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

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.

This weekend we say goodbye to 2016 and hello to 2017!  It also means that there's no chance we're doing a live show this weekend...so you get one more holiday best-of from the Jill no Money team, aka me and Mark. Consider it our New Year's gift to you.  P.S. stay tuned for an EXCITING ANNOUNCEMENT IN 2017,  which we think you'll enjoy :) Back to this week...

First up you're going to hear from a guy you should be thanking every time you contribute to your 401(k):  Ted Benna, who is more commonly known as the "father of the 401(k)" because he created and gained IRS approval of the first savings plan.  That's right, he's the guy responsible for your 401(k).  Pretty cool, huh?  It's amazing to hear his story and the history of the plan and how the whole thing came about.

In hour two we chat with Rana Foroohar, journalist and author of "Makers and Takers," a book that discusses how the misguided financial practices and philosophies that nearly toppled the global financial system have come to infiltrate all American businesses.  Rana shows how the “financialization of America," the trend by which finance and its way of thinking have come to reign supreme, is perpetuating Wall Street’s reign over Main Street, widening the gap between rich and poor, and threatening the future of the American Dream.

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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

Surprise, surprise...it's Christmas/Hanukkah weekend, which means we get to reinvent ourselves...in other words, you're getting a "best-of" show -- consider it our gift to you! 2016 saw a first for Jill on Money: a single guest for an entire show!  Who would be worthy of such an honor?  The one and only James Altucher.

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I'm guessing by  now that you're at least somewhat familiar with James.  If you're not, this describes him in a nutshell:

• Serial entrepreneur
• Investor
• Author
• Podcast host
• Self-proclaimed minimalist

More than anything else, what initially drew me to James is his ability to continually reinvent himself.  This is a guy who has been down many different career paths, made millions, lost it all more than once, yet somehow always comes out on top.  I really think you'll enjoy his story.

And if you didn't get it as a Christmas gift, I highly recommend you check out his book, Choose Yourself.

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

Here's a little secret I'll let you in on...this show, #302, is the last "new" show of 2016.  The following two weekends will be Christmas and New Year's...and I've got news for ya...Mark and I won't be working!  So, as the year comes to an end, it's a perfect time to review some year-end financial planning tips.

• Download the podcast on iTunes
• Download the podcast on feedburner
• Download this week's show (MP3)

For such an occasion there's no one better than Michael Goodman, founder and president of Wealthstream Advisors.  Not only is Michael a dear friend of mine, he's also my advisor.  There's my full disclosure :)

Michael and I discussed a variety of financial planning topics to ponder before you shut down for the holidays:

• Selling assets in your portfolio now versus waiting until next year
• Gifting to charities and family members
• Contributing to traditional and Roth IRAs (and conversions)
• Making last minute 529 plan contributions
• Considering how tax changes could affect you

And Michael has one crucial piece of advice regarding your long-term financial plan.  Come on now, it's not that easy, you're gonna have to listen to the interview for that one!

That's it, that's our last "new" show of 2016...hope you enjoyed it!  We'll whip up some good stuff for you guys over the next couple weekends...stay tuned!

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

Last week it was a listener turned finance coach as a guest...this week it's a former professional basketball player turned passive investing evangelizer, as our guest.

• Download the podcast on iTunes
• Download the podcast on feedburner
• Download this week's show (MP3)

Before becoming a big shot in the investment world, Dave Butler was draining big shots on the basketball court at Cal and was even drafted by the Boston Celtics.  Despite being drafted by an NBA team, Dave decided to take him game overseas, playing for a few years in Turkey and Japan.

After his playing days were over, Dave went back to California, earned an MBA from Cal at the Haas School of Business and ultimately joined Dimensional Fund Advisors (DFA). To the average person, Dimensional may sound like just another investment firm.  But it's not.  It's different.  DFA's goal from day one has been to redefine investment advice, by adhering to the passive approach.  Instead of relying on forecasting or falling prey to the vast amount of "investment pornography", Dimensional draws information about expected returns from the market itself, letting the collective knowledge of its millions of buyers and sellers set security prices. Dave advises us to focus on low costs, diversification, tax efficiency, transaction efficiency, rather than trying to beat the market.

During Dave's time at Dimensional, assets under management for financial advisors have grown from $2 billion to approximately $250 billion, so it's probably worth listening to this one time Rhodes Scholar candidate.

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

Can you believe it's already December?  Christmas is just weeks away and before you know it we'll be talking about financial resolutions for the New Year.  Before that happens we've still got a few more shows left in 2016...and on this week's, it's a first: a listener-turned-guest!  More like listener-turned-personal finance coach.

• Download the podcast on iTunes
• Download the podcast on feedburner
• Download this week's show (MP3)

Before he was a guest, John Madison was a fan of the program.  Already a CPA, John was no stranger to the finance world, but for a variety of reasons, that line of work wasn't exactly doing it for him.  He wanted to do more.  With a little help from us, John realized his real passion was personal finance.  So what did he do?  He became a personal finance coach.

Over time John eventually started 60 Minute Finance in 2015.  The site is designed to educate and empower individuals and couples to make well-reasoned decisions regarding their personal finances, affording them increased opportunities for meeting their personal and wealth-building goals.  John is not selling anything.  His only goal is to educate motivated people to improve their financial condition and meet their goals while maintaining their personal values.

Give it a listen...who knows, you might become the next listener turned guest in 2017!

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

It's Thanksgiving weekend...which means Mark and I are still suffering from food comas...which means this weekend you get a best-of version of Jill on Money!

• Download the podcast on iTunes
• Download the podcast on feedburner
• Download this week's show (MP3)

After making a list, checking it twice and soliciting votes from you, the audience, we've narrowed it down to a handful of guests we will be rerunning between now and the end of the year.  So, for this weekend, a time when it's all about spending time with family and loved ones, perhaps enjoying a movie, we decided to go with Dave Isay in hour one and Alysia Reiner in hour two. 

Dave Isay is the founder and president of StoryCorps, whose mission is to preserve and share humanity's stories in order to build connections between people and create a more just and compassionate world.  As you're sitting around this weekend and have some free time I highly recommend you download the StoryCorps app and check out the Great Thanksgiving Listen.

Alysia Reiner is an actress you've likely seen in the movie Sideways or the Netflix series Orange Is the New Black.  We chatted with Alysia over the summer about her latest movie, Equity, the first ever female driven Wall Street film.  Not only did Alysia star in the film, she also co-wrote and produced it.

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