April 6, 2025 • 33 mins
Don't forget to file your taxes! Oh, and do smart stuff to make money progress with your tax refund too.
Ask HTM: Cheyenne in TN just got married and has some questions about combining finances.
What will the impacts of 'liberation day' be? It's not looking pretty for the American economy and for consumer prices.
Ask HTM: Miranda wants to know which retirement account to prioritize.
Ask HTM: Cheyenne in TN just got married and has some questions about combining finances.
What will the impacts of 'liberation day' be? It's not looking pretty for the American economy and for consumer prices.
Ask HTM: Miranda wants to know which retirement account to prioritize.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to How to
Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Do you want to live well without drowning in debt?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Joel and Matt have you covered?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
This is how to Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt Altmex.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmis and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I'm Joel Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for the
how to Money newsletter. You can find that up at
how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I wanted to mention a quick shout out to Caitlin.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
She was listening to a recent episode and her just
talking about Radon, and she actually was funny.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
She emailed, She's like.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
How to hit pause and reach out to you guys,
because Radon entered the chat. But we were mentioning a
listener had reached out and was talking about some remediation.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I guess he's gonna have to install some.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Stuff at the new house at there that they were purchasing,
including a rate on remediation device. I guess like event
fan that kind of thing. And we kind of touched
on how we didn't really know much about radon. Well
I know a lot more about it now because Kaylen
informed me. And I can't remember if she mentioned this
in the email or if this was a part of
my deep dive, but right on is a radioactive substance.
(01:21):
It's it's a radioactive.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Gas or I guess frightening or like it's going to
turn me into a superhero one other two like Spider
Man now. But it actually can cause lung cancer.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
It causes lung.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Cancer eventually, and that's I think that's the big period
of time. Is that a lot of times it's not
seen as this pressing issue, but yeah, like you live
in a house and you got radon coming up through
the ground underneath, it gets getting trapped in the maybe
the cross space it's entering into the house, and it
can cause issues. So I looked into it and saw
that you can buy like a fifteen dollars like one
(01:51):
time used test kit, or if you like the data,
they've got these little monitors, these little readouts, and you
can put that in your basement and kind of see
how maybe the levels might flow.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Shoe eight might give you.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
A better picture, but just search wherever it is that
you live and whether or not right on is more
or less active in your area, because it turns out
where we are there are these different hotspots. Yeah, and
the closer you are, in particular to like the mountains,
it seems that there are higher levels of right on
and that's actually pretty descriptive of where we live, Joel.
(02:22):
So I'm going to look into this, all right. Yeah,
good PSA nice little tip, yep, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I wanted to mention one other thing real quick before
we get tell the stories, Matt. My daughter is in
this like manners class, which is kind of goofy. I
never remember those. I never thought we would partake of
that cotillion. But is that what it's called. It's not
called that, but yeah, that's basically.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
That's what it was called when I was in middle school.
Did they send you to one? Of course not?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Okay, I was gonna say, I haven't seen the fruits
of that. You've seen how I treat people. I've seen
how you eat.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I use the wrong fork all the time. That's the
salad fork. Man.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Well, so she had to get some fancy dresses for
these classes.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Because she's like learning how to dance with boys and
all that stuff. That's how it goes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Man, that's the point we're at in our lives right now. Well,
Emily and Sama Sheet they went to the Thirst Store
to get some new dresses as let me just a
smart move, right, And the one thing she was she
found some.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Really beautiful dresses. She was super stoked about it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
The one thing she was nervous about was, wait a second,
is that gonna be totally uncool that I got my
stuff at the thrift store. Nobody's gonna know, well, she
she she told her friends, Hey, I got dressed to
the Thirst Store, and they thought she was the coolest.
She got her dressed to the thrift store. And so
for folks who are out there and you're worried, you're like,
are people gonna judge me?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
People are gonna think if you get something cool, and
then you also, on top of that, got it at
a significant discount because you got it at the Thirst
Store and you didn't I guess, buy it from a
retailer who's like has to manufacture that you're reusing something.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
People just give you extra street cred.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Dude.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The Third Store has always been cool.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I remember going to to the strift door when I
was in high school. And I don't know if it's
just how we view the world. Maybe we're just not
a part of the group Joel that thinks the Thrist
Store is uncool, but the Thrist Store has always been cool.
And this is this used to be a knock on
living in the burbs, the fact. I remember thinking when
we moved up here that I was just like man,
nobody puts out, nobody does a kerb alert. There's there's
(04:13):
not cool stuff out on the street. But it's because
they're donating at all to Goodwill. You've got this third
party that's gone through stuff to make sure it's up
to snuff.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And then you get to show up.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
They've curated it for you, right, And then you show
up and our oldest she are all.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Nikes called like air Force ones. Now I don't I
don't really understand. I don't think so, but I think
goes are the popular nights.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I thought it used to be just a singular shoe,
but no, it seems like I don't know or.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Something, Yeah, like all those shoes are air Force maybe
like the Jordan's where there's a line of them now brownly.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I guess so, But She picked up a pair of
like these dope sea foam green Nike high tops cool
that are like I think one hundred bucks, are over
one hundred bucks brand new, wow for kids shoes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
She picked them up. Man, they're basically brand new for
eight dollars. They're so cool. I love them.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
What parent in the're right mind would spend three on
shoes when your kid's gonna outgrow them?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And like what we're saying, it's so all that to say,
I'm all for three stores. Man, We certainly need more
of that in our.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Life, and I think it's good to teach your kid
to own it, like just be like, yeah, god, that's
a third store, and people people will show you mat
respect for that. All right, Matt, let's talk taxes. Tax
days almost here. We're going to get to tariffs in
just a minute. But millions of Americans, including myself, haven't
actually filed yet. I think you just filed your taxes
a story. No, they're still yeah, okay, I've given you
(05:29):
and I are both included in this area.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yeah, I gave them my information, say weeks ago. Say
they're just I think they're pretty backed up.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I personally was waiting on a couple of last minute documents.
My last one didn't come till March twentieth, so I
was like, Okay, I might I might be filing an
extension actually, kind of like we talked about with Jasmine earlier.
This week, Well, the IRS reports that filings are down
this year compared to last year, which means tens of
millions of folks are in the same boat as we are, Matt.
They've got some work to do this weekend or next
(05:58):
if they really want to punt to the last minute.
One possible reason though, for this is because millions of
folks live in an area impacted by a natural disaster
California by the wildfires. If you live in Los Angeles County,
there are parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia that
were impacted by Hurricane Helene. Those populations also have that
(06:18):
they don't have to file until the fall, and they
don't incur a penalty by delaying. I think another reason, though,
is the greater complexity that people tend to face these
days in their taxes. Yes, there's the higher standard deduction,
but there's also a lot of side hustles and day trading,
just kind of investment schemes that people are participating in
as well, so I think that might be part of
(06:40):
the reason that some folks are waiting. It's like they
got to get all their documents in order and it
takes a little more time.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
These a lot of folks are trying to figure out
what documents they actually need to have in hand before
they can file as well. It's it's sort of like, yeah,
there's a learning curve, and you mentioned filing for an extension,
but that even if you do file.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
For an extension, reminder, that doesn't mean that you can wait.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
To pay your taxes if you owe, and if you
can't afford to actually pay your tax bill, we'll make
sure to file anyway, because yeah, failing to pay on time,
that's gonna prompt some stiff penalties. But so well, failing
to actually file two wrongs don't make it right here, Well,
at least do one of them. By the way, there
have been staff cuts at the IRS, so it's a
(07:19):
good idea as always to file your return electronic.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I thought you're gonna say, file a fraud lot return
that claims a lot of money back because they're not
going to get at you now, they're not going to
catch you.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Actually, I think that's the advice that Joel's recommending. Matts no,
but I am Matt's is not recommending that advice.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
IRS go after Joel with your angry emails to me.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
You're listening to how to Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
By the way, you can always find more money saving
information over at howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Matt, let's take a question about newlyweds and I'll learn
how to money together.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Hey, Matt and Joel, this is Shyan from Memphis, Tennessee.
Me and my wife got married last August and we've
done the fun task of combining finances. We're currently doing
the approach of having all money going to joint accounts
and then having a small amount that's deposited in our
individual accounts each month. I can't say for sure, but
I believe you both have been an advocate of this
(08:16):
approach in the past. The issue we're having is identifying
which type of expenses would fall into the individual spending
versus the joint spending account. How do you guys determine
this yourselves? Additionally, how do you determine how much to
put into the individual accounts. Do you do a fixed
them out, do you do a percentage based on the
prior month savings them out? Or is it something else?
