Building better financial habits is less about willpower and more about understanding how your brain works. In this episode, Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP®, and Fiona Waller, MSW, LCSW, CFP® dive into the behavioral side of personal finance, exploring why all-or-nothing thinking keeps you stuck, how to make progress visible, and what the science of habit formation teaches us about lasting change.

Drawing from Dr. Jay's background in adult learning and Fiona's training as a therapist, this conversation goes beyond spreadsheets and investment strategies to tackle the messy, gray area of human behavior. If you've ever wondered why you keep repeating financial patterns you inherited or why your budget never seems to stick, this episode offers practical tools to help you build habits that actually support the intentional Childfree life you're designing.

Key Takeaways:

• All-or-nothing thinking sabotages progress: The mindset of "be the best or don't do it at all" keeps you stuck at extremes and prevents you from making meaningful progress in the messy middle ground where real change happens.
• Financial success is 80% behavioral: The hard work of personal finance isn't in the spreadsheets or investment calculations. It's in understanding your behaviors, mental models, and the voices in your head that drive your financial decisions.
• Starting small creates sustainable change: Rather than attempting major overhauls that lead to failure, focus on getting 1% better each day or making one small improvement at a time to build momentum without burnout.
• Naming your internal voice creates distance: Identifying whose voice is in your head and why it's there allows you to acknowledge its role in getting you this far, then consciously choose to take it from here on your own terms.

Episode Hosts:

Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® - Founder & CEO of Childfree Wealth®, Childfree Trust®, & Childfree Insights. Author of "The Childfree Guide to Life and Money." Dr. Jay's background in adult learning brings a unique behavioral focus to financial planning.

Fiona Waller, MSW, LCSW, CFP® - Childfree Wealth Specialist® at Childfree Wealth®. Fiona brings a unique perspective as a former therapist, focusing on the intersection of mental health and money using a trauma-informed background to help clients align their financial and life plans with their values.

About Childfree Life by Design:

Childfree Life By Design is dedicated to helping Childfree individuals thrive by providing resources, guidance, and community. We recognize that when you've made a decision roughly 75% of the population doesn't make, conventional wisdom simply doesn't apply to you. Our mission is to help you design a life that works for you, covering everything from finances and relationships to career decisions and building support networks that will actually be there when you need them.

Connect with Us:

Ready to design your ideal Childfree life? Connect with our financial planning team at childfreewealth.com or learn more about estate planning at childfreetrust.com

Join the conversation on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childfreeinsights
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildfreeInsights/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/childfreeinsights
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildfreeInsights

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast...

Welcome to a brand new era! After two and a half years as the Childfree Wealth® Podcast, we're excited to introduce Childfree Life By Design. This isn't just a rebrand; it's an expansion of our mission. While finances remain a cornerstone, we're now diving deeper into relationships, career decisions, and designing a life that works for you. In this special relaunch episode, hosts Bri Conn and Dr. Jay Zigmont introduce the expanded team.

Key Takeaways:

• The rebrand expands the mission: Childfree Life By Design goes beyond financial planning to cover relationships, career pivots, healthcare navigation, community building, and finding meaning on your own terms.
• Traditional planning doesn't work for Childfree people: The financial planning industry is built around funding college educations and passing wealth to the next generation, leaving Childfree individuals without tailored resources.
• Childfree planning is actually more complex: End-of-life planning, long-term care, and determining who makes decisions when you can't advocate for yourself require more intentional planning without children.

Meet the Team:

Dr. Jay Zigmont, CFP® - Founder & CEO of Childfree Wealth®, Childfree Trust®, & Childfree Insights. Author of "The Childfree Guide to Life and Money."

Bri Conn, CFP® - Customer Experience Manager at Childfree Trust® and co-host. Bri joined the Childfree space after connecting with Dr. Jay while studying to become a CFP® professional.

Fiona Waller, MSW, LCSW, CFP® - Childfree Wealth Specialist® at Childfree Wealth®. Fiona brings a unique perspective as a former therapist, focusing on the intersection of mental health and money using a trauma-informed background to help clients align their financial and life plans with their values.

Scott Barnes, CFP®, TPCP®, CLTC - Associate Advisor at Childfree Wealth®. Scott is the go-to expert for long-term care strategies and tax planning questions.

Maddy Roche - Chief Growth Officer at Childfree Trust® and responsible for all sales & marketing initiatives.

Alli Gage - Chief of Staff at Childfree Insights. Alli is the behind-the-scenes coordinator who ensures all organizations operate in an orderly fashion across the board.

About Childfree Life by Design:

Childfree Life By Design is dedicated to helping Childfree individuals thrive by providing resources, guidance, and community. We recognize that when you've made a decision roughly 75% of the population doesn't make, conventional wisdom simply doesn't apply to you. Our mission is to help you design a life that works for you, covering everything from finances and relationships to career decisions and building support networks that will actually be there when you need them.

Connect with Us:

Ready to design your ideal Childfree life? Connect with our financial planning team at childfreewealth.com or learn more about estate planning at childfreetrust.com

Join the conversation on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childfreeinsights
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildfreeInsights/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/childfreeinsights
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildfreeInsights

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast...

We've reached the final episode of the Childfree Wealth podcast hosted by Bri and Dr. Jay, CFP®! It's been an incredible two-and-a-half-year run with 171 episodes published and over 100,000 downloads, and we couldn't be more grateful for this community.

So, to celebrate all the amazing things that have happened, the whole Childfree Wealth team—Bri, Dr. Jay, Scott, and Fiona—joins us for a special episode to share wins, battle it out with some hilarious holiday finance trivia, and drop some major news about the future of the podcast.

Note to Listeners: The podcast is NOT going away! It is simply changing names to Childfree Life by Design and launching with a new episode on January 1st. Stay subscribed!

🔹 Celebrating Our Wins

🔹 Holiday Finance Trivia

🔹 Rapid-Fire Holiday Q&A

🔹 Amazing Stats & Listener Impact

🔹 The Future is Now! Stick around to the end as we reveal the exciting rebrand and relaunch — you won't want to miss what's next!

About Childfree Life by Design:

Childfree Life By Design is dedicated to helping Childfree individuals thrive by providing resources, guidance, and community. We recognize that when you've made a decision roughly 75% of the population doesn't make, conventional wisdom simply doesn't apply to you. Our mission is to help you design a life that works for you, covering everything from finances and relationships to career decisions and building support networks that will actually be there when you need them.

Connect with Us:

Ready to design your ideal Childfree life? Connect with our financial planning team at childfreewealth.com or learn more about estate planning at childfreetrust.com

Join the conversation on social media:

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/childfreeinsights
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ChildfreeInsights/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/childfreeinsights
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@ChildfreeInsights

Disclaimer: This podcast is for educational & entertainment purposes. Please consult your advisor before implementing any ideas heard on this podcast...