College Planning – Living Beyond the Numbers

How Practice, Patience, and Planning Shape a Meaningful Financial Life with Matt Sivertsen (Ep. 20)

By Living Beyond the Numbers | June 18, 2026

What does it mean to grow with a firm and a family over 22 years?

In this heart-centered conversation, host Jude Boudreaux, CFP®, and co-host Caleb Arringdale, EA, sit down with senior planner and shareholder Matt Sivertsen, CFP®, CeFT®, to explore a personal journey that began with music and evolved into a vocation of mentorship, leadership, and financial guidance.

From $8-an-hour beginnings to becoming Director of Financial Planning at The Planning Center, Matt shares how the mindset of a musician—practice, performance, and mastery—shaped his approach to client relationships and team mentorship. He reflects on lessons learned from firm founder Marty Kurtz, how financial values get passed through generations, and the importance of slowing down to teach what really matters.

Here’s what you can expect from this release:

Why musicians often make resilient, reflective planners, and how that shows up in meetings
What healthy mentorship looks like inside a financial firm, and why most companies get it wrong
How to talk to your kids about money, privilege, and the value of “skin in the game”
Ways families are approaching college costs, and how values shape those decisions
And more!

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®:

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

Connect with Matt Sivertsen:

About our Guest:

Matt Sivertsen is passionate about helping clients understand the complex world of finance, and giving them the knowledge and tools to better understand their financial lives. Among his long-term goals as a financial planner is to be a catalyst for creating conversations about money for multiple generations of families. One of his biggest accomplishments has been pioneering a net worth and income compensation model that better aligns their fee with how they work with their clients. The model works well across various income and asset levels enabling them to serve people of all ages and generations, achieves a totally conflict free situation and can potentially reduce management fees to deliver greater value for their clients. The highlight of his career has been appearing in a feature article about retainer models on the cover of Financial Planner Magazine with his Moline partners.

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The Real Price of College: How Values and Emotions Shape Financial Decisions with Ron Lieber (Ep. 13)

By Living Beyond the Numbers | March 4, 2026

College decisions reveal more than numbers; they reveal what we value most.

Discover how to align your financial choices with the legacy you want to build for your family.

Money meets meaning in this candid conversation between Jude Boudreaux, Caleb Arringdale, and Ron Lieber, New York Times columnist and author of The Price You Pay for College and The Opposite of Spoiled. Together, they unpack the emotions and realities behind one of life’s biggest financial crossroads: sending your child to college. From fear and guilt to social pressure and “rejective” schools, Ron reveals how hidden feelings often drive family choices more than finances do. He shares practical insights for making smarter, values-based decisions, asking for more aid without “negotiating,” and teaching kids responsibility through money.

What to expect:

Why college is a values decision wrapped in a financial one
The emotional traps families fall into when paying for school
How to approach merit aid and appeal letters the right way
The conversation every parent should have before senior year
And more!

It’s time to move beyond numbers and make decisions that reflect what truly matters to your family.

Resources:

The Price You Pay for College by Ron Lieber
The Opposite of Spoiled by Ron Lieber

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

Connect with Ron Lieber:

About our Guest:

Ron Lieber is the author of The Opposite of Spoiled: Raising Kids Who Are Grounded, Generous, and Smart About Money, which was an instant New York Times and Wall Street Journal bestseller when it was released in 2015. “The Price You Pay for College: An Entirely New Roadmap for the Biggest Financial Decision Your Family Will Ever Make,” was published by HarperCollins in January, 2021.

Ron has been the “Your Money” columnist for The New York Times since 2008. Before coming to The Times, he wrote the “Green Thumb” personal finance column for The Wall Street Journal and was part of the startup team at the paper’s Personal Journal section.

Ron’s first book, Taking Time Off: Inspiring Stories of Students Who Enjoyed Successful Breaks from College and How You Can Plan Your Own, co-authored with Colin Hall, was a New York Times bestseller in 1996. He also wrote Upstart Start-Ups, a book for young entrepreneurs, and was the co-author of a guidebook to the best entry-level jobs in the United States.

Ron spent 14 years at the Francis W. Parker School in Chicago and graduated from Amherst College. He lives in Brooklyn with his wife and two daughters.

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College Is Not a Prize: Finding the Right Fit for Your Family with Heidi King (Ep. 10)

By Living Beyond the Numbers | December 23, 2025

Sending a child to college is exciting but it can also be one of the most stressful and expensive decisions a family faces. How do you choose the right school without losing sleep (or breaking the bank)?

In this episode of Living Beyond the Numbers, hosts Jude Boudreaux and Caleb Arringdale sit down with Heidi King from College Inside Track to unpack the overwhelming world of college planning. Heidi shares both her professional expertise and personal experience guiding her own children through the process. From navigating skyrocketing tuition to evaluating merit aid and building a school list that truly fits, she explains why college is not a prize to be won but a match to be found. Listeners will hear how early conversations reduce stress, why the “sticker price” isn’t always the real price, and how families can approach this milestone with clarity instead of panic.

What to expect:

Why college is the second biggest family purchase after a home
The surprising truth about merit aid and need-based aid
How to help your child explore fit without obsessing over prestige
Practical tips for starting the process early, and keeping stress manageable
And more!

Connect with Jude Boudreaux CFP®:

Connect with Caleb Arringdale:

Connect with Heidi King:

About Our Guest:

Heidi King is part of the education and partnerships team at College Inside Track, a firm that has helped families for nearly 20 years identify the right academic, social, and financial fit for their students. Having guided her own two sons through the process, Heidi brings a unique blend of professional expertise and personal insight to families navigating one of life’s biggest investments.

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