1
00:00:00,080 --> 00:00:02,520
Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and

2
00:00:02,680 --> 00:00:25,000
Speaker 1: Matt's today we are answering your listener questions. Dude, we

3
00:00:25,160 --> 00:00:27,840
Speaker 1: have the best listeners. Did you know that I do.

4
00:00:28,760 --> 00:00:31,800
Speaker 1: We've got listeners who would trusts us with major financial decisions,

5
00:00:31,840 --> 00:00:33,280
Speaker 1: and you know, I don't know if they just do

6
00:00:33,320 --> 00:00:36,000
Speaker 1: whatever it is that we say. Hopefully not right. Hopefully

7
00:00:36,040 --> 00:00:38,159
Speaker 1: folks are also doing their own due diligence. But it

8
00:00:38,200 --> 00:00:39,880
Speaker 1: truly is an honor for us to hear these questions.

9
00:00:39,920 --> 00:00:42,480
Speaker 1: We think about them, we try to provide some thoughtful responses,

10
00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,360
Speaker 1: and hopefully we are able to help folks out right.

11
00:00:45,360 --> 00:00:47,640
Speaker 1: I mean, that's the whole point that we have, uh

12
00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:49,559
Speaker 1: the ask How the Money episode, because we want to

13
00:00:49,600 --> 00:00:51,920
Speaker 1: be able to hear directly from our listeners with specific

14
00:00:52,000 --> 00:00:54,680
Speaker 1: questions that you have about your money, and hopefully we

15
00:00:54,720 --> 00:00:56,720
Speaker 1: get you at least pointed in the right direction. Yeah,

16
00:00:56,760 --> 00:00:59,520
Speaker 1: and for the listeners who are willing to record their

17
00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:02,160
Speaker 1: voice and send it in, not only hopefully does this

18
00:01:02,240 --> 00:01:05,440
Speaker 1: advice help those people out, the individuals that are sending

19
00:01:05,440 --> 00:01:07,520
Speaker 1: in their actual questions, but I think at the same

20
00:01:07,520 --> 00:01:11,200
Speaker 1: time this advice is often widely applicable to most of

21
00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,080
Speaker 1: our listeners. So in my mind is kind of like

22
00:01:13,160 --> 00:01:15,920
Speaker 1: a bookmarking a page in a book that you can

23
00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:18,880
Speaker 1: go back to for for reference. Sometimes these questions is like, well,

24
00:01:18,920 --> 00:01:21,720
Speaker 1: I'm not in that position right now, not yet, Yeah,

25
00:01:21,800 --> 00:01:24,000
Speaker 1: you might be in the future, and and or it

26
00:01:24,080 --> 00:01:26,559
Speaker 1: sounds like me, that's something I would do. And sometimes

27
00:01:26,600 --> 00:01:29,520
Speaker 1: at least there's a nugget of personal finance education inside

28
00:01:29,520 --> 00:01:31,720
Speaker 1: of a question that maybe you thought didn't apply to

29
00:01:31,720 --> 00:01:33,480
Speaker 1: you too. So that's the cool thing about these questions

30
00:01:33,520 --> 00:01:35,800
Speaker 1: and stuff. It's like we we try to at the

31
00:01:35,840 --> 00:01:38,440
Speaker 1: same time answer the specific question, we want to extrapolate

32
00:01:38,480 --> 00:01:41,280
Speaker 1: something even more important too in the personal finance realm.

33
00:01:41,280 --> 00:01:43,920
Speaker 1: So hopefully these five listeners and all our listeners can

34
00:01:44,000 --> 00:01:45,800
Speaker 1: learn something from today's episode. And when it comes to

35
00:01:45,800 --> 00:01:47,720
Speaker 1: personal finance, man, these are things that we've thought about

36
00:01:47,720 --> 00:01:49,480
Speaker 1: a lots, right. We do a good bit of reading

37
00:01:49,480 --> 00:01:52,240
Speaker 1: on personal finance, and not only do we, you know,

38
00:01:52,280 --> 00:01:53,840
Speaker 1: provide what we think are the right answers, but we

39
00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:55,760
Speaker 1: we try to live it as well. I feel like

40
00:01:55,760 --> 00:01:57,640
Speaker 1: this is one area that we are, you know, we're

41
00:01:57,720 --> 00:02:00,400
Speaker 1: kind of experts at. One area that we're not parts at,

42
00:02:00,760 --> 00:02:04,680
Speaker 1: uh is how we treat our computers. Yeah, I feel

43
00:02:04,680 --> 00:02:07,360
Speaker 1: like this is a progal or cheap segment here. The

44
00:02:07,600 --> 00:02:09,919
Speaker 1: other day you you mentioned to me that you had

45
00:02:10,280 --> 00:02:14,560
Speaker 1: refused to update your Mac software, your Mac os for

46
00:02:14,639 --> 00:02:17,079
Speaker 1: almost three years, I think definitely over two years. And

47
00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:19,200
Speaker 1: it's not that I had refused. Let me explain you,

48
00:02:19,520 --> 00:02:21,960
Speaker 1: or explain to all of our listeners why it is

49
00:02:22,040 --> 00:02:24,280
Speaker 1: that I didn't update my computer. And it's because I

50
00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,440
Speaker 1: knew that, uh, the ex the version of Excel that

51
00:02:27,480 --> 00:02:29,880
Speaker 1: I was running on my computer, that once I updated

52
00:02:30,000 --> 00:02:32,160
Speaker 1: the computer, it wouldn't be able to run that old

53
00:02:32,280 --> 00:02:34,400
Speaker 1: legacy software. I was going to have to then switch

54
00:02:34,440 --> 00:02:37,280
Speaker 1: to the subscription model where you're paying a monthly fee,

55
00:02:37,320 --> 00:02:39,000
Speaker 1: right or an annual fee. And I didn't want to

56
00:02:39,000 --> 00:02:41,160
Speaker 1: do that, honestly. I wanted to be able to explore

57
00:02:41,480 --> 00:02:43,320
Speaker 1: and see if I could do the same things that

58
00:02:43,360 --> 00:02:45,720
Speaker 1: I was doing within Excel for free, right, Like that's

59
00:02:45,720 --> 00:02:48,720
Speaker 1: a frugal move. Uh. You know Max that come with numbers,

60
00:02:48,960 --> 00:02:51,400
Speaker 1: Google sheets that also exists, and there's a lot that

61
00:02:51,440 --> 00:02:54,240
Speaker 1: you can do within the two programs, and so I try,

62
00:02:54,320 --> 00:02:55,640
Speaker 1: but it turns out you can't do some of the

63
00:02:55,680 --> 00:02:58,840
Speaker 1: more advanced things that that I do in Excel. Because

64
00:02:58,880 --> 00:03:00,560
Speaker 1: you know, I'm a I'm an ex l nerd, and

65
00:03:00,600 --> 00:03:03,200
Speaker 1: there's specific there's certain things that I really like that

66
00:03:03,560 --> 00:03:05,440
Speaker 1: how Excel does it, and you can't do some of

67
00:03:05,440 --> 00:03:08,720
Speaker 1: those things within sheets or numbers. But even still, that

68
00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:12,079
Speaker 1: doesn't excuse why I didn't update my computer, because this

69
00:03:12,320 --> 00:03:15,400
Speaker 1: is definitely not a best practice to forego to to

70
00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:17,519
Speaker 1: skip an update. For yeah, close to two years, I

71
00:03:17,520 --> 00:03:19,120
Speaker 1: think every day I was going up to the top

72
00:03:19,200 --> 00:03:23,440
Speaker 1: right corner and clicking maybe remind me tomorrow, maybe whatever

73
00:03:23,440 --> 00:03:25,440
Speaker 1: the dropdown thing is. I think I did that for

74
00:03:25,480 --> 00:03:28,040
Speaker 1: a long time. I'm surprised at some point Apple didn't

75
00:03:28,080 --> 00:03:30,440
Speaker 1: start sending you like Tim Cook memes like come on,

76
00:03:30,520 --> 00:03:32,880
Speaker 1: do his time now, make it happen. Now, I think

77
00:03:32,880 --> 00:03:34,320
Speaker 1: it did the opposite, Like it got to a point

78
00:03:34,360 --> 00:03:36,240
Speaker 1: to where I don't think it was reminding me anymore.

79
00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:38,040
Speaker 1: It's like, Okay, this guy does not care what the

80
00:03:38,080 --> 00:03:40,320
Speaker 1: lost cause the lost cause exactly. But you know, when

81
00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:43,000
Speaker 1: you don't update your software like that, you're more susceptible

82
00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,400
Speaker 1: to potential viruses and maybe even hackers that could access

83
00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:48,600
Speaker 1: your computer. So this is one way that I would say,

84
00:03:48,960 --> 00:03:51,480
Speaker 1: don't follow our advice or or in this case, don't

85
00:03:51,480 --> 00:03:54,200
Speaker 1: do what it is that we or that I didn't.

86
00:03:54,240 --> 00:03:57,160
Speaker 1: Don't put this on me, this is this is us collectively.

87
00:03:57,200 --> 00:03:59,119
Speaker 1: But this is out of money. Okay, So all about

88
00:03:59,160 --> 00:04:01,400
Speaker 1: to say, though, you finally bit the bullet. We purchased

89
00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:05,360
Speaker 1: Microsoft three five is the subscription model, and then I

90
00:04:05,440 --> 00:04:08,080
Speaker 1: was finally able to update to the latest OS on

91
00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:10,240
Speaker 1: the computer. Oh my gosh, there's so many great, great

92
00:04:10,240 --> 00:04:12,720
Speaker 1: things that you can do on it now, cool new sounds.

93
00:04:13,320 --> 00:04:15,600
Speaker 1: I still had, like the old school, you know, copy

94
00:04:15,640 --> 00:04:17,720
Speaker 1: and paste sounds and throw it in the trash downs.

95
00:04:18,000 --> 00:04:20,040
Speaker 1: The new ones are nice. Well, I'm glad you like it.

96
00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:22,200
Speaker 1: And the new Excel is fantastic as well. By the way,

97
00:04:22,400 --> 00:04:24,120
Speaker 1: I had the same version from like ten years ago.

98
00:04:24,400 --> 00:04:26,400
Speaker 1: I feel like that was probably cheap of you to

99
00:04:26,640 --> 00:04:30,440
Speaker 1: hold off on the update that But I understand the sentiment, right,

100
00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:32,720
Speaker 1: You don't want something to become obsolete. And that's part

101
00:04:32,760 --> 00:04:34,520
Speaker 1: of you know, we talked about four stops of lessons

102
00:04:35,040 --> 00:04:37,320
Speaker 1: I don't know six months ago, and there is a

103
00:04:37,320 --> 00:04:39,400
Speaker 1: certain amount of that going on. And and there's also

104
00:04:39,760 --> 00:04:42,440
Speaker 1: a trend in software where these companies want you to

105
00:04:42,480 --> 00:04:45,719
Speaker 1: sign up for a recurring subscription. Don't want those predictable

106
00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:48,920
Speaker 1: revenue streams man, exactly, and that can stink for you

107
00:04:48,960 --> 00:04:50,520
Speaker 1: if like you're like, well, I just really want this

108
00:04:50,600 --> 00:04:53,120
Speaker 1: one program, not the whole suite, and I don't want

109
00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,159
Speaker 1: to spend eighty bucks a year. I want to spend

110
00:04:55,200 --> 00:04:57,520
Speaker 1: eighty bucks and then own it. But that's just less

111
00:04:57,560 --> 00:04:59,400
Speaker 1: and less the case. Um, And I think you know,

112
00:04:59,480 --> 00:05:01,800
Speaker 1: sometimes it can work out to two people's benefits, but

113
00:05:01,839 --> 00:05:03,480
Speaker 1: for the most part, often it ends up to our

114
00:05:03,480 --> 00:05:06,680
Speaker 1: financial detriment totally. Yeah, and one little tip you mentioned

115
00:05:06,720 --> 00:05:09,120
Speaker 1: eighty bucks. That actually is the price if you pay

116
00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:11,280
Speaker 1: for it month by month, it's I think it's over

117
00:05:11,279 --> 00:05:13,599
Speaker 1: eighty bucks. But if you jump on that annual price,

118
00:05:13,640 --> 00:05:16,159
Speaker 1: you know, you get to save like or something like that.

119
00:05:16,200 --> 00:05:18,800
Speaker 1: There you go, so make sure you do that. I'm

120
00:05:18,800 --> 00:05:21,520
Speaker 1: all about paying for things, uh, in advance. That's what

121
00:05:21,520 --> 00:05:23,080
Speaker 1: we do with like cell phone service, right, we pay

122
00:05:23,160 --> 00:05:24,920
Speaker 1: for a year in advance to get the best deal,

123
00:05:25,040 --> 00:05:26,680
Speaker 1: or or three months in advance. Those are the kind

124
00:05:26,720 --> 00:05:28,840
Speaker 1: of things. It's like, let's good for your personal finances, man,

125
00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:30,400
Speaker 1: get it out of the way, get the best deal,

126
00:05:30,720 --> 00:05:33,200
Speaker 1: and pay a trunk at a time. You're gonna pay

127
00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:34,479
Speaker 1: for it anyway. It means we'll pay for it all

128
00:05:34,520 --> 00:05:37,520
Speaker 1: at once and get the best deal. Same with auto insurance.

129
00:05:37,600 --> 00:05:39,560
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, yeah, for sure. All right, Matt, Well, let's

130
00:05:39,560 --> 00:05:40,880
Speaker 1: mention the beer that we're having on the show today.

131
00:05:40,920 --> 00:05:43,760
Speaker 1: This one's called It's Ticky Time and it's a fruited

132
00:05:43,800 --> 00:05:47,240
Speaker 1: smoothie hour by Westbrook Brewing Company out of Mount Pleasant,

133
00:05:47,279 --> 00:05:49,160
Speaker 1: South Carolina. We'll give our thoughts on this one at

134
00:05:49,160 --> 00:05:51,120
Speaker 1: the end of the episode, but for now, let's get

135
00:05:51,120 --> 00:05:53,279
Speaker 1: to the subject that hand. We're answering listener questions. And

136
00:05:53,320 --> 00:05:55,000
Speaker 1: for anybody out there who wants to submit a money

137
00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,039
Speaker 1: question for Matt and I to tackle on a future episode,

138
00:05:57,040 --> 00:05:59,240
Speaker 1: just go to our website how to money dot com

139
00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:02,440
Speaker 1: slash ask. There are simple instructions there. It will take

140
00:06:02,480 --> 00:06:04,520
Speaker 1: you just a few minutes to submit your question that

141
00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:07,480
Speaker 1: we can include on a future episode. And our first

142
00:06:07,560 --> 00:06:10,040
Speaker 1: question of the day comes from listener Adam. This one's

143
00:06:10,040 --> 00:06:14,120
Speaker 1: about selling investments in order to pay off debt. Hey, guys,

144
00:06:14,400 --> 00:06:16,200
Speaker 1: I had a recent death in the family which left

145
00:06:16,200 --> 00:06:18,559
Speaker 1: me with about tink and debt. I have three grand

146
00:06:18,600 --> 00:06:20,800
Speaker 1: and savings, and I've been steadily investing in Robin an

147
00:06:20,800 --> 00:06:22,480
Speaker 1: account and of a guy and into about a K.

148
00:06:23,520 --> 00:06:25,840
Speaker 1: I have a decent job. My question is should I

149
00:06:25,839 --> 00:06:28,200
Speaker 1: sell all my investments and clear out the debt or

150
00:06:28,240 --> 00:06:29,920
Speaker 1: just pay off what I can with savings and work

151
00:06:30,000 --> 00:06:32,000
Speaker 1: to rest off and just deal with a credit card interest?

152
00:06:32,880 --> 00:06:34,480
Speaker 1: Is it worth it to sell off my investments to

153
00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,880
Speaker 1: pay off this debt? Thank you, cheers, Adam, thanks so

154
00:06:37,920 --> 00:06:39,880
Speaker 1: much for that question, And let's go ahead and dive in. Man.

155
00:06:40,320 --> 00:06:43,840
Speaker 1: When you sell investments, there are going to be tax consequences, right,

156
00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:46,560
Speaker 1: It's almost never worth getting hits on the chin with

157
00:06:46,600 --> 00:06:49,520
Speaker 1: a tax bill by selling investments in order to pay

158
00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:52,120
Speaker 1: off debts, you know, but that also depends on some

159
00:06:52,200 --> 00:06:55,400
Speaker 1: of the specifics, right, So for instance, you didn't mention

160
00:06:55,440 --> 00:06:57,760
Speaker 1: what kind of account you have or how long you've

161
00:06:57,800 --> 00:07:01,240
Speaker 1: been invested. However you did, Robin Hood's My guess is

162
00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:03,880
Speaker 1: that your money is in a brokerage account, and so

163
00:07:03,960 --> 00:07:07,240
Speaker 1: if you've held certain positions for longer than a year,

164
00:07:08,000 --> 00:07:10,680
Speaker 1: you might owe nothing in tax, which is great. But

165
00:07:10,800 --> 00:07:13,760
Speaker 1: you know that does depend on your adjusted gross income

166
00:07:14,200 --> 00:07:17,320
Speaker 1: as well as the corres minding capital gains rates. Yeah,

167
00:07:17,360 --> 00:07:20,120
Speaker 1: so depending on how much money at Um makes every

168
00:07:20,160 --> 00:07:22,480
Speaker 1: year or how much money he makes as reflected in

169
00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:24,320
Speaker 1: the a g on his tax return, it has an

170
00:07:24,360 --> 00:07:26,840
Speaker 1: impact on the capital gains rate that he pays. And

171
00:07:26,960 --> 00:07:29,720
Speaker 1: some people who have a lower earnings level do qualify

172
00:07:29,840 --> 00:07:32,200
Speaker 1: to pay zero percent in capital gains. Yeah, definitely, So

173
00:07:32,240 --> 00:07:33,800
Speaker 1: you gotta do some calculations there. You gotta do some

174
00:07:33,880 --> 00:07:36,000
Speaker 1: of that math. Most people are in the kind of

175
00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:38,680
Speaker 1: the fifteen percent range. Uh. But if you sold an

176
00:07:38,680 --> 00:07:41,520
Speaker 1: investment that you've had for less than a year, uh,

177
00:07:41,560 --> 00:07:44,680
Speaker 1: you would owe ordinary income tax on that sale. So,

178
00:07:44,760 --> 00:07:47,440
Speaker 1: for instance, if there's someone out there you jumped on

179
00:07:47,440 --> 00:07:50,240
Speaker 1: the bandwagon and rode the wave up and made some

180
00:07:50,320 --> 00:07:52,960
Speaker 1: money on Game Stop a few weeks ago, you remember

181
00:07:53,000 --> 00:07:55,440
Speaker 1: how how hot it was back there. It was. It

182
00:07:55,480 --> 00:07:57,520
Speaker 1: was hot for for a hot minute. But in an

183
00:07:57,520 --> 00:08:00,680
Speaker 1: instance like that, you are definitely gonna be owing hacks. Yeah,

184
00:08:00,680 --> 00:08:02,320
Speaker 1: that's the thing about day trading or owning something for

185
00:08:02,360 --> 00:08:04,840
Speaker 1: a really short period of time. You could potentially owe

186
00:08:04,880 --> 00:08:07,680
Speaker 1: more in taxes because your tax rate on the profit

187
00:08:07,800 --> 00:08:10,600
Speaker 1: is based on ordinary income tax um. And and Matt,

188
00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:13,080
Speaker 1: let's talk about this too. Let's say adams money, instead

189
00:08:13,080 --> 00:08:15,240
Speaker 1: of being in a brokerage account, was in a roth

190
00:08:15,320 --> 00:08:19,480
Speaker 1: Ira instead. Well, I think taking some of his contributions

191
00:08:19,840 --> 00:08:22,160
Speaker 1: out in order to pay off higher interest rate debt

192
00:08:22,440 --> 00:08:25,760
Speaker 1: like credit card debt, would be a much better idea.

193
00:08:25,800 --> 00:08:28,400
Speaker 1: In that case, there are no tax consequences. When we're

194
00:08:28,440 --> 00:08:31,120
Speaker 1: talking about pulling out that wrath money, and when we're

195
00:08:31,120 --> 00:08:33,280
Speaker 1: talking about something as awful as credit card debt, I

196
00:08:33,280 --> 00:08:35,600
Speaker 1: think it's pretty close to a no brainer. But since

197
00:08:35,640 --> 00:08:38,720
Speaker 1: it doesn't sound like Adam's got a Rath array, then

198
00:08:38,760 --> 00:08:40,480
Speaker 1: I don't think it applies to him. But just I

199
00:08:40,480 --> 00:08:42,679
Speaker 1: think it's a helpful note for other people out there.

200
00:08:43,000 --> 00:08:45,120
Speaker 1: Which kind of account you have is part of the

201
00:08:45,160 --> 00:08:47,480
Speaker 1: determining factor as to whether it's a good idea or not.

202
00:08:47,920 --> 00:08:50,440
Speaker 1: And Adam, at the same time, you mentioned potentially using

203
00:08:50,480 --> 00:08:53,120
Speaker 1: your three thou dollars in savings in order to get

204
00:08:53,240 --> 00:08:55,360
Speaker 1: rid of that debt. But if that's the total of

205
00:08:55,400 --> 00:08:57,800
Speaker 1: what you have in an emergency fund, if that's all

206
00:08:57,840 --> 00:08:59,719
Speaker 1: the savings that you have in your name, then we

207
00:08:59,760 --> 00:09:02,520
Speaker 1: would want you to actually keep those funds intact for now.

208
00:09:02,559 --> 00:09:05,319
Speaker 1: We actually want you moving forward and operating from the

209
00:09:05,360 --> 00:09:08,440
Speaker 1: standpoint of having some margin in your life. So we

210
00:09:08,440 --> 00:09:11,080
Speaker 1: would suggest not getting rid of all that savings at

211
00:09:11,120 --> 00:09:13,640
Speaker 1: this time and coming up with a debt payoff plan.

212
00:09:14,000 --> 00:09:16,680
Speaker 1: That helps you pay off that ten tho dollars in

213
00:09:16,720 --> 00:09:20,120
Speaker 1: a specific timeframe that hopefully doesn't take too long. Yeah,

214
00:09:20,160 --> 00:09:22,280
Speaker 1: having that money set aside there in that emergency fund,

215
00:09:22,280 --> 00:09:24,200
Speaker 1: it's not necessarily just about the numbers. It's not about

216
00:09:24,200 --> 00:09:26,800
Speaker 1: the percentage rates. A lot of that is psychological as well,

217
00:09:26,800 --> 00:09:30,000
Speaker 1: and knowing that you've got that cushion there is really important, Adam.

218
00:09:30,520 --> 00:09:33,440
Speaker 1: It's also important to to pinpoint, you know, how you

219
00:09:33,520 --> 00:09:35,560
Speaker 1: let that credit card debt get out of control. You know,

220
00:09:35,559 --> 00:09:38,040
Speaker 1: it sounds like this was because of cost associated with

221
00:09:38,080 --> 00:09:40,160
Speaker 1: the loss of a loved one. We are sorry to

222
00:09:40,200 --> 00:09:42,439
Speaker 1: hear that, Adam. We hope that you and your family

223
00:09:42,440 --> 00:09:45,280
Speaker 1: are doing well emotionally now, and it's helpful to know

224
00:09:45,360 --> 00:09:49,560
Speaker 1: that your debt accumulation came from something unexpected and sudden, right,

225
00:09:49,600 --> 00:09:52,040
Speaker 1: because the way it happens for most folks is that slowly,

226
00:09:52,040 --> 00:09:54,400
Speaker 1: instead of the overtime, they spend more than they bring

227
00:09:54,400 --> 00:09:57,240
Speaker 1: in uh, and they are putting those expenses on plastic.

228
00:09:57,320 --> 00:09:59,480
Speaker 1: And so for folks that find themselves in that boat,

229
00:09:59,800 --> 00:10:02,559
Speaker 1: it it's crucial to address that immediately. You know, it

230
00:10:02,600 --> 00:10:05,280
Speaker 1: doesn't help to do something major like selling investments in

231
00:10:05,360 --> 00:10:07,360
Speaker 1: order to pay down debt. When you are going to

232
00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:09,800
Speaker 1: continue to spend, you have to address that root cause

233
00:10:09,800 --> 00:10:12,040
Speaker 1: it makes me think of uh, I just said boat

234
00:10:12,120 --> 00:10:13,400
Speaker 1: makes me think of Like if you're in a little

235
00:10:13,400 --> 00:10:15,520
Speaker 1: boat or like a canoe and there's a hole in it,

236
00:10:15,840 --> 00:10:17,440
Speaker 1: you don't want to focus all of your efforts on

237
00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:19,280
Speaker 1: just bailing that water out of the boat. What you

238
00:10:19,320 --> 00:10:21,440
Speaker 1: wanna do? You wanna focus your efforts on plugging the hole.

239
00:10:21,640 --> 00:10:24,240
Speaker 1: Once that hole is plugged, once you've addressed the actual problem,

240
00:10:24,679 --> 00:10:27,440
Speaker 1: then you can begin to get yourself into a better situation.

241
00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:28,880
Speaker 1: All right. So let's say you're in the middle of

242
00:10:28,880 --> 00:10:31,520
Speaker 1: the ocean and your canoe is filling up with water, Matt,

243
00:10:31,640 --> 00:10:34,640
Speaker 1: how do you plug that canoe by changing your spending habits? Joel,

244
00:10:36,080 --> 00:10:39,679
Speaker 1: It's brilliant. It's not the perfect analogy, but I tell

245
00:10:39,720 --> 00:10:41,520
Speaker 1: you know what you're saying. Yeah, like, you just gotta

246
00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:43,440
Speaker 1: dress that root, cause, man, and then after that you

247
00:10:43,480 --> 00:10:45,080
Speaker 1: get the water out of there, you get that boat

248
00:10:45,120 --> 00:10:47,280
Speaker 1: right in a little bit higher like it? All right?

249
00:10:47,640 --> 00:10:50,040
Speaker 1: We got more questions to get to, including whether an

250
00:10:50,040 --> 00:10:52,560
Speaker 1: extended warranty on a car is a good thing and

251
00:10:52,679 --> 00:10:54,840
Speaker 1: ditching an old store credit card. Will get to those,

252
00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:06,880
Speaker 1: right after this break. All right, we're back and we've

253
00:11:06,880 --> 00:11:11,040
Speaker 1: got a car question. Let's hear it. Hey, how to money? Um. So,

254
00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:15,040
Speaker 1: I'm a first time car buyer refinancing a car loan,

255
00:11:15,200 --> 00:11:18,839
Speaker 1: and I wanted to know is the extended service protection

256
00:11:19,000 --> 00:11:22,280
Speaker 1: ever worth it? Because my car is like getting up

257
00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,760
Speaker 1: to about sixty miles UM and I know that that's

258
00:11:25,800 --> 00:11:28,480
Speaker 1: around the time that things start to break. So is

259
00:11:28,520 --> 00:11:31,040
Speaker 1: it worth it? Or should I do something else? Thank you?

260
00:11:31,640 --> 00:11:33,520
Speaker 1: All right? This question came from Autumn Autumn. Thanks for

261
00:11:33,559 --> 00:11:38,040
Speaker 1: sending this question. Let's talk about extended warranties and how

262
00:11:38,080 --> 00:11:41,000
Speaker 1: they actually kind of suck. They're not great. This is

263
00:11:41,040 --> 00:11:44,319
Speaker 1: an area that is rife with financial potholes for people.

264
00:11:44,760 --> 00:11:47,960
Speaker 1: If you purchase an extended warranty from a dealership or

265
00:11:47,960 --> 00:11:50,600
Speaker 1: a private company, there's a really good chance that you

266
00:11:50,679 --> 00:11:53,600
Speaker 1: would be flushing money down the toilet that the warranty

267
00:11:53,720 --> 00:11:56,480
Speaker 1: is worth almost nothing, even though you're paying a whole

268
00:11:56,520 --> 00:11:58,439
Speaker 1: heck of a lot of money for it. The only

269
00:11:58,559 --> 00:12:01,560
Speaker 1: extended warranties that aren't completely awful are the ones that

270
00:12:01,600 --> 00:12:05,080
Speaker 1: you would buy directly from the car manufacturer itself. But

271
00:12:05,160 --> 00:12:07,439
Speaker 1: even still, the average cost of one of those warranties

272
00:12:07,480 --> 00:12:11,520
Speaker 1: is in the neighborhood of and the fine print can

273
00:12:11,559 --> 00:12:14,200
Speaker 1: make them a bad bet because that warranty might not

274
00:12:14,320 --> 00:12:17,040
Speaker 1: cover the issues that your car is having. You might

275
00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:19,520
Speaker 1: be having break troubles, but guess what, it only covers

276
00:12:19,559 --> 00:12:21,720
Speaker 1: the drive train. And so if you do opt to

277
00:12:21,720 --> 00:12:25,400
Speaker 1: purchase an extended warranty, pay special attention to what that

278
00:12:25,440 --> 00:12:28,200
Speaker 1: warranty actually promises to repair. You're gonna want to make

279
00:12:28,200 --> 00:12:30,200
Speaker 1: sure you actually read it. I think most of us,

280
00:12:30,240 --> 00:12:32,959
Speaker 1: matt would take the salesperson's word on it, and we

281
00:12:33,000 --> 00:12:35,280
Speaker 1: wouldn't read the fine print of a contract that we

282
00:12:35,280 --> 00:12:37,199
Speaker 1: were signing in this case. But when you're talking about

283
00:12:37,280 --> 00:12:39,800
Speaker 1: this amount of money, you have to do your own

284
00:12:39,880 --> 00:12:41,760
Speaker 1: due diligence and you have to make sure you know

285
00:12:41,840 --> 00:12:43,920
Speaker 1: what you're signing, You know what you're getting into. Yeah,

286
00:12:43,920 --> 00:12:46,839
Speaker 1: that's right, man. These extended warranties are essentially over priced

287
00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:49,280
Speaker 1: insurance plans that they don't work out for a large

288
00:12:49,280 --> 00:12:52,320
Speaker 1: percentage of folks. Uh. And in almost all cases, you'd

289
00:12:52,360 --> 00:12:55,480
Speaker 1: be better off by self ensuring, by sacking that money

290
00:12:55,480 --> 00:12:58,040
Speaker 1: away into your savings account. For us, what that means

291
00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:00,720
Speaker 1: is every month we set aside thirty bucks into a

292
00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:05,120
Speaker 1: savings bucket that is dedicated towards car maintenance expenses, right,

293
00:13:05,120 --> 00:13:07,200
Speaker 1: And so what that means is that that's when we

294
00:13:07,240 --> 00:13:09,719
Speaker 1: get oil changes. It comes out of that. But then

295
00:13:09,760 --> 00:13:12,040
Speaker 1: every year there's enough kind of leftover that it builds

296
00:13:12,080 --> 00:13:13,960
Speaker 1: over time, and that way over the years, we have

297
00:13:14,120 --> 00:13:16,600
Speaker 1: enough set aside there for some of those larger scheduled

298
00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,679
Speaker 1: maintenance expenses, you know, like a hundred thousand miles. They

299
00:13:19,720 --> 00:13:21,160
Speaker 1: want to get in there and like do a lot

300
00:13:21,160 --> 00:13:24,240
Speaker 1: of work, really switch things up, like change out your

301
00:13:24,240 --> 00:13:26,440
Speaker 1: spark plugs. I think we don't know whole lot about cars,

302
00:13:27,320 --> 00:13:28,520
Speaker 1: but I do know that they do a lot more

303
00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:31,720
Speaker 1: work as some of those higher mileage services. Yeah, and

304
00:13:31,880 --> 00:13:33,880
Speaker 1: you know Fruit talking about frugal or cheap earlier in

305
00:13:33,920 --> 00:13:36,920
Speaker 1: the episode, it's cheap not to get that work done,

306
00:13:36,920 --> 00:13:38,800
Speaker 1: you know, because you want your car to last long haul.

307
00:13:38,800 --> 00:13:41,000
Speaker 1: It's like not changing the filters in your furnace. Like

308
00:13:41,160 --> 00:13:43,040
Speaker 1: that's not a good idea. You're gonna end up paying

309
00:13:43,040 --> 00:13:44,320
Speaker 1: more for it in the the long haul if you don't.

310
00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,400
Speaker 1: It's like the warning or the thing popping up saying, hey,

311
00:13:47,400 --> 00:13:49,600
Speaker 1: it signed up that your software, and you just keep

312
00:13:50,160 --> 00:13:52,960
Speaker 1: keep dismissing it. You definitely don't want to do that

313
00:13:53,000 --> 00:13:54,320
Speaker 1: when it comes to your car. When you see the

314
00:13:54,440 --> 00:13:57,000
Speaker 1: check engine, like, come on, if it says low low oil,

315
00:13:57,320 --> 00:13:59,679
Speaker 1: there's no reset button, you know, like that's not how

316
00:13:59,679 --> 00:14:01,280
Speaker 1: do I get to go away? You feel like the

317
00:14:01,320 --> 00:14:04,000
Speaker 1: oil changes exactly you have to take care of especially

318
00:14:04,120 --> 00:14:06,240
Speaker 1: something like that that's mechanical. Yeah, and let let's talk

319
00:14:06,320 --> 00:14:08,320
Speaker 1: up to autom actually mentioned in her an email. She

320
00:14:08,320 --> 00:14:10,760
Speaker 1: didn't mention it in the question. She talked about the

321
00:14:10,800 --> 00:14:12,840
Speaker 1: kind of car that she has, and she has a

322
00:14:13,640 --> 00:14:16,120
Speaker 1: key is soul, And I think Matt two, it's important

323
00:14:16,160 --> 00:14:17,880
Speaker 1: to know what kind of vehicle you have. Do you

324
00:14:17,880 --> 00:14:22,440
Speaker 1: have a vehicle that's reliable historically or that is unreliable historically? Yeah,

325
00:14:22,480 --> 00:14:24,000
Speaker 1: do you have a Mazda or do you have a

326
00:14:24,040 --> 00:14:27,720
Speaker 1: Jeep wrinkler? Right? Are you driving something that's bound to

327
00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:30,440
Speaker 1: fall apart in no time or a car that generally

328
00:14:30,600 --> 00:14:33,240
Speaker 1: has very few issues? And you know, I looked up

329
00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:36,840
Speaker 1: Autumn's car on Consumer Reports, and I think Consumer Reports

330
00:14:36,840 --> 00:14:39,400
Speaker 1: and JD Power great websites to check to see what

331
00:14:39,560 --> 00:14:42,960
Speaker 1: range your car falls into. And the key Soul. Consumer

332
00:14:42,960 --> 00:14:44,760
Speaker 1: Reports gives it a five out of five on the

333
00:14:44,760 --> 00:14:47,280
Speaker 1: reliability scale. It doesn't get better than that, And so

334
00:14:47,640 --> 00:14:49,840
Speaker 1: when you own a car that is super reliable, it

335
00:14:49,880 --> 00:14:52,000
Speaker 1: makes even less financial sense to go in for the

336
00:14:52,040 --> 00:14:56,160
Speaker 1: extended warranty. If you had a pretty unreliable car, then

337
00:14:56,200 --> 00:14:59,080
Speaker 1: it does put another check mark in the column of

338
00:14:59,200 --> 00:15:02,440
Speaker 1: potentially getting an extended warranty. But even then, I think

339
00:15:02,480 --> 00:15:05,520
Speaker 1: oftentimes the best method of insurance is what you mentioned

340
00:15:05,520 --> 00:15:08,120
Speaker 1: about its self insurance. It's having money on hand to

341
00:15:08,200 --> 00:15:11,080
Speaker 1: pay for potential repairs to a car. Even when you

342
00:15:11,120 --> 00:15:13,720
Speaker 1: have an unreliable car, it often doesn't make sense to

343
00:15:13,760 --> 00:15:15,840
Speaker 1: go in that direction. Yeah, and generally speaking to I

344
00:15:15,840 --> 00:15:17,360
Speaker 1: saw that, I mean Kia. I was looking at the

345
00:15:17,360 --> 00:15:20,640
Speaker 1: report as well. Like the last five years up until

346
00:15:20,720 --> 00:15:23,240
Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, the Kia Soul was great. Something happened in

347
00:15:23,280 --> 00:15:25,680
Speaker 1: twenty Did you see that? Oh no, I didn't like,

348
00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:28,160
Speaker 1: something's really wrong with the transi model. Sometimes it's like

349
00:15:28,200 --> 00:15:30,960
Speaker 1: your it seems like they get that figured out, so

350
00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:34,360
Speaker 1: that's good. But autumn you you quickly mentioned to the

351
00:15:34,440 --> 00:15:37,920
Speaker 1: fact that you're considering this in the middle of your

352
00:15:37,960 --> 00:15:40,720
Speaker 1: car loan refinance, and so definitely make sure that you're

353
00:15:40,720 --> 00:15:45,200
Speaker 1: shopping around for that refi as rates are incredibly low.

354
00:15:45,280 --> 00:15:47,080
Speaker 1: These days. Just like we mentioned a couple of weeks

355
00:15:47,120 --> 00:15:50,160
Speaker 1: ago on our credit unions episode, you can often find

356
00:15:50,160 --> 00:15:53,440
Speaker 1: the absolute best rates at a local credit union, one

357
00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:54,920
Speaker 1: of the ones, Joel, that you and I are a

358
00:15:54,920 --> 00:15:57,400
Speaker 1: member of here in Atlanta. Depending on the age of

359
00:15:57,400 --> 00:15:59,280
Speaker 1: the vehicle, you can get a rate between two and

360
00:15:59,320 --> 00:16:02,760
Speaker 1: a half and three percent. That's really good. That's pretty solid. Yeah, yeah,

361
00:16:03,080 --> 00:16:05,560
Speaker 1: rates are low, so shop around. So good luck, Autum,

362
00:16:05,680 --> 00:16:08,120
Speaker 1: keep saving your money for potential repairs that you need

363
00:16:08,160 --> 00:16:10,720
Speaker 1: to make, and maybe forego the extended warranty at this

364
00:16:10,760 --> 00:16:12,520
Speaker 1: point in time. All right, now, let's get to our

365
00:16:12,600 --> 00:16:15,240
Speaker 1: next question. This one comes from a listener right up

366
00:16:15,280 --> 00:16:18,840
Speaker 1: Interstate seventy five up in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Hi, guys, my

367
00:16:18,920 --> 00:16:23,080
Speaker 1: name is Tyler, also an avid beard drinker from Chattanooga, Tennessee.

368
00:16:23,160 --> 00:16:25,920
Speaker 1: So just thrown out there that I'd like to recommend

369
00:16:25,920 --> 00:16:28,120
Speaker 1: that you guys try out hunting in Smith. But my

370
00:16:28,240 --> 00:16:32,800
Speaker 1: question today is about credit cards. Years ago, I had

371
00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:37,160
Speaker 1: a store credit card from Sears which automatically got rolled

372
00:16:37,200 --> 00:16:41,720
Speaker 1: over into a Series Match card, and with the failure

373
00:16:41,840 --> 00:16:47,480
Speaker 1: Sears later got rolled over into a Sears City Bank card.

374
00:16:48,160 --> 00:16:51,360
Speaker 1: I'm an avid traveler. The card really doesn't work for

375
00:16:51,400 --> 00:16:55,400
Speaker 1: me anymore. It doesn't have any protection against international fees

376
00:16:55,640 --> 00:16:59,360
Speaker 1: and so on and so forth. For a long time now,

377
00:16:59,400 --> 00:17:03,160
Speaker 1: I looked in to getting rid of it, but there's

378
00:17:03,200 --> 00:17:07,280
Speaker 1: so many whibsites, all the famous ones nerd wallet and

379
00:17:07,320 --> 00:17:10,760
Speaker 1: et cetera. Like get another one before you delete a

380
00:17:10,760 --> 00:17:14,120
Speaker 1: credit card. I'd like to get your guys opinion on

381
00:17:14,359 --> 00:17:17,240
Speaker 1: what a guy should do. I can get a better

382
00:17:17,280 --> 00:17:20,679
Speaker 1: credit card. I'm in a decent financial position. I just

383
00:17:20,720 --> 00:17:22,320
Speaker 1: want to hear what you guys have to say. Thank

384
00:17:22,359 --> 00:17:24,879
Speaker 1: you nice tyl. I go to hear from you, and

385
00:17:24,880 --> 00:17:27,680
Speaker 1: thanks so much too for that recommendation. We've not been

386
00:17:27,720 --> 00:17:29,840
Speaker 1: to that brewery neither you. You haven't been. The Rachel

387
00:17:30,960 --> 00:17:33,480
Speaker 1: been there either. I do love a good Chattanooga visit

388
00:17:33,520 --> 00:17:34,679
Speaker 1: every once in a while. It's been a while, so

389
00:17:34,960 --> 00:17:36,320
Speaker 1: maybe I'll need to make it back up there with

390
00:17:36,359 --> 00:17:38,520
Speaker 1: a fan. We've like driven through there and like stopped

391
00:17:38,520 --> 00:17:40,399
Speaker 1: a little bit, but we've never done like a day trip.

392
00:17:40,480 --> 00:17:42,080
Speaker 1: Like sometimes folks will go up there and kind of

393
00:17:42,080 --> 00:17:44,040
Speaker 1: like spend the day and do a bunch of Chattanooga stuff,

394
00:17:44,040 --> 00:17:46,400
Speaker 1: explore a different city. We've never done that. It's worth it.

395
00:17:46,400 --> 00:17:48,080
Speaker 1: It's a great spot. Yeah nice, I'll have to do

396
00:17:48,160 --> 00:17:50,600
Speaker 1: that soon. But Tyler, let's get to your question here.

397
00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:52,960
Speaker 1: You're talking about store cards, and you know, additching a

398
00:17:53,000 --> 00:17:55,400
Speaker 1: store card it's it's not a bad move. But let's

399
00:17:55,400 --> 00:17:58,679
Speaker 1: first explain why that is. And that's because store cards

400
00:17:58,920 --> 00:18:01,240
Speaker 1: in general, they're not that great. They typically come with

401
00:18:01,320 --> 00:18:05,000
Speaker 1: higher fees and interest rates than regular credit cards, and

402
00:18:05,040 --> 00:18:07,480
Speaker 1: so people will often sign up for one to score

403
00:18:07,520 --> 00:18:10,080
Speaker 1: a discount right there on the spot on one purchase

404
00:18:11,000 --> 00:18:12,720
Speaker 1: this new pair of jeans I'm in. I've I've done

405
00:18:12,760 --> 00:18:15,119
Speaker 1: it before, like years ago, I fell prey to that

406
00:18:15,160 --> 00:18:17,440
Speaker 1: who hasn't. But you know, but after that, you know

407
00:18:17,480 --> 00:18:19,600
Speaker 1: the card it doesn't do much good for you, and

408
00:18:19,640 --> 00:18:22,879
Speaker 1: so avoiding most store credit cards is a good idea.

409
00:18:23,520 --> 00:18:27,400
Speaker 1: There are exceptions, though, for for stores like Amazon, Target, Costco,

410
00:18:27,440 --> 00:18:30,200
Speaker 1: one of your favorite stores obviously Joel, where you can

411
00:18:30,240 --> 00:18:33,880
Speaker 1: read consistently better awards at the retailers that you love. Um.

412
00:18:33,960 --> 00:18:35,600
Speaker 1: You know, oftentimes you can get five percent in cash

413
00:18:35,640 --> 00:18:38,600
Speaker 1: back if you have the store specific card, and you

414
00:18:38,640 --> 00:18:40,600
Speaker 1: can also get benefits to when you use them elsewhere.

415
00:18:40,640 --> 00:18:42,840
Speaker 1: So those are good cards to have. But like the

416
00:18:42,880 --> 00:18:45,480
Speaker 1: Gap card or the Banana Republic card. You don't really

417
00:18:45,520 --> 00:18:48,480
Speaker 1: want those cards, right, Emily still has. My wife she's

418
00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:51,280
Speaker 1: get to hold over gap card. It's like the last

419
00:18:51,359 --> 00:18:53,760
Speaker 1: store card that she's got. But yeah, a lot of people,

420
00:18:53,920 --> 00:18:55,560
Speaker 1: a lot of kids in the mall were duped into

421
00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,919
Speaker 1: signing up for those early on in their lives and

422
00:18:57,960 --> 00:19:00,400
Speaker 1: then yeah, at some point he's kind of hang onto. Yeah,

423
00:19:00,560 --> 00:19:02,639
Speaker 1: somehow they I mean, they get woven into your credit history,

424
00:19:02,640 --> 00:19:04,919
Speaker 1: and you're just like, do I want to extract that

425
00:19:05,000 --> 00:19:07,199
Speaker 1: from my credit history? Like what's that gonna do to

426
00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:09,880
Speaker 1: your credit? And that's basically what Tyler's asking here. Yeah,

427
00:19:09,920 --> 00:19:12,520
Speaker 1: so let's talk about specifics how you move forward. Tyler.

428
00:19:12,760 --> 00:19:14,960
Speaker 1: If you have an average credit score, let's say around

429
00:19:15,000 --> 00:19:17,959
Speaker 1: seven hundred, then we definitely recommend that you get another

430
00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:21,360
Speaker 1: credit card or maybe even two before closing this one

431
00:19:21,400 --> 00:19:24,320
Speaker 1: credit card. Closing the old card, even though though it's

432
00:19:24,320 --> 00:19:27,040
Speaker 1: a store card, is going to hurt your utilization ratio

433
00:19:27,160 --> 00:19:29,480
Speaker 1: and your credit history. And if you have a score

434
00:19:29,560 --> 00:19:32,479
Speaker 1: that is only borderline solid, if that could thing your

435
00:19:32,520 --> 00:19:35,320
Speaker 1: score enough to where you wouldn't be approved for that

436
00:19:35,400 --> 00:19:37,400
Speaker 1: new credit card, that's why you need to make sure

437
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:40,399
Speaker 1: you're approved for this next card. With a solid limit

438
00:19:40,720 --> 00:19:43,239
Speaker 1: first before you end up closing this one. But if

439
00:19:43,280 --> 00:19:45,320
Speaker 1: you have a really really high credit score, like above

440
00:19:45,359 --> 00:19:47,560
Speaker 1: eight hundred, then the order just doesn't matter as much.

441
00:19:47,640 --> 00:19:49,879
Speaker 1: I think another thing that matters when we're talking about

442
00:19:50,119 --> 00:19:52,520
Speaker 1: the order in which you do these things is are

443
00:19:52,560 --> 00:19:54,600
Speaker 1: there any other loans you're looking to take out in

444
00:19:54,680 --> 00:19:56,639
Speaker 1: the near term. If you are, like, let's say, in

445
00:19:56,680 --> 00:19:58,679
Speaker 1: the market to buy a house, or you're planning to

446
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:00,639
Speaker 1: buy a car and you need to take alone on

447
00:20:00,720 --> 00:20:02,800
Speaker 1: that vehicle, well, your credit score is going to be

448
00:20:02,880 --> 00:20:05,680
Speaker 1: paramount to getting the best rates, the best terms. Uh,

449
00:20:05,720 --> 00:20:07,960
Speaker 1: And so you don't want to do anything to jeopardize

450
00:20:08,040 --> 00:20:10,800
Speaker 1: your credit standing. And even though it's totally fine, I

451
00:20:10,840 --> 00:20:13,440
Speaker 1: think to cut this store credit card out of your life,

452
00:20:13,440 --> 00:20:14,960
Speaker 1: you want to make sure you're doing it in a

453
00:20:14,960 --> 00:20:17,520
Speaker 1: way that's not gonna hurt you in other financial endeavors

454
00:20:17,520 --> 00:20:20,159
Speaker 1: that you're predicting in. Yeah, that's right, and so Tyler,

455
00:20:20,200 --> 00:20:21,800
Speaker 1: it sounds like you are in a good position to

456
00:20:21,880 --> 00:20:23,720
Speaker 1: do that to to go ahead and get that you know,

457
00:20:23,760 --> 00:20:26,240
Speaker 1: those new cards, which we're glad to hear, and that

458
00:20:26,240 --> 00:20:28,760
Speaker 1: will ensure that you have another excellent card or two

459
00:20:28,800 --> 00:20:32,240
Speaker 1: to use for your regular transactions. Ideally, we're fans of

460
00:20:32,280 --> 00:20:34,720
Speaker 1: people having a few different credit cards in their wallet

461
00:20:34,920 --> 00:20:37,800
Speaker 1: or purse to maximize their rewards depending on where it

462
00:20:37,920 --> 00:20:40,280
Speaker 1: is they're spending their money. There's actually a new article

463
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:42,120
Speaker 1: up on the site up there at how the Money

464
00:20:42,160 --> 00:20:45,159
Speaker 1: dot com where we outline why you should have a

465
00:20:45,200 --> 00:20:47,000
Speaker 1: few cards and how to make sure that you're getting

466
00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,439
Speaker 1: the most bang for your buck with those cards. Uh,

467
00:20:49,440 --> 00:20:51,159
Speaker 1: and we'll make sure to link to that article in

468
00:20:51,200 --> 00:20:53,200
Speaker 1: our show notes. Yea, I think some people Matt stick

469
00:20:53,240 --> 00:20:55,399
Speaker 1: to one card and they use it for everything, But

470
00:20:55,480 --> 00:20:57,879
Speaker 1: there are multiple reasons why you should have more than

471
00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,240
Speaker 1: one card. We dive into that in that art coal

472
00:21:00,320 --> 00:21:02,040
Speaker 1: and yeah, you can check it out on our website.

473
00:21:02,080 --> 00:21:05,040
Speaker 1: But let's get to a couple more questions, including one

474
00:21:05,080 --> 00:21:08,520
Speaker 1: from Devon coming up later. Should I become an insurance salesman? Yeah,

475
00:21:08,520 --> 00:21:11,199
Speaker 1: we're gonna help Devon decide his future. We'll get to

476
00:21:11,240 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 1: that and more right after this break. All right, we're

477
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:23,720
Speaker 1: back to the break. Before we get to that question

478
00:21:23,720 --> 00:21:28,160
Speaker 1: about becoming an insurance salesperson, we have another career related question.

479
00:21:28,200 --> 00:21:30,560
Speaker 1: Let's go ahead and here that one hid angel I

480
00:21:30,560 --> 00:21:32,760
Speaker 1: wanted to ask you about a potential loss of income.

481
00:21:32,800 --> 00:21:34,879
Speaker 1: I'm considering in quitting my job after being there for

482
00:21:34,880 --> 00:21:38,000
Speaker 1: about two and a half years post undergraduate. I've been

483
00:21:38,040 --> 00:21:40,040
Speaker 1: considering leaving my company for a while now, and in

484
00:21:40,080 --> 00:21:42,119
Speaker 1: the past few months, I've received a few job offers,

485
00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,480
Speaker 1: but didn't consider that any of them right for me.

486
00:21:44,960 --> 00:21:47,840
Speaker 1: I'm continuing to look, However, I've noticed applying and interviewing

487
00:21:47,880 --> 00:21:50,080
Speaker 1: for jobs is hard to do while in my current

488
00:21:50,080 --> 00:21:53,760
Speaker 1: time intensive role. There are some also some other things

489
00:21:53,800 --> 00:21:56,600
Speaker 1: I'd like to learn through some online classes. That's Eventually,

490
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,560
Speaker 1: i'd like to be an independent consultant within my field. However,

491
00:21:59,640 --> 00:22:02,280
Speaker 1: taking classes currently seems to be too much take on

492
00:22:02,440 --> 00:22:04,919
Speaker 1: right now. I currently still live at home with my

493
00:22:05,000 --> 00:22:07,880
Speaker 1: parents and have little expenses besides student loan deat, which

494
00:22:07,920 --> 00:22:09,760
Speaker 1: I currently have thirty thousand of I could pay a

495
00:22:09,800 --> 00:22:11,920
Speaker 1: large some of this off given I have about thirty

496
00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:14,080
Speaker 1: five thousand and a high yield savings account and ten

497
00:22:14,119 --> 00:22:17,240
Speaker 1: thousand in a more accessible Davings account. I am looking

498
00:22:17,280 --> 00:22:19,200
Speaker 1: to shift some of the money from my current davings

499
00:22:19,200 --> 00:22:22,159
Speaker 1: account into my brokerage account, where I currently have twenty

500
00:22:22,160 --> 00:22:26,040
Speaker 1: thousand invested in total SMP five index funds. I also

501
00:22:26,119 --> 00:22:28,240
Speaker 1: am fully vested after being at a company for two

502
00:22:28,320 --> 00:22:30,320
Speaker 1: years with about twenty thou in my four oh one

503
00:22:30,400 --> 00:22:33,680
Speaker 1: k and fully funded roth iras for those twenty I

504
00:22:33,720 --> 00:22:35,879
Speaker 1: want to get your perspective ones leading my job to

505
00:22:35,920 --> 00:22:38,119
Speaker 1: attain some of those other goals such as finding a

506
00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 1: new position or taking classes. Is worth the loss of income?

507
00:22:42,200 --> 00:22:44,480
Speaker 1: And is you have any advice for someone preparing to

508
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:48,280
Speaker 1: leave their job without another active job? Offer thanks and

509
00:22:48,600 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: looking forward to hearing your opinions on this. All right, Matt, So,

510
00:22:52,119 --> 00:22:55,520
Speaker 1: this question comes from an anonymous listener understandably thinking about

511
00:22:55,600 --> 00:22:57,400
Speaker 1: quitting her job. She didn't want to reveal her name

512
00:22:57,400 --> 00:22:59,440
Speaker 1: on the podcast fair enough, but instead of going anonymous,

513
00:22:59,480 --> 00:23:02,119
Speaker 1: I prefer to fake name. I would go as a

514
00:23:02,200 --> 00:23:06,120
Speaker 1: Jean Claude. I think, what you say, Jean Claude, Yeah,

515
00:23:06,160 --> 00:23:08,200
Speaker 1: that's that's a dude's name typically right now. I mean,

516
00:23:08,200 --> 00:23:09,960
Speaker 1: but that's what that was what my fake name would be.

517
00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:11,399
Speaker 1: I'm not telling her that that needs to be her

518
00:23:11,440 --> 00:23:13,320
Speaker 1: fake name. Why would you give yourself a fake name?

519
00:23:13,480 --> 00:23:15,320
Speaker 1: If I was calling into a show, if I was

520
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:17,879
Speaker 1: submitting a question, I would go as Jean Claude. Like

521
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,400
Speaker 1: I just have a big affinity for the movie blood Sport,

522
00:23:20,440 --> 00:23:22,879
Speaker 1: Jean Claude van Dame in general. So alright, fine, I

523
00:23:22,880 --> 00:23:24,960
Speaker 1: get it. That'll be my made up name. But let's

524
00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 1: answer this anonymous question without further ado honestly, anonymous, I

525
00:23:28,720 --> 00:23:31,840
Speaker 1: would say it's it's refreshing how picky you are when

526
00:23:31,840 --> 00:23:34,199
Speaker 1: it comes to taking another job and you're in the

527
00:23:34,240 --> 00:23:36,920
Speaker 1: position I would say to be picky considering how little

528
00:23:36,960 --> 00:23:40,440
Speaker 1: your expenses are and how big your savings are. Most

529
00:23:40,440 --> 00:23:43,439
Speaker 1: people have fewer options when it comes to job offers

530
00:23:43,480 --> 00:23:46,560
Speaker 1: because of their lack of savings. They're essentially almost forced

531
00:23:46,600 --> 00:23:49,240
Speaker 1: to take the next job offer that comes their way. Yeah,

532
00:23:49,240 --> 00:23:51,960
Speaker 1: they don't have a choice. Yeah. I have had friends

533
00:23:52,000 --> 00:23:53,720
Speaker 1: in that position, and I hate it for him. That

534
00:23:53,840 --> 00:23:57,439
Speaker 1: oftentimes means less pay because of that, because they just

535
00:23:57,560 --> 00:24:00,479
Speaker 1: need a job and they need an income immediately. Congrats

536
00:24:00,560 --> 00:24:03,160
Speaker 1: on your diligence on that and to Matt that hard

537
00:24:03,200 --> 00:24:06,439
Speaker 1: work has gotten her to the point of having what

538
00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:08,479
Speaker 1: you and I like to call peace out money, and

539
00:24:08,600 --> 00:24:10,760
Speaker 1: we talked about that back in episode one quite a

540
00:24:10,760 --> 00:24:13,200
Speaker 1: while back. But peace out money allows you to step

541
00:24:13,200 --> 00:24:15,760
Speaker 1: away from a job that you don't love before you

542
00:24:15,800 --> 00:24:18,439
Speaker 1: find another job or go back to school. Having that

543
00:24:18,440 --> 00:24:21,160
Speaker 1: piece out money puts you in charge, and we would

544
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:23,760
Speaker 1: say that this is a particularly good use of it.

545
00:24:24,080 --> 00:24:26,119
Speaker 1: Making sure that that piece out money is easy to

546
00:24:26,160 --> 00:24:28,920
Speaker 1: access if you're making a big move is important. And

547
00:24:29,119 --> 00:24:31,439
Speaker 1: you actually mentioned putting more of your savings into your

548
00:24:31,480 --> 00:24:34,159
Speaker 1: investment account, but that might be less than ideal for

549
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:35,840
Speaker 1: the time being if you need to live on that

550
00:24:35,880 --> 00:24:38,840
Speaker 1: money if you're out of the workforce for an extended period,

551
00:24:39,000 --> 00:24:40,400
Speaker 1: that's right. And by the way, we call it peace

552
00:24:40,440 --> 00:24:42,119
Speaker 1: out money. A lot of people call it f you money,

553
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:43,960
Speaker 1: and we prefer peace some money because it's a little

554
00:24:43,960 --> 00:24:46,120
Speaker 1: more diplomatic, and we honestly feel that that's a better

555
00:24:46,160 --> 00:24:48,960
Speaker 1: way to to leave your job on better terms because

556
00:24:48,960 --> 00:24:50,439
Speaker 1: you never know where you might end up. You might

557
00:24:50,520 --> 00:24:52,600
Speaker 1: cross paths with those folks. And in her case as well,

558
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: she's talking about becoming an independent consultant within that field,

559
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:58,640
Speaker 1: so she probably would cross paths again some of those folks,

560
00:24:58,680 --> 00:25:01,119
Speaker 1: I want to burn those bridges the way exactly. And

561
00:25:01,200 --> 00:25:03,640
Speaker 1: so you're obviously not being flippant, you know, with your

562
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:05,840
Speaker 1: money or with this decision. And what we would normally

563
00:25:05,840 --> 00:25:08,480
Speaker 1: recommend for folks that if you leave without having another job,

564
00:25:08,520 --> 00:25:10,600
Speaker 1: that you need to have significant savings to back that

565
00:25:10,720 --> 00:25:13,040
Speaker 1: up and you do, uh, so you really have the

566
00:25:13,080 --> 00:25:15,320
Speaker 1: ability to to kind of chart your own course here

567
00:25:15,680 --> 00:25:17,320
Speaker 1: and something else to do. If you're not already doing this,

568
00:25:17,359 --> 00:25:19,600
Speaker 1: it might be helpful to track your expenses so that

569
00:25:19,640 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 1: you can literally map out how long your savings will

570
00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:24,480
Speaker 1: last you. This will help you to to set some

571
00:25:24,520 --> 00:25:27,240
Speaker 1: hard dates on the calendar. That way, if you haven't

572
00:25:27,280 --> 00:25:29,439
Speaker 1: found the perfect job, or in your case, maybe if

573
00:25:29,480 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: you haven't yet created the you know, the new perfect job,

574
00:25:32,200 --> 00:25:35,000
Speaker 1: or if you haven't completed those additional courses, uh, then

575
00:25:35,000 --> 00:25:36,520
Speaker 1: you would know it's time to kind of move on

576
00:25:36,600 --> 00:25:38,440
Speaker 1: with something that will allow you to at least cover

577
00:25:38,520 --> 00:25:41,800
Speaker 1: your your basic expenses so that you can maintain that

578
00:25:41,880 --> 00:25:45,199
Speaker 1: solid financial footing that you are finding yourself in currently. Yeah, man,

579
00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:47,960
Speaker 1: I agree, having that plan. Having a timeline is so

580
00:25:48,000 --> 00:25:50,639
Speaker 1: important as you're moving forward, you want to know how

581
00:25:50,680 --> 00:25:54,000
Speaker 1: long those funds are actually gonna last you. And so, yeah,

582
00:25:54,040 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: that's a good suggestion I think too. You know, one

583
00:25:56,320 --> 00:25:59,879
Speaker 1: other thing to be cognizant of in the situation is

584
00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,199
Speaker 1: to think about your resume and if you decide not

585
00:26:02,240 --> 00:26:04,280
Speaker 1: to go back to school, but you instead maybe decide

586
00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:06,359
Speaker 1: to take some time off to look for a job

587
00:26:06,400 --> 00:26:08,840
Speaker 1: that's a better fit for you, and you quit now,

588
00:26:09,240 --> 00:26:12,120
Speaker 1: but you're still searching for work. Be aware that some

589
00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:14,800
Speaker 1: employers are going to see that break in employment history

590
00:26:14,840 --> 00:26:17,520
Speaker 1: as a potential negative. You want to be ready with

591
00:26:17,640 --> 00:26:20,480
Speaker 1: a positive explanation for that move. And I'm not talking

592
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:22,280
Speaker 1: about just like making something up, but I think there

593
00:26:22,320 --> 00:26:23,960
Speaker 1: are ways in which you can talk about the time

594
00:26:24,200 --> 00:26:26,720
Speaker 1: you've taken away from work and use that time in

595
00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,359
Speaker 1: order to grow your skills and grow yourself as a person.

596
00:26:29,680 --> 00:26:31,720
Speaker 1: Just know that that question might come up in future

597
00:26:31,760 --> 00:26:34,720
Speaker 1: interviews and you're gonna want to be prepared to answer it. Well. Yeah,

598
00:26:34,720 --> 00:26:36,919
Speaker 1: my impression is that in the coming year, HR managers

599
00:26:36,920 --> 00:26:38,920
Speaker 1: are gonna maybe see a lot of applications that kind

600
00:26:38,920 --> 00:26:41,240
Speaker 1: of have some gaps in them. Is many the perfect

601
00:26:41,240 --> 00:26:44,399
Speaker 1: time to take your time, and they'll just assume it

602
00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:46,720
Speaker 1: was because of COVID. Yeah, but even still, the ability

603
00:26:46,800 --> 00:26:48,800
Speaker 1: to talk about it positively, like you mentioned, Joel, and

604
00:26:48,840 --> 00:26:50,480
Speaker 1: to show that it was a more of a proactive

605
00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:52,520
Speaker 1: step that you took. In my mind, that puts her

606
00:26:52,560 --> 00:26:54,960
Speaker 1: in a in a much more positive light. Yeah. I agree.

607
00:26:54,960 --> 00:26:56,760
Speaker 1: I have a lot of respect for someone who's living

608
00:26:56,760 --> 00:26:59,440
Speaker 1: life on their own terms. Who's marching to the beat

609
00:26:59,440 --> 00:27:02,080
Speaker 1: of their own drummer? And yeah, So much of that though,

610
00:27:02,119 --> 00:27:04,600
Speaker 1: comes down to framing how you talk about it. But

611
00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,120
Speaker 1: it sounds like our listener here is going to have

612
00:27:07,240 --> 00:27:10,920
Speaker 1: no trouble in her future endeavors, whether it's starting her

613
00:27:10,920 --> 00:27:13,359
Speaker 1: own business, or whether it's going back to school, or

614
00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:16,440
Speaker 1: whether it's just finding another job in the corporate work environment. Man,

615
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,760
Speaker 1: it sounds like her solid personal financial standing. Basically, he's

616
00:27:19,760 --> 00:27:21,360
Speaker 1: gonna allow her to go in any direction she wants

617
00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:23,280
Speaker 1: to go. Yeah, totally. I mean what, she's two years

618
00:27:23,280 --> 00:27:25,080
Speaker 1: out of college and has all that money that she

619
00:27:25,119 --> 00:27:28,359
Speaker 1: mentioned set aside. That's amazing. Obviously too, she's living at home,

620
00:27:28,480 --> 00:27:30,560
Speaker 1: it was able to save a ton of money. But yeah,

621
00:27:30,600 --> 00:27:32,600
Speaker 1: make sure once restaurants open back up that you're taking

622
00:27:32,600 --> 00:27:35,840
Speaker 1: your parents out to dinner. Totally the sweet benefit for sure,

623
00:27:36,000 --> 00:27:38,560
Speaker 1: no doubt. All Right, Matt, let's get into career advice

624
00:27:38,640 --> 00:27:42,120
Speaker 1: one more time on this podcast. This question is specifically

625
00:27:42,280 --> 00:27:46,440
Speaker 1: about pursuing a job in intern sales. Hey, Matt and Joel,

626
00:27:46,520 --> 00:27:48,960
Speaker 1: my name is Devin. I love your show and I've

627
00:27:49,000 --> 00:27:52,080
Speaker 1: listened to every episode, even back when you guys had

628
00:27:52,280 --> 00:27:56,000
Speaker 1: crappy podcasts. So you say, um from a small town

629
00:27:56,000 --> 00:27:58,200
Speaker 1: in western PA that is home to the best brewery

630
00:27:58,320 --> 00:28:00,680
Speaker 1: in p A. According to brewery is in p A.

631
00:28:01,680 --> 00:28:04,359
Speaker 1: I know you're not in the career advisement business, but

632
00:28:04,400 --> 00:28:06,520
Speaker 1: I wanted to get your two cents on a financial

633
00:28:06,560 --> 00:28:10,280
Speaker 1: professional career. I am being pursued by a local professional

634
00:28:10,359 --> 00:28:13,720
Speaker 1: to take the Series seven and Series sixty six, among

635
00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:16,760
Speaker 1: other exams. This would allow me to be a financial advisor,

636
00:28:16,760 --> 00:28:20,560
Speaker 1: planner and retirement planner. I would be selling term life insurance,

637
00:28:20,680 --> 00:28:24,280
Speaker 1: building a client base, and receiving commission. I grew up

638
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:25,840
Speaker 1: in the town that I still live in, and I

639
00:28:25,880 --> 00:28:28,800
Speaker 1: know quite a few people, and I'm fairly well respected,

640
00:28:28,840 --> 00:28:31,160
Speaker 1: so I feel like I would be able to develop

641
00:28:31,200 --> 00:28:34,600
Speaker 1: a client base. It just feels risky. I'm currently in

642
00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:37,359
Speaker 1: an industry that is stable but offers very little advancement

643
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:40,200
Speaker 1: and pay. What are your thoughts on these professionals. I'm

644
00:28:40,200 --> 00:28:42,680
Speaker 1: concerned about it being too sales e, but the fellow

645
00:28:42,800 --> 00:28:45,400
Speaker 1: encouraged me that they focus on the whole person and

646
00:28:45,440 --> 00:28:48,400
Speaker 1: are not too pushy. It seems almost too good to

647
00:28:48,400 --> 00:28:50,600
Speaker 1: be true. Why doesn't everybody do this? If you can

648
00:28:50,640 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: make so much money. Thanks for your thoughts. But hey, Devin,

649
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,000
Speaker 1: great to hear from you. And that's a great question

650
00:28:56,040 --> 00:28:58,360
Speaker 1: that you're asking yourself. Why aren't more people doing this

651
00:28:58,680 --> 00:29:00,600
Speaker 1: if you can make so much money? And oftentimes when

652
00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,520
Speaker 1: it comes to sort of a sales pitch like this

653
00:29:02,560 --> 00:29:05,280
Speaker 1: where somebody is pursuing you, obviously they're gonna highlight the

654
00:29:05,280 --> 00:29:07,560
Speaker 1: best case scenario. And so it's up to you and

655
00:29:07,680 --> 00:29:09,080
Speaker 1: up to us a little bit here now to kind

656
00:29:09,080 --> 00:29:12,520
Speaker 1: of talk through and think through all the different implications

657
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:15,400
Speaker 1: of what it would mean to sell insurance. Right, They're

658
00:29:15,400 --> 00:29:18,320
Speaker 1: probably gonna be like, and you're gonna work a week,

659
00:29:18,760 --> 00:29:20,160
Speaker 1: but I'm gonna like, I'm not gonna let you in

660
00:29:20,200 --> 00:29:22,320
Speaker 1: on that up for that might be the case. But

661
00:29:22,320 --> 00:29:23,959
Speaker 1: but before we get to that, Devin too, I think

662
00:29:24,000 --> 00:29:25,600
Speaker 1: the biggest thing that you need to consider is the

663
00:29:25,640 --> 00:29:29,800
Speaker 1: future viability of direct insurance sales. Think through, like, how

664
00:29:29,920 --> 00:29:31,680
Speaker 1: is it that you think people are gonna buy insurance

665
00:29:31,720 --> 00:29:35,400
Speaker 1: products these days? And moving forward? Right with a plethora

666
00:29:35,640 --> 00:29:38,600
Speaker 1: of sites making it easy for everyday folks to get

667
00:29:38,600 --> 00:29:41,320
Speaker 1: an education about insurance and then to shop for the

668
00:29:41,360 --> 00:29:44,760
Speaker 1: lowest price among a dozen competing companies, it seems like

669
00:29:44,800 --> 00:29:48,960
Speaker 1: the days of individual insurance sales direct and consumers might

670
00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:52,320
Speaker 1: be fading away. Yeah, and obviously it's still a thriving

671
00:29:52,360 --> 00:29:55,800
Speaker 1: industry in some ways, but we've definitely seen a shift, right.

672
00:29:55,840 --> 00:29:57,720
Speaker 1: Just like the Internet has created a lot of change

673
00:29:57,720 --> 00:30:00,960
Speaker 1: in many industries, insurance sales is another one that it's affecting.

674
00:30:01,320 --> 00:30:03,280
Speaker 1: It makes me think of like gasoline powered vehicles versus

675
00:30:03,280 --> 00:30:06,560
Speaker 1: electric powered vehicles. It's like, gasoline vehicles are still making

676
00:30:06,600 --> 00:30:08,320
Speaker 1: a lot of money, right, Like, they are still a

677
00:30:08,320 --> 00:30:11,600
Speaker 1: big profit maker for auto companies, but they're also looking

678
00:30:11,640 --> 00:30:15,560
Speaker 1: fifteen years into the future saying that by what, we're

679
00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:18,160
Speaker 1: gonna be gasoline free like we can California. Yeah, yeah,

680
00:30:18,120 --> 00:30:21,000
Speaker 1: we're gonna be purely focused on electric vehicles. And so

681
00:30:21,080 --> 00:30:23,000
Speaker 1: it's kind of it's just a matter of looking ahead

682
00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:25,360
Speaker 1: a little bit. And does that mean that you couldn't

683
00:30:25,360 --> 00:30:26,760
Speaker 1: have a career in this, you know, for the next

684
00:30:26,760 --> 00:30:29,360
Speaker 1: ten years. No, Like, you definitely could make some real money.

685
00:30:29,800 --> 00:30:31,760
Speaker 1: But this is a good kind of big picture of

686
00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:33,360
Speaker 1: you to take as you're thinking through this, all right,

687
00:30:33,360 --> 00:30:35,000
Speaker 1: And let's talk about maybe some of the other things

688
00:30:35,040 --> 00:30:39,040
Speaker 1: that Devon needs to consider. One, are you super self motivated?

689
00:30:39,120 --> 00:30:41,520
Speaker 1: Because I think having a strong network of people that

690
00:30:41,560 --> 00:30:44,200
Speaker 1: you know who trust you is crucial if you're going

691
00:30:44,280 --> 00:30:46,520
Speaker 1: to go down this path. It sounds like you've got

692
00:30:46,520 --> 00:30:48,440
Speaker 1: that in spades, which is good. So so maybe in

693
00:30:48,480 --> 00:30:50,800
Speaker 1: that regarded least you would be a good fit. It's

694
00:30:50,800 --> 00:30:52,720
Speaker 1: also reminds me, Matt of the episode that we did

695
00:30:52,760 --> 00:30:58,320
Speaker 1: talking about multi level marketing millions and obviously term life

696
00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:00,640
Speaker 1: insurance is a legit product. It's not one of those

697
00:31:00,640 --> 00:31:03,800
Speaker 1: things that you're gonna be hoodwinking people into buying. Like

698
00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:06,080
Speaker 1: I said of lul Roe pants, you know, it's like, no,

699
00:31:06,200 --> 00:31:08,760
Speaker 1: I promise just to look good on you. Uh. In reality,

700
00:31:08,760 --> 00:31:10,880
Speaker 1: they don't look good on anybody. Okay, we all know that.

701
00:31:11,120 --> 00:31:14,760
Speaker 1: But just a hater, I'm just saying, man, from what

702
00:31:14,800 --> 00:31:16,520
Speaker 1: I've seen, they're not that good looking. I thought you

703
00:31:16,560 --> 00:31:19,640
Speaker 1: would totally. You think you love patterns and colors. They

704
00:31:19,680 --> 00:31:22,480
Speaker 1: don't even make them for guys. Okay, but if they did,

705
00:31:22,520 --> 00:31:24,880
Speaker 1: you totally have them. All right, My author ego Jean

706
00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,880
Speaker 1: Claude would look really good. Apparent totally. But yeah, so

707
00:31:29,080 --> 00:31:31,280
Speaker 1: I think you are going to have to potentially have

708
00:31:31,360 --> 00:31:35,440
Speaker 1: some of the same techniques as someone who would get

709
00:31:35,440 --> 00:31:38,040
Speaker 1: involved in a multi level marketing company. You have to

710
00:31:38,080 --> 00:31:41,680
Speaker 1: be comfortable initiating a conversation and be willing to bounce

711
00:31:41,680 --> 00:31:44,160
Speaker 1: back quickly and start another one when you get shut down,

712
00:31:44,240 --> 00:31:47,160
Speaker 1: because Devin, you're gonna hear no a lot. You're gonna

713
00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:49,760
Speaker 1: get maybe doors shut in your face. And that's why,

714
00:31:49,840 --> 00:31:53,560
Speaker 1: although potentially lucrative, a lot of salesmen don't stick with

715
00:31:53,640 --> 00:31:56,920
Speaker 1: something like selling life insurance long term. It can be

716
00:31:56,960 --> 00:32:00,240
Speaker 1: a little demoralizing. Yeah, and Devin, you also need to

717
00:32:00,240 --> 00:32:03,120
Speaker 1: be okay with eating what you kill, right caveman style.

718
00:32:03,280 --> 00:32:06,680
Speaker 1: Oh yeah, But folks selling life insurance often make a

719
00:32:06,720 --> 00:32:09,200
Speaker 1: really small base salary and then most of their income

720
00:32:09,240 --> 00:32:11,840
Speaker 1: is actually based on the policies that they sell, and

721
00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:13,520
Speaker 1: so it kind of depends on your personality. You know,

722
00:32:13,600 --> 00:32:15,680
Speaker 1: some people might be totally okay with that. I've I've

723
00:32:15,720 --> 00:32:19,120
Speaker 1: not had a set predictable salary for the past thirteen years.

724
00:32:19,400 --> 00:32:20,880
Speaker 1: That's worked for us and for our family. But I

725
00:32:20,880 --> 00:32:24,280
Speaker 1: think for some individuals that is an ideal, to say

726
00:32:24,280 --> 00:32:25,920
Speaker 1: the least. One of the things to make sure that

727
00:32:25,960 --> 00:32:29,240
Speaker 1: you go to your state insurance Commissioner's website to to

728
00:32:29,280 --> 00:32:32,160
Speaker 1: see how that specific company who's pursuing you, how they

729
00:32:32,160 --> 00:32:33,920
Speaker 1: stack up you don't want to, you know, go work

730
00:32:33,920 --> 00:32:36,360
Speaker 1: for a company that has poor ratings and a bunch

731
00:32:36,400 --> 00:32:38,600
Speaker 1: of complaints. Maybe they've got a bunch of products that

732
00:32:38,680 --> 00:32:41,400
Speaker 1: you don't like, because you may be pressured into maybe

733
00:32:41,440 --> 00:32:43,600
Speaker 1: selling those products as well. Yeah, and your company might

734
00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:46,400
Speaker 1: also push you to using high pressure sales techniques to

735
00:32:46,400 --> 00:32:48,720
Speaker 1: get people to sign on the dotted line um in

736
00:32:48,840 --> 00:32:50,520
Speaker 1: order to make the sale. And you don't want to

737
00:32:50,520 --> 00:32:52,080
Speaker 1: be putting that position. So you want to make sure

738
00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:54,400
Speaker 1: that the company that you're working for is above board

739
00:32:54,600 --> 00:32:57,040
Speaker 1: and as well reviewed out there by consumers. Also to

740
00:32:57,360 --> 00:32:59,720
Speaker 1: let's talk about other options. If you're interested in helping

741
00:33:00,320 --> 00:33:02,920
Speaker 1: with their money as a career, it might just make

742
00:33:02,960 --> 00:33:05,480
Speaker 1: more sense to go down the CFP path and work

743
00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,400
Speaker 1: as something like a fee only financial planner. That way,

744
00:33:09,440 --> 00:33:13,239
Speaker 1: you're doing more than just insurance sales. Although advising on

745
00:33:13,360 --> 00:33:15,400
Speaker 1: insurance for people would be a part of your job,

746
00:33:15,880 --> 00:33:18,520
Speaker 1: people will continue to need the help of a financial

747
00:33:18,560 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 1: planner for decades to come, so that could be the

748
00:33:21,160 --> 00:33:23,840
Speaker 1: ideal place for you to land. If you want to

749
00:33:23,880 --> 00:33:28,120
Speaker 1: help people with their personal finances, their retirement plan, all

750
00:33:28,120 --> 00:33:31,120
Speaker 1: that kind of stuff, and help folks with that holistic

751
00:33:31,160 --> 00:33:34,680
Speaker 1: financial picture. It's also more of a long term relationship

752
00:33:34,760 --> 00:33:37,560
Speaker 1: that you're establishing with that customer, with that individual, and

753
00:33:37,800 --> 00:33:40,040
Speaker 1: that can be more fulfilling. I think when you're helping

754
00:33:40,080 --> 00:33:42,080
Speaker 1: them for years in decades, you kind of get to

755
00:33:42,120 --> 00:33:44,120
Speaker 1: know them and their family. Yeah, you get invited to

756
00:33:44,160 --> 00:33:45,960
Speaker 1: weddings and things like that, do you if you're the

757
00:33:45,960 --> 00:33:47,840
Speaker 1: final You probably do. If you're the financial planners they

758
00:33:47,840 --> 00:33:50,560
Speaker 1: showed on the commercials. At least that's what happens. Yeah,

759
00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:52,240
Speaker 1: I mean, so, Devin, think of all the weddings you'll

760
00:33:52,280 --> 00:33:54,280
Speaker 1: get to go to if you go down that path instead.

761
00:33:54,320 --> 00:33:56,800
Speaker 1: That's a lot of stick dinners exactly exactly. But I

762
00:33:56,840 --> 00:33:58,720
Speaker 1: do think this is important for him to keep his

763
00:33:58,800 --> 00:34:01,000
Speaker 1: options open like us, right, you don't want to necessarily

764
00:34:01,000 --> 00:34:04,040
Speaker 1: just pigeonhole your career. I know. Like I've always enjoyed

765
00:34:04,080 --> 00:34:06,160
Speaker 1: talking with folks about getting out of debt and kind

766
00:34:06,160 --> 00:34:08,359
Speaker 1: of helping some folks through that. Even fifteen years ago,

767
00:34:08,400 --> 00:34:10,360
Speaker 1: that was something on my mind that I enjoyed. But

768
00:34:10,760 --> 00:34:12,400
Speaker 1: I would have never dreamed that Joel, I, you and

769
00:34:12,480 --> 00:34:14,000
Speaker 1: I that we would have a podcast where we were

770
00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,560
Speaker 1: able to help way more folks than just the few

771
00:34:16,560 --> 00:34:18,400
Speaker 1: people that I knew personally. That I would talk to

772
00:34:18,400 --> 00:34:20,280
Speaker 1: about it. And so all that to say, who knows

773
00:34:20,400 --> 00:34:23,200
Speaker 1: where personal finance will be five ten years from now,

774
00:34:23,360 --> 00:34:26,040
Speaker 1: Folks might be making money and helping other individuals in

775
00:34:26,080 --> 00:34:28,520
Speaker 1: all different kinds of ways. Yeah, so, and keep your

776
00:34:28,520 --> 00:34:31,520
Speaker 1: options open and keep pursuing something that you think works

777
00:34:31,600 --> 00:34:34,640
Speaker 1: for you. I wouldn't just let someone who pursued you

778
00:34:34,800 --> 00:34:36,520
Speaker 1: and who offered you a job and is trying to

779
00:34:36,560 --> 00:34:39,280
Speaker 1: convince you to work in one specific industry. I wouldn't

780
00:34:39,360 --> 00:34:41,799
Speaker 1: let that influence, uh, what the career path you take

781
00:34:41,840 --> 00:34:44,040
Speaker 1: for the next ten years. Yeah, now is actually the

782
00:34:44,040 --> 00:34:46,400
Speaker 1: perfect time to take some initiative yourself and do a

783
00:34:46,440 --> 00:34:48,839
Speaker 1: little more digging, right, Like those classes that you're taking.

784
00:34:48,840 --> 00:34:51,279
Speaker 1: Who is funding those classes? Who gets a kickback when

785
00:34:51,320 --> 00:34:53,200
Speaker 1: someone signs up for that class? Is it that guy

786
00:34:53,640 --> 00:34:55,200
Speaker 1: who's trying to get you to sign up for, you know,

787
00:34:55,239 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 1: with his company. There's all sorts of questions to be

788
00:34:57,560 --> 00:34:59,680
Speaker 1: asked here, and if you're looking down a career path

789
00:34:59,719 --> 00:35:02,080
Speaker 1: where you're basically the one at the wheel, these are

790
00:35:02,080 --> 00:35:03,839
Speaker 1: the kind of questions that you should start getting used

791
00:35:03,880 --> 00:35:07,040
Speaker 1: to asking now. And it feels so nice when someone says, dude,

792
00:35:07,040 --> 00:35:10,240
Speaker 1: you'd be great at this, come join us. It feels awesome.

793
00:35:10,600 --> 00:35:12,839
Speaker 1: Do you feel recognized? Oh you see me? Oh this

794
00:35:12,880 --> 00:35:14,680
Speaker 1: is something I would probably be good at. Right, Yeah,

795
00:35:14,760 --> 00:35:17,759
Speaker 1: that's right. And I think like sometimes that can cough

796
00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,880
Speaker 1: people to say, Okay, well, yeah, I'm in um and

797
00:35:20,880 --> 00:35:22,640
Speaker 1: and not that that won't be the decision you end

798
00:35:22,719 --> 00:35:24,400
Speaker 1: up making, and not that you don't have these skills

799
00:35:24,400 --> 00:35:26,759
Speaker 1: for sure, exactly. You just need to be careful and

800
00:35:26,840 --> 00:35:29,120
Speaker 1: make sure that you're making the decision that's best for you,

801
00:35:29,120 --> 00:35:32,240
Speaker 1: your future, and your family and not just because someone

802
00:35:32,680 --> 00:35:34,080
Speaker 1: picked you out of a crowd and said, come on,

803
00:35:34,160 --> 00:35:36,440
Speaker 1: let's do this. So yeah, best of luck, devanis you

804
00:35:36,440 --> 00:35:39,160
Speaker 1: make this decision and let us know what direction you

805
00:35:39,239 --> 00:35:40,920
Speaker 1: end up going. All right, Matt, let's get back to

806
00:35:41,000 --> 00:35:43,239
Speaker 1: the beer that we had on this episode. This one's

807
00:35:43,239 --> 00:35:46,120
Speaker 1: called It's Ticky Time by Westbrook Brewing Company. Or your

808
00:35:46,120 --> 00:35:48,920
Speaker 1: thoughts on this beer, man, This was a delicious beverage.

809
00:35:48,920 --> 00:35:50,920
Speaker 1: And I say beverage because it doesn't really drink like

810
00:35:50,920 --> 00:35:54,399
Speaker 1: a beer. Almost drinks like a like a tropical fruit

811
00:35:54,440 --> 00:35:58,200
Speaker 1: juice smoothie colado or something so good. Dude, the tropical

812
00:35:58,440 --> 00:36:00,600
Speaker 1: fruit flavors were all over the place. You felt like

813
00:36:00,640 --> 00:36:03,440
Speaker 1: I was like kicking back in a hammock. There's bamboo everywhere,

814
00:36:03,440 --> 00:36:05,440
Speaker 1: Palm leaves kind of down on my face. Gives me

815
00:36:05,440 --> 00:36:07,160
Speaker 1: a little bit excited about the beach trip that you

816
00:36:07,160 --> 00:36:08,640
Speaker 1: and I that we planned for our families that we're

817
00:36:08,680 --> 00:36:10,960
Speaker 1: taking in July. I really did enjoy this one, man,

818
00:36:10,960 --> 00:36:12,919
Speaker 1: What were your thoughts? Yeah? The only way this one

819
00:36:13,280 --> 00:36:14,799
Speaker 1: could have been better, I think is if we were

820
00:36:14,880 --> 00:36:17,840
Speaker 1: drinking it straight out of a coconut, you know, it

821
00:36:18,120 --> 00:36:21,440
Speaker 1: pulled the straw exactly. But yeah, it had spiced pineapple,

822
00:36:21,480 --> 00:36:25,359
Speaker 1: passion fruit, and guava in this smoothie style. Sour man,

823
00:36:25,560 --> 00:36:27,719
Speaker 1: this is great. Man. I don't think Westbrook makes a

824
00:36:27,719 --> 00:36:30,600
Speaker 1: beer that I haven't enjoyed. I think we've had some

825
00:36:30,640 --> 00:36:32,239
Speaker 1: of their beers on the show before. We've had a

826
00:36:32,239 --> 00:36:33,960
Speaker 1: lot of their beers on that. Okay, yeah, yeah, they

827
00:36:34,160 --> 00:36:36,440
Speaker 1: might be leading the charge as to the Yeah, the

828
00:36:36,440 --> 00:36:39,480
Speaker 1: most beers from any one brewery. Okay, Well, deservedly so,

829
00:36:39,520 --> 00:36:41,920
Speaker 1: because Westbrook rocks. It's good stuff. They make good stuff,

830
00:36:42,000 --> 00:36:43,480
Speaker 1: and this is definitely one that if you find it

831
00:36:43,840 --> 00:36:45,640
Speaker 1: near where you live, it's worth picking up. It's called

832
00:36:45,719 --> 00:36:49,200
Speaker 1: It's Ticky Time and it's delicious. Yeah, it actually surprises

833
00:36:49,239 --> 00:36:52,200
Speaker 1: me that it's a smoothie style because normally smoothie like

834
00:36:52,239 --> 00:36:53,680
Speaker 1: what that means is there's a little bit of like

835
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:55,560
Speaker 1: lactose sugar in there and it kind of makes it

836
00:36:55,640 --> 00:36:57,719
Speaker 1: kind of creamier. But in my mind, this was so bright,

837
00:36:57,760 --> 00:36:59,120
Speaker 1: and I feel like that's what I liked about this

838
00:36:59,200 --> 00:37:01,360
Speaker 1: is a lot of times these kind of tropical beers

839
00:37:01,400 --> 00:37:03,879
Speaker 1: tend to like the sweetness from all the fruit can

840
00:37:03,960 --> 00:37:07,399
Speaker 1: kind of just be like overcloying lee sweet, uh and

841
00:37:07,400 --> 00:37:09,120
Speaker 1: and like the flavors kind of just I don't know,

842
00:37:09,160 --> 00:37:10,840
Speaker 1: they stack on top of each other and just doesn't

843
00:37:10,880 --> 00:37:13,239
Speaker 1: hold up very well. Whereas this it still breaks through

844
00:37:13,280 --> 00:37:15,560
Speaker 1: and it's real kind of clean and shiny and bright.

845
00:37:15,840 --> 00:37:17,960
Speaker 1: Because of that, I specifically really enjoyed this one, and

846
00:37:17,960 --> 00:37:19,120
Speaker 1: I'm glad that you and I got to share this

847
00:37:19,120 --> 00:37:21,120
Speaker 1: one together on the show. But no doubt, man. All Right,

848
00:37:21,120 --> 00:37:23,799
Speaker 1: that's gonna do it for this episode. For folks that

849
00:37:23,880 --> 00:37:25,640
Speaker 1: want show notes for this episode, just go to our

850
00:37:25,680 --> 00:37:27,640
Speaker 1: website at Health the Money dot com. And if you

851
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:29,760
Speaker 1: want to submit a question to be on a future

852
00:37:29,800 --> 00:37:32,400
Speaker 1: ask htm episode, well we would love to have your

853
00:37:32,480 --> 00:37:34,960
Speaker 1: vocal cords hit the Hot of Money podcast. Just go

854
00:37:35,040 --> 00:37:37,440
Speaker 1: to how the Money dot com slash ask. It'll take

855
00:37:37,440 --> 00:37:39,520
Speaker 1: you just a couple of minutes to send your question.

856
00:37:39,640 --> 00:37:41,680
Speaker 1: Are way, Yeah, that's right, And if you have been

857
00:37:41,680 --> 00:37:43,600
Speaker 1: listening to the show and you like it, we would

858
00:37:43,640 --> 00:37:45,840
Speaker 1: love it if you were to head over to Apple

859
00:37:45,840 --> 00:37:48,960
Speaker 1: Podcasts and leave us a solid rating and review over there. Uh,

860
00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:51,360
Speaker 1: if that is something that you have already done, what

861
00:37:51,440 --> 00:37:54,040
Speaker 1: would be incredibly thankful if you let a friend or

862
00:37:54,040 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: a family member know about the show, Maybe somebody you

863
00:37:56,280 --> 00:37:59,520
Speaker 1: know who enjoys personal finance, or maybe somebody you know

864
00:37:59,560 --> 00:38:01,960
Speaker 1: who who needs to maybe up their personal finance game.

865
00:38:02,040 --> 00:38:04,279
Speaker 1: Either way, a big thank you in advance. So Joel,

866
00:38:04,320 --> 00:38:06,160
Speaker 1: that's going to be a buddy for this episode. Until

867
00:38:06,160 --> 00:38:08,680
Speaker 1: next time. Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,