The Stacking Benjamins Show

The one and only Scott Alan Turner from Financial Rockstar podcast joins the fun this week. He, Len Penzo and Joe tackle financial insecurity, mortgages and horrible Valentine's gifts. Also, we're ending our Rewind week with some pretty special segments. Check out our original show notes below: At the halfway point we have a great visit with Thomas Smyth from AskTrim.com about his new app. Trim dives into your accounts to find forgotten subscriptions you're paying and unsubscribes you (if you wish). AS IF that's not enough, we're excited at the end of the episode to share some time with the star of SoFi's new Super Bowl commercial, Brandon Williams. We'll talk about the experience and his investing passion - real estate. That’s it for this week of rewinds! Coming Monday: We’ll chat with Dr. Joseph Cardillo, author of 12 Rules of Attention: How to Avoid Screw-ups, Free Up Headspace, Do More and Be More at Work. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does your financial dream house look like? Financial planner Greg Powell says that he always has trouble convincing people to complete a financial plan because it sounds like a ton of work. But a financial dream house? That’s a much easier sell, and he’s going to help you sell yourself on that concept in today’s episode. We’ll talk about where investments fit into the overall structure (not as far up the priority list as you’d think), how to work through building your “plans,” and then how to build a team that effectively helps you finally create the “structure” of the house. Happy Hump Day! We're keeping our rewind week going strong with today's show featuring our time with Greg Powell. We thought his unique approach to financial planning was interesting then, and we think it's interesting now. Also from our original show notes: On the Haven Life line, Garrett asks about company stock inside of his 401k. Should he dump it? If you have company stock inside of YOUR 401k, this’ll be helpful for you…and if you own LOTS of one company’s stock, you’ll also like this segment. We also answer a letter from Andrew, who wonders about his target date fund. As you know (if you’ve listened to us before), we’ve been pretty critical of target date funds. What is his next best move? Do YOU have a target date fund? Maybe today’s letter segment will help you, too! Of course we have Doug’s trivia, some bad jokes, and lots more…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of us have been at home a lot more than normal, which led us to realize that this week may be high time for a discussion about "stuff." Too many of us have too much clutter. Clutter not just in our house, but in our minds, in our thoughts, and in our goals. That's why today's episode is super important to us. Happy rewind week! While Joe and OG are hanging up at the beach sipping mojitos (okay, maybe not really), I’m turning back the clock to visit some of our favorite past interviews. We're kicking this week off strong with one of our favorite interviews in the catalogue: Vicki Robin, author of bestselling book, Your Money or Your Life. You can read our original show notes below: Why are you saving money? How much joy are you receiving from that “stuff” you own? You may rethink your financial plan after today’s show, because our guest is the co-author of the HUGE bestselling book, Your Money or Your Life. Vicki Robin helped shape the financial independence/retire early movement, and she’s on her way down to the basement today to talk to us about re-examining your beliefs around your life and your money. Your money or your life, indeed. In our headlines segment we’ll talk about student loans with Robert Farrington from The College Investor. He’ll talk about how over 3,000 people just took part in an event to pay off a TON of student loan debt. We’ll share best practices, how best to apply to lower interest rates on your debt, and how to pay them down in a way that makes sense for your situation. We’ll also discuss the new SEC proposed fiduciary rule. Is THIS finally the rule we’ve been looking for? Will it replace the mostly knocked-down rule from the Department of Labor? We’ll review the rule and discuss what you need to know about it on today’s show. Plus, we throw out the Haven Life line to Karen, who’s contributing to a brand spankin’ new health savings account. How should she best use it? We’ll share how these plans work on today’s show. We’ll also answer another listener letter, throw out Doug’s trivia question, and watch him try to juggle….one ball. Thanks to MagnifyMoney.com for sponsoring Stacking Benjamins as well. MagnifyMoney.com saves users on average $450 when they compare, ditch, switch and save on credit cards, student loan refinancing, checking, savings and more. Check out MagnifyMoney.com for your savings. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Big houses, fast cars, and flashy boats... are we all destined to hit the "what do I really want with life anyway" crisis? While everyone's therapy comes in different forms, does it have to mean burning obscene amounts of cash budgeted for things like, "life savings" just to reclaim your life? On today's show we'll share what YOU can do when you're second guessing your goals and your life's direction...so that you can keep the sportscar money in your pocket. Helping us out on the roundtable today is Kathe Kline, from the Rock Your Retirement podcast, Paula Pant from Afford Anything, and OG. Plus, we're helped today by our special celebrity reader: Tom Schwab, founder and CEO of Interview Valet. We're happy to have him reading our focus piece today! Curious about what your friends and other influential people you follow are investing in? After our discussion on making sure your mid-life crisis doesn't turn into a disaster, we'll ring up Katie Perry, VP of social investing platform Public. We'll round out the show with a question from Martin, who's interested in house hacking. Martin is 17 doesn't have much cash to throw around. He asks: what can he do to have his cash work for him? So far he's been reading up on stocks in the Motley Fool, but what else could he be doing? And of course with it being Friday... we'll make some time for Doug's game show. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does it take to work as a Hollywood designer for major rock and roll bands? Lindsay Hearts started with a sewing machine at age 16, worked her way up to fashion week in New York, and finally decided it was time to make a move to reach her dream: creating a brand of her own in LA. She moved west with the goal of NOT working for someone else, but to build her own business. Today we'll hear her inspiring story, plus how she's helped out during the time of COVID, how she manages a team, and much more. While interest rates remain near all-time lows, the cost to actually refinance just got more expensive. We'll share that during our headlines segment, and also dive into the "fun" happening at Eastman Kodak. What does that have to do with your money? Maybe more than you think. Of course, we'll still throw out the Haven Life line AND we'll also share some of Doug's amazing trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Charles Duhigg is a guy who knows a lot about habits. His book on the topic was on the New York Times bestseller list forever, his second book is also a bestseller, and now he has a new podcast called "How To!" that talks about the habits needed to perform specific tasks. Want to be funnier? Lose weight? Get a promotion? He covers it. Today we cover HIM and the topic of habits on today's episode! Also today we ask the question, "How much skill is involved when a day trader wins?" Apparently, according to a recent piece, the statistics ain't good (as mom says). We'll cover that in our headlines segment, plus what Amazon plans to do with the huge stores left behind by Sears and JCPenny. Of course, they have plans... We'll also throw out the Haven Life line to Brock, who writes in with a dilemma on student loans. He's running low on funds to pay for college, but he has about $3,500 invested in the stock market. Should Brock take out subsidized loans, or cash in some of his investments? We'll share our answer with you AND him, AND save time for some of Doug's delicious trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We’re super happy to present to you this year’s Plutus Award finalists. There are 30 categories this year and you’ll hear ALL of the commentary about these awards plus the complete rundown. Joining us for the award presentation are Harlan Landes, creator of the Plutus Awards, and Miranda Marquit from Planting Money Seeds AND Plutus Awards director. For the commentary roundtable, we welcome the author of Mindful Millionaire, Leisa Peterson, the woman behind the Fioneers blog, Jess, and Mr. Do You Even Blog, Pete McPherson. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How can you become better with money? The good news: it's simple! The bad news? Just like anything else it will require a bit of work. Lucky for you, we're covering some of our favorite exercises (call them whatever you want if the word "exercise" isn't doing it for you) to make you better with your money. On that note, we want to give a big thanks to Eric and Kali Roberge for today's piece! Eric wrote it on the Beyond Your Hammock blog, and Kali has so nicely agreed to be our celebrity reader. To tackle the topic, this week's roundtable guests include Natalie Torres-Haddad, author of Financially Savvy in 20 minutes, Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and OG from our very own podcast. Taking vacation could be hard enough BEFORE most of us started to work from home. Either from company culture, a disorganized office, or simply grinding to pull ahead of the pack - there are a ton of reasons people don't feel comfortable asking for time off. Now you can add working from home and becoming virtually connected to the office all day to your list of problems. What's an employee to do? Helping us navigate the new waters is our (not so physically) near and dear friend, Suzanne Lucas from the Evil HR Lady blog. We'll finish the show with our MagnifyMoney segment. Kelvin calls in with what he admits is a great problem to have: him and his wife are set and well on the way to early retirement if they choose to do so. Now the problem... how in the world do they get out of the hustle and save mindset? Once someone "makes" it, how do they start enjoying their money? Of course, halfway through the show we'll carve out some time for Doug's game show trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looking to save more cash, but don't know where to look? Today we welcome Dan Ariely, Chief Behavioral Economist with Qapital, and professor and expert on psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University. According to Dan, the best strategy may not necessarily be about adding more cash to your bottom line but reprioritizing the money you already have. Instead of trying to out-earn your spending habits, realign your focus to make the cash you earn go further for you each week. Plus, every week it seems like another online bank cuts their rate and super-savers are upset at the loss of "free cash." During our headlines, we'll discuss why recent rate drops shouldn't be the end of the world AND we'll also cover the reasons behind a recent surge in new accounts with robo-advisors. When it comes to saving your cash, should you stack more Benjamins in your wedding fund or your IRA? Our anonymous caller lets us know that he's putting away $1000 a month for his wedding, but only $500 into his Roth. He won't have any extra cash available when he becomes eligible to contribute to his 401k. Our caller asks: should he pull back on his wedding savings? Of course, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We talk often on the show about growth-oriented investments, but what if you wanted higher income-paying tools for your portfolio? Will Rhind, CEO of GraniteShares, is a guy who knows income, his HIPS ETF is specifically engineered to create high income streams. Today we'll talk with Will about many of the different types of investments that go into his ETF. We'll dive into how they work, what could make income streams expand and contract, and also what could make an income-producing portfolio volatile. Also, because his background is also in commodities, we'll ask him about gold in a portfolio and his view of current markets. Plus, have you been giving out your social security number in exchange for free cruise trips? Admittedly that may not seem like such an attractive offer in the current environment, but non-cruise related financial scams are on the rise. From pyramid schemes to nefarious bank activity, you'll find yourself double-checking you finances after listening to today's headlines. During our Haven Life Line we'll answer a question from Derek, who is wondering if he should switch to his company's workplace health plan. He says the workplace health insurance seems worse than what he already has. Is there any reason to switch? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Here's a shock (or not....): LOTS of people are feeling stress right now - so if you're feeling overwhelmed, you aren't alone. Admittedly there aren't answers for everything, but that doesn't mean it's time to throw priorities, goals, and self-care out the window. In the words of Lin Manuel's Arron Burr: "I am the one thing in life I can control." (Thanks J.D. Roth, for reminding me there's a Hamilton line for everything!) During today's show, we'll ask our roundtable: when life becomes stressful, what's your emergency plan to take back the reins? How do you get life back on track? A big thanks to our contributors today: CFP Katie Brewer from Your Richest Life, Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast. Another special thanks to today's celebrity reader: Jason Vitug. You can find more from Jason at his site JasonVitug.com Halfway through the show we'll give our roundtable a break while Joe rings up Kelly Lannan, VP of Young Investors at Fidelity. The financial company has released a new investing app, Fidelity Inspire, and is designed to help young adults plan, save, and invest for their financial goals. We'll dive into all the different offerings and features the app brings during our interview with Kelly. After our fintech segment we'll keep Doug's Friday gameshow going strong. Tune in to see who wins it this week! We'll finish off today's show with an all-too real question posed to Peter Dunn: when your adult kid is laid off and needs help paying the bills, what do you do? We'll ask our roundtable for their take before rolling the end credits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if you could talk about inflation in a way that actually hit home? Today we'll do just that by diving into the cost of a brown bag lunch sandwich. What does a sandwich cost? How has the price changed over time? Len Penzo has been comparing the prices of brown bag sandwiches for twelve years, and for seven of those we've been tracking it on the show with him. Today's show is one long-time fans will know and love, and one that we hope our new listeners won't miss... it's our annual fan-favorite: the Len Penzo Sandwich Survey. How much has the cost of making classic sandwiches increased year over year? What sandwich gets you the most bite for your buck? We'll compare baloney, PB&J, turkey and swiss, the BLT, and more. Plus, is your neighborhood restaurant going to stay a little quieter for good? During our headlines segment of the show, we'll dive into a piece detailing how more than half of businesses that closed on Yelp during the pandemic are shutting their doors permanently. In our second piece, Jim from the Route to Retire blog has found his Panama retirement dream ending sooner than expected after the pandemic hit. What should you do if you find your retirement going off track during YEAR ONE? Later in the show, instead of answering a listener voicemail during the Haven Life Line, we'll use a blog piece covering what financial information you should have learned so far in 2020. This year has been full of lessons, and you'll want to make sure you haven't missed any. As always, we'll make sure and save some time for Doug's trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Sure, financial planners work with people, but many only work with you ONCE you have your act together and you're ready to begin working on big-money problems. What do you do if you're just learning how to set up a budget, get out of credit card debt, or save systematically? Today we'll tackle all of that with Rebecca Wiggins, the executive director of the Association for Financial Counseling & Planning Education, on how financial coaches (not financial advisors...that's something else!) help people like you set up a better financial life. Plus, we don't know if you've looked lately at gold prices...but if not, BAM! It's through the roof. Should you buy some? In our headlines segment, we'll share a piece that Joe and OG just might agree with on the topic.... Also, LSU football star Joe Burrows has become a rich man after signing an NFL deal. However, this star says that he only plans to live off endorsements... and his dad says Joe can finally get out of his parent's basement. (Looks like Joe should have thought twice before signing a cash-packed contract). Is living in a basement bad? Should Burrows think twice before saving all that money? We'll have some answers and takeaways today. After we break for Doug's trivia today, we'll finish up the show with the Haven Life Line. When the wealthy in-laws want to help finance your new house, do you take their money? How can you accept large sums of money without big tax implications? Should you accept a 6-figure gift from parents? We'll cover it all for Jim, who wrote in with his VERY first-world dilemma. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ah, the simple life. With all of the chaos in the world, how do we get back to basics? Today our roundtable crew are going to help you reboot, rejuvenate, and revive your live with ideas from a recent blog post about 30 tips for simple living. We'll talk about everything from diet and exercise to reading more often. That'll help you focus better, feel stronger longer, and most importantly (for our show, anyway), Stack More Benjamins. Plus, during our Friday FinTech segment, we'll speak to Jesse Meacham, creator of You Need a Budget, or YNAB, as fans of the software call it. While you may be familiar with YNAB, have you heard the origin story of this groundbreaking system? Jesse will walk Joe through the early years and how YNAB works to help more people keep better track of their money. Of course, we'll still save time for Doug's amazing trivia. Would you like a sheet to begin working on our favorite tips? Joe's mom has made an accountability sheet! Just head to stackingbenjamins.com/simpleliving. That way you can get started on actually implementing what you heard! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you make the topic of money actually fun? That's the question the Singleton Foundation asked, and CEO Shelly Miles and Executive Producer Lisa Freberg join us today to explain how they pulled it off. They not only found talented creators to bring together a video channel that resembles Netflix for money nerds, but they also thought deeply about exactly how to turn each story into a longer discussion. Today we'll talk about how they've made money discussions compelling, fun, and best of all, habit-changing. Big news happened recently in mutual fund land. Vanguard is throwing in the towel on one of its products. Plus, as they attempt to tread water, colleges have turned to mass layoffs. What does that mean for the college experience? We'll share our thoughts. And in today's Haven Life Line call, Seth has some business debt to pay off. He'd expected to make enough money on the side to pay it off but that hasn't happened. So instead, he plans to use his W2 income to wipe it out. Should he approach it like regular debt and pay off the highest interest loans first? ...and of course, we'll save time for some of Doug's "working like a dog" trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are we focused too much on being liked? From the workplace to our personal lives, most of us don't want to be the person who rocks the boat. Go with the flow, right? Antarctic expedition leader Rachael Robertson says that approach to leadership (or even following) couldn't be more wrong. An honest - yes that means having tough conversations! - workplace is more constructive than an office focused on making sure everyone is getting along every day. Plus, remember the 401k article going around suggesting a 401k plan doesn't make much