September 6, 2024 • 37 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: extra rental car charges, an expensive American Dream, geographic arbitrage, anemic 401k, emotional intelligence to boost your salary, unrelenting un-retirees, title lock insurance, skyrocketing car insurance, affordable flights sans luggage fees, cashback con, BTC ATMs, purging the penny, and looking back in anger.
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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
mat and today we're talking about geographic arbitrage, purging the penny,
and looking back in anger.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So looking back in Anger doesn't really seem to have
a personal finance angle to it, Joel. I actually had
to look this up because I saw that you had
this down as.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
A title of the episode, and you were like, what
does that mean?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And I realized that you wanted to talk about Oasis
during this episode, which I mean one of their best songs.
So I never owned that album. What's the story Morning Glory?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And I certainly, of course knew about Champagne, super Nova, Wonderwall,
but news to me that that's one of their best songs.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, all right?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
That album was I have seventh grade. For me, that
was my favorite album I bait.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
My friends were really into it, and I still love
the Oasis, would you?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
All right?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We'll get to Oasis probably later on, but yes, this
is our Friday flight where we look at the most
pressing news headlines that we've come across this week and
we discuss how they pertain to your personal finances. Joel,
really quick, you and I we got to take little
breaks last week, we both of us actually went out
on some mountain adventures. You went out with some friends
(01:22):
out to California, and in your case you got picked
up by a friend in their car, which is always nice.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
In my case, Kate and I flew out to Denver
and we walked on over to the car rental agency
whatever you picked up our car. Actually it was a
two yet a raw four, which was just told that
I got to drive around and kind of try out
because I was kind of big on those. It served
us well while we were driving around.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But here's the thing. When it came to returning that
car back to the Denver Airport, we were getting pretty
low on gas, and rather than stop at the Costco,
which we really saw when we're like, oh that's the
place to get gas, because of course we're Costcome members,
instead we just drove straight up to the airport and
drop the car off with an almost empty tank. Who
(02:10):
are you do I lose my frugality, my frugal card.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Do I get that taken away?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Had it over right now?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
That's ridiculous. What someone How much was gas? And how
much were they charge? Because typically when when you do
this paying a premium. You're paying a massive premium for
every gallon they have to fill that car with. So
you could just cost yourself like forty fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No, well not that much.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So it was it can be like three dollars a
gallon difference, dude, if it's low, and it was a
couple of dollars it was.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, So I think gas around then in Denver was
something like three a little over three dollars per gallon,
and then they ended up charging us over five dollars
per gallon, so it's you know, a little bit over
a two dollars difference. So here's the rest of the story,
which which was the hope, and there's more. We were
a little bit late, so we were pressed on time,
and so you don't want to miss a fly. Could
(02:56):
have been had I stopped take the time to fill
it up myself in order to get the absolute best
price all on a gallon of gas. Well, if that
caused us to miss our flight. Kate's getting a little
stressed and because I saw the costco and I was like, obay,
that's where we need to stop and get gas. And
she's like, we are not stopping to get gas we
are going straight to the airport.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, the problem was stopping at Costco for gas is
that it can often take a lot of extra time
because of the line, which is.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Where we would have stopped. And I think that one
would have cost us because we would have ended up
missing the flight. All right, Okay, I can and from
my wife sanity because she you know, and here's here's
what it's worth a lot. It's totally worth it. And
the fact that if you're looking at say this, three
dollars a gallon versus five dollars a gallon and the
little over ten gallons that they had to fill up.
(03:42):
So it's not a fifty dollars conversation, truly, what is it.
It's a twenty dollars conversation. So would you be willing
to spend twenty bucks to not have the additional stress
to not miss your flight to you know, make your
significant other happy? For me, dude, it was worth every dollar.
I'd never so I'd never actually done that before either,
But it felt, really I felt like if I felt
like mister fancy pants, I just pulled on up. And
(04:04):
I granted it was because we're short on short on time.
If we had more time.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I totally would have It would feel so amptithetical to
everything that exists inside of me.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It felt a little bit weird, but I thought, this
is pretty nice not having to actually stop, Like, uh,
are you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Gonna make this a regular habit?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Then I shouldn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
But there are certain things that you're less willing to do.
Like some things are worth convenience. This is not one
of them. Popping in and pumping the gas is like
not terribly inconvenient. So I would say, if you if
it was between you missing your flight and doing this,
that's one thing. But if you're gonna start doing this
on the rag and become some sort of fancy pants
guy who pays five bucks at a gallon for gas
without needing to, I'm gonna say, then your frugal card
is a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
What I should have done was earlier on in the trip,
even the day before. I should have filled up because
I hadn't filled it up at all, and we stopped
at a safe way because we're frugal, and we were
cooking breakfast at home at the loft that we were running.
That's because that's how we roll. It's a much better
least in some contexts, I guess, but I should have
stopped and filled up gas and at least they would
have only needed to charge me for like four gallons
(05:05):
or five gallons or something as opposed to almost the
whole tank. Yeah, anyway, I thought that was worth sharing
because it was something I've never done before, which is
the rental company filled it up for us.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, and you know what, we all have things where
we're in a hurry, or something happens, or there's traffic,
and we can't optimize everything.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
So I wouldn't make ourself.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Up with the colts. Just don't get used to this.
That's so I'm gonna say it was nice.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
We don't travel enough for that to be like a
frequent thing. Anyway.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Yeah, it was a nice little slurge.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Okay, a listening on mat, let's get to the Friday
flight for this week the sampling of stories we found interesting.
Let's start by talking about the American dream. It's more
expensive than ever. This is according to a new Go
Banking rates analysis. Basically, they found that inflation has made
it far more expensive to live the quintessential American.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Lifestyle so familiar.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Do they talk about the dream in other countries, is
there like the Botswana and dream or.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
The chicken in every pot.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I don't know he made up. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I mean, but in America we have this American dream.
The people want to own a house, white picket fence,
two cars in the driveway, which I'd say one car
of the driveways are better gold aft. But now the
American dream costs roughly one hundred and fifty thousand bucks
a year on average, although where you live has a
massive impact on the actual cost of being able to
(06:24):
afford that kind of typical stock American lifestyle. Of course, Hawaii,
California more expensive than living in Mississippi or Arkansas, for instance.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
It makes me think of that as you know, that
disease I'm sorry joke where he's like he's a parent
or he's a kid of immigrants, and so he knows
something about immigrants, and he's like, oh yeah. The government
is like, oh hey you yeah, you yeah, you can
come to America, but you got to live in Alabama
because nobody wants to live in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
That's not true.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, he's just talking about it from a where he
wanted to live standpoint. I've got nothing against the more affordable.
Of course, I'm going to encourage folks to move to
the states that are more affordable. Your dollars gonna go
much further.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Right, think about Arkansas, man likes so underrated from like
an outdoorsy perspective as it, Yeah, I don't like by
the thozarks Man like some of the best mountain biking
in the countries in.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, Arkansas, so sounds awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Don't hate on the low cost of living spots, especially
right when you think about how much the cost of
the American dream has gone up, it's like thirty six
percent increase over the past decade. But then there's a
flip side of that, Matt. I think sometimes those things
make all the headlines and it's like, well, I guess
nobody can afford the American dream anymore. Well, median household
income has gone up by forty seven percent over the
(07:33):
same time period, so household income has outpaced the rising
costs of affording that American dream. So it's important to
put that in perspective. It makes me think of like
when we talk about headline credit card debt and it's like, oh, man,
past a trillion dollars. Now it's past one point one
trillion dollars. Well, what is it adjusted for inflation? And
is it actually as bad as the headline number seems.
You see a lot of doom loom headlines and you
(07:54):
and I obviously would prefer to see zero dollars in
credit card debt for all Americans. But it's maybe not
quite as bad as people make it out to be.
And this number, by the way, includes maxing out your
for OW and K and your college savings plan for
your kids.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
That's a part of the American dream that I can
get behind.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It, Yes, exactly, except for maybe the college savings plan
for your kids. Maybe we switched out for the roth
Irey instead, But that's what the four one k's for. Yeah,
well we want you to do both. Yeah, and in
life is expensive. The other thing to mention, too, Matt,
is we've all got different dreams, not one static reality
that we're all shooting for. And I guess my thought
is that we still live in a country that makes
(08:30):
our ability to live out our dreams of what our
individualistic version of that American dream. We live in a
country that makes it exceedingly possible for a large segment
of the population. Although of course, not everyone to the
exact same extent.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That's true. Yeah, so would you move in order to
achieve that American dream, Joel? If you didn't, if you
didn't have.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
It depends on It depends on where I'm being asked
to move. To a certain extent, we did move for
its true a couple of years ago. But I bring
that up because relocating it could significantly drive down the
price of the most expensive things in your life, like
housing or insurance, the cost of food, which could meaningfully
reduce your overall cost of living. We've seen that happen
more and more in our post pan world, and it's
(09:11):
helped some folks basically keep like a high flute and
paying job like a Silicon Valley paycheck while living let's say,
on a Tennessee budget, which sounds awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah you remember that.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I mean that was commonplace for real while there in
the right after the pandemic hit exactly. But it's like
Facebook's like, we'll keep employing you. You can live wherever
you want because the office is closed.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Except for the fact that it's starting to cut both
ways working from home geographic arbitrage. Employers are wising up
because you might be able to keep your high paying
job while moving to a cheaper location. But your boss
they might also look for cheaper employee options remotely as well,
so keep that in mind. It cuts both ways. This
trend has been happening for a while now, it's growing
(09:52):
and this isn't just a state to state sort of competition.
Either employers or you know, or they're hiring less expensive
employee in other countries as well. I mean, I think
we're all familiar with just the different call centers that
are not in the States. So let's just not get
too comfortable with the maybe abundant job market that we've
all a lot of folks have been experiencing over the
(10:13):
past several years. As the job market cools, I think
it's a good idea to keep your savings stout, make
sure you've got that emergency fund, but keep your skills
in top shape as well. Make sure your resume is
looking good at least know where it is. That way
you can update it if need be.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And we have said this multiple times on the show,
and I think it's important to reiterate Matt that when
people go into the office, oftentimes it is harder to
fire that person. I mean I guess if you're going
to the office and you're just napping all day, then
it's probably really easy to fire you. But the more
FaceTime you're able to show to your fellow coworkers and
to the higher ups, they're more likely you are to
(10:48):
get a raise to keep your job to you're going
to be You're not gonna be the first person on
the shopping block. If you're only on a zoom call
once a month, there's a higher chance that you are
not the person who's staying when those job cuts come about.
So even if you're not required to go into the office,
you might want to say, yeah, I'm going to do
it a couple times a week, just because that's good
for me and securing my future paycheck. There's also a
(11:10):
downside to job hopping, Matt. There was an article about this,
basically one of the downside. I don't really thought about
this that much, but we talk about taking a different
job to increase your income. That's awesome, But one of
the downsides potentially is accumulating less in your four oh
one K. And that's partly because workers tend to cash
out their retirement accounts when they leave, which don't like
that we hate that it's awful, But if you quit
(11:33):
too soon, you might also not reach the vesting requirement.
Different jobs have different lengths of time before you're able
to actually get the match that's promised to you. So
if you leave after a year and a half in
the vesting period is two years, sorry, you just lost
all the matching money that your employer was going to
give you. So we would just say pay attention to
that and consider your employment timeline accordingly, and if you
(11:56):
do leave your job, keep your four one K intact please.
It's the numbers are dismal, Matt, when it comes to
people leaving their job and then just like rating their
retirement account like it's a piggy bank. Keep it in
the four on K with your employer, or roll it
over into an IRA with one of the low cost
companies if it's not with one of those those low
cost companies. Already, we have an article about Capitalize which
(12:18):
is will help you do those rollovers for free, that
we'll link to.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
In the show notes.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
But this is a problem, and it's a problem I
hadn't really thought too much about, Matt. The fact that
people going to work somewhere else might mean could mean
kind of some slippage when it comes to the traction
you're gaining and saving investing for your future.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So while we are covering jobs, let's talk about earning
more money, which I think most of us are keen on.
In a way to do that is via the extremely
underrated skill of emotional intelligence. This isn't like breaking news necessarily,
but this is informative. There is new research out that
shows that there is a linear relationship between your EQ,
(12:58):
so your using emotional intelligence and emotion quotient interchangeably here,
but that there is a linear relationship between your EQ
and your salary. People with a higher EQ tend to
earn almost thirty thousand dollars more per year than folks
who have a low emotional intelligence. So what should you
be looking to improve? Evidently four areas make up your EQ,
(13:22):
and they are I'm going to let's see these out here.
Self awareness, social awareness, self management, and relationship management. That's
our relationship doing today, Matt, I think it's doing pretty good.
How do you think our relationship is doing?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I feel great about us as friends. Let's promote each other.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You're not going to be able to improve all these
areas like overnights instantaneously. I think some certain aspects of
it are going to be easier for some than others.
But realizing and improving how it is that you express
your emotions and how you feel in the workplace, I
think that can go a long way towards you making
more money at least over time. And those soft skills
are they're just as important as the hard ones that
(14:00):
you've worked years to achieve. Like we focus on the
degrees and the different skills and certifications, but just how
it is that we work with folks in the office.
With folks especially too, with varying in different backgrounds, can
go a really long way in your ability to manage
well in order to be a good team player.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Makes me think of an episode we did a while
back with Gorik. He talked about the unspoken rules of
workplace success, and is what he was talking about. So
much of those unspoken rules were just kind of basic
EQ sort of emotional intelligence stuff and not letting your
emotions get out of hand, being able to rain them
in and keep them in check, being thoughtful about the
(14:39):
wording that you're using in emails. There's so many little
small things that people pick up on over time, your bosses,
your coworkers, and the value of learning how to control
your temper. For instance, it could add up to thousands
and thousands of dollars in income where or potentially losing
your job. I guess if you can't control it at all. Yeah,
Orskinse scenario.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
So it's really really interesting stuff. And Matt, let's talk
about another workplace trend. People thought the fire movement was hot. Well,
it turns out that actually the opposite of fire is
kind of hot right now that more workers are choosing
to unretire. So they hit their retirement age and they
were like, cool, I'm done with work, and then they said, wait,
a couple of years later, maybe I'm ready to get
(15:19):
back into the workforce. And so some research from Pew
reports that Americans over seventy five are basically the hottest
segment of the workforce right now. A decent chuck of
boomers basically said, I'm gonna quit, but I'm either not
financially or emotionally ready to completely stop working, So I'm
going back to the well, I'm going to go get
a job again. And some of this is actually because
many older Americans expect to live longer according to Pew, Like,
(15:42):
so that's a good thing. They're saying, Listen, I'm seventy five,
but I still feel young, and I think I'm gonna
live till ninety five, So why not work till I'm
eighty instead of bagging to work this early and having
twenty years of no work at all. And I think
if you like what you do, at least that's a
good thing. I think the flip side of this, though, Matt,
for young listeners, which is most of the folks listening
(16:02):
to how to money, is to save and invest, like
you're going to retire much earlier than age eighty, so
not necessarily planning like, oh cool, this is a trend.
I guess I'm going to work until I'm eighty two,
because while you might get to do what you want
to do for as long as you want to do it,
that's amazing, many older workers also find that that isn't
the case. So I would just say, like, yeah, hope
(16:22):
for the best, but plan for bumps in the road,
and that planning for bumps in the road is investing
a decent chunk of your income so that you have
at least optionality when it comes to those later working years,
and I like the idea of trending back towards working
at least part time as you get older. There's a
sense of meaning, there's a social income, right, There's a
lot of good stuff that comes with work, at least
if it's work that you're choosing to do on purpose. Totally,
(16:44):
but you just don't plan on working until you die
and not invest a dime because exactly that's going to
leave you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
With zero choices.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, and just the fact too that more folks are
that they are returning to work. It just kind of
underlines I think our view of work, which is that
the ability for you to work and provide value into
the world, that that in it of itself is fulfilling.
And if you're able to do something that you find fulfilling,
oftentimes you are compensated for that. And so it's a
combination of that. But also I think maybe less emphasis
(17:10):
was placed, maybe with the boomer generation on some of
the things outside of work that also bring fulfillment. So
you remove like this main thing that brought them a
whole lot of fulfillment. Oh and by the way, a
lot of money. But then you don't replace that with anything, right, Like,
there's nothing else that's kind of steps into that void,
and you kind of start thinking, well, shoot, I don't know,
I was really good at that. Maybe I'll go back
at least in a part time role or as a consultant.
(17:31):
There are different ways to continue to provide that value.
You're right, this could almost be seen as somewhat of
like a work addiction. It's like, sure, I quit work,
and so it turns out I had nothing else to do,
even though I have enough money. Guess I'll go back
to work because that is like the square peg fitting
in the square hole, because it fits perfectly because that's
what you've crafted over the past thirty forty years. Yeah,
(17:52):
So it's tough to talk about having a healthy relationship
to work, because I think that's more than likely. What's
going on here is the fact that folks they don't
have it in its right place, ye like, And that's
that's the kind of I don't know, that balance that
we are constantly trying to strike when it comes to work,
finding value in it, but at the same time not
having it be your everything because there are things outside
of work, a lot of things. But we got more
(18:12):
to get to We will eventually get to you talking
about your unrequited.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Love of Oasis, I make me saying it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Some travel trends. We'll get to that and more right
after this. All right, Matt, let's keep rolling with this podcast.
Do it because it's electric. Yes, I am referencing Oasis lyrics.
Let's get to the ludicrous headline of the week first, though.
(18:40):
This one comes from the FTC and the Federal Trade Commission,
and the blog post title on their site was home
title lock insurance not a lock at all. And you
and I, Matt, we talk about insurance pretty regularly on
the show. It's some types of insurance are necessary, like
car insurance. Often you're legally required to have that. There
are other types of surance not nearly as good, not
(19:02):
nearly as necessary, And some other types of insurance even
depend on what phase of life you're in. Right, so
you're nineteen listening to this podcast. You don't get married,
you don't have many kids.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Chances are term life insurance is completely unnecessary, even though
it's something we talk about sometimes as being a necessity
for other people. And then there are other types of
insurance that are just a bad deal. Basically, all the time.
Makes me think of extended warranties MATT for your electronics
items almost always a waste of money. You're throwing it away. Well,
home title lock insurance, and I use insurance term loosely
(19:38):
on this one is one of those kinds of insurance
that is pretty trashy that you should essentially avoid, and
the FTC put out a warning about.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It last week.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And the funny thing is, I said, I'm going to
use the term insurance loosely. This isn't even really insurance.
It's not protecting you in the case of someone And
essentially this is someone pretending to be you stealing the
deed to you your home, which is an incredibly rare event.
