June 21, 2024 • 36 mins
Time for a Friday Flight- our little sampling of the week’s financial news and what it means for your personal finances. There are a lot of headlines out there, but we boil them down to specific takeaways that will allow you to kick off the weekend informed and help you to get ahead with your money. In this episode we explain some relevant and helpful stories like: putting rent on your credit card, the cheapest way to travel, online passport renewals, avoiding upsells, open-jaw flights, HOA hell, rising costs of home ownership, syndicated real estate investing, astrological investing, AI investing, the bubble of all bubbles, “spaving” your way to riches, the free trial trap, & schlepping ‘n shopping.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're talking about avoiding up cells, hoa hell
and astrological investing.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Dude, I don't think I realized how many folks are
into astrology. Did I tell you about how so our
local mountain that we like to that we often hike
at the top there, there's it's pretty bare, right, so
it's just a bunch of rock essentially, and there are
like a bunch of crystals that were out with like
some paint and some other sort of interesting stuff. I
(00:49):
was like, what is all this? And somebody was like, oh,
that's it was like a full moon and folks will
put their crystals out to absorb the energy from the moon.
I guess, okay, or maybe at certain stars. Have you
ever heard of that kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And I mean, I know that there's people who do
that, that it exists, and I think it's been going up
in popularity. It makes me think of when we had
Cody Sanchez. She was into crystals, remember that, Oh that
was like her, that was her sporge. I think was
really buying crystals, that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I don't know much about it though, but we are
going to talk a little bit about astrology and how
some people are, especially younger folks, are letting the alignment
of the stars impact how they choose to invest, thinking
they might do better in the long run. But before
we get to that, Matt, let's talk about the Built Card.
It's one of the best credit cards out there. We've
talked about specifically for renters. So homeowners, Sorry, you can't
(01:36):
get rewarded for paying your mortgage with a credit card? Yeah,
but renters and can.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And for a while there we were saying, hey, homeowners,
hang time, because maybe this will be something that becomes
an option for you. It's looking like that's less or
less going to be an option. That's not going to happen.
It's not going to happen. And why is that not
going to happen? Well, it's the reason it's not going
to happen is because the Built Card is losing the
issuing which as well as Fargo ten million dollars a month.
(02:02):
There was a profile in the Wall Street Journal specifically
about this card, and obviously it's been a boon for renters.
They're you know, earning points and significant amounts of cash
back on a no fee credit card. This doesn't come
with an annual fee, and so for renters out there,
the bill card is like one you should have in
your wallet. How long will it be around? That remains
(02:23):
to be seen because the bank is getting screwed because
they made prognostications about the type of people who would
open one of these cards up and what they have
found is the folks using this credit card have pretty
healthy finances.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
They aren't keeping a balance well, So.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think it's less about having healthy find it like,
think about it, like, how do banks actually make money?
Like yes, like you've got your anual fees, but you
make money on the balances that you don't pay off, right,
Like you the idea from the bank's point of view,
I'm thinking like an evil bank, right, I got my
monocle in my eye, and you want folks to have
plastic and go out there and to rack up a
bunch of charges that you're not necessarily planning on and
(03:00):
then oh the statement hits and you're like, oh, dang it,
I don't have enough money to pay this off. You
carry a balance boom, you're paying interest in the banks
making money, and the.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Bank says you're a good customer.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Exactly. But what charge are we talking about here that
folks are opening or applying for the bill card specifically
for their rent that is not a surprise payment like that.
Literally they're called renters like it's built into the name,
the name of folks who are renting apartments, and so
it's just I don't think there's any other monthly expense
that folks are so used to paying if you are
(03:31):
a renter, as opposed to something that you might see
on the shelf or there's a sale, folks are prepared
to pay off that balance people in every single month.
People who get that card, they're using it for rent payments,
and I don't think they're using it for a whole
lot else.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I think we've talked about it. It's their quote unquote
rent card, right exactly. And there are other things you
can use it for than be I think like paying
for your cell phone service with the bill card. That's
nice because it comes with that cell phone protection. It's
one of the best credit cards for cel phone protection too.
But yeah, it's the Wells Fargo is shocked that they're
losing so much money, should be shocked though.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's I guess that's that's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I don't know. I think they've inked this deal for
years to come, so they're not gonna be able to
get out of this perpetual money losing situation. It's just
another reminder. Yes, the bank's losing money, but maybe you,
if you're a renter, should help them lose even more
money and go sign up for this card because it's
the only way to actually get rewarded for paying your rent.
There has been no other card before this, and they're.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Probably because they're going to learn from Wills Fargo's mistakes.
It's almost as if the branding worked too well, Like
they branded it too hard as the only car that
you can put your int on, and if you have
siloed that card, it's no wonder that they're losing money
because folks are they're using it as a tool, and
they're like they're using that card judiciously as opposed to
getting sucked into how you would typically spend when you're
(04:45):
shopping online. You know, it's like it's the opposite of
like Klarna or four monthly installments.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, I'm not shocked at this. I don't think you
are either, but it's just how how badly this has
played out for the banks, and how well it's played
out for consumers is impressive.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Who's losing money more Washington Post on a daily basis
or Wells Fargo with the built card.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's probably the Washington Post, but it's it's close. But
we'll actually link to the review that we have up
on how to money dot Com of the Built card.
Matt and I homeowners, we can't take advantage of this,
but if you're a renter, you might still find And
I think there's still a lot of years left that
this that Wells Fargo and built are tied together, so
it's not like it's going away soon, but it might
go away in the future. But while the Sunshine and Maky.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I wouldn't be surprised too. If it's in the find
type that they can change the different payouts. So we'll
see maybe, but for now it exists. All right, let's
move ont. Let's get to the Friday Flight. It's a
quick sampling of stories we found interesting this week. We've
already kind of started the Friday Flight, I guess, so
that was kind of a time a little more newsworthy.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, well, let's talk about one of our favorite
cheap travel hacks. Now we've talked about this, but we
haven't talked about it in a long time. Megabus, it's the
one of the cheapest ways to get around the country
is by taking a bus. We're so used to taking flights,
and flights have you gone down dramatically in price in
recent years?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I get that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I just booked some Southwest flights recently on a sale
they had a couple of weeks ago. Well, Megabus is
filed for bankruptcy, and a single tear came to my
eye when I read that, because I have enjoyed a
few trips on Megabus. Myself has been a Megabus patron. Yeah,
it's been a while, but I'm like, I want them
to be around. I'll probably use it in the future
at some point, but unlow you won't You really.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Think you'll use them in the future, Yeah, for sure. Okay,
do they have seats as low as a dollar? And
it's I think, I just you don't have.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
To go through the rigamarole of security getting the airport,
if it's a.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Little to get to the actual bus stop. If you're
sitting there, it takes so much longer. Like we always
talk about how your time is worth money, and like,
I think it's a decent option for folks who might
have a like have some additional time. But like, but
it's not even sometimes you'll give it a shot, all right,
Sometimes it's additional time.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
But guess what, when you're on a bus, you can
do a lot of other productive things. And there's Wi
Fi on that bush. So you do that on a
plane too, you can, but then you've got to go through,
like I just said, the security all that kind of
stuff depends how far you're going. If you're going on
like a five or six hour bus ride, well versus
a plane trip, well, the economics are better of the
bus and the time is about equal. And so yeah,
(07:07):
post COVID, the airline travel bounce back, but bus travel
hasn't seen the same resurgence, and so that is why
megabus is dealing with these financial issues. The good news
is though Megabus is going to remain in service while
they're filing for bankruptcy. So I don't know. I think
it's good. I think for regional travel, don't forget about
bus travel. And some people, Matt, they are cheaper like me,
(07:28):
and they're willing to, like, hey, save fifty bucks because
that's how much less expensive bus travel is. And guess what,
I can sleep on the bus, or I can get
some work done because there's a Wi Fi too. I
don't know. I think when you're taking trips in that
four to eight hour range, bus travel can be better
than driving in flying.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, I'm just gonna point out you can do work
on a plane. You can also sleep on a plane.
