How to Prepare for Stagflation and Make Your Insurance Work Harder

NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast

NerdWallet Personal Finance

Business, Education, Investing, How To

4.2 • 665 Ratings

🗓️ 22 May 2025

⏱️ 32 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Learn what stagflation could mean for your finances and how to tell if you need life insurance. Do you still need life insurance if you’ve built enough wealth? What does stagflation mean for your financial plan? Hosts Elizabeth Ayoola and Sean Pyles discuss how to determine whether your life insurance coverage still fits your needs and what to watch for as economists warn about potential stagflation. First, along with NerdWallet senior news writer Anna Helhoski and inflation expert Taryn Phaneuf, they break down how to think about your financial protection in uncertain times, discussing stagflation—what it is, why it’s so rare, and what signs to look for now—and offering tips on monitoring inflation, adjusting your savings strategy, and reducing high-interest debt. Then, listener Adam joins Sean and Elizabeth to explore whether increasing umbrella insurance means he can lower his auto coverage, when to switch to a group life policy through work, and how to estimate college savings needs for three kids. They discuss comparing life insurance policies, how to factor net worth into coverage decisions, and why regular insurance check-ins are key. Use NerdWallet’s free tool to compare life insurance quotes and find the right coverage for you and your family https://www.nerdwallet.com/insurance/life/life-insurance-quotes In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: life insurance vs net worth, term life insurance, umbrella vs collision insurance, when to update life insurance, group life insurance policy, employer life insurance coverage, best life insurance for parents, convert group life insurance, stagflation, what is stagflation, signs of stagflation, stagflation 2025, Consumer Price Index April 2025, high-yield savings accounts inflation, saving during inflation, emergency fund inflation, umbrella insurance minimums, collision coverage and umbrella insurance, auto insurance comparison, saving for college with 529, 529 contribution calculator, estimating college savings, tuition benefits, financial checklist after remarriage, insurance tips for high net worth, choosing term vs whole life, how to save on insurance, switching insurance after marriage, family insurance planning, life insurance for spouse, when to drop term life insurance, inflation trends 2025, how to prepare for stagflation, and Federal Reserve inflation targets. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Last year, Amazon was the world's largest corporate buyer of renewable energy.
0:07.0	Meaning all and more of our energy comes from wind farms like this one.
0:14.0	Guys, what happened to recording that the solar farms?
0:18.0	To learn more, visit about amazon.com at UK forward slash sustainability.
0:30.2	Life insurance. You've probably been told you need it, but do you?
0:35.3	And if so, how do you know what kind to get? Today we help a listener figure out
0:40.2	whether umbrella insurance is enough. Welcome to NerdWallet Smart Money Podcast, where you
0:50.6	send us your money questions and we answer them with the help of our genius nerds.
0:55.3	I'm Elizabeth Ayola.
0:57.3	This episode, we answer listeners' question about life insurance.
1:01.4	But first, our weekly money news round up where we break down the latest in the world of finance
1:06.9	to help you be smarter with your money.
1:09.5	And today, we're asking what it means if the economy enters into something called
1:13.7	stagflation.
1:15.2	Our news colleague, Anna Hilhouski, is here to explain more.
1:19.2	Hey, Anna.
1:20.2	Hey, Elizabeth.
1:21.3	To learn more about stagflation and what's happening with inflation right now,
1:25.5	we're joined today by my news colleague, Taryn Finoof, who tracks
1:28.8	all things, prices, and inflation. Welcome, Taryn. Hi, Anna. Thanks for having me. So first off,
1:34.5	what is stagflation? And how is it different from regular inflation? Stagflation describes a rare
1:40.4	set of circumstances in the economy when inflation and stagnation occur at the same time.
	...

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