The latest episode of my Economics Explained podcast explores the very important topic of personal finance. There is growing interest in personal finance, as evidenced by the stellar sales of Scott Pape’s Barefoot Investor book, which gets several mentions in this episode. Clearly, many people struggle with managing money. For example, last month, Australian ABC News reported “1.9 million Australians are struggling with credit card debts” and that the average Australian credit card debt is more than $3,000.

To discuss personal finance, I invited Griffith University lecturer Dr Di Johnson onto the program. Issues for discussion included:

• Credit cards – friend or foe?
• Is it ok to borrow money to buy a car?
• Is rent money dead money? Alternatively, should you do everything you can to get into the property market as soon as you can?
• How do you encourage good financial habits in young people?

Di’s research interests include personal and household finance, behavioural economics, and financial planning. She is a member of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s Financial Capability Research Network. In addition to teaching and researching, Di is a regular commentator on financial issues on ABC radio and TV here in Brisbane.

During the conversation, Di noted that, in Australia, free financial counselling is available for people in financial trouble:

Financial Counselling page on ASIC Moneysmart website

Finally, please note this podcast episode contains information of a general nature only and does not constitute financial advice, which always needs to consider people’s individual circumstances.