The Important Part: Investing with Liz Thomas

• Ambitious Leadership with Anthony Noto

  Anthony Noto’s path to becoming CEO at SoFi was anything but linear. But along the way, he learned the lessons and wisdom that helped him lead SoFi to where it is today. In this special episode, host Liz Thomas sits down with SoFi CEO Anthony Noto to talk about his ambitious goals for the company. Anthony and Liz discuss how his time at West Point shaped his leadership style and values, his decision-making framework, and the importance of aligning personal and company goals. Before his tenure as CEO of SoFi, Anthony Noto served as CFO and COO of Twitter (now X). He began his career as a brand manager at Kraft Foods, spent time as an associate at Lehman Brothers, worked in multiple roles at Goldman Sachs, and was the CFO and executive vice president at the National Football League. Anthony graduated from the United States Military Academy (West Point), and earned his MBA from the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.  For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the On The Money newsletter, and follow Liz @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 01:51 Growing up in Poughkeepsie 06:53 Time at West Point 10:00 Early lessons in leadership 14:50 Developing financial principles 18:39 Early career path 26:25 Leadership style 29:06 Decision-making 32:25 Philosophy on hiring 33:24 Experience as CEO at SoFi 36:11 Thoughts on failure 39:29 Outlook on the future of fintech 41:45 What excited Anthony about joining SoFi 43:16 Lightning round questions 49:05 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: On The Money: Sign up for SoFi's newsletter for intel, insights, and inspo to help you get your money right. Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2025 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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  51:16
• Preparing for Tax Season and Beyond with Brian Walsh, “Dr. Money”

  Benjamin Franklin once wrote that “nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.” And with tax season’s arrival, being certain about what you owe and planning ahead will save you both frustration and funds. In this episode, we discuss all things taxes with Brian Walsh, a.k.a. “Dr. Money,” Head of Advice and Planning at SoFi. Brian talks about tips for preparing for tax season, how to be strategic with taxes surrounding investments, as well as how best to balance short and long-term goal planning to optimize your financial well being. Brian Walsh is a Certified Financial Planner, and holds a PhD from the Personal Financial Planning program at Kansas State University. Prior to joining SoFi, he worked for a number of years in senior roles in financial planning at TIAA. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the On The Money newsletter, and follow Liz @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 01:26 Emotions around tax planning 02:55 Why you should care about taxes 04:58 Advice for preparing for tax season 08:35 Underrated tax preparation tips 10:20 Deciding to use an accountant 15:41 Roth IRA vs. Traditional IRA 19:17 Being strategic with capital gains and losses 25:54 Financial planning philosophy 28:33 Budgeting 30:20 Sticking to a savings plan 33:16 Balancing short-term and long-term goals 42:11 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: On The Money: Sign up for SoFi's newsletter for intel, insights, and inspo to help you get your money right. Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2025 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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  45:32
• Empowerment through Financial Literacy with Courtney Pettway and Ashley Leftwich

  The ratification of the Equal Credit Opportunity Act, or ECOA, 50 years ago marked the end of illegal lending practices that discriminated against borrowers based on their race, sex, age, religion, national origin, marital status, and source of income. Financial inequality, however, is still a persistent issue in the United States. One solution to this ongoing issue is closing the education gap when it comes to topics surrounding financial literacy. In this special episode, we sit down with Courtney Pettway, CEO and Co-Founder of KidVestors, and Ashley Leftwich, CEO of Rock the Street, Wall Street. These organizations are two of the 50 projects supporting women’s financial independence that were awarded funds as part of the SoFi Give Her Credit Program. Both organizations seek to empower young people by teaching them the fundamentals of saving and budgeting, the benefits of growing their wealth through investing, and exposing them to female role models in math and finance. Kidvestors is an award-winning educational platform that teaches kids about money and finance tops in fun, accessible ways. Rock the Street, Wall Street is a non-profit organization that teaches the fundamentals of investing and finance to high school girls and undergraduate women. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the On The Money newsletter, and follow Liz @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 02:11 The idea behind KidVestors 03:48 KidVestors target age groups 06:03 Making learning finance fun 07:24 Drawbacks to not teaching kids about money 13:31 The mission of Rock the Street, Wall Street 16:04 When intervention is critical for girls 19:17 Importance of female role models in STEM and finance 22:12 Value of early financial literacy education 31:49 The confidence gap between men and women 34:45 How corporations benefit from employee financial wellness 44:00 The importance of DEI for closing the wealth gap 47:40 What should change about how we teach financial literacy today 54:17 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: On The Money: Sign up for SoFi's newsletter for intel, insights, and inspo to help you get your money right. Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2024 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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  56:41
• Investing with Emotional Intelligence with Brian Portnoy

