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Speaker 1: Welcome to Hod of Money. I'm Joel. I'm Att. Today

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Speaker 1: we're answering your listener questions. That's right, Happy Monday to

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Speaker 1: everyone out there, and I hope you are buckled up

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Speaker 1: for a fresh asskut of money where we're gonna hear

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Speaker 1: directly from listeners. One listener, Joel, is I tell you

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Speaker 1: by the way, I got a I got a ticket.

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Speaker 1: I thought you're gonna say something. I take it. You're

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Speaker 1: not wearing my seatbelt the other day? Did you really? Oh,

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Speaker 1: you didn't share that. Yeah, you didn't tell me that

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Speaker 1: it's only fifteen dollars. Fortunately, but there was like a

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Speaker 1: multiple hole development and I feel really I felt really bad.

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Speaker 1: My kids were in the car, and yeah, snap, sorry

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Speaker 1: continue speaking of buckled up, you were not buckled fifteen bucks.

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Speaker 1: That feels like is it two thousand and two? Slap

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Speaker 1: on the wrist. It feels like what they were charging

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Speaker 1: back when I was in school, Like in Athens, there

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Speaker 1: was a cop with that post up at this one

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Speaker 1: four way stop and even still I don't know, dumb

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Speaker 1: college students the would they would see him and just

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Speaker 1: kind of still roll through and you would get them,

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Speaker 1: like person after person for not coming to a full

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Speaker 1: and complete stop. Would you would think it would cost

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Speaker 1: more for this, Yeah, because like clicking tickets have gone

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Speaker 1: way up in ticket or ticket And we've talked about

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Speaker 1: how like if you if you drive past the stop

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Speaker 1: sign that's on the school bus, Yeah, that's like a

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars where we live. Yeah, well we're like two

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Speaker 1: fifty or five. I can't remember. I thought it was

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Speaker 1: a thousand. No, it's not that much, but maybe it's

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Speaker 1: a lot. It's a lot because Kate's done it multiple ys.

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Speaker 1: Oh gosh, I've thrown her under the bus pun intended.

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Speaker 1: We've talked about this on the show. But in her defense,

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Speaker 1: it was on the other side of the road and

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Speaker 1: the bus it had like pulled off into this turnoff

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Speaker 1: into an apartment complex and she didn't realize that. Oh okay,

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Speaker 1: and on the on her side of the road it's

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Speaker 1: just woods and so there is no kid crossing from

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Speaker 1: the woods through traffic, you know. Anyway, that was her

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Speaker 1: making her case. Yeah, there's nothing now. She understands more

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Speaker 1: humbling though than making a big mistake like that. That's

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Speaker 1: with the with the lights blurt and the police officer

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Speaker 1: walks up and the kids are in the car, all

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Speaker 1: three of them. We're we just two of them, but

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Speaker 1: they hold it over you and I don't tell your sister,

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Speaker 1: your brother. But it's good. We need I need to

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Speaker 1: be humbled every now and again, remember to do the

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Speaker 1: right thing, to be reminded. Yeah. So the bigger question

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Speaker 1: than is what is that going to do to your

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Speaker 1: your I think that doesn't it's not a moving violation.

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Speaker 1: It's not a moving violation. Because of that, it doesn't

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Speaker 1: count towards the number of points. I have not seen

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Speaker 1: it impact it yet, so I don't think it's crossed.

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Speaker 1: I don't think that goes on your clue report, which,

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Speaker 1: by the way, you don't know what the clue report is.

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Speaker 1: We talked about it for in the shows. Launching right

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Speaker 1: into all of the different things. Don't speed people come

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Speaker 1: to a full and complete stop. Certainly buckle up fifteen bucks.

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Speaker 1: At least felt was. I was like, oh gosh, sorry,

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Speaker 1: that's not that bad. All right, let me get I'm

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Speaker 1: also gonna give a little previous because it's right. I

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Speaker 1: appreciate you sharing that. But we're going to talk about

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Speaker 1: international investing, right like someone's looking about talking about taking

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Speaker 1: it to the next level. Another listener, he's got thirteen

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Speaker 1: credit cards in his wallet, which is one thing, but

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Speaker 1: it's a whole other thing to carry a balance, don't

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Speaker 1: love That can also like hurt your butt if you're

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Speaker 1: sitting on it and driving for long distances. Had a

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Speaker 1: double up if it is that thick, just going get

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Speaker 1: two wallets on each side. But uh, and then we'll

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Speaker 1: talk about tax refund strategies that more during our episode today.

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Speaker 1: But dude, I am actually super excited for this frugler cheap.

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Speaker 1: I'll bring it. I don't know if you notice what

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Speaker 1: I wrote down here was surprise frugler cheap. I'm ready

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Speaker 1: to be So here we go, Joel. Will you accept

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Speaker 1: used boxer briefs And I'm going to reach over here

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Speaker 1: into my bag. Wow, see right here, And this is

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Speaker 1: about a theatrical as our podcast gets, so as you

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Speaker 1: will see, these are the exact boxer briefs that you wear.

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Speaker 1: Uh huh. And I know this because you quasi talked

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Speaker 1: me into getting these. These are they are not only

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Speaker 1: the exact brand there your exact size. These are medium

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Speaker 1: Kurculm signature boxer reef uh. And they have been worn

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Speaker 1: because I tried them out and they are boxer briefs.

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Speaker 1: Just start my thing. You're you're just a brief sky

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Speaker 1: Yeah yeah, I like briefs. And well, the sizing on this,

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Speaker 1: it's like a little bit too big. You're like an

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Speaker 1: inch or so up on me on the waist, and

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Speaker 1: so they just fe feel a little bit loose. It's

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Speaker 1: warming up, so the temperatures. I don't need the extra

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Speaker 1: fabric and the alternative bud is. I'm just gonna throw

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Speaker 1: these away. And uh, this is a twenty dollars value

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Speaker 1: right here, eighteen ninety nine. They're go, how many times

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Speaker 1: did you wear them? Like once or maybe twice? And

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Speaker 1: you know how I will accept a skiff. You will

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Speaker 1: accept I will accept a skiff. All right here, folks,

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Speaker 1: Joel is accepting free underwear. This takes our friendship to

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Speaker 1: a new level. But by the way, yes, I think

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Speaker 1: you've only won them once or twice. They're washed right,

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Speaker 1: And this is very different than buying them at the

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Speaker 1: thirst Story. I think, like when I see that Ben

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Speaker 1: at the Thirst Star, I'm like, who buys your underwear? Here? Sorry?

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Speaker 1: This the one thing I will not buy used, but

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Speaker 1: I will accept an incredibly gently used gift. Of underwear,

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Speaker 1: I guess from someone. I take it. Take it like

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Speaker 1: it's a four pack, you know, because you as you

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Speaker 1: know they come in fours. But like, dude, these are

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Speaker 1: like new. They would certainly qualify for the like new

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Speaker 1: barely used categorization on eBay from your back back to mine.

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Speaker 1: I'll take them home. I love it and now I

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Speaker 1: don't need to buy. You're good to go for another.

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Speaker 1: However long this thing, those bad boys last decade and

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Speaker 1: a half. I don't know your other fair are just

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Speaker 1: they got holes in them and stuff that's very kind. Well,

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Speaker 1: I told Kay this morning, I was just like half,

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Speaker 1: I can't wait to take this into jewel and see

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Speaker 1: what he says. How far listeners are so grossed out

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Speaker 1: right now? So fun, you know, in particular, so I

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Speaker 1: when I when I run my load, I even do

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Speaker 1: a double double rints, you know, so I like to

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Speaker 1: really make sure my clothes are thorough. If it were reverse,

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Speaker 1: would you have accepted the gift? Yeah? Okay, if let's yeah.

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Speaker 1: If if I had say talk to you into and

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Speaker 1: you didn't talk me into it, but you mentioned how

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Speaker 1: much you loved those Kirklan taking sure box of breethes

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Speaker 1: even Wirecutter says, these are some of the best boxer

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Speaker 1: briefs out in the land. And I saw the review

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Speaker 1: and I was thought, you know what. And I was

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Speaker 1: actually in Costco the other day walking past him, saw him.

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Speaker 1: I was like, let me, what the heck, let me

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Speaker 1: give him a shot? And you know, just they didn't

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Speaker 1: work for me, So I'm sorry they didn't work out

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Speaker 1: for you. Is another treasure. If she was on the

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Speaker 1: other foot, I totally think, what if I had talked

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Speaker 1: you into my favorite pair of underwear and you're so,

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Speaker 1: you know, gave him a shot. I got four pair,

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Speaker 1: I got six pair here. I'm like, all right, man,

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Speaker 1: I would be fine with it. You know, thanks man. Bomp. People.

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Speaker 1: People didn't see the tater that took place off camera.

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Speaker 1: So weird, so weird. We're weird people. But is that

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Speaker 1: what you're expecting when when you saw a surprise regular chee?

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Speaker 1: Not at all? Yeah, I didn't think. I don't think

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Speaker 1: I could have predicted that the I don't think the

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Speaker 1: Calshi markets were predicting it either, But I love it.

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Speaker 1: Do they take our behavior into account? I don't think

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Speaker 1: there are any Calshi waivers wagers when it comes to

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Speaker 1: Matt and Joel. One of these days they're going to

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Speaker 1: get that. Like, if we get that big, then we'll

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Speaker 1: have known that we meet. Yeah, all right, let's mention

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Speaker 1: the beer. We're having another episode. This one's called Fire,

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Speaker 1: Skulls and Money. It's by Toppling Goliath. It's a double

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Speaker 1: I PA from friend of the show, Clint. So Clint,

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Speaker 1: thanks for sending us some beers. Man appreciate it. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: Clint did a very excellent job packaging that beer, by

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Speaker 1: the way, is the most thorough beer packaging job I've

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Speaker 1: ever seen. Yeah, yeah, it could have safe. It could

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Speaker 1: have been Yeah, it could have been like the most

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Speaker 1: delicate porcelain china that would have arrived perfectly intact. Well,

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Speaker 1: the beer's this good, I think they need to be packaged.

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Speaker 1: Money to take care of it. And if you have

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Speaker 1: a money question, by the way, we'd love to hear

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Speaker 1: from you. Just got to have the money dot com

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Speaker 1: slash ask or literally record your money question whatever's on

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Speaker 1: the top of your head at the moment. That's fine,

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Speaker 1: like recorded on the voice memo app of your phone.

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Speaker 1: Email it over to us. Hopefully we can take it

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Speaker 1: next week On the show, Matt let's start off with

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Speaker 1: a question. This one is about do I need to

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Speaker 1: have more international exposure in when it comes to my investments?

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Speaker 2: Hey, Matt and Joel, Joel and Matt mole Jat, you

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Speaker 2: guys are awesome. This is Jordan, longtime listener. You guys

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Speaker 2: were talking on the Friday flight about how the VT

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Speaker 2: SAS is diversified but they're calling them non diversified. And

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Speaker 2: you mentioned some international diversified options for mutual funds or ETFs,

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Speaker 2: and I was just wondering if you guys had a

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Speaker 2: Vanguard equivalent.

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Speaker 1: All right, thanks, Wait, we've taken a listener question from

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Speaker 1: Jordan before, right, because he has done the mole Jat thing. Yes, okay,

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Speaker 1: deja vus. I just wanted to make sure I wasn't

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Speaker 1: like taking crazy pills. It's like, wait a minute, have

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Speaker 1: we actually already done this question? And I don't think

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Speaker 1: we have two questions the same intro, but I do

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Speaker 1: think we've heard from Jordan. Yes, okay, so let's let's

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Speaker 1: get into it. Matt, is this international investment? This is

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Speaker 1: a question I think on that a lot of people

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Speaker 1: are wondering now, right, and do I need to like

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Speaker 1: update my priors do I need to update how I

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Speaker 1: think about investing for the future, more international exposure the like,

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Speaker 1: because of concentration at the top right of the S

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Speaker 1: and P. That's something we talked about. That's what Jordan's

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Speaker 1: referring to, that that non diversification risk is the S

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Speaker 1: and P just too focused on a handful of companies.

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Speaker 1: Some brokerage firms are like, hey, we don't think that

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Speaker 1: the SMP is as diversified. It's not enough, right for

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Speaker 1: the average investor to have only S and P five

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Speaker 1: hundred exposure. And the truth is the S and p's

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Speaker 1: value it's tied up in like seven companies, yes, a

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Speaker 1: third of it, right, start you start asking these bigger

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Speaker 1: questions of like what is diversification When you see that

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Speaker 1: much of the Yeah, an SMP for instance, weighted that

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Speaker 1: heavily towards the MAG seven, it opens up a Pandora's

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Speaker 1: box of questions, and we understand the reaction and that

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Speaker 1: level of conscious It's not my favorite, right that like

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Speaker 1: nine percent or something of the S and P five

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Speaker 1: hundred is in Vidia, Right, so if Nvidia gets cut

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Speaker 1: in half, well, that's going to hurt my S and

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Speaker 1: P five hundred index. Fund that I'm invested in. But

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Speaker 1: we still think, Matt, overall, that the total stock market,

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Speaker 1: total stock market index funds and S and P five

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Speaker 1: hundred index funds are a reasonable choice for the average investor.

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Speaker 1: They're still diversified enough. And there was a recent paper

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Speaker 1: that found that investing in only a hand and I'm

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Speaker 1: gonna quote here, this recent paper found investing in only

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Speaker 1: a handful of the biggest companies has essentially the same

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Speaker 1: riskiness as owning all the rest of the stocks in

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Speaker 1: the S and P five hundred combined, because what they

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Speaker 1: found is that larger stocks are safer. I think it's

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Speaker 1: because one, there's more of a spotlight on bigger stocks

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Speaker 1: like the It's it's hard to basically say, well, Google

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Speaker 1: is way overvalued or way undervalue. Google's going under Probably

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Speaker 1: not gonna happen right exactly, maybe eventually over decades, but yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's not like this overnight sort of volatility that you

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Speaker 1: would expect when you're that big. Like, the chances of

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Speaker 1: that happening are slim to none. And we totally understand, Jordan,

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Speaker 1: if you want to make tweaks to your portfolio, but

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Speaker 1: I guess I just want to start out by saying,

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Speaker 1: do not let the non diversification term that's kind of

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Speaker 1: gotten a lot of headlines and buzz that's floating around

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Speaker 1: more and more spook you. Sure, sure, yeah, So regarding

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Speaker 1: making tweaks, one thing that you could do is for

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Speaker 1: what's called an equal weighted S and P five hundred ETF,

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Speaker 1: So rather than just looking at just the S and

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Speaker 1: P five hundred, it's an equal weighted ETF. And that

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Speaker 1: would of course reduce that significant nine percent exposure drill

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Speaker 1: that you mentioned to Nvidia. You'd be taking the stance

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Speaker 1: of betting on average companies instead by reducing exposure to

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Speaker 1: some of those big ones significantly. That being said, Vanguard

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Speaker 1: doesn't offer one of these Invesco, however, they offer a

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Speaker 1: fund like this, but the expense ratio is a fair

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Speaker 1: bit higher. It's a lot more expensive, and I'm not

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Speaker 1: totally sure if it's going to be worth switching over

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Speaker 1: because it's it might be a bit more volatile. But

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Speaker 1: you would also be okay with you would need to

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Speaker 1: be okay with underperforming traditional SMP funds, and man, this

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Speaker 1: just would be a significant shift in your investing strategy.

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Speaker 1: I would certainly want you to think long and hard

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Speaker 1: before making an extreme pivot like this. I think it's

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Speaker 1: it's okay for us to share that this thing exists

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Speaker 1: without recommending that you go check this out. I just

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Speaker 1: want you to know that it's out there, that this

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Speaker 1: is actually the solution to the folks out there who are,

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Speaker 1: you know, raising the alarm of non diversification. It is

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Speaker 1: a path that some people are taking, but personally I

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Speaker 1: hate this approach. I think there's a reason Vanguard doesn't

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Speaker 1: offer a fund exactly. Yeah, and you're paying a whole

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Speaker 1: lot more for the quote unquote privilege of going for

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Speaker 1: an equal weighted SMPF five hundred etf. But like, because yeah,

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Speaker 1: the way I think about it, it's like you kind

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Speaker 1: of want to have your cake and eat it too.

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Speaker 1: You want to say, well, I want the smp so

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Speaker 1: you get the broad the verse array of companies. But

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Speaker 1: I'm just not going to pay attention to capitalization. How

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Speaker 1: much money is actually how much worth and how much

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Speaker 1: value do people believe is actually in these companies, which

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Speaker 1: is like a very crucial piece of information that is

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Speaker 1: like half of the it's half of the It makes

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Speaker 1: me think of like a recipe like if you're making

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Speaker 1: cookies or something. It's sort of like saying, Okay, well,

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Speaker 1: I know I need flour, I need oil, I need water,

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Speaker 1: I need egg chips. But it's a sort of sea

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Speaker 1: salt but oh little yeah, a little bit of that

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Speaker 1: on top. But it's sort of like ignoring all the

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Speaker 1: measurements and just saying, Okay, one cup of flour, one

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Speaker 1: cup of eggs, one cup of salt, one cup a

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Speaker 1: cup of chocolate chips, and guess what, I doubt that

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Speaker 1: that is going to turn out very well. And so

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Speaker 1: having share tell our buddy Tim to give it a shot.

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Speaker 1: This is an equal weighted chocolate chip cookie, Tim, What

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Speaker 1: is that going to give you? I don't think it's

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Speaker 1: going to give you the kind of results that you're

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Speaker 1: looking for. And so, in a similar way, like you

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Speaker 1: are discounting all of the collective wisdom of everybody who

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Speaker 1: is pouring their money into these companies and investing. It's

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Speaker 1: risky in another way, for sure. Yeah. Yeah. And another

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Speaker 1: option would be to get more international exposed or as

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Speaker 1: Jordan mentioned, right, this would be I think much more

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Speaker 1: understandable than opting for an equal weighted S and P

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Speaker 1: five hundred index fund. That's been one of the knocks

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Speaker 1: right on US centric s and P five hundred style investing.

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Speaker 1: That basically leaving international out of the equation, it reduces

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Speaker 1: your diversification and it could be harmful in the long run.

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Speaker 1: It's actually been quite a bit of time since international

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Speaker 1: stocks outperformed the United States. Twenty twenty five was the

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Speaker 1: United States stock market did pretty well, but it was

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Speaker 1: the first year in over a decade that international stocks

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Speaker 1: outperformed the United States, so that the recency bias would indicate, well,

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Speaker 1: being a US centric investor is best. But when you

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Speaker 1: think about the decade before the last decade, Matt, we

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Speaker 1: had international stocks experiencing superior returns. So if you were

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Speaker 1: quote unquote more diversified, you would have experienced in fear

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Speaker 1: returns over the past decade, but not necessarily over a

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Speaker 1: longer period of time. Depends on the window you're picking, right,

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Speaker 1: And so that just because of the last decade that underperformance,

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Speaker 1: even though last year saw a better year for international stocks,

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Speaker 1: that still doesn't mean it's a bad idea to get

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Speaker 1: more international exposure to first, diversification is so often it's

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Speaker 1: about reducing downside risk. It's not about scoring the biggest

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Speaker 1: returns humanly possible. If we were going opting for that,

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Speaker 1: we'd be trying to pick the one stock that's going

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Speaker 1: to you'll perform them all. Diversification in the stock investing

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Speaker 1: man who wants to be average? An average index investor

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Speaker 1: who wants to be like a That was like one

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Speaker 1: of the early cries against index. Who wants to average? Yeah,

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Speaker 1: who wants to be the average? American? Nobody like it's

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Speaker 1: all about American exceptionalism and finding the company that's going

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Speaker 1: to make it big. So and if that were good,

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Speaker 1: like doing that though, if that were easier, right, easier

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Speaker 1: said than done, we'd all be going in that direction.

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Speaker 1: But diversification is essentially the saying, hey, I don't I

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Speaker 1: don't have that sort of ability. I'm going to take

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Speaker 1: the average. But how you to versify man? And that's

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Speaker 1: in the so much in the eye of the beholder.

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Speaker 1: Makes me think of even a conversation that I had

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Speaker 1: with Ben Felix not too long ago. Matt, he's in Canada.

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Speaker 1: How do Canadians think about having an international exposure? Well,

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Speaker 1: they've got more Canadian exposure than I've got, that's for sure,

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Speaker 1: the average Canadian. And I think he said something like

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Speaker 1: the average portfolio they construct for their clients is like

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Speaker 1: thirty percent allocated to Canadian Canadian companies. Yeah, that probably

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Speaker 1: makes a little bit more sense if you're Canadian. Sure, again,

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Speaker 1: these are like really hard, murky decisions and there's no

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Speaker 1: one size fits all answer, I don't think for everyone totally.

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Speaker 1: So while we're talking about international funds, there's a couple

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Speaker 1: that we might refer you to specifically. So this is

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Speaker 1: a Vanguard fund vx US, and you will get a

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Speaker 1: ton of international exposure in just this one singular low

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Speaker 1: cost fun You're gonna own almost eighty seven hundred stocks

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Speaker 1: and this one fun and it's mostly Europe and emerging markets.

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Speaker 1: And actually, as the name apply implies, you are completely

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Speaker 1: avoiding US stocks in this one. So it's x US exactly.

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Speaker 1: It's like, no, no US, we're marketing it out. That

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Speaker 1: being said, you could check out VT. So this is

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Speaker 1: another cool fund that Vanguard offers. It's got ten thousand

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Speaker 1: stocks and it's this one includes US stocks. So if

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Speaker 1: you like the idea of owning, you know, a singular

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Speaker 1: fund with US and international exposure, this one is it's

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Speaker 1: one of the best. It's it's roughly two thirds US

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Speaker 1: and then one third international. It's the rest of the world,

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Speaker 1: and that's one that I've actually owned myself in the past.

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Speaker 1: I think both of those, the vx US as well

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Speaker 1: as VT, both of those are worth considering. And of course,

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Speaker 1: with it being Vanguard, the costs on those are exceptionally.

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Speaker 1: We're looking at point zero five point zero six PERCENTPE.

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Speaker 1: When you talked about the makeup of VT, it's interesting

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Speaker 1: because that actually reflects more of kind of the international

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Speaker 1: reality of how much money there is in different markets

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Speaker 1: around the world, because the United States does make up

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Speaker 1: what's something like sixty percent of the world's economy, which

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Speaker 1: lines up pretty well. Yeah, yeah, one third the rest

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Speaker 1: of the rest of the world. Condlind that is another

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Speaker 1: very similar sort of sedative and forget it. You're more

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Speaker 1: widely diversified. You still have a bunch of US exposure.

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Speaker 1: I think for a lot of people who are like

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Speaker 1: I think I want more international allocation, I think the

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Speaker 1: S and P only sort of it frightens me from

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Speaker 1: a diversification perspective, opting for something like that, knowing that

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Speaker 1: you might experience another decade of US dominance and see underperformance,

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Speaker 1: but be okay with that, because that's your diversification strategy.

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Speaker 1: That's okay, and that's a fun worth considering, especially since

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Speaker 1: the costs are reasonable. But the best way to change exposure,

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Speaker 1: and I think it's worth highlighting this is to do

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Speaker 1: it over time. Instead of selling out of big positions

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Speaker 1: and getting rid of all your VT sacks or all

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Speaker 1: your vou or something like that, or most of it

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Speaker 1: jumping in on the funds we mentioned like doing it

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Speaker 1: in one fell swoop, it's typically best to change future

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Speaker 1: investment purchases in an effort to rebalance over time. So

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Speaker 1: depending on what account we're talking about, there could be

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Speaker 1: tax implications for selling as well, for talking about like

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Speaker 1: a taxable broker's accounts. You want to avoid that, but

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Speaker 1: you also don't want to make big shifts that just

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Speaker 1: radically shift your long term investing strategy without fully considering

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Speaker 1: the implications. Moving that rudder in small ways can help

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Speaker 1: you help you shift shift properly over time. So, hey,

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Speaker 1: new contributions. Maybe you're like, no, I do want more

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Speaker 1: international exposure, so I'm going to go VXUS with half

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Speaker 1: of my contributions moving forward and VOU with the other half,

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Speaker 1: or you know what, for future contributions. I'm just going

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Speaker 1: to put everything into VT because I do want to

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Speaker 1: broaden out and have more international exposure over time. I

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Speaker 1: think just like quick dramatic changes to your investing plan,

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Speaker 1: they're typically a bad idea, and it almost always reveals

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Speaker 1: some sort of underlying emotion going on that you need

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Speaker 1: to pick out a little bit further. I totally agree.

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Speaker 1: I think it's important to identify why it is that

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Speaker 1: you want to change your investing. If it's the headlines,

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Speaker 1: if it's the scare fear mongering that's taking place, maybe

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Speaker 1: think twice. If you do like the idea of like,

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Speaker 1: oh I want to be Team Earth and oh there's

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Speaker 1: a third of companies that I'm missing out on, I

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Speaker 1: think that's a perfect, perfectly reasonable captain planet with our

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Speaker 1: powers combined. What about the poor kid that was heart?

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Speaker 3: You know, like.

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Speaker 1: I always remember being like, gosh, he got he drew

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Speaker 1: the short strangoy came when they're throwing out the rings,

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Speaker 1: you know, like I wanted to be like the fire

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Speaker 1: the watery ey yeah, or girl, I forget who it's

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Speaker 1: been a long time. Yeah, all right, Jordan, we have

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Speaker 1: that gets you pointed in the right direction. Joel, we

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Speaker 1: got more to get to, including cell phones. We're gonna

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Speaker 1: talk about that. We'll talk about thick wallets. We won't

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Speaker 1: get to back pain though, and how that hurts your back.

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Speaker 1: We'll get to that more right after this. Hi, we're back.

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Speaker 1: We've got more of your money questions to get to,

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Speaker 1: Malas get to one about working for beer.

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Speaker 3: Hey, Matt jil Daniel from northern California. Here, been a

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Speaker 3: long time listener of the show. I love you guys,

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Speaker 3: just wanted to ask you two questions this week. One

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Speaker 3: is a frugal or cheap I was debating it with

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Speaker 3: my coworkers and I know where I stand, but I'm

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Speaker 3: curious where you, guys. Stan he made friends with a

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Speaker 3: local craft brewery up here, and maybe once or twice

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Speaker 3: a month I'll go in and I'll help them with

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Speaker 3: canning or beer making, just kind of doing grunt work

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Speaker 3: for them whatever they need, and they pay me in

425
00:21:38,760 --> 00:21:41,560
Speaker 3: the form of free beers. I love doing this as

426
00:21:41,640 --> 00:21:44,320
Speaker 3: just a release, but some of my coworkers have called

427
00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:47,359
Speaker 3: me cheap for it. What's your take? Switch into my

428
00:21:47,520 --> 00:21:51,159
Speaker 3: actual money question. I was recently promoted to a director

429
00:21:51,240 --> 00:21:53,679
Speaker 3: role at my work, which is a big deal for us.

430
00:21:53,720 --> 00:21:55,879
Speaker 3: It was kind of unexpected, so I'm super excited for that.

431
00:21:56,080 --> 00:22:01,480
Speaker 3: But in that we now have access to different health

432
00:22:01,520 --> 00:22:05,000
Speaker 3: insurance plans that when we had before. My children were

433
00:22:05,040 --> 00:22:07,280
Speaker 3: on my wife's plan, so we're switching them over to

434
00:22:07,320 --> 00:22:09,600
Speaker 3: my plan because my work does something very cool where

435
00:22:09,600 --> 00:22:13,040
Speaker 3: they cover one hundred percent of mine and my family's

436
00:22:13,080 --> 00:22:16,920
Speaker 3: portions of any of our health insurance plans. But my

437
00:22:17,080 --> 00:22:22,240
Speaker 3: question is specifically around HSA's I've always been an HSA member,

438
00:22:22,359 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 3: I've always had an HSA plan, But with these new options,

439
00:22:26,160 --> 00:22:29,760
Speaker 3: I can go to our classic PPO plan, which according

440
00:22:29,800 --> 00:22:33,200
Speaker 3: to the breakdown, costs my company about two thousand dollars

441
00:22:33,280 --> 00:22:35,159
Speaker 3: more month, So it seems like on paper it's a

442
00:22:35,240 --> 00:22:39,480
Speaker 3: much better plan. Is it worth doing that and foregoing

443
00:22:39,600 --> 00:22:42,879
Speaker 3: my HSA in the two hundred dollars monthly contribution my

444
00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:47,000
Speaker 3: work puts in, or being as I have a young,

445
00:22:47,119 --> 00:22:50,000
Speaker 3: healthy family, does it make more sense to stick with

446
00:22:50,040 --> 00:22:52,560
Speaker 3: the HSA plan and take advantage of the two hundred

447
00:22:52,600 --> 00:22:56,600
Speaker 3: extra dollars a month they give me? Would greatly appreciate

448
00:22:56,680 --> 00:22:57,119
Speaker 3: your input.

449
00:22:57,280 --> 00:23:01,160
Speaker 1: Thank you, guys. Sounds like Daniel's rushing it on both fronts.

450
00:23:01,280 --> 00:23:05,400
Speaker 1: Joel on the social craft beer front, but then also

451
00:23:05,480 --> 00:23:07,399
Speaker 1: at work. So he's got a two part here. And

452
00:23:07,640 --> 00:23:10,760
Speaker 1: I will say at least that I think going in

453
00:23:11,040 --> 00:23:13,800
Speaker 1: hanging out with your friends. I've read the brewery getting

454
00:23:13,840 --> 00:23:16,560
Speaker 1: some free beers in addition to you saying that it's

455
00:23:16,640 --> 00:23:18,040
Speaker 1: kind of like a release. I don't know what you

456
00:23:18,080 --> 00:23:20,600
Speaker 1: do for work right from nine to five, but I'm

457
00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,159
Speaker 1: guessing it's very different than what it is when you

458
00:23:23,240 --> 00:23:26,000
Speaker 1: show up at the brewery. I am one hundred percent

459
00:23:26,560 --> 00:23:29,440
Speaker 1: down with you doing that. Those brewery environments are often

460
00:23:29,560 --> 00:23:33,359
Speaker 1: like highly collegial, and you get those like regular customers

461
00:23:34,040 --> 00:23:36,840
Speaker 1: to hang out with the I just think a lot

462
00:23:36,840 --> 00:23:38,720
Speaker 1: of people work at the brewery. It's like being having

463
00:23:38,800 --> 00:23:40,719
Speaker 1: tattoos and stuff like that. Like you get to hang

464
00:23:40,800 --> 00:23:42,680
Speaker 1: out with like a different kind of crowd than maybe

465
00:23:42,720 --> 00:23:44,720
Speaker 1: if you're working in like a CPA firm or something

466
00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:47,280
Speaker 1: like that. I'm guessing it's probably different, which is probably

467
00:23:47,359 --> 00:23:49,760
Speaker 1: why his coworkers think he's being cheap, because they're I

468
00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:51,680
Speaker 1: don't know, they're probably like looking down their their nose

469
00:23:51,680 --> 00:23:53,639
Speaker 1: at him a little bit. They're like, dude, you crush

470
00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:58,120
Speaker 1: it here at work like you could. Man, Yeah, exactly,

471
00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:00,680
Speaker 1: But it's there's something else that you're gaining there, And

472
00:24:00,760 --> 00:24:04,240
Speaker 1: in fact, I say this having basically done what it

473
00:24:04,400 --> 00:24:07,480
Speaker 1: is that you did. So Monday Night is a brewery

474
00:24:07,560 --> 00:24:10,440
Speaker 1: that we've We've had their beers on the show many times.

475
00:24:10,480 --> 00:24:12,679
Speaker 1: But when they first started, I would go to Jeff's

476
00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:15,639
Speaker 1: garage and we would hang out, and I wouldn't I mean,

477
00:24:15,920 --> 00:24:17,680
Speaker 1: I wasn't doing the actual brewing. I was more like

478
00:24:18,320 --> 00:24:21,520
Speaker 1: washing like carboys and staying in the steel pots and

479
00:24:21,520 --> 00:24:24,600
Speaker 1: stuff like that. But with that was just like, oh, yeah,

480
00:24:24,640 --> 00:24:26,600
Speaker 1: you're kind of hanging out getting another them, getting another

481
00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:30,280
Speaker 1: brewery process, trying out their latest and greatest beers. Yeah,

482
00:24:30,480 --> 00:24:31,600
Speaker 1: and hanging out with cold peeps.

483
00:24:31,640 --> 00:24:31,720
Speaker 3: Man.

484
00:24:31,840 --> 00:24:34,919
Speaker 1: Yeah, like that to me that if you were like, oh,

485
00:24:34,920 --> 00:24:36,760
Speaker 1: I'm doing this thing. I hate to get free beer,

486
00:24:36,920 --> 00:24:39,360
Speaker 1: and I probably could be doing something else. I don't

487
00:24:39,359 --> 00:24:40,920
Speaker 1: do that, but this is you know, it sounds way

488
00:24:40,960 --> 00:24:43,320
Speaker 1: more fun. Yeah. I think that's Slammed don Keys four

489
00:24:43,359 --> 00:24:45,320
Speaker 1: decision for us. Yeah. It's also like a different stage

490
00:24:45,359 --> 00:24:46,879
Speaker 1: of life thing too, because I'm thinking would I do

491
00:24:47,000 --> 00:24:49,720
Speaker 1: that now? I'm not sure if I would. No, you know,

492
00:24:50,000 --> 00:24:52,040
Speaker 1: I would in my early mid twenties, but like and

493
00:24:52,119 --> 00:24:55,320
Speaker 1: even early yeah, like thirty, my thirties as well, maybe

494
00:24:55,480 --> 00:24:57,480
Speaker 1: like today, I would go like once a year if

495
00:24:57,520 --> 00:24:59,320
Speaker 1: they were still still doing something like that, just to

496
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,240
Speaker 1: like what's going on, just to check in, as opposed

497
00:25:02,280 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: to I was doing it like weekly there for a minute.

498
00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,440
Speaker 1: It's kind of like staying at a hostel. It was

499
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: actually fun at one point. Yeah, and there's some adventure.

500
00:25:10,800 --> 00:25:13,280
Speaker 1: I would literally be doing it only to save money. Yeah,

501
00:25:13,359 --> 00:25:16,560
Speaker 1: and probably just probably not going to go to those

502
00:25:16,640 --> 00:25:18,280
Speaker 1: links to save There are a lot of links I'll

503
00:25:18,320 --> 00:25:19,480
Speaker 1: go to, say, but that's not gonna be one of

504
00:25:19,520 --> 00:25:22,440
Speaker 1: them anymore. Yeah. Fun previous story, that's uh at that

505
00:25:22,600 --> 00:25:25,479
Speaker 1: garage is where I met your wife. Oh yeah, that's right,

506
00:25:25,640 --> 00:25:27,719
Speaker 1: for the first time. But this was before I knew her,

507
00:25:27,800 --> 00:25:30,600
Speaker 1: before you knew her, certainly before y'all were dating. Yeah. Yeah,

508
00:25:30,920 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 1: super fun. It's always the fun story when it comes up. Yeah,

509
00:25:34,840 --> 00:25:36,720
Speaker 1: we go back a long ways, man, for other reasons.

510
00:25:37,960 --> 00:25:41,000
Speaker 1: I won't get into who she was there with instead.

511
00:25:41,560 --> 00:25:43,800
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, yeah, shut up, Hey who is she

512
00:25:43,880 --> 00:25:47,120
Speaker 1: with now? My friends? Right, it's you she went. You're

513
00:25:47,119 --> 00:25:50,840
Speaker 1: the wise choice obviously though. Yeah. Let's move on. Let's

514
00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:53,600
Speaker 1: get to Daniel's question. His his second question is real

515
00:25:53,720 --> 00:25:56,879
Speaker 1: question he and congrats on the promotion, Daniel, that's huge, Like,

516
00:25:57,119 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 1: that's awesome, so fun. My guess is your promotion came

517
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:02,880
Speaker 1: with a raise, a decent raise, but the sick health

518
00:26:02,920 --> 00:26:05,360
Speaker 1: care plan, that's that's a really nice perk as well.

