Ask HTM - Acorns to Jumpstart Investing, Seasoning a Cash Gift, & Social Security Running Out #1027 - How to Money

Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Head of Money. I'm Joel, I am Matt, and.

Speaker 2 (00:03):
Today we're answering your listener questions.

Speaker 1 (00:24):
Yeah, buddy, episode ten twenty seven. Did you know that
this was episode ten twenty seven? L I could assume
we were in that percent. You could have like done
the math. I just wanted to highlight this unorthodox milestone.
Episode ten twenty seven does not sound like the number
of episodes that we've done, but somehow we've finished to
pull it off. I guess here we are.

Speaker 2 (00:42):
Wasn't too long ago that we did the episode one thousand,
ask me anything, so it makes sense.

Speaker 1 (00:46):
But the one thousand, there's something about just being in
like the ten whatevers. Yeah, you know, it's just kind
of like and we're still plugging along.

Speaker 2 (00:53):
We're still loving it, and you know what, it is
one of the joys of my life doing the show.

Speaker 1 (00:58):
Hanging out with you. I love it. Man. Also answering
listener questions because while we're drinking a delicious craft beer.

Speaker 2 (01:03):
As people know, personal finance can be confusing. We want
to demystify and so we'll hopefully demystify a few things
today on the shop.

Speaker 1 (01:11):
Well, like, in particular, there's a listener who's wondering how
to get started with investing. Specifically, he's wondering if he
should look to acorns. We remember when that app rolled
out Blast from the Past. Yeah, we're gonna give our
hot takes on Social Security, talk about some of the
different factors that we are paying attention to there, and
then we're gonna take some payment questions. We're gonna talk

(01:32):
about Auto Carlo and payments. We're gonna talk about mortgage payments,
that and more during our episode.

Speaker 2 (01:38):
Today, Buddy, can I reveal a quick story a battle
for customer service with WoT, which is technically Amazon Now.

Speaker 1 (01:46):
WoT is like a discount site. I did not know
WoT still existed with my friend. Well, I think WoT
is doing quite well. You are the king of shopping
at websites and companies that I either A have not
heard of or b did not things still like, is
this like twenty ten is two thousand and nine old? Well,
I'm gonna go to Big Lots after we finished this
episode and see big Lots I've heard of because I've

(02:07):
drive past it. You might see it, but I haven't
been to a Big Lots in forever. That loo But
I haven't either, but that sounds that's more familiar to
me than Woot, which I feel like I haven't heard
of since like smash Mouth was coming out with hits or.

Speaker 3 (02:20):
So.

Speaker 2 (02:21):
Loot still exists by Amazon now and I didn't know that.
I don't actually just like shop on Woot for fun,
because I think a lot of it is just kind
of Amazon trying to clear stuff out and they charged
less for it, so it's like a clearance site where
you can get stuff on the cheap, but sometimes okay.

Speaker 1 (02:37):
Sorry quick aside. Do they still do loot offs? I
think so, but I don't know, because that's what I
remember from like the eight nine era when I first
discovered WoT. Yeah, out offhether with a countdown time or
the countdown of like how many items they have, and
so they were they would drive that demand and try
to get you to spend your money. Sure, yeah, it's
like limited time only right on a camping hammock. Get

(02:58):
it while it's hot and then it's gone. Well, in
this case, I was buying a refurbished Apple Watch for
my daughter because new Apple Watch is crazy expensive, especially
the ones with cellular connections. It's I don't know, why
but Apple charges a lot more for those. I don't
know if it's a much more expensive component to stick
in there, a little cellular motim in there.

Speaker 2 (03:18):
But once the watch gets a few years old, it
seems like similar to like a luxury car in a
regular car, like the price disparity becomes almost non existent.
And so I was looking for an older model and
I found WoT had a pretty good deal on I
think it was the series seven is what I was buying.

Speaker 1 (03:35):
And it's like Beamers, right, so seven series Apple, I
means it's like four generations old or something. Okay. I
was like, oh, I'll still be supported for a couple
more years.

Speaker 2 (03:45):
And when I the other good thing about buying from
WoT was that there was a two year warranty on
the watch, and I was like, okay, that nice, that's good.
It seemed like the warranty was solid. That gave me
some peace of mind when I was buying a refer watch. Well,
the what I didn't factor in, Well I got the watch,
she was super excited. The battery life was terrible, and
so go into the back end settings and it turns

(04:08):
out this the battery life was inferior to the quality
they promised. So the battery life says you can go
into your Apple Watch. I guess yeah, percentage battery life
left exactly. And it was like, hey, this this ain't great.
It's basically the messages that the Apple Watch told me.

Speaker 1 (04:22):
Did you give a percentage? It gives a percentage.

Speaker 2 (04:24):
I think it was like seventy three percent, and then
it like eighty yeah, yeah yeah. And so because it
was below that, I reached out and they're like, hey,
well we'll give you twenty five bucks and that'll help
you out.

Speaker 1 (04:35):
How much was the watch? The watch was like one
thirty something like that. Okay, that's not twenty five I'm picture,
I'm thinking two hundred dollars. Twenty five bucks sounds like,
I mean a pittance like that sounds like nothing. It does.
But but if you have to replace the battery, which
my gosh, the battery was super not satisfactory a lot more.

Speaker 2 (04:53):
Yeah, it's like a hundred bucks, right, So I was like, yeah,
that's that's not going to cut it. Actually, I'd rather
send this back and get YEP, another watch with the
higher battery life. And they said, actually, we source these
watches through a different vendor. They don't have any more
of these right now, so we can't do that. What
they ended up doing was saying, actually, we're just gonna
give you a full refund and you can keep to watch.

Speaker 1 (05:15):
Yeah. I was like, oh, dude, how about one hundred
and twenty five dollars off right? But this, this is
just how much How long did it take before the
initial contact of you reaching out to WoT versus them
finally caving and.

Speaker 2 (05:27):
Not too bad? It was like four or five days,
like a few back and forth. It didn't take too long.
So I was impressed with the customer service, like it,
and with the resolution, and I just got to say, like,
you know, we you and I we've talked on the
past in the past about asking for her a discount.
We've talked about standing up for yourself, and these are
the don't say yes to the first thing that a
company offers. Yeah, you're trying to get your problem resolved.

(05:49):
Often just that extra little pushback and saying, well, batteries
are one hundred bucks and you're offering me twenty five
and this battery it's it's not great. Like she was,
you know, pretty disappointed. The battery died quickly when she
just used it.

Speaker 1 (06:01):
A little bit often. You have to Yeah, if it's
a seventy three percent battery life left or whatever battery expectancy,
what does that mean from a daily use standpoint, because
I we don't have any yeah, wash Apple Watch.

