Friday Flight - Flipping For Cash, Health Insurance Hikes, & Grim Googling #1035

Summary

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How to Money — Friday Flight: Flipping For Cash, Health Insurance Hikes, & Grim Googling (#1035)

Podcast: How to Money
Hosts: Joel & Matt
Date: September 12, 2025

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Episode Overview

In this Friday Flight episode, Joel and Matt tackle a broad range of financial topics affecting everyday Americans. From flipping household items and navigating the latest tech upgrades, to bracing for health insurance hikes, deciphering misleading online financial advice, the impact of sports gambling, and Social Security realities—the discussion is wide-ranging, relatable, and packed with actionable insights, all with the show’s signature friendly banter.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Week’s Heaviness: Political Violence and Free Speech ([02:40])

• Acknowledgment: Joel and Matt briefly address recent tragic events, particularly the murder of Charlie Kirk and rising political violence in the US.
• Core Values: They stress the importance of individual rights and civil discourse:

  “Violence is never the solution when we disagree on principles or political ideology.”
  —Matt (03:37)

• Transition: The hosts acknowledge the heaviness of the week before shifting into lighter, personal finance topics.

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2. Tech & Temptation: The New Thinnest iPhone ([04:34])

• Apple’s New Release: Discussion of Apple’s push to market their thinnest iPhone yet.
  • Skepticism: Both suspect the marketing value is overblown, and criticize the phone’s reduced battery life and durability.
  • Marques Brownlee’s Review: They reference trusted YouTuber MKBHD’s negative take:

    “The battery life's inferior. Everything is inferior about this phone...most people are going to put a case on it anyway.”
    —Joel (05:51)

  • Financial Perspective: WalletHub study shows 1 in 4 people are willing to go into debt for the latest iPhone—a “terrible idea.”

    “Do not finance depreciating assets. That’s my rule of thumb.”
    —Matt (08:44)

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3. Flipping for Cash: Marketplace Arbitrage & Hustle Strategy ([09:08])

• Highlight: Young entrepreneur flips items for profit on Facebook Marketplace, including a $0-to-$300 rims flip.
• Arbitrage Principle: Finding underpriced items, cleaning them up or photographing them better, and reselling.
  • Examples: Matt’s friend flips mid-century furniture; another flips cars using better marketing.
• Time & Value: Flipping requires hustle and time; younger folks may be more inclined due to more free time.

  “The general concept of arbitrage is underdiscussed in personal finance.”
  —Joel (13:02)

• Warning: Know the true value of your time and effort before diving in.

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4. Health Insurance Hikes & Choices for 2025 ([13:48])

• Rising Costs: Employer health insurance costs are jumping 9% year-over-year; reductions in coverage may offset increases to 6.5%.
• Difficult Decisions: Many face increased premiums or less coverage in open enrollment.
• Key Advice:
  • Consider high-deductible plans only if healthy and have savings ready.
  • HealthCare.gov prices are also up, and subsidies are shrinking.
  • Health sharing plans may be a fit for some, but do your due diligence as they’re not true insurance.
• Choice Strategies:

  “Half of millennials say they blindly pick a plan…not a case where sticking your plans on a dartboard...is a smart idea.”
  —Matt (16:10)

Maximizing Health Dollars

• Tactics: “Bunch” procedures in one year when meeting a deductible; maximize FSA and HSA contributions.
• Resources: How to Money has articles on health sharing plans and maximizing health accounts.

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5. Electric Vehicle (EV) Market Shifts ([18:04])

• Falling Prices: Used Teslas now cost less than average used gas cars.
• Tax Credits Expiring: EV tax credits end soon; now is “a good time to pounce” if considering a purchase.
• Insurance Caution: EV insurance can be surpisingly higher—always get a quote before buying.
• Market Prediction: EV market may see a sales “cliff” without tax credits; expected drop from 7-8% to 4-5% of new car sales.

  “Used EV supply is up 62%. Still a very affordable way to get around...” —Matt (22:04)

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6. Ludicrous Headline of the Week: The Cost of Sports Gambling ([26:19])

• Headline: “The hobby that's costing young men tens of thousands of dollars.”
• Main Point: Sports gambling is heavily marketed, normalized, and particularly prevalent among men under 45.
• Risks: Easy to hide, addictive, can lead to severe losses.

  “If you can’t handle it, man, you don’t even need to dabble with five bucks because it might lead to wagering much more.”
  —Matt (29:28)

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7. “Grim Googling”: Don’t Trust Top Search Results ([29:48])

• Issue: Top Google results—including ads and organic results—are often not the most helpful or unbiased, especially for products like credit cards.
• Warning: Sites may promote financial products based on payout, not quality. Users must cross-reference information and consider their own needs.

  “Don’t just trust the first Google result...do research at multiple sites, run the numbers, and know your individual situation.”
  —Joel (31:12)

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8. Housing Market Update: New Homes Cheaper Than Used ([31:58])

• Market Shift: The last 5 years saw a $20 trillion rise in US housing value, but the remarkable twist now: New homes are up to $20,000 cheaper than used homes.
• Dynamics: Builders cutting prices to move inventory; long-term homeowners can afford to wait.
• Advice: Buying new may come with perks (lower price, lower maintenance, possible rate buy downs), but expect less appreciation and possible longer commutes.

  “If you are in the market to buy a home…consider buying a brand new one because you might get a rate buy down in addition to a cheaper sales price.”
  —Matt (33:17)

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9. Social Security: America’s Most Valuable Asset ([35:52])

• CBO Study: For most Americans, expected Social Security benefits constitute their largest asset—worth more than their home equity or retirement accounts.
• Sobering Fact:

  “Without that $2,000 [Social Security payment], we’d see a lot more retiree devastation.”
  —Matt (36:12)

• Younger Savers: Younger generations should aim to have Social Security as a supplement, not their main asset. Index fund investing is key.

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10. ETF Explosion & Investing Advice ([39:32])

• ETF Proliferation: Even Vanguard now offers lots of actively managed (and higher-fee) ETFs.
• Research Evidence: Only 33% of active funds outperform index funds, and fees eat into the gains.
• Simple Message: Low-cost, broad market index funds (like total market or S&P 500) remain the How to Money favorite; keep increasing your contributions.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Free Speech & Violence:

  “Part of the great history of our country is an ability to speak freely and vehemently disagree.” —Joel (03:29)

• On Apple’s Incremental Upgrades:

  “Do you actually need that?... Some people think, ‘I really need this thing.’ They bought into the marketing hype.” —Joel (07:59)

• On Arbitrage:

  “The general concept of arbitrage is underdiscussed in personal finance. There are inefficiencies in marketplaces.” —Joel (13:02)

• On Health Plans:

  “Half of millennials say they blindly pick a plan...sticking your plans on a dartboard...is not going to be a smart idea.” —Matt (16:10)

• On Gambling Addiction:

  “It’s also a pretty easy addiction to hide, right, just stick it in your pocket.” —Matt (28:52)

• On Googling for Financial Advice:

  "Don’t just trust the first Google result you come across...do research at multiple sites...” —Joel (31:12)

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• [02:40] – Reflections on political violence and the importance of free speech
• [04:34] – The hype and economics of the new iPhone
• [09:08] – Marketplace arbitrage, flipping, and the hustle mentality
• [13:48] – Health insurance hikes and enrollment tips
• [18:04] – EV prices, tax credits, and potential market cliff
• [26:19] – The "ludicrous headline": Sports gambling's toll on young men
• [29:48] – “Grim Googling”: Search results, ads, and financial misinformation
• [31:58] – New housing market twist: new homes cheaper than used
• [35:52] – Social Security as (depressingly) America’s top retirement asset
• [39:32] – Investing: ETF explosion, importance of low-fee index funds

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Tone, Language, and Style

Throughout the episode, Joel and Matt maintain their trademark down-to-earth, conversational, and slightly irreverent style. They use clear, everyday language, focus on practical takeaways, and lean into relatable anecdotes, always putting the listener’s financial well-being at the center. Their wit combined with deep financial understanding makes for an accessible yet information-dense episode.

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Summary by How to Money Podcast Summarizer AI, September 2025

Transcript

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast on Fox One. You can stream your favorite news, sports and entertainment live all in one app. It's raw and unfiltered.

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This is the best thing ever.

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Watch breaking news as it breaks.

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Breaking Tonight, we're following two major stories.

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And catch history in the making.

[D]

Debate drama touchdown.

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It's all here, baby.

[D]

Fox 1, we live streaming now.

[B]

Hey, it's Joel and Matt from How To Money. So back in the day, we took our first international trip together to Ireland. That was a long time ago. At this point. We left on Halloween of all days.

[A]

Castles, Irish countryside, ghost stories. It was the the full Irish experience. Joel. We stayed in this remote Airbnb right out there on the water and we actually even split another place with a host and her daughter to save some more cash. It was great.

[B]

Those Airbnbs, man, they really helped make the trip what it was. And if you're heading out on an adventure, let your place help cover the cost of that trip. With Airbnb's co host feature, someone local can even manage things for you while you're away. Find a co [e-mail] host this episode.

[A]

Is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. With rising housing prices and steeper mortgage rates, Navy Federal knows homeownership may seem too expensive to be achievable. But that's why they offer a Home Buyer's Choice loan that can open the door to affordable homeownership. Navy Federal's Homebuyer's Choice loan has no down payment options available, which means you don't need to wait years to save money. And with their no refi rate drop, you may be able to lower your rate in the future without refinancing.

[B]

Plus, while most lenders require borrowers to purchase private mortgage insurance unless they can make a 20% down payment, Navy Federal doesn't require PMI. Finally, they offer fixed payments, so your monthly payment will always be the same. So if you're looking for your first home or your next home, you can open the door with a Navy Federal Home Buyers Choice loan. Visit navy federal.org to learn how you can achieve home ownership. Navy Federal Credit Union terms and conditions apply. Equal housing lender loans subject to approval and eligibility requirements. Learn more@navy federal.org welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.

[A]

I am Matt.

[B]

And today we're talking flipping for cash and health insurance hikes and grim Googling.

[A]

That's right, buddy. You know what? You just mentioned grim Googling. Specifically, we're going to talk about advertising that has shown up within Google searches. We're not gonna. We're not.

[B]

Well, I guess we even just search order. Search order how the first thing you click might not be the best thing that you're looking for.

[A]

Exactly. I just wanted to highlight that. We weren't planning to highlight the terrible news that we. That America experienced earlier this week. Although it's worth saying the murder of Charlie Kirk. Man, what a terrible thing.

[B]

Awful. That. And it just feels like there's a general upswing in political violence in this country.

[A]

Yes. Yeah. There has been all acts like that. Horrific like terror laden acts of evil violence that have taken place not just on those individuals, I think, but even on our country. Right. Like this isn't how we do things in the United States. When you have a disagreement with somebody, when you have different beliefs, when you voice those different opinions.

[B]

Part of the great history of our country is an ability to speak freely and vehemently disagree.

[A]

Yes. With freedom of speech, man.

[B]

Yeah. With people that have issues even that you find abhorrent. And violence is never the solution when we disagree on principles or political ideology.

[A]

So yeah, we are fans of fire. Not financial independence, retire early, but the foundation of individual rights and expression. The foundation that's out there championing free speech and the ability for folks to voice their opinion. And so we're all about that. We are all about for folks to have respectful conversation, dissenting views. And this isn't. Man. I just hope we don't see more of this in our country. And my heart obviously goes out to.

[B]

His family, in particular his family and the families of other people. The Ukrainian woman earlier in Charlotte this week. Right. Her family just seems.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

The senseless violence and the impacts. Crummy week, the downstream impacts that the violence has on families is just. It's hard to fathom and it's tough to watch.

[A]

Yeah. All right, so now we've got to move from these heavier topics to something silly, Joel. Something a little more superficial. But that's. We are going to talk about personal finance. The first story we're going to get to iPhones, man. Let's talk about how thinner iPhones are coming. Which seems silly.

[B]

Yeah. But it seems silly in its own right though too.

[A]

Yes, exactly.

[B]

Yeah. The thinnest iPhone ever. And I just love to watch Apple try to do their marketing thing and make us think that this is the greatest thing since life spread or a necessity in our lives.

[A]

Do you remember, I can't remember what version it was that came out, but Apple specifically was asking people to not come in the store and bend the phones because there were reports. I want to say it was like the seven. It's like at that point in time, it was the thinnest yet. And folks were coming in, like, wait, is it. There's reports of them bending in people's pockets or something like that. They're like, please don't come in and bend our iPhone. How's that not going to happen now with the. With the iPhone Air, which is now the thinnest.

[B]

Right. Of all time. It was interesting to see, like, the new product release and how they're trying to go about promoting these things. And I just. I think the tech guy I turn to typically is Marquise Marques Brownlee, who just, like, does an awesome job on YouTube reviewing stuff.

[A]

And I just like, Engadget.

[B]

Engadget, yeah, they do a great job, too.

[A]

Still, the. It's the classic.

[B]

It's classic.

[A]

I'm sucking my ways, Joel.

[B]

But so is Brownlee, dude. He's been on YouTube since he was like a child basically reviewing tech gadgets. He's got like 20 million subscribers. He's incredible. So. But he was just like, saying, I mean, the battery life's inferior. Like, everything is inferior about this phone. And guess what? On top of that, I think most people are going to do, Matt, they're going to put a case on it. And so that super thin $1,000 iPhone, I mean, if not, I know that the ceramic shield is stronger and stuff like that.

[A]

Ceramic shield too, baby.

[B]

Yeah.

[A]

Stronger, better than ever.

[B]

But you're running that risk, right, of, okay, tossing it on the ground, shattering the screen.

[A]

I am of the mind. I am almost willing to consider because I think about, like, my old phones back in the day. How many, like, when drop them, even with cases, and they would crack, they would shatter. And I'm thinking about how I've got scratches all over my current screen. It is in a case, but I drop it all the time and it doesn't break. I think the technology has gotten to the point that I wonder if the. And we've talked about how you've got to ensure you're, quote, unquote, ensure your iPad by putting a case on it. And I am wondering if that's going to end up being some sort of holdover, some sort of remnant, and instead of, okay, Boomer, it'll be like, okay, millennial, you with your big clunky iPhone case.

[B]

I hope so. I hope that they're able to manufacture these phones in such a way that you don't need a Case and that if you drop it, your phone is still okay. That would be amazing. Like I would love to have a case free phone. I just don't.

[A]

I might be willing to risk it. We'll see.

[B]

Okay. All right, Richie Rich.

[A]

Maybe I'm looking forward, looking for an excuse to get as a holder as an owner of an iPhone 13 Pro. Yeah, maybe I'm like, I don't know, maybe I can get it, you know, a refurb 15 for 16 on the cheap, you know, 16 Pro.

[B]

That's a good point.

[A]

That'd be a nice one.

[B]

Upgrading maybe to a user refurbished model that's not quite the newest one. Makes more sense as a new model gets released because the prices go down on those models. Right.

[A]

That's what the smart money nerds do.

[B]

Yeah, exactly. But are you going to pay like, you know, 12, 1300 bucks? I think the top of the line pro max with the biggest storage is like 2 grand now. So they're really starting to hit the new one, that territory.

[A]

The new one?

[B]

Yeah. Oh my gosh.

[A]

Which is. That's the cost of a computer, right?

[B]

Yeah. It's more than crazy.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

So I guess just, I think the, the upgrades are mostly incremental. Yes, there are some upgrades, but do you actually need that? And then I think the thing that makes me the saddest, Matt, is that some people think, well, you know what? I really need this thing. They bought into the marketing hype. The thinnest iPhone ever. I've got to have it in my pocket. And WalletHub found that 1 in 4 people are more than willing to go into debt for the new iPhone. And yeah, I mean debt for tech gadgets, we're not down with it. It's a terrible idea if you can't actually afford the cost of the new phone with cash that you have on hand. Even then like consider whether or not you should put that into your budget or not. But if you don't have the money to buy it, going into debt for it is just utterly absurd. At least from the how to money perspective. Yeah.

[A]

As a general rule of thumb, do not finance depreciating assets. That's my rule of thumb.

[B]

I think that's a great rule of thumb.

[A]

If you are looking to buy a home, sure, that can work out, but everything else. That's why I'm not a huge fan.

[B]

Of car loans, student loans in moderation. Right. Because got to be smart about you are an appreciating asset that you're doing some investing in.

[A]

Investment in your knowledge Base and yeah, your marketability.

[B]

But even that can get out of control, as we know that's true.