519
00:26:05,880 --> 00:26:09,000
Speaker 1: And total conversation, as we always say here on the show,

520
00:26:09,080 --> 00:26:12,359
Speaker 1: mat that's the ultimate value of your worth to the company.

521
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:15,199
Speaker 1: It's some people look at the headline salary, but there

522
00:26:15,240 --> 00:26:17,560
Speaker 1: are all these other ancillary benefits that you get from

523
00:26:17,600 --> 00:26:21,440
Speaker 1: your employer that can meaningfully add up. Healthcare being for

524
00:26:21,600 --> 00:26:25,120
Speaker 1: sure one of those, and that's such a large expense

525
00:26:25,840 --> 00:26:29,520
Speaker 1: for the average person, even when you have coverage through work.

526
00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:33,080
Speaker 1: So Daniel'll just first off, be thankful for this. You know,

527
00:26:33,440 --> 00:26:36,600
Speaker 1: this outsized benefit and what it provides you makes you

528
00:26:36,640 --> 00:26:40,560
Speaker 1: think about We talked recently about how even people with

529
00:26:41,280 --> 00:26:43,720
Speaker 1: health care planes through work are filing for bankruptcy more

530
00:26:43,720 --> 00:26:46,359
Speaker 1: often because of medical bills. It's super sad, So to

531
00:26:46,480 --> 00:26:49,800
Speaker 1: have this excellent coverage is so clutch. Yeah, and I

532
00:26:49,960 --> 00:26:52,360
Speaker 1: also love that he has had this HSA for such

533
00:26:52,359 --> 00:26:54,479
Speaker 1: a long time. He said that he's never not had

534
00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:57,520
Speaker 1: an HSA, which I'm like, bro, you're just like humble

535
00:26:57,560 --> 00:27:00,679
Speaker 1: bragging over there, it's so good. I've never and HSA,

536
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,000
Speaker 1: I do hope you've taken full advantage of it and

537
00:27:03,119 --> 00:27:06,320
Speaker 1: that you have been investing those dollars for your far

538
00:27:06,440 --> 00:27:09,439
Speaker 1: out future. But let's let's get to the crux of it, right,

539
00:27:09,560 --> 00:27:13,040
Speaker 1: this premium healthcare plan, because it sounds like your employer

540
00:27:13,160 --> 00:27:15,640
Speaker 1: is gonna pay for your premiums no matter what plan

541
00:27:15,720 --> 00:27:18,400
Speaker 1: you choose. And if that's the case, man, my gut

542
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,520
Speaker 1: tells me to maybe pick the more expensive plan that

543
00:27:21,600 --> 00:27:25,960
Speaker 1: puts the smallest potential burden on you, the PPO plan.

544
00:27:26,200 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: I think it's gonna likely mean that you can budget

545
00:27:29,560 --> 00:27:31,800
Speaker 1: budget less for how much you have to set aside

546
00:27:31,840 --> 00:27:37,200
Speaker 1: for doctor visits thanks to the lower cops are reduced deductible. Like,

547
00:27:37,320 --> 00:27:40,440
Speaker 1: all in all, it's just gonna cost you less. It's

548
00:27:40,520 --> 00:27:42,800
Speaker 1: kind of it sounds like the premium option, and so

549
00:27:43,200 --> 00:27:45,840
Speaker 1: I don't even though you're used to the HSA, I

550
00:27:45,880 --> 00:27:48,600
Speaker 1: don't want you to discount this. I don't know this

551
00:27:48,840 --> 00:27:51,119
Speaker 1: premium plan especially, it's not just you anymore. You know,

552
00:27:51,160 --> 00:27:52,919
Speaker 1: you've got a family, like, You've got others to think

553
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,280
Speaker 1: about as well. So and you could be penny wise

554
00:27:55,320 --> 00:27:57,520
Speaker 1: pound foolish, being like, I'm gonna prioritize the HSA no

555
00:27:57,600 --> 00:27:59,240
Speaker 1: matter what, because I know that's one of the best

556
00:28:00,680 --> 00:28:05,960
Speaker 1: tax of advantage retirement accounts and give up essentially a

557
00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:08,440
Speaker 1: much better health care plan just to have access to

558
00:28:08,480 --> 00:28:10,480
Speaker 1: the AHSA. So I think that's definitely one thing to

559
00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,320
Speaker 1: take into consideration. I think, though, Matt. Let's say, let's

560
00:28:14,320 --> 00:28:17,040
Speaker 1: say Daniel had said, we spent a lot of money

561
00:28:17,080 --> 00:28:18,960
Speaker 1: on healthcare, and guess what. I would make it easier.

562
00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:20,919
Speaker 1: My wife's about to have a baby. I would make

563
00:28:20,960 --> 00:28:22,840
Speaker 1: it easier. I would be like, oh, man, the more

564
00:28:22,920 --> 00:28:25,320
Speaker 1: generous health care plan created him all the way, gonna

565
00:28:25,320 --> 00:28:29,399
Speaker 1: save you tons of money. So most definitely that's the

566
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,320
Speaker 1: direction you want to go in. But he also said, hey,

567
00:28:32,400 --> 00:28:36,040
Speaker 1: my family's pretty healthy, which means you're likely not hitting

568
00:28:36,080 --> 00:28:38,400
Speaker 1: your deductible most years. If it were just a question

569
00:28:38,520 --> 00:28:40,480
Speaker 1: of giving up access to your HSA, that would be

570
00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:43,960
Speaker 1: one thing. But you're also giving up twenty four hundred

571
00:28:44,000 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 1: dollars a year in free HSA contributions if you choose

572
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:51,360
Speaker 1: to fancy your plan. That's also a big perk. Talking

573
00:28:51,360 --> 00:28:54,880
Speaker 1: about total compensation, I would do this. I would maybe

574
00:28:54,920 --> 00:28:57,800
Speaker 1: take a slightly and this is not usually my MO Matt,

575
00:28:57,840 --> 00:28:59,800
Speaker 1: I go with the gut, but like, let's look at

576
00:28:59,800 --> 00:29:02,080
Speaker 1: the day to hear, like, what have you spent recently

577
00:29:02,120 --> 00:29:05,239
Speaker 1: on healthcare? That would help inform my decision to look

578
00:29:05,240 --> 00:29:07,800
Speaker 1: at the last couple of years expenses. How much have

579
00:29:07,920 --> 00:29:11,080
Speaker 1: you actually paid out in terms of doctor's visit, in

580
00:29:11,200 --> 00:29:15,480
Speaker 1: terms of medical bills, because really your HSA access to

581
00:29:15,560 --> 00:29:18,520
Speaker 1: this HSA, well, it's worth more than twenty four hundred

582
00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:20,400
Speaker 1: dollars a year. You get, yes, that free money, but

583
00:29:20,480 --> 00:29:23,680
Speaker 1: because of tax free compounding, yep, that makes this and

584
00:29:23,800 --> 00:29:27,280
Speaker 1: even more. It's hard to say this is exactly how

585
00:29:27,360 --> 00:29:29,080
Speaker 1: much it's worth, but it's worth more than twenty four

586
00:29:29,120 --> 00:29:31,760
Speaker 1: hundred dollars. I know that, So use that as a

587
00:29:31,880 --> 00:29:34,680
Speaker 1: rule of thumb. If you're more likely to save more

588
00:29:34,720 --> 00:29:37,000
Speaker 1: than twenty four hundred bucks a year with a nicer plan,

589
00:29:37,160 --> 00:29:40,200
Speaker 1: lead in that direction. If not, I would say, keep

590
00:29:40,240 --> 00:29:44,480
Speaker 1: the high deductible plan that comes with free HSA dollars attached,

591
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:47,440
Speaker 1: because that's a super huge perk. Yeah. Both, I think

592
00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:50,240
Speaker 1: both are great options. And just know that you're not

593
00:29:50,680 --> 00:29:52,280
Speaker 1: always going to be able to come out ahead. And

594
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:55,520
Speaker 1: I think right like, you can't predict when one of

595
00:29:55,560 --> 00:29:58,160
Speaker 1: your kids, or like, honestly, even you like when someone's

596
00:29:58,200 --> 00:30:00,560
Speaker 1: going to break an ankle, they're gonna be some years

597
00:30:00,840 --> 00:30:04,640
Speaker 1: when healthcare expenses are higher and you might wish you

598
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,400
Speaker 1: had the more robust like Cadillac plan. But then in

599
00:30:08,560 --> 00:30:11,120
Speaker 1: years where you're not going to the doctor hardly at all,

600
00:30:11,160 --> 00:30:13,080
Speaker 1: you're gonna be sad to miss out on that two

601
00:30:13,160 --> 00:30:15,280
Speaker 1: hundred dollars just coming in every single month that you

602
00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:19,600
Speaker 1: normally invest. Right, there's hsa dollars. There is no perpetually

603
00:30:19,720 --> 00:30:23,520
Speaker 1: perfect choice. And so actually with that in mind, I

604
00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:26,440
Speaker 1: think it's worth revisit. Like, this isn't a set it

605
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:27,959
Speaker 1: and forget it kind of decision. I think you can

606
00:30:28,920 --> 00:30:31,080
Speaker 1: just alternate from year to year, right Like, So when

607
00:30:31,080 --> 00:30:33,920
Speaker 1: you do have health care needs that obviously you can

608
00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:36,320
Speaker 1: wait to address, well, you can always opt for the

609
00:30:36,400 --> 00:30:39,480
Speaker 1: fancier plan down the line right where you're attempting to

610
00:30:39,480 --> 00:30:42,120
Speaker 1: schedule multiple procedures in the year when you have the

611
00:30:42,240 --> 00:30:44,680
Speaker 1: more stellar coverage. It makes me think about it's just

612
00:30:44,720 --> 00:30:48,160
Speaker 1: a more strategic approach to your healthcare. It makes me

613
00:30:48,240 --> 00:30:51,160
Speaker 1: think about taking like the standard deduction versus atomized right like,

614
00:30:51,240 --> 00:30:54,840
Speaker 1: And if typically you're like, yeah, our charitable contributions don't

615
00:30:54,880 --> 00:30:59,200
Speaker 1: get us anywhere near the thirty one thousand dollars. Okay, yeah,

616
00:30:59,320 --> 00:31:02,280
Speaker 1: go with the standard. But if you know that there's

617
00:31:02,280 --> 00:31:04,080
Speaker 1: a year where it's just like, oh, we've kind of

618
00:31:04,080 --> 00:31:07,560
Speaker 1: been sitting on some cash that we're looking to really deploy. Okay,

619
00:31:07,640 --> 00:31:09,200
Speaker 1: well let's make the most of that year that you're

620
00:31:09,200 --> 00:31:12,200
Speaker 1: going to itemize your taxes so that you can maximize

621
00:31:12,240 --> 00:31:14,880
Speaker 1: every single dollar that you can deduct. In a similar way,

622
00:31:15,880 --> 00:31:18,920
Speaker 1: and you're saying like maybe batching batch you're giving, yeah,

623
00:31:19,120 --> 00:31:21,080
Speaker 1: batch your charitable giving, so in a similar way, you're

624
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:24,000
Speaker 1: being strategic and you're hopefully you might be able to

625
00:31:24,200 --> 00:31:27,680
Speaker 1: batch your medical procedures that might be a bit more

626
00:31:27,760 --> 00:31:30,920
Speaker 1: elective that you can kind of postpone for down the road.

627
00:31:30,920 --> 00:31:34,880
Speaker 1: Obviously that doesn't account for more immediate acute medical needs.

