WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Student Loan Payment Pause, The Worst Car Loans, & Avoiding This Common HSA Blunder #396 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:02.719 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt. 0:00:02.960 --> 0:00:07.120 Today we're discussing student loan payment pause, the worst car loans, 0:00:07.320 --> 0:00:29.920 and avoiding this common hs A blunder. That's right, Joel. 0:00:29.960 --> 0:00:32.840 This is our Friday Flight episode where we are gonna 0:00:32.840 --> 0:00:34.720 take a look back on the stories that we came 0:00:34.760 --> 0:00:36.720 across this week, and we're gonna talk about how it 0:00:36.760 --> 0:00:39.519 affects our personal finances. I'm excited to get to the 0:00:39.520 --> 0:00:43.080 stories you mentioned, plus uh several others during this episode. 0:00:43.360 --> 0:00:44.880 But I know first you wanted to share a little 0:00:44.880 --> 0:00:47.840 bit about how much you love your credit union. Okay, 0:00:47.840 --> 0:00:49.720 so I have a love hate relationship with my credit 0:00:49.800 --> 0:00:52.560 union right now. We have talked about on the show 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:55.720 many times about how much we love credit unions. There 0:00:55.720 --> 0:00:57.520 are a lot of reasons for that. I'm pretty sure 0:00:57.520 --> 0:00:59.360 we did a whole episode on that, like on a 0:00:59.360 --> 0:01:01.120 four or five months go. I think it was called 0:01:01.240 --> 0:01:04.520 why we Love Credit Union. It was like it was 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:06.400 like it was worth than a year ago. I think, well, 0:01:06.440 --> 0:01:08.360 I still dig them, but I will say I have 0:01:08.400 --> 0:01:11.240 a pain point with my current credit union right now, 0:01:11.400 --> 0:01:15.160 and it is their website is awful. It's trash, and 0:01:15.240 --> 0:01:18.399 I was trying to transfer money recently from my credit 0:01:18.440 --> 0:01:22.759 union account to a savings account with another institution, and 0:01:22.800 --> 0:01:25.920 the way the way they limit your transfers, it's just painful. 0:01:26.200 --> 0:01:29.360 Uh it's like two thousand dollars a day max. But 0:01:29.400 --> 0:01:31.200 then you go back in like a week later, and 0:01:31.200 --> 0:01:32.880 it's like, we still haven't finished the transfer, so you 0:01:32.920 --> 0:01:35.920 can't transfer anymore. And so I just had never, Oh, 0:01:35.959 --> 0:01:38.200 you still want that to happen, and thanks for letting us. 0:01:38.360 --> 0:01:40.080 We'll get on it, um. I don't know, after we 0:01:40.200 --> 0:01:41.640 like take a nap or something, then we'll send you 0:01:41.680 --> 0:01:45.720 a fact with the confirmation. Right. So I just wanted 0:01:45.760 --> 0:01:48.520 to put that out there. Love credit unions. There's so 0:01:48.560 --> 0:01:51.080 many reasons to do business with the credit union. I 0:01:51.160 --> 0:01:55.000 just wish that my local credit union would get their 0:01:55.040 --> 0:01:58.120 act together when it comes to, you know, a little 0:01:58.120 --> 0:02:02.640 bit better customer service. UM from in particular that website standpoint. Yeah, 0:02:02.680 --> 0:02:04.440 I mean that was one of the downsides that we 0:02:04.520 --> 0:02:06.520 presented in that episode. I think it was one of 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:09.000 the few downsides we gave. They don't pay great interest 0:02:09.080 --> 0:02:11.120 rates if you're a saver, and they also have poor 0:02:11.200 --> 0:02:13.920 interfaces when it comes to just the online support. The 0:02:13.960 --> 0:02:16.560 online interface. This is one area that I'm glad to 0:02:16.560 --> 0:02:20.240 see other kind of medium sized players step into mix, right, 0:02:20.480 --> 0:02:23.200 because we love credit unions because they offer great competitive 0:02:23.240 --> 0:02:25.280 rates if you're looking for a loan. But now there 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:27.919 are folks like Rocket Mortgage or better dot Com, these 0:02:27.919 --> 0:02:29.840 players that I kind of see as like more middle 0:02:29.840 --> 0:02:32.440 of the pack kind of lenders, because before what I 0:02:32.440 --> 0:02:35.320 felt like like there were a bunch of massive banks. Yeah, 0:02:35.320 --> 0:02:37.040 there was this huge, big guys, and then there were 0:02:37.080 --> 0:02:39.240 like the credit unions, and because of that, we said, okay, 0:02:39.280 --> 0:02:41.079 if we got to pick one over the other, let's 0:02:41.120 --> 0:02:43.720 go with the credit unions. But now these other companies 0:02:43.720 --> 0:02:47.359 are stepping into the void essentially, and they're also offering 0:02:47.440 --> 0:02:50.040 really great rates, and then oftentimes they're selling those loans 0:02:50.080 --> 0:02:54.040 to other loan servicers who have great online portals that 0:02:54.120 --> 0:02:57.080 make it really easy to actually set up those automatic payments, 0:02:57.200 --> 0:02:59.120 the ability to transfer money in and out of those 0:02:59.120 --> 0:03:03.280 accounts very easy, even just like some basics like online statements. 0:03:03.400 --> 0:03:06.120 One of my credit unions, they don't issue you a 0:03:06.160 --> 0:03:09.400 mortgage statement every single month, seriously, like they choose like 0:03:09.440 --> 0:03:12.839 three random months of the year. But yeah, with you 0:03:13.360 --> 0:03:16.360 like credit unions, but there is definitely some room for improvements, 0:03:16.440 --> 0:03:18.920 and they leave a little to be desired, especially on 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:22.320 that technological front. And so I'm just putting this out 0:03:22.320 --> 0:03:24.520 there to my local credit union. I would love to 0:03:24.560 --> 0:03:27.560 see you invest some uh, you know, a little bit 0:03:27.560 --> 0:03:30.040 of time, a little effort into making that website more 0:03:30.120 --> 0:03:32.600 user friendly and even just making a transfer. It shouldn't 0:03:32.600 --> 0:03:35.400 be as difficult as it was. Um. And yeah, I 0:03:35.480 --> 0:03:38.240 love you, I'll still I'll stick with you, but I 0:03:38.280 --> 0:03:40.360 just want you to know that you can improve, you 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:42.280 can do better. But as long as they're still offering 0:03:42.320 --> 0:03:44.560 those free of Letty United tickets Rember, the one time 0:03:44.640 --> 0:03:48.240 we scored those free right little Instagram Instagram challenge or 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.880 something from our local credit us, we wanted. That was 0:03:50.920 --> 0:03:52.640 a lot of fun. All right, let's gonna get to 0:03:52.680 --> 0:03:54.840 the our stories from this week. This is that quick 0:03:54.840 --> 0:03:57.560 sampling that we found interesting. And let's first pick it 0:03:57.600 --> 0:04:00.200 off with student loans. This is something that's run event 0:04:00.280 --> 0:04:02.320 too many. How do money listeners? Uh? And this was 0:04:02.360 --> 0:04:05.320 announced actually last Friday, but it was after our Friday 0:04:05.320 --> 0:04:08.360 flight was already out. It was like Friday five pm 0:04:08.440 --> 0:04:10.440 or something like. Yeah, one of those last minute things, 0:04:10.640 --> 0:04:12.480 and so it turns out that the student loan payment 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.360 pause will continue. Uh, I know, yeah, if I if 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:17.240 I had student loans, this would be pretty great news, 0:04:17.520 --> 0:04:19.560 be pretty pumped right now. But I'm more glad to 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.240 not have anything student loans currently. But not having to 0:04:23.320 --> 0:04:25.719 pay on those loans if you do have them, while 0:04:25.800 --> 0:04:28.000 also not accruing interest, is going to allow you to 0:04:28.080 --> 0:04:31.520 prioritize other financial goals for the time being. Maybe that's 0:04:31.680 --> 0:04:33.920 saving up for that down payment for your new place, 0:04:34.160 --> 0:04:36.480 investing that money if that's not something you've already done, 0:04:36.720 --> 0:04:39.279 all that is great for you, right or just building 0:04:39.320 --> 0:04:41.040 up that emergency fund if you're not where you want 0:04:41.040 --> 0:04:43.479 to be at step one. Yeah, gear number one baby. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:45.800 And this is especially great news if you are on 0:04:45.839 --> 0:04:48.919 the ten year Public Service loan forgiveness plan, because that 0:04:49.000 --> 0:04:52.839 means twenty three months where payments weren't required in all. 0:04:52.839 --> 0:04:54.880 Twenty three of those months are actually going to count 0:04:55.120 --> 0:04:59.520 towards your decade long repayment period. That's incredibly good news 0:04:59.520 --> 0:05:01.840 for those that's I mean, that's a significant show. That's 0:05:01.920 --> 0:05:06.080 almost of the time allotted that you needed to pay 0:05:06.120 --> 0:05:08.440 on your loan to be able to qualify that you 0:05:08.480 --> 0:05:10.840 didn't have a payment and so that just means more 0:05:11.040 --> 0:05:13.200 forgiveness at the end of the road, which is great. 0:05:13.440 --> 0:05:16.880 And uh, yeah, payments should resume in February. The Education 0:05:16.960 --> 0:05:19.840 Department actually emphasized that this will be the last extension. 0:05:20.120 --> 0:05:23.880 So make sure you're you're setting yourself up financially to 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.599 be ready for those payments to resume when the time comes. 0:05:27.000 --> 0:05:29.560 Be ready to make a student loan payment in February. 0:05:29.960 --> 0:05:32.480 Uh and so like seriously this time right, right? Yeah, no, 0:05:32.640 --> 0:05:35.880 we mean it, you're sure government, Okay, I would not 0:05:36.000 --> 0:05:38.240 count on getting another one, that's for sure. The one 0:05:38.279 --> 0:05:40.280 thing you don't want to do with the money that 0:05:40.320 --> 0:05:42.400 you should be paying in student loans is to increase 0:05:42.440 --> 0:05:44.880 your lifestyle with those funds, because you're taking money that 0:05:44.920 --> 0:05:47.240 needs to be in your budget, you know, in a 0:05:47.279 --> 0:05:50.279 few months time, and you're incorporating it into your spending, 0:05:50.600 --> 0:05:54.240 and then it becomes even harder, right to untangle and 0:05:54.400 --> 0:05:56.720 to start paying on those student loans again. Yeah, we 0:05:56.720 --> 0:05:59.320 would say set yourself up for success, don't absorb that 0:05:59.360 --> 0:06:02.559 extra money into Yeah, you're you're spending your outgoing funds. 0:06:02.600 --> 0:06:04.680 It's I mean, honestly, if you can continue making those payments, 0:06:04.680 --> 0:06:07.040 but just making to yourself, right, Like, don't just let 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.640 all the different categories of your budget just swell. Instead, 0:06:11.240 --> 0:06:13.440 make sure you're you're marking that money, and like we said, 0:06:13.480 --> 0:06:15.800 make sure you're putting that towards something more meaningful, whether 0:06:15.839 --> 0:06:19.039 that's setting up your emergency fund, investing, saving that towards 0:06:19.080 --> 0:06:21.160 other financial goals. But I mean, yeah, the worst thing 0:06:21.160 --> 0:06:22.880 you want to do is to exit this period of 0:06:22.880 --> 0:06:24.760 time and then you're like, oh, man, like that was 0:06:24.800 --> 0:06:26.720 a lot of money. Actually when I total it all up, 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:28.560 what was what was I actually able to do? And 0:06:28.560 --> 0:06:30.680 in reality you just maybe spend it on drinks out 0:06:30.720 --> 0:06:32.600 with friends or just spending more at the store or 0:06:32.640 --> 0:06:34.600 whatever it is. This is the perfect chance to get 0:06:34.600 --> 0:06:37.279 ahead financially and you take advantage of it, is what 0:06:37.320 --> 0:06:39.080 we would say. And we're actually you're gonna talk with 0:06:39.279 --> 0:06:42.080 a c s LP that's a certified Student Loan Professional 0:06:42.320 --> 0:06:45.839 and also a former Olympic gold medal winner, Lauren Williams 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.480 on Monday Show about how to approach your student loans 0:06:48.920 --> 0:06:51.800 given the recent news. She is a fountain of knowledge. 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.120 So we're looking forward to, yeah, sharing that conversation with you. 0:06:54.240 --> 0:06:56.680 That's right, And let's talk about inflation here for a minute. 0:06:56.880 --> 0:07:00.240 If you are a regular HTM Friday flight, let's in here, 0:07:00.520 --> 0:07:01.880 or maybe just as long as you're not living in 0:07:01.960 --> 0:07:04.080 a cave or something, you know that there have been 0:07:04.120 --> 0:07:07.160 some real inflation concerns recently. The New York Times they 0:07:07.160 --> 0:07:10.200 had an article this week detailing just how bad things 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.239 have gotten recently for savers uh, and largely that's because 0:07:13.240 --> 0:07:17.120 of rising inflation. Basically, even though your savings account might 0:07:17.160 --> 0:07:20.080 be paying you close to point five percent assuming you're 0:07:20.120 --> 0:07:22.000 with one of the better online banks, if you're with 0:07:22.200 --> 0:07:24.280 one of the huge banks, they're probably paying you like 0:07:24.360 --> 0:07:29.440 point zero five percent at best. Best. Uh, the real 0:07:29.600 --> 0:07:32.480 rate of a turn on your savings is actually negative 0:07:32.480 --> 0:07:34.480 these days, despite the fact that you might be earning 0:07:34.520 --> 0:07:37.040 half a percent, because first of all, half percent that's 0:07:37.040 --> 0:07:39.920 pretty pidily in any environment. But it's actually going to 0:07:40.000 --> 0:07:43.520 look much worse as inflation gets worse. But the problem is, 0:07:43.600 --> 0:07:45.840 like there is just not much that savers can do 0:07:46.280 --> 0:07:48.840 investing savings that you want to have on hand for 0:07:48.880 --> 0:07:51.520 a near term purchase or putting your emergency fund money 0:07:51.520 --> 0:07:53.680 in the stock market that could leave you in a 0:07:53.760 --> 0:07:56.640 in a pickle if the market experiences turbulence and you 0:07:56.720 --> 0:07:58.960 might you know you might have actually less money than 0:07:59.000 --> 0:08:02.080 you started with, less money than just the impact of 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:04.880 inflation on your dollars. Yeah, it's dispiriting. I think to 0:08:04.920 --> 0:08:08.480 read that headline as someone who enjoys saving, it's like, 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.920 dang it, my savings is earning. Actually it's negative returns 0:08:13.000 --> 0:08:15.400 right now, especially you feel distancentivized to do something that 0:08:15.400 --> 0:08:17.720 you know you should be doing exactly, and especially with 0:08:17.880 --> 0:08:19.480 how well the market has been doing. I think people 0:08:19.520 --> 0:08:21.480 are like, well, I'm just gonna take a chance, um, 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.560 but there is there's not much wisdom there in that decision. 0:08:24.920 --> 0:08:26.960 If you need that money in the short term, you 0:08:27.000 --> 0:08:29.120 basically have to roll with the punches. And a friend 0:08:29.160 --> 0:08:30.960 of the show, Ben Carlson, wrote this week that the 0:08:31.000 --> 0:08:34.720 current situation might be the worst ever for someone saving 0:08:34.760 --> 0:08:37.120 their money in a bank or a money market account. 0:08:37.440 --> 0:08:40.439 And yeah, we hate seeing that because saving money is 0:08:40.440 --> 0:08:42.800 a good thing. It just feels awful to be saving 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:45.760 in this current environment. But if you are an oversaver 0:08:46.080 --> 0:08:48.520 in particular, and yes, that is a problem. There are 0:08:48.520 --> 0:08:51.000 some people that save too much money. You want to 0:08:51.000 --> 0:08:53.520 make sure that you are investing some of your money 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.240 for the future. Obviously, like Matt said, don't invest money 0:08:56.240 --> 0:08:57.839 you're gonna need in the here and now or in 0:08:57.880 --> 0:09:00.559 the next year or two. But also don't assume that 0:09:00.600 --> 0:09:03.040 investing is risky, and the keeping your money in savings 0:09:03.400 --> 0:09:06.320 in the savings account isn't. There is a very known 0:09:06.360 --> 0:09:08.760 and quantifiable risk right now to having too much money 0:09:08.800 --> 0:09:11.839 in savings. It's getting it's getting eaten alive. Yeah, currently 0:09:11.880 --> 0:09:14.080 that risk is quantifiable because it is that five point 0:09:14.080 --> 0:09:17.960 four percent that's the Labor Department put out the consumer 0:09:18.040 --> 0:09:21.000 price Index this past week. That is the level inflation 0:09:21.040 --> 0:09:22.800 that we've seen, of course, over the past twelve months. 0:09:22.840 --> 0:09:24.200 But I will say I think we should maybe be 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:26.839 encouraged by the it did down to it because in 0:09:26.920 --> 0:09:29.120 June it was point nine, and so July numbers have 0:09:29.200 --> 0:09:32.600 showed point five, so almost half of the increase that 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:35.559 we saw in June. Uh, and so hopefully that might 0:09:35.600 --> 0:09:37.199 mean that we're actually kind of, you know, reaching the 0:09:37.600 --> 0:09:39.520 kind of the top of the hill. Hopefully we'll see 0:09:39.520 --> 0:09:41.800 things continue to settle down in the coming months. Yeah, 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.080 I hope so, But yeah, I think you know, Matt, 0:09:44.160 --> 0:09:46.680 we talked a while back in episode sixty nine about 0:09:46.960 --> 0:09:51.240 investing and how investing involves risk, in not investing is 0:09:51.400 --> 0:09:53.560 signing yourself up for this other kind of risk, right, 0:09:53.600 --> 0:09:57.320 this guaranteed risk of baked in losses. And so yeah, 0:09:57.520 --> 0:10:00.080 inflation is going to steadily erode the spending powers of 0:10:00.120 --> 0:10:02.760 the dollars that you're saving. Savings has a place in 0:10:02.800 --> 0:10:07.240 personal finance for sure, But not investing and being too 0:10:07.240 --> 0:10:09.600 scared to put some of your money uh in the 0:10:09.679 --> 0:10:13.360 market is a recipe for like certain doom for those 0:10:13.360 --> 0:10:16.760 dollars over time. That's right, man, speaking of guaranteed losses. 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:19.960 Turns out that the lack of competition is ensuring that 0:10:20.000 --> 0:10:23.199 more money is being parted from our wallets. There is 0:10:23.200 --> 0:10:26.400 this interesting article over in Bloomberg recently about how much 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:30.400 money reduced levels of competition cost the average American family. 0:10:30.720 --> 0:10:34.960 The White Houses National Economic Council estimates our collective losses 0:10:35.000 --> 0:10:37.520 at roughly five thousand dollars a year. I want my 0:10:37.559 --> 0:10:42.040 money back, But where does it come from? Against it works? Uh, 0:10:42.240 --> 0:10:44.480 it comes from all the different companies that we pay 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:47.760 because they are able to jack prices up raise prices 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:49.760 when there is a lack of competition. Much of that 0:10:49.880 --> 0:10:53.359 loss is due to companies merging, which creates fewer competitors. 0:10:53.559 --> 0:10:55.880 In an industry. And they also point a finger at 0:10:55.920 --> 0:10:59.199 increased regulations as well. Apparently thirty percent of jobs require 0:10:59.240 --> 0:11:01.800 a license now, where as only five percent required one 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:05.439 back in the fifties. Uh, non compete agreements, that's another 0:11:05.480 --> 0:11:08.680 factor that are keeping prices high. And you know, we 0:11:08.720 --> 0:11:11.720 believe that capitalism it's not full proof, it's not without 0:11:11.760 --> 0:11:14.520 its own issues. But you know this warning about the 0:11:14.760 --> 0:11:17.320 high price that we pay, that we all pay when 0:11:17.320 --> 0:11:20.160 competition is diminished, this is an important one to heed. Yeah, 0:11:20.160 --> 0:11:22.120 that's a big headline number. Like to think about the 0:11:22.120 --> 0:11:25.640 average family has five thousand dollars less every single year 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:28.000 to spend or to say or do whatever they want 0:11:28.040 --> 0:11:31.840 with because there's not enough competition in certain sectors of 0:11:31.880 --> 0:11:33.719 our economy. That was that was eye opening to read. 0:11:33.840 --> 0:11:36.720 I mean that's almost a raw fire a right, I 0:11:36.720 --> 0:11:38.360 mean just think about that over the years, how much 0:11:38.400 --> 0:11:40.520 that could grow to if you invested that instead exactly 0:11:40.600 --> 0:11:42.839 So it made me think, Matt, like, I started thinking 0:11:42.880 --> 0:11:46.079 about the industries where competition is the stiffest, right, like 0:11:46.240 --> 0:11:49.800 grocery stores for example, price competition is alive and well 0:11:50.000 --> 0:11:53.080 it benefits consumers in society as a whole, that you 0:11:53.160 --> 0:11:55.680 have a lot of options of where you want to 0:11:55.720 --> 0:11:57.920 go in order to shop and get your groceries. Right. 0:11:58.160 --> 0:12:00.520 You know, each chain is attempting to heel to a 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:04.079 different kind of customer with different budgets and different tastes. Uh. 0:12:04.120 --> 0:12:07.760 The airline industry is another perfect example. The Wall Street 0:12:07.800 --> 0:12:11.040 Journal actually reported this week that airfare prices have barely 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.880 budged over the last twenty five years. Uh So, the 0:12:13.920 --> 0:12:16.680 price you would have paid for a ticket to Europe 0:12:17.600 --> 0:12:20.480 years ago, like a quarter of a century ago, is 0:12:20.520 --> 0:12:23.280 basically the same as what you pay now, in large 0:12:23.280 --> 0:12:26.520 part thanks to competition and innovation, right and so, yeah, 0:12:26.520 --> 0:12:29.920 that it should cost a lot more given inflation and 0:12:30.240 --> 0:12:33.240 the rising prices of everything else, but they haven't exactly 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.320 And this was actually evidence to by Jet Blue. They 0:12:35.360 --> 0:12:38.199 announced this week that they're gonna uh start partaking in 0:12:38.280 --> 0:12:40.319 round trip service from New York to London, which is 0:12:40.320 --> 0:12:42.280 gonna lower prices in a big way. They're gonna be 0:12:42.280 --> 0:12:45.600 this new low cost competitor to some of the major 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:48.160 airlines who are flying that route consistently, and it's gonna 0:12:48.200 --> 0:12:50.079 lower prices for every single person that wants to go 0:12:50.120 --> 0:12:53.000 from New York to London. Um and fancy folks, even 0:12:53.000 --> 0:12:55.160 some of those just general you know, European trips in 0:12:55.200 --> 0:12:58.120 general too. But uh yeah, then take an industry where 0:12:58.160 --> 0:13:02.640 competition is essentially not existent, like getting home internet service. 0:13:02.920 --> 0:13:06.880 Like all of our listeners can identify with how painful 0:13:06.920 --> 0:13:10.360 it is to get home internet service set up at 0:13:10.400 --> 0:13:12.560 their house and how expensive it is. Prices are high. 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:15.360 They're often not even transparent. You don't even know what's 0:13:15.360 --> 0:13:17.679 your first months bill is going to be, what taxes 0:13:17.720 --> 0:13:19.720 and fees are going to be included in there. So 0:13:20.160 --> 0:13:23.280 at the same time, customer service is abysmal from those companies. 0:13:23.480 --> 0:13:25.960 There's just no incentive for companies like Comcast and and A, 0:13:26.040 --> 0:13:29.000 T and T to do better. So one of the 0:13:29.000 --> 0:13:32.640 fundamental truths of capitalism is that competition drives businesses to 0:13:32.640 --> 0:13:36.240 make things better, faster, and cheaper. Let's hope that the 0:13:36.240 --> 0:13:39.320 the NBC, the National Economic Council, is looking for ways 0:13:39.360 --> 0:13:42.400 to bring competition back, because too little of it seems 0:13:42.440 --> 0:13:43.880 to be costing all of us quite a bit of 0:13:43.920 --> 0:13:45.800 money every year. That's right, man, All right, we are 0:13:45.880 --> 0:13:48.120 only halfway through our Friday flight. We've got several other 0:13:48.120 --> 0:13:50.840 stories that we're gonna get to after the break. Including 0:13:50.880 --> 0:13:53.240 how there seems to be bidding wars taking place on 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:56.640 rental units. Will get to that story, plus several others 0:13:56.840 --> 0:14:07.840 right after this break. All Right, we're back. We got 0:14:07.840 --> 0:14:10.120 some more stories to get to. But of course, sweet 0:14:10.360 --> 0:14:13.719 always have to get around to our ludicrous headline of 0:14:13.880 --> 0:14:18.120 the week. Alright, I'm I'm concerned, are you? That was 0:14:18.160 --> 0:14:21.240 my hagrid voice from Harry Potter. I thought I was 0:14:21.240 --> 0:14:22.800 gonna have to rush you to the hospital. Do you 0:14:22.840 --> 0:14:24.040 like that? One? That was good? That was good. We've 0:14:24.040 --> 0:14:25.840 talked about how are reading Harry Potter to the to 0:14:25.880 --> 0:14:28.200 the kids. We're getting pretty close to the end of 0:14:28.280 --> 0:14:31.200 book three, which so far, dude, book three is like 0:14:31.280 --> 0:14:34.000 easily one of the greatest. It's so good. I gotta say, 0:14:34.160 --> 0:14:36.120 I know that Pixar is not reaching out to us 0:14:36.160 --> 0:14:38.720 to do any voiceovers for any of their characters. That's 0:14:38.720 --> 0:14:40.480 not gonna happen. But let's let's get to this week's 0:14:40.520 --> 0:14:43.040 ludacrous headline, and it is from The New York the 0:14:43.120 --> 0:14:47.880 week You're a You're a wizard? Harry. That was better, though, 0:14:48.440 --> 0:14:50.880 that's because you can hear him saying that exactly exactly. 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.440 But yeah, this week's headline is titled even your allergist 0:14:54.560 --> 0:14:57.000 is now investing in startups? This is a good one. Yeah, 0:14:57.000 --> 0:14:59.080 this was sent our way by listener Livy, And yeah, 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.520 if you see a ludical US financial headline, please send 0:15:01.520 --> 0:15:02.920 it our way. We would love to check it out 0:15:03.080 --> 0:15:05.640 and maybe feature it on an upcoming episode. But yeah, 0:15:05.680 --> 0:15:08.600 this one was basically touting the fact that everyone can 0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.680 become an angel investor these days. But we would say 0:15:11.720 --> 0:15:15.040 that's actually a bad thing. I mean, you, should you 0:15:15.040 --> 0:15:18.640 be investing in companies with massive quote unquote potential? We 0:15:18.680 --> 0:15:22.600 would say no, Right, big time angel investors like Mark 0:15:22.800 --> 0:15:25.640 Entrees and Matt He's been one of the most successful 0:15:25.680 --> 0:15:28.040 angel investors of all time. He knows this very well. 0:15:28.400 --> 0:15:30.480 I've heard him say it that to be a successful 0:15:30.520 --> 0:15:33.440 angel investor, you need the best opportunities and you also 0:15:33.480 --> 0:15:37.240 need to get extremely lucky. Basically, you're investing in three 0:15:37.640 --> 0:15:40.880 companies hoping that three of them are lucky enough to 0:15:41.000 --> 0:15:44.280 just outperform the competition to an incredible degree, and that 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:48.240 infinitesimally small success ratio makes up for the other investments 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:50.800 that fall flat on their face. But yeah, risky forms 0:15:50.840 --> 0:15:53.080 of investing seem to be the normal these days. In 0:15:53.120 --> 0:15:56.640 our society, but for our listeners, you should opt out 0:15:56.800 --> 0:15:59.000 of the angel investing arena. This is not something you 0:15:59.000 --> 0:16:02.120 should pursue. The fees are also really high, so that 0:16:02.200 --> 0:16:04.320 you're gonna get eaten alive from that standpoint, and then 0:16:04.360 --> 0:16:06.760 you're also just like hoping on a wish and a prayer. 0:16:07.000 --> 0:16:09.680 And I guarantee you, if it's available to you, it 0:16:09.800 --> 0:16:13.960 is probably not one of the best angel investing possibilities 0:16:13.960 --> 0:16:17.040 out there, assuming you're just one of these casual angel investors, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.560 you know. I think shows like Shark Tank have put 0:16:19.600 --> 0:16:22.480 angel investor within the vernacular, right, like it's a it's 0:16:22.520 --> 0:16:25.080 part of folks vocabulary now and they think, oh well, 0:16:25.120 --> 0:16:27.320 and like when they're watching it on TV, they think, 0:16:27.880 --> 0:16:29.320 I knew that product was going to be a hit, 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:31.960 Like you know that their armchair quarterback, and it's only 0:16:32.200 --> 0:16:34.480 had Mark Huban's money, it would be doing the same thing. 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.800 But there's a huge difference between the billions of dollars 0:16:37.840 --> 0:16:41.040 that Mark Cuban has and like the thousands of dollars 0:16:41.040 --> 0:16:44.160 that you have, And just from a diversification standpoint, we 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.560 don't want you to be an angel investor. The New 0:16:47.640 --> 0:16:49.840 York Times they also had this great in depth article 0:16:49.880 --> 0:16:52.280 about crypto and how easy it is now to make 0:16:52.320 --> 0:16:56.240 your own crappy crypto coin. You can launch a token 0:16:56.280 --> 0:16:58.120 for as little as eight bucks these days. I think 0:16:58.120 --> 0:17:01.800 they the writer launched one called Idiot. Just try to 0:17:01.800 --> 0:17:05.159 see who would bite. Yeah, I mean, just investing in 0:17:05.280 --> 0:17:08.480 most of these different crypto idiot coins or attempting to 0:17:08.520 --> 0:17:11.480 become an angel investor with some of your your spare 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:13.800 cash is likely going to lead to you seeing that 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.359 money disappear. And so if you do really want to 0:17:16.400 --> 0:17:18.240 go this route, just make sure that you aren't investing 0:17:18.240 --> 0:17:20.840 money that you can't afford to lose. UH. First, make 0:17:20.840 --> 0:17:24.119 sure that you're prioritizing socking away just a solid chunk 0:17:24.240 --> 0:17:28.400 into tax advantaged retirement accounts before you even consider these 0:17:28.520 --> 0:17:31.439 these other riskier forms of investing. And then also just 0:17:31.480 --> 0:17:34.160 remember that you can always support UH that startup company 0:17:34.200 --> 0:17:36.840 in other ways, like just buying their product, buying their service. 0:17:36.920 --> 0:17:39.160 Support them that way, and honestly, the amount of money 0:17:39.200 --> 0:17:41.600 that you would put towards that product or that service, 0:17:41.840 --> 0:17:43.679 it's going to be more likely to be in the 0:17:43.840 --> 0:17:46.119 like a healthy relationship to the amount of money that 0:17:46.160 --> 0:17:48.800 you have set aside as you would see somebody like 0:17:48.840 --> 0:17:51.600 Mark Cuban where he's setting aside thousands or hundreds of 0:17:51.600 --> 0:17:54.040 thousands of dollars because that much to him. It might 0:17:54.040 --> 0:17:56.199 be like you going out and you know, buying some 0:17:56.240 --> 0:17:59.919 fancy underwear that somebody's selling, uh through their new startup company. 0:18:00.000 --> 0:18:02.879 I've never bought fancy underwear, but maybe someday, maybe with 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:07.440 like a special anti Microbia keeps the punk out out. Uh. Yeah. 0:18:07.480 --> 0:18:09.760 I think this sort of angel investing trend. It just 0:18:09.800 --> 0:18:12.440 makes me think just because you like Big Max doesn't 0:18:12.480 --> 0:18:14.359 mean you should invest your money in McDonald's. And just 0:18:14.359 --> 0:18:16.840 because I like shopping at Costco doesn't mean I need 0:18:16.880 --> 0:18:18.800 to go out and put a lot of money where 0:18:18.880 --> 0:18:20.600 my mouth is when it comes to buying Costco stock. 0:18:20.840 --> 0:18:24.040 You can enjoy something or enjoy a product without investing 0:18:24.040 --> 0:18:26.040 in that company. And granted I own a little bit 0:18:26.080 --> 0:18:29.240 of Costco because I own index funds, but it's one 0:18:29.280 --> 0:18:31.720 of those things where I think you want to People 0:18:31.760 --> 0:18:33.479 want to support a company they believe in or they 0:18:33.520 --> 0:18:36.320 think it has a good trajectory, but there are so 0:18:36.359 --> 0:18:38.639 many things you need to know about a company before 0:18:38.640 --> 0:18:43.160 you invest in it. That's why I avoid single stock investing. 0:18:43.520 --> 0:18:46.320 Or investing in you know, one particular company over to 0:18:46.359 --> 0:18:49.320 this one altogether. If you've dedicated your whole life to it, 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:51.879 somebody like Mark Cuban, it's a different story, right. But 0:18:52.240 --> 0:18:54.280 for most of our listeners who have day jobs and 0:18:54.280 --> 0:18:56.320 stuff like that, let's hit the easy button, go the 0:18:56.359 --> 0:19:02.320 diversified route, and just stay away from this investing space altogether. Yes. Uh. 0:19:02.440 --> 0:19:05.840 In speaking of investing, while Americans collectively they have over 0:19:05.880 --> 0:19:09.000