Listen Money Matters - Free your inner financial badass. All the stuff you should know about personal finance.

No one should spend too much time thinking about or managing their finances. Learn some tricks to make it easier. If you’ve been with us for any length of time, you know that we emphasize the importance of monitoring your finances. But there is such a thing as too much. We’ll teach you how to pay attention to your finances without becoming too obsessive. Full Article Here Show Notes MasteringMint.com: Our book that will allow you to manage your finances without driving yourself to distraction. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Michael Epstein became a millionaire by the age of thirty. Michael will tell us how he did it and how you can too. He started his first company, e-Dimensional, a software company that designed glasses to make off-the-shelf video games 3-D while still in college. Within the first year, the company reached one million dollars in sales. Michael made a lot of sacrifices to ensure the success of his business. He ran the company while attending college and working full time. Michael sold the company in 2013 and didn’t retire to Cabo but started his consulting business, Get On Line With Me. Full Article Here Show Notes eDimensional.com: Michael’s first company devoted to realistic gaming experiences. GetOnlineWithMe.com: Michael’s current online consulting business. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Which of your financial obligations should you meet first, loans, investing, credit cards? Learn where to best allocate your money. Full Article Here Show Notes Betterment: Automated investing. Lending Club: A peer-to-peer lending company. Money Chimp: Tax brackets. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How can you find the extra money for the things you can’t live without? We’ll show you places to find a little something extra. In his book, I Will Teach You to be Rich Remit Sethi discusses that it’s not the $5 you spend daily at Starbucks that is keeping you broke. It’s not the small expenses you spend every day, it’s the big expenditures you make too often. But how do you separate the two? You have to prioritize your spending. You love coffee, can’t live without it. So buy the coffee. You work from home so don’t need a big wardrobe. Do don’t spend a lot on clothes. Boom! There’s your coffee money and then some. Make more money. Ok, you don’t love coffee. You love foreign travel to exotic locales. Saving $5 a day on coffee isn’t going to get you two weeks in Bali (it helps though). You have to make more money if your indulgences are more expensive. So you work longer hours, you work a second job. You can still travel but if your tastes are high end, it will be easier to make more money to pay for them than to save enough money to afford them. Finances are akin to diets. If you tell yourself, “I can never have cheese again,” you’re going to take down a block of cheddar by yourself within days. The same is true of spending money. This is a long term commitment. It can’t be constant deprivation. Set aside a percentage of your total income that is disposable. You can spend that money on anything you want. But once that money is gone, it’s gone. So get your priorities in order. Spend on the must haves and cut out the things you can live without. Show Notes I Will Teach You To Be Rich: Ramit Sethi’s best selling book. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Introducing the LMM’s Wealth Wheel. Do we debate the age-old question, what matters more, size or the motion of the ocean? Full Article Here Show Notes The LMM Wealth Wheel: Learn about the four parts of the Wealth Wheel. LearnVest.com: The 50/20/30 rule. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We could all use more money, and one of the best ways to get more money is to ask for a raise. But it’s a little more complicated than marching into the boss’s office and demanding one. Asking for a raise is a strategic decision, and can be deployed in many different ways. You just need to pick the right one! Today we’ll show you how the best way to ask for a raise without getting yelled out of your boss’ office. about what you’re asking them. Full Article Here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Did you play Monopoly with your family when you were a kid? If you did, you probably learned some valuable financial lessons, even if you tipped the board when you lost. Personal finance isn’t a game, but there are lessons to be learned from the game of Monopoly. Full Article Here Show Notes DiceMaestro.com: A site dedicated to classic games. SmartPassiveIncome.com: A guide to generating passive income online. 8 Personal Finance Lessons I Learned From Monopoly: An article by a friend of the show, Jim Wang on his former website, Bargineering.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Learn lessons from millionaire Laurie Itkin in our “Better Know a Millionaire” show. Laurie explains how she became a millionaire before the age of 40. This is the first episode of our ongoing series, “Better Know a Millionaire.” (Obviously, a total ripoff of Colbert’s Better Know a District…or homage — that’s better). Show Notes Omission Pale Ale Gluten Free Beer by Widmer Brothers: Andrew claims that it was pretty good, so I’ll take him at his word. Traditional Medicinals Organic Lemon Echinacea Throat Coat Herbal Tea: Wow! That’s a mouthful, but it’s the tea I started drinking when I feel a sore throat developing. Really tastes good without sugar, which is great. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s Mother’s Day. Matt and Andrew interview their mom’s to find out what financial lessons they’ve learned. This is a very personal episode for us at Listen Money Matters. Both Andrew and I sat down, face to face, with our moms and talked to them about their past experiences with money. I know for me, it was a very endearing event as I’m sure it was for Andrew. We found out a lot about what made our moms so good with money. I want to keep this short because it’s Mother’s Day and you should be spending time with your mom or a mom that you know and respect, no matter who it is. Listen to the episode below and let us know what you thought of it. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matters of personal finance are intimidating for many Americans and it’s no mystery why. There are so many aspects of personal finance. Emergency funds, mutual funds, estate planning, retirement accounts, life insurance, tax planning. And that’s just the beginning. Full Article Here Show Notes SeekingAlpha.com: A crowdsourced platform that focuses on sharing top investment ideas. Betterment: A DIY investing tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How many cars have you owned over the years? Is it more than seven? That’s how many Matt has owned. And he learned a thing or two. These are the lessons learned from owning seven cars. Some learned the hard way! Full Article Here Show Notes Edmunds: a site that lets you research prices for new and used vehicles and contains a database of dealer incentives and rebates. Cars.com: is a site that lets you search for information on new and used cars online. Autotrader: is an online marketplace for new and used cars. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Joel Larsgaard from Save Outside the Box shows us easy ways to save money without giving up the things you love. Joel used to be budget adverse. His theory was “bring in more than you spend and don’t buy nice things.” But now with a baby in the mix, Joel wanted to save more while not giving up the things he loves in life, good beer, folk art and travel. Full Article Here Show Notes SaveOutsideTheBox.com: Joel’s site devoted to finding extra money in places you haven’t considered. Megabus: A nearly nation-wide low-cost transportation option. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Get Rich Slowly recently posted an article titled, “The Ten Habits of Financially Successful People.” See how many you share. Full Article Here Show Notes 10 Habits of Financially Successful People: The blog post the episode is based on. Getting Things Done: David Allen’s book on productivity. MerlinMann.com: Merlin is a renaissance man who has a website and podcast dedicated to finding the time and attention to do your best creative work. Rescue Time: A website that does for your time what Mint.com does for your money. Four Hour Work Week: Tim Ferriss’ book on how to maximize your productivity in the least amount of time and from anywhere in the world. Seth Godin: Seth has authored 17 books on marketing in the digital age. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Everyone should have received or should soon receive your tax return. Today we discuss the best way to make that money work for you. Full Article Here Show Notes SavingForCollege.com: An explanation of the 529 college savings plan. Mint.com: an on-line money managing tool. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Many of us have debt. Claire Murdough tells us how to pay your debt as quickly and efficiently as possible. You can enter your debt account information and how much you are paying on each. RFZ will generate a graph showing how long it will take to pay the debt, what interest you will incur, and show you how much more quickly you can pay the debt off by adding money to your payments. The site is free but there is an upgrade that allows you to monitor your credit score and to make payments through RFZ. The site has recently added a feature that will allow you to manually enter debts for things like the $200 you borrowed from mom last month. Snowball vs stack method. The snowball method advocates paying off your smallest balance first. The benefit being psychological. You did it, you paid off that Target card! The stacking method requires paying off the highest interest rate debt first. Both methods employ the same tactics of paying only the minimums on the other debts while paying off the prioritized one and once one is paid off, you use the money you were paying towards it, on the next debt down the list. Each has their fans and like everything, finance is individual so use the method that makes the most sense for you. As long as you are paying off your debts, you’re good. Some of Claire’s best advice is to take your ego out of the debt repaying equation. The job you get might not be in the field you’re educated in, but it’s still bringing in money. A second job doesn’t mean you’ve failed. It means you’re doing what needs to be done so you can be debt free. And make some time and a budget for fun during your debt repayment. And when you reach a milestone, treat yourself to something small. A bouquet of flowers or a llama ride! Remember, there is life after debt. Show Notes ReadyForZero.com: A website that helps to manage your debts. Debt Snowball Vs. Debt Stacking: An explanation of snowball vs stacking for debt repayments with pros and cons for each. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Americans don’t get much vacation. The average American gets ten days of paid vacation. And that is at the mercy of your employer. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world that does not legally mandate paid vacation. It will make you a better person and a better employee. Learn why it’s important to take what you do get. Full Article Here Show Notes RyanCarson.com: A blog post by Ryan Carson, the founder of Treehouse, about their change to the 4 day work week. TimeDay.org: Take Back Your Time. A movement to encourage people to fight for legally mandated paid vacation. Karoshi: A Wikipedia article detailing Karoshi, death from overwork. Happy: The Movie: An award-winning documentary that travels the world to find out what makes us happy. The Geography of Bliss: One Grump’s Search for the Happiest Places in the World: NPR correspondent Eric Weiner’s book on what constitutes happiness around the world. More: An Academy Award-nominated short animated film that depicts the colorless life of a factory worker who gets through h... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is high-frequency trading? Is it something you need to worry about? Don’t let the unknown keep you out of the market. Full Article Here Show Notes The Divide: American Injustice in the Age of the Wealth Gap: Matt Taibbi’s book on the growing wealth gap in America. Flash Boys: A Wall Street Revolt: Michael Lewis’ book about the creation of an exchange where high-frequency trading will garner no advantage. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We discuss pain-free ways to find extra money to invest. Whether it’s into a Betterment account, a Roth IRA, or a brokerage account. It’s easy to say, “go out and get a second job,” and use that money to invest, but that’s not realistic for everyone. Using these methods, you can grow your investing money faster and easier. Full Article Here Show Notes Gazelle: Sell your old electronics. Amazon Affiliate Program: Become an Amazon Affiliate and make money when your readers buy your recommendations. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode we welcome Jim Wang, founder of Bargaineering.com, a personal finance blog, to discuss how you can turn your hobby into cash. Jim began Bargaineering in 2005 while working a full-time job. After a lot of trial and error, he was able to devote himself full-time to the site within 3 years. In January of 2010, he sold the site for seven figures. Full Article Here Show Notes Bargineering.com: A personal finance blog that has been featured in the New York Times and Business Week that discusses money, credit cards, investing, and mortgages. MicroBlogger.com: Jim’s website and podcast that teaches you how to build a successful online business. ScotchAddict.com: Jim’s blog dedicated to all things Scotch. GrillMaestro.com: Jim’s blog on that most beloved past time of America, barbecue grilling. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There is a new face of retirement and financial independence these days and it doesn’t include being over 65 and never working again. That kind of retirement kills, people! Don’t believe me? Take Freakonomics word for it. Let’s talk about what you need to do to achieve the early retirement you want. So maybe you start your own business when you aren’t required to show up at an office forty hours a week. Or you can volunteer. You can go back to school, maybe become a teacher and give back to your community. Social security can be a relic of the past by the time American Millennials reach the age of eligibility. We all need to take our retirement into our own hands. And you don’t have to spend the whole prime of your life slaving for the man. So you need to fund your own retirement through 401K’s, IRA’s and investing in the stock market. The earlier you start, the better. If you are getting a late start, hope is not lost. Full Article Here Show Notes Bulleit Bourbon: This is the whiskey that Andrew was drinking on the rocks. One of my favorite Bourbons for the price. The Bulleit Rye is excellent too. Social Security is worse than you think: The NY Times did an article about what we talked about in this episode. Don't count on social security being available to us. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we welcome blogger Kristin Wong to discuss the psychology of money. Kristin grew up in a frugal household but like many of us, didn't have any guidance when it came to investing. Frugality seems less daunting and allows for instant gratification. You can cancel your cable service right now and save $100 a month or more. It doesn't take any research or special knowledge. Full Article Here Show Notes Get Rich Slowly: A blog that covers various aspects of personal finance. Two Cents Lifehacker: A sub-blog of Lifehacker dedicated to personal finance. Brokepedia: Kristin Wong’s personal blog that focuses on frugal living through practical, money saving tips. Personal Capital: A free software program to help track and manage your investments. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

0% APR offers can be a great thing. But if you don’t understand how they work, it can cost you big time. In theory, this is a free loan. But there are so many ways you can screw it up and the lender is counting on that. Full Article Here Show Notes Cerveza Pacifico: A Mexican beer. Mint: The easy way to track your spending. Help Out By Leaving a Review on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Money isn’t about being rich. Money is about choice and the freedom that goes along with being able to make decisions when money is not the only deciding factor. Stop thinking about money in terms of being rich and instead think about ways it can grant you financial freedom. Full Article Here Show Notes Betterment: Start investing to build the life you want. Mint: Take control of your money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Frugal living is pretty trendy right now, but how frugal is too frugal? Should you clip coupons, wash and reuse your tin foil? Where do we draw the line? Being frugal is a good thing. But frugal living can be taken too far and sometimes even cost you more in the long run. Walk the fine line without crossing over. Is there such a thing as being too frugal? At its core, being frugal is a good thing. But lots of things that are fundamentally good can be harmful and destructive if taken to an extreme. Drinking water can even be deadly if you overdo it. We should all be encouraged to be frugal in certain areas but don’t go nuts! And being frugal is only one side of the coin. There is only so much you can cut out of your spending, however, there is no cap on how much money you can make. If you’re down to minimum expenses than maybe it’s time to find ways to make some extra money on the side or create some passive income. Full Article Here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we talk to Adam Carroll who created the documentary about the current student loan debt crisis called Broke, Busted and Disgusted. We get a lot of questions about student loan debt but we didn’t understand just how dire the state of things was until we spoke to Adam. It’s so much worse than you can imagine. When BB&D is released it will be a wake-up call for a lot of people. For many people starting college, they have no idea what it means to take out massive amounts of student loans. This is especially true for first-generation college kids. Some of them are leaving school with $70, $80, $120,000 of debt. So, why is college so expensive now? Federal funding for education has been cut. Bankruptcy laws were changed in the early 2000s to exclude student loans from being discharged in nearly all circumstances. That was carte blanche for the lenders. There was nearly no way they would lose money and they opened their coffers accordingly. There is now $1.2 trillion in outstanding student loan debt. What can you do to avoid the crushing debt? You don’t have to go to the most expensive college that will have you. Take some classes at a local community college. Not only are the classes cheaper but you can live at home to save on living expenses as well. Get as many grants and scholarships as you can. Choose your major carefully. Make sure that your degree is in a field that is in demand and that your salary will be enough to live on and pay back your loans. A college education is still a good investment for most people but we have to redefine what college means. Show Notes Broke, Busted and Disgusted (Documentary): A pro-education documentary exploring traditional and alternative higher education institutions, and the rising costs of getting a degree. Winning The Money Game: A Rule Book to Achieving Financial Success for Young People (Book): The book by Adam Carroll which is a guide to being debt free and gain financial freedom. Inequality For All (Documentary): One of the best ways to help people understand the challenges we face, is with a movie that can grab an audience and move them to action. And this movie will do exactly that. — Robert Reich Is College Worth It? (Book): A Former United States Secretary of Education and a Liberal Arts Graduate Expose the Broken Promise of Higher Education. Debt Reduction Snowball Calculator via Vertex42.com: A site for excel spreadsheet nerds. Debt elimination spreadsheet. Help Out By Leaving a Review on iTunes Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We’ll discuss a boring subject, how stocks, bonds, and funds work but make it less boring by using Arrested Development to illustrate our points! Recently, we published a post called, An Illustrated Guide to Investment Types. Before writing, Matt asked Andrew to explain to him how stocks and bonds are born. Andrew knows that Matt’s favorite show is Arrested Development, so he put it in terms Matt could understand – The Banana Stand. He described the whole scenario using characters and businesses from Arrested Development. For those familiar with the show, this will make things clear and fun to learn. For non-fans, it’s still useful in its simplicity. Stocks: You have a company that you own 100%. But you want some money to expand. So you sell some stock. An investor gives you money and you give them some ownership of the company. Bonds: Bonds are another way to raise money. It’s a debt investment. Investors loan money for a set period of time at a fixed interest rate. The bulk of the money comes at the end of the set time period. Bonds are a very safe investment. Funds: Funds are bundles of stocks. You get a variety which is important because you want to be diversified. Mutual funds are chosen by a person or people and index funds are chosen by a computer. Index funds are usually cheaper than mutual funds. CD: A certificate of deposit works as a bond but you make even less money. It’s the bank’s way of screwing you slightly less than if the money were in a savings account. Hope this explained things and you enjoyed the infographic! Show Notes Betterment: The easy way to invest. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are some rules, or commandments, that all investors should live by. We’ll discuss those ten commandments and explain the importance of each one. 1. Think Long Term. You need to be in the market for the long con. Put your money in and leave it alone. You are not a day trader. 2. Invest What You Can Afford. Don’t have so much money in the market that you have to pull it out to pay bills. The constant in and out of the market is detrimental to long term gains. 3. Buy What You Believe In. If you have an interest, tech, music, you probably know a lot about brands within those interests. That makes them good companies to invest in for you because you already have a lot of knowledge about the company. 4. Do Your Own Research. Matt bought Sirius stock because some guy told him to. He didn’t do any research and lost money. You have to put in some due diligence before buying stock. 5. Set It And Forget It. Constantly checking your numbers does not make them go up. Get your process in place and leave it alone. 6. Consistently Contribute. If you are consistently putting money into the market, you are dollar cost averaging which means over time, you will mirror the market. The market makes on average a 7% return. 7. Be Fearful When Others Are Greedy. When people are buying like mad, you should sit it out. 8. Be Greedy When Others Are Fearful. When everyone else is selling, buy, buy, buy! 9. Find And Remove Frivolous Fees. 401K’s tend to have high fees, sometimes more than 1%. Over thirty years that means 25% of the money you could have made goes to fees. Do some research and find a fund with the lowest fee. 10. Diversify. If it can fail, it will fail so you need to spread out your risk. Show Notes Vanguard: A low fee fund. Mint: The easy way to track your money. Embed this Infographic on Your Site Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There are a million credit cards out there and some are better than others. We’ll help you find the one that will best meet your needs. When used responsibly, a credit card can be a great tool. You can earn all kinds of rewards from travel points to cash back. They also offer much more protection than a debit card. Full Article Here Show Notes The Andrew Sangria - Rum, wine, triple sec and sprite. Perhaps Andrew will delight us and share his actual recipe. I'll ask him. (edited by Andrew) For the record, who has time to measure ingredients? You'll know you've done it right if you still taste the rum ;) Podcast Correction: In case you're too lazy to scroll down much further I'd like to point out that we made a mistake in the episode. You can't use prepaid cards to build credit but you CAN use secured cards to. A similar idea only there's actual credit usage involved with secured cards. Thanks goes out to Kyle Russell for catching this one! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we talk about Streamline Refinancing. Specifically, how Matt used it to shave over $130 a month off his mortgage payment without being hit with more interest or increasing the term of his mortgage. The refinance also bought him a month without payment and the closing costs were less than the monthly mortgage payment he saved. Matt also doesn’t have a steady paycheck and the way he streamlines refinanced didn’t require a pay stub. We calculated that over the remaining term of his mortgage he will save over $13,000. Lower payment and lower cost overall – profit all around! In addition to discussing the details of Matt’s refinance we go a bit into the difference between the various types of mortgages and their merits. We may also make fun of financing a car but if you know me, that’s to be expected ;) Show Notes Fixed Rate Mortgage – The 30-year mortgage and 15-year mortgage fall under this category. The majority of mortgages are fixed rate although that doesn’t mean it’s the best option. Just the most popular. Adjustable Rate Mortgage – Otherwise known as an ARM, these mortgages are front-loaded with a ton of savings (way low rates) for the risk that in a certain number of years the rate will be adjustable. Since you can always refinance into a fresh ARM with fresh savings some say this is a no brainer. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we talk to Cat Alford of BudgetBlonde.com. She’s a personal finance blogger, writer, and a proud mother of twins. I met Cat when I first started Listen Money Matters and she’s been a huge help both in guiding me in the right direction with the site and being supportive of all the crazy things we try over here. She has a very interesting story on how she transitioned from a day job to blogging full time, life in Grenada and handling student loan debt. You won’t only find her on Budget Blonde as she somehow finds the time to also write for popular sites like the Huffington Post and Young Adult Money. Show Notes Budget Blonde – Cat’s awesome and very personal blog about being frugal, doing things DIY style and being smart with money. It’s a great read! Be warned though, she’s not blonde anymore ;) FinCon – Financial bloggers conference. We’ll be there and so will Cat! Send us an email if you want to hang out! Million Mile Secrets – One of the bigger credit card churn websites that Cat mentioned in the interview. Smarty Pig – Where Cat stores her savings. She says it’s an interesting take on a high yield savings account. Ally Bank – Where Matt stores his savings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Don’t manage your money like an old white dude. Manage your money like a gansta! Learn how via our rap video and new book, Mastering Mint. 1. The Personal Finance Rap Video - We are very excited! Tomorrow (February 18th 2014) we debut our first personal finance rap video called “All My Money.” We spent over two months working on this project. Matt wrote and recorded the song in December, and after another month of planning, drove up to New York for a weekend with Andrew to film the video. We are very proud and hope that people really enjoy the video. If early feedback is any indication, we are banking on a real success. Check out the “The Making of All My Money” video to see how we created it. 2. Mastering Mint - Andrew has been working hard for the past two months writing this epic guide to using Mint.com. When I first got to look at his final draft, I was blown away by the things that Mint can do. It was Matt’s job to take Andrew’s words and turn them into a pretty PDF that will be available to download tomorrow. Both projects were intense. Matt and Andrew have been neglecting their personal lives to complete these projects and we couldn’t be more excited to announce them. But don’t worry, this episode is chock full of good information on top of our announcements, and I hope everyone gets a chance to see what we’ve created :-) If you don’t currently budget, the Mastering Mint Book is for you. It will teach you how to get the most from Mint and make things as automated as possible. Mint allows you to set up alerts, when a bill is due, when you are nearing the top of your budget, when you have been charged a fee. Mint is portable! You can download it onto your phone and use the odds moments you have when you’re waiting on line, waiting for your chronically late friend to arrive to categorize your transactions. Much more productive than Candy Crush. You don’t need graph paper and spreadsheets to manage your money in the 21st Century. Mint can do it all. Show Notes Mastering Mint: The Quickest & Easiest Way to Get Started with Mint.com is our latest downloadable guide to using Mint.com. Mint: Our favorite budgeting site. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We interview Mark Deal who founded a company that connects overseas investors with Americans who want to start businesses and create new jobs. Marks is a former Navy nuke with an MBA. He founded Foreign Investor Resource Group to facilitate relationships with international investors and American entrepreneurs. Investing a certain amount of money in a US company will buy you American citizenship. So like everything else in America, citizenship is up for sale too. Investors must bring over $1 million and create ten US jobs. Twenty-one months after the investment, Mark’s company has to show proof that ten US jobs have been created through foreign investment. You could be an existing business looking for new investors as well, it doesn’t have to be a startup. Mark went from a six figure salary with benefits to starting his own company which was a big leap. From his clients, he has learned to look at money strategically, not tactically. And he uses Mint! He gave up Excel for Mint. There is hope for the rest of you spread sheet nerds yet. So if any of you have an idea for a business or an existing business and are looking for an infusion of cash, there are lots of rich foreign investors out there hungry for American citizenship so they can buy up condos in Manhattan. Show Notes Foreign Investor Resource Group: Mark’s company Mint: An unsolicited recommendation! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

On this episode, we discuss our favorite money management and productivity tools, including Mint, Betterment, Lift, Evernote, and more. We believe in making money management as easy as possible. With all of the apps and software out there, it’s easier than ever. No need for complicated spreadsheets. Everything you need can be downloaded right to your phone. Boosting your productivity will enhance your life. From your health to your money, using the right tools can help you get the most out of your day. Mint is our favorite money managing app but it’s read-only so you can’t transfer between accounts or make payments through it. Most major banks will have an app that allows you to make certain transactions. My bank is three long cross town blocks away and it’s cold. I can deposit checks right through my phone as long as they are under $1000. Evernote is like a notebook that can be downloaded across all your devices. Any information will be uploaded to all of your devices automatically. In Box Zero unifies all your e-mail accounts. It helps you categorize things, delete, archive, and actionable items for later. Lift helps you build good habits. Each time you perform the habit, flossing maybe, you “check in.” After 21 days in a row, boom, you’ve developed a habit. There are plenty of ways to make life easier, take advantage of them. Show Notes Mint App (Free) – Online software and a smartphone app that we use to keep an eye on our finances. We highly recommend it. Fidelity App (Free) – This is the online bank where Andrew has his checking account. Level App (Free) – This app didn’t work for Matt, but it seemed pretty cool. They have a really great video you can check out too. Betterment App (Free) – The easy way to invest. 1Password App ($17.99) – Andrew uses this app to keep all his passwords in one place on his phone. Matt’s awesome Boconi physical leather wallet ($30) that I think every man should own. It’s low-profile and totally bad ass! Stop putting paper money in a tri-fold wallet. That’s gotta be annoying. Evernote Software (Free) – The app we can’t exist without. It’s the best note-taking software that works on all devices. If you use Evernote, or just getting started, we recommend reading Evernote Essentials. Mailbox App (Free) – An extremely simple email app that utilizes Inbox Zero. Highly recommended if you use email, and I’m pretty sure that you do. Watch the video! Lift App (Free) – This is one of Matt’s favorites. It allows you to “check-in” to a habit to help you to develop GOOD habits. You gotta try it! He also wrote a post about Lift. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We chat with Omar Zenhom, co-creator of $100 MBA, an online business training community for entrepreneurs, about quitting his job and starting a business. We met Omar through the online community Fizzle. He and his partner started Business Republic to help local businesses brand themselves more effectively. They have now started The $100 MBA, an online community and video training platform to teach people to run successfully on and offline businesses. Omar was teaching in Dubai, doing well, getting promoted but he always wanted to start his own thing. He did side hustles while teaching but knew he would need to devote more time to them if he wanted to make one full time. He had about six months in savings when he made the leap but stretched that out to eighteen months by lowering his cost of living. Although this is the first time I’ve ever heard of anyone lowering their expenses by moving to NYC. If you can work from home, you spend less money. No lunch out, no dry cleaning, no commuting costs. If you love the job you’re doing from home, you spend less money because you are fulfilled by the job and don’t have to shop to make yourself feel better. The flip side of all the freedom is the hours. Chances are, if you start your own thing, you will have to spend more time at it. But you can work the hours that suit you and not the arbitrary 9-5. Starting your own business isn’t for everyone. If you have a family, they may not be on board. If you aren’t really hungry, you likely won’t make it. If you freak without the security of a regular paycheck, it’s probably not for you. But for the intrepid among us, starting your own business is very rewarding. Show Notes $100 MBA: Omar’s training site. Mint: The easy way to manage money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

How does a currency just materialize, seemingly from thin air? Are they only for people who like buying drugs on the internet? What is a Bitcoin? Want to know how to invest in Bitcoin? We'll break down the mystery for you. If you find the concept of cryptocurrency confusing and, well, cryptic - you are certainly not alone. In the last few months, people have been foaming at the mouth over Bitcoin raising its value to never seen before prices. I'm sure every day you hear someone talking about it, but many of us still don't really understand what it is exactly. Bitcoin is the first decentralized digital cryptocurrency. It's like a digital token that is made of a hash- a random string of numbers and characters. It has no physical backing and can be sent electronically from one user to another, anywhere in the world. Because there are a finite number of the coins, there is scarcity so the value constantly fluctuates. Bitcoin is not run by a single company or person- it's run by a decentralized network of computers around the world (owned by regular people) that verify all transactions. Similar to how Wikipedia is maintained by a decentralized network of writers. Full Article Here Show Notes Domino's Pizza Accepts Bitcoins Turns out that there are legitimate businesses that are starting to accept this form of digital currency. There are not many, but this is a big one. Bitcoin Exchange CEO Charged with Laundering $1 Million Through Silk Road Andrew pointed out that there's been some controversy around Bitcoin and the drug market. This is the article he was referring to. Nerd Alert: Bitcoin Mining This is how you create Bitcoins (seemingly out of thin air) — you "mine" for them. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We interview Rebecca from Stapler Confessions to find out how she is paying off $125,000 of student loan debt and learn how we can pay off our debt too. Rebecca escaped her four-year college with zero debt but things changed when she graduated law school. She came out with $125,000 in student loan debt. She married her law school sweetheart and he had the same amount of debt so all total, they were a quarter of a million dollars in debt. The couple used the snowball method and every month threw every extra dollar at the smallest loan payment. Rebecca’s husband works for a non-profit and uses an income-based repayment plan. If he works for the non-profit for 120 months and makes every payment, the rest of the loan will be forgiven. This option is only available for federal loans, not private. Eventually, he stands to have about $50,000 in loans forgiven. Income-Based Repayment is a good option for a lot of people. Your monthly payment is based on your income. It will generally extend the life of your loan but if you’re in a tight spot, it can help. Rebecca has an IRA and will max that out and then start tackling the next loan. Rebecca does a budget, as we all should. She keeps it on an Excel spreadsheet and tracks the family spending in Mint. When it comes to the question of whether you should pay off low-interest rates loans or invest in the market, Rebecca advises going with your gut. Those loans, even the low-interest ones, can be a heavy psychological burden. Student loans are burdensome but there are ways to pay them off faster and even have them partially forgiven. Good luck to all us borrowers. Show Notes Stapler Confessions: Rebbeca’s blog about personal finance and her love of Staples office supply stores! Mint: The easy way to track your spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Most of the scary stories you hear about people losing big in the market are from people who were trying to make a quick buck. We don’t recommend that. Investing is a long term proposition. You don’t have to have a finance degree or even really understand the stock market in order to invest and make money. You also don’t need to hire someone to invest your money for you. This is the 21st Century, we have the technology to do it ourselves. It’s time you get over the fear of investing. Invest in market index funds that represent a broad swath of the market, like the S&P 500, which is a group of 500 companies which cover many aspects of the overall market. Betterment is a great tool for this kind of investing. Have a certain amount of money automatically invested every month. The money goes in without you having to do anything. Set it and forget it. The market will give you an average return of about 7%. Be greedy when others are fearful. When everyone else is panicking and selling low, that’s when you buy. When everyone is going crazy buying high, be fearful in the face of their greed. Works for Warren Buffett. It’s not handing over money to the market that causes mass losses. It’s handing money over to a person. Bernie Madoff is the most recent and most grotesque example of this. It wasn’t the market that was doing shady stuff with that money, it was Madoff. The point is, just do it already! Did you learn how to fly a plane yourself before you took your first flight? No, you didn’t. The same with the market. You don’t have to understand it, you only have to do it. Show Notes Betterment: The easy way for beginners to invest. Mint: The smart way to track your spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Matt and Andrew were excited to talk to Caleb because they met through Fizzle.co. Fizzle is an online resource and forum for entrepreneurs looking to start an online business. Because of what Caleb helped to build, Listen, Money Matters exists. Caleb manages the finances for several small businesses including Fizzle, his website, CalebWojcik.com and his wife’s photography company JenWojcikPhotography.com. Caleb recommends paying small business taxes quarterly. It saves you getting a big bill at the end of the year that you weren’t expecting. Managing finances for your business doesn’t mean you have to do it alone. A skilled accountant can make the process much easier. Xero is a web-based program that is a sexier version of QuickBooks. You can track spending and even create invoices through the program. For his personal finances, Caleb used a spreadsheet for two and a half years, hand entering every transaction. His wife understandably didn’t want to use the spreadsheet so they started using Mint. Eventually, they plan to use You Need A Budget. Caleb still misses his spreadsheet though. If you’re thinking about making the leap from working a 9-5 to working for yourself, having six to twelve months of expenses saved is a good rule of thumb. Managing money for your small business is one of the most important aspects of running it but it doesn’t have to be the most time consuming if you partner with a good accountant and use some of the great technology designed to make it easier. Show Notes Fizzle: An online resource for those looking to start a small business online and offline. Check out their podcast too. Xero: Xero is a complete online application to run small business finances. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Having a good credit score makes life easier and cheaper. Even if you’ve tanked your credit, we’ll give you some ways to bring the number back up. You don’t have to wait seven years to start improving your credit score. There are a few tricks to get that number out of the red. Having a good credit score can save you thousands of dollars over a lifetime. It makes you eligible for lower interest rates for car loans and mortgages. Some jobs even require a credit check. Full Article Here Show Notes: Credit Karma: A free, ballpark credit score. A soft check so it won't ding your score. Mint: Track your spending. What Makes Up Your Credit Score: Read more in-depth about what goes into a credit score. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Rich people are different than you and me. How are they different, though? This list of 21 rich habits will teach you how to become rich and put you on the path to wealth. Dave Ramsey published a list of twenty things the rich do every day. Most of these things are habits. My take on this is that rich people have good habits. Habits that make them more successful, healthier, and smarter. And those things can help you accumulate wealth. Once you have achieved a certain level of wealth, you can focus on yourself rather than on money. Discipline seems to be the other thing all of these qualities have in common. It takes more discipline to cook a healthy meal than to order take out. It takes more discipline to save money than to spend it. Let’s take a look at each of the twenty-one habits. Full Article Here Show Notes Dave Ramsey: The list of twenty things. Betterment: Rich people invest. LMM Community: Join the money revolution. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Peer to peer lending isn’t a new concept, but with the advent of the internet, it’s become much more mainstream than it was in the past. Just as robo investors like Betterment made investing more widely available, peer lenders made two things available to a broader audience. Banks make money, lots of it. What is their primary source of revenue? For most banks, loans are the primary use of their funds and the principal way in which they earn income. Consumer lending makes up the bulk of North American bank lending, and of this, residential mortgages make up by far the largest share. Peer to Peer lending lets us little people get in on this very lucrative business. The second thing peer to peer lending allows for consumers to have an alternate place to borrow money than a bank. This has been especially important for consumers whom banks won’t touch for one reason or another. Banks don’t make money by taking risks when it comes to loaning money, but a risky borrower is not necessarily a dead beat borrower. If you want to get in on this whole banking thing and start loaning money, or you want to borrow money but can’t or won’t deal with banks, we’ll detail everything you need to know to make peer loans and to become a peer borrower. Because peer to peer lending is an excellent way for individual investors to make money and borrowers to save money. So what exactly is peer to peer lending? P2P lending connects regular people who want to lend money to ordinary people who want to borrow money, neatly cutting banks out of the equation. The platform where these two groups connect is called peer lending platforms and are found online; they don’t have brick and mortar locations Full Article Here Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

It’s that time of year again, New Year’s Resolutions. Matt and Andrew discuss their resolutions, all the biggies, money, health, and fitness. Are you making resolutions? Have you made them for so many years running that they’re more like traditions now? Yeah, us too. Let’s see what we can do to get serious this year. The key to creating a good New Year’s Resolution list is to keep it actionable and measurable. For instance, just “getting healthy” or “make more money” isn’t really a good place to start — how will you know if you’re successful, and how do you get started? Be more specific. Change getting healthy to eating three servings of veg a day. (You need more but if you’re eating next to none, this is a good place to start.) Change make more money to devoting an hour a day to working on your side business. What you don’t need to accomplish resolutions is motivation. What you need is discipline. Discipline leaves no wiggle room when you don’t feel like doing something. If you rely on motivation, you won’t do anything when it wanes. Discipline is what carries you through when you don’t feel like it. Surround yourself with things that help you reach your goals. Like minded friends, books, podcasts, Ted Talks. It helps to keep your goal in the forefront during your day to day life. Even if you fall off the wagon, it’s not the end of your resolution. You can re-set things anytime. You messed up, that’s okay. Figure out what caused you to get off track and what you can do to avoid it happening again when the same obstacle comes up. We can have this same discussion next year or you can finally resolve your resolution. Show Notes Black Flip Cocktail: It’s like a frothy chocolate milkshake with alcohol! Try this recipe. The Simple Dollar and I Will Teach You To Be Rich are two books Matt recommends on personal finance. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we talk to one of our listeners, Hersh, about his personal financial profile and offer up some advice. Full credit to Hersh for this show idea. He found our podcast through an Android app on his phone and became a huge fan. He reached out to us via Facebook and wanted to come on the show to copy a segment from Suze Orman called “How Am I Doing?” We thought it would be cool to bring his own, find out what his financial situation is and do our best to help him improve it. Hersh is a successful air traffic controller with a wife and newborn son from upstate New York. He owns a home, two cars, has no credit card debt, and paid off his student loans by taking a loan from himself via his TSP fund. He’s now currently paying off that loan. Hersh has some rental income and gets some overtime at work. He has a college fund for his baby son. Hersh is making some good money but essentially living pay check to pay check because all his spare money goes to his loan. Hersh is not doing much investing and he doesn’t have an emergency fund. He needs to take some of the money toward the loan and start a rainy day fund. At least one month of expenses, but three to six is the gold standard. Betterment is the perfect place to stash that emergency fund. You are making crap interest if that money is sitting in your checking account so you might as well be getting those gains. Overall Hersh is doing well but he has an expensive lifestyle and no emergency fund and those are the things he can improve upon. Show Notes Betterment: The smart way to invest. Mint: Track your own expensive lifestyle. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What is the 4% rule? It is the magic formula for early retirement. Make your money work for you while you no longer have to work. If you want to retire way before 65, listen up. This is how you can do it. The 4% rule is a benchmark that can be used to calculate how much money to withdraw from your retirement accounts every year for at least thirty years without depleting those accounts and outliving your money. In 1994 William Bengen, a financial planner published a study showing the results of testing a number of rates of withdrawal based on historical rates of return. Bengen concluded that 4% was the highest rate that could be withdrawn for at least 30 years without running out of money. Full Article Here Show Notes The Four Percent Rule: Calculate how much you need to apply the rule. Betterment: Start investing today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Investing is a cornerstone of wealth building. No, we are not going to win the lottery, and most of us are not going to inherit a fortune from our parents. So we need to jump into the stock market and the earlier we start investing, the better because time is what really matters when it comes to building our nest eggs. But investing can be intimidating. Even the vocabulary around it sounds like a foreign language, mutual funds, market price, share price, robo-advisor. Don’t worry. Investing is not as complicated as it seems to the uninitiated. In fact, by the time you finish reading this, you will have all of the knowledge you need to start buying stocks, one way or another. So if you’re not sure how to buy stocks, our beginners guide to start investing is just for you. Full Article Here Show Notes Betterment: If you don’t want to pick your own, let Betterment do it for you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We want you to be sensible with your purchases. But sometimes you just need a big one! (Don’t we all). When is a big purchase justifiable? The topic for this episode came from a listener Kristen. She wanted to know "How and when do you justify buying big ticket items like a laptop, high-tech camera, or new TV?" Sometimes you really do need a new computer, your current one is dead. Or you need a car that isn’t in the shop every month costing you money. Those are legit reasons for big cash outlays. Wanting a big ass TV when you are in credit card debt has no justification. Put anything expensive on a 30 day list. If at the end of thirty days, you still want it, than it may be a justifiable purchase. If it’s not something you really need, chances are you will have forgotten all about it by the end of the thirty days. If you’re making a large purchase, see if the seller has a 0% APR card you can open and put the purchase on. You have to be on top of this though and make certain to pay the entire balance off before the 0% term ends or you will be in a world of shit. Just having the cash for something is not enough justification. You could invest that money. Would the thing you want to buy or do make you happy (for more than a few hours) or improve your life? A great experience counts. In fact, paying for a great, memorable experience has been proven to provide much longer lasting happiness than buying a thing. Once you have justified your purchase, do your research. Check out But It For Life on Reddit. There are threads dedicated to the best of anything you could possibly ever want to buy. And by best, I don’t necessarily mean the most expensive. Quality isn’t always linked solely to cost. Sometimes we need to buy things. Just learn to distinguish between a want and a need. Show Notes Motherf**king Bike: A hilarious YouTube video about riding bikes. Mint: The easy way to track your spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Is your bank nickel and diming you with their bullshit fees? Learn how to avoid them and dispute the ones you may have already been charged. Banks have enough of your money that they use to make more money for themselves. Don’t let them steal more with tacked on fees. Maintenance fee, minimum balance fee, foreign transaction fee, paper statement fee. Those are just a sampling of the fees that some banks charge. Banks rake in a ton of cash on these fees because they know a lot of people either won’t notice them at all or if they do notice them, can’t be bothered to dispute them because calling the bank is a hassle. It just takes some research. There are banks that don’t charge fees and various types of accounts that don’t come with fees. There is usually some kind of catch, you need to have direct deposit, pay a bill via the bank’s auto-pay system, or maintain a certain balance. Banks offer new accounts that are fee free but check the fine print. The fee-free period may only last a certain length of time before fees kick in. If you do notice a fee, call the bank and complain. Don’t be rude, remember, more flies with honey and all that. But if you are persistent enough, they will usually waive whatever you are complaining about. While you have them on the phone, be sure to ask what you can do to avoid being charged that fee in the future. There is no reason to pay a bank fee. Shop around before opening an account. Show Notes Mint.com: Mint will alert you to any strange fees. Simple.com: A new online bank that promotes no bank fees. Fidelity: The bank account that Andrew recommends. They reimburse ATM fees! We’d like to give a shout out to Grayson at DebtRoundUp.com, for helping Matt out with my business bank fees. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

You know you should be investing your money but where, how? Investing can be intimidating but it doesn’t have to be. We’ll help you get started. Anyone can invest and everyone should. We’ll walk you through the process so you can start making your money work for you. Money sitting in your checking or savings account is losing you money because the crummy interest the bank pays is less than inflation. You have to put that money where it can earn you something. That’s why investing is so important. Betterment is very easy to use. You slide the scale to the amount of risk you want, more stocks is riskier, more bonds is safer. The fee is .35% which is pretty low. There is no minimum investment but wait until you have $100 to start your account. If you need the money in Betterment, you can pull it out and there is no fee. You can set an auto deposit so each month, the money will be invested. You never have to think about it, Betterment handles everything for you. If you’re a bit sophisticated and want to buy individual stocks that you’ve chosen, you can open a brokerage account. Fidelity, E-Trade, and Sharebuilder are all examples of brokerage accounts. If you have $1000 to start with, open a Vanguard Target Fund. This fund balances your risk based on your preferred year of retirement. The closer you get to that date, the lower the risk balance on your investment. For a lot of us, the real way to get rich is going to be through investing. Most of us don’t have big inheritances to look forward to and are unlikely to win the lottery. The earlier you start investing, the longer your money will have to grow. Get over your fear and open an investment account today. Show Notes Andrew’s Betterment Experiment: See how he’s doing. Mint: The easy way to track your spending. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we answer another listener question about whether he should invest in a Traditional 401k, a Roth 401k, or both. If you’re employed, chances are your employer offers a 401k. Normally, this would be a Traditional 401k, but check with HR to see if they offer both a Traditional and a Roth. 401ks allow you to invest your pre-taxed income, and sometimes employers will match up to a certain percent. If they do, take it — it’s free money. However, Traditional 401ks have a yearly limit as to what you can invest. Therefore, some employers will also offer a Roth 401k which allows you to invest after-taxed money from your check — there is also a limit too. If you can afford to max out both, go for it. If not, go with a Traditional 401k, and anything over the limit to which you can invest, through that in the Roth — hopefully, your employer will do some matching there too. Show Notes Health Savings Account (HSA) — This is a savings account you can open to use for health-related costs. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Are you stuck with a mortgage that is underwater? We’ll craft an escape plan so you can save money and move on. An underwater mortgage means the balance remaining on the mortgage is higher than the fair market value of your home. In other words, you owe the bank more money than your home is worth. A lot of people found themselves in this situation when the economy crashed in 2008. Even at that time, interest rates were lower than you will generally average in the market. And mortgage interest is tax deductible. Money tied up in a house is inaccessible. You can pull money out of the market and have cash in hand within a few days. If you’re underwater, don’t overpay on your mortgage. You’re only tying up more money. Invest that money and get your average 7%. Give some thought to doing what Matt did when he found himself underwater. He moved in with his brother, paying a very low amount of rent and rented out his condo. In some cases, you can get more in rent than what you are paying for your mortgage. You just need a friend or relative willing to give you cheap rent. A big housing bust like the one we had in 2008 doesn’t occur very often. If you can afford your mortgage payments, hold onto the house. Eventually, you will be above water and can sell the house if you decide to. And maybe live in an apartment for a bit. Owning a home is not all it’s cracked up to be and not necessarily still a part of the “American Dream.” Show Notes Mint: Track your spending. Betterment: The easy way to invest. Vanguard: Among the lowest fees in the industry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices