Students are at a fragile financial time in their life: they likely don’t have a fixed stream of income, but they're expected to be responsible with large amounts of money (hello loans) You've got to wonder how college kids are supposed to master both the art of budgeting and the art of, well. graduating.

Personal finance is complex. So much so, that many college students end up without a clear plan or long-term savings strategy.

Luckily, there are dozens of awesome podcasts that work hard to explain some of the most important personal finance concepts.

We've rounded up some of our favs and want to invite you to take the first step to regaining control over your finances. So, AirPods charged and volume up. Check out these 9 personal finance podcasts for students. 

1. The College Investor

It's right there in the title. This podcast is a perfect fit for students because it tackles some of the most pressing concerns in the lives of any college student (well, outside of maintaining a healthy balance between studying and partying. The College Investor tackles personal finance, student loans, understanding the job market and yes, you guessed it, investments.

For The College Investor, no topic or question is “too trivial”, because the creators are very well-aware that this approach is what led to the personal finance illiteracy in the first place. After listening to the College Investor, students will have the knowledge necessary to tackle anything from paying their first bills to interpreting their credit scores and investing smartly.

Here are just some of the topics that The College Investor deals with, making it one of the best podcast for students and recent graduates alike:

• Strategies for repaying student loans

• Saving tips

• Srafting your first budget

• How to land your first job

• How to start investing as a total beginner

• Finding your perfect side-hustle and turning your hobby into your full-time job

2. Financial Side of Life: College, Retirement and Life

Run by Angie Furubote-LaRosee, Financial Side of Life is another awesome podcast that’s primarily intended for students and recent graduates. Basically, what this show aims to do is to bring college financial situations into perspective and learn how to approach personal finance responsibly and efficiently.

The host is an expert in student loans and frequently interviews professionals who are well-versed in the issue of student debt. She also focuses on families who are paying for their children's college while trying to save for retirement at the same time. 

3. So Money

So Money is perfect for personal finance beginners who are just starting to venture into the topic, which means it’s perfect for the majority of students who are interested in learning about budgeting, saving, investing, debt and other basic concepts of personal finance.

Directed and run by Farnoosh Torabi, a personal finance expert, author and journalist, this podcast is definitely one of the biggest darlings of industry experts and critic reviews. One of the main reasons for the raving reviews for this podcast is that Torabi really created a versatile and unique show hosting all sorts of people, from super-experts to normal, everyday people.

4. The Dave Ramsey Show

This podcast is definitely one of the most well-known finance pods available today (and well of all time really). I mean, if you haven't heard of the debt snowball, have you even lived?

Even though it’s not directly targeted at college students (like some of the previous podcasts on our list), Ramsey tackles topics that are of great intrest to millennials: marriage, debt, investing, insurance and so much more.

The secret ingredient to Ramsey’s success is definitely his captivating personality, which breathes life and entertainment even into the most mundane financial topics. This is especially valuable for students who feel like they should care about finance, but find their attention spans waining. With real-life examples and practical applications, Ramsey definitely solves the boredom issue.

5. Jake of All Trades

Who better to speak about millennial and gen-z finance than someone their own age? Sure, there are precious bits of wisdom that college students can get from someone a bit more *mature*, but there couldn’t be a more objective and realistic approach to learning about personal finance than by hearing from someone who has lived and breathed it alongside you. 

Enter Jacob Rivas and The Jake of All Trades.

“As a Millennial, I understand what it’s like to just begin your career, to buy your first home, or to enroll in a 401(k) for the first time. I get it, and I can help. The early stage of your career is the time when your financial choices can make the most impact. It is up to you to determine if that impact will be positive or negative. My approach to financial planning is a bit different than traditional advice. I want the process to feel as comfortable and judgment-free as possible”, Rivas illustrated on his LinkedIn profile.

6. The Bigger Pockets

Is there a student out there who wouldn’t like to have more money? Well, the secret to having more money is simple: either earn more or spend less — or both at the same time. In The Bigger Pockets, hosts Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen focus on both sides of this coin, with evergreen wisdom from experts peppered in.

Even if you are a student who’s completely broke, The Bigger Pockets show will inspire you to take better control over your finances and finally start taking steps towards stability and wealth.

7. We Study Billionaires

You're a college kid, so you're into academia, right? So, why not take the academic approach to find out the perfect formula for success and repetition of history? Find examples of best practices, learn from others mistakes, apply their best moves, adapt to your own lifestyle and voila – you’ll be rich in no time!

We’re just kidding — it’s definitely not as simple as that – but the fact is that looking at the lives of people who have achieved exorbitant financial success will leave you with certain #goldennuggets of wisdom. Also, it’s great inspiration material! Just listen to some of We Study Billionaires' stories about finance titans such as Warren Buffet or listen to lessons from financial experts and apply them to your life. 

8. Smart Passive Income

For college students, developing streams of passive income should be a top priority when it comes to building a bit of a nest-egg for that post-graduation period of possible joblessness. Given that students have already have a number of obligations when it comes to classes and homework, a full-time job isn't really possible won’t be able to take up a full-time job. This means you have to find a way to make money while you do other things.

For many people, this sounds like a get-rich-quick-scheme or an Internet utopia of earning thousands of dollars per day by doing nothing, but it’s not exactly so. In Pat Flynn’s podcast Smart Passive Income, some of these myths behind passive money-making are debunked and the whole concept is demystified.

This podcast is perfect for students who are eager to earn and learn about business and marketing but don’t have the time to go into it full steam ahead.

9. Financial Freedom

Grant Sabatier, founder of “Millennial Money”, produces a podcast called Financial Freedom, which focuses on being able to retire much earlier then was even imaginable a couple of decades ago. (Sorry Mom and Dad, but we won't be working as long as you did if we have anything to do with it.)

Financial Freedom is part of the “Financial Independence; Retire Early” (FIRE) project, which is a group of people who are aiming to retire as early as possible, by saving huge portions of their wages. Many FIRE followers claim to save up to a whopping 90% of their total income. Whether thats possible or not for you, we'd say this podcast is definitely worth a listen.

Off the airwaves

Today, there are any number of resources from which you can learn about finance as a college student. Podcasts might be one of the most approachable because they’ll allow you to do other stuff while listening (#multitaskingmillennials). But that doesn't mean that we don't think there are a number of other ways you can dig into learning more. We discuss more places you can turn to for personal finance advice in this previously published blog post.

Try out some of the podcast shows that we mentioned above and – who knows – this might be the first step to taking full control over your finances and achieving financial freedom!

Kristin Savage nourishes, sparks and empowers using the magic of a word. Along with pursuing her degree in Creative Writing, Kristin was gaining experience in the publishing industry, with expertise in marketing strategy for publishers and authors. Now she works as a freelance writer at TopEssayWriting.