So I wouldn't fixate on this possibility. But this quote
unquote insurance offers to notify you after the fact that
(20:09):
something bad happened to you. It's unhelpful, it's a waste
of money. Plus, you can check your title for free
with your estate's records department. Do not pay for these services.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
This is like, it's a misnomer on two fronts because
it's not insurance and it's also not a lock. Like
two thirds of what they're selling you is a total
crap home.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
The home part is right, it does have something to
do with your exactly, but this is like praying on
fear right. People are like, steal the deed to my home.
Let me get this insurance to protect me, and then
it doesn't protect you in any way foreign fashion.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
It makes me think of the the credit lock stuff
that the credit buers offer, or like the credit notification
services that costs folks money every single month, when the
real quote unquote insurance that can truly prevent the problem
is totally free, which is actually freezing your credit. It's like,
I don't mind that it exists. If they want to
sell this product, that's totally fine, but they need to
completely bogus product. They should change. If folks want to
(21:02):
be notified in case something like this, Okay, that's fine,
if you want to do that. I don't think it's
a wise use of money. But it's the It's like
installing a nice lock on your home, right, and you're like, oh, yeah,
this is going to prevent people from getting inside, when
in reality it's actually just an alarm and the door
isn't locked. It's like, well, okay, and you left the
windows open. It's like, in reality, the better thing to
(21:23):
do actually here in this case is just.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
To lock it.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But it's just the fact that it's called something that
it's not is the part that really gets under my skin.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's misleading. That's what we don't like. It certainly is
it certainly isn't. And the other thing is lots of
states and municipalities offer free notifications if you can literally
sign up for notifications, which is essentially what this is,
but it costs you money and you might be able
to get the same service for free. Yeah, this is
one of those things. Listen to the FTC here, they're
spot one, and don't throw good money away on a
(21:50):
product like this.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Man.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
On the note of insurance, at car insurance costs, they
continue to skyrocket. They're going through the roof. And while
price increases are slowing in almost every other sector of
the economy, we keep talking about inflation coming down. Good news,
Well that's not the case. We're talking about the car
insurance segment of the economy. And there's a new report
from Insurify which finds that car insurance rates are set
(22:15):
to increase again this year. And they actually said, I
think in the headline that in some states they're going
to increase by more than fifty percent, which can you
imagine like that kind of a jump. It's shocking to people.
That's crazy, completely shocking. And the average full coverage premium
is now almost twenty five hundred bucks a year across
the country.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That's also crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, what you pay obviously depends on where you live,
your driving record, your credit score in most states, and
some other factors too.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I guess how new your vehicle is, how much it
actually costs a replace. I guess that's the other you're
driving too, if you've got a newer, brand new vehicle,
which I guess there's a lot of folks that do,
as opposed to driving fifteen year old clunkers. Yeah, well,
that's kind of how we like to roll, right exactly.
Even if I do have the rental company fill my
car up for me, Joel, I know I'm still and
just may you're going to keep bringing this one. I
(23:02):
am going to you time.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
You're never going to let live it down. If Surify
is essentially projecting these costs are going to continue to
rise through the end of twenty twenty four, we're not
going to see a slow down in car insurance rates,
and then I don't know, Matt, I guess there are
a few options that people have though right own fewer cars.
That's one of the things you mentioned. Hey, if you
own one less car, you knock twenty five hundred bucks
(23:24):
potentially off your annual car insurance costs. And I know
that's a big lifestyle change, but for a lot of
people it might be worth it. What about self insuring more,
raising your deductible or dropping full coverage if your car
is old enough and you have enough money in the
bank to cover replacing that if something were to happen,
and of course chopping around with other insurance carriers. And
(23:45):
then if you find out that actually, well, the insurance
company that I'm currently with, I've got a pretty good
rate here, even though the rate's gone up, I'm not
getting anything better elsewhere, Well, maybe ask about other discounts
that they offer. Are there ways to save even more
with the company you're with? Just a twenty minute conversation
on the phone with an agent could mean significant savings.
(24:06):
There's big money on the table here. When we're talking
about in an era where rates are going up significantly,
They're not going up with the same clip from different
insurance companies, and every insurance company is going to offer
different quotes based on how they their algorithm. So it's
certainly worth shopping around, especially in today's environment.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, And as those monthly budgets go up because of
rising prices like the cost of insurance, it's also going
to mean less demand for travel, which equals more cheap flights.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
On the way Hopper.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
They reported that fares are down eight percent year of
a year. The New York Times they highlighted the fact
that we're seeing more deals or seeing more discounts from
different hotel chains as well. So it's not going to
make up for those higher car insurance costs, but it's
at least a bit of a bright spot. That's a
little bit of a silver lining. Maybe get your car
and go on a trip. I mean, and this is
(24:55):
just another example of our economy. The market's returning to
sort of that pre pan quote unquote normal because folks,
you know, they had more cash on hand, folks wanted
to travel more. We remember, like we talked about this
on the show a couple of years ago, just the
massive demand for travel as folks had more stimu money,
more cash in the bank. And what did the airlines do.
They accommodated for that. They increased the number of flights,
(25:17):
they expanded their routes. And now there's more supply than
there is demand. So if you are a traveler, you
have more of a possibility these days to snag a deal.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, and we're starting to see air airlines actually start
to reduce some service, starting to correct because they're realizing
prices are going down. Maybe we need to limit supply
a little bit. It feels like right now might be
the sweet spot. Yeah, it might be a good time.
Except for Matt. When we're talking about travel, you know
when you probably pay this without blinking, you probably love
paying baggage fees. Based on recent.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Information, we flew Southwest and slammed everything into our code
of pack sees. Okay, yeah, which are great. That thing
fits right under the seat in front of you.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Love those things.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So when I intentionally also make sure to not take
up luggage over had luggage space for those who have
larger bags, because I want to make sure that everyone
I'm trying to contribute to the overall good here. It's
very conscient. It's some folks that they take their backpacks
and they throw it up there. Yeah no, no, no, you
got room under the seat in front of you. So
I went, what'd you do?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Well?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, no, I put it in the overhead of my bag.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
But I also had to check a bag on this
most recent trip because I was backpacking. I literally had
one of those bag, big old backpacking backpacks.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
You would you get it, by the way, did you
read it or borrow it from a friend? No? I
bought it because I'm going to use it again. Oh
there you go. Oh look at you.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
So this but from Mari I is a great bag.
But luggage fees are getting worse. I didn't have to
pay any fee because I also flew Southwest, but Airlines.
New stats show the airlines raked in thirty three billion
dollars in baggage fees in twenty twenty three, which is
a fifteen percent increase over the year before. So, Matt,
it just one of those things I think people maybe
(26:48):
are getting used to when they travel. There's like, I
guess I'm gonna pay a fee to check a bag,
But the truth is you don't have to most of
the time. So I just want people to know that,
like as these fees become normalized, you can still avoid them.
Many airlines are actually going to charge you for a
carry on to these days, which annoys me. But if
you know the rules, you know the hoops you can
jump through, you can likely save or avoid that fee
(27:11):
all together. So it makes you think of when we
flew Frontier recently and like, hey, if you bring this
bag that fits specifically in Frontiers little container, you can
take it on. It counts as a personal item, right
and so it's.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
A tight fit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
We packed light and we were able to fit our
bags inside of there, and we didn't pay any sort
of fee. But the people in front of us, they
were at a little too big, just a little too big,
and guess what they had to pay a hundred bucks each.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I felt terrible for what.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
A massive increase to the price of your trip.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So how many times you could turn your car rental
in with like on an empty tank, right, Like, that's
five times.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Right there, exactly. That's less of a bad decision. And
with the other thing I guess that might help you
avoid some of those fees is using the right credit card.
So if you have friends who are like super loyal
to Delta, or something like that, and if they used
the Delta card when they booked their their trip, everybody
who flies with them is able to check a bag
for free. So I don't know pack lighter or use
(28:04):
the right credit card, but at least know what the
fees are and do your best to avoid them. They
just don't have to be a fee that we blindly
accept regularly totally.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Also, we're not sponsored or anything, but we love the
Codo Pasi Alpa twenty eight liter bag we've talked about.
We've mentioned them before on the show. Maybe we'll link
to them in the show notes.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
It's the best.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
But Joel, we mentioned rising fees at ATMs recently. Was
that last week that we talked about that thinks so well.
More retailers are charging you if you want cash back
when you're paying with a debit card these days as well,
that used to be a way that you could, oh, okay,
this is the way I get my hands on some cash.
But according to the CFPB, retailers like the Dollar Store Kroger,
(28:43):
they're doing this as well. They're charging you when you
opt for cash back when you are paying with a
debit card. It's oftentimes still going to be a more
affordable way to get your hands on some money than
the average ATM fee that's out there, But just a
heads up that you might pay anywhere from like fifty
cents all the way up to three dollars, which makes
me cringe a little bit to pull out some of
your money. So I just remember doing this in high school, like, well,
(29:05):
you literally buy a pack of gum. Oh yeah, in
order to avoid because back then they weren't really reimbursing
the different ATM fees as much, so you was this strategy.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, buy a pack of gum and ask for twenty back.
You need twenty forty bucks, like the pack of gum.
Strategy always worked, and then it felt like the cheapest
ATM fee of all time.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Plus you got some juicy fruit to go along with it. No, yeah,
what's gonna go wrong is that your favorite juicy fruit?
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Juicy fruit was the best.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I mean it didn't last long, but the flavor was
Remember you probably got the zebra gum, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Oh, fruits ripe? You know, was right? I was trying
to think. My friend's always like a big red I
hated the cinnamon is the worst. What do you think
about people? Who you send them in toothpaste. It's something
wrong with them, something wrong with this, I agree.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Sorry to all you listeners out there who do it,
feel free to write your angry emails to Matt. Let's
go back to the well on some of the FTC
is doing. They issued another warning this week that we
thought was at least worth mentioning for bitcoin ATMs, which, surprise, surprise, man,
scammers are using bitcoin ATMs trying to steal people's money.
This is a new twist on a fairly traditional scam. Basically,
(30:07):
a scammer tells you that there's bogus information on your
account that you need to deposit money right away into
one of these bitcoin ATMs. The money then goes to
the scammer, never to be seen again. You are out
whatever money you stuck in there. And so basically we're
talking about scams raising your fear levels, praying on that feeling.
If you don't know who's calling you hang up, log
(30:30):
into your account to see if there's really an issue
or not. If there's like there's insufficient funds in your
bank account, well go directly to the website or to
the app on your phone and see if that's actually true,
before listening to these crooks and doing what they ask
you to do.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, you know what you can't get out of an
atm Joel a penny, and that's because it's a worthless coin.
A New York Times article this week said that, and
this is a quote. Few things symbolize our national dysfunction
more than the inability to stop minting this worthless currency.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I think that's true.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
This is something that I think a lot of Americans
can get behind. We totally agree, honestly. To understand the
full scope of the problem, it's worth reading this entire article,
but just a few highlights. They noted that this is a.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Really long article.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
By the way, they hated the pennies so much they
dropped a lot of ink I attraction.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I'm a fan of writing about the things you care about.
But they noted how one hundred dollars worth of pennies
weighs in at fifty five pounds, giving at least a
partial indication of the logistical nightmare the annoyances that pennies
come with.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Sounds like the solution for a good user pennies is
as workout equipment than matt Oh.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
That's true that sand water people do all sorts. It
also costs more than three cents to produce a single
one cent piece. So we wanted to highlight this because
our depending on your political background and just all the
stuff that's going on with our country, right like our nation,
it might be embroiled in conflicts here we agree with
foreign and domestic. But this is something that I do
(31:55):
think we can all get behind.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Independence, conservatives, liberals, let's all unite in hatred of the penny.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Again, I don't want to prop myself up as some
sort of elitist Joel, but I don't even pick up
pennies on the sidewalking now, Like I've gotten to the
point like it's got to be at least a nickel
for me to bend over like I need. It needs
to be the equivalent of five pennies for me to
reach down there with you. It's too risky. Back to
the day, dirty nasty germs.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Back in the day, would a coke costs a nickel
and and it went up to six cents, like that
was a big deal, right, and a penny was like
actually meaningful currency. It served a function, But it doesn't
serve any function anymore. Nobody cares Canada. I think got
rid of it eleven or twelve years ago, something like that.
They ditched their penny, and so basically, if you're making
a transaction in person, they round up or round down
(32:39):
and nobody cares because a penny is essentially worthless, or
if you're making an online transaction, you can still pay
down to the penny.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I guess, dude, how great would it be if all
the prices out there always ended in a zero or
a five. I feel like it would make life a
bit easier too, for sure, for multiple reasons.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yep, I'm with you. So we're with the New York
Times on this one. Let's abolish a penny. Let's move
on with our lives people, Matt. Since we're talking about pricing,
let's talk about the pricing of tickets to see one
of the greatest bands in the history of the world.
Here we go, Oasis, the band that sadly has not
toured together for fifteen plus years. I want to say, yea,
(33:14):
the Gallagher brothers. They're lack of friendship has been documented extensively.
They really didn't like each other for a really long time,
and I don't know if they actually like each other
now again, or if they're just they.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Just need to make a buck.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They need to make a buck, and they're going to
go on tour. Well, so I was stoked to hear
that they are announcing a reunion tour. They haven't actually
announced a US tour yet. When they do, I will
at least be considering buying tickets. But the punks at
Ticketmaster ruin everything, and they botched another rollout of tickets
that people really want to, really care about, really wanted
to buy. I don't mind dynamic pricing. We talk about
(33:49):
that like, hey, it can help basically balance creatniquilibrium between
supply and demand in so many cases. But Ticketmaster is
taking dynamic pricing to the next level, ramping up prices
while people are waiting in the queue buy tickets. So
you're like, okay, cool, this is what I'm going to
pay for tickets, and then you get in there, and
then while you're sitting there, it's almost like a slot
machine where the numbers are rolling around, but they're only
(34:12):
going up, costing you more. As Ticketmaster makes you sit
and wait and hope that you can get those tickets
in it feels a little bait and switchy. Getting more
expensive about a second. It's ridiculous, Yes, very bait and switchy.
I agree, it's infuriating to customers. It's a complete and
utter shame that getting to see your favorite live music
has been held hostage by this awful company. I can't
think of many companies matt that are worse or that
(34:34):
rival Ticketmaster and just how awful they are. And then
customers are left with the decision of trying to buy
directly from the venue, which might allow you to skirt Ticketmaster,
skipping the show altogether, or holding your nose and handing
over gobs of cash. Something needs to change here, and
I know the British authorities are looking at a Ticketmaster
because of this.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
But same thing here, same side as well. I just
don't understand how it's something that has continued, Like it's
crazy when a grocery store groceries chains that have like
razor thin margins. Was it Albertson's that was going to
like merge with with Kroger and they got sued And
it's like, uh, there's plenty of competition out there. Think
about all the different grocery stores, all the different options,
plus not to mention our favorite discount is like Aldi,
(35:14):
but then you got somebody like Ticketmaster. Truly, they are
effectively operating as a monopoly.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
I think something's got to change soon, and hopefully we'll
see something a.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Better change in time for the US ticket release of
the Oasis tour, because it might. I don't know, because
I mean I'm pretty sensitive. And if if I can
get a ticket to go see Oasis for fifty bucks,
I'm in. But if it's like one twenty, sorry, guys.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Galer, Yeah, you wouldn't pay one twenty to see one
of your favorite bands from your childhood.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Not Nosebleed Seeds. Really, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I do love them though, if you if they came,
you know, I feel like I missed out on seeing
YouTube at at the Sphere in Vegas if they If
Oasis goes to Vegas for the Sphere, I might join you.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
All right, We'll make a out of money. That seems
like it would be a fun time. Yeah, But the
only thing would make it better is if hooting the
Blowfish opened up for Oasis, because that was that would
like truly be seventh I'd come back to life for me.
I guess that'd be the equivalent of going to see
another Third Blind show, which I have seen. That was
my first, That was my first real concert, and I
don't think I paid ticket Master prices.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Yeah, I think I saw him last year and it
was awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
But that's gonna be in For this episode. We want
to give a quick newsletter referral shout out to Matt
Z and Lori Lori G. Thank you both so much
for sharing the how to Money newsletter with some of
your friends. It comes out every Tuesday. It's free, it's
chock full of helpful personal finance nuggets of wisdom. You
can sign up for that at how to money dot com.
Forward Slash Newsletter.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
No Doubt Bud. All right, I hope you guys have
a great weekend. We'll catch back here on Monday. Until
next time, Best friends out and best Friends out.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Hues Electric. That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I probably a friend.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
No no no no no no no no no no
no no no no. Bom left the cars again.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Need a little time to wake up the way
Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am
mat and today we're talking about geographic arbitrage, purging the penny,
and looking back in anger.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
So looking back in Anger doesn't really seem to have
a personal finance angle to it, Joel. I actually had
to look this up because I saw that you had
this down as.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
A title of the episode, and you were like, what
does that mean?
Speaker 2 (00:36):
And I realized that you wanted to talk about Oasis
during this episode, which I mean one of their best songs.
So I never owned that album. What's the story Morning Glory?
Speaker 3 (00:46):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (00:46):
And I certainly, of course knew about Champagne, super Nova, Wonderwall,
but news to me that that's one of their best songs.
Speaker 3 (00:53):
Yeah, all right?
Speaker 1 (00:54):
That album was I have seventh grade. For me, that
was my favorite album I bait.
Speaker 2 (00:58):
My friends were really into it, and I still love
the Oasis, would you?
Speaker 3 (01:02):
All right?
Speaker 2 (01:02):
We'll get to Oasis probably later on, but yes, this
is our Friday flight where we look at the most
pressing news headlines that we've come across this week and
we discuss how they pertain to your personal finances. Joel,
really quick, you and I we got to take little
breaks last week, we both of us actually went out
on some mountain adventures. You went out with some friends
(01:22):
out to California, and in your case you got picked
up by a friend in their car, which is always nice.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
Right.
Speaker 2 (01:30):
In my case, Kate and I flew out to Denver
and we walked on over to the car rental agency
whatever you picked up our car. Actually it was a
two yet a raw four, which was just told that
I got to drive around and kind of try out
because I was kind of big on those. It served
us well while we were driving around.
Speaker 3 (01:47):
That kind of thing.
Speaker 2 (01:48):
But here's the thing. When it came to returning that
car back to the Denver Airport, we were getting pretty
low on gas, and rather than stop at the Costco,
which we really saw when we're like, oh that's the
place to get gas, because of course we're Costcome members,
instead we just drove straight up to the airport and
drop the car off with an almost empty tank. Who
(02:10):
are you do I lose my frugality, my frugal card.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
Yeah?
