Friday Flight - Frustrating Funflation, Money Morons, & Home Haters #1176

Summary

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How to Money - "Friday Flight: Frustrating Funflation, Money Morons, & Home Haters" (#1176, August 7, 2026)

OVERVIEW

Best friends and hosts Joel and Matt deliver a rapid-fire take on the week’s most relevant personal finance stories in their signature conversational, lighthearted style. In this “Friday Flight,” the pair tackles ‘funflation’ (the growing cost of fun), declines in financial literacy, shifting attitudes toward homeownership, Social Security’s uncertain future, and practical cost-saving hacks for food, insurance, and more. The episode blends practical advice, thoughtful context, and humorous banter, making money talk both accessible and memorable.

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KEY DISCUSSION POINTS

1. Disability Insurance: Not Just for “Brawn” Workers

Timestamps: 03:10–09:21

• The hosts revisit their earlier comments about long-term disability insurance, prompted by a listener email.
  • Joel admits they were too flippant about “brain workers” (like knowledge workers) not needing coverage.
  • Joel: “I think more people, even knowledge workers, even brain workers, should consider having long-term disability. It’s not just for people working in the coal mines.” (04:46)
• Matt emphasizes disability is more common than death during working years. Premiums are expensive (1–3% of salary)—evaluate risk tolerance, context (married? kids? one income?) before buying.
• As you build wealth, you’re increasingly “self-insured,” reducing need for such insurance; but it may be crucial until then.
• Key Quote:
  • Matt: “You’re more self-insured and that is something we push people towards…I think insurance becomes more expensive, we have to be careful how much we’re spending on it.” (07:44)

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2. Grocery Trends, Food Waste & Credit Card Rewards

Timestamps: 09:23–18:48

• Grocery purchases are down ~2% year-over-year; inflation and increased eating out are likely culprits.
• Americans waste 30–50% of their groceries—use leftovers, batch cook, plan meals to save.
  • Matt: “Find ways…to waste less food, by following recipes…batch cooking…actually eating the food you’ve made so it doesn’t end up in the trash can.” (13:17)
• More people are using credit card rewards and cash back for essentials like groceries.
  • Matt reframes this as progress: “Money is perfectly fungible. Maybe folks are just getting more responsible with how they’re spending.” (15:03)
• Best cards for groceries: Amex Blue Cash Preferred (6% cash back on up to $6k groceries/year).
  • Joel: “I do love the Amex Blue Cash Preferred, but we tend to hit that mark halfway through the year, and it is now August and we have officially spent that much…” (16:44)

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3. Premium Credit Cards: Worth It?

Timestamps: 17:26–19:30

• Joel cautions against chasing annual-fee cards for perks like airport lounges unless you’ll truly use them.
  • Joel: “Don’t just assume because it meets one or two requirements or it's got one or two benefits you like, that it’s still worth getting that card.” (18:35)
• Many are tempted into higher levels of spending with unfamiliar brands due to card benefits (e.g., Peloton credits).
• Listener Advice: Be honest about actual usage before paying high fees for “luxury” cards.

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4. Funflation: The Price of Fun Keeps Climbing

Timestamps: 19:30–24:23

• ‘Funflation’—rising prices for concerts, sports, and entertainment post-pandemic.
• Acts like Coldplay and Charli XCX are releasing small batches of $20 tickets, but it’s mostly PR, as the majority of seats remain expensive.
• Joel: “All the fun stuff is more expensive, right? People spend more eating out than they do on groceries, and it’s not coming back.”
• Choose what matters most—go to fewer but more meaningful events, try alternatives (e.g., bus travel over pricey flights).
• Matt: “Why has it continued? I think it’s social connection… there’s a healthy part…but there’s also FOMO, which drives anxiety and more spending.” (21:23)
• Memorable Sidebar: Joel is a bus travel fan (“Men of the people like me…” – 26:02), Matt jokes he’s become too “snobby” for it.

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5. Failing Financial Literacy & Debt

Timestamps: 26:58–30:32

• TIAA survey: Average U.S. adult scored only 47% on basic personal finance quiz—a 10-year low.
  • Joel: “These are some basic questions everyone should be able to answer… no wonder people are bad with money.” (27:56)
• 1/3 of 30–79-year-olds have more credit card debt than retirement savings.
  • 30–79 age range means it’s not just young people suffering. Joel: “You gotta flip the script, Matt…It’s crucial to get started, have a plan…” (29:28–30:32)

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6. Social Security: Facing the Realities

Timestamps: 34:49–39:19

• Social Security’s trust fund is now scheduled to run dry in late 2032, moving up a quarter.
• Matt: “Younger folks are wising up—essentially counting on it less and less. If you are in retirement, and that’s your only source of income…what’s going to happen to my payout?” (36:14)
• Benefits could be cut by 25–26% if nothing is done; it’s not going away but will almost certainly be reduced.
• Advice: Treat Social Security as a “weaker leg” of the retirement stool, don’t fully rely on what the government “calculator” projects as your future payment.
  • Joel: “Plan for 25–30% less than what SocialSecurity.gov is telling you.” (38:11)
• Growing government debt, fewer children, and longer lifespans compound the problem.

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7. Homeownership: “Home Haters,” Investing Elsewhere

Timestamps: 39:19–45:03

• Many would-be buyers (especially in expensive cities) are opting out—choosing to rent and invest down payments instead.
• Matt: “Homeownership has been historically the #1 way Americans build net worth, but ONLY because it’s forced savings. Without intention, you’ll miss out if you don’t redirect those dollars into investing.” (40:12)
• Joel: “For more and more young people, especially in high-cost cities… they're saying: doesn’t make sense the way it did for my parents.” (41:29)
• “The game has changed”—higher interest rates, high home prices make the classic playbook obsolete for many.

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8. Mortgage Shopping: Don’t Leave Money on the Table

Timestamps: 43:26–45:10

• Americans are overpaying for mortgages by $65 billion/year by not shopping around.
  • Joel: “The money you could leave on the table, it could be way more than your Netflix subscription every month!” (44:35)
• Pro tip: Always check local credit unions for better rates, especially with ARMs.

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9. Lowering Home Insurance Costs with DIY Upgrades

Timestamps: 45:10–48:21

• Simple home upgrades (e.g., a DIY security system like SimpliSafe) can both save money and lower insurance premiums.
• Always ask your insurer what gets you a discount and compare offers for best results.

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10. Security Deposits & “Fintech Creep”

Timestamps: 48:21–50:51

• New “insurance-like” products let renters pay small fees instead of a traditional security deposit—but at a higher ultimate cost.
  • Joel: “It’s just another way to break up larger sums into monthly payments – like PMI for rent.” (49:49)
• Advice: Pay your security deposit outright, photograph your rental at move-in/move-out to protect your interests.

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11. Water Bills Are Up, Too

Timestamps: 51:05–56:16

• Water utilities are increasing prices rapidly, mostly due to infrastructure projects.
• Matt: “It’s increasing at a faster rate than consumer inflation… but there’s only so much you can do.”
  • Tips for reducing usage: Low-flow toilets (sometimes subsidized!), shorter showers, don’t maintain “fancy lawns”, etc.
• Anecdote: Matt’s dad is proud of his high water pressure but Matt warns it can damage fixtures (“not only do you use more water, [but] you’ll have premature failure of a faucet or a valve…” (55:46))

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12. Fun Closer: Coffee Snobbery & Tiny Mustache Combs

Timestamps: 56:16–57:21

• A bit of lighthearted banter: Joel praises Matt’s in-home espresso, Matt discusses buying jugs of bottled water (“This is my new craft beer equivalent… I’m spending more of my premium top dollar…” (56:16))
• Mustache-comb rivalry for a final dose of “best friend” energy.

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NOTABLE QUOTES

• Matt, on food waste: “There are just other levers we can pull… ensuring that you’re not throwing away… the slimy greens in the carton in the bottom of the produce bin…” (10:36)
• Joel, on Social Security: “Social Security is not going to be there for me in the way it was for my parents. And I don’t think they’re wrong.” (35:41)
• Matt, on homeownership: “It’s a savings treadmill, right? If you don’t have that forced element… are you going to do it? You need to.” (40:12)
• Joel, on adapting to change: “This is a point where you call an audible… and you make a change to the scripted way that it’s been done.” (42:55)

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USEFUL TIMESTAMPS

• 03:10 – Listener letter prompts re-examination of long-term disability insurance
• 09:23 – Declining grocery spending, food waste, and eating out trends
• 15:14 – Using credit card rewards for necessities
• 17:26 – The real value of premium credit cards
• 19:30 – Funflation and the price of entertainment
• 26:58 – Financial literacy at record lows; debt vs. retirement savings
• 34:49 – Will Social Security run out?
• 39:19 – “Home hating” & why many are skipping homeownership
• 43:26 – Costly mortgage mistakes
• 45:10 – DIY home upgrades to lower insurance
• 48:21 – Fintech security deposit “solutions” (beware!)
• 51:05 – Water rates rising, saving tips

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TONE & STYLE

Conversational, relatable, a bit cheeky, and always practical. The hosts mix concrete data with anecdotes and reminders to "do what works for your life—don’t just follow the playbook if it doesn’t make sense anymore."

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This summary captures all vital topics, insights, and most memorable moments for a thorough, engaging recap of the episode—ideal for listeners and non-listeners alike.

Transcript

[Matt]

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[Joel]

Welcome to how to Money. I'm Joel.

[Matt]

And I am Matt.

[Joel]

Today we're talking frustrating funflation money morons and home haters.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Foreign.

[Matt]

The video I was holding up my shirt. I've got my Funtime vacation shirt on for our Friday flight today.

[Joel]

It looks well, I like it. It makes me think you're going to Fiji after this or something. Is that happening?

[Matt]

This is like my it's my summertime I'm on vacation shirt. So it feels a little weird psychologically wearing it right now while we are working. But I realized I only wore once this past summer. Unfortunately, the summer's coming to an end, man. Yeah, it's like the kids are back in school. So where we are, school started up this week.

[Joel]

We start early where we are. Most people are like, we don't start for like three more weeks, guys.

[Matt]

Yeah. Is it Labor Day? A lot of times folks typically start after Labor Day. That's not how they do it down here in the south anyway.

[Joel]

Like 10% of our. Of our school year in by then.

[Matt]

I know. Yeah. I, I wanted to wear my vacation shirt because it felt like it was appropriate I guess for today's episode and cuz I wanted to get one more wear in. It's just so soft and it's got palm trees and stuff on it too.

[Joel]

Looks good. I like it. I thought you'd like that. All right, let's. We got a bunch of good stuff to get to today on today's Friday flight. But I just briefly wanted to respond to a listener email and I think listener Ali made some great points. You and I had talked about long term disability on an episode that came out a couple weeks ago. Long term disability insurance. Oh yeah. And one of the things that you and I had talked about, maybe a little too flippantly, was if you are a brain worker, like if we were like we're podcasters, like what could happen to us that we wouldn't be able to make an income? And the truth is, like if we got taken out of the legs, Matt, we could still do this job. But then there are. We didn't give enough credence.

[Matt]

They missed my mouth.

[Joel]

Right, right, exactly. But there are things that could happen that would really cause us not to be able to do work in the way that we've become accustomed to and potentially even disallow us from podcasting some sort of degenerative disease or some sort of cancer. Right. And so Allie pointed that out. I appreciate her pointing that out. In her email she talked about her aunt who was like a high powered lawyer and because of a disability and not having disability insurance, long term disability insurance in particular, like it completely just a sad ending as her aunt ended up passing away and just what the impact it had on the family. It made me rethink after our conversation. Maybe I think she's right. I think we were just a little too flippant with that. I think more people, even knowledge workers, even brain workers, should consider having long term disability. It's not just for people like working in the coal mines. If people. Sure.

[Matt]

Do people still work in the coal mines.

[Joel]

I just, I can only picture Derek Zoolander.

[Matt]

You know, it made me think of the. Is it the. I'm sure people do one of the Social Security offices where the files are stored literally in an old salt mine. And by the Way, this is our Friday flight where we talk about stories. So we actually will get to a Social Security story later on during the episode. But yes, especially with her. Well, I like what she said. She said it's not a brawn versus brain sort of mentality that you should take when it comes to long term disability. And that was an older episode, that was the bestie. But I think there's no way that we didn't talk about how folks are like three to four times more likely to become disabled than they are to die during their working career. Because those are the stats. And I've got to think we said that. I didn't listen back to that episode all the way to hear whether or not we did. But I do think in her case, she experienced and got to see firsthand how this wrecked some family members. And you just experience it just feels a bit more real when you experience it that way. But at the end, I completely empathize with her in that. You still have to look at the numbers though and what the likelihood of you needing to use something like that. Right. Because on one end of the spectrum you insure for nothing and you're taking, you're shouldering all the risk yourself. At the other end of the spectrum, you could insure against everything, pay all the premiums and you're going to end up broke. Especially long term disability. Like the premiums are really expensive, anywhere between 1 and 3% of your annual salary. Yeah.

[Joel]

And so risk tolerance comes into play here, is what you're saying.

[Matt]

Yeah, you definitely have to take that into account. And so this is more about, I guess, whether or not you want to take on those long term disability payments. And just, I mean, yeah, you start to add up those monthly premiums and then you start thinking, okay, so that's specific to whatever the exclusions might be included as part of that long term disability plan as opposed to, and this is something that I've done is just like, hey, can I instead take those dollars, invest those dollars aggressively over the years and then you've got yourself a decent little nest egg that you can do anything with. Right. If you hit hard times, then you can use that to help you through that. If you don't hit those hard times, then you can use that, those funds, you can give that money away, you can go on a nice vacation, you can fund your kids to college. And so there's just additional avenues for that money to go as opposed to one way premiums towards an insurance company when you're hoping that you don't ever have to take advantage of that insurance, but obviously it's there just in case you do.

[Joel]

And the closer you get to full financial independence and just we know it's a spectrum, right? It's not a once or all or nothing thing. But the further you get along that spectrum, the less likely you need it, right?

[Matt]

Because you're more self insured.

[Joel]

You're more self insured and that is something that we push people towards in more areas of their life. As insurance becomes more expensive, it feels like there are more kinds of insurance that are being like pushed on us and we have to be really careful about how much we're spending on insurance. Some point. Some insurance products are like crucial homeowner's insurance. Right. But can we even in that self insure more, maybe long term disability is more important and you got to spend the money for a few years until you've built up a significant enough nest egg to feel like you are self insured to the point where you don't need it. But it's just, it's at least worth considering. And I do think she made some great points. It was worth bringing it up. Totally. Shall we get to the stories?

[Matt]

Yeah, she made some good points. I was going to say you saying that made me also think of context. It's not just about how much risk you're willing to take on yourself, but context and whether or not, let's say you are married. Let's say you've got a partner. What is their ability to go out there and become the main breadwinner? Right. Maybe it's you. But if they have the ability to do that, okay, well then, okay, let's say maybe you have kids. Does that mean. Then maybe you're. You switch roles a little bit. Right. If they don't have the ability to go out there and work. Okay, that's a scenario that is a very context specific sort of question to ask as to whether or not it becomes more or less necessary or is

[Joel]

there a big income discrepancy between the partners where the standard of living would fall significantly. Right. So yeah, there's all of these contextualized realities. It's not an easy peasy decision like sure, let me get this, like really expensive insurance or no, I don't need it because I work with my brain. It's a lot more involved than that.

[Matt]

That's true. All right, you talk about groceries.

[Joel]

Oh, one of my favorite topics. You kick it off one, because I love to eat. I like good food.

[Matt]

Who doesn't?

[Joel]

Yeah. Had some Actually reheated smoked pork butt that I made this week for lunch. It was delicious.

[Matt]

How'd you reheat it? You. You do, like, fried rice style or

[Joel]

you just do, like skillet baby? Yeah, yeah, that's the way to do it.

[Matt]

Get it all crispy. Okay, so this was a. I don't even know where the story was. Was this in Business Insider, but basically they're talking about cnbc.

[Joel]

Cnbc.

[Matt]

Cnbc. Sorry about that. Cnbc. Essentially. So the key takeaway on this one, they were talking about how the number of essentially consumer goods that you buy in the grocery store are down compared to last year. Some of that has to do. Probably a lot of it has to

[Joel]

do with inflation, but people are buying something like 2% fewer groceries. And you're like.

[Matt]

Like items. Yeah, like SKUs, essentially.

[Joel]

Is this. Is this money saving related? Is this Ozempic related, Matt? Like, where's this coming from?

[Matt]

I. So to me, this feels more like a business story as opposed to personal finance.

[Joel]

Right?

[Matt]

Because I hear 2%, 1.8 to be exact. And I'm like, okay. To me, that doesn't seem like a big deal.

[Sponsor Announcer]

Especially.

[Matt]

And this is immediately, immediately where my mind went. Especially when you consider the amount of food waste there are in American households. 30 to 40%. The EPA estimates up to 50% of groceries are lost to waste, just like household food waste. And so on one hand, I'm like, 1.8. I'm sure from a business perspective, they're saying, oh, how do we get, you know, how do we get our sales back up? People are buying fewer items. But for me, I see this, and I think, well, on an individual level at least, I think there are just other levers that we can pull when it comes to ensuring that you're not throwing away, Joel, you reheated that pork butt or whatever. But what about the slimy greens in the carton in the bottom of the produce bin that you've got in your fridge?

[Joel]

Yeah, yeah. Well, that's.

[Matt]

Have you eaten those? Because that's what we're talking about here.

[Joel]

I don't have any of those right now, but if I did, I would probably eat them when I go to buy veggies and fruit. I don't know. I'm weird. Ask my daughters, like, about the expiration date for what I'm buying. I will, like, lift up at Costco, you know, in the. In the cooler section, I will, like, lift up 12 boxes to get to the strawberries that are just a couple days fresher. Because. And I Mean, they. They, like, turn away in disgust. They're like, this is my dad.

[Matt]

It's the same batch.

[Joel]

I don't know if it is like,

[Matt]

like at Costco, like, if. If they're in the same giant core cardboard box. These are processed on some giant conveyor belt. And the berries that are in the container at the bottom of the box. No, I don't think, like five minutes newer.

[Joel]

But look at the spinach. The spinach, man. Sometimes there's like six, seven, eight days that. Where the expiration date is different in different boxes. Really? Oh, yeah. Pay attention, man. And spinach. Think about spinach. That's one of those things that, like, if you're like, if it hits the expiration date, it could be pretty nasty at that point.

[Matt]

Yeah, yeah. You don't want the slimy arugula.

[Joel]

For sure. You don't want that.

[Matt]

Anyway, that's just where my head went. Which is, I guess, a recommendation. Not a recommendation. Just. My advice then would be to find ways to, like, 1.8. That's one thing. But on the other hand, I'm thinking of different ways that at home we can waste less food by following recipes. If you're not so inclined to under, you know, to be able to cook just like shooting from the hip at home, maybe that means batch cooking once. And gosh, you and Emily have done a lot of this with like, don't you. You, like, smoke chickens every Sunday. But just cooking multiple meals all at once, freezing them. If that's a way for you to. To not was food or eating leftovers, actually eating the food that you've made so that just doesn't end up in the trash can.

[Joel]

I think one of the other culprits, too, is that people are just eating out more. And we've seen this right and left. Right. Because it's easier. The crossover happened a few years ago that people spend more eating out than they do on groceries, and it's not coming back. And this is a way that we spend more money. And this is a reason why we're seeing people buying less food at the grocery store. You can blame it on inflation. I'm blaming it on lifestyle choice for most people. And they're saying, I'd rather spend money eating out even if it costs a lot more. So I'm buying less stuff at the grocery store because I'm making less stuff at home. And ultimately, this is a decision that's going to impact your budget. So be careful how much money you spend eating out. Yeah, you might buy fewer groceries. But ultimately, it's raising your food budget overall.

[Matt]

Totally. Yeah. So there's a. On that note of groceries, there's a survey that showed that more folks are using their cash back and some of the different, like, credit card benefits that they receive to pay for necessities like groceries. And I think the article was trying to position this as, like, isn't this terrible? But, Joel, I'm gonna take this story and spin it a little bit because I think this is just an argument for the fact that money is just perfectly fungible. And it makes me think that maybe there's a certain subset of folks out there who are realizing that, like, oh, I'm getting a little more responsible with how I'm spending. I used to always use my points and kind of earmark it for a trip, for a vacation, which there's nothing wrong with that. But if you realize that, oh, I think I actually do want to get a little more intentional with my spending. You take those points, you take the statement credit, you use it to offset your monthly spending from the last statement, and then you can, I don't know, attack, let's say, a vacation a little more thoughtfully as opposed to, like, I don't know, kind of like, blow it on the dice, rolling it, see what happens. Opening your points within the credit card portal and seeing what you got and what you might need.

[Joel]

I'm going to Vegas.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

Oh, man. Now I'm going to spend even more because I'm going to waste my money gambling.

[Matt]

I think you're right.

[Joel]

Like, I have no problem with people using. I think for many people, we're down. Like, if you. If you want to play the system and you pay off your balance in full and on time every single month, like, go for it. The travel credit cards, there's some really good ones out there. Chase Sapphire Preferred just had a really awesome signup bonus. And if you're going to meet the terms and you're not going to spend more than you should, like, that's a worthwhile card to have in your wallet, especially if you're a heavy traveler. But I think for most people, keeping it simpler and more basic is probably the best way to go. And so whether that's a statement credit, whether that's like, using the cash back to kind of pay, make it cheaper for your grocery bill to kind of subsidize your grocery bill, if you want to think about it like that, that's great. Part of it's. Yeah, like you said, it's fungible. Part of it is in your Approach like, how are you thinking about where this money goes? And I think if we're really sensitive about our grocery bill, putting some of the money there, it might help it feel like groceries cost a little bit less just because we're using a credit card intelligently. The Amex Blue Cash Preferred is one of the best cards if you, if you feel like your grocery bill is too high too. Right. Because you get that 6% cash back on, on your groceries. So that's, that's a credit card can help, I guess, if you use it appropriately as, as well to kind of reduce how much you spend. Yeah.

[Matt]

6%. Is it up on up to 5,000 in spending?

[Joel]

I want to say it's 9.

[Matt]

Is it 9?

[Joel]

I think it's something like that.

[Matt]

I could be up it all. I know. And this is revealing a little bit about us and how much we spend on groceries, but we tend to hit that mark around halfway through the year and it is now August and we have officially spent that much money. Wow.

[Joel]

No, it's 6,000, by the way. 6,000.

[Matt]

Okay, six. Not five.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Nor nine in the price is Right. That's right game. I would have won that one, Joel, but in that case, yeah, I'm hopping over. I do love the Amex Blue Cash Preferred, but I literally, as I was closing out last month, I told Kate, I was just like, hey, I just noticed we're not earning the 6% anymore on the groceries. Go ahead and pull that card from your wallet. Throw everything on the, on the Robinhood card.

[Joel]

So there was another article about just like premium credit cards. And I think this is one of those things. We're seeing more and more of them. We've talked about how the, the annual fees are going up and up and up on these cards and they're especially to like upper middle class people. It feels like, oh, I'm going to get so much value out of this. Look at the, look at the suite, airport lounges. I'm going to be able to go, I'm going to go into. Because I have now this premium access and I get to get a nice little beverage before my flight or something like that. I think it's really important before people sign up for those though, Matt, to realize, well, to look towards the past year, well, how many flights did I take? Did I actually show up to the airport pretty early? Am I hanging out at the airport? Like, my sister loves to hang out at the airport. They'll get their flights.

[Matt]

She goes to the lounges.

[Joel]

Oh, yeah, dude. Oh, yeah. But they Travel eight or nine times a year and they're getting their way early. They're taking full advantage. It's worth every penny. But for me, like, who travels once a year and if I am, I've got kids in tow and stuff like that, we're not getting there hours in advance. And hanging out at the lounges, should

[Matt]

I get there hours early getting a Bloody Mary? Can I get like a little Shirley Temple for the kids too?

[Joel]

Exactly, exactly.

[Matt]

Oh my gosh.

[Joel]

So it's like is it worth it for you and how you live? And you got to kind of like don't just assume because it meets one or two requirements or it's. It's got one or two benefits that you like that it's still worth getting that card.

[Matt]

Totally agree. Not to mention the fact that folks get tempted into higher levels of spending with brands that they don't even necessarily frequent. Right. It's like, oh, you get a peloton, the peloton credit and all of a sudden you're doing business with peloton when otherwise you're like, well, I kind of just do the at home stretch. YouTube stretches that like that Joel does that are free on YouTube.

[Joel]

I can link to them people if you want them, they're great.

[Matt]

So that's the whole thing actually being honest with yourself and addressing or recognizing whether or not you are being tempted into spending with like these luxury brands when otherwise you might be perfectly happy with the way that you had been spending.

[Joel]

Well, I just want. This is another one of those words that just got made up, you know, like, oh yeah, I think this is

[Matt]

to make up new words. Fun.

[Joel]

It's funnish. Yeah, it's funnish. But dude, all the fun stuff is more expensive, right? Like this was ad nauseam what people talked about with the World Cup. It's so expensive and like it's only the. Only the richest of the rich can go to some of these games. I saw even that a few of the big name music acts are trying to like Coldplay was one of them. Charlie xcx. I don't really know who that is except for the brat summer thing. I think that was her thing was that last summer. But she. They're trying to release like $20 seats. A very, very small amount to curb kind of how expensive it feels. But there's like think about how many people go to a Coldplay show that's. It's probably 30,000 people for. a Coldplay show. I'm guessing they haven't announced, but I'm guessing it's like 200 tickets that are 20 bucks. And everything else is still just to

[Matt]

be able to say that, like, hey guys, we released some of those affordable Aldi level tickets for, for the price conscious folks out there.

[Joel]

Exactly. So I don't know that it's actually going to make a difference in most people's lives, but, man, it does feel tough out there for people who want to have fun and it feels like experiences, sporting events. Think about those Knicks playoffs tickets. How much, how expensive? Those were concerts these days, all of the sporting events is crazy expensive.

[Matt]

Yeah. So, okay, my, my, my thoughts on this are that this is a holdover. And I hate to be the one that still banging this drum or whatever, but I feel like this is still a holdover from the pandemic. Right. Like, first of all, you tell people that you can't hang around other people because they're going to kill you, so that does something to you. But then secondly, as the economy shut down, the government's just like fire hosing cash into people's checking accounts. And all of a sudden you get to this because when did all this start? When did these insane ticket prices, when did all this happen? This was post pandemic. This was sort of the knee jerk, the reflex of sort of corrective action, right?

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Folks were at home for a long time, and then all of a sudden, a year later, it's like, oh, wait a minute, no, we've got, we got more money than ever. We can go to concerts. You see ticket prices skyrocketing like that. But I think the big question is, why has it continued? And I think it's, I think it's social connection at the end of the day, but I feel like it's two sides of the same coin, right? Which is, I think more time, like we're spending more and more time atomized, not hanging out with other people, not being in community, not being a part of sort of like civic clubs and the Putnam Bowling alone. Right. This is that all over again. And so there's a healthy part of, oh, I want to go hang out with my friends, let's go to a concert. That's amazing. Like, that's such a great, healthy thing to do. As we create these memories, we have a ton of fun. I feel like this is an argument that you can get behind Joel. You love going to concerts. It's a ton of fun for you. But then the flip side of that is the FOMO side of things where there's just like that anxiety that goes into someone Feeling like, oh, well, everyone's going to the Coldplay, you know, concert or whatever. The guy from HR or the lady from Horror. That was a reference to that in the. From the past spring. They're going, maybe I should go too.

[Joel]

Nobody's heard of that, Matt. That didn't get any viral attention. I don't know what you're talking about.

[Matt]

And like, that, to me, feels like the sort of unhealthy side of it as well. For both of those reasons. I think that's part of why we've continued to see higher, Higher ticket prices, whether it's concerts, whether it's sporting events. But I'm assuming that you're probably down to, you know, to maybe spend a little bit more of your entertainment dollars towards sporting events or to concerts, right?

[Joel]

Not really sporting events, but concerts, yes. Ish. Because I will say the price still matters as to whether or not I'm going to pay it. Like, there's a band that I like that's coming in October and I was like, yeah, if it was like in the 50 to 60 range for a ticket, I'm interested to see them at that price point. But they're not one of my all time faves. And so I think tickets were like 100 bucks. I'm like, yeah, no, I'm not going to do it. So I think we just need to be willing to say no more often. Like, it makes me think about. There was this article about how now that Spirit Airlines is gone, people are taking the bus more to get where they want to go. I've ridden the Megabus across the Southeast before. It saves a lot of money. Like, you love the buses. Yeah, it's great. It's a great way to travel. I'm glad more people are picking up on it. But it doesn't mean because. Just because it's more expensive that you always have to say no. You can just pick and choose and say, listen, instead of going to like eight concerts a year, I'm gonna go to four. I'm gonna go to the ones that I really, really care about. Or instead of taking Spirit Air, which is relatively inexpensive, I'm gonna. I'm gonna take the bus. I'm still gonna get there. I'm just gonna find a way to do it for less. And yeah, do I wish that concert tickets would go down in price? Yeah. But is Ticketmaster in charge of that world? And will concert tickets go down in price? No, I'm a realist. So it's just. Yeah, it's just one of those Things that's going to, I think, probably annoy us for years to come.

[Matt]

Yeah. Okay. Well, speaking of buses, I know I don't know if you are going to like spend some time talking about how great Megabus is, but for me, since

[Joel]

I've ridden it, but I remember it with fondness.

[Matt]

I'm just a snob, man. I've never ridden on a bus. And I think that my, I think my bus riding days are behind me. I mean, I take that back in college, like I would always take the bus, right? We had an awesome bus transit system at uga, which evidently stinks now. Evidently they've reduced the. Some of the routes and stuff. And somebody told me recently, they're like, oh man, nobody rides the bus anymore. I'm like, oh, that's too bad. Like everybody used to ride the bus. That's just like how he did it.

[Joel]

Talk about relational connection, man.

[Matt]

That's a good place to have dude, I'm telling you. Like, can you just strike up a conversation with someone random? I literally would do that all the time. But as far as traveling to other cities, they're talking. Folks were like, oh yeah, I took a, took a trip from upstate Maine down to New York City or something like that. And I'm just, I think, I don't know, I just have a hard time envisioning getting to the bus stop, waiting, getting on board with a bunch of other folks. I feel like we're going more and more in the dirt. I just feel like we're going more in the direction of Uber and Lyft. Right? Like that thing comes to me. Somebody needs to create like an Uber and Lyft long haul or something. Like, I'm sure you can do Uber or Lyft to another state, but I don't know, that's probably going to be crazy expensive.

[Joel]

The price point on some of those bus trips is pretty, pretty great. And some of the accommodations on the buses look like they've gotten much, much better. Like they've got WI Fi and they've got tables that face tables in the middle of like two seats on either side. So you can like create like little cabins or something.

[Matt]

Sort of feel.

[Joel]

Yeah. So, I mean, I know you're fancy, but there's a lot of other folks out there who, you know, men of the people like me, women of the people. They'd be willing to.

[Matt]

I don't want to hear it. Tell me that the next time you. It's like a hostel. It's like you being like, hostels are the Best. And like, they are good for a certain period of time. Like, I am so glad that when I was younger that I stayed in plenty of hostels, sleeping in a room with like 20 other people for the really cheap spot, you know, and it's just, it's rough. I got some great stories, great memories. But guess what? Are you staying in a hostel anymore? When you travel with Emily or your kids, you're. You're not. Same here, right? Like, I want my own place, but

[Joel]

I don't know if I'm beyond a bus trip yet.

[Matt]

Oh, okay, how about this? Maybe I'll timestamp this and the next time you take a bus trip, you let us know and we'll spend plenty of time talking about how wonderful it was, just what your thoughts were for

[Joel]

now, let's keep moving.

[Matt]

How much money you were able to save.

[Joel]

We got more stories to get to.

[Matt]

Let's keep moving.

[Joel]

Okay. Americans, it turns out, are only getting worse at personal finance. Matt, I don't know about you. Then surprise me. There's. There's this new TIAA survey, and basically they found that financial literacy has dropped to a 10 year low. The average score on their simple quiz, and by the way, I went through it to take a look, was 47%.

[Matt]

So basically, did you take the quiz?

[Joel]

Yeah, dude, it was so easy. Like, it was, it was not. Like, because sometimes the Wall Street Journal will publish articles and they're like, can you test, can you try this quiz out? And sometimes the answers can be misleading and it feels like there's two right answers and they're like, you were wrong on that one. But this one was like, it was something I would hope anybody who graduates high school would know the vast majority of these things and they didn't drop

[Matt]

from like 52 down to 47 last

[Joel]

year to this year.

[Matt]

Right. It's just like, oh, that's not great. I never heard of this thing. It was called the Personal Finance Finance Index. And I did not take the quiz. I'll see how I do. Maybe after I sign off with you.

[Joel]

Like, part of me holds out this hope that personal finance classes in high school is becoming mandatory is going to help fix this problem. I also wonder you and I've talked about, like, it's great that it's mandatory, but so much of whether, how effective these classes are going to be depends on the teacher, depends on the curriculum. So I would hope that these classes would make it a goal that everyone going through those classes would be able to get a minimum of like a 90% on a test like this. And I do think these are just some of the basic questions we'll link to the quiz in the show notes. But I feel like these are some basic questions that everyone should be able to answer. And to see that people can't even get 50% of them right is harrowing. No wonder people are bad with money.

[Matt]

Yeah. So on the note of quizzes and surveys, there's another survey that said a third of folks have more credit card debt than they do retirement savings, which was pretty shocking. So the story led with that and I thought there's, I don't know man, that seems maybe it's just overblown or something like that. And I went digging through the details a little bit and I was thinking, okay, I could totally picture a 22 year old. Are they going to have more credit card debt than retirement savings? Absolutely. I was disheartened to see that they weren't surveying people as young as 18 or 22 or even 25. It started at 30 year olds, which that's what I'm. And all the way up to 79 year olds. And so a third of those folks between age 30 and 79 have more credit card debt than retirement savings. That's, that's tough to stomach.

[Joel]

You gotta flip the script, Matt. People can't be having $10,000 in credit card debt and $5,000 in their investments. And you know, to get that kind of credit card debt racked up, it takes time, it takes months and to kind of right the ship. It's gonna take a while to too. But it's crucial to get started to have a plan to pay off the credit card debt and then to get the full match in your 401k. You got to have like start making small decisions like, you know what, no takeout for the next three months while I'm paying this credit card debt off intensively. They're just all sorts of changes that you have to make both mentally and then with where your money's going in order to be able to fix that. Because I think for a lot of people, they, they hear that, they're like, that's the situation I'm in. They get despondent and man, that's not going to help either. I think that we don't want to like shame you and say, you know, you're, you're an idiot. Can't believe you did that. This is like you are in company with a third, I guess, of investing Americans. So you're not alone. But there's changes that have to be made so that you can get kind of back on proper footing when it comes to your finances. That's right.

[Matt]

All right, let's take a quick break, man. We got more to get to. Oh, before I like, do the whole pitch, though, what I need to do is hop over here to the Sounder board and make sure I've got that queued up. But we've got more to talk to. For instance, we're going to talk about Social Security running out of money. We're going to talk about people hating on homeownership. We'll get to all that more right after this. Okay, Joel, I am excited about this one. Here on the show, we are all about comparing prices to save money on so many things in life. So why wouldn't we compare prices for our next ride share? Taking a few seconds to check Lyft can save you real money on your next ride. And I did this last time I caught a ride home from the airport after some travel and guess who came out on on top? It was Lyft. Don't just price check with your flights and phone plans and groceries. Comparing rideshare prices will help you to save money every time you ride. Save money. Check Lyft, man.

[Joel]

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[Matt]

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[Joel]

When you need the right person to cut through the chaos, this is a job for Indeed Sponsor Jobs and listeners of this show will get a $75 sponsored job credit and to help get your job the premium status it deserves@ Indeed.com podcast just go to Indeed.com podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Need to hire. This is a job for Indeed Sponsored Jobs. A lot can change in a year. Man, it felt like we had kids last year. Now we have young adults, including a teenager. Well, thanks to policygenius, no matter the age and stage of our Offspring, Our family remains financially protected. Makes it easy to enjoy summer to the fullest. So my advice to you, prioritize peace of mind. Lock in your life insurance today.

[Matt]

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[Joel]

With Policygenius you can find 20 year life insurance policies starting at just $276 a year for $1 million in coverage. Head to Policygenius.com to compare life insurance quotes from top companies and see how much you could save. That's policygenius.com. Grooming my mustache. Sorry.

[Matt]

Okay, that's vanity right there.

[Joel]

Gotta keep it groomed. Oh, do you have any like bird nests growing up in it or anything?

[Matt]

Do you have a mustache comb?

[Joel]

Yeah, duh. It's tiny. It's adorable. Yeah. Oh, okay, shoot. I don't, I don't keep it in my pocket, but I have it in my bathroom at home.

[Matt]

Are you gonna turn into one of these guys that has like mustache wax and you're like gonna grow it out and twist it? Do you remember when I used to have a mustache? You did?

[Joel]

Parents, but not that much. Yes, I do. I thought you had a great mustache. Your family disagreed though.

[Matt]

Thank you. I'm glad you appreciated it. Anytime I bring it up. Well, first of all, Kate's like, well, you both can't have mustaches.

[Joel]

I think that's true though.

[Matt]

That kind of gives a different vibe to the show.

[Joel]

Agreed. I think if we both did, people would be like, man, those guys are just too much. They overlap too much.

[Matt]

Yeah, like our friend Dan, he's also got a great mustache. What if he was your co host and you're both sitting there with your. Then it looks silly. But if one of us looks like me, one of us looks like you feels a little more appropriate. I was gonna say, if you didn't have a mustache comb, I'd like get you one for Christmas or something like a nice tortoise shell. I bet there's some nice ones out there that you can get. I guarantee there are nice waxes, nice bombs. You want to talk about Social Security?

[Joel]

Yeah, let's get to the ludicrous headline of the week. This one comes from Yahoo. Finance and the headline says, will Social Security go broke in 2032? Here's what's happening. And the headline is frustrating, but it's more than anything, what's happening with Social Security is frustrating. And this is an update that kind of happened, Matt, while we were out of town a few weeks ago at this point in time we've talked about it. We had Mike Piper on the show to talk about Social Security and the state of Social Security. The system in general is troubling and our politicians, our elected officials unwillingness to address the issue is even more troubling. Like there are changes we could make and the sooner we make them, the better. That could kind of iterate to solve this problem or at least to mitigate the problem. Make it less. Make it less bad in terms of how things are going to shake out.

[Matt]

Make it more better.

[Joel]

Make it more better.

[Matt]

Let's make sense. Social Security more better.

[Joel]

But the trust fund is going to drive in 2032, which is what? Like I think one quarter sooner than it was previously expected. The Q1, 2020, 2032 versus Q. No, Q4, 2032 versus Q1, 2033. Right. And this is just going to keep getting more headlines. It's going to ramp up confusion and people are just going to, especially young people, young listeners to how the money. I think they've already gotten the memo. They've got the message. Social Security is not going to be there for me in the way that it was for my parents. And I don't think they're wrong.

[Matt]

No, I agree. I think more folks our age have been wising up to it. It's a large part. Yeah. It's interesting because I don't think that there's as much concern from younger generations. Like our age and younger are essentially counting on it less and less. Right. It's like a spectrum. If you are in retirement and that's your only source of income. Yeah. You're like, what's going to happen to my payout? It's going to get cut by almost 25%. I think it's like 22 or 23 something.

[Joel]

I think it's 25 or 26%. Yeah.

[Matt]

Oh, really? Oh, I thought it was a little bit less than that. But that's assuming that the government does nothing. And demographics show that we have a larger and larger percentage of voters who are older, which means it is going to get addressed somehow. Like for a while I was thinking, oh, they Might just let this thing kind of sunset, like right off into the sunset. Nobody has to touch it. Nobody has to get drug over the coals, wrecked over the coals or whatever for being the one that increases taxes. But at the same time, you've got a larger and larger block of folks who are counting on Social Security. But yeah, fact is, it is a real thing. I think what's important to note is that this is, this isn't clickbait. Like, the trust fund will run out. There will still be people paying into it. So it's not like it's drying up completely. So it's a little misleading there.

[Joel]

But there is a structural issue that

[Matt]

comes when it comes to Social Security, the future of it, how much it is. We should be counting on it. And in the past, we've talked about how, or maybe you and I have talked about it, like when we've talked about sources of income and you're like, I've got the stool and you've got one leg, that's this, you got one leg, that's that. And think about Social Security perhaps as just one leg of your retirement stool,

[Joel]

but a weaker, a weaker leg.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

It's not as sturdy as it once was. And so your other legs have to be even sturdier.

[Matt]

Yeah.

[Joel]

To make like when you, we've talked about this before. When you log into Social Security.gov and it predicts what you're, you know, what you're going to have in terms of a Social Security check when you hit different retirement ages, you can don't plan for that full amount, you know, plan for 25, 30% less than what, what Social Security.gov is telling you. Because especially like it's, we're, it's, it's not only the Social Security, Social Security trust fund is running out is that we're heading in the wrong direction with more and more government spending, people living longer, people having fewer kids, which means

[Matt]

fewer people paying into the system, paying fewer payroll taxes.

[Joel]

It's only going to become a more and more unhealthy system. And the longer we wait to address it, yes, we can still find ways to put money into the system, but as a country with as much debt as we have, they're trying to address the issue. It becomes more and more tenuous. Right. Yeah. And so, yeah, this is just something to be aware of. And it's just again, a call to, as a DIY investor, be very intentional and not rely, not overly project and rely on what Social Security is going

[Matt]

to do for you that's one reason that I'm encouraged by more and more folks who are saying, well, why. Why would I buy a house? Right. That's another story. We came across somebody who's writing, I can't remember where, but essentially he was just like, I got the money, I saved up. But I'm choosing not to purchase a home for one reason. I don't like the house I can't afford. It's in a neighborhood I don't really like. But secondly, my, my net worth is growing more by investing those dollars. And you are seeing people who are investing more of their dollars, more of their income. But that's the trick. You need to offset. Oh, you need to offset. I'm thinking about home ownership. Why has it been the number one way that Americans have built their net worth over their lifetime is because it's a forced method of savings. You are required to if you want to continue to live in that house.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

And it's one thing for someone to say that like, okay, well, hypothetically, if I were to invest, you know, I'm going to see my money increase at a faster, at a faster rate, at a faster clip. But there's a difference between being forced to because you're living in the house and if you don't, you get kicked out of that house as a foreclosure. It's a fa. It's a savings treadmill. Right. Like, you are on this thing and no matter what, you are at a certain pace, you're clipping along and you're socking money away. You're building equity there in your home. Can you do that on your own? You need to. We just talked about why you need to. Because of Social Security, not necessarily being there in the same way that it is currently, but you need to. And I think the 401k millionaires is one of the more encouraging notes where people are signing up for that. It is automatically being taken out of their paychecks and they're not thinking about it.

