How to Money – Friday Flight: Pre-K For Pay, Helicopter Savers, & Politics Shmoliticks (#1029)

Hosts: Joel & Matt
Release Date: August 29, 2025
Podcast: How to Money (iHeartPodcasts)

Episode Overview

In this Friday Flight, Joel and Matt tackle a variety of timely and thought-provoking personal finance topics, ranging from the (over)value of certificates and online courses, how early childhood education like Pre-K can impact parental income, dangerous trends around “helicopter saving,” and the hazards of letting politics drive your investment decisions. The pair blend serious financial advice with their signature friendly banter, providing useful takeaways for listeners at every stage of their money journey.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Overhype of Certifications and Online Courses

• Credential Caution: While more education is often seen as a guaranteed ticket to higher pay, a recent Burning Glass Institute study found only 1 in 8 popular online certificates led to noticeable wage gains—and those that paid off were mostly healthcare-related.
  • "They actually highlighted even a project management certificate that you can stack from Harvard ... but even that created minimal results." – Matt (04:00)
• Be Strategic: Don’t assume any certificate will boost your earnings. Look for those that are either required for your job, or see if your employer will sponsor your upskilling.
  • Link to Tool: The hosts mention an online resource for checking which certificates are worthwhile. (05:00)

2. Pre-K: The Economic Benefits for Parents

• Key Study: Sending kids to state-funded Pre-K leads to increased parental income, as validated by a Connecticut study using a lottery system (proving causation).
  • "It's not just that single year but into the future because you're making more money that year. You're gonna make more money every single year from there on out on average." – Joel (07:11)
• Quality of Life Impact: Parents also reported increased sanity, time for friendships/career focus, and overall better capacity.
  • "Parents reported higher levels of sanity after their kids went off to pre K, which that I believe." – Matt (07:49)
• Trade-Off: Not every state offers free Pre-K, and personal/family values should be considered alongside financial outcomes.

3. Resumes & AI: How to Get Noticed

• Forget the One-Pager: With AI filtering resumes, the focus should be on including keywords specific to the job description rather than cramming everything into one page.
  • "To get past the first layer of defense, you got to please the robot overlords...use the language that they are using." – Matt (09:19)
• Practical Tip: Tailor each resume submission and mimic job post verbiage to improve your chances of being seen by human eyes.
  • "If you don't mimic ... then it doesn't matter how qualified you are. You've got to jump through that hoop." – Joel (09:39)

4. Credit vs. Debit: Americans Changing Habits

• Debit Surge: More people are choosing debit cards over credit to control spending as economic concerns rise, yet total spending hasn’t gone down—just shifted in form.
  • "It's also not like the overall spending levels are receding... People are just using a different piece of plastic." – Joel (11:09)
• Missing Out: Debit cards lack the robust fraud protections credit cards offer, and forfeiting credit card rewards means giving up potential perks (if you pay off balances monthly).
  • "With a credit card, you file a dispute, you're never out the money. ... With a debit card... you can be on the hook for some of the money." – Joel (13:04)
• Behavioral Trap: Regardless of payment method, tracking spending is essential—debits and credits are both easy to overspend with unless you keep diligent records.

5. Buy Now, Pay Later and Personal Loans: A Warning

• Red Flags: The continued surge in personal loans and Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) programs point towards a prioritization of short-term happiness over long-term financial health.
  • "Just the continued rise of Buy Now, Pay Later is showing we’re prioritizing near-term happiness over long-term freedom." – Matt (14:33)
• Credit Reporting Issues: BNPL companies are backing away from reporting missed payments to credit bureaus to "protect" user scores—undermining the reliability of credit scores as debt grows in the shadows.
  • "They don’t want to play nice with the credit bureaus anymore... it feels like a house of cards." – Matt (15:27, 15:36)
  • "Every day Buy Now, Pay Later becomes a bigger borrowing segment. ... Credit scores become at least a little bit less trustworthy." – Joel (15:58)

6. Helicopter Savers: Over-Investing in Kids’ Futures

• Ludicrous Headline: Parents supporting their 7-year-old for financial independence at 30—a skewed form of “loving” parental support that may backfire.
  • "This was about parents who think it’s their job to ensure their kids have a meaningful source of income once they reach young adulthood through no effort of their own." – Joel (22:48)
• How Far is Too Far? The financial strain on parents and lost learning opportunities for kids are significant downsides of "helicopter saving."
  • "It's why we teach our kids to tie their shoes and don't tie them for them every morning." – Joel (24:48)
• Lesson: “Teach a man to fish” rings true; modeling good behaviors and letting children work for rewards provides much more value than handouts.

7. The Dangers of Political Investing

• Gallup Insight: Americans are increasingly letting politics dictate their economic beliefs and investing, resulting in costly mistakes. Both Democrats and Republicans fall into this trap, depending on who occupies the White House.
  • "The majority of Americans are seeing more aspects of their lives through a political lens... Especially on the investing front." – Joel (29:01)
  • "Democrats who expect the stock market to decline over the next six months exceeded Republican beliefs by 59%." – Joel (29:41)
• Costly Results: Highly politicized ETF funds have underperformed and come with high fees.
  • "Republicans right now, they're super optimistic. ... But also to a fault, because there's a Make America Great Again ETF ... [that] has underperformed the S&P by 20 percentage points." – Joel (29:54)
• Advice: Remain apolitical with investments; history shows the US market is resilient regardless of politics.
  • "You have to stay apolitical when it comes to investing. ... We choose to invest like optimists, no matter the party that's in charge." – Matt (30:50)

8. Delayed or No Retirement: The Changing Face of Work

• Pew Study: More Americans 65+ are planning to skip traditional retirement, driven by either necessity (not enough saved) or desire (work provides identity).
  • "The majority of 65 and over folks are planning on skipping retirement altogether." – Joel (33:54)
• Run the Numbers: Fear may stop some from leaving the workforce, but a detailed financial review could reveal more flexibility than they think.
• Save Like a Pessimist: Even if you love your work, save early for retirement—life circumstances may force you to stop sooner than planned.
  • "Hope for the best, but plan for the worst. You want to save like a pessimist." – Joel (36:10)

9. Personalizing Financial Advice

• No One-Size-Fits-All: The “average investor” doesn’t exist; life and goals are too varied. Even “tightwads” may need different advice—perhaps more encouragement to spend and savor life, rather than more preaching about frugality.
  • "I don't even fit the same mold that...I would have put myself in... from two years ago." – Matt (37:10)
  • "What you need is more like a life coach ... you got the numbers figured out." – Matt (37:46)
• Questions to Ask Advisors: Ensure your financial advisor personalizes their recommendations, not just defaulting to templates for the average client.

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Overvalued Certificates:
  "Just one in eight [online certificates] actually delivered notable wage gains… The ones that paid off were mostly in the medical field." – Matt (03:42)

• On Parental Income & Pre-K:
  "You can actually focus [when your kid is at Pre-K]… the findings basically said the increased income lasted years into the future." – Joel (06:51)

• On Resume Strategy:
  "You got to please the robot overlords... They care less about the length and more about keywords." – Matt (09:19)

• On Debit vs. Credit Protections:
  "With a credit card, you file a dispute, you're never out the money. Debit card, you can be on the hook." – Joel (13:04)

• On BNPL Credit Reporting:
  "[BNPL companies] don’t want to share user information ... because their scores are going to drop. Feels like a house of cards." – Matt (15:29, 15:37)

• On Helicopter Saving:
  "We teach our kids to tie their shoes and don't tie them for them every morning." – Joel (24:48)

• On Political Investing:
  "You have to stay apolitical when it comes to investing. ... We choose to invest like optimists, no matter the party that's in charge." – Matt (30:50)

• On Retirement Realities:
  "You want to save like a pessimist. Hope for the best, but also plan for the worst." – Joel (36:10)

Timestamps for Important Segments

• Value of Online Certificates/Degrees: 03:00 – 05:30
• Pre-K Economic Benefits for Parents: 06:00 – 08:10
• AI & Resume Tailoring: 09:00 – 10:30
• Debit vs Credit Trends: 10:40 – 13:40
• Rise of Buy Now Pay Later: 14:14 – 16:15
• Helicopter Savers/Parental Financial Overreach: 21:45 – 28:00
• Political Investing Pitfalls: 29:00 – 33:40
• Retirement Trends & Advice: 33:54 – 36:30
• Personalizing Financial Advice: 36:30 – 40:00

Tone & Closing Thoughts

Throughout the episode, Joel and Matt keep the conversation upbeat and sometimes self-deprecating, using humor to shine light on financial pitfalls. They don’t shy away from strong opinions but always return to the principle that money should empower you to live a more purposeful, thoughtful, and joyful life.

Final Takeaway:
Be cautious with trendy education/certification fads, let your children learn through experience, don’t let politics steer your investments, and personalize your financial journey—don’t outsource common sense to trends, robots, or ideology.

Hosts Sign Off:
"We hope everyone has had a fantastic week and that you've got an even better weekend lined up. … Best friends out." (40:02)

For more:

• Full transcript and resource links can be found on the How to Money Podcast Page
• Online tool to assess certificate ROI (noted in episode)
• Recommended resources: Money Management International, National Foundation for Credit Counseling