sense anymore for savers? Yeah... hope you didn't immediately pull out your entire retirement fund after reading that because we're covering that topic today and may have a different opinion. During the Haven Life Line, how can Shawn figure out the right allocation for his portfolio? Should he go 90% stock, even 100%? When it's time to retire, how does Shawn pull out his cash? He's in his early 50s and think he has enough Benjamins to retire soon. As always, we'll also make sure and save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Treat yo' self! It's a wonderful concept with one big downside: the phrase "treat yo' self" often means burning a big stack of cash on retail therapy. Don't get me - we're human, and we've all had those days ending with an oh-so-cathartic impulse buy of computer parts and beef jerky (too specific?). BUT self-care doesn't necessarily mean spending money. With a lack of Benjamins being one of the leading stressors among U.S. adults, taking control of your money can be one of the most effective self-care methods available. While it may not provide the instant dopamine-infused gratification jolt, becoming a master of your finances will hand you a more fulfilled life without snowballing debt, revolving credit, or phone calls from debt collectors. Being able to tap your card for the occasional splurge without worry about going into the red is nice, too. Have a garage full of tools or wondering how to finish your next project? After our discussion on self-care, we'll take a break from the roundtable while Joe rings up Stefan Cordova from borrowing site FriendWithA.com. If there's one feeling even more ubiquitous than impulse buying a soda in the check-out line, it's tearing into a new home project only to realize that you don't have the right tools to finish the job. Stefan's idea aims to solve that. Everyday people (yes, like you and me), can put stuff up for rent that other people may need, and the people in need get to rent what THEY need without paying sticker price for a one time project. After we finish up our interview with Stefan, we'll crank up the music during Doug's gameshow turned trivia segment, where this week we quiz our roundtable on Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson in celebration of his birthday next week. Just how many octaves does ole Bruce have in him? We'll then round out the show by asking our roundtable: what song best describes your financial life? Thank you to the awesome contributors who made today's roundtable happen! This week's contributors include Stephanie McCullough from Sofia Financial, Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and OG from our very own podcast. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Think it's impossible to make a million dollars working a blue-collar job? Millionaire and former ditch-digger Ken Rusk might have something to say about. For decades, the college experience has been pushed as THE prioritized option for high school graduates, but with the student debt crisis becoming worse year after year should you look elsewhere? Today, Ken Rusk will show you how forgoing the college route doesn't mean you're giving up your chance of financial independence...and it just might enhance it. It may only be Wednesday, but TGIF? Sofi is now offering an ETF that... wait for it... pays you every Friday. Sound familiar? You can check out our headlines from Monday's show if you're curious about what happened with two other investments promising some quick cash. Listen closely for just how much BIG money you'll receive every week in this new fund. Cha-ching. Plus, no Haven Life Line for today! Instead, Gertrude (from our Facebook Basement group) posed this question to our members: what's YOUR side hustle? We got a bunch of feedback and we can't cover everything, but we'll share a few of our favorite responses. Even with no voicemail, we'll always save time for some of Doug's trivia, who's going classic finance with today's question. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever thought, "Maybe I should be SPENDING more money?" Our guest today thinks that maybe you should re-examine how you're living. Bill Perkins, poker star and energy trader, says that investors have too much of their mindset set on the future, and not enough energy focused on the now of life. We'll discuss over-saving, being TOO frugal, and actually spending your money on today's episode. Plus, how does an ETF that literally pays YOU to invest not gain enough attention to take off? It turns out...that free might not actually mean better. Weird, huh? We'll cover what went wrong with this ETF and others like it, during today's headlines. In our second segment, we'll cover the results of a financial retirement report showing nearly half of all retirees have to make big spending cuts after 5 years. Here's a reminder: when you're planning for retirement, your cash has to last you through ALL of retirement. During the Haven Life Line we'll take a voicemail from Jenny, who wants to know the differences between a value fund and a growth fund. How can you tell one from another, and which is better? Should a portfolio include both funds for diversification? Are there different