The Stacking Benjamins Show

How did the founding fathers of the United States make a living after the Revolutionary War? Believe it or not, they had to make some choices similar to ones you may have had to make when struggling with money. Washington took a job just because it paid well. Franklin juggled many "side gigs" to bring in money. Sound familiar? Today is our 10 year podcasting anniversary, so we are throwing it back to Ben Franklin himself (well, not really him, but someone who can tell his story!) and learning from his career. He, along with George Washington, worked hard to find new ways to make money after the Revolutionary War. Willard Sterne Randall is a writer-turned-historian who'll share the stories of Washington and Franklin. We ask him to dive into the success and failures of each and share lessons we can all take away. During our headline segment, we dive into the stock market. What should you do when there's a drop in the stock market? While the initial reaction might be to panic, we'll share sound advice for keeping your cool. We look to Reddit today for an ugly letter to share during our Haven Life line portion of the show. One young investor made several HUGE mistakes trading options and SPACs and he turned to the internet for advice. We share our advice on how to avoid the same mistakes he made. And of course, Doug will share his Stacking Benjamins-themed trivia for our 10 year anniversary. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you prefer in-person interactions or using apps for things like banking and personal finance? We're giving you both sides of the coin today. Banking has evolved and apps give us almost the same capabilities as walking into the bank, so do we still need physical bank branches? Our roundtable today shares their thoughts on banking and what banks can do to excel in this world of technology. Harlan Landes from the Plutus Foundation, Paula Pant and Len Penzo make up our contributors today. They talk about online apps, customer service and more in the banking world. Don't you worry, we also saved some time for Doug's trivia contest! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will more money make you happier? If you've never heard the phrase 'more money, more problems,' today's episode is for you. Money CAN buy you independence, but only if you know how to use it. Nicole Lapin is a New York Times best-selling author and joins us to talk about being intentional with our money. Having loads of cash is great but it goes bye-bye quickly without concrete goals and values. She shares how to set yourself up for success to meet your financial goals. During our headline segment, we're talking about robots taking over the world! Or, in this case, a gigantic brokerage firm swallowing a robot (I'd love to see that TikTok). We're talking robo advisors today. They've gained massive popularity in the last decade and now one, Wealthfront, is being acquired by UBS. We discuss what this might mean for robo advisors moving f. We'll also answer Jay's question about the rule of 55 with 401k distributions and Doug will share his trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you participate in the Gamestop trading craze last year? If you didn't -- and had FOMO while small traders banded together and took down "the man" -- we're going to help you feel better today by diving into what really went down. From short selling to Reddit and Robinhood, our guest today shares it all. Spencer Jakab's interest in Gamestop was piqued when his son was talking about Reddit threads. It led him to dive in and write a book explaining the behind-the-scenes story. He's sharing his findings today and I'd bet there's some details that will surprise you. During our headline, we're looking at auto loans. Banks posted record auto loan originations in 2021. We dive into why and the psychology behind car buying. We're also answering Sarah's question about finding the best bank accounts and Doug shares his trivia. Enjoy! Full show notes are available at http://stackingbenjamins.com A deeper dive into all these topics went out this morning to our newsletter subscribers. You can join too, for free! http://stackingbenjamins.com/201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever buy something just because of the advertising? I think everyone has at one time or another. Marketing affects our purchases. It's almost like advertisers know what we need before we know! Today we're looking at the marketing tactics behind a staple food...eggs. How does egg marketing relate to our finances? Our roundtable wasn't sure at first either but they have some great advice! Brittany Greene, Len Penzo, and OG sit down to talk about how marketing impacts our financial decisions. With tons of financial advice floating around the internet, people have come up with catchy phrases that sound smart but really mean nothing. Our roundtable shares their experience and how to tell the good egg from the bad. Diania Merriam is filling in for Doug today while he's off at the IHOP buffet so she will share some trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has any well-meaning rich person told you to "follow your passion" when it comes to achieving your goals? Also, how comfortable are you with getting out of your comfort zone? Do you actually need to leave your comfort zone to succeed? Today's guest believes both of these ideas aren't true, and she has a Tedx talk that was watched by over 7 million people and a new hit book to prove it. Terri Trespicio joins us today to share how to reframe the idea of your comfort zone and talks about why the idea of having just one passion in life is overrated. During our headline segment, we're tackling the great resignation. An average of 3.9 million people quit their jobs each month in 2021. Why? And where are they going? Laura Troyani from PlanBeyond joined us to share her research. We're also throwing out the Haven Life line to Chris who wants to know where to keep cash that he needs for a home purchase. Doug will also share his trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How's the clutter around your house? Too many Amazon boxes laying around to count? Good news, we are sharing ways to help both the environment, your ability to focus, and your wallet today. Tara McKenna joins us to share her journey to living a largely zero-waste lifestyle. It wasn't always easy, but she found some surprising results, and you could too with just a few simple changes to your lifestyle. She shares tips to be more aware of the trash you create and ways to reduce the unnecessary "stuff" you have laying around. Consuming less leads to less spending, and she shares easy ways you can get started on the journey toward your own zero-waste lifestyle. During our headline segment, we're diving into the reasons behind Peloton's recent stock price drop. Is the Peloton era coming to an end? We'll share our take and recent news Peloton announced about their products. We'll also answer VJ's question about the 4% rule. How do taxes impact this? And of course, we'll leave time for Doug to share some nearly misguided trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you striving to form better habits? Start with small, daily changes that can turn into larger habits. Today we discuss a piece from the Becoming Minimalist blog that lists seven daily habits to change your life. Our roundtable includes Paula Pant, Doc G, and OG to share their thoughts and daily habits they have. Doug will also share his amazing trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you struggle with good money habits? Even people who know money mess up all the time. We all have those days or weeks where we overdo lunch at a restaurant or forget about our long-term goals. Jessi Fearon is someone who has a background and degree in financial topics and was messing up her financial life in a big way. She joins us today to share her story, how she climbed out of a debt and bad-budget hole. She'll also share how different money personalities deal with money, which is the first step in building a better future. She also shares tips to help you build a solid foundation and create a budget that aligns your values and personality. For our headline segment, we're diving into student loan debt. One company is in hot water for steering borrowers to costly repayment plans instead of cheaper options, but there's good news. They're forgiving some borrowers' debt! Is yours included? We'll share what you need to know. We also throw out the Haven Life line to Brian who has a question about taxes in an HSA account. Not sure how an HSA account works or why you'd want one? We'll dive into why this is one of the BEST ways to save for many on today's show. Of course, we'll also save time for Doug to also share his trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is your personal or professional life not where it should be? While you may think that "creativity" isn't essential to success in life, today's guest will vehemently disagree. He's the former CEO and now Executive Vice-Chairman of the Board of the legendary company Cirque du Soleil. Today he will share why creativity is crucial to professional and personal success and shares his own journey with Cirque du Soleil to improve in every area of his own career. During our headline, we'll pull the cover off of a new crypto scam. This time, celebrities allegedly endorsed a crypto coin, only to dump their own holdings after prices skyrocketed. Of course, this left investors with--reportedly--next to nothing. What can we learn from this? Joe and OG share their thoughts, which might not be what you expect. We also help answer Micah's question about how to further his personal finance education. Doug will also share his trivia. Enjoy! You'll find full show notes at http://stackingbenjamins.com You'll find our deeper dive into ALL of the topics we discuss today in our 201 newsletter (always free) http://stackingbenjamins.com/201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you get overwhelmed by conflicting investment advice? It can be hard to determine fact from fiction with so many opinions. Today our roundtable debunks common investing myths to help you get your investment strategy on track. Brian Feroldi, Paulette Perhach and Len Penzo make up our roundtable today and they are sharing their thoughts on common investing myths and tips to be better with your money. Doug will also share some of his amazing trivia! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you been caught in a scam? It happens more than you may think! When we think of the biggest financial scandals, Bernie Madoff comes to mind but there was an even bigger scandal that happened to an entire country. In the United States, we suffered in 2008 during the financial crisis but another country saw its stock market tank even more than ours. Which one? Iceland. Jared Bibler worked for one of the major Icelandic banks and quit just days before the collapse. He then worked with Icelandic regulators to uncover the reasons behind the collapse and it's a scenario that even he didn't see coming. He shares it all today and tells his view of what happened. During our headline we're talking about retirement savings. Oregon implemented an automatic savings plan for people without access to a company retirement plan. Is it working? Is it the best plan out there? Joe and OG share their differing views! Then we answer Deb's question about high yield savings accounts and Doug shares his trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you have too many priorities and not enough time in the day to tackle them all? Struggling to get motivated for 2022? Help is on the way today from Dr. Joseph Cardillo, who'll help you build better muscles in your brain. He's an expert on motivation and attention and shares the reasons behind some of the successful habits we all practice now every day. Have you ever been driving and suddenly realized you zoned out for a few minutes? It's pretty common, and actually uses the same mechanisms we use for all of these successful auto-pilot moments throughout our day. He'll share how to reset your mind and use habits to your advantage to be more productive. In our headline segment, we'll talk all things inflation. Is this latest price balloon transitory or here to stay? We'll share our thoughts and how you can combat it with your investment portfolio. We'll also answer Tusk's question about his fixed income allocation and Doug will share his trivia. Enjoy! You'll find complete show notes and links at http://stackingbenjamins.com and in our newsletter The 201: http://stackingbenjamins.com/201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wish a cheap plastic toy from Walmart could tell you the future? We sure do! And we try every year. It's our annual Magic 8 Ball episode today with Paula Pant, Len Penzo and OG. Each year, we ask the Magic 8 Ball (yes, really, the one you can buy at Walmart) riveting questions for the upcoming year then reflect back on those questions at the end of the year. Today, we run through the answers to our questions from last year and ask new questions for 2022. How will the Magic 8 Ball perform this year? We'll find out! In the middle, Angelo Poli from MetPro also joins us to share the best tips to get -- and stay -- in shape in 2022! Many of us have tried a new diet or exercise program but rarely stick with it long-term. Angelo explains why and offers tips to help overcome that struggle. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Struggling with debt? Today we dive into how to create the perfect winning conditions so that you not only pay off your debt, but you STAY out of debt for good. Debt solutions expert Erin Skye Kelly (author of the book Get The Hell Out of Debt) joins us to help you make debt a thing of the past. She has not only great tips but also the keys to controlling your mindset so that you create a plan and stick with it. We'll also look back at 2021 investment performance during our headlines segment to see how best to tweak your portfolio for success in 2022. What were your best and worst-performing assets? Why? We'll follow the results of a recent Wall Street Journal column to teach you how to create an investment policy statement for the new year. Then, we'll throw out the Haven Life line to Stacker Ramon, who wonders about infinite banking. Is it as great as proponents say that it is? And of course, we'll save time for Doug's trivia. Enjoy! You'll find all of the links, including Joe's updated book tour schedule (now beginning in March), at http://stackingbenjamins.com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you've already failed at working out, eating healthy, drinking less coffee, and not using the word "groovy" in 2022, this episode is for you. Let's get 2022 off on the right track with the perfect guest, Ramit Sethi from I Will Teach You To Be Rich. He's helped thousands of people take control of their finances and set themselves up for success. To start the new year, he'll share his top tips to start the year on the right foot. How much do you need to retire? Much of that depends on where you live, and today we'll dive into the huge disparity between cities that'll require stacks ON your stacks of Benjamins and those that can help you retire on less. Is moving worthwhile? In our headlines segment, we'll look at a piece that dives into how much you need to retire depending on where you live in the United States. Can you guess the most and least expensive metros? Who needs a financial planner? We'll answer Matt's question about finding a financial advisor during our Haven Life Line call and later, you can count on the fact that Doug's kicking off a new year by sharing some trivia. We're back and ready to help you roll into a new year! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The FIRE movement is still burning, and by the looks of it, will continue. It's a popular and growing mindset but is there a downside? We've heard countless success stories from people who've achieved financial independence but there are many others who do not have the same outcome. Our roundtable today talks about the potential consequences of the FIRE movement and gives us questions to think about. How will you spend your time in retirement? Is it even worth it? Rocky Lalvani from the Richer Soul podcast, Len Penzo, and OG join our roundtable to share their opinions. Check out our original show notes here. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is it time to put the FIRE movement out or should we let it burn? Don't take our word for it, we've got a stellar roundtable today to share their thoughts. Is there too much emphasis on the retire early part of FIRE? What should we really be concerned about? Don McDonald from the Talking Real Money podcast, Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast, and our very own OG join our roundtable to discuss and give their opinion. Check out our original show notes here. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's something you've tried and haven't liked? Pineapple on pizza? Gross! Or maybe something a little more complicated like a budgeting or investing strategy? Today David Bach joins our FIRE week by talking about his own experience. Just because some people don't understand FIRE doesn't mean it's bad and David shares his opinions. Check out our original show notes here. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're interested in the FIRE movement, how do you get started? And what goals do you need to set? Fritz Gilbert from The Retirement Manifesto is here to share his story and help you get started on your own. He's here to answer any and all questions about the FIRE movement. This episode originally aired in 2018. Check out our original show notes here. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

It's hard to believe the year is almost over, Stackers. To end the whirlwind of 2021, we're giving you a jam-packed week of FIRE episodes, starting with the Mad Fientist. Ever thought about joining the FIRE movement? He may just push you over that edge to try it. This episode originally aired in 2017 so ignore any mention of current events. Check out our original show notes here. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On Wednesday, Clark Howard shared his lessons from 2021. What did we learn from another trying year? Today our roundtable shares their lessons learned. They talk about crypto, inflation, meme stocks, and more. Paula Pant, Len Penzo and OG make up our roundtable today. It's also the last live episode of the year, which means we finally find out who wins our year-long trivia challenge! It's a fun one today! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ready for a bright and shiny 2022? To get there, we'll dive into the last twelve months with special guest Clark Howard. What were the big money lessons? What should we have learned from them? As always, Clark doesn't look at events the same way you might, so it's a refreshing look at where we're headed. Plus, you'll get some valuable tips to manage your money better. During our headline segment, we'll talk about an investor you may not have heard of, named Wilmot Kidd. His track record is as impressive as Warren Buffett. How did he do it? We'll share what made him successful. Of course we'll still share Doug's trivia and throw out the Haven Life line to a lucky listener. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Remember PEMDAS from math class? Yeah, neither do we, it's the order of operations for solving math problems. It has something to do with parentheses and subtraction. Today, we are solving a different math problem: your financial plan. Joe and OG share the order of operations for your own financial plan. Not sure where to start? We've got you covered. In the middle of your plan and stuck on where to go next? Great! We have the next steps for you. In our headline, we talk about ETFs and their exploding popularity. How do they differ from mutual funds and which is a better option? We dive in. Then we help answer Julia's question about co-signing a loan for a family member. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you had unlimited time, what's the biggest goal you'd like to achieve? With enough time, we can accomplish a lot, and maybe almost anything. If time and resources are scarce though, prioritizing goals is even more important. Our roundtable today discusses the long-game when it comes to life, business and our money. Does playing the long game when it comes to our money pay off? Doc G, Paula Pant, and OG fill our roundtable and share their thoughts. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Last week we talked about one of the certainties in life: taxes. Today, we tackle what to do before the other certainty. David E. Edey went through his own family troubles when settling his parent's estate, spending seven years and over $50,000 on attorney fees. Why? His siblings fought over the inheritance. The phrase "inheritance curse" is too real for some families who've spent countless time and money fighting. Now David is sharing lessons he's learned to help us all put our estate in order now to avoid headache for others later. During our headline segment, we'll talk about another purchase feeling the sting of inflation: the Christmas tree. That's right, inflation isn't hitting just food and gas. Just how much are prices rising? And how can we adjust our budget for inflation? Joe and OG will dive in. We'll also answer Daniel's question about company stock and Doug will share his mind-bending trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices