How to Find the Money Leaks Hidden in Your Financial Statements (SB1833)

Summary

Podcast Summary — The Stacking Benjamins Show

Episode: How to Find the Money Leaks Hidden in Your Financial Statements (SB1833)
Date: April 24, 2026
Hosts: Joe Saul-Sehy, Josh "OG" Bannerman, Paula Pant, Jesse Kramer
Main Theme: Practical tips and insights on identifying hidden “money leaks” in your personal finances by closely examining your financial statements—credit cards, 401(k)s, insurance, and brokerage accounts.

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Episode Overview

In this lively roundtable conversation, Joe, OG, Paula, and Jesse pull apart where money “leaks” might be hiding in the clutter and fine print of everyday financial statements. The group shares honest stories, real-life missteps, and critical factors to look for in credit card, investment, and insurance statements to help listeners save thousands, avoid costly pitfalls, and ensure their money is working efficiently.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Prioritizing Statements: What Gets Reviewed First?

[13:25]

• Hosts agree credit card statements are the top priority due to their immediate impact on cash flow and payment deadlines.
• Jesse introduces the idea of “above the line” (credit and insurance) priorities vs. “below the line” (investments) that can usually wait.

Memorable Quote:

Paula [13:25]: “I’m checking the credit card first because that’s the immediate... gotta pay this off in full right away. So let’s find out what that amount is so that I know how much cash I’ve got left over.”

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2. Dissecting the Credit Card Statement

[15:24–21:57]

Core Practices:

• OG: First step is always looking for “unexpected” or “off” large transactions.
  [16:06]

  OG: "What's snuck on there or what's an error that I wasn't expecting?... for me, leaking is always with a comma.”

• Paula: Scans vendors for unrecognized charges—notes many businesses use DBA (doing business as) names that can mislead. [17:50]

  Paula: “There will be a few that trip me up, not because they’re fraudulent, but because the name... doesn’t match the real vendor.”

• Jesse: Emphasizes risk of “autopay complacency.” Autopay is great, but it can mask recurring, forgotten charges (e.g. old memberships). [19:06, 19:49]

Practical Tips:

• Regularly check due dates and set calendar reminders to avoid penalty fees or missed payments.
• Don’t trust statement vendor names implicitly—look up unfamiliar transactions before disputing.
• Revisit autopay subscriptions to cull unused or unwanted services.
• When traveling, matching local transaction names can be impossible—trust but verify within reason. [21:32]

  Paula: “If I travel to a foreign country, anything associated with that, I’m just like... man, sure looks good. Yeah, ish.”

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3. 401(k) & Retirement Account Statements

[22:20–27:46]

What Matters:

• OG: Focus on contribution pace, not just rate of return. Ensure contributions are actually being deposited into the account. [24:22]

  OG: “Most places with 401(k)s ... are automated... But there have been known to be issues... you need to be matching up your contributions... in a reasonable timeframe.”

• Paula: Asset allocation and balance are more critical than worrying about returns. [25:06]

  Paula: “As long as my asset allocation is good, that’s it. I don’t really care... I’m trying not to care what the returns are.”

• Jesse: Analyze expense ratios and underlying holdings—especially for target date funds, which can vary widely in cost. [26:41]

  Jesse: “There’s a big difference between ones that are really heavy [in] fees, really low performance, and ones that are really, really good.”

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4. Insurance Statement Pitfalls

[38:01–43:39]

Common Mistakes:

• Jesse: Biggest risk is missing a premium payment and accidentally letting coverage lapse.

• OG: Too many people skip or underinsure their “underinsured/uninsured motorist” rider. [40:07]

  OG: “Underinsured coverage... a lot of people just go, I’m going to skip that one or I’m going to have that be a low amount. And I think that’s a big miss.”

• Paula: Most focus on premium and deductible, not actual coverage or hidden gaps. Homeowners’ policies can be written for “replacement cost” or “actual cash value”—know which you have. [40:19]

  Paula: “People will over-focus on premium... and miss everything else.”

Actionable Advice:

• Periodically review coverage amounts, especially for homeowners insurance, to keep up with current rebuild costs.
• Have an independent agent explain gray areas, exceptions, and unique policy quirks.

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5. Brokerage Statement Oversights

[44:31–49:16]

Key Tips:

• Jesse: Tax planning—review short- vs. long-term gains, dividend payouts, and their taxable consequences. [45:25]

  Jesse: “There are a lot more tax planning opportunities inside of a taxable brokerage account...”

• OG: Check transaction history for errors and review how much cash is sitting idle (brokerage cash often earns little interest).

• Paula: Reinvesting dividends may throw off asset allocation—consider letting dividends sit in cash, then use to rebalance. [45:48]

  Paula: “In a taxable brokerage account, my preferred strategy is not to reinvest the dividends, because oftentimes that will result in the asset allocation getting tipped way more out of whack.”

• Review for “zombie investments” or old speculative positions that can clog your strategy.

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On Why Most Money “Hacks” Are Useless
  Joe [12:48]: “Most money hacks are kind of garbage. Right? ... We're talking about these small details that quietly cost people real money over time that we might miss.”

• On Family Financial Conversations
  Jesse [17:02]: “It's very easy to kind of fall off the horse... human error opens up a lot of opportunity for more misses than just missing the fine print.”

• On Overvaluing Rate of Return:
  Paula [24:30]: “I would actually argue focusing on rate of return is not the right focus. I would say focusing on contributions is definitely the right focus...”

• Insurance Fine Print Example:
  OG [41:00]: “If your house burns to the ground... you have to buy a brand new [TV]. But the insurance company would say, well, you've had that TV for like ten years, so it's only worth a hundred bucks.”

• On Target Date Funds:
  Jesse [51:46]: “The average target date fund underperforms a identical basket of index funds by about 1.1% a year.”

• On Brokerage Account Housekeeping:
  Joe [47:07]: “This is also the place... where people take a flyer... It can be the land of Misfit toys, after a while where you've got a bunch of flyers gone bad that you're hoping one day make it back.”

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Important Timestamps

• [13:25] — Which statement to review first? (Credit cards win)
• [16:06] — OG on reviewing statements for errors, especially large unexpected expenses
• [19:06] — Autopay pros and cons: complacency and the risk of missing errors
• [21:32] — The challenge of matching vendor names on foreign travel statements
• [24:22] — OG on the importance of verifying 401(k) contributions
• [25:44] — Paula on what to prioritize in your 401(k) review
• [38:01] — Risks of missing insurance premium payments and policy complexity
• [40:07] — OG on underinsured/uninsured motorist coverage
• [45:25] — Jesse on tax considerations in brokerage account statements
• [47:07] — The “graveyard” of speculative trades in brokerage accounts

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Concluding Action Steps

• Block time each quarter or twice a year to review all statements for hidden leaks.
• Prioritize reviewing credit cards and insurance for deadlines and lapses.
• Double-check recurring or autopay charges and cull unused subscriptions.
• Verify investment contributions and asset allocation regularly—not just recent returns.
• Confirm insurance coverage and policy types match your current replacement and liability needs; ask your agent targeted questions.
• Know your cost basis, potential taxes, and cash positions in brokerage accounts.
• Follow up on flyers and old investments to keep portfolios streamlined.

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Follow-Up & Links

• Jesse Kramer’s Podcast: Personal Finance for Long-Term Investors (upcoming deep dive on the pitfalls of target date funds)
• Paula Pant’s Podcast: Afford Anything (recent episode with Ron Lieber on raising non-spoiled kids & the true cost of college)
• OG Financial Planning: Available via StackingBenjamins.com

Parting Motivation:

Joe [49:16]: “Be a little more diligent here. Especially on a Friday... Take the weekend, go through your financial apps and look for some of the things that Jesse, Paula and OG discussed.”

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For more detailed guides and expert analysis, sign up for The 201 newsletter at stackingbenjamins.com/201.

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Transcript

[A]

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[B]

Describe your perfect date.

[C]

I'd have to say April 25th because it's not too hot, not too cold. All you need is a light jacket.

[D]

Live from the basement of the YouTube headquarters, it's the Stacking Benjamin Show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and what if I pointed out there might be money leaks all around you? Today we're diving into your financial statements to hopefully help you save thousands. What do you need to know most that's written on your credit card statements, brokerage fine print or insurance sheets. We'll help you pull it all together. And while you're counting your savings from the first half of today's show, we're will take a breather for another installment of our year long trivia competition. Will OG make a break for the best year of all time? Can Paula or Jesse catch him? We're about to find out. And now here comes a guy who found out the hard way what the letters APR meant. It's Jo Saul. See High. You know, Joe, the pros call that aper.

[B]

They do call it aper, Doug, but that's why maybe we're not pros yet. Hey everybody. Everybody, Happy Friday. Welcome back to the Stacky Benjamin show. Super happy you're here. And yes, I had to learn to read the fine print myself, which is why this is such an important episode for a lot of people. We're going to talk about those statements that are out there. And exactly what do we miss? What do our roundtable participants look at first? What do they not really care about? That the statement kind of has on it. So when you're looking online at your app or you're stuck in Paperville no matter what, we've got you covered. But the guy who's got this episode covered every Friday is Mr. OG. How are you man?

[E]

I'm good, I'm good. I do not read the fine print, but I'm looking forward to doing it today.

[B]

I'm super happy that we're going to talk about this because how many times in your life? In my life, I certainly had this a bunch Where I go, oh, man, I missed that. Like, oh, I should have read it. I should have read it.

[E]

I just had a email that I was reviewing that said, hey, don't forget to send this package. Certified mail by the 15th. And I'm going, oh, yeah, there's plenty of time. Oh, crap,

[B]

the 15th of what? That was a couple days ago or a week and a half ago.

[E]

Well, thankfully we're recording two days early, so I've got roughly 36 hours to get my you know what to you know where get it done to send a certified letter somewhere.

[B]

I got mine done this morning, by the way, right after we recorded some shows. A woman who always has her taxes done on time, though, is here. Paula Pant.

[C]

I would dispute that characterization, but I am here.

[B]

She's like the Maury Povich. The facts would say that is not true.

[C]

Yeah, the facts would say otherwise. But. But if you insist on being detached from reality, then you could say that.

[B]

Have you ever been burned by the fine print in a financial statement, Paula?

[C]

I've definitely been burned by lots of expiration dates that I've failed to heed.

[E]

Hmm.

[C]

Have I been burned specifically by the fine print? Not that I can think of. Knock on wood. Not yet.

[B]

I got a credit card that expired just about eight months ago and I missed it. I also did not, for whatever reason, address whatever. I didn't get the new one. And next thing you know, I'm like last second looking through the fine print to see exactly like what my recurring subscriptions are so they wouldn't fail everything that was tied to that card.

[C]

Wow. I thought credit cards, normally they just auto re up you when you've got

[E]

Joe's credit, they make you prepay it. And when you run out of money, they make you send in another $500

[B]

for those of us struggling to get to. Oh, you know what the problem was? It wasn't that it expired. It was that I thought it was stolen. Sorry.

[E]

Yes.

[B]

So I did get it. I'm like, yeah, that makes sense. Why was that? It was that I thought it was stolen.

[C]

Yes, right. Yeah, because I've definitely had credit cards where I've, I've gotten to the expiration date and they've just automatically sent me a new one with a new expiration

[B]

date and a guy that we've stolen from his brand new family member for this episode, the new dad. Jesse Kramer's here. Congratulations, man.