Speaker 2 (02:13):
Do I get that taken away?
Speaker 3 (02:14):
Had it over right now?
Speaker 1 (02:16):
That's ridiculous. What someone How much was gas? And how
much were they charge? Because typically when when you do
this paying a premium. You're paying a massive premium for
every gallon they have to fill that car with. So
you could just cost yourself like forty fifty bucks.
Speaker 2 (02:29):
No, well not that much.
Speaker 1 (02:30):
So it was it can be like three dollars a
gallon difference, dude, if it's low, and it was a
couple of dollars it was.
Speaker 2 (02:36):
Yeah, So I think gas around then in Denver was
something like three a little over three dollars per gallon,
and then they ended up charging us over five dollars
per gallon, so it's you know, a little bit over
a two dollars difference. So here's the rest of the story,
which which was the hope, and there's more. We were
a little bit late, so we were pressed on time,
and so you don't want to miss a fly. Could
(02:56):
have been had I stopped take the time to fill
it up myself in order to get the absolute best
price all on a gallon of gas. Well, if that
caused us to miss our flight. Kate's getting a little
stressed and because I saw the costco and I was like, obay,
that's where we need to stop and get gas. And
she's like, we are not stopping to get gas we
are going straight to the airport.
Speaker 1 (03:16):
Well, the problem was stopping at Costco for gas is
that it can often take a lot of extra time
because of the line, which is.
Speaker 2 (03:21):
Where we would have stopped. And I think that one
would have cost us because we would have ended up
missing the flight. All right, Okay, I can and from
my wife sanity because she you know, and here's here's
what it's worth a lot. It's totally worth it. And
the fact that if you're looking at say this, three
dollars a gallon versus five dollars a gallon and the
little over ten gallons that they had to fill up.
(03:42):
So it's not a fifty dollars conversation, truly, what is it.
It's a twenty dollars conversation. So would you be willing
to spend twenty bucks to not have the additional stress
to not miss your flight to you know, make your
significant other happy? For me, dude, it was worth every dollar.
I'd never so I'd never actually done that before either,
But it felt, really I felt like if I felt
like mister fancy pants, I just pulled on up. And
(04:04):
I granted it was because we're short on short on time.
If we had more time.
Speaker 1 (04:08):
I totally would have It would feel so amptithetical to
everything that exists inside of me.
Speaker 2 (04:13):
It felt a little bit weird, but I thought, this
is pretty nice not having to actually stop, Like, uh,
are you.
Speaker 1 (04:18):
Gonna make this a regular habit?
Speaker 3 (04:19):
Then I shouldn't know.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
But there are certain things that you're less willing to do.
Like some things are worth convenience. This is not one
of them. Popping in and pumping the gas is like
not terribly inconvenient. So I would say, if you if
it was between you missing your flight and doing this,
that's one thing. But if you're gonna start doing this
on the rag and become some sort of fancy pants
guy who pays five bucks at a gallon for gas
without needing to, I'm gonna say, then your frugal card
is a mistake.
Speaker 2 (04:43):
What I should have done was earlier on in the trip,
even the day before. I should have filled up because
I hadn't filled it up at all, and we stopped
at a safe way because we're frugal, and we were
cooking breakfast at home at the loft that we were running.
That's because that's how we roll. It's a much better
least in some contexts, I guess, but I should have
stopped and filled up gas and at least they would
have only needed to charge me for like four gallons
(05:05):
or five gallons or something as opposed to almost the
whole tank. Yeah, anyway, I thought that was worth sharing
because it was something I've never done before, which is
the rental company filled it up for us.
Speaker 1 (05:16):
Yeah, and you know what, we all have things where
we're in a hurry, or something happens, or there's traffic,
and we can't optimize everything.
Speaker 2 (05:22):
So I wouldn't make ourself.
Speaker 3 (05:23):
Up with the colts. Just don't get used to this.
That's so I'm gonna say it was nice.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
We don't travel enough for that to be like a
frequent thing. Anyway.
Speaker 3 (05:31):
Yeah, it was a nice little slurge.
Speaker 1 (05:32):
Okay, a listening on mat, let's get to the Friday
flight for this week the sampling of stories we found interesting.
Let's start by talking about the American dream. It's more
expensive than ever. This is according to a new Go
Banking rates analysis. Basically, they found that inflation has made
it far more expensive to live the quintessential American.
Speaker 2 (05:52):
Lifestyle so familiar.
Speaker 3 (05:54):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (05:54):
Do they talk about the dream in other countries, is
there like the Botswana and dream or.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
The chicken in every pot.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
I don't know he made up. I don't know.
Speaker 1 (06:03):
I mean, but in America we have this American dream.
The people want to own a house, white picket fence,
two cars in the driveway, which I'd say one car
of the driveways are better gold aft. But now the
American dream costs roughly one hundred and fifty thousand bucks
a year on average, although where you live has a
massive impact on the actual cost of being able to
(06:24):
afford that kind of typical stock American lifestyle. Of course, Hawaii,
California more expensive than living in Mississippi or Arkansas, for instance.
Speaker 2 (06:32):
It makes me think of that as you know, that
disease I'm sorry joke where he's like he's a parent
or he's a kid of immigrants, and so he knows
something about immigrants, and he's like, oh yeah. The government
is like, oh hey you yeah, you yeah, you can
come to America, but you got to live in Alabama
because nobody wants to live in Alabama.
Speaker 3 (06:50):
That's not true.
Speaker 2 (06:50):
Well, he's just talking about it from a where he
wanted to live standpoint. I've got nothing against the more affordable.
Of course, I'm going to encourage folks to move to
the states that are more affordable. Your dollars gonna go
much further.
Speaker 1 (07:00):
Right, think about Arkansas, man likes so underrated from like
an outdoorsy perspective as it, Yeah, I don't like by
the thozarks Man like some of the best mountain biking
in the countries in.
Speaker 2 (07:09):
Yeah, Arkansas, so sounds awesome.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
Don't hate on the low cost of living spots, especially
right when you think about how much the cost of
the American dream has gone up, it's like thirty six
percent increase over the past decade. But then there's a
flip side of that, Matt. I think sometimes those things
make all the headlines and it's like, well, I guess
nobody can afford the American dream anymore. Well, median household
income has gone up by forty seven percent over the
(07:33):
same time period, so household income has outpaced the rising
costs of affording that American dream. So it's important to
put that in perspective. It makes me think of like
when we talk about headline credit card debt and it's like, oh, man,
past a trillion dollars. Now it's past one point one
trillion dollars. Well, what is it adjusted for inflation? And
is it actually as bad as the headline number seems.
You see a lot of doom loom headlines and you
(07:54):
and I obviously would prefer to see zero dollars in
credit card debt for all Americans. But it's maybe not
quite as bad as people make it out to be.
And this number, by the way, includes maxing out your
for OW and K and your college savings plan for
your kids.
Speaker 2 (08:07):
That's a part of the American dream that I can
get behind.
Speaker 1 (08:09):
It, Yes, exactly, except for maybe the college savings plan
for your kids. Maybe we switched out for the roth
Irey instead, But that's what the four one k's for. Yeah,
well we want you to do both. Yeah, and in
life is expensive. The other thing to mention, too, Matt,
is we've all got different dreams, not one static reality
that we're all shooting for. And I guess my thought
is that we still live in a country that makes
(08:30):
our ability to live out our dreams of what our
individualistic version of that American dream. We live in a
country that makes it exceedingly possible for a large segment
of the population. Although of course, not everyone to the
exact same extent.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
That's true. Yeah, so would you move in order to
achieve that American dream, Joel? If you didn't, if you
didn't have.
Speaker 1 (08:48):
It depends on It depends on where I'm being asked
to move. To a certain extent, we did move for
its true a couple of years ago. But I bring
that up because relocating it could significantly drive down the
price of the most expensive things in your life, like
housing or insurance, the cost of food, which could meaningfully
reduce your overall cost of living. We've seen that happen
more and more in our post pan world, and it's
(09:11):
helped some folks basically keep like a high flute and
paying job like a Silicon Valley paycheck while living let's say,
on a Tennessee budget, which sounds awesome.
Speaker 3 (09:21):
Yeah you remember that.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
I mean that was commonplace for real while there in
the right after the pandemic hit exactly. But it's like
Facebook's like, we'll keep employing you. You can live wherever
you want because the office is closed.
Speaker 2 (09:32):
Except for the fact that it's starting to cut both
ways working from home geographic arbitrage. Employers are wising up
because you might be able to keep your high paying
job while moving to a cheaper location. But your boss
they might also look for cheaper employee options remotely as well,
so keep that in mind. It cuts both ways. This
trend has been happening for a while now, it's growing
(09:52):
and this isn't just a state to state sort of competition.
Either employers or you know, or they're hiring less expensive
employee in other countries as well. I mean, I think
we're all familiar with just the different call centers that
are not in the States. So let's just not get
too comfortable with the maybe abundant job market that we've
all a lot of folks have been experiencing over the
(10:13):
past several years. As the job market cools, I think
it's a good idea to keep your savings stout, make
sure you've got that emergency fund, but keep your skills
in top shape as well. Make sure your resume is
looking good at least know where it is. That way
you can update it if need be.