[A]

Okay, maybe quasi. Related article. There's a story of the young dude. They talked about his attempt to flip stuff, to flip items on Facebook Marketplace in order to make a profit. This is not a new concept, but he was looking for items, some free, some he paid for, to purchase in order to sell for more than he paid. I think this is over on the Journal. But the most impressive flip was a set of rims, like car tire rims that he got for free. And then he turned it into a $300 sale. This reminds me of. You remember the Canadian blogger, some kid who upgraded or he bartered his way from a red paperclip over the course of like, years, I think. But he eventually bartered his way up to a home, an actual house.

[B]

Incredible. That's exactly what this reminded me of. Yeah, I forgot what started with those.

[A]

Literally a red paperclip, which is insane. I think there's. There's like a statue or like an art installation of like, the red paperclip to like, commemorate.

[B]

Because he was such a baller, what.

[A]

He did, I think that was sort of the first of its time, right? In large part, he was able to do that because he garnered a lot of media coverage. And people are probably willing to part with something that was maybe. Maybe worth a little bit more actual money, but they were willing to be.

[B]

A part of his journey, be a.

[A]

Part of it, and maybe something he had to them was more valuable.

[B]

But that's the. That's the.

[A]

That's what's so beautiful about a free market. The ability to choose what it is that you want to put out there, what you want to sell, what you want to purchase. As well. He had Pokemon cards which have evidently had like, the best return, other than like the S and P over the past. That was another article.

[B]

Pokemons have. Cards have outpaced the S and P in terms of.

[A]

Depends on what terms of return, which. Which card. But he. This. This guy, though he occasionally lost money, but. And of course he said that dealing with folks who ghosted him or who were just like, super flaky. That's the worst part, which I totally agree. That's the worst part of trying to buy or sell something, especially on something like Facebook Marketplace. But yeah, you can totally respect the hustle, and I respect this. This guy's hustle when it comes to finding ways to make some additional cash on your side.

[B]

Just that concept of arbitrage, right. That someone is selling something, maybe they're prioritizing, getting rid of it quickly. And you know a lot about that item and you're like, well, that's way underpriced. I can buy that. I can bring it home. I can take better pictures or something like that and I can turn it into. That's right. Lots of times it's crummy pictures and people don't do a good job listing the item they have. And if you're. That's what happened. I have a friend who flips mid century furniture and that's often how he does it. It's like poorly listed. It's misspelled. Terrible photos.

[A]

He finds it in a garage sale, but then he cleans it up.

[B]

Sometimes he cleans it up, sometimes he just takes better pictures. Right.

[A]

Brings it into his studio. He's got the psych wall.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

Those pieces look so good.

[B]

I know, exactly.

[A]

I'm like, yeah, I'll pay an 80% premium too. Just because it looks better.

[B]

Right. Just presentation matters. Right.

[A]

So an old friend of ours too, he would do that with cars. So this is before the state where he lived changed the ad valorem tax. So now every time you purchase a new vehicle, you pay that ad valorem, like upfront, essentially, sales tax up front. But at the time it wasn't. It was just assessed on an annual basis. And he would. I can't remember what car he ended up driving in the end, but he would get a car similarly, it wasn't marketed well. Crummy pictures. He drove it for a while, but then cleaned it up. He was a photographer, took really good photos of it and he would sell it for a few hundred dollars more like a few months later. And he did that multiple times and every time was able to. To upgrade his ride, which I love. Again, I love the hustle, but it takes time. And that's the thing you got to know. It's why I think a lot of young folks are willing to hustle like that. Because it takes a little bit of time. It takes a lot of energy to want to be able to do that. And you got to be able to value your time accurately to make sure it's worth it.

[B]

Yeah. Yeah. And at this point in my life, I'm not going to drive across town for a $20 item that I can sell for $40. But I don't know, I might have done that like 15 years ago. Right.

[A]

Make some extra cash.

[B]

Yeah. And just. I think the general concept of arbitrage is under discussed in Personal finance, because there are inefficiencies in marketplaces. And maybe it's even you're at a big box store or something like that and you see something on clearance and you're like, I know I could sell this for more on ebay. I don't know, maybe buy some of them. I almost did that with a Traeger grill that was on clearance one time at Costco and there were three left and I bought one for myself and I was like, I should have bought all three and sold the others. I would have made a hundred bucks a pop on that.

[A]

Just like you did it with the dishwashers, which I think.

[B]

Exactly. I did it with the hashtag.

[A]

Yeah, I guess in that case it was right there in front of you. Right. So it's not like you're going out of your way. You're like, I've already done the research. This is a good dishwasher.

[B]

That's right.

[A]

And so the ability to pounce, maybe put a little bit of effort into the quote unquote marketing and selling of the item, then you're going to come out on top.

[B]

All right, let's talk. Let's talk health insurance, Matt.

[A]

Let's.

[B]

Super fun topic. Everybody knows health insurance is super cheap and super affordable. So great. I think everyone loves their coverage. Everyone loves the system that we're in.

[A]

That's the best part.

