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Speaker 1: Welcome to Out of Money. I'm Joel, I'm Matt.

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Speaker 2: Today we got a special ask kind of money episode

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Speaker 2: for you. We're addressing tariff's volatility and their impact on you, you.

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Speaker 1: Know, a buddy. This is the Tariff's special edition. How

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Speaker 1: it's going to impact investing, How it's going to impact

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Speaker 1: your job, your income, what you're spending, whether or not

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Speaker 1: you should buy or sell a house. Perhaps these are

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Speaker 1: all topics that we're going to be getting to during

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Speaker 1: today's episode. Yeah, a lot to cover, and it's therefore

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Speaker 1: we don't have any short quick stories to share with

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Speaker 1: them this week. We've got a lot to get to

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Speaker 1: during today's episode.

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Speaker 2: As you and I have discussed multiple times to the

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Speaker 2: constantly changing policy, that's got a factor to this discussion. Two,

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Speaker 2: it's not like there's some set in stone let's plan

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Speaker 2: on this. There are still like tariffs that are supposed

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Speaker 2: to come into being in you know, less than three months.

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Speaker 2: Will those are won't those happen? That's also part of

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Speaker 2: the discussion here.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, that's so true, because so we're literally recording this

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Speaker 1: episode just like a few days before, you are hearing

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Speaker 1: this out there and even and certainly between us recording

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Speaker 1: and you hearing this episode, things could have changed. But literally,

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Speaker 1: like while we're talking, like things are so dynamic, and

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Speaker 1: I don't know if there's ever been a time where

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Speaker 1: we've seen so much change in such a short amount

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Speaker 1: of time. I heard specifically the terriffs I heard referred

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Speaker 1: to recently as like the wax on wax off tariffs.

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Speaker 1: It's the mister that Trump is the mister Miyagi of

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Speaker 1: of international trade some truth for that which totally cracked

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Speaker 1: me up. But the beer that you and I are

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Speaker 1: going to enjoy during this episode is called a yellow Rose.

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Speaker 1: This is a smash IPA. I did not know that

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Speaker 1: was a category of Iba smash Burger's, but not smashed

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Speaker 1: ipa smash I pa. I don't know Loane Pint Brewery.

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Speaker 1: They are the of this particular drink, but never called

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Speaker 1: it a drink before, but as a beer that we're

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Speaker 1: gonna enjoy, and we'll share our thoughts at the end

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Speaker 1: of the episode. True story.

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Speaker 2: And by the way, if you have a money question,

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Speaker 2: just go to how to money dot com slash ask

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Speaker 2: for the simple directions on how to submit yours. If

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Speaker 2: you've got one about the macroeconomy, how it impacts your

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Speaker 2: personal finances. Please do send your questions our way, or

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Speaker 2: you can just record your question on the voicemad Mo

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Speaker 2: app of your phone email it over to us.

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Speaker 1: Matt.

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Speaker 2: Let's get to a question specifically about international investing in

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Speaker 2: the age of tariffs.

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Speaker 3: Hey, guys, this is Bryant and I'm calling in from Cutzer.

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Speaker 3: My wife and I are both originally from the United States,

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Speaker 3: but we are currently living and working in Cutzer as professors,

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Speaker 3: and we are worried about the kind of state of

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Speaker 3: the US economy, and we recently decided to keep living here,

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Speaker 3: so we just turned down job offers extra c m

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Speaker 3: M in order to kind of stay here and work here.

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Speaker 3: Sellers are higher cost or lower. There's there's some perks involved,

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Speaker 3: and we are kind of wondering where to go from

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Speaker 3: here with our investments. We currently have most most of

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Speaker 3: our investments are currently in the US stock market, mostly

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Speaker 3: in the Vanguard et F v o O. But given

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Speaker 3: kind of the decline of the dollar and the kind

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Speaker 3: of fluctuation in the in the stock market currently and

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Speaker 3: with everything else going on, we are considering investing internationally.

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Speaker 3: So we've been looking at some European ETFs like the

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Speaker 3: VGK and some other ones, And we were kind of

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Speaker 3: just wondering if you have advice about that, what you

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Speaker 3: think about if there's any picks that you would suggest. Yeah, thanks, Yes.

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Speaker 1: Do you like how Bryant said, if we had any picks,

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Speaker 1: We're here to dish out the stock tips.

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Speaker 2: He's not, at least he's not asking about individual stocks.

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Speaker 2: He's talking about, Hey, should I diversify internationally? Which is

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Speaker 2: and it's honestly, that's a question as old as time,

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Speaker 2: since the beginning of stock market investing.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, Brian, he's a part of the VU family. He

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Speaker 1: feels like a brother to me, Joel, because that's pretty

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Speaker 1: much fully invested in VU.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I'd be curious to know, by the way, what

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Speaker 2: it feels like to be living internationally right now, reading

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Speaker 2: about all this American news from overseas. It's it's like, right,

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Speaker 2: we feel inundated by it. I wonder if, because he's

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Speaker 2: in the Middle East, if it feels more or less impactful.

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Speaker 2: Maybe it feels even a little less unclear because the

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Speaker 2: coverage is a little more sparse. I I don't no,

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Speaker 2: but it is. It would be interesting to have that

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Speaker 2: kind of Bird's eye view in What is it actually

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Speaker 2: like living in what? How do you pronounce it Cutter?

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Speaker 2: I've always had a tough time pronouncing that one.

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Speaker 1: But that's I think that's how you pronounce it if

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Speaker 1: you are a local, like if you live are That's

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Speaker 1: how I always said. Yeah, I mean that's as I think.

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Speaker 1: As English speakers, I've always heard it referred to as Qatar.

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Speaker 1: But folks who say cutter, you have to be a

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Speaker 1: professor living in Cutter to be able to say it

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Speaker 1: that way. Joe, Yeah, so you're not allowed to say

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Speaker 1: it like that, Okay, I won't just so you know. Good, good,

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Speaker 1: Thanks for clarifying that ahead of the time. A whole

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Speaker 1: lot of other words you're also not allowed to say either, right,

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Speaker 1: because of who you are. But that's true, okay. But

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Speaker 1: I also I get to worry that Bryant is experiencing here, right.

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Speaker 1: I think.

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Speaker 2: I think a lot of the norms that we've grown

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Speaker 2: accustomed to, they're being shaken up right now. You and

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Speaker 2: I were always talking about how politics shouldn't impact how

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Speaker 2: you invest. That's particularly true right when we're getting to

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Speaker 2: election season and people like, oh, if the Democrat or

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Speaker 2: the Republican gets selected that maybe I should shake things

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Speaker 2: up because I don't know if they're going to handle

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Speaker 2: the economy as well. And that has always been based

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Speaker 2: on the reality that both the R and the d's

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Speaker 2: they kind of tend to hold a belief in the

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Speaker 2: benefits of global free trade. And for the first time

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Speaker 2: in a long time, Matt, the free trade bias that's

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Speaker 2: essentially been held for generations, it's being upended. And so yeah,

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Speaker 2: I do think the discussion of changing your investing strategy

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Speaker 2: takes on a bit more weight in this environment. Like

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Speaker 2: the question is different than what if an R or

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Speaker 2: D gets elected. It's like, well, what if the way

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Speaker 2: we think of the global economy is shifting dramatically?

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Speaker 1: Yeah, and it does. I will say it appears like

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Speaker 1: that sort of free trade approach to global trade is

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Speaker 1: being upended. There's also a chance, of course, that it

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Speaker 1: could just sort of be a blip on the radar

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Speaker 1: in terms of stock market and investments. It could be

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Speaker 1: just some of that short term volatility that has yet

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Speaker 1: to be seen. And honestly, that kind of that's the

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Speaker 1: filter I'm viewing all the questions we're going to kind

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Speaker 1: of get to today. We're gonna address and try to

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Speaker 1: answer the questions as best we can given what we

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Speaker 1: know at the moment. So Bryant's question should he be

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Speaker 1: investing internationally? There are gonna be valid arguments on both

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Speaker 1: sides whether or not you should continue to invest solely

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Speaker 1: in the in US companies or if you should expand

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Speaker 1: that to international indexes as well, because many believe that

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Speaker 1: US centric ETFs like VU offers enough overseas exposure that

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Speaker 1: it just minimizes or it even completely eliminates the need

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Speaker 1: to own funds that own foreign companies specifically, So basically

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Speaker 1: you're getting enough diversification by owning a single index like

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Speaker 1: VU because McDonald's, Apple, Amazon, these are all companies who

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Speaker 1: are doing a lot of business in countries around the world,

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Speaker 1: which achieves a just like a good enough kind of result.

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Speaker 2: If you travel to Asia, man, you know how many

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Speaker 2: kfs as you see a lot are there.

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Speaker 1: I don't know. It's been a long time I've been

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Speaker 1: in Asia. So we have always felt this way, and honestly,

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Speaker 1: despite the tariff induced market volatility, we still feel that

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Speaker 1: most folks will do just fine investing in low cost

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Speaker 1: total stock market index funds or s and P five

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Speaker 1: hundred ETFs over the years.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think that's for multiple reasons, right, because

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Speaker 2: despite this growing anti free trade sentiment, the US economy,

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Speaker 2: it's still the most vibrant in existence, right, and our

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Speaker 2: business environment is the envy of the world. Like when

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Speaker 2: you think about the biggest companies in the world, it's

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Speaker 2: not even close like the United States, especially when you're

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Speaker 2: talking about the mag seven or whatever. Companies in other

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Speaker 2: countries just can't hold a candle to the largest companies

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Speaker 2: that we have in the United States here. True, and

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Speaker 2: also when it comes to the breath and the diversity

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Speaker 2: of companies and industries that the United States participates in.

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Speaker 2: It's all our belief too that there's no real stomach

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Speaker 2: for significant tariffs to remain over the long term. Right.

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Speaker 2: We've already seen tariffs paused, reduced, rolled back, and then

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Speaker 2: exceptions created for specific companies and sectors specifically like computers, smartphones.

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Speaker 2: Right when you think of a company like Apple, they're

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Speaker 2: lobbying hard to have tariffs reduced on smartphones in particular.

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Speaker 2: And I think the administration is starting to understand how

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Speaker 2: negative of an impact lasting tariffs could have. And it's

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Speaker 2: obviously it's hard to predict when trade policy is kind

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Speaker 2: of at the mercy of one man's whims right now.

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Speaker 2: But the willingness to minimize tariffs and to shift when

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Speaker 2: tide's turn, I think that's at least somewhat positive. So

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Speaker 2: one we can see that the US economy is incredibly resilient,

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Speaker 2: and two, it looks like tariff policy can and will

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Speaker 2: change right as the American economy reacts negatively yes to

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Speaker 2: the imposition of those tariffs. I think those are two

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Speaker 2: at least positive signs that being a US centric investor

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Speaker 2: still seems like.

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Speaker 1: A reasonable idea, right But Bryant might feel differently. He

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Speaker 1: might come down, you know, given the same information, he

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Speaker 1: might make a totally different decision. And I think that's okay.

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Speaker 1: There are a lot of really smart people out there

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Speaker 1: who believe that international exposure is crucial for investors. And

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Speaker 1: this is even before tariffs came on the scene. Even

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Speaker 1: if international stocks have performed poorly versus US stocks over

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Speaker 1: the past decade, that still doesn't mean that they will

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Speaker 1: over the next decade. You know, like things could turn around,

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Speaker 1: particularly if US policy continues to march down this road. Brian,

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Speaker 1: if you do feel that you need to change things, up.

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Speaker 1: I would say, don't change things up like immediately, Like

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Speaker 1: you don't need to slam on the e break and

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Speaker 1: pull ui. I would just consider buying other low few

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Speaker 1: funds that offer non US talk exposures with new investment

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Speaker 1: dollars over time. This isn't like a call to say

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Speaker 1: just sell everything and you completely upend your financial or

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Speaker 1: at least your investing life. Yeah.

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Speaker 2: I think if you're going to change your investing strategy, like,

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Speaker 2: make sure you write it down, be thoughtful about it,

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Speaker 2: and say no no, because of this, It's changed my

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Speaker 2: happening in the world. It's changed my belief in this way,

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Speaker 2: and put pen to paper so that you have an

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Speaker 2: informed view of why you're making those changes, so you're

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Speaker 2: not just making them emotionally and half past exactly. That's

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Speaker 2: a bad idea and it.

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Speaker 1: Makes me think too. So at the beginning or in

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Speaker 1: his question, he was talking about how they chose to

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Speaker 1: stay there in Katar based on a couple of things,

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Speaker 1: based on higher pay as well as lower lower cost

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Speaker 1: of living. I think is what he said there that's

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Speaker 1: great as opposed to thinking that, oh, it seems like

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Speaker 1: the US economies and shambles. I'm not totally sure. I mean,

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Speaker 1: he did mention like the weekend US dollar, but hopefully

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Speaker 1: he primarily made the decision based on some of these hard,

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Speaker 1: tangible number crunching that he was able to do, as

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Speaker 1: opposed to projecting into the future what might be happening

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Speaker 1: in a similar way. That's how I would want Bryant

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Speaker 1: to approach his investing, like, yes, total, it's totally fine

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Speaker 1: to say I want to maybe diversify a little bit

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Speaker 1: more internationally, but make sure you're doing that with a

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Speaker 1: plan while looking out the numbers as opposed to that

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Speaker 1: sort of knee jerk emotional reaction.

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Speaker 2: In a proactive, not reactive way. And the proactive, I

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Speaker 2: think is exactly what you mentioned, Matt, just kind of

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Speaker 2: buying into other index funds internationally over time to increase

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Speaker 2: your exposure there, instead of making some sort of whiplash

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Speaker 2: sell by sort of thing in one of your tax

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Speaker 2: advantage retirement accounts. Right, and Bryant, he mentioned VGK that's

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Speaker 2: a good one for your specific investing. It's a Vanguard fund,

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Speaker 2: and then there's there are funds like VXUS it's a

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Speaker 2: it's a broader international fund. They could do the trick

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Speaker 2: as well.

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Speaker 1: Also low cost. Also cost also starts with the V

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Speaker 1: so I'm pretty sure Brian's going to be into it,

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Speaker 1: and I think ultimately what it comes down to, Matt,

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Speaker 1: part of what makes a good portfolio for anybody out

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Speaker 1: there listening is if it allows you to sleep at night,

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Speaker 1: If you are a nervous nelly, right, if you believe

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Speaker 1: that ramping up to let's say, twenty percent international stock

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Speaker 1: exposure over the coming years, if that would help you

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Speaker 1: rest a little more.

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Speaker 2: Easily, do it. If you have gone if you saw

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Speaker 2: those those jaw dropping multiple five percent drops back to

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Speaker 2: back and you were like, I can't handle this. I'm

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Speaker 2: looking at my four one k and I'm freaking well,

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Speaker 2: then it probably means you are too stock heavy and

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Speaker 2: you need to have a more balanced investment approach, Like

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Speaker 2: you don't do something, don't have so much exposure to

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Speaker 2: stocks that if we do have a correction, like it's

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Speaker 2: too emotionally difficult for you to stomach. I would also

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Speaker 2: just note don't sleep on target date fund either. There's

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Speaker 2: still US centric, but part of the appeal is the

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Speaker 2: inclusion of some foreign stocks and bonds, So target date

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Speaker 2: funds could be another reasonable choice for Briant and for

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Speaker 2: other people out there, And it's something that we mentioned

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Speaker 2: kind of frequently, especially because it is one of those

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Speaker 2: set it and forget it things where you invest in

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Speaker 2: the target date fund and it changes as you get

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Speaker 2: closer to your retirement date.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, but in a similar way, I feel like even

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Speaker 1: VU is a set it and forget it kind of thing.

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Speaker 1: You know, It's like, this isn't something that you really

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Speaker 1: need to look at. It's it's a NIC and PFUF fund,

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Speaker 1: an index fund. It automatically rebounces and take into account

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Speaker 1: the different companies that are included in the troops.

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Speaker 2: But it's getting closer to tapping those retirements. Certain percent

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Speaker 2: stock oriented, certainly if you are approaching retirement. But I

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Speaker 2: mean it seems like Brian is just looking at how

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Speaker 2: am I going to be able to maximize my returns

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Speaker 2: moving forward. So I do think that there's a way

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Speaker 2: to sort of steal man the international exposure case, and

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Speaker 2: like this is an aspect of not terrorists, but just

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Speaker 2: our current form, current White.

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Speaker 1: House's foreign policy. And hopefully this isn't venture too much

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Speaker 1: in the politics. But like one of the things that

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Speaker 1: we've heard recently is that the US isn't going to

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Speaker 1: be like the world's police right like that, it's not

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Speaker 1: going to be like the global cop on the beat,

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Speaker 1: as evidenced by the Vice President's statement that got the

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Speaker 1: signal gate whatever the thing this is a few weeks ago,

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Speaker 1: it's just like, Oh, I hate that we're bailing out

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Speaker 1: Europe again. And there seems to be this distancing from

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Speaker 1: other countries. I mean not only in funding that we're

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Speaker 1: cutting to other countries from a soft diplomacy standpoint, but

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Speaker 1: also literally from a defense backing standpoint as well. So

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Speaker 1: from a Steelman best case scenario for investing internationally, it

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Speaker 1: almost seems like that there is an opportunity for all

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Speaker 1: these countries who have previously been reliant specifically on US

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Speaker 1: defense to have to get their books in order for

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Speaker 1: companies to be like, oh, this is something that we're

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Speaker 1: going to have to start doing, and I see potentially

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Speaker 1: an opportunity for a lot of foreign countries to ramp

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Speaker 1: I mean they're talking about ramping up like Germany, right,

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Speaker 1: I mean they're like, oh, we've already seen defense stocks

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Speaker 1: in Europe going and as companies get more efficient, that's

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Speaker 1: going to lead to higher profits and potentially higher returns

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Speaker 1: of well, so I could see that being sort of

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Speaker 1: a not a best case scenario argument, but like a

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Speaker 1: Steelman case for international investing, specifically because of the US's

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Speaker 1: stance towards other countries. But who knows.

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Speaker 2: All right, Matt, let's get some more questions we've got. Specifically,

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Speaker 2: we're gonna get to a lot of questions that people

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Speaker 2: pose in our Facebook group about tariffs and markets and

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Speaker 2: how they should be reacting right now. This question comes

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Speaker 2: from Justin. He says, in explaining tariffs, can you discuss

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Speaker 2: if a tariff is a form of a regressive tax policy?

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Speaker 2: For simplicity's sake, if tariff's raise the cost of groceries

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Speaker 2: by one hundred bucks equally for all consumers, that one

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Speaker 2: hundred dollars is a much larger percentage for a person

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Speaker 2: making two grand a month than for the person making

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Speaker 2: ten grand a month.

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Speaker 1: Yep, yep. I mean, that's basically true. Terrafs are regressive

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Speaker 1: in this way. And it's super fascinating because at least

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Speaker 1: one of the major reasons offered for implementing teriffs was

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Speaker 1: to help lower income Americans, so bringing back the manufacturing

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Speaker 1: jobs that were lost to other countries, is one of

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Speaker 1: the main goals, and I of course understand the thought

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Speaker 1: process here. I just don't think that recreating a world

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Speaker 1: where the US is a manufacturing powerhouse is likely or

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Speaker 1: even makes the most sense for our economy. It makes

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Speaker 1: A few days ago or last week, we were talking

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Speaker 1: about we were looking at the digital rendering or the

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Speaker 1: flyover of the BID factory in China, which it's like

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Speaker 1: larger than Manhattan, It's like almost as big as San

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Speaker 1: Francisco or something like that. Mind blowing dorms for their workers,

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Speaker 1: and I'm wanting it. It's crazy impressive and you're just like,

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Speaker 1: this is amazing that the singular private company. But then

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Speaker 1: to think, wait, are we going to compete with that?

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Speaker 1: Not from a do we have the ability to? But

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Speaker 1: do we have the do we want to do that? Right? Like?

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Speaker 1: Is that the kind of manufacturing powerhouse that we're looking

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Speaker 1: for the US to become? Is that the kind of job?

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Speaker 1: Do you want to be confined to whatever corporate dorm

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Speaker 1: you know, because that's closest to the factory that you're

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Speaker 1: now working in and you don't have a life outside

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Speaker 1: of that. Do you want that for your kids? You know? Like,

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Speaker 1: and that's where I have a really tough time grappling

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Speaker 1: with the fact that this is something that's an actual

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Speaker 1: goal or aim of the current administration. It's one of

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Speaker 1: those things to work at a Silicon Valley company where

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Speaker 1: they have like professional chefs and massuses and stuff like that,

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Speaker 1: and so you're kind of coerced into staying, but you're

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Speaker 1: not forced to be there. And I see that as yeah,

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Speaker 1: person of the job, as opposed to be like, oh no, no,

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Speaker 1: you have to live in It's like a modern day Hooverville, Right,

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Speaker 1: That's what it looks like. It could turn into agreed,

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Speaker 1: agreed where we did in that path.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, when it comes down to back to Justin's question,

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Speaker 2: tariff policies are going to hurt the bottom half of

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Speaker 2: income earners much harder than folks who have a lot

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Speaker 2: more financial resources at their disposal. So, for example, avocados

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Speaker 2: have been much talked about. Matt loves most of our

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Speaker 2: avocados come from Mexico. And if avocado goes from a

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Speaker 2: buck twenty five apiece to two bucks apiece, well, the

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Speaker 2: person with the higher salary and the greater savings they

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Speaker 2: can more easily afford their avocado toast or their QUACAMOLEI

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Speaker 2: habit because better than the person who's living paycheck to paycheck. Sure,

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Speaker 2: that extra seventy five cents per avocado, it really does add.

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Speaker 2: And that's just like literally one example of potentially hundreds

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Speaker 2: of items that we buy regularly that could go up

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Speaker 2: in price, and people who have less money coming in

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Speaker 2: are just going to feel the upticking prices more. The

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Speaker 2: same thing happened with inflation over the past few years, right,

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Speaker 2: it was lower income households who felt more pain because

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Speaker 2: of inflation. So yeah, on average, richer households will pay

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Speaker 2: more overall thanks to tariffs, but less as a percentage

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Speaker 2: of their income. And we haven't really seen massive price

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Speaker 2: bumps yet, but as those come rolling in, I think

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Speaker 2: the rock solid belief that tariffs are going to benefit

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Speaker 2: economically disadvantaged folks in our society could dissipate quickly as

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Speaker 2: public perception turns even more sour. And I think that's

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Speaker 2: part of what's going to lead to the inability for

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Speaker 2: substantial tariffs to remain in place over the long term.

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Speaker 1: Yeah, going back to manufacturing, guess what, It's hard to

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Speaker 1: manufacture avocados or coffee.

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Speaker 2: For instance, Like you can't do that in the US.

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Speaker 2: I guess you could try. There's like three countries that

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Speaker 2: produce the vast majority of the world's coffee. Buteah, if

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Speaker 2: we made a coffee in the US, it probably like

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Speaker 2: the worst coffee in the world.

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Speaker 1: And that's not because like that is out the stuff.

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Speaker 2: I want an American stuck at making coffee, but I

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Speaker 2: want to drink it because we don't have the climate

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Speaker 2: to grow the bets, so we need to grow.

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Speaker 3: Right.

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Speaker 1: If we did have the climate, it'd be the best

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Speaker 1: coffee in the world, right exactly, That's what Joel's saying.

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Speaker 2: All Right, we've got more of your questions to get

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Speaker 2: to about tariffs and the markets. We'll get to a

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Speaker 2: bunch of those right after this.

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Speaker 1: All right, man, we are back from the break. We're

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Speaker 1: gonna take some more questions that listeners posted over there

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Speaker 1: in the Facebook group. If you are not a member

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Speaker 1: of the how to Money Facebook group, be sure to

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Speaker 1: look it up. But let's see Becca, she asked about retaliation.

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Speaker 1: She was talking asking about gold and crypto as well. Joel,

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Speaker 1: one of your thoughts there, do you get any thoughts

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Speaker 1: specifically about the trade war? That's that's the part that

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Speaker 1: seems the most ominous.

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Speaker 2: Yeah, I feel like that's kind of freaking people off

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Speaker 2: the host I agree, And I think I'm glad she

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Speaker 2: asked about this, because retaliation is is real, right, you

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Speaker 2: can you can punch somebody in the nose, but then

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Speaker 2: I don't know if they punch you in the ear back,

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Speaker 2: like you're both hurting, So you have to take that

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Speaker 2: into account. You might say, great, we got the upper

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Speaker 2: hand here in the beginning, but do you ultimately get

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Speaker 2: kicked in the pants, right? Do you ultimately have the

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Speaker 2: upper hand, That's the question. And I think tariffs are

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Speaker 2: a kind of a too complay at this game scenario.

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Speaker 2: And we're already seeing other countries, a lot of our

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Speaker 2: Canadian neighbors to the north canceling trips to the US,

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Speaker 2: other countries too, just saying I'm not vacationing there because

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Speaker 2: I'm so mad about the US trade policy. And that

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Speaker 2: impacts the airlines, that impacts hotels, that impacts other travel

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Speaker 2: leisure industries. And so if the US continues to have

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Speaker 2: an antagonistic approach to trading partners, particularly friendly ones are

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Speaker 2: ones we've been friendly with over many, many decades, it

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Speaker 2: could hurt the bottom line of US companies who sell

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Speaker 2: some of their goods and services abroad. I'm just thinking

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Speaker 2: of a company like McDonald's. I could see consumers in

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Speaker 2: other countries saying, like boycotting, Yeah, yeah, I'm not evening,

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Speaker 2: I'm switching to my local fair instead. So not only

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Speaker 2: will their cost rize US companies cost rizes, but demand

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Speaker 2: could go down to internationally. And so I do think

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Speaker 2: that erosion of faith in the US as a mutually

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Speaker 2: beneficial training partner, it could potentially create some of the

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Speaker 2: most harm.

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Speaker 1: Totally, And that's the part that doesn't make the like

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Speaker 1: any sense at all. Like China, Okay, I totally understand that,

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Speaker 1: Like if you start doing some research or reading reading

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Speaker 1: about the amount of intellectual property theft that has taken

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Speaker 1: place from China and like the billions of dollars annually

433
00:21:32,160 --> 00:21:35,280
Speaker 1: that you could assign a dollar amount to. Okay, I

434
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,879
Speaker 1: kind of understand the argument there, But the argument is

435
00:21:37,920 --> 00:21:40,680
Speaker 1: more of an adversarial relationship there. Yes, absolutely as the

436
00:21:41,119 --> 00:21:43,600
Speaker 1: other predominant world power. But when it comes to like

437
00:21:43,800 --> 00:21:46,800
Speaker 1: Canada and even Mexico, I understood at the very beginning

438
00:21:46,960 --> 00:21:49,000
Speaker 1: when border crossings were still a thing, and that's something

439
00:21:49,119 --> 00:21:52,560
Speaker 1: that the Trump camp that they campaigned on like shutting

440
00:21:52,600 --> 00:21:55,879
Speaker 1: the border, but that's like all but completely gone away,

441
00:21:56,600 --> 00:21:59,720
Speaker 1: and so the and what gives with Canada. There's like

442
00:21:59,840 --> 00:22:02,000
Speaker 1: no hardly any illegal crossings. Oh my gosh. Like the

443
00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:06,119
Speaker 1: fentanyl stats about the number of pounds that were crossing

444
00:22:06,200 --> 00:22:09,080
Speaker 1: the Mexican border as opposed to the Canadian border was

445
00:22:09,240 --> 00:22:12,320
Speaker 1: like laughable, Like, I don't these aren't real numbers. But

446
00:22:12,359 --> 00:22:15,240
Speaker 1: it was something like every thirty days, like three thousand

447
00:22:15,280 --> 00:22:18,000
Speaker 1: pounds of fentanyl from Mexico and it was something like

448
00:22:18,560 --> 00:22:22,600
Speaker 1: seven from Canada, I believe. And so the adversarial relationship

449
00:22:22,640 --> 00:22:25,200
Speaker 1: in particular to Canada makes very little sense to me.

450
00:22:25,359 --> 00:22:30,280
Speaker 1: But becos also asking about gold and crypto, how that

451
00:22:30,320 --> 00:22:33,560
Speaker 1: would be impacted, And so we'll start with gold because

452
00:22:33,600 --> 00:22:37,159
Speaker 1: it's done quite well for investors as they've turned there

453
00:22:37,280 --> 00:22:40,600
Speaker 1: during uncertain times. It's actually outperformed the SMP by a

454
00:22:40,720 --> 00:22:43,760
Speaker 1: lot over this past year, given the volatility that we've seen.

455
00:22:43,960 --> 00:22:45,560
Speaker 1: If you zoom out a little bit more, you see

456
00:22:45,600 --> 00:22:49,400
Speaker 1: that it's essentially matched the SMP over the past five years.

457
00:22:49,880 --> 00:22:52,800
Speaker 1: But then beyond that it doesn't do so well, and

458
00:22:52,920 --> 00:22:54,600
Speaker 1: especially if you look at the last even the last

459
00:22:54,640 --> 00:22:57,600
Speaker 1: five to ten years, and you eliminate the past most

460
00:22:57,680 --> 00:23:00,720
Speaker 1: recent four months, things start looking the whole lot more normal.

461
00:23:00,800 --> 00:23:03,920
Speaker 1: It's the volatility that we've most recently experienced that's really

462
00:23:04,840 --> 00:23:06,960
Speaker 1: throwing the average returns off.

463
00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:09,399
Speaker 2: Which is on average when people turn to goal, it's

464
00:23:09,440 --> 00:23:11,000
Speaker 2: like a flight to safety exact. And so I think

465
00:23:11,000 --> 00:23:12,680
Speaker 2: that's why beck is asked about this, well, should I

466
00:23:12,720 --> 00:23:15,120
Speaker 2: be flying to safety? And part of that depends, I guess,

467
00:23:15,280 --> 00:23:17,440
Speaker 2: on your view of where the world is headed.

468
00:23:17,600 --> 00:23:19,520
Speaker 1: Yees. But so still, if you have time on your

469
00:23:19,600 --> 00:23:22,560
Speaker 1: side as an investor, look into the stock market, that's

470
00:23:22,680 --> 00:23:24,680
Speaker 1: going to be a better choice from a long term

471
00:23:25,119 --> 00:23:29,560
Speaker 1: historical perspective. As far as crypto goes, we still dislike

472
00:23:29,840 --> 00:23:32,800
Speaker 1: crypto generally speaking, and we've got to carve out though

473
00:23:32,840 --> 00:23:38,520
Speaker 1: for bitcoin. Bitcoin is not unlike the other cryptocurrencies, but inflation, tariffs,

474
00:23:38,960 --> 00:23:42,520
Speaker 1: currency fluctuations as well currency inflation. This could lead to

475
00:23:42,920 --> 00:23:47,000
Speaker 1: more investors moving into the bitcoin direction. Still highly volatile

476
00:23:47,040 --> 00:23:50,520
Speaker 1: and basically it's still acting like a security. It's acting

477
00:23:50,600 --> 00:23:52,960
Speaker 1: like socks. You got to be aware of that, and

478
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,240
Speaker 1: we want you Becca as well as all how too

479
00:23:55,280 --> 00:23:57,600
Speaker 1: many listeners out there to stay invested in the market,

480
00:23:58,280 --> 00:24:02,399
Speaker 1: but I certainly think having some bitcoin might be wise,

481
00:24:02,920 --> 00:24:05,040
Speaker 1: certainly dabbling a little bit, no more than five percent.

482
00:24:05,720 --> 00:24:06,639
Speaker 1: I get that A thumbs up.

483
00:24:06,760 --> 00:24:09,840
Speaker 2: Yeah again, going back to kind of something we mentioned earlier, though,

484
00:24:09,960 --> 00:24:13,960
Speaker 2: making huge shifts in how you're invested makes very little sense.

485
00:24:14,000 --> 00:24:17,720
Speaker 2: But if you're making smart, calculated moves in different directions

486
00:24:17,760 --> 00:24:22,000
Speaker 2: because you are being thoughtful about the future of Bitcoin,

487
00:24:22,240 --> 00:24:26,399
Speaker 2: of money, of companies, of US based companies specifically, I

488
00:24:26,480 --> 00:24:28,760
Speaker 2: get that. But you still you don't want to make

489
00:24:28,880 --> 00:24:30,000
Speaker 2: knee jerk responses.

490
00:24:30,160 --> 00:24:32,840
Speaker 1: Yeah, in large part because I think we are optimistic

491
00:24:32,880 --> 00:24:34,199
Speaker 1: and we're hopeful that things are going to go back

492
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:38,399
Speaker 1: to normal, like not too far future. Yeah, yeah, I

493
00:24:38,440 --> 00:24:39,679
Speaker 1: did say that. Well, but you know what I mean.

494
00:24:40,920 --> 00:24:43,840
Speaker 2: Let's get to a question from listener Sarah. She says,

495
00:24:43,920 --> 00:24:46,680
Speaker 2: I have a current college student. We used five twenty

496
00:24:46,800 --> 00:24:50,200
Speaker 2: nine funds for freshman year, but it's now depleted. Student's

497
00:24:50,240 --> 00:24:52,920
Speaker 2: father wants to keep adding to five two nine. I

498
00:24:53,040 --> 00:24:55,439
Speaker 2: want to save in a HIGL savings account. What are

499
00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:58,639
Speaker 2: your thoughts with the current volatility in investments right now.

500
00:24:58,920 --> 00:25:02,600
Speaker 1: I think Sarah and the student's father are both right

501
00:25:03,000 --> 00:25:06,040
Speaker 1: to a certain extent. I'm not sure where Sarah lives,

502
00:25:06,160 --> 00:25:08,520
Speaker 1: but much of the answer comes down to the state

503
00:25:08,760 --> 00:25:10,400
Speaker 1: that she lives in, because if she gets a tax

504
00:25:10,480 --> 00:25:14,600
Speaker 1: break for funneling those dollars through a five twenty nine, well,

505
00:25:14,640 --> 00:25:17,200
Speaker 1: of course do that. If not, well, then the high

506
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:19,840
Speaker 1: yield savings account is the right answer we're gonna get.

507
00:25:19,880 --> 00:25:21,479
Speaker 1: So why I said that, I think you're both right here.

508
00:25:21,680 --> 00:25:23,320
Speaker 1: Let's say you do live in a state that gives

509
00:25:23,359 --> 00:25:25,760
Speaker 1: you a tax break. That still doesn't mean we want

510
00:25:25,800 --> 00:25:29,080
Speaker 1: you to invest those dollars once you put those dollars

511
00:25:29,200 --> 00:25:31,919
Speaker 1: into the five twenty nine. Notice I said to funnel

512
00:25:31,960 --> 00:25:34,720
Speaker 1: those dollars through the five twenty nine as opposed to

513
00:25:35,160 --> 00:25:38,280
Speaker 1: like parking it there in like a long term like

514
00:25:38,359 --> 00:25:40,399
Speaker 1: airport parking. No, no, no, Like we're talking about like

515
00:25:40,520 --> 00:25:42,520
Speaker 1: you doing the drop off, like at the at the

516
00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:44,680
Speaker 1: gate or at the you know what, they got the

517
00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,520
Speaker 1: numbers there at the airport. We're not talking about like

518
00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:48,800
Speaker 1: the long term parking where you're having a height.

519
00:25:48,920 --> 00:25:51,199
Speaker 2: It's almost like a legal form of money laundering, right

520
00:25:51,240 --> 00:25:53,800
Speaker 2: where you're literally funneling it through this account passenger just

521
00:25:53,880 --> 00:25:55,600
Speaker 2: to get a tax break, but you don't have to

522
00:25:55,680 --> 00:25:58,640
Speaker 2: take much action with those that money beyond that it's

523
00:25:58,840 --> 00:26:01,159
Speaker 2: totally and then you can, yeah, spend it at your

524
00:26:01,200 --> 00:26:03,760
Speaker 2: discretion for college needs. Yeah, In most five twenty nine plans,

525
00:26:03,800 --> 00:26:07,080
Speaker 2: they offer fixed income choices that do resemble the returns

526
00:26:07,080 --> 00:26:08,919
Speaker 2: that you're going to see with a high heeled savings account,

527
00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,280
Speaker 2: albeit with slightly lower returns.

528
00:26:11,720 --> 00:26:14,040
Speaker 1: But put the money in the account. You get the

529
00:26:14,119 --> 00:26:16,200
Speaker 1: tax break, but then keep the money in the most

530
00:26:16,280 --> 00:26:19,560
Speaker 1: conservative choice, which is probably going to be like a

531
00:26:19,640 --> 00:26:22,080
Speaker 1: money market equivalent kind of fun. So you're not actually

532
00:26:22,119 --> 00:26:24,600
Speaker 1: investing those dollars it is. You are treating it a

533
00:26:24,680 --> 00:26:25,280
Speaker 1: bit more like cash.

534
00:26:25,359 --> 00:26:27,280
Speaker 2: And that's essentially the advice we would give you tariffs

535
00:26:27,359 --> 00:26:29,760
Speaker 2: or not, right, a market volatility or not. It is

536
00:26:29,840 --> 00:26:31,840
Speaker 2: one of those things where if the money needs to

537
00:26:31,880 --> 00:26:34,600
Speaker 2: be spent immediately or in the very near term, you

538
00:26:34,640 --> 00:26:37,560
Speaker 2: don't want to invest those dollars, even if it's twenty

539
00:26:37,640 --> 00:26:39,800
Speaker 2: twenty three, right and you're like, the market's roaring, this

540
00:26:39,840 --> 00:26:41,639
Speaker 2: is great. Should I be investing? No, you shouldn't if

541
00:26:41,680 --> 00:26:44,680
Speaker 2: you need the money soon. Would We've always said, you know,

542
00:26:44,800 --> 00:26:47,639
Speaker 2: for people with young kids, we're all about investing inside

543
00:26:47,640 --> 00:26:49,960
Speaker 2: of those five twenty nine funds. If you're doing the

544
00:26:50,080 --> 00:26:52,399
Speaker 2: other investments you need to make as an individual in

545
00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,200
Speaker 2: your tax advantage retirement accounts first. But yes, we do

546
00:26:55,280 --> 00:26:57,240
Speaker 2: want you putting money then in the five twenty nine

547
00:26:57,320 --> 00:27:00,760
Speaker 2: fund and investing those dollars for their future. You want

548
00:27:00,800 --> 00:27:03,320
Speaker 2: that tax advantage money to grow. But when you're getting

549
00:27:03,359 --> 00:27:05,879
Speaker 2: closer to needing to spend that money down, you got

550
00:27:06,000 --> 00:27:08,320
Speaker 2: a d risk, right. You want to make sure your

551
00:27:08,359 --> 00:27:11,000
Speaker 2: five twenty nine planned money is not invested in something

552
00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,960
Speaker 2: that could cause you to see significant drops in the

553
00:27:14,119 --> 00:27:16,520
Speaker 2: balance in a short period of time. And so at

554
00:27:16,520 --> 00:27:19,680
Speaker 2: this point you're investing in like a heavy stock based

555
00:27:19,720 --> 00:27:22,200
Speaker 2: portfolio inside of the five twenty nine plan would be

556
00:27:22,240 --> 00:27:24,119
Speaker 2: the furthest thing from smart Like it would be a

557
00:27:24,240 --> 00:27:27,600
Speaker 2: terrible idea that the risks of losing a chunk of

558
00:27:27,680 --> 00:27:30,240
Speaker 2: this money so close to needing it, it's just not

559
00:27:30,400 --> 00:27:33,199
Speaker 2: worth the potential rewards. So exactly, you might say, oh, man,

560
00:27:33,240 --> 00:27:35,600
Speaker 2: the fixed income fund is paying like two and a

561
00:27:35,640 --> 00:27:39,960
Speaker 2: half three percent, and that seems like average return to DSP.

562
00:27:40,680 --> 00:27:43,240
Speaker 2: The guys cite that all the time on the show Man.

563
00:27:43,320 --> 00:27:45,800
Speaker 2: That's like an average aal return of something like ten percent.

564
00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:49,159
Speaker 2: This I should be invested in the stock market. Well, no,

565
00:27:49,520 --> 00:27:51,280
Speaker 2: you don't want to take that risk when you need

566
00:27:51,359 --> 00:27:51,880
Speaker 2: the money soon.

567
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,639
Speaker 1: Yeah. Yeah. If it was me, if I if I

568
00:27:54,640 --> 00:27:56,480
Speaker 1: had a freshman in high school, I would be willing

569
00:27:56,600 --> 00:28:00,240
Speaker 1: to still be one hundred percent invested in security or

570
00:28:00,440 --> 00:28:03,119
Speaker 1: in stocks. If I had a sophomore, I'm going to

571
00:28:03,160 --> 00:28:04,840
Speaker 1: start taking some chips off the table. Is that a

572
00:28:04,880 --> 00:28:06,800
Speaker 1: sophomore I think I would reduce that down by a

573
00:28:06,920 --> 00:28:10,840
Speaker 1: third to like sixty six percent in stocks maybe the

574
00:28:10,960 --> 00:28:14,280
Speaker 1: other third, you know, and more of a cash equivalent

575
00:28:14,680 --> 00:28:16,960
Speaker 1: junior year. I'm like, I'm pulling even more off. But

576
00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:19,360
Speaker 1: by senior year, I would want to be you want

577
00:28:19,359 --> 00:28:21,399
Speaker 1: to have a money liquid pretty much ready to go

578
00:28:21,600 --> 00:28:23,920
Speaker 1: in cash where you are not going to experience the

579
00:28:24,000 --> 00:28:24,920
Speaker 1: ups and downs of the market.

580
00:28:24,920 --> 00:28:27,400
Speaker 2: It'd be different too, right. I think if she had

581
00:28:27,520 --> 00:28:30,159
Speaker 2: a freshman and she had plenty of money, some of

582
00:28:30,240 --> 00:28:33,000
Speaker 2: it was actually even going to be for senior year

583
00:28:33,160 --> 00:28:36,520
Speaker 2: or even beyond for college cost. But we're talking about

584
00:28:37,200 --> 00:28:39,640
Speaker 2: the money going essentially directly to funding.

585
00:28:39,360 --> 00:28:43,120
Speaker 1: The college exactly. She said she's got a current college student. Yeah,

586
00:28:43,280 --> 00:28:46,120
Speaker 1: let's keep moving though. Jessica asks, if I'm worried about

587
00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,920
Speaker 1: a layoff, my husband works for the VA. Is there

588
00:28:48,920 --> 00:28:51,800
Speaker 1: a way to look into what unemployment benefits we would

589
00:28:51,840 --> 00:28:54,240
Speaker 1: qualify for. I'm a planner, and yes, I like to

590
00:28:54,280 --> 00:28:56,920
Speaker 1: plan for the what ifs before they happen? Is unemployment

591
00:28:56,960 --> 00:28:59,920
Speaker 1: state by state? We have emergency savings? Does that fact

592
00:29:00,120 --> 00:29:03,840
Speaker 1: into how much unemployment you qualify for? Also, I'd love

593
00:29:03,960 --> 00:29:07,200
Speaker 1: an example copy of a bare bones budget for a

594
00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:11,040
Speaker 1: family of four, for instance, how can you realistically go

595
00:29:11,400 --> 00:29:14,840
Speaker 1: I'm sorry, how low can you realistically go on food? Oh? Yeah,

596
00:29:14,880 --> 00:29:15,200
Speaker 1: that's good.

597
00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:17,560
Speaker 2: I want you specifically to address the food question in

598
00:29:17,600 --> 00:29:19,880
Speaker 2: a second map because I feel like that's something you

599
00:29:20,360 --> 00:29:21,520
Speaker 2: d have been attentive to.

600
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:22,600
Speaker 1: That's the TLDR.

601
00:29:22,760 --> 00:29:25,120
Speaker 2: But even the challenge that you guys instituted for yourself

602
00:29:25,920 --> 00:29:28,000
Speaker 2: a few years back, which you've talked about on the show.

603
00:29:28,080 --> 00:29:29,200
Speaker 2: We'll give that in just a second, but.

604
00:29:29,240 --> 00:29:30,080
Speaker 1: You might have to remind me.

605
00:29:30,160 --> 00:29:32,840
Speaker 2: But move on, okay or keep moving So let's specifically

606
00:29:32,840 --> 00:29:36,080
Speaker 2: talk about the layoff fears first. That was Jessica's first question.

607
00:29:36,400 --> 00:29:39,160
Speaker 2: I get that insecurity, you know, government workers, they used

608
00:29:39,200 --> 00:29:42,280
Speaker 2: to have some of the most secure positions around. That's

609
00:29:42,320 --> 00:29:45,640
Speaker 2: no longer the case. If I were in your shoes, Jessica,

610
00:29:45,960 --> 00:29:48,480
Speaker 2: I'd be hoping for the best. But I'd at least

611
00:29:48,520 --> 00:29:52,240
Speaker 2: be planning for the worst, planning for a potential job loss. Yeah,

612
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:54,240
Speaker 2: that means some things for your finances, but it also

613
00:29:54,320 --> 00:29:58,440
Speaker 2: means networking right and looking for other work just in case,

614
00:29:59,040 --> 00:30:01,520
Speaker 2: because you want to be prepared and you want to

615
00:30:01,600 --> 00:30:05,200
Speaker 2: have kind of irons in the fire going because you're

616
00:30:05,240 --> 00:30:06,720
Speaker 2: not sure kind of where things are headed.

617
00:30:06,840 --> 00:30:07,040
Speaker 1: Yeah.

618
00:30:07,040 --> 00:30:09,720
Speaker 2: And then when it comes to unemployment benefits, yes, it

619
00:30:09,920 --> 00:30:13,000
Speaker 2: is a state by state thing. And no, your emergency

620
00:30:13,040 --> 00:30:16,000
Speaker 2: fund has no impact on how much money you receive

621
00:30:16,160 --> 00:30:17,560
Speaker 2: from those unemployment benefits.

622
00:30:17,640 --> 00:30:21,640
Speaker 1: Yes, not like family assets and FASTA and applying for color.

623
00:30:21,800 --> 00:30:23,800
Speaker 1: Not like wait a second, she's you've got plenty of

624
00:30:23,800 --> 00:30:25,719
Speaker 1: moneys is loaded. We're not going to give you any

625
00:30:25,760 --> 00:30:27,880
Speaker 1: of those unemployment benefits. That's not how it works exactly.

626
00:30:28,000 --> 00:30:30,480
Speaker 1: That's something that you are paying into. You will receive

627
00:30:30,520 --> 00:30:32,440
Speaker 1: those benefits, and each state has its own for the

628
00:30:32,480 --> 00:30:35,360
Speaker 1: employer pays into it. Yeah, yeah, exactly. The formula is

629
00:30:35,520 --> 00:30:38,640
Speaker 1: based usually on a percentage of your recent wages, with

630
00:30:38,760 --> 00:30:41,080
Speaker 1: a fairly low cap. In our state, I believe the

631
00:30:41,160 --> 00:30:43,920
Speaker 1: weekly max is something like three hundred and sixty five dollars,

632
00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:45,360
Speaker 1: and it goes a lot lower than that. If you

633
00:30:45,440 --> 00:30:48,240
Speaker 1: make less too. Yeah, my guess is that your husband

634
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,760
Speaker 1: actually makes more than that at the VA. So, but

635
00:30:51,840 --> 00:30:54,120
Speaker 1: also know how long those benefits might last. And so

636
00:30:54,240 --> 00:30:57,640
Speaker 1: we're typically talking anywhere between three and six months. So

637
00:30:58,360 --> 00:31:00,800
Speaker 1: your liquid savings, your emergency fund is going to be crucial,

638
00:31:01,760 --> 00:31:04,920
Speaker 1: even though unemployment benefits are certainly going to be helpful.

639
00:31:05,360 --> 00:31:08,120
Speaker 1: And then when we're talking about the bare bones budget, Joey,

640
00:31:08,120 --> 00:31:09,840
Speaker 1: you're saying, what challenge are you talking about?

641
00:31:09,840 --> 00:31:12,600
Speaker 2: As far as you were trying to do two dollars

642
00:31:12,680 --> 00:31:15,880
Speaker 2: per person per meal for many years. Oh and you

643
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:17,200
Speaker 2: were able to achieve that. Well back in the day,

644
00:31:17,200 --> 00:31:21,160
Speaker 2: we're doing one dollar per meal per person. Yeah that's one.

645
00:31:21,120 --> 00:31:21,680
Speaker 1: Dollar, dude.

646
00:31:21,760 --> 00:31:24,160
Speaker 2: You're making me think of the commercials to support families

647
00:31:24,280 --> 00:31:27,959
Speaker 2: in countries that are economically challenged.

648
00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,960
Speaker 1: Man. Granted, this is when the kids were really little,

649
00:31:30,040 --> 00:31:32,600
Speaker 1: so it's not like they're eating a ton. Things are

650
00:31:32,680 --> 00:31:35,480
Speaker 1: different now as they've gotten bigger. I mean literally, man,

651
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:37,720
Speaker 1: it's crazy how I don't want to get all sentimental,

652
00:31:37,760 --> 00:31:40,240
Speaker 1: but because they grow fast, they eat a lot of food.

653
00:31:40,600 --> 00:31:44,360
Speaker 1: And when it comes to your grocery budget specifically, it

654
00:31:44,520 --> 00:31:48,280
Speaker 1: comes down to how dialed in your current grocery spending

655
00:31:48,400 --> 00:31:51,120
Speaker 1: is because let's say you're a baller like Joel, and

656
00:31:51,160 --> 00:31:55,920
Speaker 1: you get your groceries delivered from Whole food and then

657
00:31:55,920 --> 00:31:58,280
Speaker 1: everything else lies. Well, you don't do Whole Foods, but

658
00:31:58,360 --> 00:31:58,720
Speaker 1: you've done that.

659
00:31:58,960 --> 00:32:01,000
Speaker 2: I've been getting the liver room. I've talked about why

660
00:32:01,160 --> 00:32:02,720
Speaker 2: the discount is to card gift cards.

661
00:32:03,560 --> 00:32:05,360
Speaker 1: But and then let's say all the rest of your

662
00:32:05,440 --> 00:32:08,560
Speaker 1: groceries you buy at the local farmers market on Saturday mornings,

663
00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:12,440
Speaker 1: and it's super fresh and organic, and you can't get

664
00:32:12,560 --> 00:32:15,040
Speaker 1: any groceries that are any more extensive than that because

665
00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:17,800
Speaker 1: that's kind of like as expensive as they get there. Well,

666
00:32:17,880 --> 00:32:19,680
Speaker 1: you're gonna be able to I mean, oh my gosh,

667
00:32:20,120 --> 00:32:23,080
Speaker 1: you just by going to limit. Yes, I mean, you

668
00:32:23,320 --> 00:32:25,880
Speaker 1: could cut back in such a significant way if that's

669
00:32:25,920 --> 00:32:29,840
Speaker 1: what you're used to. However, if you already got your

670
00:32:29,880 --> 00:32:33,600
Speaker 1: groceries dialed in, let's say you are you've been an

671
00:32:33,600 --> 00:32:37,840
Speaker 1: Aldi shopper, you are very intentional about your spending there, man,

672
00:32:38,040 --> 00:32:41,160
Speaker 1: it's really difficult to cut back on your spending, specifically

673
00:32:41,640 --> 00:32:43,320
Speaker 1: on groceries. So that's what I mean. I think that's

674
00:32:43,360 --> 00:32:46,240
Speaker 1: one that can vary pretty wildly. But I will say

675
00:32:46,360 --> 00:32:48,520
Speaker 1: the way our family is implemented. A bear bones budget

676
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:53,920
Speaker 1: is all other discretionary spending I've essentially slashed by two thirds,

677
00:32:54,720 --> 00:32:56,760
Speaker 1: and so it's literally hit with a multiplier jowl of

678
00:32:56,840 --> 00:32:59,800
Speaker 1: zero point three to three. Because what I know is

679
00:32:59,840 --> 00:33:02,320
Speaker 1: that even if things aren't doing, like aren't so great

680
00:33:02,360 --> 00:33:05,080
Speaker 1: for our family, we're still gonna want to celebrate Christmas, Like,

681
00:33:05,120 --> 00:33:07,360
Speaker 1: We're still gonna go on vacation, Kate and I are

682
00:33:07,360 --> 00:33:09,320
Speaker 1: still going to want to go on date nights. They're

683
00:33:09,360 --> 00:33:11,800
Speaker 1: just not going to be as nice. Yeah, the presents

684
00:33:11,800 --> 00:33:13,840
Speaker 1: are going to be quite as big, the case is

685
00:33:14,160 --> 00:33:17,160
Speaker 1: not going to be quite as long or exotic, perhaps,

686
00:33:17,240 --> 00:33:20,160
Speaker 1: but there are still certain aspects the kids' activities. They

687
00:33:20,200 --> 00:33:22,240
Speaker 1: may not be doing quite as many of them, but

688
00:33:22,560 --> 00:33:24,840
Speaker 1: there are still certain things that like, the reason they're

689
00:33:24,880 --> 00:33:27,240
Speaker 1: on our budget currently is because we've prioritized them. But

690
00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:29,040
Speaker 1: we're just gonna have to find a way to prioritize

691
00:33:29,080 --> 00:33:32,920
Speaker 1: them to a lesser extent, not necessarily eliminate them completely,

692
00:33:33,120 --> 00:33:36,000
Speaker 1: though I know if a push comes to shove that

693
00:33:36,040 --> 00:33:37,640
Speaker 1: that's something that we can do. So that's how we

694
00:33:37,760 --> 00:33:40,480
Speaker 1: approach the bare bones budget. It's tougher when it comes

695
00:33:40,520 --> 00:33:43,080
Speaker 1: to groceries because there's sort of a floor as to

696
00:33:43,160 --> 00:33:44,840
Speaker 1: what it is that you can get by on. But true,

697
00:33:45,080 --> 00:33:48,800
Speaker 1: all other dis same thing with your housing, like housing, transportation,

698
00:33:48,960 --> 00:33:52,680
Speaker 1: and food. Man, those are really tough to make adjustments on,

699
00:33:52,880 --> 00:33:54,520
Speaker 1: hard to turn on a time. Yeah, like you can

700
00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:56,640
Speaker 1: plan to change those, but it's really hard to be

701
00:33:56,800 --> 00:33:59,480
Speaker 1: like I'm gonna sell a car tomorrow because of a

702
00:33:59,520 --> 00:34:01,080
Speaker 1: lot of life job life upheopal.

703
00:34:01,360 --> 00:34:03,960
Speaker 2: Yeah, you might be able to do, but you might not. Also,

704
00:34:04,040 --> 00:34:07,120
Speaker 2: I would say one of the biggest food line items

705
00:34:07,240 --> 00:34:10,359
Speaker 2: in people's budget is and sometimes they don't think about

706
00:34:10,360 --> 00:34:11,680
Speaker 2: it like this, but it's.

707
00:34:11,560 --> 00:34:14,799
Speaker 1: Eating out craft Okay, yeah, you keep the craft beer

708
00:34:14,880 --> 00:34:16,760
Speaker 1: budget and then you cut eating it. You can't elimit.

709
00:34:16,760 --> 00:34:18,960
Speaker 2: Take that that's your craft beer equivalent, of course, But

710
00:34:19,800 --> 00:34:23,319
Speaker 2: it's eating out, and people under assume how much they

711
00:34:23,400 --> 00:34:26,160
Speaker 2: spend eating out at restaurants and when you lately, man,

712
00:34:26,239 --> 00:34:28,319
Speaker 2: when you look at the data over the past five

713
00:34:28,400 --> 00:34:31,279
Speaker 2: plus years, we the amount of money we spend eating

714
00:34:31,280 --> 00:34:34,840
Speaker 2: out versust grocery stores, it's increased significantly as a culture.

715
00:34:34,880 --> 00:34:36,960
Speaker 2: And so that's the biggest thing I think to combat

716
00:34:37,120 --> 00:34:38,680
Speaker 2: is some of the eating out. Yeah, you might be

717
00:34:38,719 --> 00:34:40,319
Speaker 2: able to save a little bit more by switching. If

718
00:34:40,320 --> 00:34:42,400
Speaker 2: you don't shop at all, to yet going there, you

719
00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:45,360
Speaker 2: could probably you know, cut some of the more expensive

720
00:34:45,400 --> 00:34:48,120
Speaker 2: items from your grocery list. The same things are going

721
00:34:48,160 --> 00:34:49,600
Speaker 2: to be smaller there than they're going to be.

722
00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,920
Speaker 1: Once you underestimate all, even going from Kroger, which is

723
00:34:53,040 --> 00:34:55,719
Speaker 1: like an affordable grocery store, even going from Cross I

724
00:34:55,719 --> 00:34:57,800
Speaker 1: mean this, I've got the records, I got the receipts

725
00:34:57,880 --> 00:35:00,440
Speaker 1: man literally going back, you know, decade and decades, but

726
00:35:00,600 --> 00:35:02,520
Speaker 1: years and years and years. Switch it from Kroger to

727
00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:05,520
Speaker 1: all these straight up getting item for item, we cut

728
00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:09,200
Speaker 1: our grocery budget by thirty percent. I totally three percent overnight.

729
00:35:09,280 --> 00:35:09,799
Speaker 1: I totally believe.

730
00:35:09,800 --> 00:35:11,120
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe it. So I do think that's an

731
00:35:11,120 --> 00:35:12,800
Speaker 2: important tip. But I also just want to highlight that

732
00:35:12,840 --> 00:35:15,040
Speaker 2: there are other ways that people are not really thinking

733
00:35:15,080 --> 00:35:18,520
Speaker 2: that they're spending money, or they're spending thoughtlessly, especially eating out.

734
00:35:18,560 --> 00:35:21,000
Speaker 2: It's just something that and the average meal eating out

735
00:35:21,040 --> 00:35:23,320
Speaker 2: costs four times with the meal at home costs.

736
00:35:23,400 --> 00:35:24,239
Speaker 1: So remember that.

737
00:35:24,360 --> 00:35:27,360
Speaker 2: And if you want to get I think inspired to

738
00:35:27,920 --> 00:35:30,520
Speaker 2: make cheaper meals that are still tasty at home, check

739
00:35:30,560 --> 00:35:35,040
Speaker 2: out our friend Frankie Celenza. He used to struggle meals.

740
00:35:35,280 --> 00:35:35,759
Speaker 1: He came on.

741
00:35:36,040 --> 00:35:39,759
Speaker 2: Episode eight forty six to talk about that, and he's like,

742
00:35:39,880 --> 00:35:43,640
Speaker 2: all about making good food that's good for you for

743
00:35:44,480 --> 00:35:46,680
Speaker 2: not much money at all, which I love. So yeah,

744
00:35:46,760 --> 00:35:50,080
Speaker 2: definitely check out that episode and hopefully that'll be inspirational.

745
00:35:49,680 --> 00:35:52,520
Speaker 1: If you really do want to cut that grocery budget totally.

746
00:35:52,960 --> 00:35:54,759
Speaker 1: And he was into mountain biking, which is something of

747
00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:56,759
Speaker 1: that I remember staying that's right, I feel like I

748
00:35:56,880 --> 00:35:59,440
Speaker 1: like it even more. All right, let's geme. Even Pascal asks,

749
00:35:59,600 --> 00:36:01,480
Speaker 1: is this the ridiculous time to put my house up

750
00:36:01,520 --> 00:36:04,719
Speaker 1: for sale and move? Oh? What do you think, y'all?

751
00:36:05,280 --> 00:36:07,279
Speaker 1: I'm reading into the question, and what I'm going to

752
00:36:07,320 --> 00:36:09,640
Speaker 1: say is that if if you're looking to move to

753
00:36:09,760 --> 00:36:12,680
Speaker 1: like a different country again, going to like m I'm

754
00:36:12,719 --> 00:36:14,440
Speaker 1: kind of going back to the whole emotional response, the

755
00:36:14,600 --> 00:36:17,239
Speaker 1: guitar answer that we gave earlier. If you feel like

756
00:36:17,400 --> 00:36:19,759
Speaker 1: that the worst, like that the future of the US

757
00:36:19,880 --> 00:36:22,560
Speaker 1: isn't bright, I don't know that Like that feels more

758
00:36:22,600 --> 00:36:25,640
Speaker 1: like a like a knee jerk sort of reactionary response

759
00:36:25,800 --> 00:36:29,400
Speaker 1: as opposed to maybe you're moving for another job, opportunity

760
00:36:29,520 --> 00:36:31,919
Speaker 1: to get be closer to family. Maybe you're moving because

761
00:36:31,920 --> 00:36:35,200
Speaker 1: you need you're downsizing, or you're upsizing. Maybe your family's

762
00:36:35,239 --> 00:36:37,000
Speaker 1: growing and you need a bigger house. See, that was

763
00:36:37,040 --> 00:36:39,120
Speaker 1: my These are all good reasons yes to move. That

764
00:36:39,239 --> 00:36:41,759
Speaker 1: was my assumption in the question, was that Pascal was

765
00:36:41,840 --> 00:36:44,319
Speaker 1: asking based on, Hey, is it just a terrible time

766
00:36:44,360 --> 00:36:45,719
Speaker 1: to list my house because of what's going on with

767
00:36:45,800 --> 00:36:49,000
Speaker 1: the market. And my answer to that is actually, no,

768
00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:51,160
Speaker 1: not really. I think if you're right, though, Matt, if

769
00:36:51,160 --> 00:36:54,160
Speaker 1: you're like, I'm thinking about moving to a completely different

770
00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:56,319
Speaker 1: country because I'm worried about the future of the United States,

771
00:36:56,320 --> 00:37:00,719
Speaker 1: I would say that's that's probably overblown. Like yet, there's

772
00:37:00,719 --> 00:37:02,080
Speaker 1: a lot of folks out there who who feel though

773
00:37:02,200 --> 00:37:04,520
Speaker 1: I don't harbor the same fears. But I will say,

774
00:37:04,560 --> 00:37:07,479
Speaker 1: it's not that the housing market is immune from trade

775
00:37:07,520 --> 00:37:11,040
Speaker 1: policy changes. It's just that other factors influence your decision

776
00:37:11,480 --> 00:37:13,880
Speaker 1: whether or not to move a whole lot more like,

777
00:37:13,920 --> 00:37:15,359
Speaker 1: I'd love to know how long you've owned the home,

778
00:37:15,400 --> 00:37:17,560
Speaker 1: why you're moving, Are you moving to a lower cost

779
00:37:17,640 --> 00:37:19,719
Speaker 1: of living location. Are you hoping to rent for a

780
00:37:19,760 --> 00:37:22,440
Speaker 1: while after you sell this house? That would be helpful

781
00:37:22,480 --> 00:37:26,080
Speaker 1: information to have. Ultimately, No, it's not a ridiculous time

782
00:37:26,160 --> 00:37:28,520
Speaker 1: to sell your home. Home prices are high, even though

783
00:37:28,640 --> 00:37:31,520
Speaker 1: mortgage rates remain steep, and so you got to make

784
00:37:31,520 --> 00:37:34,440
Speaker 1: sure you price the home right and you market it

785
00:37:34,520 --> 00:37:37,680
Speaker 1: well because homes are staying on the market longer these days.

786
00:37:38,480 --> 00:37:40,600
Speaker 1: But you can still do quite well as a seller

787
00:37:40,640 --> 00:37:42,719
Speaker 1: in this market, especially when you think about where home

788
00:37:42,760 --> 00:37:46,080
Speaker 1: prices were a few years ago. Matt, think about Pascal,

789
00:37:46,120 --> 00:37:48,000
Speaker 1: if even if he's only on the home for four

790
00:37:48,080 --> 00:37:51,000
Speaker 1: or five years, just the appreciation on the home in

791
00:37:51,080 --> 00:37:54,360
Speaker 1: that amount of time could be significant. Yep. But the

792
00:37:54,520 --> 00:37:56,200
Speaker 1: question is what are you going to do after you

793
00:37:56,239 --> 00:37:58,360
Speaker 1: sell them? Yeah, exactly. You got to take factors into account,

794
00:37:58,400 --> 00:38:01,000
Speaker 1: like financing, because if you've got three percent mortgage and

795
00:38:01,280 --> 00:38:04,440
Speaker 1: you're looking at something, you know rates are closer to

796
00:38:04,480 --> 00:38:07,799
Speaker 1: seven percent now, So financing is a huge factor as well,

797
00:38:07,920 --> 00:38:09,839
Speaker 1: if it so much of it I think comes down

798
00:38:09,840 --> 00:38:13,279
Speaker 1: to flexibility and how much flexibility you have to move

799
00:38:13,400 --> 00:38:15,719
Speaker 1: or to not move right now, because if you got

800
00:38:15,840 --> 00:38:18,040
Speaker 1: to move, you gotta move right. Like, if it's for

801
00:38:18,120 --> 00:38:20,799
Speaker 1: a job, can maybe consider be becoming a first time

802
00:38:20,880 --> 00:38:22,480
Speaker 1: landlord if that's something that you've never thought of it

803
00:38:22,560 --> 00:38:24,720
Speaker 1: you're like wait a minute, Oh, that sounds totally awesome.

804
00:38:24,760 --> 00:38:26,440
Speaker 1: This this is a three too, This would make a

805
00:38:26,520 --> 00:38:28,279
Speaker 1: killer rental. Plus I got that.

806
00:38:29,200 --> 00:38:31,000
Speaker 2: You know, my mortgage is a thousand and this will

807
00:38:31,080 --> 00:38:32,759
Speaker 2: run for two grand. Sure, it's a great time to

808
00:38:32,760 --> 00:38:34,920
Speaker 2: start being landlord. That's a consideration. But for a lot

809
00:38:34,920 --> 00:38:37,200
Speaker 2: of folks who are thinking, uh, okay, I just I

810
00:38:37,280 --> 00:38:38,920
Speaker 2: got to sell this house. We need the equity from

811
00:38:38,920 --> 00:38:40,600
Speaker 2: the zune to buy the new family home because we're

812
00:38:40,640 --> 00:38:44,839
Speaker 2: moving for jobs. It's not a dumb move. That being said,

813
00:38:45,320 --> 00:38:48,319
Speaker 2: if you have flexibility though as to when you might

814
00:38:48,440 --> 00:38:51,279
Speaker 2: list this house. If it was me personally. Because of

815
00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:53,600
Speaker 2: the uncertainty in the market, I think a lot I

816
00:38:53,640 --> 00:38:56,360
Speaker 2: mean countries. There are entire countries that are hitting the

817
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,960
Speaker 2: pause button on certain things. There are certain industries that

818
00:38:59,040 --> 00:39:01,480
Speaker 2: are like, yep, we're we're just gonna we're gonna ride

819
00:39:01,520 --> 00:39:03,759
Speaker 2: this thing out and see where things land. Because of that,

820
00:39:03,880 --> 00:39:06,680
Speaker 2: we're seeing employers and it's all trickling down to consumers.

821
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,400
Speaker 1: There. The level of uncertainty is leading folks to not

822
00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,719
Speaker 1: want to take risks, which means that you I think

823
00:39:12,840 --> 00:39:15,319
Speaker 1: that you may not be able to get the most

824
00:39:15,440 --> 00:39:17,560
Speaker 1: for your house where you to sell it like right now,

825
00:39:18,080 --> 00:39:20,680
Speaker 1: as opposed to letting things shake out and see where

826
00:39:20,680 --> 00:39:25,200
Speaker 1: things land in thirty to ninety days. Perhaps if it

827
00:39:25,320 --> 00:39:26,759
Speaker 1: was me that that's that's what I would do.

828
00:39:26,880 --> 00:39:29,520
Speaker 2: Yeah, but you just still have to remember, like where

829
00:39:29,719 --> 00:39:31,520
Speaker 2: what was the home valued at a few years ago?

830
00:39:31,719 --> 00:39:33,359
Speaker 2: And are you going to do pretty good? And if

831
00:39:33,400 --> 00:39:35,560
Speaker 2: it's time to go, is it time to go? If

832
00:39:35,600 --> 00:39:38,839
Speaker 2: you have flexibility though, Matt, Yeah, Pascal might be able

833
00:39:38,880 --> 00:39:42,879
Speaker 2: to do better by waiting to sell, but also it's

834
00:39:42,920 --> 00:39:45,840
Speaker 2: brings selling time and as well, you could do a

835
00:39:45,880 --> 00:39:47,799
Speaker 2: whole lot worse than selling right now. Yeah, what if

836
00:39:47,840 --> 00:39:50,759
Speaker 2: tears lead to sky high prices, inflation starts going up,

837
00:39:50,760 --> 00:39:52,520
Speaker 2: and the Feds like, oh, guess what we're not gonna

838
00:39:52,520 --> 00:39:53,160
Speaker 2: do at all this year?

839
00:39:53,280 --> 00:39:55,319
Speaker 1: Yeah, you know we talked about those two rate cuts. Yeah,

840
00:39:55,480 --> 00:39:58,239
Speaker 1: not happening. That's not going to be great for the

841
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:01,640
Speaker 1: market and mortgage and finance costs. Yeah, But then again,

842
00:40:02,000 --> 00:40:05,040
Speaker 1: if the costs of building those homes goes up. Yeah,

843
00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:07,680
Speaker 1: there's like so many nothing on effects that are any

844
00:40:07,680 --> 00:40:10,239
Speaker 1: different effects that it's truly hard to take them all

845
00:40:10,280 --> 00:40:13,360
Speaker 1: into account. So you got to do it for personal reasons.

846
00:40:13,400 --> 00:40:16,279
Speaker 1: Then people buying some homes all the time because they

847
00:40:16,320 --> 00:40:17,759
Speaker 1: were at the stage of life where they needed to

848
00:40:17,840 --> 00:40:19,640
Speaker 1: do that, no doubt. All right, man, we've got more

849
00:40:20,040 --> 00:40:22,480
Speaker 1: listener questions. We'll get to some more good ones, including

850
00:40:22,960 --> 00:40:26,239
Speaker 1: how you can benefit from a market downturn. We'll do

851
00:40:26,320 --> 00:40:36,399
Speaker 1: that right after this. I know y'all watch the Super

852
00:40:36,440 --> 00:40:39,080
Speaker 1: Mario Brothers. Moody. I always decided to bring this back

853
00:40:39,160 --> 00:40:43,040
Speaker 1: with terrorists, terrorists, terrors, Terris har Riffs. See I haven't

854
00:40:43,040 --> 00:40:46,440
Speaker 1: seen it. You haven't. Now my son's watched Spitches Peach.

855
00:40:48,560 --> 00:40:50,719
Speaker 1: It's a it's a good jack vaccine. Now I'll have

856
00:40:50,800 --> 00:40:54,759
Speaker 1: to you'll have to. Let's keep moving. We've got listener

857
00:40:54,840 --> 00:40:57,520
Speaker 1: questions to answer. This one is from Alex who wrote

858
00:40:58,000 --> 00:41:01,279
Speaker 1: how to Determine whether it's worthwhile to take any early

859
00:41:01,400 --> 00:41:04,239
Speaker 1: retirement offer. I know folks who are working for the

860
00:41:04,280 --> 00:41:07,120
Speaker 1: federal government and are like five to nine years away

861
00:41:07,120 --> 00:41:10,200
Speaker 1: from retirement, but some of them have been receiving offers

862
00:41:10,320 --> 00:41:14,560
Speaker 1: to retire early and still get their pension benefits. Still,

863
00:41:14,600 --> 00:41:16,319
Speaker 1: it kind of sounds like a scenario where folks are

864
00:41:16,800 --> 00:41:18,200
Speaker 1: getting to have their cake and eat it too.

865
00:41:18,440 --> 00:41:22,759
Speaker 2: Potentially, right, Potentially depends on the individual, for sure. I

866
00:41:22,800 --> 00:41:25,759
Speaker 2: mean I like this, especially for people who are financially

867
00:41:25,920 --> 00:41:29,839
Speaker 2: independence minded, like they've been working towards that. It's kind

868
00:41:29,880 --> 00:41:32,080
Speaker 2: of like arranging your own layoff. It's one of those

869
00:41:32,120 --> 00:41:34,480
Speaker 2: things that doesn't it doesn't come around for everybody, some

870
00:41:34,600 --> 00:41:34,920
Speaker 2: sort of.

871
00:41:35,360 --> 00:41:36,719
Speaker 1: Early retirement offer.

872
00:41:37,040 --> 00:41:39,520
Speaker 2: And we talked about something akin to that, like with

873
00:41:39,800 --> 00:41:41,800
Speaker 2: Sam Dogan back in the day, the dude who runs

874
00:41:41,880 --> 00:41:45,040
Speaker 2: the website Financial Samurai, And it can be a brilliant

875
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:47,399
Speaker 2: move if calculated correctly. And he was just talking about

876
00:41:47,640 --> 00:41:49,799
Speaker 2: when layoffs are happening at the workplace, if you kind

877
00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,960
Speaker 2: of volunteer and you get a sweet severance package to

878
00:41:53,120 --> 00:41:54,960
Speaker 2: walk away. I think he got like two years worth

879
00:41:55,000 --> 00:41:55,759
Speaker 2: of pay or something like that.

880
00:41:55,880 --> 00:41:56,480
Speaker 1: Something insane.

881
00:41:56,480 --> 00:41:58,480
Speaker 2: Most people don't give that much. Nope, it's like six

882
00:41:58,560 --> 00:42:01,360
Speaker 2: months at the max. But that can be if you

883
00:42:01,480 --> 00:42:04,839
Speaker 2: are in a good financial position, like something that only

884
00:42:04,920 --> 00:42:08,799
Speaker 2: increases and benefits your financial standing while allowing you more flexibility.

885
00:42:08,880 --> 00:42:12,000
Speaker 2: But so much depends right on your likely job stability,

886
00:42:12,239 --> 00:42:14,799
Speaker 2: your overall financial situation. Because if you've got a big

887
00:42:14,880 --> 00:42:17,200
Speaker 2: chunk of savings you've been investing for years, well, you

888
00:42:17,280 --> 00:42:19,600
Speaker 2: can totally use an early retirement offer to allow you

889
00:42:19,760 --> 00:42:22,359
Speaker 2: to vacate your position earlier than you thought you might

890
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:24,960
Speaker 2: be able to. But if not, like, if you're in

891
00:42:25,080 --> 00:42:28,200
Speaker 2: more tenuous financial circumstances, you have to be really careful

892
00:42:28,520 --> 00:42:32,239
Speaker 2: before taking an early retirement offer because you might find

893
00:42:32,880 --> 00:42:35,680
Speaker 2: that you don't have gainful employment lined up sure, and

894
00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:37,120
Speaker 2: you're in a much worse financial position.

895
00:42:37,280 --> 00:42:40,480
Speaker 1: Yeah, but taking alex as he or she wrote this

896
00:42:41,080 --> 00:42:44,400
Speaker 1: early retirement, So like, if we're taking a retirement in

897
00:42:44,480 --> 00:42:46,279
Speaker 1: the traditional sense of the word, and you are going

898
00:42:46,320 --> 00:42:49,600
Speaker 1: to be totally set, this totally changes this conversation from

899
00:42:49,640 --> 00:42:54,440
Speaker 1: a financial conversation to a life fulfillment conversation, right, Like

900
00:42:54,880 --> 00:42:58,640
Speaker 1: this is on Maslow's hierarchy of needs, where you've just

901
00:42:58,719 --> 00:43:01,239
Speaker 1: graduated to the next level talking about you know, these

902
00:43:01,280 --> 00:43:04,200
Speaker 1: are more like self actualization needs as opposed to do

903
00:43:04,360 --> 00:43:05,920
Speaker 1: I have enough money to pay the bills? Do I

904
00:43:06,000 --> 00:43:08,560
Speaker 1: have enough money to be able to afford some of

905
00:43:08,560 --> 00:43:10,160
Speaker 1: the more you know, some of the luxuries in life,

906
00:43:10,200 --> 00:43:12,239
Speaker 1: some of the things that I want to do, And

907
00:43:12,440 --> 00:43:14,120
Speaker 1: so much of that comes down to how it is

908
00:43:14,120 --> 00:43:15,759
Speaker 1: that you want to spend your time. And so I

909
00:43:15,840 --> 00:43:18,840
Speaker 1: think that's if you are closer, closer to retirement, I

910
00:43:18,880 --> 00:43:21,920
Speaker 1: think you might be more in that camp, which leads

911
00:43:21,960 --> 00:43:26,000
Speaker 1: to less number crunching and more uh self searching, Yeah,

912
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:28,880
Speaker 1: soul searching and writing and you know, like journaling and

913
00:43:28,960 --> 00:43:30,759
Speaker 1: trying to figure out, like what do I want my

914
00:43:30,880 --> 00:43:33,640
Speaker 1: days to look like? And if that's the case, Alex,

915
00:43:33,640 --> 00:43:36,080
Speaker 1: I would highly recommend for you to literally do something

916
00:43:36,120 --> 00:43:38,000
Speaker 1: like that, like go on a silent retreat, spend some

917
00:43:38,120 --> 00:43:41,120
Speaker 1: time just completely away from what it is that you

918
00:43:41,320 --> 00:43:43,359
Speaker 1: are doing in the day to day to shake things up,

919
00:43:43,400 --> 00:43:46,320
Speaker 1: to help you to maybe almost stumble upon whatever it

920
00:43:46,440 --> 00:43:48,120
Speaker 1: is that you might want to spend the next.

921
00:43:48,120 --> 00:43:50,160
Speaker 2: Decade or two do it. Yeah, I mean I love

922
00:43:50,239 --> 00:43:52,680
Speaker 2: the idea for lots of people. If this means, hey,

923
00:43:53,040 --> 00:43:55,120
Speaker 2: I wasn't. I was still planning on working to get

924
00:43:55,160 --> 00:43:57,839
Speaker 2: that pension because that was a huge part of kind

925
00:43:57,840 --> 00:44:02,040
Speaker 2: of my retirement income plan. But because that comes along

926
00:44:02,080 --> 00:44:06,480
Speaker 2: with this early retirement offer, why don't I just ride

927
00:44:06,480 --> 00:44:07,600
Speaker 2: off into the sunset now I.

928
00:44:07,640 --> 00:44:08,880
Speaker 1: Am fully financially prepared.

929
00:44:08,880 --> 00:44:11,799
Speaker 2: If that's the case and you have other things you'd

930
00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:13,200
Speaker 2: rather be doing with your life, kind of like you're

931
00:44:13,239 --> 00:44:15,239
Speaker 2: talking about, Matt, I think it's great. I think this

932
00:44:15,360 --> 00:44:19,080
Speaker 2: can be the perfect accelerator to get going in retirement

933
00:44:19,239 --> 00:44:21,880
Speaker 2: earlier than you had planned, maybe enjoy some more of

934
00:44:21,920 --> 00:44:25,560
Speaker 2: those early retirement years that you were going to be

935
00:44:25,600 --> 00:44:27,759
Speaker 2: working instead. So yeah, I think that's I think that's

936
00:44:27,800 --> 00:44:30,000
Speaker 2: great advice. All right, let's get to a question from Pam.

937
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:32,480
Speaker 2: She says, I'm a middle aged investor in forty six.

938
00:44:32,800 --> 00:44:34,800
Speaker 2: I'm looking for advice on how to help protect what

939
00:44:34,840 --> 00:44:37,080
Speaker 2: I've already saved while still remaining.

940
00:44:36,840 --> 00:44:37,920
Speaker 1: Agile and aggressive.

941
00:44:38,239 --> 00:44:41,000
Speaker 2: I recently increased my income after years of struggling to

942
00:44:41,040 --> 00:44:43,399
Speaker 2: save money, so I will be actively trying to catch

943
00:44:43,480 --> 00:44:46,120
Speaker 2: up on my retirement over the next ten plus years.

944
00:44:46,280 --> 00:44:48,320
Speaker 2: I'd love to hear how this market will help or

945
00:44:48,400 --> 00:44:50,440
Speaker 2: hinder my ability to catch up on saving.

946
00:44:50,719 --> 00:44:53,560
Speaker 1: Yeah. Wait to go, Pam on increasing your income, it totally.

947
00:44:54,480 --> 00:44:56,400
Speaker 1: I'm sure it feels good. She said that she was

948
00:44:56,640 --> 00:44:59,160
Speaker 1: struggling when it came to being able to save and invest,

949
00:44:59,200 --> 00:45:02,000
Speaker 1: which means she's actually able to do it now because

950
00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:03,640
Speaker 1: she's got more money flowing in. It's going to allow

951
00:45:03,640 --> 00:45:06,800
Speaker 1: her to ramp up these contributions. And in her words,

952
00:45:06,920 --> 00:45:10,840
Speaker 1: she's looking to protect what she's saved while being aggressive

953
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:12,120
Speaker 1: as well. And I think there's only one way to

954
00:45:12,200 --> 00:45:14,719
Speaker 1: do that, and that is to invest like an optimist

955
00:45:15,080 --> 00:45:17,760
Speaker 1: and then save like a pessimist. So keeping your savings

956
00:45:17,800 --> 00:45:21,080
Speaker 1: such Morgan House Yeah, yeah, yeah, I did not coin

957
00:45:21,800 --> 00:45:25,560
Speaker 1: that phrase. Those savings, those dollars, the money that you've

958
00:45:25,560 --> 00:45:27,600
Speaker 1: got there in the emergency fund needs to be secure

959
00:45:27,640 --> 00:45:30,600
Speaker 1: and liquid in a highield savings where you have enough

960
00:45:30,680 --> 00:45:33,480
Speaker 1: on hand to give you that peace of mind, you know,

961
00:45:33,520 --> 00:45:38,000
Speaker 1: given to meaningful financial downturn. And then just keep investing

962
00:45:38,040 --> 00:45:40,880
Speaker 1: in low cost index funds as well, like clockwork. And

963
00:45:40,960 --> 00:45:43,400
Speaker 1: the goal is to have enough cash so that you

964
00:45:43,480 --> 00:45:47,360
Speaker 1: don't have to ever touch those investments at an inopportune time,

965
00:45:47,800 --> 00:45:50,759
Speaker 1: like right now. That's something you want to avoid at

966
00:45:50,800 --> 00:45:54,000
Speaker 1: all costs. And right now specifically, given the fact that

967
00:45:54,080 --> 00:45:56,360
Speaker 1: you're talking about having not made a whole lot of

968
00:45:56,400 --> 00:45:59,880
Speaker 1: progress perhaps up until now, just realize that some of

969
00:45:59,880 --> 00:46:02,000
Speaker 1: the volatility that you're seeing it doesn't really impact you

970
00:46:02,239 --> 00:46:04,920
Speaker 1: nearly as much. This is something that when you've been

971
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:08,399
Speaker 1: saving and investing for decades and decades and you've built

972
00:46:08,440 --> 00:46:12,839
Speaker 1: up a fat, you know, nice sized nest egg, that's

973
00:46:12,880 --> 00:46:15,600
Speaker 1: when this volatility can really take a bite out of

974
00:46:15,680 --> 00:46:18,839
Speaker 1: your overall network. The number can change quite a bit. Yeah,

975
00:46:18,960 --> 00:46:22,279
Speaker 1: and obviously, let's say you've been investing for a few years,

976
00:46:22,400 --> 00:46:25,000
Speaker 1: it still sucks to see your investments go down by

977
00:46:25,000 --> 00:46:27,520
Speaker 1: a three grand. It's different though, when it's thirty grand

978
00:46:27,920 --> 00:46:31,080
Speaker 1: or one hundred grand or one fifty And that's the

979
00:46:31,160 --> 00:46:33,239
Speaker 1: kind of swing that some folks out there who have

980
00:46:33,360 --> 00:46:36,400
Speaker 1: been investing for twenty thirty years, that's what they're experiencing

981
00:46:36,440 --> 00:46:38,120
Speaker 1: right now. I will say, I do think, no matter

982
00:46:38,160 --> 00:46:40,239
Speaker 1: to the size of the drop, the people who have

983
00:46:40,520 --> 00:46:43,000
Speaker 1: more cash on hand, who feel comfortable that they can

984
00:46:43,080 --> 00:46:47,799
Speaker 1: cover bills if something unexpected does happen to their job

985
00:46:48,400 --> 00:46:51,280
Speaker 1: or to whatever like, if they feel more financially prepared

986
00:46:51,320 --> 00:46:54,759
Speaker 1: from a liquid cash standpoint, my guess is they don't

987
00:46:54,920 --> 00:46:57,520
Speaker 1: feel the loop de loop in their stomach when they

988
00:46:57,600 --> 00:47:00,160
Speaker 1: look at their retirement account balance nearly as much your

989
00:47:00,160 --> 00:47:02,520
Speaker 1: weather the storm. Exactly, it's much easier to weather the storm.

990
00:47:02,600 --> 00:47:03,239
Speaker 1: That's why that.

991
00:47:03,400 --> 00:47:05,320
Speaker 2: Hey, if I've got the cash on hand in savings

992
00:47:05,360 --> 00:47:07,600
Speaker 2: to back me up, and I'm still doing the investing

993
00:47:07,640 --> 00:47:11,160
Speaker 2: thing like clockwork, well then you don't have to. That

994
00:47:11,280 --> 00:47:14,279
Speaker 2: should reduce worries significantly. And as we said before, right

995
00:47:14,400 --> 00:47:17,359
Speaker 2: dollar costs averaging into those tax advantage accounts, that's where

996
00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:19,400
Speaker 2: it's at. Do that through thick and through thin, and

997
00:47:19,520 --> 00:47:21,560
Speaker 2: then you know, once you reach the age of fifty, PAM,

998
00:47:21,600 --> 00:47:23,800
Speaker 2: you're a few years away you'll have the ability to

999
00:47:23,880 --> 00:47:27,719
Speaker 2: contribute even more to those accounts as those contributions limits rise.

1000
00:47:27,760 --> 00:47:30,080
Speaker 2: You say you're making trying to catch up on retirement

1001
00:47:30,160 --> 00:47:33,680
Speaker 2: account contributions. Well, guess what at fifty you get to

1002
00:47:33,800 --> 00:47:35,279
Speaker 2: contribute more, which is pretty cool.

1003
00:47:35,280 --> 00:47:37,800
Speaker 1: Another one thousand bucks. Yeah, so into the iras and

1004
00:47:37,880 --> 00:47:40,239
Speaker 1: then even more into like four to one case four

1005
00:47:40,320 --> 00:47:42,800
Speaker 1: h three b's. And so if you're getting to the

1006
00:47:42,880 --> 00:47:45,279
Speaker 1: point where you're maxing any of these accounts, just note

1007
00:47:45,320 --> 00:47:46,799
Speaker 1: that in a few short years you're gonna be able

1008
00:47:46,800 --> 00:47:49,719
Speaker 1: to funnel even more into those accounts, which is which

1009
00:47:49,760 --> 00:47:51,600
Speaker 1: is awesome, super sweet and yeah, and that kind of

1010
00:47:51,640 --> 00:47:53,839
Speaker 1: goes to the volatility sort of point I was making

1011
00:47:54,320 --> 00:47:56,640
Speaker 1: thus her save your savings rate PAM. The amount that

1012
00:47:56,680 --> 00:47:59,160
Speaker 1: you're able to set aside right now into those accounts

1013
00:47:59,160 --> 00:48:01,439
Speaker 1: actively as opposed to seeing the returns on that money,

1014
00:48:01,640 --> 00:48:04,320
Speaker 1: that is going to have the biggest, uh impact on

1015
00:48:04,640 --> 00:48:05,240
Speaker 1: your retirement.

1016
00:48:05,280 --> 00:48:07,400
Speaker 2: That's that's so underrated. Is there a super savings rate?

1017
00:48:07,440 --> 00:48:09,520
Speaker 2: People don't talk about it enough. The more the higher

1018
00:48:09,560 --> 00:48:11,719
Speaker 2: your savings rate. The more, the less you have to worry,

1019
00:48:12,200 --> 00:48:14,560
Speaker 2: essentially about the machinations of the market.

1020
00:48:14,680 --> 00:48:17,960
Speaker 1: An he asks, during times of market volatility, is having

1021
00:48:18,000 --> 00:48:20,839
Speaker 1: your money in something like betterment that does automatic tax

1022
00:48:20,880 --> 00:48:25,680
Speaker 1: loss harvesting better than having all your investments in VU,

1023
00:48:26,520 --> 00:48:28,239
Speaker 1: which I love that so many folks are going back

1024
00:48:28,239 --> 00:48:30,480
Speaker 1: to the voo joel. But uh, yeah, I think some

1025
00:48:30,600 --> 00:48:32,120
Speaker 1: of this, some of the answer here depends on what

1026
00:48:32,239 --> 00:48:34,600
Speaker 1: your definition of better yes is, And.

1027
00:48:34,600 --> 00:48:37,879
Speaker 2: They're not mutually exclusive, like you can do tax loss

1028
00:48:37,920 --> 00:48:42,120
Speaker 2: harvesting into WU. Right, So but I get what Annie

1029
00:48:42,200 --> 00:48:44,440
Speaker 2: is getting at, and the short answer is yes, Like,

1030
00:48:44,800 --> 00:48:47,080
Speaker 2: you know, we're always hoping that our investments go up,

1031
00:48:47,560 --> 00:48:50,719
Speaker 2: but tax loss harvesting is a tool that you're able

1032
00:48:50,800 --> 00:48:54,239
Speaker 2: to utilize. You're able to sell investments when they're down.

1033
00:48:55,400 --> 00:48:56,960
Speaker 2: The thing is, you don't want to sell them permanently,

1034
00:48:57,080 --> 00:48:59,479
Speaker 2: like we don't want you locking in those losses moving

1035
00:48:59,520 --> 00:49:02,719
Speaker 2: into cash because you're fearful. But you can sell those

1036
00:49:02,800 --> 00:49:05,279
Speaker 2: investments and then rebuy a very similar fund, let's say,

1037
00:49:05,600 --> 00:49:10,600
Speaker 2: going from VU, let's say into VTI, like Vanguard's S

1038
00:49:10,680 --> 00:49:13,120
Speaker 2: and P five hundred fund into the Vanguard Total Stock

1039
00:49:13,200 --> 00:49:16,360
Speaker 2: Market Index fund. Right, And when you do when you

1040
00:49:16,440 --> 00:49:19,160
Speaker 2: sell and then rebuy an incredibly similar fund immediately. This

1041
00:49:19,320 --> 00:49:22,759
Speaker 2: allows you to show a paper loss. We'll changing your

1042
00:49:22,800 --> 00:49:26,600
Speaker 2: holdings minimally. And this is an awesome move for people

1043
00:49:26,680 --> 00:49:29,759
Speaker 2: to make for tax purposes. When it comes down to it,

1044
00:49:29,920 --> 00:49:31,719
Speaker 2: brass tax you can only claim three grand a year

1045
00:49:31,760 --> 00:49:34,640
Speaker 2: and investing losses. And if you experienced more losses than that,

1046
00:49:34,800 --> 00:49:38,239
Speaker 2: Let's say you have a ten thousand dollars crop, right,

1047
00:49:38,480 --> 00:49:41,160
Speaker 2: and you sell and then you buy another very similar

1048
00:49:41,200 --> 00:49:43,879
Speaker 2: fund that's not the exact same, Well, you can roll

1049
00:49:43,960 --> 00:49:47,040
Speaker 2: those losses into future tax years. That's kind of cool.

1050
00:49:47,080 --> 00:49:49,920
Speaker 2: So tax loss harvesting, Yes, in market volatility, it's a

1051
00:49:50,000 --> 00:49:52,760
Speaker 2: way too. It's a silver lining I guess of sorts

1052
00:49:53,120 --> 00:49:56,560
Speaker 2: to the downturn in your portfolio that you're seeing.

1053
00:49:56,719 --> 00:49:59,120
Speaker 1: Yeah, so Joe said, yes that it is better, But

1054
00:49:59,200 --> 00:50:01,080
Speaker 1: it just depends on what you're willing to pay for.

1055
00:50:01,320 --> 00:50:03,279
Speaker 1: That's like. So that's that's why I feel like it

1056
00:50:03,440 --> 00:50:05,640
Speaker 1: kind of depends on what your definition is because someone

1057
00:50:05,640 --> 00:50:09,239
Speaker 1: would say, well, is whole food's better than all d

1058
00:50:09,320 --> 00:50:11,759
Speaker 1: and it's like, well, depends on what you like to

1059
00:50:11,800 --> 00:50:14,080
Speaker 1: pay for, because if you don't want to pay for

1060
00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:18,000
Speaker 1: tax loss harvesting. You want the organic chicken or just whatever.

1061
00:50:18,120 --> 00:50:19,560
Speaker 1: If you don't want to pay for it, then if

1062
00:50:19,560 --> 00:50:20,839
Speaker 1: you don't want to pay it, it's like, so it's

1063
00:50:20,880 --> 00:50:23,040
Speaker 1: point two five percent, Like that's the fee that you're

1064
00:50:23,040 --> 00:50:25,359
Speaker 1: going to pay. If you're fine paying that fee, then yeah,

1065
00:50:25,400 --> 00:50:27,279
Speaker 1: it is better because they do it automatically. But if

1066
00:50:27,320 --> 00:50:29,719
Speaker 1: you don't want to pay that fee, that's something that

1067
00:50:30,600 --> 00:50:33,640
Speaker 1: one would say is not better. Uh, because you can

1068
00:50:33,719 --> 00:50:37,279
Speaker 1: dihy that tax loss harvesting yourself, do your research, know

1069
00:50:37,320 --> 00:50:40,000
Speaker 1: how it works. But it's certainly possible to manually do

1070
00:50:40,120 --> 00:50:41,840
Speaker 1: this on your own. If you're not wanting to do that,

1071
00:50:41,880 --> 00:50:44,359
Speaker 1: then betterment is totally the way to go, especially there

1072
00:50:44,480 --> 00:50:47,520
Speaker 1: within your brokerage account. Jennifer asks, I have a first

1073
00:50:47,520 --> 00:50:49,680
Speaker 1: time college student heading off to school in the fall.

1074
00:50:50,280 --> 00:50:53,800
Speaker 1: I'm wondering what if any federal student aid or loans

1075
00:50:53,840 --> 00:50:56,880
Speaker 1: will still be available. Also wondering with all the federal

1076
00:50:56,960 --> 00:51:00,719
Speaker 1: cuts to universities, impunitive cuts for diversity, will you universities

1077
00:51:01,160 --> 00:51:02,280
Speaker 1: have to raise tuition?

1078
00:51:03,239 --> 00:51:06,480
Speaker 2: All right, that's a good question. So federal student loan availability, Matt,

1079
00:51:06,760 --> 00:51:08,919
Speaker 2: from what I've seen, it has not changed at this point,

1080
00:51:09,280 --> 00:51:11,719
Speaker 2: and so Jennifer, your student should still have access to

1081
00:51:11,800 --> 00:51:15,680
Speaker 2: federal student loans per normal. What's been in flux is

1082
00:51:15,800 --> 00:51:19,879
Speaker 2: student loan repayment plans and so like the Safe Plan

1083
00:51:20,080 --> 00:51:23,279
Speaker 2: that was launched by the Biden administration, that has been

1084
00:51:23,360 --> 00:51:27,640
Speaker 2: axed by the courts. So like those more generous repayment plans,

1085
00:51:27,920 --> 00:51:30,239
Speaker 2: they're not as generous and there's still a lot of flux.

1086
00:51:30,280 --> 00:51:32,239
Speaker 2: We're going to actually tackle that on the show with

1087
00:51:32,320 --> 00:51:34,120
Speaker 2: an expert soon, so stay tuned for that episode. But

1088
00:51:34,200 --> 00:51:36,680
Speaker 2: make sure, Jennifer that you fell out the FASA by

1089
00:51:36,680 --> 00:51:39,120
Speaker 2: the end of June, and ideally sooner rather than later,

1090
00:51:39,480 --> 00:51:42,480
Speaker 2: because that can help your student qualify for need based aid.

1091
00:51:43,120 --> 00:51:45,040
Speaker 2: On top of that, don't forget to apply for scholarships

1092
00:51:45,080 --> 00:51:47,200
Speaker 2: and to look for other ways to minimize debt, like

1093
00:51:47,239 --> 00:51:49,480
Speaker 2: getting a campus job. That was something I did when

1094
00:51:49,480 --> 00:51:51,560
Speaker 2: I was at school mat I became a resident assistant

1095
00:51:51,640 --> 00:51:54,880
Speaker 2: and that reduced my room and board fees dramatically, and

1096
00:51:54,920 --> 00:51:56,920
Speaker 2: so I was able to go to a private school

1097
00:51:56,960 --> 00:51:59,360
Speaker 2: out of state and take on very little student loans

1098
00:51:59,400 --> 00:52:01,520
Speaker 2: because of those moves. Those are the kind of things, Jennifer,

1099
00:52:01,800 --> 00:52:04,360
Speaker 2: I would just tell you to at least consider and

1100
00:52:04,440 --> 00:52:06,960
Speaker 2: if you're looking for more tips about scholarship hunting and

1101
00:52:07,040 --> 00:52:09,600
Speaker 2: the like, go back and listen to episode eight sixty

1102
00:52:09,680 --> 00:52:13,200
Speaker 2: that we did with Joscelyn Pearson, who that's all she does.

1103
00:52:13,280 --> 00:52:17,400
Speaker 2: She eats, breathes, and sleeps scholarships. So there are a

1104
00:52:17,520 --> 00:52:19,719
Speaker 2: lot of ways to get free money to pay for

1105
00:52:19,760 --> 00:52:23,600
Speaker 2: that education in hopes to avoid those student loans, or

1106
00:52:23,600 --> 00:52:24,600
Speaker 2: at least just minimize them.

1107
00:52:24,680 --> 00:52:27,160
Speaker 1: Yeah, and your other question about federal cuts and the

1108
00:52:27,239 --> 00:52:30,120
Speaker 1: potential raising of tuition, that only applies to a couple

1109
00:52:30,200 --> 00:52:33,480
Speaker 1: of elite universities, and then those tend to have pretty

1110
00:52:33,600 --> 00:52:36,200
Speaker 1: large endowments. Harvard, for instance, if I think they got

1111
00:52:36,280 --> 00:52:39,759
Speaker 1: like over fifty billion dollars in their endowment, is that right? Yeah,

1112
00:52:39,760 --> 00:52:42,040
Speaker 1: that's pretty crazy billion with a B. So while it's

1113
00:52:42,040 --> 00:52:44,320
Speaker 1: not benign, I wouldn't worry about it actually increasing the

1114
00:52:44,360 --> 00:52:48,520
Speaker 1: cost of tuition across the board. And interestingly enough, while

1115
00:52:48,560 --> 00:52:50,800
Speaker 1: the sticker price of college continues to go up, the

1116
00:52:51,680 --> 00:52:55,600
Speaker 1: MSRP the advertised price, the actual net price that students

1117
00:52:55,640 --> 00:52:59,080
Speaker 1: pay has been going down. Particularly in recent years. There

1118
00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:02,400
Speaker 1: are fewer high school grads who are opting to go

1119
00:53:02,600 --> 00:53:06,719
Speaker 1: to college post COVID, which has also led to price

1120
00:53:06,760 --> 00:53:08,880
Speaker 1: reductions so that I wouldn't worry too much about that.

1121
00:53:09,000 --> 00:53:11,840
Speaker 2: There's a supply and demand element here, and when fewer

1122
00:53:11,920 --> 00:53:15,200
Speaker 2: kids are choosing to go get a higher education, it

1123
00:53:15,360 --> 00:53:19,120
Speaker 2: makes shopping around even more important because colleges they can't.

1124
00:53:19,560 --> 00:53:21,239
Speaker 2: I think people just assumed they can just raise the

1125
00:53:21,239 --> 00:53:22,600
Speaker 2: price to whatever they want and people are gonna have

1126
00:53:22,640 --> 00:53:24,640
Speaker 2: to pay, and that is not the case. Students have choice,

1127
00:53:24,920 --> 00:53:26,880
Speaker 2: and that's where kind of the dream school thing comes in.

1128
00:53:27,160 --> 00:53:29,759
Speaker 2: We talk about how don't settle on one school and

1129
00:53:29,840 --> 00:53:31,640
Speaker 2: assume that's where I have to go, no matter the cost.

1130
00:53:31,719 --> 00:53:34,280
Speaker 1: No, no, no. Cast your net wide and find schools

1131
00:53:34,320 --> 00:53:37,759
Speaker 1: that will offer more significant financial aid to you and

1132
00:53:37,840 --> 00:53:41,120
Speaker 1: your family so that you can reduce the cost because

1133
00:53:41,160 --> 00:53:45,080
Speaker 1: ultimately the institution that's on the diploma isn't as important,

1134
00:53:45,360 --> 00:53:48,239
Speaker 1: I don't think, as the education that you receive. So

1135
00:53:48,360 --> 00:53:51,799
Speaker 1: keep those student loans to a minimum, please, all right, Matt,

1136
00:53:52,320 --> 00:53:56,320
Speaker 1: Let's leave everyone in this episode with some advice that

1137
00:53:56,440 --> 00:53:58,839
Speaker 1: a listener left on the how to Money Facebook post.

1138
00:53:58,920 --> 00:54:00,759
Speaker 1: That's the opposite of a question, is it is?

1139
00:54:00,880 --> 00:54:03,400
Speaker 2: And listener Pamela said, I think the best way to

1140
00:54:03,480 --> 00:54:05,680
Speaker 2: deal with with all this is to stop buying stuff

1141
00:54:05,680 --> 00:54:08,279
Speaker 2: frivolously time for the minimalist life.

1142
00:54:08,440 --> 00:54:09,560
Speaker 3: Oh for it.

1143
00:54:09,719 --> 00:54:11,600
Speaker 1: Yeah, this is something that we've been preaching for a

1144
00:54:11,680 --> 00:54:16,640
Speaker 1: long time, and it's true, like terrists are like essentially

1145
00:54:16,719 --> 00:54:20,720
Speaker 1: terrists are like a sales tax, and uh, it depends

1146
00:54:20,719 --> 00:54:22,600
Speaker 1: on where you want to go with this, because like

1147
00:54:22,760 --> 00:54:26,120
Speaker 1: our is sales tax badtel. It depends on what the

1148
00:54:26,160 --> 00:54:28,920
Speaker 1: alternatives are, you know, like because it makes me, you

1149
00:54:28,960 --> 00:54:30,279
Speaker 1: know what, it makes me think of our states that

1150
00:54:30,320 --> 00:54:32,919
Speaker 1: don't have income tax and they only have sales tax,

1151
00:54:33,560 --> 00:54:36,640
Speaker 1: and those are states that we have seen a whole

1152
00:54:36,680 --> 00:54:39,520
Speaker 1: lot of people flocking to, Like I'm thinking of specifically

1153
00:54:39,600 --> 00:54:43,040
Speaker 1: Texas and Florida, though I see Tennessee as well, uh

1154
00:54:43,160 --> 00:54:45,120
Speaker 1: and and even some of the other states that have that.

1155
00:54:45,320 --> 00:54:48,960
Speaker 1: They do actually have uh an income tax, but it's

1156
00:54:49,120 --> 00:54:51,640
Speaker 1: actually a lot lower those like they take the other

1157
00:54:51,680 --> 00:54:52,120
Speaker 1: top slots.

1158
00:54:52,160 --> 00:54:54,240
Speaker 2: And some of those states have been reducing their income

1159
00:54:54,320 --> 00:54:55,960
Speaker 2: tax because they have to compete with states they don't have.

1160
00:54:56,040 --> 00:54:57,840
Speaker 1: They're competing and so some of it, so much of

1161
00:54:57,880 --> 00:54:59,880
Speaker 1: it comes down to what the alternatives are. And so

1162
00:55:00,120 --> 00:55:05,000
Speaker 1: this isn't like some sort of universal defense of international terrorists,

1163
00:55:05,040 --> 00:55:07,080
Speaker 1: but it is interesting to see that when given the

1164
00:55:07,200 --> 00:55:11,920
Speaker 1: choice between states with income tax versus taxes that are

1165
00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:15,400
Speaker 1: more associated with spending. That Hey, here's something that I

1166
00:55:15,520 --> 00:55:18,600
Speaker 1: am willing to give a little on when it comes

1167
00:55:18,640 --> 00:55:21,239
Speaker 1: to what I'm willing you know, the number of dollars

1168
00:55:21,320 --> 00:55:22,520
Speaker 1: I'm spending, so I don't know.

1169
00:55:22,800 --> 00:55:23,680
Speaker 3: I like that.

1170
00:55:23,760 --> 00:55:26,239
Speaker 1: It puts a lot more control. It gives you the

1171
00:55:26,360 --> 00:55:29,440
Speaker 1: power to almost dictate the amount that this is going

1172
00:55:29,520 --> 00:55:31,279
Speaker 1: to impact you, and for a lot of folks out

1173
00:55:31,320 --> 00:55:33,160
Speaker 1: there to decide, hey, I'm going to really pair back

1174
00:55:33,200 --> 00:55:35,200
Speaker 1: my spending. This is something I've been wanting to do anyway.

1175
00:55:35,200 --> 00:55:37,719
Speaker 1: It's almost like a kick in the pants push up,

1176
00:55:37,760 --> 00:55:39,439
Speaker 1: you know. Not I say kick on the pants because

1177
00:55:39,440 --> 00:55:40,960
Speaker 1: I said getting kicked in the pants earlier when we're

1178
00:55:40,960 --> 00:55:42,839
Speaker 1: talking about fighting, and that's not the kind of kick

1179
00:55:42,840 --> 00:55:45,399
Speaker 1: in the pants I'm talking about here, A little a nice,

1180
00:55:45,440 --> 00:55:47,840
Speaker 1: pleasant breeze at your back as you are encouraged perhaps

1181
00:55:47,920 --> 00:55:50,800
Speaker 1: to spend less, I'm not. Yeah, well, okay makes I

1182
00:55:50,840 --> 00:55:52,360
Speaker 1: don't want to make the argument though, that like, you

1183
00:55:52,440 --> 00:55:54,600
Speaker 1: don't need to have a new iPhone, right, Hey, if

1184
00:55:54,640 --> 00:55:56,120
Speaker 1: you want a new iPhone, get you a new iPhone.

1185
00:55:56,160 --> 00:55:59,319
Speaker 1: That's right. But there's just that those arguments, especially from

1186
00:56:00,000 --> 00:56:03,160
Speaker 1: officials in power, so stupid, those are degrading exactly, want

1187
00:56:03,160 --> 00:56:04,680
Speaker 1: to hear that exactly. It's not okay.

1188
00:56:05,080 --> 00:56:08,360
Speaker 2: But from us, it's different because we're trying to incentivize

1189
00:56:08,400 --> 00:56:11,000
Speaker 2: you to have more financial flexibility and power in your life.

1190
00:56:11,239 --> 00:56:12,880
Speaker 2: We're not trying to tell you you don't need that thing.

1191
00:56:13,239 --> 00:56:15,480
Speaker 2: We're just trying to say, hey, there's better opportunities than

1192
00:56:15,480 --> 00:56:17,720
Speaker 2: the best things that money can give you is freedom

1193
00:56:17,760 --> 00:56:21,600
Speaker 2: and flexibility, not more new stuff. And I will say,

1194
00:56:21,760 --> 00:56:25,800
Speaker 2: when prices go up, buying less and buying secondhand is

1195
00:56:26,520 --> 00:56:29,080
Speaker 2: going to save you more money. It always has, but

1196
00:56:29,600 --> 00:56:31,840
Speaker 2: the stakes could be going up if tariffs remain, so

1197
00:56:32,280 --> 00:56:35,080
Speaker 2: you know, we're all likely going to face increased prices

1198
00:56:35,120 --> 00:56:37,400
Speaker 2: in more form or another. But I think more minimalism

1199
00:56:37,719 --> 00:56:39,240
Speaker 2: is almost always good advice.

1200
00:56:39,440 --> 00:56:41,920
Speaker 1: So totally all right, we've gone long. This is the

1201
00:56:42,000 --> 00:56:45,279
Speaker 1: Yellow Rose smash IPA. What did you think? I dug

1202
00:56:45,320 --> 00:56:46,839
Speaker 1: it taste super tasting, dude.

1203
00:56:46,840 --> 00:56:49,680
Speaker 2: Texas beer seems to be somewhere Texas ipa seem to

1204
00:56:49,680 --> 00:56:51,960
Speaker 2: be somewhere in between West coast and East coast. It's

1205
00:56:52,000 --> 00:56:54,520
Speaker 2: like they found this middle ground and I'm here for it.

1206
00:56:54,560 --> 00:56:56,320
Speaker 1: I like this one totally, like when you pour it,

1207
00:56:56,400 --> 00:56:58,440
Speaker 1: it's got the haziness going on, but it Yeah, I

1208
00:56:58,520 --> 00:57:01,640
Speaker 1: kind of had some of those West Coasts greape fruit bitterness,

1209
00:57:02,040 --> 00:57:05,680
Speaker 1: like bitter edge bitter notes to it. Yeah, that's what

1210
00:57:05,719 --> 00:57:08,360
Speaker 1: I'm trying to say. With kind of old school looking

1211
00:57:08,600 --> 00:57:12,000
Speaker 1: label to boot, Doesn't it kind of just like look

1212
00:57:12,040 --> 00:57:15,400
Speaker 1: like it's been sitting on the shelf fading like a decade.

1213
00:57:15,520 --> 00:57:17,080
Speaker 1: It does. There's some canes that you see and it

1214
00:57:17,160 --> 00:57:21,000
Speaker 1: looks like it came straight out of some AI generated

1215
00:57:21,080 --> 00:57:23,680
Speaker 1: computer with vivid colors and whatnot. And this looks like,

1216
00:57:24,720 --> 00:57:25,880
Speaker 1: I don't know, it looks like it's been sitting on

1217
00:57:25,920 --> 00:57:28,840
Speaker 1: the shelf since the eighties. But it did not taste

1218
00:57:28,880 --> 00:57:31,160
Speaker 1: that way. No, it's just it's the vibe that they're

1219
00:57:31,200 --> 00:57:32,960
Speaker 1: going for. But that's gonna be it for this episode.

1220
00:57:33,120 --> 00:57:35,000
Speaker 1: Leave us a review if you haven't, and of course

1221
00:57:35,000 --> 00:57:38,000
Speaker 1: you can head over to the website for more personal

1222
00:57:38,160 --> 00:57:41,800
Speaker 1: finance goodies. That's howimoney dot com buddy. That's going to

1223
00:57:41,840 --> 00:57:44,120
Speaker 1: be it for this one until next time. Best Friends Out,

1224
00:57:44,200 --> 00:58:00,320
Speaker 1: Best Friends Out, Yah,