10 Finance Podcasts Every Investor Should Listen To

Which Finance Podcast Should an Investor Play First?

The best finance podcast for most long-term investors is The Rational Reminder. It comes out once a week, it sticks to evidence, and it never pushes a hot stock. For markets and the economy, play Bloomberg’s Odd Lots. Stock pickers will get more from We Study Billionaires. Indian investors also have Paisa Vaisa, which talks in rupees about mutual funds, loans and retirement.

We picked these 10 shows from five countries. Then we pulled the latest eight episodes of each one from its public show page. So every length, schedule and starter episode on this page comes from a live feed. We also worked out how many minutes a week each show asks of you, because time is the real cost of a podcast.

Ten Investing Podcasts by Host, Length and Release Day

We built this table from each show’s latest feed. Episode length is the median of the recent episodes we counted. For shows that mix long and short formats, we split the two. Release days come from the dates on the feed, and they also match what each show says about its schedule.

Two shows share the name Motley Fool Money. They are separate programs with separate hosts, so we list both. The US show is daily and short. The Australian one is long and comes out about twice a week.

Podcasts for Patient, Long-Term Investors

These four shows talk about saving, index funds, retirement and behavior far more than trading. So they work well for someone building wealth slowly, and you can skip a week without missing much.

1. The Rational Reminder

The Rational Reminder calls itself a weekly reality check on sensible investing, from three Canadians. The hosts are Benjamin Felix, Cameron Passmore and Dan Bortolotti, all portfolio managers at PWL Capital. The feed holds 456 episodes. Also, it carries a 4.9 rating from 792 listeners on Apple Podcasts. Paisa Vaisa matches that score, but from only 14 ratings.

The format alternates. Some weeks the hosts talk to an academic. For example, Alex Edmans joined for “The Madness of Markets.” Other weeks they work through a topic on their own. In our sample, episodes ran from 65 to 101 minutes, with a median of 68. New episodes landed on Thursdays.

Starter episode: “What to Know Before (and After) You Hire an Advisor,” with Matthew Taylor. It runs 78 minutes. After that, try the pair on leveraged ETFs. First comes “The Truth About Leveraged ETFs,” then the follow-up, episode #432, with Marco Sammon and Chris Murray.

2. Animal Spirits

Animal Spirits is a show about markets, life and investing from Michael Batnick and Ben Carlson of The Compound. The two talk about what they are reading, writing, watching and listening to. The main episode lands every Wednesday morning, and the feed now holds 833 episodes. It also has 2,008 ratings, averaging 4.7.

However, the feed mixes two formats. Numbered episodes run about 70 to 74 minutes. Between them come shorter “Talk Your Book” episodes of 28 to 31 minutes. Each one covers a single product theme, such as single stock futures. So if you only want the main show, look for “EP.” in the title.

Starter episode: “Why Baby Boomers Have All the Money (EP. 488),” a 71-minute episode about why older households hold so much wealth.

3. Paisa Vaisa With Anupam Gupta

Paisa Vaisa is the Indian pick. Also, Anupam Gupta has hosted it on IVM Podcasts since 2017. The show covers mutual funds, stocks, real estate, loans, education loans and insurance, and it recently added a series on business. IVM says it has passed 4 million downloads. The feed lists 606 episodes in total.

New episodes come out weekly and run about an hour. For example, recent titles asked whether the RBI could raise rates and what it takes to go from a salary to ₹10 crore. The feed also reruns archive interviews, such as a two-part chat with Zerodha’s Nithin Kamath. Those archive parts are short, at 23 and 30 minutes.

Starter episode: “Your Savings Could End Before Your Retirement Does,” which runs 49 minutes. Then try “Building Wealth Through Patient Investing,” with Raunak Onkar of PPFAS.

4. Motley Fool Money (Australia)

Motley Fool Money in Australia is hosted by Scott Phillips and Andrew Page. So it is a separate program from the US daily show. It began with radio network Triple M and later moved to the LiSTNR app. Topics include super, SMSFs, mortgages, property and both ASX and US shares.

Episodes are long. The five we counted ran 81 to 91 minutes. Each week, one episode covers a market theme and a second answers listener mail. For instance, recent mailbags asked whether bonds belong in a portfolio and whether “tax the rich” is a fix.

Starter episode: “Mailbag, incl: Do bonds belong in my portfolio?” It runs 81 minutes. Also, listener questions make a gentle way into the show.

Podcasts That Explain Markets and the Economy

Next come three shows that explain why prices, rates and markets move. They rarely talk about your own portfolio. Still, they make the daily news far easier to follow.

5. Odd Lots

Odd Lots is Bloomberg’s show with Joe Weisenthal and Tracy Alloway. First, know that it covers finance, markets and economics, and new episodes come out on Mondays, Thursdays and Fridays. The feed has passed 1,300 episodes, and 1,932 listeners rate it 4.5 on average.

The range is wide. For example, one recent week moved from an election special with Nate Silver to the structured notes market. Another episode visited a Chicago restaurant that has stayed open for nearly three decades. Every episode in our sample ran between 41 and 53 minutes, so it fits a commute.

Starter episode: “The $300 Billion Structured Notes Market Is Booming,” at 52 minutes. Banks sell these products to ordinary savers, so the topic is useful to know.

6. Planet Money

Planet Money is NPR’s economics show. Its pitch is a dare. Give the team any topic, and then they will tie it back to the economy. Nine hosts share the work, and the feed holds about 700 episodes.

Free episodes in our sample ran 21 to 35 minutes. However, some bonus episodes go only to NPR+ subscribers, such as a recent “Will AI take my job?” special. So the free feed comes to about two episodes a week. That makes it the lightest show on this list.

Starter episode: “Is this how the great international borrowing spree ends?” It runs 26 minutes, so it also works as a trial run.

7. Masters in Business

Masters in Business is Barry Ritholtz’s interview show for Bloomberg. Also, he talks to the people and ideas that shape markets, investing and business. The feed has 823 episodes and 2,116 ratings.

In fact, the feed carries two shows. Full interviews run 68 to 84 minutes. In between, At The Money episodes take one question in 16 to 26 minutes. For example, one asked if dividend stocks can give yield and growth. The feed also carries some sponsored episodes, and they are labeled as sponsored content in the title.

Starter episode: “Embracing the Bond Market,” with Robin Wigglesworth, at 84 minutes. But for a short try, play “At The Money: How Do Financial Professionals Invest Their Own Money?” at 24 minutes.

Podcasts for Stock Pickers and Business Analysts

The last three shows go deep on single companies and on how businesses grow. So they are aimed at readers who already know what a P/E ratio is. If you are newer, our guide on price to sales ratios by industry covers one of the numbers these hosts use most.

8. We Study Billionaires

We Study Billionaires comes from The Investor’s Podcast Network. Hosts include Stig Brodersen, William Green, Shawn O’Malley, Daniel Mahncke and Kyle Grieve. Also, they study one business at a time, with lessons from investors such as Warren Buffett, Charlie Munger and Howard Marks. The network says the show has nearly 200 million downloads.

Most episodes break down one stock. For instance, recent ones covered McDonald’s, Airbnb, Shopify and GE Aerospace. They are long, at 72 to 88 minutes. The feed also carries William Green’s Richer, Wiser, Happier interviews, and one recent episode ran 153 minutes.

Starter episode: “TIP858: McDonald’s ($MCD): Generational Compounder in Historical Drawdown,” at 83 minutes. It shows the show’s method on a business everyone knows.

9. Invest Like the Best

Invest Like the Best is Patrick O’Shaughnessy’s weekly interview show, now published by Colossus. It talks to investors and business leaders about their ideas and methods. The show says it is made for professional investors, CEOs, founders and strategists. There are 602 episodes so far.

Guests lean toward tech and venture capital. For example, recent ones included Nubank’s David Vélez and Sequoia’s Michael Moritz. Episodes usually run about 72 minutes. Because of that guest list, founders raising money may get the most from it. It also pairs well with our explainer on the types of investors who write checks at each stage.

Starter episode: “Michael Moritz: Lessons From 40 Years of Investing and Writing,” at 72 minutes.

10. Motley Fool Money (US)

Motley Fool Money is The Motley Fool’s daily show for US stock investors. Weekday episodes look at business news from a long-term view. Then weekend episodes change pace, with personal finance and longer interviews. The hosts include Travis Hoium, Tyler Crowe, Jon Quast, Rachel Warren and Robert Brokamp.

Because it is daily, it works as a news habit. Recent titles asked whether Apple is losing its memory and looked at Marvell’s trillion-dollar target. The one recent episode with a listed length ran 29 minutes.

Starter episode: “Three Questions Every Investor Should Ask About Any Management Team.” It runs 29 minutes. Also, the title alone gives you a checklist to reuse.

How Many Minutes a Week Each Show Asks of You

Most “best podcast” lists skip the time cost. So we did the math. First, we took the median length of recent episodes for each show. Then we counted how many new episodes came out over the last three weeks. Finally, we multiplied the two to get minutes per week.

The spread is large. For example, a full Masters in Business interview is about three times as long as an At The Money episode in the same feed. Also, We Study Billionaires and Motley Fool Money Australia both run past 80 minutes, so one episode can fill a long drive.

In practice, a 30-minute commute each way gives you about five hours of listening across a five-day week. So you could keep up with Odd Lots, The Rational Reminder and Paisa Vaisa at normal speed, and still have about 20 minutes spare. But add We Study Billionaires and you run out of time unless you speed up.

We left the US Motley Fool Money out of the chart. Only one recent episode listed a length, which is too thin a sample for a median. Still, a daily show of about half an hour would come to roughly three and a half hours a week.

Match a Podcast to the Kind of Investor You Are

A long list does little until you choose. So we paired each show with a type of reader, based on what each show covers.

• You buy index funds and want to stay the course: The Rational Reminder, then Animal Spirits for a lighter weekly chat.
• You invest in India through SIPs and mutual funds: Paisa Vaisa. It talks in rupees and covers Indian loans, tax-linked products and retirement.
• You want the news to make sense: Odd Lots for markets, and Planet Money for the wider economy.
• You pick your own stocks: We Study Billionaires for deep dives, and Motley Fool Money for daily US company news.
• You run a startup or work in venture capital: Invest Like the Best. Also read our breakdown of the types of company funding before you pitch.
• You live in Australia: Motley Fool Money Australia, because it covers super and the ASX.
• You have only 20 minutes a day: the At The Money episodes in the Masters in Business feed.

Turn Podcast Listening Into Better Investing Habits

A podcast can teach a lot. But it cannot see your goals, your tax bracket or your debts. So treat a stock idea from a show as a starting point for your own homework. Then read the company’s filings before you buy.

Also, keep a short note for each episode. Write down one idea you want to test and one term you did not know. For example, a host might mention an ex-dividend date. In that case, our explainer on the record date versus the ex-date fills the gap in five minutes. In the same way, a host may discuss a recent split. Then our guide to a stock split versus a bonus issue shows what changes for holders.

Next, watch for sponsored content. Some feeds label paid episodes in the title, as Masters in Business does. If a show talks about a fund, check who made the episode and why. Finally, you may buy one stock in several lots over time. In that case, track your true cost with our guide on how to calculate your average stock price.

Investor Questions About Finance Podcasts

What Is the Best Finance Podcast for Beginners?

Planet Money is the gentlest way in, because its free episodes run about 30 minutes and explain one economic idea at a time. After a few weeks, move on to The Rational Reminder for personal investing.

Is There a Good Finance Podcast for Indian Investors?

Yes. Paisa Vaisa with Anupam Gupta has run on IVM Podcasts since 2017. Also, it covers mutual funds, stocks, real estate, loans and insurance for Indian earners, with a new episode each week.

Are Investing Podcasts Free to Listen To?

All 10 shows on this list publish free episodes. However, Planet Money keeps some bonus episodes for NPR+ subscribers. So the free feed has slightly fewer episodes than the full one.

How Long Is a Typical Finance Podcast Episode?

In our sample of recent episodes, most ran 45 to 85 minutes. However, formats vary a lot. The shortest regular format was At The Money, at 16 to 26 minutes. The longest single episode we counted was a 153-minute Richer, Wiser, Happier interview.

Should I Buy a Stock Because a Podcast Host Likes It?

No. Hosts talk to a broad audience and do not know your situation. Use the episode as a lead, then check the company’s own reports and your plan before you act.

This article is for information and education only and is not investment, tax or financial advice. Confirm current details with the official source or a registered adviser before acting.

Show Pages We Pulled Episode Data From

• Apple Podcasts: The Rational Reminder Podcast
• Apple Podcasts: Odd Lots
• Apple Podcasts: Animal Spirits Podcast
• Apple Podcasts: Invest Like the Best with Patrick O’Shaughnessy
• Apple Podcasts: We Study Billionaires
• Apple Podcasts: Paisa Vaisa with Anupam Gupta
• Apple Podcasts: Masters in Business
• Apple Podcasts: Planet Money
• Podengine: Motley Fool Money feed details
• Podcast.app: Motley Fool Money (Australia) episode list
• The Motley Fool Australia: Motley Fool Money podcast page