[B]

How efficient it is, how well run. Of course, not true health insurance costs are on the rise in a meaningful way this year in particular, too. Without making any changes, price hikes would likely be roughly like 9% year over year from employers. What they have to pay for coverage for their employees. Like almost a 10% bump in a single year, Matt, that far outpaces inflation. They won't be quite as high because of benefit reductions. So price increases are going to be closer to 6.5%, according to some recent data. And there was a survey of like 1700 companies and they basically said, yeah, a lot of the higher costs are going to have to be shoved onto our employees. So open enrollment, we're getting close to that. Starting a lot of how to money listeners, they might be shocked by coverage reductions that they see or cost increases or probably a little bit of both. So I guess we just kind of want to give you the heads up and say be ready to make some hard decisions here. High deductible healthcare plans, they're not for everyone. But if you're in good shape with few procedures planned for the coming year and you've got solid savings on hand, it can be a really good way to save on monthly premium costs. And then it's important to note that the cost of plans on healthcare.gov they're going up too, at an even higher rate. And it seems like subsidies are diminishing at the same time. So what do you do when you you're between a rock and a hard place in terms of healthcare costs? These are difficult discussions and there is no easy answer. I guess I do want to at least highlight the fact that health sharing companies, for some people, might make sense if you're the cost of your plan is skyrocketing, in particular on healthcare.gov they're not the same thing as insurance and we want to highlight that. And you should do your due diligence before signing up for one. We have articles up on the site actually about the health sharing plans as well, but you might want to at least consider one because when you're talking about a price gap of potentially multiple thousands of dollars every month on premiums versus whatever health sharing plans call their premiums, the share amount or whatever household portion depending on the company, at some point traditional health insurance becomes just unaffordable for a lot of folks.

[A]

That's true. Okay, so yeah, so there was one study that found that a decent chunk of folks actually choose a health insurance plan in less than 30 minutes. Half of millennials say they blindly pick a plan. They're just kind of like, oh, that one sounds nice. I just go for it. Which is crazy. Like this is not a case where sticking your plans on a dartboard and just kind of going with a random choice where that's going to be a smart idea. And I like One of the toughest parts about choosing the right plan is just knowing what your healthcare costs, what your needs are going to be, and of course, what your sort of out of pocket costs are going to be in the upcoming year. You can't perfectly predict, you know, accurately what you're going to need, but you can likely come up with a decent range. And while this isn't always possible, you can plan ahead for some different health procedures. Maybe you can kind of lump some into a current, a singular calendar year when you do have more robust coverage. It reminds me of when you might quote, unquote, bunch your giving right as to whether or not you're going to itemize your taxes.

[B]

Bunch of health procedures too.

[A]

Yeah, do that. And we've had friends who have done that who have been a bit more strategic when it came to, oh, I ruptured my Achilles we're going to, you know, got to get that fixed this year. I guess this is also the, in that case, they didn't go with a more robust coverage, but they realized this is the year that we're going to.

[B]

Hit if we're high deductible schedule. Everything else.

[A]

Yeah, so they did like wisdom teeth removal with a daughter, another daughter had like their tonsils removed. You know, they kind of like went through the litany of all the things that they were considering. It's just like not, you're obviously not going to get some of these things done unnecessarily. But they were planning, all of these things were essentially on the document, they.

[B]

Were on the radar. But they might not have happened until like the following year. And they're like, all right, we're going to shove it all into this calendar year.

[A]

Exactly. And of course, don't forget about flexible spending accounts. Don't forget about HSAs health savings accounts as well, because they can, these can be tools that you can use and they can at least help you to save on taxes for those increased health care expenses.

[B]

Yeah, yeah. Some people underutilize those especially like the FSAs. We prefer HSAs for long term investments and tax free growth. But when you're Talking about the FSAs, that's usually dollar for dollar, plan out your spending, know how much you can stock in there so that you are avoiding taxes on health care spending at least. Let's talk about Tesla for a second. Matt. You remember when Teslas were kind of the it car, the Model S, they're expensive, man.

[A]

They still are.

[B]

But not as expensive, not, not nearly as expensive as they used to be. And that's partly because they've released additional models that are less expensive, right, than that flagship Model S. But it's also because they've economies of scale, right, and they figured out how the manufacturing process, how to really manufacture those and bring the cost down. But I just remember when they were so expensive and was really only rich people and the elite that could afford a Tesla and now that's not the case. A used Tesla costs less than the average used internal combustion engine vehicle these days. That's kind of hard to fathom. It's not something you could have predicted, I don't think 10 years ago. The EV tax credits are expiring at the end of September, at the end of this month. If you've got the cash and you've got the interest, now might be a good time to pounce as prices have gone down and the tax benefit still remains. But the New York Times, they also have a detailed EV versus gas calculator that I think is worth checking out. But it's just fascinating to see that, yeah, some electric vehicles have become cheap enough to really justify upgrading or switching from an ICE vehicle basically over to electric because the savings are that significant. Think about how much you're going to save on gas too, especially if you're a heavy driver. The one place you might not save when we're talking about electric vehicles is on insurance. And that's the one thing you're going to want to get a quote from your insurance company before you make that switch. Because you might say this seems like a good deal. Then you call your insurance company, they're like, well, you are paying $2,000 a year for, for coverage for your cars. And now because you added that EV in and you ditched the other one, well, that's going to be like $3,200 a year. And you're like, I wasn't planning on spending that much extra. That cuts into the savings that I was hoping to experience. So beware, get that quote ahead of time before you like make that plunge.

[A]

It's like the total benefit package that you were to receive from an employer. In a similar way, what's the total expense that you're going to be experie. It comes to operating your electric vehicle. Yeah, the end of the tax credit has icy cars. That's a. They put out great information on vehicles, but they see a sales cliff coming for EVs. They're forecasting a 50% decline in sales as consumers are more likely going to avoid them without that tax incentive attached. And so the wider implication here is that EV adoption, well, it's already stalled even with the tax credits in place. And so I think that's going to cause even more of a decline.

[B]

Right.

[A]

So instead of a 7 to 8% of overall car sales, we're likely going to see new EV purchases at roughly 4 to 5% instead, which is a far cry from. It makes me think about Norway.

[B]

Didn't we look that up the other day? Because I was curious. I think the percentage of new car sales in Norway that are electric vehicle specific are. It was either 93 or 97%.

[A]

I would have guessed. Yeah.

[B]

At least 80 something insane. Like it's so high. Yeah. Gas powered vehicles just almost don't exist in Norway anymore.

[A]

And the ones that do, I'm sure are like diesel trucks because of the, maybe the torque or the, you know, that's, that's involved with specialty work vehicles. But all that being said, used EV supply is up 62%. And so it's a moving target. Right. So it just depends on what the market's doing. And even though, like, I could still see myself driving an electric vehicle, like if we need a second vehicle sometime maybe next year, just for scooting around town, it's still a very affordable way to get around. So I think it all depends on what the used market in particular for me, what that ends up doing.

[B]

Yeah. And I mean, with those tax credits going away, you and I had reservations for. We didn't know if we were going to follow through or not. But it was a low commitment.

[A]

Right.

[B]

100 bucks for like the slate. The slate truck. Yeah.

[A]

What was the other one? Oh, the Rivian.

[B]

Yeah, that's right. The R2. Yeah.

[A]

That was two years ago, maybe that we said that on no longer.

[B]

I canceled both of mine because I was like, well, I have a solid old gas vehicle that I really enjoy. And just with the tax credit going.

[A]

Away, I was like, much less sense.

[B]

It makes less financial sense to make that upgrade.

[A]

Yeah, but we've got more to get to. We're going to discuss the, ooh, let's get to the high cost of housing. That's something that's on a lot of folks minds. We'll get to that more right after this.

[C]

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[A]

That's right. It makes me think you mentioned kids, Joel. I might be done having kids at this point, but my friends, my neighbors, they aren't. I've got family members who have a fresh baby at home as well and it is such an amazing season of life. But those changes should also bring about a reassessment of whether or not you've got your estate planning ducks all in a row. Trust and will makes it simple and straightforward. Their easy to use website is simple to navigate and plus all your information, all your documents, they are securely stored with bank level encryption.

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[A]

Alright, buddy. We are back from the break. It's now time for the ludicrous headline of the week, which comes from CNN this week. And the headline reads, the hobby that's costing young men tens of thousands of dollars. And this is not the newfangled hobby of pickleball. Joel, we're not talking about the old school golf, which is probably. Golf is an expensive one. It's very expensive.

[B]

I have friends who go on like golf trips and I'm like, no thanks, it's too expensive. Yeah, that's my backpacking hobby is like not the cheapest, but it's way cheaper.

[A]

It's so much more affordable. But golf, I have such a bad attitude about golf. I've gone on rants before about you.

[B]

Still work at a golf course.

[A]

I did. That was younger Matt. Old Matt is not. I played a whole lot of golf when I was a young kid in part because of how accessible it was to me at that point in time. No, we're not talking about golf. We're talking about sports gambling, which can that even be called a hobby? Like that's another thing too.

[B]

The fact that you call it an addiction.

[A]

It is.

[B]

Maybe that's the nice way of calling your addiction a hobby.

[A]

An addiction. So in this CNN article, evidently if you watch a sporting event on tv, you're going to see an ad for gambling once every 13 seconds, which blew my mind. And it's actually, it's not even an ad. They're also including like logos for gambling apps, for instance, like whether it's on a jersey or, you know, you're sitting there watching the match, you're watching a hockey game and you see like the boards, you know, like the ads, they're.

[B]

Even like product placement along the sides.

[A]

Of the arena, everything. But it's just completely inundated our athletics, the sports that we watch. And evidently this is, I guess, not surprisingly, largely a young male phenomena. A quarter of males under the age of 45 have participated at all, which again, very surprising. I've never gambled on sports before.

[B]

Me either.

[A]

10% of men who are aged 18 to 30 think that they have a gambling problem. And man, gambling get young guys who are gambling on their favorite players or their favorite teams. It has become fully normalized and it's right there at their fingertips. You know, this isn't something that you need to go to Vegas to do. You don't need a bookie, right? Like that was the person you would call up, I think in order to place a sports car.

[B]

It used to feel seedy and now it feels like bright and clean and fun. And there's all the bells and whistles on the apps and there are advertisements everywhere.

[A]

And so you're incentivized with free money to, you know, I know that's a part of it too. They're like, hey, we'll give you this much money to even gamble with once you initially download the app.

[B]

It's also pretty easy addiction to hide, right, that.

[A]

Stick it in your pocket. Oh, it went away.

[B]

Yeah, exactly.

[A]

What are you talking about? Yeah, of course they're gonna highlight somebody who like was on the verge of a mental breakdown because he lost over $10,000 like on a single single hockey. Hockey game. I don't think the different apps, I don't think they're out there trying to ruin people's lives, you know, like it makes sense they're trying to maximize their profits. I think they would, but I think they would much rather see all people, not just men, but like everybody. What if everybody just bet like five or ten bucks a month? That's totally reasonable. And I would say that seems totally reasonable. Right? Like, I don't think they're out there trying to get individual people to lose tens of thousands of dollars. But you got to know yourself, you got to know if like what kind of slippery slope you were on. And if you can't handle it, man, you don't even need to dabble with five bucks because it might lead you to thinking you've got an edge and you end up wagering much more money and you end up losing a ton of it.