(08:38):
Thank for the help.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Memphis, Joel, you spent some time there? I have is that?
Did you actually get married in Memphis?
Speaker 1 (08:44):
We did get married in Memphis, Yes, okay, I remember
my wife is from there or Tennessee, and got married
at the Memphis Zoo.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I'm sorry when I said Tennessee, I meant to say Chattanooga.
You also spend time there.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
We spent time in Chattanooga, But Memphis is also Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
They're both, yeah, exactly, just in like literally opposite ends
of Tennessee. But no, the Memphisoo is pice legit, lovely,
so just a wonderful place and I fond memories for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Best wedding ever. I didn't go to yours. Well, we
didn't know each other. Yeah, I'm assuming mine was better?
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Well, yours was that you were older in life, like Kden,
I got married pretty young, and I feel like the
older you get, the more personality and the more your
own you can make it.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I do.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I don't know who you are when you're like you
were like sixteen when you got married, not quite that young.
I mean yeah, like there's a degree of like learning
who you are, figuring yourself out, figuring out the things
that you value, and it's hard to know all those things.
I'm ever evolving, dynamic person jol even now. I mean, yeah,
you mad sure your weddings. Well, I liked craft beer
(09:45):
back then, but I also liked dive bar beer, so
like PBR, and I distinctly remember wanting my groom's cake
to be a PBR can and I remember Emily's dad
being like, not, man, come on, that's not cool, it's lame.
So instead I went with a Norwegian flag because that's
my heritage.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And I'm actually that's fun. I'm glad that I did that.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Words of wisdom, that's right, the future fell right, Yeah,
if you willing to listen to your elders.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
People.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Speaking of elders, I'm sure we're older than Cheyenne. Here,
let's let's answer his question. First off, congrats on getting married,
and it sounds like you guys have taken a really
smart approach to combining your finances. I mean, I prefer
either everything being combined or having one combined account and
two separate accounts. But ideally, I think the way you
guys have it set up is great. Right, You get
(10:31):
the benefits of combining everything, and Matt, I think those
benefits are many, Right. You get the shared goals, you
get the easy tracking, you get the kind of transparency
which builds trust in that relationship. It's like, hey, I
can look in and see what's going on with the account.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You can look in.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
We both have essentially just as much control over this
thing as the other one. And then you also get
at least some autonomy, because yeah, you're merging lives, you're
two becoming one flesh or whatever it is we say.
But it also doesn't mean that you aren't an individual
with your own hopes and goals and dreams too that
you share with your partner.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Right, but at the very least your own spending. Yeah, exactly,
at the very least you get to spend a little
money without like kind of no questions asked, I.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I've found that for us, having a singular account that
all of the money is in that that is incredibly helpful.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
At least.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I think early on, when you first get married, it
seems like something you both want to keep up with.
But I would not be surprised, Yenne if it becomes
pretty quickly apparent that one of you enjoys doing this
more than the other person. And what you don't need
to do is to then be responsible for multiple logins,
like reconciling multiple accounts, having it all and you know,
just kind of.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Spread out all over the place, basically over complicating. Yeah,
it's just so much simpler to have a singular account.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And when it comes to so he's talking about having
separate accounts for their spending, I think a way around
that is just to simply have like a separate credit card.
And that's something that Kate actually actually does that she
has this separate card that I don't have, where she
completely manages expenses on that because if she knows is
she goes out and buy something and she's thinking, there's
a good chance I'm going to return this. She doesn't
want me entering these transactions in where it's just like, oh, oh,
(12:07):
that sixty seven dollars hit or record it, and then
a couple weeks later she returns it and then I'm like, okay,
minus sixty seven. Now I got to go in and
do all this, she is able to mentally account for that,
and it also allows her like birthday presents, Christmas presents.
That's one of the reasons people talk about having their
own account as well as to well, I don't want
you to be able to see what I'm getting for
(12:27):
you or even where I'm getting it from when I
get you a gift, but the ability for her at
the end of the month to say, okay, and she
sends me a simple breakdown of like this number of
dollars from our giving account, this number of dollars goes
towards groceries, this.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Amount comes out of the kids account. That kind of thing. Yeah,
there's a way to keep things separate, whilst.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
In my opinion, not necessarily having a bunch of multiple accounts.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That's a good point, I think overdoing it with the accounts.
I get why you might want to do that, but
I also just don't think it's terribly helpful. And we've
talked about this beforemat but maybe we should highlight the
reason that combining things is good. And especially you talked
about getting married later on, and I think the further
along you are in your life, let's say you get
married in your forties, right, then you're like, I've already
(13:13):
kind of built this financial life on my own. I
don't necessarily know that I want to combine all the way, Like,
let's put the rings on the fingers, let's move in together.
But that rental property that I bought five years ago,
that's mine, right, And I guess I can understand the
reasoning behind that. But the benefits of combining accounts have
been studied, and they are significant because, according to statistics,
(13:33):
you're going to be happier if you do, You're going
to experience greater relationship satisfaction.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
There's this added level of accountability that helps to instill
trust in the relationship. And then both partners, as it
turns out, are unlikely to spend in riskier ways. And
that's partly because what they buy is aside from the
credit card that you're talking about, the kite has access
to mount although she gives you at least generalities what
(13:58):
she's spending with, that partner is going to see what
you're buying if you're spending directly from the joint account.
And so if you opt for those separate accounts for
fun money, yeah, you're opting for a little more privacy,
but that's not necessarily for the best for your relationship,
and each couple's gonna have a different stance on whether
that's something they feel they need or not. But I
(14:19):
think the general statistics reveal an underlying truth that the
combination of finances as a couple is going to make
you stronger.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Totally.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah, But then how do you decide how much each
of you gets to spend?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
This is going to be highly.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Dependent on your relationship as well, and just the dynamics.
And like some folks out there think that the person
who makes more money or like they should be able
to spend more. Like you make more, you spend more others.
I think it's a percentage. It's like, hey, I bring
home twice.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Then I'm gonna have ten percent more.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
You're gonna have to do something less, So I get
the thirty two ounce speer, you get a sixteen.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Outpeer And maybe I don't know.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Do you ever take body weight into into account, Joe
when you're splitting.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
A beer with your wife?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Oh yeah, I actually do, yeah, because I'm like, if
I give you, I get sixty gets forty.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
That's also just because she doesn't drink it all the
way and I do. So Kate's like a tiny person,
so not like a literal tiny person, but like she's
just significantly smaller than I am. And I'm like, and
I think, oh, if I actually pour you the same amount,
this is going to impact you differently, it's gonna impact me.
That being said, some folks think that it should be
split evenly each and every month, but then others think
that they should be able to just to spend hour
(15:23):
they choose unless the cost of an item is going
to exceed let's say a particular threshold.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Like one hundred bucks, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And so these are all personal decisions. And I mean,
in my opinion, I think this is something you need
to talk about because I think every couple out there
is going to arrive at a different dollar amount. In
our case, this is something that we've talked about. And
Kate always gets more money than I do every single month,
and that's because of what we've included in her personal
category as well, which includes hair, like she doesn't get
(15:53):
goes I would get for a haircut or gets her
hair colored, that kind of thing, make up products, things
like that you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Cut yours in your son's hair. But not hers, not
I have to We've talked of I've even tried coloring.
I've even tried the ballage at home before and it
saved us some money, but it took a lot of time.
I don't think they were gonna do that again. It
didn't quite turn out I think as as excellently as
maybe she was hoping for. As well, it's good for you,
you'd be on the hook for doing it for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah, But I mean what I'm highlighting here though, is
that I think each couple is gonna arrive at a
different point and it doesn't necessarily have to be the
same amount. It doesn't even have to correspond with who
is earning more money, because that would be me. But
in this, in our case, in our relationship, she actually
gets more to spend every single month.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Than I do. So all right, we've got actually more
to get to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
On today's show, you're listening to How To Money with
Joel Larsgard on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
We're glad to have you along for the show today.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
By the way, if you're looking for the right credit
card for your wallet, well you want to be able
to use it responsibly. But if you do that, if
you pay your credit card on time and in full
every single month, well check on our credit card tool.
You can find that up on the website at howtomoney
dot com.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
So did you watch the presidential address from the Roast
this past Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I caught a.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Little bit where you held up the poster and which
is just kind of a fun image, kind.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Of feels like giving a presentation like in rid school
sort of thing. Surprise it wasn't on a trifle board.
That would have been the icing on the cake. Of course,
the president's continued belief that tariffs are the solution to
basically every human problem that continued with the announcement of
array of widespread terrists. Man, the thing is, and we've
(17:33):
talked about this, this this ramped up trade war is
going to harm everyone.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
American businesses.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
They're going to be at a disadvantage internationally assuming there
are reactionary tariffs and they fail generally speaking to tak
into account just many classic economic realities like comparative advantage.
Think about all the things that are produced abroad in
different countries where maybe there's more affordable labor, a desire
to produce pencils or plastic cups, things that we don't
(18:02):
necessarily want to.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Produce here in the United States.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Just try bringing banana and avocado production into the United States.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
That's cecilia as parts.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Tariffs on items that we can't even produce, like coffee,
for instance. Milton Friedman, he called terraces a protection against
low prices, which, man, we wholeheartedly agree. And it's not
surprising to see that consumers are already dialing back their spending.
At least they're discretionary spending, increasing their savings. They are
quote unquote preparing for a rainy day, which is smart
(18:34):
because Yale Budget Labs they predict that the average family
will lose an extra three to four thousand dollars in
purchasing power.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
That's a lot of money, man, and cheap stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
It's not the only part of the American dream, but
it is not an inconsequential part of it either. And
of course this is assuming that these terroists stick around.
Right there's a part of me that's just holding my
breath and waiting to see how long before these are
either walked back or other countries are where they say that, hey,
we don't want to play this game, right, Like, this
is the best case argument for terrasts, right where it's
(19:08):
a political move where they're going to blink first, where
they're not check exactly yeah, where they're saying it's almost
it's like an economic nuclear war a most right, where
it's like, all right, we've got these other countries and
they've maybe been poaching around the edges of the around
the border a little bit, but this is this is
an entirely different ball game, and hopefully we do see
some countries start to walk that back. It's a tit
(19:30):
for tat and we see terraces significantly decrease over time.
Like that's I think the best case scenario, right, because
you can't industrialize the country overnight, but you can say, oh, yeah,
we're not going to do those terriffs anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
That is something that can happen over it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
And even if we did bring back some of that
industrial production that I think the White House is hoping for,
that doesn't necessarily mean low prices either, because can you
imagine how much it's going to cost to build the
factory and manufacture an iPhone here on us soil?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
We can be cheap.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
We have high wages here in the US, which is
which is great, and we also have fairly inexpensive goods
because of free trade. The I think the attempt to
make free trade to demonize free trade, I get where
it comes from, but I think that it doesn't make
a whole lot of sense. And consumers are going to
feel the pinch pretty quickly on all sorts of goods
(20:20):
in in not very long. And I do think that yeah,
we'll see. I mean, the stock market obviously didn't react
well yesterday.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It reacted immediately, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Whereas I don't know that I've ever seen that steep
of a drop in that short amount of time.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Do you remember.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
COVID was Was there a was there a ten hour
blip where where stocks were dropping?
Speaker 4 (20:37):
My quart once it was announced as like a global
health crisis in actual pandemic, and I think it's got
freaky real quick. Hey, that's true either way. I think
everyone is praying for tariff de escalation.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Essentially as what is what happened for I agree, and
we will continue to monitor, keep our finger on the
tariff pulse as it were, tariff deaf con you know,
like we're up to three four.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Yeah, I don't know, it's backwards like it's it feels
like we're at to right now, like it's it's actually
about to seriously impact the globe and hopefully we can
back that thing down.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
The announcement was like a tariff flinking lights for sure,
and then and so I think, yeah, tariff vigilance on
baff of individuals, it's more it's more of a necessity
right now, right and UPS is making it easier to
see the impact of tariffs on your purchases as they're
becoming more widespread, more international deliveries are coming with like
an unexpected bill attached for unpaid import costs, and so
(21:28):
UPS has this new global checkout that they that they
launched and it's automatically adding the cost of tariffs in
for shoppers buying from overseas companies who are subject to tariffs,
which is going to be more necessary right now, Like
it's going to be really frustrating to get a bill
after the fact if you bought the thing and you
didn't realize that there was a tariff attached that for
some reason, it wasn't paid for by the company sending
(21:49):
the good into the United States. And so, you know,
we wish this solution wasn't necessary because that would mean
that tariffs weren't a reality in the way they're currently existing.
But it's I don't know, kind of cool. There's some
transparency on that front, sure, and more needed transparency.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
By the way.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
One thing we didn't really talk about on Tariff's Matt
is that this is also going to impact American companies
sending goods to other countries if there are retaliatory tariffs.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So oh yeah, I mentioned the reactionary tariff.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
So it's like to complain at that game, Well, that's
why we're doing it. But then yeah, when you think,
just think about what that's going to do to American
businesses who send a lot of goods overseas.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Yeah, well, as prices go up, that means we as
consumers need to pay a little bit more attention to
our personal spending. And we've been saying this for quite
some time because of inflation. But Bloomberg they just published
a piece about the importance of individual action to cut
down on your own rate of inflation.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
And I think.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Depending on how you view the world, maybe the side
of the political aisle that you're on, it can be
tempting just to throw your hands up and just talk
smack about our elected officials, and there's certainly a time
and place for that, But it's also really important to
remember that despite policy changes that we have no control over,
there is still a lot that we actually do have
(23:01):
control over. And so the moral of this article is
pretty simple, which is to shop around. And I can
see no better way to cut your spending the spend
more time about the Thristorgel.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Like, I think there are some ways in which we're
just gonna grin and Barrett, we're just gonna take it
on the chin because they are necessary items that we
can't afford to not purchase. And then I think there
are other ways in which we companies are going to
be doing the same thing. Right, They're gonna be pivoting
to where they source their goods from, and we can
do the same as individuals. We can pivot to where
we're buying from. And yeah, buying secondhand, keeping some things
(23:36):
around longer might become a necessity for some folks. It
might just be a savvy way for people to save
more as individuals too.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Even just bringing up the pandemic, it reminds me of
how different our world is now from just a few
short years ago, we've seen just incredible changes to interest rates,
to housing costs, to inflation, basically to everything. And we
all remember the increased power that fell into the hands
of job seekers back couple of years ago, like back
in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three. Well, now there
(24:04):
are some stats that are showing that many job seekers
are experiencing wage deflation. More companies are hesitant to make
new hires, which means job switching is not going to
net you any more pay, and in fact, it might
even get you less pay for you to go with
a new company these days, as opposed to say put.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
So this is not a.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
Hard and fast rule, obviously, but we a couple of
weeks ago, we recently talked about getting the job you
Want with Madeline Manned, and so if that's not an
episode that you happen to catch, we'd recommend going back
and checking that one out.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. All Right, we've got more
to get to on today's show.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
You're listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Don't forget to sign up for the How to money
newsletter over at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Let's get to a question about investing and whether or
not the employer account is superior to doing your own.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Thing him Matt and Jewel. Miranda Hear from Loving Utah.
I've got a question about retirement accounts. I recently got
a new job that automatically contributes a fourteen point two
percent match of my salary to a four toh one
A plan. They're also set up to do an automatic
three percent from my pay to a pre tax four
oh three B. I also have the option for further
(25:16):
WROTH four oh three B or four fifty seven B
WROTH or pre tax contributions. At my previous job, I
contributed six percent to a ROTH four oh one K
to get the company match of four point five percent.
Since I'm already used to contributing the six percent, I
would like to keep at least that much contributing to
another retirement account. My question is what account is the
best option one offered through my new employer, or should
(25:39):
I look at an IRA that I could potentially roll
my previous four to oh one K into as well
some other notes. I'm almost thirty and anticipate staying in
this job for several years. I also have the option
of having these accounts with either TIAA or Fidelity. Any
advice there, thanks so much, all.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Right, Marinda's got all the different accounts available to her.
Joel listen alphabets who hit a couple of times if
you wanted to listen to all the options that are
that have been laid up here before us in her question,
and Miranda, I'm gonna say that you are in a
pretty fantastic matching situation here, just I mean the fact
that you get a match that's that generous here with
(26:15):
your new job. She said fourteen point two.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I think.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
So where did the point two come from? I don't know,
but like I love it. The fact that she's got
that much coming out of her paycheck now, like that
amount of her paycheck that her employer is choosing.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
To stick in is what she's got going on.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
That feels so good, right, Yeah, I mean it's like, hey,
by the way, this is your salary, but you also
got a fourteen two percent raise, just like right out
of the gate.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
When do you think about what the average American savings
rate is? It's far below that, so to feel like
you're hitting that. It's just amazing because of the generosity
of your employer from the get go.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Is that's off the truck.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
It's no wonder that she's planning on staying put. Like,
who wants to give up that kind of a benefit, right,
It's amazing. I'm also pumped that she's planning on keeping
her contribution amount to where it was before. I think
it's a pretty phenomenal idea to keep an investing floor essentially, right,
Like she's like, you know what, six percent, that's what
I was doing before. I'm going to keep it going.
I'm not gonna go below that, even if the match grows,
even if the total dollar amount that she is soalking
(27:11):
away for her future is going up significantly. By doing that,
she's gonna hit that financial independence stage of life before
she knows it.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Man, But Miranda, should you be going deeper into the
four or three B four fifty seven B direction or
should you be going into your own IRA? I mean,
I think you've got so much money going into the
employer plan, which is again awesome, but there's a benefit
in diversifying which accounts that you contribute to. So having
an IRA in addition to those two workplace accounts offers
(27:39):
you some additional flexibility, and we prefer for you to
opt for a wroth IRA over a traditional So I
think that's where I come down, Matt, And that's that's
often where we come down. Once you get the match,
it's like, Hey, going to the roth IRA and then
maybe coming back to the employer plan after you've maxed
out the wroth is typically not always, but that's typically
(27:59):
the best way to go. And it sounds like your
workplace plans are really fantastic, right And if you had
even more match dollars available, we want you to snag
those additional dollars.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Soak them up. Yeah, but they're not there though. No, No,
so that's not the case.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So having your own roth IRA and building that up
over time with those excess personal contributions above and beyond,
I think that would be the superior choice for your
investing dollars right now.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
Sure, So I'm gonna be a little two faced here
because I was just talking about how great it is
that I think she's not going below her threshold or
going below and investing floor.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Essentially.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
It's admirable, right, But I'm going to introduce the nuanced
conversation of like intermediate, medium to short term goals, because
it is so easy for us to beat the drum
of Miranda, you need to be investing more, you need
to be if it's the more the better, the sooner
the better.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
And that's because the vast majority of folks.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Who are out there are not setting aside enough for
their retirements. Given the fact that this is a new
job for her, given the fact that the percentage that
she's got going set aside towards retirement has also increased,
that's I'm thinking about it. That's a significant amount of money,
and I don't I would hate to see her in
a position to where she's a little cash strapped because
(29:09):
she isn't necessarily thinking about some of these more medium
term intermediate.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Goals like I want to buy a house, specific car,
those two.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Things specifically, yeah, I mean because those yeah, that takes
a lot of money to save up a down payment.
And so she didn't say anything about her housing situation
that I heard her say. No, okay, but house in
a car, I mean, ideally you're paying cash for your car,
but that takes up I mean, that takes a lot
of money. To set aside that much money. Same thing
with the down payment for a house. I don't want
you to forsake some of these.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I don't even want to call.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Them lifestyle goals, but just I mean they are, I
guess right, but in everything lifestyle eventually, like you call
it retirement, but at some point we're talking about your
lifestyle within retirement.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And so I don't want you to forsake these short
term goals.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
With those two things in particular, you're you're either talking
about getting better financial terms, right or whereas like say,
saving twenty percent to put down instead of having five
percent to put down, you're gonna save a bunch of
money in that way. Or if you're paying cash for
the car instead of financing it, you're talking about not
having to take out a six or seven percent loan
these days. And that's if you've got that's if you've
got good credit. So I think what you're getting at
(30:09):
is if you over index towards retirement and you're not
also saving for goals and things that you want to
purchase in the coming years, then you're being too myopic, right,
You're being two laser focus retirement, retirement, retirement, and I
think that's obviously a really important consideration, but you don't
want to do it to the neglect of other upcoming
(30:30):
outlays that you're gonna have to make.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I think most listeners, yeah, keep saving, keep investing. But
for her specifically because she listens to the show, and
because she is the type of person to send us
a voice memo that tells me she's probably a little
bit more buttoned up than she's got a decent nest
egg set aside, So she asked too about like where
maybe she should open account, and I think we should
specific companies. Let's talk about that, and we typically highlight
(30:52):
a few, right, and we point to low cost brokerages
basically every time we talk about this, Matt Schwab, Fidelity
are those are the top three. They're not only like
gargantuan behemoths, but they also have just incredibly low costs
index funds that people can invest in. You could even
not for Robinhood, which you love, Matt, because of their match. Yeah,
(31:13):
I know Betterment has been doing something similar because yeah,
Robinhood kicked it off. And now some of these other
online brokerage firms are saying, wait a second, are we
going to offer matches to our customers too, and they're like,
I guess we have to since Robinhood did it the
cats out of the bag. So yeah, it's amazing how
that's just a brand new thing that never existed before.
A match that you get from your brokerage and not
(31:35):
from your employer. Super super cool. Just prioritize, of course,
low cost, well diversified funds, no matter which one of
those firms you go with. And you mentioned too, the
ability to choose which company you go with from your employer,
Fidelity versus TIAA, and Fidelity is the choice there. And
it's not because tia is like a bad company or
anything like that, Like, far from it. They are the
(31:57):
go to for a whole lot of nonprofits when it
comes to the investment brokerage house they choose, but if
you have the option of Fidelity, it's a superior choice
basically all the time. From a feet perspective, I think
of them, Matt and you can I think I appreciate this.
They're kind of like the Aldi of investment houses. Yeah,
not the Costco, No, I think they're all the who
(32:17):
would be the Costco?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Is Costco?
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Like Charles Schwab maybe seems like they've got a little
bit more going on in the customer service, maybe some
fancier options for you, but they're not quite as discount.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
That's yeah, that might be. I don't know how Dangard
might even be aldi. I'm not sure, but they're that's true.
They're all great choices.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I mean, at the end of the day, Team Randa,
she's not even thirty and it sounds like she's investing
close to a quarter of her income.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
So just mad props to you. Keep it up. You're
gonna fight yourself within that FI.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Territory well before most folks, and even before that, I
think you are gonna be able to open up a
lot of different options give yourself a ton more flexibility
in the not so distant future.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
You've been listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty twelve pm to two pm on Sunday and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Kf I AM six forty. You're listening to How to
Money on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 2 (00:07):
Do you want to live well without drowning in debt?
Speaker 3 (00:11):
Joel and Matt have you covered?
Speaker 2 (00:13):
This is how to Money with Joel Larsgard and Matt Altmex.
Speaker 4 (00:25):
KFI AM sixty live everywhere on the iHeartRadio app.
Speaker 3 (00:30):
This is how to Money. I am Matt Altmis and.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
I'm Joel Larsgard. Don't forget to sign up for the
how to Money newsletter. You can find that up at
how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 3 (00:38):
I wanted to mention a quick shout out to Caitlin.
Speaker 4 (00:40):
She was listening to a recent episode and her just
talking about Radon, and she actually was funny.
Speaker 3 (00:45):
She emailed, She's like.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
How to hit pause and reach out to you guys,
because Radon entered the chat. But we were mentioning a
listener had reached out and was talking about some remediation.
Speaker 3 (00:56):
I guess he's gonna have to install some.
Speaker 4 (00:58):
Stuff at the new house at there that they were purchasing,
including a rate on remediation device. I guess like event
fan that kind of thing. And we kind of touched
on how we didn't really know much about radon. Well
I know a lot more about it now because Kaylen
informed me. And I can't remember if she mentioned this
in the email or if this was a part of
my deep dive, but right on is a radioactive substance.
(01:21):
It's it's a radioactive.
Speaker 1 (01:22):
Gas or I guess frightening or like it's going to
turn me into a superhero one other two like Spider
Man now. But it actually can cause lung cancer.
Speaker 3 (01:29):
It causes lung.
Speaker 4 (01:30):
Cancer eventually, and that's I think that's the big period
of time. Is that a lot of times it's not
seen as this pressing issue, but yeah, like you live
in a house and you got radon coming up through
the ground underneath, it gets getting trapped in the maybe
the cross space it's entering into the house, and it
can cause issues. So I looked into it and saw
that you can buy like a fifteen dollars like one
(01:51):
time used test kit, or if you like the data,
they've got these little monitors, these little readouts, and you
can put that in your basement and kind of see
how maybe the levels might flow.
Speaker 3 (02:00):
Shoe eight might give you.
Speaker 4 (02:01):
A better picture, but just search wherever it is that
you live and whether or not right on is more
or less active in your area, because it turns out
where we are there are these different hotspots. Yeah, and
the closer you are, in particular to like the mountains,
it seems that there are higher levels of right on
and that's actually pretty descriptive of where we live, Joel.
(02:22):
So I'm going to look into this, all right. Yeah,
good PSA nice little tip, yep, for sure.
Speaker 3 (02:26):
All right.
Speaker 1 (02:26):
I wanted to mention one other thing real quick before
we get tell the stories, Matt. My daughter is in
this like manners class, which is kind of goofy. I
never remember those. I never thought we would partake of
that cotillion. But is that what it's called. It's not
called that, but yeah, that's basically.
Speaker 3 (02:40):
That's what it was called when I was in middle school.
Did they send you to one? Of course not?
Speaker 1 (02:44):
Okay, I was gonna say, I haven't seen the fruits
of that. You've seen how I treat people. I've seen
how you eat.
Speaker 3 (02:49):
I use the wrong fork all the time. That's the
salad fork. Man.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Well, so she had to get some fancy dresses for
these classes.
Speaker 3 (02:58):
Because she's like learning how to dance with boys and
all that stuff. That's how it goes.
Speaker 1 (03:01):
Man, that's the point we're at in our lives right now. Well,
Emily and Sama Sheet they went to the Thirst Store
to get some new dresses as let me just a
smart move, right, And the one thing she was she
found some.
Speaker 3 (03:12):
Really beautiful dresses. She was super stoked about it.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
The one thing she was nervous about was, wait a second,
is that gonna be totally uncool that I got my
stuff at the thrift store. Nobody's gonna know, well, she
she she told her friends, Hey, I got dressed to
the Thirst Store, and they thought she was the coolest.
She got her dressed to the thrift store. And so
for folks who are out there and you're worried, you're like,
are people gonna judge me?
Speaker 4 (03:35):
Dude?
Speaker 1 (03:35):
People are gonna think if you get something cool, and
then you also, on top of that, got it at
a significant discount because you got it at the Thirst
Store and you didn't I guess, buy it from a
retailer who's like has to manufacture that you're reusing something.
Speaker 3 (03:48):
People just give you extra street cred.
Speaker 5 (03:50):
Dude.
Speaker 3 (03:50):
The Third Store has always been cool.
Speaker 4 (03:52):
I remember going to to the strift door when I
was in high school. And I don't know if it's
just how we view the world. Maybe we're just not
a part of the group Joel that thinks the Thrist
Store is uncool, but the Thrist Store has always been cool.
And this is this used to be a knock on
living in the burbs, the fact. I remember thinking when
we moved up here that I was just like man,
nobody puts out, nobody does a kerb alert. There's there's
(04:13):
not cool stuff out on the street. But it's because
they're donating at all to Goodwill. You've got this third
party that's gone through stuff to make sure it's up
to snuff.
Speaker 3 (04:21):
And then you get to show up.
Speaker 4 (04:23):
They've curated it for you, right, And then you show
up and our oldest she are all.
Speaker 3 (04:28):
Nikes called like air Force ones. Now I don't I
don't really understand. I don't think so, but I think
goes are the popular nights.
Speaker 4 (04:32):
I thought it used to be just a singular shoe,
but no, it seems like I don't know or.
Speaker 3 (04:37):
Something, Yeah, like all those shoes are air Force maybe
like the Jordan's where there's a line of them now brownly.
Speaker 4 (04:41):
I guess so, But She picked up a pair of
like these dope sea foam green Nike high tops cool
that are like I think one hundred bucks, are over
one hundred bucks brand new, wow for kids shoes.
Speaker 3 (04:52):
She picked them up. Man, they're basically brand new for
eight dollars. They're so cool. I love them.
Speaker 1 (04:57):
What parent in the're right mind would spend three on
shoes when your kid's gonna outgrow them?
Speaker 4 (05:01):
And like what we're saying, it's so all that to say,
I'm all for three stores. Man, We certainly need more
of that in our.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
Life, and I think it's good to teach your kid
to own it, like just be like, yeah, god, that's
a third store, and people people will show you mat
respect for that. All right, Matt, let's talk taxes. Tax
days almost here. We're going to get to tariffs in
just a minute. But millions of Americans, including myself, haven't
actually filed yet. I think you just filed your taxes
a story. No, they're still yeah, okay, I've given you
(05:29):
and I are both included in this area.
Speaker 4 (05:31):
Yeah, I gave them my information, say weeks ago. Say
they're just I think they're pretty backed up.
Speaker 1 (05:36):
I personally was waiting on a couple of last minute documents.
My last one didn't come till March twentieth, so I
was like, Okay, I might I might be filing an
extension actually, kind of like we talked about with Jasmine earlier.
This week, Well, the IRS reports that filings are down
this year compared to last year, which means tens of
millions of folks are in the same boat as we are, Matt.
They've got some work to do this weekend or next
(05:58):
if they really want to punt to the last minute.
One possible reason though, for this is because millions of
folks live in an area impacted by a natural disaster
California by the wildfires. If you live in Los Angeles County,
there are parts of North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia that
were impacted by Hurricane Helene. Those populations also have that
(06:18):
they don't have to file until the fall, and they
don't incur a penalty by delaying. I think another reason, though,
is the greater complexity that people tend to face these
days in their taxes. Yes, there's the higher standard deduction,
but there's also a lot of side hustles and day trading,
just kind of investment schemes that people are participating in
as well, so I think that might be part of
(06:40):
the reason that some folks are waiting. It's like they
got to get all their documents in order and it
takes a little more time.
Speaker 4 (06:45):
These a lot of folks are trying to figure out
what documents they actually need to have in hand before
they can file as well. It's it's sort of like, yeah,
there's a learning curve, and you mentioned filing for an extension,
but that even if you do file.
Speaker 3 (06:56):
For an extension, reminder, that doesn't mean that you can wait.
Speaker 4 (06:59):
To pay your taxes if you owe, and if you
can't afford to actually pay your tax bill, we'll make
sure to file anyway, because yeah, failing to pay on time,
that's gonna prompt some stiff penalties. But so well, failing
to actually file two wrongs don't make it right here, Well,
at least do one of them. By the way, there
have been staff cuts at the IRS, so it's a
(07:19):
good idea as always to file your return electronic.
Speaker 1 (07:23):
I thought you're gonna say, file a fraud lot return
that claims a lot of money back because they're not
going to get at you now, they're not going to
catch you.
Speaker 4 (07:29):
Actually, I think that's the advice that Joel's recommending. Matts no,
but I am Matt's is not recommending that advice.
Speaker 3 (07:34):
IRS go after Joel with your angry emails to me.
Speaker 2 (07:38):
You're listening to how to Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 4 (07:45):
By the way, you can always find more money saving
information over at howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 1 (07:50):
Matt, let's take a question about newlyweds and I'll learn
how to money together.
Speaker 6 (07:56):
Hey, Matt and Joel, this is Shyan from Memphis, Tennessee.
Me and my wife got married last August and we've
done the fun task of combining finances. We're currently doing
the approach of having all money going to joint accounts
and then having a small amount that's deposited in our
individual accounts each month. I can't say for sure, but
I believe you both have been an advocate of this
(08:16):
approach in the past. The issue we're having is identifying
which type of expenses would fall into the individual spending
versus the joint spending account. How do you guys determine
this yourselves? Additionally, how do you determine how much to
put into the individual accounts. Do you do a fixed
them out, do you do a percentage based on the
prior month savings them out? Or is it something else?
(08:38):
Thank for the help.
Speaker 3 (08:39):
Memphis, Joel, you spent some time there? I have is that?
Did you actually get married in Memphis?
Speaker 1 (08:44):
We did get married in Memphis, Yes, okay, I remember
my wife is from there or Tennessee, and got married
at the Memphis Zoo.
Speaker 4 (08:49):
I'm sorry when I said Tennessee, I meant to say Chattanooga.
You also spend time there.
Speaker 3 (08:54):
We spent time in Chattanooga, But Memphis is also Tennessee.
Speaker 1 (08:56):
They're both, yeah, exactly, just in like literally opposite ends
of Tennessee. But no, the Memphisoo is pice legit, lovely,
so just a wonderful place and I fond memories for sure.
Speaker 3 (09:06):
Best wedding ever. I didn't go to yours. Well, we
didn't know each other. Yeah, I'm assuming mine was better?
Speaker 4 (09:13):
Well, yours was that you were older in life, like Kden,
I got married pretty young, and I feel like the
older you get, the more personality and the more your
own you can make it.
Speaker 3 (09:24):
I do.
Speaker 1 (09:24):
I don't know who you are when you're like you
were like sixteen when you got married, not quite that young.
I mean yeah, like there's a degree of like learning
who you are, figuring yourself out, figuring out the things
that you value, and it's hard to know all those things.
I'm ever evolving, dynamic person jol even now. I mean, yeah,
you mad sure your weddings. Well, I liked craft beer
(09:45):
back then, but I also liked dive bar beer, so
like PBR, and I distinctly remember wanting my groom's cake
to be a PBR can and I remember Emily's dad
being like, not, man, come on, that's not cool, it's lame.
So instead I went with a Norwegian flag because that's
my heritage.
Speaker 3 (10:01):
And I'm actually that's fun. I'm glad that I did that.
Speaker 4 (10:05):
Words of wisdom, that's right, the future fell right, Yeah,
if you willing to listen to your elders.
Speaker 3 (10:09):
People.
Speaker 1 (10:10):
Speaking of elders, I'm sure we're older than Cheyenne. Here,
let's let's answer his question. First off, congrats on getting married,
and it sounds like you guys have taken a really
smart approach to combining your finances. I mean, I prefer
either everything being combined or having one combined account and
two separate accounts. But ideally, I think the way you
guys have it set up is great. Right, You get
(10:31):
the benefits of combining everything, and Matt, I think those
benefits are many, Right. You get the shared goals, you
get the easy tracking, you get the kind of transparency
which builds trust in that relationship. It's like, hey, I
can look in and see what's going on with the account.
Speaker 3 (10:43):
You can look in.
Speaker 1 (10:43):
We both have essentially just as much control over this
thing as the other one. And then you also get
at least some autonomy, because yeah, you're merging lives, you're
two becoming one flesh or whatever it is we say.
But it also doesn't mean that you aren't an individual
with your own hopes and goals and dreams too that
you share with your partner.
Speaker 4 (11:03):
Right, but at the very least your own spending. Yeah, exactly,
at the very least you get to spend a little
money without like kind of no questions asked, I.
Speaker 3 (11:10):
Yeah, I get that.
Speaker 4 (11:11):
I've found that for us, having a singular account that
all of the money is in that that is incredibly helpful.
Speaker 3 (11:17):
At least.
Speaker 4 (11:18):
I think early on, when you first get married, it
seems like something you both want to keep up with.
But I would not be surprised, Yenne if it becomes
pretty quickly apparent that one of you enjoys doing this
more than the other person. And what you don't need
to do is to then be responsible for multiple logins,
like reconciling multiple accounts, having it all and you know,
just kind of.
Speaker 1 (11:38):
Spread out all over the place, basically over complicating. Yeah,
it's just so much simpler to have a singular account.
Speaker 4 (11:44):
And when it comes to so he's talking about having
separate accounts for their spending, I think a way around
that is just to simply have like a separate credit card.
And that's something that Kate actually actually does that she
has this separate card that I don't have, where she
completely manages expenses on that because if she knows is
she goes out and buy something and she's thinking, there's
a good chance I'm going to return this. She doesn't
want me entering these transactions in where it's just like, oh, oh,
(12:07):
that sixty seven dollars hit or record it, and then
a couple weeks later she returns it and then I'm like, okay,
minus sixty seven. Now I got to go in and
do all this, she is able to mentally account for that,
and it also allows her like birthday presents, Christmas presents.
That's one of the reasons people talk about having their
own account as well as to well, I don't want
you to be able to see what I'm getting for
(12:27):
you or even where I'm getting it from when I
get you a gift, but the ability for her at
the end of the month to say, okay, and she
sends me a simple breakdown of like this number of
dollars from our giving account, this number of dollars goes
towards groceries, this.
Speaker 3 (12:41):
Amount comes out of the kids account. That kind of thing. Yeah,
there's a way to keep things separate, whilst.
Speaker 4 (12:47):
In my opinion, not necessarily having a bunch of multiple accounts.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
That's a good point, I think overdoing it with the accounts.
I get why you might want to do that, but
I also just don't think it's terribly helpful. And we've
talked about this beforemat but maybe we should highlight the
reason that combining things is good. And especially you talked
about getting married later on, and I think the further
along you are in your life, let's say you get
married in your forties, right, then you're like, I've already
(13:13):
kind of built this financial life on my own. I
don't necessarily know that I want to combine all the way, Like,
let's put the rings on the fingers, let's move in together.
But that rental property that I bought five years ago,
that's mine, right, And I guess I can understand the
reasoning behind that. But the benefits of combining accounts have
been studied, and they are significant because, according to statistics,
(13:33):
you're going to be happier if you do, You're going
to experience greater relationship satisfaction.
Speaker 3 (13:38):
Right.
Speaker 1 (13:38):
There's this added level of accountability that helps to instill
trust in the relationship. And then both partners, as it
turns out, are unlikely to spend in riskier ways. And
that's partly because what they buy is aside from the
credit card that you're talking about, the kite has access
to mount although she gives you at least generalities what
(13:58):
she's spending with, that partner is going to see what
you're buying if you're spending directly from the joint account.
And so if you opt for those separate accounts for
fun money, yeah, you're opting for a little more privacy,
but that's not necessarily for the best for your relationship,
and each couple's gonna have a different stance on whether
that's something they feel they need or not. But I
(14:19):
think the general statistics reveal an underlying truth that the
combination of finances as a couple is going to make
you stronger.
Speaker 3 (14:27):
Totally.
Speaker 4 (14:27):
Yeah, But then how do you decide how much each
of you gets to spend?
Speaker 3 (14:30):
This is going to be highly.
Speaker 4 (14:31):
Dependent on your relationship as well, and just the dynamics.
And like some folks out there think that the person
who makes more money or like they should be able
to spend more. Like you make more, you spend more others.
I think it's a percentage. It's like, hey, I bring
home twice.
Speaker 3 (14:47):
Then I'm gonna have ten percent more.
Speaker 1 (14:48):
You're gonna have to do something less, So I get
the thirty two ounce speer, you get a sixteen.
Speaker 3 (14:52):
Outpeer And maybe I don't know.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
Do you ever take body weight into into account, Joe
when you're splitting.
Speaker 3 (14:57):
A beer with your wife?
Speaker 5 (14:58):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (14:58):
Oh yeah, I actually do, yeah, because I'm like, if
I give you, I get sixty gets forty.
Speaker 4 (15:03):
That's also just because she doesn't drink it all the
way and I do. So Kate's like a tiny person,
so not like a literal tiny person, but like she's
just significantly smaller than I am. And I'm like, and
I think, oh, if I actually pour you the same amount,
this is going to impact you differently, it's gonna impact me.
That being said, some folks think that it should be
split evenly each and every month, but then others think
that they should be able to just to spend hour
(15:23):
they choose unless the cost of an item is going
to exceed let's say a particular threshold.
Speaker 3 (15:29):
Like one hundred bucks, that kind of thing.
Speaker 4 (15:31):
And so these are all personal decisions. And I mean,
in my opinion, I think this is something you need
to talk about because I think every couple out there
is going to arrive at a different dollar amount. In
our case, this is something that we've talked about. And
Kate always gets more money than I do every single month,
and that's because of what we've included in her personal
category as well, which includes hair, like she doesn't get
(15:53):
goes I would get for a haircut or gets her
hair colored, that kind of thing, make up products, things
like that you.
Speaker 1 (15:58):
Cut yours in your son's hair. But not hers, not
I have to We've talked of I've even tried coloring.
I've even tried the ballage at home before and it
saved us some money, but it took a lot of time.
I don't think they were gonna do that again. It
didn't quite turn out I think as as excellently as
maybe she was hoping for. As well, it's good for you,
you'd be on the hook for doing it for the
rest of your life.
Speaker 4 (16:19):
Yeah, But I mean what I'm highlighting here though, is
that I think each couple is gonna arrive at a
different point and it doesn't necessarily have to be the
same amount. It doesn't even have to correspond with who
is earning more money, because that would be me. But
in this, in our case, in our relationship, she actually
gets more to spend every single month.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
Than I do. So all right, we've got actually more
to get to.
Speaker 2 (16:36):
On today's show, you're listening to How To Money with
Joel Larsgard on demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 3 (16:45):
We're glad to have you along for the show today.
Speaker 1 (16:47):
By the way, if you're looking for the right credit
card for your wallet, well you want to be able
to use it responsibly. But if you do that, if
you pay your credit card on time and in full
every single month, well check on our credit card tool.
You can find that up on the website at howtomoney
dot com.
Speaker 4 (17:02):
So did you watch the presidential address from the Roast
this past Wednesday?
Speaker 3 (17:07):
I caught a.
Speaker 1 (17:07):
Little bit where you held up the poster and which
is just kind of a fun image, kind.
Speaker 4 (17:12):
Of feels like giving a presentation like in rid school
sort of thing. Surprise it wasn't on a trifle board.
