Jean Chatzky
Financial Journalist, Author
Jean Chatzky is a financial journalist and author who has been providing insights into personal finance for over 25 years.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Your Credit Score Being Calculated on Data That Has Nothing to Do With Your Ability to Pay — and Should That Even Be Legal?Your credit score may be shaped by factors that have nothing to do with your ability to repay debt — from checking account balances to education level. A credit consultant, a financial advisor, and HerMoney's CEO debate whether this practice is fair, and whether it should even be legal.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Dying Without a Will the Most Expensive Financial Mistake You Can Make — or Does the State Actually Do a Decent Job?Estate planning is often postponed because it feels complicated, expensive, or unnecessary. Yet dying without a will can leave families navigating legal processes that may not reflect a person's wishes or unique family circumstances. While state intestacy laws provide a framework for distributing assets, they are designed as default rules rather than personalised estate plans. Financial and legal experts broadly agree that a will reduces uncertainty, minimises disputes, and gives individuals greater control over how their estate is managed. The debate is less about whether the state can administer an estate and more about whether relying on default laws is worth the potential financial, legal, and emotional costs for those left behind.
Global Business / Economy
Is Passive Income Actually Passive — or Just Active Work You Did Earlier and Are Still Paying For?The promise of passive income is irresistible: earn money while you sleep, travel, or focus on other pursuits. Yet behind many successful income streams lies years of work, experimentation, and ongoing maintenance that rarely make it into social media success stories. Financial experts broadly agree that most forms of passive income require meaningful effort before they begin producing reliable returns, while many continue to demand updates, marketing, or oversight long after launch. The real debate is not whether passive income exists—it does—but whether the term itself creates unrealistic expectations about the time, discipline, and persistence required to build income that eventually works with far less daily involvement.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Your Emergency Fund Sitting in the Wrong Place — and Quietly Losing Value Every Month It Stays There?An emergency fund is designed to provide financial security when life becomes unpredictable—but where that money is kept can make a significant difference. As inflation erodes purchasing power and interest rates fluctuate, leaving cash in a low-interest current or savings account may quietly reduce its real value over time. Financial experts broadly agree that emergency savings should remain accessible, but they differ on whether part of that money should also be invested to outpace inflation. The debate is no longer simply about how much to save. It's about finding the right balance between liquidity, safety, and preserving the spending power of the money you'll need most when emergencies strike.
Credit & Personal Finance
Should You Ever Relocate Your Entire Life for a Financial Opportunity — or Is That the Kind of Math That Only Works on a Spreadsheet?A job offer arrives with a salary bump significant enough to make you seriously consider uprooting your entire life — but does the math actually hold up once you factor in everything a spreadsheet can't capture? Suze Orman, David Bach, and Jean Chatzky debate whether relocating for a financial opportunity is a smart investment in your future or a calculation that only works on paper.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Chasing a High Credit Score Optimizing Your Financial Life — or Just Making You Better at Playing a Game You Didn't Design?Nearly 70% of Americans say their credit score is vital to their financial health — but is obsessing over that number actually building wealth, or just making you better at a game the financial system designed for its own benefit? Sallie Krawcheck, Robert Kiyosaki, and Jean Chatzky debate what a high credit score is actually worth.
Credit & Personal Finance
Should You Ever Take Money Out of Your Retirement Account Early — or Is the Penalty Always Smaller Than the Regret?Rising costs, unexpected emergencies, and a retirement account sitting there with years of savings — the temptation to tap it early is real. Suze Orman, Jean Chatzky, and Dave Ramsey debate whether early withdrawal is ever the right call, or whether the long-term cost always makes the short-term relief a regret.
Global Business / Economy
Should Financial Education Be Mandatory in Schools — or Would It Just Teach Kids the Rules of a System That Doesn't Work for Everyone?73% of Americans think financial literacy should be taught in schools — but critics ask whether teaching kids to navigate a broken system just makes them better at surviving inequality rather than challenging it. Jean Chatzky, Suze Orman, and Robert Kiyosaki debate whether mandatory financial education empowers students or just hands them a map to a game not everyone gets to play equally.
Global Business / Economy
Is Contactless Payment Making You Spend More Without Realizing It — or Is That Just a Convenient Excuse for Poor Financial Discipline?Contactless payments now account for 40% of all card transactions — and some researchers say the tap-and-go ease is quietly making people spend more without noticing. Jean Chatzky, Ryan Sutton, and Barbara Weltman debate whether contactless payment is eroding financial awareness or whether blaming the method is just an excuse for poor discipline.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Cutting Out Small Daily Expenses Actually Building Wealth — or Just Making You Obsess Over the Wrong Numbers?Skip the daily latte and you'll retire a millionaire — or so the advice goes. Ramit Sethi, Jean Chatzky, and David Bach debate whether cutting small everyday expenses genuinely builds wealth, or whether it's a distraction from the bigger financial moves that actually matter.
Credit & Personal Finance
Is Being Debt-Free the Ultimate Financial Goal — or Just a Feeling That Sometimes Costs You Real Opportunity?Zero debt sounds like the obvious financial win — but is chasing it sometimes costing people real wealth-building opportunities? Dave Ramsey, Robert Kiyosaki, and Jean Chatzky debate whether debt-free living is the ultimate goal or just one strategy among several, with real trade-offs attached.
Credit & Personal Finance
Should You Pay Off Your Student Loans Aggressively — or Is That Money Better Spent Building Your Career Instead?Student loan debt in the U.S. has topped $1.7 trillion — so when extra cash comes in, should it go toward crushing that debt or building career skills that could pay off even more? Sallie Krawcheck, Farnoosh Torabi, and Jean Chatzky debate where young earners get the best return on their money.
Global Business / Economy
Should You Pay for a Financial Plan Upfront — or Is a Free Consultation All You Really Need?Only 30% of Americans feel confident in their financial decisions — so when you sit down with an advisor, should you pay for a full plan or start with a free consultation? Sallie Krawcheck, Michael Kitces, and Jean Chatzky weigh in.
Investments / Wealth Building
Should You Put Your Retirement Savings in a Roth IRA or a Traditional IRA — and Does Your Age Change the Answer?Roth or Traditional — the IRA debate has a clear answer for most people. The problem is that answer changes as you age, earn more, and get closer to retirement. Suze Orman, Robert Kiyosaki, and Jean Chatzky disagree on which account wins — and when. One verdict.