1
00:00:00,160 --> 00:00:03,160
Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt.

2
00:00:03,480 --> 00:00:26,240
Speaker 1: Today we are answering your listener questions, listener questions. That's right, man,

3
00:00:26,239 --> 00:00:28,120
Speaker 1: are you ready to do this? I'm ready. It's a

4
00:00:28,200 --> 00:00:32,280
Speaker 1: listener question Monday, and we've got five great questions from listeners,

5
00:00:32,320 --> 00:00:36,199
Speaker 1: including one about crypto savings accounts. I'm really excited to

6
00:00:36,240 --> 00:00:38,839
Speaker 1: dive into that one. We've got a question from a

7
00:00:38,840 --> 00:00:41,600
Speaker 1: listener who's asking about buying a home when he lives

8
00:00:41,600 --> 00:00:44,400
Speaker 1: in a submarine. That's gonna be a fun one, as

9
00:00:44,440 --> 00:00:46,720
Speaker 1: well as a question from a listener who's asking if

10
00:00:46,800 --> 00:00:50,160
Speaker 1: everybody out there needs to file a tax return. Uh.

11
00:00:50,320 --> 00:00:53,559
Speaker 1: Even though she is a lower wage earner, she's got

12
00:00:53,640 --> 00:00:55,000
Speaker 1: a lower income. So we're gonna get to that one

13
00:00:55,000 --> 00:00:57,800
Speaker 1: plus two others during this ask How the Money episode.

14
00:00:57,800 --> 00:00:59,800
Speaker 1: It's gotta be tough to tour a house while you're

15
00:00:59,800 --> 00:01:02,240
Speaker 1: living in a submarine, Like, how do you actually zillo? Baby?

16
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:03,960
Speaker 1: I guess you're just you're just doing what like two

17
00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:06,680
Speaker 1: thirds of buyers are doing these days, and you're like

18
00:01:07,040 --> 00:01:10,919
Speaker 1: five thirds of of of buyers. Even people who aren't

19
00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:13,080
Speaker 1: look actually gonna buy a house, they're you know, sitting

20
00:01:13,080 --> 00:01:14,959
Speaker 1: there flipping through Zillo. True, yeah, but I think no.

21
00:01:15,080 --> 00:01:17,759
Speaker 1: The stat is actually the people make an offer sixtent

22
00:01:17,800 --> 00:01:19,479
Speaker 1: of buyers or something in that range, make an offer

23
00:01:19,520 --> 00:01:21,600
Speaker 1: without actually having set foot in the house. These days,

24
00:01:21,959 --> 00:01:24,240
Speaker 1: COVID has changed things up when it comes to buying

25
00:01:24,240 --> 00:01:26,399
Speaker 1: a house. But we'll get to that and more. It's crazy.

26
00:01:26,480 --> 00:01:29,200
Speaker 1: In this episode, man, I wanted to share something, um,

27
00:01:29,240 --> 00:01:32,520
Speaker 1: a little personal. They're real quick, not super personal, but

28
00:01:32,640 --> 00:01:34,160
Speaker 1: I had to get a who wants to hear about

29
00:01:34,200 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 1: your new underwear line? Right? Remember that one from a

30
00:01:38,440 --> 00:01:41,480
Speaker 1: few months ago. I had to get a new oil

31
00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:45,040
Speaker 1: pan put in the Honda Odyssey, the O six Odyssey,

32
00:01:45,120 --> 00:01:47,080
Speaker 1: And it was one of those things that I was

33
00:01:47,280 --> 00:01:50,600
Speaker 1: surprised by that I didn't didn't realize this was an expense,

34
00:01:50,640 --> 00:01:52,400
Speaker 1: it was gonna have to happen. But I guess at

35
00:01:52,440 --> 00:01:54,920
Speaker 1: some point in recent years, when when I was getting

36
00:01:54,920 --> 00:01:59,760
Speaker 1: an oil change done, some um nefarious mechanic like they

37
00:02:00,040 --> 00:02:03,720
Speaker 1: lude the drain plug back in and so it made

38
00:02:03,760 --> 00:02:05,560
Speaker 1: the oil pain unusable. And I've I've got a good

39
00:02:05,600 --> 00:02:07,480
Speaker 1: mechanic that I took it to and and yeah, he

40
00:02:07,560 --> 00:02:09,640
Speaker 1: was like, I'm sorry, man, but we got to replace

41
00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:12,160
Speaker 1: it because is one of these like four fifty expenses

42
00:02:12,240 --> 00:02:16,280
Speaker 1: that I just wasn't thinking was coming down the pike. Yeah,

43
00:02:16,320 --> 00:02:18,400
Speaker 1: And I think it just goes to show though that

44
00:02:19,040 --> 00:02:21,919
Speaker 1: I want to say, I'm an optimist, and I think

45
00:02:21,919 --> 00:02:25,480
Speaker 1: sometimes like I expect things to continue to go a

46
00:02:25,480 --> 00:02:28,400
Speaker 1: certain way and those kind of things like slap me

47
00:02:28,480 --> 00:02:30,679
Speaker 1: upside of the head. But I can't budget like in

48
00:02:30,919 --> 00:02:35,000
Speaker 1: reality exactly. And I hope for for other optimists or

49
00:02:35,000 --> 00:02:37,720
Speaker 1: really anybody out there. You can't budget like an optimist.

50
00:02:37,760 --> 00:02:41,720
Speaker 1: You can't budget hoping that things continue to go swimmingly

51
00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:43,799
Speaker 1: that you never have, you know, in a four hund

52
00:02:43,840 --> 00:02:46,120
Speaker 1: and fifty dollar oil pan expense. Um, it's just one

53
00:02:46,120 --> 00:02:47,680
Speaker 1: of those things that is going to come along in

54
00:02:47,680 --> 00:02:50,079
Speaker 1: your financial life, and it's important to kind of make

55
00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:53,000
Speaker 1: room for those things ahead of time because it's a

56
00:02:53,040 --> 00:02:55,120
Speaker 1: double whammy if you also don't have the money on

57
00:02:55,200 --> 00:02:58,240
Speaker 1: hand to pay for that unexpected expense. So I just

58
00:02:58,240 --> 00:02:59,880
Speaker 1: want to kind of share that it happens to the

59
00:03:00,000 --> 00:03:02,520
Speaker 1: most of us, right. We we all have these costly

60
00:03:02,560 --> 00:03:05,800
Speaker 1: items that come along from time to time that we

61
00:03:05,800 --> 00:03:10,440
Speaker 1: weren't even anticipating. Um. But yeah, planning for the unexpected

62
00:03:10,639 --> 00:03:12,959
Speaker 1: is really important. Yeah, planning for those expenses. You know,

63
00:03:13,000 --> 00:03:15,400
Speaker 1: there are going to be expenses that that arise with

64
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:18,200
Speaker 1: a sixteen year old vehicle, but it's a teenager now,

65
00:03:18,240 --> 00:03:21,480
Speaker 1: but you know requires a little bit more money that

66
00:03:21,800 --> 00:03:23,600
Speaker 1: it makes me think about. We talked about this recently too.

67
00:03:23,639 --> 00:03:26,839
Speaker 1: It makes me think about just some of these house expenses,

68
00:03:27,080 --> 00:03:28,920
Speaker 1: like on the outside of our houses that nobody gets

69
00:03:28,919 --> 00:03:32,400
Speaker 1: excited about, uh, dropping a load of money on like

70
00:03:32,440 --> 00:03:35,280
Speaker 1: a roof, for instance, Like you can't really see your shingles.

71
00:03:35,280 --> 00:03:37,040
Speaker 1: It's not an expense that you look forward to, but

72
00:03:37,040 --> 00:03:38,920
Speaker 1: it's something that has to be done. Tree work is

73
00:03:38,960 --> 00:03:41,520
Speaker 1: another one that you and I we discussed recently. It

74
00:03:41,520 --> 00:03:43,120
Speaker 1: seems like there's a lot of true work happening in

75
00:03:43,120 --> 00:03:45,480
Speaker 1: our neighborhood these days, and we're saying, how we think

76
00:03:45,480 --> 00:03:47,400
Speaker 1: it must have something to do with the stimulus money,

77
00:03:47,440 --> 00:03:50,320
Speaker 1: because it's one of those things where it's really painful.

78
00:03:50,880 --> 00:03:53,480
Speaker 1: It's apart ways with money for a tree service to

79
00:03:53,520 --> 00:03:55,160
Speaker 1: show up and maybe take down a couple of trees.

80
00:03:55,200 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 1: But you know, when some money lands in your lap,

81
00:03:57,160 --> 00:03:58,840
Speaker 1: when it lands in your bank account, it's it's something

82
00:03:58,880 --> 00:04:01,160
Speaker 1: where you're like, Okay, I was expecting that money anyway,

83
00:04:01,240 --> 00:04:02,960
Speaker 1: let's maybe take care of some of these things that

84
00:04:03,040 --> 00:04:05,600
Speaker 1: I don't really want to spend money towards. But these

85
00:04:05,640 --> 00:04:08,240
Speaker 1: are the kind of adult same thing with yeah, car expenses,

86
00:04:08,400 --> 00:04:10,920
Speaker 1: Yeah that nobody wants. Nobody wants to drop money on,

87
00:04:11,000 --> 00:04:13,600
Speaker 1: but that's like part of the thing being a grown up.

88
00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:15,960
Speaker 1: You have to do it. So Yeah, and make sure too,

89
00:04:15,960 --> 00:04:17,760
Speaker 1: you've got a mechanic that you trust. This is a

90
00:04:17,760 --> 00:04:20,599
Speaker 1: mechanic that you've gone to for years and you've great

91
00:04:20,640 --> 00:04:23,000
Speaker 1: relationship with him, so you can feel better about that

92
00:04:23,040 --> 00:04:24,960
Speaker 1: at least. Yeah, I know that he's telling me the

93
00:04:24,960 --> 00:04:28,039
Speaker 1: truth and he's never seen me wrong before. When it

94
00:04:28,040 --> 00:04:30,120
Speaker 1: comes to my car, it's just still one of those things.

95
00:04:30,120 --> 00:04:31,760
Speaker 1: It's like really man, And then like you kind of

96
00:04:31,760 --> 00:04:34,080
Speaker 1: like want to blame the messenger and be like I

97
00:04:34,120 --> 00:04:37,560
Speaker 1: hate you, but I don't actually hate you, and you're like, uh,

98
00:04:37,760 --> 00:04:40,200
Speaker 1: did you try using the torque wrench or something? Ye

99
00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:44,880
Speaker 1: like naming tools the muscle behind it. Dog. But let's

100
00:04:44,880 --> 00:04:47,400
Speaker 1: get onto the beer that we're having on this episode, Matt.

101
00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,080
Speaker 1: This one is called Bumbleberry. It's a honey blueberry ale

102
00:04:51,400 --> 00:04:53,840
Speaker 1: by Fathead Brewery, and this one was sent to us

103
00:04:53,839 --> 00:04:55,600
Speaker 1: by Rich. He's a friend of the show. He actually

104
00:04:55,800 --> 00:04:58,719
Speaker 1: hosts a podcast called Budgets and Bruce that he asked

105
00:04:58,760 --> 00:05:00,320
Speaker 1: me to be on recently. That was kind of fun

106
00:05:00,360 --> 00:05:02,000
Speaker 1: hanging out with him and super nice of him to

107
00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:03,960
Speaker 1: send this beer away. And we'll give our thoughts at

108
00:05:03,960 --> 00:05:06,360
Speaker 1: the end of the episode. Yes we will, So let's

109
00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,200
Speaker 1: go ahead. Now get to our listener questions, and all

110
00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,080
Speaker 1: your listeners out there, if you have a question for us,

111
00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,400
Speaker 1: we would love for you to submit your own question

112
00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,280
Speaker 1: to us. You can go to hottle money dot com

113
00:05:15,400 --> 00:05:18,480
Speaker 1: forward slash ask. We've got some simple instructions there as

114
00:05:18,520 --> 00:05:20,920
Speaker 1: to how you can send us your voice memo and

115
00:05:21,000 --> 00:05:24,279
Speaker 1: hopefully very soon we will be able to answer your question.

116
00:05:24,360 --> 00:05:25,840
Speaker 1: But first, ull let's go ahead and get to this

117
00:05:25,960 --> 00:05:29,880
Speaker 1: first question that has to do with cryptocurrency. Hi, Joel

118
00:05:29,920 --> 00:05:33,120
Speaker 1: and Matt. This is Ellie in Denver and I just

119
00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: recently heard about a investing website called block Fee. It

120
00:05:39,680 --> 00:05:44,200
Speaker 1: seems really interesting to me because they are giving six percent,

121
00:05:44,560 --> 00:05:48,479
Speaker 1: eight point six percent, five point to five. They're giving

122
00:05:48,839 --> 00:05:53,800
Speaker 1: interest rates that high on cryptocurrencies that you hold in

123
00:05:53,839 --> 00:05:56,679
Speaker 1: their accounts, and the one that interests me the most

124
00:05:56,800 --> 00:06:00,640
Speaker 1: is called Gemini Dollar, and it's always worth a dollar

125
00:06:00,760 --> 00:06:04,040
Speaker 1: because it's pegged to the US dollar, and I think

126
00:06:04,120 --> 00:06:08,479
Speaker 1: that you could buy say five Gemini dollars and then

127
00:06:08,600 --> 00:06:13,320
Speaker 1: earn eight point six per year on that amount. I

128
00:06:13,360 --> 00:06:16,839
Speaker 1: haven't opened an account yet, but I'm curious if you

129
00:06:16,880 --> 00:06:20,200
Speaker 1: have heard of it already or what you think about it.

130
00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,320
Speaker 1: Thank you, Oh Matt. So many questions popping up these

131
00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:28,440
Speaker 1: days about earn more money on savings because the rates

132
00:06:28,480 --> 00:06:31,599
Speaker 1: for savers are atrocious right now, and so no wonder

133
00:06:31,600 --> 00:06:33,400
Speaker 1: Ellie's looking to try to find some way to make

134
00:06:33,440 --> 00:06:36,120
Speaker 1: more money on the money. She's just kind of going around. Yeah,

135
00:06:36,160 --> 00:06:39,280
Speaker 1: I get it, me too. I hate having money in

136
00:06:39,279 --> 00:06:41,480
Speaker 1: a savings account these days because half a percent is

137
00:06:41,480 --> 00:06:43,880
Speaker 1: about the best you can hope for. And uh and yeah,

138
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:48,200
Speaker 1: so Ellie, let's talk about crypto savings accounts. The allure

139
00:06:48,800 --> 00:06:50,839
Speaker 1: is strong with these, and I think there's a lot

140
00:06:50,880 --> 00:06:53,480
Speaker 1: of people out there looking into crypto banks because they're

141
00:06:53,520 --> 00:06:57,720
Speaker 1: springing up all over the internet promising stellar rates of return,

142
00:06:57,839 --> 00:07:00,120
Speaker 1: some even as high as twelve percent. I've seen was

143
00:07:00,160 --> 00:07:03,080
Speaker 1: hanging around. But it's important to note that money that

144
00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:05,520
Speaker 1: you put into one of these accounts is not like

145
00:07:05,760 --> 00:07:09,240
Speaker 1: putting money in your traditional bank or your online bank

146
00:07:09,480 --> 00:07:12,200
Speaker 1: or even a credit union. It's not even close because

147
00:07:12,320 --> 00:07:15,560
Speaker 1: there is no f D I C insurance when you

148
00:07:15,640 --> 00:07:19,080
Speaker 1: deposit your funds at one of these cryptocurrency online banks.

149
00:07:19,480 --> 00:07:22,920
Speaker 1: And since the crypto space is still very much like

150
00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,200
Speaker 1: the Wild West, you're definitely putting your money at risk

151
00:07:26,240 --> 00:07:29,840
Speaker 1: if you decide to put your savings um in one

152
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:33,040
Speaker 1: of these quote unquote banks. And yeah, you just can't

153
00:07:33,040 --> 00:07:34,920
Speaker 1: even call it a bank really based on what it is.

154
00:07:35,320 --> 00:07:38,000
Speaker 1: And these, uh, these websites aren't even insured by the

155
00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:40,960
Speaker 1: s I p C, where brokerage firms like Vanguard and

156
00:07:40,960 --> 00:07:44,560
Speaker 1: Fidelity are able to, uh say that five thousand dollars

157
00:07:44,600 --> 00:07:46,600
Speaker 1: of your money is insured. And we think that this

158
00:07:46,600 --> 00:07:48,920
Speaker 1: should cause you to hit the brakes from really even

159
00:07:48,960 --> 00:07:52,480
Speaker 1: considering these crypto bank accounts really any further. Yeah, what's

160
00:07:52,520 --> 00:07:54,680
Speaker 1: what's crazy about these companies too, is that they're promising

161
00:07:54,680 --> 00:07:58,080
Speaker 1: such high returns in order to attract more users and

162
00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:01,080
Speaker 1: more customers essentially, right, and so like it's almost like

163
00:08:01,120 --> 00:08:03,800
Speaker 1: the higher return that they're promising like the worst off

164
00:08:03,800 --> 00:08:05,560
Speaker 1: it's going to be because again, because they're not even

165
00:08:05,680 --> 00:08:08,440
Speaker 1: s I p C ensured, I mean, they could fold

166
00:08:08,680 --> 00:08:11,400
Speaker 1: and you would be completely out all that money, Like,

167
00:08:11,440 --> 00:08:14,080
Speaker 1: there is no guarantee that you're gonna that you would

168
00:08:14,160 --> 00:08:16,160
Speaker 1: you ever see any of that money again, especially if

169
00:08:16,200 --> 00:08:19,880
Speaker 1: you're a smaller quote unquote investor, because I mean, even

170
00:08:19,920 --> 00:08:21,440
Speaker 1: if there was like some sort of lawsuit, like, you're

171
00:08:21,440 --> 00:08:23,120
Speaker 1: gonna be at the very end of the line when

172
00:08:23,160 --> 00:08:25,200
Speaker 1: it comes to actually getting any type of money back.

173
00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:27,800
Speaker 1: And so, yeah, let's talk some more specifics on how

174
00:08:27,800 --> 00:08:30,840
Speaker 1: these cryptove savings accounts work. Within one of these accounts,

175
00:08:30,880 --> 00:08:33,160
Speaker 1: you're holding cryptocurrency and you could have you know, many

176
00:08:33,160 --> 00:08:36,960
Speaker 1: different varieties in there, and that crypto stash is then

177
00:08:37,040 --> 00:08:40,120
Speaker 1: being lent out to other investors and other traders. So

178
00:08:40,200 --> 00:08:42,679
Speaker 1: not only are you getting into the cryptocurrency game by

179
00:08:42,760 --> 00:08:46,120
Speaker 1: owning some actual cryptocurrency, but you're going above and beyond

180
00:08:46,240 --> 00:08:48,760
Speaker 1: on the risk scale by also lending out what you own.

181
00:08:49,080 --> 00:08:51,680
Speaker 1: And so while those rates of return do sound pretty nice,

182
00:08:51,960 --> 00:08:54,680
Speaker 1: they aren't all that great for the enormous risk that

183
00:08:54,720 --> 00:08:56,840
Speaker 1: you're taking on. There's almost like this sort of double

184
00:08:56,840 --> 00:08:58,560
Speaker 1: away amy when like the way I think about it,

185
00:08:58,559 --> 00:09:00,480
Speaker 1: it's like I'm imagining if I have and ridding my

186
00:09:00,480 --> 00:09:03,000
Speaker 1: bike in like a year, I'm really out of shape, right,

187
00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:06,200
Speaker 1: And also which isn't true, which is would never happen.

188
00:09:07,160 --> 00:09:09,320
Speaker 1: Let's be honest. It's something else that would never happen,

189
00:09:09,440 --> 00:09:11,760
Speaker 1: is imagine then if I also left my bike out

190
00:09:11,760 --> 00:09:14,760
Speaker 1: in the yard all winter along again for another whole year.

191
00:09:15,160 --> 00:09:16,679
Speaker 1: But then imagine I'm like, Okay, I want to hop

192
00:09:16,679 --> 00:09:19,560
Speaker 1: on my bike and get across town for some important meeting. Well,

193
00:09:19,600 --> 00:09:21,640
Speaker 1: there's a good chance then I'm gonna be doing maybe

194
00:09:21,640 --> 00:09:23,679
Speaker 1: a good amount of walking. And whether it's because I'm

195
00:09:23,720 --> 00:09:26,200
Speaker 1: so out of shape I'm sucking wind, or because my

196
00:09:26,240 --> 00:09:28,480
Speaker 1: bike's broken, right, And so there are two huge risks

197
00:09:28,480 --> 00:09:31,040
Speaker 1: here when you have your money invested in these companies,

198
00:09:31,240 --> 00:09:33,120
Speaker 1: and while that might be okay or acceptable, if this

199
00:09:33,200 --> 00:09:35,360
Speaker 1: isn't money that you're necessarily counting on, right, And so

200
00:09:35,600 --> 00:09:37,640
Speaker 1: again going back to the bike analogy, like if I

201
00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:40,000
Speaker 1: was on my way to an important meeting, Uh, that

202
00:09:40,080 --> 00:09:42,480
Speaker 1: bad idea to do that. But if I was just

203
00:09:42,520 --> 00:09:44,360
Speaker 1: out for a ride and it didn't really matter, you know,

204
00:09:44,440 --> 00:09:46,800
Speaker 1: in that case, it could make sense for you. And

205
00:09:46,800 --> 00:09:50,319
Speaker 1: specifically because we're talking about savings here, usually this is

206
00:09:50,400 --> 00:09:52,920
Speaker 1: money that you need and even with you know, for

207
00:09:53,000 --> 00:09:54,960
Speaker 1: most of our listeners, I know, for us, like our investments.

208
00:09:54,960 --> 00:09:57,800
Speaker 1: We're not even really willing to put that um at

209
00:09:57,880 --> 00:10:01,240
Speaker 1: huge risk. And so yeah, matt Ellie mentioned the website

210
00:10:01,240 --> 00:10:05,320
Speaker 1: block Fi, and explicitly on that website it states loss

211
00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,199
Speaker 1: of principle, which is the money that you put in

212
00:10:07,240 --> 00:10:10,559
Speaker 1: there is possible, And it certainly is possible, and I'm

213
00:10:10,559 --> 00:10:13,680
Speaker 1: not gonna say it's likely, but that is never the

214
00:10:13,720 --> 00:10:16,000
Speaker 1: case with the savings at your bank because of what

215
00:10:16,000 --> 00:10:18,440
Speaker 1: we talked about the fd I C insurance. Essentially, these

216
00:10:18,480 --> 00:10:22,320
Speaker 1: crypto banks are out there combining cryptocurrency exchanges like coin

217
00:10:22,360 --> 00:10:25,280
Speaker 1: base and peer to peer lending a company like lending Club,

218
00:10:25,679 --> 00:10:29,280
Speaker 1: and that means just a much higher increase of volatility

219
00:10:29,679 --> 00:10:31,360
Speaker 1: and risk. And so yeah, I would, I would hear

220
00:10:31,400 --> 00:10:34,560
Speaker 1: pretty much everybody away from these things because it's it's

221
00:10:34,600 --> 00:10:36,840
Speaker 1: just too risky of a bet, right, unless it's just

222
00:10:36,920 --> 00:10:39,920
Speaker 1: money that you don't care about, right like if it's

223
00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:41,720
Speaker 1: play money, if it's money that it needs to be

224
00:10:41,720 --> 00:10:43,680
Speaker 1: money that you wouldn't lose sleepover. I haven't. I haven't

225
00:10:43,679 --> 00:10:46,880
Speaker 1: had a dollar that I didn't care about, the you know,

226
00:10:46,920 --> 00:10:48,559
Speaker 1: the ones I don't care about. I spend on craft beer.

227
00:10:48,640 --> 00:10:50,960
Speaker 1: If folks make different types of vets, uh, you know

228
00:10:51,080 --> 00:10:53,360
Speaker 1: different risks they're that they're willing to take. But in

229
00:10:53,400 --> 00:10:55,160
Speaker 1: the end, here essentially what we're saying, when it comes

230
00:10:55,200 --> 00:10:57,040
Speaker 1: to your savings and when it comes to your investments,

231
00:10:57,040 --> 00:10:59,840
Speaker 1: we want you to keep those separated. You know, uh

232
00:11:00,080 --> 00:11:03,480
Speaker 1: okay to take uh measured risks with your investments. You

233
00:11:03,520 --> 00:11:05,439
Speaker 1: can afford to lose money that you've you know, invested

234
00:11:05,440 --> 00:11:07,719
Speaker 1: this year if the market goes down, because you know

235
00:11:07,800 --> 00:11:10,280
Speaker 1: that you won't need that money until years or even

236
00:11:10,360 --> 00:11:12,960
Speaker 1: decades down the road. But that's not the case with

237
00:11:13,000 --> 00:11:15,520
Speaker 1: your savings. You want to keep that money safe in

238
00:11:15,520 --> 00:11:17,240
Speaker 1: the liquid in case you need it. Uh. And so

239
00:11:17,320 --> 00:11:20,120
Speaker 1: that makes these crypto savings accounts, to put it nicely,

240
00:11:20,400 --> 00:11:22,720
Speaker 1: less than ideal for that task. And so keep your

241
00:11:22,720 --> 00:11:25,719
Speaker 1: investments and your savings distinct and separate. And if you

242
00:11:25,760 --> 00:11:27,360
Speaker 1: are going to put any of your money towards some

243
00:11:27,400 --> 00:11:30,079
Speaker 1: of those cryptic savings accounts, make sure it's less than

244
00:11:30,160 --> 00:11:32,560
Speaker 1: five percent of your overall portfolio. That's, you know, one

245
00:11:32,600 --> 00:11:35,480
Speaker 1: of the ways that we designate quote unquote play money. Yeah, totally,

246
00:11:35,520 --> 00:11:37,400
Speaker 1: all right, Matt. When we got more questions to get to,

247
00:11:37,840 --> 00:11:40,720
Speaker 1: including what about taxes, like do you need to foul taxes?

248
00:11:40,760 --> 00:11:42,520
Speaker 1: If you don't make much money. We'll talk about that

249
00:11:42,559 --> 00:11:53,600
Speaker 1: and more right after this break. All right, we're back

250
00:11:53,600 --> 00:11:55,120
Speaker 1: from the break, and we're gonna hear from a listener

251
00:11:55,160 --> 00:11:58,760
Speaker 1: who listens to us underwater explain how that works. But

252
00:11:58,840 --> 00:12:02,360
Speaker 1: first let's hear this tax question. I'm at and Joel.

253
00:12:02,840 --> 00:12:06,560
Speaker 1: This is aoka from Grand Rapids, Michigan. I hold on

254
00:12:06,600 --> 00:12:10,800
Speaker 1: another podcast that a single individual who owns less than

255
00:12:10,960 --> 00:12:14,760
Speaker 1: twelve thousand, four hundred dollars in a year doesn't have

256
00:12:14,840 --> 00:12:17,720
Speaker 1: to file a tax re tone, I made a little

257
00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,920
Speaker 1: bit less than twelve thousand, which included about a thousand

258
00:12:22,000 --> 00:12:25,560
Speaker 1: dollars from door Dash. Given that door dash and other

259
00:12:25,640 --> 00:12:29,240
Speaker 1: gig economy jobs are different with taxes, I just wanted

260
00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:32,480
Speaker 1: to know if I can skip filing my taxes this year,

261
00:12:33,040 --> 00:12:36,640
Speaker 1: or if I would get in trouble but not returning

262
00:12:36,720 --> 00:12:40,560
Speaker 1: some of that door dash money. And is the twelve

263
00:12:40,559 --> 00:12:44,760
Speaker 1: thousand dollar rule even a thing? Is it even true?

264
00:12:45,400 --> 00:12:48,640
Speaker 1: Thanks so much? All right, Matt, I love this question.

265
00:12:49,000 --> 00:12:51,400
Speaker 1: I feel like this is definitely something that a lot

266
00:12:51,440 --> 00:12:54,120
Speaker 1: of people will have, especially um when in a year

267
00:12:54,160 --> 00:12:56,160
Speaker 1: where you might not have made very much money, do

268
00:12:56,240 --> 00:12:58,080
Speaker 1: I have to file taxes? For instance, if you're a

269
00:12:58,120 --> 00:13:01,200
Speaker 1: college student, maybe you made in thousand dollars last year

270
00:13:01,240 --> 00:13:04,160
Speaker 1: some side income whatever, and uh and yeah, you're like,

271
00:13:04,240 --> 00:13:06,520
Speaker 1: I don't really want to go through that hassle. Filing

272
00:13:06,559 --> 00:13:09,800
Speaker 1: taxes seems like a burden, and I understand that it's

273
00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:13,040
Speaker 1: um not the most fantask in the world, right, but yes,

274
00:13:13,120 --> 00:13:16,080
Speaker 1: since tax to day is to two weeks away Monday,

275
00:13:16,120 --> 00:13:18,600
Speaker 1: May seventeen, by the way, for all you slackers, exactly

276
00:13:18,679 --> 00:13:22,040
Speaker 1: two weeks away. Yeah, it's uh, it's true, Erica, that

277
00:13:22,080 --> 00:13:24,680
Speaker 1: you don't have to file taxes if you're single and

278
00:13:24,760 --> 00:13:28,400
Speaker 1: you make below the twelve thousand, four hundred dollar threshold.

279
00:13:28,720 --> 00:13:31,880
Speaker 1: That's because of the standard deduction. That is the amount

280
00:13:32,160 --> 00:13:35,240
Speaker 1: of of the standard deduction. So basically, you won't owe

281
00:13:35,280 --> 00:13:38,920
Speaker 1: any taxes on any income until you start making more

282
00:13:39,080 --> 00:13:42,480
Speaker 1: than twelve thousand, four hundred dollars and you're not required

283
00:13:42,520 --> 00:13:44,760
Speaker 1: to file its Act return. You won't get into trouble

284
00:13:44,800 --> 00:13:46,560
Speaker 1: with the I R S if you don't do it,

285
00:13:47,040 --> 00:13:49,560
Speaker 1: but you might still want to do it because of

286
00:13:49,600 --> 00:13:52,160
Speaker 1: the many ways you can benefit if you do file

287
00:13:52,160 --> 00:13:55,319
Speaker 1: your taxes instead of kicking up your feet and designing

288
00:13:55,640 --> 00:13:57,640
Speaker 1: to uh to not do it at all. Yeah, there's

289
00:13:57,720 --> 00:14:00,120
Speaker 1: some some major benefits to filing your taxes if your

290
00:14:00,120 --> 00:14:02,600
Speaker 1: income is a little bit lower. If you don't file,

291
00:14:02,640 --> 00:14:04,680
Speaker 1: you won't be able to qualify for a tax refund,

292
00:14:04,920 --> 00:14:07,240
Speaker 1: and so if you had taxes withheld from your paycheck,

293
00:14:07,720 --> 00:14:10,800
Speaker 1: you won't see that money. You might also qualify for

294
00:14:10,880 --> 00:14:13,400
Speaker 1: the earned income tax Credit, which you wouldn't get if

295
00:14:13,400 --> 00:14:15,880
Speaker 1: you don't file a return and claim it. And so

296
00:14:15,960 --> 00:14:18,360
Speaker 1: the cool thing about that specifically is that it's a

297
00:14:18,480 --> 00:14:21,120
Speaker 1: refundable credits and so even if you don't owe any

298
00:14:21,160 --> 00:14:23,880
Speaker 1: taxes at all, this credit will still get paid to you.

299
00:14:24,160 --> 00:14:28,240
Speaker 1: That's pretty sweet. But sadly of folks who would qualify

300
00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:30,160
Speaker 1: for the earned income tax Credit the e I T

301
00:14:30,280 --> 00:14:33,440
Speaker 1: c uh don't claim it, and so make sure that

302
00:14:33,480 --> 00:14:35,480
Speaker 1: you claim it if you qualify. Yeah, a lot of

303
00:14:35,480 --> 00:14:38,440
Speaker 1: people missing out on free money that way who have

304
00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:40,560
Speaker 1: it come into them. And you know, one other thing

305
00:14:40,680 --> 00:14:43,280
Speaker 1: to Erica that's definitely worth mentioning. If you're listening to

306
00:14:43,280 --> 00:14:47,320
Speaker 1: the show, hopefully you're investing in in IRA with some

307
00:14:47,400 --> 00:14:49,680
Speaker 1: of the money that you made, and if you're investing

308
00:14:49,720 --> 00:14:52,720
Speaker 1: in let's say a roth IRA, you might also qualify

309
00:14:52,880 --> 00:14:56,480
Speaker 1: with your low income for the savers tax credit, which

310
00:14:56,520 --> 00:14:58,760
Speaker 1: is one of the best tax credits around. Matt I've

311
00:14:59,080 --> 00:15:00,520
Speaker 1: always found this to be, you one of the most

312
00:15:00,600 --> 00:15:04,000
Speaker 1: fascinating tax credits available, and most people don't know about

313
00:15:04,000 --> 00:15:06,240
Speaker 1: how this works either. It's a nice little carrot. It's

314
00:15:06,240 --> 00:15:08,920
Speaker 1: a nice little incentive exactly especially for for low income

315
00:15:08,960 --> 00:15:11,080
Speaker 1: folks that really only applies to low income folks. The

316
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:14,280
Speaker 1: federal government will essentially help you on your investing journey

317
00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:17,280
Speaker 1: by handing you back up to fifty percent of the

318
00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,560
Speaker 1: amount of money that you invested depending on your adjusted

319
00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,280
Speaker 1: gross income and Erica, you could qualify for that highest

320
00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:27,480
Speaker 1: fifty percent Savers tax credit based on your income. So

321
00:15:27,520 --> 00:15:29,960
Speaker 1: let's say you invested two thousand dollars last year into

322
00:15:30,000 --> 00:15:32,760
Speaker 1: a wrath IIRA, you get a thousand dollars back in

323
00:15:32,800 --> 00:15:36,360
Speaker 1: the form of a tax refund. Yeah, the Saber tax

324
00:15:36,360 --> 00:15:38,080
Speaker 1: credit is one of my favorites. And it's another thing

325
00:15:38,120 --> 00:15:40,640
Speaker 1: just like the Earned Income Tax Credit. They're they're too

326
00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:44,440
Speaker 1: really important tax credits that low income folks really really

327
00:15:44,480 --> 00:15:46,400
Speaker 1: need to know about. Uh, you don't want to miss

328
00:15:46,400 --> 00:15:49,000
Speaker 1: out on those because there's a lot of money at stake. Yeah,

329
00:15:49,000 --> 00:15:50,920
Speaker 1: it's it's it's like a four one K match from

330
00:15:50,920 --> 00:15:53,880
Speaker 1: the federal government. Yeah, yeah, you know, and Erica, you know,

331
00:15:53,920 --> 00:15:56,080
Speaker 1: so many things are based on your tax return, like

332
00:15:56,120 --> 00:15:59,360
Speaker 1: getting a home loan. Basically, filing your taxes shouldn't be

333
00:15:59,640 --> 00:16:01,920
Speaker 1: all that hard for you. It'll be free via I

334
00:16:02,000 --> 00:16:04,520
Speaker 1: r S Free File, and you might get thousands of

335
00:16:04,560 --> 00:16:07,480
Speaker 1: dollars in money that you otherwise wouldn't receive if you

336
00:16:07,520 --> 00:16:10,000
Speaker 1: didn't file a return. So we would recommend that you

337
00:16:10,000 --> 00:16:11,680
Speaker 1: go ahead and do it. There could be a lot

338
00:16:11,720 --> 00:16:14,000
Speaker 1: of money that you're leaving on the table if you, Yeah,

339
00:16:14,080 --> 00:16:16,360
Speaker 1: do what Joel said, like kick back, throw your feet up,

340
00:16:16,800 --> 00:16:19,320
Speaker 1: don't relax over the next couple of weeks. Instead see

341
00:16:19,320 --> 00:16:21,440
Speaker 1: if there are any funds that you're eligible for. Yeah.

342
00:16:21,480 --> 00:16:23,600
Speaker 1: We'll link to the I r S Free File site

343
00:16:23,600 --> 00:16:25,760
Speaker 1: in the show notes because that is the place where

344
00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:28,840
Speaker 1: people who make I think it's under like seventy two

345
00:16:28,840 --> 00:16:32,480
Speaker 1: thousand dollars a year a g I can file their

346
00:16:32,480 --> 00:16:35,280
Speaker 1: taxes and not pay a dime to in order to

347
00:16:35,320 --> 00:16:37,760
Speaker 1: do so. And like Matt said, it's less difficult than

348
00:16:37,800 --> 00:16:39,160
Speaker 1: you think it's going to be. It's really not that

349
00:16:39,200 --> 00:16:40,920
Speaker 1: big of a deal, especially with all the money that

350
00:16:40,920 --> 00:16:43,480
Speaker 1: could be at stake here for you Erica totally worth it. Yeah,

351
00:16:43,480 --> 00:16:45,320
Speaker 1: all right, Matt, Let's get to the next question. This

352
00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:47,840
Speaker 1: one comes from a listener who listens to How the

353
00:16:47,880 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 1: Money in the Ocean Hidlan Matt. My name is Nate

354
00:16:51,360 --> 00:16:53,440
Speaker 1: and I'm a long time listener to the show. I'm

355
00:16:53,440 --> 00:16:55,600
Speaker 1: currently in the Navy, and you just have company Company

356
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:58,360
Speaker 1: and planning my financial future while spending many many months

357
00:16:58,440 --> 00:17:00,800
Speaker 1: underwater in a submarine. I want to get to my

358
00:17:00,800 --> 00:17:03,200
Speaker 1: advice about getting out the navy in less than six months.

359
00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:05,560
Speaker 1: I'm twenty seven and have a great crits for on

360
00:17:05,720 --> 00:17:07,639
Speaker 1: my car, and we'll have at least thirty five thousand

361
00:17:07,640 --> 00:17:09,200
Speaker 1: dollars and savings by the time I get out of

362
00:17:09,200 --> 00:17:11,600
Speaker 1: the Navy. I'm returning to school and we'll be a

363
00:17:11,600 --> 00:17:13,760
Speaker 1: recipient of the post leven g I built, which will

364
00:17:13,800 --> 00:17:15,680
Speaker 1: pay for my tuition and provide me with the housing

365
00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:18,400
Speaker 1: stipend of about fourteen hundred dollars in cash per month.

366
00:17:18,960 --> 00:17:20,639
Speaker 1: I was toting what the idea of purchasing a home

367
00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:23,359
Speaker 1: rather than renting. I'm able to ualize to be a

368
00:17:23,400 --> 00:17:25,760
Speaker 1: homeland program which allows me to purchase a home with

369
00:17:25,800 --> 00:17:29,080
Speaker 1: no down payment but still security competitive interest rate. I

370
00:17:29,119 --> 00:17:31,320
Speaker 1: figured that because it mortgage is typically the same or

371
00:17:31,320 --> 00:17:33,080
Speaker 1: in a lot of cases even a little less than

372
00:17:33,119 --> 00:17:35,919
Speaker 1: monthly rent. It would be beneficial. I have my monthly

373
00:17:35,920 --> 00:17:38,920
Speaker 1: housing STEPT been going towards owning home rather than renting one.

374
00:17:39,359 --> 00:17:41,280
Speaker 1: I have about two years left to school, and other

375
00:17:41,320 --> 00:17:43,480
Speaker 1: than summers, do not plan out working during that time.

376
00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:46,760
Speaker 1: Between my savings, any small amount of leftover money from

377
00:17:46,800 --> 00:17:49,359
Speaker 1: the house and stipend, and a small income about four

378
00:17:49,400 --> 00:17:51,840
Speaker 1: hundred dollars per month from doing Navy reserves at the

379
00:17:51,920 --> 00:17:54,600
Speaker 1: are separate from active duty, I would definitely be able

380
00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:57,800
Speaker 1: to cover roughly double my current monthly budget even without

381
00:17:57,800 --> 00:17:59,959
Speaker 1: working during the summers. I just want to see if

382
00:18:00,040 --> 00:18:01,840
Speaker 1: you guys thought this was a good idea or if

383
00:18:01,840 --> 00:18:05,920
Speaker 1: it cheers Ate all right, Nate, thanks so much for

384
00:18:05,960 --> 00:18:09,120
Speaker 1: that question. Uh here about housing, And by the way,

385
00:18:09,119 --> 00:18:11,160
Speaker 1: it's super cool that you've been listening to us underwater.

386
00:18:11,680 --> 00:18:14,200
Speaker 1: It might be the the closest that will actually get

387
00:18:14,200 --> 00:18:17,040
Speaker 1: to being in a submarine. Although now that I say that,

388
00:18:17,080 --> 00:18:18,440
Speaker 1: I feel like maybe when I was a little kid,

389
00:18:18,920 --> 00:18:20,320
Speaker 1: I feel like maybe on a field trip I did

390
00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:22,720
Speaker 1: actually walk through a submarine, which is I think even

391
00:18:22,760 --> 00:18:25,720
Speaker 1: as a kid, I remember being way smaller than I

392
00:18:25,760 --> 00:18:27,840
Speaker 1: was expecting it to be. It made me think that actually,

393
00:18:27,960 --> 00:18:30,680
Speaker 1: Nate might be super happy in like a tiny house

394
00:18:30,720 --> 00:18:33,080
Speaker 1: because he's used to living in small quarters. That's so true.

395
00:18:33,080 --> 00:18:34,760
Speaker 1: Maybe that's one way to save money, Like he doesn't

396
00:18:34,760 --> 00:18:36,760
Speaker 1: need nearly as much square footage because like it's like

397
00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:39,640
Speaker 1: six d score foot studio. This place is huge. Yeah, exactly,

398
00:18:39,680 --> 00:18:41,600
Speaker 1: it probably will feel that way, and like it just

399
00:18:41,640 --> 00:18:44,359
Speaker 1: makes me think, Matt. Actually, um, a while ago, we

400
00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:46,800
Speaker 1: had Doug Norman on the show, who's a fellow navy

401
00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:50,359
Speaker 1: man and he, uh, he also lived on submarines for

402
00:18:50,640 --> 00:18:53,680
Speaker 1: long stretches of time. And Yeah, the way he talked

403
00:18:53,720 --> 00:18:56,879
Speaker 1: about like getting out and then heading back into you know,

404
00:18:56,920 --> 00:18:58,560
Speaker 1: a house, like you just don't need as much when

405
00:18:58,560 --> 00:19:00,480
Speaker 1: you're used to living in such tight quarter. Yeah, he

406
00:19:00,760 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 1: touched yea possessions and how he basically was able to

407
00:19:03,840 --> 00:19:05,400
Speaker 1: just remove a lot of stuff from his life pretty

408
00:19:05,440 --> 00:19:08,080
Speaker 1: easily because of Yeah, all the all this campaigns on

409
00:19:08,080 --> 00:19:10,720
Speaker 1: the submarine. Yeah, Nate, if you haven't listened on episode,

410
00:19:10,720 --> 00:19:12,040
Speaker 1: we'll put it in the show notes. But that's that's

411
00:19:12,040 --> 00:19:14,640
Speaker 1: when you should totally go back and listen to episode one,

412
00:19:14,720 --> 00:19:17,720
Speaker 1: sixties six. But Nate, let's get your question. Well, first,

413
00:19:17,760 --> 00:19:19,560
Speaker 1: you know, great job on taking care of your finances

414
00:19:19,800 --> 00:19:21,800
Speaker 1: as well as your credit. A lot of younger folks

415
00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:24,560
Speaker 1: in the military spend a lot of their paychecks and

416
00:19:24,600 --> 00:19:26,960
Speaker 1: then some Yeah, there's a lot of predatory lending that

417
00:19:27,000 --> 00:19:29,280
Speaker 1: takes place, and so a lot of military personnels sometimes

418
00:19:29,320 --> 00:19:33,159
Speaker 1: find themselves in debts various financial situations. Yeah, and so

419
00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:35,000
Speaker 1: I hope you've been able to to be a good

420
00:19:35,040 --> 00:19:38,040
Speaker 1: influence on the rest of your fellow submariners. That's how

421
00:19:38,080 --> 00:19:39,800
Speaker 1: Dog used to say it, because I used always thought

422
00:19:39,800 --> 00:19:44,040
Speaker 1: of submarners, but he Doug always said submariners. Yeah, all right,

423
00:19:45,080 --> 00:19:46,720
Speaker 1: something just something that boughts in my mind. But the

424
00:19:46,800 --> 00:19:49,399
Speaker 1: v A loan program is great because typically you'll you

425
00:19:49,400 --> 00:19:51,600
Speaker 1: would have to pay p m I private mortgage insurance

426
00:19:51,640 --> 00:19:54,359
Speaker 1: if you don't put that down. But for the folks

427
00:19:54,400 --> 00:19:57,080
Speaker 1: that serve our country, you can get a zero percent

428
00:19:57,119 --> 00:19:59,880
Speaker 1: down loan with excellent terms without the costs of a

429
00:20:00,320 --> 00:20:02,480
Speaker 1: monthly insurance. And by the way, it's called a v

430
00:20:02,520 --> 00:20:05,120
Speaker 1: A loan because it's backed by the U. S. Department

431
00:20:05,200 --> 00:20:08,240
Speaker 1: of Veterans Affairs. Uh. And so that's why the lone

432
00:20:08,320 --> 00:20:10,720
Speaker 1: borrowers can put done less they've got the military on

433
00:20:10,760 --> 00:20:12,720
Speaker 1: their side, that's true. Yeah, and then they deserve it

434
00:20:12,760 --> 00:20:16,040
Speaker 1: for their service, right, they the better loan terms. I

435
00:20:16,119 --> 00:20:18,840
Speaker 1: will say, it's really important, Nate to to think about

436
00:20:18,880 --> 00:20:21,920
Speaker 1: the other costs that go alongside of owning a home.

437
00:20:22,280 --> 00:20:24,920
Speaker 1: Even though it sounds like your housing stipend will easily

438
00:20:25,119 --> 00:20:28,159
Speaker 1: cover the mortgage payment, be sure to listen to another episode,

439
00:20:28,160 --> 00:20:31,240
Speaker 1: episode three twenty three before you go ahead and make

440
00:20:31,240 --> 00:20:34,200
Speaker 1: this decision. Even if the amount of the mortgage is

441
00:20:34,320 --> 00:20:36,639
Speaker 1: less than what you would pay in rent, that doesn't

442
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:38,760
Speaker 1: make it a slam dog. And that's because there are

443
00:20:38,760 --> 00:20:42,000
Speaker 1: additional costs to owning a home, and they can really

444
00:20:42,000 --> 00:20:45,520
Speaker 1: add up. Renting is not throwing money away. I feel

445
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:47,680
Speaker 1: like I need to repeat that because that's lot of

446
00:20:47,720 --> 00:20:50,560
Speaker 1: people feel that way. Yeah, they just assume that renting

447
00:20:50,800 --> 00:20:52,960
Speaker 1: is like the stupidest thing in the world. I think that,

448
00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,040
Speaker 1: you know, part of it is the cultural homeownership that

449
00:20:55,119 --> 00:20:57,520
Speaker 1: that has happened in our society, and owning a home

450
00:20:57,720 --> 00:21:00,400
Speaker 1: is great, Like we've we've said that many times to Matt.

451
00:21:00,720 --> 00:21:03,080
Speaker 1: We love owning our own home and we think that

452
00:21:03,160 --> 00:21:05,560
Speaker 1: it's a worthwhile ambition of a lot of people. But

453
00:21:05,760 --> 00:21:07,919
Speaker 1: at the same time, renting a place is not throwing

454
00:21:07,920 --> 00:21:11,280
Speaker 1: money away. So that's why we recommend that you only

455
00:21:11,400 --> 00:21:13,520
Speaker 1: purchase a home if you're willing to own it for

456
00:21:14,000 --> 00:21:16,680
Speaker 1: at least seven years. And so that's one big thing

457
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,040
Speaker 1: that you really need to consider, Nate, before you commit

458
00:21:19,080 --> 00:21:21,000
Speaker 1: to this idea of owning owning a home, how long

459
00:21:21,040 --> 00:21:23,400
Speaker 1: are you actually going to be holding onto it? That's right? Yeah,

460
00:21:23,440 --> 00:21:25,640
Speaker 1: So Nate, when you move in the future, because you're

461
00:21:25,640 --> 00:21:27,840
Speaker 1: gonna move, I guarantee it. The question you need to

462
00:21:27,880 --> 00:21:30,240
Speaker 1: ask yourself is would you be willing to hold onto

463
00:21:30,280 --> 00:21:32,720
Speaker 1: that house or that that place and rent it even

464
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: if you're living hundreds of miles away. If you're okay

465
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,119
Speaker 1: being committed to this home for the long term, even

466
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:39,840
Speaker 1: if you aren't living in it, then we think it

467
00:21:39,880 --> 00:21:42,359
Speaker 1: can make sense for you to purchase this place. It

468
00:21:42,400 --> 00:21:44,919
Speaker 1: could be a great financial move for you. But you know,

469
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:46,880
Speaker 1: if you're just planning on selling it maybe just two

470
00:21:46,920 --> 00:21:48,960
Speaker 1: or three years down the road after you know, after

471
00:21:49,000 --> 00:21:50,840
Speaker 1: you buy it, this isn't gonna be a great decision

472
00:21:50,880 --> 00:21:53,439
Speaker 1: because of the transaction costs. They're pretty steep, and we

473
00:21:53,520 --> 00:21:56,080
Speaker 1: have no idea what the real estate market might look

474
00:21:56,119 --> 00:21:58,919
Speaker 1: like at that point in time. Uh so, Yeah, the

475
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:01,280
Speaker 1: time frame is the crucial question here. It's it's not

476
00:22:01,320 --> 00:22:04,120
Speaker 1: necessarily about the numbers, because you talked through your specific

477
00:22:04,160 --> 00:22:06,719
Speaker 1: financial situation, right, Like how the different incomes that you're

478
00:22:06,720 --> 00:22:08,720
Speaker 1: gonna have coming in. I think you said it's gonna

479
00:22:08,800 --> 00:22:11,200
Speaker 1: be double what your monthly budget's gonna be. Like, that's great.

480
00:22:11,280 --> 00:22:13,360
Speaker 1: I mean, it sounds like you're in a great financial situation.

481
00:22:13,600 --> 00:22:15,879
Speaker 1: It's less about the specific numbers in your case, and

482
00:22:15,920 --> 00:22:18,520
Speaker 1: it's more about the actual time frame and how long

483
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:20,720
Speaker 1: you're willing to hang onto that place. Yeah, man, I

484
00:22:20,760 --> 00:22:23,480
Speaker 1: feel like it's similar to when we talk about whether

485
00:22:23,520 --> 00:22:26,280
Speaker 1: people should be savers or investors. Right, there's a there's

486
00:22:26,280 --> 00:22:29,600
Speaker 1: a time frame that becomes crucial when you're answering that question.

487
00:22:29,840 --> 00:22:32,280
Speaker 1: And if you're like trying to get that money in

488
00:22:32,400 --> 00:22:35,360
Speaker 1: and out within eighteen months, you've got to be a saver.

489
00:22:35,680 --> 00:22:38,159
Speaker 1: And that specifically because of the volatility that occurs in

490
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,320
Speaker 1: the market eighteen months later, like you're you could have

491
00:22:41,440 --> 00:22:43,120
Speaker 1: less money than you started with, and so you want

492
00:22:43,200 --> 00:22:45,640
Speaker 1: to be a saver to make sure you retain that capital.

493
00:22:45,840 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 1: It's a similar thing when it comes to buying a home.

494
00:22:48,240 --> 00:22:51,640
Speaker 1: That time frame is ridiculously crucial, and it's less about

495
00:22:51,640 --> 00:22:54,399
Speaker 1: the volatility and more about the transaction cost that can

496
00:22:54,480 --> 00:22:56,760
Speaker 1: eat into that too, And you could have less money

497
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:59,280
Speaker 1: than you started with because of the extreme cost of

498
00:22:59,320 --> 00:23:01,440
Speaker 1: buying and selling homes. All Right, we've got a couple

499
00:23:01,480 --> 00:23:04,960
Speaker 1: more questions, including one about a duplex uh and a

500
00:23:05,040 --> 00:23:07,320
Speaker 1: way to to sock away even more money if you

501
00:23:07,359 --> 00:23:09,560
Speaker 1: own your own business, and so we'll get to both

502
00:23:09,560 --> 00:23:20,560
Speaker 1: of those right after this. All Right, we're back. We've

503
00:23:20,560 --> 00:23:23,760
Speaker 1: got two more questions on this Ask ht M episode,

504
00:23:24,119 --> 00:23:26,720
Speaker 1: and this next one comes from a listener who's trying

505
00:23:26,720 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: to figure out which retirement account is the right one

506
00:23:30,080 --> 00:23:34,399
Speaker 1: for them. A Matt and Joel longtime listener, first time caller.

507
00:23:34,680 --> 00:23:37,320
Speaker 1: My name is Samantha and I live in Portland, Oregon.

508
00:23:37,880 --> 00:23:40,879
Speaker 1: I have a question about the difference between a solo

509
00:23:41,000 --> 00:23:43,359
Speaker 1: four oh one K and the s c P I

510
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:47,359
Speaker 1: r A. I am a small business owner and work

511
00:23:47,480 --> 00:23:51,720
Speaker 1: fully for myself. I do not have any employees and

512
00:23:52,160 --> 00:23:55,639
Speaker 1: I currently have an SEP, and I'm not sure that

513
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:59,800
Speaker 1: is the most advantageous for myself. You would kind of

514
00:23:59,840 --> 00:24:02,400
Speaker 1: talked about it on one of the most recent episodes,

515
00:24:02,640 --> 00:24:05,800
Speaker 1: but I would really love some more guidance and clarification

516
00:24:06,040 --> 00:24:08,840
Speaker 1: on which one is the better option. Thanks so much.

517
00:24:09,440 --> 00:24:11,520
Speaker 1: All right, well, Samantha, first of all, thanks for listening

518
00:24:11,600 --> 00:24:13,560
Speaker 1: to the show for so long. You mentioned that there

519
00:24:13,600 --> 00:24:15,720
Speaker 1: at the beginning of your question, and by the way,

520
00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:18,400
Speaker 1: this is a good question when it comes to owning

521
00:24:18,400 --> 00:24:21,560
Speaker 1: your own business and yeah, investing more of that money.

522
00:24:21,600 --> 00:24:24,160
Speaker 1: You can go either way since you don't have any employees.

523
00:24:24,480 --> 00:24:26,400
Speaker 1: Both a SEP and a SOLO four one K are

524
00:24:26,440 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 1: are both good choices and both can allow you to

525
00:24:29,000 --> 00:24:33,440
Speaker 1: invest a whole lot of money dollars each and every

526
00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,359
Speaker 1: year in these tax advantaged accounts. And the reason that

527
00:24:36,400 --> 00:24:39,439
Speaker 1: many business owners actually opt for a SOLO for one

528
00:24:39,520 --> 00:24:42,359
Speaker 1: K instead of a SEP I RAY is because you

529
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,680
Speaker 1: can actually max out that account sooner without having to

530
00:24:45,720 --> 00:24:49,359
Speaker 1: earn more because of how the cap works on the contributions,

531
00:24:49,720 --> 00:24:51,399
Speaker 1: uh and so because of the way it works. With

532
00:24:51,440 --> 00:24:53,760
Speaker 1: a SOLO four one K, you can contribute the entire

533
00:24:53,840 --> 00:24:56,560
Speaker 1: fifty eight thou dollars while earning around a D fifty K,

534
00:24:57,080 --> 00:24:59,399
Speaker 1: But to max out a SEP you're actually gonna need

535
00:24:59,440 --> 00:25:02,280
Speaker 1: to be earning those or two two five K, which

536
00:25:02,359 --> 00:25:04,520
Speaker 1: is a pretty big increase and so if you're wanting

537
00:25:04,520 --> 00:25:07,719
Speaker 1: to invest big money, it's easier to do so with

538
00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,560
Speaker 1: a solo four oh one K. Yeah, let's discuss these

539
00:25:10,600 --> 00:25:12,920
Speaker 1: in in just a little more detail, Matt. The way

540
00:25:12,960 --> 00:25:15,000
Speaker 1: it works is that the solo four oh one K

541
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,960
Speaker 1: rules allow you to contribute as both the business owner

542
00:25:18,480 --> 00:25:21,800
Speaker 1: and as an employee. Your business can contribute a huge

543
00:25:21,800 --> 00:25:25,160
Speaker 1: amount of money to that account in profit cheering, and

544
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:28,080
Speaker 1: you as an individual can contribute another nice chunk, up

545
00:25:28,119 --> 00:25:31,800
Speaker 1: to nine even more if you're over fifty years old,

546
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:36,040
Speaker 1: but you're still limited to the overall amount of fifty

547
00:25:36,080 --> 00:25:38,040
Speaker 1: eight thousand. Yeah. Just when you make those contributions, you

548
00:25:38,040 --> 00:25:39,520
Speaker 1: just have to switch hats. Like you have to put

549
00:25:39,520 --> 00:25:41,960
Speaker 1: the employer had on when you're making the employer contributions,

550
00:25:41,960 --> 00:25:44,119
Speaker 1: and then when you're making your own employee contributions, you

551
00:25:44,160 --> 00:25:45,760
Speaker 1: gotta put on the employee hat. I feel like I

552
00:25:45,800 --> 00:25:48,240
Speaker 1: need a special hat as an employer. Over here, we

553
00:25:48,240 --> 00:25:49,920
Speaker 1: don't have any hats. No, we need new hats that

554
00:25:49,920 --> 00:25:52,720
Speaker 1: should actually if and when And I'll say when because

555
00:25:52,720 --> 00:25:54,520
Speaker 1: one of these days we'll have some merch but we

556
00:25:54,520 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: can will totally make some hats, all right. You're like

557
00:25:56,320 --> 00:26:00,200
Speaker 1: a how a money trucker hat or something. An other

558
00:26:00,240 --> 00:26:02,359
Speaker 1: perk two is that you can choose to contribute to

559
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,959
Speaker 1: the ROTH version of a SOLO for one K. The

560
00:26:05,960 --> 00:26:08,720
Speaker 1: the employer contribution, which is the biggest amount will that

561
00:26:08,800 --> 00:26:10,760
Speaker 1: you're allowed to to contribute, will be funded with pre

562
00:26:10,840 --> 00:26:13,399
Speaker 1: tax dollars, but you can elect to have your personal

563
00:26:13,440 --> 00:26:16,520
Speaker 1: contributions go in as after tax funds. So it's it's

564
00:26:16,560 --> 00:26:20,639
Speaker 1: great from that future tax planning perspective. It allows you

565
00:26:20,680 --> 00:26:23,800
Speaker 1: to diversify that tax liability and it gives you more

566
00:26:23,840 --> 00:26:26,920
Speaker 1: flexibility when you're like drawing down those funds in retirement.

567
00:26:27,000 --> 00:26:28,959
Speaker 1: So I think that's one of the main reasons I

568
00:26:29,000 --> 00:26:30,720
Speaker 1: like the solo Foreign King more than the STEP is

569
00:26:30,720 --> 00:26:33,280
Speaker 1: because it does offer more of the flexibility when it

570
00:26:33,280 --> 00:26:36,160
Speaker 1: comes to, yeah, the type of money that you're you're

571
00:26:36,160 --> 00:26:38,560
Speaker 1: putting in, yeah, and that's something that the STEP or

572
00:26:38,560 --> 00:26:41,440
Speaker 1: which by the way, that stands for a simplified employee pension,

573
00:26:41,960 --> 00:26:45,240
Speaker 1: that's something that that accept doesn't allow. So for listeners

574
00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,560
Speaker 1: out there who are self employed and don't have a

575
00:26:47,600 --> 00:26:50,040
Speaker 1: SOLO four one K set up yet, you can do

576
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:54,160
Speaker 1: it with any of the low cost investment companies like Fidelity, Vanguard, Schwab,

577
00:26:54,359 --> 00:26:56,600
Speaker 1: as well, So we would recommend going with one of those.

578
00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,399
Speaker 1: But Samantha, for you, unless you're looking to invest a

579
00:26:59,480 --> 00:27:02,520
Speaker 1: really high percentage of your income, a STEP IRA will

580
00:27:02,600 --> 00:27:04,800
Speaker 1: work totally fine. Is It's gonna work great for you. So,

581
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:06,800
Speaker 1: for example, if you have a net profit at around

582
00:27:06,880 --> 00:27:10,119
Speaker 1: one hundred thousand dollars, you can contribute nearly nineteen thousand

583
00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,879
Speaker 1: dollars towards a SEP, which is really solid. That's a

584
00:27:12,920 --> 00:27:15,440
Speaker 1: lot of money. That's a high percentage of your income

585
00:27:15,920 --> 00:27:18,400
Speaker 1: that can go towards a STEP. But if you wanted

586
00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:22,160
Speaker 1: to invest more of your money into a retirement plan, uh,

587
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,280
Speaker 1: you can always roll it over to a solo FO

588
00:27:24,480 --> 00:27:26,960
Speaker 1: one K. That's always an option for you. Yeah, And

589
00:27:26,960 --> 00:27:28,439
Speaker 1: when it comes down to it, Matt, both of these

590
00:27:28,440 --> 00:27:31,480
Speaker 1: accounts are really good and allow you know, self employed

591
00:27:31,480 --> 00:27:32,919
Speaker 1: folks to to be able to stock away a lot

592
00:27:32,920 --> 00:27:35,040
Speaker 1: of money for their future. One of the other interesting

593
00:27:35,080 --> 00:27:37,240
Speaker 1: things about a STEP, especially since we're closing in on

594
00:27:37,359 --> 00:27:40,320
Speaker 1: tax day, is is that you can actually still contribute

595
00:27:40,320 --> 00:27:43,480
Speaker 1: to a STEP for last year, but you can't still

596
00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:45,560
Speaker 1: contribute to a solo four O one K for last year.

597
00:27:45,560 --> 00:27:49,359
Speaker 1: So if Samantha is specifically looking to stash more money

598
00:27:49,400 --> 00:27:52,920
Speaker 1: away for tax she's gonna have to do it in

599
00:27:52,960 --> 00:27:55,040
Speaker 1: a sep I a uh instead of doing it in

600
00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:57,360
Speaker 1: a solo for one K. But um, yes, so that's

601
00:27:57,359 --> 00:28:00,880
Speaker 1: just kind of another caveat another perk of of the step. Which, yeah,

602
00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:02,760
Speaker 1: it sounds like she's already got going and it's working

603
00:28:02,800 --> 00:28:05,200
Speaker 1: out pretty great for her. So yeah, totally so, Samantha,

604
00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:08,160
Speaker 1: best of luck. Either way you slice it, you're doing great.

605
00:28:08,359 --> 00:28:10,240
Speaker 1: But if you're looking to, you know, massively crank up

606
00:28:10,240 --> 00:28:12,479
Speaker 1: the amount that you're investing solo, fo one cake can

607
00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,160
Speaker 1: often be the best route to go. But all right, Matt,

608
00:28:15,200 --> 00:28:17,880
Speaker 1: let's get to one more question. Uh, and this one

609
00:28:18,000 --> 00:28:22,240
Speaker 1: is about buying a duplex. Hey guys, my name's Matthew.

610
00:28:22,320 --> 00:28:25,600
Speaker 1: I'm thirty two and I live in Atlanta, Georgia. I'm

611
00:28:25,600 --> 00:28:29,720
Speaker 1: currently in the market to buy a duplex, just started

612
00:28:29,760 --> 00:28:33,960
Speaker 1: moving forward with real estate, and I have a few questions. Currently,

613
00:28:34,000 --> 00:28:37,600
Speaker 1: my credit score is a seven one and I'm trying

614
00:28:37,600 --> 00:28:40,320
Speaker 1: to raise that a little bit over the next six months.

615
00:28:41,200 --> 00:28:45,040
Speaker 1: I don't have any debt aside from my vehicle. UM,

616
00:28:45,080 --> 00:28:47,240
Speaker 1: I do have a couple of credit cards, and my

617
00:28:47,360 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: question about that is should I request a limit increase.

618
00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: I don't use the credit cards that much, but I'm

619
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:57,920
Speaker 1: wondering if increasing the limit will help my credit score

620
00:28:58,240 --> 00:29:01,960
Speaker 1: or if it's gonna hurt me. With that said, I'm

621
00:29:02,000 --> 00:29:06,000
Speaker 1: also interested in a little bit more information about the

622
00:29:06,080 --> 00:29:09,880
Speaker 1: leases you all create for your rental properties. So any

623
00:29:09,920 --> 00:29:13,840
Speaker 1: information you all can provide on creating a lease for

624
00:29:13,920 --> 00:29:17,520
Speaker 1: your tenants as well as screening them will be very helpful.

625
00:29:17,840 --> 00:29:20,080
Speaker 1: Thank you, Joel. Did you just hear that question? This

626
00:29:20,160 --> 00:29:22,680
Speaker 1: is coming from Matthew in Atlanta who's looking at duplexes.

627
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,960
Speaker 1: This could be me. Are you submitting a question for

628
00:29:26,000 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 1: your own podcast? Uh? The stockpile of listener questions was

629
00:29:29,840 --> 00:29:34,040
Speaker 1: getting kind of low. Uh, Matthew, we would totally recommend

630
00:29:34,040 --> 00:29:35,840
Speaker 1: for you to get a duplex if that's something you're

631
00:29:35,840 --> 00:29:38,360
Speaker 1: interested in. I hope you're gonna live in half of

632
00:29:38,360 --> 00:29:41,400
Speaker 1: it hopefully and rent out the other half. How's hacking? Yeah,

633
00:29:41,520 --> 00:29:43,440
Speaker 1: how dude? House acking rocks is one of the best

634
00:29:43,480 --> 00:29:45,920
Speaker 1: ways to build wealth and for you to easily get

635
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,400
Speaker 1: into real estate. And another perk two is living in

636
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:50,680
Speaker 1: a duplex will also mean that you don't have to

637
00:29:50,720 --> 00:29:52,840
Speaker 1: put down as much money and you're going to get

638
00:29:52,840 --> 00:29:55,920
Speaker 1: a better rate versus if that was a straight investment property. Yeah,

639
00:29:55,960 --> 00:30:00,400
Speaker 1: owner occupied gives you better terms, absolutely, But let's talk

640
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:03,680
Speaker 1: more about getting the best mortgage interest rate. You mentioned

641
00:30:03,680 --> 00:30:05,960
Speaker 1: how your credit score is at seven one. That's a

642
00:30:05,960 --> 00:30:08,680
Speaker 1: great credit score, but if you can get that score

643
00:30:09,080 --> 00:30:11,480
Speaker 1: up to at least seven forty, that would be huge

644
00:30:11,480 --> 00:30:14,720
Speaker 1: to help you score the top notch rates that lenders

645
00:30:14,720 --> 00:30:16,640
Speaker 1: are are currently offering right now. That's that's one of

646
00:30:16,680 --> 00:30:18,400
Speaker 1: those cut off points that if you can get, if

647
00:30:18,440 --> 00:30:20,720
Speaker 1: you can get above seven forty, you're gonna be in

648
00:30:20,760 --> 00:30:23,360
Speaker 1: that that premium rarefied air. Yeah, it's like hitting three

649
00:30:23,720 --> 00:30:26,040
Speaker 1: in Major League Baseball like that. That's kind of the line.

650
00:30:26,080 --> 00:30:30,120
Speaker 1: It's like, oh, you're an excellent HITTERI yeah, exactly, same

651
00:30:30,160 --> 00:30:32,680
Speaker 1: with the seven forty credit score. Lenders are gonna look

652
00:30:32,680 --> 00:30:35,640
Speaker 1: on you favorably and yet to Requesting your credit score

653
00:30:35,680 --> 00:30:39,640
Speaker 1: increase is one way to potentially help increase your score.

654
00:30:39,960 --> 00:30:43,120
Speaker 1: Credit card companies haven't been too keen on doing that lately, though.

655
00:30:43,360 --> 00:30:45,440
Speaker 1: It kind of depends on your specific situation as to

656
00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:48,960
Speaker 1: whether or not they feel comfortable about you raising your limits. Yeah,

657
00:30:49,080 --> 00:30:51,200
Speaker 1: it never hurts to ask if you've been a responsible

658
00:30:51,280 --> 00:30:52,920
Speaker 1: user of that card and you can point to that,

659
00:30:53,280 --> 00:30:56,120
Speaker 1: then that's ammunition on your side to actually make that happen. Yeah,

660
00:30:56,160 --> 00:30:58,920
Speaker 1: you would, however, benefit from paying off your credit card

661
00:30:58,960 --> 00:31:02,120
Speaker 1: balances to two or three times a month. The lower

662
00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:04,880
Speaker 1: that reported balance is, the better it reflects on your

663
00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 1: credit And that's just the easiest and most immediate way

664
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:11,080
Speaker 1: to boost your score. Specifically for someone who's close to

665
00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:15,080
Speaker 1: that line, right, that's really really important, and especially before

666
00:31:15,160 --> 00:31:19,080
Speaker 1: you make a really big move like taking out a mortgage,

667
00:31:19,360 --> 00:31:21,800
Speaker 1: you want to make sure you're above that line because

668
00:31:22,480 --> 00:31:25,280
Speaker 1: you can save you thousands of dollars four years to come.

669
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:27,160
Speaker 1: You want to do whatever it takes. And one of

670
00:31:27,200 --> 00:31:29,120
Speaker 1: those things that it is, in all likelihood gonna take,

671
00:31:29,160 --> 00:31:31,640
Speaker 1: it's just paying off your credit card balance more frequently

672
00:31:31,680 --> 00:31:34,200
Speaker 1: for the time being. That's right. And now let's assume

673
00:31:34,240 --> 00:31:36,880
Speaker 1: that you have a place and you're looking at maybe

674
00:31:37,080 --> 00:31:40,200
Speaker 1: putting together a lease for the other half of that duplex.

675
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,280
Speaker 1: Bigger pockets they sell state specific leases for ninety nine bucks.

676
00:31:44,640 --> 00:31:46,920
Speaker 1: They've got great resources there when it comes to real

677
00:31:47,000 --> 00:31:49,000
Speaker 1: estate investing h and they've they've just got a great

678
00:31:49,000 --> 00:31:51,840
Speaker 1: community there as well. Also, no low they allow you

679
00:31:51,880 --> 00:31:55,280
Speaker 1: to make unlimited leases for just thirty nine dollars a year.

680
00:31:55,320 --> 00:31:57,000
Speaker 1: So that's something you can look into, and you can

681
00:31:57,040 --> 00:32:00,440
Speaker 1: check into other online legal sites as well, like legal Zoom,

682
00:32:00,440 --> 00:32:04,440
Speaker 1: but just be wary of going for the freeforms. This

683
00:32:04,480 --> 00:32:06,480
Speaker 1: is one area that you don't want to cheap out. Uh,

684
00:32:06,520 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: it could cost you a whole lot more on the

685
00:32:09,040 --> 00:32:11,960
Speaker 1: back end. In particular, if this isn't something that you

686
00:32:12,400 --> 00:32:15,320
Speaker 1: have experience doing as you're getting started, it would totally

687
00:32:15,320 --> 00:32:17,200
Speaker 1: be worth it to spend some money. And so on

688
00:32:17,240 --> 00:32:19,440
Speaker 1: the note of experience, you can also ask someone who

689
00:32:19,520 --> 00:32:22,920
Speaker 1: has been investing in real estate for many years if

690
00:32:22,920 --> 00:32:24,840
Speaker 1: they would share the least with you. Yeah, I think

691
00:32:24,840 --> 00:32:27,520
Speaker 1: you're right, matt It's totally cheap to try to get

692
00:32:27,560 --> 00:32:31,280
Speaker 1: some sort of free lease that might not be legally sufficient,

693
00:32:31,600 --> 00:32:34,040
Speaker 1: and think about all the problems that could cause if

694
00:32:34,240 --> 00:32:37,440
Speaker 1: if your lease doesn't meet you know, state law requirements,

695
00:32:37,840 --> 00:32:41,000
Speaker 1: or if there are some things in there that don't

696
00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:44,400
Speaker 1: sufficiently protect you from the damages or something that you

697
00:32:44,440 --> 00:32:46,840
Speaker 1: might incur. You want to make sure you have a

698
00:32:46,960 --> 00:32:49,920
Speaker 1: thoroughly buttoned up lease, and it's worth the money in

699
00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:52,960
Speaker 1: order to get that. Also too, let's talk about screening, Matthew,

700
00:32:53,280 --> 00:32:56,600
Speaker 1: you mentioned screening tenants, and I will say that one

701
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,680
Speaker 1: step when it comes to investing in real estate is

702
00:32:59,760 --> 00:33:01,560
Speaker 1: not a deep percent of the battle. If you can

703
00:33:01,600 --> 00:33:05,440
Speaker 1: screen tenants well, your foray into real estate investing is

704
00:33:05,440 --> 00:33:07,520
Speaker 1: going to go well. And so we would highly suggest

705
00:33:07,520 --> 00:33:10,720
Speaker 1: you listen to episode two sixty nine for more information

706
00:33:10,720 --> 00:33:14,800
Speaker 1: on managing rental properties in general and then screening tenants specifically.

707
00:33:15,080 --> 00:33:17,400
Speaker 1: We went into a lot of detail there, but basically,

708
00:33:17,480 --> 00:33:19,160
Speaker 1: if you just want the quick and dirty, the most

709
00:33:19,200 --> 00:33:22,160
Speaker 1: important factors are running a credit check and running a

710
00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,280
Speaker 1: background check, checking employment, and calling the prior landlord of

711
00:33:26,280 --> 00:33:29,040
Speaker 1: that tenant. If you perform all of those steps, you're

712
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:30,880
Speaker 1: going to all but ensure that you're gonna have a

713
00:33:30,880 --> 00:33:33,479
Speaker 1: good tenant moving into your property, one that has treated

714
00:33:33,560 --> 00:33:37,200
Speaker 1: other landlords uh fairly in the past, who has good

715
00:33:37,200 --> 00:33:39,080
Speaker 1: credit and pays our bills on time. Those are the

716
00:33:39,120 --> 00:33:40,640
Speaker 1: kind of things that you're gonna gonna want to make

717
00:33:40,640 --> 00:33:43,640
Speaker 1: sure that you look at before you have that person

718
00:33:43,800 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 1: sign a lease like that. There are people sometimes that

719
00:33:46,360 --> 00:33:48,520
Speaker 1: drive up they seem really nice, but then you look

720
00:33:48,560 --> 00:33:50,000
Speaker 1: at those things and you're like, man, I don't know

721
00:33:50,040 --> 00:33:53,000
Speaker 1: that they'rey're they're not really treating their obligations. Well, they're

722
00:33:53,000 --> 00:33:55,200
Speaker 1: they're not paying their bills on time. There three months

723
00:33:55,280 --> 00:33:57,960
Speaker 1: late on their credit card bill, and that's a red

724
00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:00,360
Speaker 1: flag for sure to say, I'll think want to rent

725
00:34:00,440 --> 00:34:01,960
Speaker 1: this person, They're probably not the kind of person that's

726
00:34:02,000 --> 00:34:04,640
Speaker 1: going to take care of my investment of my home

727
00:34:04,760 --> 00:34:07,320
Speaker 1: very well. Exactly. Yeah, they look a lot less nice

728
00:34:07,440 --> 00:34:11,560
Speaker 1: on paper, and specifically to don't skip out on checking

729
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 1: their employment and calling their previous landlords, because you know,

730
00:34:14,560 --> 00:34:16,920
Speaker 1: getting that background check, running that credit those are all

731
00:34:16,960 --> 00:34:19,839
Speaker 1: things that don't require you to interact with other people. Uh,

732
00:34:19,840 --> 00:34:21,760
Speaker 1: there's a lot of different services out there that allow

733
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,560
Speaker 1: you to to run that information. It's really easy and

734
00:34:23,560 --> 00:34:25,680
Speaker 1: it gets delivered to you in a nice, neat package.

735
00:34:25,880 --> 00:34:28,760
Speaker 1: Making these phone calls and verifying their employment and previous landlords.

736
00:34:28,840 --> 00:34:30,680
Speaker 1: It takes a little more work, you know, you like

737
00:34:30,719 --> 00:34:33,000
Speaker 1: you have to actually talk to somebody, but it's also

738
00:34:33,080 --> 00:34:35,160
Speaker 1: I think the most important man like specifically talking to

739
00:34:35,200 --> 00:34:38,080
Speaker 1: a previous landlord. You can learn so much by talking

740
00:34:38,120 --> 00:34:41,560
Speaker 1: to their current landlord literally fifteen minutes, not even that

741
00:34:41,600 --> 00:34:43,560
Speaker 1: like like from I mean sometimes I'm talking to somebody

742
00:34:43,560 --> 00:34:47,440
Speaker 1: for like my seconds. You can feel awkward because you're like, well,

743
00:34:47,560 --> 00:34:49,880
Speaker 1: tell me about this person that like they don't really

744
00:34:49,920 --> 00:34:51,799
Speaker 1: know who you are, but they're used to gotta make

745
00:34:51,800 --> 00:34:54,319
Speaker 1: the phone calls. It's massively important. Yeah, make this phone calls.

746
00:34:54,360 --> 00:34:56,200
Speaker 1: And you can just learn so much just how they

747
00:34:56,200 --> 00:34:59,200
Speaker 1: talk about the previous tenants. Because if you ask them,

748
00:34:59,360 --> 00:35:01,000
Speaker 1: like one of the questions I asked is would you

749
00:35:01,040 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 1: rent to them again if they were to reapply? Uh,

750
00:35:03,960 --> 00:35:08,359
Speaker 1: and and if there's a pause or well, you can

751
00:35:08,360 --> 00:35:11,400
Speaker 1: just tell how they answer the question, as you know,

752
00:35:11,440 --> 00:35:13,600
Speaker 1: if if if it raises any any red flags, and

753
00:35:13,640 --> 00:35:16,520
Speaker 1: then you can kind of link those red flags you know,

754
00:35:16,560 --> 00:35:18,759
Speaker 1: from their credit report, from their employment and then if

755
00:35:18,800 --> 00:35:21,000
Speaker 1: there's all these little small red flags popping up, well

756
00:35:21,000 --> 00:35:22,279
Speaker 1: then that might be an instance where you kind of

757
00:35:22,320 --> 00:35:24,120
Speaker 1: go with your gut. So all that to say, all

758
00:35:24,200 --> 00:35:27,319
Speaker 1: you potential landlords out there, don't skip out on making

759
00:35:27,320 --> 00:35:29,759
Speaker 1: those phone calls. It might be talking to the prior

760
00:35:29,880 --> 00:35:32,719
Speaker 1: landlords might be the number one thing you need to do.

761
00:35:33,200 --> 00:35:35,640
Speaker 1: It might give you the most information actually in the

762
00:35:35,680 --> 00:35:38,359
Speaker 1: screening process. All right, Matthew, best to luck to you

763
00:35:38,400 --> 00:35:41,279
Speaker 1: finding an awesome duplex. Man. I hope it works out

764
00:35:41,320 --> 00:35:43,600
Speaker 1: and I hope it gets that real estate bug going

765
00:35:43,880 --> 00:35:45,879
Speaker 1: inside of you, because it's a beautiful way to start

766
00:35:45,880 --> 00:35:48,319
Speaker 1: generating wealth. Alright, Matt, let's get back to the beer

767
00:35:48,360 --> 00:35:51,000
Speaker 1: that we had on this episode. This one is called

768
00:35:51,080 --> 00:35:54,840
Speaker 1: Bumbleberry Bumbleberry Honey Blueberry Ale. Apparently it's award winning, it

769
00:35:54,840 --> 00:35:58,239
Speaker 1: says so on the can, uh by right there on

770
00:35:58,280 --> 00:36:01,240
Speaker 1: the cave right, it's stamped on their fat Heads Brewery.

771
00:36:01,280 --> 00:36:04,680
Speaker 1: So it's got a enormously large noggin a dude with

772
00:36:04,719 --> 00:36:07,000
Speaker 1: a sweet mustache on the on the front of the can.

773
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:09,920
Speaker 1: And this was given to us by Rich from Budgets

774
00:36:09,920 --> 00:36:11,520
Speaker 1: and Bruce. What are your thoughts on this beer? Man?

775
00:36:11,719 --> 00:36:14,560
Speaker 1: I will say that it was easy drinking, flavorful with

776
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,000
Speaker 1: a nice little sweet touch of the blueberry going on. Man,

777
00:36:17,080 --> 00:36:20,200
Speaker 1: it reminds me a lot of Sweetwater Blue, which is

778
00:36:20,200 --> 00:36:22,680
Speaker 1: actually a beer here out of Atlanta. But yeah, it

779
00:36:22,680 --> 00:36:25,080
Speaker 1: has a similar blueberry note, like kind of right on

780
00:36:25,080 --> 00:36:26,480
Speaker 1: the edge of the tongue. I liked it, and I'm

781
00:36:26,480 --> 00:36:28,200
Speaker 1: glad too that we were able to have a beer

782
00:36:28,320 --> 00:36:30,719
Speaker 1: from fat Heads. This is a brewery that some other

783
00:36:30,760 --> 00:36:34,359
Speaker 1: listeners have mentioned before. We've never had any other beers before.

784
00:36:34,400 --> 00:36:36,560
Speaker 1: Those guys are there out of Ohio. So I'm glad

785
00:36:36,600 --> 00:36:39,080
Speaker 1: that Rich was able to donate this one to the show. Yeah.

786
00:36:39,080 --> 00:36:40,560
Speaker 1: I thought this one tasted a little bit like a

787
00:36:40,600 --> 00:36:44,879
Speaker 1: blueberry muffin, like a really really light, easy drinking blueberry muffin. Yeah,

788
00:36:44,960 --> 00:36:47,520
Speaker 1: so if you're into that, if you're into drinking your muffin,

789
00:36:48,080 --> 00:36:50,160
Speaker 1: you're gonna like this beers for you, that's right. And

790
00:36:50,200 --> 00:36:53,040
Speaker 1: it just really is a super chill beer for like

791
00:36:53,080 --> 00:36:55,799
Speaker 1: a nice warm day and into warm Daisies day. So

792
00:36:56,239 --> 00:36:58,600
Speaker 1: all right, that's gonna do it for this episode. Thank

793
00:36:58,640 --> 00:37:02,000
Speaker 1: you for submitting your listener questions. And if you've been

794
00:37:02,000 --> 00:37:03,920
Speaker 1: listening and you've got a question that you would like

795
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:06,879
Speaker 1: Matt and Night at tackle here on an upcoming ask

796
00:37:07,040 --> 00:37:09,319
Speaker 1: htm episode, just go to how to money dot com

797
00:37:09,360 --> 00:37:12,319
Speaker 1: slash ask. There are simple directions there for you to

798
00:37:12,360 --> 00:37:14,960
Speaker 1: submit your voice memo and hopefully we can take it

799
00:37:14,960 --> 00:37:17,239
Speaker 1: on the next Ask kind of Money episode. That's right,

800
00:37:17,280 --> 00:37:18,680
Speaker 1: and you can find our show notes up at how

801
00:37:18,680 --> 00:37:20,440
Speaker 1: the Money dot Com. Will make sure to link We

802
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:24,080
Speaker 1: actually referenced a lot of past episodes during this episode,

803
00:37:24,080 --> 00:37:25,600
Speaker 1: so we'll make sure to link to all of those,

804
00:37:25,800 --> 00:37:28,280
Speaker 1: as well as any other resources that we may have mentioned.

805
00:37:28,480 --> 00:37:31,160
Speaker 1: H and also to. We appreciate all the reviews we've

806
00:37:31,160 --> 00:37:33,239
Speaker 1: We've gotten a lot of reviews in recently, and so

807
00:37:33,320 --> 00:37:36,040
Speaker 1: if you are one of those folks, we seriously appreciate you.

808
00:37:36,040 --> 00:37:38,560
Speaker 1: And for everyone else who hasn't, no threats, but uh,

809
00:37:38,719 --> 00:37:41,520
Speaker 1: we would appreciate it. Are you gonna threaten our listeners.

810
00:37:41,520 --> 00:37:43,640
Speaker 1: We're still gonna make the you know, we're still gonna

811
00:37:43,680 --> 00:37:46,719
Speaker 1: make the podcast. But reviews are great, that's true. Yeah,

812
00:37:46,719 --> 00:37:48,879
Speaker 1: well there's been some really sweet ones lately. They help.

813
00:37:49,040 --> 00:37:51,560
Speaker 1: We really appreciate it. And yeah, it does let other

814
00:37:51,600 --> 00:37:53,719
Speaker 1: people know what they can expect when they tune into

815
00:37:53,719 --> 00:37:56,120
Speaker 1: How the Money, And yeah, it's our goal to provide

816
00:37:56,400 --> 00:37:59,200
Speaker 1: the best money saving money advice out there in the

817
00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,040
Speaker 1: podcast fear So. Yeah, thank you guys for listening. And

818
00:38:02,520 --> 00:38:04,040
Speaker 1: that's going to do it for this episode, Matt, So

819
00:38:04,120 --> 00:38:07,000
Speaker 1: until next time, Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.