Ep 51: Your Passion Won't Pay the Bills. Do it Anyway!
Release Date: 04/22/2026
Ep 53: Why Artists Stay BROKE and Businessmen Stay BORED
The Problem of Money Podcast
There's a version of you that comes alive when you're being creative, playful, or fully yourself. And then there's the version that shows up to work. This episode is about the gap between them. Shabbar and Tim explore the artist and the businessman as two archetypes we all carry. Through personal stories and Jungian shadow work, they unpack what happens when we dismiss or avoid the side we don't identify with. Whether you're a creative who struggles with money or a commercial thinker who feels something's missing, this conversation holds something for you. The real question isn't which...
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Ep 52: Your Pension Won't Save You From Getting OLD
The Problem of Money Podcast
Most of us carry a number in our heads. The number we need before we can stop. The age by which we need to hit it. Underneath all of that planning is a fear we don't talk about much: the fear of getting old in a society that doesn't know what to do with older people. In this episode, Shabbar and Tim pull apart the modern idea of retirement, where it came from and what it is actually promising. They explore how the fixation on a pension figure is itself a symptom of a culture that treats aging as decline, and how that fixation can quietly drain the vitality and curiosity we are trying to...
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Ep 51: Your Passion Won't Pay the Bills. Do it Anyway!
The Problem of Money Podcast
There's a voice most of us carry that sounds like common sense. It says: be realistic, pay your bills, this is just how it works. This episode is about that voice, why it's not as trustworthy as it sounds, and what it's actually costing you to keep listening to it. Shabbar and Tim take on the question that's been sitting underneath this whole series on work: can you actually earn a living following your life path? Their answer is honest rather than reassuring. But you're probably already suffering either way, so at least you get to choose. They talk about why the most heartfelt work is...
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Ep 50: The Mexican Fisherman Who Had ENOUGH
The Problem of Money Podcast
You might already be living the life you're working so hard to afford. So why does it feel wrong to stop and enjoy it? Shabbar tells the story of the Mexican fisherman and the Harvard MBA, and it lands differently than you'd expect. What starts as a parable turns into an honest conversation about the battle most of us carry: the part that craves contentment and the part that says contentment is laziness. Together, Shabbar and Tim unpack why social pressure keeps us performing busyness, why we hide the questions we most need to ask, and what it would look like to actually trust that enough...
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Ep 49: He Made MILLIONS and Gave Up on Happiness
The Problem of Money Podcast
You said "busy" the last time someone asked how you were. You probably didn't even think about it. But what if that reflex is telling you something important about how you measure your own worth? Shabbar and Tim unpack hustle culture, not just the entrepreneurial grind-harder version, but the quieter internal pressure most of us carry to always be doing more. They look at the viral Tony Robbins and Alex Hormozi conversation, where a young man with a hundred million dollar business admitted he couldn't find happiness. They explore what figures like Gandhi and Mandela suggest about action rooted...
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Ep 48: Successful, Comfortable and Doing the WRONG Work!
The Problem of Money Podcast
Most of us spend more time working than doing almost anything else, yet we rarely stop to ask whether the work we do is actually ours to do. This episode is about that gap. And why closing it is harder, and more important, than it looks. Shabbar and Tim continue their conversation on work, money, and what we're actually here to do. Drawing on Jung's idea of the persona versus the deeper self, Joseph Campbell's call to follow your bliss, and Matthew Fox's vision of work as a container for human growth, they explore why so many people, across the income spectrum, end up performing a...
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Ep 47: Why We Believe Work Should Be Suffering
The Problem of Money Podcast
Most of us carry a quiet assumption that work is supposed to be a struggle. We didn’t choose that idea. It was handed to us, built into the language we speak and the culture we grew up in. Shabbar and Tim kick off a mini-series on work by tracing just how deep this assumption goes. From the French word "travail" rooted in medieval torture, to the idea of being "compensated" for labour, the very words we use tell us that work is something to endure. Religious frameworks, Catholic and Protestant alike, baked in the same story. They also look honestly at people who earn good money and still...
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Ep 46: Is Your ANCESTRY Sabotaging Your Wealth TODAY?
The Problem of Money Podcast
Why are your finances still plagued by peer pressure from the deceased? Have you ever wondered why you can’t stop working, even though your bank account says you’re safe? Or why spending money on a little luxury feels like a betrayal of your roots? We often blame our childhoods for our money hang-ups, but the truth goes much deeper. Your financial behavior might be an unconscious response to events that happened three or four generations ago! In this deep and evocative episode, Shabbar and Tim dive into the world of ancestral money history. We move beyond living memory to explore how the...
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Ep 45: Why Earning More Than Your Friends Feels Weird!
The Problem of Money Podcast
The Social Ladder: Why Earning More Than Your Friends Feels So Weird 📈🤐 Do you feel a secret "shot in the arm" when you realize you’re higher up the social ladder than someone else? Or does looking at those with less leave you feeling paralyzed by a sense of "privilege" and "unfairness"? In this provocative follow-up to our previous episode on relating to the wealthy, we flip the script! We dive deep into the uncomfortable psychological territory of how we relate to people who have—or appear to have—LESS MONEY than we do. Shabbar and Tim move past the surface-level "politeness" of...
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Ep 44: Why YOU Act Weird Around People WEALTHIER THAN YOURSELF!
The Problem of Money Podcast
The Billionaire Guru Myth: Why You Act "Weird" Around Wealth 🤫💰 Why do we suddenly become tongue-tied, sweating, or acting like "insecure children" the moment we realize someone has a significantly larger bank balance than we do? Whether it’s a client with a million-pound portfolio or a CEO who just sold a business for nine figures, a simple number often acts as a psychological boundary that diminishes our own authority and confidence. In this episode, Shabbar and Tim flip the coin from last week’s conversation. We dive into the "weirdness" of relating to those with more money and...
info_outlineThere's a voice most of us carry that sounds like common sense. It says: be realistic, pay your bills, this is just how it works.
This episode is about that voice, why it's not as trustworthy as it sounds, and what it's actually costing you to keep listening to it.
Shabbar and Tim take on the question that's been sitting underneath this whole series on work: can you actually earn a living following your life path?
Their answer is honest rather than reassuring. But you're probably already suffering either way, so at least you get to choose.
They talk about why the most heartfelt work is the hardest to charge for, why money flowing toward your work is a broken measure of whether you're on the right path, and why a confused global economy that funds weapons before art or healing says very little about the value of what you're doing.
They also quietly reframe what the life path even is. It might not be a grand calling. It might be board games with your kids, or getting fit, or finally writing something. The point is that most of us don't follow it, not because we can't, but because we've been told that would be unrealistic.
Key themes:
- Why the inner voice that sounds responsible often has nothing useful to tell you about reality.
- Why money feels wrong to charge for the closer your work gets to your real values.
- The two kinds of suffering: the depression of a safe but meaningless job, or the fear of following what brings you alive.
- Why the global economy funding bombs before healers or artists is not a verdict on your work.
- Why your life path might be smaller and closer than you ever gave yourself permission to admit.
Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money.
Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn:
Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam
Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick
Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/
Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/