  Conventional wisdom claims that mixing emotions with financial decisions can lead to poor, even impulsive decisions. But what if we instead viewed emotions as super powers that we can harness to not only make wiser, but more meaningful choices for ourselves and our financial goals? In this episode, we sit down with Brian Portnoy, author and founder of the financial advisor coaching and e-learning platform Shaping Wealth. The lessons on Shaping Wealth apply wisdom from psychology, behavioral science, as well as emotional intelligence to coach financial advisors to be better partners for their clients’ financial journeys. In addition to Shaping Wealth, Brian is the author of three books—The Investor’s Paradox, The Geometry of Wealth, and How I Invest My Money. Brian also worked as the Director of Investment Education at Virtus Investment Partners, and was Head of Education at Magnetar Capital. Brian holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, as well as a bachelor’s from the University of Michigan. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the On The Money newsletter, and follow Liz @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 01:31 Money and Emotions 04:44 Using Emotions to Make Better Financial Decisions 07:16 Emotions vs. Emotional Intelligence 09:19 Setting Expectations with Your Finances 13:58 Managing Emotions Through Market Volatility 17:22 Rich vs. Wealthy 21:15 Money and Happiness 25:13 Budgeting and Setting Goals 35:25 Getting Healthier About Our Financial Well-Being 38:55 AI and Financial Advising 47:51 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: On The Money: Sign up for SoFi's newsletter for intel, insights, and inspo to help you get your money right. Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2024 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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  53:12
• 2025 Outlook Q&A

  To kick off 2025, SoFi’s Head of Investment Strategy Liz Thomas dives into listeners’ biggest questions about the year ahead, such as: what happens if liquidity coming out of markets decreases? How will the Fed respond if inflation rates remain high? Is buying gold a good investment in 2025? Get thoughtful insight on all of these questions and more in this special bonus episode. For more, read Liz’s column every Thursday at On The Money by SoFi, sign up for the SoFi Daily Newsletter, and follow Liz on Twitter @LizThomasStrat. Notable mentions in the episode: 00:00 Introduction 01:25 Liquidity of Markets 03:57 Strength of the US Dollar 07:17 Gold and Gold Mining Stocks 11:33 Are Elevated S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 Values Sustainable? 16:35 Mag 7 Performance in 2025 19:56 Small Caps in 2025 24:06 Interest Rates and Inflation 26:54 Chinese Equities 29:27 Sectors to Overweight in Your Portfolio 33:22 Closing Thoughts Additional resources: SoFi Daily Podcast: 5-minute daily episodes covering the latest business, economic, and stock market news you need to start your day. The SoFi Daily Pod is available on Apple and Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. SoFi Daily Newsletter: Sign up for the SoFi Daily to receive the latest financial news in your inbox every day.  Investing 101 Center: At SoFi, we believe investing is for everyone — which is why we’ve created a hub with info for beginners and experts alike. Start exploring to get investment education, advice, resources, and more. Wealth Investing Guide: Information you need to know to make your money work harder for you. This podcast should be used for informational purposes only and not deemed as a recommendation. Our Automated investing is via SoFi Wealth LLC, and is a registered investment advisor. Our Active investing is via SoFi securities LLC, member FINRA/SIPC. For additional disclosures related to the SoFi Invest® platforms, please visit www. SoFi.com/Legal. ©2024 Social Finance, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

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  35:54

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