CAPitalize Your Finances

Hosted by Christopher A. Panagiotu, CFP®, CRPS®

Business

Website RSS feed

Episodes

227

Latest episode

Oct 2026

Language

EN-US

About the show

This is CAPitalize Your Finances, the show representing YOU, a select group of excited, ready, and fired up listeners seeking to potentially maximize your money moves. We don’t settle for generic advice of always and nevers. Our currency is our intellect and we constantly seek the logical way of likely creating advantages to potentially maximize wealth for our personal and unique situations. This show brings YOU the step-by-step framework to CAPitalize Your Finances in the aspects of YOUR Financial Situation and we strive to explore strategies and ideas to potentially help you CAPitalize on your financial decisions. We are CAPitalizers and this is our show!

Listen to episodes

60 recent

October 26, 2026Episode 22611 min

How to Tackle Student Loans Without Sacrificing Your Future

In this episode, I’m getting into how to tackle your student loans without sacrificing your future. The key is finding the right balance between paying down debt, keeping enough flexibility, and continuing to build long-term wealth. I’ll walk through how federal and private loans should be treated differently, when it may make sense to pay aggressively, when investing the difference could be more valuable, and why you should think twice before pausing retirement contributions just to get rid of student debt faster. If student loans are taking up more of your personal mental space than they should, this episode can help you build a smarter plan for paying them down without putting the rest of your financial future on hold.

October 19, 2026Episode 2251 hr 13 min

What Wealthy Investors Own Beyond Stocks and Bonds

In this episode, I’m sitting down with Andrew Deck, head of Alternative Investments at LPL Financial, for a conversation about markets, risk, and where investors may be getting a little too comfortable right now. We get into many things: private equity, private credit, real estate, liquidity, due diligence, and why alternative investments can play a very different role than traditional public markets. Andrew also shares how he evaluates investment opportunities, what he looks for in managers, and even how he approaches his own portfolio. We also dig into investor greed, unrealistic return expectations, the risks Andrew sees building in today’s market, and why sometimes a boring portfolio is exactly what you want. There’s a LOT here for anyone trying to think more critically about risk and long-term investing. Tune in and learn all about it!

October 12, 2026Episode 2241 hr 3 min

Why Most Business Owners Leave Money on the Table When They Sell

In this episode, I’m sitting down again with my longtime friend and M&A specialist Laurie Barkman. A lot has changed since the last time she was on the show, so we had plenty to catch up on, especially when it comes to business value, succession, and what owners need to think about before they ever consider selling. We get into the emotional side of exiting a business, as well as Laurie’s “head, heart, wallet” framework, why so many owners wait too long to prepare, and what actually makes a business more valuable and transferable. We also talk about where financial advisors can do a better job serving business owners, how AI is changing professional services, and why the best exit planning often starts five to seven years before a liquidity event. Lots to unpack today, so sit back and enjoy my chat with Laurie Barkman!

October 5, 2026Episode 22312 min

Should You Go Back to School? The Real ROI of Degrees and Certifications

In today’s episode, I’m getting into a question a lot of people ask at some point in their career: should I go back to school? And more importantly, is that degree or certification actually going to be worth the time, money, and effort? I’ll break education down into three types of ROI: economic, signaling, and network. I’ll also walk through when going back to school can make sense, when it can be a poor investment, and the five questions you should ask before committing the time, money, and opportunity cost. Ultimately, the better question may not be whether you should go back to school, but whether that education will actually make you a better professional, expand your network, increase your earning power, or simply make you more decorated.

September 28, 2026Episode 22218 min

How to Use Your 20s to Set Up Your 30s for Financial Freedom

This episode is all about using your 20s to set yourself up for potential financial success in your 30s. Your 20s give you something incredibly valuable: time, flexibility, and the ability to take risks before life gets more complicated. I’ll talk about building high income skills, avoiding lifestyle inflation and unnecessary debt, saving aggressively, investing consistently, building the right network, and taking calculated career risks while you still have decades to recover. It’s important to use this decade to build more than just a portfolio. You want to build skills, relationships, ownership, and earning power. If you do that well, your 30s can become a decade of wealth acceleration instead of financial catch up.

September 21, 2026Episode 22119 min

The True Cost of Having Kids – And How to Plan for It

Today I’m discussing the true cost of having kids and how to plan for it. Kids are one of life’s greatest blessings, but financially, they can change almost everything. I’ll walk through the major costs families need to think about, including housing, childcare, education, food, transportation, healthcare, activities, and college. I’ll also get into the costs most people forget, like reduced career income, lifestyle inflation, time tradeoffs, and opportunity cost. Kids should not be treated as a financial decision, but they are a life decision with a major financial impact. If you plan ahead, build the right buckets, and keep prioritizing long term wealth, you can support your family without letting those costs derail your future.

September 14, 2026Episode 22014 min

How to Recover When You’ve Fallen Behind on Your Financial Goals

On today’s show, I’m getting into how to recover when you’ve fallen behind on your financial goals. It happens to nearly everyone, even successful people. The difference is whether you stay stuck emotionally or build a framework to move forward. I’ll walk through the Financial Reset Framework: pause the emotional narrative, recalculate your true financial position, run a new projection, choose your recovery lever, and create a 12 month catch up plan. It’s important to know that you may not be behind forever. You may just be in a recalibration phase. Increase income, raise your savings rate, adjust the timeline, or adjust the goal. Once you turn vague anxiety into specific numbers, you can rebuild momentum and get back on track!

August 31, 2026Episode 21920 min

What Insurance You Must Have and What You Can Skip

Today I’m talking about which types of insurance you must have and which ones you can usually skip. The key is simple: insure against the things that could financially devastate you and self-insure the things that would only be inconvenient. I’ll take you through the core protections most people need, including health insurance, life insurance, disability insurance, auto insurance, homeowners or renters' insurance, and umbrella liability coverage. I’ll also talk about situational coverage like long-term care, business insurance, flood insurance, and identity theft protection. It’s important to know that insurance is less about covering every little inconvenience and more about protecting your family, income, assets, and future from the risks that could truly wipe you out.

August 24, 2026Episode 21820 min

Money Rules for Newlyweds, Parents, and Growing Families

On today's program I’m getting into money rules for newlyweds, parents, and growing families. As your family changes, your financial plan has to evolve with it. I'll go through the key rules at each stage, from having monthly money meetings and building an emergency fund to eliminating high interest debt, buying insurance before you need it, creating an estate plan, and teaching your kids about money early. Building family wealth is not complex, but it does require consistency. Spend less than you earn, save and invest regularly, avoid bad debt, protect your income, and communicate openly about money. Do that over time, and you give your family a real foundation for long-term financial success.

August 17, 2026Episode 21723 min

How to CAPitalize Your Finances During a Layoff or Career Change

In this episode, I talk about how to capitalize your finances during a layoff or career change. A transition like this can feel disruptive, and it is, but it can also create a rare opportunity to reset, optimize taxes, and reposition your wealth. I’ll walk through how to stabilize cash flow, protect liquidity, use a lower income year for Roth conversions or capital gains planning, review old retirement accounts, handle health insurance, and avoid panic selling long term investments. Remember, a layoff or career change does not have to be purely defensive. If you manage cash flow, taxes, investments, health care, and career reinvestment the right way, a low-income year can actually become one of the best wealth building opportunities of your life.

Is this your show?

Claim this listing to keep it up to date, reach guests who want to pitch you, and manage bookings with Guestify.

Claim this listing

More Business podcasts

The Bottom Line

Alexander Spencer

BusinessInterviews guests