Friday Flight - Bad RAPs, Price Match Murder, & Premium Points Credit Cards #1020

Summary

Podcast Summary: How to Money - Episode #1020 "Friday Flight - Bad RAPs, Price Match Murder, & Premium Points Credit Cards"

Release Date: August 8, 2025
Hosts: Joel and Matt
Podcast Description: How to Money is dedicated to equipping individuals with the essential knowledge and tools needed to thrive financially. Covering topics from debt repayment and DIY investing to practical money hacks, Joel and Matt provide unbiased, jargon-free personal finance guidance aimed at helping listeners live a rich, purposeful life.

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1. Welcome and Setting the Scene ([02:09] - [03:40])

Joel and Matt kick off the episode with their signature camaraderie, reflecting on their return to the studio and their enthusiastic approach to guiding listeners into the weekend. They share personal anecdotes, including Joel’s neighbor who celebrated her 100th birthday, highlighting the longstanding financial stability and sustained income over a century.

Notable Quote:

Joel ([03:09]): "We wish we were too. I'd love to be at your grandma's birthday party or something like that."

2. Historical Prices and the Power of Investing ([03:40] - [07:56])

The conversation shifts to an engaging segment where Joel recounts a presentation at his neighbor’s 100th birthday party. He shares historical prices from 1925, such as a new house costing $6,000 and a loaf of bread at 10 cents, juxtaposing these figures with today’s prices. This segues into a discussion about the importance of understanding income levels and investment growth over time.

Joel underscores the dramatic potential of investing with a hypothetical scenario:

“100 bucks. Put it in 1924, end of year 2025 in the S&P 500, you would have $2,768,000.” ([06:31])

Matt emphasizes the necessity of investing to outpace inflation, referencing Warren Buffett’s advice on saving versus investing for future expenses like Disney World tickets.

3. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act (OBBBA) ([07:56] - [11:29])

Joel and Matt delve into the recently passed One Big Beautiful Bill Act (formerly the Big Beautiful Bill), discussing its implications on various economic facets. They highlight key provisions such as:

• Salt Deduction Increase: Raising the SALT (State and Local Tax) deduction cap from $10,000 to $40,000, benefiting high-tax states like New York and California.

  Quote:

  Joel ([09:19]): "It's going to particularly benefit folks in the most expensive states out there, like New York or California." ([09:19])

• Tax Cuts Extension: Extending parts of the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act, maintaining tax reliefs for individuals and couples earning below certain income thresholds.

• Car Loan Interest Deduction: Introducing a deduction for car loan interest up to $10,000 annually for U.S.-assembled vehicles. Both hosts express skepticism about this provision, citing concerns that it may incentivize unnecessary car loans amid rising interest rates.

Matt elaborates:

“I think people will be able to rationalize and say, no, I get the tax incentive. Might as well keep that loan around.” ([11:25])

• Electric Vehicle (EV) Tax Credits Removal: The bill terminates EV tax credits by September 30th, potentially increasing the effective price of electric vehicles and diminishing their appeal.

4. Student Loan Policy Changes ([17:01] - [21:24])

Joel and Matt transition to discussing significant alterations in student loan repayment plans introduced by the new bill.

• End of the SAVE Plan: The existing SAVE (Student Aid and Fiscal Education) plan is discontinued, replaced by the Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP).

  Quote:

  Joel ([17:38]): "Our Friends at Student Loan Planner... advising extreme caution right now..." ([17:38])

• Repayment Assistance Plan (RAP): Joel explains RAP as a simpler, flat-fee structure where borrowers pay a set percentage based on income, capped at 10%.

  Matt adds:

  “But this means that student loan borrowers aren't doing so well with interest accruing again.” ([20:02])

• Impact on Borrowers: The shift back to RAP means borrowers face higher payments compared to previous plans, with increased risk of wage garnishment and potential deductions from Social Security for outstanding debts.

• Cautions Against Misinformation: The hosts warn listeners about misleading advice on platforms like TikTok, where some claim easy solutions for student loan forgiveness are available but are largely ineffective.

5. The $80 Popcorn Bucket Phenomenon ([26:14] - [29:41])

Joel and Matt explore the outrageous trend of $80 popcorn buckets at movie theaters, sparked by high-demand releases like "Dune." They critique the steep pricing and question the practicality and necessity of such purchases.

Notable Quote:

Matt ([27:26]): "The $80 popcorn bucket makes zero sense to me." ([28:25])

They share personal strategies to avoid overspending on concessions, such as bringing homemade snacks to movies to maintain frugality without compromising enjoyment.

6. Retail Price Policies and Consumer Behavior ([29:41] - [35:24])

The discussion shifts to retail strategies, focusing on:

• Delta’s AI Pricing Model: Delta introduces a dynamic pricing strategy using AI, which the hosts view skeptically, equating it to traditional dynamic pricing rather than innovative AI applications.

• Target’s Price Match Policy Termination: Target ends its price match guarantee, prompting Joel and Matt to reflect on how this affects savvy shoppers who previously leveraged this policy to get refunds for price drops within 14 days of purchase.

  Joel shares a personal experience:

  “I was buying a backpack... I ordered it again... returned it under the full price SKU.” ([31:05])

• Amazon’s Pricing Strategies: The hosts highlight conflicting reports between Amazon and the Wall Street Journal regarding price increases. While Amazon claims to maintain low prices, data suggests a rise in prices on numerous goods, contrasted with competitors like Walmart lowering theirs.

  Matt notes:

  “Prices are far more dynamic these days.” ([32:08])

• Listener Behavior and Market Dynamics: They emphasize the importance of not solely relying on one retailer (like Amazon) and encourage listeners to shop around to find the best deals, reinforcing smart consumer behavior to avoid overpaying.

7. Premium Credit Cards: Are They Worth It? ([37:00] - [42:38])

Joel and Matt analyze the landscape of high-annual-fee credit cards, particularly the revamped Chase Sapphire Reserve and the new Citi Strata Elite.

• Chase Sapphire Reserve: Now with a $795 annual fee, it offers perks such as a $300 annual travel credit, $120 TSA PreCheck credit, and up to $500 in hotel stay credits. Joel acknowledges the potential value for "savvy users."

• Citi Strata Elite: Matt expresses reservations, comparing these premium cards to outdated coupon books that incentivized increased spending. He advises against such cards for the average consumer, recommending simpler alternatives like the Citi Double Cash card for a steady 2% cashback without exorbitant fees.

  Matt advises:

  “These credit cards could incentivize a lot of people to spend more...” ([42:38])

• Hosts’ Recommendations: The duo stresses the importance of understanding the fine print and aligning credit card choices with personal spending habits to maximize benefits without falling into debt traps.

8. Closing Remarks and Community Shout-Outs ([42:38] - [43:03])

Before concluding, Joel and Matt acknowledge their loyal newsletter subscribers, thanking individuals like Megan Hill and Chelsea K. Edub for their support in spreading the How to Money newsletter. They encourage listeners to subscribe for more personal finance insights delivered every Tuesday.

Joel concludes:

“Thanks for spreading the word.” ([43:02])

Final Thoughts

In this episode, Joel and Matt navigate a breadth of financial topics, from legislative changes impacting taxes and student loans to consumer behavior in retail and credit card utilization. Their balanced analysis, paired with personal anecdotes and actionable advice, equips listeners with a nuanced understanding of current financial landscapes and practical strategies to optimize their financial well-being.

Key Takeaways:

• Invest Early and Wisely: Harness the power of compound interest to significantly grow your investments over time.
• Stay Informed on Legislation: Understand how new laws like the OBBBA affect your taxes and financial planning.
• Navigate Student Loan Changes: Be aware of new repayment plans and their implications on your finances.
• Be a Savvy Consumer: Avoid falling for expensive trends like $80 popcorn buckets and instead employ cost-saving measures.
• Choose Credit Cards Strategically: Opt for credit cards that align with your spending habits and financial goals, avoiding high fees unless justified by substantial benefits.

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For more detailed discussions and personal finance tips, subscribe to the How to Money newsletter at howtomoney.com/newsletter.

Transcript

[Matt]

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[Joel]

Welcome to how to money. I'm Joel.

[Matt]

I am Matt.

[Joel]

And today we're talking bad raps, price match murder and premium points credit car.

[Matt]

That's right, Joel. Everyone can tell that we're back in the studio, back in the clubhouse. We're back in the saddle here. Talking about personal.

[Joel]

It's very western saying, back in the saddle.

[Matt]

Back in the saddle. Yeah, I guess I was thinking about Wednesday night.

[Joel]

You think about riding a horse.

[Matt]

I talked about falling off the horse and getting back on again. The Zoolander quote, man, it's just good to be able to kick folks off. Right? You know, like that's one of the things that's so great about Friday flight episodes is I feel like that we get to join our listeners as they kick off their weekend. They're thinking about us as they're like hanging out Friday night, doing fun things on Saturday with family.

[Joel]

Wish Matt and Joel were here.

[Matt]

Yeah, exactly. It's like we're tagging along with you.

[Joel]

We wish we were too. I'd love to be at your grandma's birthday party or something like that. Speaking of actually grandma's birthday parties, my next door neighbor haven't been to any.

[Matt]

Grandma birthday parties recently.

[Joel]

I have. So my next door neighbor is actually a great grandma. She just turned 100 years old this past weekend.

[Matt]

So we have your 100. You should be like a great great grandma.

[Joel]

I know, right? I mean, may as well. I don't think she's close to that status. So she's just awesome, lovely person. And actually she's got an older sister, which is, which is cool. So her genes are incredible. But one of the things that they had displayed at her birthday party that her son put together was this like fake newspaper article. And it was hearkening back to simpler times of 100 years ago when she was born and what things cost back then. And so.

[Matt]

Oh, that's so funny.

[Joel]

I took a picture and my daughter and I were like looking over it and she was like, how did stuff cost that little? Until we were, it's really cool. So I figured I would share a couple of things. A new house in 1925 cost $6,000. A new car, can you guess how much a new car cost, Matt in 1925?

[Matt]

$600.

[Joel]

$390.

[Matt]

Well, $600 for the, for the premium model, right?

[Joel]

Yes. Which you would have been buying if.

[Matt]

You wanted the leather appointed seats with a nice wood. They weren't doing that thing. They weren't doing that back then. That like, that's another reason why things Are so expensive now is because everything is so nice.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

As opposed to just being kind of like the point A to point B. This is made of steel. Yeah.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

It won't break.

[Joel]

Gotten fancier. Bigger, lots more amenities. Okay. What do you think a loaf of bread cost?

[Matt]

Oh, loaf of bread. Was that like 10 cents?

[Joel]

Spot on.

[Matt]

Is it really?

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Well, I'm thinking about wouldn't it like 5 cents to go see like a movie?

[Joel]

So what was it? Was it. What did estate cost?

[Matt]

A steak.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

If a loaf of bread was 10 cents, then a steak, I'm gonna say 17, 36 cents.

[Joel]

Oh, okay, okay. But here's the kicker.

[Matt]

Well, that's the thing. I bet beef back then everything was free range, grass fed, no antibiotics, because none of that stuff existed.

[Joel]

That's true too.

[Matt]

100 years ago.

[Joel]

What do you think the average income was 100 years ago per year?

[Matt]

100 years ago? I don't know, man. Average income. Okay, so you said a house cost $6,000. So I'm going to say that it would make sense back in the day if you're like, I saved up to buy this house for five years. So I'm going to say about 1000 bucks.

[Joel]

Okay. Close. 1400.

[Matt]

Okay.

[Joel]

Yeah. So you made pretty good guesses there.

[Matt]

Put me in the hot seat. Well, I didn't like that.

[Joel]

I wanted to know, like, because I think it can be dispiriting at times for people to see, like, oh, yeah, my Grandma paid like 15 grand maybe for her house. And that would have been an expensive house. Right.

