Speaker 1: Welcome to Had the Money. I'm Joel and I and
Speaker 1: Matt and today we're talking about robots ruining everything, a
Speaker 1: new robin Hood feature, and Kim Kardashian's crypto kerfuffle. All
Speaker 1: you needed to do is throw Kanye into that last
Speaker 1: headline and you would have had a bunch of alliteration
Speaker 1: and showing on. Uh. Now, this is our Friday flight
Speaker 1: where every week we look at the headlines and we
Speaker 1: talk about not how they influence our music, but how
Speaker 1: they impact our finances. We're gonna talk about how it
Speaker 1: impacts our money. By the way, I did try to
Speaker 1: listen to the new Kanye album, partially because he recorded
Speaker 1: it here in Atlanta. I got through the first few
Speaker 1: tracks and then they weren't bad, but there were twenty
Speaker 1: seven tracks. I'm like, Kanye, I don't have that kind
Speaker 1: of time. I was seeing something how literally he had
Speaker 1: changed the number of tracks they were on that album
Speaker 1: because pulled one back. It's just like, wait, what is
Speaker 1: going on here? And honestly, I think he's kind of
Speaker 1: a genius marketer and and I think it's all in
Speaker 1: an attempt to get people like us to talk about it.
Speaker 1: And if so, he succeeded, and so with that in mind,
Speaker 1: I'm not going to talk about it anymore. Instead, actually
Speaker 1: I wanted to talk about I wanted to share that, dude,
Speaker 1: I scored my Chase Sapphire Preferred points. I hit my
Speaker 1: minimum spend, which is that's a hundred thousand points, right,
Speaker 1: a hundred Yeah, so I saw my my total pointed
Speaker 1: shoot over one hundred thousand, which is equivalent to over
Speaker 1: fifty dollars. But here's the thing, so they were kind
Speaker 1: of unclear in the language. You don't you can't actually
Speaker 1: get a check for one d and fifty dollars statement
Speaker 1: credit though, right, well, yeah, statement credit. But they don't
Speaker 1: make it super easy like it used to be like
Speaker 1: in the past, or were some other cards. You could
Speaker 1: just apply that total balance to your statement. But the
Speaker 1: way that they're doing it, you have to go through
Speaker 1: and click different charges that you want to apply it too.
Speaker 1: It's a little sneaky. It's it's kind of a hoop
Speaker 1: that you have to jump through, still more than when
Speaker 1: you're talking about getting Yeah, big of a benefit, but
Speaker 1: that yeah, that's a sneaky way to approach it. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean it took all of ninety seconds just to
Speaker 1: run through a bunch of purchases, mostly being able to
Speaker 1: apply it to like restaurants and um, grocery stores, that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. That being said, you can actually received
Speaker 1: just straight cash back, but it's the reduced amount. It's
Speaker 1: only uh one dollars as opposed to that bonus two
Speaker 1: fifty that you also get. So obviously I went for
Speaker 1: that bonus. I got that. That that's all it takes.
Speaker 1: Uh And so if you haven't checked out the Chase
Speaker 1: Sapphire Preferred, I mean, it is a complete no brainer.
Speaker 1: There has never been a credit card like this that
Speaker 1: was offering such an incredible sign up bonus. If you
Speaker 1: don't struggle with overspending when you get a fresh new
Speaker 1: credit card like that, we would highly recommend you look
Speaker 1: into this card. If it was just for like a
Speaker 1: hundred bucks or twohundred bucks, this isn't something we would
Speaker 1: be talking about. But the fact that it is over
Speaker 1: one tho it's twelve fifty if you apply it to
Speaker 1: actual purchases that you've made with that card, and that
Speaker 1: is just some serious value that you can't ignore. For sure,
Speaker 1: it's pretty solid. It's been around now for a minute.
Speaker 1: We're not sure how long it's gonna allow us. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's definitely the richest sign up on us we've seen
Speaker 1: for the card that we already kind of talked about
Speaker 1: in like but Matt, let's keep moving on. Let's let's
Speaker 1: get to the Friday flight. Let's talk about the stories
Speaker 1: that happened this week and how they impact all of
Speaker 1: our collected wallets. And you know, last week we actually
Speaker 1: talked about you waiting to get the new iPhone. You know,
Speaker 1: you you that's right. You wanted the new one to
Speaker 1: be released so you can get the prior version, not
Speaker 1: at a reduced price exactly, not to get that third team,
Speaker 1: It's because I want a discount itself, exactly. And it
Speaker 1: looks like that announcement is going down next week that
Speaker 1: you might be buying a phone next week. Man. But yeah,
Speaker 1: that is great news for everybody who wants to pay
Speaker 1: less for a new but not very new model phone.
Speaker 1: And there was actually a study done this week by
Speaker 1: wallet hub about iPhone upgrade habits that had some revealing information.
Speaker 1: They found that one in three people plan on getting
Speaker 1: the new iPhone this year, and that one in five.
Speaker 1: It's a lot, there's a lot of people. And then
Speaker 1: one in five think that it's worth going into debt for.
Speaker 1: And that was also a lot of people, more than
Speaker 1: I would like to hear. Yeah, exactly, Like I feel like,
Speaker 1: can we just say right now on how the money?
Speaker 1: But it's a hard no going in debt to get
Speaker 1: a new device. There are especially if you're like man
Speaker 1: going gung ho and getting the nicest device, But really,
Speaker 1: no matter which way you slice it, going into debt
Speaker 1: to buy a new electronics item, it's just a no no.
Speaker 1: We would never ever suggest anyone do it for really
Speaker 1: any reason. Absolutely. I mean honestly, I don't think taking
Speaker 1: on debt for anything that is going to depreciate is
Speaker 1: ever a good idea. Right investments only, that's when you
Speaker 1: can use leverage to your advantage, dude. One of the
Speaker 1: stats I found most revealing is that of people in
Speaker 1: the survey on wallet hub, they say that they're judging
Speaker 1: you basically if you don't have the latest version of
Speaker 1: the iPhone. They believe that not having the newest and
Speaker 1: hottest phone is a sign that you are actually struggling financially.
Speaker 1: I know those iPhone people are judging us Android people anyway,
Speaker 1: so I'm used to it. But what about the Yeah,
Speaker 1: I mean, if they're judging people who don't have the
Speaker 1: latest phone, I can't imagine how many people are actually
Speaker 1: judging me with the piece that I've been carrying around
Speaker 1: for so long. But really, man, this they've got it backwards.
Speaker 1: This all goes back to the millionaire next door. The
Speaker 1: folks who are actually building wealth are the ones who
Speaker 1: have money in the bank, money in their retirement accounts. Uh.
Speaker 1: They're the ones who are saving and investing their money,
Speaker 1: not constantly upgrading their gadgets and uh buying things to
Speaker 1: display to signal to others that they've got their finances
Speaker 1: that they've got their money together. That's true. Yeah, the
Speaker 1: more you're doing that, the less money you actually have.
Speaker 1: And so it looks like to other people you've got money,
Speaker 1: but in reality you don't have as much as the
Speaker 1: people who aren't living as flashy of a lifestyle. There's
Speaker 1: actually some other cool news about the iPhone this week,
Speaker 1: math that I found actually more compelling than the release
Speaker 1: of the newest one, and it's that Apple is testing
Speaker 1: out using your I D on your phone in a
Speaker 1: handful of states. In our state of Georgia is in
Speaker 1: this pilot program Yeah, they're one of like two states
Speaker 1: that they're gonna implement it first, in which I'm super
Speaker 1: stoked about. Yeah, that's super cools. Like this move basically
Speaker 1: like when you go to the airport now, instead of
Speaker 1: pulling out your physical driver's license, you can just leave
Speaker 1: your wallet at home and bring your phone and show
Speaker 1: it to T s A and keep walking through the line.
Speaker 1: The actual rollout data is still to be determined, but yeah,
Speaker 1: we'll mention it get on the show and further details
Speaker 1: get rolled out. Yeah. Again, Sadly, for me as an
Speaker 1: Android user, this is not something I'll be able to
Speaker 1: take advantage of, but it's cool to see our phones
Speaker 1: that are really doing everything. Now they're replacing our flashlights
Speaker 1: or replacing our calculators, and now they're gonna replace our
Speaker 1: wallets because we can already pay with something like Google
Speaker 1: to Pay, and now being able to put your license
Speaker 1: on there as well. It's like, I love my wallet,
Speaker 1: but what do I need it for? Now? All I
Speaker 1: need is my phone just to be able to whip
Speaker 1: out a little pocket knife, to be able to cut
Speaker 1: little things that I need, open you know, packages, that
Speaker 1: kind of thing. But is this enough for you to
Speaker 1: maybe jump on the bendwagon and get a knife phone.
Speaker 1: And you think I don't. I don't think so, because
Speaker 1: it's gonna come to Android at some point too, right,
Speaker 1: I don't know my well, but like that is honestly
Speaker 1: the only reason that I still carry about all at
Speaker 1: around is because my ideas in there. Just you know,
Speaker 1: when you're going to the liquor store, if you're at
Speaker 1: a restaurant, you get carded, which honestly happens less often.
Speaker 1: Now do you like whence the last time you got carded.
Speaker 1: I don't have as many gray hairs as you, so
Speaker 1: it's understandable if you're getting carded less. But also to you,
Speaker 1: if I've got a bunch of kids with me, like,
Speaker 1: they never card me. When you've got four kids, four
Speaker 1: kids into they're like, okay, there's no way that's a
Speaker 1: bold move to card you. That's a really bold move.
Speaker 1: There's no need for that, that's true. Let's talk about
Speaker 1: security issues here, Joel. Targeted ads are being served up
Speaker 1: to you on your television. We've talked before on the
Speaker 1: show about how TVs are getting smarter, and not just
Speaker 1: when it comes to allowing you to stream content from
Speaker 1: pretty much anywhere. Now, but TVs are are now gathering
Speaker 1: data on what you're watching when you're watching it. Uh
Speaker 1: And honestly, this is part of the reason too that
Speaker 1: TVs have become so much more affordable over the past
Speaker 1: several years, is because these manufacturers are able to make
Speaker 1: money based on the data that they that they gather
Speaker 1: and sell. When it comes to the TVs, now, not
Speaker 1: only are we the consumer, we're the ones making the purchase,
Speaker 1: buying the products, buying the streaming services, buying the devices,
Speaker 1: but we are also the product ourselves because our data
Speaker 1: is being sold to these different data companies that sell
Speaker 1: that information. But Consumer Reports has a great article documenting
Speaker 1: the fact that tailored ads are now the norm when
Speaker 1: we're watching streaming content, just like the bespoke ads you
Speaker 1: get when browsing the web that are based on your
Speaker 1: browsing history, You're likely to have a similar experience the
Speaker 1: next time you sit down to watch something via an
Speaker 1: ad supported streaming app. Honestly, the only one I can
Speaker 1: think of that I use all that often is YouTube
Speaker 1: if I'm trying to look something up on YouTube, I've
Speaker 1: realized how much I've gotten used to not having ads,
Speaker 1: because when you are paying for certain services like Disney Plus,
Speaker 1: like there aren't any ads, But with YouTube, when I
Speaker 1: get that free information, they're always dishing up whatever tailored ads.
Speaker 1: I guess fits the profile of my browsing. My my
Speaker 1: wife was watching something the other day and a commercial
Speaker 1: popped on and I was like, what's going on? Like,
Speaker 1: what are you watching that has commercials? So we like
Speaker 1: we watched streaming things they don't have commercials, and she
Speaker 1: was like, I'm watching the show Ship's Creek and I
Speaker 1: was like, cool. Did you know that we have my
Speaker 1: parents Netflix log in and it's on there and you
Speaker 1: don't have to watch ads? And she was like oh.
Speaker 1: She was sometimes like where you watch depends on whether
Speaker 1: you're gonna get ads right, and so if she was
Speaker 1: watching on the wrong streaming service and watching commercials for
Speaker 1: no reason. But I think the creevious thing about that
Speaker 1: article was someone from a media company saying that they
Speaker 1: know which physical stores you've spent time in and that
Speaker 1: they use that information to feed you ads to basically
Speaker 1: like if you were at Best Buy for forty five minutes,
Speaker 1: we know it. It's like, oh my gosh, it's so weird.
Speaker 1: It's it kind of feels like what don't they know
Speaker 1: about us at this point in time? And U Yeah,
Speaker 1: by the way, they're serving up these targeted ads through
Speaker 1: what's known as a c R, or automated content recognition,
Speaker 1: So it's even creepier mat that the TV makers can
Speaker 1: figure out exactly what you're watching, even if you're not
Speaker 1: watching something connected to the Internet, even if it's just
Speaker 1: a DVD, because they're taking still pictures along the way
Speaker 1: while you're watching it, and there's they're using that that
Speaker 1: data as well. So yeah, what's a person to do. Well,
Speaker 1: Um Consumer Reports again, who did a lot of great
Speaker 1: work on this front. They've got a guide to turning
Speaker 1: that a c R feature off on your specific TV
Speaker 1: if you'd like your viewing habits to remain more private.
Speaker 1: I don't know that there's any way to completely get
Speaker 1: everything back in the bag, but you can do the
Speaker 1: best you can by turning this off on your TV.
Speaker 1: And they've got like different models and how you do that.
Speaker 1: So it's worth checking out if this creeps you out
Speaker 1: as much as it does Matt and I, yeah, well
Speaker 1: I say it creeps me out and then I don't
Speaker 1: like it. But then at the same time, sometimes when
Speaker 1: I get you know, dished up a very customized ad
Speaker 1: on Instagram and something's on sale. I say, oh, oh,
Speaker 1: that's awesome. I'm glad I know that because that's actually
Speaker 1: I made a purchase the last fall on a jacket
Speaker 1: that was served up to me within my Instagram feed,
Speaker 1: and they wouldn't have been able to do that without
Speaker 1: my data. Right, that's true. All right, let's talk about
Speaker 1: travel for a second. Trip stacking. Have you ever heard
Speaker 1: of this term. It's like a new phrase that has
Speaker 1: entered the phrase just this week. This is fascinating, it's
Speaker 1: it's it's totally a thing now. A friend of the show,
Speaker 1: Scott Kais, was interviewed for a New York Times article
Speaker 1: about trip stacking this week. It's a super interesting concept,
Speaker 1: and I see the appeal in the current travel environment.
Speaker 1: The idea is that you book two trips over the
Speaker 1: same period of time, and then you go on the
Speaker 1: trip that seems like the most viable as you get
Speaker 1: closer to the departure date with because because like one trip,
Speaker 1: maybe the borders are close and you can't exactly one
Speaker 1: of the places that you're trying to get, or there's
Speaker 1: a spike in COVID, maybe in your you know, destination stating,
Speaker 1: and you're like, maybe not I go there, maybe next year.
Speaker 1: And so ultimately how this works is that you're gonna
Speaker 1: take both trips, but you'll just push one of those
Speaker 1: trips back aways on your calendar, cross your fingers. Maybe
Speaker 1: next year things will be all right. But before you
Speaker 1: take this approach, you need to make sure that you
Speaker 1: understand that there are some downsides. You need to make
Speaker 1: sure that you go about trip stacking in the proper way. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: because if you don't, you might end up taking one
Speaker 1: trip for the price of two that is not ideal
Speaker 1: and that that would in in fact be a giant
Speaker 1: waste of money. But yeah, basically, if you book two
Speaker 1: trips and the airline cancels, of course you're entitled to
Speaker 1: a refund. But if you cancel those tickets then the
Speaker 1: airline will typically offer you a travel voucher. And so
Speaker 1: where you could really be out of money is if
Speaker 1: you fail to use that voucher in the allotted time
Speaker 1: given to you by the airline. For most airlines, if
Speaker 1: you canceled that trip, if you book that trip this year,
Speaker 1: you'll have use of that voucher to book another trip
Speaker 1: through December thirty one of next year, so you've got
Speaker 1: time to take another trip, but just make sure you're
Speaker 1: aware of the specific rules surrounding that voucher. But if
Speaker 1: you have booked with airline Miles and then you cancel,
Speaker 1: then you get all your miles back if you don't
Speaker 1: take that second trip, So that's probably the best option.
Speaker 1: Booking with Miles is going to offer you superior protection.
Speaker 1: But I love this idea of trip stacking math. It
Speaker 1: sounds like a big pain in one way to try
Speaker 1: to play in two trips at once and then cancel
Speaker 1: one and rebook it for a later date. But if
Speaker 1: you are dying to travel and you want to do
Speaker 1: so safely, it seems like one of the best ways
Speaker 1: to kind of head your bets. That's right, And fortunately
Speaker 1: the major airlines are allowing for just more flexibility that
Speaker 1: they don't normally offer for their cheapest basic economy fairs,
Speaker 1: And so if you buy a ticket this year, you
Speaker 1: won't have to pay a change fee, although you might
Speaker 1: owe a little bit more money if there's a difference
Speaker 1: in the fair, and so that's something to keep in mind.
Speaker 1: And so yes, trip stacking this could be a helpful
Speaker 1: strategy to plan for vacations. That way, you know you've
Speaker 1: got some time planned off work on this make sure
Speaker 1: is that that vacation doesn't end up a staycation because
Speaker 1: you can't actually or don't want to actually go to
Speaker 1: the destination you had in mind. All right, Joel, We've
Speaker 1: got a few more stories that we're wanna get to
Speaker 1: right after the break, including that Kardashian crypto kerfuffle. We'll
Speaker 1: get to that plus others right after this break. All right,
Speaker 1: we're from the break and it is time to get
Speaker 1: to one of our favorite segments of all time. It
Speaker 1: is the ludicrous headline of the week. And of course, Matt,
Speaker 1: this one is Kim Kardashian related. Um, one of your
Speaker 1: favorite Americans, right, your favorite Kardashian specifically, right, So, well,
Speaker 1: now I think Chloe is probably my favorite, Matt. If
Speaker 1: you're not, I don't even know how. I literally don't know. Yeah,
Speaker 1: I know there's those two, right, Yeah, I couldn't name
Speaker 1: the other ones, I don't think, but um, yeah, So
Speaker 1: here's the headline, Kim Kardashian and Cryptofomo why regulators are
Speaker 1: worried And this one comes from CNN Business. Kim Kardashian,
Speaker 1: as it turns out, has over two hundred and fifty
Speaker 1: million followers on Instagram. She just she that feat recently,
Speaker 1: So congratulations, Kim, we are I believe nipping at your
Speaker 1: hills with twelve six hundred. I am not one of
Speaker 1: these Kim Kardashian Instagram followers, but yeah, more proper to
Speaker 1: her for, you know, doing what she's doing and apparently Matt.
Speaker 1: She recently released a sponsored Instagram post hyping up a
Speaker 1: fairly new cryptocurrency coin, and that post made ripples not
Speaker 1: just here in the US, but across the pond, because
Speaker 1: when you're Kim Kardashian, you make that big of a splash,
Speaker 1: and it drew some harsh comments from a regulator in
Speaker 1: the UK. His name's Charles Randall, he basically said, which
Speaker 1: is like the most British name ever, Charles Randol. And uh.
Speaker 1: He basically was like, the Internet's full of crap and
Speaker 1: he's right on that too. But yeah, while we agree
Speaker 1: that there is some terrible investing advice out there, We've
Speaker 1: talked about this. Some of the influencers out there on TikTok, Instagram,
Speaker 1: wherever you're getting your social media, we're seeing more and
Speaker 1: more finance content out there, and a lot of it's
Speaker 1: not very good. But we just don't believe that more
Speaker 1: regulation is the right answer. So yeah, we say, let
Speaker 1: the ad play, let it stand if if they're you know,
Speaker 1: that coin is willing to pay a Kardashian to promote
Speaker 1: it or whoever. But the responsibility really and always remains
Speaker 1: with us as independent adults, uh and investors as to
Speaker 1: what we choose to do with our money. It's pretty
Speaker 1: much always a bad idea to take investing advice from
Speaker 1: a celebrity who's getting paid to dispense it. And really,
Speaker 1: I'm you know, a celebrity in general, just Hollywood types
Speaker 1: like um, you know, they live different lives than most
Speaker 1: of the rest of us. And so yeah, if any Kardashian,
Speaker 1: Chloe Kim, whoever it is, Kanye, or if Kanye is
Speaker 1: dispensing investing, I'm probably not going to be listening, or
Speaker 1: I'll take it with a grain of salt. And I
Speaker 1: just recommend that we all have that approach when we
Speaker 1: see these ads on Instagram or just you know, any
Speaker 1: kind of content in general that's trying to push us
Speaker 1: in a certain direction. Yeah, it's just crucial for us
Speaker 1: to do our own research before jumping in with both feet,
Speaker 1: and it's it's important for us to look to trusted sources,
Speaker 1: especially if you're considering a decision that has a large
Speaker 1: price tag attached to it. And you know, we gotta
Speaker 1: say this one hits a little bit closer to home
Speaker 1: because of the way that we are able to support
Speaker 1: and run the podcast is through advertising. You know those ads,
Speaker 1: just like the one from Kim Kardashian, Sorry k came
Speaker 1: at her close friends? Do they really? I don't know,
Speaker 1: I'm not a close friend. Well, those ads are clearly delineated.
Speaker 1: You see the ads on Instagram, they have hashtag ad.
Speaker 1: When you know you hear the music break, that's when
Speaker 1: you know our ads are about to run. But we
Speaker 1: wanted to mention that because the ads that we voice
Speaker 1: are the only ones that we actually have control over,
Speaker 1: and we choose to only voice for companies that we
Speaker 1: like and that we think are going to be good
Speaker 1: for our audience. But even still that you know, either way,
Speaker 1: whether it's an ad you see or that you hear elsewhere,
Speaker 1: even on our show or even just other content within
Speaker 1: our show, we want you to do your own due
Speaker 1: diligence before you act. Hopefully we've you know, you've you
Speaker 1: trust us to give you the best in the right
Speaker 1: information here on the show. That's our goal, our goals
Speaker 1: to help our listeners. We want to make sure that
Speaker 1: everyone is making wise financial decisions. But so much of
Speaker 1: personal finance is personal, and so you have to make
Speaker 1: sure that you know something that might be good for
Speaker 1: Joel and I even I mean, gosh, even earlier this episode,
Speaker 1: like we talked about credit cards. If you have a
Speaker 1: problem with spending on credit cards, like that should be
Speaker 1: something that you completely avoid, like do not get that
Speaker 1: Chase card with that man of uh, you know, welcome
Speaker 1: but us or whatever, because if you're just getting started,
Speaker 1: it's like, and you know that that's your propensity exactly,
Speaker 1: that's not the right move for you right now exactly.
Speaker 1: So you have to make sure that you go into
Speaker 1: any decision with your your eyes wide open and that
Speaker 1: you are thinking for yourself. And we're not perfect, Like
Speaker 1: we screw up too or we'll say the wrong thing,
Speaker 1: um and so we again we try to give the
Speaker 1: best advice, but we're not always right either. So that, yeah,
Speaker 1: that is a good reminder. I like to consult multiple sources, Matt,
Speaker 1: when I'm reading news to try to get an informed outlook,
Speaker 1: and you know, we recommend our listeners do the same.
Speaker 1: Let's move on, Matt, to this robin Hood story, this
Speaker 1: new feature that they're launching. They're they're planning to roll
Speaker 1: out something that allows you to access your paycheck a
Speaker 1: couple of days earlier. This was reported by Bloomberg. A
Speaker 1: few of the online banks have kind of been doing
Speaker 1: this for a while now, so it seems like no
Speaker 1: big deal, right, everybody's doing it well, kind of. We've
Speaker 1: got no problems with you having the money that you've
Speaker 1: made in your hands earlier. If your employer wants to
Speaker 1: pay you daily, that's fine. If your bank wants to
Speaker 1: say that your funds are available and ins day instead
Speaker 1: of Friday, that's that's cool too. Like before the direct
Speaker 1: deposit actually hits, if you have access to it, I
Speaker 1: don't care. You can start earning interest on your own
Speaker 1: money earlier than before, and that's great. The problem is though,
Speaker 1: that we as individuals, we get used to a new
Speaker 1: pay cycle pretty quickly, and then we can become dependent
Speaker 1: on it, and it makes it easier for us to
Speaker 1: live with less of a cushion. So yeah, we would say,
Speaker 1: don't let earlier access to your hard earned dollars allow
Speaker 1: you to spend those dollars more recklessly. This is a
Speaker 1: feature that's interesting and we don't mind it, but behaviorally
Speaker 1: our reaction to it can be the problem. Yeah. I mean, honestly,
Speaker 1: it makes me think of the Advanced Child Tax Credit
Speaker 1: right instead of paying that out at the end of
Speaker 1: the year after you file your taxes, this is something
Speaker 1: that's being trickled out to people every single month, and
Speaker 1: whilst I do see the advantages to that, it increases
Speaker 1: individuals dependence on that money. I do not like seeing that.
Speaker 1: I want people to be effected. Yea. And if it
Speaker 1: was not there one month, you're like, what exactly? So
Speaker 1: we don't want folks to be in that situation where
Speaker 1: they're counting on something like that to show up. We
Speaker 1: want you to have enough margin on your own you know,
Speaker 1: on your own terms, like you're in charge of your
Speaker 1: own money, and to not be expectant on these advances
Speaker 1: that show up. I really don't like the position that
Speaker 1: it puts people in, but I think this is also
Speaker 1: a really good time to just to warn our listeners
Speaker 1: how easy a company like robin hood is making it
Speaker 1: too quickly and seamlessly move your money around because they're
Speaker 1: they're moving all of this within their app, or it's
Speaker 1: reported at least that they're going to include this within
Speaker 1: their app. They wanted to seem like that they're doing
Speaker 1: something super noble, giving you access to your money earlier
Speaker 1: than before. Yeah, or robin Hood, it's your money, it's
Speaker 1: in our name. But what do they want you to
Speaker 1: do with that money. Well, they would really love it
Speaker 1: if you would invest more of it. And of course
Speaker 1: we do love investing, but there's a real danger here
Speaker 1: if you're investing just on a whim, especially in single stocks,
Speaker 1: with money that instead should be sitting inside just a
Speaker 1: boring savings and checking account. Uh, you might be prone
Speaker 1: to risking too much money that you really need to
Speaker 1: keep on hand, save for an emergency fund or for
Speaker 1: a larger savings goal. And so that's a part of
Speaker 1: the reason we don't like just the just how these
Speaker 1: different apps are just greasing the tracks and allowing us
Speaker 1: to move money without hardly even thinking about it. We
Speaker 1: don't want you to make investment decisions like that on
Speaker 1: a whim. And on top of that too, Robin Hood,
Speaker 1: Like they don't even offer retirement accounts, and that should
Speaker 1: be the number one priority for the money that you're investing. Uh.
Speaker 1: And so again we're saying all this because we want you.
Speaker 1: It's not that we're against Robin Hood. We I really
Speaker 1: like how intuitive and how easy they're able to make things.
Speaker 1: But that only works if you have an actual plan
Speaker 1: for your money. Uh. If they're making it too easy
Speaker 1: for you and you don't have a plan, well, they're
Speaker 1: just making it really easy for you to make mistakes
Speaker 1: rather than execute the smart money moves that you've planned out. Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1: All right, let's move on though, and let's talk about
Speaker 1: automation for a second, Matt. It's obviously been a focus
Speaker 1: in our economy for a while now, more and more
Speaker 1: automation happening. Ever since you know, Henry Ford and the
Speaker 1: assembly line, automation has been an important part reference exactly. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it has been really just this really important part of
Speaker 1: what it looks like to become more efficient and more
Speaker 1: optimized for all sorts of different companies. But yeah, the
Speaker 1: trend to automate as much as possible has been accelerating.
Speaker 1: A lot of that has been due to COVID. Understandably,
Speaker 1: a survey last year found that forty of employers planned
Speaker 1: to reduce their workforce by implementing new technologies. And that
Speaker 1: sounds scary, and I think in some ways it is.
Speaker 1: But the interesting thing is that automation all I think
Speaker 1: for for years a lot of people have used it
Speaker 1: as this, um, hey, we're gonna automate more stuff, more
Speaker 1: people are gonna lose their jobs, and it's gonna lead
Speaker 1: to widespread unemployment. We haven't really seen that be the
Speaker 1: case though, um but it is particularly hitting the service
Speaker 1: sector hard right now. The l Times actually had an
Speaker 1: article and it mentioned Sweet Greens buying robots that cook
Speaker 1: and dish up veggies. I kind of want to see
Speaker 1: this thing in action. I've seen like Flippy the Hamburger
Speaker 1: for the robot Burger. But it also highlighted using an
Speaker 1: AI robe bot at Arby's that will take your order
Speaker 1: and then relay it to the kitchen. So instead of
Speaker 1: that friendly voice over the microphone or not so friendly
Speaker 1: depending on where you're going, asking you what your order is,
Speaker 1: now this AI enabled machine is taking your order. And
Speaker 1: mobile ordering via QR code has obviously become ubiquitous during
Speaker 1: the pandemic. Um automation is just quickly changing the job market,
Speaker 1: and it's changing our expectations as consumers when we go
Speaker 1: out to eat and in other areas too. But it's
Speaker 1: just interesting how the restaurant sector is seeing it the
Speaker 1: most quickly. Yeah, what do you think by the way
Speaker 1: of mobile ordering via the QR code as opposed to
Speaker 1: like wait staff, I kind of miss the old I
Speaker 1: totally miss that. Yeah, but I get it, like it
Speaker 1: makes sense and I understand the necessity for it, But
Speaker 1: I definitely miss like getting to know my waiter just
Speaker 1: a little bit, the personal interaction, like the humanity aspect
Speaker 1: of talking with another another human being, having them make
Speaker 1: some recommendations for you, them telling you, oh, actually this
Speaker 1: isn't even on the menu yet because we just made
Speaker 1: the switch. We just kicked that beer and we just
Speaker 1: put those new ones at that kind of thing. I
Speaker 1: miss that part of going to a restaurant so much,
Speaker 1: and that's just a huge part of the experience. I
Speaker 1: totally get it. Say at Arby's, like, you're not really
Speaker 1: looking for experience, just looking for a triple roast beef sandwich.
Speaker 1: You want to get through that line quickly. Uh. And
Speaker 1: because that's what a drive through is. You want to
Speaker 1: hit the road, you're going somewhere. But if you're going
Speaker 1: to sit down at a restaurant, you're not just going
Speaker 1: there for the food. You're going there to sit down
Speaker 1: to enjoy the weather. If you're sitting on side to
Speaker 1: enjoy the ambiance. Uh. And a part of that is
Speaker 1: the wait staff. I totally miss uh some restaurants who
Speaker 1: have switched to the the QR code ordering, Like I
Speaker 1: don't mind it for the menu, It's like, okay, I
Speaker 1: can just do that. It's the most up to date menu.
Speaker 1: Get that. I also don't want to be on my
Speaker 1: phone while I feel like I'm scrolling through my phone.
Speaker 1: Rather have a big, old large menu and you can
Speaker 1: point to stuff if you're there with your you know,
Speaker 1: on a date with your wife, that kind of thing. Um.
Speaker 1: And that's the other part of it too, the technology.
Speaker 1: Like I'm thinking of one place that you know, I
Speaker 1: went to and we had to like punch in our
Speaker 1: credit card numbers directly into this form on their online ordering.
Speaker 1: Talk about a huge pain. Like I don't know if
Speaker 1: that was just because they had just gotten set up.
Speaker 1: And also you're worried about identity TEP or something like that, right, Like, well,
Speaker 1: I guess so. I mean maybe the argument is that
Speaker 1: at least there's not a waiter who's gonna like write
Speaker 1: down your number, you know, off on the side. But
Speaker 1: I would rather that's why they need to do what
Speaker 1: they do in Europe and bring the credit card machine
Speaker 1: to who you at the table like that. That's a
Speaker 1: so much better way to handle it with because when
Speaker 1: they walk off with it and it's you know, out
Speaker 1: of your sight, that's either well, and they have been
Speaker 1: doing that more often, bringing you like the little square
Speaker 1: terminal or the clover terminal, that kind of thing. But
Speaker 1: I completely missed that real in person interaction um with
Speaker 1: the pre COVID times. But another downside too of all
Speaker 1: this automation is that companies are rejecting millions of resumes
Speaker 1: because of automation techniques that they've implemented. The Harvard Business
Speaker 1: School they released this report earlier this week that potentially
Speaker 1: ten million applicants aren't making it past the first digital
Speaker 1: gatekeeper when applying for a job, and this is largely
Speaker 1: because of automated filters that are being used to screen
Speaker 1: these potential employees, and so I get you know, while
Speaker 1: businesses they want to make sure that they're not just
Speaker 1: needlessly interviewing non relevant candidates, uh, they're actually shooting themselves
Speaker 1: in the foot by creating essentially like too high of offense. So,
Speaker 1: for example, many of these software programs they eliminate anyone
Speaker 1: with a gap in an employment or someone who's been
Speaker 1: employed at the gap the clothing store. I think that's
Speaker 1: if you if gap has written in there, it's just
Speaker 1: like no if you're getting kicked out exactly. And obviously
Speaker 1: this has problems during even just normal times. It's obviously
Speaker 1: creating even a bigger issue now. So this new information
Speaker 1: shots some light on the fact that networking being persistent,
Speaker 1: these are still major factors when it comes to landing
Speaker 1: a job. We want you to follow up. We we
Speaker 1: don't want you to get shut down cold buy an algorithm.
Speaker 1: And I think some of this might even come back
Speaker 1: and you know, by the employer in the butt as well,
Speaker 1: because I think it already is. I think they can
Speaker 1: make changes because they aren't getting enough good applicants, like
Speaker 1: they are short of workers, and they're realizing this systems
Speaker 1: in the way it's created. This fence, and so they're
Speaker 1: gonna bring the fence down I think a couple of feet.
Speaker 1: But then at the same time, you and I we
Speaker 1: have to take a ladder to the fence. And and
Speaker 1: our way of doing that is networking, is persistency, is
Speaker 1: reaching out to actual individuals who work at the company
Speaker 1: where you're applying. Those are the strategies you have to
Speaker 1: implement because artificial intelligence is kind of making things a
Speaker 1: little more difficult right well, and it makes it less personal,
Speaker 1: like even going back to mobile ordering at restaurants, like
Speaker 1: there is something that you can gather about somebody when
Speaker 1: you sit down and talk to them face to face.
Speaker 1: And that's something that these employers are missing out when
Speaker 1: it comes to searching for new candidates. And on the
Speaker 1: note of employment, Matt, there's a gap right now between
Speaker 1: the jobs that are being hired for and then what
Speaker 1: job seekers actually want to do. It's just like really
Speaker 1: big gap right now. Um, And so yeah, for the
Speaker 1: first time in a while, there are actually more job
Speaker 1: openings then there are people looking for work. And some
Speaker 1: of it, like we said, is because of those crummy algorithms,
Speaker 1: like they're preventing the proper employer and employee from getting
Speaker 1: paired up. But another huge piece is that the jobs
Speaker 1: that we want are changing right now. We've kind of
Speaker 1: decided that maybe the work we were doing it's not fulfilling.
Speaker 1: We want to change industries, we want to shift careers
Speaker 1: in education plays a central role in helping us get
Speaker 1: the skills that we need in order to do that.
Speaker 1: We've talked about like the training that you can receive
Speaker 1: from Goodwill will link to that in the show notes. Uh,
Speaker 1: they have a good will where you buy a secondhand
Speaker 1: clothes exactly. They actually have partnered with some jobs program
Speaker 1: major businesses to help you find great jobs um not
Speaker 1: crumby jobs, really good jobs and so yeah that check
Speaker 1: out their targeted and certification programs. And then Google Certificates
Speaker 1: is an avenue that you can take. It's really really
Speaker 1: cheap and it's a quick path to a higher paying job.
Speaker 1: You can get a Google certificate in six months that
Speaker 1: will lead to a pretty good gig for most people
Speaker 1: that jobs that are in high demand. Well will link
Speaker 1: to both of those, but they're they're definitely great places
Speaker 1: for people to turn if you're interested in kind of
Speaker 1: shaking things up. Both of those are great places to
Speaker 1: to check out. Yeah, and over time, hopefully we'll see
Speaker 1: that gap close, because I mean, I think there's always
Speaker 1: going to be a lag between supply and demand. Uh.
Speaker 1: And with the way things have been going with employers
Speaker 1: and employees and prices and goods and you know, and pay,
Speaker 1: like it's almost like a staring contest to see who's
Speaker 1: gonna blink first, because employees don't want to come back
Speaker 1: for low pay. But at some point something's gotta give,
Speaker 1: whether it's the price of goods that they're gonna have
Speaker 1: to jack up, or whether it's people wanting to come
Speaker 1: back because they're running out of money. But in the end,
Speaker 1: I think we will find that equilibrium. But it's just
Speaker 1: at the moment we're definitely it feels wonky, right, it
Speaker 1: feels out in flux right now, yeah, exactly. But but
Speaker 1: things will settle down and and hopefully some of our
Speaker 1: listeners will take advantage of the weird space that we're in,
Speaker 1: the fact that some employers are in desperate need of
Speaker 1: good people. And if you do want to change careers,
Speaker 1: if you do want to get paid more money, moved
Speaker 1: to a different company, now is a perfect time. And
Speaker 1: it's it's kind of like having a home that you
Speaker 1: wanted to sell this past spring. It was just like
Speaker 1: perfect timing, right, And so if you are looking to
Speaker 1: do anything career wise, it's perfect timing. It's it's and
Speaker 1: timing is not everything, but it's a lot out of
Speaker 1: things in this life. And so yeah, we would suggest
Speaker 1: that you strike while the iron's hot. But that's gonna
Speaker 1: do it for this episode. We will have all those
Speaker 1: links up in our show notes on our website at
Speaker 1: how to money dot com. That's right. We hope everyone
Speaker 1: has a great weekend. We've got another great episode plan
Speaker 1: for you here. On Monday, we're gonna be speaking with
Speaker 1: Marshall Allen and we're actually gonna talk all about different
Speaker 1: ways that you can reduce the cost of your health care.
Speaker 1: That's going to be an incredibly practical conversation with a
Speaker 1: lot of takeaways that folks will be able to implement
Speaker 1: into their lives with a brilliant guy who has been
Speaker 1: working in this space for a decade and a half.
Speaker 1: And yeah, he just has so much good information it's
Speaker 1: and he delivered it so well. So looking forward to
Speaker 1: sharing that episode with you guys. That's right, So Joe,
Speaker 1: it's gonna be a buddy until next time. Best friends out,
Speaker 1: best friends out