The 9Innings Podcast

Welcome to the 9Innings Podcast where we Educate, Empower and Engage. ON THIS WEEKS PODCAST: In 2005, I purchased my first home in Benbrook, Texas. It was 1,400 square feet, cost approximately $98,000, and required very little money down. Today, that same home is worth nearly $300,000. So what happened to the American starter home? In this episode of Econ 101, we examine why builders have shifted...

On this weeks episode of the 9innings Podcast.. A crypto exchange reportedly lost $6.4 billion after a DevOps engineer left a laptop accessible to a North Korean operative and, Tyrone Ross Jr. argues, keeping so much crypto in online “hot wallets” made the damage worse. He joins the show to unpack what’s known, whether Binance can afford to reimburse users, and why Ross thinks crypto customers...

ON THIS WEEKS PODCAST: What happens when your bank calls, but the person on the other end isn't actually your bank?In the debut episode of The Scam Playbook, Kevin Thompson shares a personal experience involving a spoofed bank call that nearly fooled his wife.From fake Microsoft support calls and romance scams to suspicious text messages and high-pressure door-to-door sales, scammers are finding...

On this weeks Facts Over Feelings Episode on the 9innings Podcast Station...A couple earning $150,000 may be living on closer to $102,500, not the full amount a retirement calculator might tell them to replace. This episode breaks down where the rest goes, from taxes and retirement savings to health benefits, and shows why two households with the same income can have very different retirement...

A business owner may be financially ready to retire, but what happens when their spouse is a decade younger and still needs health insurance?In this episode, I'm joined by Andy Panko of Tenon Financial to discuss the costly and often complicated road to Medicare. We explore how employer-sponsored health insurance can mask the true cost of coverage, the challenges of retiring before 65, and the...

In this episode of the 9innings Podcast: GDP is growing, yet September added just 29,000 jobs, and households are spending more even as real disposable income stays roughly flat. In this Econ 101 episode, Kevin looks beneath the headline numbers to trace how lower savings and rising consumer credit may be helping sustain spending, and why that could become a strain if incomes don’t catch up. He...

In this episode of Facts of Our Feelings, Kevin Thompson expands on five topics he was recently quoted on in major publications. He explores why loosening credit standards won't solve housing affordability, how declining insurer competition is reshaping Medicare Advantage plans, and why Social Security COLA increases aren't necessarily good news given rising retiree costs. He also explains how...

In this episode of Econ 101, I break down the Federal Reserve’s latest 25-basis-point rate hike, bringing the federal funds target range to 3.75%–4.00%, and what higher interest rates actually mean for you.From credit cards and car loans to mortgages and business investment, higher rates are designed to slow spending and cool the economy. But there’s another side to the story: massive investment...

In this episode of Facts Over Feelings, I tackle an overlooked retirement challenge: dying with too much money.After spending 30 or 40 years saving and investing, flipping the switch from saver to spender can be harder than it sounds. I explore the psychology behind that transition and ask a simple question: What was all that money actually for?Whether your goal is enjoying retirement,...

In this episode, host Kevin Thompson sits down with Ryan Luckey, an adjunct professor at TCU specializing in NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) in college sports. They discuss how NIL has transformed college athletics, giving athletes the ability to profit from their personal brands while also opening the door to direct compensation from schools.The conversation explores the growing financial divide...