Ask HTM – Looking to the Stars to Save, High Price to Pay for Financial Advice, & Setting up a Roth for a Minor #1141

Summary

How to Money – Episode #1141: Ask HTM – Looking to the Stars to Save, High Price to Pay for Financial Advice, & Setting up a Roth for a Minor

Released: May 18, 2026 | Hosted by Joel and Matt

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Episode Overview

In this engaging listener Q&A episode, hosts Joel and Matt field questions on a variety of important personal finance topics—from starting Roth IRAs for teenagers and evaluating the true cost of financial advice, to examining the upsides and challenges of Starlink-powered internet and the homeownership vs. renting debate. Their signature approachable banter and focus on practical, unbiased advice make these sometimes complex financial issues accessible for everyone.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Lowering the Legal Drinking Age: Social Benefits vs. Health Risks

[03:17–07:24]

• Matt raises Scott Galloway’s argument for lowering the legal drinking age from 21 to 18, pointing to research on social cohesion and combating loneliness.
  • "He's pointing to the larger problem that we are now facing as a society, which is loneliness... the social lubrication that takes place just by having a drink." —Matt [03:58]
• Joel acknowledges the social benefits but questions whether using a substance should be necessary for bonding.
  • "I guess it just stinks. It probably shouldn't take a substance to make that a reality." —Joel [04:38]
• Both consider technological progress in reducing drunk driving risk (rideshares, car safety features) and the societal nuance of risk aversion among young people.
  • "Maybe you become so averse to risk that it's bad for the country, bad for society, bad for individuals..." —Joel [05:54]

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2. Setting Up a Roth IRA for a Teen – Maximizing the Opportunity

Listener: Andy | [08:29–19:16]

Key Takeaways:

• Early Work Experience: Andy’s 15-year-old daughter just started her first job, and he wants to match her Roth IRA contributions.
  • Joel: “First off Andy deserves a congratulations because he's got a kid who's working in high school.” [09:25]
• Parental Matching: Matching contributions can incentivize savings and mimic a future employer-sponsored retirement match.
  • Matt: “That daddy match… is incredibly clutch, which creates an additional incentive… to incentivize her to invest those dollars.” [10:49]
• Contribution Limits: Can’t contribute more than the child’s actual earned income (or above the annual IRA limit).
• Magic of Compounding: Start young—even small amounts can grow to huge sums.
  • “$7,500 invested at age 15 could be worth $240,000 in retirement, like when you're 65, which kind of blows my mind." —Joel [13:05]
  • Matt gives the “lily pad” compounding analogy: "All the magic in compounding happens on that back end." [15:22]
• Tax Benefits: Teens often pay no income tax, so Roth IRA withdrawals in retirement are entirely tax-free.
• Where to Open the Account: Fidelity is recommended for its youth-friendly platform, low fees, and good fund options.
  • “Fidelity is probably going to be the best bet. They've got a pretty decent app... you can even turn Fidelity into the Grand Central Station for all of her money.” —Matt [16:26]
• Fund Selection: Consider whether proprietary Fidelity funds tie you in, or whether to use more portable alternative ETFs.

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3. The High Price of Financial Advice: Is 1% AUM Worth It?

Listener: John | [21:55–32:54]

John’s Gripe:

• Paying a 1% assets under management (AUM) fee can equate to 20–25% of one’s annual withdrawal income.
  • "If you're paying your investment advisor $10,000 a year and you're gaining 40,000... you're actually paying... 20 or 25% of your actual income. If you think about it this way, it's crazy." —John [21:55]
• Most advisors, he argues, don’t do enough to justify such high annual costs.

Joel & Matt’s Insights:

• The 1% AUM model is outdated and expensive over time.
  • Joel: “Even just 1% assets under management fee... could cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousand dollars in retirement dollars for people.” [23:46]
• Advice-only, flat fee, and hourly models are gaining traction and can be much more affordable.
  • Joel: “We’ve been fans of that approach for a long time. It’s how you pay for most services, right?” [24:45]
• Good advisors can be worth the fee in complex situations (tax optimization, coaching, retirement planning)—but value and responsiveness vary widely.
  • “A great financial advisor could easily be worth $10,000 a year if they are helpful with you optimizing for taxes, if they are a good coach…” —Matt [27:35]
• For many, a periodic “financial check-up” (one-off engagement) may be best.
  • “You can even hire many of those advisors for a one time assessment... instead of this ongoing relationship." —Joel [32:01]
• Consumers should negotiate and seek compensation models that suit their needs and situation.

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4. Should You Buy Extra Pension Years or Build Market Wealth?

Listener: Zach | [32:54–43:13]

Scenario:

• Zach, a teacher, can pay $50,000 to buy 5 years of service credit—boosting his pension by $1,000/month.
• He could use his rollover IRA to pay for it, or keep the IRA invested and work more years.

Matt & Joel’s Analysis:

• Rolling over IRA funds for more pension is tempting, but having only a large pension leaves you with less market exposure (and hence, potentially less long-term growth and flexibility).
  • "If you double down... more than you should, you’re like, ‘Well, I’m eliminating all that risk.’ And it’s like, well, actually ironically, you’ve exposed yourself to more risk.” —Matt [37:42]
• Consider if you’ll work long enough to qualify anyway; if yes, there’s no need to “buy back” yet.
  • “If you’re going to get there anyway because you like teaching... don’t buy the time, earn it.” —Joel [38:02]
• Revisit in 10+ years when the decision will be clearer, and your IRA will likely have grown as well.
  • "Take a wait and see approach. Where do things stand in 10 years, 12 years, purchasing that service time further down the line...” —Joel [41:04]
• Keep diversified with both pension and invested retirement funds.

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5. Starlink via US Mobile: A Game-Changer or Overhyped?

Listener: Joanne | [45:43–49:00]

• Joanne asks about switching both phone and home internet to US Mobile, which is partnering with Starlink.

Key Points:

• US Mobile’s Starlink offers competitive pricing—especially for rural users with limited options.
  • "Starlink has been an incredible technological development. It's just not for everyone because you're likely to get higher speeds for potentially less money if you live in a city or a suburb…" —Joel [47:04]
• Rural areas benefit most; city-dwellers may still prefer cable/fiber for speed and cost.
• Shop all providers, consider negotiating with your current one, and don’t be afraid to “break up” with at least your current phone carrier.

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6. Renting Nightmares vs. Homeowner Hassles: Which is Worse?

Listener: Perry (via email) | [49:00–55:33]

• Perry lists the downsides of renting: bad landlords, rent hikes, privacy, limited improvements, etc., and says he’ll always prefer homeownership.

Hosts Respond:

• Both renting and owning come with hassles—just different ones.
  • “It's like, pick your poison. Which difficult scenario do you want?” —Joel [50:45]
• Some rental pitfalls (e.g., bad neighbors) also exist for owners.
• Renters do have the flexibility to move and tenant rights; homeownership offers more control and permanence but can be costly and burdensome.
  • “It’s easier to get out of a bum rental scenario.” —Joel [54:19]
• Decision depends on personal goals, life stage, and market conditions.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On the value of work for teens:
  • “My intention for my kids—and you and I kind of talk about this... I'm still fond of teenagers having a part time job.” —Joel [09:25]
• On the compounding power of early investing:
  • “All the magic in compounding happens on that back end.” —Matt [15:22]
• On the “1% AUM” advisor fee model:
  • “If you think about it this way, it's crazy... You're actually paying the investment advisor 20 or 25% of your actual income.” —John (Listener) [21:55]
• On the risk of over-focusing on pensions:
  • “Doubling down on that probably isn’t his best bet. Depending on how long he works there, he might not even need to do this.” —Joel [37:49]
• On Starlink as a rural game-changer:
  • "If you don't have access to cable or fiber, you're thinking you're lucky stars that you have this option now.” —Joel [47:04]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• 08:29 – Listener Q&A starts: Setting up a Roth IRA for a minor
• 21:55 – Should you pay 1% of assets for a financial advisor?
• 32:54 – Teacher’s pension buyback dilemma
• 45:43 – Starlink via US Mobile: Is it a good deal for internet?
• 49:00 – Renting vs. home ownership: listener experience and the hosts’ take

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Conclusion & Final Thoughts

Joel and Matt continue to deliver actionable, judgment-free financial advice, emphasizing that the "right" choices depend on personal circumstances and goals. Whether helping parents jumpstart their kids' investing lives, demystifying advisor fee models, or exploring the ever-changing homeownership equation, they remind listeners to weigh trade-offs and embrace financial decisions that maximize flexibility, value, and long-term growth.

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For more resources, show notes, or to submit your own question, visit howtomoney.com.

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Best friends out!

Transcript

[Podcast Announcer]

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[Joel]

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[Matt]

Let's say you've always wanted to take a spontaneous trip to the Caribbean. Well, here's the thing. If you get smart with your money, you can do things. Like with Empower, you can start making the most out of your money so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard to have some fun with our money, like treating yourself to something special or

[Joel]

spontaneously doing something extra for a loved one man. So use Empower and get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers [e-mail] not an Empower client, paid or sponsored. Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.

[Matt]

And I am Matt.

[Joel]

Today we're answering your listener questions.

[Matt]

That's right, buddy. Welcome to how to Money. This is the podcast where we talk about personal finance.

[Joel]

Are you welcoming me? Because I'm.

[Matt]

I appreciate that sometimes we talk to each other. I'm directly speaking to the listeners out there who those people may have never listened to the show before. This is a personal finance podcast, and you know that by the fact that it's called how to Money. We used to not call it how to Money. We used to call it poor not poor.

[Joel]

Yeah, we.

[Matt]

Which was not very searchable.

[Joel]

Figured it was also easier to, like, know what you were getting into when it was called how to Money.

[Matt]

Let people know we're talking about personal finance. You know what I got. Actually, here's a. I got a little question for you. Well, normally I tease. Okay, so we're going to talk about a listener who's looking to Starlink to save money. Got to give folks a little taste of what to expect, doing something good. Another listener is asking about the price that he's paying for good financial advice, whether or not it's too much or not. We'll discuss IRAs for minors, plus other topics during the episode today. Buddy. But on the note of poor, not poor, that's back when we did place more of an emphasis on the beer. And actually that's one of the things we took feedback from listeners where they're like, man, less of the craft beer talk. Because back in the day we used to talk about it on the front end a little bit more as well. And it's, it's more just like a way of setting the stage a little bit. As far as the kind of conversation that we're having, we just like to have a good time, enjoy life in

[Joel]

the process and make it approachable.

[Matt]

Right. Like, hey, you're talking about you're hanging

[Joel]

out with a buddy, a nerdy subject, but over a good beer. And hey, like that's a better way to tackle it than reading a nerdy book with a monocle on it.

[Matt]

Exactly. But on that note, I've got an alcohol related question for you. What do you think about. And this is something that folks will talk. Well, Scott Galloway, you, he's, this is something that he talks a decent bit about too. But he thinks that the legal drinking age should be lowered from 21 to age 18. And a lot of times folks will make the argument, they're like, well, if you can die for your country, you ought to be able to enjoy a beer.

[Joel]

Right?

[Matt]

That's my Midwestern, like salt of the earth. I've heard that one before argument. But he makes the argument that the, like when you look at the science, yes, zero alcohol is always going to be better for you than even one drink, essentially.

[Joel]

But through your whole human life.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just generally speaking, our bodies, you know, at a cellular scientific level, they perform better without alcohol. But he's pointing to the larger problem that we are now facing as a society, which is loneliness and how oftentimes you enjoy a drink, maybe you go out with some friends and the social cohesion, cohesion that takes place, the social lubrication that takes place just by having a drink and you're able to be honest with a friend or you know, ask somebody to do it to a dance, you know, you're at a wedding and it's just like, you know, normally I don't think I would, maybe I wouldn't have the guts to do that. What do you think of that argument?

[Joel]

I'll go do the Macarena because I've

[Matt]

had Now I'll do it. Oh, yeah. Or even just one where you're just like, you know what, let's. I'm going to make it happen. What you think about that? This is kind of a loaded.

[Joel]

I think there's a lot of question. I mean, I think there's a lot of truth to that, but, like, I don't need alcohol in order to enjoy time with a friend. But I'm also like 100% extrovert. And so a lot of my time is spent hanging out with friends. That's one of the great joys of my life is hanging out with people. But I get how a lot. Not everyone is built like that. And so sometimes a good beer cannot just be tasty, but can kind of enhance a relational moment. So I don't think he's wrong. I guess it just stinks. It probably shouldn't take a substance to make that a reality.

[Matt]

Yeah, I mean, he's made that statement before too, where it's just like, oh, it's just too bad that that's what it takes in order to get to the true, you know.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

But aside from that, like, let's talk about, like, we're talking about the greater good of and like the potential benefit that a society would receive as opposed to the, you know, the scientific bad, essentially.

[Joel]

I guess there we have, like, seen a general decline in risky behavior amongst younger Americans. And in some ways you could say that's good, but in other ways that's bad. Like, young people need to kind of take risks and go out on a limb and put themselves out there.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

And so I think. I don't know. Yeah, maybe if you lower the drinking age. I don't know. We're in a general moment where people are like averse to alcohol and that's how we're seeing like this rise in a beers and stuff like that.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

I mean, there's. And some of that is a good thing, but then at some point you're. Yeah. Do you become so averse to risk that it's bad for the country, bad for society, bad for individuals? I think so, like, so how do you strike that balance? I don't know the answer to that.

[Matt]

Yeah, I think the biggest, like one of the biggest arguments against it would be, well, drunk driving. Hello. Right. And he points to the fact that mothers Against Drinking drunk driving, like, essentially lowered the. Or, I'm sorry, raised the age back In, I guess, 1980, I think, to 21. But he also points to technology and the advancements we've made in vehicle like airbags. That's true. And you like brakes and especially these days, rideshare for a lot of people. I mean, I mean, think about all the Ubers and Lyfts that folks are taking when they're going out with their friends.

[Joel]

The Waymos.

[Matt]

Yes, exactly. So there's in some sense we sort of countered that lethality and the dangers of, of course, driving under the influence, which we would 100% recommend to not do. And so therefore we should be looking to the potential benefits that would come from enjoying a drink. It was a fascinating. Yeah, I just thought it was a fascinating conversation. And I don't know, we'll see. Because you can also. I also think about the fact that like in males in particular or all kids or all males and females.

[Joel]

Right when their brains fully formed.

[Matt]

But yeah, the, the prefrontal cortex hasn't fully developed in some until like age 23 or even later. I think I was more like a 20, 24 or 25er. Personally.

[Joel]

I was like 30 something.

[Matt]

It's like you're not making wise decisions a lot of times. So I don't know, man. It's a. Yeah, it could be a. It's a thorny issue.

[Joel]

Let's just say it is for sure. Yeah.

[Matt]

That somewhat relates to us since we're the ones who get to enjoy it.

[Joel]

Well, you and I are not talk about personal finance, drinking and driving. We're drinking and podcasting, which is very different.

[Matt]

Ever giving our take on can't get pulled, what you should do with your money.

[Joel]

And this one, we're just splitting a tiny one here, but this is a dole whip sour with pineapple, pineapple soft serve and vanilla from the good folks over at two Tides in Savannah. Man, I'm super excited to try this one with you today on the show.

[Matt]

Are you super excited to eat this one? Because I poured it and it came chunking out.

[Joel]

There's some chunks which not the best presentation.

[Matt]

It threw me off.

[Joel]

I was like, whoa. But it's still. I'm pretty sure it's going to taste good.

[Matt]

So I took a sip.

[Joel]

Yeah, pretty good. We'll give our thoughts at the end of the episode. And yeah, if you have a money question we want to hear from you, go to how to money.com/ask for the simple instructions. But basically I'll tell you the simple instructions. Record your money question on the voice memo app of your phone. Email it over to [e-mail] hopefully we can take it next week on the Show. Matt, let's get to our first question. This one is specifically about how to help somebody invest when they're still under your roof, when they're a youngster, when they're your kiddo.

[Andy (Listener)]

Hey guys, this is Andy from Ogden, Utah again. So my 15 year old daughter just got her first job at Chick Fil A and I think I've convinced her to take me up on the daddy match for Roth ir. My question is, how do I go about setting up a Roth IRA for a miner? Thanks a lot.

[Matt]

It's Andy, our buddy Andy.

[Joel]

Yeah, Andy's been around long time.

[Matt]

A long time listener. He's donated beers to the show. We've had beers with him in real life. Sometimes we text friend of the friend of the pod. Yeah, it's real life friend as well.

[Joel]

It's interesting how that there's only. I love meeting all the listeners, but there's only a few where it's like, oh, we still communicate. There's one.

[Matt]

He's been through it thick and thin with us.

[Joel]

A couple listeners I've like gone for runs with, they're like, hey, I'm in the. Do you want to run? I'm like, sure, let's go. And so some of those friendships have remained. It's, it's. That is fun. That's cool how that was the connecting point for friendship, which is kind of random but cool.

[Matt]

And the world we live in, man. Bizarre.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Isn't it weird?

[Joel]

It is weird. It's weird, but I kind of dig it. I kind of dig it. I think first off Andy deserves a congratulations because he's got a kid who's working in high school. I'm sure that feels good. As a parent, like that's my intention for my kids and you and I kind of talk about this. I know some listeners feel differently. I'm still fond of teenagers having a part time job. I'm not saying working like 20, 30 hours a week necessarily that would be too much to be able to probably do schoolwork well and also enjoy extracurriculars. But it just connects so many dots for a teenager. Including the fact that you get money when you work. In addition to investing, which we'll talk about. Of course you have to learn to show up on time. You have to learn how to kind of deal with a boss. Like I remember. I remember that vividly. I learned a lot in that first year of fast food work, Matt. And there's just, there's also just something so satisfying about getting a paycheck, having money to spend the way you see fit. All while having someone who loves and cares for you close by to help. Like Andy's daughter still has him to turn to when she has questions about how to use her money, how to invest, how to think about the future, which is great. Instead of like her first job being when she's not living under the roof.

[Matt]

Sure. And of course she could still turn to him as his, you know, as he is her father when she's moved off on her own. But when you are living under your parents roof, they can also make you

[Joel]

do stuff like no, you have to

[Matt]

show up on time. Yeah. And to try to allow those lessons to really sink in before they go off and totally bomb their, I don't know, first couple of part time, part time jobs. But in Andy's case too, he's talking about that daddy match which is incredibly clutch, which creates an additional incentive for your, your daughter to not only earn the money and choose to save it and spend it on things, but to incentivize her to invest those dollars. It just helps her to build wealth more quickly as well, of course. And it's going to reinforce the reality that she is bound to encounter out in the work, working world that a retirement match is something that she's going to want to take full advantage of. So Andy, I love that you're doing this. This is a quick reminder for folks. You can only contribute up to $7,500 to a Roth IRA in a given year. And Amy, remember too that she can't contribute more than she actually earns. And so we're talking about the match here. If you want to be super generous, let's say you want to match some of her investment dollars. You can, let's say you're going to match 50% of what she puts in. Well, you can continue to do that until you either, you know, meet or match what she's contributing or until you hit that contribution limit. Now you can obviously do less. But yeah, this allows her to invest while not feeling like, you know, she can't save her other goals that she might have. Maybe saving up for a car and like having fun with some of the money that she's also earning. We've talked about this as well, Joel. My daughter opening her IRA, I'm in fact matching more than 50%. I'm actually doing a 100% match. So for every dollar that she's socking away, in her case last year she earned 650 bucks, roughly speaking. So she went with a safe standard American savings rate. Of like 10%. And I was like, hey, that's totally fine. I'm not, you know, these are the pros, here are the cons. She's like, yeah, I feel good about that. So you're gonna match me on, you know, 100%. So that gets it up to 130. I was like, that's right, 130 bucks. So we're just starting starting that habit early.

[Joel]

That's.

[Matt]

I mean, I point that out to point to highlight the fact that in her case, she didn't earn a ton of money. She was just odds and like random.

[Joel]

So you couldn't put $7,500 in for her if you wanted to, because her earned income was not that.

[Matt]

Exactly. And it's such a small amount that in order for it to feel more momentous, I was willing to match 100%

[Joel]

in her case, which makes sense. And I think this is one of those. This is one of those things where for a few years, if you have the ability, right? And not everyone has the ability, they're like, I'm still trying to max my own Roth ira. I'm not going to be able to help my kid max theirs out. But putting it on their radar and helping them set it up is huge. Making them aw of compounding returns. And then also if you can, to be able to incentivize them in that way and you can kind of kickstart a habit, a lifelong saving and investing habit, which I think is clutch. Right? It matters a lot. And this is like the conversational part of it as well is huge. This is a great way to lead in, to talk about the time value of money, right? Like $7,500 invested at age 15. You can have this on a smaller scale, Matt, this conversation with your daughter, but that it's crazy to think, but when you run the number, $7,500 invested at age 15 could be worth $240,000 in retirement, like when you're 65, which kind of blows my mind. But that is the reality. That is how compounding returns works. A small amount over a long period of time, as in many, many, many decades, we're talking about life changing money in the far off future. And so that little bit of talk, like discussing how compounding returns work, that's going to help drive some of those realities home, in addition to the fact that you're matching, which also helps drive some things home. But another amazing reason for a young person to invest in a Roth is that they're paying close to or truly nothing in the income tax, in addition to the fact they're not paying any tax on the money that they're making, they'll also never pay tax on the earnings that they accrue in the Roth. You think about the $7,500 that goes in, you didn't pay federal income tax. The 240,000 DOL come out, you don't pay tax on that either, down the line. So. And that's really because of the high standard deduction. Right. There's a. There's a really good chance that most teens are earning. Earning so little that they're going to pay $0 in federal tax, which just makes this move even more valuable.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

It's kind of a way to cheat the tax code legally.

[Matt]

That's right. Yeah. As I think about compounding, too, I think it's important, Andy, as well, to make sure that you are highlighting that the magic of compounding happens on the back end of compounding as opposed to, like, the front end.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Because this is something that I did with my daughter, and I'm like, all right, going to. Let's pull up the calculator. Let's do some math here. And 8% on 130 bucks, you're talking about, like, $10 in growth. Crickets, is the response. As opposed to like, 40, 50 years down the road. You're talking about like, $20,000 by waiting an additional year. Right. Not by investing $. Additional dollars, but literally just by waiting one additional year. So you. Well, it seems like it should be about the same, like, one year on the front end versus, you know. Versus one year on the back end. No, no, no. All the magic in compounding happens on that back end.

[Joel]

It's in that kind of like the penny example. Right? The doubling the penny every day for a month.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

Or the.

[Matt]

The doubling of the. What is it? The lily pad. Right. It's just like if the lily pad doubles in coverage of the pond, you know, over the course of 30 days. Well, at what day is the lily pad only covering about 50% of the pond? It's like, oh, day 29. Yeah. Because, like, we. In terms of compounding and multiples like that, we think, oh, maybe about halfway through the month.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

30 days. Halfway. Maybe 15. No, it's day 29 almost at the very end. Yeah. But, Andy, let's. You're asking specifically about where to open that custodial. Roth IRA and Fidelity is probably going to be the best bet. They've got a pretty decent app. They've got great investment options. It's affordable, low fees, and you can even turn Fidelity into the, like the Grand Central Station for all of her money with specifically the Fidelity Youth account is essentially a money management account that she can spend out of. And you can tie her, her IRA to that as well. So she's got all of her savings, her spending, and her investing all in one place. I'm a big fan. I've been very happy with what it is that Fidelity has been putting out there for folks.

[Joel]

It's one of those places where a company like Vanguard has not done quite as well at reaching the next generation. But Fidelity has been thoughtful about and it's really smart on their end because you're right. Like, guess what does it matter to Fidelity that they've got your daughter's $130, Matt? Not really.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

Like it's insignificant in the scheme of things. But if they can attract, you know, tens of thousands or millions of young people because they have a better, a better product, those people are likely to be lifelong Fidelity customers. And so.

[Matt]

Well, especially given the fact that their funds are proprietary too. Right?

[Joel]

That's right. Yeah.

[Matt]

The fact that you can't take those, you know, unlike Vanguard, where you've got an ETF that you can move to a different brokerage, these Fidelity funds, man, you're locked in, which is like store brand. You're in house good and bad.

[Joel]

Right. Like, which we've talked about recently on the show. It is that the zero fee funds are pretty epic. Like it's, it's. They're great funds, but because of that, you're tied to Fidelity unless you want to sell. And so you can do. Actually, it's easier to do that inside of a retirement account. Less easy to do that in a taxable brokerage account where you're going to encounter tax consequences. But there are other places that you can consider. Andy Schwab would be a great option too. They've got a better product. We've talked in the past about a service called Halfmoor, but that's, I would say more for helping kids who are making money around the house for household tasks like babysitting or other chores that they're participating in that you pay them for, not money they get from a traditional employer. And your daughter is working a real job out there in the world. Plus that that app costs money. So I would stick with one of the low cost brokerages, probably Fidelity. They'll make it easy. And then don't forget to help her think through the funds and fees. The cool thing is like we just said she'll have access to the no fee funds. But again, like whether or not that's the fund you want to choose or you want to choose something that has like a small expense ratio for portability purposes in the future that would make it a little bit easier. Like let's say you chose Spy, right. Instead of the FC Rocks proprietary fund. But I think either would be, would be a solid choice.

[Matt]

Yeah. If it was me, since we're talking about retirement accounts, I would be very comfortable with the in house, the in house fund as opposed to sort of like what you were saying earlier. As opposed to a brokerage. I would be much more interested in something that did, that did have legs and the ability to move over. Well. And specifically the issue that we ran into is being able to donate out of a brokerage account as well. Having a fund that a donor advised fund essentially recognizes is a massive benefit. Yes, but yeah, Andy, we hope that gets you pointed in the right direction. Joel, we got more to get to. We'll take questions about pensions, we'll talk about Starlink. That and more right after this. For business owners and entrepreneurs, there is a constant challenge getting things done fast or done well. Why not have both? That's why wixharmony stands out. It is an AI website builder that helps to create a website quickly without compromising your vision. A fully functional site can be built for any business just by describing the idea. Then you can choose to chat with AI or edit everything manually to get it exactly right.

[Joel]

There's also Aria, an AI agent available to answer questions or help complete tasks. And here's what makes it even better. Aria doesn't just live in a chat box. You can click anywhere on your site and ask her to make changes instantly. It's these details that make creating with WIX Harmony feel seamless. That's right.

[Matt]

Join millions of businesses already using Wix and try Wix Harmony for free at wix.com harmony that's wix.com harmony.

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When your Internet drops, you drop it and then switch to Verizon LTE Business Internet. It has coverage your team and your customers can rely on. And it's easy to manage with plans that scale to you. Starting at $39 a month. Make the switch to reliable Business Internet. Starting Price for LTE Business Internet 25 Mbps Unlimited Data Plan with select Verizon Business smartphone plan. Savings terms apply.

[Matt]

Let's say you've always wanted to take a spontaneous trip to the Caribbean. Well, here's the thing. If you get smart with your money. You can do things like that. With Empower. You can start making the most out of your money so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard to have some fun with our money, like treating yourself to something special or

[Joel]

spontaneously doing something extra for a loved one?

[Matt]

Matt.

[Joel]

So use Empower and get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers [e-mail] not an Empower client, paid or sponsored. All right, we're back from the break. Matt, we got more money questions to get to, of course. And this next listener, it's less of a question, more of a gripe.

[John (Listener)]

Hello, Matt and Joel. Hello, I'm john from Doylestown, Pennsylvania. My call is regarding the very popular 1% assets under management fee that is often charged by most investment advisors in America. If you have a million dollar investment and you are paying them $10,000 a year, this is just too high. When you look at it a different way. That million dollars is likely to generate 40 to $50,000 that you'll be able to withdraw from your account. That's the 4% rule on, you know, a little bit adjusted up. So really, if you're paying your investment advisor $10,000 a year and you're gaining 40,000, maybe 50,000 out of your account, you're actually paying the investment advisor 20 or 25% of your actual income. If you think about it this way, it's crazy. I mean, most investment advisors, at least the one I recently fired, just spend a couple hours with you a year and then maybe a couple hours, you know, moving things around in your account. You are paying them 5, $600,000 an hour for their service. I am a fan of the advice only system where you pay a set fee, usually one tenth of what you would pay under the AUM model. And I don't think it's talked about enough. I think that most people just accept it because it's what they push. No wonder most investment advisors make well in excess of $200,000 a year. That's my gripe.

[Matt]

Well, Joel, John's putting it that way. 20 to 25%, that sounds like too much money to be paid.

[Joel]

Yeah, I mean, I get why he's thinking about it in those terms. I don't think that's like, that's not how I think about it. Just because that's not the actual compensation model, they're not taking that big of a chance. Still, still, even just 1% assets under management fee, we've talked about how that's pretty typical. Could cost tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousand dollars in retirement dollars for, for people. So it's a very important thing to consider.

[Matt]

That's one of the trade offs. Yeah. And going the DIY route is crazy important for folks out there who in their journey of wealth building. Right. So the overall amount that they're forking over to an advisor is likely going to be less. Sure. But the dollars that you pay for an advisor could be pretty crucial in feeding that snowball early on that you're trying to amass.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

So it's less painful from a dollar's amount, from a dollar standpoint. But it's also when you probably need an advisor the least as opposed to someone who's further along on their wealth building journey.

[Joel]

And I liked what John said here. He talked about and highlighted really paying for advice when you need it. We've been fans of that approach for a long time. And it's how you pay for most services, right? Like you pony up when you need some help. You don't have like a dishwasher repair person on retainer that you're paying monthly. And they show up when your dishwasher breaks. Like you just kind of call them if there's something going on with the dishwasher that you can't fix yourself. And you're like, all right, I'm either buying a new one or I'm paying someone to come in and fix it. And so this is, I think, a better model for wealth management. We've seen sites springing up to support this model as well. Nectarine is one of those. And even Wealth Ramp has offered and they've figured out that actually a lot of people want to pay an hourly rate for advice instead of just kind of like this annual fee, whether it's a 1% fee or whether it's a flat number. And you might think, oh, $250 is so expensive, like I pay my therapist half of that. Right. But and it's not cheap. Like, let's be honest, it's not cheap. Financial advisor world, they get paid more, more than most of us, but it's vastly cheaper than what the 1% assets under management model will run you. There are other fintech platforms as well. Facet and Domain are a couple of them that will create like a comprehensive plan for a flat fee for you. And they've got like tiers, right, Based on what sort of plan you're looking for, how deep you want them to dig, and then they Also offer ongoing annual help for a smaller flat fee. Those aren't for everyone either. Like, there's a kind of. I think I'm just glad that we have a proliferation of options for people.

[Matt]

Exactly.

[Joel]

But all of these options are pretty much better than. Significantly better than the old school model of the 1% AUM. So what John is saying here is, hey, I hate the way that works. And we're like in total agreement with you.

[Matt]

Yeah. And John, you are getting at the heart of something else here as well, which is that not all advisors are created equally. Not all of them are worth the money that you would pay. And it sounds like your advisor that you recently fired was not worth the money that you were paying. And so I don't know why that might be. Maybe they've got too many clients on their books. Maybe they're not quite as responsive as you would like them to be. You need to take value into account. And a great financial advisor could easily be worth $10,000 a year if they are helpful with you optimizing for taxes a little more strategically. If they are. If they're a good coach when the economy is tough. Right. If they are thinking proactively about your future, if they are talking you through some of these different retirement planning options, then it could easily be worth it for you. I don't think this means that you should avoid advisors altogether.

[Joel]

Maybe you should.

[Matt]

Maybe you have enough knowledge, maybe you are able to DIY enough and you're quite knowledgeable, have acquired that ability and skill over the years. But not necessarily. Not for somebody especially who might be newer to the, to the process or might be looking for someone to be there with them as they are kind of being Sherpa guided along in their financial journey.

[Joel]

I don't think, like, managing your own finances is equivalent to representing yourself instead of hiring an attorney.

[Matt]

But kind of similar, though.

[Joel]

But there's some similarities. Like, and at some point you might say, I want legal representation here. Or even like, was thinking about this example recently, Matt, how even a great pediatrician would not perform hand surgery on themselves or on somebody else. They would want someone who specializes in hand surgery. And I think the more complex and complicated things get. You might read something in the Wall Street Journal. You might have done years of research and then you might not know a nuanced change to the tax code that would actually benefit you in a particular situation. I remember not long ago reading an article about, from the Wall Street Journal, Matt, saying that, like, you should do Roth IRA conversions in one lump sum in A given year. And I was like, what? Like, where did this come from? And it was like in the hallowed pages of the Wall Street Journal. This was kind of a recommendation and it wasn't a good one. Like, when you look into the details, most people be better off doing that in chunks over a longer period of time. And so maybe one of the things that John's getting at too is kind of what you were alluding to. Maybe he a different advisor who doesn't suck, who is more in tune with what he wants. I think that's a really important thing to consider because you might want to pay an advisor, but you might also prefer to pay an advisor who is attentive and knows what they're doing and is actually providing value. You have to be careful too, because, yes, those fees are not compounding for your future. That is one of the trade offs you make when you hire professional help. So you have to figure out what's right for you. Do you need some help? Do you need a lot of help? Going it alone might feel like a bridge too far. It might be more cheap than frugal, depending on your personal situation. So prioritize. If you're going to hire an advisor, finding one who has a different fee structure that you're more comfortable with. I don't know, it sounds like John, you're an easy client because you're savvy. You need less help than the average person. Maybe you want to talk to an advisor and say, hey, listen, I'm going to be one of your easiest clients, but I do want your help once a quarter for an hour. Could I pay you $3,000 a year instead of the 10,000 that I was forking over to an advisor, which would be big savings for you, but also mean you got a coach on your side. Maybe opt for flat fee or hourly instead of just 1% of assets under management because that's the model you feel more comfortable with.

[Matt]

Yeah, and John's easy, but not everyone's got an easy situation, right? So, like timing when you're going to take Social Security, making those Roth conversions, like you're talking about figuring out safe withdrawal strategies. These are all reasons why it might make sense to pony up. And hopefully. You know, this is something I've been thinking about too, Joel. Like, I see the assets under management fee potentially going down in the future. It does make me think about realtors a little bit. As it has become more democratized and as folks are looking at different models, you start to think, okay, well, shoot, we still, it does still warrant additional work the larger your portfolio gets. But maybe we won't be quite as compensated as we used to be. Not to mention a lot of advisors. 1% is kind of the max. So a lot of times you'll see that percentage decrease as you amass a larger portfolio.

[Joel]

That's true.

[Matt]

Something over a million dollars. It's like, okay, every dollar beyond that it's under management at a point. 7 5% versus a 1%. And then your effective rate does go down. But if you are still looking for the best advisor that you can find, a low cost but high value financial advisor, if that's something that you're looking for, head to howtomoney.com advisor where you can find a fiduciary fee only advisor. And there's a quiz there and hopefully you can get matched with somebody who's going to be able to provide you just the best value that you're looking for.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Like it's, I mean it's like any kind of relationship. A lot of folks are looking for different things. And so for one person it may not be worth it at all, but somebody else's looking for a set of metrics that John, for instance, may not be looking for at all. It just depends on what you're looking for.

[Joel]

And you can even hire many of those advisors for like a one time assessment. Hey, I want a financial checkup. I don't want this ongoing relationship where I'm paying you money every single year. Like, can you just kind of help me think through the next five to seven years of my financial plan and then maybe I'll come back to you five to seven years from now if I have a good experience. I think that is something that, yeah, some people want. They just kind of want a check in. Right. Like instead of some like comprehensive ongoing relationship. And which makes sense. I think that the financial checkup model can make sense for a bunch of people too. So John brings up some great points. But John, hopefully we helped you just understand the landscape of financial advising a little bit. And what. Yeah, there's. I'm just so glad there are different models that will make sense for different people. All right, Matt, let's get to our next question. This one comes from Zach. He's a teacher and trying to max his pension.

[Zach (Listener)]

Hi, I'm a teacher and I've got a pension question I'd love your thoughts on. I taught for seven years in Washington but was invested. So I rolled my contributions into an ira. I've now been teaching in Montana for eight years. And plan to finish my career here. Montana allows you to purchase up to five years of service credit and there's a significant increase in benefits at 30 years of service. Specifically, hitting the 30 year mark increases my pension by about $1,000 per month. The cost to purchase those five years is about 50 grand, which is roughly the amount I currently have in my rollover ira. So my question is, does it make more sense to use that 50k to buy the 5 years of service so I can reach 30 years sooner and secure the higher pension benefit, or should I leave it invested in the IRA and plan to work about 22 more years instead? For context, I'm 38 years old and my youngest child is 7. Thanks for your help.

[Matt]

All right, Zach, thank you so much for that question. And Joel, I do wonder if the reason that Zach is that he's posed this question to us is because of the fact that he's got like the right amount of money sitting there in his Roth and he's like, oh, look at that, it actually matches up real nicely.

[Joel]

Super easy, one fell swoop, let's get her done.

[Matt]

Yeah. And either way, I think this is, it's certainly worthy of considering. It's a great question. And as you found, moving, moving states comes with higher potential trade offs. You're, I mean, you didn't say exactly why you moved, but I'm just thinking about a normie who's got a 401k. Well, they can move all they want and they aren't giving up much of anything in terms of retirement. From a financial standpoint, their 401k is, it's portable, it can be rolled into an IRA and you have that benefit too. But unlike most listeners, you had to sacrifice years of pension eligibility, essentially hit restart on that game. And so unfortunately, that can act as golden handcuffs for a lot of folks where teachers are being kept at a school or they're being kept in a state or a location that they might prefer to leave. And so in your case, specifically here, I'm glad that you found a new state where you're happy to be for the long term. Right. So, yeah, the financial benefits of working there for decades are going to be quite big because of that.

[Joel]

I mean, and this happens in other professions as well, where you've got a job, you've been working there for a decade plus, and you're far enough along into the pension benefits that you've earned and you're like, oh man, I would love to go do something else, but it feels really hard to leave Because I know I'm kind of like smashing the piggy bank. This benefit isn't going to be there in nearly the way that I planned if I go do something else. And pensions are heavily backloaded oftentimes, which means that even if you're vested after five or 10 years, those later years have an outsized impact on what you're going to earn. The longer you work is a big part of the overall benefit you receive, but it's also that your salary will go up over the years and the final years of work can meaningfully impact like the dollar amount that you receive from your pension for your post retirement decades. And you're talking about, you know, cutting that monthly payment down significantly if you quit early or if you don't reach some of those higher salary numbers. And this is why so many teachers also go back to get a master's or a gifted certific certification, because that is something that immediately accelerates their income. And so it not only increases pay now, but it also increases your pension pay in an ongoing way as well. So it's like, man, that is like kind of a double whammy to go back and get that degree. Especially if I can get the cost down of getting that master's degree. If it means bigger paycheck, bigger pension, it's totally worth the slog of going back to school.

[Matt]

Yeah. So with that in mind, adding more years, doing that buyback, it might seem like a no brainer based on what it is that Joel just said, but I think it's a bit more complicated than that because I'll say right now you've got market exposure, which is really important. You've got that in addition to your pension. We want teachers to not just count on their eventual pension to get them through retirement. Zach, I want you to also be investing on your own where you've got exposure to the market, ideally in something like a Roth ira. So yeah, you could take those IRA dollars, which so happen to be the exact same size that you might need to do that buyback to buy those years and boost your pension. But you would be losing something incredibly valuable that will, that's going to grow significantly for your future as well. And this way, I like to think about your pension almost like bonds, right. It's like, okay, they're safe, they're secure, but if you double down and kind of correct into that direction more than you should, you're like, well, I'm eliminate, eliminating all that risk. And it's like, well, actually ironically, you've exposed yourself to more risk.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Like, now, you are underperforming the market. You don't have exposure, and that's something that we don't want to see you do as well.

[Joel]

Also, like, he's already likely to have a solid pension, so, yeah, doubling down on that probably isn't his best bet. Depending on how long he works there, he might not even need to do this. At the same time, he could be banking on a significant pension without buying years back. Having that steady pension along with stock investments, is this nice balance to strike what you're getting at, Matt? This is also getting you to 13 years of service. The key for you would be to work until you're 60, right? To enjoy the best benefits that your teacher's pension has to offer. Basically, buying these five years back is only smart if you're dead set on reaching 25 total years of teaching in that district. And so would you get to 25 anyway? Like, I don't know, you're 32. Teaching 17 more years would still mean retiring roughly at age 60. It seems reasonable that you might do that and then you would qualify for a meaningful monthly pension check. If there's a good chance that you're going to get there anyway because you like teaching, you want to stick with it. I would say don't buy the time, earn it. Just use those years of service. Let them accrue gradually over a long time. And he was hinting at Matt that, oh, it's going to cost more in the future. Well, guess what? That IRA is going to be worth more in the future, too.

[Matt]

That's true. Yeah. Yeah. I think what you're pointing out here is for him to look at the work that he's doing. Like, I don't know, it makes me think about how I used to view work, like, when I was his age, like, he's in his early 30s. And back when I was getting after financial independence, the way I viewed work was more like adversarial, where I was just like, how can I escape this as soon as I possibly can? And what you're talking about is like, hey, just stick around and keep working. But what that does is it requires a shift in how you view your work if you view it less as a means to an end. And actually you can recognize that, oh, man, this work that I'm doing is inherently a good thing. In your case, like, it's blatantly obvious that it's a good thing. Right. Like, you were teaching the next generation. You were pouring into these kids. And I just Think about if you can shift your philosophy towards work a little bit as not something that you're trying to escape, but as like, oh, how else can I provide benefits and how else can I make the world a better place? Then I think that that would, I don't essentially give you not a reason, but provide fuel for you to continue to work. Especially when you consider. He mentioned that his youngest is 7 years old, if you think about. So he's basically going to be actively parenting for the next decade, essentially. Right. For the next 10 years. And then after that he's probably going to have a whole lot more time on his hands.

[Joel]

That's what I'm banking on.

[Matt]

Yeah. And so if you're trying to like rush through your work right now so that you have more time, like, you know, a little more than a decade off in the future, I just think that there's a chance you might find yourself bored perhaps, or you may have thought, well, shoot, why was I in such a hurry? I've got all this time on my hand. And so I just think framing it slightly differently in that way might allow you to see just a different path forward as opposed to saying, oh, here's an affordable, quasi affordable way to gain an additional extra five years of service for my pension.

[Joel]

Well, and the other thing is he can do it down the road. Right. So I would just take a wait and see approach. Where do things stand in 10 years, 12 years, purchasing that service time further on down the line if it would be massively beneficial because you're going to hit a marker, a service time marker that would move the needle significantly on your pension and oh, now I have a better idea of when I plan on retiring. I think right now he's considering again, that sort of cheaper cost, cost is going to keep going up, but again, hopefully over the next decade, so should the value of your IRA that's invested in index funds, I would in fact think that you would have more money than you need to pay for those service years in your ira. At that point. This is something I would just say take a wait and see, hold off. Maybe down the line it makes sense to help you get to a certain marker because, hey, it makes the most sense financially and just kind of lifestyle wise. But for the time being, I would just kind of let it ride and check back in in seven, eight, ten years.

[Matt]

Yeah, I think when you boil it down, what Zach is asking is, is the market, therefore my Roth ira, will that be, Will that outperform the return on investment that I would make were I to drop that money into my pension right now in order to earn that thousand dollar plus additional payment in his pension a month. And that's something we don't know.

[Joel]

There are calculations you can do based on how much it costs and how much that's likely to bump up your pension. Yeah, but again, you will have more data to work with the further along you get in. You know, like 10 years from now, you'll have a much better idea of whether or not that's it's worth spending some of your IRA dollars to purchase some of those years of service or not. And for the time being, and probably for even longer than that, it makes sense to have exposure to the market in addition to. Regardless of what you're building up.

[Matt]

Yes, I think regardless of what the data points to because we're looking at it from a risk standpoint and the pension's safe. Stocks are risky and I think a lot of financial advisors would say you need exposure to that risk because that's where you're likely going to see the most upside.

[Joel]

Yeah, but Zach, hope that helps.

[Matt]

Joel, we got more to get to. We are going to hear from a listener who is talking about owning your place versus renting it. Pros and cons. We'll get to that more right after this. For business owners and entrepreneurs, there is a constant challenge getting things done fast or done well. Why not have both? That's why wix Harmony stands out. It is an AI website builder that helps to create a website quickly without compromising your vision. A fully functional site can be built for any business just by describing the idea. Then you can choose to chat with AI or edit everything manually to get it exactly right.

[Joel]

There's also Aria, an AI agent available to answer questions or help complete tasks. And here's what makes it even better. Aria doesn't just live in a chat box. You can click anywhere on your site and ask her to make changes instantly. It's these details that make creating with WIX Harmony feel seamless. That's right.

[Matt]

Join millions of businesses already using Wix and try WIX Harmony for [e-mail] harmony. That's wix.com harmony when your Internet drops,

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you drop it and then switch to Verizon LTE Business Internet. It has coverage your team and your customers can rely on and it's easy to manage with plans that scale to you. Starting at $39 a month. Make the switch to reliable Business Internet. Starting Price for LTE Business Internet 25 Mbps Unlimited Data Plan with select Verizon business smartphone plan savings apply.

[Matt]

Let's say you've always wanted to take a spontaneous trip to the Caribbean. Well, here's the thing. If you get smart with your money, you can do things like that. With Empower, you can start making the most out of your money so you can go out and live a little. Isn't that why we work so hard to have some fun with our money, like treating yourself to something special or

[Joel]

spontaneously doing something extra for a loved one?

[Matt]

Matt.

[Joel]

So use Empower and get good at money so you can be a little bad. Join their 19 million customers [e-mail] not an Empower client, paid or sponsored. All right, we're back. Let's get to the Facebook question of the week. Matt, this one comes from Joanne. She says, thinking, I'll move over to US Mobile question though. I see that US Mobile has home Internet too. Has anyone used this? Is it good? Worth it? Thoughts or concerns? I'm just wondering if I should consider breaking up with both my phone carrier and Internet provider at the same time. I kind of like that. Joanne's ready to like kick everyone to the curb here.

[Matt]

She's going to go all in. Well, let's Talk about the U.S. mobile home Internet option, which is essentially a partnership between US Mobile and Starlink, which is really cool.

[Joel]

It's really fun to be able to brand spanking new.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's really new. And US Mobile's pricing, as usual, it's pretty fantastic here. So you can get cell service along with home Internet at 100Mbps for $47 a month. Both of those are less than what you would expect to pay or what you would pay for just home Internet from a slew of different providers out there. So yet again, very cool here. Though I will say faster speeds make it a bit more expensive. They've got the 400Mbps option out there, but that ramps up the service to $100 a month, which is a bit more expensive.

[Joel]

So just something.

[Matt]

Yeah, something to pay attention to. It's interesting just generally speaking that US Mobile is moving this direction though too, because it's like, like they're wanting to make it easy. It's one stop shop, right? It's like, oh, we come here for all of your needs.

[Joel]

The cable company does it. Why shouldn't we?

[Matt]

Well, that's the thing. Like that's they're taking. U.S. mobile has stepped into this market as a disruptor and I think there is the potential for it to get Lazy. And for them just hopefully they continue to innovate. But in a similar way, you need to be willing to, I guess, make the jump in order to get the most competitive price.

[Joel]

Well, and we should also say, I mean, Starlink has been an incredible technological development. It's just not for everyone because you're likely to get higher speeds for potentially less money. If you live in a city or a suburb, if you get Internet directly from one of the two providers where you live, if you live more rurally, then Starlink is a more appealing option. Right, because there just aren't many options. If you don't have high speed Internet where you live, then Starlink is like changing the game. Because think about for so long, Matt, those old school satellite players, it was really expensive and it was really slow. When I would go visit family in the nether regions of the south, out in the sticks, dude, it was like the buffering was nuts. I mean it was just, just to check email or something like that. I was like, where are we? But it was just like that is how it was for a long time. And Starlink has really offered people faster speeds in places where before there was no Internet of any speed worth mentioning. And so if you don't have access to cable or fiber, you're thinking you're lucky stars that you have this option now. But I would just tell Joanne to shop all your Internet options before deciding to ditch both at once. And if you decide to stay with your current Internet provider, break up with your cell phone carrier and go with us mobile or with one of our other favorite MBNOs, no matter what. So definitely break up with one.

[Matt]

But just whether or not you have the home Internet exactly depends on several factors.

[Joel]

And if you feel like, oh, I'm paying too much for home Internet, but I've got pretty good speeds, pretty good service, well then the goal is to reduce what you pay and you can do that by calling customer service, speaking with the customer retention department. So maybe you're able to get your, your 400 meg cable service down from $70 a month to $40 a month and then go with US mobile for your cell service. That might be the best of both worlds, but I love that US Mobile is doing this. I just don't know that the Starlink service is ideal for everyone.

[Matt]

Yeah, and another way that they are mirroring the big cable companies is the fact that one of the benefits they're able to provide is the fact that you don't have to pay the upfront cost for the dish because these like that actual Starlink plate or whatever. Like, it's called a dish or whatever, but it looks more like a square plate or whatever. Yeah, it's like at least 200 bucks. I think it's like 2 or $300. That's right. And essentially they are removing that upfront cost, which is yet again, it. What is it? Mirror mirrors? Like, oh, you pay this price and we'll come and show up with a little Internet, wi fi modem router thing. So in that way, I don't like the direction that it's going, even though it is what customers are used to. I would just say let's just pay attention to the prices and what it is that you're going to be paying over time. Joe, let's take another quick message here. This is an email, actually, from listener Perry, who wrote to us, and he said, I don't think I've heard you speak about the nightmares of being a renter. Incompetent and rude landlords, perpetual rent increases, privacy issues, noisy neighbors, poorly maintained or repaired properties, limited space, indoor and outdoor parking issues, yada, yada, yada. I will choose homeownership 100% of the time. Joel, what do you think about Perry's take on this? Is in response to us saying a lot of times that, like, hey, renters are coming on ahead here. Yeah. And Perry's just like, guys, I think you're discounting a lot of the factors that make renting awful for folks.

