Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:04):
Hey, everybody, Welcome to the Christin Agophian Show. Shout outs
from everybody here in Studio B as we connect with
our syndicated stations coast to coast via the biz Talk
Radio Network. Greetings to you all. I'm Chris Agopian, author
of Brilliant Frugal Living, syndicated lifestyle columnist, highly caffeinated, host
of your show dedicated to slashing your spending to new lows,
(00:26):
growing your savings to new previously undreamt of heights, and
demolishing your debt once and for all. It can be done,
and here's where we get it going. Thanks for hanging out.
Huge welcome to all of the newst affiliates, all of
the new listeners. The emails, the texts, you guys are
the best. Thanks so much to so many people.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Linda T.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Listening in from beautiful Portland, Oregon. I love your notes.
Raising my mug of coffee to all of you in salute.
Huge shout out to Mitchell Meeks and Linda E. Super
fans listening in from super Talk, Mississippi. Love your emails, guys,
keep them all coming, saying America's wallet's one hour at
a time. Sitting here coffee in hand, sent to me
by a wonderful listener. What is this we're doing the
(01:08):
butter toffee. Oh my gosh, this stuff is good. People
are saying in the Philadelphia area, we are getting this
crazy heat wave. And as much as I covetched during
the coldest days of winter, a point that has been
brought up to me by a couple of listeners.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
And you are so right.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I was such a whiny baby in the coldest days
of winter. I better keep it zipped up during these hot, hot,
hot days of summer. But it's getting crazy hot around here, guys.
Of course it's July, for crying out loud. Of course
it's gonna get hot. But it's crazy hot here in
the Philadelphia area. So people are saying, you're not drinking
your hot coffee on these days, are you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Is the sun shining? Is the moon shining? Is their
air in the air? Of course, things will never be
so odd, things will never be so hot that I
do not drink coffee. Coffee is just here people were
talking iced coffee. Now, no iced coffee is a little
too sophisticated for me. I need my coffee in a
very hot mug with a lot of you know, heavy cream,
(02:03):
and a couple of packets of whatever's handy. No, I
don't do the iced coffee. I know many people who do.
A lot of our listeners down South have taken iced
coffee to a art form. I'm not already enough. I
wish I was, so raise your iced coffee my direction.
I'm raising my mug of coffee in your direction as
we sit here saving America's wallets one hour at a time,
and we're coming up on fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
We got the cookouts, we got the hanging out with
friends and family, and way too many carbohydrates. Maybe that's
just my house. And of course our favorite tradition, watching
PBS's a capital fourth. I absolutely adore it. Always have
no one the broadcast comes close. Who better to join
me via our newsmaker line than the host. My social
media exploded when I bragged about getting the chance to
(02:48):
connect John Stamos, Welcome, sir, How are you doing well?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Christen? Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Good morning to you. You know Dad already know this. You've
got a huge fan base. You upped my standards tremendously.
Holy Mac, everybody loves you. It's July. My God, the
summer's flying. How's everything gelling? For another Capital Fourth? Hopefully
the weather gods will be kind again this year. You
know we talked about the list of names coming up
for this amazing event. It's just incredible again this year.
(03:14):
They keep upping the bar and they keep leaping over it.
They have you the National Symphony Orchestra, something for everybody,
just magic, Vanessa Williams, Colby Colay.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I could go on and on.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
You have been doing this for a while, You're a
seasoned pro at this, but there are some new names
on the stage this year with you. Are they intimidated
at all by what's easily going to be millions watching them?
Or are they kind of low key about it? What's
been your advice to them?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Now? Are you talking about puppets because they have no fear.
They are fearless celebrating Sesame Streets fiftieth anniversary. And I'll
tell you who's the most nervous is me because I'm
going to fulfill a lifelong dream and get to sing
with the muppets on the Capital Fourth television. So I'm
gcit about that also, something I've been wanting to do
for years. I'm any chance I get to celebrate our
(04:01):
vets and our men and women in the service we do.
And this year I'm going to visit a group within
the Wounded Warriors called Music Corps, and they are a
bunch of musicians, the long and people. They need a drummer.
So we are working up a Zach Brown song which
is extremely patriotic and it's going to be extremely emotional,
and we're going to play live on the Capital Fourth stage,
(04:23):
and that is what I'm most excited about.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
That's incredibly You know, when I was bragging about having
you on the show, one of the biggest, strongest bits
of social media feedback that I received was huge appreciation
for all that you do so much to honor our troops.
Tell our listeners a little bit more about your plans
for a Capital Fourth and your huge interaction with our
men and women in the armed services. It's got to
be so appreciated.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, I appreciate them, and I know we all do,
and any chance we get to and celebrate them, we do,
and to when you see these musicians that have overcome
their injuries, able to play and have an optimistic attitudeble Now,
let's go back to social media because I'm going to
have to check you out. As soon as we get
(05:07):
done with this interview. Maybe you have to say ah
and thank you, because keep talking about this social media.
I got to get on I got to follow you.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Holy mackerel.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, it was on Facebook, and you off my name
considerably with just the name recognition. They're just freaking out,
and why not. You're being very low key about it.
But you've had this tremendous career where you have connected
with so many people on so many levels. Blackie Parish
and doctor Gates and Jesse from Full House. I mean
I've got all three of those on my resume growing up,
so it's no big surprise.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I'm seventy two years old this week.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You are not. You have simply jam packed through a
lot of hard work and incredible career. But in all seriousness,
as your career has evolved, when you first started as
a kid, did you ever envision yourself July fourth being
the name in the face of a capitol fourth in
our nation's capital.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Was that ever on your radar?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
No way, you know. I always say I probably will
never write a book, but if I ever did it,
it would be called If you would have told me, like,
if you would have told me when I was a
kid that I'd be hosting the Capital fourth, Like to
be in our nation's capital on the fourth of July
with all these patriotic acts and celebrating the troops. I
never would have believed. If you would have told me
(06:16):
that I'd be talking to you one day on the radio,
I would have said, I don't believe it. I've had
a left beautiful life. I'll tell you that much.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You do. And you know I'm a big fan off.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
You make your own luck, so I think you're reaping
what you saw a bit here too when you interact
with these great crowds. You know, we're all watching it
on the big screens in our family rooms. We're sitting
there enjoying everything. Tell me a bit about the energy
of those crowds. They seem so wonderfully appreciative. It almost
seems like the crowds get bigger every year. It has
got to be a logistical nightmare getting everybody settled and
(06:46):
up and running, but every year you pull it off.
What's that kind of thing like for the rep especially
now in an age of quarantine and such. You guys
are switching gears with how you're getting it out the door.
But there's just so much work involved.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, you know, I've been again. I've had such a
blessed life where I've got to play with the greatest
American rock and roll band in history of the Beach Boys,
and I played gigantic crowds. But the crowd seems to
be the most appreciative, like you said, the most patriotic certainly.
I mean, you know, I can look out this and
all the million home that are watching PBS, and it
(07:17):
doesn't matter what side of the political fence they stand on.
It's they're celebrating being American. They're celebrating being a family.
This year, we're going to really, I'm really going to
highlight what it means to be a family and an
American family right now in our country. And it's the energy,
I'm telling you. I get to stand in the middle
of that stage and there's this you know, one hundred
piece orchestra of you know, so enveloping me sort of
(07:40):
and this this great It's just a lot of love
and patriotism, and I couldn't be just the luckiest guy
on the planet when I'm standing in the middle of it.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I love that and that energy shows as well.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
It's tremendous watching you as a host, and I knew
the time was going to fly, but I got to
get one more question. And you have been doing this
for years now, and when you first start guarded hosting
A Capital Fourth, you no doubt had ideas about what
it was going to be. You know what to expect.
But what has been your most surprising, your unexpected takeaway
as you now become the face of a Capital Fourth,
(08:13):
what's been your biggest surprise in doing the show?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I tell you, when I started three years ago, I
was I've always been a family man my whole life.
I've done family television. I've had a very close knit
you know, mother, father and sisters, but I've never had
my own family. Now I have my own family and
to bring them to the Capital, to bring my son
this year, he's going to get all these years she
thought Bob Saget was big, big bird, But that I
think is going to be the best. But the first
(08:37):
year of thinking like, oh, one day my son is
going to be at the shows with me, That's that's
been a big I guess, a surprise, but what a blessing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And I tell you what with that kind of a resume,
No doubt you've been you know, this is the kind
of thing you've reached for your whole life. You have
this incredible resume, But meeting the cast of Sesame Street
last year, that just had to be the big thing that.
I mean, where do you go to do you for
a lunar landing for the next year. It's just have
to know how to top that, no doubt about it.
In our household, Sesame Street, that's like the pinnacle. That's
right there, so you know you've made it there. You
(09:06):
can make it anywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It's all good.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
What's Sesame Street character?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You're looking forward to the.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Most and the polar house? And how old are you are.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You getting all of those?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I've got a fourteen year old daughter and I've got
an eleven year old son who does all of your work.
I mentioned it and again you've uped my standing in
my own household.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Not to mention social media and the show.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
We've got about two hundred stations coast to coast, and
we've got a tremendous listenership and a lot of things
we've really you know, we all gel on, we all
talk about this thing going on this event. When I
mentioned John Stamos, it it just floated. It was hilarious, busy. Oh,
we all have these memories of you know, watching you
on the air, listening to your music, your TV. You've
got this huge following that just enveloped so many different demographics.
(09:48):
Enjoy it and just embrace it. You've earned it and
we all love you.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Can I call you every morning and you talk like
this because the best way to wake up I think everything.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh wait, let me check my schedule.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, absolutely, walking the number over the line and Doub'll
take care of John Stamus.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I knew the time is going to fly.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Our listeners love your work, your music, your dedication to
our military, and making America's birthday spectacular.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
We'll all be watching Happy Fourth.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Of July, will do and we'll be right back gang
right after this.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Che is small, not to say the best of all.
Circumstance just got.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
And we are back with the Christian Egopian Show. And
you guys know, I love our segments with that blend
not only finance and healthcare because it's something that's so
much on the forefront of so many of our minds.
And when we get the chance to have a certified
financial planner with us. I absolutely jump at those opportunities
because they are a wealth of knowledge that I didn't
(11:33):
even know that I needed. And today, guys, everybody knows
this is healthcare costs continue to rise, consumers are taking
on more of a financial burden for their health and
their wellness, maybe for their parents' health and wellness as well,
all these things not covered by insurance. And Bobby Rebel,
a certified financial professional, is joining us from a very
(11:55):
busy day via our newsmaker line to discuss a little
more in details what consumers should consider when they're considering
flexible financing options for their health and their wellness.
Speaker 7 (12:06):
Bobby, welcome, Thank you so much for having me, Kristen,
and thank you for highlighting such an important issue because
you're exactly spot on.
Speaker 8 (12:13):
Health and wellness.
Speaker 7 (12:14):
Go together with finance, because if we don't have our health,
what good is all of our wealth?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Right?
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Isn't that the truth? And you know when I was
when I understood that I had the chance to have you
on the air, like a million questions went through my head,
and the one that keeps coming to me is because
you've got this unique vantage point where you can see
all the action on the ground, or you get the
ten thousand quotes. You talk to us a bit about
how you're seeing the rising health and wellness costs impacting
(12:41):
consumers today. With all the moving parts to a consumer's life,
how is this particularly impacting it.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
Well, you're right, it is impacting consumers, and it is
a very tough situation for many consumers who want to
get the right health care for them at the right time,
but don't always know what is going to cost and
how much is and how they're going to pay for it.
And in fact, because of that lack of information and
that lack of transparency, they often put off getting the
(13:07):
medical procedures that they need. In fact, I will tell you,
Synchrony recently did a study and fifty three percent of
Americans delayed medical treatments due to out of pocket costs.
So that is kind of an alarming number. And I
think that's why it's so important that we help consumers
be more proactive and more intentional when it comes to
their healthcare and figuring out how to pay for it.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
Oh heck yeah. And I'm picking notes as you're talking here,
and then the word that just jumped out of me,
was this new thing Thissynchrony could not wait to pick
your brain about that. Tell us a little more about
Synchrony and their new fear Financing principles. With all the
noise out there on the internet, we've got fifty thousand
channels to watch and all of the important stuff like this,
we're just not seeing it. That's why I'm so glad
(13:50):
you're here breaking down a bit for us, if you.
Speaker 8 (13:51):
Would well exactly and you put it so well.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
There is so much noise out there between social media
and all of the different streatments of information coming at consumers.
So what Synchrony did through its care credit fair Financing
Principles is it put together in one easy to understand
place and a very transparent and clear messaging. They put
together the Fair Financing Principles area of their website, which
(14:14):
is a tremendous resource to learn not only what your
medical procedures and your other healthcare and wellness costs are
going to be, but also your options on how to
pay for it. So, for example, the first thing that
I think people should go to is the Procedure Calculator,
which is very simple. There's a drop down menu about
seven hundred of the most popular medical and.
Speaker 8 (14:37):
Medical related procedures.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
It could be dental, it could be vision, it could
be even vet care drop down menu super easy. You
put in where you live because, as we know, the
costs very whether you're in New York City or for example,
in Florida where I live, the cost can be very
very much. So you put in your zip code and
you can get an estimate of how much something should cost.
Speaker 8 (14:57):
So for example, I had a friend.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Who was interested in we put it in and we
could see how much it would cost where she lived.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
And so you go in with open eyes.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
And then it also has resources about how to pay
for it once you know the cost. So obviously you
want to look at what your insurance will pay and
in a perfect world that'll take the edge off. Not
always true, as you mentioned, But then it can go
through other options. So for example, you might have flexible
spending accounts through your employer, you might have a health
savings account. That could be an option. But for many
(15:27):
consumers it's important to also understand they're flexible financing options.
And that's really where the flexible financing where the fair
financing principles, I should say, really excels is explaining exactly
how it works with transparency and clarity and what you
as a consumer need to do to be successful with
these resources.
Speaker 6 (15:48):
Oh, it's so true. And you know what, And I
consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I can walk across
the street, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I gave it.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
I can get things done. But when it comes to
the fine print of so many of these types of
organizations and these types of offerings and healthcare and everything else,
you get a little deer in the headlights. So that
surface like that is it's going to be huge. I mean,
it's obviously something that people are going to clamor for
and it is so desperately needed. You talked a little
bit about the care credit, and you talked about the
(16:16):
most important things to know about those financing solutions. I
love talking financing because it's something where people that's the
big brick wall. They have all of their options in
front of them, and they think, well, no matter what,
we won't be able to finance the What are you
finding to be the response when people learn more about
these financing options, Well, I think it's important.
Speaker 7 (16:34):
To know where your options are and know exactly how
it works. There's a lot of confusion, confusing jargon out there,
and what I love about the transparency and clarity of
the Fair Financing Principles is it gets rid of that.
It makes it very clear how it works.
Speaker 8 (16:49):
So, for example, with.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I had mentioned deferred interests, that doesn't mean no interest.
It means it's deferred interests. And as a financial expert,
I want people to understand what their responsibilities are.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
What this website does is it lays it out very clearly.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
Here's what you need to pay by this time, and
you need to pay your bill by the end of
the promotional period if you want to have zero interest,
which is the goal for pretty much everybody, and it
lays out here's what it's going to cost. Yeah here,
but here's what's going to cost you if you don't
meet your obligations. If you don't meet those expectations, this
is what it's going to cost you. And personally, I
(17:24):
think that can be very motivating. It also lays out
different options because that may not be the best plan
for you. Maybe you need more time to pay, maybe
the balance is going to be higher, so in that case,
you may go for a plan that gives you a
lower APR, a lower.
Speaker 8 (17:38):
Interest rate and longer to pay, and it'll be fixed payments.
Speaker 7 (17:42):
But the website clearly lays out here is what you
have to pay at this time, so you know what's
coming and you can budget accordingly and plan your finances
accordingly so that you can be successful. And most importantly,
let's get back to this. Get the medical care that
you need, because that's ultimately the goal when you need it,
and not delay and not procrastinate because you don't know
(18:03):
how you're going to pay for it.
Speaker 8 (18:04):
This is a strategy that can work for you.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
Yeah, it's so true, and it's a win win on
all levels. You get the medical care that you need earlier,
which I want to say you know ninety nine percent
of the time, will save you money and help and
scares you know down the road. It's just a win
win for everybody. But you know, you brought up a
good point with the fine print. Fine Print is like
my kryptonite. You know, people see a page of fine
(18:28):
print and they're like, forget it. I don't even want
to be into that. But that's where you guys come
in and you simplify everything. The response to this has
to be remarkable, And I knew the time was fly
Where do our listeners? We got about two hundred station
coast to coast. Where do our listeners coast to coast
go to find out more about this and get more involved?
Speaker 8 (18:45):
Sure, Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Carecredit dot com Forward slash FFP as in fair Financingprinciples
Carecredit dot com Ford slash f FP, lots of information,
multimedia videos, a whole blog, lots of resources, calculators, lots
of financial tools.
Speaker 8 (19:03):
It's great, well worth investing some time getting to know
the website.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Brilliant acknowledge is power in this way, it's going to
give you a little more health and a little more
money in your pocket. I can't imagine it's a better
win win, Bobby, thank you so much for taking the time.
I knew this would be awesome information. You got an
open mic anytime.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
Be well and joined again and again thanks so much
for having.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Me you Ben.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
We'll be right that gang right after this, and we
(19:49):
are back with the Christina Gopian Show. And I was
really interested to read recently. You know how much I
love a good poll writing. No one does it better
than Gallop. They recently can out with the latest state
of the global workplace. Okay, guys, and it's reporting reveals
that twenty percent Are you ready for these numbers, twenty
percent of the world's workforce, the world's workforce is experiencing
(20:14):
loneliness daily. And we're talking about social isolation, We're talking
about chronic loneliness. We're talking about people of all ages,
all walks of life, all educational levels, anywhere and everywhere.
And you and I know whether it's someone we know
and we care about, whether it's somebody we hear about.
Chronic loneliness has a devastating effect on not just your
(20:37):
physical but your mental health, right, and how does it
affect your life and your relationships and your work and
your productivity. Well, here to break down the numbers just
a bit for us and offer some great insight as
to what maybe organizations should do now to accommodate the
new reality, is Kristin Lipton, managing Partner of business Development
(20:59):
at galov Joy via our newsmaker line. Kristin, thank you
so much for joining us. How are you doing today?
Speaker 9 (21:04):
I'm doing well, Thank you, Kristin. It's great to be
here with you.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Well, it's great to have you, right because I again
I love a good poll, because you go out and
do all of the legwork that I'm too lazy to do.
But in all seriousness, Gallup really has its finger on
the pulse of the information that people are craving because
we've all had this feeling, you know, the back of
our minds. We had this lingering effects from COVID, We've
(21:28):
had all the unexpected, unintended tragic ripple effects of all
of this isolation that we had to endure. And you
guys are the only ones that I know about that
are doing these kind of in depth sort of surveys.
Talk to us a bit about how they conducted this
type of survey and maybe some of your biggest, most
surprising takeaways.
Speaker 9 (21:49):
Absolutely, so you know, I love I love what you
just said about what Gallup is up to because we
are committed to helping the voices of global employees is
around the world be.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Heard, and in our latest report, we do just that.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
We examine how employees feel their lives are going, both
in general.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
And at work.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Now, work is an important part of the conversation because
we spend so much time working. The only thing that
we do more than work is sleep, So we know
how important it is a Gallop to bring data into
the conversation because you mentioned it. We've all had some inclinations,
some wondering, some hunches, but we sought out to kind
(22:33):
of understand exactly what it is that's going on and
conducted the largest study of its kind. We leveraged our
World Poll, which enables us to go to one hundred
and sixty countries where we conduct face to face interviews
phone interviews. We have twenty years where we can compare
and contrast and make sense of what's going on relative
to where we've been, and so we're able to quantify
(22:56):
the employee experience now through these efforts and the insights
that we're able to bring to the table, we hope
that leaders bring these insights right back to their own
organizations to bring about positive change and help us fix
the world's broken workplaces.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And while when we look.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
Back we can see that the workplace in general is improving,
that's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Over the last twenty years have been some improvements.
Speaker 9 (23:21):
In twenty twenty three, employee engagement stagnated, it didn't improve.
Well being declined, so the lack of improvements is concerning.
They also stagnated at some pretty low numbers, so globally,
we're twenty three percent employees engage.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
What that means is twenty three.
Speaker 9 (23:37):
Percent of us are waking up enthusiastic, passionate, excited, inspired
about our work. The rest of us aren't well being
is the percent to which we're thriving in our life,
so that touches on physical, mental, you know, the feeling
at work that you have. All of that's encapsulated in
how much to the extent that you're thriving.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
That's a big concern.
Speaker 9 (23:58):
As you mentioned that loan holiness number, it is staggering.
One in five globally are experiencing daily loneliness. That's even
higher if you're younger, under the age of thirty five
and working. It's also higher if you're working exclusively remote.
Here in the US, we see that half of us
are experiencing a lot of daily stress. So all of
(24:19):
this suggests that the majority of us are waking up
and showing up at works struggling a little too a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
There are some major consequences with that struggle.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Conservative estimates put it at eight point nine trillion dollars.
That's roughly nine percent of global GDP that we can
attribute right to that low engagement. Now, you know, what
we know about humans is that the majority of us
we enjoy work. It brings purpose, it brings them social aspects.
So work isn't necessarily the problem. Or dare we say
(24:48):
work isn't the problem? It's the workplace?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Oh, you couldn't be more right. And these numbers are
absolutely freaking me out. You know, I'm a numbers person.
H I crave the numbers and then I get a
handful in and I'm like, what the hell is with
these numbers? But in all seriousness, you know, we've got
a whole new generation of kids that you know, we
want them to have their stress levels be lower as well,
and that doesn't seem to be going in a good direction.
It all seemed to stem from a lot of unintended
(25:13):
consequences from COVID and you can't turn back the clock.
But as we're trying to kind of claw our way
back to a pre COVID normal, it just seems freaking daunting.
You've got all of the you know, you've got workplaces
that are already behind the eight ball because you know,
you're trying to kick and scream to get somebody in there.
One day a week, I mean, God forbid, right, everybody
else is working from home, so you've got that going on.
(25:36):
So then you've got yourself a lot of business owners
a little down in the dumps. And then you know, lather, rinse, repeat,
how do we go about reversing this stuff in a
way that you know, that's actionable, ways that we're going
to see two years from now, the six months from now,
ten years from now, get back to where we need
to be. We're not at war. You know, we have
(25:56):
these depression numbers out there that are staggering, and you know,
the economy is you have piccoping along everything else, and
yet these depression numbers are staggering. As the adults in
the room, how do we go about combating that?
Speaker 9 (26:08):
You know, I think the first thing that we can
do is just acknowledge the extent of the disruption, what
it is and what it isn't you know? The landscape
of work has forever changed, to your point, hybrid remote
work on some level that's here to stay. Technology and
AI that's coming at us at a dizzying pace. You
mentioned the younger generation they're now in the workforce. That
(26:28):
brings with it societal cultural shifts. We have to acknowledge
that all of this is happening right around us. It
does make it harder to manage because the essentials of
management are unchanged. Employees still need to feel recognized, they
need clarity, they need the materials and equipment to.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Do their job.
Speaker 9 (26:47):
It's just that much harder as a manager to deliver
on those basic needs of employees. Because we know that
managers themselves their stress, they're burntout, they're struggling.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
We would expect them to be more.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
Engaged than they are, but they are experiencing more daily
negative emotions. That's really a cause for concern because if
the managers are struggling, I can assure you their teams are.
Managers are the single piece of the puzzle that we
can attribute seventy percent of the variance in employee engagement
at that team level we can attribute to the manager.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
So it is something that we.
Speaker 9 (27:22):
Definitely need to think about because helping managers, bringing them
up to do the job of management, is what it's
going to take for us to get through this.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
You're right, it was top down decision making that led
to the new reality. It's going to have to be
top down decision making that brings us back to where
it's all a sustainable business model, because right now we
don't have a whiff of that going on right now,
and we all work in different industries. But I'm finding
that it's the younger generation that really is just getting
pushed and pulled in every direction. The older generation is
(27:54):
trying to accommodate for it and get everybody back on
a stable footing.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
But I just see it.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Am I being impatient? I just seed crawling along. You'd
love to see these numbers goosed just a little bit faster?
Am I being impatient? Or is that just the new reality?
And I got to get a grip.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
No, I wish more people were as impatient as you are,
because that's exactly the reaction that we should have.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
To these numbers.
Speaker 9 (28:17):
We can do so much better globally and here in
the US, because what gives me hope. Gallup studies the
best run organizations in the world, and they are bucking
these trends. So when we look at the best run organizations,
three quarters of their managers are engaged, and they're driving
a workforce to much higher levels of engagement. Seventy percent
(28:38):
of the world's best organizations are engaged contrast that to
the global number I mentioned at twenty three percent. It
just feels different to wake up and go to those
organizations day in and day out, and they have the
productivity to show for that. But we know about the
best managers is that there is one core habit that
truly sets them apart, and it's one meaningful conversation a week.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
We all talk about is, you know, forcing everybody back
to the office.
Speaker 9 (29:06):
They're going one hundred percent remote, and truly, if we
all just enable our managers to have one meaningful conversation
every single week with each and every one of their
team members, it would go such a long way in
bridging any physical distance that comes with work location that
then manifests in a psychological distance. But when people feel
cared about and understood as a human and have that
(29:27):
connection to their manager, you know, those numbers that I
mentioned seventy percent, they are absolutely possible and we should
not at all except the stagnation and the lower numbers
that we're seeing.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Brilliant stuff and I knew the time would fly. Kristin Lipten,
Managing Partner, Business Development at Gallop, Thank you so much
for taking time out of your crazy busy schedule and
breaking down these numbers for us. We really appreciate it.
You got an open mic anytime, please join us again.
Speaker 9 (29:53):
Thank you so much for having me, and I would
love to invite your listeners to go to Gallup dot
com where they can download a full copy of the
stage of the Global Workplace Report.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
We'll put a link on our social media as well.
Thanks a million. Be well and here's to a great summer.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Likewise, Thanks Krestin, you bet, and we'll be right back
in right after.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
This to.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
The best of all.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
And we are back with the Kristin de Goophian Show.
And you guys already know what a fan I am
of home ownership. It is truly one of the best,
if not the best, way to create true life changing
wealth and prosperity for you and your family. And the
American dream of home ownership doesn't care what the current
economy is like. It just embedded in our blood, regardless
(31:03):
of the headlines. According to a recent Gallup pole, nearly
twenty eight million Americans say they want to buy a
home this year. However, only twenty one percent believe it's
a good time to buy. Yes, interest rates are up
and waiting out this market. Waiting for lower interest rates
could mean missing out on home ownership opportunities. Are the
(31:23):
difference between true wealth and not. You know a lot
of moving parts to today's real estate market, and here
to break it all down for us is our next guest, Nadeska. Alexis,
host of Chase Banks Beginner to Buyer podcast. It's outstanding.
You guys have to check that out, and she joins
us via our newsmaker line to tell us more.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Alexis welcome, Hi, Christin, Thanks.
Speaker 10 (31:45):
For having me. I'm so glad that you share my
enthusiasm for home ownership.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I think you're right. I think it's kind of an
American chick thing. I think we're a little louder. I
think the guys are wanting it just as much as
we are with regards to home ownership, but we're just
a little louder about it. You know, we're the ones
that come out and just say it out loud and Nadeska,
Behind the noise of today's headlines, there seems to be
an unyielding opinion that Americans today still long for home
(32:12):
ownership as that American dream. In your research, why do
you think that that is such a consistent goal. Is
it just in our blood? Is it something that we
learned from family, from friends, from just you know, living?
Speaker 2 (32:25):
What is it?
Speaker 10 (32:26):
I think it's just it's the fact, like you said,
if something we've seen time and time again, as you
mentioned the market conditions fluctuate, that's something that will always
be true. But what is also true is that home ownership,
you know, will always be a very important step towards
securing stability for your family, to having financial independence, and importantly,
as you said, to having this opportunity to build generational
(32:48):
well for me, having the opportunity to pass on a
home to my children or something that my parents couldn't
give to me, but I know that they wanted to
and I don't think that will ever change is very important.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah, you bring up so many important points. It's all true.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
And so the second season of Chase Banks Beginner to
Buyer podcast just launched. It has helped so many people.
The feedback has been unbelievable. You've got such a huge
fan base. As you study the results and the feedback,
what is perhaps your biggest takeaway from this season? Any surprises?
Speaker 10 (33:25):
I think on every season, I'm learning a lot But
what I'm finding Kriston that's super consistent is, as you mentioned,
sometimes the news headlines are a little bit they make
things seem a little bit scary and it's impossible. But
I think what people are realizing as we have these
conversations the barrier is really just having the knowledge. I
think a lot of people are trying to go into
the process of home buyership, I guess buying you say,
(33:47):
they don't know the steps it takes to get through
this process, and there is sort of this taboo still
about talking about finances and home ownership. So people, some
people I spoke to on the podcast this season, they're
too scared to even talk to their closest family members
or their friends about this. So I think what we're
doing is giving people the knowledge. You know, we have
(34:07):
experts from home lending advisors, real estate agents, people who
are expert at doing renovations, at home upgrades, taking you
through every possible detail. Christinen, I'm talking about you could
be someone who's looking at buying your very first house.
You could be someone who already owns your primary home
and now you're considering and then that's the prosim you're
trying to figure out if maybe being a landlord is
(34:28):
right to you, if building an accessory dwelling unit on
your property is the right thing for you. So there's
so much to learn on this season of Beginner to Buyers.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
You're bringing up so many important points. I'm writing frantically
as you're talking here. There are so many good points
you're bringing up here. And one thing that keeps jumping
out of me. You know, as you connect with so
many of these aspiring homeowners to be what are you
finding to be some of the biggest obstacles and misconceptions
(34:58):
maybe around home ownership. Ye, what's the messaging out there
and how's it affecting our new marine or newest crop
of homeowners out there.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
It's justly a mix of things, I would say. In
terms of the biggest obstacles of affording those upfront costs
for people, that's definitely overwhelming. So people are concerned about
the down payment and the closing costs. But then one
of the misconceptions is that you need to put twenty
percent down to buy a home. But that is not true,
and our experts will walk you through that on the podcast.
(35:26):
Everyone has a different situation and their solutions, So I
think again. Having that knowledge goes a long way to help.
We spoke to a lot of people who have student
loans and they feel like because they have these big loans,
they can never qualify for a mortgage, which again is
not true. And some of the most inspiring moments for
me Kristen on the season of Beginners a buyer is
(35:47):
hearing from people who figured out ways to make it work.
People who they got the resources, they got the acknowledge,
and then they made a plan. So we spoke to
a woman and his partner. They decided that they was
on a downside. They're going to live in a vent
for a couple of years and cut back on expensive
and save until they could afford the house that they wanted.
You know, we go through the process of refinancing. Maybe
(36:10):
you find the house that's actually a good value because
it needs some upgrades that you can do, or you
can do it in an affordable way that other people
don't want to do it. You buy that home, and
then when rates go down again, you refinance. So I
think that writing so much information and so many other
buyer stories that people can hopefully take all of this
in and figure out that they can adapt and come
(36:32):
up with the right plan that works for them.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
That is fantastic and it's so true, and I have
to wonder what people's responses are when you share that
with them. It's got to be so mind blowing, honest
to God, and I knew the time would fly, but
I got to get this next one in here too.
When you connect with your fans for more in depth
discussions of home equity and maybe secondary properties, what are
you finding to be the most important lessons to share
(36:57):
on those two topics.
Speaker 10 (36:59):
Well, I think, as with everything, is like doing your
research right, figuring out what works for you, and then
figguring out the right steps. I think some people it
seems intimidating, it seems overwhelming, so they immediately want to
give up right. I want to home now. Things are
too expensive, It's not for me. I think that's such
a defeatist mentality. I think as you listen to this
(37:21):
new season, you hear about all these these first time
buyers making a plan. You know, I'm speaking too single parents.
They feel like their income is too low and their
debt is too high, so they're our experts to give
advice how to save, how to cut back while paying
off your credit cards, like making a long term plan.
So it's just really really incredible to hear people go
(37:42):
from feeling like they can't achieve this to getting some information,
getting some steps, and being able to make a concrete
plan to put into action. And if you visit Beginners
to buyer dot com, there's an outline of all of
the episodes. You can jump around. You can listen from
start to finish backwards for it. But there's a ton
of informations outstanding.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Nadeska Alexis find her on Chase Banks Beginner to Buy
Her podcast fantastic money making information that can put more
bang in your bank account. Nadeska, you're the best. You've
got an open mic anytime. Go get them and please
join us again when you can.
Speaker 10 (38:17):
All right, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Kristin you bet talk to you again soon and gang
until next week. Save those pennies, pay with cash and
you all stay aprugal out there.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Tuesday, the
Hey, everybody, Welcome to the Christin Agophian Show. Shout outs
from everybody here in Studio B as we connect with
our syndicated stations coast to coast via the biz Talk
Radio Network. Greetings to you all. I'm Chris Agopian, author
of Brilliant Frugal Living, syndicated lifestyle columnist, highly caffeinated, host
of your show dedicated to slashing your spending to new lows,
(00:26):
growing your savings to new previously undreamt of heights, and
demolishing your debt once and for all. It can be done,
and here's where we get it going. Thanks for hanging out.
Huge welcome to all of the newst affiliates, all of
the new listeners. The emails, the texts, you guys are
the best. Thanks so much to so many people.
Speaker 2 (00:45):
Linda T.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
Listening in from beautiful Portland, Oregon. I love your notes.
Raising my mug of coffee to all of you in salute.
Huge shout out to Mitchell Meeks and Linda E. Super
fans listening in from super Talk, Mississippi. Love your emails, guys,
keep them all coming, saying America's wallet's one hour at
a time. Sitting here coffee in hand, sent to me
by a wonderful listener. What is this we're doing the
(01:08):
butter toffee. Oh my gosh, this stuff is good. People
are saying in the Philadelphia area, we are getting this
crazy heat wave. And as much as I covetched during
the coldest days of winter, a point that has been
brought up to me by a couple of listeners.
Speaker 2 (01:22):
And you are so right.
Speaker 1 (01:23):
I was such a whiny baby in the coldest days
of winter. I better keep it zipped up during these hot, hot,
hot days of summer. But it's getting crazy hot around here, guys.
Of course it's July, for crying out loud. Of course
it's gonna get hot. But it's crazy hot here in
the Philadelphia area. So people are saying, you're not drinking
your hot coffee on these days, are you?
Speaker 2 (01:42):
Yeah?
Speaker 1 (01:43):
Is the sun shining? Is the moon shining? Is their
air in the air? Of course, things will never be
so odd, things will never be so hot that I
do not drink coffee. Coffee is just here people were
talking iced coffee. Now, no iced coffee is a little
too sophisticated for me. I need my coffee in a
very hot mug with a lot of you know, heavy cream,
(02:03):
and a couple of packets of whatever's handy. No, I
don't do the iced coffee. I know many people who do.
A lot of our listeners down South have taken iced
coffee to a art form. I'm not already enough. I
wish I was, so raise your iced coffee my direction.
I'm raising my mug of coffee in your direction as
we sit here saving America's wallets one hour at a time,
and we're coming up on fourth of July.
Speaker 2 (02:25):
I love it.
Speaker 1 (02:25):
We got the cookouts, we got the hanging out with
friends and family, and way too many carbohydrates. Maybe that's
just my house. And of course our favorite tradition, watching
PBS's a capital fourth. I absolutely adore it. Always have
no one the broadcast comes close. Who better to join
me via our newsmaker line than the host. My social
media exploded when I bragged about getting the chance to
(02:48):
connect John Stamos, Welcome, sir, How are you doing well?
Speaker 3 (02:52):
Christen? Good morning, Good morning.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
Good morning to you. You know Dad already know this. You've
got a huge fan base. You upped my standards tremendously.
Holy Mac, everybody loves you. It's July. My God, the
summer's flying. How's everything gelling? For another Capital Fourth? Hopefully
the weather gods will be kind again this year. You
know we talked about the list of names coming up
for this amazing event. It's just incredible again this year.
(03:14):
They keep upping the bar and they keep leaping over it.
They have you the National Symphony Orchestra, something for everybody,
just magic, Vanessa Williams, Colby Colay.
Speaker 2 (03:23):
I could go on and on.
Speaker 1 (03:24):
You have been doing this for a while, You're a
seasoned pro at this, but there are some new names
on the stage this year with you. Are they intimidated
at all by what's easily going to be millions watching them?
Or are they kind of low key about it? What's
been your advice to them?
Speaker 3 (03:37):
Now? Are you talking about puppets because they have no fear.
They are fearless celebrating Sesame Streets fiftieth anniversary. And I'll
tell you who's the most nervous is me because I'm
going to fulfill a lifelong dream and get to sing
with the muppets on the Capital Fourth television. So I'm
gcit about that also, something I've been wanting to do
for years. I'm any chance I get to celebrate our
(04:01):
vets and our men and women in the service we do.
And this year I'm going to visit a group within
the Wounded Warriors called Music Corps, and they are a
bunch of musicians, the long and people. They need a drummer.
So we are working up a Zach Brown song which
is extremely patriotic and it's going to be extremely emotional,
and we're going to play live on the Capital Fourth stage,
(04:23):
and that is what I'm most excited about.
Speaker 1 (04:25):
That's incredibly You know, when I was bragging about having
you on the show, one of the biggest, strongest bits
of social media feedback that I received was huge appreciation
for all that you do so much to honor our troops.
Tell our listeners a little bit more about your plans
for a Capital Fourth and your huge interaction with our
men and women in the armed services. It's got to
be so appreciated.
Speaker 3 (04:46):
Well, I appreciate them, and I know we all do,
and any chance we get to and celebrate them, we do,
and to when you see these musicians that have overcome
their injuries, able to play and have an optimistic attitudeble Now,
let's go back to social media because I'm going to
have to check you out. As soon as we get
(05:07):
done with this interview. Maybe you have to say ah
and thank you, because keep talking about this social media.
I got to get on I got to follow you.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
Holy mackerel.
Speaker 1 (05:14):
No, it was on Facebook, and you off my name
considerably with just the name recognition. They're just freaking out,
and why not. You're being very low key about it.
But you've had this tremendous career where you have connected
with so many people on so many levels. Blackie Parish
and doctor Gates and Jesse from Full House. I mean
I've got all three of those on my resume growing up,
so it's no big surprise.
Speaker 3 (05:35):
I'm seventy two years old this week.
Speaker 1 (05:37):
You are not. You have simply jam packed through a
lot of hard work and incredible career. But in all seriousness,
as your career has evolved, when you first started as
a kid, did you ever envision yourself July fourth being
the name in the face of a capitol fourth in
our nation's capital.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
Was that ever on your radar?
Speaker 3 (05:55):
No way, you know. I always say I probably will
never write a book, but if I ever did it,
it would be called If you would have told me, like,
if you would have told me when I was a
kid that I'd be hosting the Capital fourth, Like to
be in our nation's capital on the fourth of July
with all these patriotic acts and celebrating the troops. I
never would have believed. If you would have told me
(06:16):
that I'd be talking to you one day on the radio,
I would have said, I don't believe it. I've had
a left beautiful life. I'll tell you that much.
Speaker 2 (06:23):
You do. And you know I'm a big fan off.
Speaker 1 (06:25):
You make your own luck, so I think you're reaping
what you saw a bit here too when you interact
with these great crowds. You know, we're all watching it
on the big screens in our family rooms. We're sitting
there enjoying everything. Tell me a bit about the energy
of those crowds. They seem so wonderfully appreciative. It almost
seems like the crowds get bigger every year. It has
got to be a logistical nightmare getting everybody settled and
(06:46):
up and running, but every year you pull it off.
What's that kind of thing like for the rep especially
now in an age of quarantine and such. You guys
are switching gears with how you're getting it out the door.
But there's just so much work involved.
Speaker 3 (06:57):
Well, you know, I've been again. I've had such a
blessed life where I've got to play with the greatest
American rock and roll band in history of the Beach Boys,
and I played gigantic crowds. But the crowd seems to
be the most appreciative, like you said, the most patriotic certainly.
I mean, you know, I can look out this and
all the million home that are watching PBS, and it
(07:17):
doesn't matter what side of the political fence they stand on.
It's they're celebrating being American. They're celebrating being a family.
This year, we're going to really, I'm really going to
highlight what it means to be a family and an
American family right now in our country. And it's the energy,
I'm telling you. I get to stand in the middle
of that stage and there's this you know, one hundred
piece orchestra of you know, so enveloping me sort of
(07:40):
and this this great It's just a lot of love
and patriotism, and I couldn't be just the luckiest guy
on the planet when I'm standing in the middle of it.
Speaker 2 (07:50):
I love that and that energy shows as well.
Speaker 1 (07:52):
It's tremendous watching you as a host, and I knew
the time was going to fly, but I got to
get one more question. And you have been doing this
for years now, and when you first start guarded hosting
A Capital Fourth, you no doubt had ideas about what
it was going to be. You know what to expect.
But what has been your most surprising, your unexpected takeaway
as you now become the face of a Capital Fourth,
(08:13):
what's been your biggest surprise in doing the show?
Speaker 3 (08:16):
I tell you, when I started three years ago, I
was I've always been a family man my whole life.
I've done family television. I've had a very close knit
you know, mother, father and sisters, but I've never had
my own family. Now I have my own family and
to bring them to the Capital, to bring my son
this year, he's going to get all these years she
thought Bob Saget was big, big bird, But that I
think is going to be the best. But the first
(08:37):
year of thinking like, oh, one day my son is
going to be at the shows with me, That's that's
been a big I guess, a surprise, but what a blessing.
Speaker 1 (08:45):
And I tell you what with that kind of a resume,
No doubt you've been you know, this is the kind
of thing you've reached for your whole life. You have
this incredible resume, But meeting the cast of Sesame Street
last year, that just had to be the big thing that.
I mean, where do you go to do you for
a lunar landing for the next year. It's just have
to know how to top that, no doubt about it.
In our household, Sesame Street, that's like the pinnacle. That's
right there, so you know you've made it there. You
(09:06):
can make it anywhere.
Speaker 2 (09:07):
It's all good.
Speaker 4 (09:08):
What's Sesame Street character?
Speaker 2 (09:09):
You're looking forward to the.
Speaker 3 (09:10):
Most and the polar house? And how old are you are.
Speaker 2 (09:13):
You getting all of those?
Speaker 1 (09:15):
I've got a fourteen year old daughter and I've got
an eleven year old son who does all of your work.
I mentioned it and again you've uped my standing in
my own household.
Speaker 2 (09:23):
Not to mention social media and the show.
Speaker 1 (09:25):
We've got about two hundred stations coast to coast, and
we've got a tremendous listenership and a lot of things
we've really you know, we all gel on, we all
talk about this thing going on this event. When I
mentioned John Stamos, it it just floated. It was hilarious, busy. Oh,
we all have these memories of you know, watching you
on the air, listening to your music, your TV. You've
got this huge following that just enveloped so many different demographics.
(09:48):
Enjoy it and just embrace it. You've earned it and
we all love you.
Speaker 3 (09:51):
Can I call you every morning and you talk like
this because the best way to wake up I think everything.
Speaker 2 (09:56):
Oh wait, let me check my schedule.
Speaker 1 (09:58):
Yeah, absolutely, walking the number over the line and Doub'll
take care of John Stamus.
Speaker 2 (10:02):
I knew the time is going to fly.
Speaker 1 (10:04):
Our listeners love your work, your music, your dedication to
our military, and making America's birthday spectacular.
Speaker 2 (10:10):
We'll all be watching Happy Fourth.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
Of July, will do and we'll be right back gang
right after this.
Speaker 5 (10:23):
Che is small, not to say the best of all.
Circumstance just got.
Speaker 6 (11:12):
And we are back with the Christian Egopian Show. And
you guys know, I love our segments with that blend
not only finance and healthcare because it's something that's so
much on the forefront of so many of our minds.
And when we get the chance to have a certified
financial planner with us. I absolutely jump at those opportunities
because they are a wealth of knowledge that I didn't
(11:33):
even know that I needed. And today, guys, everybody knows
this is healthcare costs continue to rise, consumers are taking
on more of a financial burden for their health and
their wellness, maybe for their parents' health and wellness as well,
all these things not covered by insurance. And Bobby Rebel,
a certified financial professional, is joining us from a very
(11:55):
busy day via our newsmaker line to discuss a little
more in details what consumers should consider when they're considering
flexible financing options for their health and their wellness.
Speaker 7 (12:06):
Bobby, welcome, Thank you so much for having me, Kristen,
and thank you for highlighting such an important issue because
you're exactly spot on.
Speaker 8 (12:13):
Health and wellness.
Speaker 7 (12:14):
Go together with finance, because if we don't have our health,
what good is all of our wealth?
Speaker 4 (12:19):
Right?
Speaker 6 (12:19):
Isn't that the truth? And you know when I was
when I understood that I had the chance to have you
on the air, like a million questions went through my head,
and the one that keeps coming to me is because
you've got this unique vantage point where you can see
all the action on the ground, or you get the
ten thousand quotes. You talk to us a bit about
how you're seeing the rising health and wellness costs impacting
(12:41):
consumers today. With all the moving parts to a consumer's life,
how is this particularly impacting it.
Speaker 7 (12:47):
Well, you're right, it is impacting consumers, and it is
a very tough situation for many consumers who want to
get the right health care for them at the right time,
but don't always know what is going to cost and
how much is and how they're going to pay for it.
And in fact, because of that lack of information and
that lack of transparency, they often put off getting the
(13:07):
medical procedures that they need. In fact, I will tell you,
Synchrony recently did a study and fifty three percent of
Americans delayed medical treatments due to out of pocket costs.
So that is kind of an alarming number. And I
think that's why it's so important that we help consumers
be more proactive and more intentional when it comes to
their healthcare and figuring out how to pay for it.
Speaker 6 (13:30):
Oh heck yeah. And I'm picking notes as you're talking here,
and then the word that just jumped out of me,
was this new thing Thissynchrony could not wait to pick
your brain about that. Tell us a little more about
Synchrony and their new fear Financing principles. With all the
noise out there on the internet, we've got fifty thousand
channels to watch and all of the important stuff like this,
we're just not seeing it. That's why I'm so glad
(13:50):
you're here breaking down a bit for us, if you.
Speaker 8 (13:51):
Would well exactly and you put it so well.
Speaker 7 (13:54):
There is so much noise out there between social media
and all of the different streatments of information coming at consumers.
So what Synchrony did through its care credit fair Financing
Principles is it put together in one easy to understand
place and a very transparent and clear messaging. They put
together the Fair Financing Principles area of their website, which
(14:14):
is a tremendous resource to learn not only what your
medical procedures and your other healthcare and wellness costs are
going to be, but also your options on how to
pay for it. So, for example, the first thing that
I think people should go to is the Procedure Calculator,
which is very simple. There's a drop down menu about
seven hundred of the most popular medical and.
Speaker 8 (14:37):
Medical related procedures.
Speaker 7 (14:38):
It could be dental, it could be vision, it could
be even vet care drop down menu super easy. You
put in where you live because, as we know, the
costs very whether you're in New York City or for example,
in Florida where I live, the cost can be very
very much. So you put in your zip code and
you can get an estimate of how much something should cost.
Speaker 8 (14:57):
So for example, I had a friend.
Speaker 7 (14:59):
Who was interested in we put it in and we
could see how much it would cost where she lived.
Speaker 8 (15:04):
And so you go in with open eyes.
Speaker 7 (15:05):
And then it also has resources about how to pay
for it once you know the cost. So obviously you
want to look at what your insurance will pay and
in a perfect world that'll take the edge off. Not
always true, as you mentioned, But then it can go
through other options. So for example, you might have flexible
spending accounts through your employer, you might have a health
savings account. That could be an option. But for many
(15:27):
consumers it's important to also understand they're flexible financing options.
And that's really where the flexible financing where the fair
financing principles, I should say, really excels is explaining exactly
how it works with transparency and clarity and what you
as a consumer need to do to be successful with
these resources.
Speaker 6 (15:48):
Oh, it's so true. And you know what, And I
consider myself a reasonably intelligent person. I can walk across
the street, you know.
Speaker 3 (15:54):
I gave it.
Speaker 6 (15:55):
I can get things done. But when it comes to
the fine print of so many of these types of
organizations and these types of offerings and healthcare and everything else,
you get a little deer in the headlights. So that
surface like that is it's going to be huge. I mean,
it's obviously something that people are going to clamor for
and it is so desperately needed. You talked a little
bit about the care credit, and you talked about the
(16:16):
most important things to know about those financing solutions. I
love talking financing because it's something where people that's the
big brick wall. They have all of their options in
front of them, and they think, well, no matter what,
we won't be able to finance the What are you
finding to be the response when people learn more about
these financing options, Well, I think it's important.
Speaker 7 (16:34):
To know where your options are and know exactly how
it works. There's a lot of confusion, confusing jargon out there,
and what I love about the transparency and clarity of
the Fair Financing Principles is it gets rid of that.
It makes it very clear how it works.
Speaker 8 (16:49):
So, for example, with.
Speaker 7 (16:50):
I had mentioned deferred interests, that doesn't mean no interest.
It means it's deferred interests. And as a financial expert,
I want people to understand what their responsibilities are.
Speaker 8 (16:59):
What this website does is it lays it out very clearly.
Speaker 7 (17:03):
Here's what you need to pay by this time, and
you need to pay your bill by the end of
the promotional period if you want to have zero interest,
which is the goal for pretty much everybody, and it
lays out here's what it's going to cost. Yeah here,
but here's what's going to cost you if you don't
meet your obligations. If you don't meet those expectations, this
is what it's going to cost you. And personally, I
(17:24):
think that can be very motivating. It also lays out
different options because that may not be the best plan
for you. Maybe you need more time to pay, maybe
the balance is going to be higher, so in that case,
you may go for a plan that gives you a
lower APR, a lower.
Speaker 8 (17:38):
Interest rate and longer to pay, and it'll be fixed payments.
Speaker 7 (17:42):
But the website clearly lays out here is what you
have to pay at this time, so you know what's
coming and you can budget accordingly and plan your finances
accordingly so that you can be successful. And most importantly,
let's get back to this. Get the medical care that
you need, because that's ultimately the goal when you need it,
and not delay and not procrastinate because you don't know
(18:03):
how you're going to pay for it.
Speaker 8 (18:04):
This is a strategy that can work for you.
Speaker 6 (18:06):
Yeah, it's so true, and it's a win win on
all levels. You get the medical care that you need earlier,
which I want to say you know ninety nine percent
of the time, will save you money and help and
scares you know down the road. It's just a win
win for everybody. But you know, you brought up a
good point with the fine print. Fine Print is like
my kryptonite. You know, people see a page of fine
(18:28):
print and they're like, forget it. I don't even want
to be into that. But that's where you guys come
in and you simplify everything. The response to this has
to be remarkable, And I knew the time was fly
Where do our listeners? We got about two hundred station
coast to coast. Where do our listeners coast to coast
go to find out more about this and get more involved?
Speaker 8 (18:45):
Sure, Thank you so much.
Speaker 7 (18:46):
Carecredit dot com Forward slash FFP as in fair Financingprinciples
Carecredit dot com Ford slash f FP, lots of information,
multimedia videos, a whole blog, lots of resources, calculators, lots
of financial tools.
Speaker 8 (19:03):
It's great, well worth investing some time getting to know
the website.
Speaker 6 (19:07):
Brilliant acknowledge is power in this way, it's going to
give you a little more health and a little more
money in your pocket. I can't imagine it's a better
win win, Bobby, thank you so much for taking the time.
I knew this would be awesome information. You got an
open mic anytime.
Speaker 8 (19:19):
Be well and joined again and again thanks so much
for having.
Speaker 6 (19:22):
Me you Ben.
Speaker 1 (19:22):
We'll be right that gang right after this, and we
(19:49):
are back with the Christina Gopian Show. And I was
really interested to read recently. You know how much I
love a good poll writing. No one does it better
than Gallop. They recently can out with the latest state
of the global workplace. Okay, guys, and it's reporting reveals
that twenty percent Are you ready for these numbers, twenty
percent of the world's workforce, the world's workforce is experiencing
(20:14):
loneliness daily. And we're talking about social isolation, We're talking
about chronic loneliness. We're talking about people of all ages,
all walks of life, all educational levels, anywhere and everywhere.
And you and I know whether it's someone we know
and we care about, whether it's somebody we hear about.
Chronic loneliness has a devastating effect on not just your
(20:37):
physical but your mental health, right, and how does it
affect your life and your relationships and your work and
your productivity. Well, here to break down the numbers just
a bit for us and offer some great insight as
to what maybe organizations should do now to accommodate the
new reality, is Kristin Lipton, managing Partner of business Development
(20:59):
at galov Joy via our newsmaker line. Kristin, thank you
so much for joining us. How are you doing today?
Speaker 9 (21:04):
I'm doing well, Thank you, Kristin. It's great to be
here with you.
Speaker 1 (21:07):
Well, it's great to have you, right because I again
I love a good poll, because you go out and
do all of the legwork that I'm too lazy to do.
But in all seriousness, Gallup really has its finger on
the pulse of the information that people are craving because
we've all had this feeling, you know, the back of
our minds. We had this lingering effects from COVID, We've
(21:28):
had all the unexpected, unintended tragic ripple effects of all
of this isolation that we had to endure. And you
guys are the only ones that I know about that
are doing these kind of in depth sort of surveys.
Talk to us a bit about how they conducted this
type of survey and maybe some of your biggest, most
surprising takeaways.
Speaker 9 (21:49):
Absolutely, so you know, I love I love what you
just said about what Gallup is up to because we
are committed to helping the voices of global employees is
around the world be.
Speaker 4 (22:01):
Heard, and in our latest report, we do just that.
Speaker 9 (22:04):
We examine how employees feel their lives are going, both
in general.
Speaker 4 (22:10):
And at work.
Speaker 9 (22:11):
Now, work is an important part of the conversation because
we spend so much time working. The only thing that
we do more than work is sleep, So we know
how important it is a Gallop to bring data into
the conversation because you mentioned it. We've all had some inclinations,
some wondering, some hunches, but we sought out to kind
(22:33):
of understand exactly what it is that's going on and
conducted the largest study of its kind. We leveraged our
World Poll, which enables us to go to one hundred
and sixty countries where we conduct face to face interviews
phone interviews. We have twenty years where we can compare
and contrast and make sense of what's going on relative
to where we've been, and so we're able to quantify
(22:56):
the employee experience now through these efforts and the insights
that we're able to bring to the table, we hope
that leaders bring these insights right back to their own
organizations to bring about positive change and help us fix
the world's broken workplaces.
Speaker 4 (23:12):
And while when we look.
Speaker 9 (23:13):
Back we can see that the workplace in general is improving,
that's a good thing.
Speaker 4 (23:18):
Over the last twenty years have been some improvements.
Speaker 9 (23:21):
In twenty twenty three, employee engagement stagnated, it didn't improve.
Well being declined, so the lack of improvements is concerning.
They also stagnated at some pretty low numbers, so globally,
we're twenty three percent employees engage.
Speaker 4 (23:35):
What that means is twenty three.
Speaker 9 (23:37):
Percent of us are waking up enthusiastic, passionate, excited, inspired
about our work. The rest of us aren't well being
is the percent to which we're thriving in our life,
so that touches on physical, mental, you know, the feeling
at work that you have. All of that's encapsulated in
how much to the extent that you're thriving.
Speaker 4 (23:56):
That's a big concern.
Speaker 9 (23:58):
As you mentioned that loan holiness number, it is staggering.
One in five globally are experiencing daily loneliness. That's even
higher if you're younger, under the age of thirty five
and working. It's also higher if you're working exclusively remote.
Here in the US, we see that half of us
are experiencing a lot of daily stress. So all of
(24:19):
this suggests that the majority of us are waking up
and showing up at works struggling a little too a lot.
Speaker 4 (24:25):
There are some major consequences with that struggle.
Speaker 9 (24:28):
Conservative estimates put it at eight point nine trillion dollars.
That's roughly nine percent of global GDP that we can
attribute right to that low engagement. Now, you know, what
we know about humans is that the majority of us
we enjoy work. It brings purpose, it brings them social aspects.
So work isn't necessarily the problem. Or dare we say
(24:48):
work isn't the problem? It's the workplace?
Speaker 1 (24:51):
Oh, you couldn't be more right. And these numbers are
absolutely freaking me out. You know, I'm a numbers person.
H I crave the numbers and then I get a
handful in and I'm like, what the hell is with
these numbers? But in all seriousness, you know, we've got
a whole new generation of kids that you know, we
want them to have their stress levels be lower as well,
and that doesn't seem to be going in a good direction.
It all seemed to stem from a lot of unintended
(25:13):
consequences from COVID and you can't turn back the clock.
But as we're trying to kind of claw our way
back to a pre COVID normal, it just seems freaking daunting.
You've got all of the you know, you've got workplaces
that are already behind the eight ball because you know,
you're trying to kick and scream to get somebody in there.
One day a week, I mean, God forbid, right, everybody
else is working from home, so you've got that going on.
(25:36):
So then you've got yourself a lot of business owners
a little down in the dumps. And then you know, lather, rinse, repeat,
how do we go about reversing this stuff in a
way that you know, that's actionable, ways that we're going
to see two years from now, the six months from now,
ten years from now, get back to where we need
to be. We're not at war. You know, we have
(25:56):
these depression numbers out there that are staggering, and you know,
the economy is you have piccoping along everything else, and
yet these depression numbers are staggering. As the adults in
the room, how do we go about combating that?
Speaker 9 (26:08):
You know, I think the first thing that we can
do is just acknowledge the extent of the disruption, what
it is and what it isn't you know? The landscape
of work has forever changed, to your point, hybrid remote
work on some level that's here to stay. Technology and
AI that's coming at us at a dizzying pace. You
mentioned the younger generation they're now in the workforce. That
(26:28):
brings with it societal cultural shifts. We have to acknowledge
that all of this is happening right around us. It
does make it harder to manage because the essentials of
management are unchanged. Employees still need to feel recognized, they
need clarity, they need the materials and equipment to.
Speaker 4 (26:46):
Do their job.
Speaker 9 (26:47):
It's just that much harder as a manager to deliver
on those basic needs of employees. Because we know that
managers themselves their stress, they're burntout, they're struggling.
Speaker 4 (26:57):
We would expect them to be more.
Speaker 9 (27:00):
Engaged than they are, but they are experiencing more daily
negative emotions. That's really a cause for concern because if
the managers are struggling, I can assure you their teams are.
Managers are the single piece of the puzzle that we
can attribute seventy percent of the variance in employee engagement
at that team level we can attribute to the manager.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
So it is something that we.
Speaker 9 (27:22):
Definitely need to think about because helping managers, bringing them
up to do the job of management, is what it's
going to take for us to get through this.
Speaker 1 (27:32):
You're right, it was top down decision making that led
to the new reality. It's going to have to be
top down decision making that brings us back to where
it's all a sustainable business model, because right now we
don't have a whiff of that going on right now,
and we all work in different industries. But I'm finding
that it's the younger generation that really is just getting
pushed and pulled in every direction. The older generation is
(27:54):
trying to accommodate for it and get everybody back on
a stable footing.
Speaker 2 (27:57):
But I just see it.
Speaker 1 (27:58):
Am I being impatient? I just seed crawling along. You'd
love to see these numbers goosed just a little bit faster?
Am I being impatient? Or is that just the new reality?
And I got to get a grip.
Speaker 9 (28:09):
No, I wish more people were as impatient as you are,
because that's exactly the reaction that we should have.
Speaker 4 (28:16):
To these numbers.
Speaker 9 (28:17):
We can do so much better globally and here in
the US, because what gives me hope. Gallup studies the
best run organizations in the world, and they are bucking
these trends. So when we look at the best run organizations,
three quarters of their managers are engaged, and they're driving
a workforce to much higher levels of engagement. Seventy percent
(28:38):
of the world's best organizations are engaged contrast that to
the global number I mentioned at twenty three percent. It
just feels different to wake up and go to those
organizations day in and day out, and they have the
productivity to show for that. But we know about the
best managers is that there is one core habit that
truly sets them apart, and it's one meaningful conversation a week.
Speaker 4 (29:02):
We all talk about is, you know, forcing everybody back
to the office.
Speaker 9 (29:06):
They're going one hundred percent remote, and truly, if we
all just enable our managers to have one meaningful conversation
every single week with each and every one of their
team members, it would go such a long way in
bridging any physical distance that comes with work location that
then manifests in a psychological distance. But when people feel
cared about and understood as a human and have that
(29:27):
connection to their manager, you know, those numbers that I
mentioned seventy percent, they are absolutely possible and we should
not at all except the stagnation and the lower numbers
that we're seeing.
Speaker 1 (29:39):
Brilliant stuff and I knew the time would fly. Kristin Lipten,
Managing Partner, Business Development at Gallop, Thank you so much
for taking time out of your crazy busy schedule and
breaking down these numbers for us. We really appreciate it.
You got an open mic anytime, please join us again.
Speaker 9 (29:53):
Thank you so much for having me, and I would
love to invite your listeners to go to Gallup dot
com where they can download a full copy of the
stage of the Global Workplace Report.
Speaker 2 (30:01):
Excellent.
Speaker 1 (30:02):
We'll put a link on our social media as well.
Thanks a million. Be well and here's to a great summer.
Speaker 2 (30:08):
Likewise, Thanks Krestin, you bet, and we'll be right back
in right after.
Speaker 3 (30:11):
This to.
Speaker 2 (30:20):
The best of all.
Speaker 1 (30:39):
And we are back with the Kristin de Goophian Show.
And you guys already know what a fan I am
of home ownership. It is truly one of the best,
if not the best, way to create true life changing
wealth and prosperity for you and your family. And the
American dream of home ownership doesn't care what the current
economy is like. It just embedded in our blood, regardless
(31:03):
of the headlines. According to a recent Gallup pole, nearly
twenty eight million Americans say they want to buy a
home this year. However, only twenty one percent believe it's
a good time to buy. Yes, interest rates are up
and waiting out this market. Waiting for lower interest rates
could mean missing out on home ownership opportunities. Are the
(31:23):
difference between true wealth and not. You know a lot
of moving parts to today's real estate market, and here
to break it all down for us is our next guest, Nadeska. Alexis,
host of Chase Banks Beginner to Buyer podcast. It's outstanding.
You guys have to check that out, and she joins
us via our newsmaker line to tell us more.
Speaker 2 (31:43):
Alexis welcome, Hi, Christin, Thanks.
Speaker 10 (31:45):
For having me. I'm so glad that you share my
enthusiasm for home ownership.
Speaker 3 (31:50):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (31:51):
I think you're right. I think it's kind of an
American chick thing. I think we're a little louder. I
think the guys are wanting it just as much as
we are with regards to home ownership, but we're just
a little louder about it. You know, we're the ones
that come out and just say it out loud and Nadeska,
Behind the noise of today's headlines, there seems to be
an unyielding opinion that Americans today still long for home
(32:12):
ownership as that American dream. In your research, why do
you think that that is such a consistent goal. Is
it just in our blood? Is it something that we
learned from family, from friends, from just you know, living?
Speaker 2 (32:25):
What is it?
Speaker 10 (32:26):
I think it's just it's the fact, like you said,
if something we've seen time and time again, as you
mentioned the market conditions fluctuate, that's something that will always
be true. But what is also true is that home ownership,
you know, will always be a very important step towards
securing stability for your family, to having financial independence, and importantly,
as you said, to having this opportunity to build generational
(32:48):
well for me, having the opportunity to pass on a
home to my children or something that my parents couldn't
give to me, but I know that they wanted to
and I don't think that will ever change is very important.
Speaker 2 (33:01):
Yeah, you bring up so many important points. It's all true.
Speaker 1 (33:04):
And so the second season of Chase Banks Beginner to
Buyer podcast just launched. It has helped so many people.
The feedback has been unbelievable. You've got such a huge
fan base. As you study the results and the feedback,
what is perhaps your biggest takeaway from this season? Any surprises?
Speaker 10 (33:25):
I think on every season, I'm learning a lot But
what I'm finding Kriston that's super consistent is, as you mentioned,
sometimes the news headlines are a little bit they make
things seem a little bit scary and it's impossible. But
I think what people are realizing as we have these
conversations the barrier is really just having the knowledge. I
think a lot of people are trying to go into
the process of home buyership, I guess buying you say,
(33:47):
they don't know the steps it takes to get through
this process, and there is sort of this taboo still
about talking about finances and home ownership. So people, some
people I spoke to on the podcast this season, they're
too scared to even talk to their closest family members
or their friends about this. So I think what we're
doing is giving people the knowledge. You know, we have
(34:07):
experts from home lending advisors, real estate agents, people who
are expert at doing renovations, at home upgrades, taking you
through every possible detail. Christinen, I'm talking about you could
be someone who's looking at buying your very first house.
You could be someone who already owns your primary home
and now you're considering and then that's the prosim you're
trying to figure out if maybe being a landlord is
(34:28):
right to you, if building an accessory dwelling unit on
your property is the right thing for you. So there's
so much to learn on this season of Beginner to Buyers.
Speaker 1 (34:38):
You're bringing up so many important points. I'm writing frantically
as you're talking here. There are so many good points
you're bringing up here. And one thing that keeps jumping
out of me. You know, as you connect with so
many of these aspiring homeowners to be what are you
finding to be some of the biggest obstacles and misconceptions
(34:58):
maybe around home ownership. Ye, what's the messaging out there
and how's it affecting our new marine or newest crop
of homeowners out there.
Speaker 10 (35:05):
It's justly a mix of things, I would say. In
terms of the biggest obstacles of affording those upfront costs
for people, that's definitely overwhelming. So people are concerned about
the down payment and the closing costs. But then one
of the misconceptions is that you need to put twenty
percent down to buy a home. But that is not true,
and our experts will walk you through that on the podcast.
(35:26):
Everyone has a different situation and their solutions, So I
think again. Having that knowledge goes a long way to help.
We spoke to a lot of people who have student
loans and they feel like because they have these big loans,
they can never qualify for a mortgage, which again is
not true. And some of the most inspiring moments for
me Kristen on the season of Beginners a buyer is
(35:47):
hearing from people who figured out ways to make it work.
People who they got the resources, they got the acknowledge,
and then they made a plan. So we spoke to
a woman and his partner. They decided that they was
on a downside. They're going to live in a vent
for a couple of years and cut back on expensive
and save until they could afford the house that they wanted.
You know, we go through the process of refinancing. Maybe
(36:10):
you find the house that's actually a good value because
it needs some upgrades that you can do, or you
can do it in an affordable way that other people
don't want to do it. You buy that home, and
then when rates go down again, you refinance. So I
think that writing so much information and so many other
buyer stories that people can hopefully take all of this
in and figure out that they can adapt and come
(36:32):
up with the right plan that works for them.
Speaker 1 (36:34):
That is fantastic and it's so true, and I have
to wonder what people's responses are when you share that
with them. It's got to be so mind blowing, honest
to God, and I knew the time would fly, but
I got to get this next one in here too.
When you connect with your fans for more in depth
discussions of home equity and maybe secondary properties, what are
you finding to be the most important lessons to share
(36:57):
on those two topics.
Speaker 10 (36:59):
Well, I think, as with everything, is like doing your
research right, figuring out what works for you, and then
figguring out the right steps. I think some people it
seems intimidating, it seems overwhelming, so they immediately want to
give up right. I want to home now. Things are
too expensive, It's not for me. I think that's such
a defeatist mentality. I think as you listen to this
(37:21):
new season, you hear about all these these first time
buyers making a plan. You know, I'm speaking too single parents.
They feel like their income is too low and their
debt is too high, so they're our experts to give
advice how to save, how to cut back while paying
off your credit cards, like making a long term plan.
So it's just really really incredible to hear people go
(37:42):
from feeling like they can't achieve this to getting some information,
getting some steps, and being able to make a concrete
plan to put into action. And if you visit Beginners
to buyer dot com, there's an outline of all of
the episodes. You can jump around. You can listen from
start to finish backwards for it. But there's a ton
of informations outstanding.
Speaker 1 (38:02):
Nadeska Alexis find her on Chase Banks Beginner to Buy
Her podcast fantastic money making information that can put more
bang in your bank account. Nadeska, you're the best. You've
got an open mic anytime. Go get them and please
join us again when you can.
Speaker 10 (38:17):
All right, thank you so much for having me.
Speaker 1 (38:19):
Kristin you bet talk to you again soon and gang
until next week. Save those pennies, pay with cash and
you all stay aprugal out there.
Speaker 2 (38:33):
Tuesday, the
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