July 26, 2024 • 34 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: Cat & Jack, a cooling job market, sticky side hustles, Delta implosion, surveillance pricing, neobank nightmares, crummy cash bonuses, tried and true(ly affordable) methods for fitness, and potential good news for homebuyers.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Welcome to Had of Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Today we're talking about sticky side, hustles, neo bank, nightmares,
and renting forever.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's right, man, this is our Friday flight. But we're
going to talk about the most pertinent personal finance stories
that we came across this week. By the way, we're
also going to talk about uh Andrew Huberman and the
I was gonna say Finance Bros, the fitness Bros, Fitness
breads in a way that that actually ties into personal finances.
I'm actually looking forward to that. But what's this thing
here that you've got about tar Ja? Yeah, when your
(00:50):
favorite local, we'll get to your favorite topic of fitness
in retail tech. But in the meantime we'll talk about
your favorite store.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I guess now it's at My son's favorite story truly,
every time we pass at Target, he oh my gosh,
he's obsessed with Target and Tesla. I think because my
mom takes him to Target and they've got always there
and stuff, and.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
So yeah, he likes do they sell popcorn? Target? Nothing
I know of. I feel like when you walk in there,
that's what it smells. I don't know. In my mind,
Like last time I went there, I just remember thinking,
why does it smell like popcorn? Yeah? I don't know.
I can't explain that one. I was curious if maybe
she always gets some popcorn. But I don't even know
if they sell popcorn at Target, not that I know,
but maybe they do maybe some, But I do sell
popcorn at or they do give popcorn out at Tesla?
(01:26):
Do they? Yeah? And make you happy about uh? Dropping
thirty k on a on a new ride? Did I
tell you our friend, a friend of ours, mutual friend
who has been looking at Tesla's he finally pulled the trigger?
Did he really? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Okay, got it? It looks really nice. I'm sure they're
nice cars. My sister got one, they're great, and my
son is obsessed. He wishes I would get one, but
I'm holding off for the Ribbian because they're superior vehicles.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What's funny is about Azra Like he calls out Tesla's
like instead of like the punch Buggy, Like when y'all
are driving around, he yells out Tesla.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
His sisters get really tired of it after a while, like,
shut up about Tesla's. Yeah, Elon would probably find it
here proud, but yes, you know. This thing about Target
is Cat and Jack, one of the brands, the house
brands the front of them that Target sells and reasonably priced,
I mean truly compared to the quality stuff for a
(02:15):
fairly reasonable price at Target. Well, the other thing that
made buying Cat and Jack clothing such a potentially good
deal was this sick return.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Policy they had on it.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And I think we talked about this, I don't know,
maybe like a year ago, but that return policy seems
to be going away at least in some Target location,
So I guess it was basically like, hey, you buy
the thing, if your kid out grows it, or if
it gets like nasty or stained or ripped or torn,
bring it back and we'll get you the next size
up for free. Which if it gets nasty, No, I
think it was truly that generous ilies that you wear
(02:47):
this thing out, abuse the policy, bring it back. That
it wasn't abused the policy, that was the policy, I think. Yeah,
so a lot of moms were doing this and dad's too, right,
like just parents of all stripes were saying, okay, well
you can take this back whenever and you can get
the next siye up and but now targets saying we're
totally losing money hand over fist because some of these
(03:08):
people are actually really dedicated to making those returns.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Obviously. Yeah, I mean was this last year We talked
about the lady that took back like a two year
old mattress to Costco and it went viral because she's
like a TikToker and this clip blew up or whatever,
and folks are like, what are you doing? This is
not what the policy or those who created the policy
what they intended, and this ruins it for everyone, Like
(03:30):
this is kind of what the policy entabled. But maybe
I'm wrong. Maybe maybe it's not.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Maybe it was just a year return policy, but people
are bringing back like ripped and stuff and torn. But
I thought it was kind of like, hey, it's a
clothing doesn't hold up or if your child out grows.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
It, you can I understand if it doesn't hold up right,
because because I don't know, there's a focus on quality there,
but like if it actually gets grimey or your kid
actually are like duh, your kids are going to grow
at some point, they're no longer going to be any closed.
So it's like, I don't know if you have the
ability to buy an entire wardrobe for you're a kid
and then like gradually upgrade it like a hermit crabs shell.
(04:03):
Like who wouldn't do that? I mean, that's like the
biggest no brainer in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, so we'll put a link to the article that
I read on this interest it does. It seems like
this is that the generous return policy is going away.
So if you heard us talk about that and you're like, oh,
that's nice. I've got many kids and I'm going to
stick to the target clothing because this return policy, well, it's.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Not going to be as generous as it was. It's
interesting that you mentioned that at certain locations. Do you
think there are certain parts of the country, certain states,
certain cities where folks are cheaper than my cheap's gotten around, like, yeah,
exactly where folks are potentially abusing it? Yeah? Maybe maybe
where like the parent group is sharing the information and
so like all the parents have a lot of know
how and they're close to this one particular target, and
(04:45):
that target's feeling the wrath of those returns.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So it totally could be because I don't know that
I've seen. That's the other thing is. I don't know
that it's been updated on their website or completely changed,
but there's like signs up at the return counter at
certain locations at least, and I've seen certain there say
influencers say that they are that they're seeing this at
their local target. So maybe it doesn't seem like it's
something that's top down, but it's kind of happening well,
(05:08):
I don't know at specific locations, and maybe it will
at some point filter all the way up to the
top and just a cease and desist on this policy potentially.
But man, let's keep moving. We got we got a
lot more to cover on today's shifts we do. Let's
talk about jobs for a second. Most people have them.
They help you get paid, They help you pay for
the roof over your head and the food on your table.
But the job market has been one of the most
(05:31):
fascinating things to watch over the past few years because
it has been more dynamic than it usually is. Right,
it's been kind of funky and interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
And if there's a chance you're going to say that
we're living in unprecedented times, and it hasn't. That just
been the case for the past four years of existence.
But even more so, it seems like the past week or.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Two, well, yeah, unprecedented times is it's getting old because understatement,
if you're always living in them, precedent times are they're
really unprecedented.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's true. But I do think the past two weeks
in particular, it's been nuts. That has thelast two weeks
have been unprecedented, agreed, especially on the political front, which
we don't talk about it here on this show for
a good reason because everyone else talks about it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We talk about money. But the job market clearly isn't
what it was two years ago, when we were in
this like hyper competitive job market where the unemployment rate
was crazy low and what people were getting paid to
switch jobs was crazy high, and unemployment numbers, Matt, they've
been tacking up, albeit slightly, and more Americans have decided
(06:29):
they're going to stay put in their job instead of
trying to jump ship to make more according to recent data,
and the reason for staying put is because the incentive
to find a new job has dropped dramatically.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It is that kind of job switching premium that we've
been talking about over the past few years. That premium
has not completely evaporated but it's almost completely evaporated because
wage growth is cooling, hiring slowing. And so I'll say this,
it's not that you'd be foolish to continue job hunting
or to look around to see if you can find
a better opportunity for yourself, but just know that it
(07:03):
could take longer to find that opportunity and the offers
might not be as jaw dropping as they were eighteen
twenty four months ago. This isn't amazing news for job
seekers as the employment market cools down a little bit.
But the silver lining here is that it's good news
for inflation.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Okay, so since we're talking about jobs, A new bank
Rate side hustle survey found that more than a third
of Americans are taking on a side hustle to help
pay the bills or really just to aid them and
being able to afford some of the more discretionary items
that they want to purchase. Yah. Side hustle is going
to pay for my travel, right exactly. It's a it's
kind of a way to mentally account for some of
(07:39):
those additional expenses, which I totally get and can appreciate.
But almost a third say that they're going to need
to have a side gig in perpetuity in order to
make ends meet. That means forever. Yeah, Like there is
no end to this. Younger folks gen Z in particular,
are most likely to have a source of side income,
but they're just not convinced that they can afford to
(08:01):
pay their bills if they dial back to just having
one source of income. And so, while we like the
idea of having multiple streams of income for sure, that
being said, having a full time gig alongside a side
hustle forever and always it does sound like a recipe
for burnout. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I saw this and I was like, we've talked about
side hustles, and we should link to actually that episode
in the show Notes Matt where we kind of dove
deep and gave our thoughts on side hustles. Really, when
it comes down to it, we're fans of the side hustle,
but not in perpetuity right, not forever, because a side
hustle can be a great way to facilitate more rapid
debt pay down or saving up for a specific goal
(08:39):
like paying for a wedding, buying an icer car and
then being able to do that with cash, right, not
taking on debt for those things. Yeah, that's awesome. If
the side hustle can allow you to achieve that goal,
we're all for it. It can be a fantastic financial choice.
But keeping that side gig around all the time, I
feel like that becomes unsustainable pretty quickly, trying to have
a side hustle working forty plus hours a week and
(09:01):
then on top of that, working an extra ten to
fifteen hours doing something else. Maybe it works for a time,
but I just for a season. I just don't know
that it works for forever. And of course, yes, everything
costs more of these days thanks inflation, and side hustles
are a perfectly acceptable way to help you get through
one of these kinds of seasons. They're not smart from
a long term perspective, And when we're talking about building wealth,
(09:24):
Matt training time for money isn't the way we want
to be going about things. We'd rather see our listeners
increasing their skills to bring home more money at their
day job or working on starting their own business. What
happens then, typically is you're going to make less in
the here and now while you're building that thing, but
you're working towards a brighter tomorrow, a more sustainable tomorrow
(09:44):
where your income is growing based on the business you
built instead of just perpetually making what's not really a
ton of money typically in a lot of these side hustles. Sure, sure, okay,
so this actually I think this begs the question. Then,
what is the difference between a side hustle and like
what we do when it comes to rental pri properties, right,
because that involves trading a little bit of our time
on the side, and when we talk about this, it's
(10:06):
more like a part time job than purely passive income.
It takes a little bit of our energy and attention
in order to kind of maintain those properties, whether it's
maintenance issues, scheduling work to be done, showing it. Yeah,
what are your thoughts on that? That's a good question. Yeah,
I guess it. I guess it really is kind of
because I'm finding it.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Sorry. Good, Yeah, I asked what you thought and then
I interrupted.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
But more than anything, it's it's and I would say
it's an investment with some time required than a side hustle.
I think if side hustle as truly it is, you're
getting paid for the hours, better exchange as opposed to
seeing something that you're working on that is growing in value. Yeah,
and I also count for that. I think about that
into how much time I'm willing to work like.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Exactly, I think that's when it comes I think it
more comes down to that. It's less in my mind
when to change between a little bit here. I think
it has less to do with having a side hustle
as opposed to the amount of time that you're giving it.
Because you might have somebody and they're pouring all of
their time into a job, and maybe it's a higher
paying job. Maybe they're a doctor. I'm fine with that
if they don't want to diversify their income, because you
(11:06):
know what, you got a pretty good source income as
a doctor, versus somebody else who might like the variety.
And they were They're like, man, I want to have
five different things that I'm working on all at the
same time. That's just maybe what fits their personality. And
in both cases, I'm cool with that person working forty
whatever however many hours a week they are sustainable for them.
But beyond that, yeah, if you're working eighty hour weeks
(11:29):
and yeah, that's when it can lead to burnout. It's
I think less about the side hustle and more just
about overwork. Yes, it's just that the side hustle is
the latest iteration that we're seeing people overwork and we're
calling everything a side hustle. Now, right, Like, if you
have that basic, any sort of stream of income that's
in addition to your day job, we call that a
side hustle. And in the survey, that's kind of what
they said was it comes down to the question was
(11:51):
are you making money essentially from something that's not your
day job. And that's why a lot of people say yes,
what is that though? Like it could be a rental property, right,
that could be people answering affirmative. Maybe it isn't some
sort of side hustle. Maybe they're not driving for Uber eats,
but it is some rental income that they make or
something like that, or renting out one of the rooms
in their houses in airbnb that's side income. Or isn't
(12:13):
everyone where you can rent out your garage or something?
Now what's that one called I cellf storage kind of yeah, yeah,
Like there's also like it. The cool thing is there
are all sorts of ways to use what you have
to make somebody that's a side gig exactly. Yeah, But
I think what you said not all created equal exactly.
And I think what you said, though is true. Is
it comes down to how much time that you're willing
to give it beyond your typical work week. If you
(12:34):
are using that and put and focusing on a specific goal,
like to eliminate some high interest rate debt, I think
that's amazing and fantastic. But there is a finish line
that you are that you're gunning towards as opposed to
it being just a way of life.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, if not, I mean, I think it can quickly
become overwhelming, and yeah, burnout is the word it comes
to my mind for sure. Let's talk about travel, Matt.
We quickly wanted to touch on the meltdown that's happening
at Delta right now. It wasn't self imposed, not Delta's faults.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
In some ways.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
In many airlines, banks, other companies were meaningfully impacted by
an errant CrowdStrike software update. CrowdStrike is a company that
most people probably aren't necessarily familiar with, but CrowdStrike is
a software provider, a security software provider that a lot
of companies rely on, and their mistake really harmed a
lot of companies across the country and then a lot
of consumers in turn, and everyone else seems to have
(13:24):
mostly gotten their act together at this point, but kind
of not Delta. It's taken them a while to recover.
They've canceled more flights than all the other airlines combined.
The lines Matt oh hush. Because we live in Atlanta,
we've seen more local reporting on this. The lines at
the Atlanta airport to see a customer service agent. I
think it was literally a half mile long. That's insane,
just wrapped around Hartsfield Jackson Airport and.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
A half mile. You've been getting more into running. We're
gonna talk about being healthy later on a half mind
when you're out for a run, that's nothing but a
half mile. When you've got like a screaming kid or
baby in tow, plus like a couple bags, that's a nightmare. Saitch.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I can't even image. I cannot even imagine. So we
just want to say that if you were impacted by
this nightmare, as a Delta customer or any other airline,
it's really important to know your rights. Know that you're
entitled to a full refund. If the airline tries to say, oh,
we'll give you credits for a future flight. No, you
don't want that. You want the refund. That is what
you are entitled to. Don't take anything less. They also
(14:20):
owe you money for expenses that you've incurred during this delay,
for food, hotel, transportation costs that you've incurred. A lot
of passengers math they've also been separated from their bags.
There's a number that you can call that will put
in the show notes. These experiences can be so incredibly frustrating.
I completely realize that I feel fortunate that we weren't traveling,
we weren't tied up in this. I had friends that were,
(14:41):
and seeing their posts about this man, I had a
lot of empathy for what they were going through.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And I also have empathy.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
For those Delta employees who are up to their eyeballs
and customer complaints. Can you imagine working for Delta, working
at the airport right now, dealing with humans who have
had their trip ruined or have had days of their
life what seems like way did? We would just suggest
do your best to keep your cool and then also
keep pushing for what you're entitled to. Be firm, but
(15:07):
be kind, And I realized it's hard to do that
when you feel like you've been smacked around by Delta.
And again not all Delta's fault, but Delta bear some
responsibility here too.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It makes me think of was it last year end
of last year when Southwest had their big melt down?
And I feel like a lot of the this is
when the judgmental vulture memes they're gloating from their balcony
looking down on the peasants. I feel like all the
Delta folks were like, oh see, that's why you don't
fly Southwest. You fly with Delta, guys, because this is
what they'll do to you, Like, guess what, look at
(15:37):
us now, Delta. This is no hate to Delta. Like
mistakes happen, and it just certainly sucks for the folks
that are impacted.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And again they didn't guess I'm just they just had
a harder time recovering.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, exactly. I'm just highlighting the fact that even the
nicer airlines, the official airline of tam Usa We're gonna
get sued probably actually comes out on the day of
opening ceremonis so yeah, but even they experienced difficulties as well.
While we're talking about regulations, talk about the FTC. They
(16:07):
are staying pretty busy, even after a string of recent losses. Actually,
but this time they're looking into something called targeted pricing
or surveillance pricing. And of course everyone's sort of dynamic pricing,
in particular when it comes to airlines. That's an attempt
to charge everyone a higher price based on just the
supply and the demand, the timing of your purchase. Certainly
(16:29):
you see it with like uber Sarge pricing. You see
it when it comes to sports teams, tickets, even online retailers.
We've got no problem with that. They're trying to regulate
the supply and demand. But targeted pricing feels a bit
more icky because it's a company charging just you more
based on your past purchases and the personal data that
(16:49):
they've gathered and accumulated on you. And so if they know,
for instance, that your income is in the upper echelon,
for example, they might feel free to serve you a
higher price at checkout, potentially with you being none the wiser.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, imagine doing that in a physical storemat going and
gathering your goods and then things ringing up at a
higher price because they think you are have deep pockets
or something. Like that you'd be furious, But it happens
it's easier to hide that sort of stuff I guess
online thanks to algorithms and artificial intelligence, and so that
this is what the FTC is probing for. It's really
more like a fact finding mission for them. At this point,
(17:24):
we don't really know it's a study. Yeah, I guess
how rampant this is. But artificial intelligence seems to be
making it easier for companies to participate in this practice.
And so some major companies that FTC is asking for
more information on this from our Chase and MasterCard, and
then there's six other companies, some of which are in
that AI space. Basically, they want to know how rampant
(17:46):
this is, how prevalent this is, and how it's impacting consumers,
how much more they're paying based on this sort of
price discrimination that's being implemented. So I'm incredibly curious to
see the results. This is something I didn't really know
what was happening. I guess you're probably.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Assume that it's happening, though, you know, Like that's the like,
I appreciate the more of a dossier, more data based
on us, and more less price transparency, more Internet's related purchases. Yeah,
it makes sense. I appreciate that the FTC like they're
trying to provide more information, more transparency for us as consumers.
But I think it's just safe to assume that the
information that we're freely handing over to the different apps,
(18:22):
online retailers, to the different financial institutions, the pain and processors, right,
that they are using this information against us, and whether
that's against us in a way to dish up different
ads for products that we might be more likely to purchase,
or in ways that are potentially more nefarious where we
are charged a little bit more. And I think in
this case it pays just to be a little more
(18:42):
vigilant and more of a savvy online shopper.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, savvy online shopper. I think that's true. I think
it it's not just clicking and purchasing. It is doing
a little more due diligence before you buy. That's part
of it. But we'll keep following this one because I
am curious to see how big of an issue targeted pricing,
surveillance pricing it actually is, and hopefully in the months
to come we'll get some more information on that.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
But all right, Matt.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
We got more to get to on this episode, including
we're going to talk about frugal fitness, how you can
get buff Yeah with Matt Hey, Joel, mostly Matt, we'll
talk about that right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
All right, we are back. We've got plenty more to
get to, including some potential good news for home buyers.
We'll get to that story here in a second, but
now it's time for the ludicrous headline of the week.
This one is from The Times, and the headline reads,
what happens when your bank isn't really a bank and
your money disappears. Joel, you can go ahead and cue
the scary music as the fear mongering begins.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
I read the headline and I was like, I don't
want my money to disappear, and it's likely not going
to disappear because you are with a bank that is
FDIC insured because I'm taking my own medicine.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
But bottom line, we've talked about like the different neo
banks out there. We have recently seen a few out
there like YadA, which are basically fintech companies who are
masquerading as real banks. But we see those companies go bust.
Customers of a few of these so called banks have
lost access to hundreds of millions of dollars, and then
the neobank will claim that, hey, I can't do anything
(20:14):
about it because the actual bank holding her money, they
in fact are the ones who are responsible.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
They're actually wrong sometimes when they claim that Matt they know.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Exactly might not partner banks, and the partner banks are
FDIC insured. It's like it kind of reminds me of
the Spider Man me where they're just all standing there
pointing the finger to the other spider Man and so
on the site, like the FDIC insurance badge might be
displayed there on the website. But when push comes to shove,
neobanks they just pose more risk than traditional online banks.
(20:42):
And that's why we continually suggest doing business with the
likes of Ally Discover cit. They're full fledged banks. They
are not passed through marketing organizations organizations that have just
these bank like features. So I want to steer folks
away from sort of the ones that are promising you
the world, that are making offers that sound too good
(21:04):
to be true. Because there are some fintech companies out
there that are providing solid products that we talk about
on the show. I mean and oftentimes when we take
listener questions, this is a lot of times we're talking
about some of these some of the newer companies that
have been around not quite as long as some of
the more traditional online banks. So, yeah, I don't know,
We're I'm trying to thread a needle here, because on
one hand, you've got like the crazy new fly by
(21:25):
night sort of organizations. On the other hand, you've got
the big brick and mortar legacy banks, and there's a
place in the middle for you to go with a
lot of different online providers.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I agree, But we have talked about how some
of these neobanks, they're small, they've partnered with a bank,
and they just don't have their stuff together, and obviously
they've left a lot of customers in the lurch some
of these banks, and I feel bad for all those
folks who feel like they have their money locked up
and they don't know where to turn. And so be
careful and consider some of the banks we mentioned that
are full fledged banks in their own right, not just
(21:58):
trying to partner with somebody else. In the produm I
met more banks are offering cash bonuses for switching. That
was an article the detailed kind of just more high
falutin big dollar offers from banks around the country trying
to woo customers over to their side. And they think
that a one time payment of three hundred bucks or
five hundred bucks is going to be enough to get
(22:18):
you to join them. But as the Wall Street Journal details,
you got to read the fine print. What are the
requirements to get that bonus. You might see the headline
number and you're like, oh, if I just switch over
there and put some savings in, I'm going to get.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Three hundred bucks. Awesome done. But here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
A lot of banks are going to require you then
to set up direct deposit. Makes it stickier and harder
to leave, and it's an extra step that you have
to take. They might offer a short term promotional rate,
but that rate might not last very long, and you're
quickly going to be earning next to nothing on your
savings in short order.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
So, yeah, you got a few hundred.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Bucks, but then all the money you've piled into savings
is earning almost nothing, right, so you might have to
even move a larger balance in order to get that
bonus too. You want the free four hundred bucks, great,
you got to move over four already, K And you're like,
I don't even have that, or oh my gosh, that's
like all my savings do I really is it worth
jumping through all these hoops? I guess it makes sense
(23:09):
in my estimation to look this gift horse in the mouth.
It could be it could be a great deal worth
switching for, but it also might not be. I've done
this in the past, Matt, and I've noticed two different
kinds of things. One time I did it with Chase
and it was a massive pain and I hated my
life for it. And then I did it with Discover
at one point and I was like, I don't know
that I'll stick with this company, and then lo and behold,
I still have a Discover account many years later because
(23:31):
I realized, Hey, this is a great bank I want
to do business with. Yeah, and there were a lot
fewer hoops in order to get those funds too, So
just nice you know the fine print?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, Okay, So the type of money that you might
put into a solid, high old savings account with one
of these great online banks your emergency fund. So let's
talk about specifically the status of your efund, because there
is a new white paper over at Alpha architect and
they find that too many folks have too little saved,
which is pretty obvious here in the US we see
(24:02):
the surveys consistently, so that's of course groundbreaking. The culprit, though,
was pretty shocking because they said it was too much
financial education that was causing folks to not have enough saved.
The offer it should be the opposite, right, like, yeah,
but I totally get it, because if you were thinking, oh,
I need to be investing, and you start getting and
thinking slightly more sophisticated, but you're not covering some of
(24:24):
the basics, I guess. But the authors they found that
over confidence and once financial literacy leads to a significant
underestimation of the need for emergency cash. And I found
that to be noteworthy because the economy is doing pretty
dang great right now, but you might want to make
sure that you're prepared for whatever it is that's coming
(24:45):
next because the quote unquote soft landing that many have
hoped for it it appears to be within grasp where
inflation is going to be tamed without upending the labor market.
But we are starting to see small signs of consumer distress.
We're starting to see a few labor market difficulties as
unemployment starts to tick up. We're not doomsday predictors or anything,
(25:06):
but when bullishness is everywhere, and when it seems over
the top and the markets are frothy, I think it's
smart to have a backup plan. And that doesn't even
mean to change your investing strategy. But I do think
it means performing a personal finance stress test of sorts.
I think it means shoring up your own finances. I
think it means perhaps putting together a bare bones budget
and seeing how little could you in fact live on.
(25:27):
We just don't want over confidence to keep you in
a position of being underprepared for whatever it is that
might be around the corner. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I feel like that the stock market for many, many,
many years now has felt like a savings account that
just pays much higher rates of return because it's just
been like all up and to the right. The truth is,
that's not always how the stock market works, and you
have to be careful about that because if you're using
too many of those savings dollars, dollars that should be
liquid in your account to cover you in case in
(25:58):
a worst case scenario or should difficulty come along in
your job or in your life, if you're using those
dollars to invest, it might look good for a hot minute,
but it could come back to bite you later. And
so I think that's yeah, that's what that study was
getting at is people who feel like they're savvy investors
now overdoing it, and then they're not prepared with the
(26:18):
liquid cash that they need when things get tough. Totally,
let's talk about health for a second. Man, this is
a story I'm guessing you read with great interests because yeah,
you are a Huberman disciple.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Oh can I call you that? Sure? Okay, I'm a fan. Okay,
you're a fanboy.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
And The New York Times says, this interesting article called
the Kid to Longevity is boring, and this subject matter
is been getting a lot more press in recent years.
Right Atia their ilk, they've made Fitness in Longevity a
more popular conversation. At Tea's book sold probably a ton
of copies, I got imagine, which is good.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
I love that we're talking about this stuff and that
Americans are just at least thinking about their health in
wider numbers, and largely what these guys are trying to
promote is not just an increased lifespan like living longer centenarians,
but I'm much better health span. So how healthy are
you and how able are you to do the things
you want to do later in life? And so I
for a lot of individuals in search of the fountain
(27:12):
of youth wanting to be younger for longer, people aren't
just picking up running or cutting out dessert. They're going
a lot further. They're buying cold plunges, they're buying saunas,
expensive supplements and more. And that's essentially what they're getting
at with this article is there's a whole industry is
essentially sprung up around longevity and people's interest in that.
(27:33):
But when I was reading these articles, Matt, all I
could think of is not only is the key to
longevity boring, but it can also be inexpensive too. You
don't have to buy these high priced gadgets just to
help you live longer. I mean, they might be of
some help with the margins, but a lot of it's unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Did you feel personally attacked when they talk when they
mentioned saunas as someone who's just like, oh, I'd really
like to have my own sluck. I kind of want one.
I don't even think about it for longevity purposes, but
just kind of be nice to relax the chill out
at the end of the sell them so I can
get one there. So I was going to have a
great warranty.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
But like anybody who starts going down this rabbit hole,
I've met many people, Matt, and then they just start
spending money. Willy Nillys. Yeah, yeah, that's the problem. If
you are getting the impression that you have to buy
a fancy new gadget, if you've got to buy the
supplements in order to live a healthy life.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, the marketing it's working because we're not against approaching
about it. We're not against a gym membership. But it's
just crucial to be reminded that you can't simply buy
your way to health. You don't need one hundred and
fifty dollars pair of brand new Hokahs to go for
a run. And we actually we've got an article over
on the site from our friend Drew and he actually
is a fitness expert or not he is, Yeah, he is,
(28:38):
and he's outlining some affordable ways to stay fit and
doing things like hiking, or rucking, walking, simply doing body
weight exercises, doing it with a friend, different free online workouts.
There are so many options out there, different ways that
you can improve your life now without breaking the bank.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
But you know what's that one triple F that's where
people gather at local parks and stuff and they beat
friends and they work out together.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I mean, honestly what you said too. I'm a huge
fan of just the fact that more and more folks
are talking about that. I was just talking about this
with my new buddy Bill, but it's becoming more a
part of our daily conversation. And that's the part that
I love that specifically Doctortager, I Tea and Andrew Heberman,
that they're bringing to the conversations that they're bringing to society.
I think you're huge. And one of the reasons I
(29:21):
love them so much.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
When your neighbors and friends talk about it with you
and then you're like, oh, it's.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
A healthy lifestyle one hundred percent. And what I love
about them, specifically those two guys is that they're not
selling like a personal line of fancy supplements that's got
their face or their name stamp on it, like they're
researchers and they're doctors literally, just trying to spread the
word and for folks to make these foundational changes to
their health. And here's the other part of it too.
The parallels of personal finance and investing are uncanny, right
(29:47):
because everybody once they're looking for the shortcut, they want
to how do I get wealthy fast? And you know
what all you got to do is simply invest in
low cost, widely diversified index funds by spending less than
you make.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That's how you grow your decades. It's not gonna be
as fast as you want it to be. And the
truth is too, the more you get into fitness, like
the more you realize, the slower the gains are.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
But over time they stack up.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And I look back at yearly from Surely a year ago, Matt,
and I was pathetic, and I'm still somewhat pathetic, but
I'm getting better, right, And.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So over at the beach we threw down like an
over an eleven mile run like it was nothing, well,
not like it was nothing. I was panting hard after that,
well I was too, but like only like that last
mile when we're kicking it, you know, like you're crushing it. Dude.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Well, and I saw some meme the other day like
Runners in the nineties versus Runners now, and it was
like just a person with shorts and just cheap shoes
on going for a run. And then it was like
all this gear you're outfitted with. And I think a
lot of people think, like.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
The gear is what you need in order And.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You talked about this actually on Wednesday's episode with Our
Wives about not needing the gear photography wise, but how
some people get obsessed with that. And I think sometimes
when you get into some of this stuff, you start
to obsess over the gear and then you kind of
lose sight of what you're actually your goals are on
what you're trying to achieve. You don't need it in
order to get where you want to go. Let's talk
about housing for a second. Is the worst over for
home buyers? It's not been pretty the past couple years.
(31:08):
If you've been hoping to buy a home and haven't
been able to well, A recent report from Zillo finds
that the worst likely is over. The two most important
factors are increased supply and more price cuts. We're seeing
more homes on the market experience price cuts before they
sell rates have followed in recent weeks. Two homes are
being listed on the MLS for longer. All of these
(31:30):
things mean that the tides are turning in favor of
home buyers slowly, but surely. It's not like everything is rosy.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The prices and interest rates have gone back down to
twenty nineteen levels. We're still undersupplied in the single family
home market too. In much of the country. Affordability still
not great. But just like the labor market we talked
about earlier in the show, we might be getting back
to a more normal state of affairs. This is good
news map for people who want to be buyers. Doesn't
mean like, hey, turn those Zillo notifications back on, start
(32:00):
making offers, but maybe maybe it will mean that for
some people because it feels a little bit more accessible.
But we might see even more moderation in home prices
moving forward to.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, and it's in affordability should be going up
to just given the foreseeable rate cuts on the horizon
later this year. But that being said, a decent chunk
of younger Americans they've actually said no, thank you to
the idea of owning a home. The Financial Times reported
about the increased rejection of home ownership altogether, and not
(32:29):
surprisingly this is specifically by gen Z and some of
the younger millennials out there. Many have been disappointed too
many times in their attempt to buy a home. But
also they've done the math because renting is clearly a
better financial decision right now across most of the country.
And it's tough to square that because the American dream
is so pervasive, right like, owning a home is such
(32:51):
a part of that, but it doesn't tied together in
trins of oh yeah, the white pick offense, of course,
but it doesn't have to be tied together with the
American dream. But the key, the key for renters is
to invest even more than their home owning counterparts, because
of course you're not going to have that forced method
of savings that home appreciation brings and paying your mortgage brings.
So you have to kind of counteract that need to
(33:14):
invest even more in the market. And that's a way
to grow your wealth without actually owning a home.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Now, you don't have to drink the kool aid. Don't
drink the kool aid that home ownership equals building a
high net worths. It can be a part of that process,
but it doesn't have to be. And I love seeing
kind of the younger folks giving the heisman to the
traditional advice, which hasn't always been right in recent years. Yeah,
if you bought a house in twenty nineteen, your net
worth has increased substantially because that the value of that
(33:41):
home is increased substantially. But it doesn't have to be
a part of your financial story. And there's a lot
of flexibility and there are a lot of benefits built
in with renting too, especially met The New York Times
just recently updated their rent or by calculator. In so
much of the country, renting is not just a little
bit cheaper, it's say a lot cheaper. Yep, that's a
really valuable resource that you should check out. So good
news for home buyers people who are interested in buying
(34:04):
a home but also don't feel like you have to
be part of that group or that you're getting left
on the sidelines something like that.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
That's right. Don't forget to sign up for the How
To Money newsletter comes out every Tuesday morning. And while
we're talking about the newsletter, we've got a quick referral
shout out to Jared see as well as Ben. Thank
you both for sharing the how to Money newsletter with
some friends.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Yeah, appreciate that. And if you haven't signed up Got
to Have Money dot com slash newsletter. Signing up to
take two seconds, but you have the rest of your
life to enjoy our content and we appreciate you. Thank
you for doing that. You can of course find throw
notes for this episode up on our site at how
toomoney dot com as well. Matt, that's going to do
it for this one. Until next time, Best friends Out
and best Friends Out.
Welcome to Had of Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt.
Speaker 2 (00:03):
Today we're talking about sticky side, hustles, neo bank, nightmares,
and renting forever.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
That's right, man, this is our Friday flight. But we're
going to talk about the most pertinent personal finance stories
that we came across this week. By the way, we're
also going to talk about uh Andrew Huberman and the
I was gonna say Finance Bros, the fitness Bros, Fitness
breads in a way that that actually ties into personal finances.
I'm actually looking forward to that. But what's this thing
here that you've got about tar Ja? Yeah, when your
(00:50):
favorite local, we'll get to your favorite topic of fitness
in retail tech. But in the meantime we'll talk about
your favorite store.
Speaker 2 (00:55):
I guess now it's at My son's favorite story truly,
every time we pass at Target, he oh my gosh,
he's obsessed with Target and Tesla. I think because my
mom takes him to Target and they've got always there
and stuff, and.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
So yeah, he likes do they sell popcorn? Target? Nothing
I know of. I feel like when you walk in there,
that's what it smells. I don't know. In my mind,
Like last time I went there, I just remember thinking,
why does it smell like popcorn? Yeah? I don't know.
I can't explain that one. I was curious if maybe
she always gets some popcorn. But I don't even know
if they sell popcorn at Target, not that I know,
but maybe they do maybe some, But I do sell
popcorn at or they do give popcorn out at Tesla?
(01:26):
Do they? Yeah? And make you happy about uh? Dropping
thirty k on a on a new ride? Did I
tell you our friend, a friend of ours, mutual friend
who has been looking at Tesla's he finally pulled the trigger?
Did he really? Yeah?
Speaker 2 (01:37):
Okay, got it? It looks really nice. I'm sure they're
nice cars. My sister got one, they're great, and my
son is obsessed. He wishes I would get one, but
I'm holding off for the Ribbian because they're superior vehicles.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
What's funny is about Azra Like he calls out Tesla's
like instead of like the punch Buggy, Like when y'all
are driving around, he yells out Tesla.
Speaker 2 (01:55):
His sisters get really tired of it after a while, like,
shut up about Tesla's. Yeah, Elon would probably find it
here proud, but yes, you know. This thing about Target
is Cat and Jack, one of the brands, the house
brands the front of them that Target sells and reasonably priced,
I mean truly compared to the quality stuff for a
(02:15):
fairly reasonable price at Target. Well, the other thing that
made buying Cat and Jack clothing such a potentially good
deal was this sick return.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
Policy they had on it.
Speaker 2 (02:24):
And I think we talked about this, I don't know,
maybe like a year ago, but that return policy seems
to be going away at least in some Target location,
So I guess it was basically like, hey, you buy
the thing, if your kid out grows it, or if
it gets like nasty or stained or ripped or torn,
bring it back and we'll get you the next size
up for free. Which if it gets nasty, No, I
think it was truly that generous ilies that you wear
(02:47):
this thing out, abuse the policy, bring it back. That
it wasn't abused the policy, that was the policy, I think. Yeah,
so a lot of moms were doing this and dad's too, right,
like just parents of all stripes were saying, okay, well
you can take this back whenever and you can get
the next siye up and but now targets saying we're
totally losing money hand over fist because some of these
(03:08):
people are actually really dedicated to making those returns.
Speaker 1 (03:10):
Obviously. Yeah, I mean was this last year We talked
about the lady that took back like a two year
old mattress to Costco and it went viral because she's
like a TikToker and this clip blew up or whatever,
and folks are like, what are you doing? This is
not what the policy or those who created the policy
what they intended, and this ruins it for everyone, Like
(03:30):
this is kind of what the policy entabled. But maybe
I'm wrong. Maybe maybe it's not.
Speaker 2 (03:34):
Maybe it was just a year return policy, but people
are bringing back like ripped and stuff and torn. But
I thought it was kind of like, hey, it's a
clothing doesn't hold up or if your child out grows.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
It, you can I understand if it doesn't hold up right,
because because I don't know, there's a focus on quality there,
but like if it actually gets grimey or your kid
actually are like duh, your kids are going to grow
at some point, they're no longer going to be any closed.
So it's like, I don't know if you have the
ability to buy an entire wardrobe for you're a kid
and then like gradually upgrade it like a hermit crabs shell.
(04:03):
Like who wouldn't do that? I mean, that's like the
biggest no brainer in the entire world.
Speaker 2 (04:07):
Yeah, so we'll put a link to the article that
I read on this interest it does. It seems like
this is that the generous return policy is going away.
So if you heard us talk about that and you're like, oh,
that's nice. I've got many kids and I'm going to
stick to the target clothing because this return policy, well, it's.
Speaker 1 (04:23):
Not going to be as generous as it was. It's
interesting that you mentioned that at certain locations. Do you
think there are certain parts of the country, certain states,
certain cities where folks are cheaper than my cheap's gotten around, like, yeah,
exactly where folks are potentially abusing it? Yeah? Maybe maybe
where like the parent group is sharing the information and
so like all the parents have a lot of know
how and they're close to this one particular target, and
(04:45):
that target's feeling the wrath of those returns.
Speaker 2 (04:47):
So it totally could be because I don't know that
I've seen. That's the other thing is. I don't know
that it's been updated on their website or completely changed,
but there's like signs up at the return counter at
certain locations at least, and I've seen certain there say
influencers say that they are that they're seeing this at
their local target. So maybe it doesn't seem like it's
something that's top down, but it's kind of happening well,
(05:08):
I don't know at specific locations, and maybe it will
at some point filter all the way up to the
top and just a cease and desist on this policy potentially.
But man, let's keep moving. We got we got a
lot more to cover on today's shifts we do. Let's
talk about jobs for a second. Most people have them.
They help you get paid, They help you pay for
the roof over your head and the food on your table.
But the job market has been one of the most
(05:31):
fascinating things to watch over the past few years because
it has been more dynamic than it usually is. Right,
it's been kind of funky and interesting.
Speaker 1 (05:39):
And if there's a chance you're going to say that
we're living in unprecedented times, and it hasn't. That just
been the case for the past four years of existence.
But even more so, it seems like the past week or.
Speaker 2 (05:48):
Two, well, yeah, unprecedented times is it's getting old because understatement,
if you're always living in them, precedent times are they're
really unprecedented.
Speaker 1 (05:55):
That's true. But I do think the past two weeks
in particular, it's been nuts. That has thelast two weeks
have been unprecedented, agreed, especially on the political front, which
we don't talk about it here on this show for
a good reason because everyone else talks about it.
Speaker 2 (06:08):
We talk about money. But the job market clearly isn't
what it was two years ago, when we were in
this like hyper competitive job market where the unemployment rate
was crazy low and what people were getting paid to
switch jobs was crazy high, and unemployment numbers, Matt, they've
been tacking up, albeit slightly, and more Americans have decided
(06:29):
they're going to stay put in their job instead of
trying to jump ship to make more according to recent data,
and the reason for staying put is because the incentive
to find a new job has dropped dramatically.
Speaker 1 (06:40):
Right.
Speaker 2 (06:40):
It is that kind of job switching premium that we've
been talking about over the past few years. That premium
has not completely evaporated but it's almost completely evaporated because
wage growth is cooling, hiring slowing. And so I'll say this,
it's not that you'd be foolish to continue job hunting
or to look around to see if you can find
a better opportunity for yourself, but just know that it
(07:03):
could take longer to find that opportunity and the offers
might not be as jaw dropping as they were eighteen
twenty four months ago. This isn't amazing news for job
seekers as the employment market cools down a little bit.
But the silver lining here is that it's good news
for inflation.
Speaker 1 (07:18):
Okay, so since we're talking about jobs, A new bank
Rate side hustle survey found that more than a third
of Americans are taking on a side hustle to help
pay the bills or really just to aid them and
being able to afford some of the more discretionary items
that they want to purchase. Yah. Side hustle is going
to pay for my travel, right exactly. It's a it's
kind of a way to mentally account for some of
(07:39):
those additional expenses, which I totally get and can appreciate.
But almost a third say that they're going to need
to have a side gig in perpetuity in order to
make ends meet. That means forever. Yeah, Like there is
no end to this. Younger folks gen Z in particular,
are most likely to have a source of side income,
but they're just not convinced that they can afford to
(08:01):
pay their bills if they dial back to just having
one source of income. And so, while we like the
idea of having multiple streams of income for sure, that
being said, having a full time gig alongside a side
hustle forever and always it does sound like a recipe
for burnout. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I saw this and I was like, we've talked about
side hustles, and we should link to actually that episode
in the show Notes Matt where we kind of dove
deep and gave our thoughts on side hustles. Really, when
it comes down to it, we're fans of the side hustle,
but not in perpetuity right, not forever, because a side
hustle can be a great way to facilitate more rapid
debt pay down or saving up for a specific goal
(08:39):
like paying for a wedding, buying an icer car and
then being able to do that with cash, right, not
taking on debt for those things. Yeah, that's awesome. If
the side hustle can allow you to achieve that goal,
we're all for it. It can be a fantastic financial choice.
But keeping that side gig around all the time, I
feel like that becomes unsustainable pretty quickly, trying to have
a side hustle working forty plus hours a week and
(09:01):
then on top of that, working an extra ten to
fifteen hours doing something else. Maybe it works for a time,
but I just for a season. I just don't know
that it works for forever. And of course, yes, everything
costs more of these days thanks inflation, and side hustles
are a perfectly acceptable way to help you get through
one of these kinds of seasons. They're not smart from
a long term perspective, And when we're talking about building wealth,
(09:24):
Matt training time for money isn't the way we want
to be going about things. We'd rather see our listeners
increasing their skills to bring home more money at their
day job or working on starting their own business. What
happens then, typically is you're going to make less in
the here and now while you're building that thing, but
you're working towards a brighter tomorrow, a more sustainable tomorrow
(09:44):
where your income is growing based on the business you
built instead of just perpetually making what's not really a
ton of money typically in a lot of these side hustles. Sure, sure, okay,
so this actually I think this begs the question. Then,
what is the difference between a side hustle and like
what we do when it comes to rental pri properties, right,
because that involves trading a little bit of our time
on the side, and when we talk about this, it's
(10:06):
more like a part time job than purely passive income.
It takes a little bit of our energy and attention
in order to kind of maintain those properties, whether it's
maintenance issues, scheduling work to be done, showing it. Yeah,
what are your thoughts on that? That's a good question. Yeah,
I guess it. I guess it really is kind of
because I'm finding it.
Speaker 1 (10:24):
Sorry. Good, Yeah, I asked what you thought and then
I interrupted.
Speaker 2 (10:26):
But more than anything, it's it's and I would say
it's an investment with some time required than a side hustle.
I think if side hustle as truly it is, you're
getting paid for the hours, better exchange as opposed to
seeing something that you're working on that is growing in value. Yeah,
and I also count for that. I think about that
into how much time I'm willing to work like.
Speaker 1 (10:46):
Exactly, I think that's when it comes I think it
more comes down to that. It's less in my mind
when to change between a little bit here. I think
it has less to do with having a side hustle
as opposed to the amount of time that you're giving it.
Because you might have somebody and they're pouring all of
their time into a job, and maybe it's a higher
paying job. Maybe they're a doctor. I'm fine with that
if they don't want to diversify their income, because you
(11:06):
know what, you got a pretty good source income as
a doctor, versus somebody else who might like the variety.
And they were They're like, man, I want to have
five different things that I'm working on all at the
same time. That's just maybe what fits their personality. And
in both cases, I'm cool with that person working forty
whatever however many hours a week they are sustainable for them.
But beyond that, yeah, if you're working eighty hour weeks
(11:29):
and yeah, that's when it can lead to burnout. It's
I think less about the side hustle and more just
about overwork. Yes, it's just that the side hustle is
the latest iteration that we're seeing people overwork and we're
calling everything a side hustle. Now, right, Like, if you
have that basic, any sort of stream of income that's
in addition to your day job, we call that a
side hustle. And in the survey, that's kind of what
they said was it comes down to the question was
(11:51):
are you making money essentially from something that's not your
day job. And that's why a lot of people say yes,
what is that though? Like it could be a rental property, right,
that could be people answering affirmative. Maybe it isn't some
sort of side hustle. Maybe they're not driving for Uber eats,
but it is some rental income that they make or
something like that, or renting out one of the rooms
in their houses in airbnb that's side income. Or isn't
(12:13):
everyone where you can rent out your garage or something?
Now what's that one called I cellf storage kind of yeah, yeah,
Like there's also like it. The cool thing is there
are all sorts of ways to use what you have
to make somebody that's a side gig exactly. Yeah, But
I think what you said not all created equal exactly.
And I think what you said, though is true. Is
it comes down to how much time that you're willing
to give it beyond your typical work week. If you
(12:34):
are using that and put and focusing on a specific goal,
like to eliminate some high interest rate debt, I think
that's amazing and fantastic. But there is a finish line
that you are that you're gunning towards as opposed to
it being just a way of life.
Speaker 2 (12:44):
Yeah, if not, I mean, I think it can quickly
become overwhelming, and yeah, burnout is the word it comes
to my mind for sure. Let's talk about travel, Matt.
We quickly wanted to touch on the meltdown that's happening
at Delta right now. It wasn't self imposed, not Delta's faults.
Speaker 1 (13:00):
In some ways.
Speaker 2 (13:01):
In many airlines, banks, other companies were meaningfully impacted by
an errant CrowdStrike software update. CrowdStrike is a company that
most people probably aren't necessarily familiar with, but CrowdStrike is
a software provider, a security software provider that a lot
of companies rely on, and their mistake really harmed a
lot of companies across the country and then a lot
of consumers in turn, and everyone else seems to have
(13:24):
mostly gotten their act together at this point, but kind
of not Delta. It's taken them a while to recover.
They've canceled more flights than all the other airlines combined.
The lines Matt oh hush. Because we live in Atlanta,
we've seen more local reporting on this. The lines at
the Atlanta airport to see a customer service agent. I
think it was literally a half mile long. That's insane,
just wrapped around Hartsfield Jackson Airport and.
Speaker 1 (13:45):
A half mile. You've been getting more into running. We're
gonna talk about being healthy later on a half mind
when you're out for a run, that's nothing but a
half mile. When you've got like a screaming kid or
baby in tow, plus like a couple bags, that's a nightmare. Saitch.
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I can't even image. I cannot even imagine. So we
just want to say that if you were impacted by
this nightmare, as a Delta customer or any other airline,
it's really important to know your rights. Know that you're
entitled to a full refund. If the airline tries to say, oh,
we'll give you credits for a future flight. No, you
don't want that. You want the refund. That is what
you are entitled to. Don't take anything less. They also
(14:20):
owe you money for expenses that you've incurred during this delay,
for food, hotel, transportation costs that you've incurred. A lot
of passengers math they've also been separated from their bags.
There's a number that you can call that will put
in the show notes. These experiences can be so incredibly frustrating.
I completely realize that I feel fortunate that we weren't traveling,
we weren't tied up in this. I had friends that were,
(14:41):
and seeing their posts about this man, I had a
lot of empathy for what they were going through.
Speaker 1 (14:46):
And I also have empathy.
Speaker 2 (14:47):
For those Delta employees who are up to their eyeballs
and customer complaints. Can you imagine working for Delta, working
at the airport right now, dealing with humans who have
had their trip ruined or have had days of their
life what seems like way did? We would just suggest
do your best to keep your cool and then also
keep pushing for what you're entitled to. Be firm, but
(15:07):
be kind, And I realized it's hard to do that
when you feel like you've been smacked around by Delta.
And again not all Delta's fault, but Delta bear some
responsibility here too.
Speaker 1 (15:16):
It makes me think of was it last year end
of last year when Southwest had their big melt down?
And I feel like a lot of the this is
when the judgmental vulture memes they're gloating from their balcony
looking down on the peasants. I feel like all the
Delta folks were like, oh see, that's why you don't
fly Southwest. You fly with Delta, guys, because this is
what they'll do to you, Like, guess what, look at
(15:37):
us now, Delta. This is no hate to Delta. Like
mistakes happen, and it just certainly sucks for the folks
that are impacted.
Speaker 2 (15:43):
And again they didn't guess I'm just they just had
a harder time recovering.
Speaker 1 (15:46):
Yeah, exactly. I'm just highlighting the fact that even the
nicer airlines, the official airline of tam Usa We're gonna
get sued probably actually comes out on the day of
opening ceremonis so yeah, but even they experienced difficulties as well.
While we're talking about regulations, talk about the FTC. They
(16:07):
are staying pretty busy, even after a string of recent losses. Actually,
but this time they're looking into something called targeted pricing
or surveillance pricing. And of course everyone's sort of dynamic pricing,
in particular when it comes to airlines. That's an attempt
to charge everyone a higher price based on just the
supply and the demand, the timing of your purchase. Certainly
(16:29):
you see it with like uber Sarge pricing. You see
it when it comes to sports teams, tickets, even online retailers.
We've got no problem with that. They're trying to regulate
the supply and demand. But targeted pricing feels a bit
more icky because it's a company charging just you more
based on your past purchases and the personal data that
(16:49):
they've gathered and accumulated on you. And so if they know,
for instance, that your income is in the upper echelon,
for example, they might feel free to serve you a
higher price at checkout, potentially with you being none the wiser.
Speaker 2 (17:03):
Yeah, imagine doing that in a physical storemat going and
gathering your goods and then things ringing up at a
higher price because they think you are have deep pockets
or something. Like that you'd be furious, But it happens
it's easier to hide that sort of stuff I guess
online thanks to algorithms and artificial intelligence, and so that
this is what the FTC is probing for. It's really
more like a fact finding mission for them. At this point,
(17:24):
we don't really know it's a study. Yeah, I guess
how rampant this is. But artificial intelligence seems to be
making it easier for companies to participate in this practice.
And so some major companies that FTC is asking for
more information on this from our Chase and MasterCard, and
then there's six other companies, some of which are in
that AI space. Basically, they want to know how rampant
(17:46):
this is, how prevalent this is, and how it's impacting consumers,
how much more they're paying based on this sort of
price discrimination that's being implemented. So I'm incredibly curious to
see the results. This is something I didn't really know
what was happening. I guess you're probably.
Speaker 1 (18:00):
Assume that it's happening, though, you know, Like that's the like,
I appreciate the more of a dossier, more data based
on us, and more less price transparency, more Internet's related purchases. Yeah,
it makes sense. I appreciate that the FTC like they're
trying to provide more information, more transparency for us as consumers.
But I think it's just safe to assume that the
information that we're freely handing over to the different apps,
(18:22):
online retailers, to the different financial institutions, the pain and processors, right,
that they are using this information against us, and whether
that's against us in a way to dish up different
ads for products that we might be more likely to purchase,
or in ways that are potentially more nefarious where we
are charged a little bit more. And I think in
this case it pays just to be a little more
(18:42):
vigilant and more of a savvy online shopper.
Speaker 2 (18:44):
Yeah, savvy online shopper. I think that's true. I think
it it's not just clicking and purchasing. It is doing
a little more due diligence before you buy. That's part
of it. But we'll keep following this one because I
am curious to see how big of an issue targeted pricing,
surveillance pricing it actually is, and hopefully in the months
to come we'll get some more information on that.
Speaker 1 (19:02):
But all right, Matt.
Speaker 2 (19:03):
We got more to get to on this episode, including
we're going to talk about frugal fitness, how you can
get buff Yeah with Matt Hey, Joel, mostly Matt, we'll
talk about that right after this.
Speaker 1 (19:21):
All right, we are back. We've got plenty more to
get to, including some potential good news for home buyers.
We'll get to that story here in a second, but
now it's time for the ludicrous headline of the week.
This one is from The Times, and the headline reads,
what happens when your bank isn't really a bank and
your money disappears. Joel, you can go ahead and cue
the scary music as the fear mongering begins.
Speaker 2 (19:43):
I read the headline and I was like, I don't
want my money to disappear, and it's likely not going
to disappear because you are with a bank that is
FDIC insured because I'm taking my own medicine.
Speaker 1 (19:53):
But bottom line, we've talked about like the different neo
banks out there. We have recently seen a few out
there like YadA, which are basically fintech companies who are
masquerading as real banks. But we see those companies go bust.
Customers of a few of these so called banks have
lost access to hundreds of millions of dollars, and then
the neobank will claim that, hey, I can't do anything
(20:14):
about it because the actual bank holding her money, they
in fact are the ones who are responsible.
Speaker 2 (20:18):
They're actually wrong sometimes when they claim that Matt they know.
Speaker 1 (20:21):
Exactly might not partner banks, and the partner banks are
FDIC insured. It's like it kind of reminds me of
the Spider Man me where they're just all standing there
pointing the finger to the other spider Man and so
on the site, like the FDIC insurance badge might be
displayed there on the website. But when push comes to shove,
neobanks they just pose more risk than traditional online banks.
(20:42):
And that's why we continually suggest doing business with the
likes of Ally Discover cit. They're full fledged banks. They
are not passed through marketing organizations organizations that have just
these bank like features. So I want to steer folks
away from sort of the ones that are promising you
the world, that are making offers that sound too good
(21:04):
to be true. Because there are some fintech companies out
there that are providing solid products that we talk about
on the show. I mean and oftentimes when we take
listener questions, this is a lot of times we're talking
about some of these some of the newer companies that
have been around not quite as long as some of
the more traditional online banks. So, yeah, I don't know,
We're I'm trying to thread a needle here, because on
one hand, you've got like the crazy new fly by
(21:25):
night sort of organizations. On the other hand, you've got
the big brick and mortar legacy banks, and there's a
place in the middle for you to go with a
lot of different online providers.
Speaker 2 (21:35):
Yeah, I agree, But we have talked about how some
of these neobanks, they're small, they've partnered with a bank,
and they just don't have their stuff together, and obviously
they've left a lot of customers in the lurch some
of these banks, and I feel bad for all those
folks who feel like they have their money locked up
and they don't know where to turn. And so be
careful and consider some of the banks we mentioned that
are full fledged banks in their own right, not just
(21:58):
trying to partner with somebody else. In the produm I
met more banks are offering cash bonuses for switching. That
was an article the detailed kind of just more high
falutin big dollar offers from banks around the country trying
to woo customers over to their side. And they think
that a one time payment of three hundred bucks or
five hundred bucks is going to be enough to get
(22:18):
you to join them. But as the Wall Street Journal details,
you got to read the fine print. What are the
requirements to get that bonus. You might see the headline
number and you're like, oh, if I just switch over
there and put some savings in, I'm going to get.
Speaker 1 (22:29):
Three hundred bucks. Awesome done. But here's the thing.
Speaker 2 (22:32):
A lot of banks are going to require you then
to set up direct deposit. Makes it stickier and harder
to leave, and it's an extra step that you have
to take. They might offer a short term promotional rate,
but that rate might not last very long, and you're
quickly going to be earning next to nothing on your
savings in short order.
Speaker 1 (22:47):
So, yeah, you got a few hundred.
Speaker 2 (22:48):
Bucks, but then all the money you've piled into savings
is earning almost nothing, right, so you might have to
even move a larger balance in order to get that
bonus too. You want the free four hundred bucks, great,
you got to move over four already, K And you're like,
I don't even have that, or oh my gosh, that's
like all my savings do I really is it worth
jumping through all these hoops? I guess it makes sense
(23:09):
in my estimation to look this gift horse in the mouth.
It could be it could be a great deal worth
switching for, but it also might not be. I've done
this in the past, Matt, and I've noticed two different
kinds of things. One time I did it with Chase
and it was a massive pain and I hated my
life for it. And then I did it with Discover
at one point and I was like, I don't know
that I'll stick with this company, and then lo and behold,
I still have a Discover account many years later because
(23:31):
I realized, Hey, this is a great bank I want
to do business with. Yeah, and there were a lot
fewer hoops in order to get those funds too, So
just nice you know the fine print?
Speaker 1 (23:39):
Yeah, Okay, So the type of money that you might
put into a solid, high old savings account with one
of these great online banks your emergency fund. So let's
talk about specifically the status of your efund, because there
is a new white paper over at Alpha architect and
they find that too many folks have too little saved,
which is pretty obvious here in the US we see
(24:02):
the surveys consistently, so that's of course groundbreaking. The culprit, though,
was pretty shocking because they said it was too much
financial education that was causing folks to not have enough saved.
The offer it should be the opposite, right, like, yeah,
but I totally get it, because if you were thinking, oh,
I need to be investing, and you start getting and
thinking slightly more sophisticated, but you're not covering some of
(24:24):
the basics, I guess. But the authors they found that
over confidence and once financial literacy leads to a significant
underestimation of the need for emergency cash. And I found
that to be noteworthy because the economy is doing pretty
dang great right now, but you might want to make
sure that you're prepared for whatever it is that's coming
(24:45):
next because the quote unquote soft landing that many have
hoped for it it appears to be within grasp where
inflation is going to be tamed without upending the labor market.
But we are starting to see small signs of consumer distress.
We're starting to see a few labor market difficulties as
unemployment starts to tick up. We're not doomsday predictors or anything,
(25:06):
but when bullishness is everywhere, and when it seems over
the top and the markets are frothy, I think it's
smart to have a backup plan. And that doesn't even
mean to change your investing strategy. But I do think
it means performing a personal finance stress test of sorts.
I think it means shoring up your own finances. I
think it means perhaps putting together a bare bones budget
and seeing how little could you in fact live on.
(25:27):
We just don't want over confidence to keep you in
a position of being underprepared for whatever it is that
might be around the corner. Yeah.
Speaker 2 (25:35):
I feel like that the stock market for many, many,
many years now has felt like a savings account that
just pays much higher rates of return because it's just
been like all up and to the right. The truth is,
that's not always how the stock market works, and you
have to be careful about that because if you're using
too many of those savings dollars, dollars that should be
liquid in your account to cover you in case in
(25:58):
a worst case scenario or should difficulty come along in
your job or in your life, if you're using those
dollars to invest, it might look good for a hot minute,
but it could come back to bite you later. And
so I think that's yeah, that's what that study was
getting at is people who feel like they're savvy investors
now overdoing it, and then they're not prepared with the
(26:18):
liquid cash that they need when things get tough. Totally,
let's talk about health for a second. Man, this is
a story I'm guessing you read with great interests because yeah,
you are a Huberman disciple.
Speaker 1 (26:29):
Oh can I call you that? Sure? Okay, I'm a fan. Okay,
you're a fanboy.
Speaker 2 (26:34):
And The New York Times says, this interesting article called
the Kid to Longevity is boring, and this subject matter
is been getting a lot more press in recent years.
Right Atia their ilk, they've made Fitness in Longevity a
more popular conversation. At Tea's book sold probably a ton
of copies, I got imagine, which is good.
Speaker 1 (26:50):
Right.
Speaker 2 (26:51):
I love that we're talking about this stuff and that
Americans are just at least thinking about their health in
wider numbers, and largely what these guys are trying to
promote is not just an increased lifespan like living longer centenarians,
but I'm much better health span. So how healthy are
you and how able are you to do the things
you want to do later in life? And so I
for a lot of individuals in search of the fountain
(27:12):
of youth wanting to be younger for longer, people aren't
just picking up running or cutting out dessert. They're going
a lot further. They're buying cold plunges, they're buying saunas,
expensive supplements and more. And that's essentially what they're getting
at with this article is there's a whole industry is
essentially sprung up around longevity and people's interest in that.
(27:33):
But when I was reading these articles, Matt, all I
could think of is not only is the key to
longevity boring, but it can also be inexpensive too. You
don't have to buy these high priced gadgets just to
help you live longer. I mean, they might be of
some help with the margins, but a lot of it's unnecessary.
Speaker 1 (27:48):
Did you feel personally attacked when they talk when they
mentioned saunas as someone who's just like, oh, I'd really
like to have my own sluck. I kind of want one.
I don't even think about it for longevity purposes, but
just kind of be nice to relax the chill out
at the end of the sell them so I can
get one there. So I was going to have a
great warranty.
Speaker 2 (28:04):
But like anybody who starts going down this rabbit hole,
I've met many people, Matt, and then they just start
spending money. Willy Nillys. Yeah, yeah, that's the problem. If
you are getting the impression that you have to buy
a fancy new gadget, if you've got to buy the
supplements in order to live a healthy life.
Speaker 1 (28:16):
Well, the marketing it's working because we're not against approaching
about it. We're not against a gym membership. But it's
just crucial to be reminded that you can't simply buy
your way to health. You don't need one hundred and
fifty dollars pair of brand new Hokahs to go for
a run. And we actually we've got an article over
on the site from our friend Drew and he actually
is a fitness expert or not he is, Yeah, he is,
(28:38):
and he's outlining some affordable ways to stay fit and
doing things like hiking, or rucking, walking, simply doing body
weight exercises, doing it with a friend, different free online workouts.
There are so many options out there, different ways that
you can improve your life now without breaking the bank.
Speaker 2 (28:53):
But you know what's that one triple F that's where
people gather at local parks and stuff and they beat
friends and they work out together.
Speaker 1 (29:00):
I mean, honestly what you said too. I'm a huge
fan of just the fact that more and more folks
are talking about that. I was just talking about this
with my new buddy Bill, but it's becoming more a
part of our daily conversation. And that's the part that
I love that specifically Doctortager, I Tea and Andrew Heberman,
that they're bringing to the conversations that they're bringing to society.
I think you're huge. And one of the reasons I
(29:21):
love them so much.
Speaker 2 (29:22):
When your neighbors and friends talk about it with you
and then you're like, oh, it's.
Speaker 1 (29:24):
A healthy lifestyle one hundred percent. And what I love
about them, specifically those two guys is that they're not
selling like a personal line of fancy supplements that's got
their face or their name stamp on it, like they're
researchers and they're doctors literally, just trying to spread the
word and for folks to make these foundational changes to
their health. And here's the other part of it too.
The parallels of personal finance and investing are uncanny, right
(29:47):
because everybody once they're looking for the shortcut, they want
to how do I get wealthy fast? And you know
what all you got to do is simply invest in
low cost, widely diversified index funds by spending less than
you make.
Speaker 2 (30:00):
That's how you grow your decades. It's not gonna be
as fast as you want it to be. And the
truth is too, the more you get into fitness, like
the more you realize, the slower the gains are.
Speaker 1 (30:09):
But over time they stack up.
Speaker 2 (30:11):
And I look back at yearly from Surely a year ago, Matt,
and I was pathetic, and I'm still somewhat pathetic, but
I'm getting better, right, And.
Speaker 1 (30:17):
So over at the beach we threw down like an
over an eleven mile run like it was nothing, well,
not like it was nothing. I was panting hard after that,
well I was too, but like only like that last
mile when we're kicking it, you know, like you're crushing it. Dude.
Speaker 2 (30:30):
Well, and I saw some meme the other day like
Runners in the nineties versus Runners now, and it was
like just a person with shorts and just cheap shoes
on going for a run. And then it was like
all this gear you're outfitted with. And I think a
lot of people think, like.
Speaker 1 (30:43):
The gear is what you need in order And.
Speaker 2 (30:45):
You talked about this actually on Wednesday's episode with Our
Wives about not needing the gear photography wise, but how
some people get obsessed with that. And I think sometimes
when you get into some of this stuff, you start
to obsess over the gear and then you kind of
lose sight of what you're actually your goals are on
what you're trying to achieve. You don't need it in
order to get where you want to go. Let's talk
about housing for a second. Is the worst over for
home buyers? It's not been pretty the past couple years.
(31:08):
If you've been hoping to buy a home and haven't
been able to well, A recent report from Zillo finds
that the worst likely is over. The two most important
factors are increased supply and more price cuts. We're seeing
more homes on the market experience price cuts before they
sell rates have followed in recent weeks. Two homes are
being listed on the MLS for longer. All of these
(31:30):
things mean that the tides are turning in favor of
home buyers slowly, but surely. It's not like everything is rosy.
Speaker 1 (31:37):
You know.
Speaker 2 (31:37):
The prices and interest rates have gone back down to
twenty nineteen levels. We're still undersupplied in the single family
home market too. In much of the country. Affordability still
not great. But just like the labor market we talked
about earlier in the show, we might be getting back
to a more normal state of affairs. This is good
news map for people who want to be buyers. Doesn't
mean like, hey, turn those Zillo notifications back on, start
(32:00):
making offers, but maybe maybe it will mean that for
some people because it feels a little bit more accessible.
But we might see even more moderation in home prices
moving forward to.
Speaker 1 (32:09):
Yeah, yeah, and it's in affordability should be going up
to just given the foreseeable rate cuts on the horizon
later this year. But that being said, a decent chunk
of younger Americans they've actually said no, thank you to
the idea of owning a home. The Financial Times reported
about the increased rejection of home ownership altogether, and not
(32:29):
surprisingly this is specifically by gen Z and some of
the younger millennials out there. Many have been disappointed too
many times in their attempt to buy a home. But
also they've done the math because renting is clearly a
better financial decision right now across most of the country.
And it's tough to square that because the American dream
is so pervasive, right like, owning a home is such
(32:51):
a part of that, but it doesn't tied together in
trins of oh yeah, the white pick offense, of course,
but it doesn't have to be tied together with the
American dream. But the key, the key for renters is
to invest even more than their home owning counterparts, because
of course you're not going to have that forced method
of savings that home appreciation brings and paying your mortgage brings.
So you have to kind of counteract that need to
(33:14):
invest even more in the market. And that's a way
to grow your wealth without actually owning a home.
Speaker 2 (33:19):
Now, you don't have to drink the kool aid. Don't
drink the kool aid that home ownership equals building a
high net worths. It can be a part of that process,
but it doesn't have to be. And I love seeing
kind of the younger folks giving the heisman to the
traditional advice, which hasn't always been right in recent years. Yeah,
if you bought a house in twenty nineteen, your net
worth has increased substantially because that the value of that
(33:41):
home is increased substantially. But it doesn't have to be
a part of your financial story. And there's a lot
of flexibility and there are a lot of benefits built
in with renting too, especially met The New York Times
just recently updated their rent or by calculator. In so
much of the country, renting is not just a little
bit cheaper, it's say a lot cheaper. Yep, that's a
really valuable resource that you should check out. So good
news for home buyers people who are interested in buying
(34:04):
a home but also don't feel like you have to
be part of that group or that you're getting left
on the sidelines something like that.
Speaker 1 (34:09):
That's right. Don't forget to sign up for the How
To Money newsletter comes out every Tuesday morning. And while
we're talking about the newsletter, we've got a quick referral
shout out to Jared see as well as Ben. Thank
you both for sharing the how to Money newsletter with
some friends.
Speaker 2 (34:25):
Yeah, appreciate that. And if you haven't signed up Got
to Have Money dot com slash newsletter. Signing up to
take two seconds, but you have the rest of your
life to enjoy our content and we appreciate you. Thank
you for doing that. You can of course find throw
notes for this episode up on our site at how
toomoney dot com as well. Matt, that's going to do
it for this one. Until next time, Best friends Out
and best Friends Out.
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