628
00:31:35,560 --> 00:31:37,560
Speaker 1: So yeah, you can't plan for it all, but you

629
00:31:37,600 --> 00:31:40,480
Speaker 1: can't take a card strategic approach. Those are the wildcard, right,

630
00:31:40,560 --> 00:31:42,400
Speaker 1: Those are the things that you can't predict. But it's

631
00:31:42,920 --> 00:31:45,000
Speaker 1: this is a gamble. But I like kind of what

632
00:31:45,120 --> 00:31:49,800
Speaker 1: you're outlaying is that one year it could make more

633
00:31:49,880 --> 00:31:53,440
Speaker 1: sense for you to opt for the PPO plan because

634
00:31:53,560 --> 00:31:55,600
Speaker 1: you're like, all right, We're gonna do all the as

635
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:58,480
Speaker 1: much as we can do, get all the elective surgeries,

636
00:31:58,600 --> 00:32:00,600
Speaker 1: like pull out of the brochure, like, see what else

637
00:32:00,640 --> 00:32:02,800
Speaker 1: it includes, and you're like, oh, by the way, actually

638
00:32:02,880 --> 00:32:05,040
Speaker 1: I'm gonna opt for though whatever whatever. Didn't even think

639
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:07,480
Speaker 1: that was an option exactly, And I mean that's how

640
00:32:07,480 --> 00:32:09,160
Speaker 1: I'd be thinking about it. And then in the HSA

641
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,440
Speaker 1: and give my money's worth, you know, like you're going

642
00:32:11,480 --> 00:32:14,080
Speaker 1: to try to spend as little as possible. Yeah, and

643
00:32:14,520 --> 00:32:17,360
Speaker 1: just kind of hope that none of those wild card

644
00:32:17,560 --> 00:32:20,360
Speaker 1: and medical situations come along, but be prepared for it,

645
00:32:20,520 --> 00:32:23,040
Speaker 1: have the savings on hand, but also just know that

646
00:32:23,160 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 1: there's greater risk. I think that's the absolute best approach,

647
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:27,800
Speaker 1: all right, Joel, Let's hear from our next listener, who

648
00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,080
Speaker 1: has a bunch of credit cards. He still doesn't have

649
00:32:30,120 --> 00:32:32,480
Speaker 1: as many as I've had over my lifetime, though, but

650
00:32:32,560 --> 00:32:33,719
Speaker 1: let's hear from Brian.

651
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:36,720
Speaker 4: Hey, Joel and Matt. This is Brian from Wisconsin. Quick

652
00:32:36,760 --> 00:32:39,480
Speaker 4: credit question. My wife and I are paying down about

653
00:32:39,520 --> 00:32:42,320
Speaker 4: thirty eight thousand dollars in credit card debts spread across

654
00:32:42,360 --> 00:32:46,000
Speaker 4: about thirteen cards, and our current credit scores around six

655
00:32:46,160 --> 00:32:48,480
Speaker 4: eighty as we pay these cards off. Is it better

656
00:32:48,600 --> 00:32:51,040
Speaker 4: to cancel them right away or keep them open another

657
00:32:51,120 --> 00:32:54,080
Speaker 4: three to six months to optimize utilization and help our

658
00:32:54,120 --> 00:32:56,560
Speaker 4: credit score? Well in term, we'd like to be down

659
00:32:56,640 --> 00:32:58,960
Speaker 4: to just a few cards. What would you recommend and why?

660
00:32:59,320 --> 00:33:02,000
Speaker 1: All right? So, by the way, Brian also said in

661
00:33:02,080 --> 00:33:04,160
Speaker 1: his email, we don't plan on taking it out any

662
00:33:04,240 --> 00:33:07,680
Speaker 1: loans in the near future, which is informative. He also

663
00:33:07,760 --> 00:33:10,040
Speaker 1: said maybe a car loan in the next two years

664
00:33:10,080 --> 00:33:12,160
Speaker 1: if we need If we need to, we already have

665
00:33:12,200 --> 00:33:14,240
Speaker 1: a mortgage. We don't plan on moving anytime soon. That's

666
00:33:14,240 --> 00:33:16,920
Speaker 1: helpful background for mere right, Hey, if you're thinking about

667
00:33:17,320 --> 00:33:19,280
Speaker 1: like gearing up for a car loan in two years,

668
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:21,320
Speaker 1: it sounds like, Brian, you might have two years to

669
00:33:21,360 --> 00:33:23,400
Speaker 1: start saving for a car, which you'll be able to

670
00:33:23,480 --> 00:33:26,080
Speaker 1: do after you eliminate some of this credit card debt.

671
00:33:26,080 --> 00:33:28,480
Speaker 1: That's true, that all the money that's flowing towards credit

672
00:33:28,520 --> 00:33:30,959
Speaker 1: card payments can go towards saving for the new car.

673
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,080
Speaker 1: Heck yeah, hopefully the new to you used car. Heck

674
00:33:34,200 --> 00:33:36,280
Speaker 1: yeah yeah. And I will say I don't want to.

675
00:33:36,720 --> 00:33:38,120
Speaker 1: It sounds like right out of the gate, we're kind

676
00:33:38,120 --> 00:33:40,480
Speaker 1: of dragging Brian through the mud a little bit. I

677
00:33:40,560 --> 00:33:42,560
Speaker 1: want to start with the fact that you are getting

678
00:33:42,600 --> 00:33:45,400
Speaker 1: after it, and I love that your credit score. It's

679
00:33:45,480 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 1: not ideal, but honestly, that is a minor concern right now,

680
00:33:48,760 --> 00:33:51,440
Speaker 1: given the fact that you don't have any plan need

681
00:33:51,560 --> 00:33:53,760
Speaker 1: for any new credit But the biggest goal is to

682
00:33:53,840 --> 00:33:56,680
Speaker 1: get rid of this credit card debt as quickly as possible,

683
00:33:57,080 --> 00:33:59,960
Speaker 1: which means that you essentially get to decide whether you

684
00:34:00,000 --> 00:34:04,160
Speaker 1: go to take a snowball approach or the avalanche approach.

685
00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:07,000
Speaker 1: And so basically the snowball is when you're picking the

686
00:34:07,040 --> 00:34:10,000
Speaker 1: smallest debt and you're building up to the larger ones

687
00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:13,360
Speaker 1: avalanches where you're focusing on the credit cards with the

688
00:34:13,480 --> 00:34:17,680
Speaker 1: highest interest rate. That being said, snowball that's typically best

689
00:34:17,719 --> 00:34:20,719
Speaker 1: when we're talking about debts that have roughly the same

690
00:34:20,800 --> 00:34:23,040
Speaker 1: interest rate, if they're all credit cards, right, which is

691
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:24,680
Speaker 1: what these are. If he was like, I also have

692
00:34:24,960 --> 00:34:26,520
Speaker 1: a car note that's at six percent and I have

693
00:34:26,560 --> 00:34:29,200
Speaker 1: a mortgage that's at three percent, we'd be like, well,

694
00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:32,239
Speaker 1: leave the mortgage and actually maybe save the car note

695
00:34:32,280 --> 00:34:34,680
Speaker 1: for later, focus on the credit cards first. You are

696
00:34:34,760 --> 00:34:37,000
Speaker 1: taking more of an avalanche approach in that case. But

697
00:34:37,160 --> 00:34:39,319
Speaker 1: if they're all credit cards. Man like, go snowball, because

698
00:34:39,320 --> 00:34:42,080
Speaker 1: I think that's going to provide the biggest psychological win

699
00:34:42,280 --> 00:34:44,759
Speaker 1: and help you keep that momentum. Going to pay these

700
00:34:44,800 --> 00:34:47,920
Speaker 1: off or eradicate them in no time, Brian. So, yeah,

701
00:34:48,000 --> 00:34:50,200
Speaker 1: pick the one with the smallest balance, attack it hard,

702
00:34:50,440 --> 00:34:51,800
Speaker 1: then you move on right. You'll get rid of that

703
00:34:51,840 --> 00:34:53,880
Speaker 1: one quickly. You'll be down to twelve cards. Then go

704
00:34:54,040 --> 00:34:56,799
Speaker 1: for the next smallest balance. This is just like man

705
00:34:57,160 --> 00:35:02,719
Speaker 1: helping you see rapid progress. That's massive psychological wins a crew. Yeah, Snobama,

706
00:35:02,800 --> 00:35:05,959
Speaker 1: it's fun. It's incentivizing to keep moving and keep making

707
00:35:06,120 --> 00:35:09,680
Speaker 1: more progress. And the thing is, you don't need to

708
00:35:09,760 --> 00:35:12,080
Speaker 1: cancel your credit card once you pay it off. I

709
00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:14,960
Speaker 1: get the impulse, but we'll talk about why you don't

710
00:35:15,000 --> 00:35:17,239
Speaker 1: need to and why you might not want to. You

711
00:35:17,360 --> 00:35:19,840
Speaker 1: just need to stop using that credit card. Yep. So

712
00:35:19,880 --> 00:35:23,280
Speaker 1: I'm glad that you understand how the utilization ratio impacts

713
00:35:23,360 --> 00:35:25,520
Speaker 1: your score. It is a big part of what makes

714
00:35:25,640 --> 00:35:28,480
Speaker 1: up everybody who's listening credit score. You want to pay

715
00:35:28,520 --> 00:35:30,759
Speaker 1: attention to that. And if your credit card has a

716
00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:32,799
Speaker 1: limit of ten thousand dollars and you're spending nine thousand

717
00:35:32,840 --> 00:35:35,359
Speaker 1: dollars on that credit card even every single month, let's say,

718
00:35:35,600 --> 00:35:38,480
Speaker 1: even if you're paying it the balance on time and

719
00:35:38,600 --> 00:35:41,400
Speaker 1: in full every single month, that is doing damage to

720
00:35:41,480 --> 00:35:44,040
Speaker 1: your credit score. And so we do want to reduce

721
00:35:44,040 --> 00:35:46,480
Speaker 1: how much we're using. Maybe that means opening up another card,

722
00:35:46,560 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: asking for a credit limit increase on the cards you

723
00:35:49,000 --> 00:35:52,120
Speaker 1: currently have. But yeah, keeping that card open for a

724
00:35:52,280 --> 00:35:54,800
Speaker 1: while even as you're not using it right, kicking it

725
00:35:54,880 --> 00:35:56,640
Speaker 1: to the curb and you're not spending on that credit

726
00:35:56,719 --> 00:36:00,200
Speaker 1: card anymore, that can be wise in terms of one

727
00:36:00,239 --> 00:36:01,880
Speaker 1: of the things you expressed, just wanting to build that

728
00:36:01,920 --> 00:36:04,520
Speaker 1: credit score back up. Closing the credit cards is not

729
00:36:04,600 --> 00:36:06,480
Speaker 1: going to be a big help in that paying them

730
00:36:06,520 --> 00:36:08,719
Speaker 1: off is, yeah, yeah, it is. There is a big

731
00:36:08,800 --> 00:36:11,560
Speaker 1: if there, though, right, And I appreciate you identifying that, Jil,

732
00:36:11,560 --> 00:36:15,600
Speaker 1: because like the caveat is making sure that you've identified

733
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:18,120
Speaker 1: how you got into credit card debt like this in

734
00:36:18,200 --> 00:36:20,879
Speaker 1: the first place, because you know you're serious about paying

735
00:36:20,880 --> 00:36:23,000
Speaker 1: off this debt. Yes, but I don't want you to

736
00:36:23,040 --> 00:36:26,080
Speaker 1: find yourself sliding back into credit card debt down the road.

737
00:36:26,400 --> 00:36:28,279
Speaker 1: And so it's in you know, it's just it's so

738
00:36:28,400 --> 00:36:31,080
Speaker 1: crucial to make changes that are going to significantly reduce

739
00:36:31,120 --> 00:36:33,439
Speaker 1: the likelihood of getting into that credit card debt again.

740
00:36:34,120 --> 00:36:37,080
Speaker 1: And I think closing maybe some of those credit card

741
00:36:37,080 --> 00:36:40,160
Speaker 1: accounts might be part of that process if you feel

742
00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:41,800
Speaker 1: like having them at your disposal is just going to

743
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,399
Speaker 1: be too tempting. It makes me think of the term.

744
00:36:44,600 --> 00:36:45,960
Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard of this growing up, Matt.

