Listen Money Matters - Free Your Inner Financial Badass. All The Stuff You Should Know About Personal Finance.

 Many of the reasons people are fearful of investing are myths.  Let us help you separate fact from fiction so you can feel confident investing. Investing Myths Don’t believe everything you hear. 1. It’s Overly Risky Too many people are not investing because they think it’s too risky. They’ll hand their money over to this thing they don’t understand and poof, X bad thing (they’re not really sure what a bad thing is, they’re just sure there are lots of them) happens and their money is wiped out. So instead, they leave it where it’s nice and safe, in a checking or savings account or stuffed under the proverbial mattress. What they don’t realize is that those things are even riskier than investing. When money is in a low yield account where it’s making less than 1% interest or under the mattress where it’s making no interest, inflation is eroding the value of that money slowly but surely. If your house burns down, the money under the mattress is ashes. Yes there are risks to investing but an investor can

Are you a materialist or a minimalist?  Let us help you find a happy middle ground so you can have nice things and still afford nice things. A materialist is defined as “someone who puts an unhealthy priority on things.”  A minimalist prioritizes living with less to achieve freedom.  Freedom can be defined in lots of ways, financial freedom, freedom from “stuff,” even freedom from a place. We all like stuff, shiny stuff, new stuff, pretty stuff, cool stuff.  Not all of us can see the connection between our love of stuff and our lack of money.  We all know people with closets full of new clothes or all the newest gadgets who constantly moan that they don’t have any money. And we know people who want to move across the country or pull up stakes and start travelling.  But they can’t because they have so much stuff.  How will they move all that stuff, where can they store all that stuff?  Stuff weighs you down, psychologically and geographically. If we can stop buying and stop holding onto all that stuff, wha

Ever heard the lottery referred to as “the fool’s tax?”  Learn why the lottery is for idiots and why the odds are always in the house’s favor in a casino. The odds of winning the Powerball lottery are more than one in one hundred and seventy five million.  That’s a lot of zeros.  If lightening struck (you actually have much better odds of this happening, one in 700,000) and you did win, one in three lotto winners are in serious financial trouble or bankrupt within five years.  In fact, the odds of you being struck by lightening FIVE THOUSAND TIMES is higher than the odds of you winning the lottery once. One of the most annoying things about working in an office is being pressured to join the lottery pool.  That and to sponsor “charity walks.”  The argument that if you buy more tickets, as you would in a pool, you’re much more likely to win is crap too.  Your odds don’t go up much until you start buying thousands of tickets.  Then your co-workers tell you it’s just good fun and you’re missing out.  Take Matt

Student loan refinancing can save you money but it’s a confusing process.  Today we get some guidance from Mike Cagney, co-founder of SoFi.com. SoFi started in 2011 by raising two million dollars from Stanford Graduate School of Business alums to loan to students.  One hundred students were loaned $20,000 each.  The idea being that the students would be more responsible with money borrowed from their own community and the lenders would have a vested interest in seeing students succeed from within that community. SoFi has evolved into a company that consolidates  and refinances loans.  They refinanced one hundred million dollars worth this June and save former students an average of $11,000 over the life of a loan.  SoFi also help graduates who are unemployed by freezing their loans and helping them to find new jobs and help former students to start their own businesses by freezing loans and helping to raise capital. SoFi can refinance loans with interest rates over 6% and can work with state, federal, and

Just like produce, a lot of what you buy has a season.  If you know what’s “in season” you can save a lot of money.  We’ll find out when to buy what. Kitchen Appliances:  According to Money Crashers, September and October because that’s when new models come out.  Last year’s version will be reduced.  This point will be a recurring theme in the episode.  And it’s not like from year to year there are great innovations in refrigerators.  Getting last year’s model doesn’t mean you won’t have the new fridge that makes you toast or anything.  You aren’t missing much but overpaying. Automobiles:  From Auto Trader, the end of each year  and the end of every day.  Sales people are hustling to get that last sale in before the numbers come out so they’re more flexible.  Also late summer/early fall when the new models come out. Computers:  PC World suggests buying around the holidays and back to school time. Gaming Systems:  Since everyone wants these as holiday presents, lifehacker suggests January.  Your disappoint

