Getting Out of Debt

CJ, Klaas, and Shawn talk about the importance of getting out of debt.

Episode Transcript

(00:03):
This is Money in Motion with ClassFinancial, a fun and informative show designed
to help you get answers to allyour retirement questions in one place. And
our telephone lines are open to youright now at three two one thirteen ten.
That's three two one thirteen ten getsyou on the air with our retirement
planning professials from Class Financial, CJ. Claus and Malia Quavis. The website

(00:26):
Class financial dot com. That's kl a as Financial dot com, the
great website, great resource, andthey're telephone number six to eight four four
two five six three seven and joiningus this morning our CJ Class and Mali
Quavis. Guys, how are wedoing this week? Doing great? How
are you Sean? Doing really well? CJ? Great to have you back.
Did I see you were watching somePGA watching some Christis was I was

(00:48):
at the the PGA Tour Championship,the FedEx Cup and at East Lake in
Atlanta. It was great, man. Who do you know? I don't
know. I turned forty and mywife took me, took me there,
so I know noboddy. I wasjust a commoner watching watching the growth.
You know, A wonderful woman thatgot you a fantast that's right, that's
right. I know my wife.There you go. It's making you great.
Great people are good. Friend,Melia Quavis is well, us is

(01:11):
only how are you doing this morning? I'm doing great. I'm just clid.
A CJ didn't win that win andplay and win there, or he
wouldn't be working today. Okay,that's kind of a big purse. I
no, Victor Roblin, I didn'twin the eighteen million. There's always you
always got an offseason work on it. I know KCJ. Obviously you've you're
you've you've been involved in competitive sportsas well. So I'm a very interesting

(01:33):
story speaking of By the way,you mentioned the website class financial dot common
of the cool things when you goto about and learn more about the team
at class financial, if you scrollover the pictures, a little easter eggs
pop up, tell you a littlebit about who they are and a little
bit about what they're passionate about aswell. Again, that's available at class
financial dot com. Well mine's areopen six to eight three two one thirteen
ten at six o eight three twoone thirteen ten. This week we are

(01:55):
going to be talking about dat.We're going to talk about carrying add into
retirement and things you need to knowabout of course metge. The full lines
are open six three two one thirteenten the website class financial dot com.
Dolphin up for Class Financial for theoffice right here in Madison six o eight
four four two five six three seven. Don't forget no charge that initially get
to know your appointment at Class Financial. It will be complimentary to you a

(02:17):
little bit later on the program.Of course, something we do each and
every week is the Class Quiz questionthe week you will have a chance to
win a fantastic prize. This weekour friends from Class Financially provided a twenty
five dollars gift cart Sipara, andof course the Clauscis question Week will come
up a little bit later in theprogram. A little tip to the Class
Quiz question the week. You getin a little advantage if you listen closely,
because oftentimes both the question and answerto the Class Quiz Question Week come

(02:40):
up during the program. And speakingup the Class Quiz question the week before
we get rolling on this week's conversation, let's take a look back at last
week's show and get the question andthe answer there as well. YEA,
so last week, we had agreat conversation about how fees are charged on
investment accounts if you work with afinancial advice or if you're just doing it

(03:00):
on your own, just understanding kindof where those fees take place. So
the question of the week was isthe following statement true or false? A
load is a sales charge or commissioncharge to an investor when buying or redeeming
shares in a mutual fund. Sothe answer was true, correct statement,

(03:20):
and Gary of Fitchburg, congratulations tohim, correctly answered that. So just
be aware of fees that you pay. It's always something important to know and
ask the person that you're working withso you have a clear understanding of that
going forward. So listen carefully fortoday's question. And you mentioned, of
course, this was part of lastweek's program, and it was a really
really informative All the shows are reallyinformative. And one of the great things

(03:43):
is if you ever a miss partof a program, whether it's this morning,
is step out for a moment,grab a cup of coffee, dropped
the grand kids. I know we'reat that time of your kids and grandkids
are getting back to school. Maybea miss part of the program great opportunity
to listen back at class financial dotcom. That's Klaas Financial dot com.
So, you know, we thinkabout, you know, helping folks plan
for retirement, something that you guysdo each and every day, and one