Speaker 1 (10:27):
And we have said this multiple times on the show,
and I think it's important to reiterate Matt that when
people go into the office, oftentimes it is harder to
fire that person. I mean I guess if you're going
to the office and you're just napping all day, then
it's probably really easy to fire you. But the more
FaceTime you're able to show to your fellow coworkers and
to the higher ups, they're more likely you are to
(10:48):
get a raise to keep your job to you're going
to be You're not gonna be the first person on
the shopping block. If you're only on a zoom call
once a month, there's a higher chance that you are
not the person who's staying when those job cuts come about.
So even if you're not required to go into the office,
you might want to say, yeah, I'm going to do
it a couple times a week, just because that's good
for me and securing my future paycheck. There's also a
(11:10):
downside to job hopping, Matt. There was an article about this,
basically one of the downside. I don't really thought about
this that much, but we talk about taking a different
job to increase your income. That's awesome, But one of
the downsides potentially is accumulating less in your four oh
one K. And that's partly because workers tend to cash
out their retirement accounts when they leave, which don't like
that we hate that it's awful, But if you quit
(11:33):
too soon, you might also not reach the vesting requirement.
Different jobs have different lengths of time before you're able
to actually get the match that's promised to you. So
if you leave after a year and a half in
the vesting period is two years, sorry, you just lost
all the matching money that your employer was going to
give you. So we would just say pay attention to
that and consider your employment timeline accordingly, and if you
(11:56):
do leave your job, keep your four one K intact please.
It's the numbers are dismal, Matt, when it comes to
people leaving their job and then just like rating their
retirement account like it's a piggy bank. Keep it in
the four on K with your employer, or roll it
over into an IRA with one of the low cost
companies if it's not with one of those those low
cost companies. Already, we have an article about Capitalize which
(12:18):
is will help you do those rollovers for free, that
we'll link to.
Speaker 3 (12:21):
In the show notes.
Speaker 1 (12:22):
But this is a problem, and it's a problem I
hadn't really thought too much about, Matt. The fact that
people going to work somewhere else might mean could mean
kind of some slippage when it comes to the traction
you're gaining and saving investing for your future.
Speaker 3 (12:35):
That's right.
Speaker 2 (12:35):
So while we are covering jobs, let's talk about earning
more money, which I think most of us are keen on.
In a way to do that is via the extremely
underrated skill of emotional intelligence. This isn't like breaking news necessarily,
but this is informative. There is new research out that
shows that there is a linear relationship between your EQ,
(12:58):
so your using emotional intelligence and emotion quotient interchangeably here,
but that there is a linear relationship between your EQ
and your salary. People with a higher EQ tend to
earn almost thirty thousand dollars more per year than folks
who have a low emotional intelligence. So what should you
be looking to improve? Evidently four areas make up your EQ,
(13:22):
and they are I'm going to let's see these out here.
Self awareness, social awareness, self management, and relationship management. That's
our relationship doing today, Matt, I think it's doing pretty good.
How do you think our relationship is doing?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
I feel great about us as friends. Let's promote each other.
Speaker 2 (13:38):
You're not going to be able to improve all these
areas like overnights instantaneously. I think some certain aspects of
it are going to be easier for some than others.
But realizing and improving how it is that you express
your emotions and how you feel in the workplace, I
think that can go a long way towards you making
more money at least over time. And those soft skills
are they're just as important as the hard ones that
(14:00):
you've worked years to achieve. Like we focus on the
degrees and the different skills and certifications, but just how
it is that we work with folks in the office.
With folks especially too, with varying in different backgrounds, can
go a really long way in your ability to manage
well in order to be a good team player.
Speaker 1 (14:16):
Makes me think of an episode we did a while
back with Gorik. He talked about the unspoken rules of
workplace success, and is what he was talking about. So
much of those unspoken rules were just kind of basic
EQ sort of emotional intelligence stuff and not letting your
emotions get out of hand, being able to rain them
in and keep them in check, being thoughtful about the
(14:39):
wording that you're using in emails. There's so many little
small things that people pick up on over time, your bosses,
your coworkers, and the value of learning how to control
your temper. For instance, it could add up to thousands
and thousands of dollars in income where or potentially losing
your job. I guess if you can't control it at all. Yeah,
Orskinse scenario.
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (14:59):
So it's really really interesting stuff. And Matt, let's talk
about another workplace trend. People thought the fire movement was hot. Well,
it turns out that actually the opposite of fire is
kind of hot right now that more workers are choosing
to unretire. So they hit their retirement age and they
were like, cool, I'm done with work, and then they said, wait,
a couple of years later, maybe I'm ready to get
(15:19):
back into the workforce. And so some research from Pew
reports that Americans over seventy five are basically the hottest
segment of the workforce right now. A decent chuck of
boomers basically said, I'm gonna quit, but I'm either not
financially or emotionally ready to completely stop working, So I'm
going back to the well, I'm going to go get
a job again. And some of this is actually because
many older Americans expect to live longer according to Pew, Like,
(15:42):
so that's a good thing. They're saying, Listen, I'm seventy five,
but I still feel young, and I think I'm gonna
live till ninety five, So why not work till I'm
eighty instead of bagging to work this early and having
twenty years of no work at all. And I think
if you like what you do, at least that's a
good thing. I think the flip side of this, though, Matt,
for young listeners, which is most of the folks listening
(16:02):
to how to money, is to save and invest, like
you're going to retire much earlier than age eighty, so
not necessarily planning like, oh cool, this is a trend.
I guess I'm going to work until I'm eighty two,
because while you might get to do what you want
to do for as long as you want to do it,
that's amazing, many older workers also find that that isn't
the case. So I would just say, like, yeah, hope
(16:22):
for the best, but plan for bumps in the road,
and that planning for bumps in the road is investing
a decent chunk of your income so that you have
at least optionality when it comes to those later working years,
and I like the idea of trending back towards working
at least part time as you get older. There's a
sense of meaning, there's a social income, right, There's a
lot of good stuff that comes with work, at least
if it's work that you're choosing to do on purpose. Totally,
(16:44):
but you just don't plan on working until you die
and not invest a dime because exactly that's going to
leave you.
Speaker 3 (16:49):
With zero choices.
Speaker 2 (16:50):
Yeah, and just the fact too that more folks are
that they are returning to work. It just kind of
underlines I think our view of work, which is that
the ability for you to work and provide value into
the world, that that in it of itself is fulfilling.
And if you're able to do something that you find fulfilling,
oftentimes you are compensated for that. And so it's a
combination of that. But also I think maybe less emphasis
(17:10):
was placed, maybe with the boomer generation on some of
the things outside of work that also bring fulfillment. So
you remove like this main thing that brought them a
whole lot of fulfillment. Oh and by the way, a
lot of money. But then you don't replace that with anything, right, Like,
there's nothing else that's kind of steps into that void,
and you kind of start thinking, well, shoot, I don't know,
I was really good at that. Maybe I'll go back
at least in a part time role or as a consultant.
(17:31):
There are different ways to continue to provide that value.
You're right, this could almost be seen as somewhat of
like a work addiction. It's like, sure, I quit work,
and so it turns out I had nothing else to do,
even though I have enough money. Guess I'll go back
to work because that is like the square peg fitting
in the square hole, because it fits perfectly because that's
what you've crafted over the past thirty forty years. Yeah,
(17:52):
So it's tough to talk about having a healthy relationship
to work, because I think that's more than likely. What's
going on here is the fact that folks they don't
have it in its right place, ye like, And that's
that's the kind of I don't know, that balance that
we are constantly trying to strike when it comes to work,
finding value in it, but at the same time not
having it be your everything because there are things outside
of work, a lot of things. But we got more
(18:12):
to get to We will eventually get to you talking
about your unrequited.
Speaker 1 (18:17):
Love of Oasis, I make me saying it.
Speaker 2 (18:19):
Some travel trends. We'll get to that and more right
after this. All right, Matt, let's keep rolling with this podcast.
Do it because it's electric. Yes, I am referencing Oasis lyrics.
Let's get to the ludicrous headline of the week first, though.
(18:40):
This one comes from the FTC and the Federal Trade Commission,
and the blog post title on their site was home
title lock insurance not a lock at all. And you
and I, Matt, we talk about insurance pretty regularly on
the show. It's some types of insurance are necessary, like
car insurance. Often you're legally required to have that. There
are other types of surance not nearly as good, not
(19:02):
nearly as necessary, And some other types of insurance even
depend on what phase of life you're in. Right, so
you're nineteen listening to this podcast. You don't get married,
you don't have many kids.
Speaker 1 (19:15):
Chances are term life insurance is completely unnecessary, even though
it's something we talk about sometimes as being a necessity
for other people. And then there are other types of
insurance that are just a bad deal. Basically, all the time.
Makes me think of extended warranties MATT for your electronics
items almost always a waste of money. You're throwing it away. Well,
home title lock insurance, and I use insurance term loosely
(19:38):
on this one is one of those kinds of insurance
that is pretty trashy that you should essentially avoid, and
the FTC put out a warning about.
Speaker 3 (19:46):
It last week.
Speaker 1 (19:47):
And the funny thing is, I said, I'm going to
use the term insurance loosely. This isn't even really insurance.
It's not protecting you in the case of someone And
essentially this is someone pretending to be you stealing the
deed to you your home, which is an incredibly rare event.
So I wouldn't fixate on this possibility. But this quote
unquote insurance offers to notify you after the fact that
(20:09):
something bad happened to you. It's unhelpful, it's a waste
of money. Plus, you can check your title for free
with your estate's records department. Do not pay for these services.
Speaker 3 (20:20):
Ridiculous.
