The Personal Finance for PhDs Podcast: A Higher Education in Personal Finance

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As a PhD (in training), you face unique money challenges that stem from your low stipend/salary during your years of graduate school and postdoc training. Listen here for the hard-won financial wisdom of your fellow graduate students, postdocs, and PhDs with Real Jobs. From budgeting and frugality to investing and debt repayment, this podcast is your higher education in personal finance.

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Submit a Question

Starting in Season 8, I will answer a listener question in each episode.

I prefer to receive audio questions—this is a podcast, after all!—so if you are willing, please record your question (audio or video) and email the file to me (emily at PFforPhDs dot com) with “Podcast Q&A Submission” in the subject line. Please keep the question length under ~1 minute.

If you prefer to submit your question in writing, please fill out this form. You can do this completely anonymously if you like, but if you choose to submit your email address along with your question, that allows me to follow up if I need any clarification.

Published Episodes

Click on the title of any episode to access the show notes, where you can watch or listen to the interview, find a list of links mentioned, and read a transcript or summary.

Season 8

Episode 1 (Published 1/4/2021): What Your University Isn’t Telling You About Your Income Tax (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 2 (Published 1/11/2021): What Happens When Personal Finance Education Becomes Your Hobby (Money Story with Laura Frater)

Season 7

Episode 1 (Published 9/7/2020): This New PhD’s Salary Tripled But Her Scarcity Mindset Lingered (Money Story with Dr. Samantha Snively)

Episode 2 (Published 9/14/2020): This Postdoc from a Low-Income Family Evolved Her Financial Attitudes and Practices During Her PhD Training (Money Story with Dr. Fushcia Hoover)

Episode 3 (Published 9/21/2020): Fully Joint and Fully Separate Finances in Marriage: Perspectives from Two PhDs (Money Story with Dr. Michelle Roley-Roberts)

Episode 4 (Published 9/28/2020): This PhD’s Message for University Housing Is “Work with Us, Not Against Us” (Money Story with Dr. Travis Seifman)

Episode 5 (Published 10/5/2020): Why and How to Start a Coaching Side Hustle as a Grad Student, Academic, or Researcher (Money Story with Cheryl Lau)

Episode 6 (Published 10/12/2020): This PhD Student’s Intricate Budgeting System Uses Cash Symbolically (Expert Interview with Alicia Jones from Alicia Does Adulting)

Episode 7 (Published 10/19/2020): A Lucrative Summer Internship Enabled This PhD Student to Max Out Her IRA (Money Story with Anonymous)

Episode 8 (Published 10/26/2020): This Grad Student Travels for Free by Churning Credit Cards (Money Story with Julie Chang)

Episode 9 (Published 11/2/2020): Why and How to Increase Your Retirement Account Contribution Room (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 10 (Published 11/9/2020): Working Before Starting a PhD: The Financial and Career Advantages (Money Story with Diandra from That Science Couple)

Episode 11 (Published 11/16/2020): How to Identify and Change the Money Mindset You Developed in Academia (Money Story with Dr. Chris Cornthwaite from Roostervane)

Episode 12 (Published 11/23/2020): How to Curb Your Impulse to Keep Up with the Joneses (Expert Interview with Dr. Joy Lere)

Episode 13 (Published 11/30/2020): How to Handle Your Student Loans During Grad School and Following (Expert Interview with Meagan Landress)

Episode 14 (Published 12/7/2020): How to Set Yourself Up for a Successful Career and Financial Life Post-PhD (Expert Interview with Dr. Jen Polk from From PhD to Life)

Episode 15 (Published 12/14/2020): How to Solve the Problem of Irregular Expenses (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 16 (Published 12/21/2020): Catching Up with Prior Guests: 2020 Edition (Money Stories with Various Guests)

Season 6

Episode 1 (Published 5/4/2020): This PhD Entrepreneur Advocates for Universal Basic Income (Part 1) (Money Story with Dr. Jim Pugh)

Episode 2 (Published 5/11/2020): This PhD Entrepreneur Advocates for Universal Basic Income (Part 2) (Money Story with Dr. Jim Pugh)

Episode 3 (Published 5/18/2020): The Financial Hurdles of Moving to the US as a Postdoc (Money Story with Dr. Louise Lassalle)

Episode 4 (Published 5/25/2020): The Necessity of Both Economic Justice Advocacy and Personal Financial Responsibility (Money Story with Dr. Ian Gutierrez)

Episode 5 (Published 6/1/2020): This Postdoc Has a System for Debt Repayment That You Can Follow as Well (Money Story with Dr. Suba Narasimhan)

Episode 6 (Published 6/8/2020): How Work Experience Outside Academia Can Bolster Your Academic and Non-Academic Career (Money Story with Dr. Gillian Hayes)

Episode 7 (Published 6/15/2020): Learn from This Professor’s Nightmarish Home Ownership Journey (Money Story with Dr. Kevin Jennings)

Episode 8 (Published 6/22/2020): This PhD Got a Late Start Financially But Is on Track to Retire Early (Money Story with Dr. Sean Sanders)

Episode 9 (Published 6/29/2020): How This Grad Student Fellow Invests for Retirement and Pays Quarterly Estimated Tax (Money Story with Lucia Capano)

Episode 10 (Published 7/6/2020): How This Grad Student Navigated a Broken Engagement in a High Cost-of-Living City (Money Story with Tina Del Carpio)

Episode 11 (Published 7/13/2020): How to Negotiate as a Graduate Student or PhD in Industry and Academia (Expert Interview with Dr. Abby Rainer)

Episode 12 (Published 7/20/2020): How This PhD Student’s Budgeting Practice Enabled a Hawaiian Vacation (Money Story with Sean from Authentically Average)

Episode 13 (Published 7/27/2020): This Muslim Graduate Student Found Halal Investing and Now Teaches It to Her Family and Friends (Money Story with Joumana Altallal)

Episode 14 (Published 8/3/2020): This PhD Candidate Paid for Her Wedding with Her Research Side Hustle (Money Story with Rebecca Brenner Graham)

Episode 15 (Published 8/10/2020): How This Entering PhD Student Has Set Himself Up for Financial Success in Graduate School (Money Story with George Walters-Marrah)

Episode 16 (Published 8/17/2020): This Fulbright Fellow Supplements Her Stipend with Prior Savings (Money Story with Dr. Caitlin Kirby)

Episode 17 (Published 8/24/2020): How a Freelancing Career Can Take You from Academia to Affluence (Expert Interview with Courtney Danyel)

Episode 18 (Published 8/31/2020): Best Practices in Side Hustling During Graduate School (Money Story with Meryem Ok and Lourdes Bobbio)

Season 5

Episode 1 (Published 1/6/2020): How Winning Fellowships Forced This Grad Student to Take Out Student Loans (Money Story with Dessie Clark)

Episode 2 (Published 1/13/2020): Healthy, Wealthy, and Wise: Choose a PhD Program That Will Support Your Personal and Professional Development (Expert Interviews with Various Contributors)

Episode 3 (Published 1/20/2020): How to Combat the Negative Financial Attitudes We Learned in Academia and in Childhood (Expert Interview with Cortnie Baity)

Episode 4 (Published 1/27/2020): How This Graduate Student Rejects the Academic Culture of Being Broke (Money Story with Hajer Nakua)

Episode 5 (Published 2/3/2020): Three Financial Strategies Every Early-Career PhD Should Employ (with Kate Mielitz, PhD, AFC) (Expert Interview with Dr. Kate Mielitz)

Episode 6 (Published 2/10/2020): This Grad Student Is on the Lowest Rung of the Pay Ladder and Side Hustles to Compensate (Money Story with Frankie)

Episode 7 (Published 2/17/2020): Why Mental Health Is Worth Investing In (with PhD Balance Founder Susanna Harris) (Expert Interview with Susanna Harris)

Episode 8 (Published 2/24/2020): How The Lucrative Artist Identifies and Reverses Negative Money Mindsets with His Clients (Expert Interview with Dr. Brian Witkowski)

Episode 9 (Published 3/2/2020): Insights from the Bargaining Table with a Graduate Student Union Leader (Money Story with Mary Bugbee)

Episode 10 (Published 3/9/2020): Learn from this Poor Kid-Turned-PhD Student’s Different Perspective on Frugality and Debt (Part 1) (Money Story with ZW Taylor)

Episode 11 (Published 3/16/2020): Learn from this Poor Kid-Turned-PhD Student’s Different Perspective on Frugality and Debt (Part 2) (Money Story with ZW Taylor)

Episode 12 (Published 3/23/2020): This Grad Student Didn’t Let a $1,000 Per Month Stipend Stop Her from Investing (Money Story with Dr. Rachel Blackburn)

Bonus Episode 1 (Published 3/28/2020): Our Lives and Finances Under Social Distancing: A Self-Employed PhD and a Grad Student (Money Story with Emily Roberts and Lourdes Bobbio)

Episode 13 (Published 3/30/2020): Combatting Climate Change with Your Finances, Individually and Collectively (Money Story with Jewel Tomasula)

Episode 14 (Published 4/6/2020): This PhD Student Buys Her Time Back by Living Car-Free (Money Story with Alina Christenbury)

Episode 15 (Published 4/13/2020): How a Book Inspired This PhD’s Financial Turnaround (Money Story with Dr. Amanda)

Bonus Episode 2 (Published 4/16/2020): How and When Will I Receive My Stimulus Check? (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 16 (Published 4/20/2020): The Financial and Career Opportunities Available to National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellows (Money Story with Kelsey Wood)

Episode 17 (Published 4/27/2020): How to Qualify for a Mortgage as a Graduate Student or PhD, Even with Non-W-2 Fellowship Income (Expert Interview with Sam Hogan)

Season 4

Episode 1 (Published 8/19/2019): This Graduate Student Switched Universities and Moved Long-Distance to Stick with Her Excellent Advisor (Money Story with Dr. Katie Wedemeyer-Strombel)

Episode 2 (Published 8/26/2019): This PhD Student in Texas Side Hustles to Overcome Her Unique Financial Challenges (Budget Breakdown with Allie Judge)

Episode 3 (Published 9/2/2019): How to Find and Apply for Fellowships (with ProFellow Founder Dr. Vicki Johnson) (Expert Interview with Dr. Vicki Johnson)

Episode 4 (Published 9/9/2019): How This Multi-Fellowship Winner Managed Her Applications and Finances (Money Story with Dr. Anne Rocheleau)

Episode 5 (Published 9/16/2019): This PhD Healed Her Scarcity Money Mindset Using a Goal-Setting Framework (Part 1) (Expert Interview with Dr. Lucie Bland)

Episode 6 (Published 9/23/2019): This PhD Healed Her Scarcity Money Mindset Using a Goal-Setting Framework (Part 2) (Expert Interview with Dr. Lucie Bland)

Episode 7 (Published 9/30/2019): How to Advocate for Yourself and Your Income with Respect to Conference Travel, Job Offers, Fellowships, and More (Money Story with Dr. Mallory Smith)

Episode 8 (Published 10/7/2019): This PhD Student Feeds Her Family Largely from Her Garden (Money Story with Jane CoomberSewell)

Episode 9 (Published 10/14/2019): The Graduate Student Savings Act Fixes a Major Flaw in Tax-Advantaged Retirement Accounts (Expert Interview with Abigail Dove)

Episode 10 (Published 10/21/2019): This Postdoc’s Financial Turnaround Story and Attitude Toward Money Are Incredibly Inspiring (Money Story with Dr. Indira Turney)

Episode 11 (Published 10/28/2019): This Behavioral Finance Expert Gives Incredible Career and Financial Advice to PhDs (Expert Interview with Dr. Daniel Crosby)

Episode 12 (Published 11/4/2019): This Higher Ed Career Coach Worked Her Way Out of Financial Ruin Caused by the Great Recession (Money Story with Beth Moser)

Episode 13 (Published 11/11/2019): Meal Prepping Has Benefitted This Prof’s Time, Money, Health, and Stress Level (Money Story with Dr. Brielle Harbin)

Episode 14 (Published 11/18/2019): This PhD Compares Her Experiences at a Unionized University and a Non-Unionized University (Money Story with Dr. Carly Overfelt)

Episode 15 (Published 11/25/2019): This Part-Time PhD Student Needs Her Full-Time Income for Her Financial Goals (Money Story with Patrice French)

Episode 16 (Published 12/2/2019): This Soon-to-Be PhD Is Facing Debt and Underemployment as He Goes on the Academic Job Market (Money Story with Chad Frazier)

Episode 17 (Published 12/9/2019): Can and Should an International Student, Scholar, or Worker Invest in the US? (Expert Interview with Hui-chin Chen)

Episode 18 (Published 12/16/2019): How This Graduate Student Financially Manages Daycare Costs, Debt Repayment, Saving, and Side Hustling (Money Story with Aubrey Jones)

Episode 19 (Published 12/23/2019): How Effective Presentations Advance Your Career and Improve Your Finances (Expert Interview with Dr. Echo Rivera)

Bonus Episode 1 (Published 12/30/2019): Fellowship Income Is Now Eligible to Be Contributed to an IRA! (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Season 3

Episode 1 (Published 5/27/2019): This PhD Couple Combined a Cross-Country Move with a Vacation (Money Story with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 2 (Published 6/3/2019): This Postdoc Epitomizes Side Hustling to Get Out from Under $100,000 of Debt (Expert Interview with Dr. Shana Green)

Episode 3 (Published 6/10/2019): This Grad Student Defrayed His Housing Costs By Renting Rooms to His Peers (Money Story with Dr. Matt Hotze)

Episode 4 (Published 6/17/2019): How the Promise of Public Service Loan Forgiveness Has Impacted This Prof’s Career and Family Decisions (Money Story with Dr. Jill Hoffman)

Episode 5 (Published 6/24/2019): This Online Entrepreneur Turned His PhD Research into a Thriving Business (Expert Interview with Dr. Chris Cloney)

Episode 6 (Published 7/1/2019): How Finances During Grad School Affected This PhD’s Career Path (Money Story with Dr. Scott Kennedy)

Episode 7 (Published 7/8/2019): This PhD Student Is Paying Her US Student Loans with Her Swedish Krona Salary (Money Story with Crista Wathen)

Episode 8 (Published 7/15/2019): This PhD Government Scientist Is Pursuing Financial Independence: Part 1 (Money Story with Dr. Gov Worker)

Episode 9 (Published 7/22/2019): This PhD Government Scientist Is Pursuing Financial Independence: Part 2 (Money Story with Dr. Gov Worker)

Episode 10 (Published 7/29/2019): This PhD Developed His SciComm Career Through Side Hustling (Money Story with Dr. Gaius Augustus)

Episode 11 (Published 8/5/2019): This NDSEG Fellow Prioritizes Housing and Saving for Mid- and Long-Term Goals (Budget Breakdown with Lourdes Bobbio)

Episode 12 (Published 8/12/2019): This PhD Lecturer Found Her Perfect Side Hustle and Teaches Others to Do the Same (Expert Interview with Dr. Toyin Alli)

Season 2

Episode 1 (Published 1/14/2019): As a Single Parent, This Graduate Student Utilizes Every Possible Resource (Money Story with Lauri Lutes)

Episode 2 (Published 1/28/2019): Negotiating PhD Funding Offers: This Grad Student Did It Successfully (Money Story with John Vsetecka)

Episode 3 (Published 2/11/2019): Using Data to Improve the Postdoc Experience (Including Salary and Benefits) (Expert Interview with Dr. Gary McDowell)

Bonus Episode 1 (Published 2/19/2019): Do I Owe Income Tax on My Fellowship? (Expert Discourse with Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 4 (Published 2/25/2019): This Postbac Fellow Saves 30% of Her Income Through Simple Living and a SciComm Side Hustle (Money Story with Maya Gosztyla)

Episode 5 (Published 3/11/2019): Purchasing a Home as a Graduate Student with Fellowship Income (Money Story with Jonathan Sun)

Episode 6 (Published 3/25/2019): Making Ends Meet on a Graduate Student Stipend in Los Angeles (Money Story with Adriana Sperlea)

Episode 7 (Published 4/8/2019): How to Successfully Plan for Retirement Before and After Obtaining Your PhD (Expert Interview with Dr. Brandon Renfro)

Episode 8 (Published 4/22/2019): Moving to a High Cost-of-Living City on a Postdoc Salary (Money Story with Dr. Sushmitha Vijaya Kumar)

Episode 9 (Published 5/13/2019): How to Make Money without Working: Credit Card Rewards and 529s (Money Story with Seonwoo Lee)

Season 1

Episode 1 (Published 7/9/2018): How We Increased Our Net Worth by Over $100,000 During Graduate School (Money Story by Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 2 (Published 7/23/2018): Dual PhD Couple in Seattle Spending $20k/Year on Rent (Budget Breakdown by Dr. Emily Roberts)

Episode 3 (Published 8/13/2018): Serving as a Resident Advisor Freed this Graduate Student from Financial Stress (Money Story by Adrian Gallo)

Episode 4 (Published 8/27/2018): This Graduate Student in DC Prioritizes Living Alone and Investing in Mental Health (Budget Breakdown by Christina Padilla)

Episode 5 (Published 9/10/2018): This PhD Student Paid Off $62,000 in Undergrad Student Loans Prior to Graduation (Money Story by Dr. Jenni Rinker)

Episode 6 (Published 9/24/2018): Even in NYC, This Graduate Student Maintains a Super Frugal Lifestyle (Budget Breakdown by Athena Pierquet)

Episode 7 (Published 10/8/2018): This PhD Side Hustler Maintains a Healthy Work-Life Balance (Money Story by Dr. Caitlin Faas)

Episode 8 (Published 10/22/2018): Travel and Savings Are This Frugal Grad Student’s Top Priorities (Budget Breakdown with Latisha Franklin)

Episode 9 (Published 11/12/2018): How This Grad Student Had a Baby, Landed a TT Job, and Defended Her PhD within Six Months (Money Story with Dr. Heather)

Episode 10 (Published 11/26/2018): Working Hard and Playing Hard as a Grad Student in NYC (Budget Breakdown with Nicholas Giangreco)

Episode 11 (Published 12/10/2018): This Prof Used Geographic Arbitrage to Design Her Ideal Career and Personal Life (Money Story with Dr. Amanda)

Episode 12 (Published 12/24/2018): An Unfunded Summer Didn’t Deter this PhD Student Thanks to Her Creative Side Hustle (Budget Breakdown with Bailey Poland)