The Problem of Money Podcast

Ep 53: Why Artists Stay BROKE and Businessmen Stay BORED

There's a version of you that comes alive when you're being creative, playful, or fully yourself. And then there's the version that shows up to work. This episode is about the gap between them. Shabbar and Tim explore the artist and the businessman as two archetypes we all carry. Through personal stories and Jungian shadow work, they unpack what happens when we dismiss or avoid the side we don't identify with. Whether you're a creative who struggles with money or a commercial thinker who feels something's missing, this conversation holds something for you. The real question isn't which archetype is right. It's whether you're brave enough to take a step toward the one you've been avoiding. * Why what irritates you most about other people might say more about you than them * What the artist loses by treating money and commerce as corrupt * What the businessman misses by leaving creativity and play out of their work * Why the most alive version of you rarely makes it into your professional life * How growth often just means taking a 20% step toward the side you've been resisting Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money. Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn: Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam] Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick] Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/ [https://timothymalnick.com] Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/ [https://lumosfinancial.com]

Ep 52: Your Pension Won't Save You From Getting OLD

Most of us carry a number in our heads. The number we need before we can stop. The age by which we need to hit it. Underneath all of that planning is a fear we don't talk about much: the fear of getting old in a society that doesn't know what to do with older people. In this episode, Shabbar and Tim pull apart the modern idea of retirement, where it came from and what it is actually promising. They explore how the fixation on a pension figure is itself a symptom of a culture that treats aging as decline, and how that fixation can quietly drain the vitality and curiosity we are trying to protect. The conversation moves toward something more useful: the things that actually keep people vital as they age, which include relationships, learning, and staying open to life, and those can be invested in at any age, with any amount of money. Key themes: * Why retirement is a modern industrial invention, and what we lose by treating it as a life goal. * How a society that fears old age drives our obsession with the pension number. * What actually keeps people curious and energetic as they age, and why it is not the size of their savings. * The comparison trap: measuring your number against where you think you should be at your age. * Why investing in your health, relationships, and emotional wellbeing matters as much as saving for the future. Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money. Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn: Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam] Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick] Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/ [https://timothymalnick.com/] Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/ [https://lumosfinancial.com/]

Ep 51: Your Passion Won't Pay the Bills. Do it Anyway!

There's a voice most of us carry that sounds like common sense. It says: be realistic, pay your bills, this is just how it works. This episode is about that voice, why it's not as trustworthy as it sounds, and what it's actually costing you to keep listening to it. Shabbar and Tim take on the question that's been sitting underneath this whole series on work: can you actually earn a living following your life path? Their answer is honest rather than reassuring. But you're probably already suffering either way, so at least you get to choose. They talk about why the most heartfelt work is the hardest to charge for, why money flowing toward your work is a broken measure of whether you're on the right path, and why a confused global economy that funds weapons before art or healing says very little about the value of what you're doing. They also quietly reframe what the life path even is. It might not be a grand calling. It might be board games with your kids, or getting fit, or finally writing something. The point is that most of us don't follow it, not because we can't, but because we've been told that would be unrealistic. Key themes: * Why the inner voice that sounds responsible often has nothing useful to tell you about reality. * Why money feels wrong to charge for the closer your work gets to your real values. * The two kinds of suffering: the depression of a safe but meaningless job, or the fear of following what brings you alive. * Why the global economy funding bombs before healers or artists is not a verdict on your work. * Why your life path might be smaller and closer than you ever gave yourself permission to admit. Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money. Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn: Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam] Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick] Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/ [https://timothymalnick.com/] Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/ [https://lumosfinancial.com/]

Ep 50: The Mexican Fisherman Who Had ENOUGH

You might already be living the life you're working so hard to afford. So why does it feel wrong to stop and enjoy it? Shabbar tells the story of the Mexican fisherman and the Harvard MBA, and it lands differently than you'd expect. What starts as a parable turns into an honest conversation about the battle most of us carry: the part that craves contentment and the part that says contentment is laziness. Together, Shabbar and Tim unpack why social pressure keeps us performing busyness, why we hide the questions we most need to ask, and what it would look like to actually trust that enough is enough. * Why admitting you want a simpler life can feel scarier than burnout * The inner battle between your fisherman and your hustler, and why picking a winner doesn't work * How social settings train us to perform ambition we don't always feel * The difference between building a future and missing your present * What the dying actually regret, and why it's never the size of their pension Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money. Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn: Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam] Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick] Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/ [https://timothymalnick.com/] Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/ [https://lumosfinancial.com/]

Ep 49: He Made MILLIONS and Gave Up on Happiness

You said "busy" the last time someone asked how you were. You probably didn't even think about it. But what if that reflex is telling you something important about how you measure your own worth? Shabbar and Tim unpack hustle culture, not just the entrepreneurial grind-harder version, but the quieter internal pressure most of us carry to always be doing more. They look at the viral Tony Robbins and Alex Hormozi conversation, where a young man with a hundred million dollar business admitted he couldn't find happiness. They explore what figures like Gandhi and Mandela suggest about action rooted in stillness rather than restlessness. And Shabbar shares a conversation from his community that offers a genuinely different way to think about work, time, and what blessing actually looks like. * Why saying "I'm busy" has become a reflex we're afraid to break * What happens when massive financial success still leaves you unfulfilled * The difference between outer hustle and the inner pressure we put on ourselves Can you have real impact in the world without burning out to prove it? Enjoyed this episode? We'd love to hear your thoughts, questions, or your own stories about money. Reach out and connect with us on LinkedIn: Shabbar: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/shabbarkassam] Tim: https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick [https://uk.linkedin.com/in/timmalnick] Explore Tim's work and register for his upcoming workshop: https://timothymalnick.com/ [https://timothymalnick.com/] Find out more about Shabbar's financial planning services: https://lumosfinancial.com/ [https://lumosfinancial.com/]