Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and
Speaker 1: Matt's and today we are answering your listener questions. Joel,
Speaker 1: it is a listener question Monday, and we've got five
Speaker 1: excellent questions, including one about asking for a credit limit
Speaker 1: increase how that affects your credit score. On another one,
Speaker 1: we're gonna talk about the things to consider when you're
Speaker 1: on the path to home ownership. And we have a
Speaker 1: question as well that has to do with bikes. We're
Speaker 1: gonna make a bike recommendation to somebody because he knows
Speaker 1: our love, our passion of all sorts of bikes out there.
Speaker 1: So excited to get to that last question as well. Yeah,
Speaker 1: we don't want them to spend too much, but you
Speaker 1: know what, a bike is one thing that's worth spending
Speaker 1: a little bit more on, I think, and I would
Speaker 1: be willing to say that a bike is an investment
Speaker 1: as well. There's not many things that we spend money
Speaker 1: on that go down in value that I would consider
Speaker 1: an investment, but bikes totally are because think about all
Speaker 1: the money that it's saving you by not driving around.
Speaker 1: It's a good point. Yeah, bikes are definitely a worthwhile purchase.
Speaker 1: I don't know if I'm willing to call a bike
Speaker 1: in investment, but I think it's a worthwhile purchase because
Speaker 1: it can say while purchase for sure. Yeah all right, okay,
Speaker 1: question for you frugal or cheap. Let's do this. We
Speaker 1: haven't done it in a minute, Let's do it. Uh.
Speaker 1: So recently I heard about this this company. I think
Speaker 1: they're an Instagram ad called Propane Taxi. And wait, how
Speaker 1: do you say propane? You say propane, propane, propane, propane, propane,
Speaker 1: all right, the emphasist is on the first the wrong sellable.
Speaker 1: So okay. So I saw this ad, I decided, wow,
Speaker 1: ten dollar propane tank delivered to my porch. Why not,
Speaker 1: I'll give it a shot. And so so I signed up,
Speaker 1: and they delivered it when they said they were going
Speaker 1: to and literally it was I want to say it
Speaker 1: was eight dollars and fifty cents. Because I chose a
Speaker 1: date like two weeks off in the future would save
Speaker 1: me even more money. And it's like Amazon slow ship
Speaker 1: the five dollars of random credit that you'll never be
Speaker 1: able to find exactly exactly. And so yeah, the propane
Speaker 1: tank showed up and man, it was super seamless, but
Speaker 1: you know, my initial thought when I first placed the order,
Speaker 1: when I first ordered that tank, was I'm never going
Speaker 1: to use these guys again, because I saw their regular
Speaker 1: rates that we were like twenty three to a tank,
Speaker 1: and I know I can go just down to the
Speaker 1: whole hardware store and I can get the same tank
Speaker 1: for fourteen bucks. But yeah, what's your take on that?
Speaker 1: Is it frugal or cheap to sign up for a
Speaker 1: service because of the initial deal knowing in all likelihood
Speaker 1: you're never going to use that service again. Man, this
Speaker 1: is such a tough question, and I could constantly struggle
Speaker 1: with questions like this as well, because in an instance
Speaker 1: like this here, here's why I struggle. It is because
Speaker 1: I feel pretty confident in my ability to say no,
Speaker 1: Like I'm pretty sure I'm never going to use the
Speaker 1: company like that again. It's funny that you mentioned them,
Speaker 1: because I'm looking at swapping out one of my things
Speaker 1: with him as well. I think I got the same
Speaker 1: Instagram ad that you did. Uh, Because now that a summer,
Speaker 1: we're doing a lot more grilling, you know, But obviously
Speaker 1: that the company is banking on the fact that you'll
Speaker 1: use them, you will realize how great they are, you know,
Speaker 1: the convenience that they're able to provide that you won't
Speaker 1: have to lug your you know, the heavy, nasty propane
Speaker 1: tank around, you know, it's got like grease drippings on
Speaker 1: it to completely avoid that. They'll think that you'll kind
Speaker 1: of fall in love with their service and that you
Speaker 1: will just kind of stick with it, But I struggle
Speaker 1: with it knowing that I'm I'm going to cancel it,
Speaker 1: right if if I sign up for that service, I'm
Speaker 1: pretty sure I'm going to cancel. I'm pretty confident in
Speaker 1: my ability to say no, and that that's not going
Speaker 1: to be something that I just kind of slowly, you know,
Speaker 1: upgrade my quality of life by you know, taking part
Speaker 1: in this delivery service. But even still that being said,
Speaker 1: they they're taking that into accounts. They know that they
Speaker 1: are going to be some people who try their service,
Speaker 1: like you exactly, who are gonna take advantage of that
Speaker 1: discounted first pro pain tank and then they're gonna walk away.
Speaker 1: And so I think they know that, right, and so
Speaker 1: it's built into their business model, and so therefore I
Speaker 1: label it frugal. I think it's a y is you
Speaker 1: some money? I think I'm with you on this because
Speaker 1: I think the their goal, their effort is to try
Speaker 1: to provide a great service and show you how wonderful
Speaker 1: it can be. And you know what, I'm leaving room
Speaker 1: in the back of my mind that I could be
Speaker 1: persuaded that I'm just gonna start having propane tanks delivered
Speaker 1: to my porch, but in a likelihood that's that's not
Speaker 1: gonna happen. I'm not willing to pay ten dollars extra
Speaker 1: every time I need to refill, but I was willing
Speaker 1: to give it a shot, knowing full well there was
Speaker 1: a really good chance I never used them again. So
Speaker 1: I'm gonna go frugal, even though you know, maybe maybe
Speaker 1: some of our audience would say say it's cheap, but
Speaker 1: I think it's worth it to take advantage of an
Speaker 1: initial offer, and that It's happened to me before where
Speaker 1: I took advantage of an initial offer and I didn't
Speaker 1: think I was going to be a sticky customer, and
Speaker 1: then I ended up being one. For instance, one time
Speaker 1: when I switched banks and that there was, you know,
Speaker 1: an initial bonus to sign up and transfer your money over,
Speaker 1: and I was like, cool, Yeah, I'm totally gonna ditch
Speaker 1: and go back to my bank after I get that
Speaker 1: free money, and I didn't. I ended up liking what
Speaker 1: that bank had to offer and it felt worthwhile. It
Speaker 1: kept him around in my life. So yeah, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: say frugal when you take advantage of one of those
Speaker 1: offers that is readily available, it's frugal, it's not cheap.
Speaker 1: And plus, we're talking about propane taxi a lot right now.
Speaker 1: We have no affiliation with them at all, but it's
Speaker 1: something you and I just felt like discussing. I'm willing
Speaker 1: to bet that they think that this is probably a
Speaker 1: huge win, uh, and that we're actually losing out. All right, man,
Speaker 1: let's go ahead. Take it to the beer. This episode,
Speaker 1: we are drinking a beer by Wild Leap. This one
Speaker 1: is called Time, Love and Tenderness and this is a
Speaker 1: double I p A. I'm looking forward to sharing this
Speaker 1: one with you, buddy, and we'll give our tasing notes
Speaker 1: what we think about this beer at the end of
Speaker 1: the episode. You know it, all right, Matt, onto the
Speaker 1: list of questions that we're gonna answer on today's episode
Speaker 1: for folks that have a question that they want to
Speaker 1: submit for the show. Matt and I would love to
Speaker 1: take your question on a future episode. Just go to
Speaker 1: our website how to money dot com slash ask. You'll
Speaker 1: find the simple directions there for how to submit a
Speaker 1: voice question so we can feature it on the show
Speaker 1: and then answer it. So, Matt, let's get to the
Speaker 1: first one. This one's about asking for a credit limit increase. Hi,
Speaker 1: this is Lisa from Baton Rouge. I recently paid off
Speaker 1: to credit cards and a friend advised that I asked
Speaker 1: for a credit limit in reas on either or both
Speaker 1: of them because she said it would increase my credit score. Now,
Speaker 1: I was planning on leaving the accounts open, not using them,
Speaker 1: and letting the account closing process happen naturally, so to speak.
Speaker 1: So I'm wondering if what she said is accurate and
Speaker 1: if y'all had any advice on that. Thank you, Lisa,
Speaker 1: thanks so much for that question, and congrats on paying
Speaker 1: off your credit card debt. That is awesome. Paying off
Speaker 1: consumer debt, especially spread out over a couple of cards
Speaker 1: like that, that is no easy feat, you know, especially
Speaker 1: during this recession as well, So good job. There takes
Speaker 1: a lot of dedication to make that happen, absolutely so so, Lisa,
Speaker 1: credit limit increases. They are traditionally a great thing to
Speaker 1: ask of your credit card company. They can lift your
Speaker 1: credit score nicely because so much of your score is
Speaker 1: a reflection of how much of your available credit you
Speaker 1: are actually using. So as a reminder, you don't want
Speaker 1: to be using much of your available credit, but you
Speaker 1: do want a lot of it available to you. Yeah,
Speaker 1: it's such an odd system, Matt, that it's set up
Speaker 1: that way, where you look better the more credit you
Speaker 1: have access to, but where you're not using much of it.
Speaker 1: It's very confusing to a lot of people. Yeah, sort
Speaker 1: of like if you have a ferrari, but the credit
Speaker 1: bureaus only when to see you take that up to
Speaker 1: like twenty hour. But that being said, Lisa, you are
Speaker 1: unlikely to get a limit increase in today's environment, credit
Speaker 1: card companies are actually slashing limits because they're worried about
Speaker 1: people relying too much on the credit cards right now.
Speaker 1: So traditionally this is great advice, but it's actually unlikely
Speaker 1: to to work for you right now. Yeah, you probably
Speaker 1: don't want to call your credit card company asking for
Speaker 1: a credit limit increase just because they're likely to say now,
Speaker 1: So probably best to avoid that conversation for the time being.
Speaker 1: And Lisa, you are right to leave those cards open,
Speaker 1: but we would prefer that you actually use them on occasion, right,
Speaker 1: maybe two to four times a year, maybe once a
Speaker 1: month on a recurring monthly subscription something like that, because
Speaker 1: you actually don't want those cards to close. And if
Speaker 1: you leave them open but then stop using them all together,
Speaker 1: eventually that credit card company is going to close it
Speaker 1: for you. Uh, And that's not what you want. Using
Speaker 1: that credit card in a limited fashion and then having
Speaker 1: it paid automatically every single month is going to keep
Speaker 1: that credit score alive in your credit mix, and it's
Speaker 1: going to help out your credit score over time. And
Speaker 1: the great thing is then you don't even really have
Speaker 1: to think about it. That card is helping your score
Speaker 1: in a big way just by using it sparingly and
Speaker 1: then paying off the balance in full every month. Yeah.
Speaker 1: And there are a couple instances though, when we would
Speaker 1: recommend closing a credit card, Lisa. One is you know,
Speaker 1: if you're likely to run up more credit card debt
Speaker 1: by using those cards, because just because that credit is available, right,
Speaker 1: If that's the case, If that's you, then go ahead
Speaker 1: and close those cards. Now, this is an instance where
Speaker 1: knowing yourself and being honest with yourself is really important, honestly, Joe,
Speaker 1: this kind of makes me think of like if someone has,
Speaker 1: you know, say, a drinking problem, right uh, and they
Speaker 1: are quitting alcohol, it's probably not a good idea just
Speaker 1: to keep alcohol just around the house just in case
Speaker 1: you're gonna be more likely to lapse. And you know,
Speaker 1: if someone knows that that's a temptation for them, well
Speaker 1: that's just not a wise move. Having a drink now
Speaker 1: and then it's a good thing, it's something that you
Speaker 1: and I enjoy. But if you know it's going to
Speaker 1: be a problem, just remove it from your life completely.
Speaker 1: I think credit cards are very similar. If you have
Speaker 1: a spending problem, well it's not a good idea just
Speaker 1: to keep these cards with high credit limits available to
Speaker 1: you just sitting around. And then another instance where you'd
Speaker 1: want to close the cards is if it has an
Speaker 1: annual fee and you aren't taking advantage of those extra benefits.
Speaker 1: There are a lot of great cards out there that
Speaker 1: have no annual fee with great benefits, especially cash back. Juel,
Speaker 1: I know that you're a big fan of the City
Speaker 1: Double Cash card, where you are two percent on every
Speaker 1: single purchase. Yeah, keeps it simple on everything. Yeah. I
Speaker 1: love that. Uh, and so we'll link to that card
Speaker 1: in our show notes. But there are a lot of
Speaker 1: cards like that one that have no annual fee every
Speaker 1: single year, and you can take advantage of some of
Speaker 1: those benefits without having to pay extra. Yeah. All right, Matt,
Speaker 1: We're gonna get to you some more questions, including the
Speaker 1: one about the path to homeownership. How you start to
Speaker 1: even think about buying a house, what that looks like.
Speaker 1: We'll get to that and more questions right after the break. Alright, Joel,
Speaker 1: back from the break. He's still hanging in there. I'm here, buddy,
Speaker 1: I'm ready. All right, Before we get to that question
Speaker 1: about home ownership, let's get to a question about how
Speaker 1: to you go about paying off a loan. Hey, Matt
Speaker 1: and Joel, this is Cassie from Liberty, Missouri. I love
Speaker 1: your show. I love that you drink beer. Makes my
Speaker 1: day anyway. Um, we have an installment loan that we
Speaker 1: got a couple of years ago for some sighting and
Speaker 1: windows on a property. It's six with a maturity date
Speaker 1: of This is the only debt we have besides our home.
Speaker 1: We want to get this paid off as soon as possible.
Speaker 1: I don't want to pay this interest rate forever. What
Speaker 1: are my options? We want to pay it off very quickly,
Speaker 1: especially with the economy like it is in the interest
Speaker 1: rates being low, but we're just looking for options. I
Speaker 1: don't really know what to do with it. Any advice
Speaker 1: or help would be much appreciated. Thank you, Cassie. Thanks
Speaker 1: for your question. By the way, drinking a good beer
Speaker 1: makes our days too, doesn't Matt. Yeah, I'm glad to
Speaker 1: hear that she enjoys us enjoying a beer. That makes
Speaker 1: me happy. All right, Cassie, let's get onto your question
Speaker 1: about paying off an installment loan, and we we so
Speaker 1: love your motivation to pay off that debt quickly. Seven
Speaker 1: percent is an expensive interest rate, especially in today's environment,
Speaker 1: and you definitely don't want to be paying on that
Speaker 1: loan for the next nine years. But you also don't
Speaker 1: want to pay off that installment loan by any means necessary.
Speaker 1: Right there. There are certain things you need to take
Speaker 1: into consideration before you aim all of your money arsenal
Speaker 1: at this at this debt, and in particular, given the
Speaker 1: trying times we find ourselves in, you don't want to
Speaker 1: wipe out all of your emergency fund that you have
Speaker 1: saved up. You you want to be able to maintain
Speaker 1: at least some financial margin right now, even while you're
Speaker 1: making paying off this debt a big priority in your life. Yeah, exactly,
Speaker 1: you don't want to completely wipe out all of your
Speaker 1: cash reserves to just pay down this installment loan and
Speaker 1: Cassie Let's mention credit cards as well. You know, since
Speaker 1: this installment alone was used for home improvement, it sounds
Speaker 1: like you might have a larger balance, and so you
Speaker 1: may not be able to do a balanced transfer and
Speaker 1: pay off that installment alone with a zero percent balance
Speaker 1: transfer credit card. And even if you could, you probably
Speaker 1: wouldn't want to because if you were to do that,
Speaker 1: the clock would then be ticking on that credit card
Speaker 1: and you might only have fifteen months or or maybe
Speaker 1: at most twenty one months to pay off that card.
Speaker 1: And you don't want to put yourself in a position
Speaker 1: where you're gonna see the interest rate really go sky
Speaker 1: high after that zero percent window has expired. Yeah. So, ultimately,
Speaker 1: for Cassie, Matt, you and I think that a helock
Speaker 1: is is ideal for her. Rates on those are roughly
Speaker 1: half of what Cassie is currently paying, and there are
Speaker 1: typically no closing costs associated with with getting a helock.
Speaker 1: Rates are so low they're very competitive, and so yeah,
Speaker 1: that's the direction that Cassie, we would suggest you go
Speaker 1: in in order to make sure more of your money,
Speaker 1: more of your payments are going towards eliminating the debt,
Speaker 1: not just going towards interest. One other thing that makes
Speaker 1: the helock even a better idea right now is that
Speaker 1: the Federal Reserve has indicated that they're gonna keep rates
Speaker 1: low for a while in all likelihood through two. A
Speaker 1: home equity line of credit does not come with a
Speaker 1: fixed rate, and that is one downside of the helock,
Speaker 1: right that your rate can increase over the life of
Speaker 1: the loan, But because of the likelihood that that rates
Speaker 1: are not going to go up in the next few years,
Speaker 1: that makes the helock a whole lot less risky. So
Speaker 1: while current borrowers have seen their rates decline, which is
Speaker 1: awesome if you currently have a helock, if you take
Speaker 1: out a loan right now, you will likely see your
Speaker 1: rate rise at some point during the payoff period. But
Speaker 1: with how low rates are currently, with how low we
Speaker 1: expect them to be over the next few years. I
Speaker 1: think it's not a terribly risky position to put yourself in.
Speaker 1: You're gonna be able to pay off so much in
Speaker 1: in the next three or four years that by the
Speaker 1: time rates do potentially start to rise, I think your
Speaker 1: your balance is just gonna be so much lower that
Speaker 1: a helock still makes the most sense. Yeah, it is
Speaker 1: a perfect time to get a helock, that is, if
Speaker 1: you can secure one. One other thing to keep in
Speaker 1: mind is that a lot of the bigger banks aren't
Speaker 1: currently offering helocks. But that's actually fine, because we'd want
Speaker 1: you to look round to some local small banks or
Speaker 1: local credit unions where many are still offering helocks. So
Speaker 1: you know, in the end, helock will likely be the
Speaker 1: best option for you because you're going to be drastically
Speaker 1: cutting your right now, making it easier to pay down
Speaker 1: the loan more quickly. So Cassie, do some shopping locally
Speaker 1: for a helock, and yeah, see what kind of rate
Speaker 1: you can get, no doubt, all right, and helocks matt
Speaker 1: or associated with home ownership, and that is what our
Speaker 1: next question is about. Hey Man and Joel, I hope
Speaker 1: you guys are doing Well, my name is John. I'm
Speaker 1: from Los Angeles, California. I just want to start off
Speaker 1: by saying how much of a fan I am. I
Speaker 1: listened every episode and I even write down notes in
Speaker 1: a journal. Because of your advice, I was able to
Speaker 1: pay off all of my credit card debt in school,
Speaker 1: a loan, and even starting h s A, a RATH
Speaker 1: and a high interest savings account. I have a quick
Speaker 1: question for you guys about home ownership. My next financial
Speaker 1: goal was to be able to own a house, but
Speaker 1: given the renting culture and high rent coss in California,
Speaker 1: I'm not really sure how to start or even where
Speaker 1: to look. For context, I previously live in San Francisco.
Speaker 1: We're renting an apartment, usually at a high cost, seems
Speaker 1: to be the norm, so the idea of actually owning
Speaker 1: a house seems a little foreign to me. Any guidance
Speaker 1: on starting name path towards homeownership would be amazing. Thanks guys, Joel.
Speaker 1: I don't know if you heard that question, but John
Speaker 1: is getting after it man. That is amazing, paying down
Speaker 1: all those debts and killing student loans. Uh. And he
Speaker 1: started investing in hs A and a ROTH. That's amazing. Yeah,
Speaker 1: And he's taking notes during the podcast. That's super impressive
Speaker 1: that maybe our show, notut should be a little more detailed, John,
Speaker 1: So you don't have to do that. I don't know,
Speaker 1: But let's talk about John's question in the path to
Speaker 1: home ownership, John, first, you need to decide if that's
Speaker 1: the path you actually want to be on when you
Speaker 1: start looking at numbers. Homeownership is definitely not a slam
Speaker 1: dunk for everyone. There are a lot of additional expenses
Speaker 1: that hopeful homeowners overlook. It's so easy to get starry
Speaker 1: eyes when you're looking at homes on red fin or
Speaker 1: zillo dot com and to imagine yourself living in this
Speaker 1: new place and crunching the numbers can fall by the
Speaker 1: wayside because we fall in love with the idea of
Speaker 1: owning our own place. And John, in particular, because you
Speaker 1: live in an expensive city, that means it's even less
Speaker 1: likely to make sense for you to buy a home,
Speaker 1: and in particular, in expensive cities, primary residents can often
Speaker 1: be terrible investments. And Matt, we've talked overall about how
Speaker 1: home ownership, Buying a home is not necessarily a good
Speaker 1: financial move, and in many cases it's a terrible financial move.
Speaker 1: We talked about that in detail John on episode thirty,
Speaker 1: if you want to check that one out. So, if
Speaker 1: you're just crunching the numbers, renting might continue to make
Speaker 1: the most sense, although it doesn't necessarily mean that you
Speaker 1: shouldn't buy home. It just means that it might not
Speaker 1: make the most financial sense for you. Yeah, And another
Speaker 1: thing to consider too is that home ownership it's about
Speaker 1: more than just the dollars. It's more than just about
Speaker 1: the money, right, There's a sense of place and permanence
Speaker 1: that you can get from owning a home, uh and
Speaker 1: feeling rooted to a spot. But it's a good thing
Speaker 1: to think through whether or not this is something that
Speaker 1: is really important to you. You know, maybe a good
Speaker 1: question to ask yourself is, you know, have I even
Speaker 1: enjoyed being at home during you know, sheltering in place,
Speaker 1: if house projects, and in gardening. If that sounds like
Speaker 1: fun to you, then buying a home sounds like it
Speaker 1: could be a good fit. But if you've been issuing
Speaker 1: to get back to traveling and you know, maybe seeing
Speaker 1: friends in other cities, then maybe owning your own home,
Speaker 1: owning your own house, maybe that's not going to be
Speaker 1: a good idea for you. Yeah, and in a place
Speaker 1: like San Francisco, you might not even have access to
Speaker 1: any sort of place to to grow a garden. I
Speaker 1: don't know, I don't know, but yeah, and that's all
Speaker 1: square foot gardening. You grow, you go verticals. Okay, all right,
Speaker 1: so yeah, John. Another lifestyle consideration is knowing and and
Speaker 1: even committing to being able to live in that house
Speaker 1: for a certain amount of time. Five years is often recommended,
Speaker 1: but but we like to air on the side of
Speaker 1: caution and say that if you're gonna buy a house,
Speaker 1: you should really plan to live there for at least
Speaker 1: seven years. That's because of the massive transaction costs associated
Speaker 1: with buying or selling a home. The great thing is,
Speaker 1: if you're buying a home right now, you can lock
Speaker 1: in a fixed rate for a long period of time
Speaker 1: that is incredibly low, making it potentially a better decision
Speaker 1: to buy right now. Yeah. Rates are close to two
Speaker 1: ten year lows right now, Yeah, which which could lower
Speaker 1: your monthly costs right on on your mortgage, which helps
Speaker 1: put a positive check mark in that column of wanting
Speaker 1: to buy a home. But don't forget that if you
Speaker 1: decide to sell your home within just a few years.
Speaker 1: Even if phone prices haven't gone down, because of just
Speaker 1: those transaction costs of real estate agents and closing costs,
Speaker 1: you you could be taking a loss on that home.
Speaker 1: And so yeah, you're gonna want to be able to
Speaker 1: commit to staying in that place for at least seven years. Yes,
Speaker 1: six percent alone, just in realtor fees can be a
Speaker 1: lot of money when it comes time to sell, Yeah,
Speaker 1: for sure. So John, let's assume though, that you've thought
Speaker 1: through all these things, you do want to buy a
Speaker 1: home and you're ready to maybe pull the trigger. It
Speaker 1: is important to save up. A healthy down payment is
Speaker 1: ideal to qualify for the best rates out there and
Speaker 1: to avoid p M. I Also, you want to make
Speaker 1: sure that your credit score is in great shape too,
Speaker 1: in order to get the best rates. And you can
Speaker 1: also ensure that you get the best rate by shopping
Speaker 1: around with a minimum of three lenders. But you know what,
Speaker 1: we would even prefer more than that if you can
Speaker 1: kind of nerd out a little bit and shop it
Speaker 1: by maybe two more lenders and have a total of five.
Speaker 1: You just want to make sure that you are really
Speaker 1: getting the best rate, and you do that by comparing
Speaker 1: and so Once you have financings right away, the next
Speaker 1: thing you wanna do is to get some recommendations on
Speaker 1: a great realtor who has a lot of experience helping
Speaker 1: buyers and sellers in the specific location that you hope
Speaker 1: to buy a home in. You want to tour a
Speaker 1: lot of homes, get an inspection. Uh, there's a lot
Speaker 1: of details involved with the actual home buying process, but again,
Speaker 1: a great realtor will help you tremendously and will help
Speaker 1: you to, you know, walk through that entire process. Yeah, Matt,
Speaker 1: you said to our a lot of homes. I think
Speaker 1: that's really crucial. I think I think anybody shopping in
Speaker 1: particular for their first home should should step foot in
Speaker 1: in at least ten homes, and honestly, probably more like
Speaker 1: twenty because there are so many idiosyncrasies to houses. Every
Speaker 1: neighborhood is different, every home is different. So the more
Speaker 1: that you can walk around houses and see what's different,
Speaker 1: what's unique, the more that can help you become an
Speaker 1: informed buyer. And that part of the equation actually typically
Speaker 1: gets people excited. Cool, I want to go look at
Speaker 1: ten or twenty homes, But the thing that doesn't typically
Speaker 1: excite people is shopping uh their rate with different lenders
Speaker 1: and getting different quotes and comparing the apples to apples.
Speaker 1: But that is something that you and I are proponents of.
Speaker 1: It might be a little nerdy, not quite as fun
Speaker 1: as going and touring a bunch of homes, but it's
Speaker 1: something that's super necessary if you want to lower those
Speaker 1: monthly costs of voting at home. That's right, man. All right,
Speaker 1: We've got a couple more questions we're gonna get to
Speaker 1: you after the break, including that one about bikes, as
Speaker 1: well as selling some company's stock. We'll get to those
Speaker 1: in a minute. All right, Matt, we're back from the break,
Speaker 1: and the next question up is one about selling company stock.
Speaker 1: That's appreciated nicely. Hi, Joel and Matt. This is Megan
Speaker 1: from Sunny San Diego, California. Currently, my company's stock is
Speaker 1: at an all time high, and if I sell both
Speaker 1: my long term and some of my short term stock,
Speaker 1: I could pay off all of my high interest credit
Speaker 1: card debt. I'm wondering if I should sell just enough
Speaker 1: to cover my debt, only sell my long term stock
Speaker 1: to avoid the short term capital gains tax, or let
Speaker 1: it continue to rise. I do have savings and a
Speaker 1: four oh one. K. Well, thank you so much for
Speaker 1: taking my carne Cheers, Joel. First of all, I feel
Speaker 1: like Megan's maybe rubbing it in a little bit. She
Speaker 1: lives in sunny San Diego. We get it, Megan. You
Speaker 1: live in a great town with great craft beer and
Speaker 1: it's always great weather. We understand, that's right. What's your
Speaker 1: your favorite brewery there in San Diego? Modern Times is there?
Speaker 1: Modern Times is excellent. I've been to Al Smith that's
Speaker 1: an excellent spot as well. But like there's too many
Speaker 1: account like it's really it's really just too hard to
Speaker 1: name a favorite brewery in California or San Diego in particular.
Speaker 1: It's a good place to live, for sure. I've heard
Speaker 1: this one. They're called Pure Project. That's supposed to be
Speaker 1: really good as well. I don't think they distribute, though,
Speaker 1: so we'll see. And I'm also a little curious to
Speaker 1: what company Megan works for, because she said that her
Speaker 1: company stock is doing really well during these difficult, kind
Speaker 1: of weird times, and so, like I know, she doesn't
Speaker 1: work for J. C. Penny. Probably not one of the
Speaker 1: airlines either, Yeah, exactly. Yeah, But I think let's get
Speaker 1: to the heart of Megan's question, And man, I think
Speaker 1: like our first response when when we heard Bangan's question
Speaker 1: was heck, yes, you should tell right if your if
Speaker 1: your company stock has risen this much and you have
Speaker 1: high interest credit card debt at the same time, you
Speaker 1: should sell it and pay that credit card debt off.
Speaker 1: And and and in Megan's questions, she said, or should I
Speaker 1: continue to let it rise? And if if any of
Speaker 1: us could predict the future and know that this stock
Speaker 1: was going to continue to rise, well then I think
Speaker 1: we might have a different take, right. But but none
Speaker 1: of us knows the future of of Megan's company, It's
Speaker 1: particular stock. We don't have any insight as to what
Speaker 1: the stock market is going to do tomorrow or a
Speaker 1: year from now. But what we do know is is
Speaker 1: that credit card debt will eat you alive with interest
Speaker 1: rates that never stop in the range. So I think
Speaker 1: it's a fairly easy decision in our minds, right to
Speaker 1: sell all the stock, pay off your debt, be done
Speaker 1: with credit card debts, and then Megan, do your best
Speaker 1: not to run up those credit cards anymore, not to
Speaker 1: do any spending on them that you can't pay off
Speaker 1: at the end of the month. Yeah, Joe, I totally agree,
Speaker 1: you know, Megan, even though it's worked out for you
Speaker 1: up until now, Like, we're not huge fans of of
Speaker 1: having really any company's stock in your portfolio, like I
Speaker 1: personally would have none. There's just too much risk having
Speaker 1: both your paycheck in your investments with one single company. Uh.
Speaker 1: You know, so you'd be lowering your risk in multiple
Speaker 1: ways by selling the stock and getting rid of your
Speaker 1: credit card debt. You know, if your company is offering,
Speaker 1: you know, an E SPP employee stock purchase plan, go
Speaker 1: ahead and do get those shares at a discount, but
Speaker 1: then sell them as soon as possible. Otherwise we would
Speaker 1: recommend that you just stick with widely diversified, low cost
Speaker 1: index funds, and you can get those with our favorites
Speaker 1: Fidelity and Vanguard. Yes, so I think basically Megan's going
Speaker 1: to get the best of both worlds. Where she scored
Speaker 1: really big with her company stock and had this just
Speaker 1: incredible ability to be able to get rid of her
Speaker 1: credit card debt and one fell swoop, and when she
Speaker 1: sells her stock in order to pay off that credit
Speaker 1: card debt, she's doing something else that's great. She won't
Speaker 1: have nearly as much writing on her employer right her paycheck,
Speaker 1: and then also a good bit of her investments. So Matt,
Speaker 1: I I totally agree. I think selling it getting rid
Speaker 1: of the debt, It's really helpful for Megan's finances in
Speaker 1: multiple ways. Nice all right, Joel, So you and I
Speaker 1: we love bikes. Our next question has to do with
Speaker 1: biking with your kid, So let's go ahead and hear
Speaker 1: that one. Angel and Matt. This is Alec from Los Angeles.
Speaker 1: I love listening to your podcast. Thanks so much for
Speaker 1: all the information you provide me and all your listeners.
Speaker 1: You guys do a great job. I actually have a
Speaker 1: question that deals with your passion for bikes and cycling.
Speaker 1: I recently sold my old, but still in great shape
Speaker 1: road bike. I decided to sell it because I hadn't
Speaker 1: been on it in a while, but the main reason
Speaker 1: I sold it was to try to make some money
Speaker 1: in order to purchase a new bike to take my
Speaker 1: sixteen month old daughter on rides with me using a
Speaker 1: rear mounted child's seat. I'm very much a novice when
Speaker 1: it comes to bikes and everything that goes into the
Speaker 1: things I should look for in a bike, but I
Speaker 1: definitely know that a road bike is not the best
Speaker 1: option for adding a child seat. Consider myself a tall
Speaker 1: guy six too, and adding a child seat in the
Speaker 1: baby's way I know won't fly with a road bike.
Speaker 1: I did some research and I read that I should
Speaker 1: go with the hybrid bike because I don't want a
Speaker 1: mountain bike and I know I don't want a cruiser.
Speaker 1: But I found that even within the hybrid category there's
Speaker 1: so many different types. Anyways, you guys know a lot
Speaker 1: more about bikes and now welcome your thoughts and opinions.
Speaker 1: Oh and one last thing, Just like you guys, I
Speaker 1: would like to keep this purchase on a budget five
Speaker 1: or below would be best, but if the best bang
Speaker 1: for your buck bike is out there a little higher
Speaker 1: than that, then I would have to weigh my the
Speaker 1: pros and cons of the price and the actual bike.
Speaker 1: Thanks and keep up the great work, Alex. Great question,
Speaker 1: Matt May. We always love talking about bikes, so you
Speaker 1: don't have to twist our arms to take your question
Speaker 1: on the show. And he's a tall guy like you
Speaker 1: did that, Yeah, it mid six too. He doesn't have
Speaker 1: he doesn't have your six four going on, but he's
Speaker 1: still pretty tall six five buddy six Yeah, dude, like
Speaker 1: barely six ft. It can't make it harder to find
Speaker 1: a bike for taller people. Yeah, seriously, for sure you've
Speaker 1: had issues with bikes them specifically. I know. Yeah, I
Speaker 1: literally had to buy an aftermarket one for my rad
Speaker 1: bike because yeah, what they came what it came with
Speaker 1: was meant for people up to six ft two people,
Speaker 1: So ID to go on eBay and find find one
Speaker 1: on my own. But yeah, that being said to, bike
Speaker 1: sales have been through the roof lately. I saw that
Speaker 1: r I said that new bike sales are up four
Speaker 1: times uh the amount they normally are lately, So people
Speaker 1: are super into biking and largely because of the pandemic
Speaker 1: and there's nothing else to do. And that we mentioned
Speaker 1: too how in this past spring it's been even tougher
Speaker 1: to find a used bike. So if something does randomly
Speaker 1: get posted on on Craigslist or Facebook, it gets snatched
Speaker 1: up super quick because a lot of traditional bike shops
Speaker 1: and websites are completely sold out or they're just running
Speaker 1: thin on stock. So Alex, we're gonna do our best
Speaker 1: to give you some great advice on how to find
Speaker 1: a great bike. But also, no, it just might be
Speaker 1: a little bit tougher right now in order to get
Speaker 1: that exact bike you want. Yeah, a lot of companies
Speaker 1: are still selling bikes, but they're back ordered as well.
Speaker 1: Uh so, Alex. There are a lot of different definitions
Speaker 1: out there, but I would recommend either a hybrid or
Speaker 1: a gravel bike, And it sounds like you kind of
Speaker 1: came upon hybrid bike on your own. Hybrid will be
Speaker 1: a little more suited for on road riding and will
Speaker 1: likely put you in a more upright riding position. So
Speaker 1: this means it will be a little more comfortable and casual.
Speaker 1: And because of that though, don't expect to go, you know,
Speaker 1: as fast, You're not going to be in as aggressive
Speaker 1: of a position. But if you are looking for maybe
Speaker 1: more of a do everything kind of bike, check out
Speaker 1: gravel or adventure bikes. That's actually what I just picked
Speaker 1: up from ari I, which is funny that you mentioned
Speaker 1: ari a jel, but I picked up a gravel bike.
Speaker 1: They are tougher than road bikes, but they have tire
Speaker 1: clearances that allow for you know, some fatter knobby or tires,
Speaker 1: so you can also easily ride fast on dirt and gravel.
Speaker 1: But then you can take it easy when you put
Speaker 1: the kids seat back on. And so I'm not saying
Speaker 1: that you're gonna be riding super fast on dirt or
Speaker 1: gravel with your kid on board, but with a lot
Speaker 1: of those kids seats, you're able to kind of pop
Speaker 1: them on and off pretty easily. And so if you
Speaker 1: did go with one of these gravel bikes, I personally
Speaker 1: like that because it kind of opens up a lot
Speaker 1: more riding options for you and then you're not only
Speaker 1: confined to the pavement. Yeah, man, I think you're right.
Speaker 1: I think either one of those kinds of bikes with
Speaker 1: a kid's heat on it, it is great for hauling
Speaker 1: around one kid, I think two for for Alex. One
Speaker 1: thing we're considering is if there's a chance that you're
Speaker 1: gonna have more children at some point, you're gonna have
Speaker 1: more kidos riding on your bike. A cargo bike could
Speaker 1: still be a great move, And Alex mentioned this in
Speaker 1: this question in a particular brand that you've had for
Speaker 1: a long time that I think makes great pretty inexpensive
Speaker 1: cargo bikes, although they're still above the threshold that Alex
Speaker 1: was hoping to stayander is Yuba Bikes, and they have
Speaker 1: a newer bike called the Combi that is a thousand dollars,
Speaker 1: but you could put two, maybe even three kids on
Speaker 1: the back of there and it'd be a solid bike
Speaker 1: for a lot of years. So so much of it
Speaker 1: depends on kind of what you want to do, whether
Speaker 1: you're gonna be riding only with your kids on back,
Speaker 1: or whether you're gonna be riding solo to or whether
Speaker 1: you want to be able to remove the kids seat
Speaker 1: and then ride on your own, or you're only doing
Speaker 1: kind of family rides. But yeah, you be worth checking out.
Speaker 1: They make some great bikes. Yeah, and Joel, you and
Speaker 1: I will live on the East coast here in Atlanta,
Speaker 1: but you but they're actually headquarters somewhere out there on
Speaker 1: the West coast, I'm pretty sure in California, maybe even
Speaker 1: close to where Alex lives. So Alex, you could maybe
Speaker 1: even check them out in person, which would be a
Speaker 1: lot of fun and something else to Alex. I wanted
Speaker 1: to mention, if you are going to consider a traditional
Speaker 1: bike and you're gonna go with the bike seat, I
Speaker 1: would recommend checking out some of those bike seats that
Speaker 1: mount not on the rear of the bike but instead
Speaker 1: on the front, where it's mounted in between the handlebars
Speaker 1: and your seat. I personally really like these seats because,
Speaker 1: first of all, your arms are kind of wrapped around
Speaker 1: the kid while you're riding, and so it kind of,
Speaker 1: I don't know, it encloses them a little bit. I
Speaker 1: think they feel a little safer because they're inside your
Speaker 1: arm cage a little bit there. But you can also
Speaker 1: talk to them while you're writing, which man I found
Speaker 1: that to be so awesome because you're basically talking them
Speaker 1: through what you're doing. And then plus two, they're not
Speaker 1: just staring at your butt the whole time. The whole
Speaker 1: time you're riding. Man, I have pictures of my kids
Speaker 1: on the back of my bike and I swear on
Speaker 1: my butts right in their face. I feel bad for him,
Speaker 1: but we still have a blast ride around. But Truly Uh,
Speaker 1: they are a company that makes one of those, and
Speaker 1: it's called the Truly Yep Mini, and we'll put a
Speaker 1: link to that in our show notes as well. But
Speaker 1: that's a really solid company and to make a really
Speaker 1: good one that's really secure and alex for an actual bike, right,
Speaker 1: a non cargo bike. My favorite discount buying site is
Speaker 1: bikes direct dot com on there you can definitely find
Speaker 1: a solid hybrid or solid gravel bike for five bucks
Speaker 1: or less. For sure. I've had numerous friends purchased bikes
Speaker 1: from on there. I've purchased a bike from them before.
Speaker 1: I currently have a friend who actually has ordered one
Speaker 1: from them, and it's again, not surprisingly, it's on back order.
Speaker 1: But they are a solid online seller of bicycles. Even
Speaker 1: though their website may not look totally legit actually could
Speaker 1: totally use a little revamp, couldn't they. But but you're
Speaker 1: buying essentially straight from the manufacturer, no middleman. It's why
Speaker 1: their bikes are easily less than what you would pay
Speaker 1: for an equivalent bike from a major retailer or straight
Speaker 1: from a company that maybe you're more familiar with. But
Speaker 1: those bikes on that site are solid, all right, man?
Speaker 1: That makes me wanna get out of here and go
Speaker 1: start riding my bike otto, doesn't it best to elect
Speaker 1: to alex finding something great and making some memories on
Speaker 1: the bike. I mean, that's one of the best things
Speaker 1: about about having a bike and riding with your kids
Speaker 1: is the memories you make, the places you go. We're
Speaker 1: hopping in a car to go to that same place,
Speaker 1: just doesn't quite do it. It's not the same in experienced.
Speaker 1: I mean, for me again, literally having that bike seat
Speaker 1: where they're where Eavy, our oldest was sitting up front there,
Speaker 1: Like I have such great memories of riding around the
Speaker 1: city with her between my arms, you know, telling her
Speaker 1: where we're going, what we're doing, you know, pointing things
Speaker 1: out like look at that doggie, you know, and things
Speaker 1: like that. And that's not the kind of experience you
Speaker 1: have riding around in a car or even you know,
Speaker 1: if if the kids in a trailer, Like trailers are
Speaker 1: pretty safe and they're a great way to haul kids
Speaker 1: around as well, but they're in their own little vehicle
Speaker 1: behind you that you're telling and you can't interact with them.
Speaker 1: I'm a big fan of the seats right there between
Speaker 1: your arms. Yeah, for sure. Man. All right, let's get
Speaker 1: back to the beer that we had on the show today.
Speaker 1: We drank Wild Leap Time Love and Tenderness Double I
Speaker 1: p A. And I feel like there should be some
Speaker 1: slow jams playing behind us while when you recap the
Speaker 1: beer that we had on the show, not what were
Speaker 1: your thoughts on this one? Well, first of all, I
Speaker 1: wanted to mention Wild leap this. They are no stranger
Speaker 1: to the show. We definitely have had their beers on before,
Speaker 1: and they just continue to make solid, delicious I p
Speaker 1: a S that are kind of the new I PA
Speaker 1: that are a little hazy. Uh. This one, in particular
Speaker 1: was lush. I feel like that's the best way to
Speaker 1: I could describe it. But it was juicy. It was
Speaker 1: full bodied, uh and fruity at the same time, with
Speaker 1: just like a little bit of that hot kick to it. Uh,
Speaker 1: kind of that hot dryness going on, but mixed in
Speaker 1: with all the florals and all that fruitiness. This was
Speaker 1: a really delicious one. And again, I feel like we
Speaker 1: should branch out a little bit and try different beers
Speaker 1: because we constantly drink I p a S. But it's
Speaker 1: because we love them so much. They're so delicious. Yeah,
Speaker 1: this one was soft, sweet, proof forward. Yeah, like a
Speaker 1: juicy fruit gum or something like that. But I really, yeah,
Speaker 1: I really dug this one wildly. Man. They've been making
Speaker 1: some good beers there about an hour south, forty minutes
Speaker 1: south of where we are. I've never been there neither,
Speaker 1: but you know, one of these days we'll take a
Speaker 1: bike road trip down there. Let's do it? Can our
Speaker 1: legs handle it? Oh no, we can't bike down there,
Speaker 1: but we can like drive down there with our bikes
Speaker 1: and you know, find a trailer or something like that. Yeah,
Speaker 1: find a gravel road to ride around on our venture bikes.
Speaker 1: That sounds good. All right, Well, Matt, that's gonna do
Speaker 1: it for this episode. And for folks who want to
Speaker 1: read the show notes for this episode, we'll just go
Speaker 1: to our website how to money dot com. You'll find
Speaker 1: them there. And we would also be incredibly thankful if
Speaker 1: you not only subscribe to the show but left us
Speaker 1: a solid review. It is always helpful and a big
Speaker 1: thanks in advance. So Joel, that's going to be a
Speaker 1: buddy until next time. Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out.