The history of money is possibly (even probably) the most tangled web of assumptions, grief, symbolism, happiness, and longing in the history of the world. Today Frederick Kaufman joins us to share a few of those stories. From the earliest days of exchanging objects to represent currency, to the heads of state on coins, to Bitcoin and beyond, we'll discover many of the stories that encompass names from Adam Smith to Anna Nicole Smith. Plus, during our headlines segment of the show we'll talk to Sean Hanft from FSAStore.com. It's nearing the end of the year and if you have flexible spending account dollars left, it's time to use them before you lose them. Plus, one blog post making its way around, which makes the case against opening a 401k to start saving for retirement. Naturally, Joe and OG have a thought or two about that. Plus, we all know the famous 4% rule (of thumb), but have we been using it wrong this whole time? Matt calls in the Haven Life Line to ask for some clarification. While you shouldn't be using rules of thumb to guide your portfolio in the first place, Matt's question could potentially have big implications on your retirement draw-down. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

With all of the talk about a divided nation, finger pointing about the election, and a year when so, so many things have become "political," today we're thrilled to bring you John Hope Bryant, who throws water on all of these arguments. His no-nonsense approach to how we ALL win together is refreshing and provocative. We'll talk about lessons from his new book, Up From Nothing on today's show. Plus, big congrats to stock-based ETFs in November. Record inflows poured into these positions, which leaves Joe and OG scratching their heads. Why do investors wait until the market climbs to record highs to stuff money into funds AGAIN? We'll counter that with yet another piece we found that proclaims the sky is about to fall. Again. Of course, that's not all. We'll get some help from a listener on explaining Value Averaging (vs. Dollar-Cost Averaging), and Doug will skewer a horrible, horrible national recognition day for a group he says is undeserving. Wait until you hear his rant... Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maybe you've heard the Jim Rohn phrase, "You are the average of the five people around you." Is that true for you? Probably. If you're looking to improve either your net worth, your career, or just your friendships, giving careful thought to your "tribe" will pay dividends. Today we'll work from a recent Tony Robbins piece on this topic with three people who work hard to surround themselves with good, uplifting people. Aaron Velky, the head of the Stacking Benjamins Money Club (but probably more important, the head of financial education company Ortus Academy), will give us some great advice. Also, we'll hear great ideas from Paula Pant from Afford Anything and OG as well. It's a great episode that you'll want to listen to before setting your 2021 goals. Plus, our Stacking Benjamins Scholarship Mastery course is about to go into session! If you are either heading to school yourself, have a family member or friend in school, or a high school junior or senior, we're going to tell you all of the important dates coming up this year for scholarships AND we'll detail how our course works so you can get in before the deadline, which is Friday, December 11th. Our anonymous caller to the Magnify Money line today is receiving a $500,000 inheritance. His parents want him to connect with their financial advisor, but he's been doing good so far by investing in low-cost funds on his own. Our caller and his wife has have no debt other than their mortgage. He asks: is it time to bring an advisor on board, or should he stick with what's been working so far? With everyone posting their year-end music reviews, Doug decided to share some of his own. Fancy yourself top-notch when it comes to your music trivia? Today is for you. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Looking for quick ways to save a few more bucks? Or, are you too busy to even slow down and think about stashing some extra cash every month? While we don't promise taking the light bulb out of your oven will bring you riches, we ARE fans of quick, time-conscious hacks that save you some Benjamins. Lisa Rowan, the author of the hit new book Money Hacks, joins the basement airwaves today to share some of the 275+ money hacks she's collected. Plus, could your salary size be completely out of your control? Maybe so, if you believe a new survey that suggests there's a BIG correlation between the size of a man's package and how much bacon he brings home. (Don't shoot the messenger). In more traditional finance news, Joe and OG also cover what the new (possible) Treasury secretary-elect, Janet Yellen, might mean for the economy. Nick has been having trouble getting disability insurance for his wife, so we'll throw him the Haven Life line. She suffers from depression and anxiety. Nick asks: how can he cover their insurance gap? As always, OG and Joe come to the rescue. As always, we'll save time for Doug's trivia. You'll hear it for yourself... but let's say you might find Doug a bit peculiar today. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Think you don't know the first thing about investing? Bola Sokunbi makes it clear that not only is investing EASIER than you might think, it also can be a lot of fun. We'll define some of the popular terms you'll hear, talk through some of the basics, and dive into what you really need to invest so that you feel confident about getting where you want to go with your financial goals. Also today, we dive into a popular sports figure who spends north of a million dollars a year on coaching. A million dollars? Doesn't that sound like a waste of money? We'll maybe change your mind on how you view expenses to "sharpen the saw" (as popular author Stephen Covey has written). We'll also talk about the difference between how professionals invest versus the amount of money that Glen calls in during our Haven Life Line with some questions about the government Thrift Savings Plan. Glen has left his contributions alone and now that they've grown he's looking to consolidate his various workplace funds into a Vanguard account. He asks: can his TSP contributions be rolled over? Does the face Glen made contributions in Iraq change how his money is treated? Of course we'll also give Doug some time to share his trivia. Today's theme? Think you're in tune with digital purchasing trends? (That's a weird sentence). You can test your mettle with Doug's Cyber-Monday themed trivia.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you aren't interested in shopping on Black Friday weekend, we've got you covered with one of our FAVORITE episodes. Every year we dive into our favorite board games about money and economics AND we invite some board game insider friends to help us learn about some new fun games. I'm super excited that the guys from the No Cube Zone (Coniff, Jordan, and Rippee) join us today to dive in to not only our top-5 games about money or economics, but also their top 5 games to share with family this holiday season. Plus, we'll continue the theme by dumping our normal Friday Fintech Segment for a Friday Board Game exclusive. The subscription game company making Hunt A Killer just was named the #6 fastest growing company in the USA by Inc. We'll dive into the game, how it's made, what the firm's focused on, and how exactly a subscription game works with co-founders Ryan Hogan and Derrick Smith. It's nearly two hours of board game goodness, friends, and Thanksgiving weekend discussions. We're thankful you're spending it with us! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're looking for new tech toys for the holidays this year, we bring you today good news and bad news. The good news is that we're going to cover LOTS of ground and some of the hottest and coolest tech we've seen in years. On the bad news side? It's going to be harder than ever to get your hands on any of it. Today we're geeking out on the hottest of the hot and the newest of the new tech with our friend Bridget Carey from CNET. Bridget, as she has every year with us (and as she does daily in her CNET videos and reviews), breaks down everything you need to know to have a geeky, techie holiday season. And if the hot new tech you're looking for has four wheels we also have you covered. Slow down before you run off and buy the flashiest car, because you may be surprised how much the value drops when you drive off the lot. We'll talk to Karl Brauer from iSeeCars.com about a new study showing which models and brands hold their value best AND which cars you may want to avoid. During the Haven Life line call-in segment of the show, August calls in with a question not too many people consider: do office workers sitting behind a computer everyday need occupation disability insurance? After all, what could go wrong? We'll share suggestions about disability coverage and what you need to cover. Plus, what in the world is going on with this "OLED" business? Seems like everything from smart TVs to new iPhones are promising the latest and greatest OLED devices. During Doug's trivia, he'll test your 2020 electronic knowledge... if he can find the answer himself, that is.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today kicks off our big U.S. Thanksgiving holiday week of shows, and today we start it off right by sharing all of the good, bad, and ugly deals YOU can score this Black Friday. Regina Conway from Slickdeals.net joins us to help save your wallet and point out some of the issues not-careful shoppers may face. Where should you spend your hard-earned cash to get the most bang for your buck this holiday shopping season? Which retailers are offering the best deals on hot items? What deals aren't worth the wait? What's different this year because of COVD? Whatever your question is - Regina has you covered. Plus, did Pfizer's CEO break laws while insider trading his company's stock when it exploded recently? Financial disclosures show that the CEO, Albert Bourla, sold almost $6 million in stock the same day the company's vaccine news broke. After our discussion on what REALLY happened - we'll turn our heads to yet another report of a criminal advisor fleecing his clients to the tune of $320,000. The short and sweet? Be beyond suspicious of any advisor who might promise you quick riches. During the Haven Life Line, we take a question on peer-to-peer lending. We recommended LendingTree the last time we discussed P2P, but caller Greg says the company has since become a bank. He asks: what's our take now? Are there any companies we recommend? As always, Doug will give his own share of the airtime for his trivia. Today? He's bringing it back with some old-school Black Friday trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're lucky enough to have a job now, and you've been still chasing your dream, what does your "finish line" look like? You won finance! Hooray! With everything you want behind you, what's next? Answering these questions and more are today's contributors: Jennifer Grimson from the Micro Empires podcast; Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and our own Stacking Benjamins podcast co-host, OG. While the question seems nice and someday-ish, I think today you'll find that you're closer to "enough" than you may think. Halfway through the show we'll break from our conversation and move over to your wellness checkup. Like Suze Orman said (in a number of words), what do riches mean without your health? During this week's middle segment, we take a quick break from FinTech to cover health and wellness with MetPro's co-founder Angelo Poli, who will break down how important proper nutrition really is - both for your health AND your bottom line. What's your next step when you're at absolute zero? No cash, no residence, no job? That's what our contributors have been tasked to help with today, and our special guest Jennifer Grimson is the perfect person to ask. Jennifer has had to start from zero... TWICE. Today Jennifer and our panel share what you should do when you find yourself starting with nowhere to turn. As always, we'll save some airtime halfway through for Doug's game show. Doug will start out with a freebie: The country of Nigeria commands the largest GDP in Africa. The question? How much is it?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've recorded a ton of episodes. At the point we hit stop on this one, we're officially nearly at 1,000...but when you count all of the previous podcasts, the shortened episodes that we used to NOT count, and the special events, we're well over 1,500 episodes. Not ONCE during that time did we stop and ask ourselves, "Should we actually give people the framework that we're working from?" Today we do that. Joe and OG have a frank conversation about the art of fooling around, about sharing mistakes instead of victories, and about including stories from many points of view. If you've listened to the Stacking Benjamins show once or a thousand times, we hope you'll enjoy the first episode where we discuss the SB Creed. Of course, we will STILL lean on Doug for a trivia question. We're not heathens.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when you find three great storytellers and ask them to share their personal journeys toward a better life, LIVE? You get a nearly two-hour YouTube special that we're going to replay for you right here! The STACK event features the co-author of the classic financial philosophy book Your Money Or Your Life, Vicki Robin, who will talk about her journey learning for herself why finding a different path to financial security was important. We also feature a guy who's story has resonated with many (especially lately after a feature video in the Million Stories series was released), Michael Santos. Michael found himself incarcerated at a young age but not only turned around his own life, he also is passionate and focused on helping others going through trouble turn their lives around. Finally, and kicking off our show, we'll introduce you to Dan Chan, a man who's not only entertained billionaires, but a guy who's had to pivot with his business since COVID-19. How did he go from working at PayPal to chasing his dream? He'll share his journey today! If you'd like to join us for the live, unedited event, where you can ask questions, hang out with other Stackers, and possibly take home one of our participant prizes, sign up for our newsletter, The Stacker, at http://stackingbenjamins.com/stacker. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's not mince words. It's been a pretty s%$! year. BUT there have been TONS of fantastic financial lessons you could have learned from 2020, and many skills you've probably figured out already that you NEED in the future. So what are those skills? We'll share the top 5 list our friend Katie Brewer, CFP listed on a recent blog post. Here to help us dive into their take on all of these skills is Joe's co-host on the Money With Friends podcast, Bobbi Rebell. Plus, from Afford Anything, we'll get help from Paula Pant...AND from Len Penzo dot com, we'll hear from Len Penzo. In our Friday FinTech segment, we'll speak with Qube founder Ryan Clark about how they've created an envelope budgeting system for 2020 and beyond. Not familiar with the envelope budgeting system? We'll explain how it works AND how Ryan's team uses technology to help you do better with your money. Plus, during our MagnifyMoney.com segment, we'll take a question from a listener who wonders what designations he should pursue to coach people on their money. He's thought about becoming a Certified Financial Planner, but thinks for the type of coaching he wants to do, that it might be overkill. You'll love how the team today discusses which designations might be best (spoiler: we don't agree). Of course, we'll also leave time for Doug's amazing trivia challenge, which today is all about the World Wide Web. Can you nail the answer without looking it up? Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buildings, sidewalks, statues, plaques...they all tell stories that are nearly hidden from view. You can take a walk out of your front door if you live in nearly any city, and there are stories all around you. The great news? They're all free. And, like a puzzle, the stories of a 99% invisible city can keep you occupied for hour after fascinating hour. Today we chat with Roman Mars from the 99% Invisible podcast about a few of these stories. We'll talk about park in Australia, a baseball player in Japan, and sidewalks...everywhere. Over $1 billion in bitcoin has been seized by the U.S. government. We'll share how and why, and also dive a little into bitcoin in general. Has it become a more stable landscape for investors? Plus, in the search for lower taxes and a better bottom line, Rock Legend Gene Simmons has decided to wave his California estate (and California taxes) goodbye. High taxes vs. good friends and memories of the neighborhood. Which would you choose? Plus, we'll throw out the Haven Life line to August, who wants to rollover his Roth 401k to a Roth IRA when he retires. He's already seeded the IRA with $500. Is there any reason to invest in one account over the other? August asks, does the answer change if he's plans to retire early?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's wide-ranging chat with the Invest Diva, Kiana Danial, we hear about her personal story of setting high goals and achieving them. From her family's flight from Iran to working on becoming an engineer, being fired from a Wall Street job and more, Kiana's done it all, and today we'll talk about how you can pivot your way to success. We'll also talk about popular brokerage app Robinhood, making videos that people want to watch, the FOMO people felt during the heady Bitcoin run up, and more. Plus, remember the old saying: if it's too good to be true, it probably is? Make that doubly so if what you're talking about involves investing or finances. We'll share yet another story of investors being fleeced out of their life savings after being roped in by too-good-to-be-true financial scams. And also, Suze Orman is back in the news. A recent health scare has the queen of money talk thinking critically about the relationship between money and health. During our Haven Life line, Ronnie Jo calls in asking for good financial advice for her 19 year-old sister. She'd like to make sure her sister can navigate the financial waters, and Joe and OG deliver advice that'll serve anyone well, young adult or not. Of course, we can't have a show without giving Doug some airtime. His trivia for today? Something about Einstein? Or winning money? Who really knows? Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show, we bring you a cornucopia of November financial topics! Is your rule of thumb going to leave you broke in retirement? We'll start off by talking about the nerd's updated version of the 4% rule and maybe throw in some advice explaining why generalized guidelines aren't the best investing strategy. Plus, in homage to our older roundtables, we'll give our contributors a few more headlines to chew on, including a new plan to push required minimum distributions to 75, AND our roundtable will cover the new college savings plan ranking system from Morningstar. Making today's super-show happen is our amazing team of contributors: Michael Anderson of the Big Idea podcast; Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast, and from our very own podcast, OG. Halfway through the show, we'll FINALLY share our main topic, bow to avoid a holiday hangover. Joe and Belinda Rosenblum will talk about how to set up a strategy to make sure this is the year you finally are able to get ahead financially, or at the very least, stay afloat during the holiday season. We'll finish today's show with some salacious gossip thanks to our question from Shane. He says that he loves our pieces on financial crimes, but what about the the less popular crimes? Shane wants to hear about daring financial crimes like money laundering and check kiting. Does our panel deliver? Yes! So make some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this week's MagnifyMoney segment. Of course, we'll always save some time for Doug. Think you know your sports history? You'll love Doug's question today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can we learn from market wizards, the name Jack Schwager gives to traders who routinely beat the index? Even if you aren't trying to trade the market, but instead want to just be competent, you can learn a ton. Jack Schwager has studied the best and brightest in the industry for years and today we talk to him about patience, discipline, love of the game, and more. You can use ALL of these ideas to be a better investor, even if, like most of us, you're a member of the buy-and-hold tribe. Plus, in our headlines segment, how hard is it to get your will done? Our engineer extraordinaire, Steve Stewart, just finished his. Joe and OG ask him about how and why he completed his plan, and how difficult it was. We'll also throw out the Haven Life line to Peter, who wonders about his investment strategy, and of course, we save time for Doug's amazing, post-election trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While everyone struggles to get along through COVID-19, if you're lucky enough to be healthy and safe, NOW may be a great time to find ways to earn more money. By using skills you already have, you can begin to build wealth and put your financial house in order. Today we'll talk to Mr. I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi, about the power of networking, college, working online, transferring skills, and more. It's a powerful discussion that hopefully will move you from being defensive in 2020 to going on offense. When's the last time your family reviewed your household fire safety plan? Good financial planning goes beyond the adrenaline-fueled excitement of long-term investing and emergency funds. During our headlines we'll be joined by Steve Kerber, Director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. Steve will share essential safety tips on how you can keep your family - and physical property - safe from a fire emergency. PLUS, you can watch a new video below from the Firefighter Safety Research Institute showing just how little time you have to escape a home fire. In our second piece, we'll discuss the importance of things like disability insurance. In a tragic incident, a cyclist has been reportedly left brain-damaged after a split-second accident with a dog. Many people go without when it comes to insurance with excuses like, "I'm safe!", or "nothing bad ever happens to me!" The other side of that coin is that accidents are just that... accidents. We'll finish out the show with a Haven Life line question on HSAs (Health Savings Account) and HRAs (Health Reimbursement Arrangement). Ethan will be switching jobs soon, and his new employer only offers a HRA. Ethan wants to keep contributing to his HSA even without the extra employer benefits, but wants to know: can he contribute to both the HRA and HSA? Plus, with the election looming tomorrow, Doug's campaign is in full swing. He'll use some of his mid-show airtime to quiz his loyal voters on how many electoral votes he'll need to take the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show we're mixing the ghoulish past with the horrific NOW. Chuck Jaffe from Money Life with Chuck Jaffe joins us to share how he's scaring his neighborhood kids this year into better money habits AND then we rewind (this is our rewind week!) to Sandy Smith sharing how she spent just under $5000 on her wedding and had the ultimate experience for herself, her husband, and their friends. It's a great now/rewind episode of Stacking Benjamins (plus we share an AWESOME event coming up for all Stackers on 11/10...join us!). Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's more spooky than an investing story gone wrong? Nothing... if we're discussing your net worth. Today the Fintern brings us back to our time with CFA Rick Ferri, who dropped by the basement and scared us silly with some absolutely HORRIBLE investing stories. Plus, Nick Clements from MagnifyMoney.com also joined the show to talk about our (then) recent discussions around technology and pricing structures. Of course, we also had headlines, Doug's trivia, and more. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Happy Rewind Week Stackers! We're kicking off Monday strong with a special show that used to be a fan-favorite: a Joe and OG Top 5. Today's topic? How to react to market volatility. It was relevant then, and it's relevant now. There's no featured guest on today's show - but there's also a whole bunch more of Joe and OG banter than you'd normally have. (Some people say that's a good enough trade-off). You can read the short and sweet original show notes below: It's another Top 5 episode! Today Joe & OG tell you their top 5 ways to handle bouncing markets. In headlines we tackle the herd mentality down markets create and signs that it's time for a new advisor. We also fire up the Quotacy hotline for the first time, where Sam asks about stretch IRA rules. It's all that and more on today's show! Thanks to Candid and Netsuite for sponsoring the Stacking Benjamins show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Worried it's next to impossible to get your finances in order by this point? What if I told you it could happen by Thanksgiving? (For those of you caught in the infamous 2020 haze, that's a little more than a month away). Today our roundtable crew share their personal tricks of the trade they employ to manage their budget, lower their expenses, and keep charge of their finances. Joining us on our roundtable is the mind behind the Own Your Money brand and Stacking Benjamins' partner in our Making Money Easy course, Belinda Rosenblum; Kevin Payne from the popular Family Money Adventure blog; and basement regular Len Penzo... from the aptly named Len Penzo dot com blog. After our contributors finish sharing their top finance tips, we'll give them a break while we shine some light on small businesses and what they've been experiencing this year. Helping us shine that spotlight is Kabbage co-founder, Kathryn Petralia. Kabbage was the second biggest PPP loan provider, and Kathryn will share the mistakes she's seen businesses make, what businesses should be doing right now, and what we can maybe expect in the future. We'll finish out the show with our Magnify Money segment - our caller Jambalaya wants to self-insure his health costs. He breaks his plan for his, and makes sure to let us know that he's otherwise healthy. Jambalaya asks for our seal of approval: is his plan sound, or, in his words, "should I keep it simple stupid?" Our roundtable will share their thoughts on our caller's plan. Naturally, we'll make some airtime for Doug's Friday trivia game show. This week's question? The original iPod sale price! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When you make a decision about your money, do you weigh how that plays against your long term goals? Doing so is called considering your "opportunity cost." Today's guest talks about both the process of thinking about opportunities AND discusses how to weigh down markets. Should you move your money? He's been through a ton of down markets and has a world of experience with them. Today we're airing a very special episode with JL Collins, author of The Simple Path to Wealth. Doc G (in an interview originally aired on the Plutus award-winning Earn and Invest podcast) caught up with Collins last year, and asked him many questions, that we'll play for you today. What's your first response after finding out your online portfolio has been liquidated and cleared of its cash? Okay... so after THAT, you're probably calling your financial advisor until they pick up the phone, right? At the very least, solo investors should call the support line for their online brokerage.. right? What happens when NO ONE is available to help you figure out where the money went....or worse yet, when you do get a reply back it says that you'll need to hold tight for a few weeks? That's exactly what's happening to Robinhood investors... we'll unveil yet another issue at the troubled brokerage during our headlines segment. In our second headline: day-traders are often ignored by long term investors, but new research indicates these very-same day-traders could be a driving force behind market fluctuations, including the market rebound this year. Don't worry - we'll cover what that means to you and your plan. We'll finish out the show with a call from Ryan, who wants to know more about family contributions to a 529 plan. Ryan and his wife are expecting their first child, and would like their family members to contribute to their child's 529 plan instead of traditional gifts. Are there any online portals their family can use, or is it up to Ryan and his wife to collect contributions and investing the cash? Of course, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Doug was feeling generous today with his dino-trivia, and opted for multiple choice responses... enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Heather Jacks has done it all. She's created a new job to work for Howard Shultz, facilitated wine and bourbon tastings, ferried pigs for a guy, lived in the outback, and slept full-time in a bus named Bubba. Also? She writes travel stories for Fodor's and other outlets, while also keeping a blog. ....and she's modeled. ..and she's been a teacher. ...and....the list goes on, but we're excited today to talk to her about how she's found a way to put together diverse skills and barter her way across the USA. Think you don't have enough money to travel? She'll share tricks she's used and stories from the road on today's wide-ranging (to put it mildly) discussion. LOTS of people are having debt forgiven because of COVID-19, but some are in store for a surprise. We'll share who's showing up with their hand out when you write down debt during our headlines segment. Also, the new Social Security cost of living increase has been announced, and....it's not pretty. We'll talk inflation, the stock market, and setting up your investments to win. Of course we'll also throw out the Haven Life line to a lucky listener and leave some time for Doug to share some of his mind-bending trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How's your network of mentors, friends and coaches? Who can you reach out to for help when you really need something? On today's show our roundtable contributors will tackle networking, and how to build a more effective surround sound for your life. We won't talk "networking," which can come across as dirty and slimy. We'll tackle how to effectively and sincerely grow a network so that you're more effective and also more of a help to other people. Our piece today says that your net worth is equal to your network, and we'll ask our roundtable what that means for you. Speaking of being happy...after our discussion on true friendship, wealth, and cold, hard business decisions - we'll turn our attention to a new site called Happy Money in our Friday FinTech segment. We'll give a break to our panel while Joe talks with the company's Chief Science Officer, Dr. Elizabeth Dunn, who's a behavioral and happiness expert. How do you, as mom says, turn that money frown upside down? She'll share details of what they're working on. Who's on our roundtable today? We're super happy that today we network with Roger Whitney from the Retirement Answer Man podcast, Paula Pant from Afford Anything, and OG from our very own podcast. Of course, we'll also save time for Doug's Friday game show trivia. It's too bad Joe isn't in the running for points - today's Disney themed trivia would net him an easy win this week. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How's your savings plan been? Have you had to abandon ship on your retirement goals during this car wreck of a year? What are the keys to doing well with your money when the world turns on it's head? Today we'll discuss all of those things and T. Rowe Price's newest 401k data with the company's head of thought leadership, Josh Dietch. Is the stock market a house of cards? In a stunning accusation, one piece says that the stock market is nothing more than a (legal) Ponzi scheme, and a better investment for your money would be real estate, agriculture, and oil. While we're NOT jumping on the train to Ponziville, could there be some logic to the claims? We'll break down whether you should take any stock in opinion pieces with claims like these during our headlines segment of the show. Plus, Cake Boss Buddy Valastro is on his road to recovery after severely injuring his dominant decorating hand in a bowling alley accident. We'll share exactly what happened, and why this might make you change your mind about your insurances. We'll round out today's show with a letter from Randy during the Haven Life Line. After listening to our Guy Raz episode, Randy wanted to share his experience moving to Columbia. He reports that it was "easier" than he thought it would be, and he saved a lot of money doing it. Of course, we'll always save some time for Doug's trivia. It's an action packed Wednesday here in the basement, so we hope you enjoy it! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you focus on managing time or money? If you worry about every dollar, do you value your time similarly, spending moments carefully? While many of us know much we expect to save, spend, and invest each month, not as many of us know exactly where our time is going. In her new book, Time Smart, Harvard Global Health fellow Ashley Whillans explains where all your extra time is going, the two different approaches we take with time and work, and why it feels like we have less time in our day than ever before. Think you don't need a layer of separation between you and your money? After today's headline, you might reconsider how much access you want to your cash. The short and sweet? Under NO circumstances should you cash out $400,000 for your partner's flight school venture. (And maybe watch your checks). In our second headline, we'll cover Kobe's autographed court floor selling for over $600,000. While that's an undeniable nice piece of history to show off to your friends, the average investor (or even a lot of investors who could be considered rich), probably shouldn't even think about spending that kind of cash on a collectible. Plus, during our Haven Life Line Steve from Arkansas has a thing or two to say about Bauxite. On a recent show Joe and OG dismissed Bauxite a little too quickly for Steve's tastes, and he's laying down some firsthand knowledge. As always, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Most of us are frustrated by our paycheck. Are you a Henry? That's "high earner, not rich yet." Maybe you know a Henry and are confused how someone who makes so much money is constantly broke all the time? While our topic today covers money mistakes made by high-earners, workers of all income-levels will find today's advice relevant to their wallets. Plus, ever dream about owning rare baseball cards, vintage cars, or maybe even a jersey? Halfway through the show we'll dive into the world of investing and collectibles with Rob Petrozzo, co-founder of Rally. While you might not have the cash to buy a classic Aston Martin, you could invest in some shares. During our Magnify Money segment we have a big question that Brian posted in our Basement Facebook group on behalf of his neighbor. Brian's neighbor has had a rough go financially so far, but he's looking to turn things around. With bad credit, a felony, and a foreclosure on the record where should Brian's neighbor start? Plus, we'll make some time's for Doug's weekly trivia game show.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How are geniuses different than the rest of us? Can we study them to emulate some of their strengths? How do we define genius? Can we become a genius by applying ourselves? Today we'll tackle all of those questions and more with Dr. Craig Wright, who joins us to talk all things genius on today's show. If you've ever wondered what to do to improve your abilities in any area, we'll cover some of the traits of the best and brightest among us on today's show. Plus, while we've all read about the growing gap between the richest and poorest among us, we've actually read very few ideas to solve the problem. Hedge fund star Bill Ackman has a proposal, and in our headlines segment, we'll share details. Should we begin giving people money at birth? That's part of his idea that we'll share. Also, we all know that there are a few keys to success in life. Today we'll share the "magic sauce" as presented by one Tik-Tok creator. Brilliant! Of course we'll still throw out the Haven Life line AND save time for some of Doug's delicious trivia. What are you waiting for? Press "play" already! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are you getting all of the mileage you can from your workplace benefits? LOTS of people are likely leaving money on the table by not layering benefits correctly, and TODAY we'll make sure you aren't one of them. Today Amanda Lannert, CEO of benefit-expert company Jellyvision, joins Joe to share best practices when it comes to increasing the mileage from your benefits. During Joe and Amanda's conversation, we'll walk through every benefit in the package and detail how to make better decisions about not just health insurance, life insurance, and disability coverage, but we'll also talk about flex spending accounts, health savings accounts, dependent care accounts, pet insurance, legal plans, supplemental hospital coverage, dental, and more. What's your retirement plan? We'll kick off our headlines segment by sharing the very scary retirement plan that far too many Americans are relying on. If you're reading this, you just might be the saver in your group of friends... and after you hear today's statistics you'll want to make sure your friends aren't including YOU as THEIR emergency plan. Plus, in our second piece, one lucky man found a 9-caret diamond in a public state park. As it turns out, it doesn't matter how you come into money, the IRS will find you, and they'll get their due. (On the other hand... public roads are nice too). We'll finish the show with a Haven Life Line question. Brian's company started offering withdrawls on after-tax contributions. Brian plans on using the mega back door Roth IRA instead of a 529 plan for his two-year old. He wants to pull out the contributions only and let the growth be used for retirement savings. Brian asks: what do we think of his plan? Of course, we'll also give Doug will some air time to deliver his trivia! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many times have you negotiated a better deal? Car payments? Rent? Mortgage fees? How much in life is up for negotiation, and how do you get better at it? We asked our roundtable contributors the same thing, and they had a lot to offer. Making up today's show: Stacy Johnson, founder and CEO of MoneyTalkNews; Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast; and Len Penzo (from the LenPenzo.com blog), and another thanks to our celebrity reader - and author of today's piece - Rich Jones from Paychecks & Balances. Halfway through the show we'll take a break from our discussion while Joe rings up Ryan Falvey, co-founder of Financial Venture Studio. Fintech is a fast moving field, and we'll find out from Ryan how COVID has changed the game when it comes to apps on your phone. We'll finish out today roundtable with a Magnify Money call from Bruce. He tells our roundtable that he's buying his first home, and wants to shop around for a good mortgage. How can he do that without his credit being dinged 100 times? Our roundtable gives him so solid advice, and it'll be nice knowledge for you tooo. Of course, we'll also carve out some time for Doug's game show trivia.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