That would have been the icing on the cake. Of course,
the president's continued belief that tariffs are the solution to
basically every human problem that continued with the announcement of
array of widespread terrists. Man, the thing is, and we've
(17:33):
talked about this, this this ramped up trade war is
going to harm everyone.
Speaker 3 (17:38):
American businesses.
Speaker 4 (17:39):
They're going to be at a disadvantage internationally assuming there
are reactionary tariffs and they fail generally speaking to tak
into account just many classic economic realities like comparative advantage.
Think about all the things that are produced abroad in
different countries where maybe there's more affordable labor, a desire
to produce pencils or plastic cups, things that we don't
(18:02):
necessarily want to.
Speaker 3 (18:03):
Produce here in the United States.
Speaker 1 (18:05):
Just try bringing banana and avocado production into the United States.
Speaker 3 (18:10):
That's cecilia as parts.
Speaker 4 (18:11):
Tariffs on items that we can't even produce, like coffee,
for instance. Milton Friedman, he called terraces a protection against
low prices, which, man, we wholeheartedly agree. And it's not
surprising to see that consumers are already dialing back their spending.
At least they're discretionary spending, increasing their savings. They are
quote unquote preparing for a rainy day, which is smart
(18:34):
because Yale Budget Labs they predict that the average family
will lose an extra three to four thousand dollars in
purchasing power.
Speaker 3 (18:41):
That's a lot of money, man, and cheap stuff.
Speaker 4 (18:44):
It's not the only part of the American dream, but
it is not an inconsequential part of it either. And
of course this is assuming that these terroists stick around.
Right there's a part of me that's just holding my
breath and waiting to see how long before these are
either walked back or other countries are where they say that, hey,
we don't want to play this game, right, Like, this
is the best case argument for terrasts, right where it's
(19:08):
a political move where they're going to blink first, where
they're not check exactly yeah, where they're saying it's almost
it's like an economic nuclear war a most right, where
it's like, all right, we've got these other countries and
they've maybe been poaching around the edges of the around
the border a little bit, but this is this is
an entirely different ball game, and hopefully we do see
some countries start to walk that back. It's a tit
(19:30):
for tat and we see terraces significantly decrease over time.
Like that's I think the best case scenario, right, because
you can't industrialize the country overnight, but you can say, oh, yeah,
we're not going to do those terriffs anymore.
Speaker 3 (19:42):
That is something that can happen over it.
Speaker 1 (19:43):
And even if we did bring back some of that
industrial production that I think the White House is hoping for,
that doesn't necessarily mean low prices either, because can you
imagine how much it's going to cost to build the
factory and manufacture an iPhone here on us soil?
Speaker 3 (19:57):
We can be cheap.
Speaker 1 (19:58):
We have high wages here in the US, which is
which is great, and we also have fairly inexpensive goods
because of free trade. The I think the attempt to
make free trade to demonize free trade, I get where
it comes from, but I think that it doesn't make
a whole lot of sense. And consumers are going to
feel the pinch pretty quickly on all sorts of goods
(20:20):
in in not very long. And I do think that yeah,
we'll see. I mean, the stock market obviously didn't react
well yesterday.
Speaker 3 (20:26):
It reacted immediately, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (20:28):
Whereas I don't know that I've ever seen that steep
of a drop in that short amount of time.
Speaker 3 (20:32):
Do you remember.
Speaker 1 (20:32):
COVID was Was there a was there a ten hour
blip where where stocks were dropping?
Speaker 4 (20:37):
My quart once it was announced as like a global
health crisis in actual pandemic, and I think it's got
freaky real quick. Hey, that's true either way. I think
everyone is praying for tariff de escalation.
Speaker 1 (20:48):
Essentially as what is what happened for I agree, and
we will continue to monitor, keep our finger on the
tariff pulse as it were, tariff deaf con you know,
like we're up to three four.
Speaker 4 (20:58):
Yeah, I don't know, it's backwards like it's it feels
like we're at to right now, like it's it's actually
about to seriously impact the globe and hopefully we can
back that thing down.
Speaker 1 (21:05):
The announcement was like a tariff flinking lights for sure,
and then and so I think, yeah, tariff vigilance on
baff of individuals, it's more it's more of a necessity
right now, right and UPS is making it easier to
see the impact of tariffs on your purchases as they're
becoming more widespread, more international deliveries are coming with like
an unexpected bill attached for unpaid import costs, and so
(21:28):
UPS has this new global checkout that they that they
launched and it's automatically adding the cost of tariffs in
for shoppers buying from overseas companies who are subject to tariffs,
which is going to be more necessary right now, Like
it's going to be really frustrating to get a bill
after the fact if you bought the thing and you
didn't realize that there was a tariff attached that for
some reason, it wasn't paid for by the company sending
(21:49):
the good into the United States. And so, you know,
we wish this solution wasn't necessary because that would mean
that tariffs weren't a reality in the way they're currently existing.
But it's I don't know, kind of cool. There's some
transparency on that front, sure, and more needed transparency.
Speaker 4 (22:03):
By the way.
Speaker 1 (22:03):
One thing we didn't really talk about on Tariff's Matt
is that this is also going to impact American companies
sending goods to other countries if there are retaliatory tariffs.
Speaker 4 (22:12):
So oh yeah, I mentioned the reactionary tariff.
Speaker 1 (22:13):
So it's like to complain at that game, Well, that's
why we're doing it. But then yeah, when you think,
just think about what that's going to do to American
businesses who send a lot of goods overseas.
Speaker 4 (22:22):
Yeah, well, as prices go up, that means we as
consumers need to pay a little bit more attention to
our personal spending. And we've been saying this for quite
some time because of inflation. But Bloomberg they just published
a piece about the importance of individual action to cut
down on your own rate of inflation.
Speaker 3 (22:39):
And I think.
Speaker 4 (22:40):
Depending on how you view the world, maybe the side
of the political aisle that you're on, it can be
tempting just to throw your hands up and just talk
smack about our elected officials, and there's certainly a time
and place for that, But it's also really important to
remember that despite policy changes that we have no control over,
there is still a lot that we actually do have
(23:01):
control over. And so the moral of this article is
pretty simple, which is to shop around. And I can
see no better way to cut your spending the spend
more time about the Thristorgel.
Speaker 3 (23:11):
Yeah, yeah, that's a good point.
Speaker 1 (23:12):
Like, I think there are some ways in which we're
just gonna grin and Barrett, we're just gonna take it
on the chin because they are necessary items that we
can't afford to not purchase. And then I think there
are other ways in which we companies are going to
be doing the same thing. Right, They're gonna be pivoting
to where they source their goods from, and we can
do the same as individuals. We can pivot to where
we're buying from. And yeah, buying secondhand, keeping some things
(23:36):
around longer might become a necessity for some folks. It
might just be a savvy way for people to save
more as individuals too.
Speaker 4 (23:42):
Even just bringing up the pandemic, it reminds me of
how different our world is now from just a few
short years ago, we've seen just incredible changes to interest rates,
to housing costs, to inflation, basically to everything. And we
all remember the increased power that fell into the hands
of job seekers back couple of years ago, like back
in twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three. Well, now there
(24:04):
are some stats that are showing that many job seekers
are experiencing wage deflation. More companies are hesitant to make
new hires, which means job switching is not going to
net you any more pay, and in fact, it might
even get you less pay for you to go with
a new company these days, as opposed to say put.
Speaker 3 (24:22):
So this is not a.
Speaker 4 (24:23):
Hard and fast rule, obviously, but we a couple of
weeks ago, we recently talked about getting the job you
Want with Madeline Manned, and so if that's not an
episode that you happen to catch, we'd recommend going back
and checking that one out.
Speaker 1 (24:34):
Yeah, I couldn't agree more. All Right, we've got more
to get to on today's show.
Speaker 2 (24:38):
You're listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard on
demand from KFI AM six forty.
Speaker 4 (24:44):
Don't forget to sign up for the How to money
newsletter over at how tomoney dot com slash newsletter.
Speaker 1 (24:49):
Let's get to a question about investing and whether or
not the employer account is superior to doing your own.
Speaker 5 (24:56):
Thing him Matt and Jewel. Miranda Hear from Loving Utah.
I've got a question about retirement accounts. I recently got
a new job that automatically contributes a fourteen point two
percent match of my salary to a four toh one
A plan. They're also set up to do an automatic
three percent from my pay to a pre tax four
oh three B. I also have the option for further
(25:16):
WROTH four oh three B or four fifty seven B
WROTH or pre tax contributions. At my previous job, I
contributed six percent to a ROTH four oh one K
to get the company match of four point five percent.
