Monthly Archives: January 2025

Episode 35: Making Financial Education Accessible: Free, Trusted Retirement Learning Through AFEA



As you plan for retirement, finding trustworthy, unbiased financial education becomes essential for making informed decisions. At JL Smith Group, we’ve partnered with the American Financial Education Alliance (AFEA) for nearly a decade, serving as chapter presidents across Northeast Ohio and Jacksonville, Florida, to help provide this education. 

In this illuminating episode, Bryan Bibbo welcomes Katherine Lesch and Kaeleen Bruce, AFEA’s dynamic co-CEOs, to share how their nationwide network of vetted financial professionals helps you master essential retirement concepts in a comfortable, pressure-free environment.  

Key Topics Discussed: 

  • Community Financial Education: Learn how AFEA and local advisors like JL Smith Group deliver unbiased retirement education through trusted venues, focusing on essential topics like Social Security and Medicare  
  • Educational Excellence: Understand the rigorous vetting process ensuring only qualified professionals teach courses, maintaining the highest standards of unbiased education  
  • Practical Learning Experience: Discover how 2-2.5 hour courses in comfortable community settings make complex retirement topics accessible and actionable  
  • Beyond the Classroom: Explore how this educational approach helps you build confidence in your retirement planning decisions, whether or not you choose to work with an advisor  

Episode 34: Exploring How Financial Intimacy & Attachment Styles Build Healthier Money Relationships 



Navigating finances within relationships can be a complex and deeply personal journey. In this episode of the Holistic Wealth & Health podcast, co-host Jason L Smith is joined by Ed Coambs, CFP®, founder, trainer, and therapy informed planner of Healthy Love & Money. Ed bridges the worlds of financial planning and relationship psychology, offering a transformative approach to understanding how our emotional and relational patterns influence financial decision-making. 

Join us as we unpack strategies for fostering financial intimacy, overcoming money-related conflicts, and creating a balanced approach to wealth management that supports your emotional and financial health. 

Key Topics Discussed: 

  • Understanding Financial Intimacy: Learn what financial intimacy means and how it fosters transparency and trust in relationships. 
  • Attachment Styles and Money: Discover how attachment styles—secure, anxious, avoidant, and disorganized—affect financial decision-making and conflict resolution. 
  • Overcoming Financial Trauma: Explore methods to recover from past financial setbacks and rebuild confidence in managing money. 
  • Balancing Risk and Emotional Comfort: Strategies to align financial decisions with personal comfort levels and long-term goals. 
  • Practical Exercises for Couples: A simple yet powerful exercise to improve financial communication and connection in relationships.