WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Retreating Rewards, New Tax Brackets, & Workplace TRAPs #582 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:06.800 and today we're discussing retreating rewards, new tax brackets in 0:00:06.840 --> 0:00:29.319 workplace traps. That's right, Joel. This is our Friday flat 0:00:29.360 --> 0:00:32.479 where we are tackling the most important headlines and specifically 0:00:32.680 --> 0:00:35.239 we are going to address how those stories are going 0:00:35.320 --> 0:00:38.200 to impact your personal finances. By the way, I love 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:40.400 that workplace traps one. I'm excited to get to that 0:00:40.400 --> 0:00:42.840 one because not only is it an acronym the stance 0:00:42.960 --> 0:00:44.480 or something, but it's also like a trap you gotta 0:00:44.479 --> 0:00:46.319 watch how for So it's kind of athlete named. It's 0:00:46.360 --> 0:00:49.280 so appropriately named. Yeah. But first, actually we don't have 0:00:49.360 --> 0:00:52.280 any banter. We're gonna kind of launch straight into things. 0:00:52.320 --> 0:00:55.280 But this first thing is something that we are incredibly 0:00:55.360 --> 0:00:58.200 excited to share with you, our listener. We have just 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:00.520 launched the how to Money credit card our tool up 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:02.160 on the website. If you go to How the Money 0:01:02.160 --> 0:01:04.920 dot com forward slash credit Cards, that's gonna take you 0:01:04.959 --> 0:01:08.000 to this page that is going to allow you to 0:01:08.120 --> 0:01:10.440 see all of the different credit card offers that are 0:01:10.480 --> 0:01:12.400 out there. And what's great about this thing is that 0:01:12.440 --> 0:01:15.920 you can easily filter what it is that you're looking for, uh, 0:01:15.920 --> 0:01:18.800 and so whether that's specific airlines, whether you're looking for 0:01:18.840 --> 0:01:22.200 a card without any annual fees or zero percent transaction 0:01:22.240 --> 0:01:26.480 fee when you are abroad traveling, this tool has all 0:01:26.480 --> 0:01:28.800 of those features baked into it. We're just so pumped 0:01:28.800 --> 0:01:30.800 because I think this is gonna become sort of like 0:01:30.840 --> 0:01:32.760 a just a one stop shop for folks as they 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:36.160 are looking for the next credit card that they're considering getting. No, 0:01:36.240 --> 0:01:38.559 I agree, it's pretty cool. It's gonna help you because 0:01:38.600 --> 0:01:40.720 everybody spends money differently, and they want different things out 0:01:40.720 --> 0:01:42.720 of a credit card, and so absolutely this tool is 0:01:42.720 --> 0:01:44.760 going to help you more quickly dial in and find 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:46.839 which one makes the most sense for you. We've written 0:01:46.840 --> 0:01:49.240 content about you know, which how credit cards that you 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:52.360 and I've used, Matt, But our situation is different than yours, 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.240 and so we might benefit from a Costco card where 0:01:55.320 --> 0:01:57.840 you might not because you don't have a Costco near 0:01:57.960 --> 0:01:59.840 nearby where you live or something like that. And so 0:02:00.120 --> 0:02:02.120 you can you can more easily, kind of based on 0:02:02.280 --> 0:02:04.720 just a quick couple clicks of the mouse, find the 0:02:04.720 --> 0:02:06.480 credit card that's going to make the most sense for you. Yeah, 0:02:06.520 --> 0:02:08.799 just work those sliders, Yeah, like it allows you to 0:02:08.960 --> 0:02:11.800 easily determine, like what your parameters are going to be 0:02:12.440 --> 0:02:15.560 used reading some long what kind of dollar value does 0:02:15.720 --> 0:02:18.040 each of these cards give you? So it's gonna spell 0:02:18.120 --> 0:02:20.960 that out too. So yeah, we'd be curious to know 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:22.760 here your feedback after you give it a go, let 0:02:22.800 --> 0:02:24.800 us know whether it makes sense for you and how 0:02:24.840 --> 0:02:26.760 it helps. So yeah, that sound of money dot com 0:02:26.840 --> 0:02:29.120 slash credit cards or also just go to the main 0:02:29.160 --> 0:02:31.160 homepage and you'll see that you can click on the 0:02:31.200 --> 0:02:33.120 top right corner and you'll get there too. That's right. 0:02:33.200 --> 0:02:35.320 I So we launched this earlier this week, and I 0:02:35.360 --> 0:02:38.000 even signed up for a new credit card through our 0:02:38.040 --> 0:02:41.799 new tool. I signed up for a Southwest card because 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:46.040 my plan is to snag that Companion Pass hopefully, you 0:02:46.040 --> 0:02:49.240 know sometimes like we talked about with Brian Kelly exactly, Yeah, exactly, 0:02:49.240 --> 0:02:50.720 But and then you get two years of the free 0:02:50.720 --> 0:02:53.880 Companion brilliant. Yeah, I'm still looking forward to because I've 0:02:53.919 --> 0:02:56.440 never tried to get that Companion Pass. And Kate and 0:02:56.440 --> 0:02:58.600 I we've been talking about, yeah, doing some doing some 0:02:58.600 --> 0:03:00.880 more traveling. But if you're listening and you're like, well, 0:03:00.919 --> 0:03:03.000 I'm not I'm not really big into traveling. Guess what, 0:03:03.120 --> 0:03:05.520 there's a cash back option as well, and so instead 0:03:05.560 --> 0:03:07.840 of clicking the airline's thing, you can just hit the 0:03:07.880 --> 0:03:11.600 cash backslider and it'll show you all the cards that's 0:03:11.639 --> 0:03:15.200 got the best cash back offers for you. But here's 0:03:15.200 --> 0:03:16.720 the thing we like, we say all that with a 0:03:16.800 --> 0:03:19.440 with a caveat here, because it's also really important to 0:03:19.440 --> 0:03:23.239 be careful with credit cards. Uh, we're speaking out of 0:03:23.400 --> 0:03:25.280 like both sides of our mouth here, double we always do, 0:03:25.320 --> 0:03:27.200 we have to always do you have to include that 0:03:27.240 --> 0:03:28.680 every time you talk about it or else. I don't know, 0:03:28.680 --> 0:03:31.079 We're just not We're giving people all the information they needed. 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:33.720 We we definitely take a nuanced approach to I mean 0:03:33.760 --> 0:03:35.840 to everything right like like, there's both sides of the 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:39.160 argument and write like credit cards they can provide amazing 0:03:39.160 --> 0:03:42.119 benefits for folks who are disciplined right who pay off 0:03:42.120 --> 0:03:44.880 the balance on time and in full every month. But 0:03:44.960 --> 0:03:48.200 credit card interest rates are on the rise. The average 0:03:48.240 --> 0:03:50.560 right now it's currently over eighteen percent, which is the 0:03:50.640 --> 0:03:54.760 highest it's been in thirty years. Americans nowtent more on 0:03:54.800 --> 0:03:56.880 their credit cards than they did a year ago. This 0:03:56.920 --> 0:04:00.760 is according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. So, yeah, 0:04:00.760 --> 0:04:02.680 if you're in credit card debt, you don't need a 0:04:02.720 --> 0:04:06.720 new card, right, well, maybe a balance transfer card. We 0:04:06.760 --> 0:04:09.560 actually do have an article on that up on the site. 0:04:09.840 --> 0:04:11.920 But you need to put your your current one, your 0:04:11.920 --> 0:04:14.560 current credit card on ice and man, you need to 0:04:14.560 --> 0:04:16.840 get a plan to pay that balance off as soon 0:04:16.880 --> 0:04:20.839 as possible. This is why we recommend the site undebt 0:04:21.040 --> 0:04:23.920 dot it. So it's undebt it and they will help 0:04:23.960 --> 0:04:25.599 you to put together a plan that's gonna work for you, 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:28.400 whether that's focusing on a car that has the highest 0:04:28.440 --> 0:04:31.400 interest rate, whether that's focusing on any balances that you 0:04:31.480 --> 0:04:34.040 might have that are the largest, or maybe even a 0:04:34.120 --> 0:04:36.760 hybrid approach. The interesting thing is, I feel like credit 0:04:36.760 --> 0:04:38.680 cards can be a double edge short and they can 0:04:38.760 --> 0:04:40.839 totally are kind of like slice through your travel cost 0:04:40.960 --> 0:04:43.640 or give you just insane cash back and rewards and 0:04:43.680 --> 0:04:46.000 stuff like that, which is great for your personal finances, 0:04:46.000 --> 0:04:47.719 but they can also have and for a lot of people, 0:04:47.760 --> 0:04:50.560 they have the inverse effect where they're slicing a hole 0:04:50.680 --> 0:04:53.360 in their finances and and the slice on the hole 0:04:53.400 --> 0:04:56.360 in the bottom of your purse, yeah, wallet, exactly. It's 0:04:56.480 --> 0:04:58.839 draining money out of your life, which is the exact 0:04:58.920 --> 0:05:01.080 opposite of what we we think. You can use credit 0:05:01.080 --> 0:05:03.120 cards effectively, but you can also use them poorly. And 0:05:03.120 --> 0:05:05.200 if you're using them effectively, get the right ones that 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:07.760 are going to maximize rewards for you. But if you're not, 0:05:08.040 --> 0:05:09.560 stay away from them and find a way to get 0:05:09.560 --> 0:05:11.120 out of that credit card. Yet, you need be careful 0:05:11.120 --> 0:05:13.560 because balances are on the rise. I saw like we 0:05:13.600 --> 0:05:16.640 are nearing the highest So the highest levels were right 0:05:16.640 --> 0:05:19.000 before the pandemic, like right right around three years ago, 0:05:19.360 --> 0:05:25.280 October of nineteen, and it was over like nwenties something 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:29.120 billion billion with a beat nine seven billion, And I 0:05:29.120 --> 0:05:33.839 would not be surprised that trillion. I know it's gonna 0:05:33.920 --> 0:05:35.840 kind of be insane, but I wouldn't be surprised if 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.479 we get there before the end of the year. Yeah, 0:05:37.480 --> 0:05:40.520 we really might. Well, let's let's talk about another topic, Matt, 0:05:40.560 --> 0:05:42.400 that remains top of mind for folks right now, and 0:05:42.400 --> 0:05:45.960 that is the president's recent move to grant student loanforgiveness 0:05:46.160 --> 0:05:48.520 to millions and millions of borrowers. A lot of people 0:05:48.560 --> 0:05:52.039 have been anxiously awaiting the application for that to become 0:05:52.080 --> 0:05:54.120 publicly available because that was going to get post on 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:57.320 the posted on the Department of Education's website. Well, that 0:05:57.480 --> 0:06:00.360 just happened this past weekend. And so if you qualify 0:06:00.480 --> 0:06:03.320 for student loan forgiveness but you haven't yet filled out 0:06:03.360 --> 0:06:05.400 the application, will post a link to that in our 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:06.960 show notes as well. It should take all of like 0:06:07.040 --> 0:06:09.240 three minutes to fill out. It's not very long. But 0:06:09.400 --> 0:06:12.200 it's also important to mention that some folks, by the way, 0:06:12.240 --> 0:06:16.000 who are eligible for loan forgiveness under the PSLF program, 0:06:16.040 --> 0:06:19.760 the Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program, have until Halloween to 0:06:19.800 --> 0:06:21.880 file a waiver that can help them receive credit for 0:06:21.920 --> 0:06:24.880 payments that might not have previously qualified. So we'll link 0:06:24.960 --> 0:06:26.720 to that as well in the show notes. There's a 0:06:26.760 --> 0:06:28.719 lot of moving parts, a lot of student loan stuff 0:06:28.760 --> 0:06:31.440 going going on, but time is of the essence, specifically 0:06:31.480 --> 0:06:34.520 on the PSLF one. The deadline for the student Loan 0:06:34.800 --> 0:06:37.320 Forgiveness application. You've got till the end of the year, 0:06:37.360 --> 0:06:38.960 so you can take a sweet time on that if 0:06:38.960 --> 0:06:41.160 you want um, But when it comes to the PSLF 0:06:41.240 --> 0:06:43.880 waiver that you gotta get done and the next week 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:45.880 and half basically, and basically I mean go ahead and 0:06:45.960 --> 0:06:47.960 sit out and knock them both out. Like like Joe said, 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.200 it only took a couple of minutes. Um, you will 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:52.040 have to put your Social Security number and their folks 0:06:52.080 --> 0:06:53.640 were kind of worried about that. But this is the 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:56.680 federal student aid website. So you see that dot gov. 0:06:56.920 --> 0:07:00.000 You know you're in the right place. Do avoid uh 0:07:00.279 --> 0:07:03.240 talking to anybody who reaches out to you directly, like 0:07:03.320 --> 0:07:08.080 whether it's an email, text message, and social media. If 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:10.440 you venmil me a hundred bucks, I'll excite it. Yeah, 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:13.120 obviously you want to avoid that, but there are certainly 0:07:13.280 --> 0:07:16.800 more attempts by those folks with more folks signing up 0:07:16.840 --> 0:07:20.400 for that actual student unforgiveness and jel yeah, you said 0:07:20.400 --> 0:07:22.800 you've got until Halloween to to sign up for that 0:07:22.880 --> 0:07:27.920 PSLF waivers specifically, speaking of Halloween, candy is more expensive 0:07:27.960 --> 0:07:30.080 this year. Uh, stats still free for me. I just 0:07:30.080 --> 0:07:33.400 s tell my kids, got that daddy tax right. The 0:07:33.640 --> 0:07:37.280 price of candy, it's it's actually almost exactly in line 0:07:37.320 --> 0:07:39.800 with the cost of other grocery store items. It's up 0:07:39.840 --> 0:07:42.720 about year of a year. And so how is it 0:07:42.760 --> 0:07:45.400 that you keep candy costs low while still having a 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:49.560 great time this season? Well, you buy the bigger bags. Duh. 0:07:49.720 --> 0:07:51.880 If you're planning on giving out tons of candy anyway, 0:07:51.920 --> 0:07:53.920 the you know, the bags that have at least two 0:07:53.960 --> 0:07:55.840 hundred pieces in there, that's going to get you the 0:07:55.840 --> 0:07:58.720 most bang for your buck where you're able to lower 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.840 the cost of each individual east. Uh, that's at least 0:08:01.840 --> 0:08:03.640 typically the case. And you know you can find those 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:07.240 big old bags at warehouse clubs like Sam's or Costco. Yeah, 0:08:07.240 --> 0:08:10.280 it's gonna save your money. Then grabbing the twenty count 0:08:10.320 --> 0:08:12.320 bag at a place like Target or Walmart. Right. Well, 0:08:12.320 --> 0:08:14.320 I saw somebody in our Facebook group, Matt said they 0:08:14.360 --> 0:08:18.040 buy the big big candy bar size, like the king 0:08:18.360 --> 0:08:20.640 king size. Yeah we'll not king size, but like not 0:08:20.680 --> 0:08:23.280 the tiny ones, right standards standard sized candy bars. And 0:08:23.280 --> 0:08:27.560 I was like, you, okay, I hope that someone. I 0:08:27.560 --> 0:08:29.040 think one of our listeners was like, I hope that's 0:08:29.040 --> 0:08:32.079 your craft beer equivalent, because hey, maybe and maybe it is, 0:08:32.080 --> 0:08:33.439 and maybe it is. Maybe you love to see the 0:08:33.520 --> 0:08:35.040 joy on a kid's face when you're handing them like 0:08:35.040 --> 0:08:37.000 a giant candy bar, and everywhere else are getting the 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.000 tiny ones. But you gotta make sure you're prepared to 0:08:39.040 --> 0:08:40.520 spend the big bucks for it because it's gonna cost 0:08:40.520 --> 0:08:42.120 more of this year. So yeah, that's definitely when the 0:08:42.160 --> 0:08:44.880 daddy tacks kicks in because you see that one, you're like, oh, 0:08:44.920 --> 0:08:46.559 that one's for that one's for mom and your daddy. 0:08:46.880 --> 0:08:48.839 The little ones are those are for you. But we 0:08:48.880 --> 0:08:50.160 sent off the top. That's how you teach your kids 0:08:50.160 --> 0:08:52.760 of money lesson right there, right Well, and I hate 0:08:52.760 --> 0:08:55.520 to beat a dead horse, Matt, but last week, you know, 0:08:55.520 --> 0:08:57.960 we you and I we talked about fancy pet restaurants 0:08:58.040 --> 0:09:01.240 charging seventy five bucks for a three or meal for 0:09:01.360 --> 0:09:04.280 your dog. But and and just I just want to 0:09:04.280 --> 0:09:06.080 say this because while we're on the note of Halloween, well, 0:09:06.080 --> 0:09:09.640 pet owners are buying more expensive Halloween costumes for their pets. 0:09:09.640 --> 0:09:11.640 So that that's that came out this week. The National 0:09:12.480 --> 0:09:15.720 Retail Federation says that folks are likely to spend seven 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:20.520 million dollars on costumes. So much money. It's it's crazy, 0:09:20.520 --> 0:09:23.160 it really is. And you know, I don't Here's what 0:09:23.200 --> 0:09:26.240 I would suggest. Instead of spending money on a costume 0:09:26.280 --> 0:09:28.040 for your pet, allow them to be a part of 0:09:28.040 --> 0:09:30.760 your costume without having to get dressed up. So, in particular, 0:09:30.800 --> 0:09:32.120 it works best if you have a hairless cat, then 0:09:32.160 --> 0:09:34.520 you can be dr Evil from Austin Powers. That's I 0:09:34.520 --> 0:09:36.840 don't know, that's just like one thought. But naked cat, 0:09:37.440 --> 0:09:39.000 I guess all cats are naked. Maybe to shave your 0:09:39.000 --> 0:09:41.360 cat if it does have fair sure, that's totally fun 0:09:41.400 --> 0:09:43.959 with that, right, that's maybe I'll do that with with 0:09:43.960 --> 0:09:46.080 one of ours. But I'm not gonna go hard on 0:09:46.120 --> 0:09:48.679 this one. But yeah, spending spending on Halloween costumes, it 0:09:48.720 --> 0:09:50.640 can bring lots of joy. I totally get it. It's 0:09:50.640 --> 0:09:53.280 totally okay to dress your your dog up like a 0:09:53.320 --> 0:09:55.720 pumpkin or a hot dog, which apparently are the top 0:09:55.720 --> 0:09:57.960 two choices this year. But just don't go overboard and 0:09:58.000 --> 0:10:02.120 maybe just maybe think about getting one used off Facebook 0:10:02.200 --> 0:10:04.800 or something like that, or just reuse a costume from 0:10:04.840 --> 0:10:08.400 last year. Check out eBay as well forget pet costumes. 0:10:08.440 --> 0:10:12.839 Did you see the most popular kids costumes Spider Man? 0:10:13.240 --> 0:10:17.439 Which classic? Right? And well, guess what our son is 0:10:17.480 --> 0:10:18.960 going to be dressed up? He's a three year old 0:10:18.960 --> 0:10:20.760 and he wants to be dressed up as Spider Man. 0:10:21.200 --> 0:10:24.280 I didn't realize that we were so like basic middle class, 0:10:25.080 --> 0:10:26.520 but I was like, oh wow, I guess that's not 0:10:26.679 --> 0:10:29.480 really unique. To me, it's unique because you know, we've 0:10:29.520 --> 0:10:31.160 had all girls up until now. So he's like, I 0:10:31.160 --> 0:10:34.040 want to be Spiderman. I'm like, buddy, that's awesome. Sitting 0:10:34.080 --> 0:10:36.240 to the majority of all kids who are participating in 0:10:36.240 --> 0:10:40.920 Halloween was Spiderman in the Princess You're just like everyone else, 0:10:41.360 --> 0:10:43.800 all right. Well, so those bags of candy, they're not 0:10:43.840 --> 0:10:47.640 the only thing is getting smaller. Retail rewards have been 0:10:47.640 --> 0:10:50.920 shrinking as well. Airlines like Delta they've been raising the 0:10:50.960 --> 0:10:55.240 bar to achieve different status levels, and Duncan Donuts they 0:10:55.280 --> 0:10:58.760 are pairing back reward perks for their customers as well. 0:10:58.880 --> 0:11:02.800 The biggest or for regular visitors at Dunkin Donuts is 0:11:02.840 --> 0:11:06.200 that they did away with their freebie birthday drink line 0:11:06.200 --> 0:11:08.200 too far, so you can slash that off of the 0:11:08.280 --> 0:11:11.680 all the places to visit on your birthday list. But 0:11:11.720 --> 0:11:16.040 they're also requiring more visits to crew some of those 0:11:16.080 --> 0:11:19.079 you know, different free coffee benefits and drinks throughout the 0:11:19.160 --> 0:11:21.720 year as well. Uh. And honestly, that like this is 0:11:21.800 --> 0:11:24.679 just part of the reality of inflation. It's one way 0:11:24.880 --> 0:11:27.880 that businesses are able to fight back and it often 0:11:27.920 --> 0:11:30.680 allows them to keep other price increases in check. And 0:11:30.720 --> 0:11:33.360 so I know some folks are pretty bummed about things. 0:11:33.360 --> 0:11:35.559 But would you rather lose some of these benefits or 0:11:35.559 --> 0:11:38.400 would you rather see the price of actual coffee, of 0:11:38.480 --> 0:11:40.520 the actual product go up across the board and a 0:11:40.520 --> 0:11:42.400 dozen donuts to take up two bucks, or would you 0:11:42.520 --> 0:11:44.240 rather miss out on some of these rewards. I get 0:11:44.240 --> 0:11:46.880 it exactly. It's tough sledding out there, but retailers have 0:11:46.920 --> 0:11:49.839 to make choices as their cost of doing business goes up. 0:11:50.040 --> 0:11:51.679 And so this is one of those things where we're 0:11:51.679 --> 0:11:53.839 gonna take it on the chin as or at least 0:11:53.840 --> 0:11:55.439 people who like dunking donuts a lot are going to 0:11:55.520 --> 0:11:57.120 take it on the chin. Let's talk about the new 0:11:57.160 --> 0:11:59.480 tax brackets for a second map because you know, one 0:11:59.640 --> 0:12:02.280 benefit bit of inflation, a silver lining, if you will, 0:12:02.720 --> 0:12:05.800 is that the I R S has has changed changed 0:12:05.840 --> 0:12:09.800 up the tax brackets for next year for tax three. 0:12:10.280 --> 0:12:13.560 And obviously what you pay in taxes is dependent on 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.720 a bunch of different things. It's depending on your specific situation, 0:12:16.840 --> 0:12:19.680 your income, your filing status. You know how much you're 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:22.160 giving away, how much you're contributing through retirement accounts, like 0:12:22.200 --> 0:12:25.400 all of the above. But the nice thing is the 0:12:25.480 --> 0:12:28.760 tax tax brackets have gone up basically in line with 0:12:28.840 --> 0:12:30.640 what we've seen for inflation. You can see those new 0:12:30.679 --> 0:12:33.479 tax brackets. Will link to the I r S website 0:12:33.600 --> 0:12:35.480 on our website at how to money dot com, so 0:12:35.520 --> 0:12:38.080 you can see specifically where you might fall in. But 0:12:38.200 --> 0:12:40.880 the standard deduction is also going up, which is another 0:12:40.880 --> 0:12:43.880 good thing for taxes. Uh. It's twenty seven thousand, seven 0:12:43.960 --> 0:12:47.480 hundred dollars for married folks next year and eight hundred 0:12:47.480 --> 0:12:50.319 and fifty dollars for single individuals. And man, it makes 0:12:50.360 --> 0:12:52.200 sense for the vast majority of folks to take the 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:56.600 standard deduction something close to American of Americans can and 0:12:56.600 --> 0:13:00.079 should take the standard deduction, right, they'd be worse off 0:13:00.000 --> 0:13:02.800 if they chose to optimize because the standarduction is is 0:13:02.840 --> 0:13:05.240 so rich, And it's just nice to see that climb 0:13:05.240 --> 0:13:09.080 by a meaningful amount. That, combined with the tax bracket increases, 0:13:09.120 --> 0:13:12.720 I think could see a decent chuck of Americans paying 0:13:12.800 --> 0:13:15.599 less in federal income tax next year. Exactly. Yeah, So 0:13:15.640 --> 0:13:17.480 that's yeah, Like you said, it's kind of a silver lining. 0:13:17.520 --> 0:13:20.960 But some some clearly some definite good news is on 0:13:21.000 --> 0:13:24.720 the retirement account front. We have seen those contribution limits 0:13:25.120 --> 0:13:26.560 on the rise as well. You're gonna be able to 0:13:26.559 --> 0:13:31.800 put sixty dollars into iras next year. That's five hundred 0:13:31.840 --> 0:13:34.600 bucks more than last year. Uh. And you can contribute 0:13:34.640 --> 0:13:37.480 to thousand dollars more to a four one K or 0:13:37.679 --> 0:13:40.600 a four or three B up to two thousand, five 0:13:40.679 --> 0:13:43.600 hundred dollars. So this is all great for those of 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.280 us who are looking to dramatically save and invest for 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:49.840 our retirement. On that note, hs A limits they actually 0:13:49.840 --> 0:13:51.640 went up by a few hundred bucks as well. Uh. 0:13:51.720 --> 0:13:54.640 Individuals can contribute two hundred dollars more than they could 0:13:54.720 --> 0:13:58.040 last year for a grand total of three thousand, eight 0:13:58.080 --> 0:14:00.800 hundred and fifty dollars. And married folks and contribute four 0:14:01.160 --> 0:14:04.040 dollars more for a total of seven thousand, seven hundred 0:14:04.040 --> 0:14:05.920 and fifty dollars. And so keep in mind that's for 0:14:06.040 --> 0:14:08.480 hs A s, which are health savings accounts. Those are 0:14:08.480 --> 0:14:12.560 the accounts that we see as the number one account 0:14:12.640 --> 0:14:16.679 basically to invest into. They've got that triple tax advantage. 0:14:17.040 --> 0:14:19.480 To get more money into those is two amazing things. 0:14:19.600 --> 0:14:22.000 Yeah yeah, uh. And so even though those dollar amounts 0:14:22.000 --> 0:14:24.400 seem small, just realize the benefit that they're gonna be 0:14:24.400 --> 0:14:26.120 able to provide you is it's sort of like three 0:14:26.320 --> 0:14:29.200 x if you don't think about it that way. But 0:14:29.240 --> 0:14:32.560 don't confuse hs A S with f essays flexible spending 0:14:32.560 --> 0:14:35.720 accounts because those limits are actually increasing as well, from 0:14:36.800 --> 0:14:39.960 fifty to three thousand fifty dollars as well. Uh So 0:14:40.040 --> 0:14:42.040 bottom line, you know, if you're getting after it's nice 0:14:42.080 --> 0:14:44.160 to know that you'll be able to funnel a little 0:14:44.200 --> 0:14:46.840 more money, a little more dough into those pre tax 0:14:47.080 --> 0:14:50.760 retirement accounts starting January one. And so what that means 0:14:50.800 --> 0:14:52.600 if if you're like me and you set aside five 0:14:52.640 --> 0:14:55.680 hundred bucks every single month for the next year, right, 0:14:55.720 --> 0:14:57.320 and so I always want to make sure I've got 0:14:57.400 --> 0:15:01.280 they're always over retrieving ready to go, because you, I mean, 0:15:01.360 --> 0:15:03.840 history shows you earn more like you see higher returns 0:15:03.880 --> 0:15:07.360 with the most time in the market versus timing the market. 0:15:07.360 --> 0:15:08.960 And so it's better to get that money in a 0:15:09.120 --> 0:15:11.720 SAP as soon as possible. Uh And so what that 0:15:11.760 --> 0:15:14.280 means though, is that there's a five difference to make up. 0:15:14.400 --> 0:15:16.120 So just make sure that you stash away an extra 0:15:16.440 --> 0:15:19.520 to fifty uh for November and December. That way you 0:15:19.600 --> 0:15:21.960 do have that not just six thousand dollars come January, 0:15:21.960 --> 0:15:25.680 but that full ready to rip, and then moving forward 0:15:25.840 --> 0:15:28.240 you are looking at something more like it's like five 0:15:29.000 --> 0:15:31.160 bucks if you want to make sure you have that 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:35.600 full just over a month. There you go. So yeah, 0:15:35.600 --> 0:15:38.200 if you want to, if you're starting January, if you're 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.160 if you're not like Matt, you're not over achieving, You're 0:15:40.160 --> 0:15:42.400 just contributing the the amount every month to try to 0:15:42.440 --> 0:15:44.680 max it out. In January, you're gonna start wanting to 0:15:44.680 --> 0:15:47.800 put away five a month to max it out, whereas 0:15:47.800 --> 0:15:50.040 before you were just doing There you go. All right, 0:15:50.040 --> 0:15:53.920 we got more stories to get to, including a fascinating 0:15:54.040 --> 0:15:56.920 new study about how where you work is going to 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.920 make a major difference in your economic mobility and your 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.720 your financial success. Will get to that and more right 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:13.960 after this break. Alright, we're back from the break, and 0:16:14.040 --> 0:16:17.160 we've got several additional stories to get to, uh, including 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:20.640 we're gonna talk about the new Apple banking product that's 0:16:20.640 --> 0:16:23.120 gonna be rolling out. But before we get to that, Joe, 0:16:23.120 --> 0:16:25.720 we've got our ludicrous headline of the week, and this 0:16:25.760 --> 0:16:29.000 one comes from Business Insider, and it reads, the era 0:16:29.080 --> 0:16:32.840 of free returns maybe coming to an end. Oh man, 0:16:32.960 --> 0:16:36.680 This is bad news because basically some businesses out there, 0:16:36.720 --> 0:16:39.840 they're starting to charge fees to return the stuff that 0:16:39.880 --> 0:16:43.520 you've ordered online. And the reason for that is returns 0:16:43.560 --> 0:16:47.080 can be a massive headache for retailers that costs them 0:16:47.160 --> 0:16:50.320 quite a bit of money. I totally understand they're desired 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:52.400 to to do this. It almost has felt like it's 0:16:52.560 --> 0:16:54.520 like a lost leader, like the ability for them to 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:58.960 offer free return shipping in order to kind of vacuum 0:16:59.040 --> 0:17:01.320 up all those consumers out there to get you beholden 0:17:01.360 --> 0:17:03.920 to that website or to that service, depending on the 0:17:03.920 --> 0:17:06.560 condition of that the item is in once it gets returned, 0:17:06.560 --> 0:17:09.080 sometimes it's unsellable and sometimes they just have to donate it, 0:17:09.240 --> 0:17:11.879 or it costs money and labor to put that item 0:17:11.880 --> 0:17:14.800 back on the shelf, or it's not perfect conditions, so 0:17:14.840 --> 0:17:16.879 I get a retaler. So often it returns to a 0:17:16.920 --> 0:17:18.240 big problem for you. Do you care? Like if you 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:20.520 buy something alone and you can tell that it has 0:17:20.600 --> 0:17:23.119 already been returned, because you can kind of tell, right like, 0:17:23.720 --> 0:17:26.840 does that bother you? It depends. It depends on whether 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:30.159 it's clearly busted, like and sometimes obviously if it's busted, 0:17:30.240 --> 0:17:32.280 it's like okay, no, this is legit broken, but like 0:17:32.320 --> 0:17:34.320 we ordered something recently and you could tell that it 0:17:34.960 --> 0:17:36.520 they had tried it out, and I was like, you 0:17:36.560 --> 0:17:39.080 know what. At first, I was kind of offended because like, 0:17:39.160 --> 0:17:41.760 how dare they send me something that's not perfectly new? 0:17:42.200 --> 0:17:44.239 But at the same time, I don't know, like when 0:17:44.280 --> 0:17:46.879 you go in store in person and buy something, like 0:17:46.920 --> 0:17:49.920 whether it's a shirt or something, like people try things 0:17:49.920 --> 0:17:51.840 on and how is that all that different I guess 0:17:51.840 --> 0:17:55.240 than somebody making return themselves. And it feels different, I 0:17:55.240 --> 0:17:58.280 guess because we're not necessarily used to it's not that 0:17:58.320 --> 0:18:00.639 as used, but it's something that someone else's touched, you know, 0:18:00.640 --> 0:18:03.320 it's not like it's straight from the manufacturer. But if 0:18:03.359 --> 0:18:08.200 you are wondering which retailers are trying these return fees out, uh, 0:18:08.280 --> 0:18:11.280 some companies who have admitted to doing this our h 0:18:11.280 --> 0:18:15.439 and m Zara. Uh, not just the fast fashion folks 0:18:15.440 --> 0:18:17.840 out there, but other retailers as well, like Jay Crew, 0:18:18.359 --> 0:18:21.159 Crews not fast fashion. That's to me, they're kind of 0:18:21.200 --> 0:18:25.200 like in the middle, J C. Penny, DWS, Abercrombie. Um, 0:18:25.240 --> 0:18:28.080 they're still around actually, believe it or not. That's also 0:18:28.119 --> 0:18:30.760 news to me. That was Joel's other other high school 0:18:30.840 --> 0:18:35.160 job was standing out in front, like I've bench pressed 0:18:35.240 --> 0:18:39.280 enough to do that, but others other retailers are likely 0:18:39.320 --> 0:18:41.560 going to follow suit if there isn't too much of 0:18:41.560 --> 0:18:45.159 a revolt. And we, of course we hate fees and 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.199 we want you to avoid them. You know, you can 0:18:47.240 --> 0:18:50.199 sometimes avoid these return fees if you are part of 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:52.800 some of these different membership programs that these retailers are offering, 0:18:53.240 --> 0:18:57.119 or by returning the items in person instead of shipping 0:18:57.119 --> 0:18:58.840