Speaker 2 (06:13):
She doesn't use it very often, and so she would
just use it for a few minutes, put it down on,
pick it back cup later, use it for a few minutes.
Then she'd be like, now it's it like forty two
percent What in the world one day? Ye oh yeah,
in like hours, So oh dude, that's very frustrating.

Speaker 1 (06:26):
Yeah. Yeah, And again it's not like she was addicted
to it using in a bunch. That's boy.

Speaker 2 (06:30):
Stick up for yourself. Yeah, and recognize that you can
get better customer service. You just have to push for
it and check in.

Speaker 1 (06:36):
No, you're right.

Speaker 2 (06:36):
It's like, no, Hey, what's the standard actually that you're
that I'm supposed to get when I buy this product
from you. This was substandard and they made it right.

Speaker 1 (06:43):
Yeah. Well, I am glad that they were able to
make it right for you. Glad that you held out
and I think, like you said, looking specifically for metrics.
That's why I asked, Okay, what was the actual percentage,
because if they are saying, oh yeah, it's a pretty
good battery, right, all right, well that's incredibly subjective as
opposed to oh no, it will be at least eighty
percent or higher. Yeah, nexs man, I'm glad you were
able to make that happen. And also I would recommend

(07:05):
it for folks to not just go on their shopping
because if they're still doing that wood off, it can
be addicting as opposed to looking for a specific item, right, like,
don't go shopping for stuff, go looking for an actual
piece of equipment that you might need, an actual, a
specific item. But I'll go ahead and introduce the beer
that you and I are gonna enjoy during this episode, Buddy,
which is a down Patroller by Hana Koa. This is

(07:27):
the is it the last one that you brought back
from Hawaii? It is that we're gonna enjoy. But don't
you worry, folks, We've got more that we're gonna be
able to get to. So here's from your trip. Yeah, yeah, exactly.

Speaker 2 (07:37):
All right, Well, if you have a money question, we'd
love to take it on the show. Hopefully we can
take it next week. Just go to have the Money
dot com slash ask for the simple instructions. It's basically
recording a voice memo on your phone. Emailing it to
us takes no time at all, and we would love
to take your question.

Speaker 1 (07:52):
Holler at us. Matt.

Speaker 2 (07:54):
Let's get to one from a young listener, specifically about
investing and whether some of those apps are going to
be best for getting started.

Speaker 4 (08:03):
Hey Joel, Hey Matt. My name is Denali. I'm twenty
four years old and I'm a full time carpenter for
a custom home builder. Worker on co op just outside
of Asheville, North Carolina. Great beer, great mountains, Come hang out.
It's pretty cool over here. I have a couple questions
for you guys. My first question is is an app
or a platform like Acorns something that you would personally use?

Speaker 3 (08:26):
Is it?

Speaker 4 (08:26):
Would you advise people use it? And if you do
recommend using it, is it worth paying their ridiculous subscription
fees for I'd like to start investing my own money.
I just don't know how. I don't know where to start,
So if you guys could please pour me in the
right direction, that would be super awesome. My second question
would be how do I start investing in real estate

(08:49):
off of a forty five thousand dollars salary. I have family,
that is, we're willing to put down some money with
a legal contract, but I don't want to get in
a sticky st issue and let my family down. So yeah,
where do I start? How do I start?

Speaker 1 (09:05):
And that's it?

Speaker 5 (09:07):
All right?

Speaker 1 (09:07):
Cheers guys? Wait, wait, wait, wait?

Speaker 4 (09:09):
Do you guys prefer to drink a beer in a can,
a bottle or a nice cold glass? Super curious how
you guys are drinking beer over there?

Speaker 1 (09:19):
All right? Danali out, Matt. We're obviously familiar with Ashville.
Come on. Oh yeah, I was there in the spring.
It was lovely. I Oh, I don't know if I've
been up there yet this year. Normally, can I at
least get up there for like a couple's tripe? But
I might have to make sure that happens before we
make a pilgrimage on the rag. Yes, but yeah, we
actually we've been doing other other travels. I wanted to

(09:41):
get to Danali's, which is, if that's his real name,
that's an awesome, awesome name. Let's get to his as
his beer glass are drinking beverage? Question? Which I mean,
I'm pretty sure I know what you're gonna answer. You're
a fan of tulip glasses. Perhaps that's what we drink
out off here on the show. Honestly, I don't even
necessarily love the fact that it's got a stem. It's

(10:02):
just because early on, when we first started the show,
we just wanted to make it clear that we weren't
like your dad's frosted mug full of like beer from Cheers.

Speaker 2 (10:12):
Yeah, I'd rather drink beer out of like a Cereal
bowl than a frosted mug.

Speaker 3 (10:18):
What.

Speaker 1 (10:18):
Yeah, I'm gonna I'm not gonna take frosted mugs with
a passion. I'm not gonna take it that far. I
will Why because fasted mug well one, I think a
lot of great beers taste better at a slightly elevated temperature. Sure,
you don't need the Rockies to be blue, you know
what I'm saying. It doesn't need to be ice cold,
but I don't mind the little boosts in uh or
actually slight decline in temperature in order because it's gonna

(10:41):
it always warms up those mugs. They're also incredibly heavy,
which makes it ridiculous. You just need to get strong king.

Speaker 2 (10:48):
You know, I come from a lineage of Vikings, but
I'm not one, So I would rather drink out of
like a chindler, more gentlemanly glass, yeah, or a can.

Speaker 1 (10:57):
I'm down with a can bottles, I don't really, I'm
pretty much. Yeah, Yeah, I feel like craft beer. Initially
it was all about the bottle, but it's all the
great I feel like all the great breweries are caning
these days. Specifically, I I'm not really drinking out of the can,
but at home, I would say ninety nine percent of
the time I'm drinking out of our little glasses. And

(11:17):
I know I've shared a beer with you. Yeah, but
they are these eight ounce and they're called no Nick glasses.
And they're called that because I'm pretty sure they were
originated or invented in the UK in like a bar
or like a pub kind of setting. And it's like
a normal glass, but imagine towards the top it bubbles
out a little bit before it tapers back in to
wear the rim of the glasses. And they're called no

(11:38):
Nicks because we're the glass to fall over. What hits
what hits the bar? First? Oh, the bubble part, The
bubble part which is stronger than the fragile lip or
the fragile edge. And so it was a way to
create a more robust glass that's not going to have
little nicks along the edge of the glass where you

(12:00):
you would drink out of. And specifically, we have eight
ouncers which are perfect for splitting a sixteen ounce beer,
just like you and I are doing today my friends
and splitting beers. And I do like ninety nine percent
of the Splitting beers is the way.

Speaker 2 (12:11):
To go one because you're drinking less, you get to
enjoy it, you kind of sip and savor the flavor more,
and you get to drink something awesome with someone that
you love and care about.

