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Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt.

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Speaker 1: Today we're discussing emoji investing, crypto tax refunds, and when

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Speaker 1: buying used costs you more. That's right, Joel, this is

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Speaker 1: our Friday flight. We've got a bunch of stories to

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Speaker 1: get to this week, and we're gonna talk about how

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Speaker 1: they impact our money. The first one you mentioned, you're

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Speaker 1: talking about, you know, investing in emojis. I feel like

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Speaker 1: that's that's such a weird phrase. Like twenty years ago,

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Speaker 1: that would not have been something anybody would have understood.

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Speaker 1: They would speaking another language, or that you're an alien

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Speaker 1: from another planet. But here we are talking about it.

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Speaker 1: We'll get to that story later on. Do you have

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Speaker 1: a favorite emoji? By the way, I don't know if

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Speaker 1: I have a favorite. I would say my most used

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Speaker 1: one is probably like the flexed bicep, either that one

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Speaker 1: or the grimms face like where the face is showing

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Speaker 1: its teeth. Like the only one I used with regularities

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Speaker 1: it thumbs up like MS up. Yeah. Some people can

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Speaker 1: tell a whole story with through tech message, and I'm

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Speaker 1: one of those people who like literally the thumbs up

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Speaker 1: just to be like that. Well, it's not even that

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Speaker 1: I love it, it's just that it's the most efficient

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Speaker 1: way to commune. I like to use some different ones.

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Speaker 1: I like the guy where he's got his he's like shrugging,

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Speaker 1: where he's just like, I don't know, because I feel

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Speaker 1: like I often use that when Yeah, I don't use

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Speaker 1: that one as much for whatever reason. I think my

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Speaker 1: wife likes to face pomp that you're probably because I'm

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Speaker 1: usually doing something it's face pomp worthy. You use the

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Speaker 1: poof like the burst of wind one behind the bike

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Speaker 1: I could see on occasion you Yeah. All right, But

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Speaker 1: before we get to our Friday flight Matt stories we

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Speaker 1: found interesting this week, I just quickly wanted to bring

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Speaker 1: something up where there was an article I read and

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Speaker 1: it was basically saying that everybody who owns a home

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Speaker 1: should consider having a helock on hand, right, a whole

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Speaker 1: equity line of there. Yeah, and I was wondering what

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Speaker 1: your thoughts are on that idea. Well, so, I mean,

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Speaker 1: let's explain to folks how helocks work as I decide

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Speaker 1: whether or not I like that idea or not. So

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Speaker 1: the difference between a helock and home loan is the

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Speaker 1: fact that you take this line of credit out, but

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Speaker 1: you don't necessarily start paying interest on the loan and

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Speaker 1: so unless you actually borrow it until you actually tap

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Speaker 1: those funds. Right, So you might have like eighty thousand

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Speaker 1: dollars that is available to you, but you are paying interest,

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Speaker 1: but that is money that you can draw on, and

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Speaker 1: so I think that's a huge advantage that helocks have

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Speaker 1: over home loans. But I guess, okay, so I am

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Speaker 1: hesitant to say that everyone should have one because I

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Speaker 1: don't know you in your situation, right Because if somebody

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Speaker 1: is out there and they have had issues when it

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Speaker 1: comes to spending, then I think having eighty thousand dollars

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Speaker 1: just sitting there could be a temptation that might be

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Speaker 1: too great for some folks. But from the standpoint of

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Speaker 1: you're listening to the show, you are highly disciplined. You

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Speaker 1: do not have a problem with spending. You know, for instance,

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Speaker 1: you are able to use your credit cards and pay

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Speaker 1: down that balance every single month. If that's the type

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Speaker 1: of person you are, then I agree. I think a

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Speaker 1: helock could make a lot of sense. I think that

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Speaker 1: example is spot on, and that's that's the one I

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Speaker 1: was gonna say too, is is that if you hatele

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Speaker 1: credit cards. Well, then having a home equity line of

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Speaker 1: credit at your disposal is one of those things that

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Speaker 1: I think can be like this backup to the backup

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Speaker 1: emergency fund, or even might mean that you don't need

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Speaker 1: to prioritize having six plus months of egency hand. You

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Speaker 1: can you can say, you know what, I feel comfortable

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Speaker 1: with three months on hand plus the helock, and so

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Speaker 1: it can allow you to maybe do other things with

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Speaker 1: your money, prioritize, you know, investing more heavily or some

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Speaker 1: of those other savings goals that you have, because you

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Speaker 1: know you have this this low cost helock. I will say,

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Speaker 1: you want to shop around when you're when you're looking

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Speaker 1: for a helock, and you want to make sure that

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Speaker 1: you're getting one that doesn't have any closing costs and

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Speaker 1: there are a lot of fortions for that, or if

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Speaker 1: they do have any fees associated with them, that there

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Speaker 1: as low as possible their minimum. But I have opened

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Speaker 1: up multiple home equity lines of credit on different homes

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Speaker 1: over the years, and I've never paid a time to

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Speaker 1: and I've gotten competitive rates. I will say, in in

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Speaker 1: a time of rising interest rates, those helock rates are

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Speaker 1: likely to go up but it doesn't matter. It doesn't

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Speaker 1: affect you if you've just got it hanging out there

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Speaker 1: as just in case and you're not actually borrowing against it,

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Speaker 1: you know. And so it is one of those things

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Speaker 1: where I think it is a nice like I said,

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Speaker 1: back up to the backup exactly, And I mean the

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Speaker 1: best time to get one as well is if if

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Speaker 1: this sounds like a good idea for you, and I mean,

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Speaker 1: this is kind of what you'll do, right, like don't

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Speaker 1: you like you keep closer to around three months of

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Speaker 1: money set aside in your emergency fund and have the helocks,

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Speaker 1: and then you get the heal like accessible there is

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Speaker 1: less necessary, although I do have more savings on hand now,

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Speaker 1: but it's more for I think of that savings as

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Speaker 1: more for like accounting investment perfect when there's a yeah

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Speaker 1: exactly yeah. But if this is you, if if you're thinking, oh,

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Speaker 1: we could really benefit from a situation like this, the

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Speaker 1: best time to get a heelock is before you actually

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Speaker 1: need one, so that you do have the time to

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Speaker 1: shop around, like Joel said, um, and hopefully you can

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Speaker 1: find one, you know, for a very low cost or

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Speaker 1: even free at a local credit union. I was gonna say,

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Speaker 1: credit unions also a great place to turn for those

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Speaker 1: look look to some local and midsized banks as well,

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Speaker 1: But your credit union, in all likelihood is going to

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Speaker 1: have the best. That's that's where we had our last one,

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Speaker 1: which we actually had to close because of a reef.

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Speaker 1: I the bank was like, well, let's make sure we

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Speaker 1: eliminate any other uh liabilities against that property. And so

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Speaker 1: I might be due to open one up. But the

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Speaker 1: last one I opened up was at a credit union,

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Speaker 1: and yeah, it was totally free. Yeah, alright, cool, let's

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Speaker 1: move on. Let's get to the Friday Flight, the sampling

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Speaker 1: of stories we found interesting this week, and Matt, let's

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Speaker 1: talk about cars for a second. Prices on cars, both

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Speaker 1: used and new, are still just incredibly inflated, and you know,

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Speaker 1: it's weird. Speaking of inflation. We talked about inflation last

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Speaker 1: week and cars, used cars in particular, we mentioned are

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Speaker 1: leading the charge, like they are leading these higher prices,

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Speaker 1: and so we wanted to talk a little bit more

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Speaker 1: about that. Yes, so on that note, Yeah, it's weird

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Speaker 1: because it's actually in some scenarios it's costing people more

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Speaker 1: to buy a used car than it is to get

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Speaker 1: a new one. And it's just like, what's up is

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Speaker 1: down in right now in our world. And some things, yeah,

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Speaker 1: actually do go up, some old cars because they're considered vintage.

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Speaker 1: But this is not what we're talking about. Where your

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Speaker 1: car cross crosses that threshold. Now it is fifty years old,

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Speaker 1: and it's like, oh now, now I want that car

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Speaker 1: with the chrome bumpers and like uh you know talking

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Speaker 1: about like uh early land User Byiota. Maybe even a

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Speaker 1: wagon here, not the new fair Lane or something like that.

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Speaker 1: Did you like the the old Jeep wagon ears with

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Speaker 1: the actual wood paneling back in the day and those

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Speaker 1: those basically vintage Now they love those things. Thought they

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Speaker 1: were hideous growing up. I know I loved them, like

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Speaker 1: I I seriously was. I remember looking like but you know,

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Speaker 1: when you first learned that someday you're gonna drive, which

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Speaker 1: is maybe like you're twelve or thirteen, thinking oh my gosh,

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Speaker 1: I get say like hopefully I'll be able to have

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Speaker 1: my own car at some point. I remember scouring the

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Speaker 1: local classified specifically looking for those old Jeep wagon heres,

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Speaker 1: and I mean I loved them. They're cool. There's a kid,

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Speaker 1: They're cool. Well, here's the thing I see cars is

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Speaker 1: a website. They just released information detailing a list of cars.

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Speaker 1: Non vintage cars then now cost more used than it

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Speaker 1: would cost to go and get them directly for the

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Speaker 1: deep from the dealership. It's crazy. What's the reason behind this, Well,

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Speaker 1: it's too much demand. There just aren't enough new vehicles

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Speaker 1: to go around. And so yeah, the used car market

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Speaker 1: is responding accordingly. And yeah, certain vehicles like are you're getting,

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Speaker 1: you're paying even more for um on the open used mark,

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Speaker 1: get like a Tesla Model three, or a Chevy Corvette

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Speaker 1: or a Kia tell your Ride, even the Toyota Tacoma,

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Speaker 1: all of those models right now. Or if you're a

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Speaker 1: bother and you you want to get the g Wagon,

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Speaker 1: those are going for way Mercedes right yeah, yeah, yeah,

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Speaker 1: so yeah, all of those cars now cost more used uh,

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Speaker 1: somewhere in the range of more than the brand new counterparts,

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Speaker 1: just because of a lack of supply. So that that

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Speaker 1: is how insane the car market is right now. And

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Speaker 1: you know, we don't want you to overpay four vehicle regardless,

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Speaker 1: in order to save the most money, it might make

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Speaker 1: sense for you to offer for a different make and

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Speaker 1: model in order to pay less. So, for instance, you

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Speaker 1: could say a ton if you say, you skip the

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Speaker 1: used Kia, tell your ride, which is crazy popular, we're

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Speaker 1: paying more than twelve over sticker price, and opt instead

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Speaker 1: for a brand new Kia Sportage that's currently selling for

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Speaker 1: seven percent less than a sticker price. This is according

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Speaker 1: to consumer reports. But you know, normally, buying even just

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Speaker 1: a gently used car typically means that you'll get that

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Speaker 1: sweet discount you want to let somebody else take that

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Speaker 1: depreciation hit four you, But that is not the case

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Speaker 1: in this abnormal market that we're currently experiencing. It's still

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Speaker 1: true that if you want to save the most money

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Speaker 1: on a car, that you should buy an older model.

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Speaker 1: But if you are, you know, looking for an almost

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Speaker 1: new car, make sure to check the prices on new

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Speaker 1: ones as well, because you might actually save money buying

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Speaker 1: new instead. And trust us, like, it really does feel

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Speaker 1: weird to say that out loud. I know, when do

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Speaker 1: we ever really give the advice that buying a new

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Speaker 1: car rarely it's pretty rare. Although you know, some people

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Speaker 1: that's that's their craft beer equivalent and they've got the

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Speaker 1: money for it, and it's like more power to you.

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Speaker 1: But for the most part, you know, and and how

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Speaker 1: we live were one car families with older, older rides,

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Speaker 1: and we just think that that is just one of

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Speaker 1: the number one ways that you can most easily save

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Speaker 1: a good bit of money, allowing you to funnel it

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Speaker 1: towards more important areas of your life. But the largest

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Speaker 1: line item expense other than housing them everybody's budget exactly.

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Speaker 1: All right, Well, another line item expense happens when you die, Matt,

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Speaker 1: let's talk about death for a second. Uh. Nice, we're

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Speaker 1: all going to do We're all going to kick the

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Speaker 1: bucket one of these days. And why not make the

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Speaker 1: funeral cheaper when you do? Or The New York Times

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Speaker 1: just published an article about direct consumer cremations that will

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Speaker 1: save folks a lot of money. And these companies are

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Speaker 1: catering to millennials and too gen's ears, who are used

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Speaker 1: to doing everything online. I mean, I remember when buying

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Speaker 1: a car online was a ridiculous assertion, like, how would

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Speaker 1: you ever buy a car without actually seeing it in person?

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Speaker 1: It's too big, too important of a purchase. But the

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Speaker 1: Internet kind of figured out a way to do that.

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Speaker 1: And yeah, so similar to that, the majority of deathcare

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Speaker 1: decisions are currently being made by Gen xers. Who I

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Speaker 1: think would also benefit from sites like these. So, so, yeah,

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Speaker 1: why not book that cremation if if that's what your

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Speaker 1: loved one desires. And I think something like almost three

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Speaker 1: out of four people now want to be cremated instead

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Speaker 1: of buried. Yeah. So, but there's certain websites that that

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Speaker 1: make it easy and so like Irene Tulip Solace Smart Cremation,

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Speaker 1: Basically they make it easy to to look at pricing

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Speaker 1: and simplify the process and just it's one of those

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Speaker 1: things where it's an emotional time and then you add

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Speaker 1: in having to kind of figure out that pricing stuff

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Speaker 1: on your own when we're very murky where prices aren't

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Speaker 1: posted in the majority of funeral homes. And so if

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Speaker 1: you can go online to one of these websites and

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Speaker 1: know the price into it seamlessly, I think that provides

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Speaker 1: not only money savings, but peace of mind too. Totally.

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Speaker 1: I could absolutely see himself taking advantage of one of

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Speaker 1: these services. I mean like literally, I've talked to my

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Speaker 1: dad about it before. He's just like totally cremate me, Like,

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Speaker 1: don't do the whole giant funeral with all the expenses,

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Speaker 1: and like the plot of land he totally wants to

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Speaker 1: just end up being an urn of ashes, but he

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Speaker 1: said at least not just not the folders can big

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Speaker 1: Lebowski stuff, right, No, But I do think the biggest

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Speaker 1: hang up is the fact that this is a taboo topic, right,

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Speaker 1: And so, just like with money, we want that to

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Speaker 1: be a conversation that we have more often, not only

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Speaker 1: with a partner, but with our friends. And also another

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Speaker 1: conversation to have with our parents is something like deathcare,

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Speaker 1: which is kind of a weird phrase to say as well.

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Speaker 1: But the more we talk about this, the more we

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Speaker 1: can be prepared to make the best decision we possibly

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Speaker 1: can down the road when the time comes. I agree. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: it's one of those things that we often avoid, just

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Speaker 1: like those money commas, but it's important to have them

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Speaker 1: and also, you know, just to know what your loved

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Speaker 1: one's wishes are. But but I think by planning ahead

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Speaker 1: and having those conversations, you can save money at the

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Speaker 1: same time. Absolutely. Uh dude. Quick cell phone story. Uh.

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Speaker 1: The tech site droid Life, they report that Verizon contracts

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Speaker 1: are getting longer if you purchase your phone through their site. Uh.

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Speaker 1: They literally only offer one option now if you don't

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Speaker 1: want to pay cash all at once. And that offer

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Speaker 1: is thirty six payments stretched out over a three year

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Speaker 1: time span. It's that long. Uh, And yeah, that will

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Speaker 1: lower the monthly payments you know on that phone. But

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Speaker 1: it's like extending your car loan out to like seven

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Speaker 1: or eight years. It's a bad idea because most folks

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Speaker 1: they don't even keep their cars or their phones for

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Speaker 1: that long. And you know, when you're ready to upgrade,

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Speaker 1: you are going to be underwater on that device. And

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Speaker 1: to be honest, most folks should be looking elsewhere for service. Anyway,

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Speaker 1: y'all heard us talk about Mittmobile. We'd love it. But

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Speaker 1: if you like Verizon's network, Visible, use that same Verizon network,

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Speaker 1: but they just charge a fraction of the cost. And

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Speaker 1: so if you've been staying put, just because now is

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Speaker 1: a great time to consider making that move and reducing

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Speaker 1: how much you're spending on cell phone service every single month. Yeah, Matt,

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Speaker 1: And and you mentioned mbn O S. Visible is one

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Speaker 1: of those m v and O s, one of those

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Speaker 1: mobile virtual network operators, right, So they always like to

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Speaker 1: explain the acronyms they're running on the backbone of Verizon, right,

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Speaker 1: And other mbn O s are running on the backbone

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Speaker 1: of others like Mint you mentioned is running on t

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Speaker 1: mobiles backbone. And so yeah, this reminds me what Verizon

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Speaker 1: is doing of how a o L Just a few

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Speaker 1: years ago they still had more than a million subscribers

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Speaker 1: paying twenty bucks a month when they weren't really getting

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Speaker 1: anything in return at that point. Uh. And this is

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Speaker 1: just like the last ditch attempt to lock current customers

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Speaker 1: in as prices are dropping like a rock and we

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Speaker 1: have more choice now ever than before. So you know,

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Speaker 1: what we would suggest is don't ever sign a contract

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Speaker 1: with a cell phone company, much less a three year

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Speaker 1: contract when contracts have largely almost completely gone away. And

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Speaker 1: it's also important to note that you don't have to

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Speaker 1: get your phone where you get your service, and in fact,

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Speaker 1: it makes sense most for the most part, not to

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Speaker 1: get your phone where you get your service. But yeah,

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Speaker 1: shop the open market and see if there are better

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Speaker 1: offers elsewhere to Google shopping or waiting on a on

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Speaker 1: a phone sale during the holidays. And that's another one

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Speaker 1: of those things, matth that you and I were fans

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Speaker 1: of paying cash for, Like if you have to finance

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Speaker 1: the phone, buy a cheaper phone. I love it. Let's

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Speaker 1: go ahead and now talk about investing in emojis. Let's

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Speaker 1: get to that story about n f t s. I mean,

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Speaker 1: we talked about you by sep emoji. Did you just

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Speaker 1: just while you were talking about that? Thanks so much.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate it. So n f t s these are

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Speaker 1: non fungible tokens. Basically, it's it's an easy way to

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Speaker 1: describe them, is that their digital art. We don't have

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Speaker 1: a lot of positive things to say about n f

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Speaker 1: t s and the Journal they wrote an article this

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Speaker 1: week about a new investment that you can make, which

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Speaker 1: is basically kind of like the marriage of n f

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Speaker 1: t s and emojis. They're called yats y a t s.

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Speaker 1: I mean, I'd rather own a yak person than a

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Speaker 1: yatt or yacht. It's hard to believe, but people are

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Speaker 1: opting to buy a string of emojis, you know, just

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Speaker 1: like literally in a line for just a few bucks,

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Speaker 1: up to thousands of dollars if you are look. Basically,

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Speaker 1: the shorter they get, the more exclusive it is. And

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Speaker 1: so like if you want the uh yeah, like the

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Speaker 1: bike with the puff air probably would be it's probably

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Speaker 1: a lot of money. And so obviously we're not a

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Speaker 1: fan of this, we would recommend for you to stay away.

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Speaker 1: But the question is a lot of folks are probably

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Speaker 1: wondering if folks are gonna make money in the space.

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Speaker 1: In fact, is like I mean probably yeah, Like like

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Speaker 1: there will be some folks who make some money, but

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Speaker 1: will a lot of folks waste their money hoping that

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Speaker 1: there yet will soar in value. Definitely, Like we can

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Speaker 1: almost guarantee that because it it almost inevitably won't go

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Speaker 1: up in value. You know, It's kind of like the

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Speaker 1: stats that we gave about n f T s a

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Speaker 1: couple of months ago. Like some folks they buy an

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Speaker 1: n f T that skyrockets in value quickly, but the

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Speaker 1: vast majority of n f t s are worthless or

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Speaker 1: nearly worthless. You've often heard the saying a fool and

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Speaker 1: his or her money are soon parted. We think that

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Speaker 1: that's definitely true here in this case. Although if you

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Speaker 1: want to spend a few bucks just to just for kicks, right,

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Speaker 1: I think that's fine as long as speculating that's a difference.

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Speaker 1: As long as you are totally fine with never seeing

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Speaker 1: that money back in your savings account, back in legitimate investments,

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Speaker 1: then go for it. And so speaking of which actually

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Speaker 1: are ludicrous headline touches a similar nerve when it comes

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Speaker 1: to investing, and we'll get to that one right after

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Speaker 1: this break. Alright, Matt, let's keep the Friday flight Rowling.

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Speaker 1: I appreciate that last story about investing in emoji to

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Speaker 1: find that to be just kind of like, what can't

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Speaker 1: we invest in these days? You know, we talked literally

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Speaker 1: what like a month or two ago about alternative investments

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Speaker 1: and how you can invest in whiskey or wine or farmland,

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Speaker 1: Like there are all these different things you can invest in.

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Speaker 1: The world is kind of your oyster, But that doesn't

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Speaker 1: necessarily make any of them smart decisions. But let's move on.

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Speaker 1: Let's get to the ludicrous headline of the week, and

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Speaker 1: this one comes from the New York Times and it

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Speaker 1: reads turbo tax will let users deposit tax refunds into

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Speaker 1: crypto accounts. Interesting, Oh, I wonder how we're going to

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Speaker 1: think about this one. Well, turbo tax has a partner

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Speaker 1: with coin base, and they're allowing customers to get their

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Speaker 1: tax refund deposited directly into that coin based accounts in

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Speaker 1: order to start making crypto purchases. And it's not that

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Speaker 1: we hate bitcoin or ethereum, like, like, we don't, we

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Speaker 1: don't hate these things. I mean you hate she she'd been,

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Speaker 1: you know, with a passion. But uh, well, and you

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Speaker 1: and I we both own very very small amounts of crypto.

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Speaker 1: But this option could be awful for so many folks

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Speaker 1: who have been like hearing rumblings from their friends about

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Speaker 1: crypto and they're like, you know what, tax refund time,

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Speaker 1: that's the time for me to get started. And now

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Speaker 1: it's easier than ever. And yeah, there's there's just so

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Speaker 1: many other money gears that we really want to see

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Speaker 1: you cranking through first, like that fully funded emergency fund

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Speaker 1: or maxing out your retirement accounts before you even get

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Speaker 1: to the point where you're willing to toss a couple

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Speaker 1: of grand into speculative assets like crypto and matt most

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Speaker 1: people do get two or three grand and a tax

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Speaker 1: refund um. A lot of people do, And and it's

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Speaker 1: one of those things where you can make a big

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Speaker 1: mistake when there are other financial priorities you need to

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Speaker 1: be addressing first. Yeah, and again, it's not that we

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Speaker 1: hate TurboTax. It's not that we hate even coin based

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Speaker 1: I think they're a great exchange if you're looking to

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Speaker 1: dabble a little bit within cryptocurrencies SOT. But it's like

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Speaker 1: you said, there are other things that we want you

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Speaker 1: to do first, and a lot of people definitely do

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Speaker 1: fall into that boat. But as you think through it, Yeah,

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Speaker 1: what could go wrong with millions of people, you know,

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Speaker 1: just taking their tax refunds sticking them immediately into speculative

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Speaker 1: assets like crypto? And it's still sort of like the

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Speaker 1: wild West when it comes to the different cryptocurrencies and

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Speaker 1: how they're going to be treated. And so just because

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Speaker 1: this is an option, this doesn't mean that you should

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Speaker 1: take advantage of it. We think that most folks should

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Speaker 1: avoid dumping their tax refunds into crypto. I think I

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Speaker 1: bonds they would be a better choice if you're looking

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Speaker 1: to direct that money uh into investments UH. And another thing,

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Speaker 1: you know, turbot tax we we mentioned before, but they

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Speaker 1: backed out of the I r S free file program.

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Speaker 1: We feel that like that would be such a better

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Speaker 1: partnership that they should be prioritizing over partnering up with

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Speaker 1: coin base. I see turbo tax and coin based in

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Speaker 1: a similar buckets. It's like they're not terrible, they're just

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Speaker 1: not the most important things that we want you to

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Speaker 1: focus on first. Yeah, and I agree. I think they

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Speaker 1: should join back with free File, And that kind of

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Speaker 1: still upsets me that they backed out of that and

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Speaker 1: now they've announced this new partnership, and I'm like, really,

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Speaker 1: you're gonna stop making free file available readily available to

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Speaker 1: millions of people, but you're going to prioritize letting people

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Speaker 1: stick their money in cryptocurrency. And you mentioned I bonds

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Speaker 1: by the way, Matt, and we've talked a lot about

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Speaker 1: I bonds on the show, but one thing we haven't

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Speaker 1: mentioned very much is that people can with their tax

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Speaker 1: refund that they have, there's extra availability to put money

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Speaker 1: into I bonds And right now I bonds are still

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Speaker 1: paying that seven point one two percent rate. And you know,

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Speaker 1: there are other things. There's fine print you need to

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Speaker 1: read because that that money needs to stay there for

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Speaker 1: at least a year. But we'll link to where you

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Speaker 1: do that, Treasury direct dot gov. In the show notes

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Speaker 1: that is a viable place to put you a smart

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Speaker 1: place potentially to put your money because if the raiths

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Speaker 1: were seeing still absolutely and you know you said too

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Speaker 1: that we don't hate bitcoin and things like that, I

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Speaker 1: guess I want to touch on that again, because it's

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Speaker 1: not that worked completely against the idea. It's just that

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Speaker 1: we want to make sure you get your your priorities straight.

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Speaker 1: And honestly, I think the it'll be really interesting to

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Speaker 1: see how this works out because when so much I

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Speaker 1: think of a lot of individuals experience with a more

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Speaker 1: speculative asset like crypto, like it depends on what the

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Speaker 1: market does, right, and crypto is so volatile that I

429
00:19:30,960 --> 00:19:33,159
Speaker 1: could see it really painting out poorly for a lot

430
00:19:33,160 --> 00:19:35,800
Speaker 1: of folks. We've seen over the last month. Yeah, well yeah,

431
00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:37,919
Speaker 1: I mean you've gotta be ready for those massive swings.

432
00:19:37,920 --> 00:19:40,440
Speaker 1: We I mean, we saw like a six downturn from

433
00:19:40,440 --> 00:19:44,040
Speaker 1: from highs back in November, way back up exactly towards

434
00:19:44,080 --> 00:19:46,199
Speaker 1: the end of January. And if you're not used to that,

435
00:19:46,200 --> 00:19:48,320
Speaker 1: you could pull your money out at the exact wrong time.

436
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:50,239
Speaker 1: But even like the opposite side of the coin can

437
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:51,920
Speaker 1: be true as well. What if I can see a

438
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:54,960
Speaker 1: lot of folks putting money into crypto and then over

439
00:19:54,960 --> 00:19:57,440
Speaker 1: the coming months we see that just climb over time.

440
00:19:57,560 --> 00:19:59,960
Speaker 1: I personally think that that's what's gonna happen. But then

441
00:20:00,000 --> 00:20:01,679
Speaker 1: and what what do you do when you see an

442
00:20:01,680 --> 00:20:03,840
Speaker 1: asset doing really well. A lot of folks are gonna

443
00:20:03,880 --> 00:20:07,520
Speaker 1: then throw even more money into crypto where they've got

444
00:20:07,560 --> 00:20:09,600
Speaker 1: way too much money that they're not willing to lose

445
00:20:09,960 --> 00:20:13,080
Speaker 1: in a very speculative asset, too much disposure and exactly,

446
00:20:13,119 --> 00:20:16,200
Speaker 1: and then one of those thirty declines hits and they

447
00:20:16,880 --> 00:20:19,359
Speaker 1: freak out because it's not something they've experienced yet and

448
00:20:19,359 --> 00:20:21,359
Speaker 1: they lose all that money. That's what we want to

449
00:20:21,400 --> 00:20:24,000
Speaker 1: see you avoid doing, exactly. And you know, we've had

450
00:20:24,040 --> 00:20:27,280
Speaker 1: the question from listeners before, like, hey, I lost twenty

451
00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,240
Speaker 1: k in crypto, Like that is you see the headlines

452
00:20:30,240 --> 00:20:32,400
Speaker 1: about people getting rich. You don't see the headlines about

453
00:20:32,400 --> 00:20:34,440
Speaker 1: people losing money. But there are a lot of people

454
00:20:34,520 --> 00:20:37,520
Speaker 1: losing money in that space too, and it's worth noting.

455
00:20:37,560 --> 00:20:39,520
Speaker 1: Al Right, let's talk about savings. Matt cash on hand

456
00:20:39,600 --> 00:20:43,080
Speaker 1: right now. And yeah, anyone who has a whole lot

457
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:46,080
Speaker 1: of money in their savings account, they're they're more keenly

458
00:20:46,119 --> 00:20:49,320
Speaker 1: aware these days of the difficult position that they're in

459
00:20:49,520 --> 00:20:52,880
Speaker 1: because as inflation has gone up, obviously I bond rates

460
00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:55,560
Speaker 1: have gone up, but saving these account rates have gone down,

461
00:20:56,000 --> 00:20:58,960
Speaker 1: um and and just they haven't budged in quite a while,

462
00:20:59,040 --> 00:21:01,800
Speaker 1: like half a percent I think is still the highest

463
00:21:01,840 --> 00:21:05,080
Speaker 1: amount that's being paid on any savings account, and that

464
00:21:05,119 --> 00:21:08,160
Speaker 1: means that the value of your money is deteriorating because

465
00:21:08,440 --> 00:21:11,200
Speaker 1: of inflation and those low savings rates. And that's why

466
00:21:11,320 --> 00:21:13,119
Speaker 1: you and I we talked about investing so much. We

467
00:21:13,119 --> 00:21:16,240
Speaker 1: think it's so important having money in investments is the

468
00:21:16,280 --> 00:21:19,639
Speaker 1: only way you're going to outpace inflation over time. But

469
00:21:19,720 --> 00:21:22,360
Speaker 1: some people might be asking, well, with the imminent FED

470
00:21:22,440 --> 00:21:25,199
Speaker 1: rate hikes, my savings account is likely going to get

471
00:21:25,240 --> 00:21:29,639
Speaker 1: a boost soon, right, Well, Sadly that's unlikely, And a

472
00:21:29,680 --> 00:21:33,840
Speaker 1: recent Wall Street Journal article detailed why savers won't be

473
00:21:33,880 --> 00:21:37,040
Speaker 1: the ones benefiting from these FED rate hikes. The main

474
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:40,800
Speaker 1: reason is because banks don't need the money. Their flush

475
00:21:40,840 --> 00:21:43,840
Speaker 1: with deposits, and because of that, there's no one sentive

476
00:21:43,840 --> 00:21:46,040
Speaker 1: for them to raise rates in order to attract more

477
00:21:46,080 --> 00:21:48,760
Speaker 1: consumers dollars right now, yeah, exactly. That couple with with

478
00:21:48,800 --> 00:21:52,840
Speaker 1: the fact that borrowers aren't wanting loans right now right.

479
00:21:52,840 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 1: So basically the way banks make money is when they

480
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:58,160
Speaker 1: make a loan to you, you pay them interest, uh,

481
00:21:58,200 --> 00:21:59,680
Speaker 1: and then they take that interest and to use some

482
00:21:59,720 --> 00:22:02,639
Speaker 1: of them need to incentivize more customers to bring their

483
00:22:02,640 --> 00:22:04,639
Speaker 1: money over they pay that small interest rate and whatever

484
00:22:04,640 --> 00:22:06,760
Speaker 1: the spread is that difference that is like that that's

485
00:22:06,800 --> 00:22:09,520
Speaker 1: the bank's income, you know, very basically speaking, But because

486
00:22:09,560 --> 00:22:12,119
Speaker 1: consumers have so much cash on hand, the demand for

487
00:22:12,160 --> 00:22:13,959
Speaker 1: those loans have gone down, which means the banks are

488
00:22:13,960 --> 00:22:16,320
Speaker 1: making less money, which means they have less of an

489
00:22:16,359 --> 00:22:19,880
Speaker 1: ability to make those incentives and danglos carrots for savers

490
00:22:20,160 --> 00:22:22,040
Speaker 1: and so that in turn lowers the savings rate, which

491
00:22:22,080 --> 00:22:24,040
Speaker 1: means It's just a picture of how everything is so

492
00:22:24,080 --> 00:22:27,200
Speaker 1: interconnected and just the ripple effects of what a cash

493
00:22:27,200 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: infusion like we saw and you know, the economy shutting

494
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:32,720
Speaker 1: down like it did, uh you know Spring a couple

495
00:22:32,720 --> 00:22:35,120
Speaker 1: of years ago, the long lasting impacts that that can

496
00:22:35,160 --> 00:22:37,120
Speaker 1: have on our money. And so what does that mean

497
00:22:37,200 --> 00:22:39,560
Speaker 1: for US savers? It means that half a percent is

498
00:22:39,640 --> 00:22:42,080
Speaker 1: it's currently the highest rate that the major banks are

499
00:22:42,080 --> 00:22:44,520
Speaker 1: paying right now, and it's probably going to remain there.

500
00:22:44,600 --> 00:22:46,119
Speaker 1: And even that rate is rare. I think it's like

501
00:22:46,280 --> 00:22:48,960
Speaker 1: literally just Amex and ally who are are have that

502
00:22:49,040 --> 00:22:52,080
Speaker 1: rate right now? Maybe Marcus, like the markets, it's pretty

503
00:22:52,080 --> 00:22:54,520
Speaker 1: close to that that half percent mark, uh, but and

504
00:22:54,600 --> 00:22:56,480
Speaker 1: so we say this to point out that we want

505
00:22:56,520 --> 00:22:59,119
Speaker 1: to remind you that cash is not trash because it

506
00:22:59,160 --> 00:23:02,280
Speaker 1: depends on your civic situation. It depends on how much

507
00:23:02,440 --> 00:23:05,240
Speaker 1: you should have in cash reserves. But it's also important

508
00:23:05,240 --> 00:23:07,640
Speaker 1: to make sure that you aren't taking too little risk

509
00:23:07,720 --> 00:23:10,160
Speaker 1: with your money, you know, opting to salk more away

510
00:23:10,160 --> 00:23:12,440
Speaker 1: into that savings account because to you it might feel

511
00:23:12,480 --> 00:23:14,760
Speaker 1: less risky. We have seen a lot of volatility in

512
00:23:14,800 --> 00:23:17,520
Speaker 1: the markets recently, but like there's just a known risk

513
00:23:17,840 --> 00:23:19,840
Speaker 1: when it comes to the reality that those dollars are

514
00:23:19,840 --> 00:23:22,760
Speaker 1: losing value as we speak, we're at forty year highs

515
00:23:22,760 --> 00:23:25,760
Speaker 1: when it comes to inflation. Now is probably a great

516
00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:27,720
Speaker 1: time for all of us to rethink our saving strategy

517
00:23:28,200 --> 00:23:30,920
Speaker 1: and to maybe determine like how much cash we actually

518
00:23:30,960 --> 00:23:33,440
Speaker 1: need and if we need to ramp up our investing

519
00:23:33,480 --> 00:23:35,720
Speaker 1: game to put those dollars to work in the market

520
00:23:36,080 --> 00:23:39,240
Speaker 1: rather than them just sitting parked on the sidelines in

521
00:23:39,320 --> 00:23:41,520
Speaker 1: banks that are hardly paying anything at all. Going back

522
00:23:41,560 --> 00:23:43,600
Speaker 1: to the beginning of our episode, which will then which

523
00:23:43,600 --> 00:23:46,440
Speaker 1: will then also raise interest rates for the remaining savers,

524
00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:48,359
Speaker 1: right because if more folks are taking their money out

525
00:23:48,640 --> 00:23:51,199
Speaker 1: like again, it's all interconnected us, right, and that he

526
00:23:51,280 --> 00:23:54,040
Speaker 1: like again, could be that perfect thing that allows you to,

527
00:23:54,160 --> 00:23:57,520
Speaker 1: if you're a homeowner, have a little bit less in savings,

528
00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:59,400
Speaker 1: if you're like, man, I'm like, I had nine months

529
00:23:59,440 --> 00:24:03,320
Speaker 1: in savings here worth of expenses. That feels like too much. Well,

530
00:24:03,400 --> 00:24:05,479
Speaker 1: if you still want that peace of mind, Helock can

531
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 1: potentially provide that. Let's talk about credit cards for a second,

532
00:24:08,240 --> 00:24:11,200
Speaker 1: mat Not everyone in the personal finance space loves credit

533
00:24:11,200 --> 00:24:14,399
Speaker 1: cards like us, right, but but you and I we do.

534
00:24:14,440 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: We think credit cards are a good thing for people

535
00:24:16,080 --> 00:24:18,920
Speaker 1: that handle them well. We are, who pay their balance

536
00:24:18,960 --> 00:24:21,119
Speaker 1: off on time and infull at the end of the

537
00:24:21,160 --> 00:24:24,000
Speaker 1: month every month um. If they're used properly, they can

538
00:24:24,040 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: deliver fantastic sign up bonuses, giving people, you know cash

539
00:24:27,520 --> 00:24:30,680
Speaker 1: or free travel, which is awesome. I've gotten a lot

540
00:24:30,680 --> 00:24:35,000
Speaker 1: of Southwest free free points for for flights because of

541
00:24:35,200 --> 00:24:39,280
Speaker 1: using credit cards, totally free because free sign up bonus

542
00:24:39,320 --> 00:24:42,200
Speaker 1: like thousand dollars cash from Chase, Thank you very much.

543
00:24:42,359 --> 00:24:44,960
Speaker 1: But yeah, that that's in addition to the recurring rewards

544
00:24:44,960 --> 00:24:47,280
Speaker 1: that you'll get when you use those cards effectively for

545
00:24:47,359 --> 00:24:49,760
Speaker 1: everyday purchases that you're already making so if you handle

546
00:24:49,800 --> 00:24:52,720
Speaker 1: them responsibly, they're great. And you know, we've published lists

547
00:24:52,720 --> 00:24:54,840
Speaker 1: of our favorite credit cards for how you spend. We've

548
00:24:54,880 --> 00:24:57,920
Speaker 1: also discussed which credit cards we personally use what will

549
00:24:57,920 --> 00:25:00,320
Speaker 1: link to those articles in the show notes. But the

550
00:25:00,320 --> 00:25:03,199
Speaker 1: City Double Cash card has been one of our favorite

551
00:25:03,200 --> 00:25:06,120
Speaker 1: cards for a lot of years now, and because that's

552
00:25:06,119 --> 00:25:08,240
Speaker 1: because it's literally one of two cards that we know

553
00:25:08,359 --> 00:25:10,880
Speaker 1: of at least that gives you two percent cash back

554
00:25:10,960 --> 00:25:14,040
Speaker 1: most credit cards on everything, no matter what, with no limits.

555
00:25:14,040 --> 00:25:16,760
Speaker 1: It's like it's like the Toyota camera or the hand

556
00:25:16,800 --> 00:25:18,840
Speaker 1: a Chord of credit card cards, like you can depend

557
00:25:18,840 --> 00:25:20,280
Speaker 1: on it. It's solid that you don't have to worry

558
00:25:20,280 --> 00:25:22,080
Speaker 1: about exactly, set it and forget it. But there's been

559
00:25:22,080 --> 00:25:24,880
Speaker 1: a lot of hubbub lately because City is changing some

560
00:25:25,000 --> 00:25:27,560
Speaker 1: of the terms for that credit card. And so, yeah,

561
00:25:27,640 --> 00:25:30,159
Speaker 1: if you're a card holder, you're gonna be getting this information.

562
00:25:30,160 --> 00:25:32,320
Speaker 1: You probably gotten an email from City letting you know

563
00:25:32,359 --> 00:25:35,320
Speaker 1: that you won't be earning cash back directly anymore from

564
00:25:35,320 --> 00:25:38,160
Speaker 1: now on. You'll be getting City thank you points instead,

565
00:25:38,680 --> 00:25:40,280
Speaker 1: And we just want to let you know. It might

566
00:25:40,320 --> 00:25:42,959
Speaker 1: sound shady, but it's actually actually it's not a bad

567
00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:45,040
Speaker 1: thing for you. And really the two percent cash back

568
00:25:45,080 --> 00:25:48,640
Speaker 1: thing still applies, and it just needs some explanation exactly. Yeah,

569
00:25:48,640 --> 00:25:50,720
Speaker 1: there's no need to be concerned. You can still redeem

570
00:25:50,760 --> 00:25:53,080
Speaker 1: those thank you points for cash back if you'd like.

571
00:25:53,359 --> 00:25:56,160
Speaker 1: It's just not automatic anymore, but it's not that hard

572
00:25:56,200 --> 00:25:58,920
Speaker 1: to actually take those additional steps. And also, since you

573
00:25:58,920 --> 00:26:01,680
Speaker 1: will now be earning point that aren't automatically converted into cash,

574
00:26:01,720 --> 00:26:04,080
Speaker 1: you can potentially do other things with the points that

575
00:26:04,119 --> 00:26:06,280
Speaker 1: you earned by using that card, like redeeming the points

576
00:26:06,280 --> 00:26:09,000
Speaker 1: for hotel days or air travel. But this card still

577
00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,280
Speaker 1: works best as a cash back card for everyday expenses

578
00:26:12,640 --> 00:26:15,919
Speaker 1: where you can't earn higher amounts with other cards, right, Like,

579
00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:19,639
Speaker 1: there's gonna be better cards for purchases you make, uh

580
00:26:19,720 --> 00:26:22,400
Speaker 1: when it comes to travel, you know, groceries, the Blue

581
00:26:22,400 --> 00:26:25,040
Speaker 1: Cash Preferred get that six percent going on there. With gas,

582
00:26:25,040 --> 00:26:27,199
Speaker 1: there's other cards that are better for gas. But if

583
00:26:27,200 --> 00:26:29,439
Speaker 1: you're wanting that two percent across the board where you

584
00:26:29,440 --> 00:26:31,960
Speaker 1: do not have to worry about it, the City Double

585
00:26:32,000 --> 00:26:34,800
Speaker 1: Cash card is a fantastic way to go. And if you're,

586
00:26:34,800 --> 00:26:37,000
Speaker 1: you know, wondering what those other cards are in full,

587
00:26:37,119 --> 00:26:39,000
Speaker 1: we'll make sure to link to those in our show notes.

588
00:26:39,200 --> 00:26:40,760
Speaker 1: But that's that's one of the things I love about

589
00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,919
Speaker 1: that City Double Cash card. So I don't ever use

590
00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,680
Speaker 1: it in person. I use it online only because the

591
00:26:45,720 --> 00:26:48,320
Speaker 1: vast majority of those expenses they don't fall within the

592
00:26:48,359 --> 00:26:51,720
Speaker 1: grocery or the gas categories or restaurants, which is where

593
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:54,680
Speaker 1: I typically do most of my in person spending. So

594
00:26:54,720 --> 00:26:55,879
Speaker 1: it goes back to that kind of set it and

595
00:26:55,880 --> 00:26:58,240
Speaker 1: forget it approach. I'm not constantly thinking, oh, which cards

596
00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,720
Speaker 1: should I use when I'm gonna buy a new shirt

597
00:27:00,760 --> 00:27:04,760
Speaker 1: online or pay utilities or something as random as renewing

598
00:27:04,760 --> 00:27:07,040
Speaker 1: our corporation with the Secretary of State. I just did

599
00:27:07,080 --> 00:27:09,040
Speaker 1: that recently, and I used the two percent card for

600
00:27:09,080 --> 00:27:11,080
Speaker 1: all those. Yeah, that's it's a great card. I just

601
00:27:11,160 --> 00:27:13,159
Speaker 1: think people are like, wait, I'm only getting points now

602
00:27:13,200 --> 00:27:15,080
Speaker 1: and not the direct cash back. But the thing is

603
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,040
Speaker 1: it's like, you still get the cash back and just

604
00:27:17,400 --> 00:27:19,879
Speaker 1: one extra step. So far, so good. If that changes,

605
00:27:19,880 --> 00:27:21,440
Speaker 1: we'll let you know. Yeah, it's still a great card

606
00:27:21,560 --> 00:27:23,920
Speaker 1: at least as of this at least for now. Yes,

607
00:27:24,200 --> 00:27:26,640
Speaker 1: all right, well, Matt, that's gonna do it for this episode.

608
00:27:26,800 --> 00:27:28,720
Speaker 1: For folks who want to check out our show notes,

609
00:27:28,760 --> 00:27:31,280
Speaker 1: and they want links to those articles where we talk

610
00:27:31,280 --> 00:27:33,960
Speaker 1: about credit cards, which ones are the best for different

611
00:27:34,000 --> 00:27:36,159
Speaker 1: ways of spending. Well, we'll link to those in our

612
00:27:36,160 --> 00:27:37,840
Speaker 1: show notes up on our site at how to money

613
00:27:37,840 --> 00:27:40,520
Speaker 1: dot com. That's right, and we hope everyone has a

614
00:27:40,560 --> 00:27:43,120
Speaker 1: fantastic weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday. We've

615
00:27:43,160 --> 00:27:46,359
Speaker 1: got a great listener question Monday in store for you.

616
00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:49,880
Speaker 1: But until then, Joel, best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,

617
00:28:00,080 --> 00:28:00,119
Speaker 1: m