(04:04):
of the things that comes up isthe amount of debt that folks are carrying
on their balance sheet. Correct.Yeah, so for many people, debt
continues to be something that follows theminto retirement, and as you can imagine,
it can put quite a bit ofundue burden on retirees that while they're

(04:25):
trying to keep up with regular livingand medical expenses, they've got these debt
service payments. So this is whywe feel choosing to be debt free in
retirement is truly the best choice andit'll provide you more options as you be
in the next the next season ofyour life. There are a few steps
to remember as you work to achievebecoming debt free. So just a few

(04:46):
things we want to mention, youknow, first things, first, set
up a plan to reduce and eventuallyeliminate your debt. Often, well,
we had a former colleague, hisname was Mike Toddrick, and he would
he had this kind of catchy phrase, he said, if you don't know
where you're going, any road willget you there. Now I have a
hunch that that wasn't his original quote, but it's an interesting quote, isn't

(05:10):
it. If you don't know whereyou're going, any road will get you
there. And then he would oftenadd on at the end and by the
way, when you get there,you may not like where you end up,
which is just so true because oftenpeople say I don't know how I
got here, and what they're reallysaying is I didn't have a plan and
so I just spent what came in. So listen if you don't think getting

(05:32):
out of debt is important. Wedo have a friend in the industry,
Dave Ramsey, who's notoriously kind ofthe debt elimination guru. He has a
program called Financial Peace University that kindof talks about the psychological, mental,
emotional, and financial impacts of debt. So you might want to consider listening
to Dave Ramsey as a radio show. He's actually much more famous than we

(05:54):
are. But you may first needto change your lifestyle and spending habits,
which requires that you start by settingrealistic goals. Today, so often people
again they get into debt. Theydon't know how, but it's by not
having a plan. Of course,people say, well what do I do
once I'm there? And the answeris you need to build a plan,
because again, what caused you tobuild up that debt was not having a

(06:16):
plan. What will cause you toget out of that debt is to have
a plan. Likely you'll want tobe aggressive in paying down your debt first
so then you can begin saving ona regular basis. So often people hit
forty forty five, maybe even fiftyand go how did I get here?
And then you know, they meetwith us and they say, I feel
like I should, you know,start maxing out my four oh one K

(06:38):
plan and you know, put alittle bit more towards the debt. And
often we have to say, youknow what, your debt is so severe,
we need to focus on your debtfirst because the debt is just killing
you. So often kind of havingthis laser focus, or what Dave Ramsey
would say is a gazelle like intensitytowards towards eliminating your debt. Focus there

(07:00):
first, and then and then focuson saving thereafter. Talking this morning with
our retirement plan, professional CJ ClassimileAquavius. If you've got a question,
we'd love to get you on theair. Six eight three two one thirteen
ten. That's six O eight threetwo one thirteen ten. Learn more about
Class Financial website class financial dot com. That's k l as Financial dot com
and their telephone number six O eightfour four two five six three seven CG.

(07:23):
I've got a guess that there isprobably a strategy even to handling and
paying down debt, isn't there yea, So generally we don't recommend borrowing from
your retirement account to do this.So often people go, hey, I've
figured it out. I can justtake a loan from my four oh one
K plan and pay off on mycredit card debt. And and certainly there
are times at which even we mightsuggest that, but it's very narrow times

(07:47):
and narrow exceptions, depending upon people'sages. So here's what we would say,
generally, do not do that.Do not think to yourself, I
can solve my problems by you know, paying off one debt by taking on
another. You're not solving the problem. You're just passing around a hot potato,
right, And the reality is there'sno free lunch. So if you're
going to take a loan from yourfour oh one K at a lower interest
rate than your credit card debt.What's the catch and the catches? Well,

(08:09):
if you get laid off or loseyour job before you pay back that
loan, that loan is no longera loan. It's a distribution within sixty
days that could have a ten percentpenalty and Federal Incomes Access and State Incomes
actes depending on the state you livein. So, long story short,
also known as an atomic bomb inyour financial life. So don't think that
the four oh one k loan isan easy solution to getting out of debt.

(08:31):
It really does require a change inbehaviors. So again, have you
ever listened to Dave Ramsey like wedo. He has this radio show where
people will call in and he willoften just say call me back when you're
serious. And what he means bythat is people sometimes get a little bit
bothered by debt. They're annoyed bya debt, but it is only at

(08:52):
the moment that they say I've hadit. Enough is enough? This debt
is literally running my life. It'sat that moment when they hit that rock
bottom where they say I'm willing tochange my lifestyle. So again, you
need to get to a place whereyou say, being out of debt in
retirement is so important that I amwilling to change some of my habits to

(09:15):
accomplish that. And what we wouldsay is the payoff is significant. To
live your life in retirement debt freeas a completely different feeling viewpoint, flexibility,
freedom, and even generosity to itthan living life in retirement with debt.
Now, with that being said,if you plan to retire with debt,
we occasionally will consult with people ifthey're debt is low enough and if

(09:39):
they're say sixty five seven years old, we will say, okay, that's
fine. You can retire with debt, especially if that's non mortgage debt,
but you may want to consider,you know, having a part time job
to help you eliminate that debt fasterin retirement. So, long story short,
be serious about your debt, changeyour habits, and when all else

(10:01):
fails, remember this. Things thatare on autopilot tend to happen. Things
that are not on autopilot tend notto happen. Look no further than why
are all these companies building subscription services? And the answer is because once you
sign up for a subscription, younever cancel it or rarely cancel it.
Right, and so in a similarway, how are you going to get

(10:24):
yourself out of debt? And theanswer is turn it into a like subscription
get out of debt plan where yousay, as soon as I get paid,
you know, five hundred dollars goestowards that credit card, or as
soon as I get paid, athousand dollars goes into my four one K
plan. The things that are onautopilot tend to happen. The things that
are not tend not to really fascinatingstuff this week mentioned Dave Ramsey. Of

(10:46):
course we're ready. You're in thirteento end WIBA and it's such great advice
and such great stuff this week fromour retirement planning professionals c J Claus and
Malia Quavis. If you've got aquestion for CJ and Malia, love to
hear from you this morning. Sixo eight three two thirteen ten. That's
three two one thirteen ten. We'llget you right on the air. Don't
forget. You can learn more aboutClass Financial on their website class financial dot

(11:07):
com. That's klaas financial dot com. I mentioned earlier about getting to know
the team, also getting to knowClass Financial. I haven't mentioned yet the
really cool feature on the website,which is the weekly Market Pulse newsletter.
Speaking of subscriptions, you can subscriberight now. It's not going to cost
you a thing. It's a greatweekly email that comes in your inbox a
little bit of what's been going onthe market's a snapshot. Also a link

(11:28):
to the most recent podcast that availableto you at class financial dot com.
That's klaas Financial dot com. Speakingof things available to you. Of course,
that first appointment at Class Financial,it is going to be complimentary to
you all I getters. Give hima call six O eight four four two
five six three seven. Make thatappointment tech Class Financial again the number six
O eight four four two five sixthree seven to get on the other this

(11:50):
morning six three two one thirteen ten. That's three two one thirteen ten.
We'll continue our conversation with c JanMelian and take your call next as Money
in Motion with Class Financial continues righthere on thirteen ten. W IBA.
This is Money in Motion with ClassFinancial, a fun and informative show designed

(12:11):
to help you get answers to allyour retirement questions in one place website class
financial dot com. That's k las financial dot com. There telephone number
six O eight four four two fivesix three seven, no chart for the
initial get to know you appointment atColas Financially. It will be complimentary to
you again the number six eight fourfour two five six three seven. And
to get on the air this morning, just give us a call six so

(12:33):
eight three two one thirteen ten.That's three two one thirteen ten and Terry
joins us. Terry, welcome tothe program. You're on the air with
c J. Class Emilia Quavius ofClass Financial. Good morning, Goodmorrow.
My question is I am seventy one, started collecting my Social Security at sixty
two and am actually doing fine financially. But I took a side gig as

(12:58):
of this week, and I understandthat that that income will be affect my
taxes. You know it'll as itwill be considered ordinary income. But I
also will be contributing to my SocialSecurity once again taking this job. Will
that have any effect on anything?It may? It may so, uh,

(13:26):
great question. By the way,Terry, So social Security, the
way they calculate your benefit is youhave to have at least forty quarters,
which equates to about ten years worthof qualifying Social Security income. That's that's
to just get a benefit period.But then once you get a benefit,
the full calculation is your highest thirtyfive years of inflation adjusted earnings. Now,

(13:52):
that of inflation adjusted earnings is acritical component because often people will say,
well, you know, I workedat thirty years old, I only
made twenty thousand dollars, and Igo, well, twenty thousand dollars.
You know forty years ago is worthquite a bit of money in present value
terms. So so it's your highestthirty five years of inflation adjusted earnings known

(14:13):
as present value adjusted earnings. Soit's adjusted to the present value to see
what the highest of them are.Therefore, let's say you only worked for
thirty two years of qualifying wages.That means on your record you have three
zeros, right, because it's thehighest thirty five and it's zeros until you
fill them in. Well, thenany work you do is is going to

(14:35):
take away a zero and put ina number there, which means that it
will raise your overall table and yes, benefit you. However, if those
years are not replacing either zeros orlower present value term incomes than it won't
have an adjustment. Is this makingsense, Terry, Well, it's more.
It's more complicated than I thought itmight be. Sorry, Terry's obligated.

(15:00):
Feel free to call into our officeand I can try to explain it
in greater detail. It is complicated. But to answer your question, it
may benefit you. It depends onwhat your prior working income was. But
a great question, real fascinating stuff, Terry. Thank you for the call.
Great question. And I know,and anytime folks want to call in
with questions about any topic revolving aroundor involving retirement planning, great opportunity.

(15:24):
I know. Social security is alwaysa very popular conversation. Mentioned calling in
six O eight four four two fivesix three seven to Class Financial office right
here in Madison. No charge forthe initial gets now appointment at Class Financial
again their number six eight four fourtwo five six three seven. Or to
be like Terry and get on theair this morning, I'll gotta do is
called station six O eight three twoone thirteen ten. That's six O eight
three two one thirteen ten. Weare talking debt this week on Money in

(15:48):
Motion right here on thirteen ten.Wiva with class financial and Malia. Let's
talk about some of the numbers andhow much debt Americans in retirement generally carry
these days. Yeah, so itis a pretty big number. I mean,
obviously, people spend money and thathelps the economy, and you know,
the economy appreciates that, but yourpersonal balance sheet not so much.

(16:10):
So when we look at total householddebt right now, that would include mortgages,
student loans, car loans, creditcards, you know, personal loans,
and you know, you add allthat up is a pretty big ticket.
So according to the Federal Reserve Bankof New York, household debt balances
in the US they actually set arecord high this year in the first quarter

(16:33):
of twenty twenty three. That recordhigh seventeen point zero five trillion dollars.
So that is huge and again itmoves the economy along, but it's not
helping you. So that actually wasa growth of over one hundred and forty
eight billion dollars from the fourth quarterof the previous year. So we looked

(16:55):
at a study that Credit Karma didof over seventy eight million Credit Karma members
and they what they looked at wasbaby boomers. So those are folks born
between nineteen forty six and nineteen sixtyfour who are typically retired or on their
way to retirement in the next fiveto seven years. And this is really
critical for our discussions today. Andwe found that in that study they carry

(17:18):
an average auto loan debt of twentytwo thousand dollars, credit card debt of
seven thousand dollars, and a mortgagedebt of one hundred and eighty eight thousand
dollars, again along with other debtobligations will speak of a little later.
What's important to note though here isis we know right now auto loans,
which are going get into detail,and credit card debt right now is just

(17:41):
astronomical. I met with someone inthe last in the last month who you
know, kind of the worst casescenario, has not only a four oh
one k loan, also has creditcard debt also, you know, in
the two to twenty nine percent beingcharged in that credit card debt is also
engaged with a debt management service,you know, and it goes on and

(18:04):
on as far as you know.Once you get in that little tornado of
credit card issues, it just canexplode. As CJ was mentioning, So
we would say some suggestions to helpyou stay away from debt, especially when
you start hearing these numbers how explosivethey are. Stop just stop stop adding

(18:25):
to your debt balances, remove thosecredit cards from your wallet, and actually
sit down and talk to someone becausea lot of people are just afraid they
don't. You know, I respectpeople that say, hey, I have
the situation, what are my bestnext steps? And you really need to
talk to a professional, whether itbe your accountant or a financial advisor or
a mentor in your life. Youreally need to understand what those current interest

(18:48):
rates are and how they're going toaffect your future debt. So this is
this is actually a show that wetry to do at least once a year,
just kind of reminding people as faras what those credit card hard and
other debt balance interest rates are.Right now, we want you to prioritize
by paying off your high interest creditcard usually debt first and use a debt

(19:11):
reduction payoff calculator. There's a lotof them out there now they're free.
You can go to creditcarma dot com, calculator dot net. You can figure
this out on your own if you'dlike. And last, I'm going to
say, pay your bills on time. This seems like the easiest step to
take. And now if you don'thave money, that's an issue you got
to figure out how to prioritize.But those late payments are going to result

(19:33):
in fees that's further going to increaseyour debt balances and hurt your credit scores
in the future. It's it's justas vicious cycle. So sit down,
talk to someone about getting things goingthe right direction so you can plan for
a better retirement. Important guidance andsee, I've seen some of those credit
we're gonna get into those. Someof those credit card rates are like,
oh my goodness, it's it isstaggering and definitely great advice. As always

(19:56):
from a retirement planning professionals only equateus and c J Lostow got time.
If you've got a question, loveto get you on the air with Malia
and CJ. I'll get just giveus call six O eight three two one
thirteen ten. That's three two onethirteen ten. We'll get you right on
the show. You can learn moreabout Class Financial on their website class financial
dot com. That's klaas financial dotcom and the number six O eight four

(20:18):
four two five six three seven forthat's for the office right here in Madison.
No charge for the initial gets toknow you appointment at Class Financial.
It is complimentary to you six Oeight four four two five six three seven.
And to get on the air sixO eight three two one thirteen ten.
That's three two one thirteen ten.Hope you're sitting down. We're going
to talk about some of those rateswhen it comes to credit cards with the
details from CJ Malia and take yourcall next as Money in Motion with Class

(20:41):
Financial continues here on thirteen ten wIBA. This is Money in Motion with
Class Financial, a fun and informativeshow designed to help you get answers to
all your retirement questions in one place, talking with our retirement planning professional from
the Class Financial CJ. Claus andMalia Quavis. The website Class Financial dot

(21:04):
com. That's k l A afinancial dot com, great website, great
resource and Claus Financial dot Com.Our telephone number six O eight four four
two five six three seven. Nocharge for financial gets no employment deck Class
Financial. It will be complimentary toyou again. The website Class Financial dot
Com. The number six eight fourfour two five six three seven as we've

(21:25):
been talking this morning, I hearDave Ramsey his voice in the back of
my head saying, debt is dumb. And you know what, it's a
great thing to always have lingering inthe back of your mind, which I
believe he does that us as thaton purpose. But we're talking about debt
and of course debt as you prepareor enter into retirement. Great program for
miss any part of the show,don't forget. You can listen back as
well. Subscribe to the podcast atclass financial dot com. That's Class k

(21:48):
l a as financial dot com soCJ. When looking at the different kinds
of debt we have, should webe seeing things? Uh? What do
we kind of look at when itcomes to interst rates? What are some
of those? What does some ofthose look like? Uh? And obviously
things that interest rates do change,So what do we what do we need
to know there, man d interms of credit card interest rates and home

(22:12):
loans and what those look like.And then Malia will jump into other things
like auto loans and student loans.But here's here's what I'll generally say.
Yes, interest rates change over time, and if if you haven't paid attention,
they've changed a lot in the lastyear and a half. For the
better part of a decade, interestrates were quite low, relatively speaking.
You could get a you know,thirty year home mortgage with average credit at

(22:34):
about three percent. Now that's closerto six and a half to seven percent
on a thirty year mortgage. Soagain, let me go through through some
stats here. So credit cards.According to lending Tree, the average credit
card interest rate in America today istwenty four point three seven percent. This
is the highest since lending Tree begantracking it back in twenty nineteen. Now,

(22:55):
truth be told, they only startedtracking this in twenty nineteen. I
know for a fact in the lateseventies early eighties credit card interest rates were
even higher than this. But itdoesn't matter. It's twenty four point three
seven percent. And by the way, if you have really, really,
really good credit, it's only twentyone percent. I'm laughing at this because
these rates are insane. Anybody whois listening to me right now that is

(23:22):
not paying their credit card to zeroduring every cycle. If you are paying
any interest, you are being obliteratedby that interest rate, even if you
have spectacular credit. And please donot think that having a good credit score
is a big deal relative to theinterest or debt that you have. You

(23:45):
should be more focused on not havingdebt than having good credit. Let me
repeat myself, you should be morefocused on not having debt or eliminating debt
than having a good credit score.But nobody goes into cocktail party and says,
or very few I should say,gosh, my spouse and I or
if I've worked really hard to keepdebt at a minimum so that I can

(24:07):
hold on and my greatest wealth buildingtool in my income, and so I've
eliminated debt. But gosh, thenumber of people who talk about their credit
score, I just it's insanity tome. Please don't talk about your credit
score. Instead, talk about howruthlessly you are eliminating debt from your life,
because these interest rates, specially oncredit cards, will eat you alive

(24:30):
home loans. Ideally, as weapproach retirement, we would prefer that you
have either no or very little ofa mortgage left. As of August twenty
third, of twenty twenty three,by the way, that's my birthday,
August twenty three, the national averagea thirty year fixed mortgage APR is seven
point six three percent, with theaverage fifteen year fixed rate mortgage is at

(24:51):
six point eight nine percent. Thisis according to bank Rate's latest survey of
the national largest mortgage lenders. Whilethose rates are certainly much better than the
credit cards at twenty to twenty fivepercent, still that you know, seven
and a half or seven to eightpercent on a thirty year fixed rate mortgage

(25:12):
is much higher than it used tobe, and therefore you will again want
to try to eliminate that debt.Now. Back in the day, when
the standard deduction amount was half ofwhat it is today, often people could
deduct the interest through their itemization ontheir tax return. Some of you know

(25:33):
what I'm talking about. Some ofyou do not. Here's what I'd say
to you that math has never workedvery well. Let me repeat myself that
math has never worked very well,So set another way. To keep a
mortgage just to get an interest deductionis mathematically nonsensical. Let me repeat myself.

(25:55):
To keep a mortgage with an interestdeduction so that you can deduct it
on your income taxes is pretty nonsensicalif you have the ability to reduce it.
Now if you don't, if you'restuck and you get the mortgage deduction.
I'm happy you get that, Pleasedon't misunderstand me. That does benefit
you. But if you could bepaying it off and you're not just to

(26:15):
keep the mortgage interest deduction, thatis nonsensical. Not to mention that debt
creates risk, and of course,as you get closer to retirement, you
want to reduce that risk. SoI'm going to pass it off to Malia.
I feel like I'm starting to sounda little bit too much like Dave
Ramsey. I'm getting aggressive with mylanguage, but generally speaking, as you
can hear by my voice, wewould suggest the closer you get to retirement,

(26:37):
the more serious need to be aboutgetting rid of that debt. So
I touched on credit cards, homeloans, and Malia. Then what about
auto loans and student loans. Well, we recognize that people still like to
drive a car even when they're retired, and so as CJ mentioned, you
know, unless you've had your yourhead in a hole the last year and
a half and you didn't notice interestrates. Well, some of my clients

(27:00):
are deciding I need a car.So not only is it sticker shock when
they go out to buy the car, they're also having to order them many
of them are not on the lot, so FYI for those thinking about buying
a car, and then secondly theyfigure, if I'm going to actually finance
this car, it's way more expensivethan I've been used to eight years ago

(27:22):
or whatever. So what we're seeingas of mid August of twenty twenty three
aprs arranging between five point one percentup to twenty one percent. Again,
it depends on the type of autoloan you're looking at. If you're going
to finance, we would just saybe very very careful because those normal sixty
month loans have in the last fewyears extended out to seventy two and even

(27:47):
eighty four months. So the peoplejust like to look at, Okay,
what's my monthly cost, and they'renot looking at the big picture. So
we would say be very careful ifyou do need to finance your car.
Ideal you've got savings stored up topurchase this car. Again, we're planners
and we help people make sure thatthey have that available so they maybe don't
have to go the finance route.The other thing we want to mention this

(28:10):
worry student loans is a lot ofinformation out in the news about this.
Right now, I'd just like totell people. Number one, borrowers are
set to resume payments on their federalstudent loans on September first. I think
that's tomorrow. Hello, you've hadthree years of forbearance on your loans since
COVID, and you've got to startpaying if you haven't been. I applaud

(28:34):
people who continued paying their student loansthroughout the last few years despite what they
were dealing with. But that isgoing to resume and interest will start again.
Now it's important to understand today ifyou're taking out federal student loans for
undergraduates, those interest rates have alsoincreased, and they're looking in the range
of five and a half percent.For the twenty twenty three twenty four school

(28:59):
year graduate students, those interest ratesare over seven percent, and so those
can really get in the higher higherinterest rates if you're doing certain kinds of
loans such as direct plus et cetera. So you want to be very careful
about what you're signing. You know, we want you to go to school,
get a good education, etc.But someone's going to be paying for

(29:21):
that in the future, and it'slikely yourself. So just understand clearly understand
what those interest rates are as you'resigning each year's student loans into place.
Any big takeaways from today show,Malia, Well, we would say,
as CJ has mentioned over and overagain, our goal for you is you
know as an investor, as afuture retiree, that you should make retiring

(29:45):
debt free or even mortgage free apriority. So again this needs to be
done simultaneously. At the same time, you're trying to make sure you have
enough saved for retirement. It's noteasy, especially if you've raised a family,
but with a plan, you canget there. And that's what we
try to help people do every day. Very important stuff our retirement planning professionals
from Class Financial, CJ. Clausen, Malia Quavis don't forget if you have

(30:07):
missed any part of today's program,you want to listen back, share the
program as well. Check them outonline Class financial dot com. That's klaas
Finance dot com. You get thepodcast right there again, Share this information
with your friends and family as well. Get subscribed all online Claus Financial dot
Com teleph number six O eight fourfour two five six three seven No charge
for that initial get to know yourappointment at Claus Financially. It is complimentary

(30:30):
to you again. The number sixO eight four four two five six three
seven. Also want to hold onto that telephon number because it's time now
for the class quiz question the week. Works like this. In just a
moment, I will ask you theclass quiz question the week. You will
then have thirty minutes from the endtoday's program to call the Claus Financial office
right here in Madison at six eightfour four two five six three seven.
If you are the first caller withcorrect answer this week claus quiz question the

(30:51):
Week, you'll win a twenty fivedollars gift card two Sephora. This week's
class quiz question the week? Isthis true or false? Love these?
In the first core of twenty twentythree, household debt balances in the United
States reached a record high of seventeentrillion dollars True or false telephone number six
eight four four two five, sixthree seven. First call correct ansal win

(31:15):
the twenty five dollars gift card.Don't forget as well. That's Class Financial's
office right here in Madison. Nocharge Financial gets no you appoyment tech Class
Financial, it will be complimentary toyou again. The number six eight four,
four, two, five, six, three seven CJ Malia, It's
always great chatting with you guys.Enjoy this most beautiful days. Thanks.
News comes your way. Next righthere on thirteen ten WIBA. This is

(31:40):
Money in Motion with Class Financial AssetAdvisors LLC, a registered investment advisor registered
with the SEC. The content ofthis show is for informational purposes only and
should not be considered individual investment advice. Class Financial does not offer tax or
legal advice. Any opinion offered duringthe course of this show is the opinion

(32:01):
of that particular investment advisor representative,and not necessarily the opinion of Class Financial