I would say better, perhaps even on the plane, because
you kind of got that nice plane drone going on
that somehow just puts me to sleep. And you mentioned
the one dollar like because you know they've got it
painted on the actual buses, and like the fact is,
like those seats are incredibly limited, like sometimes it's only
like a single seat on an entire bus route in
(08:06):
order for them to be able to advertise that.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I just looked up a recent round trip fair though,
and it wasn't dollar seats, but it would have been
forty bucks round trip to the destination. I was thinking,
I guess, I'm like a similar plane flight could have
been one to eighty So you're talking about a significant gap.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Possibly, Yeah, I guess for folks though, who have a
like a solid vehicle, like you're going to take your car, and.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So specifically a lot more than that smifically multitask in
the same way in a.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Car like that's per ticket, right, And so if.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
You're because you're not interested, and it doesn't mean other
people aren't.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I think other people might. But also if you have
your own vehicle, like the convenience of having all your
stuff in your own vehicle, especially the more people you
pile into the vehicle, like it makes me think of
like in college, like when you would go on a
road trip. The more the merrier, because that's just another
person that can ship into the cost of gas. But
I think especially for folks who might live in a
bigger city who don't have a car, this is the
(08:53):
affordable option absolutely. But for folks who have a car, man,
I can't imagine there are too many folks who are thinking, oh, yeah,
I want to catch a ride an uber, get a friend,
drop me off at the bus stop so I can
save twenty bucks, when instead I can just hop in
the car and it's gonna be more than twenty bucks.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
It just it depends. It can be expensive and run
the numbers. But bus travel underrated all right, Speaking of traveling,
the mat. If you are traveling by plane and you're
thinking about going internationally, it's crucial to check your passport
expiration date. My older sister found herself in a conundrum
the other the other day she bought the plane ticket
for herself and for her son to go travel down
(09:29):
to Panama, and her son got stranded at home because
they had an updated his passport. And so it's really
crucial to do well in advance of your trip, because, yeah,
you don't want that money to go to waste. We
talked a while back about the State Department allowing for
the online renewal of passports, and I actually got in
on that during the very small window that they had
(09:51):
that available. It was like this short lived pilot program.
But they have resuscitated it. It's back and it's a
big time saver. So you got to be over the
age of twenty five to have had a passport for
at least ten years. And the State Department says they're
going to have a limited number of slots available for
online renewal each day. So our advice to you is
to get up early, get that application submitted if you
(10:12):
need to renew your passport. It's so much better than
driving somewhere waiting in line, which is what you had
to do, sadly, Matt. So it is the online. We
can do so many things online now, renewing the passport.
It just makes sense and it's going to, like I
think it's going to make renewing your passport much less
of a hassle.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So yeah, I think I waited close to an hour,
although that was last year when travel was super hot.
Travels down this year. So if you don't happen to
be able to do it online, maybe it won't be quite.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
As bad for you, but at least look into it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
But while we're talking about traveling, the Journal just wrote
about how good airlines are at upselling their passengers. They've
been decoupling the price of the ticket as well as
extra conveniences for years now, and the price of the
ticket now gets your button the seat, but it doesn't
get you a whole lot else. If you want to
be able to pick your specific seat, that's going to
(10:59):
be an extra or twenty bucks. If you want to
be at the front of the line, well you're gonna
pay for that as well. The cost of a something
beyond like a small backpack that you can shove into
the little metal box that's obviously going to uh if
you do it there at the gate, is going to
cost you, like even maybe more than the ticket.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
We saw that in our last trip. A couple of
yesaw their bags fit, they didn't quite fit, and then.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
They had two additional bags, like eighty bucks a pop.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
No, it was one hundred. They spent two hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
A lot of money. But here's the thing we're not
We're not highlighting this because we dislike it. Actually, personally,
I think this is a great thing because it gives
you optionality.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Like in our our backsit we didn't have to pay well.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Because we knew ahead of sign But the ability essentially
to not pay for a bunch of extras that you're
not going to take advantage of gives people the ability
to travel for less when maybe otherwise they would not
be able to take that flight. Like if you are
the one taking advantage of all the goodies, all the extras, okay,
well maybe you're actually making out like a bandit, But
like I don't necessarily want to subsidize a guy in
(11:56):
front of me, like chucking cokes or like the supply
of snacks on like a three hour flight when instead
I might go with an option that allows me to
decouple the price of the ticket from those additional perks.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And really what that means is for savvy travelers, more money.
You're able to save more money you can funnel towards
additional trips. If that's your jams right, all right, So
this is not a dental advice map, but on the
note of travel, people should consider open jaw to save money.
We talked about open jaw very much. No, yeah, it
sounds like something a dentist would take you to open
your jaw. Well, what is an open jaw trip?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Actually, no, the dentistas that close your jaw like you're
supposed to breathe through your nose.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
No, but they have to open it so they can
open your mouth. Yes, they can clean it if you're close.
If your jaw is closed, they can't really do much
with your teeth, right, gotcha, got you gotta do some work. Well,
open jaw flights or when you fly into one city
and out of another, and it can save you hundreds
of dollars taking this strategy. This could work particularly well
for like, let's say a trip to Europe that you
might be planning because that way, not only does it
(12:57):
potentially save you money, but you don't have to navigate
back to starting city if you're planning on bouncing around
to multiple spots. And yeah, the money saving is the
thing we care about the most, because all it takes
is some planning, some flexibility, some creativity in searching four
flights to and from multiple destinations on a site like
Google Flights that can help you take your trip for
far less than you might have thought on the front end,
(13:18):
like hey, yep, I'll maybe I'll fly into Rome and
then I'll fly out of Amsterdam and check and seat
like some do some searches, like spend thirty minutes checking
a bunch of destinations to and from and you might
find Wait, I thought my trip to Europe was gonna
cost me nine hundred and fifty bucks. Oh, it's only
gonna cost me six to fifty if I plan it
out this way. And I think, yeah, that incentive makes
(13:40):
me want to do some creative search.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
It's funny that you mentioned in Italy because that's literally
turns out I've been an open jaw travel did you
didn't share why it's called open jaw? So it's called
open jaw because imagine like a sideways V, like a
greater greater than symbol, Like basically you're flying in and
out of a different city essentially, so it kind of
looks like an open mouth. That's exactly what I did
when we backpacked Italy back when I was in college.
(14:04):
We flew into Milan because at least at the time,
that was the absolute cheapest flight, and then we popped around, like,
we checked flights out of Italy from different cities, and
it turned out that flying out of Venice was going
to be the most affordable option. So we're like, boom,
that's what we're flying in and what seven days later
we're flying out of there? Yeah, what we do in
the middle.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
So it's up to us, Right, that's totally the way
to do it. Just because most people book straight up
round trip to and from the same destination. Just because
that is the norm doesn't mean it's the way you're
going to save the most money.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
All Right. Here is some news that actually may not
be news to you if you are a part of
an HOA, but they can be unpredictable, especially if you've
I don't know how to run in with your hoa.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
If you still got your Christmas decorations up, you deserve
the notices you're getting.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
All right, This is an extreme example, but Yahoo Finance
they published an article about a Florida condo association that's
levying a six figure special assessment.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's like one hundred and thirty four thousand dollars per unit.
There's a new law in Florida and they're forcing older
condo complexes to shore up their structural or potential structural issues.
This is, of course, in the wake of the surf
Side condo collapse. Gosh, how long ago was that now a.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Couple of years.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
But those updates they can be insanely expensive, causing many
to just leave to vacate their condos instead of forking
of a massive chunk of change because they can't afford it.
But then on top of that, potential buyers they're wary too,
which means sales price are shrinking. So we are We're
pointing this out because sixty percent of new builds these
(15:38):
days come with an HOA, and depending on your opinion,
like there are certainly pros to having an HOA, but
there's cons too. Of course, the financial side of it,
and so we want folks to be careful. Look at
the financial standing of your HOA, look at the reserves,
make sure there are reserves. Maybe even talk to somebody
that's either on the board, maybe talk to other residents
(16:02):
that are under that HOA before you move forward, because
if not, it could come back to bite you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And it might sound nice that, oh man, the monthly agoafe,
it's so small. It's one hundred and twelve dollars a
month or something like that, and look at all the
amenities it comes with, but that could be an artificially
low amount. Makes My mother in law bought a condo,
like I guess, this was probably ten years ago in Atlanta,
and she found out quickly that that low hoafe, well,
they hadn't bumped it up in a long time, and
(16:29):
so then they had a deferred maintenance, a lot of
deferred maintenance, and then they had the levy a special assessment.
Not six figures fortunately, but I want to say it
was like six thousand dollars. So if you're not planning
for that, it can derail you. Right Like most people,
they're not equipped to handle that. And you have to
realize that's a possibility with homeowner associations. We actually have
a new article up on the site that we'll link
(16:49):
to about the pros and cons of hoas it can
potentially help protect your property value, but can also on
the flip side, cost you a lot of money and
you might get hit with a giant bill that you
weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. Plus, so we're talking about the financial side of it,
but don't forget about like all the drama side of
things as well. Oh yeah, you're signing up for There's
just a whole lot more that goes into it. And honestly,
that is hoa's or I always say, the lack of
an HOA where we currently live, like that is one
of the that's a big reason why we're not considering
some of these other neighborhoods that are near us and
instead we're about to renovate our homes because we don't
(17:22):
have an HOA, which means we have the freedom and
the autonomy to do not exactly like whatever we wanted,
but within the city rules and stuff. Yeah, exactly like
within good days. Like dude, some neighborhoods like you can't
even put playhouses or structures in it, like in your backyard,
not the front yard like in the backyard.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Well, one of my friends he bought a condo down
in Florida and the HOA was so poorly runs. He said,
the only way that I could that things could turn
around is if I ran for president. He ran for president.
Now he's got a part time job being the HOA president.