The biggest mistake you can make is to wait until the last minute to learn about how to make the most out of your benefits packages. It's one thing to mess up a form at the DMV, but when it comes to your Medicare, making a mistake can lead to big issues with your health. Danielle Kunkle Roberts, author of new book, 10 Costly Medicare Mistakes You Can't Afford To Make, comes on today's show to share the key decisions you'll need to make and how to avoid losing money or health care options. Plus, is another bear market on the way? Honest answer? Maybe! During our headlines we'll explain how the bear market could drop next week, (or tomorrow, or even next month)... and why that shouldn't matter to your portfolio anyway. In our second piece, we'll share the changing American sentiment behind sustainable funds. During the Haven Life Line, Amy calls in with questions on how to retire as an expat. Amy and her husband live in Germany with their three kids and they both get paid in euros. Due to complicated investing laws, Amy has most of their assets located in the United States. The problem? Amy's family plans to retire in Germany! Amy asks us: What type of professional should Amy and her husband hire to sort out their financials? Should that professional be American or German? All that and more on today's episode! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So you've learned that it's important to save. You've picked a mutual fund or an exchange traded fund, and now you're pouring some money in. What should you know next? Today we'll chat with CBS Business Analyst and host of the Jill on Money show, Jill Schlesinger. We'll talk about investment fees, better diversification, what's MOST important when you're investing, and more. Get ready for some investing talk because today class is in session! Making coffee is great, but the real easy money-maker? Holding other people's money. During today's headlines we'll explain how the giant coffee chain Starbucks it padding a huge part of their bottom budget with YOUR cash. Plus, financial giant LPL is stopping some of their advisors from using a Morningstar product. Is this a case of big brother overstepping? Hardly! We'll talk about how advisors work and the role of oversight on today's show. During the Haven Life Line, Jordan calls in with a question that I think will resonate with more than a few listeners. Jordan will be working from home for the foreseeable future due to COVID. His car has been collecting dust in the garage. Jordan asks: would it be sensible for him to sell his car? Jordan's wife will still have her minivan. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What does diversification really mean? Contrary to popular opinion, there's more to good diversification than just spreading your money around. But how does it work? Today we'll tackle a recent piece from the Wall Street Journal that dives into popular myths about diversification. Believe it or not there's more to it than just "spreading your money around." Before I forget - a big thanks to today's roundtable contributors! You can find more from Miranda Marquit at MirandaMarquit.com and freelancewriteracademy.com; Paula Pant at AffordAnything.com; AND you can get help in your financial corner from OG HERE. As far as financial independence and doing all the "right things," Jeff is pretty set. After years of effort getting to this point, Jeff now finds himself thinking less about his finances. What's the solution here? Find a hobby? Earn more cash? Buy products from all of our sponsors? Our roundtable will share their thoughts during our Magnify Money segment.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Mike Rosenfeld is what some people call boxer Jeison Rosario's "secret weapon." Boxing fan are fired up this week because Saturday features a title bout on Showtime between Jeison Rosario and Jermell Charlo, and today, Coach Mike joins us to share how he's worked with not just Jeison but with top professionals to bring energy, focus, and drive to whatever they do. We'll even share an exercise that Coach Mike uses (and that you can use, too) to improve your performance immediately. How much whiskey does it take to buy a house? It almost sounds like the start of a joke, but one U.K. man is laughing all the way to the bank. After discovering the value off his Macallan whiskey collection has skyrocketed, he plans to use his newfound cash as a down payment for a home. We'll round out today's show with a question most of us have asked at one point or another: are financial advisors worth the price? How hard could it be, right? Instead of answering a voicemail on today's Haven Life Line, we're turning our attention to a Reddit post that we think perfectly encapsulates why you should have an advisor as a buffer between you and your money. This might be one of the biggest money mistakes you never want to make. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are you doing to be best in class? What's your curriculum toward success? Why wouldn't you create your own personal MBA to achieve your goals? If you did, what would you study? Today we're going to help you sharpen the saw by welcoming Josh Kaufman, author of the Personal MBA, a book that came out 10 years ago (and now has a new 10th anniversary edition), but is even more meaningful today than it was then. Build more skills and you'll be rewarded with far more Benjamins... Plus, during our headlines segment, we'll feature TWO stories about borrowers either having their student loan debt erased or who were suing to have it expelled. We'll ask attorney Leslie Tayne her thought about whether these rulings will open up opportunities for YOU to discharge your student loans. We'll finish out today's show with one big question: do you tell your kids either your net worth or your total investments? We asked the same question to our SB Basement Facebook group, and received a range of responses. We'll share not only our own, but a nice range of parent responses during our segment. As always, Doug will also get the spotlight during the halftime. On the menu for today? Fantasy Trivia! (I went into this one blind and I'm proud to say I actually got this one right.)  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Would you cut birthday parties, holiday get-togethers, attending work events, or giving gifts? How much would you cut to live a financially lean "simple life"? One Reddit user has taken these steps (and more!) in an attempt to stay on course. After our special surprise celebrity reader delivers today's piece, we'll ask our roundtable for their thoughts. Has lean living gone too far? Is financial independence worth these sacrifices? Today we are joined by Olympic gold-medalist turned financial planner, Lauryn Williams; comedian and host of the Crazy Money podcast, Paul Ollinger; and the guy you know and love - Len Penzo of the LenPenzo.com blog. Halfway through the show we'll take a break from our discussion while Joe rings up Zach Pettet. The last time we talked to Zach was when he was on stage on behalf of Fountain City Fintech during our Stacking Benjamins Live Tour. Today, Zach has his own podcast examining the world of fintech: For Fintech's Sake. During the segment, we'll poke Zach's brain to find out where the world of fintech is at now, AND ask what's in store for the future of fintech. During our MagnifyMoney call, we'll give some advice to an anonymous caller who is interested in investing. While she doesn't have enough extra cash to buy whole stocks, she could buy fractional shares. Because E-Trade doesn't offer fractional shares, our caller would have to open an account with another firm. Any advice? What good brokerage firms offer fractional shares? Is this even a good idea at all? Plus during Doug's trivia gameshow, we'll celebrate the U.S. Air Force's 73rd birthday. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How I Built This. It's the case-study story that Guy Raz, creator and host of NPR's How I Built This podcast, has been told many times. Today we'll flip the script on Guy and ask him: what led him to build his hit podcast? We don't stop there, we'll also get inside Guy's head and ask about some of the common themes among the stories he's heard. We'll ask about business as war, fear, building loyal fans, and what drives these founders...often "normal" people, toward success? Plus, thinking about leaving this all behind the hot moment that countries begin accepting American passports? During our headlines segment, we'll share a list that already has my vote for the best title of 2020: 4 tropical places you can live well for less than 2000 dollars. (Anyone else working remotely bookmarking this)? In our second piece: has the college education model finally met its match? Welcome to Google's newest venture: higher education. Google's new certificate program can be completed in just about six months, and at a fraction of the cost of a traditional college. Ka-ching! While large companies are already signing on to honor the certificate, we won't know its true value until we collect some solid data on the hiring rates of graduates. Later, during our Haven Life Line, Francisco calls in with a question about expense ratios. Would switching from a high-to-low expense ratio account be a good move? Does that answer change for tax-advantaged accounts? Of course, there will still be time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many times have you lost and thought, "I'm going to learn to do better the next time, so I win." What did you learn specifically from losing? Author Mary Pilon asked the same question and put together an anthology on stories about epic losses that shines a spotlight on the struggle involved trying to reach the top of anything. If you're inspired--like we are--by stories of other's struggle so we don't feel so alone, you're going to be super excited listening to Mary share a few epic stories from the book. Next, has Robinhood finally attracted its share of regulator attention? During our headlines, we'll recap the numerous reasons why you shouldn't use Robinhood for your investing. Plus, in our second piece, are you heading to retirement disaster by underestimating your life expectancy? During the Haven Life Line, we'll take a question about short-term investing from Matt. He's currently in college, and looking to invest $2000 for a couple of year. Where's the best Matt can invest his money? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Welcome to the happiest podcast on earth? Do you know where we stole that catchphrase from? If you do, you just might be a product of marketing. Companies spend millions of dollars each year trying to get you to remember their brand. Today we'll prove just how much we remember marketing with a game show episode where we slightly change the brand slogans and see if our roundtable participants (OG, Paula and Len) can come up with them. How many can you get right? ...and is that a good thing? Plus, halfway through the show, insurance company Hippo and home security firm Simplisafe join us to talk about a new study talking about home insecurity. With the pandemic, the average person feels less secure about their home life. As a response, they've also teamed up with a new partnership. We'll share details about the study and the partnership on today's show. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happened to the sharing economy? The new work model promised to give workers flexibility and new income streams, while people with excess could share what they had with people looking for help. What it turned into is a different matter: lots of people earning below minimum wage, an over-saturation of workers all competing for the same prime hours, and headline-making lawsuits from companies looking to minimize their responsibility to workers. These are all things new gig workers can expect when joining the new "gig" field. Today we chat with Juliet Schor, author of the new best-selling book, After The Gig. During our interview Juliet will share the business strategies that kick-started the shift in direction large gig and sharing companies made, how gig workers don't know how much they're truly making, and we'll also dive into possible solutions to the gig economy's current problems. In our headlines segment, we'll ask, "Why half of the millennial generation have canceled their travel credit cards?" Plus, Fidelity is now offering their first Bitcoin fund. Should you pay any attention? We'll finish out the show with our Haven Life Line. Retired clergyman Bill calls in asking if he can really take out a tax-free housing disbursement from his 403b if the money was made through clergy work.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wish you had better habits? Whether you're not getting out of bed for that morning run, or you stay up too late before an important meeting in the morning, or you can't stop breaking the budget - we've all asked ourselves, "why did I do that AGAIN?" Dr. Joseph Cardillo, best-selling author of multiple books on the intersection of mindfulness and health not only knows the answer to that, he's sharing the solution on today's show! In his new book, 12 Rules of Attention, Dr. Cardillo goes through easy-to-follow steps on how you can stop bad habits in their tracks, AND how to trick your brain into establishing habits that'll make you a superstar in whatever area of your life you wish to improve. Brittany Spears is back in the news. In our headlines segment we'll review how her father has served as her conservator for twelve years (taking care of Spears' money), and now the pop star wants him out. So, what does it mean to have a conservator? How can someone make sure everything is on the up-and-up? We'll share that and recall one famous conservator horror story which saw one extremely rich widow fight homelessness. Plus, what's a headlines segment without talking about money and video games? Today we'll also cover the beef between Apple and Epic Games. It's...wait for it...pretty....epic. We'll also throw out the Haven Life line today to listener Swaggenit, who was notified by Turbotax that because he already contributes to his 401k, he won't receive any tax benefit for his IRA. He asks: because he doesn't receive a tax advantage now and he's contributing post-tax money, will the money be tax-free when he withdraws it? Is there a good reason to keep contributing to his IRA? As always, we'll of course save some time for Doug's trivia, who's keeping his Independence Day questions going strong. Enjoy!   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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