WEBVTT - Friday Flight - A Prime Pricing Hack, Discount Airlines, & Early Retirement Idiocy #474 0:00:00.120 --> 0:00:02.679 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I'm Matt, 0:00:02.880 --> 0:00:07.280 and today we're discussing prime pricing, discount airlines, and early 0:00:07.400 --> 0:00:29.360 retirement idiocy. That's right, Joel. This is our Friday flight 0:00:29.400 --> 0:00:31.280 where every week we look at some of the different 0:00:31.280 --> 0:00:33.920 headlines that we've come across this week, and we wanted 0:00:33.920 --> 0:00:36.599 to talk about how those headlines, how those stories, how 0:00:36.640 --> 0:00:39.400 the news impacts our money. By the way, if our 0:00:39.440 --> 0:00:41.960 voices sound slightly off, I think there there's been like 0:00:42.000 --> 0:00:44.000 some sithness going around, and you know, you and I 0:00:44.080 --> 0:00:46.519 got the sniffles work together, like I don't know, four 0:00:46.520 --> 0:00:48.560 feet apart. No, it's not my wife test ever COVID 0:00:48.600 --> 0:00:51.800 this morning, we as well is not. But uh yeah, Fortunately, 0:00:52.040 --> 0:00:55.760 um we are still well enough to host this podcast today. 0:00:55.960 --> 0:00:57.960 And even if we were, I mean, come on, I'd 0:00:58.000 --> 0:00:59.840 have to have like a knife wound to the stomach 0:01:00.120 --> 0:01:02.360 to not sit down and record with you. My friends 0:01:02.360 --> 0:01:04.840 were like the postal service in that regard where it's 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:07.040 like through through rain, sleet, and snow, like the Kevin 0:01:07.080 --> 0:01:09.920 Costner postal Service, like even through an apocalypse. Right, you're 0:01:09.959 --> 0:01:12.800 willing to be there, but hey, heads up. Valentine's Day 0:01:12.800 --> 0:01:16.440 it's on Monday's, right, you guys, do y'all celebrate not 0:01:16.440 --> 0:01:18.880 not typically we're not huge Valentine's Day people, but I 0:01:18.920 --> 0:01:20.880 do have a plan to get my wife something this 0:01:20.959 --> 0:01:23.000 year that's a little outside of the box. Um, but 0:01:23.120 --> 0:01:26.000 I did. I think it's important to note that one 0:01:25.920 --> 0:01:30.000 you have to define expectations with your partner about Valentine's Day, 0:01:30.000 --> 0:01:32.720 because I think that's probably where the mishaps happen when 0:01:32.760 --> 0:01:35.120 it's like I didn't think we celebrated Valentine's Day, but 0:01:35.160 --> 0:01:37.520 your partner thought that you did. And hopefully that's something 0:01:37.600 --> 0:01:39.680 you learned early on, right, because like as a kid, 0:01:39.800 --> 0:01:41.880 you forget the first one and they're like, what's your problem? 0:01:41.880 --> 0:01:44.039 Is a huge deal. I mean, I didn't celebrate, like 0:01:44.040 --> 0:01:46.480 it wasn't something we celebrated in my household as a 0:01:46.520 --> 0:01:48.600 kid growing up. Obviously, when you go to school, you 0:01:48.600 --> 0:01:51.800 do the Valentine Exchange at school, so everybody celebrates with 0:01:51.800 --> 0:01:53.960 a certain teenage muting Ninja turtleal Valentine's your hand up 0:01:54.040 --> 0:01:57.279 your classmates. But then once I started dating Kate realized 0:01:57.320 --> 0:01:59.120 it was more important. So it's a part of our life, 0:01:59.680 --> 0:02:01.520 but we don't spend a lot of money, and I 0:02:01.560 --> 0:02:03.320 think that's kind of the difference here, right. I think 0:02:03.320 --> 0:02:06.760 some staff of flowers cooking, cooking dinner is like a 0:02:06.840 --> 0:02:09.120 nice way for me to show her that I care. 0:02:09.360 --> 0:02:11.680 But we're not, like, we're certainly not going out on 0:02:11.800 --> 0:02:15.800 Valentine's Day night to get dinner some fancy joint Valentine's 0:02:15.880 --> 0:02:18.359 Day prefixed dinner that's gonna cost you an rmnal leg 0:02:18.639 --> 0:02:21.280 not doing that. I came across some stats actually and 0:02:21.440 --> 0:02:23.640 lending Tree, they had a survey out and uh, the 0:02:23.680 --> 0:02:27.600 average person is looking to spend around two dollars, which 0:02:27.600 --> 0:02:29.160 is a lot of money. There's a lot of money, 0:02:29.280 --> 0:02:31.720 um and interestingly, millennials are looking to spend the most. 0:02:31.720 --> 0:02:35.080 They're closer to three. And so I'm not saying that 0:02:35.200 --> 0:02:36.919 I'm not here to like yuck on your yum if 0:02:36.919 --> 0:02:39.919 that's you, because a lot of folks, I mean, Kate's 0:02:40.000 --> 0:02:41.880 roommate actually in college, it's like it was like her 0:02:41.919 --> 0:02:44.960 favorite holiday the whole year. Her name was also Katie, 0:02:45.760 --> 0:02:49.480 but like Valentine's Day was serious. And so I'm guessing 0:02:49.520 --> 0:02:51.720 that's a holiday that they actually they probably do spend 0:02:51.720 --> 0:02:53.640 a good amount of money on in their household that 0:02:53.760 --> 0:02:56.400 is okay, but make sure, like you said, Jill, you 0:02:56.400 --> 0:02:58.280 talk about it with your partner and definitely make sure 0:02:58.320 --> 0:03:00.520 you actually have the money set aside, right, Like it's 0:03:00.520 --> 0:03:02.359 okay to celebrate, just make sure you're not going into 0:03:02.400 --> 0:03:05.639 debts in order to buy the red and pink stuff. Yes, exactly, well, 0:03:05.680 --> 0:03:07.840 and I wanted to note, like maybe where you shot 0:03:07.840 --> 0:03:09.680 for flowers matters a whole lot too. I think if 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:11.960 you're an Amazon Prime member, you can get two dozen 0:03:12.200 --> 0:03:16.200 roses at Whole Foods for twenty bucks, which is a 0:03:16.240 --> 0:03:19.040 really good deal. And um, the other places I like 0:03:19.120 --> 0:03:21.679 to get flowers are Costco and Trader Shoe's if you 0:03:21.720 --> 0:03:23.160 have one of those nearby, I think those are two 0:03:23.200 --> 0:03:25.280 of the best places to get really good looking flowers 0:03:25.520 --> 0:03:28.320 for a reasonable price. And so yeah, just where your 0:03:28.360 --> 0:03:31.400 shot matters too. And if you're getting the delivery to 0:03:31.440 --> 0:03:34.440 the office like that is going to accept your lot. 0:03:34.600 --> 0:03:36.600 I've never done that, I never will do that, and 0:03:36.600 --> 0:03:40.040 I've never understood it because you've never been that wealthy. Right, 0:03:40.400 --> 0:03:43.400 So and I get I you know, I think I 0:03:43.680 --> 0:03:45.200 get why some people do it, but it's something that 0:03:45.480 --> 0:03:48.840 I'm personally appointing. Um, And so yeah, hopefully you have 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.240 a great Valentine's Day on on Monday, and um, it 0:03:52.400 --> 0:03:55.040 just kind of heads up now to start start paring 0:03:55.040 --> 0:03:59.520 and figure it's almost too late, yes exactly, But all right, Matt, 0:03:59.560 --> 0:04:02.440 let's get into the Friday flight the quickly sampling of 0:04:02.520 --> 0:04:05.800 stories that we found interesting this week. Let's talk about 0:04:05.880 --> 0:04:08.680 student loans and saving money on college for a second. 0:04:08.720 --> 0:04:12.440 Fort of those uh an anivil around the neck of 0:04:12.520 --> 0:04:15.680 many people. Well, new information just came out and it 0:04:15.720 --> 0:04:19.520 actually reinforces how important it is for upcoming college students 0:04:19.839 --> 0:04:22.920 to file the FACTSA, which is this kind of annoying 0:04:22.960 --> 0:04:26.520 form that most upcoming college students do fill out, but 0:04:27.080 --> 0:04:29.640 sadly a lot of them don't. And because of that, 0:04:29.680 --> 0:04:31.919 many of these students are missing out on college grants 0:04:32.160 --> 0:04:34.680 that they would have otherwise received if they had just 0:04:34.720 --> 0:04:37.880 filled out that pesky form. And so yeah, almost two 0:04:37.920 --> 0:04:40.760 million high school seniors didn't fill out the fast still 0:04:40.839 --> 0:04:43.360 last year, students leaving money on the table, right yeah, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:45.920 and so yeah, just about half of those students would 0:04:45.920 --> 0:04:49.080 have actually qualified for federal grants. And these are these 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:51.680 are not like student loans, These are grants. This is 0:04:51.839 --> 0:04:53.880 free money that you don't have to pay back and 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.719 all for just like not doing the busy work filling 0:04:56.720 --> 0:04:59.800 out the form um and yeah, it would reduce admission 0:05:00.040 --> 0:05:02.160 us for a lot a low income students. Yeah, I mean, 0:05:02.480 --> 0:05:05.719 so the PELL grant alone, you're looking at close like 0:05:05.760 --> 0:05:08.120 that is I mean, like literally we're talking about thousands 0:05:08.160 --> 0:05:10.680 of dollars and that's just federal right because states and 0:05:10.720 --> 0:05:14.000 individual schools based their need based aid, you know, largely 0:05:14.040 --> 0:05:16.360 on the FASTA too, and so filing the facts that 0:05:16.520 --> 0:05:19.200 is just the number one step that everyone who is 0:05:19.560 --> 0:05:23.360 like pursuing higher education should do. It can't hurt and 0:05:23.440 --> 0:05:25.880 for a lot of people that could provide massive levels 0:05:25.920 --> 0:05:28.880 of financial help and just dramatically lower the costs that 0:05:28.920 --> 0:05:30.960 you're going to incur for school. You might think like 0:05:31.120 --> 0:05:33.600 I can't afford to go to college, but if you 0:05:33.560 --> 0:05:35.800 felt the fasts that you might realize that, actually I 0:05:35.839 --> 0:05:37.960 can go for cheaper free. Yeah. I saw that some 0:05:38.040 --> 0:05:41.039 states actually, at Louisiana specifically, they require you have to 0:05:41.040 --> 0:05:43.200 fill out the FASTA in order to graduate. I love that. 0:05:43.279 --> 0:05:45.760 I love that. It's just this thing that Okay, I'm sorry, 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:47.800 like you have to fill out this form because, like 0:05:47.800 --> 0:05:50.440 you said, it could help students realize oh wow, Actually 0:05:50.480 --> 0:05:52.800 college is now It's back on the table, whereas before 0:05:52.839 --> 0:05:54.440 I didn't think that that was something I could do. 0:05:54.880 --> 0:05:56.520 Of course, that doesn't mean you have to go to college. 0:05:56.520 --> 0:05:59.160 You still have the option to. But I like how 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:01.560 there's a quirement. I think it can just open a 0:06:01.560 --> 0:06:03.720 lot more students eyes. And if you fail to fill 0:06:03.720 --> 0:06:06.039 out the fast, it's basically equivalent to not getting the 0:06:06.040 --> 0:06:08.800 full four one K match that your employer offers. It's 0:06:08.839 --> 0:06:11.440 a glaring error that will cost you money. And we 0:06:11.520 --> 0:06:13.200 understand it's a total pain in the butt, you know, 0:06:13.240 --> 0:06:16.520 the current fasts. It truly is this beastly annoyance. I 0:06:16.520 --> 0:06:18.560 think that's a part of the reason that many do 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.320 avoid it. Uh, you have to do it every single year, 0:06:21.640 --> 0:06:23.960 but the list of questions is supposed to get trimmed 0:06:23.960 --> 0:06:27.320 down and that should make a real difference in how 0:06:27.360 --> 0:06:30.000 many people end up filling it out. But until then, 0:06:30.040 --> 0:06:31.640 just suck it up and do it, because you know, 0:06:31.760 --> 0:06:33.600 like taking that hour or two to fill it out, 0:06:33.640 --> 0:06:36.880 it can result in thousands of dollars in aid that 0:06:36.920 --> 0:06:40.640 your student would otherwise forgo, likely leading to more student 0:06:40.680 --> 0:06:42.200 loans in the end. Oh man, if you can just 0:06:42.240 --> 0:06:44.440 like do this and prevent more student loans like how 0:06:44.480 --> 0:06:47.040 how it's definitely a worth while the gift that keeps 0:06:47.080 --> 0:06:50.720 on federal student aid. They actually have this YouTube page 0:06:50.760 --> 0:06:52.919 with a helpful video that walks you through how to 0:06:53.040 --> 0:06:54.960 do it. It's really well done and we'll make sure 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:56.560 to link to that in our show notes. Okay, so, 0:06:56.600 --> 0:07:00.960 speaking of student loans and avoiding student loans through free 0:07:00.960 --> 0:07:04.039 aid from colleges and from the federal government, if you've 0:07:04.040 --> 0:07:06.560 got federal loans, well, you still don't have to pay 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.760 them until May. And we're gonna see if that start 0:07:09.760 --> 0:07:13.080 back date ends up getting pushed back again. Who knows. 0:07:13.320 --> 0:07:16.880 But in the meantime, uh INK reports that more employers 0:07:16.960 --> 0:07:20.640 are planning to help their employees pay off their student loans, 0:07:20.920 --> 0:07:22.760 and this is one of those company perks math that's 0:07:22.800 --> 0:07:26.320 kind of becoming more common over time, especially in the 0:07:26.440 --> 0:07:29.360 last like year to eighteen months, and that's largely thanks 0:07:29.400 --> 0:07:32.559 to the Pandemic Relief program that gives employers a tax 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.560 break for providing some of that loan repayment assistance to 0:07:35.600 --> 0:07:39.320 their employees at least up to five thousand, two hundred 0:07:39.360 --> 0:07:41.480 and fifty dollars a year. And the great thing is 0:07:41.520 --> 0:07:44.560 for that employee. They also don't pay any tax on 0:07:44.600 --> 0:07:47.280 that assistance either. So it's like this when when where 0:07:47.400 --> 0:07:50.360 both the employee employer are avoiding tax as long as 0:07:50.360 --> 0:07:52.720 that money is going to help you pay down student loans. 0:07:52.760 --> 0:07:55.000 And so yeah, if you have a pile of student loans, 0:07:55.040 --> 0:07:58.000 you're looking for an employer that offers this benefit, will 0:07:58.000 --> 0:07:59.760 link to a site that will actually help you find one. 0:07:59.800 --> 0:08:03.400 SERI see this is a good employers exactly, Like this 0:08:03.480 --> 0:08:05.800 is a list of all the employers that will actually 0:08:05.800 --> 0:08:08.080 help you pay down your student loans. And it's one 0:08:08.120 --> 0:08:09.600 of those benefits I think we're going to see more 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.440 and more of if it's being incentivized by the FEDS, 0:08:12.480 --> 0:08:14.400 Like I think more employers are gonna start offering it, 0:08:14.480 --> 0:08:17.120 more employees are gonna start asking about it. Absolutely, so 0:08:17.200 --> 0:08:19.560 two things, like it became I think more of a 0:08:20.040 --> 0:08:22.480 benefit that employers were offering during the pandemic, but it 0:08:22.480 --> 0:08:25.320 didn't make it more popular because of course because of 0:08:25.360 --> 0:08:28.080 the forbearance, and so as we're getting closer to student 0:08:28.080 --> 0:08:30.600 loans resuming, that is something I think that more employees 0:08:30.600 --> 0:08:32.960 will be looking for. And also it's important to note 0:08:32.960 --> 0:08:35.880 that this is not only for federal student loans. UH, 0:08:35.880 --> 0:08:37.760 private loans are an option as well. Just make sure 0:08:37.800 --> 0:08:40.440 you check with the benefit that your employer is offering. 0:08:40.760 --> 0:08:42.440 And so let's talk for a second about inflation. I 0:08:42.440 --> 0:08:44.640 feel like inflation they kind of have a standing there. 0:08:44.720 --> 0:08:47.240 They're they're a regular contributor here on the on the 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:49.559 Friday flight. Yeah, especially like once a month we're talking 0:08:49.559 --> 0:08:52.680 about inflation. I guess, well, this is that week because 0:08:52.720 --> 0:08:55.160 the new inflation numbers they just came out. The news 0:08:55.240 --> 0:08:58.480 wasn't shocking, and we're still seeing inflation running hot at 0:08:58.600 --> 0:09:01.520 seven and a half percent. Inflated prices are costing the 0:09:01.559 --> 0:09:04.480 average American in the neighborhood of two fifty dollars a month. 0:09:04.559 --> 0:09:08.080 This is according to Moody's Analytics. UH inflation. It's like 0:09:08.120 --> 0:09:10.320 it's just hanging around like mosquitoes in the summer at 0:09:10.360 --> 0:09:13.520 least Atlanta, right, Yeah, And honestly, with it being cold now, 0:09:13.920 --> 0:09:16.640 we don't have mosquitoes. That's like the best part. Actually, really, 0:09:16.960 --> 0:09:18.480 it really is the best part of this cold weather. 0:09:18.640 --> 0:09:21.800 But while we're likely to see inflation trend downward, I 0:09:21.800 --> 0:09:24.200 think over the coming year we're still seeing higher prices 0:09:24.280 --> 0:09:27.280 in a bunch of spots that affect our budgets in 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:31.400 in a real way. Food, gasoline, used cars, appliances for 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:34.440 our homes. These are all different categories where we have 0:09:34.480 --> 0:09:38.240 seen prices remain really high. Yeah, inflation obviously having a 0:09:38.280 --> 0:09:41.559 real impact, and with the FED set to raise rates 0:09:41.800 --> 0:09:44.760 this year multiple times, it's gonna be interesting to see 0:09:44.800 --> 0:09:48.160 what happens in the future with inflation, because, yeah, people 0:09:48.200 --> 0:09:51.000 are feeling the pain at the grocery store, at the 0:09:51.040 --> 0:09:53.560 gas pump, all those places. I mean, and you said 0:09:53.640 --> 0:09:55.400 rates going up, but like that's not necessarily going to 0:09:55.440 --> 0:09:57.280 fix supply chains, right right, So that's one of the 0:09:57.360 --> 0:09:59.240 I guess one of the criticisms. A lot of factors 0:09:59.559 --> 0:10:01.400 there are. It's un of factors and so like honestly, 0:10:01.600 --> 0:10:04.160 and this sounds so very Unamerican, but what we have 0:10:04.200 --> 0:10:06.000 to do as individuals, if we're looking to curb the 0:10:06.000 --> 0:10:08.439 amount of inflation in allives, is change our spending habits. 0:10:08.840 --> 0:10:10.839 This is one of those situations where the solution doesn't 0:10:10.840 --> 0:10:12.880 solely rest with the government. And this is also going 0:10:12.960 --> 0:10:14.960 to sound Unamerican, but I think for most of us 0:10:15.000 --> 0:10:17.800 that means eating less steak and bacon, and just because 0:10:17.840 --> 0:10:22.640 those are goes counter to Joel's commandments right exactly, but 0:10:22.800 --> 0:10:25.960 for for the time being, as those two things specifically 0:10:26.000 --> 0:10:29.679 have skyrocketed in price, that those are things you probably 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.920 want to trim out of your your grocery bill as 0:10:32.960 --> 0:10:35.120 much as possible. And and Matt, even with the current 0:10:35.160 --> 0:10:37.920 inflation reality we're faced with, there's this new study and 0:10:37.960 --> 0:10:40.360 it found that that most of us are more concerned 0:10:40.400 --> 0:10:43.760 with work life balance instead of and over a high 0:10:43.760 --> 0:10:46.520 paying salary. And so yeah, the numbers revealed that two 0:10:46.600 --> 0:10:49.439 thirds of folks um said that work life balance is 0:10:49.480 --> 0:10:52.560 more important than making a much higher salary. And so yeah, 0:10:52.559 --> 0:10:55.720 the numbers revealed that two thirds of folks prioritize that 0:10:55.800 --> 0:10:58.160 work life balance more than more money. And I think 0:10:58.200 --> 0:11:01.680 we could probably all admit that how having both is ideal. 0:11:01.720 --> 0:11:03.480 Would be nice to make a good bit of money 0:11:03.520 --> 0:11:06.040 and then also have work life balance where at your 0:11:06.080 --> 0:11:07.920 home for breakfast, home for dinner, Like that's my goal 0:11:07.960 --> 0:11:10.160 every day is to be home for breakfast, home for dinner. 0:11:10.240 --> 0:11:14.080 But really, balance is key, and sometimes it is best 0:11:14.120 --> 0:11:16.920 to say yes to more money and even working longer 0:11:16.960 --> 0:11:19.920 hours to get it. But we would just suggest that 0:11:19.960 --> 0:11:21.720 you think long and hard before you opt to go 0:11:21.840 --> 0:11:24.240 that route. You know, often that trade off means you'll 0:11:24.240 --> 0:11:27.440 have less personal time, less social time, less family time, 0:11:27.679 --> 0:11:30.600 and the fatter paycheck it won't make up for missing 0:11:30.600 --> 0:11:33.120 your kids soccer game, or or the flexibility that you 0:11:33.240 --> 0:11:36.280 might have um doing something else. And so I'm glad 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:40.280 to see that Americans priority lies more with what their 0:11:40.360 --> 0:11:42.480 life looks like than accruing more and more money and 0:11:42.559 --> 0:11:45.559 just having a fatter bank account overall. And so, Matt, 0:11:45.600 --> 0:11:47.280 we've actually got more what we want to talk about 0:11:47.280 --> 0:11:51.160 on the work life balance because there's a headline that 0:11:51.640 --> 0:11:53.959 got our attention about the fire movement. We're going to 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.920 get to that in our ludicrous headline segment right after this. 0:12:06.360 --> 0:12:08.280 All right, we are back from the break and Joel, 0:12:08.360 --> 0:12:10.480 like you alluded to just a second ago, it is 0:12:10.520 --> 0:12:13.040 now time for the ludicrous headline of the week. Uh 0:12:13.120 --> 0:12:17.360 and this one reads Harvard trained economist says early retirement 0:12:17.400 --> 0:12:19.760 is one of the worst money mistakes. Here's why you'll 0:12:19.800 --> 0:12:24.120 regret it. The modern path thing of the headline just 0:12:24.679 --> 0:12:26.760 brings me to tears almost on a weekly basis. I 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.760 think I think we need to make sure that our 0:12:28.800 --> 0:12:31.960 friends in Colorado over there Longmont can make sure to 0:12:31.960 --> 0:12:34.160 restrain Mr Money must because he's gonna write his pedal 0:12:34.200 --> 0:12:37.640 his little bicycle over and this guy's glasses and laid 0:12:37.640 --> 0:12:40.400 on the law with this author. Here's the thing that 0:12:40.440 --> 0:12:43.240 when you actually read this article, it's not as offensive 0:12:43.440 --> 0:12:45.880 as the headline might appear, as is often the case. 0:12:46.160 --> 0:12:48.240 So the reason that earlier retirement is such a mistake 0:12:48.559 --> 0:12:51.760 this is, according to the author, Lawrence Kotlikoff, is because 0:12:51.800 --> 0:12:55.040 Americans are lousy savers. Most people are going to run 0:12:55.040 --> 0:12:57.000 out of money pretty quickly if they quit their jobs 0:12:57.480 --> 0:13:00.520 too soon. And yeah, sure, retiring with little to no 0:13:00.640 --> 0:13:03.760 savings or investments, that's a bad idea. We would not 0:13:03.840 --> 0:13:05.720 encourage it if you are one of these folks. If 0:13:05.760 --> 0:13:07.880 you're a lousy saver, you're gonna need to change that 0:13:07.880 --> 0:13:10.040 pretty quickly. If you don't want to work until you're 0:13:10.080 --> 0:13:12.600 like sixties or early seventies, it's gonna be hard to 0:13:12.640 --> 0:13:14.400 live the kind of life that you want to live 0:13:14.480 --> 0:13:18.000 in retirement if you bow out of the workforce too early. Um. 0:13:18.360 --> 0:13:20.840 And thankfully, though, for how the money listeners, early retirement, 0:13:21.080 --> 0:13:23.520 if approached well, is not a mistake that you'll regret. 0:13:23.520 --> 0:13:25.760 And luckily a lot of our listeners have plenty of 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:28.640 time to make sure that they have enough invested and saved. Yeah, 0:13:28.679 --> 0:13:31.040 I think for any of our listeners who have been 0:13:31.080 --> 0:13:32.880 around for a while, they've heard our thoughts on the 0:13:32.880 --> 0:13:34.800 Fire movement. We're not against it, but we're also not 0:13:34.840 --> 0:13:38.480 like hook Line and Sinker all about it. And yeah, basically, 0:13:38.600 --> 0:13:40.320 even if you're a great saver and you've got the 0:13:40.360 --> 0:13:43.000 money to comfortably retire in your fifties or or even 0:13:43.040 --> 0:13:45.760 your forties, or for some of these like stringent Fire 0:13:45.760 --> 0:13:48.960 adherents who start young even in their thirties, that doesn't 0:13:49.000 --> 0:13:53.160 necessarily mean that you should quit your job, right. And Yeah, 0:13:53.200 --> 0:13:55.120 one of our main beasts we would say with the 0:13:55.160 --> 0:13:58.079 Fire movement is when folks work as hard as possible 0:13:58.280 --> 0:14:00.880 to escape work that they don't really like, and so 0:14:00.920 --> 0:14:04.839 they sign themselves up for ten twelve plus years of 0:14:04.840 --> 0:14:08.760 doing something that is not enjoyable um in order just 0:14:08.840 --> 0:14:11.319 to achieve this goal in the future. And we think 0:14:11.320 --> 0:14:14.319 that people shouldn't said pursue days and weeks and years 0:14:14.320 --> 0:14:17.600 that are enjoyable right now, even if it means making 0:14:17.679 --> 0:14:20.520 less money. Right. Just kind of like that survey revealed earlier, 0:14:21.040 --> 0:14:22.720 and in one of the last lines in the piece, 0:14:22.720 --> 0:14:25.320 the author actually says that he plans to die in 0:14:25.360 --> 0:14:29.040 the saddle, as he puts it, because his work is 0:14:29.080 --> 0:14:33.200 just to rewarding financially, intellectually, and psychologically. He says, to 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.880 give it up. And I think that is something that 0:14:36.040 --> 0:14:38.560 I resonate with because I want to do something then 0:14:39.080 --> 0:14:42.040 do work that that resonates with me every single day. 0:14:42.160 --> 0:14:44.520 And it's not like doing this podcast. Every day I 0:14:44.560 --> 0:14:47.640 get like enthusiastic, like when I pop out of bed 0:14:47.640 --> 0:14:49.400 because I'm like, can't wait to go and sit in 0:14:49.480 --> 0:14:51.000 front of the microphone and talk to Matt. We are 0:14:51.120 --> 0:14:54.920 real people, right, and and some days it feels like right. 0:14:55.040 --> 0:14:57.960 But overall I can definitely say that about this job 0:14:58.080 --> 0:15:00.280 is that it is all of the above of its 0:15:00.320 --> 0:15:02.480 rewarding in all those ways. It's overall the best job 0:15:02.480 --> 0:15:05.080 I've ever had, right, right, I mean, let's be honest. 0:15:05.160 --> 0:15:07.560 The Eckerts Photo Lab. Still it was not there but 0:15:08.280 --> 0:15:10.840 parking golf carts back when I was a sixteen year old, 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:13.280 but that one was not financially rewarding. But you you 0:15:13.320 --> 0:15:15.280 only get so many years on this planet, right, And 0:15:15.320 --> 0:15:17.800 so yeah, working sixty hours a week doing something you 0:15:17.880 --> 0:15:20.200 detest in order to retire ten or twenty years sooner. 0:15:20.440 --> 0:15:22.240 That's not something we would sign up for or that 0:15:22.280 --> 0:15:25.120 we would encourage others to sign up for. Either. That's right, 0:15:25.200 --> 0:15:26.560 and yeah, I feel like one of the other things 0:15:26.560 --> 0:15:28.320 he was pushing back against, too, is almost like the 0:15:28.440 --> 0:15:31.240 sense of entitlement, like early retirement. It's something that we've 0:15:31.240 --> 0:15:33.960 all heard of now, and honestly, even retirement in general. 0:15:34.000 --> 0:15:35.960 To think that, Okay, once you hit a certain age 0:15:36.160 --> 0:15:38.680 you can just kick back and travel the world, it's like, well, 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:40.760 I don't know if that's actually true. Maybe you will 0:15:40.800 --> 0:15:42.600 be able to stop working, but maybe you won't have 0:15:42.720 --> 0:15:44.320 enough to travel the world. It all comes down to 0:15:44.400 --> 0:15:47.000 what you've done in the meantime. And again, our listeners 0:15:47.040 --> 0:15:50.040 have so much time that they can position themselves to 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.240 be set up for the kind of retirement or the 0:15:52.320 --> 0:15:54.520 kind of work that they want to pursue down the road, 0:15:54.680 --> 0:15:57.000 whether it is full retirement where they are just traveling 0:15:57.120 --> 0:15:59.440 doing the more traditional thing, or like you said, Joel, 0:15:59.440 --> 0:16:01.120 taking a job that pays a little bit less but 0:16:01.160 --> 0:16:03.920 you find way more fulfilling, something that's more sustainable that 0:16:03.920 --> 0:16:06.120 fits better with your life. Those are the kind of 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.360 things that we want to see how many listeners working forwards, 0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:11.200 continuing to work, maybe in the field that you love, 0:16:11.400 --> 0:16:14.360 but just reducing the hours. Or you know, my mom, 0:16:14.400 --> 0:16:17.480 I think I'm revealed recently that she took one day 0:16:17.480 --> 0:16:19.120 off of her work weeks she was working for now 0:16:19.160 --> 0:16:21.760 she's working three maybe next year, sing on to two 0:16:21.840 --> 0:16:24.360 like it's great, um, And I think we're time with 0:16:24.360 --> 0:16:26.520 the grandkids with you as well. She likes you all right, 0:16:26.560 --> 0:16:29.440 and she prefers the grandkids. But um, which is understandable 0:16:29.480 --> 0:16:32.440 that far uter it's like grandparent life. But yeah, I 0:16:32.440 --> 0:16:34.280 think those are the kind of things that you can pursue. 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.400 But if you're all about just like building up that 0:16:37.440 --> 0:16:40.560 stash of cash in in your investment accounts and you're 0:16:40.560 --> 0:16:42.920 thinking long term, we encourage long term thinking, but you 0:16:42.960 --> 0:16:45.560 can do it to the detriment of your everyday life 0:16:45.760 --> 0:16:48.040 in the here now, for for years on end, and 0:16:48.360 --> 0:16:51.560 that is something that is a travesty. Absolutely. Let's talk 0:16:51.560 --> 0:16:55.240 about getting those cardboard boxes dropped on your doorstep. Amazon, 0:16:55.320 --> 0:16:56.880 they just announced that they're going to be raising the 0:16:56.920 --> 0:16:59.640 cost of Prime membership from a hundred nineteen dollars a 0:16:59.720 --> 0:17:02.560 year to a hundred and thirty nine dollars annually. If 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:04.439 you subscribe on a monthly basis, the price is going 0:17:04.480 --> 0:17:08.200 to be ticking up by two dollars each month to so. 0:17:08.320 --> 0:17:10.160 But let's be honest. You know these price increases are 0:17:10.160 --> 0:17:13.800 probably not devastating to your budget. But that doesn't mean 0:17:13.800 --> 0:17:16.040 that you should just hang on to Prime just because 0:17:16.520 --> 0:17:18.960 this is the perfect time to do the math and 0:17:19.000 --> 0:17:21.920 to decide whether or not you're getting enough value from 0:17:21.920 --> 0:17:24.560 your Prime membership or not. And because Prime offers so 0:17:24.560 --> 0:17:26.480 many benefits, it can be tough to figure this out. 0:17:26.800 --> 0:17:28.960 We are Prime members mostly because of the shipping, but 0:17:29.000 --> 0:17:31.560 they've got the Amazon Music, which we have been big 0:17:31.560 --> 0:17:34.720 fans of, especially ever since the Encanto soundtrack came out, 0:17:34.760 --> 0:17:37.399 has been going NonStop in our household. We don't use 0:17:37.440 --> 0:17:40.479 the actual video streaming service all that much. What although, 0:17:40.760 --> 0:17:43.240 Lord of the Rings, when's that supposed to think? This year? 0:17:43.320 --> 0:17:45.760 Maybe maybe early next year even But I can get 0:17:45.800 --> 0:17:48.200 excited about that. Dude, did you start reading the hobbit? 0:17:48.280 --> 0:17:50.359 We did so good? It gets to be excited about 0:17:50.640 --> 0:17:52.879 seeing more of that scenery down there in New Zealand. 0:17:53.480 --> 0:17:55.280 It also makes me want to visit down there as well. 0:17:55.920 --> 0:17:58.640 But one other things worth considering is to only pay 0:17:58.760 --> 0:18:01.400 for Amazon Prime on a month basis. UH. If you're 0:18:01.440 --> 0:18:03.520 not a heavy user, and so let's say you only 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:05.040 need it, you know, maybe for half the year. If 0:18:05.040 --> 0:18:07.119 that's the case, you're only gonna pay ninety dollars instead 0:18:07.160 --> 0:18:09.199 of one forty. That can be a strategic way to 0:18:09.280 --> 0:18:11.639 approach your spending. If you know there's gonna be a 0:18:11.640 --> 0:18:13.719 certain period of time when you are going to take 0:18:13.760 --> 0:18:15.720 advantage of their services, that can be something that you 0:18:15.720 --> 0:18:17.760 can be more strategic about. That's true. There are also 0:18:17.800 --> 0:18:21.240 ways to lock in the cheaper price right now before 0:18:21.240 --> 0:18:23.680 it goes up later this month, so where you can 0:18:23.720 --> 0:18:27.200 actually still stick that hundred nineteen dollar price tag on 0:18:27.240 --> 0:18:30.200 your renewal. You can basically purchase the Gift of Prime 0:18:30.240 --> 0:18:32.720