745
00:36:45,960 --> 00:36:47,640
Speaker 1: You grew up differently than me. You grew up more

746
00:36:47,719 --> 00:36:50,200
Speaker 1: in a Catholic background. But where I went to church

747
00:36:50,239 --> 00:36:54,759
Speaker 1: growing up, it was called backsliding, right, So that's that's

748
00:36:54,840 --> 00:36:57,360
Speaker 1: like what we want to permit. And that was like, yeah, no,

749
00:36:57,480 --> 00:37:00,680
Speaker 1: I'm committing to this new way of living, but gosh,

750
00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,200
Speaker 1: I don't know, I love I still love going getting

751
00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:04,800
Speaker 1: drunk at the bar or something like that, right, And

752
00:37:04,840 --> 00:37:07,320
Speaker 1: that was what the preacher wanted to prevent, was like

753
00:37:07,360 --> 00:37:09,560
Speaker 1: the backsliding. And I think that's kind of what we're

754
00:37:10,320 --> 00:37:13,960
Speaker 1: advocating against here, is hey, be careful, because if you're

755
00:37:14,000 --> 00:37:16,400
Speaker 1: prone to backsliding and using these credit cards again, by

756
00:37:16,480 --> 00:37:18,640
Speaker 1: keeping them open, there's there's something to be nervous about

757
00:37:18,640 --> 00:37:21,200
Speaker 1: there some pay attention to. Yeah, work on your southern

758
00:37:21,719 --> 00:37:25,800
Speaker 1: your southern Baptist fire and Brinstone I can preachure imitation delivery,

759
00:37:26,200 --> 00:37:27,680
Speaker 1: so that way next time you can really bring it.

760
00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,520
Speaker 1: Bra Folks, don't don't put it past me. I can.

761
00:37:31,640 --> 00:37:33,759
Speaker 1: I can imitate that. Well, I heard it for so

762
00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,560
Speaker 1: many years, trust me, I can. I can replicate. Yeah,

763
00:37:36,840 --> 00:37:38,520
Speaker 1: But I mean that being said, like truly, I just

764
00:37:38,560 --> 00:37:41,959
Speaker 1: want I want to make sure that Like it sounds

765
00:37:42,000 --> 00:37:43,680
Speaker 1: like he's got things figured out right. It sounds like

766
00:37:43,719 --> 00:37:47,600
Speaker 1: maybe before he didn't know right, like they were just

767
00:37:47,680 --> 00:37:49,919
Speaker 1: kind of spending they weren't really thinking about it. Since

768
00:37:49,960 --> 00:37:52,520
Speaker 1: then they found the podcast, right, they've read some articles,

769
00:37:52,560 --> 00:37:54,920
Speaker 1: they realized how important it is to get out from

770
00:37:54,960 --> 00:37:58,000
Speaker 1: behind this credit card debt. And maybe there's like zero

771
00:37:58,280 --> 00:38:01,400
Speaker 1: chance at all that they're going to go back into it.

772
00:38:01,520 --> 00:38:04,920
Speaker 1: But if you've kind of known that you should not

773
00:38:05,080 --> 00:38:07,359
Speaker 1: be spending like the way you have on those credit

774
00:38:07,400 --> 00:38:09,480
Speaker 1: cards for a number of years, and now you know

775
00:38:09,520 --> 00:38:11,640
Speaker 1: you've got some more motivation, you're kind of getting after it.

776
00:38:12,520 --> 00:38:14,919
Speaker 1: I don't know, I would be less inclined. I would

777
00:38:14,920 --> 00:38:16,760
Speaker 1: be a little more nervous for him to keep around

778
00:38:16,800 --> 00:38:18,360
Speaker 1: all of his credit card especially I'm sure there's a

779
00:38:18,360 --> 00:38:20,520
Speaker 1: couple of credit cards that he there might even be

780
00:38:20,600 --> 00:38:22,839
Speaker 1: like an emotional attachment to where he's just like, oh, yeah,

781
00:38:22,920 --> 00:38:25,920
Speaker 1: there's whatever whatever card, that's the card that I always

782
00:38:26,000 --> 00:38:28,960
Speaker 1: use when I go here. Yeah, there could just be

783
00:38:29,040 --> 00:38:33,680
Speaker 1: some ingrained behaviors. And I certainly don't want to elevate

784
00:38:33,920 --> 00:38:36,759
Speaker 1: maximizing your credit score by keeping these around if it

785
00:38:36,880 --> 00:38:40,400
Speaker 1: means that you end up actually paying more physical dollars

786
00:38:40,440 --> 00:38:43,120
Speaker 1: in the process. No, I agree, And I think, yeah,

787
00:38:43,160 --> 00:38:45,400
Speaker 1: that that's a really important or important thing to highlight

788
00:38:45,440 --> 00:38:48,279
Speaker 1: because a lot of Americans. I think part of the

789
00:38:48,360 --> 00:38:51,480
Speaker 1: reason something like half of Americans keep a recurring credit

790
00:38:51,520 --> 00:38:54,400
Speaker 1: card balance is because they don't understand how detrimental it is,

791
00:38:54,480 --> 00:38:57,520
Speaker 1: and they don't understand like just how much that interest

792
00:38:57,800 --> 00:39:00,319
Speaker 1: is costing them, and that by not pay it off

793
00:39:00,320 --> 00:39:03,359
Speaker 1: as quickly as possible and like making a plan, they're

794
00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,960
Speaker 1: doing perpetual harm to their finances. I think Brian understands

795
00:39:06,000 --> 00:39:08,239
Speaker 1: that now, Yeah, so yeah, I hope so yeah. And

796
00:39:08,360 --> 00:39:10,840
Speaker 1: so if that's the case, Brian, then you can consider

797
00:39:10,920 --> 00:39:12,680
Speaker 1: keeping the cards around. If you feel like it's going

798
00:39:12,760 --> 00:39:15,239
Speaker 1: to be a temptation, it's probably better to close them.

799
00:39:15,280 --> 00:39:17,839
Speaker 1: And we love the idea of simplifying, right using fewer

800
00:39:17,880 --> 00:39:20,960
Speaker 1: credit cards. Moving forward, that's probably smart. It's easier to

801
00:39:21,040 --> 00:39:23,719
Speaker 1: keep track of your spending, and whether it's for a

802
00:39:23,840 --> 00:39:26,640
Speaker 1: lack of organization or a desire to earn points quickly,

803
00:39:26,920 --> 00:39:29,319
Speaker 1: like overdoing it on the credit card sign ups right

804
00:39:29,400 --> 00:39:31,320
Speaker 1: can do more harm than good for a lot of people.

805
00:39:31,600 --> 00:39:33,440
Speaker 1: The best cards to keep around you asked about that

806
00:39:33,760 --> 00:39:36,439
Speaker 1: if you feel like you can handle them responsibly. Likely

807
00:39:36,640 --> 00:39:39,680
Speaker 1: just kind of a planging two percent cash back card

808
00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:44,120
Speaker 1: like I use the Fidelity Investments credit card. There's the

809
00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:47,000
Speaker 1: City double Cash card, Double Cash that's great. I kind

810
00:39:47,040 --> 00:39:48,839
Speaker 1: of don't even want to mention the robin Hood because

811
00:39:48,840 --> 00:39:51,120
Speaker 1: I feel like that might be the slippery slope and

812
00:39:51,520 --> 00:39:54,200
Speaker 1: for okay, so I consider it in the future. Yeah, Brian,

813
00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:55,920
Speaker 1: you don't listen to this part. But for anybody else

814
00:39:55,960 --> 00:39:58,000
Speaker 1: out there who's never had credit card debt and you're

815
00:39:58,040 --> 00:40:02,799
Speaker 1: looking to maximize the plane plane Jane approach, I mean

816
00:40:02,840 --> 00:40:05,560
Speaker 1: the robin Hood Gold card three percent. Here's the Have

817
00:40:05,640 --> 00:40:09,360
Speaker 1: we talked about how they how tricky they are in

818
00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:11,160
Speaker 1: the app though I can't remember if we've talked about

819
00:40:11,160 --> 00:40:12,840
Speaker 1: this on the show or not. Well, as far as

820
00:40:12,880 --> 00:40:15,400
Speaker 1: the cash back, how you get the actual three percent?

821
00:40:15,840 --> 00:40:17,880
Speaker 1: I think we have, but I don't know, because you

822
00:40:18,000 --> 00:40:20,759
Speaker 1: can't redeem it for a statement credit. You get that right,

823
00:40:20,840 --> 00:40:22,960
Speaker 1: You have to transfer it to your robin Hood account,

824
00:40:23,239 --> 00:40:25,440
Speaker 1: at which point you can then deposit it like it

825
00:40:25,480 --> 00:40:28,880
Speaker 1: gets swept into your brokerage. Yeah, cash balance. But the

826
00:40:28,960 --> 00:40:31,160
Speaker 1: fact is is, if you're looking for just a straight

827
00:40:31,239 --> 00:40:34,160
Speaker 1: up cash back or the statement balance, it's less than

828
00:40:34,160 --> 00:40:36,200
Speaker 1: the three percent. So just a little little word to

829
00:40:36,280 --> 00:40:38,200
Speaker 1: the wise for folks out there who are like, yes,

830
00:40:38,440 --> 00:40:41,279
Speaker 1: I am a nerd and I will not ever carry

831
00:40:41,320 --> 00:40:42,839
Speaker 1: a balance, and let me get the robin Hood card.

832
00:40:42,880 --> 00:40:47,359
Speaker 1: It is worth you know, the annual fee of shoot. Yeah,

833
00:40:47,400 --> 00:40:50,120
Speaker 1: essentially robin Hood golds five bucks a month five so maybe, yeah,

834
00:40:50,160 --> 00:40:51,919
Speaker 1: it's a little bit of a discompaign by year, paid

835
00:40:51,960 --> 00:40:54,520
Speaker 1: all at once. But but yeah, I'm all for the

836
00:40:55,120 --> 00:40:57,759
Speaker 1: simple is better approach. I think that the AMX Blue

837
00:40:57,800 --> 00:40:59,680
Speaker 1: cash right to use at the grocery store that's a

838
00:40:59,719 --> 00:41:03,080
Speaker 1: really really good is so hard to beat as well. Yeah,

839
00:41:03,120 --> 00:41:05,400
Speaker 1: and the Costco card if you're a Costco shopper is

840
00:41:05,440 --> 00:41:08,279
Speaker 1: awesome too, with the five percent cash back at gas

841
00:41:08,280 --> 00:41:12,239
Speaker 1: stations stations and two percent back at Costco. Right, Like,

842
00:41:12,440 --> 00:41:14,879
Speaker 1: it's that's just a really a really solid perk as well.

843
00:41:14,960 --> 00:41:17,799
Speaker 1: So yeah, keep the old cards in the mix, even

844
00:41:17,840 --> 00:41:19,799
Speaker 1: if you're confining you're spending to just two or three

845
00:41:19,800 --> 00:41:21,160
Speaker 1: of those cards. I think that's the best way to

846
00:41:21,200 --> 00:41:23,520
Speaker 1: move forward. Feel free to cut them up, take them

847
00:41:23,520 --> 00:41:25,160
Speaker 1: out of your Google and Apple wallet so that you're

848
00:41:25,160 --> 00:41:27,480
Speaker 1: not tempted to use them, Like you just remove the

849
00:41:27,560 --> 00:41:30,080
Speaker 1: save data from your browser on your computer, because so

850
00:41:30,120 --> 00:41:32,759
Speaker 1: many of us are. It's not like we're going from

851
00:41:32,800 --> 00:41:34,919
Speaker 1: store to store and the oh, man, my credit card's

852
00:41:34,920 --> 00:41:37,279
Speaker 1: overheating because I keep swiping it, I keep tapping it. No,

853
00:41:37,520 --> 00:41:40,319
Speaker 1: it's it's online ordering, man, which that's the biggest ingreen

854
00:41:40,520 --> 00:41:44,279
Speaker 1: ye habit, right, So just detaching those cards and then

855
00:41:44,640 --> 00:41:47,000
Speaker 1: just changing some of the habits of how you used

856
00:41:47,040 --> 00:41:49,640
Speaker 1: to shop is going to be clutched as well. But

857
00:41:49,960 --> 00:41:52,440
Speaker 1: not closing them will help improve your credit score the

858
00:41:52,600 --> 00:41:56,320
Speaker 1: most still is that the most consequential thing. It really depends,

859
00:41:56,400 --> 00:41:59,000
Speaker 1: and you got to know yourself. That's that's ultimately so

860
00:41:59,120 --> 00:42:01,040
Speaker 1: much of this The answer this question boils down to that.

861
00:42:01,360 --> 00:42:03,279
Speaker 1: That's right. But we've got more to get to, Joel,

862
00:42:03,320 --> 00:42:06,040
Speaker 1: including tax returns. It is that time of the year,

863
00:42:06,040 --> 00:42:08,080
Speaker 1: so we'll talk about how to use that best. We'll

864
00:42:08,080 --> 00:42:17,839
Speaker 1: get to that more right after this. All right, we're

865
00:42:17,880 --> 00:42:19,920
Speaker 1: back now start for the Facebook question of the week.

866
00:42:20,000 --> 00:42:22,880
Speaker 1: This one comes from Samantha, who says, she asks what

867
00:42:23,080 --> 00:42:26,760
Speaker 1: is everyone using for affordable cell phone and home internet service?

868
00:42:27,200 --> 00:42:29,839
Speaker 1: We've had both through the same provider for the last

869
00:42:29,880 --> 00:42:32,239
Speaker 1: few years and they just raised prices by twenty bucks

870
00:42:32,239 --> 00:42:34,879
Speaker 1: a month. Oh, so I'm looking at options to replace both.

871
00:42:35,160 --> 00:42:37,239
Speaker 1: I've looked at MIT Mobile for phone, but unfortunately their

872
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,040
Speaker 1: internet is not available at my house. So she's trying

873
00:42:40,080 --> 00:42:41,839
Speaker 1: to figure out what to do. Matt And by the way,

874
00:42:41,840 --> 00:42:43,440
Speaker 1: I'm just a lot of people if they like the

875
00:42:43,480 --> 00:42:45,000
Speaker 1: frog and the boiling water, they get the notice and

876
00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:46,719
Speaker 1: they just say, oh whatever, I'm just gonna keep paying it.

877
00:42:46,719 --> 00:42:50,000
Speaker 1: And I love that. Samantha's not. Yeah, well, min Mobile

878
00:42:50,320 --> 00:42:53,040
Speaker 1: is a solid option. Yeah, but to into your question,

879
00:42:53,400 --> 00:42:56,440
Speaker 1: US Mobile is the new company that is essentially out

880
00:42:56,520 --> 00:42:59,000
Speaker 1: foxed Mint Mobile. Oh snap, maybe that a purpose we

881
00:42:59,040 --> 00:43:01,279
Speaker 1: went there the fox you know, Uh, Ryan Reynolds is

882
00:43:01,400 --> 00:43:04,160
Speaker 1: not going to be happy when it comes to pricing,

883
00:43:04,239 --> 00:43:08,480
Speaker 1: when it comes to product offerings. Man, they've essentially taken

884
00:43:08,520 --> 00:43:10,920
Speaker 1: every page out of Mint's playbook and just made it

885
00:43:11,120 --> 00:43:13,480
Speaker 1: a little bit better, except for maybe the website feels

886
00:43:13,480 --> 00:43:16,080
Speaker 1: a little really Oh, I like the US Mobile website

887
00:43:16,160 --> 00:43:17,680
Speaker 1: or do you yeah to me? I don't know. I

888
00:43:17,800 --> 00:43:21,279
Speaker 1: kind of like the minimal easy Mint. There's just some

889
00:43:21,400 --> 00:43:24,600
Speaker 1: weird like the selecting the account and the astronaut or

890
00:43:24,680 --> 00:43:27,600
Speaker 1: what's your icon? Oh it's been, Yeah, it's been. When's

891
00:43:27,600 --> 00:43:29,160
Speaker 1: the last time I longed in? Maybe a couple few

892
00:43:29,160 --> 00:43:30,799
Speaker 1: months ago. There's a few things about it that feel

893
00:43:31,360 --> 00:43:37,040
Speaker 1: very PC versus versus Mac, but uh okay. US Mobile

894
00:43:37,239 --> 00:43:40,800
Speaker 1: unlimited talk, text and data options starting at just seventeen

895
00:43:40,840 --> 00:43:44,000
Speaker 1: dollars and fifty cents a month, so for most folks

896
00:43:44,040 --> 00:43:46,759
Speaker 1: that's definitely the place to turn US Mobile. They have

897
00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:49,160
Speaker 1: also announced that they're going to be offering at home

898
00:43:49,200 --> 00:43:53,239
Speaker 1: five G internets. It's just not available yet, look for

899
00:43:53,320 --> 00:43:55,880
Speaker 1: that later this year, and I guarantee it's going to

900
00:43:55,920 --> 00:43:58,400
Speaker 1: be cheaper than Mint. It's going to be almost what

901
00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:01,280
Speaker 1: anybody else is offering. Yeah, so hopefully that'll be available

902
00:44:01,400 --> 00:44:04,480
Speaker 1: where it is that you live. In particular. I love

903
00:44:04,560 --> 00:44:06,799
Speaker 1: seeing the rise of five G home internet, Matt. It's

904
00:44:06,880 --> 00:44:08,800
Speaker 1: it's not for everyone, it's not the best choice for everyone,

905
00:44:09,080 --> 00:44:11,640
Speaker 1: but it's just a third competitor in the space, which

906
00:44:11,719 --> 00:44:14,520
Speaker 1: is crucial to bringing down prices in most markets. In

907
00:44:14,600 --> 00:44:17,359
Speaker 1: so many markets, we've had a duopoly for so long.

908
00:44:17,680 --> 00:44:21,160
Speaker 1: And I guess there are better internet providers for rural

909
00:44:21,239 --> 00:44:24,040
Speaker 1: home internet now too, Like with the likes of Starlink

910
00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:28,280
Speaker 1: right making Man. Before that, if you lived in rural America,

911
00:44:28,560 --> 00:44:30,440
Speaker 1: the options were they didn't have a choice. It's very

912
00:44:30,760 --> 00:44:34,040
Speaker 1: they were so slow and expensive. What's the world up to?

913
00:44:34,120 --> 00:44:38,120
Speaker 1: I don't know. I live in Decorah, Iowa, where they

914
00:44:38,160 --> 00:44:41,400
Speaker 1: make toppling golge. I'm sure Decora is actually a wonderful

915
00:44:41,440 --> 00:44:43,839
Speaker 1: place to live. Probably is, but yeah, there's a lot

916
00:44:43,920 --> 00:44:46,680
Speaker 1: of the I had family members who lived in rural

917
00:44:46,719 --> 00:44:50,640
Speaker 1: parts of the South and they just didn't have like

918
00:44:50,960 --> 00:44:54,160
Speaker 1: a cable or a cable option or a DSL options,

919
00:44:54,200 --> 00:44:57,040
Speaker 1: so they had to go with those satellite options, and

920
00:44:57,080 --> 00:44:58,759
Speaker 1: they were just pathetic. Now I was going to say, yeah,

921
00:44:58,760 --> 00:44:59,920
Speaker 1: did they back in the day, did they have like

922
00:45:00,400 --> 00:45:02,920
Speaker 1: one of those giant satellites some people? And then some

923
00:45:03,000 --> 00:45:05,719
Speaker 1: people just had like the rooftop one but dish, yeah,

924
00:45:05,920 --> 00:45:10,600
Speaker 1: which was just not great from really any standpoint, but

925
00:45:10,640 --> 00:45:13,000
Speaker 1: it was the only option, so you might get the

926
00:45:13,080 --> 00:45:16,839
Speaker 1: best price Samantha and faster service by going with your

927
00:45:16,880 --> 00:45:19,600
Speaker 1: cable company or the old school phone company like a

928
00:45:19,719 --> 00:45:22,719
Speaker 1: DSL type service. So much depends on where you live

929
00:45:22,800 --> 00:45:25,759
Speaker 1: and what else is available to you, and you might

930
00:45:25,800 --> 00:45:27,720
Speaker 1: even be able to get your current provider to reduce

931
00:45:27,760 --> 00:45:29,640
Speaker 1: the price you pay without having to make a switch.

932
00:45:29,760 --> 00:45:33,200
Speaker 1: That is worth mentioning. Yeah, yeah, they're raising their prices

933
00:45:33,200 --> 00:45:36,000
Speaker 1: by twenty bucks a month, but the squeaky wheel gets

934
00:45:36,040 --> 00:45:37,759
Speaker 1: the grease. And if you can talk to the right

935
00:45:37,800 --> 00:45:41,240
Speaker 1: folks at that company, in particular the customer retention department.

936
00:45:41,280 --> 00:45:44,120
Speaker 1: If the initial person you speak to is not very helpful,

937
00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:48,640
Speaker 1: then you might see that fee go away, right. You

938
00:45:48,760 --> 00:45:50,360
Speaker 1: might see that price go back down to what you

939
00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:52,760
Speaker 1: were paying. It's best to be armed with some information

940
00:45:52,800 --> 00:45:54,440
Speaker 1: and say, hey, these are my other options right now,

941
00:45:54,640 --> 00:45:56,320
Speaker 1: these are the prices I could pay if I switch,

942
00:45:56,760 --> 00:45:58,120
Speaker 1: And then you just have to be willing to walk

943
00:45:58,160 --> 00:46:00,239
Speaker 1: if you don't get a good enough deal. Totally agree.

944
00:46:00,280 --> 00:46:03,560
Speaker 1: Let's take another one Joel from an anonymous poster who wrote,

945
00:46:03,600 --> 00:46:06,280
Speaker 1: I'm expecting a tax return of about two thousand dollars

946
00:46:06,360 --> 00:46:08,360
Speaker 1: and trying to decide the smartest way to use it.

947
00:46:08,480 --> 00:46:11,919
Speaker 1: Option one pay off about two thousand dollars in medical debt.

948
00:46:12,000 --> 00:46:13,960
Speaker 1: I'm currently paying two hundred dollars a month on it.

949
00:46:14,239 --> 00:46:17,120
Speaker 1: It's a zero percent interest and I'm on a payment plan,

950
00:46:17,640 --> 00:46:20,319
Speaker 1: so it would not be sent to collections. Option two

951
00:46:20,560 --> 00:46:23,200
Speaker 1: pay off two credit cards instead. Payments on those cards

952
00:46:23,200 --> 00:46:25,600
Speaker 1: are similar, but they do have high interest. Paying them

953
00:46:25,640 --> 00:46:28,400
Speaker 1: off with free up about ninety dollars a month and

954
00:46:28,600 --> 00:46:32,680
Speaker 1: stop the interest from accumulating. So my question is, does

955
00:46:32,719 --> 00:46:35,239
Speaker 1: it make more sense to eliminate the zero percent debt

956
00:46:35,280 --> 00:46:38,280
Speaker 1: with a higher monthly payment or knock out the highest

957
00:46:38,320 --> 00:46:43,359
Speaker 1: interest credit cards even though the monthly payment relief is smaller. Yeah,

958
00:46:43,440 --> 00:46:46,239
Speaker 1: what do you think, Joel? Just a quick reminder to

959
00:46:46,280 --> 00:46:50,000
Speaker 1: everyone out there, like tax refunds this time of year,

960
00:46:50,600 --> 00:46:52,120
Speaker 1: it's one of the best chances to make a big

961
00:46:52,239 --> 00:46:55,800
Speaker 1: dent in a money goal you've got. I think so

962
00:46:55,840 --> 00:46:58,360
Speaker 1: many people just they they think they're supposed to like

963
00:46:58,400 --> 00:47:00,560
Speaker 1: being smart about what they're doing with. Yeah, it's like

964
00:47:00,600 --> 00:47:03,319
Speaker 1: often seeing this like seed money for vacation or whatever,

965
00:47:03,840 --> 00:47:06,520
Speaker 1: or gosh, with the bigger refunds that people are experiencing

966
00:47:06,560 --> 00:47:08,759
Speaker 1: this year, Maybe it pays for your whole vacation, but

967
00:47:08,840 --> 00:47:12,040
Speaker 1: if it means you you're stuck in significant credit card debt,

968
00:47:12,640 --> 00:47:14,080
Speaker 1: you might want to rethink what you're going to do

969
00:47:14,120 --> 00:47:16,160
Speaker 1: with that money. I would go with option to here, Matt,

970
00:47:16,600 --> 00:47:18,360
Speaker 1: it sounds like this poster is still going to have

971
00:47:18,440 --> 00:47:21,160
Speaker 1: the money to pay towards their medical debt, which should

972
00:47:21,200 --> 00:47:24,080
Speaker 1: take less than a year. While the monthly relief is

973
00:47:24,400 --> 00:47:27,520
Speaker 1: smaller from a payment perspective, you're forking over less money

974
00:47:27,520 --> 00:47:30,279
Speaker 1: in interest, right, And that's that's essentially, that's what we prioritize,

975
00:47:30,840 --> 00:47:34,080
Speaker 1: especially since ninety dollars is probably just the minimum payment

976
00:47:34,160 --> 00:47:36,200
Speaker 1: you can make on your credit cards, that's true or

977
00:47:36,280 --> 00:47:38,880
Speaker 1: close to it, Like, we just never want you doing that.

978
00:47:38,960 --> 00:47:40,480
Speaker 1: We want to see you got a credit card debt

979
00:47:40,840 --> 00:47:43,560
Speaker 1: completely as soon as possible, as opposed to just servicing

980
00:47:43,640 --> 00:47:45,960
Speaker 1: this loan month to month. Yeah, And someone listening might

981
00:47:46,000 --> 00:47:48,000
Speaker 1: be like, well, dudes, this sounds like the opposite of

982
00:47:48,000 --> 00:47:51,040
Speaker 1: what you just talked about from the snowball avalanche approach.

983
00:47:51,400 --> 00:47:53,440
Speaker 1: There are some differences though, because in this case we're

984
00:47:53,440 --> 00:47:57,279
Speaker 1: talking about the secondary Well, you got your first more

985
00:47:57,320 --> 00:47:59,680
Speaker 1: agregious payments going towards their credit cards that are going

986
00:47:59,719 --> 00:48:02,320
Speaker 1: to have a interest rate, but the second option, that

987
00:48:02,480 --> 00:48:05,000
Speaker 1: being the medical debt is literally at zero and so

988
00:48:05,080 --> 00:48:07,520
Speaker 1: it's not like you're waffling between Okay, well you got

989
00:48:07,560 --> 00:48:10,600
Speaker 1: one at thirteen percent, uh, and you got the other

990
00:48:10,680 --> 00:48:15,360
Speaker 1: one at twenty two percent, but the thirteen percent card

991
00:48:15,480 --> 00:48:18,160
Speaker 1: has a smaller balance. No, no, no, we're talking about

992
00:48:18,480 --> 00:48:21,320
Speaker 1: the difference between zero percent and likely something in that

993
00:48:21,560 --> 00:48:23,640
Speaker 1: you know, I'm guessing probably in the twenties perhaps. When

994
00:48:23,640 --> 00:48:25,239
Speaker 1: it comes to the credit card, we're not comparing Honey

995
00:48:25,280 --> 00:48:28,760
Speaker 1: Crisp and Fuji. We're comparing Honey Crisp and Nable Oranges.

996
00:48:29,000 --> 00:48:31,520
Speaker 1: It's like, yeah, so there's a difference. It's like complete different.

997
00:48:31,560 --> 00:48:34,279
Speaker 1: They're both debts, but they're different. Yeah, but even still

998
00:48:34,440 --> 00:48:35,680
Speaker 1: based on what you're saying their joal, you know, you

999
00:48:35,920 --> 00:48:37,839
Speaker 1: pay out the credit card balances and then you could

1000
00:48:37,840 --> 00:48:40,359
Speaker 1: take the extra ninety dollars that you're freeing up every

1001
00:48:40,400 --> 00:48:42,080
Speaker 1: month and then you use it to get rid of

1002
00:48:42,120 --> 00:48:44,279
Speaker 1: your medical debt even more quickly if that's something that

1003
00:48:44,280 --> 00:48:46,680
Speaker 1: you're wanting to eliminate, to make sure that you're staying

1004
00:48:46,719 --> 00:48:49,320
Speaker 1: on schedule where you're not having to worry about that

1005
00:48:49,480 --> 00:48:51,719
Speaker 1: any more. And in addition to that, since you're not

1006
00:48:51,800 --> 00:48:56,320
Speaker 1: paying any interest on that medical debt payment. That's probably

1007
00:48:56,440 --> 00:48:58,600
Speaker 1: not your best bet either, So pay that medical bill

1008
00:48:58,680 --> 00:49:01,719
Speaker 1: off as agreed over time, Take that ninety bucks, start

1009
00:49:01,760 --> 00:49:04,440
Speaker 1: building up an emergency fund, having liquid cash on hand, right,

1010
00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:06,839
Speaker 1: no credit card debt, no medical debt. This is going

1011
00:49:06,880 --> 00:49:08,480
Speaker 1: to put you in such a great position to just

1012
00:49:08,840 --> 00:49:11,880
Speaker 1: positively build from that point right like you are, Then

1013
00:49:12,360 --> 00:49:15,319
Speaker 1: you've got a great foundation, and then sky's the limit. Yeah, yeah,

1014
00:49:15,320 --> 00:49:16,840
Speaker 1: we're trying to get you back up at the foundation.

1015
00:49:16,920 --> 00:49:18,800
Speaker 1: Right now, you're like a couple steps down into the

1016
00:49:18,840 --> 00:49:21,359
Speaker 1: basement subgrade. Yeah at the moment, Yeah, you can take

1017
00:49:21,360 --> 00:49:23,719
Speaker 1: those couple steps up with these smart moves, then you're

1018
00:49:23,800 --> 00:49:27,919
Speaker 1: ready to start ascending even further. So hope that helps, Matt.

1019
00:49:28,400 --> 00:49:30,520
Speaker 1: Let's get back to the beer. Let's mention this one,

1020
00:49:30,640 --> 00:49:34,800
Speaker 1: the Fire, Skulls and Money Double India Payalol from Toppling

1021
00:49:35,000 --> 00:49:38,680
Speaker 1: Goliath Brewing. What do you think of this beer, my friend? Well,

1022
00:49:38,719 --> 00:49:42,160
Speaker 1: before we get into the tasting notes, fire Skulls and Money.

1023
00:49:42,600 --> 00:49:43,960
Speaker 1: I mean, I'm pretty sure he sent this one to

1024
00:49:44,040 --> 00:49:46,279
Speaker 1: us because it's got money and it it's just like, oh, man, Joel,

1025
00:49:46,320 --> 00:49:49,400
Speaker 1: they would love to have one, and I love a

1026
00:49:49,520 --> 00:49:53,279
Speaker 1: nice fire to man. Yeah, fire and well, skulls got

1027
00:49:53,400 --> 00:49:56,319
Speaker 1: to remind yourself of your more talents. True, But oh

1028
00:49:56,360 --> 00:49:58,200
Speaker 1: my gosh, this was so good. This had everything that

1029
00:49:58,280 --> 00:50:00,839
Speaker 1: you could want. It was so juice. See you can

1030
00:50:00,920 --> 00:50:03,520
Speaker 1: smell the citrus as as I was pouring these out,

1031
00:50:04,200 --> 00:50:06,160
Speaker 1: pouring these into our glasses at the very beginning. But

1032
00:50:06,239 --> 00:50:10,440
Speaker 1: then it's got such great complexity, it's thicker, it's like

1033
00:50:10,520 --> 00:50:13,640
Speaker 1: the mouth feels fantastic. It's you got the just the

1034
00:50:13,760 --> 00:50:17,400
Speaker 1: sharp vegetal notes from the hops as well. It's a

1035
00:50:17,440 --> 00:50:20,239
Speaker 1: little dank, it's a little juicy. Got some fruit going on,

1036
00:50:20,480 --> 00:50:22,840
Speaker 1: is dude? It makes me how long has it been

1037
00:50:22,880 --> 00:50:24,839
Speaker 1: since I've had just a fantastic double? That's what I'm

1038
00:50:24,840 --> 00:50:26,560
Speaker 1: asking myself right now, you know, That's what you and

1039
00:50:26,600 --> 00:50:28,359
Speaker 1: I said kind of right as we cracked it, right

1040
00:50:28,360 --> 00:50:31,040
Speaker 1: before we started recording, was like because we, oh, this

1041
00:50:31,120 --> 00:50:32,799
Speaker 1: is gonna be a good one. Well, and we drink

1042
00:50:32,960 --> 00:50:34,880
Speaker 1: less beer than we used to and that might be

1043
00:50:34,920 --> 00:50:37,960
Speaker 1: a disappointment to some listeners, but like, part of it

1044
00:50:38,120 --> 00:50:39,799
Speaker 1: is just like, oh, the boys are losing the red.

1045
00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:43,000
Speaker 1: Part of it is like getting older, and it's just well,

1046
00:50:43,040 --> 00:50:46,080
Speaker 1: no that old, Come on ye try me, like pick

1047
00:50:46,080 --> 00:50:47,640
Speaker 1: a fight with me. See what happens. I'm not that

1048
00:50:47,719 --> 00:50:49,839
Speaker 1: old yet, but like we are a little bit older,

1049
00:50:49,920 --> 00:50:52,160
Speaker 1: and like there's something about getting those eight hours of

1050
00:50:52,200 --> 00:50:54,600
Speaker 1: good sleep. It matters more than it used to, and

1051
00:50:54,800 --> 00:50:58,200
Speaker 1: so we're willing to cut loose every now and again.

1052
00:50:58,520 --> 00:51:01,040
Speaker 1: But my goodness, it is we just don't drink as

1053
00:51:01,120 --> 00:51:04,959
Speaker 1: much as many fantastic beers as we have in the past.

1054
00:51:05,200 --> 00:51:07,040
Speaker 1: And because of that, when we have a fantastic beer,

1055
00:51:07,080 --> 00:51:09,399
Speaker 1: it just hits. It's just nice. It's like that much. Yeah,

1056
00:51:09,480 --> 00:51:12,480
Speaker 1: it's all the more better. But is that what you thought? Yeah,

1057
00:51:12,520 --> 00:51:14,960
Speaker 1: I mean I love I think a pungent usually is

1058
00:51:15,320 --> 00:51:17,040
Speaker 1: a word that's used in the negative. I thought of

1059
00:51:17,120 --> 00:51:20,280
Speaker 1: this as like pungent in the positive. Like I loved

1060
00:51:20,560 --> 00:51:23,680
Speaker 1: the smell, everything radiating. They loaded and it was like

1061
00:51:23,800 --> 00:51:26,279
Speaker 1: citrus on steroids in a really good way. And then

1062
00:51:26,320 --> 00:51:29,600
Speaker 1: I just love the way the hot bite like lingered

1063
00:51:29,760 --> 00:51:32,279
Speaker 1: on my tongue. Like you, there's some beers that kind

1064
00:51:32,280 --> 00:51:35,080
Speaker 1: of dissipate quickly. This one it's not like you take

1065
00:51:35,080 --> 00:51:37,160
Speaker 1: a sip and speak with you takes that beer for

1066
00:51:37,239 --> 00:51:39,960
Speaker 1: thirty minutes afterwards. So that's in the best way possible.

1067
00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:42,399
Speaker 1: This was great. Yeah, shout out again to Clint, thank

1068
00:51:42,440 --> 00:51:44,759
Speaker 1: you for sending this one and some others r way

1069
00:51:44,800 --> 00:51:46,480
Speaker 1: that we're looking forward to getting to. But buddy, that's

1070
00:51:46,480 --> 00:51:49,040
Speaker 1: gonna be it for this long ass kind of money episode.

1071
00:51:49,080 --> 00:51:52,239
Speaker 1: We hope you have enjoyed it. You can find resources

1072
00:51:52,440 --> 00:51:55,080
Speaker 1: up on the website at howtomoney dot com and that's

1073
00:51:55,120 --> 00:51:56,680
Speaker 1: gonna be it. So when you send us your questions,

1074
00:51:56,719 --> 00:51:59,560
Speaker 1: we want to help them. Yes, yeah, absolutely, listener, and

1075
00:51:59,640 --> 00:52:02,879
Speaker 1: I mean the best questions you you know who we're

1076
00:52:02,880 --> 00:52:06,920
Speaker 1: talking to. Yeah, you do it all right? Ready until

1077
00:52:06,960 --> 00:52:09,759
Speaker 1: next time, best friends Out, Best Friends Out.