Oscar Week (3/6/25)
Changing up the format a little this week to provide some fun suggestions for ways you can learn a little more about finance with Hollywood’s help. I’ve selected some of my favorite movies that can both entertain and educate on personal finance.
🏆Best Estate Planning Movies
The Descendants (2011) - Watch this film to get a sense of how large the responsibility of serving as a family Trustee is, but also to enjoy beautiful scenes of Hawaii and George Clooney.
Rain Man (1988) - An absolute favorite in my house growing up, multiple estate planning themes, including conservatorship, guardianship, and inheritances.
Knives Out (2019) - Estate planning conflicts & family dynamics at their most dramatic!
🏆Best Investment Movies
The Big Short (2015) - A very talented ensemble cast, clever explanations of sophisticated financial products, and an incredibly accurate accounting of the events that contributed to the biggest financial crisis of our lifetime. Highly recommend!
Trading Places (!983) - Most of these movies portray financial professionals in a less-than-flattering light, and this one is really no exception, but it is a fun comedy with a satisfying redemption-filled ending! Bonus points for being set in Philly.
Margin Call (2011) - More insight into the real-life events contributing to the global financial crisis in 2008. Perhaps the most technically accurate movie on the list, highlighting the risky and greedy behavior of some of the biggest investment banks of the day.
🏆Best Financial Fraud Movies
The Wolf of Wall Street (2013) - Based on real-life events, Leonardo DiCaprio brings more entertainment than education as a stock broker scam artist.
Wall Street (1987) - The OG warning against insider trading before Martha Stewart’s takedown. Ask any finance bro when he decided on his career path, and 10/10 times, it was when he first heard Gordon Gekko famously say “Greed is good.”
Boiler Room (2000) - A wayyy less glamorous version of the first two movies in this category, but a healthy warning to novice investors to stay away from seedy brokers, schemes, and any vague investment “opportunities” that sound too good to be true. Fiction, but the lessons are very real. (hint: good investing behavior is boring!)
