January 18, 2026 • 32 mins
How To Money Hour 2 (01/18) - Investing in Pokémon cards is being touted by influencers. But it's a highly speculative way to invest. Ask HTM: Josh (NC) wants to know about health sharing companies and whether they're a decent place to turn instead of traditional health insurance these days. Cable TV isn't on the decline like it used to be as streaming prices rise rapidly. Ask HTM: How should you respond if your employer decreases the 401k match!?
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
I am six forty. You're listening to How to Money
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
All Joel and Matt want to do is help you save,
invest and enjoy more of what matters. This is how
to Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Altmis KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmis and
I'm Joel Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for the
how to Money newsletter. You can find that up at
(00:41):
how tomoney dot com slash newsletter. It is now time
for the ludacrous headline of the week, which this week
is from Business Insider. I will say I feel like
Business Insider maybe they take the lead on the number
of ludacrous headlines that we've taken from them. Provocative headlines. Yeah,
so they're covered some interesting stuff. Though I feel like
the stories are good, but yeah, the headlines are better.
(01:03):
The headline for this one reads logan Paul says young
investors should consider non traditional assets over stocks as he
auctions a five point three million dollar Pokemon card, which,
of course, first of all, I feel like I need
to address like the elephant in the room, like five
point three million dollars for a Pokemon card. Who knew?
What's that all about, dude, I don't know. Yep, you
got Pokemon cards over your house. Uh yeah, my son
(01:25):
loves Pokemon cards, but he's sick, so he could care
less about the value. They just they're all bent, so
they're actually not worth millions. They could have been though.
That's probably true. Man, this could have been your everything fund, buddy.
That's gonna be college, your first car, your first house. Yeah.
If I look up Logan Pol's and I'm like, dude,
you've got the exact same one. But it's been it's
such a I mean, I know it's such a long
(01:46):
shot though, but still even I'm sure the chance makes
a lot of people want to come through. Like one
of my daughters has a bunch of Pokemon cards, not
because we buy them, for I don't know where she
gets them. She says that friends from school give, like
give the ones they don't want. You can't are always
training stuff like that. Yeah, I think they're trading. I
think she's like she's like Tom Sawyer. She's trading like
a broken pencil eraser like for for like some kids
(02:06):
lunch and they're like, oh, sweet pencil. He's like, oh,
I'm hungry anyway, pugging my cards. That's one thing. Also,
let this be a lesson. Take investing advice from influencers
with a grain of salt, especially if they stand to
gain financially if you follow their advice. Love and Paul,
the one who did like some sort of crypto scheme,
(02:27):
made a lot of money, but all followers lost a
lot of money. He does everything, and I'm just shocked
that people would still listen to him or still follow
someone who led them down that path. Dude. Yeah, so
Charlie Munger, show me the incentive and I will show
you the outcome. Like this is a classic instance where
he stands to gain man And he said in that
(02:48):
in that article, don't be afraid to take a risk.
Is this how he talks. I don't know. Don't be
afraid to take a risk, especially if you're young. And
there's some there's like every bad advice, there is a
little kernel of truth at the center of it, like
you do actually have time to recover. But smart traditional
investing early it goes a long way towards kicking off
(03:09):
the compounding process, and this is not something we want
to see people do. Stick with a widely diversified, low
cost index fund in your retirement account. There's also so
much more volatility right in the alternative asset space, and
so it's really easy to see something just like go
up into the right and then until it doesn't right.
Like beanie babies, I think there's been I saw a
(03:30):
recent article about how maybe some of them are going
back up in value. I don't know, though, people have
been holding one of those beanie babies for a long time.
Maybe a few people made bukuos of dollars if they
had one of those rare beanie babies that people craved
or something like that. But for the most part, people
spend a lot of money on beanie babies and hopes
that they would go up in value. And now they're
sitting with like a giant bucket of them at home
(03:53):
that's been in the attic for the last twenty five
or thirty years. So in the stock market, unlike trading cards,
it's not a fat so in speaking of investing, the
Wall Street Journal had an article about the benefits of
bear markets, which sounds like an oxymoron. You're like bear market.
That means the market's going down. How's their benefit to that?
But a down market is often a necessary correction when
(04:14):
exuberance is off the charts, and it's also not an
abnormal experience, like I have no idea, I'm not making
any prediction about what's going to happen in the stock market.
With the stock market this year, I think basically all
of the Wall Street firms that make predictions have said, oh, yeah,
the market's going to crush this year. That doesn't lead
me to believe that they're right. And investors should be
(04:36):
expecting a down year from time to time, on average,
what every five and a half years, And if you're
properly diversified, if you have the right mindset, well a
bear market could be a good thing for you, if
you keep that mantra, that Nick Majulia mantra, just keep buying.
If you're like, oh, market's going down, and at first,
for a second you're probably like, yeah, that's not good.
(04:56):
I'm seeing my balance go down. But if you're still
buying regularly, still in that wealth building phase of life
dollar cost averaging into your four oh one K or
buying regularly in your roth IRA or your taxable broker's account,
whatever it is. You're taking advantage of a bear market.
And so I think for a lot of younger hout
of money listeners in that wealth building phases our life. Yeah,
(05:16):
it's a it's actually a good thing. It's a good opportunity. Absolutely. Yeah.
There was another great article about the benefits of actually
doing nothing when it comes to your portfolio. What's going
on in the markets, the news, the headlines. As an investor,
sitting on your hands while just making those regular contributions
is a really solid plan. And if you look back, man,
with all the economic risks that we saw last year,
(05:39):
like tarras, the geopolitical tensions that we saw and we're
still continuing to see, uh huh, despite a rough start
to twenty twenty five, your portfolio it's still performed really
well if you stayed the course. We ended twenty twenty
five like around close to twenty I think it was
eighteen percent. Yeah, this is the third year in a row.
Not as high as many other countries, many other countries,
not as head stock markets that vastly outperformed the United States.
(06:01):
But I mean how many years of folks, Yeah, going
back to what you said previously. Yes, bear markets are good.
It's good to have corrections because the unbridled exuberance is
not something like what is not something that is sustainable.
Would I rather see a nice eight and a half
percent year after year? Oh? Absolutely, And that's what the
(06:22):
market has actually proven out over the past one hundred years.
That being said, the swings, the ups and the downs,
that accounts for some of that emotional decision making that
finds us way into the market. So yeah, counts on that. Yeah,
you're spot on, my friend. I am six forty. You're
listening to how to Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
(06:46):
I am Matt Altmixed, and I'm Joel Larsgard. If you're
on Facebook, by the way, you want to join a
group of like minded folks who have money questions, who
have money insights, please go join the how to Money
Facebook group. Let's now hear from a listener who is
Mandy's struggling to accept the fact that he might be
paying so much money to go towards his health insurance.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Hey, Joel and Matt, this is Josh from Franklin, North Carolina,
about two hours north of you, guys. I was reaching
out I'm just looking for another trusted opinion. I have
spent about a month now researching different options, and I
don't feel like I am confident in any decision that
I'm coming up with. My wife is a stay at
home mom with our two girls, and she has used
(07:26):
the healthcare marketplace, but with the recent subsidy changes, her
health care is looking to go up about threefold. So
we have been researching the health sharing plans like you
guys have discussed previously, like better Share. We're looking at
the healthcare marketplace and our different options there. We've also
discussed just coming out of pocket using FQHC our local
(07:51):
community hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, asking for cash prices, and just
paying out of our emergency fund and HSA funds. The
only problem there is that it worries me if something
catastrophic happens. And I'm a little worried about the hell
sharing plans because of the fact that there aren't aren't
(08:11):
necessarily any regulations. But I just wanted to reach out
to you guys since you since you have different opinions
and you have experience you can share, and I'm hoping
you guys might help point me in the right direction.
Hope all as well. Joel, keep logging those miles. If
you'd like to come up and march and run the
Nashville Marathon, just let me know. Thank you guys, thank
(08:33):
you so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Bye. I'm offended, Joel. I run sometimes you do, You're
very fast. Rarely do I run, not nearly as much
as you. Well should I run Nasville Marathon.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
It sounds like, uh, if you're going to run a marathon.
I mean, there's got to be awesome breweries along the way, right, Like,
I think you would have to get time would definitely
be slower. You'd have to accept the fact that this
is just just a really long, fun run. Yeah, I'm
going to set a PR. Yeah, you can't be entering
into that race with with that kind of headspace. Maybe
I have six peers and set a PR and that's
(09:07):
more power to you, man, the best PR you can say,
that'd be amazing. Well, Josh, appreciate your question. You're obviously
not alone in being essentially assaulted by higher health care prices.
This is something we've documented on the show. For sure,
people are scrambling as subsidies decline. Price shock is setting
in for a lot of folks. Some people have enough
whegel room right to absorb those higher premiums in their lives,
(09:29):
but many don't, especially when you're talking about as significant
of increases as we're seeing, Matt. Some people are going from, oh, yeah,
I was paying three hundred dollars a month and now
it's looking like I got to pay like seven or
eight hundred dollars a month in premiums. That's before that's
before you get to right actually going to the doctor.
Some people are saying, you know what, I'm just gonna
cancel health insurance all together. I'm gonna see what happens
(09:51):
to throw caution the wind. Others are opting for health sharing.
So this question is becoming more common. And while it
might might not be ideal, the lack of regulation, especially
surrounding health sharing companies, a lot of folks I think
are going to find they don't really have another better choice. Yeah, no, no,
I don't think there's really an ideal solution for most folks.
And yeah, Josh, you are right, both of us, both
(10:15):
Joel and his family, my family, we are both on
health sharing plans, and not because it's like the greatest
thing since sliced bread. But because it just offers the
best balance I think of affordability married and coupled with coverage,
and so our annual premiums and technically they're not premiums
because this is not health insurance. I think it's technically
(10:36):
called like a household portion or household share. But those
quote unquote premiums are far less than they would be
if we were to get a plan on the exchange.
Our family pays something like a little over four thousand dollars,
and the last time I checked, we'd be paying in
like the mid twenty something thousand dollars range just for
family health insurance coverage. That's like, that's table stakes too.
(10:57):
Like I said, that's like before going to the doctor.
So you're saying, oh, ok, just from a twenty twenty
six perspective, can we afford twenty two to twenty three
thousand dollars more money? Dude? And so most people, including ourselves,
are gonna be like, ah, no, we can't, we can't
do that. Yeah, And I will say, our families are
mostly healthy, so our healthcare spending beyond that has been
pretty reasonable. Reasonable, But still there is a degree of
(11:22):
risk of additional risk that we're taking, that we're shouldering
ourselves in order to get these savings. And I think
not everyone who's listening is going to agree that the
trade off is worth it, but for us, it's the
right move. It makes me think kind of of like
what deductible you keep on your home insurance, let's say,
right and similar, I'm taking on a much higher risk
(11:43):
by having the percentage based deductible, and I've gotten bit
in the butt by in the past, but I'm hoping
that and all the statistics would show that I am
likely to benefit from it over time. And but for
a lot of people, they're like I just I can't
stomach it, or I don't have the savings to actually
me up in case that something were to happen in
my house. So that is an important thing they're taking
(12:04):
into consideration. And Josh mentioned asking local hospitals for cash prices.
That's great. That's certainly part of the repertoire you're going
to want to instill if you go with health sharing.
But I love that. Yeah, if you gick health insurance
the curb, you'd want to do the same. But of
course that's like the riskiest endeavor you can make. But
as he alluded to specifically, like catastrophic injury or a
(12:25):
big old diagnosis, that is the main reason to have
some type of coverage that goes just beyond the cash
that you have in savings. That's the whole reason we
use health sharing companies. Yeah. Yeah, it acts as like
this backstop in case the worst were to happen. And
it's not like with health sharing you're getting substantially discounted
doctor visits like you do a traditional insurance. There is
no like super super low Copey right most of the time.
(12:47):
So health sharing really only makes sense I think for
mostly healthy folks and families who really are attempting to
protect against worst case scenarios. Also, I would say get
familiar with the fine print about what is and isn't covered,
and this varies from different health sharing companies to another.
Preventative care, routine care, dental ambition and more are often
(13:08):
excluded from the share amounts, so you're talking about having
to pay for those out of pocket before you even
get to the point where you're submitting bills for sharing.
And just for people who have a really low income,
don't forget about Medicaid. If your income allows you qualify. Yeah, yeah,
you mentioned some of the details. Keep in mind too.
So we are specifically with meta Share, which has been great,
(13:31):
but there are certain requirements that they institute because it
is a faith based health sharing plan and some of
all the all the original health sharing plans were faith based,
which is a part of how they're able to get
costs so low. Though that being said, there are also
for all the folks out there who aren't interested in
something that's faith based, there are a number of different
(13:52):
secular health sharing plans as well. Sedera is I think
the first one, and it's been around I think the
long but there's a new one evidently that's kicking butt
to Zion. Have you heard of this one? But evidently
it's it's pretty great as well. So there are options
out there that don't have as restrictive as requirements as
some of the more faith based health sharing plans, and
(14:14):
so those are options for a lot of folks out
there too. The other thing I tell people when they
ask about health sharing from my experience Matt is I
I barely kicked the tires, to be honest. Even though
we've been on meta Share for a long time, we've
not had a major enough healthcare expense where we're running over. Essentially,
are deductible the household portion you mentioned, so like, will
it pay out in the event of an emergency? Like,
(14:35):
from what I've read and seen, like, I'm pretty sure
they will if we follow the rules. Anecdotally, like that
is a risk. We've got friends who have hit, like
who approached it more as traditional health insurance and set
there it is ah HP annual household portion and they
have that set pretty low, and it's like, all right,
we got to rebuild the Achilles tendon. That a blue ass.
(14:58):
The girls need to get their ad lloyds removed. These
are specific examples from a specific family that I'm thinking of,
and they had zero issues. So granted that's anecdotal, but
that's how it works. Yep. We mentioned also the lack
of regulation as a downside of health sharing, but it's
also I think that's why traditional health insurance is superior,
essentially because they're going to they're going to pay out right. Well,
(15:21):
I say that they should pay out right. It's also
the reason though, that that they can exist and the
costs are so much lower. So it's that health sharing
doesn't have the regulations placed upon it. Yet it's the heaps.
You can't technically call it health insurance, there's no regulations,
But that's a part of why it's so affordable, kind
of like a swim at your own risk zone and
no lifeguard on duty. Right, But it's the heaps of
(15:41):
red tape that are just a part of the reason
we're in the conundtrum. So we're in to be in with.
I remember, back in the day, Matt healthcare was essentially
regulated by the States. A lot of our younger listeners
won't remember this way, but way back when I was right, yeah,
right too, it was up uphill to school, both whites
guys too, and a lot of people really could get
a policy on the open market. I was able to
(16:02):
when I was young, starting my first job both part time,
didn't have access to healthcare to buy my own policy
on the market for like one hundred hundred and ten
bucks a month something like that. And while government involvement
and rules have made it easier for people, especially with
pre existing conditions, to get coverage, more rules have created
an environment of rising prices for everyone, including healthy young people.
