Episodes
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Series Replay: 3 Tips for Sticking to Your Budget
If you’ve ever found it difficult to stick to a budget, this episode is for you. Today on Financial Therapy, we’re replaying the next episode in our 3-part series on budgeting--and talking about how to keep to your budget once you have one. You'll hear three tips for how you can use your budget…
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Series Replay: 4 Hard Truths About Budgeting
Have you ever wondered why it's so difficult to sit down, get focused, and make a budget? I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Today on Financial Therapy, we’re replaying the first episode in our 3-part series on budgeting--and...
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3 Ways Emotions Can Positively Affect Our Finances
Hey everyone--welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! A lot of times on the show we talk about how negative emotions and biases can affect our financial lives. Today we're looking at emotions from another angle, and discussing how they can actually have a positive affect on our finances,...
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Build the Financial Future You Want
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! This episode is all about 4 questions to ask ourselves about our financial future--each of which can help us become more mindful...
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Is Retiring Early Really Worth It?
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to Financial Therapy! This week's episode is about the Financial Independence, Retire Early (FIRE) movement--and what it takes to make it happen. A recent article…
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Origin Story w/ Sapna Patel Duchesne
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! We're back with one of my favorite show formats: origin stories. Today we'll ask our guest: What's your financial origin story? Were you taught...
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5 Steps to Retire Early
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today's episode is about something we all--in theory--aspire to do: retiring early. But what are the steps it takes to get there? As always, our...
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Series Replay: Financial Pride
Hey everyone--welcome back to your Financial Therapy for the week! Have you ever wondered how sound your financial decision-making is? Do you ever catch yourself behaving or spending overconfidently? Data from an August 2025 Logica Future of Money Study indicate that 54% of Americans' outlook on...
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Series Replay: Financial Guilt & Shame
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to Financial Therapy! Today we're replaying another popular episode in the Four Horsemen series: a deep dive about confronting financial guilt and shame. We'll…
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Series Replay: Financial Fear & Denial
Welcome back to Financial Therapy, everyone! Today we're replaying a popular episode, that also happens to be the next in the Four Horsemen series: a deep dive about financial fear and denial. For 49% of us, just looking at our bank accounts can trigger negative feelings. Fear can be defined as…
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Series Replay: Financial Obligation
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're replaying a deep dive episode about financial obligation. Obligation is the condition of being morally or legally bound to do…
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Getting to Know Your Financial Self
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional, small business coach, and investor. Welcome back to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today we're asking a deep question: Who are you in your financial life? If you're struggling financially, or just can't seem to find...
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Money Can’t Buy You Happiness
If we believe longstanding scientific studies, money doesn't bring you happiness, but interestingly, it can have a huge effect on whether you can maintain it. Today in Financial Therapy, we're talking a bit about how money, happiness, and relationships intersect in our lives, and how our ability…
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Summer Replay: 7 Ways Money Brings Us Down...
Hey everyone, Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today we're replaying a real downer of an episode... as in 7 ways dealing with money can bring us down. But the good news is that for each one of these aspects of personal finance, you'll hear some ideas on how to counteract any…
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Summer Replay: Money Dysmorphia
Hey everyone, welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today we’re replaying an episode about money dysmorphia: a psychological disconnect between your actual financial status and your perceptions of it. People can suffer from money dysmorphia regardless of whether they over- or...
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Accepting Financial Loss
Hey everyone, welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! When financial losses are staring us down--whether we've already endured them, or they're just over the horizon--it can be a painful emotional experience. Today we're talking about what financial losses can do to us mentally, and the...
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4 Things About That Inheritance
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Optimism bias is a psychological phenomenon where people in part believe they are more likely to experience positive outcomes in...
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3 Ways to Purge the (Urge to) Splurge
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! According to USA Today, impulse buying is up, despite the financial crunch most of us are feeling. Splurging can feel…
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Breaking Up With Bad Money Habits
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking about how to break away from bad money habits, by rethinking or being more conscious about the money moves we make--or don't...
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5 Places to Find Free Money
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're challenging the status quo by talking about 5 places to find free money. Consider making some small changes, because if not, you may…
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Summer Replay: 5 Things The Best Financial Advisors Do For You
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today's replay episode is all about the 5 things the best financial advisors will do for you as their client. Listen in to be more confident…
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3 Ways You’re Sabotaging Your Financial Wellness
Hey everyone--welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today we're talking about three common ways we tend to make our financial lives more difficult without even realizing it...and how we can make a change. Being more mindful about how our biases and behaviors can negatively affect our...
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Summer Replay: The Cost of Connection
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy, and Happy Summer! The pandemic, and now the affordability crisis have reset our needs, expectations, and resources available for 'going out'. Now,...
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Endless Internships
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to your Financial Therapy for the week! Friend of the show Andi Cobb is back in the studio for today's episode--a commentary on how one parent is dealing with his...
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7 Tips to Invest and Grow Your Resources
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today we're talking about 7 things to keep in mind to more effectively grow and invest your resources. The goal here is to give…
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Origin Story w/ Andrew Escher
Hi everyone--welcome back to your Financial Therapy for the week! We're back in Season 2, with one of my favorite show formats: origin stories. Today we'll ask our guest: What's your financial origin story? Were you taught financial literacy? Or did your caregivers rarely discuss money growing…
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The Affordability Crisis: On Borrowed Time
Hey, everyone. Welcome back for Season 2 of Financial Therapy: Minding Your Money! I'm Lena Banks--a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. We're kicking off this season talking again about a subject that affects nearly every household in America:...
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Best-of Replay: Financial Infidelity
Hey everyone! Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week. Today I'm bringing back an uncomfortable--but necessary--topic for discussion: financial infidelity. Financial infidelity occurs when a partner in a committed relationship intentionally lies to or keeps financial secrets from the other...
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Best-of Replay: Traditional vs. Behavioral Finance - Part 1: Our Biases
Today on Financial Therapy, we're replaying what was by far our most popular episode in Season 1--and it just so happens, it's also a fundamental episode for this show. In his book, The Subconscious Mind of The Consumer (and How To Reach It), Harvard Business school professor Gerald Zaltzman says...
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Season 1 - That’s a Wrap!
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! The goal here is to give us all ways to be more secure and confident in our financial decision-making, and to have a greater sense of well-being...
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Combating the 4 Horsemen with Gratitude
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! This episode, we'll talk more about the "4 Horsemen" affecting our financial behaviors: obligation, fear/denial, guilt/shame, and pride--and…
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To Comingle or Not to Comingle?
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking about a tricky subject: comingling your finances with a financial partner. If you're in a relationship with someone you love…
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Feeling Stuck? 5 Money Moves to Make Right Now
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today's episode is all about practical ways we can move our minds forward when it comes to managing our finances. I'll give you 5 things to...
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The Affordability Crisis: What American Dream?
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking again about a subject that affects nearly every household in America: the affordability crisis. Whether you make $50,000…
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Are You Gambling With Your Mental Health?
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking about a growing public health concern: gambling. Gambling addiction and problem gambling are rapidly increasing in the U.S.,...
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More Money, More Problems
Hey everyone, welcome back to your Financial Therapy for the week! The goal here is to give us all ways to be more secure and confident in our financial decision-making, and to have a greater sense of well-being overall. A lot of us would love to ease our financial woes by winning the lottery—or...
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The Great Wealth Transfer
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – an MBA, Certified Financial Planning professional, and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to Financial Therapy! Today’s episode is all about the Great Wealth Transfer, and what you need to know to be clear-eyed about what it all means for...
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Making Drastic Change
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – an Certified Financial Planning professional, and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today's episode is all about how focusing on some practical things can eliminate some of our emotional decision-making when it comes to spending...
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The Instant Investor
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – an MBA, Certified Financial Planning professional, and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! If you're like many of us, you're looking for the most efficient and effective ways to invest your money--but where should you start? Do…
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Make Your Money Work for You
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week! Today's episode is all about making your money work for you--for real. I'll talk about three aspects of money management you...
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Lifestyle Inflation
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking lifestyle inflation/creep--what it is, how common it is for all of us, and how its hidden costs can affect your ability to…
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8 Ways to Set Kids Up for Financial Success
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Since financial education isn't a staple in schools, you might be wondering how you can help your kids learn basics that can affect the rest of...
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The Affordability Crisis: Drowning in Debt
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome back to Financial Therapy, and Happy 2026! Today we're talking about a subject that affects nearly every household in America: the affordability and debt crisis. When...
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Holiday Replay: Budgets are Boundaries: 4 Hard Truths About Why You Don’t Have One
Happy Holidays, everyone! Today on Financial Therapy, we're replaying one of our most popular episodes--don't miss it, and be sure to call or text to submit your feedback and questions for the show: 1-844-4FINPOD (1-844-434-6763). If you've ever wondered why it's so difficult to sit down, get...
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Holiday Replay: Money Mindsets
Happy Holidays, everyone! Today on Financial Therapy, we're replaying one of our most popular episodes--don't miss it, and be sure to call or text to submit your feedback and questions for the show: 1-844-4FINPOD (1-844-434-6763). Are you a minimizer or maximizer? A saver or investor? A responder...
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3 Things Most Money Managers Won’t Tell You
Hey everyone, I'm Lena Banks – a Certified Financial Planning professional and small business coach based in Austin, TX. Welcome to Financial Therapy! Today we're talking about three things the average money manager won't necessarily tell you up front. Listen in, before you make your personal...
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Deep Dive: Financial Pride
Hey everyone! Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week. Data from an August 2025 Logica Future of Money Study indicates that 54% of Americans' outlook on their personal finances was optimistic, even as 50% believed the national economy was worse than a year prior. Why the disconnect? How...
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Deep Dive: Financial Guilt & Shame
Hey everyone! Welcome to your Financial Therapy for the week. Have you ever felt guilt or shame about your finances? Do you want to make, spend, or give away your money with more confidence? Today we'll talk about three questions to ask to spot-check your feelings of guilt and shame around money....
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Deep Dive: Financial Fear & Denial
For 49% of us, just looking at our bank accounts can trigger negative feelings. Fear can be defined as an unpleasant, often strong emotion caused by anticipation or awareness of danger; it goes hand in hand with denial--a defense mechanism where someone avoids a difficult truth by denying its...
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Deep Dive: Financial Obligation
Obligation is the condition of being morally or legally bound to do something; it can also be a debt of gratitude for a service or favor. Have you ever wondered why you feel so financially obligated to make, spend, or give away your money? Is it really your values at play, or are you captive to...