Many Americans live from paycheck to paycheck, often without a budget. Even those with savings can’t withstand long periods of time without any income. Therefore, job loss or a disability can be a major threat to someone’s financial freedom.

The good news is that, if you were disabled due to a job related injury, New Jersey law provides you with benefits that can ease the economic strain of being out of work. To discuss the details of this law, I interview worker’s compensation attorney Sam Gaylord about what you can do to protect this freedom if you get injured on the job.

These days, so many things in life are tied to your credit score. If you want to buy a house or a car, get a credit card, or even insurance, that three digit number becomes critical. But what do you do if you are just establishing a credit history, or are rebuilding your credit after a bankruptcy or foreclosure?

So in this episode I spoke with credit counselor Alex Frees to get answers to those questions and tips on how to build or repair your credit for a better financial future.

With a new President in office, many student loan borrowers are hoping for a change for the better. There has been quite a bit of discussion in the past years about the national “student loan bubble” and what to do about it, and people are looking to Donald Trump to take action.

He has made some statements in the campaign last Fall, but has not taken any action on it so far in his first 100 days. But I thought it would be interesting to discuss in this episode what he has said to give an idea of what he might do in the future if and when he takes action.

Michelle Singletary, a personal finance columnist for the Washington Post, is the author of   The Power to Prosper: 21 Days to Financial Freedom and The 21 Day Financial Fast, in which she lays out what she calls the 21-Day Financial Fast. The fast is about curbing the need to consume because, in her view, we all consume more than we need. I read about this Fast when I came across an article she wrote in the Post describing it, and I thought it would be a good idea to do an episode on it. It might just be the thing for you!

One reason people here in New Jersey are contemplating bankruptcy, in addition to credit card and medical debt, is a big tax bill that they cannot pay. People often ask me whether taxes are dischargeable (and many people think that they are not). The answer I usually give is, it depends.

Whether taxes get discharged depends on two things: What kind of tax it is (income, real estate, sales, or tax withholdings from employees), and whether it passes the bankruptcy code’s three part discharge test. To get a good answer to this question I asked local tax accountant Ira Krassan to join me to go over these points and give you a good idea of whether bankruptcy can get rid of part, or all, of your tax debt and get you the fresh start that you need.

I have often provided links in my semi-monthly e-newsletter to articles on EveryDollar.com that talk about ways to budget, save money, and plan for the future. The information they provide is great for anyone trying to save money to pay down debt or just find extra cash for a special purpose or to save for retirement.

They recently posted an article on their blog about how your smartphone can help you do this, not just with their budgeting app, which I reviewed in a previous episode, but also with many other apps that find you deals. After reading it, I thought it would be a great idea to bring this information to you in the podcast.

Many Americans do not have a will, even though they may be married or even have children. It is on their “To Do” list, but never seems to get done, most times because they either do not know where to start or do not want to think about their own deaths. But it is one of the key things that you should do as part of your financial plan.

I can’t help you get over your not wanting to plan for your own death, but I can give you some tips on how to get started. So in this episode I am going to go over the decisions most people need to make and the information they need to gather to start the process, whether you are doing it yourself or hiring a lawyer.

Not everybody with debt has to file bankruptcy. Many times it can be paid over time with a bit of belt-tightening and self-discipline. This is a great way to get out of debt and improve your credit scores.

So in this episode, I am going to talk about how it can be done and lay out the steps that you need to take to accomplish it. It may not be possible for you, and you may end up in bankruptcy, but at least you’ll know that you tried everything else you could first.

Student loan debt continues to be a problem nationally, as the total owed exceeds $1 trillion. Although private loans are also a problem, the good news is that they make up only 15% of the total debt, and federal loans still dominate the landscape. The amount of debt per student (and in many cases the parents) has led to real problems with affordability of the monthly payments and defaulted loans.

These people have either given up, and let the loans default, thus facing wage garnishment and the loss of their federal tax refunds for the foreseeable future, or are hiding out in a deferment or forbearance, hoping that their financial future will somehow get better and allow them to make the payments. Still others file chapter 13 bankruptcies to prevent the entry of default by forcing the loans into a forbearance while making a small monthly payment for three to five years.

None of these are the optimal solution, especially as there are many offered by the U.S. Department of Education that allow you to get out of default (if you are) and get into a monthly payment that is affordable at your income level. So in this episode of the podcast I talk about what those solutions are and how they can help.

One part of a financial strategy that is often overlooked is dealing with death and disability. It is an unpleasant topic that no one wants to think about, but one that has to be addressed. Failing to plan for them can threaten to unravel all of the work that you have done to date to ensure financial freedom. It could prevent your assets from going to those whom you want to receive them or cause major disruption if you become disabled or incapacitated.

So in this episode, I talk about why you need a will, a living will, and a power of attorney to protect your financial plan and prevent disruption and chaos in your financial life. I will discuss what can go wrong without them, and how having them can prevent these problems.