[Matt]

It's important to pay attention to the income side of things too. It's not just the outgoing. What were. Yeah. What were they earning back then?

[Joel]

It is. And also much more than it's important to pay attention to investment returns. So I was curious, okay, what if you invested $100, which is obviously a lot more than $100 today, but what if you had invested $100 and you never invested again for the rest of your life? And it depends obviously on the rate of return.

[Matt]

But just a one time lump sum deposit.

[Joel]

One time lump sum deposit. Yeah.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

Well, you would have no idea. You know, it depends on like returns and, and inflation, all that stuff.

[Matt]

But you'd have what I do know that it's 10% average annually compounded because that's. That I am familiar with, that we.

[Joel]

Have talked about over the course of.

[Matt]

The past hundred years.

[Joel]

Well, I looked it up on a site called official data dot com.

[Matt]

Give it to me.

[Joel]

100 bucks. Put it in 1924, end of year 2025 in the S&P 500, you would have $2,768,000.

[Matt]

Booyah. So 100, right? 100 bucks.

[Joel]

So what do you think about that? I mean, most of us don't have 100 year investing timeline, right. We've got maybe half that at most because we start spending down that money at some point too. But I just think investing is the way to counteract higher rising prices. I saw a quote or I saw Warren Buffett recently. I was looking at old Warren Buffett videos on YouTube because that's what I do in my spare time because I'm weird. And he was talking about how just saving, think about how much it's going to cost to go to Disney World next year. That's what he used as an example. And well, the price on that's going to go up. If you're saving, yeah, maybe your savings rate will keep up maybe with the price higher price of Disney World tickets. But if you're investing, that's how you grow your money so that you can much more easily afford Disney World tickets in the years to come. And I think that's just a practical way to think about it. So I, looking back at those prices, I think the first initial knee jerk for a lot of people at Miss Betty's party was like, gosh, wouldn't it be nice depression if my steak, yeah, if my steak cost 36 cents. And now it's like $18 a pound. But you look at the flip side of it and it's like, oh man, if you were savvy with your money, actually inflation didn't toast you. Like you. If you invested, you would more than keep up with inflation. You would far surpass it.

[Matt]

Indeed. Indeed. All right, this is our Friday flight though. We're going to cover a lot of the different stories that we've come across, not just this past week, but we have some lost ground to catch up on. Joel, the Big Beautiful Bill, which it's no longer called that now, now it's the one big beautiful Bill act.

[Joel]

Obbb.

[Matt]

The OBBBA is what we have to call it oba, but that passed about a month ago, which, you know, prioritized the current goals of the current administration over the long term fiscal responsibilities of our country. But it did cover a lot of ground, including extending the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act.

[Joel]

I can say just from like how the sausage gets made, wouldn't it be nice if we had more bills that were smaller in scope that we can more easily understand how it used to go down, but sadly, everything gets shoved.

[Matt]

Into one omnibus bill is how it goes down now. Yeah. So, but what we're gonna do, we're gonna do old school. Old school like Congress used to do it. We're gonna break things down. So instead of doing one long, boring, wonky episode, we'll cover some of the. A lot of the different elements kind of sprinkled throughout the episodes in the coming weeks, the ones that we think are gonna be most impactful to listeners. And so the raising of the Salt deductions from $10,000 to $40,000, that was quite a contentious part of the bill. But it's going to particularly benefit folks in the most expensive states out there, like New York or California. That comes to mind.

[Joel]

And some people were saying, well, the reason that population, they're having population drain, especially at the higher end of the income ladder in those states, was because of that salt deduction cap, because it was really costing people in high tax states a lot of money on their taxes by having that in place. So that was kind of part of this.

[Matt]

I felt like they're leaving money on the table basically when they're just like when they're capped at $10,000 and they're saying, I've got plenty more, I could itemize here to get deducted off my taxes. So, yeah, that's lifted up to $40,000. Now, another group of folks who are going to see their taxes go down are folks who are 65 and older, which certainly isn't a huge portion of our audience. But it's a straight up $6,000 deduction per person. And this is for couples who are earning less than $150,000. This is quite significant. You're looking at a total of $12,000 straight up deduction.

[Joel]

Again, we talked about this maybe a couple months ago about the finitude of this bill, that all this stuff that's happening, but really it's only locked in. A lot of the changes are baked in for a few years. Even those, the tax cuts, the tax cuts and job act that were supposed to be made permanent in this. Well, even those, they're extended for a few more years. So this is going to be another political battle, you know, that we can see on the timeline in the not too distant future. We're going to have a lot more discussions about this and we're going to have another bill passed, revisit it.

[Matt]

I've heard arguments for that, for the sort of natural sunsetting of some of these provisions. And there's arguments for it. There's also arguments against it, of course, because it's like, well, this is just a short term kind of let's make the people happy. But I think it's also from a fiscal, again responsibility standpoint, it can be helpful to be like, hey, this is going to come back on the table and we're going to talk about it again. Don't assume that this is going to stick around forever.

[Joel]

I think it's more of a political feet to the fire thing though. And it's like, well, you're not for tax cuts. So that's, that's this we're going to how we're going to run against you. And that's what the ads are going to say. Another random part of this bill is the car loan interest deduction up to $10,000 a year that people can take if they buy a US assembled car and they have a loan on that car. Right. Matt, what do we think of this? Are we fans?

[Matt]

Not a fan.

[Joel]

This is like one of my least favorite parts. Random things thrown into this bill because I think it's going to help some people rationalize taking out a loan on a new car. When car loans are pretty much always a bad idea. The average person, like think about, you know, cars are more expensive, interest rates have gone up on cars and this feels like throwing a bone to people. Hey, you bought that expensive new car and you got this 9% interest rate. You, you're probably paying something like 2,000, $2,500 a year in interest on that car. So we'll at least allow you to save taxes on that. The average person, new car buyer is going to save something like $400 a year in taxes because of this thing included in the bill. And yeah, I'm just not a fan. Cause I think people will be able to rationalize and say, no, I get the tax incentive. Might as well keep that loan around. When car loans are a bad idea, dig into the details about your income because income over a certain threshold, you won't qualify. And what car make and model qualifies because you need to know that before buying it. And even still don't let that sway you into buying a new car and taking out a sick loan. That's going to cost you a lot of money every month. On the car note too, EV tax credits on both new and used vehicles, they are going away because of the one big Beautiful Bill Act. September 30th 30th is the last day you're going to be able to get that Tax incentive for buying an electric vehicle. So the effective price of EVs is going to go up significantly. I think it's going to make it less enticing to switch. I mean, I told you that I canceled my.

[Matt]

I know. I'm just going to be out here driving my slate truck. My slate, my cool little LEGO truck all by myself. I thought we're going to have matching slates.

[Joel]

I know, I know. Sorry, man.

[Matt]

I guess it's just going to be me.

[Joel]

And they're adorable. And we would have looked good riding next to each other in those trucks. But part of the appeal was not just its low price point, but low price point with EV tax credit. And I actually just bought a new used car we should talk about about on the show soon. A 20 year old car, not anything close to new. But that's why I canceled my order is because, oh, I got this new used car that's going to last me, I think a long time. Also, the slate card, it's not going to be as cheap as I thought it was going to be. If they take away the tax credits.

[Matt]

$7,500 tax or price bump, like straight up. I mean that's a big deal. It's crazy that some folks. That was like real money, right? I mean that was an instance to where it's not a deduction of your income that's going to then reduce your tax bill. This is a tax, that was a tax credit dollar is how the price of those EVs was reduced, which is quite significant.

[Joel]

Well, on that, on that front we should just mention they didn't. This bill didn't only pull back EV tax credits, it's also pulling back energy efficient home repair tax credits because yeah, that was supposed to have a long way, I think long Runway. I think it was supposed to expire in like 2032, something like that. But they're going away at the end of this year. So if you have upgrades you're planning on making to your home, well then get them done in a timely manner. If you're planning on doing it next year, you probably want to do it in November, December, something like that of this year. So you qualify for the tax credit, but after this year they're going away.

[Matt]

Something else I saw. So while we're talking about cars though, before we leave, that another reason to avoid buying new cars, whether we're talking about electric vehicles or traditional internal combustion engine cars. And that's because of a $1,000 monthly car payment that is no longer the anomaly I saw that one in five buyers are signing up for one of these. This is according to Edmunds. And not even for 36 months, not for three years. This is often for over six years, which is insane, man. The risk of just blowing your budget being underwater in that loan for a long time is serious. And I just crunched some numbers because I'm like, $1,000 is so much money, man.

[Joel]

I can't fathom it.

[Matt]

Were you to take that thousand dollars and invest it in the market.

[Joel]

$1,000 a month, which is a lot of money.

[Matt]

I mean, if you're paying that to. I don't know. Some folks are like, well, I gotta have a car. But no, you don't need to have a brand new car, as Joel just mentioned here, 20 years old.

[Joel]

You've got a great 2006 Toyota I think is gonna last me another decade.

[Matt]

4Runner, baby. Yeah, awesome. But it would take you 27 years before that $1,000 a month turns into $1 million. Yeah, 1 million, like. And I know we were just talking about inflation, and 100 years ago, 1 million isn't what it used to be. Right. It's still $1 million is a lot of money. And the reason, a part of why we talk about these kind of things here on the show is we want people to make informed decisions. They just think they have to sign up for these things to make these payments. And some folks are gonna be like, yeah, it's a million dollars, but that's in 27 years, guys. And they're gonna choose to go with a nice new car. But there's gonna be other folks who say, wait, a million dollars? I didn't realize that. That's okay. I'm gonna say no to the car. Sign me up for a million bucks. We want folks to make informed decisions. Speaking of home energy things, it makes me think of like, the yellow energy use stickers. It's like, what is the cost of this to me over the long haul? And essentially, that's what you're giving up.

[Joel]

Yeah, you know, selling my other used car, the Acura that.

[Matt]

Oh, I haven't asked about that.

[Joel]

So. Well, the guy. The guy that came over and he ended up buying it yesterday we were talking about that. He was like, the whole point of me buying this car is so that I don't have to have a car payment. And I'm like, I'm with you, man. And so we could all for you. A lot of solidarity on that point.

[Matt]

That's why you do it, man.

[Joel]

I was, like, proud of him. And as a young kid getting started, and I'm like, this thing's going to treat you well. And I hope, I mean, I think it treated me well. So I hope that this allows you to avoid having a car payment for many years.

[Matt]

Don't make a promise like that where you've got zero. There's nothing you can do about, hey, this treating you well? Yeah, it's an empty promise.

[Joel]

I said, I think, you know, I'm, like, couching it. I'm not telling him that this thing's like gold and gonna run forever. Oh, yeah, yeah, you're right. I can't promise that. All right, let's talk about student loans for a second. Like something else that changed, can we say, bigly. Is that a President Trumpism?

[Matt]

That's up to you.

[Joel]

Okay.

[Matt]

I try not to adopt Trumpism personally.

[Joel]

Okay. Well, something else that changed in a big way because of this new bill is student loans. Gone are the days of paused payments and generous repayment plans. The save plan is gone for good. And there's something new in its place. The Repayment Assistance Plan, or rap, that's the new thing in town. So if you borrow money, does it.

[Matt]

Sound more hip to you because it's rap?

[Joel]

Yeah, I think so. Let's rap, kids, right?

[Matt]

Hello, fellow children. I forget what Steve Buscemi says.

[Joel]

Oh, yeah, what is that in. What's that? Happy Gilmore?

[Matt]

I don't even know. It's been a while. Yeah.

[Joel]

If you borrow money, though, from the federal student loan program after July 1, and we are past that date, this is the repayment program you'll be under. Our Friends at Student Loan Planner, we had Travis Hornsby on a few months ago. They are advising extreme caution right now for people when they're considering buying, especially people who already have student loans from the federal government under their belt. They're even telling folks or telling those folks to consider private student loans to avoid having all of your loans. Because if you already have existing student loans and you take out more, they'll all be put onto the wrap plan, which isn't as generous as the plans you might already be on. So be wary for that. We'll link to a blog post from them on that detailing kind of some of the intricacies. Also, student loans are accruing interest. Again, the average borrower is going to pay more than like $3,500 a year in interest alone. And Matt, the, the headlines and the details of what's happening to student loan borrowers in this country. There's just, there's a lot of people wringing their hands because they're nervous about what this is going to mean and how they're going to be able to handle these increased payments back in their lives.

[Matt]

Yeah. I will say moving forward, I don't know, maybe it's because I never had student loans with the different income based repayment plans. I feel like I could never fully get my head around it. Like just the complexity involved with all the different plans, all the Alphabet soup, oh my gosh.

[Joel]

And the tiny sliver detail differences in between them.

[Matt]

I will say the simplicity of wrap it took me five minutes of kind of like reading some of the details to fully understand at least I think as to what it offers which is.

[Joel]

I appreciate the simplicity.

[Matt]

Yeah, the simplicity is great. Cause it's got this flat fee regardless of how much you make. So basically if you make $10,000 or less, you're still going to pay 10 bucks. But then beyond that for every thousand, every $10,000 of income you just pay 1% more of your income. So basically if you make $37,000 you're paying 3%. If you make $77,000 you're paying 7%. If you make 120,000, well you're still, you're capped at that 10%. It doesn't go above that 10%. That's not something I could say with the previous plans. At the very least that's why we.

[Joel]

Had to have experts on to tell about all the details. Like the people who eat, breathe and sleep student loans.

[Matt]

Yeah. So that's one thing I can appreciate about rap. But generally speaking this means that student loan borrowers aren't doing so well with interest accruing again. In particular many are feeling the financial pinch and I think for others it's just going to feel like a full on chainsaw to their budgets. And as we've mentioned before, the government has the ability to dock your pay and they seem likely to pursue payment by garnishing wages. So we've feel for you if you are impacted by this jarring tide change when it comes to student loan policy. I like the current the way things are looking now moving forward if we can just stick with that. But I don't like how things to be, things seem to be whipping back and forth perhaps every four years.

[Joel]

Yeah, I think that's the tough part in the stomach is like the promises that seem sure that don't get kept and then the next person's like we're going to do the exact opposite and you're like are they actually going to accomplish their goals. And they are this time around. It's tough. It's tough.

[Matt]

Know that not paying, making these payments, this isn't a great option. Like, we don't want you to not put food on the table or anything like that. But just know that the feds are serious about collecting on that student loan debt. The government, they even have the ability to dock Social Security payments from older Americans who have student loan debt. I can't imagine there's too many of those folks.

[Joel]

There's more than you think.

[Matt]

Really?

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

That's folks who have taken out student loans, maybe for their grandkids.

[Joel]

Depressing to think, but there are people collecting Social Security who owe money on student loans.

[Matt]

That being said, that has been paused, at least for now.

[Joel]

Yeah. Also, watch out for student loan advice on TikTok. We've talked about just financial advice in general on social media. Some of it's great, but there's a lot of like, crummy stuff too, and just flat out lies at the same time. There are people out there saying, oh, no, there's an easy path to student loan forgiveness, but it's wrong. They basically say, hey, dispute your student loan debt with the credit bureaus. It's going to get removed from your credit report. Voila, your student loans are gone from your life. And that sounds nice. And yeah, it might actually get removed from your credit report for a hot minute, but it could just be temporary and it does nothing to eliminate the debt or pause the need for you to make payments. So I don't know, maybe stick to TikTok dance videos. People still doing that? I don't know. I'm sure they are. Relationship advice. That's probably. You think that's good on TikTok, Matt? Of course. Okay.

[Matt]

Yeah, everything's right on TikTok except for the financial advice.

[Joel]

Yeah. Okay. Yeah, I don't. I wouldn't know because I literally have never been on there, so.

[Matt]

All right, but we've got plenty more to get to. We're going to talk about one of the bigger retailers out there, Amazon, among others. We'll get to all of that and more right after the break.

[Joel]

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[Matt]

That's right.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Policygenius is great. You know, with anything in life, the best way to get the best product or service is to shop around. That's what we talk about all the time here on the show, Joel. And that's exactly what PolicyGenius does. They help you to compare your options by getting quotes from America's top insurers in just a few clicks to find your lowest price, policygenius lays out all of your options clearly. The coverage amounts, the prices, the terms. There is no guesswork, just clarity.

[Joel]

Secure your family's future with Policygenius. Head to Policygenius.com to compare free life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save. That's policygenius.com looking for a smarter way to teach your child to ride a bike and support American jobs at the same time? Most kids bikes are just cheap imports. They're heavy, clunky, hard for kids to control. Guardian Bikes is changing that. They're assembling bikes right here in the USA with plans for full US Manufacturing in the next few months. It's a commitment to higher quality and American craftsmanship you can trust. Each bike is lightweight, low to the ground and built to help kids learn to ride faster, many in just one day. No training wheels needed.

[Matt]

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[Joel]

That's guardianbikes.com built in the USA, made specifically for kids. Guardianbikes.com this episode is brought to you.

[Matt]

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[Joel]

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[Matt]

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[Joel]

All right, we're back in just a minute. We're going to talk about some new credit card products that come with really high annual fees. Oftentimes, the perks are sick on those cards. But are these new ones worth it? We'll talk about that. But, Matt, first let's get to the ludicrous headline of the week. This one comes from the Wall Street Journal, and the title is the origin of the $80 popcorn bucket.

[Matt]

Too Rich for My Blood.

[Joel]

Yeah, man. I mean, spend on things you love. But if you love $80 popcorn buckets, I got questions for you.

[Matt]

So this is a phenomenon that all started with Dune. Yes, with the Dune Bucket, which just.

[Joel]

Going back, I saw they. I think they included pictures of that.

[Matt]

Bucket, too, because it's just so insane.

[Joel]

Tough to fathom reaching your hand in that bucket to get your popcorn out.

[Matt]

He's gonna want to do that.

[Joel]

It's kind of creepy. But the movies are back, I think. I'm curious if the F1 movie performed. Well, I kind of wanted to see that in theaters, but also can't tell you the last time I saw a movie in theaters. So I knew it wasn't going to happen, even though I thought it would have been cool.

[Matt]

I know the last movie I saw.

[Joel]

What?

[Matt]

Which was one the how to Train youn Dragon.

[Joel]

Oh.

[Matt]

Real Life, or what do you call it? I don't know.

[Joel]

That's not real life. You went by yourself without the kids, right?

[Matt]

Exactly. No, this was the first movie that we've ever taken the entire family to.

[Joel]

Oh, wow. Ever.

[Matt]

Isn't that crazy? That is crazy. Yeah.

[Joel]

Your kids live a sheltered life.

[Matt]

Well, it's just there aren't that many great movies out there, and why do, like, why do you go to the movie theater when you've got a solid sized TV at home and it's comfortable? We make our own popcorn with, like, oil in the pot and, yeah, pop it on the stovetop as opposed to whatever stale preserve popcorn they've got there, so. Yet another reason to not pay for the 80$, 80 popcorn.

[Joel]

Come up with your own cool vessels at home.

[Matt]

Yeah, this plain old bowl.

[Joel]

But this one is interesting. It's like some new Fantastic Four. Which apparently this new Fantastic Four movie is actually good. But it's this $80 popcorn bucket attached to it. And I guess these popcorn buckets have taken on a life of their own. But what do you do with a popcorn bucket once you're done with it? I'm even reluctant to buy popcorn at all at the movie theaters. Yes. We got like a. There's a. You know, we rarely go to the movies maybe like four or five times a year with, with the kids. But we got the. On Black Friday there. Our local theater, which is far less expensive than the other theaters for some reason. Probably just a little rundown. They were selling like the actual refillable bucket.

[Matt]

I forget.

[Joel]

It was like $8 or something like that. And the refills are just like. Like $4 every time we go. And so that felt okay. I think I'm willing to pounce on that.

[Matt]

Don't drop that bucket. Don't let it break.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

I was over there taping his popcorn bucket back.

[Joel]

Duct tape it to keep it together. But the $80 popcorn bucket makes zero sense to me.

[Matt]

That's insane.

[Joel]

What are you gonna do, put it on your shelf when you're done with it?

[Matt]

It feels like a movie theater status symbol.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Which, like, is that the kind of status symbol you wanna have? Which. Okay, so this makes me think about.

[Joel]

This is like an impulse purchase that someone would totally make at the theater and be like, yes, that looks cool. I guess I'll get it. I guess so.

[Matt]

Okay, so I guess I've got a frugal or cheap. So that when we went and saw how to Train youn Dragon ahead of time, Kate and I, we told all the kids, hey, you can take some candy to the movie theater because we're not gonna buy the crummy, expensive, overpriced popcorn there in the theater. Is that frugal or cheap? Showing up with your own candy?

[Joel]

I think it's frugal.

[Matt]

Is it instilling improper virtues or tactics in the minds of our children?

[Joel]

You're just, you're. Yeah. Bring. I don't care. I'm totally down to stop by the gas station, get your candy bar there, and bring it up.

[Matt]

Oh, no. We were picking up Halloween candy that we still have in our pantry from.

[Joel]

Last year that might be stale and nasty at this point, too.

[Matt]

Candy lasts forever.

[Joel]

Does it?

[Matt]

We. Well, I don't know. Maybe not. It was just one of those instances to where we were kind of catching ourselves. We're like, well, are we teaching the kids to, like, be scofflaws? I don't know. We dialed it back because initially they had, like, handfuls of candy. We're like, no, it needs to fit in your hand. That's how we basically limited how much candy they could show up with. Anyway, I'm glad you're here. At least you are not judging me, Joel.

[Joel]

All of our listeners are judging us.

[Matt]

Let's talk about some of our favorite businesses out there, the ones who don't seem to be treating their customers all that well. Oh, first of all, did you see that Delta? They're getting ready to launch that AI pricing model? It's like dynamic pricing 2.0. I love their take it to the next level.

[Joel]

Their response, because they were basically like, what are you talking about? We never even were considering this when clearly they were. But they. They were, like, backing away quickly like Homer Simpson.

[Matt]

Normally. Normally everyone's jumping all over the AI, but in this case, they're like, oh, wait a minute. I guess in this case, we're using the AI against you. So actually it's not AI, it's just fancy, dynamic pricing. We've always. Guys. Now I feel like there are more and more stories about different retailers, in particular, not taking the high road. Target, in particular, they are ending a favorable price match policy that it's had for years. It's basically the way it worked. If you found an item that you bought at Target for less money within 14 days, within two weeks of purchase at a competitor, you get a refund for the difference. And this is not something that they're honoring anymore. As of last week, evidently, Target doesn't want to compete on price in that way. And this is something that you've taken advantage of, right? You are one of the few people that I know who's willing to see something that you purchased in the past and then go and make a case for why it is that they should give you some money back.

[Joel]

Well, I even. This is gonna sound weird. I was buying a backpack from my daughter going back to school backpack, and then I saw that it was 30% off like a few days later. So I ordered it again. So I had two of the same backpack and then I took back the one and returned it on under the full price sku.

[Matt]

So yeah, sometimes that's what you got to do.

[Joel]

Yeah, because I mean, that's just the easiest way to go about it sometimes.

[Matt]

But it's slightly more automated. I think this is okay. So one of the reasons, I think Targets why they are not doing this anymore is because there's like a judgment call that's involved. Like someone has to be there making a case, making an argument pointing to a price somewhere else. And someone else has to be looking at it, saying, oh yeah, I guess that's legit. Did you Photoshop this? I don't know.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

It's on your phone. As opposed to something like what you just described, which was a return, which is a much more automated. It's just more streamlined. And I think there are more folks who are finding ways to be savvy shoppers by essentially making returns things that they are like, you know what? Actually I don't see the value in that. Even though I purchased it and let's be honest, they're sending it back.

[Joel]

Prices are far more dynamic these days. So Amazon might offer an incredible price on an item that you just bought from Target. And then you go over to Target and you're like, hey, look how cheap it is. Give me my money back. And they're like, but they had it that way for like a day or maybe less than that. So we don't feel compelled to price to match that price. So I get why Target is doing it. I'm not throwing shade at Target. I think actually Target's done a pretty good job attracting customers in recent years. And guess what? None of their competitors had a policy like this. So for them to be able to compete, they just got to. It's almost like they're at a disadvantage if they keep a policy like that around. Yeah, I wish that they could keep a policy like that, but that's just not the way the modern market works.

[Matt]

That's how I feel.

[Joel]

Yeah. So they just can't, can't play that game well.

[Matt]

I mean, I see it as more like forward looking, whereas you keep tabs on like previous purchases that you made. I'm always just like, all right, what's next? Which maybe puts us more like in like lumps us with the typical American consumer. Like you're talking about back to school shopping. I mean, I don't know how many pairs of shoes there are at our house currently. But we've got a lot because you order a bunch, see which ones fit. Like we're not gonna go into the store, into the shoe store. We're gonna find the ones that the kids like that fit the best, that actually fit. Cause the sizes are all over the place. And then you send the rest of them back. And I think that's one of the ways that Amazon has competed and like they've kind of changed our behavior to a certain extent.

[Joel]

Sure.

[Matt]

Cause folks are taking advantage of the ability to make those returns. Which is probably why we're starting to see prices with Amazon starting tick up a little bit.

[Joel]

Because they're taking advantage of your behavioral reliance on them.

[Matt]

Right, Kate? This is why we can't have nice things. I hope she's listening today because of all the returns.

[Joel]

Well, the Wall Street Journal actually has been tracking a basket of hundreds of goods that Amazon sells. And Amazon's over here saying we've been keeping our prices low for customers. And the Wall Street Journal is saying au contraire, you've actually been raising prices on a lot of these goods. And, and I think for a lot of years, Matt, Amazon did keep prices pretty low. They were trying to amass customer share and so that's why so many people became incredibly reliant on Amazon and it became their go to place to shop for stuff because they were like, it's easy and it's cheap. But that is becoming less the case. And you know, free markets are great, but when we don't take advantage of free markets, when we are essentially knee jerk going to Amazon to buy stuff, we are more likely to pay more than we should or need to or more than other retailers are charging. Because Amazon realizes that we are, we have the, we got the prime membership, we're super down with the convenient delivery. And so we're just going to pay whatever price Amazon tells us they're charging. Now instead of shopping around and think this is just should be a good reminder for how to money listeners that as Amazon was raising prices over the last few months on a bunch of these goods. Goods. Walmart was lowering prices on the goods. So the price gap has increased between what Amazon sells stuff for and Walmart sells stuff for.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

And that's, you know, a couple hundred goods. It's not pervasive necessarily or indicative of everything you might buy.

[Matt]

Exactly.

[Joel]

But it's a good reminder to not just rely on Amazon for your shopping.

[Matt]

That's true. Honestly, guilty as charged. Because like I think that's just our Default. Like, literally this morning, I purchased some air filters, and it's so easy to look back at the previous order.

[Joel]

You should have got it from Costco, buddy.

[Matt]

I saw that they were there, but I never have the size. What I should do is put my sizes on my phone. That way, I've always got it. I put other stuff on my phone. Like, for instance, the price of beef. Like, anytime I go into Costco, I'm always walking by the steaks and looking at the rib eyes.

[Joel]

And you're monitoring that.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

Okay. I like that.

[Matt]

I've got a note in my notes app, and it's called to consume.

[Joel]

What have you seen? What have you seen other than that?

[Matt]

Okay, so beef prices are 10 to 13% year over year. And that's not. Because that's something I've kept track of. That's something I saw on the news as well. But it's been on my in my notes app, though. It's been, what, three years, I think, since I've been able to snag a prime ribeye at $15 a pound. Yeah. That's just not where prices are. And in part, it's evidently due to high expenses. Due to the cost of feed evidently, has gone through the roof as well. So beef prices, while other prices have gone down. We've seen inflation. Cool. So beef prices are still sky high.

[Joel]

Makes me think about our conversation back in the day with Frankie Salenza, who's like, struggle meals, right? He's all about super cheap struggle meals, but tasty meals. And he talks about. He talked about using meat more as, like, a garnish in your dishes.

[Matt]

Oh, that's. That was. That's Kate's line. That's our line.

[Joel]

Is that your. Frankie didn't say that he stole it from you.

[Matt]

He did. Okay, well, I don't know. Maybe. Maybe he said it. He can say it too. But he's the one that's got the cooking show.

[Joel]

Yeah, that's true.

[Matt]

Yeah. Nobody's listening, I swear. I mean, listeners. If you remember the episode when we first started Poor Not Poor, before we changed it to how to Money. I'm pretty. I think I remember literally us talking about slashing your grocery budget.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Episode 17 or something.

[Joel]

Well, especially when beef prices.

[Matt]

That's how we treated meat, though, as a garnish.

[Joel]

Like.

[Matt]

Like a little. It was almost like, you know, like bacon on a wedge salad. That's how we did all of our meat.

[Joel]

Well, I. Getting steaks is the main feature now at your meal. Yeah. Granted, it's probably still cheaper than eating out. But it's gonna be so expensive, so much more expensive. So it's gotta be like few and far between and changing your shopping habits and saying, I guess we're more of a chicken family right now. That might be a good move.

[Matt]

I will say, okay, what Frankie did say, I do remember him specifically saying that. Hey, Joel, don't you know that broccoli has got more protein than ribeyes than beef does? And in the moment, we were like, really? He's like, oh, yeah. He's like those cruciferous vegetables. I was like, no way. But in fact, what it was, was it broccoli has more protein per calorie than beef does. Per calorie. And so, sure, it's got a lot. It's got a decent amount of protein, but you also have to eat like 30 pounds of broccoli in order to get the same amount of protein in, like 2 pounds of steak or something.

[Joel]

You told me recently, and I wouldn't have guessed this, that chicken has more protein in it than chicken breast.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah, I think that's per ounce.

[Joel]

For those of you crossfitters out there trying to get your protein in, hey, man, chicken's cheaper and you're gonna get more. More of that protein.

[Matt]

Move to improve. All the folks out there who are looking to optimize, I mean, all the Huberman, all the Peter Attia listeners out there, they know what's up when it comes to protein.

[Joel]

Yeah, they do. All right, let's talk credit cards. So the, the new Chase Sapphire Reserve went live at the end of June, and it comes with a much higher annual fee than it did before. So I'm sure, Matt, a lot of how the money listeners are like, is this, is this credit card still worth it? What are the changes that got made? Well, Chase is thinking that customers are going to willingly pay $795 a year to have this credit card. The annual fee, it's more than the Amex Platinum, which is also set to get an overhaul, I think. But the perks can potentially add up for savvy users. Some of the major selling points are a $300 annual travel credit, $120 credit for TSA PreCheck, and up to $500 in credit towards high end hotel stays. But I, Matt, I'm less keen on these credit cards. Now, you want to tell us about the new Citi Card Strata Elite, and then maybe we'll give like, our diagnosis of what's happening in the high end credit card space.

[Matt]

Well, here's the thing, I'm not even going to share specific details because I feel the way that some of these nicer credit cards are going. They are reminding me of those coupon books that you could buy for 20 bucks back when you were in like middle school.

[Joel]

The blue ones that said entertainment on the front.

[Matt]

Were they, were they blue? I don't remember.

[Joel]

They have like a little crown on them.

[Matt]

You could completely save a ton of money by buying back in the day. But a lot of folks, what did they do? They just let them linger in their junk drawer and oh, there's an expiration date. Oh no. The downside of the coupon book model is that it often incentivizes you to spend more than you otherwise would. So you got the same model here, but the stakes are so much higher with these incredibly fancy credit cards that have these insane annual fees. And sure, for the right person, right. I think this could be a no brainer if you're going to optimized to the nth degree. But I think for the average person, especially if you're kind of on the fence about this, this is a hard pass. So I would simply recommend just going with something basic like the Citi Double. You know, forget the Citi Strata Elite, go with the Citi Double Cash card. That's a card that we're using very regularly because was it, it was sometime last year that we talked about, I think for years we'd been using the Amex Blue Cash Preferred. And I was like, wait a minute, they cap the 6% cash back on the groceries at a certain amount per year. And I realized, man, we've got a family of six. We might, I think we're hitting that like halfway through the year. And I was blindly still putting my grocery charges, obviously my non Costco grocery charges on that card still earning 1%. I felt duped, Joel.

[Joel]

And so that's why the details matter.

[Matt]

They do. And so because of that earlier this year I was like, I'm gonna make sure that ol Amex, they don't take advantage of me. They, you know, I'm a profit center for them. Not really. But we stopped using the Blue Cash Preferred about halfway through the year. And now all of our food charges are going on to the Double Cash card to get that solid 2% back at the very least.

[Joel]

Well, and yeah, like you gotta be smart about it.

[Matt]

That's all I'm saying.

[Joel]

The details in some of these cards are really interesting. So for instance, yeah, you'll get a credit for staying at certain hotels, but that credit is broken up into two different times of year. Like January through June and. Yeah.

[Matt]

And then too many hoops for me, dude.

[Joel]

And guess what? The credit comes if you book a hotel at essentially some of the most expensive hotel chains in existence. So you have to be like a high flyer. I think if you gotta be a baller. I think of some of these cards actually less as travel cards now and more as like big city, six figure dink sort of credit cards.

[Matt]

Right. Like you drive the Bugatti.

[Joel]

Sure.

[Matt]

Get you, get you these fancy cards.

[Joel]

Right?

[Matt]

It's like the same, same classic.

[Joel]

Because you're probably the kind of person who's going to use StubHub regularly. Apple TV Peloton. Like these are less travel and more like, like, hey, do you buy into and do business with fancy companies like Apple and Peloton? You know, on the reg you're going to get a credit for that. But you got to make sure that like I think these also one of the problems, it just incentivizes you to spend just like those coupon books. It's like you save more when you spend more. And so the only way you're going to get value from the $20 book is if you cut out at least 10 coupons. Like, the goal is to maximize your savings, but how do you maximize your savings by spending more money? I think these credit cards could incentivize a lot of people to spend more, sign up for services they otherwise wouldn't have signed up for in an effort to save money and justify the annual fee. I'm not saying they don't make sense to anyone. I'm just saying for a lot of people, they're probably out of reach and they really don't spend in a way that these credit cards will make much sense.

[Matt]

Totally agree. Let's call it before we wrap, we've got a newsletter referral. Shout out to Megan Hill, Chelsea K. Edub, Maggie H N Malajic and Nolan S. We appreciate all you wonderful folks out there who are fans of the how to Money newsletter and you forwarded the newsletter to some of your friends. So we appreciate you.

[Joel]

Thanks for spreading the word.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah. If you want to sign up. If you are not a subscriber to the HowtoMoney newsletter, head over to howtomoney.com newsletter. Those are up every Tuesday and are chock full of more personal finance goodness. Is that it, Joel?

[Joel]

That's it.

[Matt]

All right. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. We'll see you back here with a fresh Ask howto Money episode. We'll see you here on Monday. Until next time.

[Joel]

Best friends out.

[Matt]

Best friends out.

[Unknown]

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[Matt]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here from Mint Mobile Now. I was looking for fun ways to tell you that Mint's offer of unlimited Premium Wireless for 15amonth is back. So I thought it would be fun if we made $15 bills, but it turns out that's very illegal, so there goes my big idea for the commercial. Give it a [e-mail] Switch upfront payment of 45 for three month plan equivalent to $15 per month required new customer.

[Joel]

Offer for first three months only.

[Matt]

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