    It’s time for listener questions.  We’ll discuss stock earnings, home renovations, side hustles, emergency funds, and money for freelancers.  1.  How does a company’s quarterly earnings report affect my stock?  Yes, but it’s not just about whether the company made or lost money.  The report also contains information about what is going on inside the company.  So just because the company made money doesn’t necessarily guarantee a positive report.  It’s more important to read the report and get a sense of what’s happening within the company than to just make decisions based strictly on numbers.  2.  How do you do home improvement and landscaping on a budget?  Plan and budget!  Before you go crazy at the plant store, how many will you  need, how much sun does your yard get?  Repurpose things, good for your wallet and the environment.  The most important thing is to do some of it yourself.  Potting plants isn’t something you need a professional for.  Re-wiring your home, you probably do.  See what you can bor

Betterment CEO Jon Stein gives us a  behind the scenes look at how the company operates and makes your money work for you.  Betterment is an automated way to invest your money based on your goals and time frame. Answer a few simple questions and Betterment will set up a diversified portfolio that is managed for you.  After studying economics and human behavior, Jon started his career consulting for banks.  He saw that they didn’t care about customers and their products were almost designed to help people fail.  He experimented with several brokerage companies and couldn’t find what he was looking for.  So like all good entrepreneurs, he decided to make what he couldn’t find elsewhere himself.  A company that made it easy to invest and served the client, not the bottom line.  That’s how Betterment was born.  A listener asked why Betterment is better than Vanguard given that Vanguard has better fees.  Betterment does some things that Vanguard does not.  Betterment invests in fractional shares, each time you dep

When it comes to storing your cash, you have three choices, under the mattress, a credit union, or a bank. Don’t do the first one. That leaves us with credit union vs. bank, which one is better for your money? If you’ve contemplated ditching your bank and joining a credit union, we’ll lay out the differences between the two so you can make the best decision for your money. Banks Suck Banks have almost always had bad press, and much of it they have earned. We all remember 2008 when they nearly collapsed the world economy or more recently, Wells Fargo underhanded little scheme that involved opening accounts without customer’s knowledge or permission. After all the recent bad press, it’s not surprising that people want an alternative to traditional banks. Credit unions provide that alternative. What is a Credit Union? A credit union is a non-profit money making cooperative where members can borrow from pooled deposits at lower interest rates. They exist to serve their members rather than maximize corpora

Moving is third on a list of  life stressors behind the death of a partner and divorce.  Learn how to save money during the process to help reduce the stress. 1.  Don’t pay for boxes.  There are lots of sources of free boxed, but Matt knows a tip to get extra sturdy boxes for free.  Ask at a hospital, lab, or pool store.  The reason is that all of those places are shipped chemicals so the boxes are thicker and more durable. 2.  Move less stuff.  We don’t recommend Andrew’s method of having all of your belongings swept away by a hurricane but there are ways to reduce how much you take to the new place.  We discussed several in Episode 96.  Sell some stuff to get some extra cash and that will save you money because there is less stuff to move.  Less to pack and unpack too so you can’t go wrong with this one. 3.  Screw bubble wrap.  Fun for the cat but expensive for moving and unnecessary.  Use clothes, towels, sheets, newspaper to wrap and cushion your breakables. 4.  Keep track of all your moving expenses.

We all want to be successful and college used to be a route to success. But with college costs so high, it’s out of reach for some so we’ll explore alternatives to college. The cost of college tuition has risen 1,120% since 1978. There is $1.3 trillion in outstanding student loan debt in the US. Even if you do go to college, a degree is no longer the almost guaranteed ticket to the upper middle class it once was. But not going to college, or not going via traditional routes, doesn’t mean you are destined for a life of low wage jobs and poverty. There are many paths to success and they don’t all require higher education. Invest Most of us are not going to get rich simply from our 9-5 jobs and even if we do, it’s still important to have at least one form of passive income, something that makes us money with very little effort on our part. The best form of passive income is investing and the most important way to make a lot of money through investing is to start early. The more time your money has to grow,

What exactly are dividends and how do they work? When you invest in a company you get paid a portion of a company’s profits as a way to compensate you for your investment. These payments are called dividends and they are a form of passive income. What are Dividends? When you own stock in a company directly or through a fund you may receive dividends. A dividend is a distribution of a portion of a company’s profits. They are decided by the board of directors and can be issued as cash payments, as shares of stock or other property. It’s an opportunity for a company to reward shareholder loyalty. The amount you receive depends on how much stock you own and how much profit there was to divide. Why Buy Dividend Stocks? Investors, particularly retired investors, like the steady income that dividend stocks provide and also like the option of reinvesting dividends to buy more shares of stock. Not All Companies Offer Dividends Most companies don’t offer dividends, and if they do, they can cancel them if it’s

Our guest, the Mad Fientist delves deep into advanced IRA strategies. Find out why you should have one and which one will best fit your needs. Brandon shares the same goal as many of us, to retire at a young age and avoid paying as much tax as is legal! How you handle your IRA’s can be a big part of achieving both goals. Traditional IRA A Traditional IRA is not taxed upfront but at the point of withdrawal. The money grows tax-deferred. Upon withdrawal after age 59 1/2, the money is taxed as income. For 2016, you can contribute up to $5,500, $6,500 if you are aged 50 or older. Roth IRA A Roth IRA is taxed upfront and not upon withdrawal after age 59 1/2. For 2016, the contribution limits are the same as for a Traditional IRA. 401k Many people have a 401k through their employer. A 401k is similar to a Traditional IRA. The money goes in tax-free. When you leave your job, whether it’s to take a new one or to retire, roll that account into a Traditional IRA. This simplifies things so you aren’t trying to keep trac

Social security is a decisive topic but we’ll give you the facts while leaving the politics aside so you can draw your own conclusions. Social security was established by FDR in 1935 as part of The New Deal.  It was intended to alleviate poverty for the elderly, unemployed, and fatherless children.  Workers pay in during their working lives and draw from it once retired, each generation funding the previous one. Since 1983, the cash flow has been positive, more coming in than going out.  By 2021, just seven years from now, it’s forecast to be paying out money faster than it comes in.  Some experts think this is not apocalyptic and the money will be diverted from somewhere else to continue the program.  The surest way for a politician in America not to get elected or re-elected is to try to mess with Social Security so the government will always find a way to fund it. One way to save the program is to privatize it.  It would be less like a tax and more like a 401K.  This way the money could be left to famil

We’re breaking down Listen Money Matter’s Twelve Financial Philosophies.  Think and meditate on them and then live by them. 1.  You are responsible for your own wealth.  Don’t expect to marry rich, inherit a fortune or win the lottery. Don’t blame your back ground, the economy, or any other excuse you can come up with.  If you want to build wealth, the onus is on you. 2.  Getting out of debt is an emergency.  If you have debt, use the stack method to pay it off. 3.  Always take free money.  If your employer offers matching 401K, take it.  Even if you have debt, contribute to the 401K. 4.  Super frugality is a waste of time and money.  We’re all for frugal but if it takes two hours to make your own laundry soap, that’s perhaps not the best use of your time.  You would save more batch cooking for two hours so you don’t have to buy lunch at work for the week. 5.  Credit cards make spending cheaper when correctly used.  A good cash back card will save you a small percent on your purchases. 6.  Avoid bank fe

Debt affects your credit score and makes life more expensive. We’ll show you the cost of debt and reasons you need a kick ass credit score. A good credit score saves you money in many ways. You don’t have to achieve the “perfect” score but having a score above 760 will go a long way towards making life cheaper. What is a Credit Score? A credit score is a number calculated using a number of factors to show how creditworthy you are. Lenders use this number to decide whether or not to lend you money, what rate of interest you will pay on that loan and in the case of credit card companies, whether or not to issue you a card and what your limit will be. Card interest rates are pre-set so your score doesn’t affect that. What Makes Up a Credit Score? There are six major components that make up your credit score. We did an in-depth article on it but to quickly re-cap, these are the factors; * Payment History: If you pay your bills on time. * Credit Utilization: How much of your available credit is being used

