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Speaker 1: Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I and

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Speaker 1: Matt and today we're discussing reopening the economy and getting refunds.

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Speaker 1: All right, Joel Friday. Episode. That means it's time to

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Speaker 1: talk about the coronavirus how it has to do with

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Speaker 1: our personal finances. It's currently week six of the of

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Speaker 1: the lockdown, at least for most of the country. I

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Speaker 1: think while some places are starting to ease restrictions, some

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Speaker 1: some states, you know, some governors have opened up certain

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Speaker 1: sectors of the economy, and that's something that we're gonna

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Speaker 1: address and kind of talk about on the show today too.

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Speaker 1: We're gonna talk about that, We're gonna talk about being

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Speaker 1: watched by your employer when you're working from home, as

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Speaker 1: well as getting refunds. So let's let's kind of dive

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Speaker 1: into it because we actually have a lot to talk about.

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Speaker 1: No personal banter. Well, let's get to Yeah, let's get

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Speaker 1: to the good news first, Mac, That's what we like

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Speaker 1: to cover on these the good news. Yeah, and there

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Speaker 1: are some good things, some good stories floating around, even

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Speaker 1: at a time of great distress for a lot of people.

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Speaker 1: And so I think for you know, how we're going

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Speaker 1: through this mentally, it's good to be able to focus

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Speaker 1: on some of the some of the positive things that

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Speaker 1: are happening around us. And one thing that we were

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Speaker 1: notified of by a local listener, Rebecca wrote into us

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Speaker 1: and she mentioned that our episode about how to use

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Speaker 1: your stimulus check that came out last week, that really

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Speaker 1: helped her a lot to ease some of her guilt. Actually,

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Speaker 1: the moral conversation that we had about how to use

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Speaker 1: that stimulus money, how you should think about it, it

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Speaker 1: was really helpful in in her being able to actually

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Speaker 1: feel okay saving a portion of it. But she also

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Speaker 1: mentioned in her email Matt, this local nonprofit called Bloom

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Speaker 1: to a Room and it just got started because of

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Speaker 1: COVID nineteen. And there's this young fella, young local Atlantic guy,

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Speaker 1: Braxton Chadwick. He's a high school senior and he is

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Speaker 1: looking for donations to brighten the lives of seniors suffering

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Speaker 1: from COVID. He's getting flowers into rooms around the Atlanta area. Man,

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Speaker 1: I had to make a donation when I read that

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Speaker 1: story when I went to his website. It's really cool

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Speaker 1: to see young people in particular doing incredible things in

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Speaker 1: this time. And Braxton is one of those young people

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Speaker 1: doing something really great, some flowers to brighten the days

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Speaker 1: of seniors who are suffering right now. And the reason

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Speaker 1: we're sharing this story is so Rebecca she mentioned that

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Speaker 1: she had a little bit of guilt for from receiving

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Speaker 1: her stimulus money, right and so we had talked some

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Speaker 1: about ways that we can give that money away, and

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Speaker 1: so I think stories like this will help us. Hopefully

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Speaker 1: it will encourage folks out there to kind of pay

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Speaker 1: it forward essentially, if you feel at tinge of guilt

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Speaker 1: because you maybe maybe you are in a fantastic spot financially,

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Speaker 1: and if so, then then paying it forward and find

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Speaker 1: ways to contribute to you know, the needs of others

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Speaker 1: and looking for those different opportunities to to give your money.

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Speaker 1: That's a great use of your stimulus money. But Joel, yeah,

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Speaker 1: I'm with you when I heard about that story. You know,

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Speaker 1: he's a high school senior, and so I think it's

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Speaker 1: just an amazing mission that he has started, essentially, And

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Speaker 1: so Rebecca, you know, she had gotten in touch with us.

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Speaker 1: She let us know about bloom to a Room. She

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Speaker 1: even emailed him Braxton to inquire if her aunt's senior

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Speaker 1: living facility was on his list, and he said that

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Speaker 1: it wasn't, but he ended up putting it on his

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Speaker 1: list and delivered flowers to that facility the very next day.

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Speaker 1: She said that she didn't get flowers personally, but that

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Speaker 1: she sure felt like she did, so major props to

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Speaker 1: Braxton for brightening people's days, you know, with these flowers

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Speaker 1: and doing something that I think a typical senior in

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Speaker 1: high school wouldn't be doing, you know, like this is

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Speaker 1: a typical high school senior behavior, but it's definitely something

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Speaker 1: that he's doing. And major props to him for that. Yeah, completely.

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Speaker 1: And Matt on another note on the good news front

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Speaker 1: and talking about paying it forward, well, an anonymous donor

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Speaker 1: paid the water bill of four thousand residents of a

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Speaker 1: small Indiana town. The total donation was over two thousand dollars.

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Speaker 1: Those kind of stories are so fun to read, right

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Speaker 1: because a donation like that has an immediate impact on

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Speaker 1: all the families of that town, but in particular a

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Speaker 1: family that is struggling that's maybe gone through a job

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Speaker 1: loss or has been furloughed and hasn't seen a stimulus

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Speaker 1: check come into their bank account yet, or their waiting

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Speaker 1: on an unemployment claim. That's one major financial victory right there,

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Speaker 1: having your water bill taken care of for a month.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I don't know who this person is. They're anonymous,

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Speaker 1: but I love reading stories like that too, well, a

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Speaker 1: non anonymous donor. So in Atlanta, Tyler Perry, he's you know,

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Speaker 1: like the film producer. I just call him Media. Those

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Speaker 1: are some of the movies that he makes. But he uh,

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Speaker 1: a few weeks ago, he paid for all the groceries

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Speaker 1: during Senior Hour and so uh local grocery store around here, Kroger.

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Speaker 1: He paid for the groceries on a specific day of

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Speaker 1: a bunch of Kroger's across Atlanta, as well as some

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Speaker 1: Win Dixies I think in Louisiana, which is where he's from.

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Speaker 1: But yeah, another super cool way that folks are kind

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Speaker 1: of stepping up and helping others in need. By the way,

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Speaker 1: can he shop during Senior Hour if he's dressed as media? Absolutely?

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Speaker 1: I think he totally kid Atlanta's Angel. That was I

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Speaker 1: think what the cashiers were supposed to tell the seniors

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Speaker 1: when they said, oh no, your bills covered. So I

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Speaker 1: thought that was pretty cool. Also, there's this luxury hotel

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Speaker 1: that's hosting COVID patients at this hotel. It's for fancy

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Speaker 1: in Barcelona, right in Spain. It normally has rooms at

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Speaker 1: four hundred fifty dollars a night's but the owner decided

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Speaker 1: to open up their rooms for those affected by COVID nineteen.

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Speaker 1: Most of their guests are those with miles symptoms, but

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Speaker 1: again also those who are more vulnerable, the elderly, some

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Speaker 1: who are pregnant. It's interesting about that story is the

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Speaker 1: owner she was a little worried that she was going

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Speaker 1: to get a little bit of pushback from her current customers,

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Speaker 1: from you know, her previous customers that typically come to

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Speaker 1: her hotel, but in fact she saw the opposite. A

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Speaker 1: lot of regulars who do stay at the hotel reached

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Speaker 1: out when they heard that she was doing this to

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Speaker 1: let her know that like, hey, I'm not gonna be

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Speaker 1: traveling to Barcelona in time soon for obvious reasons, but

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Speaker 1: as soon as possible, I'm going to make sure that

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Speaker 1: I book some travel and I'm going to make sure

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Speaker 1: to stay at your hotel. Because they wanted to voice

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Speaker 1: their support for how she's taking care of others. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: that's a really cool story, man. I I found that

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Speaker 1: one to be really neat and hotels at this particular

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Speaker 1: point in time, Yeah, they're not seeing much foot traffic,

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Speaker 1: and so the hotel owners who are being generous with

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Speaker 1: those rooms and taking care of patients, that's huge, Matt.

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Speaker 1: There was another listener email that we got this week

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Speaker 1: that thought it was important to share. It was from

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Speaker 1: Tristan and Liz, a really young couple from Massachusetts, and

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Speaker 1: they said they started listening last year when they were

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Speaker 1: twenty three and twenty five, and Liz was in three

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Speaker 1: thousand dollars worth the credit card debt, ninety thod dollars

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Speaker 1: with the student loans, and thirty thousand of that was

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Speaker 1: a private student loan at eleven percent interest. And Tristan

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Speaker 1: told us that he budgeted and worked more overtime at

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Speaker 1: his job as an e m T when they were

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Speaker 1: short on money. He said, neither of us had an

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Speaker 1: emergency fund, neither of us budgeting a single dollar. Now

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Speaker 1: both of us used mint to budget. We know where

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Speaker 1: every dollar goes, and we're realizing how much money was

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Speaker 1: slipping through the cracks. Tristan says, I opened up a

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Speaker 1: wrath for oh K at work, and I'm taking advantage

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Speaker 1: of my company match. Liz obliterated her credit card debt

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Speaker 1: last summer, bought a used car in cash, and refinanced

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Speaker 1: that thirty thousand dollars of private loans to a four

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Speaker 1: percent interest rate. They both have emergency funds in high

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Speaker 1: interest rate accounts too, with three months worth of expenses

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Speaker 1: on hand, and they just finished saving up those emergency

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Speaker 1: funds when the COVID pandemic occurred and Liz lost her job,

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Speaker 1: and Triston said, thanks to this money, she can take

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Speaker 1: her time looking for a job and live stress free

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Speaker 1: for months. And if we hadn't been taken the advice

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Speaker 1: from the podcast, then they wouldn't have been in this position.

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Speaker 1: So yeah, I love hearing reports like that from listeners

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Speaker 1: who have been able to take the advice that we

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Speaker 1: give on the show. They've taken action on it. And

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Speaker 1: for for Liz and Tristan, they've really only been taking

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Speaker 1: action for a year, but they've made a lot of

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Speaker 1: progress in one year. I think sometimes it can be

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Speaker 1: daunting to hear all the things we talk about, and

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Speaker 1: it feels like those far off projections of healthy retirement

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Speaker 1: and paying off debt, they seem so far away, But

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Speaker 1: you have to put one ft in front of the other.

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Speaker 1: And that's what Tristan Liz did. And look at what's

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Speaker 1: possible in just a year's worth of time, and how

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Speaker 1: much safety and security that provides during an even unforeseen

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Speaker 1: economic downturn. Yeah. Man, what an awesome email. So a

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Speaker 1: huge thanks to to Liz and Tristan for sending that

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Speaker 1: note our way. And I think for the rest of

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Speaker 1: our listeners out there who are thinking, like, what do

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Speaker 1: I do now that we are in this situation? Um?

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Speaker 1: And I still think that changes can be made even now,

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Speaker 1: even during the great lockdown, right, a lot of us

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Speaker 1: have received and stimulus money, and I think if you

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Speaker 1: don't have an emergency fund, put that money towards an

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Speaker 1: emergency fund, right, Like we've talked before. How two thousand

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Speaker 1: and sixty seven dollars, How that's a great baseline. And

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Speaker 1: guess what twelve und bucks that gets you half of

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Speaker 1: the way there. So obviously most folks financial situations look

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Speaker 1: a lot different today than it did two months ago.

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Speaker 1: But we want to encourage you, if you're listening, to

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Speaker 1: take those small steps today and to start making those

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Speaker 1: those small changes in your lives. Until one final quick

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Speaker 1: piece of good news we wanted to share is that

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Speaker 1: the credit reporting agencies, Experience, Equifax, and trains Union, they

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Speaker 1: are all offering free credit reports every single week for

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Speaker 1: the next year if you go to annual credit report

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Speaker 1: dot com. So it used to be to where you

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Speaker 1: only had access to a free report by one of

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Speaker 1: those three bureaus once a year, but now you get

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Speaker 1: it fifty two times a year. And we're all about

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Speaker 1: keeping in the track of your score. That is free

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Speaker 1: via a lot of different websites, and you can do

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Speaker 1: that whenever you want. You can check in on your

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Speaker 1: credit score. It's updated monthly, but check in on your report. Yeah,

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Speaker 1: usually only available to people once you hear Now it's

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Speaker 1: open to you every single week. You can really stay

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Speaker 1: up to speed on what's going on with your credit

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Speaker 1: and in particular with people going through difficult financial times,

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Speaker 1: there's a higher potential of credit damage and so yeah,

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Speaker 1: staying on top of that is really important. Nice alright, Well,

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Speaker 1: so one other thing we wanted to discuss before the

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Speaker 1: break is how some states are starting to make their

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Speaker 1: own determinations on their reopening timeline. Our governor here in

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Speaker 1: Georgia actually made the controversial decision uh and today. The

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Speaker 1: Governor's order will allow places like Gems, bowling alleys, nail

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Speaker 1: and hair salons, and massage therapists to reopen for business.

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Speaker 1: On top of that, restaurants will be allowed to open

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Speaker 1: on Monday if they comply with social distancing and sanitary measures.

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Speaker 1: I mean, you know what, I think it's pretty stinking

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Speaker 1: ironic that Georgia is saying that these businesses can reopen

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Speaker 1: when the state as a whole hasn't met the guidelines

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Speaker 1: that was handed down from the White House on a

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Speaker 1: federal level. Yeah, it's certainly weird to hear that that

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Speaker 1: these businesses can reopen right now when it doesn't seem

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Speaker 1: like from the health professional side of things that almost

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Speaker 1: anybody is advocating for that. But I think the biggest

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Speaker 1: stand up to me, and that was bowling Alleys. Really,

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Speaker 1: they're they're an essential business that we should be reopening

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Speaker 1: right now. And I guess maybe maybe on the lanes

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Speaker 1: you can stay six ft away from people, Yeah, you

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Speaker 1: can maintain some social distance at a bowling alley, but like,

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Speaker 1: how are you supposed to do that at a hair

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Speaker 1: salon or or nail salon? Right? Yeah? Yeah, And so

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Speaker 1: I think it does that this question of the reopening

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Speaker 1: of the economy, well, it has a few layers to it.

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Speaker 1: One is the economic considerations. Right, it prompts the question

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Speaker 1: how should we view our economy reopening? And I think

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Speaker 1: the answer is that it's complicated. Our lives as a

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Speaker 1: whole are going to be very different for the foreseeable future.

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Speaker 1: Like we talked about last week, Matt, that even as

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Speaker 1: these businesses begin to reopen, as governors do open the doors,

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Speaker 1: and the great lockdown kind of subsides, Well, just because

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Speaker 1: states can reopen some sectors, should they be reopening those

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Speaker 1: sectors of the economy. And just because the state says

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Speaker 1: that we can, well should we be links so as individuals.

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Speaker 1: And I think we've heard from local restaurants, from local

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Speaker 1: businesses pretty loud and clear that at least the ones

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Speaker 1: that I follow on social media and the ones that

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Speaker 1: the people that we're friends with, is that they're unlikely

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Speaker 1: to open even though they're being told that they can.

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Speaker 1: But I will say that these are tough questions and

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Speaker 1: the government edicts that have forced people to stay in

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Speaker 1: their home and shutter their business, well, in many cases,

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Speaker 1: the government has promised to help them to keep food

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Speaker 1: on the table, and that help has not materialized. The

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Speaker 1: stimulus checks have been at least somewhat delayed, the p

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Speaker 1: PP funding and the E I d L funding for

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Speaker 1: for small businesses in need ran out in no time flat,

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Speaker 1: And so those people are are understandably frustrated that they

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Speaker 1: have been told to shut their business and they have

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Speaker 1: not been compensated in any sort of way from the government.

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Speaker 1: So I understand that first frustration, and I think that's

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Speaker 1: why we're seeing some protests around the country, uh, surrounding

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Speaker 1: these political decisions to to keep enforcing a lockdown. But

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Speaker 1: that doesn't mean it's the best course of action, right

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Speaker 1: and and for all of us as a whole. We

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Speaker 1: have to be thinking on this greater level that continuing

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Speaker 1: to shelter in place for at least a foreseeable future

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Speaker 1: actually is going to help us all health wise and

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Speaker 1: economically in the long run. But I understand the frustration

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Speaker 1: from both sides. It's it's a really tough conundrum that

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Speaker 1: we're in. Yeah, I totally agreement. I think we can

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Speaker 1: easily see how it's not the best decision when it

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Speaker 1: comes to our health. And like you said that, like

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Speaker 1: the long term implications and let's play Devil's advocate a

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Speaker 1: little bit here too, write and like, aside from the

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Speaker 1: economic and personal finance factors, individuals are going to have

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Speaker 1: different levels of risk that they are comfortable with. Right,

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Speaker 1: There are always trade offs in life. Right. We make

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Speaker 1: decisions every single day that affect not only our health

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Speaker 1: but the health of those around us. So take cars

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Speaker 1: as a quick example, like driving more and walking less,

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Speaker 1: like that leads to increased heart disease. We know that,

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Speaker 1: you know, driving more leads to more carbon dioxide in

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Speaker 1: our atmosphere. And then not to mention the deaths that

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Speaker 1: are directly attributed to automobile accidents right easily over desks

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Speaker 1: every single year for almost the past one years. Yet

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Speaker 1: we all continue to drive because we're comfortable with that risk.

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Speaker 1: So I mentioned this, you know, to point out that

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Speaker 1: this is not an easy question to answer, and our

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Speaker 1: goal shouldn't be to vilify those who we disagree with,

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Speaker 1: whether the topic is our health or if it's money related.

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Speaker 1: So much of what we talk about on this show

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Speaker 1: it comes down to us on a personal and individual level.

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Speaker 1: And like, that's why we call it personal finance. Right,

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Speaker 1: it has to do with us as individuals. However, we

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Speaker 1: just need to remember, though, to base our actions on

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Speaker 1: fact and science. Right, Like, we all know it's important

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Speaker 1: to continue to slow the spread of the virus to

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Speaker 1: buy scientists and doctors more time. So we need to

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Speaker 1: make sure that we're doing our part. Just because the

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Speaker 1: governor said that certain businesses can open doesn't necessarily mean

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Speaker 1: that those businesses should And just because some businesses will

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Speaker 1: open their doors doesn't mean that we have to take

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Speaker 1: part in that. It comes down to us as individuals

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Speaker 1: and man, you know, like unfortunately, I think certain individuals

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Speaker 1: they'll see headlines that say, oh, the all these stores

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Speaker 1: are open, and they're going to see that as a

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Speaker 1: sign that everything is safe. And unfortunately that's not the case.

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Speaker 1: We know that's not the case, but sadly that the

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Speaker 1: message that it sends, yeah, it certainly does, and I

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Speaker 1: hate that some people are going to get the wrong

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Speaker 1: message from this. So I would say, as as your

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Speaker 1: local economy starts to reopen slowly, no matter what timeline

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Speaker 1: that's on, whether you live in a state that is

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Speaker 1: reopening swiftly starting today or you live in a state

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Speaker 1: that that's taking greater precautions, I would say wear a mask,

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Speaker 1: don't take unnecessary risks, and if you're a business owner,

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Speaker 1: make sure you're looking after your your workers. And so

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Speaker 1: even if you know you really want to reopen your business,

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Speaker 1: but you don't feel it safe or you can't take

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Speaker 1: proper social distancing precautions to be able to to ensure

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Speaker 1: the safety of your your workers and your your customers,

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Speaker 1: then then I would say hold off if that's in

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Speaker 1: the best interests of everyone's health. And also, don't look

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Speaker 1: to politicians as having the right answer on the best

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Speaker 1: behavior that you should be taking to keep yourself in

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Speaker 1: your family safe. So, yeah, Matt, I think the reopening

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Speaker 1: of the economy, it's kind of a hot button issue

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Speaker 1: right now, but we felt the need away and especially

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Speaker 1: as some of these local economies are starting to reopen

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Speaker 1: like now. But all right, we got some more things

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Speaker 1: to get to, including being watched while working from home,

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Speaker 1: giving refunds. That's become a tricky thing for consumers in

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Speaker 1: this COVID nineteen world. We'll get to some of those

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Speaker 1: things right after the break, right Joel, back from the break,

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Speaker 1: and before we get to working from home and getting

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Speaker 1: some refunds from different companies, it's got to mention how

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Speaker 1: there's gonna be more money for small businesses p PP

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Speaker 1: funding or the paycheck Protection program that ran out last

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Speaker 1: week because the original bill man it just did not

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Speaker 1: allocate nearly enough money. It seemed obvious that, you know,

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Speaker 1: lawmakers essentially kind of knew that maybe when the bill

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Speaker 1: was crafted. And in addition to that, like some big

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Speaker 1: American corporations actually took money that was intended for more

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Speaker 1: these small businesses. Shake Shack, they're one of these large

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Speaker 1: companies that took a lot of money that was available

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Speaker 1: to them through PPP. But at least in their case,

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Speaker 1: they returned the ten million dollars that they took after

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Speaker 1: receiving criticism. And some would argue that they do contribute

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Speaker 1: to their economy local lee, but the fact that this

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Speaker 1: is a giant corporation, they have funding and resources that's

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Speaker 1: available to them, that's you know, true small businesses could

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Speaker 1: only dream of having access to. Yeah, they did the

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Speaker 1: right thing by returning that money. And I think, you know,

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Speaker 1: hopefully some of these other larger corporations that should not

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Speaker 1: have taken PPP money will be returning there's as well.

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Speaker 1: So lawmakers are passing this bill, this FO four billion

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Speaker 1: dollar package, and a large portion of that will be

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Speaker 1: earmarked for the unbanked, to minorities in rural areas, into

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Speaker 1: lots of mom and pop stores that don't have good

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Speaker 1: banking connections and need to help. That's really what was missing,

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Speaker 1: Matt from the first iteration, where a lot of those

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Speaker 1: people were left on the sidelines while these bigger companies

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Speaker 1: snatched up all the money. So if you are a

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Speaker 1: small business that has applied but was denied access to

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Speaker 1: one of these p p P loans, will stay in

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Speaker 1: touch with your banker if you have one. But but

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Speaker 1: some of these small businesses, Matt, they don't even have

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Speaker 1: a relationship with a bank. So we would mention too

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Speaker 1: that PayPal and fintech small business lender Cabbage k A

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Speaker 1: B B a g E are both offering p p

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Speaker 1: P loans to people online, and they're offering you the

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Speaker 1: ability to apply online and they're taking applications now. They've

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Speaker 1: left applications open even while there was no PPP funding

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Speaker 1: in anticipation that there would be more. So, yeah, those

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Speaker 1: are two good places to to go to consider to

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Speaker 1: apply for that money if you're having trouble getting a

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Speaker 1: banker at at a big bank, or even at a

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Speaker 1: smaller local bank or credit unions even respond to your emails,

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Speaker 1: and so let's talk about getting refunds to add insult

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Speaker 1: to injury. For many big companies are being stingy with

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Speaker 1: refunds in situations where events or services were canceled. Ticket Master,

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Speaker 1: you know, they do not have the most consumer friendly

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Speaker 1: policies in normal times. I know I haven't heard that,

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Speaker 1: and they weren't too keen to offer refunds even in

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Speaker 1: the face of a pandemic. But they have changed their

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Speaker 1: tune and now you know, they've made it sound like

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Speaker 1: that they were always planning to get refunds for these

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Speaker 1: shows that were going to be rescheduled. Sure you are right,

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Speaker 1: I'm sure taket Master, right, Yeah, I'm glad that they

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Speaker 1: have said that even a rescheduled show was available for

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Speaker 1: a refund. But yeah, for at the beginning, they were like, no,

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Speaker 1: what are you talking about. We just moved the date.

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Speaker 1: And that's a big issue, especially if you've got hundreds

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Speaker 1: of dollars tied up in tickets that you purchased. Ticketmaster

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Speaker 1: finally doing the right thing. Many reports to have shown

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Speaker 1: that airlines are attempting to offer travel credits instead of

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Speaker 1: refunds at the same time, And and Consumer Reports has

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Speaker 1: a petition that you can sign, because that's a big

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Speaker 1: problem right now, and that is even more money tied

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Speaker 1: up than concert tickets. Typically, if you've got travel booked

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Speaker 1: to a foreign country or even just domestically, you could

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Speaker 1: have hundreds and hundreds or thousands of dollars tied up

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Speaker 1: in airline tickets and the airline just wants to offer

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Speaker 1: you a credit for a future flight. Uh, And that

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Speaker 1: just isn't fair. So we would encourage you to sign

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Speaker 1: that petition. We've linked to it in the show notes.

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Speaker 1: And especially with the federal funds that these airlines are receiving,

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Speaker 1: that it's not okay for them to be only issuing vouchers.

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Speaker 1: It may seem mad to see that they're receiving billions

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Speaker 1: in money from the federal government and that they're not

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Speaker 1: offering refunds to consumers unless you beg and plead. So

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Speaker 1: that's not cool, and I hope they start to change

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Speaker 1: their tune quickly too. I think there are some even

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Speaker 1: some class action paw suits being filed against a lot

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Speaker 1: of the major airlines, And yeah, I hope they do

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Speaker 1: the right thing. Let's go discuss too being watched while

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Speaker 1: working from home. First of all, it's great that so

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Speaker 1: many companies are able to maintain business as usual right

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Speaker 1: the ability for employees to work remotely. This has been

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Speaker 1: a growing trend that we've seen over the years, but

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Speaker 1: the recent pandemic like that has only accelerated that. But

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Speaker 1: the issue now, though, is that the employers who weren't

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Speaker 1: already set up in a position to manage their staff,

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Speaker 1: they are all scrambling to make sure that productivity continues.

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Speaker 1: Workplace in computer monitoring is the solution oftentimes in many

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Speaker 1: of these cases, and naturally, this software allows employers and

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Speaker 1: managers the ability to see what their staff is up to,

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Speaker 1: and one company says that increase for their software has

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Speaker 1: tripled since the middle of March, and of their two

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Speaker 1: thousand existing customers, about a third of them have requested

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Speaker 1: additional licenses so they can track more users. So this

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Speaker 1: is important for individuals to know matt who are working

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Speaker 1: from home that there's a good chance that their employer

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Speaker 1: is maybe taking screenshots of what they're up to, potentially

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Speaker 1: even every ten minutes. So if you you have found

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Speaker 1: yourself recently working from home. You might not know that

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Speaker 1: your employer has the ability to even check in on

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Speaker 1: what you're doing, but that's something that you definitely have

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Speaker 1: to be aware of. And with that though, some employees

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Speaker 1: might have some privacy concerns obviously, but I think this

432
00:20:14,200 --> 00:20:16,679
Speaker 1: type of monitoring it seems like a necessary step in

433
00:20:16,800 --> 00:20:20,720
Speaker 1: order for companies to continue to function while everyone continues

434
00:20:20,760 --> 00:20:23,199
Speaker 1: to work from home. We focused an entire episode on

435
00:20:23,240 --> 00:20:26,000
Speaker 1: working from home episode one at two because it can

436
00:20:26,040 --> 00:20:28,400
Speaker 1: be a really difficult transition for folks to instantly switch

437
00:20:28,440 --> 00:20:30,760
Speaker 1: gears right from I'm at home watching Netflix, some Mu

438
00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:33,760
Speaker 1: Jamie's or taking care of the kids too, I'm at

439
00:20:33,760 --> 00:20:36,520
Speaker 1: home working on a social media campaign or debugging this

440
00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:40,359
Speaker 1: database for a client, and so having some hard data

441
00:20:40,440 --> 00:20:43,040
Speaker 1: and numbers to see how everyone is doing like this

442
00:20:43,200 --> 00:20:45,359
Speaker 1: is really important. And I think this is also to

443
00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:48,560
Speaker 1: not just for employers, but it's for employees as well.

444
00:20:48,960 --> 00:20:52,119
Speaker 1: You know, to have hard, quantifiable numbers to kind of

445
00:20:52,119 --> 00:20:55,480
Speaker 1: measure your productivity against, that's really important. So Joe, an

446
00:20:55,520 --> 00:20:57,320
Speaker 1: example where I see this playing out in my own

447
00:20:57,400 --> 00:20:58,879
Speaker 1: life is when like when I go for runs, I

448
00:20:58,920 --> 00:21:01,639
Speaker 1: tracked my runs with this app, and not only do

449
00:21:01,680 --> 00:21:03,720
Speaker 1: I just run to stay healthy, but like I want

450
00:21:03,720 --> 00:21:05,840
Speaker 1: to see how I'm doing. So with this app that's

451
00:21:05,920 --> 00:21:07,840
Speaker 1: running in the background, I'm able to see my my

452
00:21:07,880 --> 00:21:10,520
Speaker 1: own progress. I think that only allows us to become

453
00:21:10,640 --> 00:21:14,160
Speaker 1: better at whatever we're doing if there is some sort

454
00:21:14,200 --> 00:21:16,680
Speaker 1: of feedback, right, And so a lot of these reports,

455
00:21:16,800 --> 00:21:19,920
Speaker 1: employees have just as much access to these reports as

456
00:21:19,920 --> 00:21:22,120
Speaker 1: their employers do. Yeah, I think that's a huge part

457
00:21:22,119 --> 00:21:24,320
Speaker 1: of it, is the transparency and the whole thing, because

458
00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:26,720
Speaker 1: if you're being monitored without your knowledge, that's when it

459
00:21:26,760 --> 00:21:29,239
Speaker 1: becomes a little shady. And Yeah, at the same time, right,

460
00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,879
Speaker 1: we talked about in that episode that you're gonna have

461
00:21:30,920 --> 00:21:33,199
Speaker 1: to have open conversations with your boss, especially during this

462
00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:35,480
Speaker 1: time because a lot of people their screen might be

463
00:21:35,520 --> 00:21:38,199
Speaker 1: stuck in the same place for twenty minutes because they

464
00:21:38,200 --> 00:21:41,040
Speaker 1: have to deal with helping facilitate a child learning. And

465
00:21:41,080 --> 00:21:43,040
Speaker 1: so it's important to know that if you are being

466
00:21:43,040 --> 00:21:45,679
Speaker 1: tracked from home to to have that conversation with your

467
00:21:45,720 --> 00:21:49,440
Speaker 1: boss about what they're likely expectations can be. And these

468
00:21:49,440 --> 00:21:51,399
Speaker 1: privacy concerns I think are going to come down to

469
00:21:51,720 --> 00:21:54,480
Speaker 1: specific companies and who are using the software, how they're

470
00:21:54,480 --> 00:21:56,359
Speaker 1: handling it, and and make sure that if you do

471
00:21:56,400 --> 00:21:58,760
Speaker 1: have questions, that you ask your employer about it, because

472
00:21:58,920 --> 00:22:00,560
Speaker 1: it can be free. Hey, I know I would be

473
00:22:00,600 --> 00:22:02,960
Speaker 1: a little freaked out at least knowing that I was

474
00:22:03,000 --> 00:22:05,720
Speaker 1: potentially being spied on or my or they were taking

475
00:22:05,760 --> 00:22:08,439
Speaker 1: screenshots of my screen every ten minutes, which some of

476
00:22:08,440 --> 00:22:10,720
Speaker 1: these softwares do. So yeah, it's just something for people

477
00:22:10,760 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 1: to to be aware of. Yeah, it'll be a little

478
00:22:12,320 --> 00:22:13,960
Speaker 1: freaky if you see your person move across the screen

479
00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,639
Speaker 1: on its own doing stuff you're not telling it to do.

480
00:22:17,240 --> 00:22:19,080
Speaker 1: I mean, well, we had a quick listener question here

481
00:22:19,119 --> 00:22:22,000
Speaker 1: about getting the I r S your information in order

482
00:22:22,040 --> 00:22:24,920
Speaker 1: to get that stimulus money hid Matt and chillsc sins

483
00:22:24,920 --> 00:22:27,960
Speaker 1: Emma from Ohio. I discovered your podcast last year and

484
00:22:28,040 --> 00:22:30,520
Speaker 1: have really been enjoying all of the great information about

485
00:22:30,520 --> 00:22:33,360
Speaker 1: finances and craft beer that you've been sharing with us listeners.

486
00:22:33,880 --> 00:22:36,320
Speaker 1: I'm calling because on your most recent episode, one of

487
00:22:36,359 --> 00:22:38,080
Speaker 1: you mentioned that when you went to the I r

488
00:22:38,200 --> 00:22:41,240
Speaker 1: S website to check your stimulus check status, you got

489
00:22:41,240 --> 00:22:44,160
Speaker 1: a message saying they couldn't determine your eligibility at this time.

490
00:22:44,640 --> 00:22:47,520
Speaker 1: I've gotten the same message. I've filed my taxes on

491
00:22:47,560 --> 00:22:50,679
Speaker 1: April fourteen, and I've owed money for the last two years,

492
00:22:50,760 --> 00:22:53,879
Speaker 1: so they probably don't have my direct deposit information on file.

493
00:22:54,320 --> 00:22:56,720
Speaker 1: Are you in the same boat? Do you know how

494
00:22:56,760 --> 00:22:58,920
Speaker 1: I might be able to get my direct deposit information

495
00:22:58,960 --> 00:23:01,560
Speaker 1: to the I R S. I've heard that paper checks

496
00:23:01,560 --> 00:23:04,119
Speaker 1: may not arrive until September, and I'd really like to

497
00:23:04,119 --> 00:23:05,959
Speaker 1: get that money as soon as possible so I can

498
00:23:06,000 --> 00:23:08,560
Speaker 1: buy some index funds while the stock market is still down.

499
00:23:09,000 --> 00:23:11,760
Speaker 1: Thanks so much, I'm a great question, Yeah, Matt. A

500
00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:15,280
Speaker 1: lot of questions still surround the stimulus payments, how people

501
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,720
Speaker 1: are receiving them, and there are definitely some hang ups

502
00:23:18,000 --> 00:23:20,639
Speaker 1: for people in different situations and um and yeah, so

503
00:23:20,840 --> 00:23:23,000
Speaker 1: the I r S will resolve those over time, but

504
00:23:23,080 --> 00:23:25,720
Speaker 1: some people are not seeing their money in a timely

505
00:23:25,760 --> 00:23:28,720
Speaker 1: manner and I hate seeing that. I personally mentioned yeah

506
00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,800
Speaker 1: last week, how I got that message when I logged

507
00:23:30,800 --> 00:23:33,639
Speaker 1: in that it couldn't tell me basically whether or not

508
00:23:33,680 --> 00:23:36,240
Speaker 1: I was receiving one, whether I was eligible or not.

509
00:23:36,320 --> 00:23:38,040
Speaker 1: And then I logged back in on Sunday to check

510
00:23:38,040 --> 00:23:40,600
Speaker 1: my status and it said that I would receive my

511
00:23:40,600 --> 00:23:43,080
Speaker 1: funds on Wednesday, and then I did, which was great.

512
00:23:43,280 --> 00:23:46,280
Speaker 1: So some concrete info was helpful, but sadly that's not

513
00:23:46,320 --> 00:23:47,720
Speaker 1: what a lot of people are getting when they turned

514
00:23:47,720 --> 00:23:49,639
Speaker 1: to ir S dot of And Yeah, so if you

515
00:23:49,720 --> 00:23:51,640
Speaker 1: have gotten that message in the past, Emma, I would

516
00:23:51,640 --> 00:23:55,600
Speaker 1: say go back because that blanket message was given to everyone,

517
00:23:55,880 --> 00:23:58,400
Speaker 1: regardless of whether they did have your information on file,

518
00:23:58,400 --> 00:24:00,880
Speaker 1: and we're gonna process even just too soon as five

519
00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:03,119
Speaker 1: days later. So yeah, I would say go back to

520
00:24:03,119 --> 00:24:05,320
Speaker 1: the i r S website, make sure you check again,

521
00:24:05,520 --> 00:24:08,240
Speaker 1: enter in your information to see if they've updated your status.

522
00:24:08,280 --> 00:24:10,120
Speaker 1: That's the first step to take in the NEMA. For

523
00:24:10,119 --> 00:24:12,600
Speaker 1: for those who did file, including yourself, but you did

524
00:24:12,680 --> 00:24:16,040
Speaker 1: not include your direct deposit information, we would recommend for

525
00:24:16,040 --> 00:24:18,560
Speaker 1: them to to use the page get my payment that

526
00:24:18,640 --> 00:24:20,960
Speaker 1: is hosted by the i r S to provide their

527
00:24:21,000 --> 00:24:24,920
Speaker 1: banking information to get their economic impact payment immediately. If

528
00:24:24,960 --> 00:24:27,320
Speaker 1: you owed money in twenty nineteen, then the i r

529
00:24:27,400 --> 00:24:30,520
Speaker 1: S they just don't have your direct deposit information and

530
00:24:30,600 --> 00:24:33,400
Speaker 1: you must take the step to avoid having a check

531
00:24:33,440 --> 00:24:35,760
Speaker 1: sent out, which you know we've mentioned before will likely

532
00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:38,199
Speaker 1: take months to receive, just like you mentioned, might be

533
00:24:38,240 --> 00:24:40,080
Speaker 1: September before you get your hands on that money. Yeah,

534
00:24:40,080 --> 00:24:42,080
Speaker 1: it sounds like they're trying to to send five million

535
00:24:42,200 --> 00:24:44,159
Speaker 1: checks a week, and they're starting with people with the

536
00:24:44,200 --> 00:24:46,359
Speaker 1: lowest adjusted gross income. So the people that are in

537
00:24:46,400 --> 00:24:48,440
Speaker 1: the most need are going to get those checks the soonest,

538
00:24:48,480 --> 00:24:50,879
Speaker 1: which is good. But other people who do have you know,

539
00:24:51,000 --> 00:24:53,199
Speaker 1: higher a g I s are potentially gonna wait two

540
00:24:53,280 --> 00:24:55,520
Speaker 1: to three months to see that check in in their mailbox.

541
00:24:55,720 --> 00:24:57,800
Speaker 1: There's also a tool for people who haven't filed a

542
00:24:57,880 --> 00:25:01,520
Speaker 1: tax return recently but are eligible for the stimulus payment.

543
00:25:01,520 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 1: Will link to that in the show notes as well.

544
00:25:03,320 --> 00:25:05,199
Speaker 1: I love, also, Emma that you're planning to do some

545
00:25:05,280 --> 00:25:07,520
Speaker 1: investing with this money. If you have solid savings and

546
00:25:07,560 --> 00:25:10,240
Speaker 1: a stable job, investing that money is a great way

547
00:25:10,280 --> 00:25:12,280
Speaker 1: to use it. And at the same time, Matt, I

548
00:25:12,320 --> 00:25:15,160
Speaker 1: don't necessarily think Emma has to worry about missing out

549
00:25:15,240 --> 00:25:17,720
Speaker 1: on a bear market or missing out on the stock

550
00:25:17,720 --> 00:25:20,879
Speaker 1: market being down, because I do think the economic implications

551
00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:22,960
Speaker 1: of what we're going through, there's there's a good chance

552
00:25:23,000 --> 00:25:25,280
Speaker 1: they last for a while longer. You know. It's not

553
00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:27,119
Speaker 1: something that I hope for, you know, I hope for

554
00:25:27,160 --> 00:25:29,640
Speaker 1: a quick economic recovery, but that remains to be seen.

555
00:25:29,800 --> 00:25:31,760
Speaker 1: And so even if you get your check two or

556
00:25:31,800 --> 00:25:33,359
Speaker 1: three months from now, and if you're investing for the

557
00:25:33,359 --> 00:25:36,600
Speaker 1: long haul, you know, whether you invested a month earlier

558
00:25:36,680 --> 00:25:38,439
Speaker 1: or a month later, that's not going to have a

559
00:25:38,480 --> 00:25:40,760
Speaker 1: massive difference on the overall amount you'll have, you know,

560
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:43,159
Speaker 1: when you hit retirement age. Yeah, So, like we mentioned,

561
00:25:43,160 --> 00:25:44,720
Speaker 1: we will put some links in our show notes to

562
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,439
Speaker 1: some of those different tools and some of those pages

563
00:25:46,640 --> 00:25:48,280
Speaker 1: hosted by the i R s there so that you

564
00:25:48,280 --> 00:25:51,320
Speaker 1: can make sure you get your money as quickly as possible. So, Joel,

565
00:25:51,440 --> 00:25:54,159
Speaker 1: that's gonna be it for this Friday episode. We just

566
00:25:54,200 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: mentioned the site how you can find some information there,

567
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:58,560
Speaker 1: but you can also go to our site in order

568
00:25:58,560 --> 00:26:00,119
Speaker 1: to leave us some feedback. If you go to how

569
00:26:00,119 --> 00:26:02,639
Speaker 1: do money dot com forward slash do Better. If you

570
00:26:02,760 --> 00:26:04,919
Speaker 1: have some some feedback for us, if there's some ways

571
00:26:04,920 --> 00:26:06,600
Speaker 1: that you think we can do a better job on

572
00:26:06,640 --> 00:26:10,400
Speaker 1: the show and providing helpful information, then please let us know. Yeah,

573
00:26:10,440 --> 00:26:12,560
Speaker 1: Matt and I we read every single one of those emails.

574
00:26:12,560 --> 00:26:14,560
Speaker 1: We take it seriously. We want to provide a show

575
00:26:14,600 --> 00:26:17,040
Speaker 1: that's helpful, informative and fun at the same time. That's

576
00:26:17,040 --> 00:26:19,600
Speaker 1: our goal every single week. So Matt, until next time,

577
00:26:19,960 --> 00:26:21,640
Speaker 1: Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out,