Can we teach finance in a way that promotes wisdom, not just wealth? How does our relationship to money reflect deeper values about responsibility, freedom, and risk?

Gautam Kaul is a Professor of Finance at the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan and an award-winning educator known for blending financial theory with human-centered inquiry. He helped pioneer some of the earliest MOOCs in finance and was named one of the top 10 business school professors globally. His teaching pushes students to rethink the assumptions underlying economic models and examine the role of character, ethics, and social good in financial decision-making.

In this episode, we explore how finance can be a lens through which to examine our deepest commitments—how we use time, take risks, and build trust with others. Kaul challenges the notion that finance is just about making money, arguing instead that it’s about making choices under uncertainty. We talk about how education systems often teach students what to think, but not how to think—and how finance, when taught as a liberal art, can cultivate both personal responsibility and moral imagination.

Gautam shares his own journey from engineer to finance professor, and reflects on what it means to live a "life of choices." Whether you're a student, a teacher, or just someone trying to make sense of an uncertain world, this conversation invites you to reflect on what you truly value—and how those values show up in the way you spend, save, and invest your life.