October 24, 2025 • 38 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:
- The running industrial complex
- Exorbitant cost of running tourism
- Lead in the protein powders
- More money leading to sloppier habits
- Moneyless millionaires
- AI takes on ecommerce
- Subs for the suds
- Silly names are killing craft beer
- Credit card churning
- Premium cards with premium fees
- HSAs are going mainstream
- Rx vending machines
Want more How To Money in your life? Here are some additional ways to get ahead with your personal finances:
- I’m not sure who needs to hear this but Health Savings Accounts, or HSAs, are the ultimate retirement accounts.
- Knowing your ‘money gear’ is a crucial part of your personal finance journey. Start here.
- Sign up for the weekly HTM newsletter. It’s fun, free, & practical.
- Join a thriving community of fellow money in the HTM Facebook group.
- Massively reduce your cell phone bill each month by switching to a discount provider like Mint Mobile.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt. Today
we're talking moneyless millionaires, credit card churning, and AI goes
e commerce.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Of course, we've got to talk about a little bit
of AI.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Like it's just gonna be a recurring segment. It's kind
of ongoing in perpetuity until the AI tells us to stop.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And we will obey our AI overlords at every turn. Well,
I think it's it's kind of like when tariffs were
just starting out too. It's like wen are talking about
it every week because it was a thing and it's
still happening, and they will impact our holidays, and I'm
sure we'll talk about it again. But AI just there's
a lot going on right now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, that is true. But it's another beautiful morning, Joel.
We didn't coordinate our runs this morning. By the way,
did you go for a run this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No? Still okay, Brady, which, oh my gosh. So yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
We talked last week about doing our couple's run. And
I can't believe that I didn't wish you wellishes for
your upcoming marathon last weekend. First one, I didn't wish
you good luck and what would have been fun.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I knew you felt it in your heart. I didn't.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I'm sorry if I would. If I would have, I
would have said it completely. I totally blanked and didn't
think about it until later that afternoon, where I was like,
oh my gosh, you got the race on, you know,
on Sunday. But I would have loved it because I
would love for you to have like live streamed it,
and then for all of our listeners to send you
a little encouraging notes, like if they could have live
(01:36):
tracked where you were and how fast you're running. It's
like Joe, you don't need to stop for water, keep moving, bro.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The only thing would have made it more painful is
if I tried to run it with like a selfie
stick and bidding myself.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Which sometimes you do see people doing that, like on
a ten K. Did you see anything like that?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No. I did see where I passed out on the
side of the road, like yeah, non responsive, and I
was like.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We need a medic over here.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
He was getting he was getting help he needed. Okay, yeah,
tough to watch. Okay, let's talk about running for a second.
Can we talk about so I will mention I did
run a marathon this past weekend. It was my first
marathon of all time. You did great, I did well.
I guess he's your goal that you're going for, So
I was happy with that.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That's a win.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Big thanks to listener Greg by the way, who ran
the same marathon. This was his one hundred and fourth marathon.
Because Greg is I did not know that an absolute beast,
Oh my god, and he helped me. I don't think
I would have done nearly as well if it wasn't
for like Greg. It almost felt like I had like
the you know, he lets you pick it back. Yeah,
it was almost felt like one of those monkey backpacks
where I'm holding onto the tail and he was dragging
(02:40):
me all the way. But it was more of like
verbal kindness that dragged me along so and and just
his like persistent spirits. So but yes, it's a painful endeavor.
But it made me think too, matt Like upon this accomplishment.
I was reflecting on it. There was an article about
the running industrial complex, and I was like, this is
kind of something actively trying to fight as someone who's
(03:01):
gotten kind of deep into the running space.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Good luck fighting it. It's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It's tough, man, it's tough. But the Business Insider had
this article that kind of spoke to me as someone
who has finally gotten around to enjoying running over the
past two years. Hated it beforehand, but man, running is
this sport in its essence, it's like the purest, one
of the purest things you can do as a human,
like walking and running. Right, They're like some of our
most basic instincts. But it feels like running is starting
(03:30):
to get hijacked by this American consumer mentality. It feels
like everything pure starts to starts to go in that direction,
because all you really need is a decent pair of
shoes and a even just like a Kirkland signature disposable
water bottle. They costs like a quarter when you buy
them in the big packs, or maybe even less. But
now we've got super shoes, we've got high end gels,
(03:51):
we've got fancy watches, recovery tools, like all this kind
of stuff in the running space, and so many people
are turning like the simplest an action into this overly
expensive hobby. And I think this is is partly because
of tailored ads seeking you out on the social media's
Like I've been getting these ads for and I don't.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Everything running huh yeah, everything right now, there we go.
That's why I said good luck.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Even these even these like gummies that have THHC in them,
they've been feeding I'm like, I don't partake, but.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
They've been inundating me with these gummies. Like this is
what's gonna make you run awesome?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is the idea that you don't feel any of the pain.
I totally blissed out and you're setting prs.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I mean, if that's actually the case, I'm not sure
you consider it. But uh, like these tailored ads, and
then I think that I think there's also the pressure
you feel as other people are nerding out on on
like getting stuff for running. But I think it's eminently
possible to enjoy the activity you're doing without overdoing it
on the stuff thing. It just makes me think of
(04:52):
our friend of the show, Michael Easter. He talks about
gear versus stuff. There's certain gear that you might, uh
that might be like helpful to you as a runner,
but then don't let it turn into just like buying
stuff and accumulating more stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah, well some people like the stuff, you know, and
that's the thing. They're doing it because they enjoy it,
but it's not necessary. And I think that's what you're
getting out that you can literally you don't need a
new pair of shoes even just you can put on
a pair of walking shoes or running shoes that you
already own and go for a jog. That's how you
get to start to be a runner.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I do feel a special satisfaction when I'm passing someone
in their two hundred and something dollars super shoes in
my thirty dollars Adida shoes, like I just.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
All decked out.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, maybe I love it passing them in my eBay
running shoes that I just actually purchased.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Did we talk about this? They're brand new? I didn't know.
eBay was still Oh, I think you're talking about East Bay.
That was kind of ok.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, we've talked about the sports shoes. No, my eBay
shoes my shoes Okay, Oh of course, well they were used,
but they were like new, I mean, and you can
always tell a good shoe seller on eBay will put
a picture a closer picture of the tread and when
you can see not only the trend still there, but
even the slight texture that they'll put on the.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Bottom of the tread.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Sometimes that's when you know, oh my gosh, this shoe
is worn like once or twice, it's an excellent condition.
And those are the shoes a war this morning when
I went for my run. But going beyond gear. The
Times detailed how runners are actually paying a large amount
of money for these race tours in order to be
able to compete in the most elye races. So, for instance,
the almost impossible to get into London Marathon, will you
(06:24):
pay a quote unquote tour operator four thousand dollars and
that ensures that you will get a BIB although it
only actually calls you. Costs you two hundred dollars in
race fees, and they include other stuff too, like meals
and they kind of pamper you.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And yeah it's again it's the tour, so it's thirty.
It's the package between paying for the package and just
going through. Oh yeah, it's hard to get into so
which means you're in this lottery and almost nobody gets accepted.
But if you do, the race fees are pretty minimal,
they're reasonable, but the only way to actually get in
is to pay the really really really high tour fee.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, yeah, so what do you think about that? Are you?
Are you split?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Because if you had a life goal to run them,
like if you're hitting all the majors, and then they
kind of.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Highlight what of my friend is doing, friends is doing. Yeah,
he just like went down to Australia to run Yeah,
the newer worse six Now there's nine.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But do they do they update the metal like the
instead of the six six stars metal question? I don't like,
do you have to go and rerun all of the majors?
I'll have to ask him. But if that is a
life goal of years, this is how you can guarantee entry.
And one of the persons who has profiled in the
in the article talked about how, well, what if I
could get hit by a bus tomorrow, I could have
(07:30):
a quote unquote career running career ending sort of injury.
And if you've got the money, I think I'm all
for folks taking this route because.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Skipping the line. But you pay a ton of money
to skip.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, it does cost a lot of money and there
are other perks, but if you have the money to
do it, I'm not am I personally going to do that? No,
because I don't. I don't care, Like this totally needs
to be your splurge. This needs to be your craft
beer equivalent. Uh, and you of course need to have
the money on hand. But again, you can spend very
very little money on this activity, this hobby, the sport,
(08:03):
something that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Causes you to live a healthier lifestyle, or.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
You can spend a ton of money and that guarantees
your ability to visit London.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I guess I just I hate seeing like something that
is so pure overrun in some ways, with like people
grabbing for your dollars, and I don't know, it makes
me think too, there are other ways to get into
some of those elite races. I have a friend who's
gonna run the New York City Marathon, which I think
is next weekend, and he I think the way he
got in was raising money for charity. And this is
(08:31):
a common way to get into some of those premium
races too, and maybe it's a better way, right like
than just me and let like it. The easy thing
to do is to fork over four thousand dollars to
the race tour. Sure that maybe slightly harder way, but
less costly way is to raise money for charity. And
also the ultimately best way to proceed totally.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Okay, so quickly, while we're talking about fitness stuff, did
you see the Consumer I'm sure you saw the Consumer
Reports article about protein powder and then oh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Yeah, because we talked about protein powders on a recent
Ascon Money.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Episode, So I don't know how much of it that
you read. But basically Consumer Reports, which is a great institution,
great great work that they're doing over there.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The few magazines were subscribing to him paying for Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That being said, I'm not totally sure if I agreed
with their findings, so that the headline is like, oh,
you know, all these protein powders that we tested have
five x the amount of lead that.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You should daily recommended intake. But I thought this daily
recommended to take to zero. But it was It was
a bit alarming as someone who consumes protein myself. But
then I read a little bit more and I saw
that the standard for which they set the limits on
the lead wasn't, let's say, the FDA's standard, but it
was California's Prop. Sixty five, which.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Which is more strict. It's much more strict the FDA's is.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
It's like I think ten times it's ten times more
lenient than California's.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
So would all the protein powders fit under the FDA recommendation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I didn't check that because I was just looking for
my protein, but they do have a list, and I
think it.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Is worth if you are a protein powder enthusiast looking
to see because there is a dramatically different amount in
some of the So I was like, like Orgain with
somewhere kind of in the middle, which is the one
that sell at Costco? Where did your Aldi one fall?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It didn't fall. It wasn't rainy to saw super bummed.
But I will point out so all that to say,
I don't think folks should be overly alarmed, but it is.
I think it's good for these different manufacturers and companies
to see that, hey, there's somebody on the beat. There's
someone who is watching this. And if one of these
companies sees a dramatic decline in their sales because of this,
(10:36):
maybe they're gonna switch things up a little bit and
maybe source their ingredients a little bit better. But my
biggest takeaway was the fact that the proteins that were
plant based had significantly higher amounts of lead so like
pea protein basically, and that's because plants absorb minerals from
the grounds, including lead of course. And in addition to that,
(10:58):
the chocolate versions also have much higher levels of lead
as well, because chocolate's a plant, yeah, as opposed to
So all that being said, I still highly recommend my
vanilla way based protein from Aldi.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's the most affordable and it tastes really good too.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And probably, although not verified by consumer reports, probably has
less lead than some of those other.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Guess And so I went searching for it, but nobody's
tested it yet. Okay, watch the test come back, and
it's like off the charts and are just like a
walking killing yourself slowing human being because of all the
lead that's leeching into my bones.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And maybe it turns into like some sort of Marvel superhero.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That'd be cool. Yeah, I got bones like Wolverine, then
it would be worth it.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
All right, big question here, do you get worse at
managing money if you have more of it? There was
an interesting article about this, I believe it's in the
Wall Street Journal. All signs Matt, I think points to yes,
and understandably so.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Because your magic eight ball says.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
There is something about having limited means and kind of
having to focus really in order to make money progress. Right,
Like when you don't make much, budgeting is a necessity,
it's not really a luxury, and so it's easier to
have like harder lines about eating out and then just
kind of spending in general. It's easier to hold the
line and to not make changes. But what this article
(12:19):
was talking about was is, like your income rises, it
becomes easier to abandon some of those sound financial habits
that maybe helped you get there in the first place.
People become more adept at like guestimating or assuming things
about their finances than they are at paying attention to
the specifics. And there was research from the University of
(12:40):
Chicago that almost like a decade ago that they referred
to in this article, and it found that people living
on less have the ability to see their financial decisions
more clearly. Things do, I think get hazier as you
make more progress, And part of it is just literally
the complexity ramps up as you're making more as your
financial decisions do have greater ramifications, greater tax ramifications. But
(13:03):
I think this is a call that no matter where
you fall on the income spectrum, tracking your spending, and
discussing your goals. Those remain crucial things. I think I
just don't want people, as they're making progress along the way,
they just kind of like, Hey, I'm not gonna listen
to personal finance podcast anymore. I'm not gonna care about
track my spending anymore. I'm not going to be thoughtful
(13:25):
about what subscriptions I have in my life anymore. I
think those habits still matter.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I'm beyond that. Yeah, exactly this. You are not beyond that.
I mean, it's up to you.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I guess it depends on how you want to spend
your time, how you want to spend your energy.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But that can reverse it.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yes, And that's what we're pointing to here, is that
the kind of progress that you were able to make
that got you to this point is not guaranteed to
continue as you pay less attention to it. And it's
one of the reasons I still literally do my Excel
spreadsheet and track every single purchase that we make, every
single pinion that enters into our household. I know where
those pennies are. On that note, a recent Bloomberg article
(13:59):
documented the ride in cash strapped millionaires.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Which those things seem like an oxymoron, like, wait, Cashtrapp,
Millionaire's a difference, Oh don't.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I'm shooting lots of tears for you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
So this is the moneyless millionaires that you refer to
the title, but the number of folks who have a
net worth of one million dollars plus it has grown
dramatically in recent years, and we've seen more people participating
in the stock market, We've seen a dramatic rise in
different assets, homes, but more of those millionaires have very
(14:29):
little access to that wealth.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It is.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Those dollars are tied up in retirement accounts, it's tied
up in home equity, and those things.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Are they don't just sell for your money stocks from
referral one k right, or like a lifestyle or a
portion of your home. But what I was gonna say is,
in some ways I think this is great, like build
that wealth, do not touch it while you are while
you're working. But and it's also interesting to note too
that beyond the one to two million dollar mark, and
(14:57):
as you sort of advance into the upper though, what
you call these folks the upper elite, the upper crust,
the folks with millions upon millions you see the level
of wealth that is tied up in these liquid assets decrease,
which makes sense, right, There's only so specifically, like your home,
there's only so much of a so much home you
can buy before you're just like, you know what, let's
(15:18):
just invest it. Thad, I hear well, there are certainly
the Hamptons are calling.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
There are certainly very big and nice homes.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It's just that not everybody wants to live in the
gigantic mansion where they're dumping a ton of their wealth
into that. But for most folks out there who are
in a stage of life where they are trying to
build their wealth, it's important to know your timeline. And
I want to make sure that there are folks out
there who have access to money for some of the
different short term and for some of the different medium term.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Goals that they might have.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
We often focus on building your wealth, and the vast
majority I think, especially of our generation of wealth that
is being built is within the four one k. Yeah,
there's a lock on it. And the only key to
that lock, well aside from a ten percent penalty, is
hitting a certain age. And so so it's like a time,
it's like a time schedule. Yeah, right, And you know what,
there are oftentimes going to be goals that we have
(16:05):
in life that where we are going to need more liquid,
readily available cash.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And actually, one of the other things maybe that might
be worth mentioning here is this is why I'd like
roth IRA's why we like roth Iray so much, Matt,
is because the roth Ira contributions, if you are a
regular maximizer of that roth Iray over a long period
of time, those contributions can be tapped penalty and tax free.
And we don't typically recommend it. It's not like, oh,
(16:31):
you're thirty eight and you've been maxing out your roth
for ten years, pull all those contributions out. Great, But
at least it is there is the possibility to access
those fun since I do see that as a plus
if you're handling your money well and you do need
access for let's say, a down payment on a house
or something like that, or a more short term money
(16:53):
goal that you have. I was talking to somebody the
other day and he didn't even realize that roth contributions
were access uh, And so I was like, oh, man.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Was that a good thing? Let me tell you about
a bad thing for him.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I always couch it, right, and I'm like, yeah, yeah,
you might not want to go grab them all right now,
but at least they all just yeah. So if you
feel like you crash cash strapped millionaire, your ROTH contributions
might at least make you feel less. So let's talk
about AI for a second, Matt, not not for too long,
but I think some people are probably tired of hearing
about AI. We're talking about if you've heard a lot
(17:27):
of talk about the AI bubble in the stock market recently,
is there one? Isn't there one? That's a really good question.
Maybe that's not weigh on on that right now, but
maybe soon. But Walmart and open ai actually announced a
partnership last week. That's what we'll talk about, and that's
the AI is going e commerce soon. You're going to
be able to stop shop for Walmart supplies on chat ept.
(17:49):
Open Ai also announced a new browser that has like
their AI fully built into it. I think it's only
available for Mac users right now. Atlass Yeah, so car
see how that goes, because I'm sure that's going to
incorporate more e commerce as well, which is going to
allow chat GBT to or open ai as a company
to monetize their product better. But man, I'm a little
(18:10):
wary of this. I think this is inevitable in a
lot of ways. But we're already like tempted to consume
everywhere all the time. And of course, yeah, AI was
going to find a way to monetize their product through
direct sales and through partnerships with companies that sell products.
But it's just also another place that we need to
(18:31):
be wary of if we're trying to rein in our spending,
because we might start I was talking to somebody the
other day who was using chat GPT for a homern
model project, and she's like, it's just giving me the
best suggestions about all these things to buy. In some
ways that's cool, but in some ways it also just
speeds up the process that makes it easier to spend
in ways that are maybe a little more frivolous. So
(18:53):
I guess I'm just a little bit nervous about this development.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I am as well.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It'll also be interesting to see how AI impacts retailers,
because currently AI shopping is pretty small, but it could
turn into this tidle way right where it's reducing online
site visits also reducing customer loyalty as well. But on
the note of loyalty, subscriptions actually help retailers out in
that regard. And I want to specifically talk about car
(19:19):
washes because the car wash subscriptions are proliferating. Car wash
locations are pricing their single washes like if you just
kind of roll up randomly at like one dollar less
than what the monthly subscription is, where it's basically trying
to tip you over into joining having that payment on
a recurring basis to make it a no brainer.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
It's like, why wouldn't I it's only a dollar more,
I'm gonna get the subscription.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That's where the value is at. I can hit this
up as many times as I want this month. And
the biggest player in that space mister car Wash. They
have over two million members and over three quarters of
their revenue comes from recurring subscriptions, which is amazing. And
I will say we fail pre to that, not to
mister car Wash specifically, but the one nearest us. It
(20:04):
was really similar to that. It wasn't that much more expensive.
And here's here's the weird thing is it was only
supposed to be like a promotional rate, but they never
raised the price.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Oh and so I'm continued, So we're still members.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
And because we hit forty pay a month twenty bucks,
maybe he's like twenty one or something like that. And
it was, but that was the quote unquote promotional rate
there at the beginning, and it was only a few
dollars more than just what a single wash costs. But
we go through it like twice a week, and you're
getting your money's worth.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think we are.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And we've got this old, crusty van and we're trying
to make it look nice and we feel good about
it and truly trying to take care of it. You know,
when we get out of there and those tires look shiny,
I'm like, man, those tires are gonna they.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Ain't cut a dry rot. I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So I dropped my van off at the Mechanic this
morning and it was it was so nasty. I felt
a little ashamed because it had not been cleaned in
so long. There's like cracker dust all over the front.
I mean, there's just like who knows what we use
that napkin four that's in the corner. I know, I know,
so I need to I do not currently have a
car Washed subscription.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, well, and I'm kind of reticent to do it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I just I think more people need to be right
because when you are on that recurring subscription, it's in
the best interest of that business, but not necessarily in yours.
And so even if you don't use the service, you're
still paying for it. So just pay attention to.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Your finances and where your money is going.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, yep, so everybody wants you to have a subscription,
but is that in your best interest? It's worth thinking twice.
And also like, how often would you get your car
washed if you didn't have a subscription? Probably far less?
Would that be the worst thing in the world? Are
We got more to get to on this episode of Clear,
We're talking about credit card churning and a way to
get your prescriptions easier and cheaper. We'll get to both
(21:45):
of those right after this.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
All right, man, we are back from the break.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
It is now time for the lu Chris headline of
the week, which is from The Times. The headline reads,
and by the way, this is an opinion piece. This
isn't like news you can use.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
We're still mad about it. I'm still mad about it.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It's not an editorial though, right, And so the author
of this piece is he showed his cards.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
A little bit.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
He's sharing his opinion here, and that's totally fine. We'll
also share our opinion. Yeah, we haven't gotten to the headline.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Okay, if this author has a dumb opinion, the headlines
taking the task.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
For it reads wacky labels and silly names are killing
craft beer. And so a part of the reason too
we're doing this is obviously we read it on our
on our own. A lot of listeners sent this one
our way.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
What do you guys think?
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, you guys will tell you want to fight. First
of all, man, the premise isn't true. I think the labels,
the fun names Unicorn versus Ninja, some of the wager
names out there, it is not killing craft beer. Instead,
I think it's fun helps you to remember the type
of Like there are so many different generic beers out there, right,
(22:58):
like generic Hazy I PA. That's a terrible name for
a beer. When you've got these more unique names, it
helps you to remember the beer. Obviously, you can't have
a wacky, fun name and have it taste awful, but
it helps you to It helps to cement its place
in your mind when you've got a sea of options
available to you.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, like Zombie Dust, Like that's a name that you
remember and you're like, Floyd, drink that again.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
And I've only, I think ever had that beer one
time in my entire life. But I know that beer
because it's called zombie Dust.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Wait, what's it?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Four floyds, three floids? How many floyds did it take
to beer?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
It worked part of the time, half the time, but
the cannar, it's just a fun part of the process
as well.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I just don't think craft.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Beer needs to be boring. And I think this author,
he might be revealing the fact that maybe he likes
more of the generic stuff. You know, maybe he likes
maybe he thinks he likes a craft beer, but he
maybe he's actually drinking Blue Moon, or maybe it's more
of an esthetic thing, right, Like there are some great
craft beers out there, and they're rocking some really delicious beer.
Like I'm thinking of Main Beer Company. Yeah, super kind
(24:01):
of generic. It's Whitch and Dinner, white labels, pretty plain vanilla,
but guess what, they make really good beers. And for
folks who like a craft beer but they don't like sparkles,
to be on the cat like literally.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Some some beer.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You know, some of these breweries, it's like sparkles coming
off coming off the label. You're not going to get
that with lunch by Main May Beer Company.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I think the thing that the author doesn't really get
about why craft beer is struggling now is the supply
and demand equation that's more going on here.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Like we have this.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Massive run up in craft breweries from essentially you know,
a handful to a handful in every city. Uh, and
they've just proliferated to such an extent that the supply
has just become overwhelming, and then the demand is also
going down. People are people are drinking a lot less
(24:54):
in general. So I think this isn't This is like
an ever presence in markets, Like lots of money gets
poured into the trendy space. The early movers in that
space do well, especially those who sell and get out early.
Think about Matt some of those smaller craft brewers or
medium sized craft brewers who were selling to the big guys,
and how much money they made in the heyday. They
(25:17):
were crushing. They walked away happy. But I think in
just fifteen years the number of craft breweries gone up
six x something like that, and consumer tastes of change.
So it's not just that we're drinking less craft beer.
We're drinking less in general. Yes, alcohol, Yeah, there's more
spiked seltzers and stuff like that. But it's also just
that people are like, I'll take the NA option or
(25:39):
I'll stick to soda or water or whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
And so people are watching their wallets, watching their pocabi.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It's not like people are like the names are too zany,
I'm out. Is there a personal finance lesson in this?
I mean, I think investing in trends can potentially be
your friend, especially in those early days it was, but
it can also come back to bite you. And we're
seeing craft breweries closing across more of this country now
than open. And also we're lucky we have more delicious
(26:06):
craft brewer brewing choices than ever.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
And yeah, all in all, I think it's a net good,
it's a net positive. And yeah, honestly it makes me
think of like I think of other industries or things
that kind of coincided with the craft beer movement. It
makes me think of like CrossFit and not to take
this back so pointedly to like fitness or whatever, but
I want to say that that trend peaked.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Like ten years ago or so.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And if you are someone who was just like I
want to do that, I want to open a gym,
just know that man getting a brick and mortar, signing
a lease, buying the equipment, getting trainers, training staff to
be able to run your classes. Like, that's a really
expensive endeavor as opposed to trying something on your own
that might be more Yeah, it's got lower stakes, but yeah,
(26:52):
there's always trends. It makes like even like the boutique
spin classes or whatever, I feel like we've seen a
pretty pretty sharp client in that as well. Not that
folks aren't doing it on their own, but they're finding
more affordable alternatives.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, and so many brands got in on the action,
and then there was a spin class, soul cycle, Orange,
theey on every corner, and at some point there just
wasn't enough demand to be able to satisfy investors in
gym owners, and so some of those places are going bust. Yeah, yeah,
of business totally.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And in the end, I think my biggest takeaway too
is just that the numbers are changing when it comes
to if you were interested in starting a business, like
a local brewery, because before it's like, oh, if you
got big enough, maybe you could start distributing, and oh yeah,
we're gonna start We're gonna start shipping our beers across
the country, and all of a sudden, it's this national
phenomena as opposed to what's taking place now, which is
(27:42):
that brow pubs that are succeeding are the ones that
are able to create a great space where folks.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Can come to it.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Literally, it's contributed to local. Yes, it's contributing to the
to the local culture and the sort of the flavor
of the town. And that's really important, and that's something
I don't think that that will go out of style.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I think those are replacing old school bars that'll serve
a bunch of different beers from a bunch of different breweries,
those hyper local craft breweries. You're like, this is my
local bar now, and I just drink beers by you
guys pretty much exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, which I'm down with. Matt.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Let's talk about credit card churning. The New York Times
they profile to do it this practice this week, and
churning is essentially when people sign up for lots of
credit cards in a fairly short period of time, and
it is possible to sign up for even like dozens
of credit cards and making money from those sign up
bonuses along the way, typically over the course of years.
(28:39):
And the article profiled how lots of people have reaped
essentially tens of thousands of dollars in cash back and
free travel by going doing the going the credit card
churning route. It's a lot of money, but I guess
it's it's not surprising as sign up bonuses have gotten
richer over the years, and so this is I think
(29:00):
an extreme example of the flip side of the credit
card universe, where traditionally, you know, you think about the
fifty to sixty percent of people who don't pay off
their credit card balances, they are the people you think
of as getting taken advantage of by the credit card companies. Well,
this is kind of like a Robin Hood esque scenario
where these these credit card churners boldly go forth to
(29:23):
say no longer will we allow you to take advantage
of people, or actually, at least we're going to try
to take advantage of you on the flip side and
take those sign up bonuses without giving you any sort
of carrying a balance or paying you any interest for
the privilege of making this money off your backs. The
credit card companies, Matt, they loathe churning, like they hate
the term in and of itself. I think it makes
(29:44):
them shudder to their core. They really don't want those
kinds of customers. But there's also not a whole lot
that they can do about it. But I guess, like
for us, all we should talk about is whether or
not credit card churning makes sense for individuals and for people.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
But listening to this show, yeah, well, there are some
things they can do about it, like they can limit
your ability to sign up for it.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Well, I'm specifically thinking of Chase because they I think
it was like.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
A five slash twenty four rule.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Basically within two years, they're limiting your ability to take
advantage of an offered well.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
And I think what Chase's rule specifically is, and I
don't know that any other credit card issuer has done this,
is if you open up five cards within those two years,
you can't even We're just gonna reject you out right
when you apply for a Chase card, So it's not
even just applying for Chase cards it's like, how many
cards have you applied for overall? If you've applied for
too many, we think you're a churner. We don't want
your business. Yeah, and I was looking at a Southwest
(30:37):
card recently too, and it was specifically calling out that, oh,
this offer isn't available if you've received any benefit at
all from one of our cards within the past two years.
