Debt free is not the same as wealthy. Tiffany “The Budgetnista” Aliche has been making that point for years, even when people push back, and I asked her to make it again on Money and Wealth. Tiffany is the New York Times bestselling author of Get Good with Money, a former preschool teacher, and one of the most trusted voices in personal finance in America.

Her point is simple and freeing. A ten-year-old is debt free, and nobody would call him wealthy. The goal is income, assets and a plan, with good debt working for you instead of against you. We talk honestly about what she calls post-traumatic broke syndrome, the fear that keeps people who have climbed out of hard times playing far too safe with their money.

Tiffany also shares how she rebuilt after a low point in her twenties, growing her business slowly and patiently, and how she helped push New Jersey to require financial education in middle school through what people now call the Budgetnista Law. She walks through her ten steps to financial wholeness, from budgeting and savings to insurance and estate planning.

Near the end I handed her the pulpit, and she used it to talk about legacy and about money as a tool for taking care of the people you love. I’ll let you hear that part in her own words. Share this one with the women in your life, and with the men too.

🎧 Listen now — wherever you get your podcasts, or simply click below.

Prefer to watch? The full episode is on YouTube.