As demonstrated in Vimes’ theory of boots, sometimes it saves money long term to spend more up front.  What items are worth the splurge and which are not? Quality versus cost is not about being fancy and always buying the most expensive version of everything or being cheap and always buying the least expensive version of things.  It’s about making sure what you buy lasts as long as possible so you don’t have to spend more money constantly replacing the same item. Technology is a great example.  Apple products are less vulnerable to viruses than pcs.  A virus will cost you money either having to pay for repairs or replace the computer entirely. A good rule of thumb on where to spend the extra money is “anything that comes between you and the ground.”  So shoes, mattresses, and tires.  You spend a third of your life in bed so mattresses are not the place to save some money. Anything that needs to last a long time is worth the extra money.  Things like cushioned furniture and appliances.  What you put into y

A shopping sniper knows what they want, gets it, and gets out.  We’ll teach you a few tricks to become the shopping sniper with the most confirmed kills. Welcome to your training. I hope you enjoyed the video. But now it’s time to begin. It’s time to know all the secrets on how to spend less money. This is a 2,000-word training manual that will walk you through becoming a Shopping Sniper, and in turn, teach you how to spend less, save more money and allow you to focus on what’s really important. Why Are Americans Addicted to Shopping? You’d think because of the economic crash in 2008 that Americans would be a lot more conscious of their spending. You’d also think Americans would have toned down their shopping just a little bit, but instead, shopping totals have increased. In April of 2013, retail shopping sales increased by 0.1%. Not a huge increase, but an increase nonetheless. We are a culture of consumerism. It’s been ingrained in our DNA to want stuff, to keep up with the Joneses, to “shop till yo

What does the ideal financially responsible person look like?  Is it you? We’ll discuss achieving financial perfection.  See how you stack up. The ideal person will have no student loan, credit card, or car debt.  Their housing expenses will be no more than 30% of their income, total expenses no more than 50%. They will devote 20% of their salary to investing.  The other 30% is discretionary income. Andrew wrote a detailed post about how you should be investing that 20%.  You get $25,000 in an investment account as your emergency fund first and then can branch out to riskier options.  Age is important too.  In our book, Mastering Mint there is a graph on page 92 showing what percentage of your income you need to save to retire in X number of years. Credit cards can be a tool for the financially responsible.  As long as you pay the entire balance each month.  You can leverage credit cards for travel discounts, cash back, and purchase protection. The ideal person has a budget.  No matter how few expenses yo

   We’re answering listener questions about gold, stock options, coupons, investing, and how to avoid student loan debt. 1.  Should I invest in gold and silver?  The short answer is no.  It’s risky and speculative.  Gold and silver prices fluctuate wildly from ridiculous highs to tremendous lows.  To make money this way you would have to time the market and we’ve discussed before that it is inadvisable to do so. 2.  Should I buy company stock at a 15% discount or continue with Betterment?  This question was detailed but at the end of the day, the company was getting a year long loan and the money was not accessible.  It’s also the problem of too many eggs in one basket.  Having your income and investments coming from the same place is risky.  Continue putting the money into Betterment. 3.  Are coupons worth your time? Coupons are to get you into the store knowing that once you’re there, you’ll buy more than what you came in for.  If you have a lot of self control and are using the coupon to buy something

We all have the same 24 hours to work with.  But there are lots of ways to get more out of those hours.  We’ll give you some tips to make the job easier. Whether you work from home, work in an office, work for yourself, or for someone else, there is a tip out there that will organize, streamline, or enhance your process. 1.  Stay away from social media.  Don’t get sucked into a Twitter hole when you’re supposed to be working.  Stay off Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, all of those while you’re supposed to be working. 2.  Figure out  when you best work.  Some of us are larks and some are owls.  Forcing yourself to get up an hour earlier to get things done is useless if you’re nodding off.  Structure your day so the most important tasks get tackled when you’re at your peek. 3.  Learn how to say no.  Whether it’s an invitation, a phone call, or taking on a project when you already have too much on your plate, say no. Once you’ve finished, then you’re free to accept those things. 4.  Exercise, eat and sleep pro