[Joel]

Right.

[Matt]

Like that's another mechanism and is a great reason why it is that we are actually seeing so many 401k millionaires. But you have to be so intentional about that. Like, that's what's so clutch. That's the key. Because if you're not being intentional about that. Yeah. You're not. You're not going to have nearly as as much money on hand.

[Joel]

I think there's some tried and true, like, realities of wealth building that remain steady generation after generation. And then there are other ways in which you have to say, what's the reality I'm facing and does it still make sense to do it the way my parents did it? Yeah. And I think for more, more and more young people are saying, especially if they live in higher cost cities, especially with the discrepancy between mortgage, what they'd pay in a mortgage versus what they can pay in rent for something very similar. They're saying, hmm, doesn't really make sense the way it did for my parents. Doesn't really make sense the way it did eight, 10, 15 years ago. And they're not wrong. And I'm not saying that the housing market won't change because right now, like home prices compared to the average salary, there's a bigger discrepancy than there's been in a really long time. And that, I'm not saying that can't change and level out. I think it can. I think the housing market could plateau for a while and it's going to look more appealing and appetizing to buy a home potentially five, six, eight years from now. But it doesn't like buying a home, you know, conditions be damned. Like, that's not intelligent. That's just, that's just trying to relive the playbook of your parents when the playbook doesn't make sense in the same way. It's like in the NFL as they change the defense, you got to change what you're willing to do on offense and maybe you need some more head fakes and Hail Marys and post routes. I don't know, Matt, I don't know enough about sports to really say, but

[Matt]

this is a, like somebody's been brushing up on his Madden.

[Joel]

This is a point where you call an audible, you know what I'm saying? And, and you make a change to kind of the, the scripted way that it's been, been done. And for a lot of people, I don't think it means homeownership can never be a reality. But you're just saying, hey, given the facts on the ground, I'm going to prioritize investing right now. Maybe in maybe years down the road, I will revisit this decision. I'll be in a better off financial position, I'll be able to actually afford the house I want if. If at the same time the housing market experiences a little bit of a correction. Totally.

[Matt]

Yeah. The game has changed, which is why that's what you're talking about, right? You're talking about being flexible because the game has changed because interest rates are so sick and high. And that's one of the ways that we see rates come down. All of a sudden. Housing homes in particular, you know, start getting a lot more affordable. And there's another article we saw that said that Americans were fork an extra $65 billion because they were going essentially with their buddy, like the first. They're like, oh yeah, I know a guy, I know a guy that does mortgages. And they're like, oh, yeah, okay. And they go with him or her and they don't get another quote. And $65 billion is so much money,

[Joel]

so much wasted money spread over the, you know, many hundreds of thousands of borrowers, but. Or millions of borrowers. So a little bit for everybody. But we've talked about how that adds up too, man. Yes. Not shopping around. Like we shop around for everything. It's, you know, except for the most expensive thing that, like, if it bleeds you an extra 120, 150, 180amonth because you didn't shop around and get that better mortgage rate through your local bank or credit union or talk to them, most likely.

[Matt]

Credit union, yes.

[Joel]

Yeah, yeah. Like we've talked about this. When we're looking at some of these adjustable rate mortgages, like, man, some of our local credit unions have far better rates than we've seen anywhere else. And if you're just like taking your Realtor's recommendation for a mortgage lender and you're just going straight there and you're not asking any questions and you're not comparing apples to apples, the money you could leave on the table, it could be way more than your Netflix subscription every month. It could cost you like, you know, 10 times your Netflix subscription. Yeah.

[Matt]

You want to talk about other ways that folks can get discounts, let's see, on their home insurance.

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

Additional ways to make your housing cost a little bit less.

[Joel]

So I loved this. There was an article, I think it was in Barron's, I don't remember Kiplinger, about DIY upgrades that you can make. And one of the things they mentioned was even just like, you know, your home insurance company is going to ask you what, what certain questions about your house and certain changes that you make can impact you in a beneficial way when it comes to how much you pay for homeowners insurance. So one of those things is having a home security system. Right. And back in the day, that meant calling this one giant company who would install it for you and they would put you in this nasty little contract and they would charge you like 55amonth. And if you tried to get out of that contract, they would break your legs or something like that. Right. That was kind of their tactic. It was the scare tactics and stuff like that.

[Matt]

But then along came Simplisafe. Were they the first.

[Joel]

The first simply safe was the. They started it all and they just.

[Matt]

A revolution.

[Joel]

Yes. And so even if maybe they're not the absolute best choice for everyone anymore, they're still a great choice worth considering. I think the having that competition thrust into the market, it opened up a whole nother space of like DIY home security that didn't really exist before you. You had to have a professional come to your house and install the cameras and blah, blah. We don't do that anymore.

[Matt]

Right.

[Joel]

Like, it's like plug and play with tons of different companies out there selling you equipment for a pretty low cost and then selling you the monitoring on a monthly basis for a heck of a lot less for like 10%, you know, of what the big company used to charge. But this, it's an inexpensive thing that you can do to your home that actually could save you money over the long haul. So it's worth asking your homeowners insurance company, hey, what can I do to save money on the cost as these costs have risen? And if, okay, if I got a, let's say a cheap home security system, how much would that reduce my homeowner's insurance bill? And you might find that you'd more than cover the costs of that. That security system you're installing in a year. Right. Like, it's. I think it's one of those things more people should, should consider.

[Matt]

Yeah. Yeah. It makes me think about just other ways that you. That a lot of folks when, when they're hit with a surprising new premium increase or maybe like if they got a teenage driver, it's just like, oh my gosh, how much are we going to. And these are waters that we're starting to. We're still a few years out, but I'm still. I talk to friends all the time and they've got teenage drivers and they're just talking about how much it costs and they're looking for every good student discount possible. Right. But when you have home insurance rates that slowly creep up. Yeah, it's the boiling. It's the frog in boiling water, man. You just, you get used to it and you're like, oh, I guess that's just what it is now, as opposed to finding other ways to make your homeowner's insurance cost less, like, like installing a trampoline, I'M pretty sure that makes, that brings down the cost of your homeowner's insurance, doesn't it, Joel?

[Joel]

Sure. Right. Yeah. I don't know. We have a trampoline. I know you do too. And I'm. Yeah. I don't even remember if they asked me the question about do you have a trampoline?

[Matt]

I don't know if they did either. I don't know why I thought of that. I was just thinking through like what things on our property are, make us more of a liability risk perhaps. And I'm like, oh, we do have a trampoline. You know, you got some of these different. Yeah.

[Joel]

Anyway, did you see the article about the security deposits, the fintech companies that are like allowing you to essentially pay an annual fee or smaller sums so that you don't have to pay as big of a security deposit if you're renting, if you're renting.

[Matt]

I did not. So fill me in.

[Joel]

All right, so this is fascinating and it's terrible because just like everything else in modern America, there are fintech companies coming down the pike to try to help you out in a way that like where you have to pay less money in upfront but ultimately it's going to cost you more in the end. And so these products function kind of like insurance. Like we're talking about where they are. You know, the security deposit, this is gone. Now once you've paid this company, and I forget what this company was called, I can try to look it up. But like these third party services charging you less money so that you can, and they'll pay essentially the security deposit on your behalf. But if something happens like to the property while you're in it, you now, now there's another party you're dealing with and at the, at the same time, like what you paid them, you never get that back. Let's say you kept the home in pristine condition and you moved out. Like you don't, you don't get this back. So it's, it's instead of a security deposit, this is like an insurance product that you're buying. And the, the National Consumer Law center dug in and they basically said, hey, tenants in a worse financial position when you use pro, when they use products like this.

[Matt]

So as opposed to saving up on the front end, having the cash on hand to be able to actually put the deposit down, which you would most likely get back if you did keep the places in good shape. Oh, I don't like that, man. This is just like another way of breaking up these Large, larger sums of money into monthly payments. It's like pmi, but like for a rent deposit as opposed to private mortgage insurance.

[Joel]

But yeah, and this just reminds me too, as a renter, to protect yourself. Well, one, save up and have the, have the security deposit, have all the money you need to make that happen, along with moving expenses, along with an emergency fund. But also take pictures when you move in and when you move out so that you document it because there are some shady landlords out there too who will be like, yeah, you did $1,500 worth of damages. Here's the $300 from your security deposit that, that we didn't need. And you're like, what, I didn't do anything. And then you're in some sort of legal dispute and it's prove that you didn't do anything.

[Matt]

Yeah, it's a much stronger case. You want to talk about water? Should we talk about how water's getting more expensive? We got time for that.

[Joel]

Have you noticed that water bills are going up? I feel like this has been happening for years now that A little bit. It's not just electricity prices, it's water bills too.

[Matt]

Yeah, we. So, okay, so yeah, this, the story basically talks about how generally speaking, I mean, water, it's increasing at a faster clip, at a faster rate than consumer spending inflation, just across the board, which, I mean, I don't know, everything's getting more expensive. I did find it interesting that they were sort of cherry picking some extreme cases though. Some, some instances where, oh, the reservoir is empty and it's like, okay, yes, we've got some serious problems when it comes to the kind of water and the rates that we're able to pass along as a municipality to our residents and to our customers. It makes me so thankful for. I don't even know if we, where we live, if we get our actual water from Atlanta. But it makes me think about the giant works project that they did where they Driller Mike, remember the name of the drill? They bored a tunnel from the river all the way to this reservoir. And it changed our days, city days on hand, water from like two or three days to like 30, which I'm like, that seems responsible. Good job, city leaders, right?

[Joel]

Yeah.

[Matt]

And so on one hand, there is not a ton that you can do when it comes to a, when it comes to the kind of infrastructure spending that has to take place. That's why a lot of it's taking place. Right. It's just these systems that have been in place for a long time, they need to be replaced. You can keep that in mind. But I doubt many people are going to change where it is that they're moving to based on what kind of condition it's. It's sort of like looking at the an HOA and looking at the reserves and being like, how we doing? There's not, there's not a whole lot of folks doing that when it comes to the city that they're living in.

[Joel]

No, but they should be, in the case of an hoa, probably they should be exactly the city, the water, you know, and how, what, you know, what does that look like?

[Matt]

But when it comes to individuals though, there's, there's bigger reasons that you're moving to a certain city or to a certain district, whether it's schools, jobs, to be closer to family. But on a personal level, there are absolutely things that you can do. That's what we talk about here on the show. The things. We're not talking about policy, we're talking about what you can do as an individual.

[Joel]

Do you think it's like take fewer showers? Well, literally when Georgia was going through a drought many years ago, the then governor, he had like an address to the state and I still remember, I can say it the way he said it. Take a shorter shower. Like that's the way, like that's what he said to people. And he's not, he's not wrong. Like shorter shower. Okay, shorter showers.

[Matt]

I'd rather take no shower at all than a shorter shower.

[Joel]

No, he didn't say don't bathe, which I appreciate. Cause people would have probably revolted. But replacing your toilet, low fox toilets, often the water company will pay, you will buy the toilet for you basically to do that. And then you're able to save some money or not having a fancy lawn, right. That requires watering. There are all these ways that you can around the edges at least save on your water bill. I don't, I don't know that you're going to like cut it in half, right. But you might be able to get to LOP 15, 20 bucks a month off of your water usage if you take just a couple of measures and you that don't involve smelling when you show up to work. That's true.

[Matt]

It makes me think about my parents house and they're like, they do the exact opposite.

[Joel]

They're just like, oh, I love it

[Matt]

when the water flows. So like my dad, he takes much pride in the water pressure at our house. And I will say like, you get in the shower there and like it feels Like a tingly massage. It's insane just how much it just cuts through the hair. But one of the downsides of that, and I told him the last time we were talking about this, I was just like, you know, you remember that time that the water filter that was on the outside of the fridge cracked and water went everywhere and kind of ruined the floor. I was like, I wonder if that had anything to do with the fact that the pressure going to all of our appliances, to all of your appliances in the house are like, it's basically like twice what it should be.

[Joel]

It's like one of the regulators or whatever that's called, right?

[Guest Announcer]

Yeah.

[Matt]

So modern plumbing codes. It's the prv. It's the pressure reduction valve or something like that. And it's supposed to be set at a certain level. But either older homes that were built before that was required either don't have that, or sometimes people get down there and they increase the pressure. And I'm just saying that that also leads to other problems down the road. Like your valves on your faucet. It's not made to handle that kind of pressure as well. So not only are we talking about you on a daily basis using more water, but also just the premature failure of a faucet, of a valve on the toilet or something like that. You know, like premature failure.

[Joel]

That's what my parents called me, Matt.

[Matt]

Oh, no, you didn't fail to launch my friend. But yeah, so that's the story about water. We won't get into how I'm spending. I'm buying big jugs of bottled water now for my espresso machine.

[Joel]

Oh, okay.

[Matt]

Did I tell you that? Is it something that's the most expensive way to pay for water? Apparently, yeah, in a giant thing. Something about the water chemistry.

[Joel]

But we won't get into that.

[Matt]

It's worth it.

[Joel]

If you're a coffee snob, you got to do that.

[Matt]

I think, dude, this is my new craft beer equivalent. I think I'm willing to say that here on the show now I'm spending more of my premium top dollar on. I mean, I already spent it, but we were just talking this morning about dabbling and getting into the higher end coffees, because I can tell the difference. And I'm like, oh, hey, I'd rather do that than buy another four pack of some really nice beer.

[Joel]

I think the espresso you made me before our trail run was delicious.

[Matt]

That was this morning, Literally. Did you enjoy that?

[Joel]

So good. There you go. Nothing puts a pep in my step. Makes me want to run up the mountain like that. So. So, yeah, that's going to do it for this episode. And again, we are on. If you're listening to this on the audio feed, awesome. Thank you. But we're also on YouTube. You can check that out. We'll put the link to our new YouTube channel in the show notes. You can see our beautiful, smiling, shining faces over there. If you do go over there, hit the subscribe button and hit the thumbs up, please, because then that tells the YouTube overlords that our content is worth watching and they matter, like, way too much in our society these days. So tell them we're okay.

[Matt]

Yeah, we're okay.

[Joel]

We're okay, Joe.

[Matt]

All right, that's gonna be it for this particular episode, buddy. We hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. We'll see you back here on Monday. So, buddy, until next time, best friends out. Best friends. See you later, buddy. Later.

[Sponsor Announcer]

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[Matt]

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[Guest Announcer]

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[Matt]

This is an Iheart podcast. Guaranteed human.