Speaker 1 (12:20):
And if you're paying a little more attention to your health, yeah,
I made a little less alcohol consumption. For dudes like
us who are getting to be a bit older, we're
paying a little more attention to that kind of thing,
not as young as Denali.

Speaker 2 (12:29):
So no, let's get let's get to Denali's questions specifically
about investing as kind of starting out, and you know
he's asking about acorns. Would I personally use acorns? No,
I would not use acorns. But it's not because Acorns
is bad, right, Why he's such a hater And well,
Acorns was one of like the first fintech companies in existence.

(12:50):
I remember when they launched and I was like, this
is a pretty cool novel. Yeah, this is awesome. And
I will say they have changed their business model a
bit since then, which has made me less supportive. But
still I think it can be helpful to some folks,
but it's just really for people who want to get
set up investing and they have no idea what to do,

(13:10):
and so they've created this tech, technological solution to help
them do the thing that they otherwise really wouldn't do.
And to be honest, you know, the flat fees that
Acorn charges now for small accounts, they might seem reasonable
as you look at it, You're like three bucks a month,
that's not terrible, but when you do the math and when
you think of it as a percentage of assets, it
can be insane. And so that's I think my major

(13:33):
beef is it used to be a percentage of assets,
but then when they changed to a flat fee model
for some accounts that that was kind of a killer
for me, and it made Acorns and similar apps just
less attractive overall.

Speaker 1 (13:46):
Totally. Yeah, So in part, I think it's personal preference
because you could get started with acorns and if it
is a decision between using them and investing or going
another path and not investing at all, I would say
go for it with acorns on. But it sounds like,
you know, despite you just getting started on the investing front,

(14:06):
it sounds like you're keen to figure it out, that
you're looking to do the right thing from the get go.
You send a voice memo in to a personal finance show,
So just adding let's say, a tiny bit more complexity,
getting a bit more comfortable with some of the different
platforms out there, and then some of the different account
names I think is going to allow you to have
more of your money working for you, which is going

(14:27):
to be clush. And our favorites haven't changed since we
basically started the show. Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab, they are all fantastic.
We're kind of singing the same song all these years. Yeah,
I will say I feel like Robinhood is a newer
and I know we've got mixed feelings there, but initially
it's just like, oh no, they're really encouraging single stock investing,
but then they added iras. Then they started offering the.

Speaker 2 (14:50):
Match robinhood and Bottomood is up there both like come
into our good graces, but the the ogs are still great.

Speaker 1 (14:56):
Totally Yeah for you, Denali, know yourself because if you
you are tempted to get in there, mess with it.
Perhaps do some single stock investing, maybe allocate more of
your portfolio to crypto than you otherwise should stay trading
trash coins. You don't want to do that, and instead
go with the boring, low cost brokerage suggestions of Fideli,

(15:16):
Vanguard or Schwab. Where it is that you invest it matters,
and I think starting or you just to start off
like with the on the right foot. You're starting with
a top notch brokerage as opposed to one that's just
okay that's going to literally pay dividends over time.

Speaker 2 (15:32):
I think there's something about I feel like we've had
people on in the past, Matt and guests on the show,
and they're like, well, it's okay if people make a
lot of mistakes early on, because the goal is eventually
to get it right and they see kind of what
they're trying to say. But there's also validity to starting
off doing the best thing or a much better thing,

(15:53):
because inertia bias leads us to kind of continuing going
down the path that we started on just a couple.

Speaker 1 (15:58):
Degrees off right up in the wrong state.

Speaker 2 (16:02):
Yeah, so maybe you're like, all right, I'm gonna do
acorns to get started, and then six years later you're
still doing it when you could have done better, experienced
lower fees. Maybe you would have been more incentivized to
invest more by going with a different brokerage account. So
I think, yeah, doing making a better decision from the
get go is a good thing, not a bad thing.
And speaking of accounts, Matt, I think the wroth ira

(16:24):
is going to be the best account for Denali. You
can read more about it on our site. But especially
for folks in the early wealth building stages, roths are
clutch and it's really all about avoiding future taxes. You
mentioned kind of what you're making well, you know, when
you don't have a massive income. The roth ira is
particularly attractive because you're paying the tax now at a

(16:44):
really low tax rate, and then you don't pay money
ever again right on the wroth money that you accrue,
which is brilliant and beautiful. We're also fans of low
cost index funds. We say it a lot, but check
that out. Check those out. We have articles on the
side about that as well. But yeah, go ahead, get
that recurring contribution set up so it comes out of
your bank account automatically every single month, not having to

(17:06):
think about it, making it seamless. That's crucial because it's
really easy to fall off the horse. Otherwise you totally
might start with the best of intentions, might fund it
with one hundred bucks, two hundred bucks or something like that,
and you're like, yeah, I'm gonna I'm gonna keep going.
But if it's not kind of automatically paying yourself first,
coming out of your account every single month, you're likely
to forget and then stop making it a happen.

Speaker 1 (17:27):
Yeah, that's and honestly, I think that's a part of
why denials. Asking specifically about Acorns, I'm assuming he's drawn
to that one because of the round up feature, And
that's what I mean, that's how Acorns kind of made
their name. No, initially it was it's all about rounding up,
essentially automating your investing and so like to that extent,
if you are not going to and I already said this,
but I'm gonna just put a pin in it. If

(17:47):
you're not going to invest otherwise, and for you, if
this is how you're gonna be able to jump start
your investing, I think it's worth it. Maybe you want
to do the right thing, but you just haven't found
a way. If this is the tool that allows you
to practically literally to start investing your dollars, then I
think this could be money well spent. It makes me
think about like when I first started working working out
of the gym doing CrossFit, like I could have tried

(18:09):
to figure it out on my own at home like
I am doing now, but it would have taken a
really long time and I probably would have made a
lot of mistakes. But I was like, you know what,
I want to pay too much money for a period
of time. But over the course of a couple years,
I was able to learn. They had coaches there, they
had trainers making sure my form was right. I was
learning the ropes, and then finally I was like, okay,

(18:30):
I can this is actually not all that difficult. Now
I do it myself. Now you're ready to fly solo exactly,
And so I think I would love to see to
not like if he's saying that, no, I need this
to get started, I would love for him to find
a way to not be signed up with Acorns essentially
for the rest of his life, because that's the part
where I'm just you know, because eventually they're going to
up the prices, up the percentage.

Speaker 2 (18:52):
Which just means that the percentage if you have a
really small amount in there, can be really high. Under
the flat fems significant and it really does eat into
your ability to build wealth. So yeah, again, three bucks
seems like nothing, and then you're like, but I've only
got one hundred bucks in There's that three bucks a
month actually was significant massive. Yeah, let's talk about real
estate for a second, because I like the goal of
owning real estate, and I think it's amazing to knowledge

(19:14):
that you've got others who are willing to support you
in that endeavor. Your question was really about how to
build up a down payment on a smaller salary. I
would say, wow, this kind of personal finance basics here
to pay close attention to your spending, work hard to
increase your income. I think it sounds simplistic, but every
extra dollar matters when you're trying to scrape together a

(19:34):
nest egg to buy a place. And so yeah, we
often don't sing the praises of side hustles, but in
those early years, trading your time for money can make
a big difference, right. It allows you to accomplish some
of those primary financial goals that you have earlier. And
you start with a cheaper place it's gonna meet your needs,
preferably one that allows you to either make money, like
a multifamily or something that you can increase the equity

(19:57):
of through your own sweat. So heck, yes, lean into that.
Maybe you move into something that's like, I don't know,
kind of sort of a dump ish, yes, but you
can over time make those repairs.

Speaker 1 (20:07):
And because he's a home builder or he works for
a home builder, right, so I'm assuming that means he's
got some skills and so like that's like the golden
path I see for Denale. Here is the fact that
he can potentially finds. He's young, so he doesn't care necessarily.
Maybe if it's a dump, he's got the skills. Maybe
he's even got the tools, and so to be able
to kind of combine all of these superpowers like that, Denelly,

(20:29):
I think is essentially your golden ticket, and I don't know,
maybe you don't have the tools. This gets me thinking,
I don't love the idea of your family quote unquote
investing with you, because I hear you you don't want
to let them down. Things start getting kind of weird,
and maybe if they could like gift you some tools
or even some money, I think that's a much better
path to take as opposed to there being sort of

(20:50):
this ongoing investor client sort of relationship where it's like, well,
I feel like I have a fiduciary responsibility to make
sure that I'm giving them a return on their money.
You money the water. Yeah, I would personally avoid that instead,
just practice some of the basics. Like Joel, like you
just mentioned finding ways to raise your own money, even
if that means it takes a little bit longer to

(21:10):
get started in real estate. I think that that's just
the better path forward for you.

Speaker 2 (21:13):
It's what I would do were I in Denali's shoes.
I think it's supportable. He just said being willing to
wait a little bit longer, Like, Hey, this is a goal,
but what can my realistic timeline be run the numbers? Well,
what if I make this change to my budget. What
if I cut back here or increase my earnings a
little bit over here, how does that change the timeline
that I should be able to buy the place that
I want? And wait a second, can that place actually

(21:35):
provide a little bit of an income at the same
time negating some of my housing costs once I do
reach that point? Like, those are good questions to ask,
but I would just say, yeah, don't rush it, especially
if it means potentially harming relationships because you're you're borrowing money,
which can which can be awkward, especially with family.

Speaker 1 (21:53):
That's right, dude, We've got more to get to. We're
going to take a question about an FHA alone. We're
going to get to car payments as well, or right
after the break a hard Matt, Let's get to our
next question.

Speaker 2 (22:12):
This one comes from a listener who is worried about
Social Security not being there in her future.

Speaker 5 (22:19):
Hey, Matt, Angel, this is Katie Colin from Ithaco, New York.
Beautiful area if you guys ever wanted to come visit.
There's a lot of beer tasting and wine tasting opportunities
here and some beautiful hiking and waterfalls. I am a
newer listener to the podcast. I've really enjoyed it. I've

(22:40):
learned so much from you guys, and I'm really appreciative
of that. I just listened to episode number eight seventy
two with Jesse Kramer, and I thought that was a
great conversation overall. I have a question specifically about social security.
So you guys were talking about social security, you know,
in the trust running out in the mid twenty thirties,

(23:04):
but then after that there's still being funds available because
you know, workers continue to pay into that system. I'm
wondering if you folks could talk a little bit about
fluctuations in population and numbers of folks in the workforce

(23:26):
and how that will change the way social security works,
or if you could talk about what your your thoughts
about that are. Okay, thanks a lot. I love the
podcast and appreciate everything that you do for us.

Speaker 1 (23:38):
Matt, you've ever been to Ithaca? No? No, I was
gonna say, Kay is a part of the How to
Money Nation. Now she's a newer listener. Okay, so she
read that before the HTM Nation. Yeah, should we do that?
I don't know, does it feel too browie?

Speaker 2 (23:50):
I don't feel good about it, really, You're like, I
feel a little ichy when our besties.

Speaker 1 (23:55):
You know that's true. Yeah, it's better there are buds, no,
I you know, I love looking up where people live,
not like they're specific. Katie didn't send her her actual
address that's like a nice house, but she did a
living room at the front. She did Mission Ithaca, And
like when you search a town or a city, Google
puts like this rotating banner of pictures in like three

(24:16):
or four the top ten or the first ten or
twelve photos that popped up. We're in fact waterfalls this
it's like a very beautiful place to go hiking. So
I'm all for it. I actually might build that into
I'm already thinking about road trip two point zero Joel
Nice next summer. We're not going to go all the
way up to the East coast or go out west necessarily,
but maybe extending it off of our Michigan trip, maybe
like doing a little bit of Upper Peninsula action, which

(24:38):
we've never done. But the New York Ithaca isn't all
that far. I guess really, I'm just sad we never
made it over to Vermont, which is where all the
good good Year is. I'll never been Ey there on,
So I'm trying to find a way to make that happen.

Speaker 2 (24:51):
Yeah, but let's talk about social security, because yeah, this
is this is a problem, right, The Social Security Trust
Fund talked about it in that episode, and actually, if
you look at the numbers, it's gotten worse. So the
Social Security Trust Fund is set to run out in
roughly eight years. Twenty thirty three, I think is the
last estimate I saw.

Speaker 1 (25:10):
Yeah, of used to be, not that, I'm pretty sure.
Maybe the first time we talked about it on the show,
they're like, it's totally fine until twenty thirty five. The
fuse it's gotten shorter.

Speaker 2 (25:21):
That's right, that's right, and it sounds like a ways away,
but it's not really right. So this game of Chicken
is kind of starting to get scary in my book,
and it's hard to fathom how no adult in power
has been willing to veer the car away from impending disaster.
They're just like, nothing to see here, and they get

(25:41):
their hands locked on the wheel, keeping it straight ahead.
What's going to happen is kind of as you noted, Katie,
benefits are automatically going to get cut by twenty three
percent roughly at that time if nothing is done to
change the system. Also, more retirees have been claiming at
an earlier age because of the troubled social security system
they keep reading about, which compounds the problem. And still

(26:04):
still there seems to be zero political will to address
this elephant in the rumor, to even acknowledge it exists.
It's like nothing to see here, Everything's fine, social Security rocks.

