Advertise on podcast: Arizona’s Family On Your Side

If you have a car payment, is it a little bit more than you can afford? You're not alone. The average auto payment right now for a new car is $726, and for a used cars it's $533. Brian Moody joins us on the podcast. He's the executive editor for Autotrader and he tells us what the pros and cons are right now if you're thinking of refinancing, or buying a vehicle. 

It's  a topic many of us don't talk about until we absolutely have to: Planning a funeral. When people are faced with losing a loved one, many don't know exactly what to do, who to contact or how much a funeral or cremation is going to cost. So in this episode, Ed Reggie joins us on the On Your Side podcast. He's a consumer advocate who specializes in educating folks on funeral planning. He's also the founder of Funeralocity, a website that breaks down the costs at individual funeral homes across the nation, no matter where you live.

Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, so we’re talking about love and money. If you’re dating someone, when should you start talking about finances? Our guest is Angelica Prescod.  She’s a financial advisor is Scottsdale. She’s going to help us tackle some big questions about budgets, retirement accounts, debts you owe to old flames, and what you need to tell your new partner.

With tax season here, we’re talking with Mark Steber, the Chief Tax Information Officer at Jackson Hewitt who is the company’s liaison with the IRS. He’s the perfect guy to help us understand what we need to know about filing our tax returns this year. What’s the best way for taxpayers get organized and get ready to file? And is there actually a benefit to filing early?

It's a common problem. You wait patiently for concert tickets to go on sale and the moment they're made available, you discover they're sold out. It's called Scarcity Marketing and it's not just happening with concert tickets. Popular video games, name brand handbags, even shoes have been known to have Scarcity Marketing. Today, Jesper Essendrop joins us on the On Your Side podcast. He's the CEO of Queue-it which tries to prevent Scarcity Marketing. He explains how Scarcity Marketing works and what you the consumer can do to avoid it.

We just entered a new year and it's time to take inventory of a few important items, and one of them is insurance. We're talking about home, auto, and even life insurance. Chances are you may be paying too much for them. So, today on the On Your Side podcast, we're talking to Mike Gallagher of Trusted Choice which represents the members of the Independent Insurance Agents & Brokers of America. He'll explain why insurance has dramatically increased over the past few years and what you can do to save yourself some money on some if not all of your insurance policies. 

Many consumers will soon be getting their credit card statements for last month's holiday shopping season. Will you be in good financial shape, or will you have a little sticker shock? Today, on the On Your Side podcast, we're talking to Kelsa Dickey. She's a financial coach with Financial Fitness. She'll tell us what we need to do to start reeling in our credit card debt, so we can have a debt free 2024.

The holiday season means merriment, parties, and good food. It also means we may also be packing on a little extra weight. Between parties and dinners, the calories can quickly add up. So what can you do to get back in shape without a big gym membership or an expensive piece of exercise equipment? We're joined by Jim Bathurst, who is head of Nerd Fitness. He provides some great advice and tips to lose those holiday pounds.

We're approaching the end of 2023 and we want to take a look forward to see what 2024 may have in store when it comes to real estate. 2023 was a roller coaster ride for real estate. Interest rates sky rocked and as a result, that meant home sales decreased significantly with leaving little inventory. So, today Trevor Halpern joins us on the On Your Side podcast. He's an Arizona real estate agent whose won numerous sales awards over the course of  numerous years and has a pulse on where the real estate market may be heading.

For next school year, there’s a new, easier-to fill-out FAFSA. That’s the free application for federal student aid. The FAFSA is typically available for students and their families in the fall. This year, it won’t be ready until the end of December. But there are plenty of ways to get ready for the new school year right now.  Our guest today is Arizona Treasurer Kimberly Yee. She’s going to walk us through some of the things you need to know about student aid and 529 plans, including what this money can be used for, tax deductions, and changes taking effect in the new year to make 529s easier to use. 

The holiday season is here and chances are you'll be doing some if not all of your shopping online. But with that convenience comes risk. Scammers are waiting for you to make one small mistake allowing them to hack into your computer. You don't want that to happen, so today we're talking to Luke Secrist who's the CEO of a company called BuddoBot. BuddoBot has a team of engineers and professional hackers who will tell us all we need to know about staying safe while shopping online.

The holiday season is here which means we’re shopping for the perfect presents and putting up decorations. It’s also time to think about holiday tipping. Who are you supposed to tip during the holidays? And how much? Today on the On Your Side podcast, we’re talking with Jacqueline Whitmore. She is an author and etiquette expert who has some good “tips” on holiday tipping.