The Stacking Benjamins Show

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

Is your job going bye-bye? Today's guest says, "Probably." But how do you succeed in an economy that seems structured against you? On today's show, we're excited to have a deep conversation with the co-founder of NPR's Planet Money and the creator of the new Passion Economy podcast, Adam Davidson. We'll touch on what the future of technology means for you, for the economy, and how our current economic situation is "more of the same" or "different" than the country's last two big downturns... and how you can STILL do what you love in an economy that's constantly changing. Plus, why in the world are people investing in bankruptcies? Is the Hertz stock fiasco ringing a bell? During our headlines we'll explain how the concept behind "knowing just enough to hurt yourself" caused amateur investors to lose their Benjamins. Later we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Dave, who has been laid off this year. Dave and his spouse were previously unable to contribute to a Roth, but they're now eligible. Dave is thinking they should convert their traditional IRA over to a Roth and he wants to know our thoughts. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

As we round the 4th of July holiday, we've all celebrated George Washington as the first President of the United States, the general who lead the Continental Army against the British, and the second or third most popular character in the Broadway play "Hamilton." However, did you ever think of George Washington as an entrepreneur? Economist John Berlau has thought about that AND how Washington's entrepreneurship aspirations molded both his vision as a future leader, and our country. Today he's with us to share stories from Washington's life, including how he became an entrepreneur, and some of his most prominent contributions to our country. If you're a history fan, entrepreneur, or just someone who wants to learn how the best-and-brightest made their way, today's show is for you. Of course, that's not all. We'll discuss the recent issues with the economy and your 401(k) plan. It turns out that you can still become a 401(k) millionaire. There's no need to get overly creative with your financial plan. That'll be good news for most of us. Plus, we'll talk estate planning. When someone chooses you to manage their affairs when they pass away, what should you do? For some of you we'll preview our best tips, and for everyone else, we'll share what you should think about when choosing an executor or contingent trustee. Don't know those terms? We'll even share what that means on today's show for no charge! Of course, we also save time for Doug's fireworks, including his trivia AND incredible wit. It's a kick-butt first show back for the SB team, and we're glad you're hanging out with us. Check out the show notes for ALL of the links in today's show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Should you have an exit strategy for the stock market? In this rewind episode Paula Pant and Len Penzo go head-to-head with their own personal strategies. Also, during the Fintech segment we interviewed Kyle Robertson, co-creator of the now discontinued Lemon app. While you won't be getting your hands on Lemon, our discussion still serves as a great introduction to taking charge of your finances with the help of financial tools. You can read the original show notes below: It’s WAR in the basement today, as Len Penzo (LenPenzo.com) and Paula Pant (AffordAnything) square off about exit strategies. Should you think about selling if the market tanks but you haven’t yet reached your goal? We’ll talk about that for a LONG part of today’s super-sized show….but that’s not all. We also have other topics and the usual hilarity. At the halfway point, in the FinTech spotlight we talk to Kyle Robertson, the co-creator of the Lemon app (Lemon.co), about how his expense and money tracking app works. Not only does it show you how you’re spending money, but it’ll provide helpful data and tips so you can manage your money better in the future. Thanks to MagnifyMoney for sponsoring our podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There have been plenty of retirement headlines shared online lately. While many of these articles share some great grounding advice, we've also seen a fair share of "scare" headlines as well. With that in mind we hand-picked today's rewind episode to dispel retirement fears you may have picked up the last couple of months. You can read our original show notes below: Retirement planning is all about starting early and planning well, which is why we’re excited author Emily Guy Birken (Choose Your Retirement) joins us in the basement to share her top 5 retirement myths. That’s not all we do on this show, though. OG & Joe share headlines about “smart beta” and the ROI of a college education. We take your letters about life insurance and improving your credit score….and much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rewind Week! Throughout the week we'll replay some of our favorite shows from the past. We're kicking Monday off with an interview we've had plenty of compliments on. Newer listeners will appreciate this one, and older listeners will find Annie Duke's interview refreshingly timely. Our original show notes are below. Do you think you make the best decisions under most circumstances? Today’s guest will tell you that if you don’t have all of the information, the more adamant you are about your point of view, the easier you are to “beat.” Annie Duke was a professional poker player for 20 years, winning many top tier professional tournaments and taking on the best decision makers alive. Equally as important, she brings her academic career in cognitive psychology to bear on decision making that can help you with everything from your investments to your career and more. In our headlines segment, parents are spending TONS of money on their children’s extracurricular activities. Beyond avoiding vacations or planning vacations around some of our people, some parents are stopping contributions to their retirement and not putting money in college funds…just for extracurriculars. We’ll talk about what harm this does (and maybe have some surprising points of view) on today’s show. Plus, it looks like 5% interest rates on mortgages may be right around the corner. Currently, the average interest rate stands at 4.5%. What would a 5% rate do to the financial markets and to your debt load? A recent piece discusses all the different ways we’d be affected overall by higher and higher rates. We’ll of course have more from the world of financial planning, throw out the Haven Life line to lucky listener Ethan, who wonders about market cap weightings for indexes. Why do people invest in indexes that are weighted heavily toward the biggest components? We also answer a letter from John, who asks about our favorite financial books. What are they? You’ll have to listen to find out! Of course, we’ll still score with some of Doug’s delightful trivia, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Wonder how your super-saver friends make pocketing Benjamins look so easy? Well, we come bearing good news because your questions are all going to be answered on today's show. MOST great savers trick themselves into saving more money and we'll dive into exactly how and what they do so that you can replicate all of their tricks. Spoiler: it's MUCH easier than you think. Michelle Jackson from the Michelle Is Money Hungry podcast will join Doc G from Earn & Invest podcast and Len Penzo from LenPenzo.com for today's exciting discussion AND Jennifer Mah from Choose FI will read today's piece we outline. Plus, remember hearing about those hairdressers that had Coronavirus? During today's not-so Fintech segment, we'll talk to the Evil HR Lady Suzanne Lucas on what that means for your job. We'll round out the show by answering a voicemail about rebalancing. While Jeff had asked if there are fees or taxes associated with rebalancing, we aren't stopping our roundtable there. During the Magnify Money segment our contributors will share their own rebalancing process. How frequently should an investor rebalance their portfolio? What should people keep in mind? Of course we'll also save time for some of Doug's amazing trivia and much, much more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When does buying insurance cross the line from being smart to throwing away your hard earned cash? There are the regular choices of course: car, home, life, medical, and dental insurance. But what about all the other types of coverage out there? Between rental insurance, phone, electronics, various types of worker's insurance, travel insurance (and more!), a person could easily break the budget by trying to keep 100% of their life covered. Today we'll make sure you know what type of insurance is available to you, which kinds you should buy... and of course, the types of coverage that you should probably run away from. Plus, we'll share a story of an investor who discovered a huge negative balance on his Robinhood account. We'll share the series of investing choices that lead to a tragic outcome, and the problems behind investing as sport by people who don't know many of the basics. Debt can be extremely stressful, but it is not worth your life. Help is available. You can speak with a counselor today at the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline - (1-800-273-8255) or find more help at SuicidePreventionLifeline.org. We'll also carve out some time in the middle of the show for Doug's family-themed trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In these strange times, with so much uncertainty, how do you manage your money effectively? Today we'll ask some of our favorite experts about what you should be focused on, how to pay down debt, what to do with your retirement money, and how to manage your investments. Last week we hosted a LIVE YouTube two hour event featuring some of the top names in personal finance. We were joined today by representatives from Fidelity (Ken Hevert), TIAA (Shelly Eweka), T.Rowe Price (Josh Deitch), and Morningstar (Christine Benz). Plus, Bobbi Rebell from Money With Friends podcast and Doc G. from Earn & Invest