This takes twenty to twenty five hours a week of
his time. It's insane, and but thank you, But that's
his investment, Like he hasn't investment of this condo, and
(18:01):
the only way to make sure that his investment stays
intact is to put in all this time and effort
to turn things around. So yes, hoas can be a
blessing or a curse. And you just have to have
your eyes wide open before you buy a home inside
of an HOA neighborhood. And that's just one of the
rising costs of home ownership, many of which feel hidden
from people these days. We all know about higher home prices,
(18:23):
higher interest rates, but the annual cost of home maintenance
has increased by almost thirty percent over the past few
years too. Bank Rate just did a study. They found
that the average homeowner is spending eighteen thousand dollars a
year in taxes, insurance, utilities and repairs, and renters, they
obviously have to pay for utilities and insurance too, although
their insurance renters insurance is so much cheaper than homeowner's insurance.
(18:46):
But it's crucial to budget for these costs if you
want to own a home. It's another reason I would
say renting isn't throwing away money. I think home ownership
is a great goal, but you also have to realize
that they're additional costs beyond the mortgage, significant additional costs.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We want folks to make informed decisions. Joel, while we
are talking about real estate, let's talk about real estate
investments for a second, and specifically it's talk about real
estate syndication deals, because that's not something I don't think
we've talked about at all, or much at all, at
least maybe with on the show Braindon Turner back today.
Oh yeah, that's right. But like bottom line, one of
the reasons we don't discuss these often is because they're
(19:22):
they're only available to accredited investors, which means folks who
either have like a really large net worth or a
sky high income. But Bloomberg They had an article this
week about how many of these syndication deals are unraveling
because of the higher interest rates because unlike your primary
home financing, for these bigger real estate deals, it's not
locked in for the same duration, and so what that
(19:44):
means is that it is less insulated from the rising
rates that we've been experiencing, and investors are they're finding
out the hard way as quarterly payments they're drawing up,
they're capitals now at risk. And again, we want folks
to be informed. Like the syndication deals, they're not the devil,
but the devil is in the details. And these they're
(20:05):
just not quite as hot as they were a couple
of years ago as rates were lower, and so we
want folks to be incredibly cautious with this type of investment.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, there are a lot of real estate influencers out there, Matt,
who wants you to think that real estate syndication it's
this private investment that other people don't want you to
know about. And it's a really laid back way to
invest in real estate that you don't have to get
your hands dirty buying your own property. But as people
are seeing when the economic environment shifts, some syndication deals
are doing quite well because the operator did their due
(20:34):
diligence and they locked in solid financing terms for an
extended period of time. But a lot of the more
precarious syndication deals are falling flat and investors are losing money.
So yeah, just a warning for anybody out there who
is considering going that route. We've got more to get
to on this episode, including a prediction that we're in
a stock market bubble. We'll talk about that and more
right after this, but we are back from the break.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
We got more personal finance goodness to get to today.
But let's go ahead and get to the ludicrous headline
of the week, and this one is from Business Insider.
The headline reads, can the stars predict the stock market?
Gen Z think? So you like my voice there? That's
my incredulous, stupid headline voice, because obviously, first of all,
(21:25):
the entire population, the entire gen Z generation, does not
think that astrology is gonna aid them in stock picking.
I bet a gen exer wrote that headline. That does
seem like a gen X kind of thing to do.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I just like stomp on the generation below me.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
So the headline itself is annoying, but like it's also
true that some in the younger generation, maybe they are
looking for an investing edge and they are looking to astrology.
Maybe they're looking to tarot cards to advise them. And
one person who takes this tactic and this isn't the story,
they said, I tend to long the full moon, in short,
(22:01):
the new moon.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
What do you do with the harvest moon?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Uh? What like? What does this even mean? It's just
it's ridiculous. It's hard to tell how widespread this sort
of approach is and what it is that you're letting
influence how it is that you invest. But if you're
in astrology, I think that's fine. You're in a crystals,
go for it, you do you, But similar to your politics,
don't let that influence your investments. Don't let it influence
(22:27):
how you invest when you get in and get out
of the market, or even why, like your long term
rationale and the reason behind what like what it is
that you're investing for.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And let's be honest, if you're a twenty five year
old and you think that you have special insight into
the stars and how that impacts the markets, well, don't
you think Neil de grasse Tyson would have figured this
out by now. Don't you think he would be the billionaire?
Like if there was some sort of rhyme or reason
to the movement of the planets and the sun and
the stars. Pretty sure that's the dude, Matt, who would
have capitalized on this. Not a person fresh out of college.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
See, but he he understands the stars in a different
way than folks who are into astrology.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Dude, you know, like there's a spirit and there are
more advanced astrologers who would have this. I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
But what they're saying is like, oh, I've I'm at
the intersection of astrology and investing. It's it's it's like
the Memestock generation of folks who think that this is
something that they can perhaps look to.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
And I get the desire to increase your performance right there,
Like it's an understandable human desire. We talked about this too, Matt.
American exceptionalism almost demands that we not be average, and
so inside of investing, the line that we toe is
that average is the best thing for you. And I
get why people want to buck against that and they
want outsized returns. But it's hard to come by, and
(23:41):
these some of these just pie in the sky strategies
aren't going to help you get there, and in fact,
so much of the time you are going to lose
money by trying some novel theory of investing. Speaking of investing,
a new study from Northwestern Mutual finds that younger folks
are more open to AI money management tools than their
boom counterparts, although for most financial planning tasks, research also
(24:04):
showed that most people still prefer humans like fifty four
percent to just AI alone fifteen percent. And so obviously
AI is not like primetime. It's primetime for some things,
maybe for helping you with your writing tasks or search
results something like that. Well, AI is likely going to
be more of a help than a hindrance in the future,
particularly when it comes to some of these money tasks,
(24:25):
and we are seeing this transition in real time with
new fintech products. Taking a copilot Matt, it's a cool
budgeting tool, and they use artificial intelligence to help you
categorize transactions that are specific to your budget and your situation.
It gets smarter over time, right, makes that budgeting process
easier and more specific to you. Monarch money is another
(24:48):
one that we've talked about a great budgeting app. They
use AI to give you more personalized advice on their site.
You can ask it questions. It can help you set
goals or gain insights to your money at a deeper level.
But AI can also be like a marketing buzzword, and
so it makes me think of another fintech product, betterment.
They don't use artificial intelligence because what they've said is
that they found that simpler approaches are more effective for them.
(25:11):
I don't know, to boil it down, I guess I'm
excited about the potential, but I'm also wary of the
need for AI in a whole lot of the financial
realm too.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
And so much of it I think is just marketing.
I mean, like, are these companies actually using AI or
are they just have they just updated their algorithms, Like right,
it's all the same, Like we've been complaining about algorithms,
and maybe that hasn't cause as much steam because I
don't know, it's not like this a brain new sector,
but like the whole just like the ads that were
fed via social media, it's like, Okay, that sounds a
lot like the AI that Monarch or Copilot has implemented
(25:43):
into their budgeting, and so much of it I think
is marketing and folks looking to cash in and to
show that they're forward thinking, they're you know, they're utilizing
technology in order to benefit their customers and to better
their products.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, but you're right, some of it is smoking mirrors.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
That's what it feels like to me. And and specifically
I think because of chat GPT, because it has like
the way it gives you the information, it's like there's somebody,
you know, it's like there's some mine behind it. It's
like typing it out and you're seeing it, and it's
like that's it's just like incomplete Google results that are
being sort of fed to you in real time, you know,
and it's just formatted in such a way that looks
(26:19):
like there's somebody on the other end. But so much
of it I think is perception.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Even the new AI results with Google, when you see
that at the very top, it's linking to multiple articles
underneath ward's referencing them from and.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
It's almost like the same old thing.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's like the pull out they had before, which highlights
it takes information from one article different format though it's
a different format and that matters, And I guess how
it is that folks interpret, and I get that it's
a little different of how they may pull it off
on the back end, but yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
I think it's I think it's overblown, by the way.
So we're talking about investing. Don't let the different talking
heads on TV influence how you invest either. There was
a segment over on Fox Business where the economist Harry
Dent not to be confused with Harvey Dent, but he
predicted a stock mark crash worse than the two thousand
and eight crisis. The bubbles of all bubbles is what
(27:04):
he called it. And he's predicting an eighty six percent
drop in the SMP. That's bad news, man, that'd be historic. Which,
of course, this then reminds me of the phrase about
econdomists predicting nine of the last three recessions. So we
think this is also overblown, because, yeah, the stock market
might experience a meaningful decline of twenty percent even more,
(27:28):
that certainly could happen. Can we predict that when it's
gonna happen. There's no way or if it'll happen. I'm
pretty sure mister Dent that he's not going to be
able to predict it either. So we're pointing this out
because we want you to stay the course. And it
also makes me think about the reason so many folks
get airtime like this is because when you're being cautious
and you're calling for a correction, it's like, Hey, the
(27:49):
good times they're not gonna they're not gonna last. How
is that person perceived? They're seen as wise, they're seen
as prudent, as opposed to let's take out what history
has actually shown us over the paste hundred years, which
is that the stock market goes up three out of
every four years. What do you do with that information?
Will you say, oh, okay, then I'm just going to
continue to invest no matter what. Well, what is the
summary of if you take that sort of mindset, Oh,
(28:11):
you're seen as naive, you're pollyannish at the very least,
being the most interous. You're seeing as just overly optimistic.
But that's the reality. But obviously that doesn't get the headline,
that doesn't get the clicks.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And I don't think it means that we're not seeing
any frothy behavior in the stock market or that there
isn't going to be some reversion to the meme because
I've seen outside gains over.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Talk to UST few years, Talk to me four years, yeah,
you know, talk to me after a decade.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I think if you're going to ask either of us,
will the stock market be at higher levels in four
years than it is today? I mean for sure?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yes, yes?
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Does that mean we won't experience a lot of volatility
in between.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
In the daytime? We probably will, But it doesn't matter
because we're not investing for the short term. Yeah, we're
investing for the long term. That's right.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Let's talk about spaving math. Have you heard of this
term before? I did not until this article. Okay, so
it's another dumb trend cult spaving that the USA Today
highlighted this week. And I don't know, maybe this is
just another term that the young kids are using and
you and I are too old to realize it. Now
we are over the hill. That's always stupid terms. We'll
get us stay up to speed on our vocabulary, though.
(29:13):
And so this is a new term though for something
it's old.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
For Joel, your riz is off the chain this morning.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I don't think he's say off the chain anymore? Run riz?
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yes, Well, I was combining the two. Okay, it's like, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
All right, I appreciate like it, Yeah, nicely done, but okay.
So spaving is a new term for the age old
belief that you can save more by spending more. Is
letting the buy one get one fifty percent off deal
triggered to buy two things when you only needed one
because it feels like you're saving more in the process.
Or it's spending more to hit a free shipping threshold
(29:46):
when you weren't planning on buying those additional items in
the first place. We've all been there. I too have
had my mind hijacked in that way, Matt, so I
think this is a normal human condition. It's also it's
I would say, it's like spending more to hit a
credit card welcome bonus. It's right that you can earn
the eighty five thousand Southwest miles right now. We'll put
a link to that show notes if you want to
the details on how to get the Southwest Companion Pass
(30:07):
easier than ever given how many miles are throwing out there.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I just booked a kate Is Colorado trip for for
later this fall. I guess how much it costs me
to buy that second ticket nothing nine dollars and thirty
cents just for whatever the tax nine eleven ye charge exactly.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
So those Southwest points coming super handy. But it's only
worth signing up for the credit card if you're not
having to manufacture spending to get there, which means having
to spend more than your normal budget allows for putting
you into debt that you can't pay off. Right, And
so if you know you're going to use that item
and you have the funds, or if you're buying in bulk,
you're stocking up spending more now to prolong your next purchase,
(30:42):
that's fine, but watch out for the marketing attempts trying
to make it sound like buying more is going to
save you more, it's going to perk your frugal ears up,
especially if you somebody like me. But ultimately it's a letdown,
and it means you've spent more than you than you
otherwise would have. And I feel like nothing gets in
that zone, Matt, as much as Black Friday and all
(31:02):
those deals like oh, you're a dummy if you don't
spend money this way because it's saving you money, and
it's like.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Well, you actually need it, not really Nope. Yeah. It
makes me think of a recent article in the Atlantic
about the free trial trap, because, of course, who doesn't
want a free seven day trial or even like a
free month of service. But that offery doesn't exist out
of the goodness of that company's heart. It's a it's
a bait. It's to get a hook in your mouth.
And there's actually good news all the streaming front, because
(31:29):
we're seeing cancelations tick up to record numbers as the
different streaming services out there proliferate folks are realizing that
is eating up more of their monthly budget, and they're
cracking down the more folks are canceling everything like us,
they're opting to cancel a bit more indiscriminately at least.
But the free trial trap, man, the thing is real
(31:50):
because forgetting to cancel is costing folks big bucks. In
spider web, man, it's like it's more the fly, it's
a death by a thousand cuts because you don't think
it's that big of a deal, but all of those
things added up makes an impact. The US. They even
stued Adobe this week, did you see that over they
were making canceling too difficult for their customers. But It's
okay to try things before you buy, but don't forget,
(32:12):
like use a calendar reminder to ensure that you don't
forget to cancel that, like a couple of days at
least in advance, you know, because if you hit snows
or maybe if you click and drag it over to
the next day because you're like, ugh, I don't want
to do it today, give yourself a little bit of marginess.
There's a difference too, between again, between forgetting about it
versus just be becoming immune to those prices. And luckily,
(32:33):
more and more for folks are becoming less insulated from
those charges because there are so many of them, right, Like,
that's the thing. It's you know, you're talking about part
time jobs earlier, Like that's what it takes in order
to manage all of the different subscription services out there.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
There's a reason they give you free access for a
limited time because they know most people aren't going to cancel, Matt.
They realize I think we gave that statistic not too
long ago about people who signed up for Peacock to
watch the Chiefs Dolphins game back in the fall, and
people are so excited about that, and they sign up
for Peacock and then they never cancel, and maybe that's
(33:09):
the only thing they've watched on that service, but they're
still paying for it. The same thing with a gym membership. Man,
does any industry do it better than the gyms. Let's
talk about groceries for a second, and maybe whether or
not you should drive more in an attempt to save more.
There was an article in the Wall Street Journal citing
that more Americans are shopping around to save money. They're
hitting up various retailers in order to snag the specials
(33:32):
at each given store, even driving the cheaper area codes
to shop at less expensive stores. So made me think,
Matt like Publics is a grocery chain out of Florida
that we have some of them here in Georgia, actually
a lot of them, and they have a slew of
Bogo offers every week by wing get one free deals.
Those items can be a really good price if you're
buying just those Bogo deals at Publics, but the normal
(33:54):
prices are higher than basically every other grocery chain out there.
Publics has nice stores, and they charge more for almost
every item on their shelves than the discount chains You
and I like to shop at. So I don't know,
maybe you want to hit up publics but just based
on the Bogo deals and then you go somewhere else
to get more of your other groceries. The best way
(34:14):
to plan out your grocery purchases is to use the
website basically a digital tool like flip dot com flipp
dot com, so you can see all the sales flyers
in one place. That'll help you create a grocery saving strategy.
If you're the kind of person who says I'm willing
to not just go to a one stop shop or
to drive further to get to the discount place, maybe
I want to hit up two or three spots.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well that's I think that's the problem. That's my biggest
issue that I have with the journal with the headline,
which is them saying that hey, you can no longer
do the one stop shop. But that's not true. And
people they have so fallen into like they've fallen in
love with certain brands and they're like, oh, I got
to go to this store to get this because they're
the only place that sells that. I want to push
back on that a little bit, like you don't necessarily
(34:55):
need all the different options. You can just go to
Ald and not even look at the different deals at
the different grocery stores to save time and you you're
still going to save a ton of money. And I
know not everyone has an all D near them, but
they're dude. I feel like they're multiplying like rabbits, like
they're they're opening more and more of those stores are
opening all over the place. If you've never considered going
to an Aldi, you've got to check it out.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
We're legal as well as a cousin to Aldi. That's
where we shot were.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
It's we're slightly more complex, fancier cousin of Ald.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Is how I view letal. They're pretty similar legal and costco.
That's they get the bulk of our grocery dollars. But yeah,
I think the time and energy it takes and the
additional planning it takes to shop in a bunch of
different grocery stores, you got to figure out how much
are you actually saving and whether it's worth the hours
you're putting into. So that's why I'm going to a
place like all the or Legal, like trying to really
(35:44):
get the bulk of your stuff at one store, but
the cheapest store is probably the best, best, the way
to do it. Yeah, all right, Matt, that's going to
do it for this episode. Hope everyone out there has
a fantastic weekend. We'll links to all the resources we
mentioned in this episode up on our website and how
to Money.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yes right, if you have not left us a review,
we would love for you to spend just a few
minutes of your weekend heading over to How to Money
wherever it is that you are listening to this podcast,
really just twenty seconds, that's true, and just mashing the
five stars. If you've found this episode, it would be
helpful and valuable. War my hearts, we thank you in advance.
But that's going to be it, buddy. Until next time,
Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.
Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt,
and today we're talking about avoiding up cells, hoa hell
and astrological investing.
Speaker 2 (00:28):
Dude, I don't think I realized how many folks are
into astrology. Did I tell you about how so our
local mountain that we like to that we often hike
at the top there, there's it's pretty bare, right, so
it's just a bunch of rock essentially, and there are
like a bunch of crystals that were out with like
some paint and some other sort of interesting stuff. I
(00:49):
was like, what is all this? And somebody was like, oh,
that's it was like a full moon and folks will
put their crystals out to absorb the energy from the moon.
I guess, okay, or maybe at certain stars. Have you
ever heard of that kind of thing?
Speaker 1 (01:00):
And I mean, I know that there's people who do
that, that it exists, and I think it's been going up
in popularity. It makes me think of when we had
Cody Sanchez. She was into crystals, remember that, Oh that
was like her, that was her sporge. I think was
really buying crystals, that's right.
Speaker 2 (01:13):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (01:14):
I don't know much about it though, but we are
going to talk a little bit about astrology and how
some people are, especially younger folks, are letting the alignment
of the stars impact how they choose to invest, thinking
they might do better in the long run. But before
we get to that, Matt, let's talk about the Built Card.
It's one of the best credit cards out there. We've
talked about specifically for renters. So homeowners, Sorry, you can't
(01:36):
get rewarded for paying your mortgage with a credit card? Yeah,
but renters and can.
Speaker 2 (01:40):
And for a while there we were saying, hey, homeowners,
hang time, because maybe this will be something that becomes
an option for you. It's looking like that's less or
less going to be an option. That's not going to happen.
It's not going to happen. And why is that not
going to happen? Well, it's the reason it's not going
to happen is because the Built Card is losing the
issuing which as well as Fargo ten million dollars a month.
(02:02):
There was a profile in the Wall Street Journal specifically
about this card, and obviously it's been a boon for renters.
They're you know, earning points and significant amounts of cash
back on a no fee credit card. This doesn't come
with an annual fee, and so for renters out there,
the bill card is like one you should have in
your wallet. How long will it be around? That remains
(02:23):
to be seen because the bank is getting screwed because
they made prognostications about the type of people who would
open one of these cards up and what they have
found is the folks using this credit card have pretty
healthy finances.
Speaker 1 (02:37):
They aren't keeping a balance well, So.
Speaker 2 (02:39):
I think it's less about having healthy find it like,
think about it, like, how do banks actually make money?
Like yes, like you've got your anual fees, but you
make money on the balances that you don't pay off, right,
Like you the idea from the bank's point of view,
I'm thinking like an evil bank, right, I got my
monocle in my eye, and you want folks to have
plastic and go out there and to rack up a
bunch of charges that you're not necessarily planning on and
(03:00):
then oh the statement hits and you're like, oh, dang it,
I don't have enough money to pay this off. You
carry a balance boom, you're paying interest in the banks
making money, and the.
Speaker 1 (03:08):
Bank says you're a good customer.
Speaker 2 (03:10):
Exactly. But what charge are we talking about here that
folks are opening or applying for the bill card specifically
for their rent that is not a surprise payment like that.
Literally they're called renters like it's built into the name,
the name of folks who are renting apartments, and so
it's just I don't think there's any other monthly expense
that folks are so used to paying if you are
(03:31):
a renter, as opposed to something that you might see
on the shelf or there's a sale, folks are prepared
to pay off that balance people in every single month.
People who get that card, they're using it for rent payments,
and I don't think they're using it for a whole
lot else.
Speaker 1 (03:44):
I think we've talked about it. It's their quote unquote
rent card, right exactly. And there are other things you
can use it for than be I think like paying
for your cell phone service with the bill card. That's
nice because it comes with that cell phone protection. It's
one of the best credit cards for cel phone protection too.
But yeah, it's the Wells Fargo is shocked that they're
losing so much money, should be shocked though.
Speaker 2 (04:03):
That's I guess that's that's what I'm thinking.
Speaker 1 (04:05):
I don't know. I think they've inked this deal for
years to come, so they're not gonna be able to
get out of this perpetual money losing situation. It's just
another reminder. Yes, the bank's losing money, but maybe you,
if you're a renter, should help them lose even more
money and go sign up for this card because it's
the only way to actually get rewarded for paying your rent.
There has been no other card before this, and they're.
Speaker 2 (04:22):
Probably because they're going to learn from Wills Fargo's mistakes.
It's almost as if the branding worked too well, Like
they branded it too hard as the only car that
you can put your int on, and if you have
siloed that card, it's no wonder that they're losing money
because folks are they're using it as a tool, and
they're like they're using that card judiciously as opposed to
getting sucked into how you would typically spend when you're
(04:45):
shopping online. You know, it's like it's the opposite of
like Klarna or four monthly installments.
Speaker 1 (04:51):
Yeah, I'm not shocked at this. I don't think you
are either, but it's just how how badly this has
played out for the banks, and how well it's played
out for consumers is impressive.
Speaker 2 (05:02):
Who's losing money more Washington Post on a daily basis
or Wells Fargo with the built card.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
It's probably the Washington Post, but it's it's close. But
we'll actually link to the review that we have up
on how to money dot Com of the Built card.
Matt and I homeowners, we can't take advantage of this,
but if you're a renter, you might still find And
I think there's still a lot of years left that
this that Wells Fargo and built are tied together, so
it's not like it's going away soon, but it might
go away in the future. But while the Sunshine and Maky.
Speaker 2 (05:29):
I wouldn't be surprised too. If it's in the find
type that they can change the different payouts. So we'll
see maybe, but for now it exists. All right, let's
move ont. Let's get to the Friday Flight. It's a
quick sampling of stories we found interesting this week. We've
already kind of started the Friday Flight, I guess, so
that was kind of a time a little more newsworthy.
Speaker 1 (05:44):
All right, well, let's talk about one of our favorite
cheap travel hacks. Now we've talked about this, but we
haven't talked about it in a long time. Megabus, it's the
one of the cheapest ways to get around the country
is by taking a bus. We're so used to taking flights,
and flights have you gone down dramatically in price in
recent years?
Speaker 2 (06:00):
I get that.
Speaker 1 (06:00):
I just booked some Southwest flights recently on a sale
they had a couple of weeks ago. Well, Megabus is
filed for bankruptcy, and a single tear came to my
eye when I read that, because I have enjoyed a
few trips on Megabus. Myself has been a Megabus patron. Yeah,
it's been a while, but I'm like, I want them
to be around. I'll probably use it in the future
at some point, but unlow you won't You really.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
Think you'll use them in the future, Yeah, for sure. Okay,
do they have seats as low as a dollar? And
it's I think, I just you don't have.
Speaker 1 (06:28):
To go through the rigamarole of security getting the airport,
if it's a.
Speaker 2 (06:31):
Little to get to the actual bus stop. If you're
sitting there, it takes so much longer. Like we always
talk about how your time is worth money, and like,
I think it's a decent option for folks who might
have a like have some additional time. But like, but
it's not even sometimes you'll give it a shot, all right,
Sometimes it's additional time.
Speaker 1 (06:46):
But guess what, when you're on a bus, you can
do a lot of other productive things. And there's Wi
Fi on that bush. So you do that on a
plane too, you can, but then you've got to go through,
like I just said, the security all that kind of
stuff depends how far you're going. If you're going on
like a five or six hour bus ride, well versus
a plane trip, well, the economics are better of the
bus and the time is about equal. And so yeah,
(07:07):
post COVID, the airline travel bounce back, but bus travel
hasn't seen the same resurgence, and so that is why
megabus is dealing with these financial issues. The good news
is though Megabus is going to remain in service while
they're filing for bankruptcy. So I don't know. I think
it's good. I think for regional travel, don't forget about
bus travel. And some people, Matt, they are cheaper like me,
(07:28):
and they're willing to, like, hey, save fifty bucks because
that's how much less expensive bus travel is. And guess what,
I can sleep on the bus, or I can get
some work done because there's a Wi Fi too. I
don't know. I think when you're taking trips in that
four to eight hour range, bus travel can be better
than driving in flying.
Speaker 2 (07:44):
Well, I'm just gonna point out you can do work
on a plane. You can also sleep on a plane.
I would say better, perhaps even on the plane, because
you kind of got that nice plane drone going on
that somehow just puts me to sleep. And you mentioned
the one dollar like because you know they've got it
painted on the actual buses, and like the fact is,
like those seats are incredibly limited, like sometimes it's only
like a single seat on an entire bus route in
(08:06):
order for them to be able to advertise that.
Speaker 1 (08:08):
I just looked up a recent round trip fair though,
and it wasn't dollar seats, but it would have been
forty bucks round trip to the destination. I was thinking,
I guess, I'm like a similar plane flight could have
been one to eighty So you're talking about a significant gap.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
Possibly, Yeah, I guess for folks though, who have a
like a solid vehicle, like you're going to take your car, and.
Speaker 1 (08:24):
So specifically a lot more than that smifically multitask in
the same way in a.
Speaker 2 (08:28):
Car like that's per ticket, right, And so if.
Speaker 1 (08:30):
You're because you're not interested, and it doesn't mean other
people aren't.
Speaker 2 (08:33):
I think other people might. But also if you have
your own vehicle, like the convenience of having all your
stuff in your own vehicle, especially the more people you
pile into the vehicle, like it makes me think of
like in college, like when you would go on a
road trip. The more the merrier, because that's just another
person that can ship into the cost of gas. But
I think especially for folks who might live in a
bigger city who don't have a car, this is the
(08:53):
affordable option absolutely. But for folks who have a car, man,
I can't imagine there are too many folks who are thinking, oh, yeah,
I want to catch a ride an uber, get a friend,
drop me off at the bus stop so I can
save twenty bucks, when instead I can just hop in
the car and it's gonna be more than twenty bucks.
Speaker 1 (09:08):
It just it depends. It can be expensive and run
the numbers. But bus travel underrated all right, Speaking of traveling,
the mat. If you are traveling by plane and you're
thinking about going internationally, it's crucial to check your passport
expiration date. My older sister found herself in a conundrum
the other the other day she bought the plane ticket
for herself and for her son to go travel down
(09:29):
to Panama, and her son got stranded at home because
they had an updated his passport. And so it's really
crucial to do well in advance of your trip, because, yeah,
you don't want that money to go to waste. We
talked a while back about the State Department allowing for
the online renewal of passports, and I actually got in
on that during the very small window that they had
(09:51):
that available. It was like this short lived pilot program.
But they have resuscitated it. It's back and it's a
big time saver. So you got to be over the
age of twenty five to have had a passport for
at least ten years. And the State Department says they're
going to have a limited number of slots available for
online renewal each day. So our advice to you is
to get up early, get that application submitted if you
(10:12):
need to renew your passport. It's so much better than
driving somewhere waiting in line, which is what you had
to do, sadly, Matt. So it is the online. We
can do so many things online now, renewing the passport.
It just makes sense and it's going to, like I
think it's going to make renewing your passport much less
of a hassle.
Speaker 2 (10:28):
So yeah, I think I waited close to an hour,
although that was last year when travel was super hot.
Travels down this year. So if you don't happen to
be able to do it online, maybe it won't be quite.
Speaker 1 (10:37):
As bad for you, but at least look into it.
Speaker 2 (10:38):
But while we're talking about traveling, the Journal just wrote
about how good airlines are at upselling their passengers. They've
been decoupling the price of the ticket as well as
extra conveniences for years now, and the price of the
ticket now gets your button the seat, but it doesn't
get you a whole lot else. If you want to
be able to pick your specific seat, that's going to
(10:59):
be an extra or twenty bucks. If you want to
be at the front of the line, well you're gonna
pay for that as well. The cost of a something
beyond like a small backpack that you can shove into
the little metal box that's obviously going to uh if
you do it there at the gate, is going to
cost you, like even maybe more than the ticket.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
We saw that in our last trip. A couple of
yesaw their bags fit, they didn't quite fit, and then.
Speaker 2 (11:20):
They had two additional bags, like eighty bucks a pop.
Speaker 1 (11:23):
No, it was one hundred. They spent two hundred bucks.
Speaker 2 (11:25):
A lot of money. But here's the thing we're not
We're not highlighting this because we dislike it. Actually, personally,
I think this is a great thing because it gives
you optionality.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
Like in our our backsit we didn't have to pay well.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
Because we knew ahead of sign But the ability essentially
to not pay for a bunch of extras that you're
not going to take advantage of gives people the ability
to travel for less when maybe otherwise they would not
be able to take that flight. Like if you are
the one taking advantage of all the goodies, all the extras, okay,
well maybe you're actually making out like a bandit, But
like I don't necessarily want to subsidize a guy in
(11:56):
front of me, like chucking cokes or like the supply
of snacks on like a three hour flight when instead
I might go with an option that allows me to
decouple the price of the ticket from those additional perks.
Speaker 1 (12:09):
And really what that means is for savvy travelers, more money.
You're able to save more money you can funnel towards
additional trips. If that's your jams right, all right, So
this is not a dental advice map, but on the
note of travel, people should consider open jaw to save money.
We talked about open jaw very much. No, yeah, it
sounds like something a dentist would take you to open
your jaw. Well, what is an open jaw trip?
Speaker 2 (12:31):
Actually, no, the dentistas that close your jaw like you're
supposed to breathe through your nose.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
No, but they have to open it so they can
open your mouth. Yes, they can clean it if you're close.
If your jaw is closed, they can't really do much
with your teeth, right, gotcha, got you gotta do some work. Well,
open jaw flights or when you fly into one city
and out of another, and it can save you hundreds
of dollars taking this strategy. This could work particularly well
for like, let's say a trip to Europe that you
might be planning because that way, not only does it
(12:57):
potentially save you money, but you don't have to navigate
back to starting city if you're planning on bouncing around
to multiple spots. And yeah, the money saving is the
thing we care about the most, because all it takes
is some planning, some flexibility, some creativity in searching four
flights to and from multiple destinations on a site like
Google Flights that can help you take your trip for
far less than you might have thought on the front end,
(13:18):
like hey, yep, I'll maybe I'll fly into Rome and
then I'll fly out of Amsterdam and check and seat
like some do some searches, like spend thirty minutes checking
a bunch of destinations to and from and you might
find Wait, I thought my trip to Europe was gonna
cost me nine hundred and fifty bucks. Oh, it's only
gonna cost me six to fifty if I plan it
out this way. And I think, yeah, that incentive makes
(13:40):
me want to do some creative search.
Speaker 2 (13:41):
It's funny that you mentioned in Italy because that's literally
turns out I've been an open jaw travel did you
didn't share why it's called open jaw? So it's called
open jaw because imagine like a sideways V, like a
greater greater than symbol, Like basically you're flying in and
out of a different city essentially, so it kind of
looks like an open mouth. That's exactly what I did
when we backpacked Italy back when I was in college.
(14:04):
We flew into Milan because at least at the time,
that was the absolute cheapest flight, and then we popped around, like,
we checked flights out of Italy from different cities, and
it turned out that flying out of Venice was going
to be the most affordable option. So we're like, boom,
that's what we're flying in and what seven days later
we're flying out of there? Yeah, what we do in
the middle.
Speaker 1 (14:23):
So it's up to us, Right, that's totally the way
to do it. Just because most people book straight up
round trip to and from the same destination. Just because
that is the norm doesn't mean it's the way you're
going to save the most money.
Speaker 2 (14:34):
All Right. Here is some news that actually may not
be news to you if you are a part of
an HOA, but they can be unpredictable, especially if you've
I don't know how to run in with your hoa.
Speaker 1 (14:44):
If you still got your Christmas decorations up, you deserve
the notices you're getting.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
All right, This is an extreme example, but Yahoo Finance
they published an article about a Florida condo association that's
levying a six figure special assessment.
Speaker 1 (15:00):
Hundred thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (15:01):
It's like one hundred and thirty four thousand dollars per unit.
There's a new law in Florida and they're forcing older
condo complexes to shore up their structural or potential structural issues.
This is, of course, in the wake of the surf
Side condo collapse. Gosh, how long ago was that now a.
Speaker 1 (15:17):
Couple of years.
Speaker 2 (15:18):
But those updates they can be insanely expensive, causing many
to just leave to vacate their condos instead of forking
of a massive chunk of change because they can't afford it.
But then on top of that, potential buyers they're wary too,
which means sales price are shrinking. So we are We're
pointing this out because sixty percent of new builds these
(15:38):
days come with an HOA, and depending on your opinion,
like there are certainly pros to having an HOA, but
there's cons too. Of course, the financial side of it,
and so we want folks to be careful. Look at
the financial standing of your HOA, look at the reserves,
make sure there are reserves. Maybe even talk to somebody
that's either on the board, maybe talk to other residents
(16:02):
that are under that HOA before you move forward, because
if not, it could come back to bite you.
Speaker 1 (16:07):
And it might sound nice that, oh man, the monthly agoafe,
it's so small. It's one hundred and twelve dollars a
month or something like that, and look at all the
amenities it comes with, but that could be an artificially
low amount. Makes My mother in law bought a condo,
like I guess, this was probably ten years ago in Atlanta,
and she found out quickly that that low hoafe, well,
they hadn't bumped it up in a long time, and
(16:29):
so then they had a deferred maintenance, a lot of
deferred maintenance, and then they had the levy a special assessment.
Not six figures fortunately, but I want to say it
was like six thousand dollars. So if you're not planning
for that, it can derail you. Right Like most people,
they're not equipped to handle that. And you have to
realize that's a possibility with homeowner associations. We actually have
a new article up on the site that we'll link
(16:49):
to about the pros and cons of hoas it can
potentially help protect your property value, but can also on
the flip side, cost you a lot of money and
you might get hit with a giant bill that you
weren't expecting.
Speaker 2 (17:01):
Yeah. Plus, so we're talking about the financial side of it,
but don't forget about like all the drama side of
things as well. Oh yeah, you're signing up for There's
just a whole lot more that goes into it. And honestly,
that is hoa's or I always say, the lack of
an HOA where we currently live, like that is one
of the that's a big reason why we're not considering
some of these other neighborhoods that are near us and
instead we're about to renovate our homes because we don't
(17:22):
have an HOA, which means we have the freedom and
the autonomy to do not exactly like whatever we wanted,
but within the city rules and stuff. Yeah, exactly like
within good days. Like dude, some neighborhoods like you can't
even put playhouses or structures in it, like in your backyard,
not the front yard like in the backyard.
Speaker 1 (17:40):
Well, one of my friends he bought a condo down
in Florida and the HOA was so poorly runs. He said,
the only way that I could that things could turn
around is if I ran for president. He ran for president.
Now he's got a part time job being the HOA president.
This takes twenty to twenty five hours a week of
his time. It's insane, and but thank you, But that's
his investment, Like he hasn't investment of this condo, and
(18:01):
the only way to make sure that his investment stays
intact is to put in all this time and effort
to turn things around. So yes, hoas can be a
blessing or a curse. And you just have to have
your eyes wide open before you buy a home inside
of an HOA neighborhood. And that's just one of the
rising costs of home ownership, many of which feel hidden
from people these days. We all know about higher home prices,
(18:23):
higher interest rates, but the annual cost of home maintenance
has increased by almost thirty percent over the past few
years too. Bank Rate just did a study. They found
that the average homeowner is spending eighteen thousand dollars a
year in taxes, insurance, utilities and repairs, and renters, they
obviously have to pay for utilities and insurance too, although
their insurance renters insurance is so much cheaper than homeowner's insurance.
(18:46):
But it's crucial to budget for these costs if you
want to own a home. It's another reason I would
say renting isn't throwing away money. I think home ownership
is a great goal, but you also have to realize
that they're additional costs beyond the mortgage, significant additional costs.
Speaker 2 (19:00):
We want folks to make informed decisions. Joel, while we
are talking about real estate, let's talk about real estate
investments for a second, and specifically it's talk about real
estate syndication deals, because that's not something I don't think
we've talked about at all, or much at all, at
least maybe with on the show Braindon Turner back today.
Oh yeah, that's right. But like bottom line, one of
the reasons we don't discuss these often is because they're
(19:22):
they're only available to accredited investors, which means folks who
either have like a really large net worth or a
sky high income. But Bloomberg They had an article this
week about how many of these syndication deals are unraveling
because of the higher interest rates because unlike your primary
home financing, for these bigger real estate deals, it's not
locked in for the same duration, and so what that
(19:44):
means is that it is less insulated from the rising
rates that we've been experiencing, and investors are they're finding
out the hard way as quarterly payments they're drawing up,
they're capitals now at risk. And again, we want folks
to be informed. Like the syndication deals, they're not the devil,
but the devil is in the details. And these they're
(20:05):
just not quite as hot as they were a couple
of years ago as rates were lower, and so we
want folks to be incredibly cautious with this type of investment.
Speaker 1 (20:12):
Yeah, there are a lot of real estate influencers out there, Matt,
who wants you to think that real estate syndication it's
this private investment that other people don't want you to
know about. And it's a really laid back way to
invest in real estate that you don't have to get
your hands dirty buying your own property. But as people
are seeing when the economic environment shifts, some syndication deals
are doing quite well because the operator did their due
(20:34):
diligence and they locked in solid financing terms for an
extended period of time. But a lot of the more
precarious syndication deals are falling flat and investors are losing money.
So yeah, just a warning for anybody out there who
is considering going that route. We've got more to get
to on this episode, including a prediction that we're in
a stock market bubble. We'll talk about that and more
right after this, but we are back from the break.
Speaker 2 (21:03):
We got more personal finance goodness to get to today.
But let's go ahead and get to the ludicrous headline
of the week, and this one is from Business Insider.
The headline reads, can the stars predict the stock market?
Gen Z think? So you like my voice there? That's
my incredulous, stupid headline voice, because obviously, first of all,
(21:25):
the entire population, the entire gen Z generation, does not
think that astrology is gonna aid them in stock picking.
I bet a gen exer wrote that headline. That does
seem like a gen X kind of thing to do.
Speaker 1 (21:37):
I just like stomp on the generation below me.
Speaker 2 (21:40):
So the headline itself is annoying, but like it's also
true that some in the younger generation, maybe they are
looking for an investing edge and they are looking to astrology.
Maybe they're looking to tarot cards to advise them. And
one person who takes this tactic and this isn't the story,
they said, I tend to long the full moon, in short,
(22:01):
the new moon.
Speaker 1 (22:02):
What do you do with the harvest moon?
Speaker 2 (22:04):
Uh? What like? What does this even mean? It's just
it's ridiculous. It's hard to tell how widespread this sort
of approach is and what it is that you're letting
influence how it is that you invest. But if you're
in astrology, I think that's fine. You're in a crystals,
go for it, you do you, But similar to your politics,
don't let that influence your investments. Don't let it influence
(22:27):
how you invest when you get in and get out
of the market, or even why, like your long term
rationale and the reason behind what like what it is
that you're investing for.
Speaker 1 (22:36):
And let's be honest, if you're a twenty five year
old and you think that you have special insight into
the stars and how that impacts the markets, well, don't
you think Neil de grasse Tyson would have figured this
out by now. Don't you think he would be the billionaire?
Like if there was some sort of rhyme or reason
to the movement of the planets and the sun and
the stars. Pretty sure that's the dude, Matt, who would
have capitalized on this. Not a person fresh out of college.
Speaker 2 (22:59):
See, but he he understands the stars in a different
way than folks who are into astrology.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
Dude, you know, like there's a spirit and there are
more advanced astrologers who would have this. I'm just saying.
Speaker 2 (23:09):
But what they're saying is like, oh, I've I'm at
the intersection of astrology and investing. It's it's it's like
the Memestock generation of folks who think that this is
something that they can perhaps look to.
Speaker 1 (23:20):
And I get the desire to increase your performance right there,
Like it's an understandable human desire. We talked about this too, Matt.
American exceptionalism almost demands that we not be average, and
so inside of investing, the line that we toe is
that average is the best thing for you. And I
get why people want to buck against that and they
want outsized returns. But it's hard to come by, and
(23:41):
these some of these just pie in the sky strategies
aren't going to help you get there, and in fact,
so much of the time you are going to lose
money by trying some novel theory of investing. Speaking of investing,
a new study from Northwestern Mutual finds that younger folks
are more open to AI money management tools than their
boom counterparts, although for most financial planning tasks, research also
(24:04):
showed that most people still prefer humans like fifty four
percent to just AI alone fifteen percent. And so obviously
AI is not like primetime. It's primetime for some things,
maybe for helping you with your writing tasks or search
results something like that. Well, AI is likely going to
be more of a help than a hindrance in the future,
particularly when it comes to some of these money tasks,
(24:25):
and we are seeing this transition in real time with
new fintech products. Taking a copilot Matt, it's a cool
budgeting tool, and they use artificial intelligence to help you
categorize transactions that are specific to your budget and your situation.
It gets smarter over time, right, makes that budgeting process
easier and more specific to you. Monarch money is another
(24:48):
one that we've talked about a great budgeting app. They
use AI to give you more personalized advice on their site.
You can ask it questions. It can help you set
goals or gain insights to your money at a deeper level.
But AI can also be like a marketing buzzword, and
so it makes me think of another fintech product, betterment.
They don't use artificial intelligence because what they've said is
that they found that simpler approaches are more effective for them.
(25:11):
I don't know, to boil it down, I guess I'm
excited about the potential, but I'm also wary of the
need for AI in a whole lot of the financial
realm too.
Speaker 2 (25:20):
And so much of it I think is just marketing.
I mean, like, are these companies actually using AI or
are they just have they just updated their algorithms, Like right,
it's all the same, Like we've been complaining about algorithms,
and maybe that hasn't cause as much steam because I
don't know, it's not like this a brain new sector,
but like the whole just like the ads that were
fed via social media, it's like, Okay, that sounds a
lot like the AI that Monarch or Copilot has implemented
(25:43):
into their budgeting, and so much of it I think
is marketing and folks looking to cash in and to
show that they're forward thinking, they're you know, they're utilizing
technology in order to benefit their customers and to better
their products.
Speaker 1 (25:55):
Yeah, but you're right, some of it is smoking mirrors.
Speaker 2 (25:58):
That's what it feels like to me. And and specifically
I think because of chat GPT, because it has like
the way it gives you the information, it's like there's somebody,
you know, it's like there's some mine behind it. It's
like typing it out and you're seeing it, and it's
like that's it's just like incomplete Google results that are
being sort of fed to you in real time, you know,
and it's just formatted in such a way that looks
(26:19):
like there's somebody on the other end. But so much
of it I think is perception.
Speaker 1 (26:22):
Even the new AI results with Google, when you see
that at the very top, it's linking to multiple articles
underneath ward's referencing them from and.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
It's almost like the same old thing.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
It's like the pull out they had before, which highlights
it takes information from one article different format though it's
a different format and that matters, And I guess how
it is that folks interpret, and I get that it's
a little different of how they may pull it off
on the back end, but yeah, it is.
Speaker 2 (26:42):
I think it's I think it's overblown, by the way.
So we're talking about investing. Don't let the different talking
heads on TV influence how you invest either. There was
a segment over on Fox Business where the economist Harry
Dent not to be confused with Harvey Dent, but he
predicted a stock mark crash worse than the two thousand
and eight crisis. The bubbles of all bubbles is what
(27:04):
he called it. And he's predicting an eighty six percent
drop in the SMP. That's bad news, man, that'd be historic. Which,
of course, this then reminds me of the phrase about
econdomists predicting nine of the last three recessions. So we
think this is also overblown, because, yeah, the stock market
might experience a meaningful decline of twenty percent even more,
(27:28):
that certainly could happen. Can we predict that when it's
gonna happen. There's no way or if it'll happen. I'm
pretty sure mister Dent that he's not going to be
able to predict it either. So we're pointing this out
because we want you to stay the course. And it
also makes me think about the reason so many folks
get airtime like this is because when you're being cautious
and you're calling for a correction, it's like, Hey, the
(27:49):
good times they're not gonna they're not gonna last. How
is that person perceived? They're seen as wise, they're seen
as prudent, as opposed to let's take out what history
has actually shown us over the paste hundred years, which
is that the stock market goes up three out of
every four years. What do you do with that information?
Will you say, oh, okay, then I'm just going to
continue to invest no matter what. Well, what is the
summary of if you take that sort of mindset, Oh,
(28:11):
you're seen as naive, you're pollyannish at the very least,
being the most interous. You're seeing as just overly optimistic.
But that's the reality. But obviously that doesn't get the headline,
that doesn't get the clicks.
Speaker 1 (28:21):
And I don't think it means that we're not seeing
any frothy behavior in the stock market or that there
isn't going to be some reversion to the meme because
I've seen outside gains over.
Speaker 2 (28:30):
Talk to UST few years, Talk to me four years, yeah,
you know, talk to me after a decade.
Speaker 1 (28:34):
I think if you're going to ask either of us,
will the stock market be at higher levels in four
years than it is today? I mean for sure?
Speaker 2 (28:41):
Yes, yes?
Speaker 1 (28:42):
Does that mean we won't experience a lot of volatility
in between.
Speaker 2 (28:45):
In the daytime? We probably will, But it doesn't matter
because we're not investing for the short term. Yeah, we're
investing for the long term. That's right.
Speaker 1 (28:51):
Let's talk about spaving math. Have you heard of this
term before? I did not until this article. Okay, so
it's another dumb trend cult spaving that the USA Today
highlighted this week. And I don't know, maybe this is
just another term that the young kids are using and
you and I are too old to realize it. Now
we are over the hill. That's always stupid terms. We'll
get us stay up to speed on our vocabulary, though.
(29:13):
And so this is a new term though for something
it's old.
Speaker 2 (29:16):
For Joel, your riz is off the chain this morning.
Speaker 1 (29:19):
I don't think he's say off the chain anymore? Run riz?
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Yes, Well, I was combining the two. Okay, it's like, yes.
Speaker 1 (29:25):
All right, I appreciate like it, Yeah, nicely done, but okay.
So spaving is a new term for the age old
belief that you can save more by spending more. Is
letting the buy one get one fifty percent off deal
triggered to buy two things when you only needed one
because it feels like you're saving more in the process.
Or it's spending more to hit a free shipping threshold
(29:46):
when you weren't planning on buying those additional items in
the first place. We've all been there. I too have
had my mind hijacked in that way, Matt, so I
think this is a normal human condition. It's also it's
I would say, it's like spending more to hit a
credit card welcome bonus. It's right that you can earn
the eighty five thousand Southwest miles right now. We'll put
a link to that show notes if you want to
the details on how to get the Southwest Companion Pass
(30:07):
easier than ever given how many miles are throwing out there.
Speaker 2 (30:10):
I just booked a kate Is Colorado trip for for
later this fall. I guess how much it costs me
to buy that second ticket nothing nine dollars and thirty
cents just for whatever the tax nine eleven ye charge exactly.
Speaker 1 (30:21):
So those Southwest points coming super handy. But it's only
worth signing up for the credit card if you're not
having to manufacture spending to get there, which means having
to spend more than your normal budget allows for putting
you into debt that you can't pay off. Right, And
so if you know you're going to use that item
and you have the funds, or if you're buying in bulk,
you're stocking up spending more now to prolong your next purchase,
(30:42):
that's fine, but watch out for the marketing attempts trying
to make it sound like buying more is going to
save you more, it's going to perk your frugal ears up,
especially if you somebody like me. But ultimately it's a letdown,
and it means you've spent more than you than you
otherwise would have. And I feel like nothing gets in
that zone, Matt, as much as Black Friday and all
(31:02):
those deals like oh, you're a dummy if you don't
spend money this way because it's saving you money, and
it's like.
Speaker 2 (31:08):
Well, you actually need it, not really Nope. Yeah. It
makes me think of a recent article in the Atlantic
about the free trial trap, because, of course, who doesn't
want a free seven day trial or even like a
free month of service. But that offery doesn't exist out
of the goodness of that company's heart. It's a it's
a bait. It's to get a hook in your mouth.
And there's actually good news all the streaming front, because
(31:29):
we're seeing cancelations tick up to record numbers as the
different streaming services out there proliferate folks are realizing that
is eating up more of their monthly budget, and they're
cracking down the more folks are canceling everything like us,
they're opting to cancel a bit more indiscriminately at least.
But the free trial trap, man, the thing is real
(31:50):
because forgetting to cancel is costing folks big bucks. In
spider web, man, it's like it's more the fly, it's
a death by a thousand cuts because you don't think
it's that big of a deal, but all of those
things added up makes an impact. The US. They even
stued Adobe this week, did you see that over they
were making canceling too difficult for their customers. But It's
okay to try things before you buy, but don't forget,
(32:12):
like use a calendar reminder to ensure that you don't
forget to cancel that, like a couple of days at
least in advance, you know, because if you hit snows
or maybe if you click and drag it over to
the next day because you're like, ugh, I don't want
to do it today, give yourself a little bit of marginess.
There's a difference too, between again, between forgetting about it
versus just be becoming immune to those prices. And luckily,
(32:33):
more and more for folks are becoming less insulated from
those charges because there are so many of them, right, Like,
that's the thing. It's you know, you're talking about part
time jobs earlier, Like that's what it takes in order
to manage all of the different subscription services out there.
Speaker 1 (32:48):
There's a reason they give you free access for a
limited time because they know most people aren't going to cancel, Matt.
They realize I think we gave that statistic not too
long ago about people who signed up for Peacock to
watch the Chiefs Dolphins game back in the fall, and
people are so excited about that, and they sign up
for Peacock and then they never cancel, and maybe that's
(33:09):
the only thing they've watched on that service, but they're
still paying for it. The same thing with a gym membership. Man,
does any industry do it better than the gyms. Let's
talk about groceries for a second, and maybe whether or
not you should drive more in an attempt to save more.
There was an article in the Wall Street Journal citing
that more Americans are shopping around to save money. They're
hitting up various retailers in order to snag the specials
(33:32):
at each given store, even driving the cheaper area codes
to shop at less expensive stores. So made me think,
Matt like Publics is a grocery chain out of Florida
that we have some of them here in Georgia, actually
a lot of them, and they have a slew of
Bogo offers every week by wing get one free deals.
Those items can be a really good price if you're
buying just those Bogo deals at Publics, but the normal
(33:54):
prices are higher than basically every other grocery chain out there.
Publics has nice stores, and they charge more for almost
every item on their shelves than the discount chains You
and I like to shop at. So I don't know,
maybe you want to hit up publics but just based
on the Bogo deals and then you go somewhere else
to get more of your other groceries. The best way
(34:14):
to plan out your grocery purchases is to use the
website basically a digital tool like flip dot com flipp
dot com, so you can see all the sales flyers
in one place. That'll help you create a grocery saving strategy.
If you're the kind of person who says I'm willing
to not just go to a one stop shop or
to drive further to get to the discount place, maybe
I want to hit up two or three spots.
Speaker 2 (34:35):
Well that's I think that's the problem. That's my biggest
issue that I have with the journal with the headline,
which is them saying that hey, you can no longer
do the one stop shop. But that's not true. And
people they have so fallen into like they've fallen in
love with certain brands and they're like, oh, I got
to go to this store to get this because they're
the only place that sells that. I want to push
back on that a little bit, like you don't necessarily
(34:55):
need all the different options. You can just go to
Ald and not even look at the different deals at
the different grocery stores to save time and you you're
still going to save a ton of money. And I
know not everyone has an all D near them, but
they're dude. I feel like they're multiplying like rabbits, like
they're they're opening more and more of those stores are
opening all over the place. If you've never considered going
to an Aldi, you've got to check it out.
Speaker 1 (35:15):
We're legal as well as a cousin to Aldi. That's
where we shot were.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
It's we're slightly more complex, fancier cousin of Ald.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Is how I view letal. They're pretty similar legal and costco.
That's they get the bulk of our grocery dollars. But yeah,
I think the time and energy it takes and the
additional planning it takes to shop in a bunch of
different grocery stores, you got to figure out how much
are you actually saving and whether it's worth the hours
you're putting into. So that's why I'm going to a
place like all the or Legal, like trying to really
(35:44):
get the bulk of your stuff at one store, but
the cheapest store is probably the best, best, the way
to do it. Yeah, all right, Matt, that's going to
do it for this episode. Hope everyone out there has
a fantastic weekend. We'll links to all the resources we
mentioned in this episode up on our website and how
to Money.
Speaker 2 (36:00):
Yes right, if you have not left us a review,
we would love for you to spend just a few
minutes of your weekend heading over to How to Money
wherever it is that you are listening to this podcast,
really just twenty seconds, that's true, and just mashing the
five stars. If you've found this episode, it would be
helpful and valuable. War my hearts, we thank you in advance.
But that's going to be it, buddy. Until next time,
Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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