December 17, 2024 • 8 mins
Amy King talks with host of ‘How to Money’ on KFI Joel Larsgaard about tariffs on cars and whether or not to buy one before President Trump takes office. He also talks about retirees with credit card debt and coffee prices.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Let's say good morning to the host of How to
Money on KFI. It's Joel lars Guard Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Joel, morning Amy.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Okay, we're going to talk about why you might want
to run out and buy a car right now.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That might you might be over selling what I'm going
to say.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, but it's and you might be heading out for
a car purchase not because of Christmas, but because of
something else looming.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Oh gosh, you are making me think of the car
commercials that happened this time of year where there's like
a new Lexus in your driveway with a giant bow.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
On giant bow. Have you ever seen anybody get a
car with a giant bow?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Nope, never seen it in real life.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It's just my pay grade, I think.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
And if I came home in my driveway to a giant,
expensive car with a bow on it, I would be like,
we should have talked about this, honey, Like this is
a really expensive purchase. But yeah, when it comes to
car purchases right now, there's something that's on people's mind,
and it's the threats of looming tariffs coming in with
the with the incoming Trump administration, and so people are
(00:59):
kind of individuals are trying to decide. I just saw
an article on CNN yesterday that people are even stockpiling
on groceries. They're assuming that everything's going to get more
expensive because of these new threats of tariffs, and cars
are one of those things where tariffs could hit hit
the hardest, and so people are saying, oh, well, I
was thinking maybe about buying a car next year, maybe
I should do it now instead of waiting. And that's
(01:22):
a really good question. I think when you look at
the numbers, the best we can tell is really hard
to decipher because some of these tariffs like will they
or won't they? Are they threats? Are they going to
become reality? It's anybody's guess. And it looks like if
the tariffs as promised come into being, the car prices
will likely go up by roughly two and a half percent.
(01:42):
That's like the best estimates we could I could find.
And so should you go ahead and buy a new
car now instead of buying it next year? Well, I
think it depends on whether or not you were like
legitimately going to buy a new car, or if you're
just kind of like telling yourself, oh, now I'll buy
a new car, even even though I wasn't planning on
it already, because you think of it as a money
(02:03):
saving thing, but really, ultimately it's not. I think when
it comes down to electric vehicles, that's the thing. If
you were, like I was thinking about buying an EV
in February, well you might want to kick that up
to December one. Often the best car deals are found
in December, and two if the EV tax credits on
the national level get repealed. I know there's talks about
bringing them back in California, but if the EV credits
on the national level get are gone, that's a seventy
(02:27):
five hundred dollars increase in the price of the car.
That could be the biggest reason to front load your
car purchase.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay, And then you said that December one there tends
to be deals, But don't they start clearing out the
previous model, like the twenty twenty fours. Didn't they start
getting replaced by the twenty twenty five models like in September?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So yeah, the new cars, new model cars are often
out these days and they're being sold. So if you're
opting for an older model and you're looking towards buying
at the end, of the year. I mean, that's typically
when you're able to find the best prices.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So it's true that end.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Of the month, end of the year, those are legitimately
the best times to buy. But you also have to
have to be a savvy shopper and you have to
know how to And there's a gosh, there's a great
website I'm blanking on the name right now, but I'll
look it up for you that can help you kind
of offer some negotiation tactics and help you figure out
how to find the best deal on a car. Just
because you're going at the best time doesn't mean you're
(03:20):
getting the best deal. You also have to know how
to negotiate and know how to play your cards.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Did you tell me about this or was it Maybe
it was Rich Jamiro? Who's Rich Jamiro told us about
last week that Amazon's going to start selling cars.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Oh yeah, that's right. They're selling hun days on their site,
which is crazy. The Amazon sells everything these days. And
by the way, that that website is called car edge
dot com.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
They do a great job. They'll help you.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
You can pay them to help you find the best price,
or you can just read their blog and watch their
videos and learn essentially how to negotiate for a car
on your own to get the best price. But there
are a lot of resources out there to help you
find and get the best deal on a car.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But and so much of it depends on how popular
that vehicle is.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The certain vehicles that are more popular than others, and
so you're going to be hard pressed to find a
deal on a model that's super hot, like the Kia
tel You Ride or the Toyota rav four what those
are like incredibly popular, and so you might not you're
not going to get much of a discount on those,
But on other models that maybe they have more stock
on hand, you're going to be able to kind of
push the price down on those.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Okay, cool. We have been talking and you and I
have discussed how more people are using their credit cards.
And while using your credit cards is great if you
pay it off every month, but there's some new information
that retirees are using their credit cards and they're not
paying them off every month.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, And so when it comes to credit cards, I'm
not a hater like some people in the personal finance
community are. I think they're a tool and you can
just like a chainsaw. You can use it to chop
down a tree or cut your you know, hurts your leg,
and so you got to be really careful with how
you use that tool. And so if you use it wisely,
like it can be, you know, you can get amazing
free trips, cash back. It's it can be great, but
(04:58):
as long as you're using it properly. In there's some
new data out of specifically about how retirees are getting
into credit card debt and they're staying in credit card
debt well into retirement, and to me, that is pretty frightening.
I don't mind certain kinds of debt. Like let's say
a retiree is holding onto their mortgage because the mortgage
(05:18):
rates three percent. That's great, Like, especially given what's happening
with inflation savings rates, being able to leave some of
your money invested instead of taking it out to pay
down the mortgage, That's okay. That's the kind of debt
I'm not mad about. But six in ten retirees have
some form of debt, and the majority of those people
who have debt have credit card debt, and credit card debt, well,
(05:39):
the rates, the interest rates on that credit card debt
hasn't really come down, even as the FED has been
cutting interest rates, and credit card debt's bad no matter what,
basically all the time. So yeah, I think it's a
massive problem. And whether you choose the debt snowball method
the debt avalanche method, retirees in particular, getting rid of
the credit card debt needs to be a top priority.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, So are you finding that they have the debt
because they don't have the money to pay it off,
or they're just used to having the debt Like my
dad used to saying this was years ago, and go,
why do you want to pay off that credit card?
And I'm like Dad, So it's a little mindset.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
It's a little bit of both. Like I was talking
to a retiree the other day and yeah, they had
lingering credit card debt, but they had the money to
pay it off. And so I think you just kind
of get used to it, or you think it's no
big deal and you're like, it's just like three thousand
bucks in recurring credit card debt. But that adds up,
especially when we're talking about a twenty two percent interest rate,
And so yeah, I think part of it for some time,
(06:34):
for some retirees, it is just being comfortable with credit
card debt. For other retirees, it is having to trying
to figure out where else you can save money so
you can throw more towards that credit card debt and
actually have a payoff plan. But it is maybe a
lack of financial resources. There are ways, I think to
reduce some of the costs in your life. It's something
we talk about on the show all the time. In
(06:55):
order to find more money to throw at the debt.
And if worse comes to worse and there's no way
for you to get out of this, going to see
somebody at a non for profit credit counseling center like
Money Management International, I think is a great way to go.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Okay, all right, now, time to talk about coffee.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Okay, one of my favorite topics.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I know I'm enjoying a cup right now, but you're
saying it's getting more expensive.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, So, like there was apparently just some terrible weather
conditions in some of the places where coffee is grown
the most, and so Brazil being one of those places,
and so the prices for the nicest coffee beans, which
is what most of us are drinking these days, are
have just skyrocketed, and I've noticed it when I go
(07:40):
out to get a coffee at a coffee shop. But
you also notice it in the price of beans, even
if you're just picking up a bag at costco. The
bag that was ten or eleven dollars for two pounds
of coffees now like fifteen or sixteen dollars. And that
price is likely to continue to go up because of
what's happened with the coffee bean producers.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And so I think this is just a call to people.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I'm not one of those anti coffee out people, don't
do it every day, but because it does really add up,
but also it can be a nice experience. But you know,
the more you make your coffee at home, the truth is,
the more you're going to save, especially as the price
of coffee beans are going up.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
What if I.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Already make my coffee at home, Now, how am I
going to save?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, you're not going to say if you just get
keep doing the right thing, and you're just gonna pay
a little more to do the right thing, all right, all.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Right, all right, that's not great news.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
No it's not. But you know what coffee's worth.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It, I'll take it, don't blame the messenger.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'll take it. So we don't get to talk to
you next week because it's Christmas Eve a week from today, right,
that's right. I'll issue a Merry Christmas right now then?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
All right, well, thank you Amy, same to you.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
All right, Thanks Joe. We'll talk to you next year.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Sounds good.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Do we get to say that at the end of
the year.
Let's say good morning to the host of How to
Money on KFI. It's Joel lars Guard Morning.
Speaker 2 (00:04):
Joel, morning Amy.
Speaker 1 (00:06):
Okay, we're going to talk about why you might want
to run out and buy a car right now.
Speaker 2 (00:11):
That might you might be over selling what I'm going
to say.
Speaker 1 (00:14):
Okay, but it's and you might be heading out for
a car purchase not because of Christmas, but because of
something else looming.
Speaker 3 (00:22):
Oh gosh, you are making me think of the car
commercials that happened this time of year where there's like
a new Lexus in your driveway with a giant bow.
Speaker 1 (00:29):
On giant bow. Have you ever seen anybody get a
car with a giant bow?
Speaker 2 (00:33):
Nope, never seen it in real life.
Speaker 1 (00:34):
It's just my pay grade, I think.
Speaker 3 (00:37):
And if I came home in my driveway to a giant,
expensive car with a bow on it, I would be like,
we should have talked about this, honey, Like this is
a really expensive purchase. But yeah, when it comes to
car purchases right now, there's something that's on people's mind,
and it's the threats of looming tariffs coming in with
the with the incoming Trump administration, and so people are
(00:59):
kind of individuals are trying to decide. I just saw
an article on CNN yesterday that people are even stockpiling
on groceries. They're assuming that everything's going to get more
expensive because of these new threats of tariffs, and cars
are one of those things where tariffs could hit hit
the hardest, and so people are saying, oh, well, I
was thinking maybe about buying a car next year, maybe
I should do it now instead of waiting. And that's
(01:22):
a really good question. I think when you look at
the numbers, the best we can tell is really hard
to decipher because some of these tariffs like will they
or won't they? Are they threats? Are they going to
become reality? It's anybody's guess. And it looks like if
the tariffs as promised come into being, the car prices
will likely go up by roughly two and a half percent.
(01:42):
That's like the best estimates we could I could find.
And so should you go ahead and buy a new
car now instead of buying it next year? Well, I
think it depends on whether or not you were like
legitimately going to buy a new car, or if you're
just kind of like telling yourself, oh, now I'll buy
a new car, even even though I wasn't planning on
it already, because you think of it as a money
(02:03):
saving thing, but really, ultimately it's not. I think when
it comes down to electric vehicles, that's the thing. If
you were, like I was thinking about buying an EV
in February, well you might want to kick that up
to December one. Often the best car deals are found
in December, and two if the EV tax credits on
the national level get repealed. I know there's talks about
bringing them back in California, but if the EV credits
on the national level get are gone, that's a seventy
(02:27):
five hundred dollars increase in the price of the car.
That could be the biggest reason to front load your
car purchase.
Speaker 1 (02:33):
Okay, And then you said that December one there tends
to be deals, But don't they start clearing out the
previous model, like the twenty twenty fours. Didn't they start
getting replaced by the twenty twenty five models like in September?
Speaker 2 (02:45):
Yeah?
Speaker 3 (02:46):
So yeah, the new cars, new model cars are often
out these days and they're being sold. So if you're
opting for an older model and you're looking towards buying
at the end, of the year. I mean, that's typically
when you're able to find the best prices.
Speaker 2 (02:58):
So it's true that end.
Speaker 3 (02:59):
Of the month, end of the year, those are legitimately
the best times to buy. But you also have to
have to be a savvy shopper and you have to
know how to And there's a gosh, there's a great
website I'm blanking on the name right now, but I'll
look it up for you that can help you kind
of offer some negotiation tactics and help you figure out
how to find the best deal on a car. Just
because you're going at the best time doesn't mean you're
(03:20):
getting the best deal. You also have to know how
to negotiate and know how to play your cards.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
Did you tell me about this or was it Maybe
it was Rich Jamiro? Who's Rich Jamiro told us about
last week that Amazon's going to start selling cars.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Oh yeah, that's right. They're selling hun days on their site,
which is crazy. The Amazon sells everything these days. And
by the way, that that website is called car edge
dot com.
Speaker 2 (03:41):
They do a great job. They'll help you.
Speaker 3 (03:43):
You can pay them to help you find the best price,
or you can just read their blog and watch their
videos and learn essentially how to negotiate for a car
on your own to get the best price. But there
are a lot of resources out there to help you
find and get the best deal on a car.
Speaker 2 (03:57):
But and so much of it depends on how popular
that vehicle is.
Speaker 3 (03:59):
The certain vehicles that are more popular than others, and
so you're going to be hard pressed to find a
deal on a model that's super hot, like the Kia
tel You Ride or the Toyota rav four what those
are like incredibly popular, and so you might not you're
not going to get much of a discount on those,
But on other models that maybe they have more stock
on hand, you're going to be able to kind of
push the price down on those.
Speaker 1 (04:19):
Okay, cool. We have been talking and you and I
have discussed how more people are using their credit cards.
And while using your credit cards is great if you
pay it off every month, but there's some new information
that retirees are using their credit cards and they're not
paying them off every month.
Speaker 2 (04:37):
Yeah.
Speaker 3 (04:38):
Yeah, And so when it comes to credit cards, I'm
not a hater like some people in the personal finance
community are. I think they're a tool and you can
just like a chainsaw. You can use it to chop
down a tree or cut your you know, hurts your leg,
and so you got to be really careful with how
you use that tool. And so if you use it wisely,
like it can be, you know, you can get amazing
free trips, cash back. It's it can be great, but
(04:58):
as long as you're using it properly. In there's some
new data out of specifically about how retirees are getting
into credit card debt and they're staying in credit card
debt well into retirement, and to me, that is pretty frightening.
I don't mind certain kinds of debt. Like let's say
a retiree is holding onto their mortgage because the mortgage
(05:18):
rates three percent. That's great, Like, especially given what's happening
with inflation savings rates, being able to leave some of
your money invested instead of taking it out to pay
down the mortgage, That's okay. That's the kind of debt
I'm not mad about. But six in ten retirees have
some form of debt, and the majority of those people
who have debt have credit card debt, and credit card debt, well,
(05:39):
the rates, the interest rates on that credit card debt
hasn't really come down, even as the FED has been
cutting interest rates, and credit card debt's bad no matter what,
basically all the time. So yeah, I think it's a
massive problem. And whether you choose the debt snowball method
the debt avalanche method, retirees in particular, getting rid of
the credit card debt needs to be a top priority.
Speaker 1 (05:58):
Okay, So are you finding that they have the debt
because they don't have the money to pay it off,
or they're just used to having the debt Like my
dad used to saying this was years ago, and go,
why do you want to pay off that credit card?
And I'm like Dad, So it's a little mindset.
Speaker 3 (06:13):
It's a little bit of both. Like I was talking
to a retiree the other day and yeah, they had
lingering credit card debt, but they had the money to
pay it off. And so I think you just kind
of get used to it, or you think it's no
big deal and you're like, it's just like three thousand
bucks in recurring credit card debt. But that adds up,
especially when we're talking about a twenty two percent interest rate,
And so yeah, I think part of it for some time,
(06:34):
for some retirees, it is just being comfortable with credit
card debt. For other retirees, it is having to trying
to figure out where else you can save money so
you can throw more towards that credit card debt and
actually have a payoff plan. But it is maybe a
lack of financial resources. There are ways, I think to
reduce some of the costs in your life. It's something
we talk about on the show all the time. In
(06:55):
order to find more money to throw at the debt.
And if worse comes to worse and there's no way
for you to get out of this, going to see
somebody at a non for profit credit counseling center like
Money Management International, I think is a great way to go.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
Okay, all right, now, time to talk about coffee.
Speaker 2 (07:12):
Okay, one of my favorite topics.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
I know I'm enjoying a cup right now, but you're
saying it's getting more expensive.
Speaker 3 (07:19):
Yeah, So, like there was apparently just some terrible weather
conditions in some of the places where coffee is grown
the most, and so Brazil being one of those places,
and so the prices for the nicest coffee beans, which
is what most of us are drinking these days, are
have just skyrocketed, and I've noticed it when I go
(07:40):
out to get a coffee at a coffee shop. But
you also notice it in the price of beans, even
if you're just picking up a bag at costco. The
bag that was ten or eleven dollars for two pounds
of coffees now like fifteen or sixteen dollars. And that
price is likely to continue to go up because of
what's happened with the coffee bean producers.
Speaker 2 (07:58):
And so I think this is just a call to people.
Speaker 3 (08:02):
I'm not one of those anti coffee out people, don't
do it every day, but because it does really add up,
but also it can be a nice experience. But you know,
the more you make your coffee at home, the truth is,
the more you're going to save, especially as the price
of coffee beans are going up.
Speaker 2 (08:16):
What if I.
Speaker 1 (08:17):
Already make my coffee at home, Now, how am I
going to save?
Speaker 3 (08:20):
Yeah, you're not going to say if you just get
keep doing the right thing, and you're just gonna pay
a little more to do the right thing, all right, all.
Speaker 2 (08:26):
Right, all right, that's not great news.
Speaker 1 (08:27):
No it's not. But you know what coffee's worth.
Speaker 2 (08:30):
It, I'll take it, don't blame the messenger.
Speaker 1 (08:32):
I'll take it. So we don't get to talk to
you next week because it's Christmas Eve a week from today, right,
that's right. I'll issue a Merry Christmas right now then?
Speaker 2 (08:42):
All right, well, thank you Amy, same to you.
Speaker 1 (08:43):
All right, Thanks Joe. We'll talk to you next year.
Speaker 2 (08:46):
Sounds good.
Speaker 1 (08:47):
Do we get to say that at the end of
the year.
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