Ask some Wall Street veterans where they were on October 19, 1987 and they will likely regale you with details of any crisis. My life changed that day in ways that often creep up on me. Indeed, Black Monday was the single worst day in Wall Street history, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average plunging by more than 22 percent in one session--that’s the equivalent of the blue chip index diving by more than 5,000 points today.

It was a “First Class Catastrophe”, according to our first class guest and storyteller supreme, Diana Henriques, who dropped by the studio to help us retrace the events that led up to that day.

Diana joined us on the podcast earlier this year when her book, The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust, was made into an HBO movie. This time around Diana is joining us to discuss her latest book, A First-Class Catastrophe: The Road to Black Monday, the Worst Day in Wall Street History. As Diana recounts, Black Monday was more than seven years in the making and threatened nearly every U.S. financial institution.

There were missed opportunities, market delusions, and destructive actions that stretched from the “silver crisis” of 1980 to turf battles in Washington and a rivalry between the New York Stock Exchange and the Chicago Mercantile Exchange.

Here’s the crazy thing...you’d think that after Black Monday, lessons would be learned. But in her analysis, Henriques demonstrates how that Monday in the fall of 1987 was the predicate to the financial crisis of 2008. Sadly, investors, regulators, and bankers failed to heed the lessons of 1987, even as the same patterns resurfaced.

This was a fascinating interview for me because I lived through this period. I had just started my career on Wall Street, as the chaos was unfolding. I watched firsthand as my father nearly lost his business. This chat was like going down memory lane and it’ll give you guys a good glimpse of the life I used to live before I started hosting podcasts and radio shows!

“Better Off” is sponsored by Betterment.

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So often on this podcast, and on my radio show, we field questions from recent grads with insane amounts of student loan debt. Sometimes it’s enough debt to wreck a life.

There’s enough blame to go around, but so often it’s a case of students feeling the pressure to go to fancy, high priced colleges to study what seems like an obscure major. But before you think that I am about to argue that every able-bodied student should be studying for a degree in a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) field, read on...

Let me pose a question. What is wrong with a well-rounded liberal arts degree? A degree, which I might add, can be earned at countless reasonably priced colleges.

George Anders, our guest this week on Better Off makes a strong case in his recently released book, You Can Do Anything: The Surprising Power of a "Useless" Liberal Arts Education.

You don’t have to be a rocket scientist or know how to write computer code to succeed in today’s work environment.

When you really think about it, it’s amazing how many doors a so called “useless” liberal arts education can open.

As George says, you can be yourself, as an English major, and thrive in sales. You can segue from anthropology into the booming new field of user research; from classics into management consulting, and from philosophy into high-stakes investing. At any stage of your career, you can bring a humanist’s grace to the rapidly evolving high-tech future.

If you’ve got kids starting the college application process, who are resisting calls to declare a STEM major or if you’re thinking about furthering your education by going to grad school, listen to this episode before making any decisions.

“Better Off” is sponsored by Betterment.

Have a finance related question? Email us here or call 855-411-JILL.

We love feedback so please subscribe and leave us a rating or review in iTunes!

Connect with me at these places for all my content:

https://twitter.com/jillonmoney

https://www.facebook.com/JillonMoney

https://www.instagram.com/jillonmoney/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/jillonmoney/ 

http://www.stitcher.com/podcast/jill-... 

http://betteroffpodcast.com/

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/b...

"Better Off" theme music is by Joel Goodman, www.joelgoodman.com.

Coach Barbara Russo has sound career advice for every worker: Use your gums, not your thumbs! In other words, stop texting and e-mailing and instead seek to create face to face relationships in your work life, if you want to succeed. Barbara says there are usually three types of clients that she encounters: those who want to get in, move up or move on. In each phase, she offers common sense ways that we can advance our careers.

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In many of her engagements, Barbara asks her clients to look within themselves to answer some important questions:

What do you want more or less of in your work and personal life? What is working right now/what isn't? What do you want your life to look like in the next 10-20 years? Are there co-workers or bosses who you need to better manage in order to be happier? For those who are risk-averse,  Barbara says,  "Sometimes you jump off a cliff and land paradise."

If you missed the great episode with James Altucher, check it out here.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week, especially Mark, the Best Producer/Music Curator in the World. Here's how to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet us: @jillonmoney and @MTalercio

Career Expert Caroline Ceniza-Levine, author of the new book "Jump Ship: 10 Steps to Starting a New Career" and co-founder of Six Figure Start, joins us to discuss how to contemplate a big change in your work life. Caroline, a former classical pianist is no stranger to extreme career changes, but cautions that there are specific steps to take before giving your notice.

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Caroline also outlined how best to use LinkedIn, why each of us needs to think about branding and how networking can be your friend.

Thanks to everyone who participated this week, especially Mark, the Best Producer in the World and the worst LinkedIn User. Here's how to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet us: @jillonmoney and @MTalercio

It's parents' weekend at many colleges all over the country, a perfect time for career expert, Sheila Curran of The Curran Consulting Group (CCG) to join us for a guest appearance. Sheila has spent a chunk of her career running college career service centers and is now a consultant who helps would-be job seekers of all ages to understand how to better position themselves to land a plum gig.

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What should young scholars be doing to prepare for the new cut-throat career world, where there is little loyalty and only a few formal training programs? Sheila says it is no longer about classroom learning-students should be interning as a means to try out different career tracks. She also advises that young interviewees do their homework before the interview. For mid-career professionals, who seek change, she advises to self-examination and to think like an employer!

Calls this week from Scott from Boston, Carol from RI, Debbie and Warren were heavily tilted towards retirement, while Mark from KY wanted to know what a self-described stock-market-a-phobe should do with an account that has ballooned in value?

Chris from MD asked how he might be able to determine whether his advisor is acting in your best interest? This allowed me to talk about the F-Word: FIDUCIARY! Check out: PlannerSearch.Org

No-Name, a recently retired with $185K in cash is seeking a “fairly safe” investment…ah, the age old question of risk vs. reward! And Chris from Melville, NY wrote in recommending that I discuss bond/CD ladders and Janice asked what would happen if a big custodian were to fail?

Here's last week's segment from CBS This Morning, where I discussed how to navigate benefits enrollment.

Thanks to everyone who participated and to Mark, the BEST producer in the world. Check out Mark's first-producing credit for this CBS Evening News segment that aired recently. If you have a financial question, there are lots of ways to contact us:

• Call 855-411-JILL and we'll schedule time to get you on the show LIVE 

• Send an email: askjill@jillonmoney.com 

• Tweet us: @jillonmoney and @MTalercio