NerdWallet's Smart Money Podcast
How to Prepare for Stagflation and Make Your Insurance Work Harder
Thu, 22 May 2025
Learn what stagflation could mean for your finances and how to tell if you need life insurance. Do you still need life insurance if you’ve built enough wealth? What does stagflation mean for your financial plan? Hosts Elizabeth Ayoola and Sean Pyles discuss how to determine whether your life insurance coverage still fits your needs and what to watch for as economists warn about potential stagflation. First, along with NerdWallet senior news writer Anna Helhoski and inflation expert Taryn Phaneuf, they break down how to think about your financial protection in uncertain times, discussing stagflation—what it is, why it’s so rare, and what signs to look for now—and offering tips on monitoring inflation, adjusting your savings strategy, and reducing high-interest debt. Then, listener Adam joins Sean and Elizabeth to explore whether increasing umbrella insurance means he can lower his auto coverage, when to switch to a group life policy through work, and how to estimate college savings needs for three kids. They discuss comparing life insurance policies, how to factor net worth into coverage decisions, and why regular insurance check-ins are key. Use NerdWallet’s free tool to compare life insurance quotes and find the right coverage for you and your family https://www.nerdwallet.com/insurance/life/life-insurance-quotes In their conversation, the Nerds discuss: life insurance vs net worth, term life insurance, umbrella vs collision insurance, when to update life insurance, group life insurance policy, employer life insurance coverage, best life insurance for parents, convert group life insurance, stagflation, what is stagflation, signs of stagflation, stagflation 2025, Consumer Price Index April 2025, high-yield savings accounts inflation, saving during inflation, emergency fund inflation, umbrella insurance minimums, collision coverage and umbrella insurance, auto insurance comparison, saving for college with 529, 529 contribution calculator, estimating college savings, tuition benefits, financial checklist after remarriage, insurance tips for high net worth, choosing term vs whole life, how to save on insurance, switching insurance after marriage, family insurance planning, life insurance for spouse, when to drop term life insurance, inflation trends 2025, how to prepare for stagflation, and Federal Reserve inflation targets. To send the Nerds your money questions, call or text the Nerd hotline at 901-730-6373 or email [email protected]. Like what you hear? Please leave us a review and tell a friend.
Chapter 1: What is stagflation and why is it important?
So he said, you know, I threw him that information. Well, he said, OK, well, that changes things up a little bit.
What happened? Some of the biggest changes that you made as a result of one being a parent, which you have been for a number of years now, but also getting remarried. Those are some big changes.
Obviously, for instance, I never carried life insurance or thought about it until I had kids. And then that was the impetus for getting life insurance. At the same time, started saving for college. But around the time of the divorce, I had to stop putting away money for college just because that was one of the places where I needed a little bit of extra money.
Obviously, financial situations changed then. And then in the last... I guess a year and a half or two years, I was able to start recontributing to their 529 accounts. But yeah, I mean, it's sort of, you know, it was adjusting to, you know, child support payments and things like that and living in two separate households and then just having one contributor to the mortgage.
But my now wife moved in, gosh, a year and a half ago. And so obviously then we start splitting up mortgage and other bills and that changes the dynamics as well. maybe a little more room to breathe in your budget. For sure. Yeah, it definitely did. And, you know, we sort of sat down together when we realized, you know, figured out how it was all going to play out.
But it definitely gave more wiggle room for vacations and saving for college and things like that.
Got you. So you wrote to us with some insurance questions. So can you tell us how this ties into maybe all of these life transitions you're having if it does at all? And then what your questions are around that?
I mean, it actually came out of listening to your podcast episode about insurance in general. And while I was listening, I realized, hey, maybe I should check in with my insurance because I like to do that every year or two. And it started when you were talking about things that you can adjust and collision insurance and being responsible for other people's bills if you were to get in an accident.
And then... You went on to talk about umbrella insurance, which I had, but I realized my net worth has gone up over the last 10, 15 years since I got it. I decided to go from 1 million to 2 million coverage. But then in doing so, I'm realizing, well, does that then cover any extra cost if my car insurance doesn't cover for collision? My question that I posed to you over email was,
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Chapter 2: What are the signs of stagflation?
And here's our brief disclaimer. We are not your financial or investment advisors. This nerdy information is provided for general, educational, and entertainment purposes, and it may not apply to your specific circumstances. This episode was produced by Tess Vigeland and Anna Helhosky. Nick Karisamy mixed our audio. And a big thank you to NerdWallet's editors for all their help.
And with that said, until next time, turn to the nerds.