Speaker 1 (26:13):
These aren't the funds that you're looking for. This does
make sense, though, because honestly, I feel like as a country,
like voters, we have lost our stomach to hear the
hard news, right to deal with the hard stuff. But
still it is shocking. Just tell me what I want
to hear. Please. Yeah, that's basically how it works in
politics now. But what Katie is asking though, is could
things get worse? So we're gonna go full doomsday on

(26:36):
Katie here, let's go htm nation. We got to stop
saying that the projections now are based on a bunch
of assumptions about how much payroll tax will likely be collected.
And so yeah, birth rates are factoring into this analysis
as well, so yes, the drop dead date it has
reflected these negative trends in the past few years and

(26:58):
it gets reassessed by the Trustee of Social Security annually,
and it, yes, most definitely could get worse because if
unemployment numbers, let's say they meaningfully increase, or let's say
the birth rate decline, let's say doesn't taper. Let's say
what if it just even speeds up at a faster pace.
Let's say Elon Musk stops having babies. Matt, I mean,
compared to most the typical American, you and I are

(27:20):
both outliers as well. We have too many kids.

Speaker 2 (27:22):
I don't know if I'm an outlier at three because
what two point one is the birth No, it's like
one point seven?

Speaker 1 (27:27):
Is it one point seven?

Speaker 5 (27:28):
Now?

Speaker 1 (27:28):
Now, yeah, it's below it's below replacement, right, Like two
point one is replacement? Right, yeah, that's right because to
account for death. Unfortunately, You're right, I'm prolific, you are.
And four is just like, man, We've got friends who
have like seven kids. They are like, what could do
they belong to you?

Speaker 2 (27:43):
I have friends who had like ten siblings growing up,
and I'm like, what was that?

Speaker 1 (27:47):
Like, I'm curious. It's a different time, man. But all
that to say, yes, if there's few folks paying in well,
payroll tax collections would decline, meaning that it would essentially
speed up the Yeah, it's just like smashing the gas
pedal on the accelerator towards this social security cliff. Even
more so, it could in fact get worse.

Speaker 2 (28:08):
You sitting Adam Sandler movie where that family is heading
towards the cliff and the car hits a banana rules.

Speaker 1 (28:15):
Yeah is that Billy Madison?

Speaker 5 (28:17):
Was it?

Speaker 1 (28:17):
Okay?

Speaker 2 (28:18):
Yeah, well so that's what makes you think. It's like
it's the banana peel that could just accelerate everything and
the Yeah, it's one relief to know the things could
get worse.

Speaker 1 (28:26):
You are such you are a big Adam Taylor fan
back in the day. Yeah, but yeah, oh wait, no,
I'm getting him confused.

Speaker 2 (28:32):
Jim Carries, Jim Carried, that's who you're a big fan.
I liked Adam Seller's respectable. I haven't watched Happy Gi
Moore too.

Speaker 1 (28:37):
But that's what I was asking. I'm curious. It did
really well opening weekend and it was all online too,
wasn't it. I think it was just ont Flix Netflix only? Yeah,
pretty amazing. Yeah, okay, so what do you do with
this information? This slightly depressing information? That if people won't
start having more babies and trying to put a positive
spin on it, but like that at the end of
the day, this is sad news. He's like, guys, why

(28:57):
are y'all laughing so much and making jokes? We gotta
do something. It's true.

Speaker 2 (29:00):
Yeah, cat, you'all through this in the face of impending disaster.
If you don't, don't retain your sense of humor, what
kind of person are you?

Speaker 5 (29:06):
Right?

Speaker 2 (29:07):
But for for younger listeners, I think it should be
a wake up call to elect folks who actually tell
us the truth. So maybe on a political side, non
part is in political side, that's something you've taken into consideration.
Don't just tell me what I want to hear. Ask
the hard questions, what are you going to do about
the impending disaster that social security is? Even if it's
not fun. I want politicians who are going to tell
me what's up. That authenticity, I think builds trust. Also

(29:30):
another thing you can do practically on the personal finance
side of thing. Increase your wroth in foural one k contributions,
more money in your roth ira, more in your fal
one k. Because I think a lot of people assume
that they're going to get more more Social Security than
they are. And guess what if you're making assumptions based
on what it says on social Security dot gov when
you log in, well that assumption could be improper and

(29:51):
it could lead you to underinvesting and not having as
much as you hoped or as much as you need
in retirement. And I do think, Matt, you and I
believe that Congress will do something one of these days.
Well speak for yourself, man, you don't think that, you
don't think anything will be done.

Speaker 1 (30:05):
I honestly like at this point, I really don't like
because of the fact that the American like that as
a nation we've lost like again, like we don't want
to be told no. We all want our cake and
to be able to eat it too. We all want
our candy, Joel, and also to be super fit and
strong and to tip the muzzle because well, think about it,
the default action by Congress and legislators were they to

(30:26):
not take any action, is that things are gonna have
to change. So who is gonna, like in the right mind,
go out there and put their neck on the chopping block,
or who's gonna put their neck out on the line
to say and be the bearer of bad news. But
when by default it's gonna happen anyway.

Speaker 2 (30:39):
When the Social Security checks get cut, seniors are gonna
be riled up, and those are the seniors vote. So
I do think at some point someone's gonna have to
do something sure, and that will mean changes to the system.
I think that could mean payouts decrease slightly, maybe not
twenty three percent. If there's a change, man, I think
it can mean that dates for being able to claim
Social Security go up, which should have happened already. Payroll

(31:01):
taxes could rise. There are all sorts of changes that
can be made to the system to give it some longevity,
maybe some legs. But yeah, where the political will is
to make that happen, That's that's a good question. Yeah,
we have to take potical will. It is not there,
so it's more incumbent on us as individuals to save
for ourselves. Yes, the government isn't going to short up
social Security system.

Speaker 1 (31:21):
That's the thing I think as as legislators are looking
at it, they're like, why are we looking to prolong
what is the inevitable death of this terrible program? Like
if you look at social Security as like, what's the
ROI on that is terrible? Yeah, Like if you if
someone came to me and said, hey, I'm thinking about
investing in this ETF it's called SS and social security, Yes,

(31:42):
but I'm also contrasting it and comparing it to this
other one that's VU, I would say, why are you
even considering SS? It is terrible. But the fact is
we all have to. We all like, essentially we are
forced to pay into payroll taxes. Faika. This is why
I think that legislation, like nobody is excited because the
outcomes have been so dismal that as I try to

(32:05):
put myself in the shoes of a legislator, I'm thinking, yeah, like,
nobody wants to touch this because it's just a sorry Unfortunately,
it's a sorry product. And as more folks, like you said,
are investing more for themselves, there is a shift that's
taking place of where it is that retirees are turning
for their money. Yes, you've got folks who are most
definitely in retirement who are going to be negatively impacted,

(32:26):
but you also have I mean, how much has retirement
wealth in this country on an individual level grown over
the past ten twenty thirty years, it's skyrocketed, and so
there are more and more folks who are looking to
rely less on Social Security for the vast majority of
the retirements.

Speaker 2 (32:42):
And younger generations have gotten the message and they're saving
it higher percentage rates than their parents were at because
they realize that it is more incumbent upon them. And
I think that's a message that just has to get
hammered home from shows like ours.

Speaker 1 (32:55):
That's why we talk about it. Yeah, yep, you gotta
do it, because this thing ain't guaranteed for older listeners. Matt.

Speaker 2 (33:01):
This really could mean that claiming early is a better idea,
which does exacerbate the situation right the social Security finds
itself in. But I guess it makes me think. You know,
we took a question recently about the break even age
of Social Security and when you take it, well, if
you're in your early sixties and you're thinking about holding
off to get a better check for decades to come,
this should probably factor into your decision making sure because

(33:23):
there is literally a drop dead date, a ticking time bomb,
and so with all this uncertainty, it's really hard to
know what's best. Definitively, we're looking at a moving target here,
But I do think that taking the check earlier, even
if you don't need it, and then investing conservatively, if
you can holds more water because of this looming Social
Security cliff, It's yeah, goes kind of counting it.

Speaker 1 (33:45):
You can't ignore the fact that something is going to
happen and what exactly. We're not totally sure. It's not
likely going to be good. It's not like they're going
to be like, you know what, we're actually going to
increase the payoff, Like that's not going to happen, right,
You're not holding out for something. Well, obviously you as
an individual get a fatter check, you know, as you
wait to full retirement age. But I doubt that they're
going to say, and we're also going to across the

(34:06):
board increase payments. That's not what we're looking at here.

Speaker 2 (34:09):
But if you wait six more years for the higher
check and then right when you get the higher check
they cut it by twenty something percent.

Speaker 1 (34:14):
Oh, I would have been better off having claimed it
three years ago and not even waiting.

Speaker 2 (34:18):
That's right, Yeah, so it does. It should factor in
to your analysis, Katie, great question. Hope that helps, and
I hope it wasn't too depressing, all right, Matt, Let's
get to the question from a listener who wants to
know if she needs to hire a financial pro to
help her out.

Speaker 3 (34:33):
Hello, my name is Wendy. I'm thinking of growing with
a financial advisor, so I spoke with my sister goes
through him. Yet they're moving from Charles Schwab over to LPL,
which kind of scares me. I've read some things that
are not that great. What is your opinion?

Speaker 1 (34:54):
Thank you, Wendy, Thank you so much for your question,
and we will specifically get to LPL here in a
minut But whether or not you need a financial advisor
is a pretty complicated question. Some questions that I would
be asking myself is like how much wealth do I have?
What have I been doing up until this point? Because
here on the show, and we said this many times,

(35:14):
but a lot of folks who start to wake up
in terms of their finances, they start to look for
a financial advisor immediately. They're thinking that, I don't know,
there's like a sense of magic that's going to take
place when they reach out to the quote unquote professional
like such joy, I have seen the light. I should
hire a pro. It feels like going to the doctor.
It's like, oh, no, I should this is the right
thing to do.

Speaker 2 (35:33):
But really it'd be like going on a first eight
and being like that was pretty good. I should marry
this person. It's like no, no, no.

Speaker 1 (35:39):
Maybe it is where like yeah, But it depends on
how much Wendy knows as well, because as you are
learning about building your wealth retiring, I think just doing
some of that DIY research, making some personal changes to
your savings, to what it is that you're spending on,
that's going to increase your margin, that's going to give
you more money to invest. And I would say that

(36:00):
if you feel completely lost and you do in fact
need some one on one guidance, a money coach is
typically more valuable. I think financial advisors they can be helpful.
They can make more sense down the road. I think
once you've amassed a good chunk of money, when there's
more yeah, when there's more money on the line, that
can make a lot more sense, especially on the tax

(36:22):
side of things. I think that's where a professional can
really step in and help out.

Speaker 2 (36:26):
I think for a lot of folks, Matt, they realize
there's a problem and then they think, I should hire
someone to be the solution, and I think you need
to start off being the solution, and so that means
like learning the ropes through podcasts, through books. That's going
to help you get started and not only get started
doing the right thing yourself, but it'll help you know

(36:46):
the right questions to ask a potential advisor if you
opt to go in that direction in the future. It's
kind of like when we talk about self managing a
rental property and it's like you could start, you know,
you should. You could buy a rental property and start
hiring property manager. Interviewing property managers is immediately, but because
you haven't been doing it yourself for a couple of years,

(37:06):
you're just more in the dark about what questions you're
even asking them. And I think the same thing is
true of financial advisors because you haven't done your own
due diligence, which is crucial, and they're just different ways
by the way that relationships with an advisor can be structured.
The most common are advisors to charge in assets under
management fee, typically in the one percent range.

Speaker 1 (37:27):
We don't love.

Speaker 2 (37:28):
I mean, I think just from hearing that with your
two ears, you might say one percent seems reasonable, Right,
that's how big of a deal can that be? Well,
it adds up significantly over the time, over time, in
particular over decades. That one percent fee can really be
hundreds of thousands of dollars for diligent savers.

Speaker 1 (37:48):
Yeah, that's a big check mark over in the cons
side of the equation. And I don't know what you said.
You said something about something in addition to hiring it
pro But essentially, I think a lot of folks when
they hire a financial advisor, they're almost like looking for
a savior, right, Like they're almost looking to somebody they
want to farm out the hard work. Well, and it's
not just the hard work, but they're unfortunately, I think,

(38:09):
sometimes in a tough position, and they're looking for like
a magic trick. They're looking for a magician to pull
a rabbit out of a hat and building wealth, building
your net worth, growing a nice retirement nest eggs. It's
less a magic trick, and it is more like taking
like cultivating a seedling like a tree, right, and early
on the inputs what it is that you do for

(38:31):
that thing matters a lot because it's this tiny little
thing and you need to help it along. You need
to make. You got to water the little seedling that
is at some point going to grow into this big,
beastly white oak. And guess what, at a certain point,
there's almost nothing that you can do that's really going
to impact that tree, right, Like, for the most part,
it's going to take care of itself and it can
withstand storms and wind and lightning strikes. Even that's what

(38:55):
it is to build your net worth. That's what it
is to build up a nice nest egg. It's not
something you can rush or you talk in six bags
of miracle grow or whatever, and you can try to
rush it, but then you get mixed results. I think, yeah, perhaps,
but like there's something about just doing the right thing
day by day, like day and day out over time
that is just it's really difficult to skip that stuff.