(16:25):
So I guess when it comes down to it, it's
like you need the great job with the health great
healthcare benefits. We're only more tied to health coverage from
employers than ever before, which is not the best thing
for the dynamism of our country either. Yeah, that's right.
This is Joel Larscard and Matt Altmis and you're listening
to KFI AM six forty how to Money on demand
(16:46):
on the iHeartRadio app. If you are over on Facebook
and you want to join a group of like minded
folks who have money questions and insight, please go ahead
and join the how to Money Facebook group. I was
talking about streaming for a sec. Matt is cable on
the comeback, Well, the cost of YouTube premium. I think
folks are willing to consider, you know, all these things
(17:09):
come byed. It's been interesting to see because cable companies
aren't you know, they haven't done well over the past
decade as streaming has emerged. But as streaming has become
more and more expensive, PayTV isn't declining like it used
to like it was. And at first, what seemed like
this unalloyed good, right, that streaming was going to be
(17:32):
this money saving thing for consumers. Right, they don't have
to put up with ads, and it's just easier to
watch whatever you want to watch, when you want to
watch it. Hmm, that doesn't Streaming doesn't quite feel like
it did in twenty fifteen. Right. It's changed a little
bit in some ways for the better, but in some
ways for worse. And also just like so many streaming
(17:55):
companies and rising prices that it's really hard for individuals
to like save money because they're pulled in so many
different directions, and cable companies and streamers are making these
mutually beneficial deals on bundles, and so more folks are
opting for this mix now of live TV and streaming options.
(18:15):
But if you're opting for both, that means it's going
to be even more expensive and truly truly, as we've
always said, like watching less TV, having fewer subscriptions, this
is the answer here. It might mean saying no to
like an awesome new TV series that you're like, I'm
interested in watching, like Stranger Things season five or something
(18:35):
like that. Maybe you're like, all right, you know what,
I'm gonna set this one out. I'd rather have my money,
and clearly everyone knows this at this point, I think,
But like live sports is the most expensive, and the
games have been essentially dispensed across the multitude of streaming channels,
and so if you want to watch every live sports game,
you're gonna pay a pretty penny for the privilege of
doing so. That's true. Yeah, But despite rising prices the
(18:58):
proliferation of services, there is some good news on this front.
There are more free streaming options that I think folks
should consider because they've gotten better. It's kind of like
the private label at the grocery stores. There's like there's
some serious advantages here to be I think that's how
you say it. I've never actually entered a discussion with anybody. Well,
we talked about too, but watch something on there not?
(19:19):
Would you watch Latoon, the old Charlie film?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:23):
And What'scorsese Vietnam? This is Corsese, you know, I don't know.
But Roku maybe it is Francis for Cobola, I don't know.
I don't know either. Some awesome director, right, Crackle, that's
another one that's out there. But I'm just pointing to
some of these great free options and I think fewer
paid services and just using them more sparingly. Plus certainly
consulting the free ones more often, like that is going
to be a good recipe to follow in order to
(19:44):
lower that streaming bill, the subscription costs that are automatically
getting drafted from your account, And that's the I think
that's the biggest slippery slope, is like you get it,
there's something you do want to watch because it's exclusively there,
and then you keep it around even when you're not
taking advantage. That's something we even did over the holidays
because they're, oh, there's there's like this, there's a couple
of cooking shows we want to watch as a family, which,
(20:07):
by the way, we're starting starting a glimpse like the
future of like the kids getting older and them having interests.
And this is like the first show that Kate and
I have watched where we're like, yes, this is awesome.
This is something that we enjoy that y'all are also
interested in. But are we watching that right now? No,
because we're back to school and life and kids. You know,
everybody's busy. Have I canceled that Netflix subscription? No? And
(20:31):
I probably should, but everybody wants a piece of that
recurring You can do a rine after a un recording subscription.
It makes me well. Even Tesla, speaking of subscriptions, they
announced full self driving is only going to be available
via subscription, just evens out that that revenue flow and
helps them to make decisions better from a from a business.
But that just means consumers are on the hook for
another recurrence, another subscription. And we've talked about that with cars,
(20:56):
to just write the heated seat subscription. It's as cars
are more connected and the manufacturers have have the ability
to make updates over Wi Fi. How cool is that? Well,
they also have more control over that car and can
charge you for the ability to use certain features. Yeah,
speaking of cars, you want to get to our next door? Yeah,
(21:16):
let's do it. We're going to do this briefly because
I feel like we've talked about this a lot, but
a new milestone has been reached. Matt. There's one hundred
month car loan now in existence, and it's just tough
to fathom that people are signing up for eight plus
year Yeah. I don't know what that is. It's like
eight something years, eight point three years. Yeah, it's insane
too long. Yeah, And the like our thesis has always been,
(21:41):
don't take on debt for a depreciating asset, and if
you absolutely must like take on car debt, keep it
limited to thirty six or forty two months. But the
idea of extending it all the way to one hundred months.
We're seeing even already kind of the downsides of extremely
long car loans and people training in cars that they're
massively upside down on, increasing the interest rate and their
(22:02):
overall car debt, and being even more upside down to
the next car they buy. It's just this slippery slope
and just because someone says, yeah, we'll finance that car
for you over the next eight years, doesn't mean you
should take them up on it. Yeah. And by the way,
new numbers from Edmonds shows that it's not just new
cars that are the budget busters. Six point three percent
of used car buyers are facing down one thousand dollars
(22:24):
monthly car payments as well. And so, man, it's just
about trying getting out there, trying to find a well loved,
older car that is in good shape. And this is
a story that Michelle friend of the show, Michelle Singletary wrote,
But one thing that I didn't like is she's just
talking about For many people, it's like it's not how
it's not a luxury and I agree, but luxury cars
(22:45):
are a luxuries and luxury cars aren't what is necessary
to get you to work. That's what she was talking
to speaking to, right, the fact that you got to
have reliable transportation, and just the man, there's like lifestyle inflation,
the hedonic treumble like we have all found ourselves. Was
liking nicer and nicer things. I just think about how
nice everything is, Like everything is so nice, but it
(23:05):
doesn't have to be like bring back like this makes
me think of was it slate, the slight auto, the
little evy truck like interchangeable. One of the things that
made that so attractive to me was the fact that
bare not bare minimum like bare bones, like the windows
were manual windows, Like take an old school a little bit.
If there are folks out there who are willing to
(23:26):
purchase something that's going to be more affordable, it's going
to be more budget friendly, that doesn't have all the
bells and whistles. Man, everything doesn't have to be a computer.
And that's the direction we're moving. And I know when
I was buying used cars, Matt, like twenty years ago,
you can get a pretty solid use car for like
three four five thousand dollars, not like anything that somebody
was going to be fawn over, but at least something
that would be solid gets you from place to place.
(23:47):
And it seems like that's harder than ever to do.
You're talking about it's like a solid used car for
a lot of people. We're talking about spending five figures,
like ten grand, but it doesn't have to be thirty
forty fifty thousand dollars. I think that's what a lot
of people have led them else to believe. If you
look at the Consumer Reports reliability ratings and you angle
towards those cars that are lower mileage like ten, twelve,
(24:09):
fifteen years old, you can still find something I think
that is reasonably priced that will last you for a
long time, and it won't be like in the shop
regularly agree how to fit right, that's like the that's
the Consumer Reports car of choice essentially. So if you
like atally ain't super fancy, yeah, but it'll it'll get
it done. But if you want a budget car that
(24:30):
won't cost much but it'll get you where you need
to go, then that's one of the ones to definitely consider.
That's right, buddy, this is Matt Altmix and Joel lars
Guard and you are listening to KFI AM six forty
how To Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Don't
forget to sign up for the how to Money newsletter.
You can find that up at how tomoney dot com
(24:51):
slash newsletter. It is now time for the Facebook Question
of the Week, which is from Tyler this week, and
he writes, my previous employer gave me a one hundred
percent match on up to six percent of my four
one K contribution, and it was wonderful. I left them
a few years back for another company. By the way,
I'm much happier at my new job. However, my new
(25:12):
employer offered four and a half percent match, and they
just announced a drop to three and a half percent.
So first question, has anyone else seen decreases in their
four one K match for next year? It's the first
time I've taken a match decrease in my career. Second question,
with a change, where you invest your retirement dollars at all?
Given this news, I'm now getting almost half the match
(25:34):
I used to at my previous employer. What should think?
Joel always crappy to have a per produce like that,
especially taken away, it hurts. It hurts more. I think
it's gonna obviously hurt even more specifically for having money
listeners who were just like I'm gun ho about investing more,
getting the full match and growing, growing my net worth.
And to see be like, oh man, there's like, you know,
(25:55):
three or four percent less at my disposal from my
employer that I can take advantage of. That sucks, Like
that's hard to stomach, I think, especially for people who
think the way we do. And so I mean, I
think one of the things that Tyler mitch is that
he likes his job. I think that's great. I think
enjoying your work is better than having a killer match. Still,
(26:18):
it's nice to have both. But we are seeing more
generous employers dial back a bit on four oh one
k contributions, Like Tyler's not alone to this, So I
do think that's important to note. Don't assume that everybody's
doing it, but also don't assume that you're the only one.
We've seen some employers. I've got a friend Matt, who
was telling me that his match was eliminated all together.
(26:38):
And yeah, that's even tougher to stomach. Yeah, particularly in
industries right that are having a tougher time in this economy.
I think we're seeing it more on that front, which
changes the calculation for individual investors about where and how
much they stick into that tax advantage retirement account. Yeah. Yeah,
So if you were to not get any match, well,
that makes the roth IRA a better first option most cases.
(27:01):
I think getting a reduced match can mean just dialing
back a bit on those four one K contributions so
that you at least get the full match, but then
putting more of your money inside that roth instead, I
think is a good option if you're not maxing out
your roth IRA, I think that would be your best reaction.
And I'm assuming, like his second question was, you know,
does this change where you invest? I'm assuming that's what
(27:23):
he's talking about, like what account, not in individual funds
or any There's a part of me that wonders though
if he because he says where, I'm like, wait a minute,
are you talking about the fact I wonder And I
don't think this is the case. But if there's at
all any doubt Tyler as to the future of your
company based on you shouldn't really be investing your retirement
dollars within your company's stock to begin with, like, yes,
(27:43):
if there's a discount, get the discount, hang on to
it as long as you need to ESPP. Yeah, but
then beyond that you unload those and then move to
a fully SMP of five hundred diversified index fund or
a total stock a total stock market index. I don't
think that's what he's getting at it. I don't think so.
But if it is, I wanted to throw that out now.
Definitely that time to reconsider. And the last thing I
(28:06):
want to mention is to not forget about your HSA
if you have access to one. It's just the best
account from a tax perspective. If you're maxing your WROTH,
if you're getting the full match, your HSA should be
the account you prioritize next before you stick more into
your four O and K above and beyond that reduced
match amount. The HSA is just man the idea of
never paying tax on the money that goes in, never
(28:28):
paying tax on it when it comes out, and being
able to grow it by investing it in the meantime.
It's Yeah, it's hard to beat. Why it's one of
our favorite retirement accounts, So Tyler, make sure to check
that one out. All right, Let's get to a question
from Anonymous, who says I need to purchase a long
term disability policy and a life insurance policy. Any recommendations
for finding the right policy? Are brokers a good option? Oh?
(28:50):
I like brokers, But mister or miss anonymous, I'm glad
you are asking this question because the long term disability
insurance is underrated. We talk regularly about term life, rightly so,
but long term disability is a worthwhile consideration as well.
But it's not even on most folks radar. When the
(29:10):
stats show that one in four folks will be unable
to work for at least three months at some point
during their working life, So you think through how much
money you could potentially blow through, and you're taking on
a pretty big risk. And so if you are dependent
on your income, and most folks are having, long term
disability is going to provide some real financial relief if
(29:32):
you were to be out of work for an extended
period of time. Yeah, So yeah, this is just putting
this on the radar for more folks out there who
have not ever considered long term disability. Most people think, oh,
I got a short term disability policy through my work,
I'll be just fine, and that can be helpful, but
it's not enough, right if you're out of work for
an extended period of time. So I think, yeah, your
message is, don't sleep on long term disability. It's worth considering,
(29:54):
it's worth shopping around for, but it's also not cheap.
A lot of folks are gonna find the biggest downside man, Yeah,
like maybe saving up additional money in savings is better
for them than having a long term ability policy and
taking on kind of that risk. But yeah, because you're
talking about forking over between one and three percent of
your annual salary for one of these policies, who start
(30:15):
looking see if you're maybe employer offers a discount of policy.
The downside though, of that is it doesn't go with
you if you leave. Policy Genius is a great place
to check as well. Say you mentioned giving a life
insurance policy a term life insurance policy through a site
like policy Genius. That's a great place to look and
contact a local broker too, right, shop around because you're
likely to find that prices very wildly. So yeah, check
(30:38):
the big sites, check with the local broker, and just
see where you can get the best product for the
best price. Yep. Have you ever had a long term
disability jil, I haven't. Yeah, I'm more a fan of
self insurance. Yeah, and I think I'm more willing to
take that risk myself. And the biggest hurdle is that
is just the price point when you're socking away thousands
(30:58):
of dollars every year, Like I would rather take that
money pay myself and increase my emergency fund. Right, And
so maybe you're thinking I've got three to six months,
all right, Well maybe for you, if you are thinking
we'll shoot, maybe long term disability is something I should consider.
Maybe for you, that means your emergency fund looking more
like nine to twelve months worth of living expenses. And
that's literally what what Kate and I did a number
(31:21):
of years ago. So back when I was a full
time for I don't know if I've ever shared the storygel,
but when I was a full time photographer, I had
something going on with my eye, which is you're thinking, oh, yeah,
that's probably pretty bad if you're a photographer, and uh,
and that's what better than your pointer finger? I guess
I don't know. You can switch fingers, Yeah, you only
have two eyes. But that's when we said, you know what,
(31:44):
maybe we'll kind of ramp up how much money we
have on hand. That was the risk that, again, that
we were willing to take. But that's one of the
first times I got me thinking about, oh, maybe things
go south here. Well, we certainly want to make sure
that we're prepared. But your family situation also has something
to do with it, because in my case, I had
a wife a partner who would very gladly work if
I was not able to. I don't know about gladly,
(32:06):
but she'd be willing. She'd be willing to step up
and uh, you sat there and watch sports with you
one good Yeah, work works, works some extra hours if
if she needed to. But if you're flying solo and
it just comes down to you and your income, yeah,
that's another consideration as well. There's just a number of
different factors here that go into whether or not this
is a risk that you can take. Yeah, totally okay.
(32:28):
Thank you as always for listening to the show. We
appreciate your time and attention. You can always find more
money saving information up on our website at howtomoney dot com.
We'll see you back here Next week you're listening to
how to Money on k if I Am six forty.
You've been listening to how To Money with Joe, Larscart
and Matt All mixed and you can always hear us
live on k if I Am six forty twelve to
(32:50):
two pm on Sunday and anytime on the iHeartRadio app
I am six forty. You're listening to How to Money
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:10):
All Joel and Matt want to do is help you save,
invest and enjoy more of what matters. This is how
to Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt.
Speaker 1 (00:21):
Altmis KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmis and
I'm Joel Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for the
how to Money newsletter. You can find that up at
(00:41):
how tomoney dot com slash newsletter. It is now time
for the ludacrous headline of the week, which this week
is from Business Insider. I will say I feel like
Business Insider maybe they take the lead on the number
of ludacrous headlines that we've taken from them. Provocative headlines. Yeah,
so they're covered some interesting stuff. Though I feel like
the stories are good, but yeah, the headlines are better.
(01:03):
The headline for this one reads logan Paul says young
investors should consider non traditional assets over stocks as he
auctions a five point three million dollar Pokemon card, which,
of course, first of all, I feel like I need
to address like the elephant in the room, like five
point three million dollars for a Pokemon card. Who knew?
What's that all about, dude, I don't know. Yep, you
got Pokemon cards over your house. Uh yeah, my son
(01:25):
loves Pokemon cards, but he's sick, so he could care
less about the value. They just they're all bent, so
they're actually not worth millions. They could have been though.
That's probably true. Man, this could have been your everything fund, buddy.
That's gonna be college, your first car, your first house. Yeah.
If I look up Logan Pol's and I'm like, dude,
you've got the exact same one. But it's been it's
such a I mean, I know it's such a long
(01:46):
shot though, but still even I'm sure the chance makes
a lot of people want to come through. Like one
of my daughters has a bunch of Pokemon cards, not
because we buy them, for I don't know where she
gets them. She says that friends from school give, like
give the ones they don't want. You can't are always
training stuff like that. Yeah, I think they're trading. I
think she's like she's like Tom Sawyer. She's trading like
a broken pencil eraser like for for like some kids
(02:06):
lunch and they're like, oh, sweet pencil. He's like, oh,
I'm hungry anyway, pugging my cards. That's one thing. Also,
let this be a lesson. Take investing advice from influencers
with a grain of salt, especially if they stand to
gain financially if you follow their advice. Love and Paul,
the one who did like some sort of crypto scheme,
(02:27):
made a lot of money, but all followers lost a
lot of money. He does everything, and I'm just shocked
that people would still listen to him or still follow
someone who led them down that path. Dude. Yeah, so
Charlie Munger, show me the incentive and I will show
you the outcome. Like this is a classic instance where
he stands to gain man And he said in that
(02:48):
in that article, don't be afraid to take a risk.
Is this how he talks. I don't know. Don't be
afraid to take a risk, especially if you're young. And
there's some there's like every bad advice, there is a
little kernel of truth at the center of it, like
you do actually have time to recover. But smart traditional
investing early it goes a long way towards kicking off
(03:09):
the compounding process, and this is not something we want
to see people do. Stick with a widely diversified, low
cost index fund in your retirement account. There's also so
much more volatility right in the alternative asset space, and
so it's really easy to see something just like go
up into the right and then until it doesn't right.
Like beanie babies, I think there's been I saw a
(03:30):
recent article about how maybe some of them are going
back up in value. I don't know, though, people have
been holding one of those beanie babies for a long time.
Maybe a few people made bukuos of dollars if they
had one of those rare beanie babies that people craved
or something like that. But for the most part, people
spend a lot of money on beanie babies and hopes
that they would go up in value. And now they're
sitting with like a giant bucket of them at home
(03:53):
that's been in the attic for the last twenty five
or thirty years. So in the stock market, unlike trading cards,
it's not a fat so in speaking of investing, the
Wall Street Journal had an article about the benefits of
bear markets, which sounds like an oxymoron. You're like bear market.
That means the market's going down. How's their benefit to that?
But a down market is often a necessary correction when
(04:14):
exuberance is off the charts, and it's also not an
abnormal experience, like I have no idea, I'm not making
any prediction about what's going to happen in the stock market.
With the stock market this year, I think basically all
of the Wall Street firms that make predictions have said, oh, yeah,
the market's going to crush this year. That doesn't lead
me to believe that they're right. And investors should be
(04:36):
expecting a down year from time to time, on average,
what every five and a half years, And if you're
properly diversified, if you have the right mindset, well a
bear market could be a good thing for you, if
you keep that mantra, that Nick Majulia mantra, just keep buying.
If you're like, oh, market's going down, and at first,
for a second you're probably like, yeah, that's not good.
(04:56):
I'm seeing my balance go down. But if you're still
buying regularly, still in that wealth building phase of life
dollar cost averaging into your four oh one K or
buying regularly in your roth IRA or your taxable broker's account,
whatever it is. You're taking advantage of a bear market.
And so I think for a lot of younger hout
of money listeners in that wealth building phases our life. Yeah,
(05:16):
it's a it's actually a good thing. It's a good opportunity. Absolutely. Yeah.
There was another great article about the benefits of actually
doing nothing when it comes to your portfolio. What's going
on in the markets, the news, the headlines. As an investor,
sitting on your hands while just making those regular contributions
is a really solid plan. And if you look back, man,
with all the economic risks that we saw last year,
(05:39):
like tarras, the geopolitical tensions that we saw and we're
still continuing to see, uh huh, despite a rough start
to twenty twenty five, your portfolio it's still performed really
well if you stayed the course. We ended twenty twenty
five like around close to twenty I think it was
eighteen percent. Yeah, this is the third year in a row.
Not as high as many other countries, many other countries,
not as head stock markets that vastly outperformed the United States.
(06:01):
But I mean how many years of folks, Yeah, going
back to what you said previously. Yes, bear markets are good.
It's good to have corrections because the unbridled exuberance is
not something like what is not something that is sustainable.
Would I rather see a nice eight and a half
percent year after year? Oh? Absolutely, And that's what the
(06:22):
market has actually proven out over the past one hundred years.
That being said, the swings, the ups and the downs,
that accounts for some of that emotional decision making that
finds us way into the market. So yeah, counts on that. Yeah,
you're spot on, my friend. I am six forty. You're
listening to how to Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
(06:46):
I am Matt Altmixed, and I'm Joel Larsgard. If you're
on Facebook, by the way, you want to join a
group of like minded folks who have money questions, who
have money insights, please go join the how to Money
Facebook group. Let's now hear from a listener who is
Mandy's struggling to accept the fact that he might be
paying so much money to go towards his health insurance.
Speaker 3 (07:05):
Hey, Joel and Matt, this is Josh from Franklin, North Carolina,
about two hours north of you, guys. I was reaching
out I'm just looking for another trusted opinion. I have
spent about a month now researching different options, and I
don't feel like I am confident in any decision that
I'm coming up with. My wife is a stay at
home mom with our two girls, and she has used
(07:26):
the healthcare marketplace, but with the recent subsidy changes, her
health care is looking to go up about threefold. So
we have been researching the health sharing plans like you
guys have discussed previously, like better Share. We're looking at
the healthcare marketplace and our different options there. We've also
discussed just coming out of pocket using FQHC our local
(07:51):
community hospitals, nonprofit hospitals, asking for cash prices, and just
paying out of our emergency fund and HSA funds. The
only problem there is that it worries me if something
catastrophic happens. And I'm a little worried about the hell
sharing plans because of the fact that there aren't aren't
(08:11):
necessarily any regulations. But I just wanted to reach out
to you guys since you since you have different opinions
and you have experience you can share, and I'm hoping
you guys might help point me in the right direction.
Hope all as well. Joel, keep logging those miles. If
you'd like to come up and march and run the
Nashville Marathon, just let me know. Thank you guys, thank
(08:33):
you so much for your time.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Bye. I'm offended, Joel. I run sometimes you do, You're
very fast. Rarely do I run, not nearly as much
as you. Well should I run Nasville Marathon.
Speaker 2 (08:44):
I don't know.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
It sounds like, uh, if you're going to run a marathon.
I mean, there's got to be awesome breweries along the way, right, Like,
I think you would have to get time would definitely
be slower. You'd have to accept the fact that this
is just just a really long, fun run. Yeah, I'm
going to set a PR. Yeah, you can't be entering
into that race with with that kind of headspace. Maybe
I have six peers and set a PR and that's
(09:07):
more power to you, man, the best PR you can say,
that'd be amazing. Well, Josh, appreciate your question. You're obviously
not alone in being essentially assaulted by higher health care prices.
This is something we've documented on the show. For sure,
people are scrambling as subsidies decline. Price shock is setting
in for a lot of folks. Some people have enough
whegel room right to absorb those higher premiums in their lives,
(09:29):
but many don't, especially when you're talking about as significant
of increases as we're seeing, Matt. Some people are going from, oh, yeah,
I was paying three hundred dollars a month and now
it's looking like I got to pay like seven or
eight hundred dollars a month in premiums. That's before that's
before you get to right actually going to the doctor.
Some people are saying, you know what, I'm just gonna
cancel health insurance all together. I'm gonna see what happens
(09:51):
to throw caution the wind. Others are opting for health sharing.
So this question is becoming more common. And while it
might might not be ideal, the lack of regulation, especially
surrounding health sharing companies, a lot of folks I think
are going to find they don't really have another better choice. Yeah, no, no,
I don't think there's really an ideal solution for most folks.
And yeah, Josh, you are right, both of us, both
(10:15):
Joel and his family, my family, we are both on
health sharing plans, and not because it's like the greatest
thing since sliced bread. But because it just offers the
best balance I think of affordability married and coupled with coverage,
and so our annual premiums and technically they're not premiums
because this is not health insurance. I think it's technically
(10:36):
called like a household portion or household share. But those
quote unquote premiums are far less than they would be
if we were to get a plan on the exchange.
Our family pays something like a little over four thousand dollars,
and the last time I checked, we'd be paying in
like the mid twenty something thousand dollars range just for
family health insurance coverage. That's like, that's table stakes too.
(10:57):
Like I said, that's like before going to the doctor.
So you're saying, oh, ok, just from a twenty twenty
six perspective, can we afford twenty two to twenty three
thousand dollars more money? Dude? And so most people, including ourselves,
are gonna be like, ah, no, we can't, we can't
do that. Yeah, And I will say, our families are
mostly healthy, so our healthcare spending beyond that has been
pretty reasonable. Reasonable, But still there is a degree of
(11:22):
risk of additional risk that we're taking, that we're shouldering
ourselves in order to get these savings. And I think
not everyone who's listening is going to agree that the
trade off is worth it, but for us, it's the
right move. It makes me think kind of of like
what deductible you keep on your home insurance, let's say,
right and similar, I'm taking on a much higher risk
(11:43):
by having the percentage based deductible, and I've gotten bit
in the butt by in the past, but I'm hoping
that and all the statistics would show that I am
likely to benefit from it over time. And but for
a lot of people, they're like I just I can't
stomach it, or I don't have the savings to actually
me up in case that something were to happen in
my house. So that is an important thing they're taking
(12:04):
into consideration. And Josh mentioned asking local hospitals for cash prices.
That's great. That's certainly part of the repertoire you're going
to want to instill if you go with health sharing.
But I love that. Yeah, if you gick health insurance
the curb, you'd want to do the same. But of
course that's like the riskiest endeavor you can make. But
as he alluded to specifically, like catastrophic injury or a
(12:25):
big old diagnosis, that is the main reason to have
some type of coverage that goes just beyond the cash
that you have in savings. That's the whole reason we
use health sharing companies. Yeah. Yeah, it acts as like
this backstop in case the worst were to happen. And
it's not like with health sharing you're getting substantially discounted
doctor visits like you do a traditional insurance. There is
no like super super low Copey right most of the time.
(12:47):
So health sharing really only makes sense I think for
mostly healthy folks and families who really are attempting to
protect against worst case scenarios. Also, I would say get
familiar with the fine print about what is and isn't covered,
and this varies from different health sharing companies to another.
Preventative care, routine care, dental ambition and more are often
(13:08):
excluded from the share amounts, so you're talking about having
to pay for those out of pocket before you even
get to the point where you're submitting bills for sharing.
And just for people who have a really low income,
don't forget about Medicaid. If your income allows you qualify. Yeah, yeah,
you mentioned some of the details. Keep in mind too.
So we are specifically with meta Share, which has been great,
(13:31):
but there are certain requirements that they institute because it
is a faith based health sharing plan and some of
all the all the original health sharing plans were faith based,
which is a part of how they're able to get
costs so low. Though that being said, there are also
for all the folks out there who aren't interested in
something that's faith based, there are a number of different
(13:52):
secular health sharing plans as well. Sedera is I think
the first one, and it's been around I think the
long but there's a new one evidently that's kicking butt
to Zion. Have you heard of this one? But evidently
it's it's pretty great as well. So there are options
out there that don't have as restrictive as requirements as
some of the more faith based health sharing plans, and
(14:14):
so those are options for a lot of folks out
there too. The other thing I tell people when they
ask about health sharing from my experience Matt is I
I barely kicked the tires, to be honest. Even though
we've been on meta Share for a long time, we've
not had a major enough healthcare expense where we're running over. Essentially,
are deductible the household portion you mentioned, so like, will
it pay out in the event of an emergency? Like,
(14:35):
from what I've read and seen, like, I'm pretty sure
they will if we follow the rules. Anecdotally, like that
is a risk. We've got friends who have hit, like
who approached it more as traditional health insurance and set
there it is ah HP annual household portion and they
have that set pretty low, and it's like, all right,
we got to rebuild the Achilles tendon. That a blue ass.
(14:58):
The girls need to get their ad lloyds removed. These
are specific examples from a specific family that I'm thinking of,
and they had zero issues. So granted that's anecdotal, but
that's how it works. Yep. We mentioned also the lack
of regulation as a downside of health sharing, but it's
also I think that's why traditional health insurance is superior,
essentially because they're going to they're going to pay out right. Well,
(15:21):
I say that they should pay out right. It's also
the reason though, that that they can exist and the
costs are so much lower. So it's that health sharing
doesn't have the regulations placed upon it. Yet it's the heaps.
You can't technically call it health insurance, there's no regulations,
But that's a part of why it's so affordable, kind
of like a swim at your own risk zone and
no lifeguard on duty. Right, But it's the heaps of
(15:41):
red tape that are just a part of the reason
we're in the conundtrum. So we're in to be in with.
I remember, back in the day, Matt healthcare was essentially
regulated by the States. A lot of our younger listeners
won't remember this way, but way back when I was right, yeah,
right too, it was up uphill to school, both whites
guys too, and a lot of people really could get
a policy on the open market. I was able to
(16:02):
when I was young, starting my first job both part time,
didn't have access to healthcare to buy my own policy
on the market for like one hundred hundred and ten
bucks a month something like that. And while government involvement
and rules have made it easier for people, especially with
pre existing conditions, to get coverage, more rules have created
an environment of rising prices for everyone, including healthy young people.
(16:25):
So I guess when it comes down to it, it's
like you need the great job with the health great
healthcare benefits. We're only more tied to health coverage from
employers than ever before, which is not the best thing
for the dynamism of our country either. Yeah, that's right.
This is Joel Larscard and Matt Altmis and you're listening
to KFI AM six forty how to Money on demand
(16:46):
on the iHeartRadio app. If you are over on Facebook
and you want to join a group of like minded
folks who have money questions and insight, please go ahead
and join the how to Money Facebook group. I was
talking about streaming for a sec. Matt is cable on
the comeback, Well, the cost of YouTube premium. I think
folks are willing to consider, you know, all these things
(17:09):
come byed. It's been interesting to see because cable companies
aren't you know, they haven't done well over the past
decade as streaming has emerged. But as streaming has become
more and more expensive, PayTV isn't declining like it used
to like it was. And at first, what seemed like
this unalloyed good, right, that streaming was going to be
(17:32):
this money saving thing for consumers. Right, they don't have
to put up with ads, and it's just easier to
watch whatever you want to watch, when you want to
watch it. Hmm, that doesn't Streaming doesn't quite feel like
it did in twenty fifteen. Right. It's changed a little
bit in some ways for the better, but in some
ways for worse. And also just like so many streaming
(17:55):
companies and rising prices that it's really hard for individuals
to like save money because they're pulled in so many
different directions, and cable companies and streamers are making these
mutually beneficial deals on bundles, and so more folks are
opting for this mix now of live TV and streaming options.
(18:15):
But if you're opting for both, that means it's going
to be even more expensive and truly truly, as we've
always said, like watching less TV, having fewer subscriptions, this
is the answer here. It might mean saying no to
like an awesome new TV series that you're like, I'm
interested in watching, like Stranger Things season five or something
(18:35):
like that. Maybe you're like, all right, you know what,
I'm gonna set this one out. I'd rather have my money,
and clearly everyone knows this at this point, I think,
But like live sports is the most expensive, and the
games have been essentially dispensed across the multitude of streaming channels,
and so if you want to watch every live sports game,
you're gonna pay a pretty penny for the privilege of
doing so. That's true. Yeah, But despite rising prices the
(18:58):
proliferation of services, there is some good news on this front.
There are more free streaming options that I think folks
should consider because they've gotten better. It's kind of like
the private label at the grocery stores. There's like there's
some serious advantages here to be I think that's how
you say it. I've never actually entered a discussion with anybody. Well,
we talked about too, but watch something on there not?
(19:19):
Would you watch Latoon, the old Charlie film?
Speaker 3 (19:22):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (19:23):
And What'scorsese Vietnam? This is Corsese, you know, I don't know.
But Roku maybe it is Francis for Cobola, I don't know.
I don't know either. Some awesome director, right, Crackle, that's
another one that's out there. But I'm just pointing to
some of these great free options and I think fewer
paid services and just using them more sparingly. Plus certainly
consulting the free ones more often, like that is going
to be a good recipe to follow in order to
(19:44):
lower that streaming bill, the subscription costs that are automatically
getting drafted from your account, And that's the I think
that's the biggest slippery slope, is like you get it,
there's something you do want to watch because it's exclusively there,
and then you keep it around even when you're not
taking advantage. That's something we even did over the holidays
because they're, oh, there's there's like this, there's a couple
of cooking shows we want to watch as a family, which,
(20:07):
by the way, we're starting starting a glimpse like the
future of like the kids getting older and them having interests.
And this is like the first show that Kate and
I have watched where we're like, yes, this is awesome.
This is something that we enjoy that y'all are also
interested in. But are we watching that right now? No,
because we're back to school and life and kids. You know,
everybody's busy. Have I canceled that Netflix subscription? No? And
(20:31):
I probably should, but everybody wants a piece of that
recurring You can do a rine after a un recording subscription.
It makes me well. Even Tesla, speaking of subscriptions, they
announced full self driving is only going to be available
via subscription, just evens out that that revenue flow and
helps them to make decisions better from a from a business.
But that just means consumers are on the hook for
another recurrence, another subscription. And we've talked about that with cars,
(20:56):
to just write the heated seat subscription. It's as cars
are more connected and the manufacturers have have the ability
to make updates over Wi Fi. How cool is that? Well,
they also have more control over that car and can
charge you for the ability to use certain features. Yeah,
speaking of cars, you want to get to our next door? Yeah,
(21:16):
let's do it. We're going to do this briefly because
I feel like we've talked about this a lot, but
a new milestone has been reached. Matt. There's one hundred
month car loan now in existence, and it's just tough
to fathom that people are signing up for eight plus
year Yeah. I don't know what that is. It's like
eight something years, eight point three years. Yeah, it's insane
too long. Yeah, And the like our thesis has always been,
(21:41):
don't take on debt for a depreciating asset, and if
you absolutely must like take on car debt, keep it
limited to thirty six or forty two months. But the
idea of extending it all the way to one hundred months.
We're seeing even already kind of the downsides of extremely
long car loans and people training in cars that they're
massively upside down on, increasing the interest rate and their
(22:02):
overall car debt, and being even more upside down to
the next car they buy. It's just this slippery slope
and just because someone says, yeah, we'll finance that car
for you over the next eight years, doesn't mean you
should take them up on it. Yeah. And by the way,
new numbers from Edmonds shows that it's not just new
cars that are the budget busters. Six point three percent
of used car buyers are facing down one thousand dollars
(22:24):
monthly car payments as well. And so, man, it's just
about trying getting out there, trying to find a well loved,
older car that is in good shape. And this is
a story that Michelle friend of the show, Michelle Singletary wrote,
But one thing that I didn't like is she's just
talking about For many people, it's like it's not how
it's not a luxury and I agree, but luxury cars
(22:45):
are a luxuries and luxury cars aren't what is necessary
to get you to work. That's what she was talking
to speaking to, right, the fact that you got to
have reliable transportation, and just the man, there's like lifestyle inflation,
the hedonic treumble like we have all found ourselves. Was
liking nicer and nicer things. I just think about how
nice everything is, Like everything is so nice, but it
(23:05):
doesn't have to be like bring back like this makes
me think of was it slate, the slight auto, the
little evy truck like interchangeable. One of the things that
made that so attractive to me was the fact that
bare not bare minimum like bare bones, like the windows
were manual windows, Like take an old school a little bit.
If there are folks out there who are willing to
(23:26):
purchase something that's going to be more affordable, it's going
to be more budget friendly, that doesn't have all the
bells and whistles. Man, everything doesn't have to be a computer.
And that's the direction we're moving. And I know when
I was buying used cars, Matt, like twenty years ago,
you can get a pretty solid use car for like
three four five thousand dollars, not like anything that somebody
was going to be fawn over, but at least something
that would be solid gets you from place to place.
(23:47):
And it seems like that's harder than ever to do.
You're talking about it's like a solid used car for
a lot of people. We're talking about spending five figures,
like ten grand, but it doesn't have to be thirty
forty fifty thousand dollars. I think that's what a lot
of people have led them else to believe. If you
look at the Consumer Reports reliability ratings and you angle
towards those cars that are lower mileage like ten, twelve,
(24:09):
fifteen years old, you can still find something I think
that is reasonably priced that will last you for a
long time, and it won't be like in the shop
regularly agree how to fit right, that's like the that's
the Consumer Reports car of choice essentially. So if you
like atally ain't super fancy, yeah, but it'll it'll get
it done. But if you want a budget car that
(24:30):
won't cost much but it'll get you where you need
to go, then that's one of the ones to definitely consider.
That's right, buddy, this is Matt Altmix and Joel lars
Guard and you are listening to KFI AM six forty
how To Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app. Don't
forget to sign up for the how to Money newsletter.
