But the other ideas didn't just go away. There's at least a little bit of psychology

in just about every episode of Freakonomics Radio. As for the financial stuff, well, that's something

we all wrestle with every day, isn't it? Today on Freakonomics Radio, we'll wrestle with it

together. We will wrestle with the standard advice on how much to save. You have just told me to save

20% of my money. F*** you. Well, wrestle with the fact that a financial windfall does not guarantee

long-term success. We found that 15% declared bankruptcy. And we'll lay out a personal finance

roadmap that anyone can follow. Yeah, and it's basically pretty simple. Avoid emotions and concentrate

on the economics.

From WNYC Studios, this is Freakonomics Radio, the podcast that explores the hidden side of everything.

Here's your host, Steven Dubner.

Anna Maria Lucardi is an economist who teaches in the business school at George Washington

University. I was born in Raysie, Milan and moved to the US about 25 years or so ago for my

graduate studies. As you can tell, she still sounds a bit millenaze. I have to say I cannot get rid

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