October 9, 2025 • 11 mins
Host of ‘How to Money’ Joel Larsgaard joins the show to discuss consumers adopting BNPL into their lives, the rise in ‘accidental landlords,’ and chatbots tapping into a goldmine of your personal information.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's move into our Thursday segment, how to Money. Joel
lars Guard a host of how to Money Sunday twelve
two pm here on KFI. His address at how to
Money Joel and howdomoney dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So that's Joel. I pretty well done it all. So
you can earn all the bases, yeah, I certainly have.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Okay, we've got a few things starting to I want
to start covering.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Chat bots.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, you use chatbots and you're basically giving up all
of your information.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
But my question is you do anyway?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So why would you be more concerned with chatbots than not?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Okay, so you're right, like I think, I am just interesting.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I mean, from a philosophical standpoint, it's just interesting that
chatbots are trained on material that other people have created
throughout the years, much of which has not really been
given permission. So that's why there's you know, a flory
of lawsuits and deals partnerships being made with some of
the AI companies and large publishers like The New York Times.
(01:08):
But and obviously we know about like chatbots or turning
to artificial intelligence. We've talked about this before. You and
I about getting your financial advice. There there's some hallucinations,
there's some incorrect information. You have to be really careful
and oftentimes the best way to use AI is if
you already have a firm grasp of the subject and
you're kind of looking for additional help. But there was
(01:30):
this interesting article in The Verge about how Facebook, which
is known by Meta, is going to use your AI
chats that you do under their platform to personalize the
advertising that it serves up to you. And when you see,
I mean, we've all seen the trend too of people
(01:50):
getting a little more personal with some of these chatbots.
There are like chatbot boyfriends and girlfriends, which weirds me out.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
But it's even hard to have them. That's really a thing.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
But it really is people doing therapy with chatbots, which
has I think certain pros and cons.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And to think that.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
All of that stuff is going to be used then
against you to sell you stuff or to serve you
at bads, I guess it freaks me out. It feels
like another frontier that we're crossing.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's weird. I mean, it's a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Is every time I go on whatever website looking for information,
two things happen. Number One, I'm asked, can we use
your information for cookies? I will say yes, never got
a cookie from them, ever, say no, I know I'm
not going to get any cookies. By the way, that
is just a horrible joke that I wanted to share
(02:40):
with you. But I don't even know why we bother
at this point. And you're right, the AI has so
screwed up everything. Anybody who looks at AI for financial advice,
and I'm going to follow what a I has to say,
considering as you said, you got hallucinations where they make
(03:01):
stuff up. They'll talk about companies that don't exist that
somehow have interfered or influence the company that you're interested in.
Is are people being warned by the financial companies leave
this stuff alone?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let the experts do this.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
No, I not really, And like I think even some
of the financial companies are trying to be first to
adopt utilizing AI inside of their platforms, like Robinhood is
working on this right where you can get AI advice
on the spot about trades you're hoping to make or
financial advice that you're curious about. I was on chat
(03:39):
GBT recently and I was asking it about five twenty
nine accounts and tax breaks in a particular state, and
it was wrong. And I just knew that the information
that started up was wrong because I was familiar with it,
And it was just interesting to see that if you
took that as gospel truth from the AI, you might
miss out on some tax breaks you otherwise would have
(03:59):
got in a particular state because of that donation. So
it's just because of the money you contribute to that account,
and you just have to really be careful using I'm
also amazed by it, Like there's if you and I
haven't used AI a whole lot, I try to, I
try to limit my usage. I'm amazed at some of
the wonderful things that can spit out in the ways.
It can be helpful, but it's truly a user beware situation,
(04:22):
and especially when the stakes are ramped up and you
could get served ads and be sold things based on
some of those private interactions that you didn't realize about
sensitive issues. We're going to then lead to product placement
that you can find yourself in a weird place as
a consumer.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
There, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Joel lars Guard How to Money every Sunday twelve to
two pm here on KFI and So here's what happens
is Joel sends me ideas to talk about because he
thinks these are what's happening in the world of finance
and the economy.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And I go, okay, so the one that I really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Consumers have been adopting bnpls into their lives.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Okay, you don't know what that means, right.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I have no idea what a bnpl is, none whatsoever. Okay,
how about telling.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Me maybe this is a generational thing. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Uh, and I might be straddling it right in the
middle as an elder millennial. But by now, buy now,
pay later is.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
What you know about this?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
All you have to do is say buy now, pay later.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I like to abbreviate things, Bill, no kidding.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So now I sound like a moron, Thank you very much. Uh,
And I didn't have to. Okay, we've been buying two
consumers way too many bn LB's, bnlps, bnpls, bnpls.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's right, Yeah, that too. Yeah, and let's talk about
that for a moment.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
This is something I've been warning about for a long time,
and it's interesting, Like the it feels like the chickens
are coming home to roost, and I really don't want
to be the guy that says I told you so,
but I told you so and uh, And it seemed
like this harmless thing, like this new way to pay.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
How bad could it really be?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
And basically it was like, yeah, just break up is
like a modern version of layaway, but you get the
item when you want it, and then you pay for
it later after the fact. And guess what, you don't
pay interest like you would if you didn't pay your
credit card bill on time.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
So what's what's not to love?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Well, there are interestees if you don't make your payments
on time. They can be up to thirty six percent,
even higher than your average credit card interest rate. Then
there can be other fees if you don't make big
payments on time, as well, late fees, and so in
addition to that, you're just seeing a whole group of
young consumers who didn't really have the understanding of what
(06:39):
they were getting into start to just get used to
buying stuff with buy now, pay later, which is like klarna,
an after pay that you'll see when you're shopping at
various websites.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And so they just say, yeah, I'm gonna get that new.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Handbag, I guess because I can pay for it for
easy installments, and the credit limits from buy now, pay
later companies are much higher than they have been credit
cards traditionally, And so people are just getting themselves into
tons of trouble and they're ruining their finances from something
that seemed like it was kind of harmless and ultimately
was about as harmful as I said it was.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, you could say the same thing with credit cards.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
You can know that are relatively harmless, except when you
start racking up the amount of money and making minimum
payments and you're in a world of hurt. But to
your point about this being a generational and as a
kid when I was growing up and my parents and
in your case, your grandparents came out of the depression
(07:34):
and the thought of not paying for something and paying late.
Other than mortgages, you just bought stuff and you paid
for it in advance or you paid for it right there,
and it's just a it's just a way of thinking where.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It's so old school though.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, and but you don't get in trouble, and yeah,
you live a weasonable life. Why are our parents my case, grandparents,
how come they have money and retired with money and
you're not going to.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Right, Yeah, that's a huge part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And you mentioned credit cards, and you're right, like something
like fifty percent of Americans use credit cards really poorly,
like they have a recurring balance. The average recurring credit
card balance is something like seven thousand dollars a month,
and you're paying twenty two percent interest on that balance.
And I am very very much against that. And I
want people, if they're going to use credit cards, to
use them wisely. And I guess potentially there's a way
(08:33):
to use by now pay later wisely. I just don't
know what the use case is for it. You're really
just trying to delay the pain, and with credit cards,
you're not just trying to delay the pain. You're actually
there are other reasons to use credit cards, for instance, right,
there are rewards that you can garner from using credit
cards that you don't get when you're using debit cards.
There are protections that you get when you use a
(08:54):
credit card. Let's say an item that you bought wasn't
as advertised or didn't get delivered. You can do a
chargeback with the credit card company. You have legal rights
when you pay with a credit card, and there's even
buy now, pay later for travel is becoming more of
a thing, And there was this new nerd wallet study
that found something like one in five travelers you're planning
on using buy now, Paid later to spread out their
(09:15):
payments for travel. Well, you just you don't have the
same recourse if your travel it goes to hell, Like
you just don't. And so you have to be careful
when you're using this as a form of payment.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, my thing is that debit cards where I am
so adamantly against debit cards because first of all, you
have to have the money inside your account to use
a debit card. And to your point, let's say someone
hacks in there, or something is wrong or someone gets it.
That's your money you're chasing. Credit card company, is their
(09:47):
money you're chasing.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And so if fraud happens and your your money is gone,
your money is gone. If fraud happens and you o
two thousand dollars on a bad or they say yo,
two grand and someone as defrauded you, you're off the hook.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
And if you can use your credit card like it
is a debit card, use it in that way, where
you're only spending money that you actually have and you
keep yourself safe in that way. Then I think credit
cards are that best of both worlds because of those protections,
because the benefits you get. But yeah, buy now, pay later,
it's literally just an attempt to be able to buy more.
(10:23):
And the retailers know this. The reason they offer buy now,
pay later upon checkout is because people end up adding
our stuff to the card. People buy something like ten
percent more if they have a buy now, pay later option.
So we are literally consuming more because we have this
at our disposal. And then it's what we're hamstering ourselves
and messing ourselves up and harming our finances.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah. Also, you have a new product that you use
and you've got five easy payments or three easy payments
over the course of the next six months, and all
of a sudden, it's not as good as you thought
it was. Yeah, And now what you're paying for something
and you know, I just bought an air fright and
it was you know, I paid for as an Emerald
(11:03):
Lagasi or something, and it's.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Uh, it's a piece of crap for me. What what
am I doing here?
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, it's just this It got great reviews, and
I think the reviewers were all drunk.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
In any case, I think the are overrated too.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Oh no, I love air friers. I hear fright. Oh yeah,
I hear fry everything. Uh yeah, I love stuff air fried.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
All right, I'll have to give another shot.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah no, no, I I even air fry products that
say do not air fry.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Okay, Joel, finish baby, Okay, We're done. Sunday morning.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Uh well, Sunday afternoon, twelve to two. Address social address
at how to Money Joel and the website howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Joel, you have a good one.
Let's move into our Thursday segment, how to Money. Joel
lars Guard a host of how to Money Sunday twelve
two pm here on KFI. His address at how to
Money Joel and howdomoney dot com.
Speaker 2 (00:13):
So that's Joel. I pretty well done it all. So
you can earn all the bases, yeah, I certainly have.
Speaker 1 (00:18):
Okay, we've got a few things starting to I want
to start covering.
Speaker 2 (00:26):
Chat bots.
Speaker 1 (00:27):
Okay, you use chatbots and you're basically giving up all
of your information.
Speaker 2 (00:33):
But my question is you do anyway?
Speaker 1 (00:37):
So why would you be more concerned with chatbots than not?
Speaker 3 (00:42):
Okay, so you're right, like I think, I am just interesting.
Speaker 4 (00:46):
I mean, from a philosophical standpoint, it's just interesting that
chatbots are trained on material that other people have created
throughout the years, much of which has not really been
given permission. So that's why there's you know, a flory
of lawsuits and deals partnerships being made with some of
the AI companies and large publishers like The New York Times.
(01:08):
But and obviously we know about like chatbots or turning
to artificial intelligence. We've talked about this before. You and
I about getting your financial advice. There there's some hallucinations,
there's some incorrect information. You have to be really careful
and oftentimes the best way to use AI is if
you already have a firm grasp of the subject and
you're kind of looking for additional help. But there was
(01:30):
this interesting article in The Verge about how Facebook, which
is known by Meta, is going to use your AI
chats that you do under their platform to personalize the
advertising that it serves up to you. And when you see,
I mean, we've all seen the trend too of people
(01:50):
getting a little more personal with some of these chatbots.
There are like chatbot boyfriends and girlfriends, which weirds me out.
Speaker 3 (01:56):
But it's even hard to have them. That's really a thing.
Speaker 4 (01:59):
But it really is people doing therapy with chatbots, which
has I think certain pros and cons.
Speaker 3 (02:05):
And to think that.
Speaker 4 (02:06):
All of that stuff is going to be used then
against you to sell you stuff or to serve you
at bads, I guess it freaks me out. It feels
like another frontier that we're crossing.
Speaker 2 (02:16):
It's weird. I mean, it's a couple of things.
Speaker 1 (02:19):
Is every time I go on whatever website looking for information,
two things happen. Number One, I'm asked, can we use
your information for cookies? I will say yes, never got
a cookie from them, ever, say no, I know I'm
not going to get any cookies. By the way, that
is just a horrible joke that I wanted to share
(02:40):
with you. But I don't even know why we bother
at this point. And you're right, the AI has so
screwed up everything. Anybody who looks at AI for financial advice,
and I'm going to follow what a I has to say,
considering as you said, you got hallucinations where they make
(03:01):
stuff up. They'll talk about companies that don't exist that
somehow have interfered or influence the company that you're interested in.
Is are people being warned by the financial companies leave
this stuff alone?
Speaker 2 (03:17):
Let the experts do this.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
No, I not really, And like I think even some
of the financial companies are trying to be first to
adopt utilizing AI inside of their platforms, like Robinhood is
working on this right where you can get AI advice
on the spot about trades you're hoping to make or
financial advice that you're curious about. I was on chat
(03:39):
GBT recently and I was asking it about five twenty
nine accounts and tax breaks in a particular state, and
it was wrong. And I just knew that the information
that started up was wrong because I was familiar with it,
And it was just interesting to see that if you
took that as gospel truth from the AI, you might
miss out on some tax breaks you otherwise would have
(03:59):
got in a particular state because of that donation. So
it's just because of the money you contribute to that account,
and you just have to really be careful using I'm
also amazed by it, Like there's if you and I
haven't used AI a whole lot, I try to, I
try to limit my usage. I'm amazed at some of
the wonderful things that can spit out in the ways.
It can be helpful, but it's truly a user beware situation,
(04:22):
and especially when the stakes are ramped up and you
could get served ads and be sold things based on
some of those private interactions that you didn't realize about
sensitive issues. We're going to then lead to product placement
that you can find yourself in a weird place as
a consumer.
Speaker 2 (04:38):
There, all right.
Speaker 1 (04:39):
Joel lars Guard How to Money every Sunday twelve to
two pm here on KFI and So here's what happens
is Joel sends me ideas to talk about because he
thinks these are what's happening in the world of finance
and the economy.
Speaker 2 (04:57):
And I go, okay, so the one that I really enjoy.
Speaker 1 (05:00):
Consumers have been adopting bnpls into their lives.
Speaker 3 (05:06):
Okay, you don't know what that means, right.
Speaker 1 (05:07):
I have no idea what a bnpl is, none whatsoever. Okay,
how about telling.
Speaker 3 (05:13):
Me maybe this is a generational thing. I don't know.
Speaker 4 (05:16):
Uh, and I might be straddling it right in the
middle as an elder millennial. But by now, buy now,
pay later is.
Speaker 3 (05:21):
What you know about this?
Speaker 2 (05:24):
All you have to do is say buy now, pay later.
Speaker 3 (05:27):
I like to abbreviate things, Bill, no kidding.
Speaker 1 (05:30):
So now I sound like a moron, Thank you very much. Uh,
And I didn't have to. Okay, we've been buying two
consumers way too many bn LB's, bnlps, bnpls, bnpls.
Speaker 2 (05:44):
That's right, Yeah, that too. Yeah, and let's talk about
that for a moment.
Speaker 4 (05:48):
This is something I've been warning about for a long time,
and it's interesting, Like the it feels like the chickens
are coming home to roost, and I really don't want
to be the guy that says I told you so,
but I told you so and uh, And it seemed
like this harmless thing, like this new way to pay.
Speaker 3 (06:02):
How bad could it really be?
Speaker 4 (06:04):
And basically it was like, yeah, just break up is
like a modern version of layaway, but you get the
item when you want it, and then you pay for
it later after the fact. And guess what, you don't
pay interest like you would if you didn't pay your
credit card bill on time.
Speaker 3 (06:16):
So what's what's not to love?
Speaker 4 (06:17):
Well, there are interestees if you don't make your payments
on time. They can be up to thirty six percent,
even higher than your average credit card interest rate. Then
there can be other fees if you don't make big
payments on time, as well, late fees, and so in
addition to that, you're just seeing a whole group of
young consumers who didn't really have the understanding of what
(06:39):
they were getting into start to just get used to
buying stuff with buy now, pay later, which is like klarna,
an after pay that you'll see when you're shopping at
various websites.
Speaker 3 (06:48):
And so they just say, yeah, I'm gonna get that new.
Speaker 4 (06:50):
Handbag, I guess because I can pay for it for
easy installments, and the credit limits from buy now, pay
later companies are much higher than they have been credit
cards traditionally, And so people are just getting themselves into
tons of trouble and they're ruining their finances from something
that seemed like it was kind of harmless and ultimately
was about as harmful as I said it was.
Speaker 3 (07:10):
Going to be.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
Well, you could say the same thing with credit cards.
Speaker 1 (07:13):
You can know that are relatively harmless, except when you
start racking up the amount of money and making minimum
payments and you're in a world of hurt. But to
your point about this being a generational and as a
kid when I was growing up and my parents and
in your case, your grandparents came out of the depression
(07:34):
and the thought of not paying for something and paying late.
Other than mortgages, you just bought stuff and you paid
for it in advance or you paid for it right there,
and it's just a it's just a way of thinking where.
Speaker 3 (07:50):
It's so old school though.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
Yeah, and but you don't get in trouble, and yeah,
you live a weasonable life. Why are our parents my case, grandparents,
how come they have money and retired with money and
you're not going to.
Speaker 3 (08:10):
Right, Yeah, that's a huge part of it.
Speaker 4 (08:12):
And you mentioned credit cards, and you're right, like something
like fifty percent of Americans use credit cards really poorly,
like they have a recurring balance. The average recurring credit
card balance is something like seven thousand dollars a month,
and you're paying twenty two percent interest on that balance.
And I am very very much against that. And I
want people, if they're going to use credit cards, to
use them wisely. And I guess potentially there's a way
(08:33):
to use by now pay later wisely. I just don't
know what the use case is for it. You're really
just trying to delay the pain, and with credit cards,
you're not just trying to delay the pain. You're actually
there are other reasons to use credit cards, for instance, right,
there are rewards that you can garner from using credit
cards that you don't get when you're using debit cards.
There are protections that you get when you use a
(08:54):
credit card. Let's say an item that you bought wasn't
as advertised or didn't get delivered. You can do a
chargeback with the credit card company. You have legal rights
when you pay with a credit card, and there's even
buy now, pay later for travel is becoming more of
a thing, And there was this new nerd wallet study
that found something like one in five travelers you're planning
on using buy now, Paid later to spread out their
(09:15):
payments for travel. Well, you just you don't have the
same recourse if your travel it goes to hell, Like
you just don't. And so you have to be careful
when you're using this as a form of payment.
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Yeah, my thing is that debit cards where I am
so adamantly against debit cards because first of all, you
have to have the money inside your account to use
a debit card. And to your point, let's say someone
hacks in there, or something is wrong or someone gets it.
That's your money you're chasing. Credit card company, is their
(09:47):
money you're chasing.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
That's right, that's right.
Speaker 1 (09:49):
And so if fraud happens and your your money is gone,
your money is gone. If fraud happens and you o
two thousand dollars on a bad or they say yo,
two grand and someone as defrauded you, you're off the hook.
Speaker 4 (10:02):
And if you can use your credit card like it
is a debit card, use it in that way, where
you're only spending money that you actually have and you
keep yourself safe in that way. Then I think credit
cards are that best of both worlds because of those protections,
because the benefits you get. But yeah, buy now, pay later,
it's literally just an attempt to be able to buy more.
(10:23):
And the retailers know this. The reason they offer buy now,
pay later upon checkout is because people end up adding
our stuff to the card. People buy something like ten
percent more if they have a buy now, pay later option.
So we are literally consuming more because we have this
at our disposal. And then it's what we're hamstering ourselves
and messing ourselves up and harming our finances.
Speaker 1 (10:42):
Yeah. Also, you have a new product that you use
and you've got five easy payments or three easy payments
over the course of the next six months, and all
of a sudden, it's not as good as you thought
it was. Yeah, And now what you're paying for something
and you know, I just bought an air fright and
it was you know, I paid for as an Emerald
(11:03):
Lagasi or something, and it's.
Speaker 2 (11:05):
Uh, it's a piece of crap for me. What what
am I doing here?
Speaker 1 (11:08):
You know, it's just this It got great reviews, and
I think the reviewers were all drunk.
Speaker 3 (11:13):
In any case, I think the are overrated too.
Speaker 2 (11:16):
Oh no, I love air friers. I hear fright. Oh yeah,
I hear fry everything. Uh yeah, I love stuff air fried.
Speaker 3 (11:24):
All right, I'll have to give another shot.
Speaker 1 (11:26):
Yeah no, no, I I even air fry products that
say do not air fry.
Speaker 3 (11:31):
It's just.
Speaker 2 (11:33):
Okay, Joel, finish baby, Okay, We're done. Sunday morning.
Speaker 1 (11:37):
Uh well, Sunday afternoon, twelve to two. Address social address
at how to Money Joel and the website howtomoney dot com.
Speaker 2 (11:46):
Joel, you have a good one.
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My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.