You can find that up at how tomoney dot com
(24:51):
slash newsletter. It is now time for the Facebook Question
of the Week, which is from Tyler this week, and
he writes, my previous employer gave me a one hundred
percent match on up to six percent of my four
one K contribution, and it was wonderful. I left them
a few years back for another company. By the way,
I'm much happier at my new job. However, my new
(25:12):
employer offered four and a half percent match, and they
just announced a drop to three and a half percent.
So first question, has anyone else seen decreases in their
four one K match for next year? It's the first
time I've taken a match decrease in my career. Second question,
with a change, where you invest your retirement dollars at all?
Given this news, I'm now getting almost half the match
(25:34):
I used to at my previous employer. What should think?
Joel always crappy to have a per produce like that,
especially taken away, it hurts. It hurts more. I think
it's gonna obviously hurt even more specifically for having money
listeners who were just like I'm gun ho about investing more,
getting the full match and growing, growing my net worth.
And to see be like, oh man, there's like, you know,
(25:55):
three or four percent less at my disposal from my
employer that I can take advantage of. That sucks, Like
that's hard to stomach, I think, especially for people who
think the way we do. And so I mean, I
think one of the things that Tyler mitch is that
he likes his job. I think that's great. I think
enjoying your work is better than having a killer match. Still,
(26:18):
it's nice to have both. But we are seeing more
generous employers dial back a bit on four oh one
k contributions, Like Tyler's not alone to this, So I
do think that's important to note. Don't assume that everybody's
doing it, but also don't assume that you're the only one.
We've seen some employers. I've got a friend Matt, who
was telling me that his match was eliminated all together.
(26:38):
And yeah, that's even tougher to stomach. Yeah, particularly in
industries right that are having a tougher time in this economy.
I think we're seeing it more on that front, which
changes the calculation for individual investors about where and how
much they stick into that tax advantage retirement account. Yeah. Yeah,
So if you were to not get any match, well,
that makes the roth IRA a better first option most cases.
(27:01):
I think getting a reduced match can mean just dialing
back a bit on those four one K contributions so
that you at least get the full match, but then
putting more of your money inside that roth instead, I
think is a good option if you're not maxing out
your roth IRA, I think that would be your best reaction.
And I'm assuming, like his second question was, you know,
does this change where you invest? I'm assuming that's what
(27:23):
he's talking about, like what account, not in individual funds
or any There's a part of me that wonders though
if he because he says where, I'm like, wait a minute,
are you talking about the fact I wonder And I
don't think this is the case. But if there's at
all any doubt Tyler as to the future of your
company based on you shouldn't really be investing your retirement
dollars within your company's stock to begin with, like, yes,
(27:43):
if there's a discount, get the discount, hang on to
it as long as you need to ESPP. Yeah, but
then beyond that you unload those and then move to
a fully SMP of five hundred diversified index fund or
a total stock a total stock market index. I don't
think that's what he's getting at it. I don't think so.
But if it is, I wanted to throw that out now.
Definitely that time to reconsider. And the last thing I
(28:06):
want to mention is to not forget about your HSA
if you have access to one. It's just the best
account from a tax perspective. If you're maxing your WROTH,
if you're getting the full match, your HSA should be
the account you prioritize next before you stick more into
your four O and K above and beyond that reduced
match amount. The HSA is just man the idea of
never paying tax on the money that goes in, never
(28:28):
paying tax on it when it comes out, and being
able to grow it by investing it in the meantime.
It's Yeah, it's hard to beat. Why it's one of
our favorite retirement accounts, So Tyler, make sure to check
that one out. All right, Let's get to a question
from Anonymous, who says I need to purchase a long
term disability policy and a life insurance policy. Any recommendations
for finding the right policy? Are brokers a good option? Oh?
(28:50):
I like brokers, But mister or miss anonymous, I'm glad
you are asking this question because the long term disability
insurance is underrated. We talk regularly about term life, rightly so,
but long term disability is a worthwhile consideration as well.
But it's not even on most folks radar. When the
(29:10):
stats show that one in four folks will be unable
to work for at least three months at some point
during their working life, So you think through how much
money you could potentially blow through, and you're taking on
a pretty big risk. And so if you are dependent
on your income, and most folks are having, long term
disability is going to provide some real financial relief if
(29:32):
you were to be out of work for an extended
period of time. Yeah, So yeah, this is just putting
this on the radar for more folks out there who
have not ever considered long term disability. Most people think, oh,
I got a short term disability policy through my work,
I'll be just fine, and that can be helpful, but
it's not enough, right if you're out of work for
an extended period of time. So I think, yeah, your
message is, don't sleep on long term disability. It's worth considering,
(29:54):
it's worth shopping around for, but it's also not cheap.
A lot of folks are gonna find the biggest downside man, Yeah,
like maybe saving up additional money in savings is better
for them than having a long term ability policy and
taking on kind of that risk. But yeah, because you're
talking about forking over between one and three percent of
your annual salary for one of these policies, who start
(30:15):
looking see if you're maybe employer offers a discount of policy.
The downside though, of that is it doesn't go with
you if you leave. Policy Genius is a great place
to check as well. Say you mentioned giving a life
insurance policy a term life insurance policy through a site
like policy Genius. That's a great place to look and
contact a local broker too, right, shop around because you're
likely to find that prices very wildly. So yeah, check
(30:38):
the big sites, check with the local broker, and just
see where you can get the best product for the
best price. Yep. Have you ever had a long term
disability jil, I haven't. Yeah, I'm more a fan of
self insurance. Yeah, and I think I'm more willing to
take that risk myself. And the biggest hurdle is that
is just the price point when you're socking away thousands
(30:58):
of dollars every year, Like I would rather take that
money pay myself and increase my emergency fund. Right, And
so maybe you're thinking I've got three to six months,
all right, Well maybe for you, if you are thinking
we'll shoot, maybe long term disability is something I should consider.
Maybe for you, that means your emergency fund looking more
like nine to twelve months worth of living expenses. And
that's literally what what Kate and I did a number
(31:21):
of years ago. So back when I was a full
time for I don't know if I've ever shared the storygel,
but when I was a full time photographer, I had
something going on with my eye, which is you're thinking, oh, yeah,
that's probably pretty bad if you're a photographer, and uh,
and that's what better than your pointer finger? I guess
I don't know. You can switch fingers, Yeah, you only
have two eyes. But that's when we said, you know what,
(31:44):
maybe we'll kind of ramp up how much money we
have on hand. That was the risk that, again, that
we were willing to take. But that's one of the
first times I got me thinking about, oh, maybe things
go south here. Well, we certainly want to make sure
that we're prepared. But your family situation also has something
to do with it, because in my case, I had
a wife a partner who would very gladly work if
I was not able to. I don't know about gladly,
(32:06):
but she'd be willing. She'd be willing to step up
and uh, you sat there and watch sports with you
one good Yeah, work works, works some extra hours if
if she needed to. But if you're flying solo and
it just comes down to you and your income, yeah,
that's another consideration as well. There's just a number of
different factors here that go into whether or not this
is a risk that you can take. Yeah, totally okay.
(32:28):
Thank you as always for listening to the show. We
appreciate your time and attention. You can always find more
money saving information up on our website at howtomoney dot com.
We'll see you back here Next week you're listening to
how to Money on k if I Am six forty.
You've been listening to how To Money with Joe, Larscart
and Matt All mixed and you can always hear us
live on k if I Am six forty twelve to
(32:50):
two pm on Sunday and anytime on the iHeartRadio app
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