uses for each fund? Does the amount of time until retirement matter for picking a fund type? In the spirit of Bill Perkins, we'll also save some time for Doug's gambling-themed trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FIRE, FIRE, FIRE! While we'll never disparage the basic goals of the #FIRE movement: becoming financially secure and having the option to retire early, we still have to ask the question, "Is fully subscribing to FIRE lifestyle naive?" Are we putting too much emphasis on the "Retire Early," and too little on "Financial Independence"? We ask our contributors: is it time to put the fire out? Our awesome roundtable team today includes: Don McDonald from the Talking Real Money podcast, Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast, and our very own OG. Plus, are you wondering how to teach your kids about money? Do you know someone (maybe YOU) that needs foundational knowledge about how finances work? After our FIRE discussion we'll take a break from the roundtable to introduce the new Stacking Benjamins Money Club! Aaron Velky from Ortus Academy is our head instructor at the Money Club, and he joins us to share how it all works. When we swing things back around to our roundtable, we'll break out the results of our question to the parents in our audience: how are you with finances and your children? Do you open the whole book to your kids? Do you give them basic financial advice? We'll see what the parents had to say PLUS hear a thing or two from our roundtable with their personal strategies. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are we focused on the wrong priorities when it comes to elder care? While physical care is important, should our healthcare focus change to put more consideration on the emotional needs of our elders? Today we welcome Anne Basting to learn about how her strategies have been changing the eldercare experience for both healthcare workers AND families. The results are amazing and the methods she recommends aren't only easy to implement, but they solve many issues in elder care as it's currently presented. Plus, looking for a safe place to save your money? During our headlines we'll share all the reasons why investors are mistakenly pulling their money out of American markets and placing it in the last place you'd probably imagine. In our second piece we'll dive into an article covering how Richard Branson moved past some of his failed businesses. During the Haven Life line we'll take a question from Adam, who is investing for his kid's college fund. The cash is currently in a target date fund, and Adam is looking for some advice on how he can pull the money out when it's time. OG gives some great advice here on how you can transition from an all-stock plan to a safe cash-fund all by the time the kids graduate high school. As always, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Golfing, RV life, fishing, board games (of course), and a cushy portfolio... what else is there to retirement? It turns out: there's still a bunch! Not to worry though, today we're throwing our special guest out into the rain and instead delivering a feature-length discussion on every little thing you need to consider BEFORE retirement. Plus, what's going on with the national coin shortage we've been hearing about everywhere? And why are financial advisors reporting having a hard time selling software? During our headlines we'll cover how social distancing has caused a coin shortage across the country, and also exposed how advisors may be approaching their business with the wrong focus. Plus in our Haven Life Line, Mat's employer is stopping the 401k match. Mat is thinking about taking that money and moving it over to an IRA for more flexibility, do we have any thoughts on this? Turns out... Joe and OG have a few different ideas than Mat expected for his money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All that we hear about when we read financial pieces about hiring advisors is, "Ask about the fees," and "Hire a Fee Only Advisor." Sadly, the former and current advisor who operate this podcast know it isn't that easy. There are fee only advisors who are morons and a cheap fee means nothing if you find zero value in your "low fee" advice. So what SHOULD you ask? Today we gather together some of our favorite pros to ask them. What questions SHOULD people ask (but don't)? What should people look for in a good advisor? What are the things you should expect a good advisor to actually do for you? When is the right time to hire an advisor? We'll ask these and many more questions of Dana Anspach from Sensible Money, The Retirement Answer Man, Roger Whitney, and our very own OG. But that's not all. We're excited to hear today about one of the hottest companies in FinTech, SoLo Funds. Travis Holoway joins us on today's show to talk about lending made easy for people who traditionally struggle to find funding to make ends meet. Whether you're a lender or borrower, you'll want to hear about this company. Of course, we'll save time for the MagnifyMoney question AND ask our team of experts to weigh in on our weekly trivia question. That AND more on today's show! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's worse than having a bunch of money? Having bunches of money and not knowing why you have it, or what joy it would bring...if any. So if you have no plan, what's waiting at the end of the rat race? Can there be more to riches than a bulky 401k, a big house, and of course... stuff? Today we'll invite a woman who is a Mindful Millionaire, Leisa Peterson. We'll discuss why for many the conventional path to wealth is an empty journey and how to set yourself on a much more fruitful financial journey. How's your 401k doing? Good news: not many people made trades in their workplace accounts in the second quarter (after a record-setting first quarter of moves). The bad news? The moves that people DID make were generally not what you'd hope for, if you're looking for good long term results. Plus, the US House of Representatives is trying to block the Securities and Exchange Commission from allowing hedge funds in your 401k plan. What does that mean? Are we for that or against? OG and Joe will have a nice discussion about it...or maybe even a little disagreement on the subject. Of course, that's not all. We'll give Doug enough time to share some amazing trivia AND we'll also throw out the Haven Life line to Rich, even though he's from Ohio. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are the secrets behind great innovation? Whether in your work life - like creating a system to streamline mornings at the office - or your personal life, innovation has affected everything around you. But where do great ideas come from? Beyond simply coming up with new ideas, does innovation takes a willful, focused effort to succeed? What exactly are the steps needed to create the perfect environment for innovation? Sharing his secrets today on how to create a better (and more lucrative) future is TED speaker, commentator, and author of The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything, Matt Ridley. In his newest book, How Innovation works, Matt shares how the history of innovation has shaped the world, covers many of the circumstances that made innovation possible, and outlines some pretty good guesses on what's coming to our world in the future. Plus, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has been making the rounds in the headlines for encouraging investors to "buy, buy, buy!" Dave claims making money in the market is beyond easy. To see if he agrees, we'll ring up Brian Barnes, the CEO of M1 Finance. While we have Brian on the line, we'll also ask about him the current day-trading mania, and if "winning" is really as easy as people online try to make it seem. In our other headline of the day, why are Vanguard and State Street holding out on the newest ETF craze to hit the market? Should everyday investors be just as wary? During our discussion on the new financial product known as ANTs (active nontransparent ETFs), we'll touch on the true issue behind the active vs. passive debate, the usefulness of having a technological, research-driven, approach to investing, AND the golden question: can you really outperform the market? We'll round out the show with a... I hesitate to use the term "question" here. (You'll see what I mean when you get there.) During the Haven Life Line Adam does asks us: why do people keep making the same financial mistakes over and over again when there's over a century of market data? Adam covers a bunch of great points that we mostly agree with, but we do get to hear one of OG's evolving theories. While I also hesitate to endorse Doug's segment today for personal reasons, we also give him some airtime for his donut-themed trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Save more than you spend, don't take on a mountain of debt, live below your means... they're all phrases that the financially-savvy among us might take for granted, but let's be honest. Most of us didn't start out that way. Today we ask our contributors: what are some money lessons you had to learn the hard way? On today's show we'll hear some sage advice from Jen Smith (from the Frugal Friends podcast), Doc G (from the Earn & Invest podcast), and Len Penzo... of LenPenzo.com. A special thanks to David Bakke from MoneyCrashers.com for reading today's featured piece. After our discussion on life lessons, we'll ring up Angelo Poli from the health and fitness gurus at Metpro. Even though COVID may be keeping you from your local gym, Angelo will share some great financially-minded tips on how you can still maintain your health at home without breaking the budget. PLUS, we're answering some questions listeners left for Angelo in the Stacking Benjamins Facebook group. By the way, if YOU want to be involved next time, you can join us here: The Basement Later, our contributors will weigh in on our Twitter poll: for people who were formerly bad with money, what inspired you to change? Just like in our title segment, you'll find that some super-savers have always had a special affection for finances, but others (talking about me here), have come to terms with their bad habits a little differently. As always, we'll save some time for Doug's Friday Gameshow. Hope you enjoy it as much as we had fun making it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices