Financial Advisors React to INSANE Money Clips

Summary

Money Guy Show – Episode Summary

Episode: Financial Advisors React to INSANE Money Clips
Hosts: Brian Preston and Bo Hanson
Date: December 1, 2025

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Overview

In this lively episode, Brian and Bo watch and react to a series of viral “insane money” clips curated by their content team. The hosts break down the financial mistakes and misconceptions shown in these videos, using them as teachable moments while sprinkling in humor and personal insights. Typical themes include car buying misadventures, misunderstandings about digital payments, flawed gambling strategies, and the real meaning of wealth.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Car Financing Nightmares

• Clip Discussion: A video features an individual excited about getting approved for a $1,400 monthly payment over 72 months (6 years) for a diesel 4x4, with only $9,000 down.
• Financial Insight:
  • Brian and Bo immediately question the long-term financial impact of such a commitment.
  • Brian: “He should have put that money down, put that money on that car. Why does he still have all the money in his pocket?” [00:57]
  • Joe: “Just because you can do something does not mean that you should do something.” [01:09]
• Hosts’ Advice:
  • Avoid stretching car payments over extended terms.
  • Follow the 23/8 rule: 20% down, finance no more than 3 years, and payment under 8% of monthly gross income.

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2. Digital Payment Confusion and Overspending

• Clip Discussion: A woman jokes about using Apple Pay, not realizing it spends “real money,” assuming Apple Pay uses “Apple dollars” earned by spending time in Apple’s ecosystem.
• Commercial Announcer: “That’s real money. That’s true American dollars from your credit card. ... I didn’t think that was real money till I checked my credit card bill.” [01:36]
• Hosts’ Analysis:
  • Bo explains that digital payment methods and credit cards make it easy to lose track of real spending because there’s no physical transaction. [02:49–03:02]
  • Brian (joking): “I’d be all about if Apple would give me some rewards. Cookies. Yes, yes, yes.” [03:02]
• Financial Takeaway:
  • Be cautious with digital payments; they can detach you from the feeling of parting with actual money.

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3. Risky (and Flawed) Gambling Logic

• Clip Discussion: A guest rationalizes gambling losses, claiming that raising the bet after each loss (Martingale strategy) means you’ll eventually win and come out ahead.
• Brian: “Either it ends in devastation or you’re good and you win. So now you’re sitting at 90% chance that I win, and there’s a 10% chance that I’m fully devastated.” [03:19]
• Joe: “If it were that easy and you could play the math game to come out ahead, casinos and gambling institutions would not be set up the way that they are. The house always has the edge.” [03:41]
• Reality Check:
  • Table limits and the house edge ensure this strategy doesn’t work long-term.
  • Emotional volatility is also a huge risk.
  • Brian: “Why would you challenge yourself? And emotionally you’re also gonna be a wreck. That's Crazy.” [04:16]

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4. Chasing Ever-Larger Wealth

• Clip Discussion: Satirical takes on the idea that $1 million, or even $15 million, isn’t “enough”— why not work for a trillion?
• Joe: “So often in our comments ... someone will be like, oh, a million is nothing. ... $1 million, even today ... is still a lot of money. You can’t get to 2 million, 3 million ... unless you get to 1 million.” [05:05]
• Hosts’ Perspective:
  • Social media distorts what “wealth” looks like.
  • Dismiss the narrative that being a millionaire is meaningless— every step counts toward financial freedom.

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5. Credit Card “Hacks” and Reward Schemes

• Clip Discussion: Caller describes schemes involving purchasing gift cards with credit cards and rotating funds to capture reward points.
• Guest/Caller: “So you’re exchanging cash for cash. ... you make 1 or 2 or 3% back on that ... and then again you complete the loops.” [08:20–09:03]
• Critical Debunking:
  • Brian points out banks are not easily tricked; rewards get clawed back if you return items.
  • Brian: “Do you think the banks are that dumb? They’re smarter than that.” [09:12]
  • Joe: “If this were possible and these loopholes would exist, they would immediately be closed.” [09:33]

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6. Crippling Car Debt Stories

• Caller Story: $168,000 in debt (not including a house), with two expensive vehicles despite making only $24,000/year.
• Brian: “You owe $60,724.55 making 24,000 hours a year. Did you see a truck?” [10:09]
• Joe (sarcasm): “Oh, I didn’t, I didn’t think about the blue seats.” [10:20]
• Advice:
  • Don’t justify luxury or custom vehicles on low income, even with longer commutes.
  • Stick to the “Corolla, not Land Cruiser” mindset.
  • Reiteration of 23/8 Rule: 20% down, ≤3-year term, ≤8% of monthly gross.

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7. Insane Car Payments Normalize Bad Financial Behavior

• Recurring Gag: Different “dealers” get people “rolling” into massive car payments ($1,500+/month), sometimes trying to appear responsible by limiting to 36 months.
• Joe: “Are we that bad with money that we think a four figure payment is just the monthly norm?” [12:21]
• Brian: “Steo got you rolling to the ditch.” [12:39]

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8. The Perception and Reality of Wealth

• Reflection: People equate wealth with not worrying about everyday expenses, but find themselves working harder and ultimately not less worried, often missing the real goal of financial independence.
• Joe: “So wouldn’t you say you’re more worried about money now?” [13:02]
• Humor Break:
  • Brian veers comically off-topic about a childhood bee sting to break the tension.

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On “rolling” into car debt:
  • Joe: “Just because you can do something does not mean that you should do something.” [01:09]
• On the illusion of “digital money”:
  • Commercial Announcer: “If you use Apple Pay, honestly, just be so careful when you use Apple Pay, that’s real money.” [01:36]
• On gambling fantasies:
  • Brian: “Either it ends in devastation or you’re good and you win. … Pray that [devastation] doesn’t happen. It’s never happened, so.” [03:19–03:34]
  • Guest/Caller (dryly): “Yet.” [03:35]
• On cars as status symbols:
  • Brian: “He acted like a 58 minute commute was justification for two cars.” [10:26]
• On normalizing high car payments:
  • Joe: “Are we that bad with money that we think a four figure payment is just the monthly norm?” [12:21]

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• Insane car financing clips: [00:37]–[01:28], [09:52]–[12:21]
• Apple Pay/digital money confusion: [01:36]–[03:02]
• Gambling fallacies exposed: [03:10]–[04:35]
• Diminishing value of a million dollars: [04:38]–[05:29]
• Gift card and credit card “hacks”: [08:20]–[09:33]
• Caller with extreme car debt: [09:52]–[10:59]
• Financial reality vs. social media: [05:29]–[06:00], [12:43]–[13:08]

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Final Thoughts

Brian and Bo use humor and authenticity to underscore financial basics—avoid long-term car loans, be wary of digital spending, and remember that “shortcuts” aren’t real wealth-builders. $1 million still matters, and wise financial decisions—grounded in time-tested frameworks—trump viral “hacks.” The message: Build wealth step by step, ignore online noise, and keep your eyes on real, achievable goals.

Transcript

[Brian]

Coca Cola for the big, for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts. The thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca Cola at a store near you. Little nervous today cause the content team seemed a little too giddy about these insane reacts.

[Joe]

And Brian, I am so excited to see what our production team has put together for us. Let's dive right in. What's going on folks? It's your boy Skull. Got me rolling today. I got my dog d. Money approved. $1,400 for 72, 1400 for 72 months. Diesel 4x4. That's a mortgage. How's the experience here today, bro?

[Brian]

Hey, look, Steve O and Chris, they're the truth. Come with them, get you a car, they're going to get you roll up. That's all you need. He should have put that money down, put that money on that car. Why does he still have all the money in his pocket?

[Joe]

Deep breaths, deep breath, deep breaths. Just because you can do something does not mean that you should do something. Just because Stevo can get you rolling. Steve got me rolling in a $1,400 car payment for 72 months with only $9,000 down does not mean that you should do that. You do not want Stevo to get you rolling.

[Brian]

Think not. 2,500. That doesn't have the same ring.

[Joe]

That's the same ring to it.

[Commercial Announcer]

If you use Apple Pay, honestly, just be so careful when you use Apple Pay, that's real money. That's true American dollars from your credit card. If you, if you have your credit card connected, that's where the money is being sourced from. It's not like a special form of Apple Pay Apple dollars. Why they don't just say this is real money while you're paying? I don. No, because I thought that I had accumulated a bunch of Apple dollars to use for Apple pay by, you know, spending so much time on my phone, giving my data very freely and willingly to any place that asks, like whatever they say are cookies. Okay? I say yes, yes, yes. Because I thought that I was getting prizes, getting rewards, getting Apple dollars. So I didn't think that was real money till I checked my credit card bill. I've been spending money like I'm a friggin millionaire. I call Apple to straighten things out. I look at Please pick with Mr. Steve Jobs. They go, he's no longer okay now.

[Brian]

Well, Done. Well done.

[Joe]

She.

[Brian]

She had it. She had me going. First of all, content team. I felt so awkward to be in the room with this person with the tears and everything. I was like, why would they put us in the room with a crying lady?

[Joe]

I do think a lot of people fall into this trap that when they start using things like buy now, pay later, they start using credit cards, they start using things that you don't tangibly and tactically feel your dollars leaving you, it becomes far too easy.

[Brian]

Hey, by the way, I'd be all about if Apple would give me some rewards.

[Joe]

Cookies. Yes, yes, yes. I love cookies. You were gambling and, like, winning. How were you able to do that?

[Brian]

I always just raised the bet until I win. So say I lose on a blackjack and the next one just put down 30,000 and you lose.

[Guest/Caller]

Put down 50,000, but down 6,000 and.

[Brian]

Either it ends in devastation or you're good and you win. So now you're sitting at 90% chance that I win, and there's a 10% chance that I'm fully devastated and the loss is so bad that there's a huge. So we're just going to pray that doesn't happen. It's never happened, so.

[Joe]

Yet.

[Guest/Caller]

Yet.

[Brian]

But Now I got $4 million and I'm definitely not paying no taxes. Gosh, don't say it out loud.

[Joe]

Me and my buddies have had this conversation before. Hey, we're just going to go and we're going to get the closest to 50, 50 odds we can do. We're going to bet 20. If we lose, we'll bet 40. If we lose about 80. Just keep doubling, doubling, doubling. The reason that strategy often doesn't work inside of gambling scenarios is because often tables or games have limits where eventually you will hit the limit and you will no longer be able to recoup your losses. If it were that easy and you could play the math game to come out ahead, casinos and gambling institutions would not be set up the way that they are. The house always has the edge. The longer you play, the longer you participate, the higher your likelihood of losing your money.

[Brian]

Well, you realize the fingers already on the scale. It's just like you play roulette. You think, okay, it's gonna be red or black. That's 50, 50. No, no. There's a few other slots on there. There's green, there's the double zero. They put other slots on there to skew the odds even more. Why would you challenge yourself? And emotionally you're also gonna be a wreck. That's Crazy.

[Joe]

That's not the way that I would go about building.

[Brian]

That is insane.

[Joe]

You just work 10 years and you have 15 million in the bank. I know that sounds like a lot of money, but it ain't a lot of money because you could spend it really fast.

[Brian]

Or I could just work for 10.

[Joe]

Years and go for 100 million.

[Brian]

Why not a trillion?

[Joe]

Yeah, why not work for 10 years.

[Brian]

And go for a trillion? Love that point.

[Joe]

See, because I get you think 100.

[Brian]

Million is a lot, but it's not.

[Guest/Caller]

A lot because you could spend it.

[Joe]

You should go for.

[Brian]

You're working for 10 years for 100 million. I'm working for five years and I'm.

[Joe]

Going for a trillion. This is so funny because so often in our comments, Brian, we see this. Someone will be like, oh, a million is nothing. You know, a million dollars doesn't do anything. Why do you care about being a millionaire? And so often people dismiss this, oh, well, a million is nothing, so why would I even try to do anything? $1 million, even today, even where we sit right now, is still a lot of money. You can't get to 2 million, 3 million, 5 million, 15 million, 100 million, unless you get to 1 million.

[Brian]

Well, I even think it cuts into the fact of social media culture. You don't know what. What's real and not real. I mean, how many times have we heard about influencers who are renting, you know, the lamborghinis or the McLarens that they have? And that doesn't mean it's reality. You know, the Internet can feel a little wild these days. Big tech companies seem to want to know absolutely everything about us. What we buy, what we click, even what we think about buying. But here's the thing. You're not powerless in all of this. You actually have a say in how much of your life.

[Joe]

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[Brian]

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[Joe]

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[Brian]

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[Joe]

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[Brian]

Even my CPA heart knows no one starts a business for the joy of calculating tax withholdings. And that's exactly why we get excited when we hear small owners to talk about tools that actually make their lives easier.

[Joe]

Yeah, and Gusto is one of those tools. It's an online payroll and business benefits software built for small businesses. It's all in one remote, friendly, and incredibly easy to use, so you can pay, hire onboard, and support your team from anywhere.

[Brian]

Now, look, Bo and I don't run payroll ourselves anymore, but we've been there, and we've got friends and clients who do. And the thing we hear over and over is how much time Gusto saves them. Nobody wants the prize fees or to spend half a day figuring out payroll taxes.

[Joe]

That's why when Gusto says you get unlimited payroll runs for one monthly price, no hidden fees and no surprises. We love that. We've had clients switch to Gusto and immediately feel like they got their Saturdays back.

[Brian]

And the setup people tell us it's easy. You bring your existing info, and boom, you're off and running. Plus, you don't pay a dime until you run that first payroll, which we love.

[Joe]

So if you're a small business owner wearing all the hats, do yourself a favor. Try Gusto today at Gusto, Gusto.com MoneyGuy and get three free months when you run your first payroll.

[Brian]

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[Guest/Caller]

Card to buy a gift card and then use that gift card to go to, like, Walmart, the grocery store, the post office. And a gift card is essentially a debit card, has a number on there. It has like a pin. So you're exchanging cash for cash. A money order is a check. You take that check and deposit into your bank account. Then you take the money in your bank account and you pay off your credit card. Essentially have a full loop. And if you're doing that at a multiplier, then you're able to make 1 or 2 or 3% back on that. And so that was like level one. Level two was you could go to the store and you could buy an item on a credit card and then return that item back to a debit card a few days later. Now you bought it you got the multiplier on the credit card, you return the product, no cost to you, the money goes back to a debit card, and then again you complete the loops.

[Brian]

Yeah, but the rebate, the rewards go back to that.

[Guest/Caller]

That way it's still very possible. I mean, we have some people in our community that are doing three to five, $7,000 a month.

[Brian]

One of the biggest hacks that you can do, like when you, if you're going on a Disney cruise, you go to Costco, you buy the Disney car, you know, you buy the prepaid, you buy your cruise, you essentially got a 2 to 5% discount because you use the rebate cards. But you wouldn't go buy, return and then expect to keep the rewards. It just, it doesn't work. The. Do you think the banks are that dumb? They're smarter than, than that.

[Joe]

Oftentimes there are transaction costs associated with these when you're buying or when you're returning or when you're putting, trying to buy gift cards or whatever the case may be. If this were possible and these loopholes would exist, they would immediately be closed where you couldn't do it anymore. They're not out to lose money. I would be careful following advice from someone telling you it's that easy. How much debt do you have?

[Brian]

Like 168,000. None of which is a house. Why do you have two car loans? I have two vehicles, so it's 58 miles for me to drive to work every day. And the truck is an eight cylinder Silverado.

[Joe]

Get rid of, of it.

[Brian]

I can't. I ended up getting like a really great deal on that.

[Joe]

Yeah, really great deal.

[Brian]

You owe $60,724.55 making 24,000 hours a year. Did you see a truck?

[Joe]

How do you get a.

[Brian]

Well, my truck has blue seats on the inside. Oh, no, he's. It's a custom truck.

[Joe]

Oh, I didn't, I didn't think about the blue seats.

[Brian]

He's exactly right. You know, think Corolla, not Land Cruiser. Don't buy your cars in pairs. Whoa. He acted like a 58 minute commute was justification for two cars.

[Joe]

I just. We think there's a better way to buy cars. And it's 23, eight. What he did is, you know, he had 20 bucks down. It looks like he paid three times the cost of car. And I can't figure out what the 8 was. Boom. Roasted. You want to follow 23, 8, 20% down. Don't finance it for any more than three years or 36 months. And the total car payment cannot exceed 8% of your monthly gross income.

[Brian]

$24,000 a year. You know, if you go below the 8, his car payments go out to be less than 200.

[Joe]

That's right. What's going on?

[Brian]

How do we have two? Steve?

[Joe]

Oh, got a new character. Meet Ashley. This Ashley got me rolling.

[Guest/Caller]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe]

Y' all heard it, Aiden, right? The ultimate six time. We got. We got it right here all grown up.

[Brian]

All right.

[Joe]

Got him approved today on this 2020 study. Malibu. Aiden, how was your experience today, brother?

[Brian]

I. I love it, bro.

[Joe]

I appreciate you. Easy.

[Brian]

Yes, sir.

[Joe]

How much did you put down today?

[Commercial Announcer]

How much is your monthly payment?

[Joe]

Fifteen hundred dollars. Some light.

[Brian]

There are now other people that Steve was having.

[Joe]

So now Ashley's got me rolling.

[Brian]

They're like other got me rolling people. We're building franchises out here for. Steve O's got me rolling.

[Joe]

So Steve O has now got Ashley to now get you rolling. $1,500.

[Brian]

He put down $5,000, by the way.

[Joe]

Now here's. Here's the thing. At least it was 36 months, right? I'm trying to find a silver lining here. When we say 23 8, we don't want you to find it. And so maybe here's what happens. Steve O, as he recruiting his people, he says, ashley, we gotta start selling these cars. Said, okay, Steve O, but I'm a big fan of the Money Guy show. And so we have to. When we do this, we have to follow 23eight. And so she said, we can't let them finance this car for any more than 36 months. So at least. You know what? I'm going to take this as a win that we are moving in the right direction slowly. Steve O going to have you making responsible financial decisions.

[Brian]

I think it's sad that Steve O's business is so profitable that he's franchising this out to multiple personalities right now. Are we that bad with money that we think a four figure payment is just the monthly norm?

[Joe]

Now that's a 1500 mortgage payment. Fifteen hundred dollars a month.

[Brian]

That's wild. Steo got you rolling to the ditch.

[Joe]

How does it feel to be rich? It's sick. You're rich. What does it feel like for you to be rich? Feels good.

[Brian]

Po. How does it feel to be rich? Why does it feel good?

[Joe]

Because I don't got to worry about money. You don't worry about money? I can go eat a nice steak restaurant. I can go take an Uber without looking at my bank account. I Can book. So you think you work less hard now that you have money?

[Brian]

No.

[Joe]

So you work harder now.

[Brian]

Yeah.

[Joe]

So wouldn't you say you're more worried about money now?

[Brian]

Oh, it's like deep thoughts from. Well, I have a question. So when I was a kid, I got stung by a lot of bees. The most painful bee sting I ever received was on my ear.

[Joe]

Okay.

[Brian]

I got to think getting ink on your ear is a choice.

[Joe]

That's where you went with the video.

[Guest/Caller]

Did you see it?

[Brian]

He had ink on the ear. And I'm sitting there thinking about that yellow jacket nest that I got a hold of building that clubhouse out in the woods. That had to have hurt you.

[Joe]

You've.

[Brian]

I mean, what do you know? What do I. That's probably not usable, but that's what I thought about. That's gotta hurt.

[Joe]

That was the last one. We believe that there is a better way to do money. A lot of these folks have not quite figured that out, but if you want to do money better, we'd encourage you to go to moneyguy.com resources. Check out all of our free resources. Check out all of our tools. Check out all of the content available out there to help you do money better.

[Brian]

I'm your host, Brian. Money Guy team. Out of here. That was horrible too. Should we rerecord that?

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