Speaker 2 (39:15):
And because we don't have more information about where Wendy
is at, it's really hard to answer this question. But
I would say, if you really do feel like you're
ready to hire a financial advisor, We're fans of some
of the newer models that align better with the interests
of individuals, So paying for hourly advice can be a
smart way to proceed instead of the assets under management model,
you're paying somebody literally for an hour of their time

(39:36):
to talk to you, and you might need many hours
of their time, and that's okay. But there's a site
Hello Nectarine where you can hire an individual advisor and
pay them somewhere between one hundred and fifty and three
hundred bucks an hour, depending on a lot of factors,
including their level of expertise. But I think a few
hours of that time could cost you far less than

(39:58):
what that one percent charge absolutely adds up to over time,
or where.

Speaker 1 (40:03):
You're signing this long contract where you're yeah, yeah, we're
gonna be with you for five to ten years yep,
as opposed to just a singular appointment. Yeah.

Speaker 2 (40:09):
And there are also models like domain money, where you're
paying a lot more thousands of dollars, but you're also
getting more of a robust financial plan instead of like, hey,
let's meet, I got some questions because I feel pretty informed.
This is where it's like, hey, start from scratch, let's
look at my overall financial picture and where things are headed.
And they're asking you a bunch of questions and there
really are getting down to some changes that you can

(40:31):
make in ways that you can tweak your investments if
need be. But it's I think of that as a
more of like an intermediate step that maybe some people
could really benefit from after they've gotten to a certain
place in their wealth building journey.

Speaker 1 (40:45):
That's right. Let's get specific here, because Wendy, you mention
that your sister's advisor is leaving Schwab and going to LPL.
We think very highly of Chuck of Charles Schwab and
specifically their emphasis on lowc So the fact that they're
moving that doesn't bode well. And we actually looked up

(41:05):
what LPL advisors get paid, and it depends on how
much money you have invested. Now they're doing that AUM model,
but on top of that, it could actually be north
of one percent, so it's perhaps even worse. And it's
again it's not that advisors can't offer you any benefit,
but the cost does matter. Yeah, this is a conversation
I continue to have with folks who are more in

(41:28):
their retirement years. The opaque nature of assets under management models.
That's just something that we dislike, and so we want
you to exercise extreme caution.

Speaker 2 (41:37):
Yes, we got more questions to get to get to
one about buying a new car, and about whether or
not it makes sense to save up longer for a
down payment or just buy that house. We'll talk about
that and more right after this.

Speaker 1 (41:56):
All right, buddy, let's keep chugging along. It is now
time for the face. It's been a question of the week.
Wish this week is by somebody named authentic ELK.

Speaker 2 (42:06):
Well, you could post nicknames now, apparently in the Facebook group.
I didn't realize this until this week.

Speaker 1 (42:10):
So are they following the anonymous Google user where it's
just like busy beaver.

Speaker 2 (42:15):
I don't know, because I don't know if you get
to choose the nickname or if it's assigned to you.

Speaker 1 (42:18):
But well, you know, I'm pretty sure on Google, if
it's an anonymous user, like on a shared spreadsheet or something,
I'm sure a lot of folks know what we're talking about.
I think those are just like randomly as start parks
and yeah, stuff like that. Yeah, but this person posted
buying a new car soon and we are gifted funds
to help with payment. How long do the new funds
need to be in our account to see a boost

(42:40):
in our credit score. There's a couple different things that
I think are being asked here. Joel so which one
do you want to start with.

Speaker 2 (42:47):
Let's let's clear through this one, matt It's this is
not like buying a house where funds need to season,
right because typically in that case, if your parents were
super generous, matt you were buying a new house and
they said, here's one hundred thousand dollars, Mattie, you would
have to to declare that to the bank unless your
parents had the foresight or to give it to you,
like more than sixty days in advance. So if that

(43:08):
money sits in your account for a while, then you
don't need to go through the process of documenting the gift,
which can be annoying. So that's seasoning of funds. But
that's in buying a house and with a car purchase,
the requirements are not the same, right, So not typically
the same. So it's going to very lender to lender.
Some will want you to document a lump sum that

(43:30):
recently came into your account. Others won't really care. But yeah,
typically that seasoning thing. It's when we're talking about home loans.

Speaker 1 (43:37):
That's right. So you addressed the how long do the
new funds need to sit or wait part of the question.
I'm going to talk about the credit score side of
the question that I guess here he was specifically asking
about the impact on his credit score, and guess what,
it doesn't make a difference. The credit bureau is they
aren't privy to what is in your savings account. They

(43:57):
look at how well you pay your debts payments, right,
whether or not you pay your car payment in full
and on time every month, whether or not you make
your your credit card statement payments. That is going to
improve your score. Not keeping a lump sum in your
account for longer sounds kind of backwards. But lenders they
don't care how much money you actually have. They just
want to see consistent behavior. Essentially, it's amazing.

Speaker 2 (44:20):
It doesn't matter if you had a ten million dollars
net worth, it would not raise your credit score. Like
that's just not one of the factors they consenter.

Speaker 1 (44:27):
Keep talking, Joe, you're gonna start ended up sounding like
Dave Ramsey over here. If I could buy the dealership
and I wouldn't be able to get a car. I mean,
that's what he says there is or what he used
to say to your truth to that, but it's true. Yeah,
So I've got to say this though, speaking of having
cash on hand to buy whatever it is you want
to buy. I'm not sure where you are in this

(44:48):
whole car purchase process, Authentic ELK. But could that cash
gift and what you have on hand just allow you
to actually buy this car in cash? It sounds like
I don't know, maybe I should just assume that when
they said they were gifted funds to help with the payment,
to not think payment like car payment, but in fact

(45:09):
to pay for the vehicle, like as far as cash down.
But that's I think a route that we should be
looking at here, Hey, use that cash on hand to
actually purchase a vehicle. Maybe I'm just going to assume
that that was, in fact what you're thinking, because you're
a part of the how to Money Nation. Yeah, I
mean I.

Speaker 2 (45:27):
Assumed too that this doesn't like it, no, not doing
it for me. I'm assuming as well that this is Hey, well,
we're gonna have payments and this gift is going to
help help us with those payments.

Speaker 1 (45:38):
But maybe not. Yeah, let's pivot. Yeah, let's assume the
best yes out of Authentic hel.

Speaker 2 (45:42):
Because truly having no car payment is such a gift.
It's one of the greatest special gifts you can give
to yourself. You and I, Matt were I'm not allergic
to gluten. Of course we drink good beer. I am
allergic to car payments, and so I would prefer to
spread this allergy through this microphone into the earbuts of
everyone listening. I don't want anybody to be like, car
payment's totally fine, no big deal, because they are a

(46:04):
big deal, and it's surprising how much financial progress you
can make if you avoid them altogether.

Speaker 1 (46:10):
Yeah. By the way, allergies don't spread. They're not contagious.
Joll viruses do, though, I want this allergy. So we
want car payments to feel like a virus. Okay for
an aversion to car payments to feel like a super content, Like,
what's the most contagious thing? Ebola?

Speaker 3 (46:24):
Is it?

Speaker 1 (46:25):
I was gonna say, pink eye. You're thinking much darker
than much more drastic outcomes than I guess, pink eye.
But all right, let's get to our next one from Cayden,
who wrote, my wife and I are currently trying to
save for a down payment on our first house. I've
been debating this for a while now, but is it
worth it to take the extra two to three years
to save up a twenty percent down payment, or what

(46:48):
it make more sense to just go with an fah
loan for three and a half percent down and end
up paying PMI Private Morgan's Insurance. Part of me doesn't
want to pay the extra one hundred to two hundred
dollars a month, but then we would have to weigh
way longer to have more money for the down payment.
Thanks which you think, Buddy.

Speaker 2 (47:05):
Well, when I first read this question, it made me
think about the questions we were getting as housing prices
were rising quickly over the past few years, and folks
were worried that taking longer to say it would mean
that they wouldn't be able to afford the house right
that they wanted, that their needed down payment was a
moving target that they never hit. Hey, guess what the

(47:25):
house I wanted two years ago? Well, it was five
hundred thousand dollars. Now it's seven hundred thousand dollars. Constantly
feels just out of reach. Yes, yes, our advice. And
this was hard to say, Matt at the time, because
it felt like it felt like we just like weren't
with it, and we weren't hip to the fact that
housing prices were going to escalate forever an eternity, and
so we had to get it on the ground floor
now or we're idiots, right, Well, our advice was patience

(47:48):
and that real estate prices couldn't continue at that upward
clip in perpetuity. That was hard for a lot of
people to believe, and I think I'm sure some people
bought a house that maybe they regret because they were
trying to time it right. Fortunately, we have seen price
increases start to chill out, and many markets we're seeing
home prices decline, so for the first time in something

(48:10):
like fifteen years, maybe waiting longer will actually mean that
you can buy the home you want for less money. Sure,
there's a chance, it's not guaranteed. It's hard to know
what's going to happen with the housing market. But I
love to see at least a plateau where people aren't
and especially younger buyers, are not worried about just prices
continuing to escalate and run away.

Speaker 1 (48:28):
I think it can feel like you can finally try
to catch your breath a little bit. So hopefully that's
the case that you're finding yourself in Caden. And I
think the problem with putting less money down and buying
sooner is that you're going to have less skin in
the game as well, So essentially you're ramping up the
level of risk that you're taking on. Your payment's going
to be higher. And then if you lost your job
or if you're forced to sell, if you had to move,

(48:48):
you would then have to bring money to the closing table,
especially when you're looking at something like with only three
and a half percent down. This is a part of
why we don't feel comfortable with smaller down payments. And
then of course the yeah, the debt that you're going
to be taking on will be at a higher interest
rate these days as well, compared to what you would
score with twenty percent down on a conventional loan.

Speaker 2 (49:09):
Also, on conventional loans, you can typically get rid of
private mortgage insurance after you reach the seventy eight percent
loan to value thresholds. On an FHA loans, though, where
you put down less than ten percent, typically you pay
that mortgage insurance for the life of the loan. So
it doesn't matter, right, how quickly you pay down on

(49:30):
the loan. It's stuck with you, right, It's like glue,
and so nobody wants to wait longer be told to
wait longer, but.

Speaker 1 (49:37):
That's what we do.

Speaker 2 (49:38):
And so I think maybe in the opposite way, this
could actually light a fire under you to increase your
savings rate so that you can shorten the timeline to
home ownership, because it sounds like this is a really
important goal of yours. But our suggestion would be to
not skip over what we see as pretty much a
necessity to save up a bigger down payment. Matt, I
just couldn't stomach saying I really want the house now,

(50:00):
and so I'm gonna sign up for the bigger payment
and the potential perils that come along with that, alongside
mortgage insurance in perpetuity, because I just got to have
the thing immediately. It yeah, similar to buy now, pay later.
It's like I want the thing before I actually have
the money to really afford it, and it can create problems.

Speaker 1 (50:19):
That's right, Caden is laying out like option A or
Option B, you can go with a conventional alone where
you are not putting down a full twenty percent. Let's
say you get a fifteen percent down and then you
come you know, that's so much you've saved up, and
then you come across the home your dreams and you're like,
we got a pounds now, well, yeah, you're gonna get
hit with PMI, but then you can still eventually at
some point drop that hopefully, so it's not just the

(50:40):
faha or a full twenty percent down. There are other
options out there, granted, and you put less down fifteen percent,
you're gonna see higher rates. There's a favorable terms, but
there's the middle. There's a spectrum. Yeah, exactly, it's a spectrum.
All right, buddy, real quick, let's get to the beer
that you and I enjoyed during this episode, which is
called a dawn patroller, which is I guess that's what
they call people who get up early and hit the beach. Yeah,

(51:00):
down there in Hawaii. I'm gonna take the jewel route
and give three words to describe as beer fresh, melanie,
and crispy. And I say fresh because I recently had
a quote unquote really good beer that was not fresh,
and dude, that just kills it. I drink the first
one and thought, man, this wasn't that great, and then
like a week later, I cracked up in another one.

(51:20):
I'm like, wait a minute, this tastes like old and stale,
and I checked the date on the bottom. It was
a year old, which for an ipa is not what
you want. You could tell that this was canned just
like yesterday. Basically it tasted so good. Well that's a
good point. I think we just should tell people, especially
with like IPAs the hops, that they just man, they

(51:41):
lose their luster and the taste can change dramatically if
it's not if it's not if you don't drink it
fairly fresh.

Speaker 2 (51:47):
So there's some beers that are meant to age, or
at least can taste awesome aged like or can handle
the aging barely age stouts or sours. It's like, oh yeah,
drink that two years from now.

Speaker 1 (51:56):
It's fine. Spontaneously fermented beers from Belgium, those best Kenti beers, Yeah,
they're lay up the shelf life of like twenty years.
They're fantastic.

Speaker 2 (52:03):
This this kind of beer does not Nope, But I
thought this was great. I thought it was like kind
of tropical hoppy and which just you know, reminds me
of all the palm trees on that lovely visits.

Speaker 1 (52:11):
Can you hear him swing in the wings? Yeah, I
bet you can.

Speaker 2 (52:13):
Beautiful trip all right, and it's you know what, that's
it's fun to bring beers back and then while you
drink them, reminisce the awesome time you had.

Speaker 1 (52:20):
It's a souvenir that you can drink. That's the best
kind of souvenir. My friend, that's gonna be it For
this episode. You can find our show notes up on
the website. Thank you to everyone who sent us a question,
and again, reach out to howdomoney dot com forward slash
ask if you'd like instructions on how to send along
your query. The weirder, the better, bring it, buddy, that's
gonna be it.

Speaker 3 (52:41):
Someone.

Speaker 1 (52:41):
Until next time, Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,

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