Speaker 1: You're listening to Bill Handle on demand from KFI AM
Speaker 1: six forty.
Speaker 2: Five AM six forty bill Handle. Here it is a
Speaker 2: Thursday morning, October twenty three. A couple of the stories
Speaker 2: were following PBS SoCal announcing a huge telethon featuring a
Speaker 2: variety of actors' hosts, musicians. Do you remember when Jerry
Speaker 2: Lewis was hosting that it would go on for twenty
Speaker 2: four hours the telethon for was it muscular dystrophy? And
Speaker 2: he had everybody on and at the end and who's
Speaker 2: at the end of twenty four hours? And kids with
Speaker 2: wheelchairs would be rolled out, you know, to pull your heartstrings.
Speaker 2: And at the very end of the telethon, he would
Speaker 2: have one of the kids in wheelchairs remove the wheelchair
Speaker 2: and crawl across the stage just so he can get
Speaker 2: some money.
Speaker 1: Well maybe not, but it was pretty interesting.
Speaker 2: Anyway, There's going to be a telethon with insane number
Speaker 2: of people to raise money for PBS which has been
Speaker 2: cut dramatically.
Speaker 1: Okay.
Speaker 2: Joel Larsguard, host of How to Money Sunday's twelve to
Speaker 2: two pm. His address is at how to Money Joel.
Speaker 1: Good Morning, Joel, Morning Bill. Oh yeah, we got a
Speaker 1: lot to cover today.
Speaker 2: Now credit cards to earn extra awards, which I am
Speaker 2: a huge fan of, should you actually churn them? Should
Speaker 2: you take all the extras at the beginning to get
Speaker 2: you on and then you cancel and go to the
Speaker 2: next one.
Speaker 1: Does that make sense? Yeah?
Speaker 3: So that is the practice known as churning, and it's
Speaker 3: something that should you do it?
Speaker 1: And it depends on a number of factors.
Speaker 3: And I think we should probably start off with the
Speaker 3: reality that most people don't handle credit cards. Well, something
Speaker 3: like fifty to sixty percent of people have like a
Speaker 3: recurring balance on their credit card every single month, and
Speaker 3: I think a lot of people in that position they
Speaker 3: sometimes think about, or they'll think about the rewards that
Speaker 3: they're getting from their credit cards, where there's the sign
Speaker 3: up bonus, the two percent cash back, the travel rewards,
Speaker 3: from the spending they're doing, and maybe they minimize the
Speaker 3: downside of that credit card and the twenty two percent
Speaker 3: interest rate they're paying on the balance because they're like,
Speaker 3: it's okay, I'm getting these other benefits, and the truth
Speaker 3: is it's not even close to okay, Like if you
Speaker 3: don't if you don't pay your balance off on time
Speaker 3: and in full. Credit cards just are not for you,
Speaker 3: at least at this point in time. When we're talking
Speaker 3: about churning. This is when people are saying they're trying
Speaker 3: to game the system, and the credit card companies are
Speaker 3: you know, their best customers are the ones who do
Speaker 3: have those recurring balances, and the churners are saying, we're
Speaker 3: not going to have a balance. In fact, what we're
Speaker 3: going to do is exploit the system for all it's worth.
Speaker 3: We're going to sign up for as many credit cards
Speaker 3: as we humanly can that's humanly possible, in order to
Speaker 3: get all of those sign up bonuses, reap a ridiculous
Speaker 3: number of points and you know, many hundreds of dollars
Speaker 3: in sign up bonuses, and then we're just going to
Speaker 3: sit back and use those those sweet perks that you've
Speaker 3: given us, and we're never going to carry a balance.
Speaker 3: And those are the customers that the credit card companies
Speaker 3: really hate.
Speaker 2: Let me ask, doesn't that destroy your credit if you
Speaker 2: all of a sudden sign up for twelve cards.
Speaker 3: That's a good question, and that it is possible it
Speaker 3: can harm your credit, especially in the short term. If
Speaker 3: you sign up for a bunch of cards in a
Speaker 3: short period of time and you have all these new
Speaker 3: lines of credit that don't have much history to them. Yes,
Speaker 3: it can hurt your credit, but on the flip side
Speaker 3: of it, people who are really smart about the churning
Speaker 3: practice and they're kind of doing it methodically and over time,
Speaker 3: ultimately many of them have really high credit scores because
Speaker 3: what they have is a ton of available credit and
Speaker 3: they're not using much of that credit, which is one
Speaker 3: of the biggest metrics that the credit score, the credit
Speaker 3: burero's factor in. So if you have twelve or fifteen
Speaker 3: or twenty five credit cards with fifteen, twenty, thirty thousand
Speaker 3: dollars credit limits and you're using essentially none of that
Speaker 3: credit limit, it looks like you're handling credit incredibly well
Speaker 3: to the credit bureaus. So yeah, maybe in the short
Speaker 3: term it can be a credit ding, but ultimately, for
Speaker 3: people who do it well, it can be a credit boost.
Speaker 1: Huh.
Speaker 2: And the credit card companies haven't been able to figure
Speaker 2: that out. There are no algorithms that put all that together.
Speaker 3: God, so that you would think there is. I would
Speaker 3: say Chase is probably the best at cracking down on this,
Speaker 3: but ultimately it's really hard for them to figure out
Speaker 3: who are the churners and who's not and if they
Speaker 3: cut some people off, well, was that person actually going
Speaker 3: to eventually use that card?
Speaker 2: Well?
Speaker 3: And are we cutting off some of our potentially best
Speaker 3: clients and customers. Chase essentially has a rule that's like
Speaker 3: the five and twenty four rule. If you open up
Speaker 3: more than five credit cards in a twenty four month period,
Speaker 3: they're going to now you for a credit card. And
Speaker 3: so there, that's kind of how they've been able to
Speaker 3: crack down on it and say, like, man, whoever, if
Speaker 3: you're one of those people who's opened up a ton
Speaker 3: of new credit cards, we just don't want you as
Speaker 3: a customer.
Speaker 2: You know, I use the Chase card and because it
Speaker 2: has the best best points for travel, and I pay
Speaker 2: money for it. I have that the one the reserve
Speaker 2: card that gives you a zillion points that I pay
Speaker 2: money for the card itself. And for me, it's all
Speaker 2: about upgrades, that's it. It's all about upgrades. Uh. It's
Speaker 2: me sitting in business class because I've upgraded, and you know,
Speaker 2: you sit in business class first, and people in coach
Speaker 2: go past you, and as they go past me, I turn,
Speaker 2: I look at the bed and I go, hey, I'm
Speaker 2: sleeping to night. How about you? Oh?
Speaker 1: They love that absolutely, Yeah, they do. Ah right now.
Speaker 2: The way it works is Joel sends me the topics
Speaker 2: that we talk about, and here's one that I looked
Speaker 2: at and I went, wow.
Speaker 1: That's interesting.
Speaker 2: It's almost counterintuitive, and that is the more money you have,
Speaker 2: the more money you have.
Speaker 1: Joel, that's very deep, I must tell you. Is that
Speaker 1: what I said in the email? I hope that's not
Speaker 1: what I said. I'm okay what I was.
Speaker 3: Getting at, And what is I think true for a
Speaker 3: lot of people, And this is kind of counterintuitive?
Speaker 2: Is it?
Speaker 3: When you have more money, handling that money becomes more complicated,
Speaker 3: and for a lot of people, actually managing money becomes
Speaker 3: more difficult. It becomes harder because the options increase, the
Speaker 3: complexity increases. And there is something about having a dedicated
Speaker 3: goal paying off some credit card debt and building up
Speaker 3: a little savings that I think most people like. It's
Speaker 3: they're like finite, simple goals. And when the goals become
Speaker 3: more long term in nature and more ambiguous in nature,
Speaker 3: I'm kind of saving for retirement or I'm trying to
Speaker 3: build up a stash for my kids to pay for college.
Speaker 3: Like when those goals become bigger, harder to define, and
Speaker 3: longer term, people actually their ability to make progress can
Speaker 3: sometimes erode because they're not able to stick with I
Speaker 3: guess some of the tools and the methodology that got
Speaker 3: them there in the first place, like tracking their spending
Speaker 3: and sticking to a budget and kind of calculating things.
Speaker 3: Once their income goes up, oftentimes it becomes a lot
Speaker 3: harder for them to kind of stay in line.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and just by the way, I'm a big fan
Speaker 2: of this because I have a wealth manager. Now I've
Speaker 2: done that. For example, my kids five twenty nine plan
Speaker 2: for college. I funded that the day my kids were born.
Speaker 2: Is when I started that. And as that money increased,
Speaker 2: I told, you know, I gave the money to a
Speaker 2: professional to manage, and I said, I'll make the money,
Speaker 2: I'll fund it. You figure out how it's going to
Speaker 2: be invested and how we're going to deal with it,
Speaker 2: because this is what you do. I don't, and you know,
Speaker 2: as and there was a time where I just barely
Speaker 2: made the point where I could have used the money
Speaker 2: person and I went and did it, because again, my
Speaker 2: job was to make the money and I do that, okay,
Speaker 2: and your job is to make it happen. And I, well,
Speaker 2: I'm very very conservative with my money, but I just
Speaker 2: didn't want.
Speaker 1: To take the time.
Speaker 2: It takes time to actually figure out what a good
Speaker 2: investment policy is.
Speaker 3: You're right, and it's and it takes And I don't
Speaker 3: think hiring someone excuses your need to have some knowledge
Speaker 3: that you can ask good questions. And I think the
Speaker 3: further along you get in your financial life and the
Speaker 3: more goals you've been able to achieve, the more likely
Speaker 3: it is that you should hire someone to come alongside
Speaker 3: in particular help you with some of those those bigger
Speaker 3: questions that you have, but also some of that coaching, right,
Speaker 3: and some of that kind of helping you stay in
Speaker 3: the game and continue to make the smart moves so
Speaker 3: that you don't feel like you're going it alone and
Speaker 3: you're unable.
Speaker 1: To do that.
Speaker 3: So I do think, yeah, as people, more money sounds
Speaker 3: like it's going to be a good thing. Right, I've
Speaker 3: got more options at my disposal. But then sometimes as individuals,
Speaker 3: especially if we're not well versed in personal finance, we
Speaker 3: have so many options and we don't really know which
Speaker 3: direction to go in and I think that is when
Speaker 3: a professional can be of a lot of help in
Speaker 3: your life.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and a professional can also come up with a budget,
Speaker 2: can do the analysis and do all of it, which
Speaker 2: a lot of us are horrible at.
Speaker 3: And sometimes, again, like I said, with some of those
Speaker 3: goals get really amorphous or long term. It's really easy
Speaker 3: for us to be like, I'm doing great, I'm cruising,
Speaker 3: and we start to kind of round things off and
Speaker 3: we're guestimating. And when you're rounding things off and you're
Speaker 3: guestimating and you're not precise, that means that money's going
Speaker 3: to flow through the cracks. And hey, guess what, You've
Speaker 3: got more money and it can flow through the cracks.
Speaker 3: But the if that money then does flow through the cracks,
Speaker 3: you're not going to achieve those greater goals that you have.
Speaker 3: And so, whether it's financial independence at an earlier age,
Speaker 3: whether it is max in that five to twenty nine
Speaker 3: account for your kid's future, like, you're just going to
Speaker 3: make progress a lot more slowly than you otherwise would.
Speaker 3: And it makes sense, and that's where having somebody in
Speaker 3: your corner could be the right move, all.
Speaker 1: Right, Joel.
Speaker 2: Thanks This Sunday twelve, to two. How to money. You
Speaker 2: have a good one to earn some money and don't
Speaker 2: lose it or whatever the hell you do, will do?
Speaker 1: Thanks Bill, All right, take care all right now.
Speaker 2: La County is moving to limit license plate tracking. Cal
Speaker 2: Matters did a report and talked about how many police
Speaker 2: policing agencies in California don't even have a policy and
Speaker 2: of tracking license plates with technology, cameras, etc.
Speaker 1: Well actually specifically cameras.
Speaker 2: And where they're going to share them if they're going
Speaker 2: to share them with federal agencies for example and board
Speaker 2: of supervisors. And that is the same thing with for example,
Speaker 2: the La County agencies, right Sheriff's department. There really is
Speaker 2: no policy out there now we know, Wow, the state
Speaker 2: has a policy.
Speaker 1: No, there was a bill and the governor vetoed it.
Speaker 2: And so here is the issue. Does a police department
Speaker 2: share information with federal authorities?
Speaker 1: Readspite ice.
Speaker 2: And as of right now it can you know, for example,
Speaker 2: the s Sheriff's Department after the Board of Supervisors passed
Speaker 2: the motion saying that they're on their way to limiting
Speaker 2: the amount of time that this information can be held
Speaker 2: to sixty days and must then eliminated. Must be must
Speaker 2: delete it unless it has to do specifically with a crime.
Speaker 2: And the Sheriff's department said, we'll take a look at it.
Speaker 2: We'll you know, lick. It's it's all over the place,
Speaker 2: and you would think there would be a set law,
Speaker 2: and it's not. It's simply policy as to which departments
Speaker 2: share in which departments don't LAPD from what I understand,
Speaker 2: doesn't share other agencies.
Speaker 1: Police agencies do share. Others are up in the air. Now.
Speaker 2: As far as I'm concerned, I'm okay with the license
Speaker 2: plate readers.
Speaker 1: I don't care.
Speaker 2: I don't have a problem with the police agencies reading
Speaker 2: my license plates. And as I zip past, if there's
Speaker 2: a problem with me, then stop me.
Speaker 1: And there isn't. I happen to be a law abiding citizen.
Speaker 2: God forbid. But let me do a survey. Survey says
Speaker 2: real quickly, Neil, do you have a problem with the
Speaker 2: authorities keeping your license plate number and knowing where you are.
Speaker 1: And where you've been? No, it's their plate, all right?
Speaker 1: Amy issue with the authorities? No, they know everything anyway. Yeah,
Speaker 1: that's true. A will Will really knows.
Speaker 2: Do you have a problem with the authorities knowing your
Speaker 2: license plate or your airplane to see if it was
Speaker 2: involved in a crime.
Speaker 1: No, not at all, because it's not a it's not
Speaker 1: a right, it's a privilege. Okay, not fair.
Speaker 2: Enough and no problem, No problem, interesting, Kono, any problem?
Speaker 1: I have a problem with authorities.
Speaker 2: Yes, okay, so that's uh. Can you imagine everybody except
Speaker 2: for Kno.
Speaker 1: You had a lot of problem with extra high stairs.
Speaker 2: Yeah, and a lot of civil libertarians have a real
Speaker 2: problem with the authorities knowing this much about you and
Speaker 2: keeping your license plate where let's say you've blown through
Speaker 2: a red light or whatever, and the camera you know,
Speaker 2: follows you, knows where you are, or just reads your
Speaker 2: license plate, which can be done now. I mean there
Speaker 2: are cameras that can read license plates all over the city.
Speaker 2: And we're going to reach a point where there is
Speaker 2: no place that doesn't have that kind of record. You know,
Speaker 2: have you been to London, Central London? It's one square
Speaker 2: mile in central London. You cannot walk two feet without
Speaker 2: you being on a screen where police are looking at you.
Speaker 2: It is one hundred percent coverage. The same thing in China.
Speaker 2: China has one point three billion people, and the authorities,
Speaker 2: because they have so many cameras out there know exactly
Speaker 2: who is what.
Speaker 1: They use facial recognition. I mean it's wild, all right.
Speaker 2: If you ever go to Alaska, and that is a
Speaker 2: bucket list trip, a cruise to Alaska, I mean, they
Speaker 2: are really neat stuff. And what you tend to do,
Speaker 2: what you always do, is not only do you go
Speaker 2: in the inland passage, but you go into one of
Speaker 2: these glacier bays, one of these fjords that you get
Speaker 2: to go as close to a glacier as you can,
Speaker 2: the face of a glacier, and they keep half a
Speaker 2: mile third of a mile away the ship and you're
Speaker 2: hoping that it calves and not the cow kind of
Speaker 2: calves as I said earlier, the calving where parts of
Speaker 2: the glacier fall into the ocean, which happens all the time.
Speaker 2: You also hear this cracking sounds like rifle shots. It's
Speaker 2: really interesting. And also on either side of a glacier,
Speaker 2: I mean it doesn't go across the entire face of
Speaker 2: what you're looking at.
Speaker 1: There is also land.
Speaker 2: They're mountains because glaciers go between mountains, as you know,
Speaker 2: they go through the valleys or they create valleys, and
Speaker 2: there are mountains on either side. So here is something
Speaker 2: that was not expected.
Speaker 1: It was.
Speaker 2: August last August, and there's a ship and they're in
Speaker 2: the Tracy Arm Fjord and as they're looking at the glacier,
Speaker 2: the entire the entire mountain side goes into the water,
Speaker 2: creating a a hyper local it was local, but massive
Speaker 2: tsunami that ran up the opposite slope on the opposite
Speaker 2: part of the fjord, leveling everything in its path. The
Speaker 2: water was as high as the Empire State Building. Now
Speaker 2: the good news is there wasn't a ship in there
Speaker 2: at that moment. I mean, there was a ship fifteen
Speaker 2: miles away. It was a National Geographic Cruise ship caring
Speaker 2: about one hundred and fifty people, and that started to
Speaker 2: move backward at a really good clip because the water
Speaker 2: was shifting and it was pulling the ship.
Speaker 1: The ship back twenty miles away.
Speaker 2: There were three kayakers who were camping on high ground
Speaker 2: and they woke up with good news. If they had
Speaker 2: been any low lower, they would they would have swept away,
Speaker 2: but they just got very wet. It was experts say
Speaker 2: as a miracle that no one was hurt or killed.
Speaker 2: The only reason the National Geographic Cruise ship was saved
Speaker 2: and this is fifteen miles away. It was positioned behind
Speaker 2: an S bend S shaped bend, and it blocked the
Speaker 2: impact of a wall of water that saved theirs lives.
Speaker 2: And scientists are looking at these things and they're saying
Speaker 2: they're going to happen more and more. And why is
Speaker 2: this climate change? You know, that hoax of climate change
Speaker 2: and what ends up happening? And I didn't know this
Speaker 2: is why would a mountain just come down that it's
Speaker 2: been there forever? Well, the ice of a glacier actually
Speaker 2: is the support. It's almost like a retaining wall that
Speaker 2: keeps the mountain there. And as the glaciers behind it
Speaker 2: start melting and.
Speaker 1: The water goes through it.
Speaker 2: This is over thousands of years, maybe one hundreds of
Speaker 2: thousands of years, and all of a sudden you have
Speaker 2: gleate climate, climate change, climate warming in this case, well
Speaker 2: all of it. I mean, the c degree up in
Speaker 2: that area is four percent higher than it was in
Speaker 2: nineteen fifty four degrees higher.
Speaker 1: Go to Alaska. By the way, it's still worth it.
Speaker 2: Just want to let you know, well, well worth it,
Speaker 2: definitely bucket list.
Speaker 1: Okay, we're done, guys. That's it.
Speaker 2: It's a Thursday, Tomorrow Friday, and it's a foody Friday
Speaker 2: from eight to eight thirty where we talk, where Neil
Speaker 2: at I talk food and then ask handle anything at
Speaker 2: the bottom of the hour, and then of course lots
Speaker 2: more to cover, and so we're back again tomorrow. It's
Speaker 2: Amy and Will and wake up Call from five to
Speaker 2: six o'clock. Neil and I are aboard six to nine
Speaker 2: and always here and always perky cono and and yes, perky, perky,
Speaker 2: all right.
Speaker 1: Gary and Shannon.
Speaker 2: Next, this is KFI AM six poy S five.
Speaker 1: You've been listening to the Bill Handle Show.
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