Stacking Benjamins: Your Gateway To Money And Personal Finance

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 y

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 v

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 contrib

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 Na

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 l

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 th

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 i

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

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 Nir

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 de

Are you just beginning your journey toward investing or know someone graduating from high school or college? On today's show we'll field a letter from Jonathan with some help from our friend Christine Benz at Morningstar. What things should graduates and new savers think about first? Where do they make mistakes? What resources and books are great reads? We'll tackle all of those questions during today's episode answering your questions! We'll also tackle a question about target-date funds. Why do most target date funds stink? We'll explain. Also - have you thrown away your stimulus money accidentally? If it hasn't come yet, there's a good chance you have. We'll explain why there's been such a mix up on today's show. We'll also wonder aloud about the news last week out of Silicon Valley. Has COVID-19 created a new normal for workers which includes working from anywhere? Twitter says "Yes," and Facebook says...."Maybe." We'll explain.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can you actually manufacture "luck"? Have you been hoping for your fortune to change? Do you feel like you've failed often lately? What if we told you that you COULD change your luck? , Today we tackle the recipe on luck with the man who actually co-wrote the book on the topic, Gay Hendricks. Between setting yourself up for success and being ready when opportunity comes knocking, Gay Hendrick has a wealth of information on how you can begin to operate your life, investments, savings, and budget with the power of the world on your side. Plus, has the current situation left you scrambling to pay rent? Or maybe you're a landlord still waiting on checks from struggling tenants? During our headlines we'll ring up rental real estate expert Justin Pogue for some advice on what you should do if you're stuck in a bad situation either way during these difficult times. In our second piece we'll cover some secondary effects of the troubled economy: teenagers across the country are finding out their usual summer jobs won'

Has goal setting helped your quality-of-life? Today we review a recent blog post where the author decides that goals have possibly ruined much of his life. Today our round table contributors will dive into this post from blogger Alex West, and talk about measurement of goals, a horizon that always seems to be unreachable, the randomness of progress, and more. After our discussion on goals (or the lack thereof), we'll shift gears to speak with Pam Andrews from The Scholarship Shark. How can you help someone not only get into the school of their dreams but help them get it paid for with scholarships? We'll discuss the problems students face, the important aspects to think about when targetting scholarships AND we're also thrilled to announce our brand-spanking-new partnership with Pam. Looking for more after our discussion? You can find out more at: StackingBenjamins.com/scholarships. We'll round out our show with sharing the results of a timely and special poll. A few weeks ago we asked our friends on social m

We all wonder...this big stock market run-up lately...can it continue? Who should you listen to? What should you believe? Today we ring up a man WE believe, Phil Town, author of New York Times bestseller Rule #1, to provide some clarity. We'll ask him about the economy, the market, his strategy, and what he feels is the wrong way to invest in this climate. If you're ready for some straight talk from one of the best investment teachers, you'll enjoy today's discussion. Plus, are you in the market to purchase a home? Joe and OG roll out 12 great housing markets for first-time buyers. We’ll round out our headline with our second piece on credit cards: why are issuers now giving out lower holder limits, (and does it really matter to you anyway)? Later, we'll answer a question posted in our Stacking Benjamins Facebook group: Jason asks, what can he do to fix his father's retirement plan? His father is 60 and plans to work until he is forced to retire. At that point he plans to move in with Jason. With there being

How would you like to pay off your mortgage in four years? Heck, many of us would love to pay off a mortgage in 29 years! Four years sounds like the stuff of dreams and make-believe, right? We might not have believed it ourselves if we didn't sit across from him in the basement and listen to his story. Today we're proud to bring you Andy Hill, host of the Marriage, Kids and Money podcast, and long-time friend of all of us in the basement. You may have heard Andy before on the show, but today he's agreed to share his amazing story on the podcast. We hope you can walk away from this one with some new inspiration and focus on your own financial walk. What kinds of important items have people been spending their stimulus checks on? Well....while many Americans spent their checks on necessities, companies are also reporting some surprising not-so-great results. We'll dive into what people have been spending their cash on, AND save some time to cover why 70% of workers can't save for retirement. Later in the show,

Don't talk to strangers. Make your savings automatic. Don't buy so many lattes. How many pieces of unsolicited advice have helped you become a better version of yourself? Today our contributors are helping us walk through a recent blog post that delivered exactly 68 pieces of advice to help you live a better life financially AND mentally. Helping us with today's show are our near-and-dear contributors: Elle Martinez (of Couple Money), Len Penzo of LenPenzo.com, and our very own OG. Halfway through the show we'll take a break from the unsolicited advice (that you should totally listen to by the way), and we'll learn some strategies on keeping your children engaged and responsible while everyone is stuck at home. During our Fintech segment, Gregg Murset of BusyKid will also share how his app can help your family learn better habits, and put their allowance to good use by teaching them to save, give, and be a part of a community. Ever hear the phrase, "just because you can, doesn't mean you should"? A few weeks

Who wants to waste money cooking up food on a holiday weekend that doesn't taste good? Not us. That's why, if you are like the rest of us, hanging out at home or with only a small gathering of people...it's the PERFECT year to make a little geeky fun and stretch that holiday-spending dollar. Today we'll help you create some recipes from your favorite shows, movies, and fantasy worlds with the host of the hit blog (and now book!) The Geeky Chef....Cassandra Reeder. She'll share some awesome recipes so you can create great Memorial Day fun... even if you don't have backyard space or a grill. Plus, what's the deal with the renewed interest in gold since the market started shaking? We'll ask State Street Global Advisors' Chief Gold Strategist, George Milling-Stanley, about the role gold should play in your investment strategy. We'll also cover the new rule changes to your FSA and HSA funds... it just became a little easier to buy certain necessities at stores. Finally, we'll wrap up the show with a timely questio