Life Chapters, Money Choices Podcast

In this opening episode of Life Chapters, Money Choices, host Michael Avery sits down with Certified Financial Planner and author Kim Potgieter to unpack the story behind the series and her own deeply personal journey. From growing up in a home defined by financial control, to losing both parents within a few years of each other, to reinventing herself midlife and helping others do the same. Kim’s story reveals why money is never just about numbers. It’s about agency, purpose, and the courage to change direction.

This episode explores why the second half of life could be your most meaningful and how a shift in perspective can help you rewrite your story.

What happens when the life you built falls apart, but you discover you were always strong enough to rebuild it?

In this episode, Michael Avery and Kim Potgieter, sit down with Sarah (a pseudonym), a recently divorced Chartered Wealth client in her 50s. Together, they unpack the emotional and financial aftermath of her divorce and explore the complex relationship between identity, money, and midlife reinvention.

We explore:

• Reclaiming financial independence after divorce
• The burden of generosity: helping family without self-sacrificing
• Learning to spend on yourself without guilt
• The role of financial planning in rewriting your story

This is an inspiring, deeply human conversation about grief, growth, and the courage to choose joy again, with money as both mirror and tool.

What happens when your career ends but your purpose hasn’t yet begun?

Ronelle Baker joins Michael Avery and Kim Potgieter to explore what really happens when the salary ends and the silence sets in. Ronelle shares her powerful story of retiring early, chasing freedom, and realising that fulfilment takes more than free time and overseas trips. From resistance to renewal, she takes us through the emotional curve of reinvention and how a move to a Mature Lifestyle Estate helped her rediscover meaning, joy, and community.

Together, we explore:

• Letting go of status and work identity
• The emotional reality vs. the dream of retirement
• Why “Retiremeant™” is about retiring to something
• How place, people, and purpose can redefine your second chapte

When love ends in loss, what happens next? In this episode of Life Chapters, Money Choices, host Michael Avery is joined by Kim Potgieter and Financial Planning Specialist, Tiffany Havinga, to unpack the emotional and financial shock of widowhood.

The discussion touches on the shock of stepping into new responsibilities while grieving, the importance of small structures that bring stability, and the conversations that can ease the burden for those left behind.

Whether you’ve walked this road or want to prepare for the unexpected, this episode is a powerful reminder that financial planning isn’t just about money; it’s about life, love, and being prepared for whatever comes next.

What happens when your career ends before you’re ready and retirement doesn’t feel like rest, but like a question mark?
In this episode, host Michael Avery speaks with former corporate executive Magnus Taljaard, who found himself “retired” earlier than planned and chose reinvention instead. Together with Kim Potgieter, they unpack the emotional complexity of identity, purpose, and building a second chapter around meaning rather than status.

This episode explores:

• Letting go of a career identity that defined you for decades
• Why planning for retirement is more than just money
• The discomfort of freedom and the guilt of slowing down
• How to build a “portfolio life” and test new ideas without overplanning
• And why staying curious might just be your most powerful retirement strategy

Whether you’re mid-career and curious about what comes next, or standing at the edge of your second act — this conversation will inspire you to take the leap, plant new seeds, and live with intention.

Start now. Your next chapter might be the best one yet.

She didn’t grow up having money conversations, so today, she’s intentional about giving her children something she never had – a legacy of honesty and accountability.

In this deeply personal episode, Lauren shares her story of starting over after two marriages, raising children as a single mother, and supporting her daughter and grandchildren, all while learning to redefine her own relationship with money.

This episode explores:

• How inherited beliefs around money can sabotage or serve us
• The emotional cost of over-giving and the healing power of boundaries
• How to model financial responsibility for your children even if you’re still learning yourself – and why now is the perfect time to start your own money conversations
• The moment when a financial plan becomes a life plan

Lauren’s courage to open up about guilt, love, sacrifice, and self-reinvention will resonate with anyone who’s ever wondered:
“Am I teaching my children the right lessons about money or repeating my parents’ mistakes?”

What happens when you’ve built your identity around caregiving, only to reach midlife and ask, “What’s next?”

In this deeply personal episode of Life Chapters, Money Choices, Michael Avery sits down with writer and former social worker Lyndsay Barr, and co-host Kim Potgieter, to explore how our beliefs about money shape our lives, and how they can be rewritten.

From feeling “stuck” and believing “money is bad” to saving for a dream trip to the U.S. to see her son, Lyndsay’s story is about courage, reframing, and reclaiming agency. Together, Michael, Kim and Lyndsay unpack how money stories form, why guilt and shame so often surround women and finances, and how financial planning can become an act of self-care and empowerment.

Whether you’re an empty nester, a midlife career changer, or simply curious about transforming your relationship with money, this conversation is filled with honesty, hope, and practical wisdom.

After four decades of auditing balance sheets, Andrew turns the lens inward in this deeply reflective and practical conversation about planning for life beyond the title.

In this episode, Michael Avery and Kim Potgieter sit down with Andrew to explore what it takes to shift from being important to being important to others. Drawing from Bob Buford’s Halftime, Andrew shares how he approached retirement with the same forensic intent he brought to the boardroom – from coaching certifications to coffee chats and Land Cruiser dreams.

They unpack:

• The dangers of postponing retirement planning
• Why confidence, not capital, is the biggest risk in transition
• How to challenge money stories around work, worth, and scarcity
• What it means to design an epic second chapter with purpose and joy

Whether you’re years from retirement or already contemplating your “next,” this episode offers a blueprint for moving from success to significance – intentionally, courageously, and joyfully.

What happens when love and money don’t quite balance out?

In this episode, Michael Avery is joined by Kim and Stephanie Ferreira to explore what really goes on when one partner earns significantly more than the other – and how feelings like guilt, pride, resentment, or shame can reshape the story of a relationship.

They unpack:

• Why money is still the ultimate relationship taboo
• How to talk about income differences without triggering ego or defensiveness
• The link between emotional safety and financial security
• Practical ways for couples to share goals, split expenses fairly, and check in without judgment

This honest conversation reminds us that money isn’t a competition — it’s an invitation to collaborate, communicate, and co-create a life that feels truly wealthy, together.

If you’ve ever avoided “the money talk” with your partner, this one’s for you.

When we think about legacy, we often focus on rands, cents, and assets – the house, the investments, the will. But as Michael Avery and Kerryn Franck, Head of Chartered Legacy & Trust, discuss, the real gift you leave behind is clarity, communication, and relationships that stay intact.

In this episode of Life Chapters, Money Choices, we explore why legacy isn’t just what you leave, but how you leave it. Kerryn and Kim share real stories from the front line of estate and legacy planning – from blended-family complexity and “fair vs equal”, to wills, letters of wishes, executors, trusts, tax pitfalls, and liquidity traps. They also unpack what happens when families only discover the truth after a death.

If you want to reduce conflict, navigate family dynamics, and leave things tidier than you found them, this episode offers practical guidance and honest insight.

In this episode:

• Silence vs conversation
• Fairness vs equality
• Wills and letters of wishes
• Choosing an executor
• Preparing heirs for what they’ll inherit

In this episode, Michael Avery and Kim Potgieter sit down with Colleen-Joy Page, an international coaching trainer, business builder, artist and Enneagram practitioner.

Colleen shares the moment at 13 that changed her life, her experience of growing up with scarcity, and the insight that reshaped her relationship with money. She explains how true financial freedom is the ability to stand anywhere on the mountain, whether you have more or have less, and feel equal to yourself and others.

Kim reflects on her Enneagram type, how childhood shame once drove her need to prove herself, and how greater self-awareness now shapes the way she plans, leads and supports clients.

This is a grounded, soulful conversation about purpose, integrity and building a business and a life that feel aligned.

Follow the show for more conversations like this, and share the episode with someone who might find it helpful.

How do you stay curious and relevant at any age? In this episode, Michael Avery and Kim Potgieter sit down with author and futurist Arthur Goldstuck to explore the money lessons, discipline and lifelong learning that have shaped his journey.

We unpack the emotional and practical sides of money, why curiosity is the oxygen of reinvention, how to stay relevant in an AI-driven world and why the concept of retirement simply does not compute for Arthur.

Listen to learn:

• The power of childhood money memories
• Why paying off your bond early is a game changer
• What tech cycles teach us about long-term investing
• How to approach AI without overwhelm
• Why curiosity never retires

What if the way we approach money, health, and success is shaped by the same underlying force: fear?

In this episode of Life Chapters, Money Choices, we’re joined by Dr Riaz Motara to explore how early conditioning shapes not only our money habits, but also our health, our drive to achieve, and our fear of not being “enough.”

To support this reflection, download our complimentary eBook, 14 Action Steps to Make Your Money Work for You, designed to help you bring everything together in a way that supports the life you want to live.