Speaker 2 (20:20):
This is like, it's a misnomer on two fronts because
it's not insurance and it's also not a lock. Like
two thirds of what they're selling you is a total
crap home.
Speaker 1 (20:27):
The home part is right, it does have something to
do with your exactly, but this is like praying on
fear right. People are like, steal the deed to my home.
Let me get this insurance to protect me, and then
it doesn't protect you in any way foreign fashion.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
It makes me think of the the credit lock stuff
that the credit buers offer, or like the credit notification
services that costs folks money every single month, when the
real quote unquote insurance that can truly prevent the problem
is totally free, which is actually freezing your credit. It's like,
I don't mind that it exists. If they want to
sell this product, that's totally fine, but they need to
completely bogus product. They should change. If folks want to
(21:02):
be notified in case something like this, Okay, that's fine,
if you want to do that. I don't think it's
a wise use of money. But it's the It's like
installing a nice lock on your home, right, and you're like, oh, yeah,
this is going to prevent people from getting inside, when
in reality it's actually just an alarm and the door
isn't locked. It's like, well, okay, and you left the
windows open. It's like, in reality, the better thing to
(21:23):
do actually here in this case is just.
Speaker 3 (21:24):
To lock it.
Speaker 2 (21:25):
But it's just the fact that it's called something that
it's not is the part that really gets under my skin.
Speaker 1 (21:29):
It's misleading. That's what we don't like. It certainly is
it certainly isn't. And the other thing is lots of
states and municipalities offer free notifications if you can literally
sign up for notifications, which is essentially what this is,
but it costs you money and you might be able
to get the same service for free. Yeah, this is
one of those things. Listen to the FTC here, they're
spot one, and don't throw good money away on a
(21:50):
product like this.
Speaker 3 (21:52):
Man.
Speaker 1 (21:52):
On the note of insurance, at car insurance costs, they
continue to skyrocket. They're going through the roof. And while
price increases are slowing in almost every other sector of
the economy, we keep talking about inflation coming down. Good news,
Well that's not the case. We're talking about the car
insurance segment of the economy. And there's a new report
from Insurify which finds that car insurance rates are set
(22:15):
to increase again this year. And they actually said, I
think in the headline that in some states they're going
to increase by more than fifty percent, which can you
imagine like that kind of a jump. It's shocking to people.
That's crazy, completely shocking. And the average full coverage premium
is now almost twenty five hundred bucks a year across
the country.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
That's also crazy.
Speaker 1 (22:33):
Yeah, what you pay obviously depends on where you live,
your driving record, your credit score in most states, and
some other factors too.
Speaker 2 (22:41):
I guess how new your vehicle is, how much it
actually costs a replace. I guess that's the other you're
driving too, if you've got a newer, brand new vehicle,
which I guess there's a lot of folks that do,
as opposed to driving fifteen year old clunkers. Yeah, well,
that's kind of how we like to roll, right exactly.
Even if I do have the rental company fill my
car up for me, Joel, I know I'm still and
just may you're going to keep bringing this one. I
(23:02):
am going to you time.
Speaker 1 (23:04):
You're never going to let live it down. If Surify
is essentially projecting these costs are going to continue to
rise through the end of twenty twenty four, we're not
going to see a slow down in car insurance rates,
and then I don't know, Matt, I guess there are
a few options that people have though right own fewer cars.
That's one of the things you mentioned. Hey, if you
own one less car, you knock twenty five hundred bucks
(23:24):
potentially off your annual car insurance costs. And I know
that's a big lifestyle change, but for a lot of
people it might be worth it. What about self insuring more,
raising your deductible or dropping full coverage if your car
is old enough and you have enough money in the
bank to cover replacing that if something were to happen,
and of course chopping around with other insurance carriers. And
(23:45):
then if you find out that actually, well, the insurance
company that I'm currently with, I've got a pretty good
rate here, even though the rate's gone up, I'm not
getting anything better elsewhere, Well, maybe ask about other discounts
that they offer. Are there ways to save even more
with the company you're with? Just a twenty minute conversation
on the phone with an agent could mean significant savings.
(24:06):
There's big money on the table here. When we're talking
about in an era where rates are going up significantly,
They're not going up with the same clip from different
insurance companies, and every insurance company is going to offer
different quotes based on how they their algorithm. So it's
certainly worth shopping around, especially in today's environment.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
That's true.
Speaker 2 (24:23):
Yeah, And as those monthly budgets go up because of
rising prices like the cost of insurance, it's also going
to mean less demand for travel, which equals more cheap flights.
Speaker 3 (24:33):
On the way Hopper.
Speaker 2 (24:34):
They reported that fares are down eight percent year of
a year. The New York Times they highlighted the fact
that we're seeing more deals or seeing more discounts from
different hotel chains as well. So it's not going to
make up for those higher car insurance costs, but it's
at least a bit of a bright spot. That's a
little bit of a silver lining. Maybe get your car
and go on a trip. I mean, and this is
(24:55):
just another example of our economy. The market's returning to
sort of that pre pan quote unquote normal because folks,
you know, they had more cash on hand, folks wanted
to travel more. We remember, like we talked about this
on the show a couple of years ago, just the
massive demand for travel as folks had more stimu money,
more cash in the bank. And what did the airlines do.
They accommodated for that. They increased the number of flights,
(25:17):
they expanded their routes. And now there's more supply than
there is demand. So if you are a traveler, you
have more of a possibility these days to snag a deal.
Speaker 1 (25:26):
Yeah, and we're starting to see air airlines actually start
to reduce some service, starting to correct because they're realizing
prices are going down. Maybe we need to limit supply
a little bit. It feels like right now might be
the sweet spot. Yeah, it might be a good time.
Except for Matt. When we're talking about travel, you know
when you probably pay this without blinking, you probably love
paying baggage fees. Based on recent.
Speaker 2 (25:46):
Information, we flew Southwest and slammed everything into our code
of pack sees. Okay, yeah, which are great. That thing
fits right under the seat in front of you.
Speaker 3 (25:55):
Love those things.
Speaker 2 (25:56):
So when I intentionally also make sure to not take
up luggage over had luggage space for those who have
larger bags, because I want to make sure that everyone
I'm trying to contribute to the overall good here. It's
very conscient. It's some folks that they take their backpacks
and they throw it up there. Yeah no, no, no, you
got room under the seat in front of you. So
I went, what'd you do?
Speaker 3 (26:12):
Well?
Speaker 2 (26:13):
Yeah, no, I put it in the overhead of my bag.
Speaker 1 (26:15):
But I also had to check a bag on this
most recent trip because I was backpacking. I literally had
one of those bag, big old backpacking backpacks.
Speaker 2 (26:22):
You would you get it, by the way, did you
read it or borrow it from a friend? No? I
bought it because I'm going to use it again. Oh
there you go. Oh look at you.
Speaker 1 (26:28):
So this but from Mari I is a great bag.
But luggage fees are getting worse. I didn't have to
pay any fee because I also flew Southwest, but Airlines.
New stats show the airlines raked in thirty three billion
dollars in baggage fees in twenty twenty three, which is
a fifteen percent increase over the year before. So, Matt,
it just one of those things I think people maybe
(26:48):
are getting used to when they travel. There's like, I
guess I'm gonna pay a fee to check a bag,
But the truth is you don't have to most of
the time. So I just want people to know that,
like as these fees become normalized, you can still avoid them.
Many airlines are actually going to charge you for a
carry on to these days, which annoys me. But if
you know the rules, you know the hoops you can
jump through, you can likely save or avoid that fee
(27:11):
all together. So it makes you think of when we
flew Frontier recently and like, hey, if you bring this
bag that fits specifically in Frontiers little container, you can
take it on. It counts as a personal item, right
and so it's.
Speaker 2 (27:23):
A tight fit.
Speaker 1 (27:23):
We packed light and we were able to fit our
bags inside of there, and we didn't pay any sort
of fee. But the people in front of us, they
were at a little too big, just a little too big,
and guess what they had to pay a hundred bucks each.
Speaker 2 (27:36):
I felt terrible for what.
Speaker 1 (27:37):
A massive increase to the price of your trip.
Speaker 2 (27:38):
So how many times you could turn your car rental
in with like on an empty tank, right, Like, that's
five times.
Speaker 1 (27:43):
Right there, exactly. That's less of a bad decision. And
with the other thing I guess that might help you
avoid some of those fees is using the right credit card.
So if you have friends who are like super loyal
to Delta, or something like that, and if they used
the Delta card when they booked their their trip, everybody
who flies with them is able to check a bag
for free. So I don't know pack lighter or use
(28:04):
the right credit card, but at least know what the
fees are and do your best to avoid them. They
just don't have to be a fee that we blindly
accept regularly totally.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Also, we're not sponsored or anything, but we love the
Codo Pasi Alpa twenty eight liter bag we've talked about.
We've mentioned them before on the show. Maybe we'll link
to them in the show notes.
Speaker 3 (28:19):
It's the best.
Speaker 2 (28:20):
But Joel, we mentioned rising fees at ATMs recently. Was
that last week that we talked about that thinks so well.
More retailers are charging you if you want cash back
when you're paying with a debit card these days as well,
that used to be a way that you could, oh, okay,
this is the way I get my hands on some cash.
