Paul Merriman Talks Target Date Funds and Retirement Investing
Release Date: 11/12/2025
Siddarth Tripathi’s Mission to Revolutionize Financial Literacy
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In this NGPF Speaker Series episode, Tim Ranzetta interviews high school junior Sid Tripathi, founder of the Dollar Investigators, a youth-led initiative teaching elementary students foundational money skills. Sid shares how family conversations about finances and early entrepreneurship shaped his “long game” mindset around saving, investing, and avoiding get-rich-quick thinking. He explains how his team brings concepts like needs versus wants, budgeting, banking, debt, and compound interest to younger learners through hands-on activities and roleplay. Tim and Sid also discuss what...
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In this episode of the NGPF Speaker Series, former teacher Kathy Cuevas shares her career journey into education and the real-life experiences that shaped her approach to teaching—especially serving students with disabilities and students from low-income communities. She offers practical, classroom-tested advice for educators who are new to teaching personal finance, including how to get creative when resources are limited and how to seek support beyond your own school building. Kathy also walks listeners through hard-earned lessons from her own financial life. She talks about the mistakes,...
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A Conversation with Gloria Garcia Cisneros, CFP on Breaking Barriers to Building Wealth
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In this episode, Yanely sits down with Certified Financial Planner Gloria Garcia Cisneros to break down what it really means to work with a fiduciary and how teachers can protect themselves from high-fee, commission-driven products often pushed in the 403(b) space. Gloria explains the key differences between independent advisory firms and broker-dealers, why "free" advice can still come with hidden costs, and the questions educators should ask about fees, incentives, and what is actually inside their retirement accounts. They also unpack how insurance products like annuities and permanent life...
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Raising Money-Smart Kids with Content Creator, Lizbet Barajas
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This episode features Yanely interviewing Lizbet (@LizbetTalksMoney) about how she teaches her two young daughters practical money skills at home through a simple, repeatable allowance system. Lizbet recently grew an audience of hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok and Instagram by sharing her parental-money strategies in a relatable, highly practical way. Lizbet explains why she treats school like a “job” (rather than paying for chores), how her kids split weekly cash into spending, saving, and investing, and how she keeps it hands-on so children stay connected to what money...
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Credit Confidence & Demystifying FICO with Keon Haley
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In this NGPF Speaker Series episode, Tim interviews Keon Haley of FICO to unpack how credit scores work and how to teach them effectively. Keon shares his personal journey from limited financial conversations at home to discovering financial education’s impact while working at a college Small Business Development Center, a passion that now drives his work at FICO’s consumer credit education initiatives. They explore the 5 components of a FICO Score: payment history, credit utilization, length of credit history, new credit, and credit mix. Keon dispels myths about checking credit, joint...
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Julia and Philip from PBS Two Cents Share Fresh Financial Insights
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Jonathan Cohen, Author of Losing Big
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In this NGPF Podcast episode, Yanely interviews Jonathan Cohen about sports gambling in America. Jonathan unpacks how legalized sports betting exploded after the 2018 Supreme Court decision, and what that rapid expansion is doing to Americans’ financial lives, mental health, and culture. He shares his research about why young men are disproportionately drawn in, how betting companies market to vulnerable audiences, and why gambling is uniquely recognized as a behavioral addiction. He also breaks down the jaw-dropping scale of legal sports wagering, explains where the money goes (and why...
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Priceless Facts About Money with Mellody Hobson
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In this episode, Yanely Espinal talks to Mellody Hobson, Co-CEO and President of Ariel Investments and New York Times bestselling author of Priceless Facts About Money. Melody shares the inspiration behind her new children’s book, which she intentionally crafted as a “gateway” book that teaches adults through kids by making financial concepts fun, accessible, and rooted in real facts. She discusses her long-standing concern about America’s financial literacy gap and explains how the pandemic finally gave her time to write the book. Drawing on examples like money slang, everyday...
info_outlineThis episode of the NGPF Speaker Series features personal finance educator Paul Merriman in conversation with Tim Ranzetta, delivering insights especially relevant to teachers. Paul shares practical, research-backed advice on helping students and young investors understand investing basics, with a spotlight on target date funds, index fund fees, and the behavioral pitfalls that commonly trip up new investors. Teachers will gain actionable strategies to help their students avoid common mistakes, appreciate the long-term value of low costs, and make investing approachable through concepts like dollar-cost averaging, diversification, and automated investing. The episode equips educators with memorable analogies, evidence-based recommendations, and free resources that can be used directly in the classroom to promote lifelong financial well-being.