WEBVTT - The Middle Class is Shrinking: What That Means for You! #545 0:00:00.080 --> 0:00:03.080 Welcome to How the Money. I'm Joel and I am Matt, 0:00:03.200 --> 0:00:06.400 and today we're discussing how the middle class is shrinking 0:00:06.680 --> 0:00:28.720 and what that means for you. That is right, dude, 0:00:28.760 --> 0:00:30.960 We are talking about the middle class and you said 0:00:31.000 --> 0:00:33.640 how it's shrinking, which immediately made me think about, honey, 0:00:33.640 --> 0:00:35.839 I shrink the kids. Please tell me you watched that 0:00:35.880 --> 0:00:38.360 movie as a kid, So I rewatched it maybe like 0:00:38.440 --> 0:00:40.760 nine months ago with the kids. Oh my gosh, trying 0:00:40.800 --> 0:00:43.400 to get into some of those live action totally hold up. 0:00:43.440 --> 0:00:45.560 It's it was pretty good. Still. It was pretty good. Still. 0:00:45.600 --> 0:00:47.519 I'm glad to hear that because Giant Ants and the 0:00:47.600 --> 0:00:50.159 Little totally one of my favorite movies as a little kid. Tall, 0:00:50.200 --> 0:00:52.600 blazing grass and then that kid comes to Mode Lawn 0:00:52.680 --> 0:00:56.840 and he had his he had headphones on, right, like 0:00:56.840 --> 0:00:59.000 a walkman or is that what they're called? It is 0:00:59.040 --> 0:01:01.360 like a radio auto. Wasn't like a discman yet. Yeah, 0:01:01.480 --> 0:01:03.200 I think there were still the walgments with the scette tapes. 0:01:03.240 --> 0:01:05.720 What was the dad's name, the nerdy guy, Wayne's Lensky? 0:01:06.120 --> 0:01:08.399 But what what was his What's what's the that actor's name? 0:01:08.920 --> 0:01:11.800 The actor's name? Oh? Was I think of it? He 0:01:11.880 --> 0:01:15.280 was so Rick Moran. Yes, oh my god, I'm terrible 0:01:15.360 --> 0:01:18.320 remembering names, but man, I can picture his face today 0:01:18.400 --> 0:01:22.640 looking through that magnifying glass and persee to go Children sequel, Honey, 0:01:22.680 --> 0:01:24.319 I blew up the kids and stuff like that. Those 0:01:24.520 --> 0:01:26.760 that didn't work out. So that was good. I love 0:01:26.959 --> 0:01:29.200 that movie. Uh, And in a similar way, I think 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.160 you're gonna love this episode how the middle classes Shrinking. 0:01:32.640 --> 0:01:34.760 We really do have some good news for folks, and 0:01:34.800 --> 0:01:38.360 hopefully we'll be able to essentially guide you, our listener, 0:01:38.959 --> 0:01:41.000 through what this means for you, what this means for 0:01:41.040 --> 0:01:44.880 your finances, and how you should respond to this quote 0:01:44.959 --> 0:01:47.840 unquote shrinking middle class. Yeah, there's a lot of data 0:01:47.920 --> 0:01:50.160 that we've used in this episode, but we'll be sharing 0:01:50.200 --> 0:01:52.480 with you along the way. But then a lot of 0:01:52.480 --> 0:01:55.520 practical information about how to kind of think about the 0:01:55.560 --> 0:01:57.400 fact that the middle class is actually shrinking, Like, there's 0:01:57.440 --> 0:01:59.840 data showing this, um but what does that mean for 0:02:00.080 --> 0:02:02.960 or how we proceed through life? I think, Matt, for 0:02:03.000 --> 0:02:05.320 some folks that can get them like down and discouraged 0:02:05.360 --> 0:02:07.400 when they see those headlines, but we think there's actually 0:02:07.640 --> 0:02:10.080 cause for optimism. We'll discuss today before we get to 0:02:10.120 --> 0:02:12.440 that I want to mention that I know you you 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.160 have been your your Is it just Eavy who's taking 0:02:15.200 --> 0:02:18.639 piano lessons or or Okay, so just for so far, 0:02:18.760 --> 0:02:21.600 the other girls haven't shown much interest yet they might 0:02:21.639 --> 0:02:25.320 be getting so we're hoping to maybe enroll both of 0:02:25.320 --> 0:02:28.880 our girls are older girls in UH in piano classes 0:02:28.960 --> 0:02:31.080 in the near future. But we we just got a 0:02:31.080 --> 0:02:34.560 piano at which they're excited about love messing around on 0:02:34.880 --> 0:02:38.959 but chopsticks, right, But we found out that actually there's 0:02:39.000 --> 0:02:43.000 some really good YouTube piano lessons out there, and so 0:02:43.280 --> 0:02:46.120 until we get to that point, they're the girls are 0:02:46.160 --> 0:02:48.639 actually just kind of getting familiar with the keys, where 0:02:48.680 --> 0:02:52.280 they place their hands, some basics of like how to 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:55.360 interact with the piano when you've never done anything musically 0:02:55.360 --> 0:02:59.640 ever before, just through free YouTube videos. The proper hand 0:02:59.639 --> 0:03:03.040 position where I pretend there's an egg exactly within your palm, 0:03:03.600 --> 0:03:06.680 that all that stuff. It's amazing how just like YouTube 0:03:06.680 --> 0:03:10.800 solves so many problems in education and just um you know, 0:03:11.040 --> 0:03:14.400 I was using it recently, UH for a home repair 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:16.760 that I was working on. It's just like in every 0:03:16.760 --> 0:03:19.320 home repair, for every home repair. Yes, I'm always going 0:03:19.360 --> 0:03:22.799 to YouTube and watching repair three videos, and I'm like, 0:03:22.800 --> 0:03:24.000 all right, I got it. I got a good feel 0:03:24.080 --> 0:03:26.120 for how this works. I know everybody at this point 0:03:26.120 --> 0:03:29.919 knows about YouTube and just the extensive amount of information 0:03:29.919 --> 0:03:32.960 it's there, about an amazing catalog of just I mean, 0:03:33.040 --> 0:03:35.800 what I forget. I heard some stats as to the 0:03:35.920 --> 0:03:38.760 number of hours of YouTube video of footage that is 0:03:38.800 --> 0:03:41.640 being uploaded every single day, and it's a mind blowing 0:03:41.720 --> 0:03:45.120 amount of video, which basically means that there is not 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:49.000 one single person that will ever be able to navigate 0:03:49.120 --> 0:03:52.600 the trows of video. But it's nor would you want 0:03:52.600 --> 0:03:54.960 to write exactly that. A lot of its garbage, a 0:03:54.960 --> 0:03:57.040 lot of crap on there. But but it just made 0:03:57.080 --> 0:03:59.280 me think that there are certain things that we may 0:03:59.280 --> 0:04:01.280 be forget it or don't even think, Like that didn't 0:04:01.280 --> 0:04:04.200 even cross my mind. Oh hey, maybe there's great panel 0:04:04.240 --> 0:04:08.440 lessons on YouTube for free, but they exist similarly like 0:04:08.480 --> 0:04:10.720 little drawing classes. The girls have done some of those 0:04:11.040 --> 0:04:14.720 online before on and there's some great art teachers on YouTube. 0:04:14.880 --> 0:04:16.279 And I know, you know, I don't want my kids 0:04:16.279 --> 0:04:17.560 in front of the screen all day, every day, And 0:04:17.680 --> 0:04:19.680 that's why I was gonna I was gonna ask, how 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:21.880 do you feel about them looking at a screen versus 0:04:22.000 --> 0:04:24.120 being instructed by somebody where that is all that they're 0:04:24.120 --> 0:04:26.960 gonna do and they're not gonna dally when the ads 0:04:27.000 --> 0:04:29.320 play like, oh but that looks really interesting. Yeah, and 0:04:29.400 --> 0:04:32.160 then there's there's definitely that trade off, right, And so 0:04:32.360 --> 0:04:34.839 for now it's great and maybe we'll learn some of 0:04:34.839 --> 0:04:37.520 the basics on YouTube, but eventually we'll do some in 0:04:37.560 --> 0:04:39.679 person classes. But hopefully it's a good way to figure 0:04:39.680 --> 0:04:42.400 out some interests as well before you start kind of 0:04:42.400 --> 0:04:44.720 blinking down the money and paying up for it. That's 0:04:44.720 --> 0:04:47.080 a good point, that's exactly right. So just word of 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:49.120 the wines out there. I'll try to figure out which 0:04:49.360 --> 0:04:51.080 videos my kids were watching. Maybe we will post a 0:04:51.080 --> 0:04:53.520 link to one or two of them in the show notes, 0:04:53.680 --> 0:04:57.000 so that, Yeah, if your kiddo is interested in learning 0:04:57.000 --> 0:04:59.120 an instrument, just just know that YouTube's got some good 0:04:59.120 --> 0:05:01.440 stuff out there kind of at least help them get started. 0:05:01.440 --> 0:05:03.359 And they gotta watch that tutorial on how to play 0:05:03.680 --> 0:05:06.640 the theme song from the Office three year olds. Yes, 0:05:07.640 --> 0:05:10.200 I mean that's the first song every kid, oh, you know, 0:05:10.440 --> 0:05:12.800 figure out. But Matt Lists mentioned the beer we're having 0:05:12.800 --> 0:05:15.200 on this episode. This is Stiegel rattler, But it's the 0:05:15.279 --> 0:05:17.880 lemon variety. We've had the grape food variety on before 0:05:18.400 --> 0:05:22.120 its throne, which I assume is French Leon. No, this 0:05:22.200 --> 0:05:26.560 is Austrians. Yeah, let makes sense. We'll get our thoughts 0:05:26.600 --> 0:05:27.720 on this one at the end of the episode. And 0:05:27.880 --> 0:05:29.600 we just got back from the beach and had this 0:05:29.640 --> 0:05:32.560 is like a classic beach beer and yeah, I never 0:05:32.600 --> 0:05:34.520 get tired of it. Well, I will share with you 0:05:34.600 --> 0:05:37.080 why it is not a classic beach beer for me, 0:05:37.120 --> 0:05:38.720 but we'll say that for the end of the Well, 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:41.000 none of this early on beer talk, like we used 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:43.800 to write. Well, by the way, shout out to the listener, Logan, 0:05:43.839 --> 0:05:47.440 who I met when I was at the beach one. Yeah, 0:05:47.440 --> 0:05:49.760 so that's always fun and I always appreciate it when 0:05:49.760 --> 0:05:51.680 folks come up and say hi. It's not every day 0:05:51.760 --> 0:05:53.680 we get to interact with people who listen to the show, 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:55.320 but it's always a blast when we do. Did you 0:05:55.400 --> 0:05:58.560 quiz him make sure he listened to the most recent episodes. Yes, 0:05:58.600 --> 0:06:01.279 you clearly have not been listening, sir, Right, what's your problem? Dude? 0:06:01.320 --> 0:06:04.200 Go back and hit play. Uh No, I did not 0:06:04.200 --> 0:06:06.680 not do that, but um yeah, Logan seemed like a 0:06:06.720 --> 0:06:09.080 cool dude. Nice, nice meeting the logan. But mat, let's 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:10.880 get onto the subject at hand. We are discussing the 0:06:10.880 --> 0:06:13.480 middle class. Let's do it's shrinking and what that means 0:06:13.560 --> 0:06:16.400 for our listeners. And uh, it made me think, as 0:06:16.400 --> 0:06:19.440 we're kind of thinking through this episode, that it's never 0:06:19.560 --> 0:06:21.640 fun to be in pain. Like nobody's like, who just 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:24.680 hurt my back working out? Or um, yeah, all right, 0:06:24.760 --> 0:06:26.160 I sprained my ankle when I was going for a 0:06:26.240 --> 0:06:28.800 round the other day. Nobody talks like that, nobody thinks 0:06:28.839 --> 0:06:31.719 that way. But it turns out, though, of course, that 0:06:31.800 --> 0:06:34.320 pain is actually a good thing for us, right, because 0:06:34.680 --> 0:06:38.640 if we didn't feel pain when those things occurred, we're 0:06:38.680 --> 0:06:42.880 more likely to do more damage to the wounded area 0:06:43.440 --> 0:06:46.880 if we don't take any action. Right. Um, so yeah, 0:06:46.920 --> 0:06:49.159 if it's pain, if there's some sort of pain free 0:06:49.160 --> 0:06:52.400 wound that you got, you might break your ankle instead 0:06:52.440 --> 0:06:54.800 of just braining it. So there are some things that 0:06:54.960 --> 0:06:58.839 appear on their surface to be bad, but they're actually good. 0:06:59.160 --> 0:07:02.240 And like when we're talking about the middle class shrinking, 0:07:02.640 --> 0:07:06.200 I think a lot of our listeners might instinctively have 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.080 like a sour reply. It might be like, yeah, of 0:07:09.080 --> 0:07:12.000 course I know that, like things aren't good, right, and 0:07:12.200 --> 0:07:15.840 but I think we've been primed to maybe receive crappy headlines, 0:07:15.920 --> 0:07:18.320 shrug our shoulders in disappointment, move on about our day, 0:07:18.520 --> 0:07:21.280 and just kind of think the worst. But we would 0:07:21.280 --> 0:07:25.400 say that the shrinking middle class is actually, in large 0:07:25.400 --> 0:07:28.320 part a good thing. And so let's talk about that today, Matt, 0:07:28.360 --> 0:07:31.640 How how a smaller middle class isn't all bad, and 0:07:31.680 --> 0:07:34.800 how actually our listeners can do something take that information 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:36.720 and do something positive with it. That's right. Yeah, I 0:07:36.720 --> 0:07:38.680 mean we're not doctors here by by any means, but 0:07:38.720 --> 0:07:40.360 like like what you said right when you twisted an 0:07:40.360 --> 0:07:42.040 ankle or something like that, what it makes me think 0:07:42.080 --> 0:07:44.960 of is like there's an immediate pain, which is probably 0:07:44.960 --> 0:07:46.720 a really healthy thing to get you to stop what 0:07:46.760 --> 0:07:48.720 it is that you're doing, right, But then after that, 0:07:48.760 --> 0:07:51.720 like what immediately happens is that your ankle swells um 0:07:51.800 --> 0:07:53.600 And I think like that's how we're trying to to 0:07:53.720 --> 0:07:55.920 kind of present how we're going to talk about the 0:07:55.920 --> 0:07:58.120 middle class today, because this sort of like that prolonged 0:07:58.160 --> 0:08:01.240 pain that we're trying to address here. Because again we're 0:08:01.240 --> 0:08:03.600 not experts, we're not doctors, but it seems like that 0:08:03.600 --> 0:08:07.320 that is the first step that our bodies take towards healing. Uh. 0:08:07.320 --> 0:08:08.880 And so this is this is why we're making the 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:12.400 argument that we think, uh, shrinking middle class could potentially 0:08:12.440 --> 0:08:15.680 be a sign of overall health for our economy. But yeah, 0:08:15.760 --> 0:08:17.760 if it does feel like the middle class is shrinking, 0:08:17.760 --> 0:08:20.440 then it might feel like that you are getting squeezed 0:08:20.520 --> 0:08:22.720 to one end or the other. Uh. And so if 0:08:22.720 --> 0:08:24.800 you buy into the narrative that the middle class is 0:08:24.840 --> 0:08:26.960 hollowing out, you're going to be more likely to be 0:08:27.080 --> 0:08:30.040 upset by an economy that isn't working for the majority 0:08:30.040 --> 0:08:33.400 of Americans. Because a healthy middle class creates a more 0:08:33.400 --> 0:08:37.000 stable society with less crime, with a healthier economy, and 0:08:37.040 --> 0:08:39.320 you know, with greater levels of innovation. After all, the 0:08:39.440 --> 0:08:41.080 rise of the middle class is one of the main 0:08:41.200 --> 0:08:45.120 reasons our country is what it is today. So shrinking 0:08:45.120 --> 0:08:48.440 middle class should be concerning, right. Well, it's not that 0:08:48.480 --> 0:08:50.480 there is no bad news out there, right, but we 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.840 actually think this is more good than bad. And that's 0:08:53.840 --> 0:08:56.440 because the majority of folks leaving the middle class are 0:08:56.440 --> 0:09:00.360 actually being bumped up into the upper income stratosphere. Folks 0:09:00.480 --> 0:09:02.160 are leaving the middle class to join the ranks of 0:09:02.240 --> 0:09:05.480 upper class earners and we feel this is good news. Yeah, 0:09:05.760 --> 0:09:08.199 so let's start with some definitions, Matt, because it's it's 0:09:08.280 --> 0:09:12.120 kind of hard to define the term middle class, you 0:09:12.120 --> 0:09:14.400 know are we talking about because well, there's there was 0:09:14.440 --> 0:09:17.200 no technical set definition of what that means. It just 0:09:17.240 --> 0:09:19.280 depends on who it is that you're reading, what research 0:09:19.320 --> 0:09:22.920 you're coming across, and at whatever. Identify middle class, but 0:09:23.000 --> 0:09:25.439 exactly they might be pupper middle like upper class or 0:09:25.480 --> 0:09:27.280 something like that, and they like to think that they're 0:09:27.280 --> 0:09:31.040 a person of the people, but in reality, now you're rich. Um. 0:09:31.080 --> 0:09:34.000 But yeah, are we talking about education, income, living arrangements. 0:09:35.120 --> 0:09:38.360 The definition it can mean different things to different people 0:09:38.440 --> 0:09:41.680 based on who you're talking about, and you know, based 0:09:41.679 --> 0:09:44.840 on what methodology you're using. But just let you guys know, 0:09:44.960 --> 0:09:47.560 are jumping off point for this episode was a recent 0:09:47.760 --> 0:09:50.160 Pew Research Center study and this is the kind of 0:09:50.160 --> 0:09:53.439 stuff that Pew has been tracking for decades. We'll link 0:09:53.480 --> 0:09:54.880 to it in the show notes so you can pour 0:09:55.000 --> 0:09:57.800 over it yourself if you'd like to. But the definition 0:09:58.080 --> 0:10:01.200 that we're going with states that the it's it's gonna 0:10:01.200 --> 0:10:03.400 be income based, and it states that the average middle 0:10:03.440 --> 0:10:06.800 class family earns between fifty two and a hundred and 0:10:06.800 --> 0:10:11.320 fifty six thousand dollars in dollars, which um, you know 0:10:11.440 --> 0:10:14.240 has changed a little bit because of recent abouts of inflation. 0:10:14.559 --> 0:10:16.920 But that's true. I'm here. I mean, they can't, like 0:10:16.960 --> 0:10:19.559 on a dime, update the information, update the research to 0:10:19.640 --> 0:10:23.520 reflects but it has changed. Yeah. And when you think 0:10:23.520 --> 0:10:26.880 about middle class lifestyle and it being based on income, well, 0:10:27.200 --> 0:10:29.480 I think it's a reasonable measurement, but then it might 0:10:29.559 --> 0:10:31.520 leave out let's say, some of those firefolks who have 0:10:31.840 --> 0:10:34.560 one five million dollars net worth, but they're not actually 0:10:34.600 --> 0:10:38.640 currently bringing in income to that extent, right, But yet 0:10:38.720 --> 0:10:42.880 lower income folks are then considered folks who make belowty 0:10:43.360 --> 0:10:45.599 dollars on the income scale. Upper class folks exceed that 0:10:45.679 --> 0:10:49.680 hundred fifty six thousand dollar amounts um and and a few, 0:10:49.760 --> 0:10:52.880 like we said, releases this information regularly and and really 0:10:53.120 --> 0:10:55.559 what they're attempting to measure is what's happened over the 0:10:55.600 --> 0:10:58.760 past fifty years when it comes to income mobility. And 0:10:59.200 --> 0:11:01.200 I think while we're gonna find today is that while 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.680 it seems like the headlines tend to focus on a 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.400 middle class that shrinking, after we dug into the info. 0:11:07.559 --> 0:11:09.920 It just feels like the whole story is rarely told. 0:11:10.120 --> 0:11:12.200 But we thought that maybe like the full set of 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.480 data and kind of um talking about its implications can 0:11:15.520 --> 0:11:16.959 be helpful to all of us. Yeah, it can be 0:11:17.040 --> 0:11:18.960 helpful to the narrative and the words that we use 0:11:19.120 --> 0:11:22.040 and the attitudes that we carry with us, because in reality, 0:11:22.040 --> 0:11:24.240 when you look at peuse data like it does show 0:11:24.280 --> 0:11:27.360 that the median income for the middle class has actually 0:11:27.360 --> 0:11:29.680 grown over the last fifty years, but it just hasn't 0:11:29.679 --> 0:11:32.840 grown as quickly as those who are upper income earners. 0:11:33.080 --> 0:11:36.640 Middle Class incomes have grown over the past fifty years, 0:11:36.800 --> 0:11:39.160 whereas upper class incomes have increased at a rate of 0:11:39.200 --> 0:11:42.719 sixty nine. But the thing is this makes sense if 0:11:42.760 --> 0:11:46.280 you consider that the very fact that income mobility exists 0:11:46.280 --> 0:11:48.880 like that means that individuals who may have previously been 0:11:48.880 --> 0:11:51.320 in the middle class, they have the ability and they 0:11:51.320 --> 0:11:54.600 have the opportunity to increase their incomes by a significant 0:11:54.600 --> 0:11:57.080 factor right where where they're actually leaving the middle class behind. 0:11:57.120 --> 0:11:59.640 They're not just migrating upward with the middle class, they're 0:11:59.679 --> 0:12:03.360 kind of boosting themselves into a completely different class. Uh. 0:12:03.360 --> 0:12:07.000 And so if you consider where that nearly difference between 0:12:07.080 --> 0:12:09.200 the upper and middle class might have come from well, 0:12:09.240 --> 0:12:10.920 there's I think there's a very good chance that that 0:12:10.960 --> 0:12:14.120 increase came from earners leaving the middle class. I think 0:12:14.160 --> 0:12:17.360 that's very true, right, because as we've seen the middle 0:12:17.360 --> 0:12:19.880 classes getting smaller, but more and more of those folks 0:12:20.120 --> 0:12:22.599 who left the middle class have gone to into the 0:12:22.640 --> 0:12:25.600 upper class, like into the upper stratosphere of income than 0:12:25.840 --> 0:12:29.440 have gone down into the lower income. There's not like 0:12:29.440 --> 0:12:33.200 an uber elite uh upper class that where folks have 0:12:33.280 --> 0:12:35.560 dropped down from there into the upper class like the 0:12:35.640 --> 0:12:37.640 All the folks that have been going into the upper 0:12:37.679 --> 0:12:40.760 class have been getting there from below basically exactly. And 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:43.720 so yeah, even though you you just mentioned matt attitudes 0:12:43.760 --> 0:12:45.959 of our beliefs, right, I think that's such an important 0:12:45.960 --> 0:12:48.160 part of this and how um just seeing some of 0:12:48.160 --> 0:12:51.880 those headlines could sometimes make a sour on the American 0:12:51.880 --> 0:12:53.880 experiment or just kind of how we feel about our 0:12:53.920 --> 0:12:57.400 life or our lot in general. And the reality though 0:12:57.520 --> 0:13:00.440 is is that almost all of us are thing better 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.960 than our parents did, right, as evidence by like a 0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:08.040 more widespread availability of healthy foods at cheaper prices, more 0:13:08.120 --> 0:13:11.840 affordable consumer goods, and and even better tax policy. But 0:13:12.760 --> 0:13:16.840 even though those things are true, consumer sentiment is often negative, right, 0:13:16.880 --> 0:13:20.120 Our attitudes are like we we just can consistently think 0:13:20.320 --> 0:13:22.839 that things are getting worse. And there was this recent 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.320 Wall Street Journal article and the title was consumers say 0:13:26.360 --> 0:13:30.240 that is the worst economy ever, And that was based 0:13:30.280 --> 0:13:34.120 on a consumer sentiment survey from the University of Michigan 0:13:34.280 --> 0:13:36.439 that that they put out I think on a quarterly basis, 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.560 and uh, or maybe it's monthly, but attitudes and believes 0:13:39.559 --> 0:13:43.400 they just don't always line up with the reality. And 0:13:43.520 --> 0:13:46.959 so just to think that is the worst economy ever 0:13:47.240 --> 0:13:51.120 would be an overstatement of incredible proportions. And uh, it's 0:13:51.120 --> 0:13:53.400 obviously it's not all sunshine and roses. We're gonna get 0:13:53.400 --> 0:13:54.960 to that in a little bit. But it's important for 0:13:55.000 --> 0:13:58.000 us to have a proper perspective on what we're actually 0:13:58.040 --> 0:14:02.319 living through and the aortunities that exist. So we want 0:14:02.320 --> 0:14:04.400 to talk about those opportunities, but we will get a 0:14:04.480 --> 0:14:06.560 little bit pessimistic to lead things off. We'll talk about 0:14:06.720 --> 0:14:09.320 we'll talk about the downsides of a shrinking middle class 0:14:09.360 --> 0:14:11.480 and and some of the headwinds that middle class Americans 0:14:11.520 --> 0:14:14.360 are facing. Right now, let's get to our thoughts on 0:14:14.440 --> 0:14:25.560 some of those things. Right after this alright, we're back. 0:14:25.680 --> 0:14:28.480 We are talking about how the middle class is shrinking, 0:14:28.600 --> 0:14:31.840 and you know, before we before we die, like explain 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:33.960 all the wonderful ways that this is gonna be a 0:14:33.960 --> 0:14:36.160 good thing for you. There are some fair arguments for 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:39.720 why so much of our country is feeling pessimistic. Inflation, 0:14:39.840 --> 0:14:43.280 for one, is obviously impacting everybody, uh, and it's threatening 0:14:43.280 --> 0:14:46.320 to undo some of the gains that people at the 0:14:46.320 --> 0:14:48.640 bottom end of the income spectrum have realized over the 0:14:48.680 --> 0:14:51.000 past year or two. We talked about gas prices not 0:14:51.040 --> 0:14:53.960 too long ago. Although they are coming down now, they 0:14:54.000 --> 0:14:56.720 have significantly cramped a lot of budgets, but prices at 0:14:56.760 --> 0:14:59.440 the grocery store. That affects lower income folks in a 0:14:59.520 --> 0:15:02.120 larger a as well. And some of the more disturbing 0:15:02.120 --> 0:15:05.600 research showed from p that lower income earners, they've showed 0:15:05.640 --> 0:15:08.800 actually the least amount of growth at just forty five 0:15:08.840 --> 0:15:12.240 percent over the past fifty years versus the fifty and 0:15:12.400 --> 0:15:16.160 sixty from the middle and upper class earners. That's right, Yeah, 0:15:16.200 --> 0:15:19.680 So so we're yeah, Inflation obviously is is a reason 0:15:19.680 --> 0:15:22.040 that people feel past ms. The last year has has 0:15:22.080 --> 0:15:23.800 been a real gut punch for a lot of people 0:15:23.800 --> 0:15:26.880 when it comes to their personal finances and long term 0:15:26.920 --> 0:15:30.240 inflation in specific segments of the economy is taking a 0:15:30.280 --> 0:15:33.320 toll as well, Matt, because healthcare costs as a percentage 0:15:33.360 --> 0:15:35.920 of GDP is through the roof right when you look 0:15:35.960 --> 0:15:38.560 at over the last thirty forty years, and and no 0:15:38.640 --> 0:15:40.880 political solution seems to have made much of a dent 0:15:41.400 --> 0:15:42.880 in staid. You just have to choose not to go 0:15:42.880 --> 0:15:46.120 to the doctor like I do, or just kind of 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:48.840 chance it. That's my approach, right, which you know is 0:15:49.200 --> 0:15:51.720 not something that I can recommend. Can look at this 0:15:51.880 --> 0:15:54.240 share on the on my back. That's what I like. 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.640 My doctor friends, I have very few of, uh, Like 0:15:56.680 --> 0:15:58.640 one of my friends he's an ophthalmologists and and so 0:15:58.880 --> 0:16:00.440 he I know he doesn't know anything out these things. 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:01.680 But you know, I still gotn't take a look mine 0:16:01.880 --> 0:16:04.320 like you look into his life, like you don't see 0:16:04.320 --> 0:16:08.040 anything weird? Right, right, exactly, I'm good, I'm good. Right. Well, 0:16:08.120 --> 0:16:09.600 I mean the same thing is true when it comes 0:16:09.600 --> 0:16:11.160 to the staring cost of college, which we're actually going 0:16:11.200 --> 0:16:14.240 to talk about on the show next week. But there 0:16:14.280 --> 0:16:17.160 are at least in that regard ways for for folks 0:16:17.160 --> 0:16:21.200 to avoid at least some of that increased cost by 0:16:21.200 --> 0:16:24.800 taking a savvy approach, which we're gonna discuss. But it's 0:16:24.880 --> 0:16:27.400 of course it's a legitimate problem impacting a lot of 0:16:27.640 --> 0:16:30.560 millennials gen z ears and even their parents right taking 0:16:30.600 --> 0:16:34.440 on parent plus loans and the media price of a 0:16:34.440 --> 0:16:37.080 home talking about something else negative was two point two 0:16:37.080 --> 0:16:41.240 times income in nine and it's six point three times 0:16:41.360 --> 0:16:44.800 income in That's that's a big jump, and it's probably 0:16:44.840 --> 0:16:47.000 gonna it's gonna be even more matt because of you know, 0:16:47.080 --> 0:16:50.560 recent home price appreciation and now rising interest rates. But 0:16:51.080 --> 0:16:54.200 homes have gotten a lot nicer. There's that's something doesn't 0:16:54.200 --> 0:16:56.760 get talked about a lot. It's just cost more money 0:16:56.960 --> 0:16:58.640 for a lot of people. That means a lot more space. 0:16:58.920 --> 0:17:01.640 Um next are amenities and stuff like that. But it's 0:17:01.640 --> 0:17:04.200 still a meaningful issue, and it's one worth mentioning. It's 0:17:04.200 --> 0:17:07.359 certainly adding to the negative attitudes. Although I think someone 0:17:07.359 --> 0:17:10.200 could easily make the argument that well, with that nicer house, 0:17:10.280 --> 0:17:12.720 isn't isn't that nicer house a part of achieving that 0:17:12.760 --> 0:17:15.200 middle class lifestyle? Isn't that a part of the middle 0:17:15.200 --> 0:17:17.680 class or a part of the American dream. I think 0:17:17.720 --> 0:17:19.879 that that could be the case. But it's also true 0:17:20.240 --> 0:17:23.840 that more households are living on two incomes than they 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:28.240 were fifty years ago. Of single income households were considered 0:17:28.320 --> 0:17:31.840 middle class half century ago, but only thirty seven percent 0:17:31.960 --> 0:17:35.360 are now. Uh. And so single folks, especially single parents, 0:17:35.520 --> 0:17:39.000 are finding themselves in any more precarious financial position, whereas 0:17:39.080 --> 0:17:41.120 married folks are finding it easier to move up the 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:43.760 income scale. So the economy is working for a large 0:17:43.880 --> 0:17:46.399 chunk of folks, but your family status is proving to 0:17:46.520 --> 0:17:49.800 play a large role in your financial security. Yes, so 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:51.479 the data from pre really is mixed in a lot 0:17:51.520 --> 0:17:53.800 of ways because we are seeing a shrinking middle class, 0:17:53.800 --> 0:17:56.560 but that has led to a bigger rise in in 0:17:57.080 --> 0:18:01.320 families being in that upper upper class um strata where 0:18:01.320 --> 0:18:03.280 their income is at least six figures if not higher. 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:05.600 But I think for a lot of folks math they 0:18:05.640 --> 0:18:08.880 feel like everyone is falling behind, But it turns out 0:18:08.920 --> 0:18:11.360 that some segments of the population are actually doing really well. 0:18:11.359 --> 0:18:15.240 They're actually vastly improving their their standing in this economy. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:17.360 And the New York Times actually just had an article 0:18:17.359 --> 0:18:21.159 about second generation immigrants and how second generation immigrants are 0:18:21.160 --> 0:18:24.280 succeeding wildly, um, and it was just kind of a 0:18:24.320 --> 0:18:27.119 fascinating article about the ascent of immigrants in this country 0:18:27.119 --> 0:18:29.959 in general. You're you're actually more likely to become middle class, 0:18:30.119 --> 0:18:33.639 upper middle class, and even rich, which is another stratus 0:18:33.680 --> 0:18:36.080 for The New York Times described just straight up rich, 0:18:36.240 --> 0:18:40.159 just straight up loaded as a child of an immigrant, 0:18:40.480 --> 0:18:42.720 if you were like born here in the United States 0:18:42.720 --> 0:18:45.040 and your family has been here for a while. Immigration 0:18:45.200 --> 0:18:47.840 has basically always been a good thing for for this 0:18:47.920 --> 0:18:50.439 country as a whole, keeping the American dream alive. But 0:18:50.480 --> 0:18:52.919 I feel like there's just so much interesting data in 0:18:52.960 --> 0:18:56.200 that math that we can extrapolate. It's clearly more financially 0:18:56.240 --> 0:18:58.560 beneficial to grow up as the child of an immigrant 0:18:58.840 --> 0:19:01.960 than to be a third or work generation citizen. And 0:19:02.080 --> 0:19:03.720 I don't know. A friend of the show, Christie Shennon, 0:19:03.720 --> 0:19:05.960 who we had on back in episode one eighteen, I 0:19:06.040 --> 0:19:08.880 think her story is kind of indicative of this reality. 0:19:09.600 --> 0:19:14.840 Her parents basically grew up in poverty in China under authoritarianism, 0:19:15.000 --> 0:19:18.879 and they ended up making it out to Canada, and 0:19:18.920 --> 0:19:20.840 they well, they had to sacrifice a lot right in 0:19:20.960 --> 0:19:24.800 order for for Christie to succeed, but succeed is what 0:19:24.840 --> 0:19:28.120 Christie did. And sometimes there there is that reality that 0:19:28.119 --> 0:19:31.000 that for some reason, second generation immigrants are able to 0:19:31.040 --> 0:19:33.400 make the most progress when it comes to the American dream, 0:19:33.400 --> 0:19:35.840 even more so than folks who have called America home 0:19:35.960 --> 0:19:38.600 for for a lot longer. Yeah, it's crazy how the data, 0:19:38.680 --> 0:19:41.200 I mean, it's incredibly clear. It's almost as if immigrants 0:19:41.280 --> 0:19:43.760 have the clearer understanding of what's available here in the U. S. 0:19:43.800 --> 0:19:46.800 Than folks who have, yeah, for generation has been U. S. Citizen. 0:19:46.880 --> 0:19:49.640 Makes me think of Hamilton's and what you say. Immigrants, 0:19:49.680 --> 0:19:52.280 they get the job done. And it's just it's true, 0:19:52.320 --> 0:19:56.040 and the data really really reflects that that immigrants are 0:19:56.080 --> 0:19:58.560 protecting in the American dream more than more than most 0:19:58.600 --> 0:19:59.760 folks who have been here a long time. That's right. 0:19:59.800 --> 0:20:01.440 So if disagree with us, take it up with Lemon 0:20:01.480 --> 0:20:04.120 weel uh okay, let' let's talk about how the middle 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.600 class is shrinking, because part of what we need to 0:20:06.640 --> 0:20:09.480 do is really dispel some rumors and sort of like 0:20:09.520 --> 0:20:13.040 false beliefs about rich folks, because you know, like when 0:20:13.040 --> 0:20:16.080 we see articles about quote unquote rich people, were usually 0:20:16.119 --> 0:20:20.920 hearing specifically, not about maybe a millionaire, but billionaires right, 0:20:20.960 --> 0:20:24.400 like like Bezos Elon, they get their fair share of headlines, 0:20:24.760 --> 0:20:28.160 but these fellas are definitely outliers. By the way, Elon 0:20:28.240 --> 0:20:31.159 has had a lot of negative press, likely um there 0:20:31.280 --> 0:20:33.320 there are other reasons that he's been in the press, 0:20:33.359 --> 0:20:37.399 like his his private life is um odd yet to 0:20:37.640 --> 0:20:41.000 say the least. But the reality, though, is is that 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:43.120 when you hear the word rich, you should have a 0:20:43.240 --> 0:20:46.480 much broader definition as to who falls in this, you know, 0:20:46.600 --> 0:20:50.080 within this category, and those guys should probably they probably 0:20:50.080 --> 0:20:52.880 should be in that completely different camp like the uber 0:20:53.280 --> 0:20:55.119 super filthy rich that I was talking about, Like there 0:20:55.200 --> 0:20:59.120 isn't really a separate category for those who are beyond rich. 0:20:59.440 --> 0:21:01.479 It's really if you make more than a hundred and 0:21:01.480 --> 0:21:05.280 fifties six thousand dollars, you are considered over class and technically, 0:21:05.640 --> 0:21:07.400 within a lot of studies, you are in the same 0:21:07.400 --> 0:21:10.440 category as Elon and as Bezos, which is funny because yeah, 0:21:10.440 --> 0:21:13.920 they are the complete outline hydrofoil. But when we talk 0:21:13.960 --> 0:21:17.720 about rich people, we're we're often pointing fingers at like 0:21:17.760 --> 0:21:20.960 the super rich, techmobuls um, the hyper rich, right, the 0:21:21.720 --> 0:21:25.320 billionaire class. But there's a big difference between just normal, 0:21:25.359 --> 0:21:27.560 everyday rich, which for a lot of people looks a 0:21:27.600 --> 0:21:30.760 little more middle class or doesn't feel um exorbitant. And 0:21:30.760 --> 0:21:32.879 some of those guys who are trying to you know, 0:21:33.560 --> 0:21:36.760 make us an interplanetary species by firing rockets off into 0:21:36.760 --> 0:21:40.199 space and you know, taking down bridges to move their 0:21:40.280 --> 0:21:43.760 yachts around the world. But yeah, another article actually from 0:21:43.800 --> 0:21:46.639 the New York Times that ran recently discussed how the 0:21:46.680 --> 0:21:50.160 majority of rich folks actually make their money, and that 0:21:50.240 --> 0:21:53.119 was really interesting to me too, Matt, because spoiler alert, 0:21:53.160 --> 0:21:56.240 it's it's not from building rockets or you know, creating 0:21:56.280 --> 0:21:59.479 some sort of online business or new found venture that 0:21:59.560 --> 0:22:02.080 reaches millions and millions or tens of millions of folks. 0:22:02.800 --> 0:22:04.840 Most folks that are in the rich category they get 0:22:04.920 --> 0:22:10.600 rich over time, uh, from owning an incredibly not sexy business, right, 0:22:11.000 --> 0:22:14.680 mostly from looking like normal people. And according to some 0:22:14.680 --> 0:22:17.800 some survey data from twenty nineteen, the folks who make 0:22:17.880 --> 0:22:20.600 up even the point one percent are largely folks that 0:22:20.640 --> 0:22:23.840 would fly under the radar, right, that are eating at 0:22:23.920 --> 0:22:26.680 the same same fast food restaurant you might be eating at. Uh, 0:22:26.840 --> 0:22:29.040 they're eating at the same Mexican place where they handle 0:22:29.080 --> 0:22:31.160 the free chips. That's right, that's right, Like they're down 0:22:31.160 --> 0:22:33.040 with that too. And you know, we're talking about folks 0:22:33.080 --> 0:22:37.280 who own auto dealerships or smaller regional distribution companies. Uh, 0:22:37.280 --> 0:22:40.879 the folks who you wouldn't necessarily think of as uber wealthy. 0:22:41.240 --> 0:22:42.960 And even the author of that New York Times peaks 0:22:43.040 --> 0:22:46.080 was like, I was shocked to read who the rich are, Like, 0:22:46.200 --> 0:22:48.200 they're not the people you would suspect. It was helpful 0:22:48.240 --> 0:22:50.399 to see. I think that some of the rich people, 0:22:50.840 --> 0:22:56.080 according to this data, actually have lives that aren't completely abnormal, right, 0:22:56.400 --> 0:23:00.000 And and oftentimes their wealth comes from creating a business 0:23:00.040 --> 0:23:02.600 this that employs a lot of the people, that is 0:23:02.600 --> 0:23:05.560 is doing something productive for the local economy. Yeah. And 0:23:05.600 --> 0:23:07.719 I think you could even argue that that quote unquote 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:11.159 normal life where they have what looks like normal expenses, 0:23:11.240 --> 0:23:13.560 is a part of what has led to them having 0:23:13.840 --> 0:23:16.600 the you know, those larger amounts of wealth. Uh. And 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:17.960 so I think that one thing that we can take 0:23:17.960 --> 0:23:21.800 away from this is that wealth flows to owners. You know, 0:23:21.800 --> 0:23:24.120 we talked about that in depth back in episode four. 0:23:25.400 --> 0:23:27.760 That's why we're so big on investing in the market, right, 0:23:27.800 --> 0:23:30.800 owning these little slices of a wide array of American businesses, 0:23:30.920 --> 0:23:33.200 because even if you are unlikely to start the next 0:23:33.200 --> 0:23:36.919 Amazon or the next Tesla, there are still many avenues 0:23:37.000 --> 0:23:40.320 to making a great income landing yourself within the upper 0:23:40.359 --> 0:23:43.960 class of American society that doesn't involve moving to Silicon 0:23:44.040 --> 0:23:47.520 Valley or marrying rich people. Right. Yeah, that's if that's 0:23:47.560 --> 0:23:50.080 your your main avenue to moving into the upper crust 0:23:50.119 --> 0:23:53.040 of society, just marrying someone who's loaded already. Um, more 0:23:53.080 --> 0:23:55.920 power to you. But uh, that you don't have to 0:23:55.960 --> 0:23:57.639 do that, is what we're saying. That doesn't have to 0:23:57.640 --> 0:23:59.920 be your only year one avenue, right, it's they're still 0:23:59.920 --> 0:24:03.120 the possibility for lots of folks without going to those links. Um. 0:24:03.119 --> 0:24:05.359 It's also important to note math that being rich is 0:24:05.560 --> 0:24:09.720 an always evolving phenomenon. So something like one third of 0:24:09.760 --> 0:24:13.080 Americans are actually going to be included among the top 0:24:13.080 --> 0:24:16.000 five percent of income earners for at least one year 0:24:16.080 --> 0:24:18.760 during their working life. Super cool stat. Yeah, a very 0:24:18.760 --> 0:24:21.760 cool stat. So often times we say rich folks and 0:24:21.800 --> 0:24:23.879 we point a finger there. Um, But it's not like 0:24:23.920 --> 0:24:27.920 the static group of individuals who continued to pad their 0:24:27.960 --> 0:24:30.440 Scrooge McDuck like vault with more gold coins, Right, that's 0:24:30.920 --> 0:24:34.200 usually kind of the way we think about people who 0:24:34.200 --> 0:24:36.800 are considered rich in our society. But but there's a chance, 0:24:36.840 --> 0:24:40.360 a decent chance, that you, dear listener, will be included 0:24:40.400 --> 0:24:42.280 in that group for at least a portion of your career, 0:24:42.640 --> 0:24:45.359 even if it's just for maybe a few years during 0:24:45.400 --> 0:24:48.080 the time when you're your peak earning abilities. Um. But 0:24:48.520 --> 0:24:52.480 you also found that the bottom quintile of Americans is 0:24:52.480 --> 0:24:56.480 more than likely to experience upward mobility, while only seven 0:24:56.520 --> 0:24:59.520 percent experience downward mobility. So the reality is that there 0:24:59.600 --> 0:25:03.280 is a lot of upward mobility potential in our society still, 0:25:03.680 --> 0:25:06.280 even though, Matt, I think a lot of times, um, 0:25:06.400 --> 0:25:10.960 the way we discuss these things, there's a prevailing attitude 0:25:11.040 --> 0:25:14.720 or belief that that's not possible. Well, the stats tell 0:25:14.760 --> 0:25:17.560 a different story, right, that the people from who are 0:25:17.600 --> 0:25:19.680 in the lower class can move up, even if it's 0:25:19.720 --> 0:25:22.040 not easy, and the folks who consider themselves middle class 0:25:22.119 --> 0:25:24.119 might at least for a stretch of time be be 0:25:24.240 --> 0:25:26.800 in the upper class. Our class structure, income levels, they're 0:25:26.800 --> 0:25:29.360 not some sort of never changing, set in stone sort 0:25:29.359 --> 0:25:31.879 of reality. Right. Yeah, there's a lot of mobility, and 0:25:31.880 --> 0:25:33.920 we need to keep that in mind. Um let's let's 0:25:33.920 --> 0:25:35.879 take another approach here too, because if you've listened to 0:25:35.920 --> 0:25:38.800 the show for any length of time, you know that 0:25:38.800 --> 0:25:41.800 that we believe that riches aren't everything. Right, It's it's 0:25:41.800 --> 0:25:44.600 okay if you're never a part of that five percent 0:25:45.040 --> 0:25:46.439 that are that is going to be in the you know, 0:25:46.600 --> 0:25:49.840 top point one percent, because we believe that joy is 0:25:49.880 --> 0:25:52.040 found in a whole lot of things that are not 0:25:52.119 --> 0:25:54.520 related to money at all. And so it's not our 0:25:54.560 --> 0:25:56.800 goal in this episode to push all of you, how 0:25:56.760 --> 0:25:58.600 the money listeners out there, to figure out how to 0:25:58.640 --> 0:26:01.719 make a million bucks every year or even more than 0:26:01.760 --> 0:26:04.719 a fifty six thou dollars if you love what it 0:26:04.760 --> 0:26:06.760 is that you do, earning a lot less than that 0:26:06.920 --> 0:26:09.560 while still being able to save and invest more power 0:26:09.600 --> 0:26:12.480 to you. Uh So, for instance, most teachers, they will 0:26:12.520 --> 0:26:16.119 never be categorized in that upper income at Chalange, but 0:26:16.480 --> 0:26:19.080 most are pretty passionate about their work and they love 0:26:19.200 --> 0:26:22.920 educating the next generation. There's a level of fulfillment that 0:26:22.960 --> 0:26:26.000 I've heard many teachers express that that makes up for 0:26:26.080 --> 0:26:28.960 a smaller paycheck. Uh And we've got some teacher friends 0:26:29.119 --> 0:26:31.920 who love to take full advantage of those summers off. 0:26:32.240 --> 0:26:34.760 So I say this because it's important to point out 0:26:34.760 --> 0:26:37.360 that making a conscious choice to spend your days doing 0:26:37.640 --> 0:26:39.879 something awesome, at least something that's awesome to you that 0:26:39.920 --> 0:26:42.479 you feel is fulfilling, is going to be way more 0:26:42.520 --> 0:26:46.800 important than getting rich according to what the world is 0:26:46.840 --> 0:26:49.280 calling rich at the very least. But on that note, 0:26:49.320 --> 0:26:51.639 we would not have an episode here for you without 0:26:51.640 --> 0:26:55.399 some more practical advice. So we have some specific tips, uh, 0:26:55.480 --> 0:26:58.760 some strategies to change your economic position, some different ways 0:26:58.840 --> 0:27:00.879 to increase your income. We will get to all of 0:27:00.880 --> 0:27:12.600 those right after this break. All right, we are back 0:27:12.640 --> 0:27:15.240 from the break, still talking about shrinking middle class, but 0:27:15.320 --> 0:27:18.280 how it's not all bad. And I like what you 0:27:18.400 --> 0:27:20.000 said kind of right before we went to the break, 0:27:20.080 --> 0:27:22.760 how there are a lot more things that matter in 0:27:22.760 --> 0:27:25.160 this life than just money. Right, And so somebody might 0:27:25.640 --> 0:27:27.840 hear the beginning of this episode and think like we 0:27:27.880 --> 0:27:30.960 want everyone to get rich and sacrifice whatever it takes 0:27:31.040 --> 0:27:33.160 in order to get there. That is certainly not the case. 0:27:33.240 --> 0:27:36.200 So I'm glad you, especially your friends and family, right, Yeah, 0:27:36.560 --> 0:27:38.840 don't don't throw them by the wayside in order to 0:27:38.880 --> 0:27:42.239 make more money. But relatively speaking, you know, when we're 0:27:42.280 --> 0:27:44.919 looking at the data from PEW. We want we do 0:27:45.000 --> 0:27:47.639 want our listeners to be represented in and included in 0:27:47.640 --> 0:27:50.960 the population that's moving up, right, that's finding more financial security. 0:27:51.040 --> 0:27:54.199 We do whose incomes are are largely growing. Um, But 0:27:54.320 --> 0:27:56.199 how do you ensure basically that you're you're on the 0:27:56.200 --> 0:27:58.360 winning side of a shrinking middle class. Let's talk about 0:27:58.400 --> 0:28:01.280 that now. The first thing we would say, uh, that 0:28:01.359 --> 0:28:03.120 there are a few steps we think you should take, 0:28:03.200 --> 0:28:05.320 or that most people should take. One is to to 0:28:05.440 --> 0:28:08.240 change your mindset. And that might sound a little woo 0:28:08.240 --> 0:28:10.960 woo or something like that, but uh, it's important for 0:28:11.440 --> 0:28:15.080 positive thoughts. Yeah, and there's like like definitely some like 0:28:15.200 --> 0:28:19.240 bad advice right headed in that direction where it manifested. Yeah, 0:28:19.320 --> 0:28:21.919 that that's just kind of ridiculous. But but there is 0:28:21.920 --> 0:28:23.639 a reality that you have control of your life and 0:28:23.640 --> 0:28:25.000 that we don't live in a cast system. And I 0:28:25.000 --> 0:28:27.240 think sometimes knowing or seeing some of that data, but 0:28:27.280 --> 0:28:30.160 then but also recognizing that you have more control than 0:28:30.359 --> 0:28:33.399 you think, how that can help. And there's more income 0:28:33.680 --> 0:28:36.600 mobility in this country than in most places in the 0:28:36.600 --> 0:28:39.600 rest of the world, although the Scandinavian country countries are 0:28:39.640 --> 0:28:42.560 are actually better than us in that regard, but we 0:28:42.600 --> 0:28:45.320 talked about the fact that almost Americans are going to 0:28:45.360 --> 0:28:47.360 be in the top five percent of income earters for 0:28:47.480 --> 0:28:49.520 at least a year, right, And I think that that 0:28:49.560 --> 0:28:52.440 should actually be encouraging, right to help people realize that 0:28:52.520 --> 0:28:54.680 they are in the driver's seat of their own life. Right, 0:28:54.720 --> 0:28:57.640 they they aren't stuck. They can make progress. And I 0:28:57.640 --> 0:29:00.320 think knowing and believing that is is part of the 0:29:00.400 --> 0:29:04.080 key to finding the motivation to change your lot in life. 0:29:04.560 --> 0:29:07.720 Makes me think of this Netflix movie I watched with 0:29:07.800 --> 0:29:10.680 my wife a few months back, Matt called White Tiger. 0:29:10.960 --> 0:29:12.400 I don't know if you it was a book too. 0:29:12.440 --> 0:29:14.520 I think my wife read the book okay, um, and 0:29:14.600 --> 0:29:18.800 it's literally about this young Indian entrepreneur and uh. For 0:29:18.880 --> 0:29:20.680 him to get to the place he got, it was 0:29:20.680 --> 0:29:24.200 a lot harder than almost any path that any modern 0:29:24.280 --> 0:29:26.800 day American has has to take to get to that 0:29:26.840 --> 0:29:29.000 middle or upper class. So I think it's helpful maybe 0:29:29.000 --> 0:29:31.000 to see stories from other people in other countries and 0:29:31.040 --> 0:29:34.880 realize that while it's not necessarily easy, um, it is 0:29:34.880 --> 0:29:37.360 one of those things that is more widely available than 0:29:37.760 --> 0:29:40.040 in a whole lot of other places where you could 0:29:40.040 --> 0:29:41.400 be living. Yeah, I mean it kind of goes back 0:29:41.400 --> 0:29:43.520 to the immigrants as well. When you come from a country, 0:29:43.560 --> 0:29:47.160 when you come from a system that does not foster 0:29:47.440 --> 0:29:50.080 financial or income mobility, I think you are able to 0:29:50.120 --> 0:29:52.200 come to the US and see the opportunities here. I 0:29:52.200 --> 0:29:54.160 forget the name of the comedian. There's a he's he's 0:29:54.160 --> 0:29:57.800 a Chinese guy, but he talks about how there's just 0:29:57.840 --> 0:30:00.640 so much great stuff going on in the US. Ronnie Chain. Yeah, 0:30:00.680 --> 0:30:03.560 that's yeah, yeah right, and and uh. He was explaining 0:30:03.720 --> 0:30:07.240 how the word for America basically means like I think 0:30:07.240 --> 0:30:09.800 it's the beautiful land, the beautiful country, or something like that, 0:30:09.880 --> 0:30:13.320 like when you translated directly, because of so much of 0:30:13.360 --> 0:30:15.160 the promise that is here in our country, and we 0:30:15.200 --> 0:30:17.040 fail to see that a lot of times. But it 0:30:17.120 --> 0:30:19.400 is good to be reminded of that from talking to 0:30:19.600 --> 0:30:23.080 folks who are from other countries who have escaped those systems. 0:30:23.240 --> 0:30:25.360 But another way that folks can get ahead is by 0:30:25.440 --> 0:30:29.800 prioritizing your education, something immigrants have also done who have 0:30:29.880 --> 0:30:32.280 come to the US. Because p has found that there's 0:30:32.280 --> 0:30:35.600 a growing income gap between Americans with a bachelor's degree 0:30:35.760 --> 0:30:38.400 and those who do not have one, And it is 0:30:38.440 --> 0:30:41.000 important to note here that it doesn't necessarily have to 0:30:41.040 --> 0:30:43.520 be a college degree here that we're talking about. That's 0:30:43.520 --> 0:30:46.280 the It's definitely the traditional path for a lot of folks, 0:30:46.280 --> 0:30:48.400 and it will make a lot of sense as a 0:30:48.400 --> 0:30:50.920 way to move up the income scale, in particular if 0:30:50.960 --> 0:30:53.000 you're able to keep that debt to a minimum. But 0:30:53.040 --> 0:30:56.120 it certainly feels like it is the most replicable way 0:30:56.160 --> 0:30:58.400 to increase your income. Uh. And that's proven out to 0:30:58.600 --> 0:31:01.080 by the facts, by the data. Right, Yeah, And you're right, 0:31:01.200 --> 0:31:03.920 education is a crucial component here when it comes to 0:31:04.720 --> 0:31:08.880 moving up the socioeconomic hierarchy. Right. But but p was 0:31:08.920 --> 0:31:12.040 also looking over a long time arising here fifty years 0:31:12.160 --> 0:31:15.680 and interestingly enough for actually seeing more signs over the 0:31:15.720 --> 0:31:19.200 past decade that entrepreneurship and blue collar work can be 0:31:19.240 --> 0:31:22.080 more lucrative these days for for a lot of folks, 0:31:22.080 --> 0:31:24.600 and that path often allows you to avoid taking on 0:31:24.640 --> 0:31:27.160 a boatload of student loan debt. Again, we're gonna talk 0:31:27.160 --> 0:31:29.360 about kind of some of these things a little bit 0:31:29.360 --> 0:31:33.200 more in next week's episode, but check out our conversation 0:31:33.280 --> 0:31:35.520 with about blue collar work with Ken Rusk back in 0:31:35.560 --> 0:31:39.200 episode two seventies seven for for more on that. But 0:31:39.240 --> 0:31:41.200 for folks who are more inclined to work with their hands. 0:31:41.280 --> 0:31:44.240 There's more of a chance than at any time in 0:31:44.280 --> 0:31:47.080 recent history that you can make a substantial income while 0:31:47.360 --> 0:31:50.680 avoiding some of the debt and time and opportunity costs 0:31:50.680 --> 0:31:54.280 that goes along with a college education. But still education, 0:31:54.360 --> 0:31:56.600 even if it's not higher education. Even it's not going 0:31:56.640 --> 0:31:59.400 to a university or something like that or getting a 0:31:59.440 --> 0:32:01.440 master's to there are all sorts of other ways that 0:32:01.480 --> 0:32:04.760 you can educate yourself, especially now, like for free or 0:32:04.880 --> 0:32:07.880 or for cheap that can have an outsized impact on 0:32:07.920 --> 0:32:10.240 your ability to to build your wealth. Yeah, that's right. 0:32:10.280 --> 0:32:12.720 Another way you can move up that ladder gradually is 0:32:12.880 --> 0:32:16.440 by investing, because obviously increasing your income is great, but 0:32:16.480 --> 0:32:18.920 we still see stories all over the place about folks 0:32:18.960 --> 0:32:21.640 who are making six figures who are still living paycheck 0:32:21.680 --> 0:32:24.320 to paycheck. Uh, And so we wanted to highlight this 0:32:24.360 --> 0:32:28.000 because a high salary does not equal a robust savings rate. Uh. 0:32:28.080 --> 0:32:30.440 Pew wasn't really measuring net worth in their study, but 0:32:30.480 --> 0:32:33.280 we think of that actually as an even more compelling metric, 0:32:33.560 --> 0:32:36.920 because when you're investing money with every paycheck, slowly but surely, 0:32:37.040 --> 0:32:39.479 that's gonna have a significant impact on your ability to 0:32:39.480 --> 0:32:43.360 build wealth and gain financial freedom. Again, we're not saying 0:32:43.400 --> 0:32:45.440 it's easy, but you really can do this. This, this 0:32:45.480 --> 0:32:48.040 really can be done in any of the three income classes. 0:32:48.040 --> 0:32:51.840 It feels like this truly sort of democratic technique that 0:32:51.960 --> 0:32:54.480 is accessible to to everyone, and it's more accessible now 0:32:54.640 --> 0:32:58.360 than ever with the abundance of four one K plans 0:32:58.520 --> 0:33:01.480 of low fee invest through some of those low cost brokes. 0:33:01.520 --> 0:33:02.840 You don't have to know the guy, you don't have 0:33:02.880 --> 0:33:04.920 to don't have to like make a phone call and 0:33:05.280 --> 0:33:07.600 what you figure all of this out. A lot of 0:33:07.600 --> 0:33:10.080 it is automated, either through your workplace or if not, 0:33:10.160 --> 0:33:12.560 it is incredibly easy to set up with somebody like 0:33:12.600 --> 0:33:14.840 Fidelity or Vanguard, and there's these low cost funds. But 0:33:14.880 --> 0:33:17.320 also you can get started for a dollar right, whereas 0:33:17.320 --> 0:33:19.680 before you used to have at least at least a 0:33:19.720 --> 0:33:22.600 thousand bucks for a number of years right to get started. 0:33:22.600 --> 0:33:25.640 And now it's like it's democratized, really um and you 0:33:25.640 --> 0:33:27.560 can buy those low cost index funds and you can 0:33:27.560 --> 0:33:30.040 just get build wealth over time solely but surely. Yeah, 0:33:30.040 --> 0:33:32.160 it's interesting, actually so, and it's important to say that 0:33:32.200 --> 0:33:34.800 we're building wealth because by investing that's not necessarily going 0:33:34.800 --> 0:33:37.400 to increase your income, right, it's like almost the inverse. 0:33:37.440 --> 0:33:40.959 So that is true. By increasing your income, that may, however, 0:33:41.000 --> 0:33:43.880 potentially allow you to invest more, and that truly is 0:33:43.920 --> 0:33:47.120 the ultimate goal that we're striving after here, right. Uh. 0:33:47.160 --> 0:33:48.720 And so by increasing your income, like, we just don't 0:33:48.720 --> 0:33:50.640 want to get the means mixed up with the end. 0:33:51.080 --> 0:33:53.680 And it's important just to have these things and within 0:33:53.720 --> 0:33:55.920 the right place. Yeah. Well, and and to your point 0:33:55.960 --> 0:33:59.040 about getting there gradually by investing that you can grow 0:33:59.080 --> 0:34:01.760 your net worth even on a smaller income. Well, there's 0:34:01.760 --> 0:34:04.160 the occasional story that comes out right about somebody who 0:34:04.240 --> 0:34:07.840 did have a small income but over the decades was 0:34:07.880 --> 0:34:10.680 able to amass a small fortune. And um, there was 0:34:10.719 --> 0:34:13.280 a story a few years back, um in in CNBC 0:34:13.360 --> 0:34:16.240 about a janitor who died with eight million dollars in 0:34:16.239 --> 0:34:19.160 in his investment accounts. And it's one of those things 0:34:19.160 --> 0:34:21.279 where I don't necessarily think of that as a good 0:34:21.320 --> 0:34:24.360 thing that you would focus so dang heavily on investing 0:34:24.360 --> 0:34:26.239 for your future that you don't you're not able to 0:34:26.280 --> 0:34:29.160 actually like use some of those funds now to further 0:34:29.200 --> 0:34:32.320 your enjoyment in life. Um. But it's also it also 0:34:32.440 --> 0:34:34.920 helps to prove what you were just saying that that 0:34:34.920 --> 0:34:37.080 that a little bit by little bit, even on a 0:34:37.080 --> 0:34:39.920 small income, can amass into something meaningful. Yeah, that's right. 0:34:39.920 --> 0:34:41.640 He was a janitor and before that he was working 0:34:41.680 --> 0:34:43.160 at a gas station, and so it's not like this 0:34:43.200 --> 0:34:46.000 guy had some sort of large windfall. It was him 0:34:46.040 --> 0:34:48.920 literally spending less than he made in investing the difference. 0:34:49.640 --> 0:34:52.680 Another route we think that you should consider when it 0:34:52.680 --> 0:34:55.200 comes to ear any more money is to take the 0:34:55.200 --> 0:34:58.000 path of entrepreneurship. We think that you should consider working 0:34:58.000 --> 0:35:00.719 for yourself because in a lot of profession like, there's 0:35:00.719 --> 0:35:01.880 going to be a cap to what it is that 0:35:01.920 --> 0:35:04.359 you can earn. We we talked about teachers earlier on 0:35:04.400 --> 0:35:06.520 how they are a lot of them are finding some 0:35:06.560 --> 0:35:09.520 fulfilling work. But you are getting rich teaching at your 0:35:09.760 --> 0:35:14.359 local elementary school understatement. And that's right. But let's say 0:35:14.360 --> 0:35:16.640 that same teacher starts a YouTube channel, or maybe they 0:35:16.640 --> 0:35:19.560 start selling lesson plans on teachers pay teachers, which is 0:35:19.560 --> 0:35:21.680 a great resource if you're the kind of person who 0:35:21.760 --> 0:35:24.840 likes to put together a curriculum, or even be like 0:35:24.880 --> 0:35:27.440 that piano teacher Joel that you mentioned on YouTube, because 0:35:27.719 --> 0:35:30.120 you know, if if you're a piano teacher and maybe 0:35:30.239 --> 0:35:32.959 you are earning fifty bucks a lesson, that's pretty great. 0:35:33.160 --> 0:35:36.560 But teaching the entire world can actually provide more income 0:35:36.600 --> 0:35:39.600 per hour spent working than you would be able to 0:35:39.640 --> 0:35:42.600 find otherwise. Yeah, and there's just more ability now than 0:35:42.760 --> 0:35:45.120 before to kind of take something that you're passionate about 0:35:45.200 --> 0:35:47.200 or something that you're skilled in and kind and turn 0:35:47.280 --> 0:35:50.200 it into a source of income um on a bigger scale. 0:35:50.239 --> 0:35:52.960 But let's talk about something else to Matt. Another another 0:35:53.000 --> 0:35:54.640 thing that you need to do if you want to 0:35:54.680 --> 0:35:58.239 be a part of the positive shrinkage of the middle class, 0:35:58.280 --> 0:36:02.239 and that is gives a great of spending injury. But 0:36:02.560 --> 0:36:05.359 we're gonna call this positive shrinkage positive shrinkage. I think 0:36:05.400 --> 0:36:07.000 I think it's accurate right based on the day that 0:36:07.080 --> 0:36:11.040 we're saying that the shrinkage is leading to larger upper class, 0:36:11.040 --> 0:36:14.239 which is great. But the I think developing a sense 0:36:14.239 --> 0:36:16.800 of grit right is something else that would be helpful. 0:36:16.840 --> 0:36:18.640 You know, we actually did a whole episode back in 0:36:18.640 --> 0:36:22.240 the day about about how grittiness is one of the 0:36:22.280 --> 0:36:26.880 biggest indicators of your ability to improve your personal finances 0:36:26.920 --> 0:36:28.759 and the same thing is true if we're talking about 0:36:28.880 --> 0:36:32.760 improving your income getting more disciplined, is that the crux 0:36:32.840 --> 0:36:35.200 of ensuring that you're making progress, whether it's waking up 0:36:35.200 --> 0:36:38.680 earlier or reading more, you know, dictiving your habits to 0:36:38.800 --> 0:36:42.040 ensure that more of your money is going towards savings 0:36:42.120 --> 0:36:44.680 and investments. That's a huge part of changing your lot 0:36:44.719 --> 0:36:47.560 in life. And uh Socrates matt He said that the 0:36:47.719 --> 0:36:50.400 free individual is free only to the extent of his 0:36:50.440 --> 0:36:53.680 own self mastery. And I know for myself, I have 0:36:53.719 --> 0:36:57.279 at times been overly lazy, and I have missed out 0:36:57.280 --> 0:37:00.320 on opportunities because of it. Um and and yeah, I 0:37:00.320 --> 0:37:03.239 don't know. We little changes and positive new habit formations. 0:37:03.560 --> 0:37:06.520 They often start small, but they snowball into real progress 0:37:06.560 --> 0:37:08.680 over time. It's it's just like what you're talking about 0:37:08.680 --> 0:37:10.720 with investing, how a little bit can make a big difference. 0:37:11.000 --> 0:37:14.000 It seems like nothing at the beginning, but those baby 0:37:14.040 --> 0:37:16.640 steps they have a huge impact over the decades. And 0:37:16.680 --> 0:37:18.359 the same is true with the habits we with how 0:37:18.400 --> 0:37:20.560 we spend our time and with and with what we're consuming. 0:37:20.760 --> 0:37:22.279 How that can help us or hurt us. It can 0:37:22.840 --> 0:37:24.400 help us achieve what we want to or it can 0:37:24.440 --> 0:37:27.280 actually take us further away from what we're trying to achieve, 0:37:27.719 --> 0:37:29.560 right and aside from how it is that we can 0:37:29.880 --> 0:37:32.720 increase our incomes and and find ourselves advancing our station 0:37:32.840 --> 0:37:34.880 in life, I think it's good to point out to 0:37:35.000 --> 0:37:37.440 that the fact that like life is is pretty good 0:37:37.520 --> 0:37:39.400 right now. Like we're not trying to gloss over everything 0:37:39.400 --> 0:37:41.640 and say that everything's fine. Go back to your work, 0:37:41.920 --> 0:37:44.680 but think about how it is your grandparents grew up, um, 0:37:44.719 --> 0:37:47.279 because do you have it worse than they did, you know, 0:37:47.400 --> 0:37:51.280 backt seventy years ago? Uh? Like, seriously, do an honest 0:37:51.280 --> 0:37:53.960 assessment for a minute, because my guess is for almost 0:37:54.000 --> 0:37:58.160 everyone listening, your life is much better than their's, at 0:37:58.200 --> 0:38:00.560 least in terms of the creature come that we get 0:38:00.600 --> 0:38:03.960 to experience on a daily basis when we're guests Morgan Household. 0:38:03.960 --> 0:38:05.800 He talks about how we think of the nineteen fifties 0:38:05.840 --> 0:38:08.360 as being the the economic glory days. But if you 0:38:08.360 --> 0:38:10.440 had the chance, would you actually want to live back then? 0:38:10.480 --> 0:38:13.040 Because I highly doubt it. Would you step in a 0:38:13.080 --> 0:38:16.200 time machine transporter that would take you back there if 0:38:16.239 --> 0:38:19.400 it meant you couldn't return too unlikely? I know, I 0:38:19.400 --> 0:38:22.400 wouldn't I probably not. I mean honestly even just like yourself. 0:38:23.760 --> 0:38:27.359 But like the like small pieces of technology that we 0:38:27.480 --> 0:38:29.560 use on a daily basis, I think oftentimes are what 0:38:29.719 --> 0:38:33.279 are keeping us from thinking, oh, yeah, that that is 0:38:33.520 --> 0:38:36.320 a life that I would actually went to experience, because 0:38:36.320 --> 0:38:39.480 by basically every standard, the vast majority of Americans are 0:38:39.520 --> 0:38:43.759 better off now than they were back then. Uh, expectation inflation. 0:38:43.840 --> 0:38:47.080 That's actually a major reason why folks are less happy 0:38:47.160 --> 0:38:49.680 and why they assume that they are much worse off 0:38:49.719 --> 0:38:52.440 when statistically speaking, things are a lot better for the 0:38:52.520 --> 0:38:55.319 vast majority of folks. Yeah. Our friend Jack, who writes 0:38:55.360 --> 0:38:58.319 over at Young Money, wrote recently in a similar vein, 0:38:58.360 --> 0:39:00.719 and he basically said, life is the that it's ever been. 0:39:01.239 --> 0:39:04.560 Rates of extreme poverty have been plumbing. Right of the 0:39:04.560 --> 0:39:09.440 world's population is literate. It was only just like rattled 0:39:09.480 --> 0:39:11.600 off this laundry list of statistics will link to that 0:39:11.680 --> 0:39:14.240 article show notes even something as simple as a COVID 0:39:14.320 --> 0:39:17.480 vaccine like me that did not exist modern miracles a 0:39:17.560 --> 0:39:20.040 hundred years ago, sure, and the ability to develop it 0:39:20.080 --> 0:39:23.160 so quickly in the type of technology right that in 0:39:23.200 --> 0:39:25.120 the brain power that it took to be able to 0:39:25.160 --> 0:39:27.840 create that. Um, there are so many reasons, and I 0:39:27.840 --> 0:39:29.480 think when you put it in those dark terms, would 0:39:29.520 --> 0:39:32.480 you go back to would you trade your current life 0:39:32.560 --> 0:39:35.480 for for that life? Uh? In all likelihood the answers now. 0:39:36.000 --> 0:39:38.120 And it's so it's our belief that the American dream 0:39:38.160 --> 0:39:40.120 is is still alive and you're not only able to 0:39:40.120 --> 0:39:43.560 accomplish it by working seventy plus hours a week grinding 0:39:43.600 --> 0:39:45.799 as hard as you possibly can. It's it's not just 0:39:45.880 --> 0:39:48.560 for folks with a fancy education or for people earning 0:39:48.719 --> 0:39:51.920 six figures. In our uber connected age, it's it's easy to, 0:39:52.200 --> 0:39:55.120 I think, get down and out at about idiotic politicians, 0:39:55.200 --> 0:39:58.440 income inequality, and and the negative headlines that tend to 0:39:58.440 --> 0:40:02.640 dominate the news. And while the real world has real problems, 0:40:03.160 --> 0:40:05.080 many of us are far too focused on the things 0:40:05.160 --> 0:40:09.960 we can control. We're maybe buying into the negative sentiments 0:40:10.000 --> 0:40:12.719 on Twitter. Uh. Instead, we would say, let's turn the 0:40:12.760 --> 0:40:15.160 majority of our focus to things that we can influence 0:40:15.200 --> 0:40:19.000 as individuals and in realize that we've got more say 0:40:19.040 --> 0:40:21.879 over our futures then we often like to think. And 0:40:21.960 --> 0:40:23.880 some of these stats are actually showing us that a 0:40:23.920 --> 0:40:27.120 shrinking middle class isn't actually nearly as bad of a thing, 0:40:27.160 --> 0:40:28.960 and it actually might be a better thing than you'd 0:40:29.000 --> 0:40:31.000 like to think. And I think we would say that 0:40:31.000 --> 0:40:33.680 the vast majority of Found Money listeners can participate, can 0:40:33.760 --> 0:40:37.239 change their trajectory right by changing a few things about 0:40:37.280 --> 0:40:40.319 their lives. And um, we're again not easy, but I 0:40:40.320 --> 0:40:42.359 think it's refreshing to kind of dig into the data 0:40:42.440 --> 0:40:44.960 and see that there is actually a lot of positive 0:40:44.960 --> 0:40:47.680 news to behold, and that more of us can and 0:40:47.760 --> 0:40:51.680 are likely to participate in, like the economic progress of 0:40:51.719 --> 0:40:54.920 our country than maybe I think that they will. Yeah, 0:40:55.080 --> 0:40:56.600 I mean, I think another part of it too, is 0:40:56.640 --> 0:40:58.680 like you're talking about some of the negative aspects that 0:40:58.760 --> 0:41:02.640 we become transfixed and you know, obsessed with. What's cool 0:41:03.000 --> 0:41:07.080 is that as we are able to develop ourselves as individuals, 0:41:07.440 --> 0:41:09.959 we can then eventually have impacts not only on on 0:41:10.000 --> 0:41:13.200 our finances, but the finances of our families, of our friends, 0:41:13.520 --> 0:41:15.960 and then eventually, yeah, our cities, our states, our countries, 0:41:16.239 --> 0:41:19.440 and hopefully uh far off down the road, there will 0:41:19.440 --> 0:41:21.719 be less problems. There will be ways for us to 0:41:21.760 --> 0:41:23.880 combat some of the things that seem to take so 0:41:23.960 --> 0:41:26.360 much of our time. Now. It's just I feel like 0:41:26.400 --> 0:41:28.840 so many, so many of us, myself included, at times 0:41:29.040 --> 0:41:31.920 want there to be answers and quick fixes now, especially 0:41:31.920 --> 0:41:33.839 on a large scale, when in fact, what we need 0:41:33.880 --> 0:41:37.000 to do is focus more on the local right, not 0:41:37.040 --> 0:41:39.319 only just developing ourselves, but then finding ways that we 0:41:39.360 --> 0:41:43.040 can look to improve our communities as well. Yeah. Yeah, 0:41:43.080 --> 0:41:45.760 So when we do that, I think we're we're gonna 0:41:45.800 --> 0:41:48.000 more tangibly see the progress right in our own lives 0:41:48.200 --> 0:41:50.080 and the lives of people around us, And that just 0:41:50.120 --> 0:41:52.160 provides more encouragement. And then all of a sudden, you 0:41:52.160 --> 0:41:55.040 your beliefs and your attitudes have completely transformed. You feel 0:41:55.160 --> 0:41:56.799 at least great about the things that you have been 0:41:56.800 --> 0:41:58.760 accomplishing at home. When you think about the grand scale 0:41:58.760 --> 0:42:02.160 problems that you have basically zero influence over, um, it 0:42:02.760 --> 0:42:05.280 just makes you feel small. Um. But when you realize 0:42:05.320 --> 0:42:07.680 that there are other ways that you can impact people directly, 0:42:07.960 --> 0:42:11.960 it's empowering. So hopefully, Matt, this runs counter to a 0:42:12.000 --> 0:42:14.880 strain of pessimism. I feel like we're seeing um in 0:42:14.920 --> 0:42:17.040 our in our country right now. And again, it's not 0:42:17.120 --> 0:42:19.759 that there aren't negative things, but there are a lot 0:42:19.760 --> 0:42:22.000 of good things too, and they're you know, by tuning 0:42:22.000 --> 0:42:25.160 out some of those negative things. You're just life experience 0:42:25.200 --> 0:42:28.279 gonna be better. All right, that's true. Man, Let's at 0:42:28.320 --> 0:42:30.880 least now mentioned the beer that you and I enjoyed 0:42:31.040 --> 0:42:34.040 during this episode. Just one other by the way, Uh well, 0:42:34.080 --> 0:42:36.600 no one. Other evidence of the reality that things are 0:42:36.600 --> 0:42:39.759 getting better is our abundance of beer voices. If you 0:42:39.760 --> 0:42:42.080 look back just twenty five years ago, how many how 0:42:42.080 --> 0:42:44.400 many craft breweries were there in the United States? A 0:42:44.480 --> 0:42:48.600 hundred maybe max? Not enough? Yeah, now we have an abundance, 0:42:48.640 --> 0:42:50.960 which is but but we're drinking. Not that Stiegel is 0:42:51.040 --> 0:42:55.080 necessarily a craft brewery, although it is fun from time 0:42:55.120 --> 0:42:57.200 to time to go with one of these larger producers 0:42:57.200 --> 0:43:00.239 who make a really good beverage. Uh and this is 0:43:00.480 --> 0:43:03.960 a lemon rattler by Stiegel. I will go ahead and 0:43:04.000 --> 0:43:05.800 kick it off by saying that this sort of tastes 0:43:05.880 --> 0:43:10.520 like carbonated alcoholic lemonade, which I think can be a 0:43:10.600 --> 0:43:14.359 dangerous thing because like, you don't really it doesn't feel 0:43:14.360 --> 0:43:16.120 like you're having a beer, doesn't really feel like you're 0:43:16.120 --> 0:43:19.960 having a drink. It is quite delicious, quite refreshing on 0:43:20.000 --> 0:43:22.920 a hot summer day like we are experiencing at the moment. 0:43:23.040 --> 0:43:25.520 But I will say at times, I feel that Stiegel's 0:43:25.560 --> 0:43:28.000 rattlers can get a bit sweet. Uh, And for me 0:43:28.040 --> 0:43:31.200 at least, that's one thing that's like, I'm literally more 0:43:31.239 --> 0:43:33.400 of like a bud Light bud Light lime guy on 0:43:33.440 --> 0:43:36.160 the beach. I will drink those beers and I would, 0:43:36.360 --> 0:43:39.040 honestly for every five listeners just lost a lot of 0:43:39.040 --> 0:43:41.080 respect for you, Matt Hey. I think there's a lot 0:43:41.080 --> 0:43:42.439 of folks out there who would be like, yeah, I could, 0:43:42.440 --> 0:43:44.239 I could handle a bud Light lime when you're sitting 0:43:44.280 --> 0:43:45.680 out there on on a beach, because you and I 0:43:45.760 --> 0:43:48.200 like we've tried, we've we've tried having nicer beers out 0:43:48.200 --> 0:43:50.799 on the beach, and honestly like, the more basic you 0:43:50.840 --> 0:43:54.279 can go with the flavors, the more refreshing in the 0:43:54.320 --> 0:43:56.120 baking sun. You don't want some sort of ten per 0:43:56.120 --> 0:43:57.800 central ip a. You don't want something that's got a 0:43:57.800 --> 0:44:00.040 whole lot of complexity, Which is why I told the 0:44:00.120 --> 0:44:02.719 understand why this is also very refreshing out there. But 0:44:02.760 --> 0:44:05.480 for me, I mean, they don't put nutrition facts on beers, 0:44:05.600 --> 0:44:07.480 but I really would love to know the grams of 0:44:07.480 --> 0:44:10.239 sugar that are in this compared to something like a 0:44:10.239 --> 0:44:13.040 bud lightline because that's what I was drinking last week 0:44:14.280 --> 0:44:16.600 out on the beach, and I did not get tired 0:44:16.640 --> 0:44:19.120 of him. I'll say that, Okay, all right, well we're 0:44:19.160 --> 0:44:20.960 back in the real world now, Bud, So put those 0:44:21.239 --> 0:44:22.840 put those in the back of the fridge. I literally 0:44:22.880 --> 0:44:25.920 won't buy them again until next time until I up 0:44:25.920 --> 0:44:27.800 the beach. So I thought this was it was bright, 0:44:27.920 --> 0:44:30.800 but it also was laid back enough that and that 0:44:30.920 --> 0:44:32.680 it can be enjoyable and you can have a couple, 0:44:32.760 --> 0:44:36.280 which is nice and like to me, this ab allows 0:44:36.320 --> 0:44:37.759 you to do that. Yeah, this is the kind of 0:44:37.800 --> 0:44:41.560 beer that for Seltzer fans like they should try this, right, 0:44:41.680 --> 0:44:43.560 because I think it's like a better ocean of a 0:44:43.560 --> 0:44:47.240 fruited Seltzer um a fruited Rattler. So yeah, the Stiegel 0:44:47.440 --> 0:44:49.719 Rattler grape fruit is probably my favorite, but Lemons like 0:44:49.719 --> 0:44:53.720 a close second. Raspberry not not as good in my opinion, 0:44:53.960 --> 0:44:55.640 But it's a great beer. It's my like summer go too, 0:44:55.680 --> 0:44:58.200 and then I don't drink it for like ten months. 0:44:58.200 --> 0:45:00.319 Something great to pick up doll gets USU or you're 0:45:00.320 --> 0:45:02.160 sitting pool side and swing by the grocery store pick 0:45:02.200 --> 0:45:04.279 up one of those four packs. Yeah, you probably won't 0:45:04.320 --> 0:45:06.200 regret it, no doubt, But Joel, that's gonna be a 0:45:06.200 --> 0:45:08.960 buddy for this episode. Folks can find our show notes 0:45:09.080 --> 0:45:11.160 up on our website at how to money dot com. 0:45:11.560 --> 0:45:14.840 While you're there, go to Ford Slash Newsletter, where you 0:45:14.840 --> 0:45:18.440 can also sign up for the best personal finance newsletter 0:45:18.840 --> 0:45:22.120 in the world, does drop every Tuesday morning, chock full 0:45:22.320 --> 0:45:25.960 of actionable advice and interesting, helpful little tidbits to help 0:45:25.960 --> 0:45:29.840 you along your way to helping you climb that class ladder. 0:45:30.080 --> 0:45:32.480 If that's something you're interested in. Again, don't let that 0:45:32.520 --> 0:45:36.200 become the goal. But that can be the means to 0:45:36.320 --> 0:45:38.319 the goal, right like that can be a means to 0:45:38.360 --> 0:45:41.320 an end as we all are striving after more options 0:45:41.320 --> 0:45:44.319 and financial different levels of financial freedom. Yeah for sure. 0:45:44.360 --> 0:45:46.880 All right, that's gonna do it for this episode. Until 0:45:46.960 --> 0:46:00.320 next time, Best Friends Out, Best Friends Out, M M.