Since I'm already used to contributing the six percent, I
would like to keep at least that much contributing to
another retirement account. My question is what account is the
best option one offered through my new employer, or should
(25:39):
I look at an IRA that I could potentially roll
my previous four to oh one K into as well
some other notes. I'm almost thirty and anticipate staying in
this job for several years. I also have the option
of having these accounts with either TIAA or Fidelity. Any
advice there, thanks so much, all.
Speaker 4 (25:54):
Right, Marinda's got all the different accounts available to her.
Joel listen alphabets who hit a couple of times if
you wanted to listen to all the options that are
that have been laid up here before us in her question,
and Miranda, I'm gonna say that you are in a
pretty fantastic matching situation here, just I mean the fact
that you get a match that's that generous here with
(26:15):
your new job. She said fourteen point two.
Speaker 3 (26:18):
I think.
Speaker 4 (26:18):
So where did the point two come from? I don't know,
but like I love it. The fact that she's got
that much coming out of her paycheck now, like that
amount of her paycheck that her employer is choosing.
Speaker 3 (26:28):
To stick in is what she's got going on.
Speaker 4 (26:29):
That feels so good, right, Yeah, I mean it's like, hey,
by the way, this is your salary, but you also
got a fourteen two percent raise, just like right out
of the gate.
Speaker 1 (26:38):
When do you think about what the average American savings
rate is? It's far below that, so to feel like
you're hitting that. It's just amazing because of the generosity
of your employer from the get go.
Speaker 3 (26:47):
Is that's off the truck.
Speaker 4 (26:49):
It's no wonder that she's planning on staying put. Like,
who wants to give up that kind of a benefit, right,
It's amazing. I'm also pumped that she's planning on keeping
her contribution amount to where it was before. I think
it's a pretty phenomenal idea to keep an investing floor essentially, right,
Like she's like, you know what, six percent, that's what
I was doing before. I'm going to keep it going.
I'm not gonna go below that, even if the match grows,
even if the total dollar amount that she is soalking
(27:11):
away for her future is going up significantly. By doing that,
she's gonna hit that financial independence stage of life before
she knows it.
Speaker 1 (27:17):
Man, But Miranda, should you be going deeper into the
four or three B four fifty seven B direction or
should you be going into your own IRA? I mean,
I think you've got so much money going into the
employer plan, which is again awesome, but there's a benefit
in diversifying which accounts that you contribute to. So having
an IRA in addition to those two workplace accounts offers
(27:39):
you some additional flexibility, and we prefer for you to
opt for a wroth IRA over a traditional So I
think that's where I come down, Matt, And that's that's
often where we come down. Once you get the match,
it's like, Hey, going to the roth IRA and then
maybe coming back to the employer plan after you've maxed
out the wroth is typically not always, but that's typically
(27:59):
the best way to go. And it sounds like your
workplace plans are really fantastic, right And if you had
even more match dollars available, we want you to snag
those additional dollars.
Speaker 3 (28:07):
Soak them up. Yeah, but they're not there though. No, No,
so that's not the case.
Speaker 1 (28:11):
So having your own roth IRA and building that up
over time with those excess personal contributions above and beyond,
I think that would be the superior choice for your
investing dollars right now.
Speaker 4 (28:22):
Sure, So I'm gonna be a little two faced here
because I was just talking about how great it is
that I think she's not going below her threshold or
going below and investing floor.
Speaker 3 (28:30):
Essentially.
Speaker 4 (28:32):
It's admirable, right, But I'm going to introduce the nuanced
conversation of like intermediate, medium to short term goals, because
it is so easy for us to beat the drum
of Miranda, you need to be investing more, you need
to be if it's the more the better, the sooner
the better.
Speaker 3 (28:47):
And that's because the vast majority of folks.
Speaker 4 (28:48):
Who are out there are not setting aside enough for
their retirements. Given the fact that this is a new
job for her, given the fact that the percentage that
she's got going set aside towards retirement has also increased,
that's I'm thinking about it. That's a significant amount of money,
and I don't I would hate to see her in
a position to where she's a little cash strapped because
(29:09):
she isn't necessarily thinking about some of these more medium
term intermediate.
Speaker 3 (29:13):
Goals like I want to buy a house, specific car,
those two.
Speaker 4 (29:16):
Things specifically, yeah, I mean because those yeah, that takes
a lot of money to save up a down payment.
And so she didn't say anything about her housing situation
that I heard her say. No, okay, but house in
a car, I mean, ideally you're paying cash for your car,
but that takes up I mean, that takes a lot
of money. To set aside that much money. Same thing
with the down payment for a house. I don't want
you to forsake some of these.
Speaker 3 (29:36):
I don't even want to call.
Speaker 4 (29:37):
Them lifestyle goals, but just I mean they are, I
guess right, but in everything lifestyle eventually, like you call
it retirement, but at some point we're talking about your
lifestyle within retirement.
Speaker 3 (29:45):
And so I don't want you to forsake these short
term goals.
Speaker 1 (29:47):
With those two things in particular, you're you're either talking
about getting better financial terms, right or whereas like say,
saving twenty percent to put down instead of having five
percent to put down, you're gonna save a bunch of
money in that way. Or if you're paying cash for
the car instead of financing it, you're talking about not
having to take out a six or seven percent loan
these days. And that's if you've got that's if you've
got good credit. So I think what you're getting at
(30:09):
is if you over index towards retirement and you're not
also saving for goals and things that you want to
purchase in the coming years, then you're being too myopic, right,
You're being two laser focus retirement, retirement, retirement, and I
think that's obviously a really important consideration, but you don't
want to do it to the neglect of other upcoming
(30:30):
outlays that you're gonna have to make.
Speaker 4 (30:31):
I think most listeners, yeah, keep saving, keep investing. But
for her specifically because she listens to the show, and
because she is the type of person to send us
a voice memo that tells me she's probably a little
bit more buttoned up than she's got a decent nest
egg set aside, So she asked too about like where
maybe she should open account, and I think we should
specific companies. Let's talk about that, and we typically highlight
(30:52):
a few, right, and we point to low cost brokerages
basically every time we talk about this, Matt Schwab, Fidelity
are those are the top three. They're not only like
gargantuan behemoths, but they also have just incredibly low costs
index funds that people can invest in. You could even
not for Robinhood, which you love, Matt, because of their match. Yeah,
(31:13):
I know Betterment has been doing something similar because yeah,
Robinhood kicked it off. And now some of these other
online brokerage firms are saying, wait a second, are we
going to offer matches to our customers too, and they're like,
I guess we have to since Robinhood did it the
cats out of the bag. So yeah, it's amazing how
that's just a brand new thing that never existed before.
A match that you get from your brokerage and not
(31:35):
from your employer. Super super cool. Just prioritize, of course,
low cost, well diversified funds, no matter which one of
those firms you go with. And you mentioned too, the
ability to choose which company you go with from your employer,
Fidelity versus TIAA, and Fidelity is the choice there. And
it's not because tia is like a bad company or
anything like that, Like, far from it. They are the
(31:57):
go to for a whole lot of nonprofits when it
comes to the investment brokerage house they choose, but if
you have the option of Fidelity, it's a superior choice
basically all the time. From a feet perspective, I think
of them, Matt and you can I think I appreciate this.
They're kind of like the Aldi of investment houses. Yeah,
not the Costco, No, I think they're all the who
(32:17):
would be the Costco?
Speaker 3 (32:18):
Is Costco?
Speaker 4 (32:19):
Like Charles Schwab maybe seems like they've got a little
bit more going on in the customer service, maybe some
fancier options for you, but they're not quite as discount.
Speaker 1 (32:28):
That's yeah, that might be. I don't know how Dangard
might even be aldi. I'm not sure, but they're that's true.
They're all great choices.
Speaker 4 (32:34):
I mean, at the end of the day, Team Randa,
she's not even thirty and it sounds like she's investing
close to a quarter of her income.
Speaker 3 (32:39):
So just mad props to you. Keep it up. You're
gonna fight yourself within that FI.
Speaker 4 (32:44):
Territory well before most folks, and even before that, I
think you are gonna be able to open up a
lot of different options give yourself a ton more flexibility
in the not so distant future.
Speaker 1 (32:53):
You've been listening to How To Money with Joel Larsgard.
You can always hear us live on KFI AM six
forty twelve pm to two pm on Sunday and anytime
on demand on the iHeartRadio app.
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
The Breakfast Club
The World's Most Dangerous Morning Show, The Breakfast Club, With DJ Envy, Jess Hilarious, And Charlamagne Tha God!