But according to the CFPB, retailers like the Dollar Store Kroger,
(28:43):
they're doing this as well. They're charging you when you
opt for cash back when you are paying with a
debit card. It's oftentimes still going to be a more
affordable way to get your hands on some money than
the average ATM fee that's out there, But just a
heads up that you might pay anywhere from like fifty
cents all the way up to three dollars, which makes
me cringe a little bit to pull out some of
your money. So I just remember doing this in high school, like, well,
(29:05):
you literally buy a pack of gum. Oh yeah, in
order to avoid because back then they weren't really reimbursing
the different ATM fees as much, so you was this strategy.
Speaker 1 (29:13):
Yeah, buy a pack of gum and ask for twenty back.
You need twenty forty bucks, like the pack of gum.
Strategy always worked, and then it felt like the cheapest
ATM fee of all time.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
Plus you got some juicy fruit to go along with it. No, yeah,
what's gonna go wrong is that your favorite juicy fruit?
Speaker 3 (29:26):
Juicy fruit was the best.
Speaker 1 (29:27):
I mean it didn't last long, but the flavor was
Remember you probably got the zebra gum, didn't you?
Speaker 2 (29:31):
Oh, fruits ripe? You know, was right? I was trying
to think. My friend's always like a big red I
hated the cinnamon is the worst. What do you think
about people? Who you send them in toothpaste. It's something
wrong with them, something wrong with this, I agree.
Speaker 1 (29:44):
Sorry to all you listeners out there who do it,
feel free to write your angry emails to Matt. Let's
go back to the well on some of the FTC
is doing. They issued another warning this week that we
thought was at least worth mentioning for bitcoin ATMs, which, surprise, surprise, man,
scammers are using bitcoin ATMs trying to steal people's money.
This is a new twist on a fairly traditional scam. Basically,
(30:07):
a scammer tells you that there's bogus information on your
account that you need to deposit money right away into
one of these bitcoin ATMs. The money then goes to
the scammer, never to be seen again. You are out
whatever money you stuck in there. And so basically we're
talking about scams raising your fear levels, praying on that feeling.
If you don't know who's calling you hang up, log
(30:30):
into your account to see if there's really an issue
or not. If there's like there's insufficient funds in your
bank account, well go directly to the website or to
the app on your phone and see if that's actually true,
before listening to these crooks and doing what they ask
you to do.
Speaker 2 (30:42):
Well, you know what you can't get out of an
atm Joel a penny, and that's because it's a worthless coin.
A New York Times article this week said that, and
this is a quote. Few things symbolize our national dysfunction
more than the inability to stop minting this worthless currency.
Speaker 3 (30:57):
I think that's true.
Speaker 2 (30:58):
This is something that I think a lot of Americans
can get behind. We totally agree, honestly. To understand the
full scope of the problem, it's worth reading this entire article,
but just a few highlights. They noted that this is a.
Speaker 3 (31:09):
Really long article.
Speaker 1 (31:10):
By the way, they hated the pennies so much they
dropped a lot of ink I attraction.
Speaker 2 (31:14):
I'm a fan of writing about the things you care about.
But they noted how one hundred dollars worth of pennies
weighs in at fifty five pounds, giving at least a
partial indication of the logistical nightmare the annoyances that pennies
come with.
Speaker 1 (31:29):
Sounds like the solution for a good user pennies is
as workout equipment than matt Oh.
Speaker 2 (31:34):
That's true that sand water people do all sorts. It
also costs more than three cents to produce a single
one cent piece. So we wanted to highlight this because
our depending on your political background and just all the
stuff that's going on with our country, right like our nation,
it might be embroiled in conflicts here we agree with
foreign and domestic. But this is something that I do
(31:55):
think we can all get behind.
Speaker 1 (31:56):
Independence, conservatives, liberals, let's all unite in hatred of the penny.
Speaker 3 (32:01):
Yeah.
Speaker 2 (32:01):
Again, I don't want to prop myself up as some
sort of elitist Joel, but I don't even pick up
pennies on the sidewalking now, Like I've gotten to the
point like it's got to be at least a nickel
for me to bend over like I need. It needs
to be the equivalent of five pennies for me to
reach down there with you. It's too risky. Back to
the day, dirty nasty germs.
Speaker 1 (32:18):
Back in the day, would a coke costs a nickel
and and it went up to six cents, like that
was a big deal, right, and a penny was like
actually meaningful currency. It served a function, But it doesn't
serve any function anymore. Nobody cares Canada. I think got
rid of it eleven or twelve years ago, something like that.
They ditched their penny, and so basically, if you're making
a transaction in person, they round up or round down
(32:39):
and nobody cares because a penny is essentially worthless, or
if you're making an online transaction, you can still pay
down to the penny.
Speaker 2 (32:45):
I guess, dude, how great would it be if all
the prices out there always ended in a zero or
a five. I feel like it would make life a
bit easier too, for sure, for multiple reasons.
Speaker 1 (32:54):
Yep, I'm with you. So we're with the New York
Times on this one. Let's abolish a penny. Let's move
on with our lives people, Matt. Since we're talking about pricing,
let's talk about the pricing of tickets to see one
of the greatest bands in the history of the world.
Here we go, Oasis, the band that sadly has not
toured together for fifteen plus years. I want to say, yea,
(33:14):
the Gallagher brothers. They're lack of friendship has been documented extensively.
They really didn't like each other for a really long time,
and I don't know if they actually like each other
now again, or if they're just they.
Speaker 2 (33:27):
Just need to make a buck.
Speaker 1 (33:28):
They need to make a buck, and they're going to
go on tour. Well, so I was stoked to hear
that they are announcing a reunion tour. They haven't actually
announced a US tour yet. When they do, I will
at least be considering buying tickets. But the punks at
Ticketmaster ruin everything, and they botched another rollout of tickets
that people really want to, really care about, really wanted
to buy. I don't mind dynamic pricing. We talk about
(33:49):
that like, hey, it can help basically balance creatniquilibrium between
supply and demand in so many cases. But Ticketmaster is
taking dynamic pricing to the next level, ramping up prices
while people are waiting in the queue buy tickets. So
you're like, okay, cool, this is what I'm going to
pay for tickets, and then you get in there, and
then while you're sitting there, it's almost like a slot
machine where the numbers are rolling around, but they're only
(34:12):
going up, costing you more. As Ticketmaster makes you sit
and wait and hope that you can get those tickets
in it feels a little bait and switchy. Getting more
expensive about a second. It's ridiculous, Yes, very bait and switchy.
I agree, it's infuriating to customers. It's a complete and
utter shame that getting to see your favorite live music
has been held hostage by this awful company. I can't
think of many companies matt that are worse or that
(34:34):
rival Ticketmaster and just how awful they are. And then
customers are left with the decision of trying to buy
directly from the venue, which might allow you to skirt Ticketmaster,
skipping the show altogether, or holding your nose and handing
over gobs of cash. Something needs to change here, and
I know the British authorities are looking at a Ticketmaster
because of this.
Speaker 2 (34:52):
But same thing here, same side as well. I just
don't understand how it's something that has continued, Like it's
crazy when a grocery store groceries chains that have like
razor thin margins. Was it Albertson's that was going to
like merge with with Kroger and they got sued And
it's like, uh, there's plenty of competition out there. Think
about all the different grocery stores, all the different options,
plus not to mention our favorite discount is like Aldi,
(35:14):
but then you got somebody like Ticketmaster. Truly, they are
effectively operating as a monopoly.
Speaker 3 (35:18):
I agree.
Speaker 2 (35:19):
I think something's got to change soon, and hopefully we'll
see something a.
Speaker 1 (35:22):
Better change in time for the US ticket release of
the Oasis tour, because it might. I don't know, because
I mean I'm pretty sensitive. And if if I can
get a ticket to go see Oasis for fifty bucks,
I'm in. But if it's like one twenty, sorry, guys.
Speaker 2 (35:33):
Galer, Yeah, you wouldn't pay one twenty to see one
of your favorite bands from your childhood.
Speaker 3 (35:37):
Not Nosebleed Seeds. Really, I don't know.
Speaker 2 (35:39):
I do love them though, if you if they came,
you know, I feel like I missed out on seeing
YouTube at at the Sphere in Vegas if they If
Oasis goes to Vegas for the Sphere, I might join you.
Speaker 1 (35:51):
All right, We'll make a out of money. That seems
like it would be a fun time. Yeah, But the
only thing would make it better is if hooting the
Blowfish opened up for Oasis, because that was that would
like truly be seventh I'd come back to life for me.
I guess that'd be the equivalent of going to see
another Third Blind show, which I have seen. That was
my first, That was my first real concert, and I
don't think I paid ticket Master prices.
Speaker 3 (36:09):
Yeah, I think I saw him last year and it
was awesome.
Speaker 2 (36:11):
But that's gonna be in For this episode. We want
to give a quick newsletter referral shout out to Matt
Z and Lori Lori G. Thank you both so much
for sharing the how to Money newsletter with some of
your friends. It comes out every Tuesday. It's free, it's
chock full of helpful personal finance nuggets of wisdom. You
can sign up for that at how to money dot com.
Forward Slash Newsletter.
Speaker 1 (36:32):
No Doubt Bud. All right, I hope you guys have
a great weekend. We'll catch back here on Monday. Until
next time, Best friends out and best Friends out.
Speaker 3 (36:52):
Hues Electric. That's one of my favorites.
Speaker 2 (36:55):
I probably a friend.
Speaker 3 (36:56):
No no no no no no no no no no
no no no no. Bom left the cars again.
Speaker 2 (37:03):
Need a little time to wake up the way
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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