[B]

They're also not giving that money back if you gamble it away. Is that what they're after? I don't know. I think there are incentives to keep people glued to that app. So they are gambling more and more. It's a real problem. It's a real problem. It's a society wide problem too. Speaking of ads, Matt, I, I don't think people are using Google as much as they used to. I think Those use of ChatGPT and other AI services is on the uptick and maybe, I don't know, I'm curious to see how Google responds to that. But when you actually just look at the Google results that show up at the top when you make a search, they might not be as good as you think. You typically assume that whatever Google is Serving up first once you scroll past the ads at least is going to be the most effective solution to whatever query you've tossed it. And there's this WalletHub survey that found that trusting the top search results from Google can cost you money. It's not just those misleading ads, but that is true too, right? If you click on those top ads, you might be going to the site that paid Google the most, not to the site that's going to give you the most help. But it's also the content creators who aren't offering the best advice, who are gaming the system, getting the top SEO placements, even if their content isn't the most impactful or helpful. So for instance, some creators prioritize credit card rankings on their sites based on their relationship with advertisers, right? That the relationship they have with the banks, they list the credit cards first that they get paid the most for, even if they aren't the best solution for people making that search. So this is, I think, I hope people intuitively understand this that like, don't just trust the first Google result you come across, but do research at multiple sites, run the numbers and plus, there's also individual realities here, Matt, that depending on how you spend, well, this credit card might be better for someone else who stumbled upon this site, but it might not be the best card for you. So know your individual situation and also know that whatever you hits you in the face first when you make a Google search might not be, you know, the best thing for you at that time.

[A]

That's right, man. Let's discuss the cost of housing because the general housing market has gained more than $20 trillion in value over the past five years.

[B]

This is quoting trillion.

[A]

$20 trillion with a T. That's right. I don't think that there's this much of a surprise. I think we, you know, we all saw if you owned a home, your home value like skyrocketed. It's a big number though, beginning in 2020. Yeah, that was a, it was a 57% gain in five years. But those giant increases have largely subsided. And there's a new housing market anomaly now, which is that new homes are cheaper than existing ones. And this makes me think of the car industry because I certainly the home market is different than the automobile market industry. That being said, there are some similarities and seeing new homes become cheaper than the existing ones by almost $20,000 on average. This is super fascinating, man. It, it comes down to supply and demand. Home builders, they've got supply coming to market when there's basically less buyer interest, generally speaking. But I think also maybe in those newer homes, which has led to price cuts. So existing homeowners like the older homes, maybe the homes that you might see and think, oh, that's a house that's got some character. Oh, that's in a slightly more desirable part of town.

[B]

It's a 1920s bungalow or a 1960s ranch. Yeah.

[A]

Or it's just in a good location, like all the good, good spots are taken. You know, those homeowners, they've got less pressure to sell, they can often stay put longer. And so if you are in the market to, to buy a home, I think we would recommend to consider buying a brand new one because you might get a rate buy down. That's something that some of these home buyers are doing in addition to a cheaper sales price as well. So it's just a fascinating thing to see that if you blindly said, oh well, all housing is the same, there are differences between old stock, you know, like old housing, housing that's been on the, that's been in existence for a while and new builds essentially. And I think there's opportunity for folks to perhaps to get you a home that is a bit more affordable. You certainly know the trade offs. And I think, because I think it's probably safe to say as well that you're going to see less appreciation on those homes because they are more affordable because they are maybe in a new development and there's not as much infrastructure in that, you know, in that suburb way out there. It's just like, oh yeah, homes are real cheap out there, but do you want to live way out there? But it comes down to what it is that you're, you're looking, that you are valuing and what you're trying to add to your life.

[B]

Well, when you look at the graph of new new homes prices and used home prices, like new homes are basically never cheaper than existing homes. And so it's, it's interesting those lines have recently crossed. Yeah, it's interesting to see that change and I think it does for someone who's like, I do want to get a starter. The other thing about buying a new home, I mean, you still want to get an inspection is that you'll probably have, you should have lower maintenance costs for, you know, many years to come as well. So that might be another factor kind of pushing you in that direction of a new home versus an existing one.

[A]

That's a massive plus.

[B]

Yeah, it just makes me think too about like house flips that I've seen in our neighborhood, Matt, and that it's. The reason this is happening is because new home builders were like, look at. Yeah, they were incentivized to build homes as prices were going. Were going through the roof, and now those homes are coming to market and prices have stalled. Well, the same thing is happening to home flippers, largely right now, because they were like, oh, I bought the house nine months ago when prices still felt like they were going up and to the right. But now I'm. I'm. If the house is finished and I'm listing it in a cooling market, some of those people. That's what makes home flipping, I think, so dangerous for a lot of people is like, the market can change on a dime or change pretty quickly, and you're stuck with a home that was shrinking profit margins, and you're holding onto it, and you're paying money every single month holding onto that home. Home flipping can make sense. It can work for some people, but it can be a really dangerous way of investing, too.

[A]

All right, buddy, let's talk about how much we as Americans value Social Security, because there's a new study from the Congressional Budget Office, and they have found that for the vast majority of Americans, it is, in fact, their most valuable asset, which is. This is.

[B]

See, mine is my Pokemon card collection.

[A]

Yeah. This is some striking and sad news. It's evidently more valuable than the retirement accounts. It's more valuable than the home equity that they've been able to build up, especially with the looming fiscal troubles that Social Security is facing. I think to have the bulk of your retirement nest egg in Social Security, like, that's a bit unsettling. The average Social Security benefit is $2,000 a month, and without that $2,000, man, we would see a lot more retiree devastation. I think it's another reason that I don't see Social Security going away completely. But again, like, something is going to have to be done regardless. I was very shocked to see that nine Americans have more essentially in their Social Security and how much they're expecting to draw from that than I was.

[B]

Expecting, basically, because, like, yeah, $2,000 a month is what you're drawing from that. But the overall value of Social Security for the average American is something like half a million dollars. Right. That's what they can expect to pull down from Social Security over the years, and that's just way in excess. Most people don't have $500,000 built up in their 401 or IRAs or that combination thereof. They don't have that much in home equity. So yeah, it makes sense when you look at the numbers that something like 9 in 10 people find that Social Security is the best thing that they have essentially to help them fund their retirement.

[A]

I would not have expected that it was that much. I would have expected that it was pretty high.

[B]

But that actually 6 in 10 maybe or 4 in 10.

[A]

We've talked about this on the show especially as auto enrolling in 401ks as that has become the norm. IRAs have been around for quite a long time. But I mean. And so have 401ks right. Like as we switch from this pension system. But I guess it just hasn't been. It takes a long time for a generation to kind of go through that and build up the kind of net worth that you would need to be able to live on, to be able to draw $2,000 or more when you are in those retirement years.

[B]

Well and I feel I guess maybe for that in between generation maybe it's like the, the Gen Xers right. Who didn't have the pension, didn't have the investing knowledge or the easy access to investing. It wasn't democratized. Right. In the way that it's become for younger generations. You look at the numbers of gen zers who are just like their investing is kind of normalized and part of.

[A]

Their experience it feels a little more like second nature. What is like digital natives. They're automatic 401k natives. It's almost like what they've always known.

[B]

Yeah. And so they've, they've heard enough about it. They participated in the investing world enough, you know, some of it dabbling in some weird stuff. But at least, at least they're doing the thing and they're, they're putting money away for their future.

[A]

Don't you criticize them for their stonks?

[B]

I mean you know, there is.

[A]

The stonks have paid off, dude.

[B]

Yeah. Then some of the you know, fly by night Shiba Inu coins have not.

[A]

Yeah.

[B]

And the NFTs. But I think for us what I take away from this, the goal for that we have for how to money listeners is that your eventual monthly Social Security payments are helpful in your retirement but that you have more valuable assets to tap than your Social Security so that you find yourself in that 10% of folks where Social Security is not your most valuable asset. And that is why we talk about index funds inside of your 401ks and IRAs all the time.

[A]

This is a bell that we're going to continue to ring from now until.

[B]

The end of time, increasing your contribution amount regularly. Right. So that you are well set up, well funded to have more options even before you reach retirement. But especially once you reach those decades that you're, you're not like so dependent on Social Security, you have other, other ways of funding your life. Right. And, and we've talked about the prolific proliferation of ETF options Matt recently had. There's just like so dang many. A lot of AI ETFs. Yeah. I mean dozens of them don't need them. But a lot of actively managed funds are being, are being added into that ETF space. And even at brokerages like Vanguard, it's been surprising. Vanguard, the king of passive investing products, has also included a bunch of actively managed funds at lower cost than a lot of other actively managed funds, but still like they've got a ton, there's a ton of fund choices at even a place like Vanguard. And while those funds, the actively managed ones might be getting the biggest marketing push, they cost more and they tend to underperform. Morningstar recently found that only 33% of actively managed funds outperform their passive counterparts. The peer funds that look really similar but aren't actively managed. That's before you factor in the much higher fees. Please do pay attention to that. That's why we talk about often about low cost, you know, total stock market S and P funds or target funds. Like those are all great choices, which.

[A]

I mean how many all time new highs are we going to hit with the S and P in particular, man. But which. Well, I will maybe this, here's a little mini story which was driven in part because of the fact that the jobs report. We didn't, I guess we didn't talk about the jobs report. That's not typically something we cover, the jobs report. But the numbers got a little wonky sometimes.

[B]

But not.

[A]

The numbers got revised from the preceding 12 months and it was like a million less jobs than initially reported. Which like almost certainly means a rate cut coming up very soon. And maybe we're not covering that because it's still kind of speculative, but I think that's something we will be talking about very soon.

[B]

Yeah, for sure. So just finishing up on Social Security. Yeah. Like, especially for younger folks. We do believe that you'll have some Social Security waiting for you. But if you're, if you're smart, if you are active in planning for your own financial future, then it's gravy on top. And it's not necessarily, it's not something you have to rely on. It's not going to be your biggest asset in retirement. That's a good goal to have.

[A]

That's right. That's going to be it for this Friday flight, though. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. We'll see you back here with a fresh ask how to money episode. So until then, buddy.

[B]

Best friends out.

[A]

Best friends out. Did it occur to you that he charmed you in any way?

[B]

Yes, it did.

[A]

But he was a charming man. It looks like the ingredients of a really grand spy story. Because this ties together the Cold War with the new one. I often ask myself now, did I know the true Jan at all? Listen to Hot Agent of chaos on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. It's important that we just reassure people that they're not alone, and there is help out there.

[D]

The Good Stuff Podcast Season two takes a deep look into One Tribe Foundation, a nonprofit fighting suicide in the veteran community. September is National Suicide Prevention Month, so join hosts Jacob and Ashley Schick as they bring you to the front lines of of One Tribe's mission.

[B]

One Tribe saved my life twice. Welcome to season two of the Good Stuff.

[D]

Listen to the Good Stuff podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcast.

[E]

Hi, I'm Jenica Lopez, and in the new season of the Overcomer podcast, I'm even more honest, more vulnerable, and more real than ever. Am I ready to enter this new part of my life? Like, am I ready to be in a relationship? Am I ready to have kids and to really just devote myself and my time? Join me for conversations about healing and growth, all from one of my favorite spaces, the kitchen. Listen to the new season of the Overcomer podcast on the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast.

[A]

This is an iHeart podcast.