But from a personal standpoint, this is something that we
want to warn people about, Like we want you to
beware before you attempt, because you're gonna need to pay
attention very closely. You're gonna need to have like attention
(31:00):
to detailed skills.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
In order to execute this properly. Like like if you're
an accountant, you can probably pull this off. Like if
you're a baker, bakers have to measure pretty precise. Yeah,
if you are a coder, a programmer, these are all
things that require precision. What if you're an influencer less
so I think if you were an influencer or like
an artist, or if you're a surfer, this may not
(31:22):
be the practice for you. A lot of folks out
there who are really into this, they keep a spreadsheet
where they're keeping up with it. They're checking it, and
of course they certainly cancel or downgrade the cards before
they're charged that annual fee. So just know that this
is more. This is like a like a three thousand
level class, right, this isn't like the personal finance one
(31:43):
O one kind of class that we're talking about here.
But even if you don't turn into a hardcore churner,
which I don't know if FO would recommend from many
folks to even consider that, be smart with your credit
card usage and certainly take full advantage of the perks
though that your card does offer. Right, like the these
are benefits that they offer. Don't go out of your
way necessarily to get as many of these as possible.
(32:04):
But if there are perks, take advantage of them certainly.
And of course golden rules of credit don't carry a balance.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's also important to note that churning can lead to
a harmed credit score, especially in the short term. Over
over time, if you have a bunch of credit cards
open and you have a high credit limit, then it
might actually improve your score, but especially in the short term,
it can ding it. And if you're trying to get
credit soon, that can be a problem. If you're trying
to use your credit right to get a loan or
(32:31):
something like that, and your score is diminished, that can
be that can be an issue, and the stakes are
higher than ever two. Now, when we're talking about the
premium credit cards that come with like the super duper
high fees, top of the line Amex and Chase options,
their annual fees are not much under one thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Now, Matt, it's insane.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
That's a that's a really big annual fee. To overcome
you have to get a lot of perks from that
credit card. That's your dad's annual feedl No, No, it's
not like a ninety five dollars annual fee. He now
feels like child's play.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Seems like a steal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, and those cards do come with like significant potential benefits,
but you often have to work really hard to get
the benefits to make them matter and jump through some
hoops or even some of them. It's like, oh, you
want the full hotel credit, Well you got to do
the hotel stay in the first half of the year
and the second half of the year, which, Yeah, you
just have to really pay attention to the fine print.
And sometimes they want you to spend in ways that
(33:25):
you otherwise would not have spent, which means you're like
manufacturing spending. And so is that actually is this card
the best for you or is it actually encouraging you
to spend in ways you would not have otherwise. Oh,
in City just launched a new high end card. But
it turns out they don't know what they're doing apparently
in this space, and so the strata elites fighting words.
(33:46):
I mean, they was going after City. People were locked
out of their accounts for weeks without explanation, and so
City was like trying to get in this game to
like we're gonna chasing AMX, We're coming for you, and
then they completely screwed the on the launch.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
We throw up the ball man. Yeah, okay, let's talk
about the rising costs of health care coverage. We touched
on that last week. But it's going to cause many
folks out there to opt for high deductible plans this year.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
That being said, at the same time, folks with bronze
or folks with more of the catastrophic plans that are
available through the exchange will also be HSA eligible. Now
this is great, man. Hsas are truly going mainstream and
if you have access to one, certainly use it to
save on taxes, to be able to reduce the out
(34:34):
of pocket costs that you might have associated with medical expenses.
But if you are able take full advantage by paying
for healthcare costs out of pocket and then investing within
the HSA, that's the ultimate way to use that account.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
It's not going to solve the high cost of health.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Care in your life, but it can help to dull
the pain a bit as you've got more more of
your wealth building.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
For the future.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
And we're basically an open enrollment season or almost there
for most people who are listening Matt. So the AHSA
and f s A maybe depending on which one you
have available to you, do not forget to take advantage
of those and look into the specifics of how you
can use them effectively, not just to save on taxes,
but to.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Grow your wealth.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
We've got more information about those accounts up on our
site at how the money dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
And Matt.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
While we're talking about healthcare, let's talk about prescriptions because
I thought this was a really cool story. A prescription
vending machine has now arrived on the scene. Yeah, can you,
like you remember how you people try to stick their
hands up to get a coke out of the vending machine.
What if you do that with the meds? Do you
think that's possible? Or probably sophisticated, well made machines, the fancy. Yeah,
I can just shake it and get you know, percoset,
(35:42):
three bottles of vice profen.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah, well that's not even a prescription drug. So that's true. Yeah,
but I'm not big on the meds biotics. We don't
really do we don't.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, I'm more of a spray index on it kind
of guy's a thig fat Greek wedding reference.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Okay, it's long time. I don't know, although I did
watch it.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
I think rub some dirt on it, spray some windecks
on it, drink some kombucha.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
We're a little crunch here. That's that's what I'm getting.
It's true.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
So Amazon is launching these prescription vending machines. They're going
to be at one medical clinics across the country, which
they have or I don't know if they own them
or just have like a relationship with them. But it's
going to make it easier for patients to get basic
meds right after an employment, like an antibiotic or something
like that. And I think it's cool, man, I think
it's just great. I think it's going to make it
(36:31):
a lot simpler for people to get their prescription, not
even having to go down the street to get that prescription,
and it's likely going to be cheaper than a lot
of the big drug stores, if Amazon's prescription pricing is
any indication of what they're going to cost at these
vending machines. But I also want to highlight the fact
that they're probably not the cheapest that that's reserved typically
(36:51):
for places like Costco and for cost Plus Drugs, those
are the best low cost places to turn for a prescription.
So just yeah, maybe you get it and you pay
a few dollars more because it's so super duper convenient.
But I think, especially if you have a recurring prescription,
need check those other guys out, Costplus Drugs being like
my favorite right now, as I've done some shopping for
a medication for our daughter recently, and it was like
(37:14):
by far the lowest, lowest one other thing matt for
people who take up recurring prescription, like the longer you
get for a prescription, length you can get up to
like one hundred and eighty days prescriptions. It can save
you a ton of money too, So like a ninety
day prescription might be like thirty bucks, and one hundred
and eighty day prescription might be like forty bucks.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And so sounds like a new brainer. Oh yeah, you're like,
I save it a ton and you just don't have
to think about it as often.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yeah, Or get you a bottle of window cleaner and
you're all set there you go, All right, that's gonna
be it for this episode this Friday flight. You can
find our show notes up on the web website at
how too money dot com. We hope everyone has a
fantastic weekend and we'll see you back here next week.
So until then, best friends out, best friends out?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
M h, what's that pause? A say so until next time?
Did you said so? Until then? Oh? Did I so?
I was like selling beer in the headlights.
Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt. Today
we're talking moneyless millionaires, credit card churning, and AI goes
e commerce.
Speaker 2 (00:27):
Of course, we've got to talk about a little bit
of AI.
Speaker 3 (00:29):
Like it's just gonna be a recurring segment. It's kind
of ongoing in perpetuity until the AI tells us to stop.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
And we will obey our AI overlords at every turn. Well,
I think it's it's kind of like when tariffs were
just starting out too. It's like wen are talking about
it every week because it was a thing and it's
still happening, and they will impact our holidays, and I'm
sure we'll talk about it again. But AI just there's
a lot going on right now.
Speaker 3 (00:51):
Yeah, that is true. But it's another beautiful morning, Joel.
We didn't coordinate our runs this morning. By the way,
did you go for a run this morning?
Speaker 2 (00:58):
No? Still okay, Brady, which, oh my gosh. So yeah.
Speaker 3 (01:01):
We talked last week about doing our couple's run. And
I can't believe that I didn't wish you wellishes for
your upcoming marathon last weekend. First one, I didn't wish
you good luck and what would have been fun.
Speaker 2 (01:12):
I knew you felt it in your heart. I didn't.
Speaker 3 (01:15):
I'm sorry if I would. If I would have, I
would have said it completely. I totally blanked and didn't
think about it until later that afternoon, where I was like,
oh my gosh, you got the race on, you know,
on Sunday. But I would have loved it because I
would love for you to have like live streamed it,
and then for all of our listeners to send you
a little encouraging notes, like if they could have live
(01:36):
tracked where you were and how fast you're running. It's
like Joe, you don't need to stop for water, keep moving, bro.
Speaker 1 (01:42):
The only thing would have made it more painful is
if I tried to run it with like a selfie
stick and bidding myself.
Speaker 3 (01:48):
Which sometimes you do see people doing that, like on
a ten K. Did you see anything like that?
Speaker 1 (01:53):
No. I did see where I passed out on the
side of the road, like yeah, non responsive, and I
was like.
Speaker 2 (01:58):
We need a medic over here.
Speaker 1 (02:00):
He was getting he was getting help he needed. Okay, yeah,
tough to watch. Okay, let's talk about running for a second.
Can we talk about so I will mention I did
run a marathon this past weekend. It was my first
marathon of all time. You did great, I did well.
I guess he's your goal that you're going for, So
I was happy with that.
Speaker 2 (02:17):
That's a win.
Speaker 1 (02:18):
Big thanks to listener Greg by the way, who ran
the same marathon. This was his one hundred and fourth marathon.
Because Greg is I did not know that an absolute beast,
Oh my god, and he helped me. I don't think
I would have done nearly as well if it wasn't
for like Greg. It almost felt like I had like
the you know, he lets you pick it back. Yeah,
it was almost felt like one of those monkey backpacks
where I'm holding onto the tail and he was dragging
(02:40):
me all the way. But it was more of like
verbal kindness that dragged me along so and and just
his like persistent spirits. So but yes, it's a painful endeavor.
But it made me think too, matt Like upon this accomplishment.
I was reflecting on it. There was an article about
the running industrial complex, and I was like, this is
kind of something actively trying to fight as someone who's
(03:01):
gotten kind of deep into the running space.
Speaker 3 (03:04):
Good luck fighting it. It's gonna be tough.
Speaker 1 (03:06):
It's tough, man, it's tough. But the Business Insider had
this article that kind of spoke to me as someone
who has finally gotten around to enjoying running over the
past two years. Hated it beforehand, but man, running is
this sport in its essence, it's like the purest, one
of the purest things you can do as a human,
like walking and running. Right, They're like some of our
most basic instincts. But it feels like running is starting
(03:30):
to get hijacked by this American consumer mentality. It feels
like everything pure starts to starts to go in that direction,
because all you really need is a decent pair of
shoes and a even just like a Kirkland signature disposable
water bottle. They costs like a quarter when you buy
them in the big packs, or maybe even less. But
now we've got super shoes, we've got high end gels,
(03:51):
we've got fancy watches, recovery tools, like all this kind
of stuff in the running space, and so many people
are turning like the simplest an action into this overly
expensive hobby. And I think this is is partly because
of tailored ads seeking you out on the social media's
Like I've been getting these ads for and I don't.
Speaker 3 (04:11):
Everything running huh yeah, everything right now, there we go.
That's why I said good luck.
Speaker 1 (04:14):
Even these even these like gummies that have THHC in them,
they've been feeding I'm like, I don't partake, but.
Speaker 2 (04:21):
They've been inundating me with these gummies. Like this is
what's gonna make you run awesome?
Speaker 3 (04:25):
Is the idea that you don't feel any of the pain.
I totally blissed out and you're setting prs.
Speaker 2 (04:30):
I guess.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I mean, if that's actually the case, I'm not sure
you consider it. But uh, like these tailored ads, and
then I think that I think there's also the pressure
you feel as other people are nerding out on on
like getting stuff for running. But I think it's eminently
possible to enjoy the activity you're doing without overdoing it
on the stuff thing. It just makes me think of
(04:52):
our friend of the show, Michael Easter. He talks about
gear versus stuff. There's certain gear that you might, uh
that might be like helpful to you as a runner,
but then don't let it turn into just like buying
stuff and accumulating more stuff.
Speaker 3 (05:04):
Yeah, well some people like the stuff, you know, and
that's the thing. They're doing it because they enjoy it,
but it's not necessary. And I think that's what you're
getting out that you can literally you don't need a
new pair of shoes even just you can put on
a pair of walking shoes or running shoes that you
already own and go for a jog. That's how you
get to start to be a runner.
Speaker 1 (05:20):
I do feel a special satisfaction when I'm passing someone
in their two hundred and something dollars super shoes in
my thirty dollars Adida shoes, like I just.
Speaker 2 (05:28):
All decked out.
Speaker 3 (05:28):
Yeah, maybe I love it passing them in my eBay
running shoes that I just actually purchased.
Speaker 2 (05:34):
Did we talk about this? They're brand new? I didn't know.
eBay was still Oh, I think you're talking about East Bay.
That was kind of ok.
Speaker 3 (05:41):
Yeah, we've talked about the sports shoes. No, my eBay
shoes my shoes Okay, Oh of course, well they were used,
but they were like new, I mean, and you can
always tell a good shoe seller on eBay will put
a picture a closer picture of the tread and when
you can see not only the trend still there, but
even the slight texture that they'll put on the.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
Bottom of the tread.
Speaker 3 (06:01):
Sometimes that's when you know, oh my gosh, this shoe
is worn like once or twice, it's an excellent condition.
And those are the shoes a war this morning when
I went for my run. But going beyond gear. The
Times detailed how runners are actually paying a large amount
of money for these race tours in order to be
able to compete in the most elye races. So, for instance,
the almost impossible to get into London Marathon, will you
(06:24):
pay a quote unquote tour operator four thousand dollars and
that ensures that you will get a BIB although it
only actually calls you. Costs you two hundred dollars in
race fees, and they include other stuff too, like meals
and they kind of pamper you.
Speaker 1 (06:38):
And yeah it's again it's the tour, so it's thirty.
It's the package between paying for the package and just
going through. Oh yeah, it's hard to get into so
which means you're in this lottery and almost nobody gets accepted.
But if you do, the race fees are pretty minimal,
they're reasonable, but the only way to actually get in
is to pay the really really really high tour fee.
Speaker 2 (06:56):
Well, yeah, so what do you think about that? Are you?
Are you split?
Speaker 3 (06:59):
Because if you had a life goal to run them,
like if you're hitting all the majors, and then they
kind of.
Speaker 1 (07:04):
Highlight what of my friend is doing, friends is doing. Yeah,
he just like went down to Australia to run Yeah,
the newer worse six Now there's nine.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
But do they do they update the metal like the
instead of the six six stars metal question? I don't like,
do you have to go and rerun all of the majors?
I'll have to ask him. But if that is a
life goal of years, this is how you can guarantee entry.
And one of the persons who has profiled in the
in the article talked about how, well, what if I
could get hit by a bus tomorrow, I could have
(07:30):
a quote unquote career running career ending sort of injury.
And if you've got the money, I think I'm all
for folks taking this route because.
Speaker 2 (07:40):
Skipping the line. But you pay a ton of money
to skip.
Speaker 3 (07:42):
Yeah, it does cost a lot of money and there
are other perks, but if you have the money to
do it, I'm not am I personally going to do that? No,
because I don't. I don't care, Like this totally needs
to be your splurge. This needs to be your craft
beer equivalent. Uh, and you of course need to have
the money on hand. But again, you can spend very
very little money on this activity, this hobby, the sport,
(08:03):
something that.
Speaker 2 (08:04):
Causes you to live a healthier lifestyle, or.
Speaker 3 (08:06):
You can spend a ton of money and that guarantees
your ability to visit London.
Speaker 1 (08:10):
I guess I just I hate seeing like something that
is so pure overrun in some ways, with like people
grabbing for your dollars, and I don't know, it makes
me think too, there are other ways to get into
some of those elite races. I have a friend who's
gonna run the New York City Marathon, which I think
is next weekend, and he I think the way he
got in was raising money for charity. And this is
(08:31):
a common way to get into some of those premium
races too, and maybe it's a better way, right like
than just me and let like it. The easy thing
to do is to fork over four thousand dollars to
the race tour. Sure that maybe slightly harder way, but
less costly way is to raise money for charity. And
also the ultimately best way to proceed totally.
Speaker 3 (08:50):
Okay, so quickly, while we're talking about fitness stuff, did
you see the Consumer I'm sure you saw the Consumer
Reports article about protein powder and then oh.
Speaker 1 (08:58):
Yeah, because we talked about protein powders on a recent
Ascon Money.
Speaker 3 (09:01):
Episode, So I don't know how much of it that
you read. But basically Consumer Reports, which is a great institution,
great great work that they're doing over there.
Speaker 1 (09:10):
The few magazines were subscribing to him paying for Yeah.
Speaker 3 (09:13):
That being said, I'm not totally sure if I agreed
with their findings, so that the headline is like, oh,
you know, all these protein powders that we tested have
five x the amount of lead that.
Speaker 1 (09:23):
You should daily recommended intake. But I thought this daily
recommended to take to zero. But it was It was
a bit alarming as someone who consumes protein myself. But
then I read a little bit more and I saw
that the standard for which they set the limits on
the lead wasn't, let's say, the FDA's standard, but it
was California's Prop. Sixty five, which.
Speaker 2 (09:46):
Which is more strict. It's much more strict the FDA's is.
Speaker 3 (09:49):
It's like I think ten times it's ten times more
lenient than California's.
Speaker 1 (09:54):
So would all the protein powders fit under the FDA recommendation.
Speaker 3 (09:57):
I didn't check that because I was just looking for
my protein, but they do have a list, and I
think it.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
Is worth if you are a protein powder enthusiast looking
to see because there is a dramatically different amount in
some of the So I was like, like Orgain with
somewhere kind of in the middle, which is the one
that sell at Costco? Where did your Aldi one fall?
Speaker 3 (10:15):
It didn't fall. It wasn't rainy to saw super bummed.
But I will point out so all that to say,
I don't think folks should be overly alarmed, but it is.
I think it's good for these different manufacturers and companies
to see that, hey, there's somebody on the beat. There's
someone who is watching this. And if one of these
companies sees a dramatic decline in their sales because of this,
(10:36):
maybe they're gonna switch things up a little bit and
maybe source their ingredients a little bit better. But my
biggest takeaway was the fact that the proteins that were
plant based had significantly higher amounts of lead so like
pea protein basically, and that's because plants absorb minerals from
the grounds, including lead of course. And in addition to that,
(10:58):
the chocolate versions also have much higher levels of lead
as well, because chocolate's a plant, yeah, as opposed to
So all that being said, I still highly recommend my
vanilla way based protein from Aldi.
Speaker 2 (11:12):
It's the most affordable and it tastes really good too.
Speaker 1 (11:14):
And probably, although not verified by consumer reports, probably has
less lead than some of those other.
Speaker 3 (11:20):
Guess And so I went searching for it, but nobody's
tested it yet. Okay, watch the test come back, and
it's like off the charts and are just like a
walking killing yourself slowing human being because of all the
lead that's leeching into my bones.
Speaker 1 (11:33):
And maybe it turns into like some sort of Marvel superhero.
Speaker 2 (11:35):
That'd be cool. Yeah, I got bones like Wolverine, then
it would be worth it.
Speaker 1 (11:40):
All right, big question here, do you get worse at
managing money if you have more of it? There was
an interesting article about this, I believe it's in the
Wall Street Journal. All signs Matt, I think points to yes,
and understandably so.
Speaker 2 (11:53):
Because your magic eight ball says.
Speaker 1 (11:56):
There is something about having limited means and kind of
having to focus really in order to make money progress. Right,
Like when you don't make much, budgeting is a necessity,
it's not really a luxury, and so it's easier to
have like harder lines about eating out and then just
kind of spending in general. It's easier to hold the
line and to not make changes. But what this article
(12:19):
was talking about was is, like your income rises, it
becomes easier to abandon some of those sound financial habits
that maybe helped you get there in the first place.
People become more adept at like guestimating or assuming things
about their finances than they are at paying attention to
the specifics. And there was research from the University of
(12:40):
Chicago that almost like a decade ago that they referred
to in this article, and it found that people living
on less have the ability to see their financial decisions
more clearly. Things do, I think get hazier as you
make more progress, And part of it is just literally
the complexity ramps up as you're making more as your
financial decisions do have greater ramifications, greater tax ramifications. But
(13:03):
I think this is a call that no matter where
you fall on the income spectrum, tracking your spending, and
discussing your goals. Those remain crucial things. I think I
just don't want people, as they're making progress along the way,
they just kind of like, Hey, I'm not gonna listen
to personal finance podcast anymore. I'm not gonna care about
track my spending anymore. I'm not going to be thoughtful
(13:25):
about what subscriptions I have in my life anymore. I
think those habits still matter.
Speaker 2 (13:28):
I'm beyond that. Yeah, exactly this. You are not beyond that.
I mean, it's up to you.
Speaker 3 (13:32):
I guess it depends on how you want to spend
your time, how you want to spend your energy.
Speaker 2 (13:36):
But that can reverse it.
Speaker 3 (13:37):
Yes, And that's what we're pointing to here, is that
the kind of progress that you were able to make
that got you to this point is not guaranteed to
continue as you pay less attention to it. And it's
one of the reasons I still literally do my Excel
spreadsheet and track every single purchase that we make, every
single pinion that enters into our household. I know where
those pennies are. On that note, a recent Bloomberg article
(13:59):
documented the ride in cash strapped millionaires.
Speaker 1 (14:01):
Which those things seem like an oxymoron, like, wait, Cashtrapp,
Millionaire's a difference, Oh don't.
Speaker 2 (14:06):
I'm shooting lots of tears for you. Yeah.
Speaker 3 (14:09):
So this is the moneyless millionaires that you refer to
the title, but the number of folks who have a
net worth of one million dollars plus it has grown
dramatically in recent years, and we've seen more people participating
in the stock market, We've seen a dramatic rise in
different assets, homes, but more of those millionaires have very
(14:29):
little access to that wealth.
Speaker 2 (14:32):
It is.
Speaker 3 (14:32):
Those dollars are tied up in retirement accounts, it's tied
up in home equity, and those things.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Are they don't just sell for your money stocks from
referral one k right, or like a lifestyle or a
portion of your home. But what I was gonna say is,
in some ways I think this is great, like build
that wealth, do not touch it while you are while
you're working. But and it's also interesting to note too
that beyond the one to two million dollar mark, and
(14:57):
as you sort of advance into the upper though, what
you call these folks the upper elite, the upper crust,
the folks with millions upon millions you see the level
of wealth that is tied up in these liquid assets decrease,
which makes sense, right, There's only so specifically, like your home,
there's only so much of a so much home you
can buy before you're just like, you know what, let's
(15:18):
just invest it. Thad, I hear well, there are certainly
the Hamptons are calling.
Speaker 2 (15:21):
There are certainly very big and nice homes.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
It's just that not everybody wants to live in the
gigantic mansion where they're dumping a ton of their wealth
into that. But for most folks out there who are
in a stage of life where they are trying to
build their wealth, it's important to know your timeline. And
I want to make sure that there are folks out
there who have access to money for some of the
different short term and for some of the different medium term.
Speaker 2 (15:44):
Goals that they might have.
Speaker 3 (15:45):
We often focus on building your wealth, and the vast
majority I think, especially of our generation of wealth that
is being built is within the four one k. Yeah,
there's a lock on it. And the only key to
that lock, well aside from a ten percent penalty, is
hitting a certain age. And so so it's like a time,
it's like a time schedule. Yeah, right, And you know what,
there are oftentimes going to be goals that we have
(16:05):
in life that where we are going to need more liquid,
readily available cash.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
And actually, one of the other things maybe that might
be worth mentioning here is this is why I'd like
roth IRA's why we like roth Iray so much, Matt,
is because the roth Ira contributions, if you are a
regular maximizer of that roth Iray over a long period
of time, those contributions can be tapped penalty and tax free.
And we don't typically recommend it. It's not like, oh,
(16:31):
you're thirty eight and you've been maxing out your roth
for ten years, pull all those contributions out. Great, But
at least it is there is the possibility to access
those fun since I do see that as a plus
if you're handling your money well and you do need
access for let's say, a down payment on a house
or something like that, or a more short term money
(16:53):
goal that you have. I was talking to somebody the
other day and he didn't even realize that roth contributions
were access uh, And so I was like, oh, man.
Speaker 2 (17:02):
Was that a good thing? Let me tell you about
a bad thing for him.
Speaker 1 (17:05):
I always couch it, right, and I'm like, yeah, yeah,
you might not want to go grab them all right now,
but at least they all just yeah. So if you
feel like you crash cash strapped millionaire, your ROTH contributions
might at least make you feel less. So let's talk
about AI for a second, Matt, not not for too long,
but I think some people are probably tired of hearing
about AI. We're talking about if you've heard a lot
(17:27):
of talk about the AI bubble in the stock market recently,
is there one? Isn't there one? That's a really good question.
Maybe that's not weigh on on that right now, but
maybe soon. But Walmart and open ai actually announced a
partnership last week. That's what we'll talk about, and that's
the AI is going e commerce soon. You're going to
be able to stop shop for Walmart supplies on chat ept.
(17:49):
Open Ai also announced a new browser that has like
their AI fully built into it. I think it's only
available for Mac users right now. Atlass Yeah, so car
see how that goes, because I'm sure that's going to
incorporate more e commerce as well, which is going to
allow chat GBT to or open ai as a company
to monetize their product better. But man, I'm a little
(18:10):
wary of this. I think this is inevitable in a
lot of ways. But we're already like tempted to consume
everywhere all the time. And of course, yeah, AI was
going to find a way to monetize their product through
direct sales and through partnerships with companies that sell products.
But it's just also another place that we need to
(18:31):
be wary of if we're trying to rein in our spending,
because we might start I was talking to somebody the
other day who was using chat GPT for a homern
model project, and she's like, it's just giving me the
best suggestions about all these things to buy. In some
ways that's cool, but in some ways it also just
speeds up the process that makes it easier to spend
in ways that are maybe a little more frivolous. So
(18:53):
I guess I'm just a little bit nervous about this development.
Speaker 2 (18:57):
I am as well.
Speaker 3 (18:58):
It'll also be interesting to see how AI impacts retailers,
because currently AI shopping is pretty small, but it could
turn into this tidle way right where it's reducing online
site visits also reducing customer loyalty as well. But on
the note of loyalty, subscriptions actually help retailers out in
that regard. And I want to specifically talk about car
(19:19):
washes because the car wash subscriptions are proliferating. Car wash
locations are pricing their single washes like if you just
kind of roll up randomly at like one dollar less
than what the monthly subscription is, where it's basically trying
to tip you over into joining having that payment on
a recurring basis to make it a no brainer.
Speaker 1 (19:40):
It's like, why wouldn't I it's only a dollar more,
I'm gonna get the subscription.
Speaker 3 (19:43):
That's where the value is at. I can hit this
up as many times as I want this month. And
the biggest player in that space mister car Wash. They
have over two million members and over three quarters of
their revenue comes from recurring subscriptions, which is amazing. And
I will say we fail pre to that, not to
mister car Wash specifically, but the one nearest us. It
(20:04):
was really similar to that. It wasn't that much more expensive.
And here's here's the weird thing is it was only
supposed to be like a promotional rate, but they never
raised the price.
Speaker 2 (20:14):
Oh and so I'm continued, So we're still members.
Speaker 3 (20:17):
And because we hit forty pay a month twenty bucks,
maybe he's like twenty one or something like that. And
it was, but that was the quote unquote promotional rate
there at the beginning, and it was only a few
dollars more than just what a single wash costs. But
we go through it like twice a week, and you're
getting your money's worth.
Speaker 2 (20:32):
I think we are.
Speaker 3 (20:33):
And we've got this old, crusty van and we're trying
to make it look nice and we feel good about
it and truly trying to take care of it. You know,
when we get out of there and those tires look shiny,
I'm like, man, those tires are gonna they.
Speaker 2 (20:42):
Ain't cut a dry rot. I'll tell you what.
Speaker 1 (20:45):
So I dropped my van off at the Mechanic this
morning and it was it was so nasty. I felt
a little ashamed because it had not been cleaned in
so long. There's like cracker dust all over the front.
I mean, there's just like who knows what we use
that napkin four that's in the corner. I know, I know,
so I need to I do not currently have a
car Washed subscription.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
Yeah, well, and I'm kind of reticent to do it.
Speaker 3 (21:08):
I just I think more people need to be right
because when you are on that recurring subscription, it's in
the best interest of that business, but not necessarily in yours.
And so even if you don't use the service, you're
still paying for it. So just pay attention to.
Speaker 2 (21:22):
Your finances and where your money is going.
Speaker 1 (21:24):
Yeah, yep, so everybody wants you to have a subscription,
but is that in your best interest? It's worth thinking twice.
And also like, how often would you get your car
washed if you didn't have a subscription? Probably far less?
Would that be the worst thing in the world? Are
We got more to get to on this episode of Clear,
We're talking about credit card churning and a way to
get your prescriptions easier and cheaper. We'll get to both
(21:45):
of those right after this.
Speaker 2 (21:54):
All right, man, we are back from the break.
Speaker 3 (21:56):
It is now time for the lu Chris headline of
the week, which is from The Times. The headline reads,
and by the way, this is an opinion piece. This
isn't like news you can use.
Speaker 2 (22:07):
We're still mad about it. I'm still mad about it.
Speaker 3 (22:10):
It's not an editorial though, right, And so the author
of this piece is he showed his cards.
Speaker 2 (22:15):
A little bit.
Speaker 3 (22:16):
He's sharing his opinion here, and that's totally fine. We'll
also share our opinion. Yeah, we haven't gotten to the headline.
Speaker 2 (22:21):
Okay, if this author has a dumb opinion, the headlines
taking the task.
Speaker 3 (22:24):
For it reads wacky labels and silly names are killing
craft beer. And so a part of the reason too
we're doing this is obviously we read it on our
on our own. A lot of listeners sent this one
our way.
Speaker 2 (22:37):
What do you guys think?
Speaker 3 (22:38):
Yeah, you guys will tell you want to fight. First
of all, man, the premise isn't true. I think the labels,
the fun names Unicorn versus Ninja, some of the wager
names out there, it is not killing craft beer. Instead,
I think it's fun helps you to remember the type
of Like there are so many different generic beers out there, right,
(22:58):
like generic Hazy I PA. That's a terrible name for
a beer. When you've got these more unique names, it
helps you to remember the beer. Obviously, you can't have
a wacky, fun name and have it taste awful, but
it helps you to It helps to cement its place
in your mind when you've got a sea of options
available to you.
Speaker 1 (23:15):
Yeah, like Zombie Dust, Like that's a name that you
remember and you're like, Floyd, drink that again.
Speaker 3 (23:19):
And I've only, I think ever had that beer one
time in my entire life. But I know that beer
because it's called zombie Dust.
Speaker 2 (23:25):
Wait, what's it?
Speaker 1 (23:26):
Four floyds, three floids? How many floyds did it take
to beer?
Speaker 3 (23:31):
It worked part of the time, half the time, but
the cannar, it's just a fun part of the process
as well.
Speaker 2 (23:37):
I just don't think craft.
Speaker 3 (23:38):
Beer needs to be boring. And I think this author,
he might be revealing the fact that maybe he likes
more of the generic stuff. You know, maybe he likes
maybe he thinks he likes a craft beer, but he
maybe he's actually drinking Blue Moon, or maybe it's more
of an esthetic thing, right, Like there are some great
craft beers out there, and they're rocking some really delicious beer.
Like I'm thinking of Main Beer Company. Yeah, super kind
(24:01):
of generic. It's Whitch and Dinner, white labels, pretty plain vanilla,
but guess what, they make really good beers. And for
folks who like a craft beer but they don't like sparkles,
to be on the cat like literally.
Speaker 2 (24:14):
Some some beer.
Speaker 3 (24:15):
You know, some of these breweries, it's like sparkles coming
off coming off the label. You're not going to get
that with lunch by Main May Beer Company.
Speaker 1 (24:23):
I think the thing that the author doesn't really get
about why craft beer is struggling now is the supply
and demand equation that's more going on here.
Speaker 2 (24:33):
Like we have this.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Massive run up in craft breweries from essentially you know,
a handful to a handful in every city. Uh, and
they've just proliferated to such an extent that the supply
has just become overwhelming, and then the demand is also
going down. People are people are drinking a lot less
(24:54):
in general. So I think this isn't This is like
an ever presence in markets, Like lots of money gets
poured into the trendy space. The early movers in that
space do well, especially those who sell and get out early.
Think about Matt some of those smaller craft brewers or
medium sized craft brewers who were selling to the big guys,
and how much money they made in the heyday. They
(25:17):
were crushing. They walked away happy. But I think in
just fifteen years the number of craft breweries gone up
six x something like that, and consumer tastes of change.
So it's not just that we're drinking less craft beer.
We're drinking less in general. Yes, alcohol, Yeah, there's more
spiked seltzers and stuff like that. But it's also just
that people are like, I'll take the NA option or
(25:39):
I'll stick to soda or water or whatever.
Speaker 2 (25:43):
And so people are watching their wallets, watching their pocabi.
Speaker 1 (25:46):
It's not like people are like the names are too zany,
I'm out. Is there a personal finance lesson in this?
I mean, I think investing in trends can potentially be
your friend, especially in those early days it was, but
it can also come back to bite you. And we're
seeing craft breweries closing across more of this country now
than open. And also we're lucky we have more delicious
(26:06):
craft brewer brewing choices than ever.
Speaker 3 (26:09):
And yeah, all in all, I think it's a net good,
it's a net positive. And yeah, honestly it makes me
think of like I think of other industries or things
that kind of coincided with the craft beer movement. It
makes me think of like CrossFit and not to take
this back so pointedly to like fitness or whatever, but
I want to say that that trend peaked.
Speaker 2 (26:28):
Like ten years ago or so.
Speaker 3 (26:30):
And if you are someone who was just like I
want to do that, I want to open a gym,
just know that man getting a brick and mortar, signing
a lease, buying the equipment, getting trainers, training staff to
be able to run your classes. Like, that's a really
expensive endeavor as opposed to trying something on your own
that might be more Yeah, it's got lower stakes, but yeah,
(26:52):
there's always trends. It makes like even like the boutique
spin classes or whatever, I feel like we've seen a
pretty pretty sharp client in that as well. Not that
folks aren't doing it on their own, but they're finding
more affordable alternatives.
Speaker 1 (27:04):
Well, and so many brands got in on the action,
and then there was a spin class, soul cycle, Orange,
theey on every corner, and at some point there just
wasn't enough demand to be able to satisfy investors in
gym owners, and so some of those places are going bust. Yeah, yeah,
of business totally.
Speaker 3 (27:22):
And in the end, I think my biggest takeaway too
is just that the numbers are changing when it comes
to if you were interested in starting a business, like
a local brewery, because before it's like, oh, if you
got big enough, maybe you could start distributing, and oh yeah,
we're gonna start We're gonna start shipping our beers across
the country, and all of a sudden, it's this national
phenomena as opposed to what's taking place now, which is
(27:42):
that brow pubs that are succeeding are the ones that
are able to create a great space where folks.
Speaker 2 (27:47):
Can come to it.
Speaker 3 (27:48):
Literally, it's contributed to local. Yes, it's contributing to the
to the local culture and the sort of the flavor
of the town. And that's really important, and that's something
I don't think that that will go out of style.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
I think those are replacing old school bars that'll serve
a bunch of different beers from a bunch of different breweries,
those hyper local craft breweries. You're like, this is my
local bar now, and I just drink beers by you
guys pretty much exactly.
Speaker 2 (28:12):
Yeah, which I'm down with. Matt.
Speaker 1 (28:15):
Let's talk about credit card churning. The New York Times
they profile to do it this practice this week, and
churning is essentially when people sign up for lots of
credit cards in a fairly short period of time, and
it is possible to sign up for even like dozens
of credit cards and making money from those sign up
bonuses along the way, typically over the course of years.
(28:39):
And the article profiled how lots of people have reaped
essentially tens of thousands of dollars in cash back and
free travel by going doing the going the credit card
churning route. It's a lot of money, but I guess
it's it's not surprising as sign up bonuses have gotten
richer over the years, and so this is I think
(29:00):
an extreme example of the flip side of the credit
card universe, where traditionally, you know, you think about the
fifty to sixty percent of people who don't pay off
their credit card balances, they are the people you think
of as getting taken advantage of by the credit card companies. Well,
this is kind of like a Robin Hood esque scenario
where these these credit card churners boldly go forth to
(29:23):
say no longer will we allow you to take advantage
of people, or actually, at least we're going to try
to take advantage of you on the flip side and
take those sign up bonuses without giving you any sort
of carrying a balance or paying you any interest for
the privilege of making this money off your backs. The
credit card companies, Matt, they loathe churning, like they hate
the term in and of itself. I think it makes
(29:44):
them shudder to their core. They really don't want those
kinds of customers. But there's also not a whole lot
that they can do about it. But I guess, like
for us, all we should talk about is whether or
not credit card churning makes sense for individuals and for people.
Speaker 3 (30:00):
But listening to this show, yeah, well, there are some
things they can do about it, like they can limit
your ability to sign up for it.
Speaker 2 (30:05):
That's true.
Speaker 3 (30:06):
Well, I'm specifically thinking of Chase because they I think
it was like.
Speaker 2 (30:09):
A five slash twenty four rule.
Speaker 3 (30:12):
Basically within two years, they're limiting your ability to take
advantage of an offered well.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
And I think what Chase's rule specifically is, and I
don't know that any other credit card issuer has done this,
is if you open up five cards within those two years,
you can't even We're just gonna reject you out right
when you apply for a Chase card, So it's not
even just applying for Chase cards it's like, how many
cards have you applied for overall? If you've applied for
too many, we think you're a churner. We don't want
your business. Yeah, and I was looking at a Southwest
(30:37):
card recently too, and it was specifically calling out that, oh,
this offer isn't available if you've received any benefit at
all from one of our cards within the past two years.
But from a personal standpoint, this is something that we
want to warn people about, Like we want you to
beware before you attempt, because you're gonna need to pay
attention very closely. You're gonna need to have like attention
(31:00):
to detailed skills.
Speaker 3 (31:01):
In order to execute this properly. Like like if you're
an accountant, you can probably pull this off. Like if
you're a baker, bakers have to measure pretty precise. Yeah,
if you are a coder, a programmer, these are all
things that require precision. What if you're an influencer less
so I think if you were an influencer or like
an artist, or if you're a surfer, this may not
(31:22):
be the practice for you. A lot of folks out
there who are really into this, they keep a spreadsheet
where they're keeping up with it. They're checking it, and
of course they certainly cancel or downgrade the cards before
they're charged that annual fee. So just know that this
is more. This is like a like a three thousand
level class, right, this isn't like the personal finance one
(31:43):
O one kind of class that we're talking about here.
But even if you don't turn into a hardcore churner,
which I don't know if FO would recommend from many
folks to even consider that, be smart with your credit
card usage and certainly take full advantage of the perks
though that your card does offer. Right, like the these
are benefits that they offer. Don't go out of your
way necessarily to get as many of these as possible.
(32:04):
But if there are perks, take advantage of them certainly.
And of course golden rules of credit don't carry a balance.
Speaker 1 (32:10):
It's also important to note that churning can lead to
a harmed credit score, especially in the short term. Over
over time, if you have a bunch of credit cards
open and you have a high credit limit, then it
might actually improve your score, but especially in the short term,
it can ding it. And if you're trying to get
credit soon, that can be a problem. If you're trying
to use your credit right to get a loan or
(32:31):
something like that, and your score is diminished, that can
be that can be an issue, and the stakes are
higher than ever two. Now, when we're talking about the
premium credit cards that come with like the super duper
high fees, top of the line Amex and Chase options,
their annual fees are not much under one thousand dollars.
Speaker 2 (32:49):
Now, Matt, it's insane.
Speaker 1 (32:51):
That's a that's a really big annual fee. To overcome
you have to get a lot of perks from that
credit card. That's your dad's annual feedl No, No, it's
not like a ninety five dollars annual fee. He now
feels like child's play.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Seems like a steal.
Speaker 1 (33:03):
Yeah, and those cards do come with like significant potential benefits,
but you often have to work really hard to get
the benefits to make them matter and jump through some
hoops or even some of them. It's like, oh, you
want the full hotel credit, Well you got to do
the hotel stay in the first half of the year
and the second half of the year, which, Yeah, you
just have to really pay attention to the fine print.
And sometimes they want you to spend in ways that
(33:25):
you otherwise would not have spent, which means you're like
manufacturing spending. And so is that actually is this card
the best for you or is it actually encouraging you
to spend in ways you would not have otherwise. Oh,
in City just launched a new high end card. But
it turns out they don't know what they're doing apparently
in this space, and so the strata elites fighting words.
(33:46):
I mean, they was going after City. People were locked
out of their accounts for weeks without explanation, and so
City was like trying to get in this game to
like we're gonna chasing AMX, We're coming for you, and
then they completely screwed the on the launch.
Speaker 2 (34:00):
We throw up the ball man. Yeah, okay, let's talk
about the rising costs of health care coverage. We touched
on that last week. But it's going to cause many
folks out there to opt for high deductible plans this year.
Speaker 3 (34:13):
That being said, at the same time, folks with bronze
or folks with more of the catastrophic plans that are
available through the exchange will also be HSA eligible. Now
this is great, man. Hsas are truly going mainstream and
if you have access to one, certainly use it to
save on taxes, to be able to reduce the out
(34:34):
of pocket costs that you might have associated with medical expenses.
But if you are able take full advantage by paying
for healthcare costs out of pocket and then investing within
the HSA, that's the ultimate way to use that account.
Speaker 2 (34:47):
It's not going to solve the high cost of health.
Speaker 3 (34:49):
Care in your life, but it can help to dull
the pain a bit as you've got more more of
your wealth building.
Speaker 2 (34:53):
For the future.
Speaker 1 (34:54):
And we're basically an open enrollment season or almost there
for most people who are listening Matt. So the AHSA
and f s A maybe depending on which one you
have available to you, do not forget to take advantage
of those and look into the specifics of how you
can use them effectively, not just to save on taxes,
but to.
Speaker 2 (35:13):
Grow your wealth.
Speaker 1 (35:14):
We've got more information about those accounts up on our
site at how the money dot com.
Speaker 2 (35:20):
And Matt.
Speaker 1 (35:20):
While we're talking about healthcare, let's talk about prescriptions because
I thought this was a really cool story. A prescription
vending machine has now arrived on the scene. Yeah, can you,
like you remember how you people try to stick their
hands up to get a coke out of the vending machine.
What if you do that with the meds? Do you
think that's possible? Or probably sophisticated, well made machines, the fancy. Yeah,
I can just shake it and get you know, percoset,
(35:42):
three bottles of vice profen.
Speaker 2 (35:44):
Yeah, well that's not even a prescription drug. So that's true. Yeah,
but I'm not big on the meds biotics. We don't
really do we don't.
Speaker 3 (35:52):
Yeah, I'm more of a spray index on it kind
of guy's a thig fat Greek wedding reference.
Speaker 2 (35:58):
Okay, it's long time. I don't know, although I did
watch it.
Speaker 3 (36:02):
I think rub some dirt on it, spray some windecks
on it, drink some kombucha.
Speaker 2 (36:08):
We're a little crunch here. That's that's what I'm getting.
It's true.
Speaker 1 (36:11):
So Amazon is launching these prescription vending machines. They're going
to be at one medical clinics across the country, which
they have or I don't know if they own them
or just have like a relationship with them. But it's
going to make it easier for patients to get basic
meds right after an employment, like an antibiotic or something
like that. And I think it's cool, man, I think
it's just great. I think it's going to make it
(36:31):
a lot simpler for people to get their prescription, not
even having to go down the street to get that prescription,
and it's likely going to be cheaper than a lot
of the big drug stores, if Amazon's prescription pricing is
any indication of what they're going to cost at these
vending machines. But I also want to highlight the fact
that they're probably not the cheapest that that's reserved typically
(36:51):
for places like Costco and for cost Plus Drugs, those
are the best low cost places to turn for a prescription.
So just yeah, maybe you get it and you pay
a few dollars more because it's so super duper convenient.
But I think, especially if you have a recurring prescription,
need check those other guys out, Costplus Drugs being like
my favorite right now, as I've done some shopping for
a medication for our daughter recently, and it was like
(37:14):
by far the lowest, lowest one other thing matt for
people who take up recurring prescription, like the longer you
get for a prescription, length you can get up to
like one hundred and eighty days prescriptions. It can save
you a ton of money too, So like a ninety
day prescription might be like thirty bucks, and one hundred
and eighty day prescription might be like forty bucks.
Speaker 2 (37:32):
And so sounds like a new brainer. Oh yeah, you're like,
I save it a ton and you just don't have
to think about it as often.
Speaker 3 (37:37):
Yeah, Or get you a bottle of window cleaner and
you're all set there you go, All right, that's gonna
be it for this episode this Friday flight. You can
find our show notes up on the web website at
how too money dot com. We hope everyone has a
fantastic weekend and we'll see you back here next week.
So until then, best friends out, best friends out?
Speaker 2 (38:00):
M h, what's that pause? A say so until next time?
Did you said so? Until then? Oh? Did I so?
I was like selling beer in the headlights.
Hosts And Creators
Joel Larsgaard
Matthew Altmix
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