[Joel]

For some folks, I think he's right. Like, I think he's in. In many ways, he's right. Is he 100% right? No. And you have to factor in the inconveniences of being a renter with the. With the cost savings. Right. And the truth is, there are inconveniences to being a renter. Like, but there are also inconveniences to being a homeowner. It's like, pick your poison.

[Matt]

Which. That's what I was thinking.

[Joel]

Which difficult scenario do you want? Because just the reality of living in someone else's home or owning your own home comes with issues.

[Matt]

Yeah. Well, and a lot of the factors that he mentioned, except for the landlord part, every single one of those are issues that you could run into just by owning your own home. You know, like, every single one of those, I'm like, well, just because you own your own place, it doesn't automatically mean that you don't have to deal with privacy issues or noisy neighbors or limited indoor and outdoor space. Like, these are all issues. Like, the the number one thing that you can eliminate when you own your own place is that you don't have to deal with a landlord. The thing that is, you know, you've got a bank who's, you know, regulated as opposed to. And it. Well, there's still rules around how. What it is a landlord can and can't do.

[Joel]

But typically you rectify more of those, though, if you're the homeowner owner, right. If it's like, oh, insufficient parking, you can, like, throw down a parking pad. Like, it's, oh, yeah, bland colors. Oh, I'm spicing it up with whatever colors I want. Poorly maintained property. I have to maintain this thing better. It's more on your shoulders than trying to get someone else to do that stuff for you. And so you and I, we've been talking more and more about how expensive homeownership has become with rising home prices, mortgage rates, maintenance costs going up. The inverse has been true of rent prices recently, which makes renting cheaper. So the gap is meaningful, which is why we keep talking about the fact that a lot of listeners could save a good bit of money by renting. But of course, and we probably don't say this enough, renting just isn't for everyone, and it isn't without downsides. I think Perry does hint at a few that are worth considering. And what if your landlord is supposed to fix things but doesn't. Doesn't do it in a timely manner or doesn't agree with you? Like, you think the dishwasher needs to be replaced. He thinks it needs some duct tape, you know, or if you're forced to move out because of rising rents or because your landlord is selling the property. Happened to some of my friends recently, Matt. They lived around the corner, and guess what? Now they live in a neighborhood that's a little farther away because their landlord was selling the rental property and they just couldn't live there anymore, even though they would have loved to. There are downsides to being a renter. It's kind of. You kind of don't get to choose your future in the same way. Even if it's a costly, burdensome future, you don't get to choose it in the same way as a homeowner does.

[Matt]

Yeah, but I mean, oftentimes, though, it does come down to money. And, like, do you have the finances on hand to be able to make a purchase happen? And I'm sure there's plenty of folks who are saying that, well, yeah, man, like, I would love to own if I could, if I had that you know, that down payment saved up or in a lot of cases, if you knew that you're going to be there for the, for the long haul. Right. And so your timeline, I mean, being there like ideally seven years or more in order to make sure that you are reducing the transaction costs associated and just the fluctuations in the housing market. But when it comes to purchasing and selling a home, but in many parts of the country, it's financially advantageous right now to rent. But again, both renting and buying, depending on your stage of life, depending on the different goals that you have, it comes with different pros and cons, different risks and rewards. And like you said. I like what you said. You just kind of have to pick your poison and you can't, I don't know, you can't account. There are still certain things you can't account for. You know, like, yes, you can maybe expand your parking if there's limited parking, but not like if you. This is, we're, we're talking about single family homes. Not if you own a unit in a larger building. It's just like, oh, no, you only get one spot, man, Sorry. Oh, you know, you got somebody else that lives with you now. Multiple people, multiple drivers in the house of the household. There's nothing you can do about that. Or if it is a single family home, it's like, oh, yeah, same really loud neighbors are over there. That hasn't changed in 15 years.

[Joel]

And I guess on the flip side of what Perry's saying, it's easier to get out of a bum rental scenario than it is.

[Matt]

You got like one year, right?

[Joel]

You're just like, okay, let me just wait the clock out until you know, and you do have rights as a renter. Look at the. Consult the tenant landlord, tenant handbook in your state so you know what rights you have so that you can push back against a landlord who isn't acting in the way they're supposed to, who isn't repairing things in a timely manner. Know how you can respond, right? Because that will be helpful in those situations. But ultimately we've, we've heard from people across the spectrum. Some people are like, I will rent for life. Some people bought a home, they've been dismayed by it and they're like, it costs too much money. I'm going back to renting. And then we've, we have tons of out of money listeners who like, homeownership has been a goal. It's something that they, that they love and it's made great financial sense for them. Too. And it's, it's so much of it comes down to all the things you just mentioned, Matt, like your specific goals and timeline and what you, what you

[Matt]

want out of life, what you're looking for. Yeah.

[Joel]

But yeah, Perry, we're always, always glad to get your feedback. It's it. That's food for thought and it's well worth considering as, as a renter. Like, what sort of renting situation am I getting into and how do I think about the trade off of potentially paying less but having more frustration.

[Matt]

That's right. That being said, I myself am a homeowner and I really enjoy it. And I've been a renter over the years, too, and actually look back on those years very fondly as well.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Maybe it's because I had a good, good rental experience, but. Joel, the beer that you and I enjoyed today is called a Whippersnapper, which is a Dole Whip sour. So it's got pineapple, pineapple soft serve, which sounds pretty gross. It's actually delicious and vanilla. And this is a Two Tides beer. It was delicious. It was very good. But the first three things I wrote down were sweet, sweet, sweet. I would love to know how many grams of sugar there's. Quite a lot. This is like a super very. It's a very sweet beer that I'm glad you and I got to share. Not each enjoy individually.

[Joel]

Yeah. But are you a fan of like, of the Dole Whip Sour? Yeah. And just like what's a Dole Whip Sour, man?

[Matt]

I think like the like whipped cream

[Joel]

dole Whip, it's, it is like pineapple soft serve. And we had some in, in Hawaii when we were there this past summer. And it's.

[Matt]

Oh, see, I'm not exotic like you are.

[Joel]

It's so delicious, man. It's so, it's so good.

[Matt]

So it tastes like a pina colada without the rum bite. Like, it's got all like the, that fruit sweetness in the background going on. But I mean, I really, I enjoyed it. It was good.

[Joel]

The worst part of this beer is the mouthfeel because of kind of the chunky nature of it, which kind of dissolved a little bit. It wasn't too bad. It wasn't too off putting. But this really is a replica beer replica of a Dole Whip. And so I, man, I think think pineapple. Everything is good. And so pineapple ice cream money, pineapple soft serve. Give it to me. I'll eat as much of it as you'll give me. And so it's kind of fun to live that through. And when someone executes it well, when someone hits it on the head and they give you that kind of flavor profile in a beer, oftentimes you're like, it's a little off, it's not quite there. This one hit it on the head.

[Matt]

It tastes like something that was much more authentic than what it is that we poured out of the can. Right. Like it felt like we were more like, like beachside or I don't know, maybe like you were back in Hawaii.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

But yeah, glad you know I got to share this one on the show today. You can find our show notes up on the [e-mail] and so buddy, that's gonna be it for this particular episode. So until next time, Best friends out. Best friends out.

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[Joel]

this

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