pitch in to help us ask as many questions as possible so you can be better with your Benjamins. Because this is the audio from a YouTube recording, the audio stream will be a little different, but there's still lots of great tips here for you to enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You've probably heard the age-old arguments. Old dude on the radio says "all debt is bad." Your savvy neighbor says that there's "good debt" and "bad debt." You watch relatives YOLO with credit cards. Where's the line, REALLY? Today we'll ask three people who are good with money: contributors Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast and Len Penzo from LenPenzo.com are joined by great saver AND blogger Lance Cothern from the Money Manifesto blog. We'll dive into the good, bad and ugly of debt. BUT that's not all. On today's Friday Fintech segment we'll learn about a new company called Nestegg helping small landlords compete with the big kids. How does it work? We'll all find out together. Of course, we'll still have our trivia challenge, answer a MagnifyMoney.com call for help, and more! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

After winning the lottery, would you go for a straight-out check OR the lifetime income stream? While people will decide which is their BEST choice pretty quickly, do you have the right information to make that choice? Today we sit down with the CEO of Saber Pension and Actuarial Services, Brent Henningson to talk not just lottery, but maybe also pensions, annuities, and life settlements. Wait a minute? Is the annuity thing just a smokescreen so we'd pay attention to something that's important but maybe not that interesting? Maybe so, but however we get you to the table, these are decisions with thousands of dollars on the table and you can't afford to make the wrong choice. Plus, is day trading easier than being a long term investor? We'll have some fun diving into why the Barstool Sports founder claims he is a better investor than Warren Buffet, and that day trading is "the easiest" game there is. David Portnoy is ALWAYS good for a quote or two. In the second half of our headlines segment, we'll share one list explaining why the RV life might not be the golden dream people are expecting. Even in retirement... informed planning is half the battle. During our Haven Life Line will answer a call from military dentist Joe (not our Joe, of course), who will be separating from service next year to pursue specialty training. While he's going through classes his only planned income will come from the GI bill. Joe's two questions are, one: can he still contribute to his IRA during his education with no taxable income? If not, would working a few days a month make him eligible? Two: he is currently maxing his Roth TSP account. Should he drop his contribution amount to get more liquidity before leaving service? As always, we're saving some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Want to change the world with your donations, but feel powerless? Are you unsure of the best WAY to donate money or time to an organization? Have you ever been burned by the ineffective use of the money you've loaned or gifted? Today we'll talk to someone who knows how to help you become the philanthropist you've always wanted to be. Not only will Kris Putnam-Walkerly share how to find great organizations and evaluate them, she'll also give us tips on using tools like donor-advised funds to make a larger impact (and maybe score some tax relief!). Don't worry if you like your news a bit on the harder-edged side - today's show has something for everyone: We'll ask how does an investor go from almost netting one million dollars to broke in two weeks? During our headlines, we'll look at how some investors got in over their heads in an attempt to earn huge returns... until the money train came to a screeching halt. In our second piece, we'll ask whether air travelers should expect airlines to raise fees to keep the middle seat open during the pandemic. Plus, where are the financial resources for people who DON'T want kids? During the Haven Life Line we'll answer a question from Maddie, who has become more interested in saving and planning for retirement. A lot of resources she's found so far have a focus on planning for the expense of children down the road. Maddie asks: what resources can she find for people in her situation? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe you've heard of the term "anchoring" when it comes to sales. Most likely you heard it when a fast-talking salesman threw out a couple of high figures for a fancy car just outside of your budget. (But hey! That's okay, we have some more affordable models right over here... and look, you're five dollars under your limit!) But, is it possible to use the power of anchoring to actually help you reach financial goals? In our featured piece today, which is both written AND read on-air by Emily Guy Birken, we'll dive into how you can use the power of anchoring to cut your expenses, save more money, and find financial independence more quickly. Helping us dig into the topic is none other than the co-host of the BiggerPockets Money podcast (and Bigger Pockets CEO), Scott Trench. Of course, we'll also have help from Paula Pant of Afford Anything, and our very own OG. After we're done with our anchoring discussion we'll give our roundtable a little break while Joe rings up Angelo Poli from MetPro. Did being stuck inside for months on end cause you to pack on a Covid-19 pounds? Angelo will share some great strategies to get your lifestyle back on track. We mixed things up on our Magnify Money segment this week so we could give Scott Trench a little fun. With some inspiration from a Reddit Real Estate post, we asked this question to the roundtable: What are your real estate buying/selling horror stories? Of course, we're also carving out some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you feel just a little bit lost managing your retirement funds? Don't feel like your alone. A recent study shows that MOST Americans have no clue how to pick investments in their 401k, and worse yet, even more people feel like they're investing poorly for their retirement! If you want to fix your 401k plan (that thing you save into for retirement...), we're coming to the rescue. Today we'll discuss the good, the bad, and the stop doing this before you ruin your retirement. There are MANY ways to make your 401k grow faster, but today we'll discuss how to pick better investments, save more money, stop making trading mistakes, picking better funds, and more. Later in the show we'll throw out the Haven Life line to caller AJ, who wants our thoughts on buying a property at a discount to be used as an Airbnb. With the rest of AJ's bills paid, and the 401k and other retirement accounts fully funded, AJ and her husband have put in a $460,000 offer for a $540,000 house. So, is it a good time to make this investment? As always, we'll carve out some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Your boss offers you a several thousand dollar raise, do you turn it down? Probably not! Yet, one of California's top real estate agents says that home buyers and sellers both regularly leave thousands of dollars off the table. That's why today we're talking about better real estate transactions with Marin County, California's top real estate pro, Tracy McLaughlin. She'll share strategies from her new book, Real Estate Rescue, for staging, updating, and pricing a house so that it sells both for more money and more quickly. We're also diving into why financial advisors are losing faith in planning software tools. With plenty of highly-rated software on the market, should you be worried that your advisor is disregarding fintech? We'll jump into the "why" during our headlines AND cover why so many Americans had to dip into their retirement funds during the pandemic. Plus, could refinancing your home loan actually end up costing you more in the long run? During our Haven Life Line we'll answer a question from Niranjan, who heard on the show that because of the way amortization tables are structured, it might not always be a good idea to refinance a mortgage. He asks us to explain this a bit more in detail, and of course, Joe and OG oblige. During the segment, we'll explain financing, interest rates, amortization tables, and more. We'll also carve out some time for some of Doug (who seems to be acting a little suspicious today... more on that later) and his trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you had trouble getting the people around you to understand the importance of saving, investing, and planning? Maybe you're having trouble connecting with people on their level or it's difficult to have a meaningful, lasting conversation? Worse yet, and on a much wider scope...maybe you don't understand current events and why things are happening. Today we dive into a piece from the Harvard Business Review that suggests there's a key piece that could be missing in your relationships: curiosity. Our roundtable will help us figure out the why behind your questions about what others are doing...and includes our friend from the financial blog Tread Lightly, Retire Early, Angela Rozmyn; Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and our very own OG. After our awesome (if we don't say so ourselves...) empathy discussion, we'll give our roundtable a break while we chat with the founder of a new money-tracking solution. Between breaking your spending down into searchable categories, automatic bill and subscription detection, and budget capabilities, the Copilot app has a lot going for it. We'll chat with founder Andres Ugarte during our Friday Fintech segment to get the inside scoop. Plus, do you remember the first time you had to buy home essentials on your own? ("What??? Bacon cost THAT much!?") During our MagnifyMoney segment, we'll dive into some of the responses to our Twitter poll: What’s something you didn’t realize how expensive it was until you had to start buying it yourself? Here's one from the home team: shredded cheese (more than I thought it would cost anyway), cleaning supplies, and of course... going out to eat multiple times a week. KA-CHING! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices