WEBVTT - Friday Flight - Store Brand Surges, 401k Changes, & Inconvenient Conveniences #609 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.159 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel Matt and today 0:00:03.240 --> 0:00:06.720 we're discussing store brand surges, four oh one K changes 0:00:07.000 --> 0:00:30.280 and inconvenient conveniences you know what money. This is our 0:00:30.360 --> 0:00:32.879 Friday flight and we're gonna talk about the best headlines 0:00:32.960 --> 0:00:35.239 that we think you should be paying attention to that 0:00:35.280 --> 0:00:38.320 we came across this week. Uh, this is a small 0:00:38.400 --> 0:00:41.640 sampling of our favorite headlines. But before we get to that, 0:00:41.680 --> 0:00:44.960 we need to make sure we announce our Money and 0:00:45.080 --> 0:00:48.040 Love book winners. So Money and Love that's a book 0:00:48.120 --> 0:00:52.159 that we discussed this past Monday with Abby Davidson. She 0:00:52.200 --> 0:00:55.520 talked about relationships, talked about the logic that we often 0:00:55.600 --> 0:00:57.800 employ when it comes to making some of these bigger 0:00:57.840 --> 0:01:00.360 decisions in life. Uh, and how we need a little 0:01:00.360 --> 0:01:04.080 bit of both in order to make the absolute best decisions. 0:01:04.720 --> 0:01:07.880 Helpful framework for basically thinking about the biggest decisions we 0:01:07.959 --> 0:01:12.440 make in life, which often involve yeah, relational love interest 0:01:12.560 --> 0:01:15.040 kind of stuff and also money. Right, Like both of 0:01:15.080 --> 0:01:18.440 those things are simultaneously. It works, right, and we drew 0:01:18.680 --> 0:01:22.360 five winners. We we announced the book giveaway during that episode. 0:01:22.520 --> 0:01:24.480 All you needed to do was reach out to us 0:01:24.560 --> 0:01:27.360 with your review that you left over at Apple Podcasts 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:31.040 or wherever you listen to your podcasts, and uh, here 0:01:31.040 --> 0:01:35.200 are the five winners. Todd Are, Mona M, Julian P. 0:01:35.760 --> 0:01:39.319 Matt D and Maggie Are. We will be reaching out 0:01:39.319 --> 0:01:42.200 to you, getting your mailing addresses and getting copies of 0:01:42.200 --> 0:01:44.920 those books on the way to you very soon. Yeah. 0:01:45.000 --> 0:01:47.080 Hopefully you'll enjoy that book and will help you make 0:01:47.280 --> 0:01:52.480 future money decisions with like a little more ease. It's 0:01:52.520 --> 0:01:55.000 never easy at all, Always a lot of stuff to way, 0:01:55.080 --> 0:01:57.960 especially when you're making big decisions with people that you love, 0:01:58.000 --> 0:02:00.960 with people that you're close to. But hopefully, Yeah, I 0:02:00.960 --> 0:02:03.040 think I love what she said, Matt when she said that, like, 0:02:03.280 --> 0:02:05.240 well you can make it. Even if you look back, 0:02:05.680 --> 0:02:08.200 you don't regret the choice in nearly the same way 0:02:08.240 --> 0:02:10.040 that you might because you had a framework that you 0:02:10.040 --> 0:02:12.720 went into with. You made an intentional choice, which is 0:02:12.840 --> 0:02:14.760 a big part of the problem. Totally fly by the 0:02:14.800 --> 0:02:17.040 seat of our pants, But exactly it was like about 0:02:17.040 --> 0:02:20.120 it was about empowering your due diligence process within your decision. 0:02:20.120 --> 0:02:21.919 Maybe like we just want to make sure that we're 0:02:21.960 --> 0:02:24.519 making decisions on purpose and not looking back and being 0:02:24.560 --> 0:02:27.760 like did I how did that happen? That that is 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.360 not the position that you want to be in. Yeah, 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:32.959 I just want to quickly mention that I'm working on 0:02:33.040 --> 0:02:36.800 getting the Amazon Prime student rate for for our account, 0:02:36.840 --> 0:02:40.160 because I totally forgot about this, but like a college 0:02:40.200 --> 0:02:42.240 student rate. My wife is in grad school. Why in 0:02:42.280 --> 0:02:44.560 the world, all snap, have I not taken advantage of this? 0:02:44.639 --> 0:02:47.720 You can buy, you can get like new computers, yes, 0:02:47.800 --> 0:02:49.880 student rates as well. Well, yeah we got what she 0:02:49.960 --> 0:02:52.200 got stock up when she got her laptop at the 0:02:52.320 --> 0:02:55.120 very beginning of school. We got the we got the 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.120 student discount rate on a mac because yeah, that's the 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.040 student discounts abound. I'm realized we were. My wife is 0:03:01.040 --> 0:03:03.320 getting some clothes on sale and made Well the other day, 0:03:03.360 --> 0:03:05.280 and made Well has like a student discount like their 0:03:05.320 --> 0:03:08.200 student discounts all over the place. So if you're a student, 0:03:08.280 --> 0:03:11.280 don't forget to ask or google it, check and see 0:03:11.320 --> 0:03:13.799 if there is one. But yeah, Amazon Prime has it too, 0:03:14.000 --> 0:03:15.360 So I'm hoping not only to get it for our 0:03:15.360 --> 0:03:18.400 Prime account, but also for our Prime music, which apparently 0:03:18.400 --> 0:03:21.600 gets discounted too if if we get the student rate, 0:03:21.680 --> 0:03:24.760 So I want those unlimited tunes at that student rate. 0:03:24.840 --> 0:03:27.600 I know right. I will report back, but just awesome 0:03:27.639 --> 0:03:30.280 reminded all the students out there their student discounts abound, 0:03:30.320 --> 0:03:32.840 and it's worth it's worth asking, it's worth looking into. 0:03:32.960 --> 0:03:34.760 But let's move on, Matt. Let's get to the Friday Flight. 0:03:34.760 --> 0:03:37.480 A quick sampling of stories we found interesting this week, 0:03:37.640 --> 0:03:40.840 and let's talk smack at the beginning at the outside 0:03:40.840 --> 0:03:43.840 of this Friday Fight about Wells Fargo and uh, that's 0:03:44.160 --> 0:03:46.920 they just got taken a task by the Consumer Financial 0:03:47.000 --> 0:03:50.280 Financial Protection Bureau. They have the four it's a fourk 0:03:50.320 --> 0:03:54.000 overall whopping three point seven billion dollars because they're such 0:03:54.040 --> 0:03:57.560 a terrible bank, and two billion of those dollars are 0:03:57.560 --> 0:03:59.880 going to customers and a record fine of one point 0:04:00.000 --> 0:04:03.280 seven billion is going to the CFPB. And this is 0:04:03.320 --> 0:04:05.720 not by the way, for new allegations of fraud, but 0:04:06.120 --> 0:04:09.000 for a slew of abusive practices that Wells Fargo has 0:04:09.040 --> 0:04:11.520 been engaging in over the past decade, which we have 0:04:11.560 --> 0:04:13.640 talked about here on the show. I mean, the worst 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:16.200 of what they did came out like six seven years ago, 0:04:16.400 --> 0:04:19.080 but signing people up for accounts like that they didn't 0:04:19.120 --> 0:04:22.200 ask for, and I mean just all sorts of abuse 0:04:22.200 --> 0:04:24.520 for practice their current cuss but I was reading and 0:04:24.680 --> 0:04:28.960 they have had some issues even up and as recent 0:04:28.960 --> 0:04:32.200 as this year, like they've had some compliance failures I saw. 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.480 So it's like, yeah, they're the most egregious examples of 0:04:35.560 --> 0:04:38.080 their misbehavior have been in the past, but even like 0:04:38.160 --> 0:04:40.400 even this year, they are still not doing what they're 0:04:40.440 --> 0:04:44.440 supposed to be better. But that doesn't mean they're not reformed. 0:04:44.440 --> 0:04:47.600 And the director of the CFPV he actually said that 0:04:47.640 --> 0:04:50.120 Wells Fargo has consistently been one of the most problematic 0:04:50.160 --> 0:04:53.280 repeat offenders, which isn't you know something you want said 0:04:53.279 --> 0:04:56.119 about yourself, And he basically said that this settlement doesn't 0:04:56.160 --> 0:04:58.840 necessarily mean that the bank doesn't still have issues, like 0:04:58.880 --> 0:05:01.200 you just said, Matt, and so while they've made progress, 0:05:01.200 --> 0:05:03.760 there's still some rotten stuff going on in that bank. 0:05:03.800 --> 0:05:06.120 And so we would say you bank with Wells Fargo 0:05:06.200 --> 0:05:08.520 at your own peril, and really, really you bank with 0:05:08.600 --> 0:05:10.600 the top the biggest three or four banks, at your 0:05:10.600 --> 0:05:12.760 own peril, We would say you should switch banks, go 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:14.720 somewhere else. We have an article that will link to 0:05:14.760 --> 0:05:16.400 in the show notes about how you can do that 0:05:16.480 --> 0:05:19.120 and make it easy on yourself. But if you're banking 0:05:19.160 --> 0:05:21.680 with Wells Fargo. There's no time like now, no no, 0:05:21.680 --> 0:05:24.039 no time like the president to not do that anymore. 0:05:24.160 --> 0:05:26.840 I think that could be an excellent, simple to do 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:29.159 task for folks over the holidays. Right like, for the 0:05:29.200 --> 0:05:31.880 most part, you're laying low, you're taking it easy. You 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:34.120 don't want to be running around, Oh my gosh, like 0:05:34.160 --> 0:05:36.520 in the crazy cold weather that most of the country 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:38.480 is experiencing right now. Like, this is totally something that 0:05:38.520 --> 0:05:41.120 you can do from the ease of your laptop at home. 0:05:41.720 --> 0:05:44.160 So you've got that like erin del fireplace on in 0:05:44.200 --> 0:05:47.800 the background, you know exactly. But let's keep moving. Let's 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.440 talk about high prices, because if you saw the most 0:05:50.520 --> 0:05:54.200 recent CPI numbers, it was nice to see inflation going 0:05:54.279 --> 0:05:57.960 down overall. One place though, that that wasn't the case 0:05:58.200 --> 0:06:01.839 is at the grocery store. Food prices they have remained 0:06:01.839 --> 0:06:05.760 stubbornly high. And to that end, supermarkets are trying some 0:06:05.839 --> 0:06:08.919 different techniques to ease the pain and to get customers 0:06:08.920 --> 0:06:11.839 to maybe switch their allegiance to start shopping with them. 0:06:12.360 --> 0:06:15.280 A popular method that some stores are doubling down on 0:06:15.400 --> 0:06:18.719 is to offer more store brands. Were huge fans of 0:06:18.720 --> 0:06:22.640 store brands and consumers are taking the bait. They're opting 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:27.360 for a similar but vastly cheaper alternative Kroger. They say 0:06:27.400 --> 0:06:30.800 that they're selling more store brands compared to last year. 0:06:30.960 --> 0:06:32.800 We wanted to point this out because just generally speaking, 0:06:32.800 --> 0:06:35.800 store brands, they are getting better, they're getting more popular. 0:06:35.839 --> 0:06:38.520 There are there are more options for you on the shells. Uh. 0:06:38.560 --> 0:06:40.360 And if you're a name brand person, we think it's 0:06:40.360 --> 0:06:42.800 time for you to consider and maybe give some of 0:06:42.839 --> 0:06:45.320 the store brands a try. Yeah, you might have tried 0:06:45.360 --> 0:06:47.960 something in the past, but maybe it's maybe it's gotten better, 0:06:48.000 --> 0:06:50.240 so it's worth a shot again. And if you give 0:06:50.240 --> 0:06:51.760 it a shot at the right store. By the way, 0:06:51.800 --> 0:06:54.720 if you give store brands a chance at some of 0:06:54.760 --> 0:06:57.280 the lower cost grocery stores, you've actually got nothing to lose. 0:06:57.320 --> 0:07:00.560 And that's because stores like all the legal they've they've 0:07:00.600 --> 0:07:03.200 got guarantees on their store brain items which allow you 0:07:03.240 --> 0:07:05.520 to return them and get your money back all together. 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:08.960 And so yeah, they'll refund and replace the item at 0:07:09.000 --> 0:07:11.400 the same time, which means no sweat off your back. 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:13.680 And so yeah, Kroger they've got a return policy that's 0:07:13.680 --> 0:07:15.640 not quite as generous, but at least they've got one 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.560 on store brands. But it's important to mention that there's 0:07:18.600 --> 0:07:20.840 nothing to lose and lots of your grocery dollars to 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:23.640 gain opting for fewer name brains in your grocery cart, 0:07:23.920 --> 0:07:25.920 and that there was another story this week about how 0:07:25.920 --> 0:07:28.760 expensive egg prices are getting. It's it's getting pretty absurd, right, 0:07:28.800 --> 0:07:32.080 But so every every way in which we can save 0:07:32.120 --> 0:07:34.360 money at the grocery store it matters right now. And 0:07:34.800 --> 0:07:37.440 store brains are just one of the slammed on easiest 0:07:37.480 --> 0:07:39.600 ways to do it without having to like clip cubans 0:07:39.600 --> 0:07:42.000 and annoy yourself to death. When it comes to saving money, 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.360 it's just a simple way to to make progress on that. Well. 0:07:45.400 --> 0:07:48.400 And it's not like they're so specifically with Legal and Aldi. 0:07:48.680 --> 0:07:50.760 It's not like there's not store brands there. I mean, 0:07:51.000 --> 0:07:53.320 so there are a lot more. There definitely are, but 0:07:53.360 --> 0:07:56.360 they're like you last time we're over at Legal Rights Bacon, 0:07:56.680 --> 0:07:59.080 that's like they're really good stuff. They're totally on sale. 0:07:59.160 --> 0:08:01.720 Got a multiple pound and a half packages of that 0:08:01.760 --> 0:08:03.880 for like six bucks six bucks each of that jump 0:08:03.880 --> 0:08:06.000 in the in the in the freezer. But yeah, Legal 0:08:06.040 --> 0:08:07.800 and all these specifically, I think they carry something like 0:08:07.880 --> 0:08:11.400 four uh, four times more of their store brands versus 0:08:11.440 --> 0:08:12.840 the name brands that they carry in the store. And 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:14.840 so it's just a way, I mean that is how 0:08:14.840 --> 0:08:16.920 you're able to save so much money is because by 0:08:17.000 --> 0:08:19.840 default you can't buy a whole lot of store brands 0:08:19.840 --> 0:08:21.840 because they don't i'm sorry, name brands, because they don't 0:08:21.840 --> 0:08:24.040 typically carry a ton of them. By default, you are 0:08:24.160 --> 0:08:26.360 purchasing the store brands, and those all the legal store 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:28.840 brands are by default going to be cheaper than most 0:08:28.840 --> 0:08:31.400 of the other major grocery store store brands just because 0:08:31.520 --> 0:08:34.440 of the kind of business they run. And so store 0:08:34.480 --> 0:08:37.720 brands are a good idea store brands at the cheapest 0:08:37.960 --> 0:08:40.760 grocery stores out there isn't even better idea even more 0:08:40.920 --> 0:08:44.160 affordable Joel, there are gonna be changes that are likely 0:08:44.160 --> 0:08:47.560 coming to four one k's next year. We're gonna probably 0:08:47.760 --> 0:08:51.120 know sometime next week, but it definitely looks like this bill. Uh. 0:08:51.160 --> 0:08:54.720 This is part of the omnibus giant spending bill that's 0:08:54.920 --> 0:08:58.040 set to be passed by Congress, likely signed by the President. 0:08:58.280 --> 0:09:01.480 But it will also include secure two point oh bill, 0:09:01.840 --> 0:09:04.320 which means that retirement savers are going to be helped 0:09:04.320 --> 0:09:06.280 out on a few different fronts. First of all, r 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:10.160 m d s required minimum distributions on retirement accounts. They're 0:09:10.200 --> 0:09:13.760 likely to be pushed back to age seventy five from 0:09:13.800 --> 0:09:16.560 the current age of seventy two over the next ten years. 0:09:16.920 --> 0:09:18.880 That's gonna be helpful for a lot of folks who 0:09:19.080 --> 0:09:22.280 honestly are still working. They're talking money away and they 0:09:22.280 --> 0:09:24.199 don't want to have to take that money out. And 0:09:24.240 --> 0:09:27.400 I mean, we're seeing the age of the workforce continue 0:09:27.440 --> 0:09:30.360 to increase as folks, they're living longer, they're living longer, 0:09:30.480 --> 0:09:32.559 they continue to be healthy, and they wouldn't want to 0:09:32.559 --> 0:09:36.400 be a productive part of society. Automatic enrollment in workplace 0:09:36.400 --> 0:09:39.680 retirement accounts plus annual percentage boosts are set to become 0:09:39.800 --> 0:09:41.760 law as well, and I think that's gonna be great. 0:09:41.760 --> 0:09:44.160 That'll be a way to help a lot of folks 0:09:44.200 --> 0:09:48.040 to invest who just otherwise wouldn't because they either forgot 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:51.079 about it or because of inertiare bias, which is a 0:09:51.080 --> 0:09:53.840 fancy way of saying that they're just being lazy of 0:09:53.920 --> 0:09:57.439 a catch up contributor destination. When I did in college, 0:09:57.440 --> 0:09:59.720 that's what they're doing with their retirement accounts. Exactly, but 0:10:00.040 --> 0:10:02.240 catch up contribution limits they're gonna go up as well. 0:10:02.280 --> 0:10:04.720 They're gonna be raised by a meaningful amount for folks 0:10:04.800 --> 0:10:07.080 over the age of sixties. So in particular for those 0:10:07.080 --> 0:10:09.880 who are further along, there are going to be a 0:10:09.920 --> 0:10:11.760 lot of provisions to help those those folks out. And 0:10:11.760 --> 0:10:14.160 so we will definitely make sure to keep folks posted 0:10:14.280 --> 0:10:16.920 as this becomes law, for sure. Yeah, So there's a 0:10:16.920 --> 0:10:20.839 lot a lot of provisions in this bill that dramatically 0:10:21.000 --> 0:10:23.280 are going to change what people are able to do 0:10:23.360 --> 0:10:26.200 when it comes to saving for retirement, making it easier 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:29.040 and just more reflexive for a lot of folks. And 0:10:29.040 --> 0:10:31.720 and one other provision would allow employers to incentivize their 0:10:31.760 --> 0:10:35.160 employees to save up a small emergency fund within their 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:38.280 retirement account if they make under a certain threshold, which 0:10:38.320 --> 0:10:40.559 which is an interesting new feature. I think math that 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.040 can help incentivize people to get that rainy day fund 0:10:43.240 --> 0:10:45.520 that they might not otherwise do if there's a match 0:10:45.800 --> 0:10:47.719 that kind of propels them in that direction. I think 0:10:47.760 --> 0:10:50.040 that's kind of cool. And since four oh one K 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.120 hardship withdrawals are going up in a meaningful way according 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.960 to recent statistics from Vanguard, from fidelity from some other 0:10:56.280 --> 0:10:58.679 four one K providers. This could be a really important 0:10:58.679 --> 0:11:00.920 part of this bill because yeah, one of the worst 0:11:00.920 --> 0:11:03.079 things you can do for your financial future, of course, 0:11:03.440 --> 0:11:06.000 is to raid your retirement account before you get to 0:11:06.040 --> 0:11:09.520 retirement age, like stealing from future you. Yes, uh, And 0:11:09.559 --> 0:11:12.400 so if you go this route, you might be solving 0:11:12.440 --> 0:11:14.480 a temporary money issue in your life, but you're creating 0:11:14.480 --> 0:11:17.640 a bigger, long term mess with taxes and penalties and 0:11:17.679 --> 0:11:20.320 the like, and and just yeah, like, like you said, Matt, 0:11:20.360 --> 0:11:22.280 stealing for future you. You don't have that money growing 0:11:22.640 --> 0:11:25.840 for your eventual retirement either, so you're setting yourself up 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:27.959 to be working a lot later into your life then 0:11:28.000 --> 0:11:30.400 you might otherwise want to. And the truth is, like 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:32.280 a four o one K loan is different. It's less 0:11:32.280 --> 0:11:35.400 egregious than a four oh one K hardship withdrawal. But 0:11:35.480 --> 0:11:38.360 we'd prefer that you think of retirement dollars as untouchable, 0:11:38.600 --> 0:11:41.240 even if there are ways in which you can access them. 0:11:41.360 --> 0:11:44.679 Just because you can doesn't mean you should. And we'll discuss, 0:11:44.720 --> 0:11:46.640 like we said, more about these changes at some point 0:11:46.640 --> 0:11:49.040 in January if this bill passes, Because there's just a 0:11:49.040 --> 0:11:51.360 lot of moving parts and We're not sure how it's 0:11:51.360 --> 0:11:53.559 all going to shake out at this point, but yeah, 0:11:53.559 --> 0:11:55.680 it sounds like there are some some good changes. But 0:11:56.080 --> 0:11:59.360 as always, human behavior stymies progress, and we don't want 0:11:59.360 --> 0:12:02.000 to see you styming your own, you know, financial progress 0:12:02.040 --> 0:12:05.480 by rating those retirement accounts before it's time. That's right, man, 0:12:05.520 --> 0:12:08.600 Let's talk about paying for college, because we've talked many 0:12:08.600 --> 0:12:10.880 times about how five twenty nine plans, how they're not 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:13.800 our favorite spot for many folks to be stalking away 0:12:13.840 --> 0:12:16.400 money if you aren't crushing it right when it like 0:12:16.400 --> 0:12:18.480 when it comes to your your your own saving into 0:12:18.480 --> 0:12:21.160 your own retirement accounts where you're maxing out that roth 0:12:21.240 --> 0:12:24.800 IRA and hopefully coming close to maxing out of workplace plan. 0:12:25.520 --> 0:12:27.520 If that's the case, the five nine plans should be 0:12:27.520 --> 0:12:29.600 off the table for you. But if you are one 0:12:29.600 --> 0:12:32.560 of those folks who is knocking it out of the 0:12:32.559 --> 0:12:35.240 park on that front, and you've got kids who are 0:12:35.320 --> 0:12:38.560 likely to go to private school or to college, a 0:12:38.720 --> 0:12:41.840 five twenty nine plan actually might be a great account 0:12:41.840 --> 0:12:45.640 to consider funding. But there there's an interesting twist. There 0:12:45.640 --> 0:12:48.760 has been a rule that was changed recently that might 0:12:48.960 --> 0:12:51.400 impact how it is that you opt to go about 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.120 saving four those goals and specifically who you might want 0:12:55.120 --> 0:12:58.440 to have ownership of that account. It's a it's a 0:12:58.600 --> 0:13:00.360 small it's a it's a it's a new outs here 0:13:00.360 --> 0:13:02.440 that's worth talking about. Yeah, so this is definitely another 0:13:02.800 --> 0:13:05.880 like headline that's worth discussing because it's going to impact 0:13:05.920 --> 0:13:09.400 how and in what way people save for their kids college. 0:13:09.559 --> 0:13:11.240 You're right, mad, It's something that we don't recommend for 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:12.520 a whole lot of people, but for some people that 0:13:12.559 --> 0:13:14.960 doesn't make sense. And what some folks don't know is 0:13:15.000 --> 0:13:16.559 that a portion of what you invest in a five 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.440 nine plan counts against your kid's ability to receive financial aid. 0:13:20.559 --> 0:13:22.560 So they're applying for college and the college says, hey, 0:13:22.800 --> 0:13:25.400 you got all this money in the plan. Uh, you know, 0:13:25.480 --> 0:13:27.600 and so we're gonna offer you a little bit less 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:30.320 money than than we would have because you've saved so well, 0:13:30.360 --> 0:13:32.840 there's a little bit of a penalty associated with it. Uh. 0:13:32.920 --> 0:13:35.120 The more you save, the more difficult it becomes to 0:13:35.160 --> 0:13:37.520 score free money from the college that they choose to 0:13:37.559 --> 0:13:40.000 go to. But FAFSA has made some changes that might 0:13:40.000 --> 0:13:42.680 impact how you choose to invest for your child's college future. 0:13:42.679 --> 0:13:46.080 And it turns out that money that's allocated in grand 0:13:46.080 --> 0:13:48.560 hairent accounts is now going to have zero impact on 0:13:48.600 --> 0:13:52.320 financial aid eligibility for their grand kids. In the past, 0:13:52.400 --> 0:13:54.040 that has not been the case. And we've said that 0:13:54.080 --> 0:13:57.720 you might want to solicit donations from grandparents for plans 0:13:57.720 --> 0:13:59.880 that you open for your your own kids, but now 0:14:00.000 --> 0:14:05.000 now effective for the school year, they the grandparents might 0:14:05.000 --> 0:14:07.520 want to open the five plan of their own volition 0:14:07.600 --> 0:14:09.600 for the benefit of their grand and their own name, yes, 0:14:09.920 --> 0:14:13.280 in their name being the owner, for the benefit of 0:14:13.320 --> 0:14:16.160 the grand kid, because that's gonna allow for maximum financial 0:14:16.160 --> 0:14:19.280 aid flexibility. And so it's a five twenty nine twist. 0:14:19.320 --> 0:14:22.560 New quirks is gonna they're gonna have ramifications. By the way, 0:14:22.880 --> 0:14:24.280 we might be one step ahead of you on this. 0:14:24.520 --> 0:14:27.880 You cannot change the account holder of the plan that 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:30.360 you already have open. You can't transfer the assets that 0:14:30.400 --> 0:14:31.880 you have in your name to the benefit of your 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:35.280 kids to your mom or dad or your mother in 0:14:35.360 --> 0:14:37.400 law father in law. So that's important to note. And 0:14:37.400 --> 0:14:39.920 also just one more minor note on the nine front, 0:14:40.400 --> 0:14:43.800 there's a proposed legislation that would allow folks to roll 0:14:43.880 --> 0:14:46.840 over unused five nine funds into a roth high array, 0:14:46.920 --> 0:14:49.280 and if that happens, we'll like them a whole lot more. 0:14:49.320 --> 0:14:51.920 They might become uh an account that we recommend a 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:54.480 lot more people consider more options if that's something that 0:14:54.520 --> 0:14:57.040 you can do. There's certain stipulations around this, but again 0:14:57.080 --> 0:14:59.080 that that's a part of that secure two point oh 0:14:59.120 --> 0:15:01.560 bill and they're not that actually passes and if it 0:15:01.600 --> 0:15:04.360 gets modified, we're not totally sure. It definitely did have 0:15:04.400 --> 0:15:07.200 some stipulations right as to how long those funds needed, 0:15:07.280 --> 0:15:09.440 how long that account needed to have already existed before 0:15:09.440 --> 0:15:11.640 you could roll that over to a roth ira. Yeah. 0:15:11.840 --> 0:15:13.640 One of the things we hate the most about five 0:15:13.960 --> 0:15:16.840 nine plans is how inflexible they can become. And if 0:15:16.840 --> 0:15:18.560 they have more flexibility, if you can roll it over 0:15:18.560 --> 0:15:21.280 into a roth Ira, that's going to change the dynamics 0:15:21.720 --> 0:15:24.440 of how we feel about that account in general. But yeah, 0:15:24.640 --> 0:15:26.760 likely said, we'll update you, hopefully with more on this 0:15:26.800 --> 0:15:31.000 front soon. Lots of proposed changes, nothing uh firmly set yet, 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.600 but now we've got more to get to, including we're 0:15:33.600 --> 0:15:36.880 gonna talk about some new headwinds facing real estate investors. 0:15:36.880 --> 0:15:48.840 We'll get to that and more right after this. All right, 0:15:48.880 --> 0:15:50.440 we are back from the break which means it is 0:15:50.520 --> 0:15:53.600 officially time now on our Friday flight to get to 0:15:53.680 --> 0:15:57.120 our ludicrous headline of the week. And this headline came 0:15:57.160 --> 0:16:01.760 from the Atlantic, the lie of consumer convenience. I don't 0:16:01.800 --> 0:16:03.040 like to be in line to Matt, I don't. I 0:16:03.040 --> 0:16:04.320 don't know either, man. This is gonna be a good 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:06.480 one actually. So I love this article because it kind 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.880 of calls into questions something most of society, most of 0:16:10.000 --> 0:16:13.400 us today has seen, a sort of like this unquestionable good, 0:16:13.680 --> 0:16:16.880 which is modern apps on our phones and services that 0:16:16.920 --> 0:16:21.200 make our lives incredibly convenient. I'm sure this probably sounds 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:23.160 pretty familiar, right, Like, if anyone out there, if they've 0:16:23.160 --> 0:16:26.080 tried some of these services and they purport to save 0:16:26.120 --> 0:16:28.800 you time, and they say they save you hassle talking 0:16:28.840 --> 0:16:31.880 about apps like instat cart if so, you've probably found 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:34.560 it to be you know, maybe like it works, you 0:16:34.560 --> 0:16:36.960 actually got some groceries, you found it to be pretty novel, 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:39.120 maybe you found it to be meat. But also at 0:16:39.120 --> 0:16:41.320 the same time, uh, there's a good chance you found 0:16:41.320 --> 0:16:43.680 it to be lacking. There's probably a good chance he 0:16:43.680 --> 0:16:46.200 didn't get all of the goods that you wanted to 0:16:46.200 --> 0:16:48.320 get in the grocery, right, some of the substitutions were 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.840 just whacking that. That's the biggest complaint I've heard about 0:16:51.840 --> 0:16:54.040 so many of those services is that somebody says, like 0:16:54.280 --> 0:16:56.520 I ordered pickles and they gave me cucumbers, and it's like, 0:16:56.560 --> 0:16:58.840 I know that the same thing, but they're not the 0:16:58.880 --> 0:17:02.720 same thing originally the vegetable, yes, but completely different. Yeah. 0:17:02.840 --> 0:17:04.960 At one point in the article, the writer asked the question, 0:17:05.200 --> 0:17:07.960 have all of these on demand services that have come 0:17:08.000 --> 0:17:10.840 to dominate our lives, have they actually made them better 0:17:11.080 --> 0:17:14.720 or have they just created the illusion of efficiency. I 0:17:14.760 --> 0:17:17.080 think that's a great question. I think it's one worth 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.400 wrestling with because oftentimes these these apps and these services 0:17:20.440 --> 0:17:22.919 that we sign up for the free trials are oftentimes 0:17:22.960 --> 0:17:25.320 more trouble than they're actually worth. Yeah. Yeah, I mean, 0:17:25.320 --> 0:17:27.760 I think if these apps are working for individual listeners 0:17:27.800 --> 0:17:29.440 out there, more power to you. But I think the 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:32.280 reality and and what this writer was getting through in 0:17:32.280 --> 0:17:34.520 this article is that they do promise something and then 0:17:34.560 --> 0:17:37.760 they rarely deliver what they're promising, and or it's just 0:17:37.800 --> 0:17:41.080 like it's a subpar version of whatever it is at 0:17:41.080 --> 0:17:42.440 the promise, and so you're like, I'm going to get 0:17:42.440 --> 0:17:44.640 out of going to the grocery store, but no you're 0:17:44.640 --> 0:17:47.359 not because there's a few things that the shopper buying 0:17:47.359 --> 0:17:49.600 on the instant cart that they missed, and so you 0:17:49.640 --> 0:17:51.159 still have to go to the grocery store to pickos 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.439 items up. And it's a big paint not to mention 0:17:53.680 --> 0:17:55.520 that service has costing you a pretty penny at the 0:17:55.560 --> 0:17:57.639 same time, but it's not delivering in the way that 0:17:57.680 --> 0:17:59.640 you hoped it would. And so yeah, we would say 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:01.480 that we think that there can be value to paying 0:18:01.480 --> 0:18:04.280 for convenience in some circumstances. So there's a reason most 0:18:04.280 --> 0:18:07.080 of us have upgraded from using our two feet to 0:18:07.080 --> 0:18:11.160 get everywhere two bikes and cars. It's worth the expands 0:18:11.480 --> 0:18:14.040 because we're able to get places more quickly. You don't 0:18:14.040 --> 0:18:16.280 have the d y everything in your life to be frugal. 0:18:16.520 --> 0:18:18.840 But there's also this subtle line, right that this article 0:18:18.920 --> 0:18:23.040 draws helpful attention to that that these services they overpromised, 0:18:23.040 --> 0:18:24.960 they under deliver, and we're told that they're going to 0:18:25.000 --> 0:18:26.720 make our lives easier, so we can kick up our feet, 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:28.920 we can take a break, take a sip, eliminade, read 0:18:28.960 --> 0:18:31.560 a book, whatever it is, paying just a few extra 0:18:31.600 --> 0:18:34.000 bucks to have our grocers delivered. Wow, how nice is 0:18:34.040 --> 0:18:35.360 this going to be? And how much more free time 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:38.800 is it gonna add to our schedule? But now is 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:41.480 just a great time to reassess whether or not these 0:18:41.480 --> 0:18:44.000 services that we're paying for that claim to make our 0:18:44.080 --> 0:18:47.199 lives easier, whether they're actually paying dividends or not. I 0:18:47.200 --> 0:18:50.240 think it's great to revisit from time to time instead 0:18:50.240 --> 0:18:53.520 of blindly continuing to pay for a service that maybe 0:18:53.760 --> 0:18:55.480 isn't providing as much value in your life as you 0:18:55.520 --> 0:18:58.040