[F]

Thank you very much. Good to see everybody. Good to see the audience out there in the chat. What's up, guys? It's it's nice to be back.

[B]

We perform this live on YouTube if you want to hang out with us. We love pretending that it's Friday. On Mondays, we record this. So Monday afternoons, come join us. But, Jesse, you've been off for two weeks from this show, but you don't look rested. What's up? What's going on?

[F]

Yeah, a little tired. A little tired. Last night was a little rough, but I kind of feel the energy of the room. You know, I'm ready to be here. I might yawn once or twice. We'll. We'll have to edit that out in post, but it'll. It'll all turn out well in the end.

[B]

You know what's funny? I finally went to. I've been living in, in. Oh, gee. How long have I been living in Texas? For a long time?

[E]

For 15 years, six, seven months?

[B]

At least. Yeah, at least. And I finally made it to a rodeo a couple years ago. And when they're doing the rope tricks and stuff, and very quick, like, Jesse knows a bunch of diaper tricks like, can you, can you diaper a baby now in, like 20 seconds flat?

[F]

I really can. And the cool thing. Well, cool. Right in air quotes. So our elder child is in size 6, if you're familiar with diaper sizes. Starts with N for newborn, then goes up to maybe six or seven. But the, the baby is in ends. So I kind of, I've got this diversification of my size, and so the ends require some nimble fingers. The sixes are more about, like, big, broad strokes. But really, I could, I could diaper just about anything og. You know what I'm talking about, right?

[E]

I. Yeah. I mean, I have vague recollections of it from 20 years ago, but allegedly, allegedly, I diapered kids.

[C]

As, as you said, Joe, going back to the. You finally made it to a rodeo. So when people say, this ain't my first rodeo, you could actually, you could actually say, well, this is my first rodeo.

[B]

I should have said that that day to the people next to me.

[C]

Actually, this is my first rodeo.

[B]

Yes. Yeah, it was. It was super fun. Jesse, now two 529 accounts. Do you pay attention to the fine print?

[F]

It's a good question. Maybe not as much as I should. When you were asking Paula earlier if she'd ever gotten burned, it made me think of that question. I'm not sure if I have. I can't remember. But there are definitely some times where I probably should have paid much more attention than I did. We can get into some Fun examples later, but I have a couple that come to mind.

[B]

Excellent. Well, if you're new here, what I love about our Friday roundtables is the honesty of our contributors, people that you know, really financial enthusiasts, but by the same token struggle with the same stuff that you guys, you stackers all struggle with. So we're going to talk about what's important on the statement. What's the first thing you look at? What do you think people shouldn't look at so much? Where are the important points? Where the inflection points? We're going to dive into all that, but first we have a couple sponsors to help us keep on keeping on. We just have a couple of them now and then halfway through Doug's Trivia and that is it. Those are the only sponsor spots we have, so we're going to have two of them right now. And then we'll be back with Paula, Jesse and OG Chat and financial statements. I had a breakfast mentoring meeting yesterday with a young woman who was just amazing. She is graduating from college with a degree in wealth management and she reached out hoping for some pointers. And listen, if somebody's in Texarkana and wants to go into this beautiful field of personal finance and helping people get their money together, that is incredible. But even more incredible is how she reached out, how she was trying to network. And I was having a discussion that finding the right person and avoiding the wrong person for a role, that's what can make or break an organization. And we just don't see that many qualified people. So how do you find them? Well, Indeed sponsored jobs and is a boost whenever you need to find quality talent. If you're hiring, Indeed is all you need. You can stop struggling to get your job post even seen on other sites. You'll match with quality candidates with Indeed sponsored jobs. Get matched with and higher quality candidates who can drive the results you need. 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Indeed.com podcast terms and conditions apply. Hiring do it the right way with Indeed as you hear this, I just got back from keynoting the Millionaire Money Mentors Conference in Florida. I'm sure I had a great time even though I haven't gone yet as I record this. But I know wherever any Stacking Benjamins people are, it's always a party, isn't it? But what makes it even better party is the fact that when you see pictures of me, those clothes came from Quints. I've been getting intentional lately about what I wear day today and on stage and leaning in more into pieces that feel easy, that are comfortable, that I can travel with and still look put together. It just makes getting dressed simpler. Whether I'm at home or or on the road, Quint has been my go to. The fabrics feel elevated, the fits are clean. Everything just works without needing to overthink it. Quince has all the wardrobe staples for spring. 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You'll actually use head to quince.com sb and because you're a stacker, you'll get free shipping on your order and 365 day returns. That's Q U I N C E.comSB for free shipping. 365 day returns quint.comSB. What I love about this topic guys, is we're not sharing hacks Today because I think, I think most money hacks are kind of garbage. Right? Your money hacks mis immediately start to roll. We're talking about these small details that quietly cost people real money over time that we might miss. I want to start with different things that we have. I want to go through credit cards, 401k insurance and brokerage accounts. Let's say, Paula Pant that those four things show up on the same day at your house for whatever reason you've gone back to paper or, or there's brand new statement and you've got to look at one first credit card for 401k insurance or brokerage. Which one of those are you checking first?

[C]

I'm checking the credit card first because that's the immediate. Got to pay this off in full right away. So let's find out what that amount is so that I know how much cash I've got left over.

[B]

Oh gee, agree with that?

[E]

Yeah, probably. I think, I think that that would have my attention first. Yep.

[B]

Let's go. Jesse, you're nodding your head so I'm not going to ask you the same question.

[F]

Well, I think there's a clear delineation between credit card and insurance being kind of above the line for me and then the 401 and brokerage. Brokerage being below the line.

[B]

Yeah. Why is that? What does that mean?

[F]

Well, there's very unlikely to be any sort of urgent fire in the 401k or the brokerage that I can't put out tomorrow or next week. Whereas the credit card there could be. And then on the insurance front, it's like when you hear a horror story of someone who missed a premium and then their insurance lapses in some way or there's some sort of like, I hate to say it this way, but let me put it this way. Some insurance companies kind of have a pretty. What's the right word for the type of relationship they have with their customers. It's like not as adversarial. Adversarial. Yeah, yeah, exactly. So like there's some insurance policies out there where it's like if you don't open that envelope and understand the fine print, you might screw yourself over.

[B]

That's funny because I said earlier that my credit card was stolen and one of those things that happened, Jesse, was my car insurance premium did not get paid for four months. I was insurance free for four months. Saved a bunch of money. That was great.

[F]

We can save you a bunch of money on your home and auto insurance

[B]

by just lapsing it. Yeah, perfect. Perfect timing. Is there one polo that you check last of those four?

[C]

I would agree with Jesse. Between the two, I'd say probably. Probably taxable brokerage. I'm checking last because I'm not even. I'm not even going to rebalance that by selling out of assets that I hold because of the tax consequences. You know, when I rebalance in a taxable brokerage, I just buy more. You know, I do. If I buy more of wherever I'm short, unless I'm in position where I'm ready to buy more, there's no real reason to check it at that moment.

[B]

So let's start. You all said credit card is first, so let's start there. Everybody give our stackers some usable stuff. You take a look at the credit card website or a statement that comes, assuming you're still getting paper. Oh, gee. What's the first thing you look at?

[E]

Well, it's interesting that you put this one on because as we were talking, I was, yeah, maybe doing a little multitasking here, and I got an email from Chase, and it said, your credit card statement's available. And I clicked it and I went, well, that doesn't seem right. That seems like order of magnitude too high. And the first thing that I did was went to statements and like, literally said, okay, well, what's on here that I didn't expect?

[F]

What.

[E]

What's snuck on there or what's an error that I wasn't expecting? And I very quickly found the. The culprit and went, oh, yeah, that's right. I forgot about that. But I had an unusually high automobile maintenance bill. I mean, it was only two weeks ago, but I just. I forgot how much that was. And so the number looked high. And the first thing I did was sort by biggest to lowest to find out where the, where the. Where. I don't know. You said leaking is from most likely culprit. Yeah, for me, leaking is always with a comma. So I'm going to find that in the find that ordered highest to lowest.

[B]

It is interesting, Jesse, because whenever Cheryl and I have gotten in trouble with our spending, it's because we missed our weekly meeting. And then all of a sudden, I look at the credit card and I'm like, whoa, wait, what. What the hell's going on? But it's as much about having this conversation when you look through the register as anything, I think.

[F]

Yeah, just the more, the more stories or the more conversations and stories I hear about, you know, family finances is. It's very easy to kind of fall off that horse. Speaking of rodeos, it's very easy to like fall off the horse as a family when you're trying to be on the same page as far as what you spend and just. Or, or whether it's who's putting what in which investment account. A lot of families still keep some sort of separate finances. You'll have like partially joint and partially separate. So it's like, well, who's paying the mortgage? Oh, that's coming out of the joint account. Who's paying the life insurance? Oh, we each pay our own life insurance premium. It's like when you hear some of the ways that people approach their finances, it makes you realize that there's that human error opens up a lot of opportunity for more misses like more than just missing the fine print. Right. It's just that the human error factor is real.

[B]

Paula, what's first thing you look at in the credit card statement?

[C]

I generally will scan through all of the vendors to just make sure I recognize everything. And typically in the process of doing that, there will be a few that trip me up, not because they're fraudulent, but because the name of the vendor that appears on the statement doesn't match the name of the vendor in real life. You know, they'll have some DBA or something. And so generally there'll be maybe two or three where I'm like, hold on, who is that? And then I have to Google it and then I figure it out. But that's the first thing I'm doing. I'm kind of glancing through it and just making broadly making sure that I recognize everything.

[B]

Eddie, in the comments, Jesse was talking about auto bill payments. I don't know, Eddie, if you're mentioning this because it's a good thing or a bad thing, but it seems to me, Jesse, it can be both, right? This idea that, hey, at least my minimums covered would be great, but there could be some auto pay complacency going on.

[F]

I thought he was talking about automobiles, but I think you're right. He's talking about automatic.

[B]

He's talking about automatic payment. Yeah. I couldn't figure out why you were laughing.

[E]

Well, it could be a couple of things. It could be auto billing, like payments, making sure that you get min pay so you don't get, you know, penalties or bad credit. I thought about it like I'm auto paying my bills, like my water bill, my electric bill. That's what I thought about.

[F]

That's what I thought he meant too, was like, yeah, just the automatic deduction. The problem with the Automatic bill pay, which I do. Like, we do everything auto that we can, right? We automate it. We put it out of mind is that you do possibly end up in that situation where you're like, oh, right, I forgot about that gym membership. And it's been $79 a month for the last four years. And we haven't been. Because again, if you're not reviewing it and it's just automatically paid, that is one of the potential consequences. So again, that's why reviewing is a good thing. But the benefits of autopay, in my opinion, far outweigh the detriments. I think the other one that I've heard before too, is when you auto pay, it becomes harder sometimes to like, protest some sort of false bill or

[B]

like,

[F]

I've heard that before. So where it's like a good example, I'm trying to think of, like a realistic example might be like the utility company or something. Like you get some weird bill that's got an extra comma in it because of their accounting error. And it's like, it wasn't a hundred dollars. They charge you a thousand instead of a hundred. You auto pay the thousand, and now it's like, well, now the onus is on you to get it corrected. Right. Whereas if you hadn't had on autopay, you're like, I'm not paying this right. Send me a correct bill first and then I'll pay. Whereas once you've auto paid and your money's out the door, they've already got your money. They've already got your money, and now it's really on you to try to chase down and get it corrected. So I've heard that before, but it still doesn't convince me to not auto pay. Speaking of double negatives there, Paula, like before, yeah, I auto pay as much as I can.

[C]

Yeah. Well, if you think about it, or even if that is the case, and let's say that happens three or four times across your life, if you think of that as like, if that is the fee associated with auto paying, would you pay that fee?

[F]

Right.

[B]

T.J. was talking about fees, making sure they know the due date, not paying penalty fees. There's a big thing. What day is this bill due to take care of it? I don't know about you guys, though, that, like, I don't like hearing a credit card balance. So I pay it. Like, as soon as I. As soon as I see it, I pay it. Jesse, you're nodding.

[F]

I think ours is set up on an auto. On an auto pay.

[B]

Just to go.

[F]

Just to go. Right. It's, it's like within a week for

[B]

the full monitor, for a minimum.

[F]

For the full amount.

[B]

For the full amount.

[F]

For the full amount. Yeah. The bill comes in a week later, it's paid as opposed to whatever the full month that you have to pay

[B]

it minus set a minimum in case I forget. But I don't forget just because I want to review all of those transactions. And to your point, Paula. Oh my God. When we went to Greece last year, matching up the names of the places that you went with the bills.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

I had to just trust that it was right because I don't know any of these words that are on my cred.

[C]

So, so caveat. If I travel to a foreign country, anything associated with that, I'm just like, man, sure looks good. Yeah, ish.

[B]

I don't know if you write down like your transactions as you go or how you would keep track of that better because, yeah, it's a minefield.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

Let's move on from credit cards, even though really, you know, on some of our shows we talked about credit cards. We could talk about lifestyle creep and looking through it for lifestyle creep and valuing, you know, do I value all the different things that I have these subscriptions for? Am I actually using it? But let's go to one. I don't remember which one's above the line and which one's below the line. Jesse's 401k is below the line, right?

[F]

Yeah, I think I said insurance was kind of above the line. That would be my next one to look at. After the credit card would be any insurance statement.

[B]

Well, we're going to leave that one for the first one after the trivia question at halftime. So let's go into the 401k. Then you, you take a look OG at the 401k statement. What's the first thing you're, you're diving into rate of return, obviously today's return.

[E]

Yes. What happened in the last seven minutes? No, I, I mean, honestly, if that's again, just so happened that I pulled that up today because it's a thing on for the company plan. And yeah, I mean, that's the first thing my eye got attracted to was what's that one year rate of return number. But the thing that I looked at today, and this is where I would spend the time was am I on pace with the savings that get me to the finish line this year? So I quickly glance at the contribution numbers to make sure that those kind of check with Where I think we should be for the year relative to the savings amount that I was trying to get to. I'm lucky enough to be able to contribute the maximum to my 401k. So I know after a quarter probably need to be somewhere in that eight or $9,000 range for the year in terms of contributions. So, yeah, that's the first thing that I look at is just what the contribution number is. And is that in line with what I expect? I think Most places with 401 stuff is automated these days in terms of, like, payroll to 401. But there have been known to be issues where, you know, you're withholding money out of your paycheck and that corresponding deposit's not happening. The IRS does not look very kindly on companies that do that. So if you find that that's your money needs to go in in a reasonable timeframe is the rule. Next quarter is not reasonable. Next week, maybe today better. Right. So, like, you need to be matching up your contributions or your company needs to be making your contributions roughly about the same time that you're having it withhold from your pay.

[B]

Oh, geez. Looking at contributions and Izzy on pace with the goal. What's something, Paula, that people don't look at enough that maybe they should pay more attention to?

[C]

Ooh, See, I. I would actually argue that focusing on rate of return is not the right focus. I would say focusing on contributions is definitely the right focus because contributions are within your control. But I would actually.

[B]

I like looking at rate of return, but we'll talk about that in a minute.

[E]

Yeah, I mean, you just see it like you asked what I notice, and I open the page and that's the first thing I saw. Maybe it's because that's the first thing they put there. Right. Like, you know, that's the top left header image, you know, in terms of what's on the website. But yeah, I mean, I agree it's not the driver of anything. It's still fun to see.

[C]

Yeah, certainly. They definitely make that, like, big and unmissable. When I look at my 401k, I basically am looking at two things. I'm looking at what's the total balance, because I'm contextualizing that in my overall net worth. So what's the total balance in the account and how's my asset allocation doing? Is it super out of whack or not? As long as my asset allocation is good, that's it. I don't really care. I'm not really tracking. Even though they do make it unmissable. I'm trying not to care what the returns are because what matters is, is the asset allocation correct?

[B]

That's so funny because I actually like looking at what the returns are but just for a different reason, which is because Eddie hanging out with us said look at how much with all the, you know, negative stuff that's happened, how far down am I? But what I want to know is if something is glaring at me, is it my allocation that's the problem or is it just the overall market? And I just want to ask that question, is it my allocation that's messed up or is it the market? And you know, when you're using indexes it makes it much easier to answer that question. But if for Some reason your 401k only has active managers, then then you certainly might have a problem with the manager sliding away from what they they should be doing. Jesse, what's the thing people should pay more attention to?

[F]

Well, my answer, if it's okay, Joe, I'm actually going to go a little less about the statement. Can I focus on some of the things you should look at when you're initially making some decisions in your 401k?

[B]

Fine, just make it your own topic, whatever topic you want. Jesse.

[F]

Well, okay, my truthful answer about what do I look at in the statement? It's nothing original compared to what OG and Paula have already said. Yeah, I'm basically just looking at what's the current balance in the account. Is my asset allocation more or less on target? I'm probably going to only going to rebalance once a year anyway. And yeah, I mean at this point I just kind of take it for granted that all my contributions, all my deductions from my paycheck are actually making it into the account. Like there's not that much to look at other than those things. But I do think what's really consequential is like when you're originally making that asset allocation decision to say like oh yeah, what are the expense ratios of these funds in this 401k? Is it measured in like single digit basis points because of some giant 401k plan at a well known custodian? Or are you paying like 80 basis points for a target date fund at a target date fund that more and more evidence is coming out like not all target date funds are created equal, that's for sure. So I think those kind of decisions when you're looking at 401k paperwork are really consequential. And when you're looking at the fine print of a 401k. Those are really consequential decisions.

[B]

It is interesting because we can save it for a different episode, But I wouldn't use the target date fund at all. I think you're smart enough to do it without it. But if you do have a target date fund, there is a big difference between ones that are really heavy fees, really low performance, and ones that are really, really good. Like there is a wide disparity between good target day funds and not so good target day funds. All right, I can't wait to see what Jesse's going to tell us about insurance because he was really excited about that one. We're also going to talk about brokerage statements. What are we going to look at on those places? But at the halfway point of every Friday show, we have this year long trivia competition between Paula, Jesse and OG And Paula, we had some news while you were gone last week. Ooh. Our friend Jackie Cummings Koski set in for you. Did a nice job for team Paula. But the biggest thing she did was she won the trivia. Yes. So, Paula, apparently the key to you winning is don't show up.

[C]

Yes. The key to winning is recruit someone else that might.

[B]

That might, that might help your chances. So the score is OG has 7. And right now OG is.

[F]

Look at it.

[B]

And. And Doug and I just decided we got to look this up. What is the record for most points in a year? What is the record? Because. Oh, geez, got to be on pace for that. Can Paula or Jesse slow him down? Which is what we're looking for. We have a concept called a margin call. Margin calls can only happen when we have all three contributors here. So we might have one. Now, if somebody says the word margin call, they're risking one of their points against the person they call margin call against. So if OG gets margin called, for example, OG then has to win the trivia of the day and then he gets his point. If he does get the point, and let's say it was Paula, that margin called OG Paula will lose a point. But if OG gets margin called and he is wrong, Paula would win a point and OG actually loses a point. Right. So instead of it being no harm, no foul, oh, Gee would actually lose a point or Paula or Jesse, whoever it is, that. That does that. All right, we need a trivia question. Doug's been upstairs. But Doug, what is today's trivia question?

[D]

Hey there, stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and today Joe's mom and I Were reminiscing about all the things that used to be innovative and progressive, like, you know, dial up modems, which made that exciting sound when she'd get on the computer. There were cassette tapes. I mean, those were incredible. Far easier to carry a bunch down to poker night than albums. And two hour, three martini lunches. Those were like liquid courage for an afternoon of prank phone calls to old boyfriends. Not particularly innovative. She just loved pranks. Ah, the old days. So imagine my surprise when I realized that the dodo bird of brands, Woolworths opened what at that time was the tallest building in America. Back on Today's date in 1913, it was built just like me. A sturdy 30 story base topped by a 30 story tower. The building was so tall. How tall was it? That even today it has its own zip code of 10279. Unfortunately, while there are still a few Woolworth five and dime lunch counters around the USA, the stores are long gone. The company has now pivoted to a new name, one that you all probably know. I'll share that later. But first this question. What year did the last Woolworths store close in the usa? I'll be back with the answer after I figure out why the Dollar Store isn't called the five Dollar Store. Because, you know, that would be truth in advertising.

[B]

Would 100% be truth in advertising? What should we call Costco now? The $400 store? I don't know. We start off with OG Woolworths in America have all clothes. There's a few lunch counters, but none of the stores. When did the last one go by Biog? You are on mute, my friend.

[E]

Hold on, hold on. I know I got it. I saw the mute button. Chill. I was saying, I happen to know this because the last one actually closed in my town. So Doug did me a solid. I mean, I remember it. So I just have to think about. I think I was in like fourth grade maybe. So I'm pretty sure it was 1988.

[B]

1988. So Jesse, he's done this before where he plants an anchor that may or may not be right.

[E]

I'm telling you, I lived in the town where this one closed.

[F]

Yeah, I've never seen a Woolworths in my life. Except there's a scene in Old Brother Where Art Thou? Where they get kicked out of the store and the clerk has a very distinct accent and he throws him out of the store and he says, you know, I think he just says like say, out of Woolsworth, it's got a

[B]

really perfect and that's the way you pronounce it forever now, isn't it?

[F]

It is how I hear in my head. Yeah. You know, for the sake of gamesmanship and fun, I don't want to just, like, surround oh, geez, guests. I'll go 19. I'll go 1977.

[B]

1977. Well, Paula, we got 88 and 77. What are you thinking?

[D]

Oh,

[C]

OG sounded fairly confident, but given his level of confidence, I think that he probably nailed the rough era, but maybe not specifically the year. So I'm going to take the downside on that and say 87.

[B]

1987. Trying to make sure if it was less recent, that she's got it.

[E]

So, Paula, sorry, Margin.

[B]

Was that your gut instinct?

[E]

I can't. Margin call. It's too late.

[B]

I was like, wait a minute. Now that I've heard all the answers

[E]

at any time, right? Yeah, it's anytime during the question.

[B]

We got 88. 77. 87. Who's right? We'll be right back.

[F]

All right.

[B]

O.G. you kicked it off with 1988. Politic or downside, but heck, if it's 1995, you got it. What do you think it was?

[E]

1988. I'm telling you, I was in fourth grade. It. It was in February. I know exactly when it was. It was still snowing. It was a big thing in town.

[B]

Jesse, you think it was really a big thing in town for him?

[F]

I mean, it's a convincing story. It's a convincing story. I have no idea.

[E]

Didn't we play the game? True truce and a lie once.

[F]

Just one of those we have.

[B]

And this guy can really bring it. I could see him telling his mom, no, seriously, I was at school,

[E]

she

[B]

would completely believe it. And it was so funny. OG On April Fool's Day. So many people. When OG Was telling people, if you're not in debt, you're not even trying. And just how convincing your argument was for that, Paula, you got, well, 87 all the way five years down to where he meet. Meet Jesse in the early 80s. Feeling good?

[C]

Yeah, you know, I'm. I'm feeling pretty decent. I mean, if it was in that era, then I. I think there's a reasonable likelihood it could have been somewhere in those. That batch of years.

[B]

Well, only one person has the answer. That's scary to say. Doug's got it. Doug, who's taken home this week's win.

[D]

Hey there, stackers. I'm lunch counter lover and guy who's up for any club, long as it's a sandwich. Joe's mom's neighbor Doug. Back in 1913, on today's date, the tallest building in the land opened in New York City. New York City. The Woolworth Building. Sadly, the stores are gone. But that's so they could focus on a hot brand they spun up in the 1970s. Foot locker. So while Footlocker marches on, our question was this. In an effort to better save Benjamin's, what year did the last Woolworth store close in the usa

[B]

and the answer? He didn't give us the answer, did he?

[F]

For the last time, anything you put

[B]

on that prompter burgundy will read the answer's 1997. 1997. It was actually after OG anchored. Yeah. There were a few that lingered on for much longer.

[E]

I didn't have any idea.

[B]

But how about that? They're known as Foot Locker now. Anybody think that Woolworths would have been Foot Locker?

[E]

No.

[B]

Wow.

[E]

No way.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

Whole different. Whole, whole different thing. I didn't know that until Doug came rushing downstairs, like, all excited with that piece of trivia. So OG Takes another one home. Now he's at eight. Well, we're gonna find out what the record is and see if he's got it. Also, Paula, I forgot to bring the secret thing down to the basement. So we got to do that when you're back. When I'm not gonna be here for a couple weeks.

[C]

Yeah. So that means on. What is it? May 11, we unveil the secret thing.

[B]

If you're here on May 11, you will see the secret thing. All right.

[C]

I mean, that means we need to have the original cast that I do,

[B]

and I don't think Jesse's here on the 11th. I think Doc G's joining us that day.

[E]

Oh.

[B]

So it might be a little while.

[C]

So then we should. Until the next full cast day.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

To unveil the secret Paula secret thing. Now everybody's wondering what it is. It's so exciting.

[C]

We've really, like, ramped up the hype.

[B]

Yes. Which is funny because it's totally not worth it. But what is worth it is a discussion about insurances. Jesse, you were really excited about this. You open homeowners, renters, disability, car insurance? Pick any of the above. What is the first thing that people don't look at enough, but they should?

[F]

Well, if we're just talking about the statement, I just think it's, again, going back to what I said in the earlier part of the episode. It's just like, making sure you're paying your premiums on time and making sure you understand the side effects. Of saying missing a premium statement or something like that is really important. I am not an insurance expert by any means. You guys probably know more about insurance products than I do. But still, the more I do learn about it, the more I realize, oh, there's all these intricacies about the way a policy can be written, what's covered and, and what has to happen to file a claim and the deductibles are and all the different numbers and how they all add up. Now granted, some of that homework needs to be done as you're buying the policy in the first place. Right. That's not necessarily something you would check on the statement as it comes into you. My point is that like the term life insurance policy that many of us are thinking of just like, yep, 30 years, if I die, it pays me. If I don't die, it doesn't pay me. Like that's great. That's a very simple insurance policy. But a lot of insurances out there are significantly more complex than that. And I think that's just good to be aware of as a, as a consumer.

[B]

Yeah, I think the term life insurance one as long as that premium payments going through, set it and forget it. But oh gee, when we take a look at like a car insurance policy, what don't enough people pay attention to?

[E]

I would say the number one thing that most people don't pay attention to in car insurance is underinsured insurance coverage. That's the amount of money your insurance company will pay you if the person that you have an accident with isn't insured high enough to offset whatever sort of issue that they potentially caused. You know, if you hit a teenager or a teen, rather a teenager hits you who has like PL and pd, right? Like just the lowest state level amount into your brand new Tesla model S plaid and you have a back injury, right. And their insurance is like sorry dude, all we got is 20 grand to cover. And by the way, you know, you can't go after this 19 year old because they don't have any assets. So it doesn't matter. Underinsured coverage is what's going to come up and help you be made whole. And I think a lot of people just go, I'm going to skip that one or I'm going to have that be a low amount. And I think that's a big miss.

[B]

I think this is a thing, Paula, a lot of people do is they think about like what am I paying? But really don't pay attention to what do I have? Like what are my coverage Gaps. Where's my potential Achilles heel?

[C]

Right, right, exactly. People will over focus on premium, focus on the deductible as it relates to premium and sort of miss a lot of miss everything else. And that's true across insurances. With homeowners insurance specifically, there are a few different ways that it's written. There's one where, and it's been a while since I've brushed up on homeowners insurance, but there's one where they will cover the actual cost of replacing something and then there's another where they use some sort of a formula for a depreciated cost.

[E]

Yeah. Replacement cost versus residual costs, actual cash

[F]

value, a bunch of different costs.

[E]

Yeah. What you want to do is you want to make sure that, I mean, think of it this way. If your house burns to the ground, you, you're not going to go get a 2014 television. You can't like that's worth $110. You can't. They don't. You have to buy a brand new one. That's right. But the insurance company would say, well, you've had that TV for like 10 years, so it's only worth hundred bucks.

[C]

Right.

[E]

Or your appliances or whatever. On the house insurance front, I would also add that most people are underinsured on the rebuild value of their house. If you just because you get, you know, you do whatever the insurance company tells you to and then, you know, just increases or whatever. But I had an agent one time that asked me, they said, hey, out of curiosity, if your house got leveled in a tornado, you know, based on what you know about the environment, all that sort of stuff and the, you know, costs, whatever, like what do you think it would cost to rebuild? I said, oh, actually our neighbor's having that happen. He had a house fire. So I know it would cost this. They go, why is your insurance for like 60% of that number? It's like, oh crap, I didn't even think of, you know, you just do the thing right. If you don't have a good agent, like you said, Jesse, if you don't know anything about insurance, you just like get whatever the mortgage guy tells you to get when you buy your house and then you just let it go for the next 20 years. But in reality, your house is increasing or labor costs or supply and demand becomes realistic.

[F]

So it's even. There's funny, there's so many loopholes. Like, do you know the 80% rule of. It's like the 80% of replacement value rule OG where it's like, imagine your house cost $500,000 to rebuild, but you only have 300,000 of coverage on it. So the 80% rule says you would need at least 400,000 of coverage on it otherwise. Even like if your fence blows down in a windstorm and you're like, oh, it's only $1,000 to replace my fence, the insurance companies be like, you're underinsured, and we're only going to pay you a pro rata portion of the thousand dollars to replace your fence. So it's just like, there's so many funny little things like that too, that can come up in the insurance world.

[B]

This is actually the reason why I like talking to agents. I like having an agent. I, I have an agent for my insurance because when I talk to my agent, there's so many little loopholes that they know. Like as an example, my agent told me that if my carpet gets destroyed and it is my dog that did it, then it's not covered because that's a family pet. But if I accidentally left a door open and a raccoon did it, well, then it actually is something that they would cover and not that I would lie.

[E]

In unrelated news, the raccoon population in Texarkana is wild, let me tell you.

[B]

I can't, I can't believe how many raccoons have been in my house lately. It's amazing, and I'm not telling people to lie, but it is interesting to know where these different lines are drawn. And I love what you said OG about this idea of going back and looking at the numbers every few years, because how easy is it for us to just, you know, renew again, renew it again, renew it again, renew it again. And before you know it, 10 years has gone by and housing prices have gone up a lot, and you're still covering the same basic amounts. Let's move on to brokerage accounts. Jesse, you're looking at a brokerage account. You're saving for multiple goals there. Maybe you've got your, you know, 529s for two kids. Not that you would do anything like that. Or just a regular brokerage account with different funds in it. What's the first thing that people should look at that maybe they don't?

[F]

Hmm. The easy and obvious answers, I think, are similar to the 401k. Right? It really is. I think it's like the balance and the rate of returns and the, the allocation and where your dollars are. I think those are kind of the easiest things. So what, what are some things that people ought to look at that maybe they're not. My mind kind of jumped to the tax planning angle, which is like, you know, there's a lot more. There are a lot more tax planning opportunities inside of a taxable brokerage account than there are inside of a 401k. And so just understanding, for example, like, oh, these are still short term gains or short term losses versus long term gains or long term losses. And if I was planning on doing anything in this account, I ought to have that in mind. What kind of dividends are being paid out on an annual basis from your holdings, and those are going to be taxable this year. So you want to be aware of those kind of things. So I think that might be the, the low hanging fruit that maybe not everybody is looking at is the tax planning angle inside of a brokerage account.

[B]

Yeah, I think too few people look at what's the tax drag on this

[E]

investment OG I mean, it's a big number. I mean, what does Vanguard say? It's a solid 1% or something annually, give or take, you know, added up over time in terms of the impact of tax management. So, yeah, it's a big thing.

[B]

What about Paula, like dividend reinvestment options inside a brokerage account? Is that something we should be looking at or looking into?

[C]

Yeah, you know, my. In a taxable brokerage account, my preferred strategy is not to reinvest the dividends because oftentimes that will result in the asset allocation getting tipped way more out of whack. Instead, don't reinvest the dividends, have the dividends accumulate in the taxable brokerage account as cash, and then use that cash to. To buy into the underperforming asset so that you can, through purchasing and not through sale, reallocate the assets in that account.

[B]

You better have a calendar reminder too. I mean, that feels like it could get a little manually intensive.

[C]

Yeah, yeah. I mean, depending on how many assets you have there. I mean, if you're checking the account like you're with mine, I use Schwab. They very clearly show you like this is the cash balance versus this is the invested balance. So as soon as you're looking at it, boom. Like, you get so used to seeing zero in the cash column that the minute it's any number that's greater than zero, you're like, hey, look at that.

[B]

This is also the place. Oh gee. Where people take a flyer, right? You get to a flyer, you just do it inside your brokerage account. I feel like this is also can be the land of Misfit toys, after a while where you've got a bunch of flyers gone bad that you're hoping one day make it back, like, I don't know, maybe there's a little weeding the garden that needs to happen too.

[E]

Yeah, for me, from a brokerage standpoint, it's kind of like the credit card statement. I want to go back and look at the transactions and make sure that they all line up with what I expected to have happened over that period of time. Whether it's systematic investing, whether it's the dividends that posted, you know, all the things that I expect to see in there. Not that there's not fraud in brokerage accounts and that sort of thing, but there's, there is, there's opportunities for fraud there more likely to happen with your credit card and your bank statement probably than your brokerage account in terms of what you'll see happen. But I still want to have an idea of what's the day to day thing going on here. And like Paula said, you should have a pretty good idea of how much cash you have or what you should have. Generally, cash in a brokerage account is sucky because they don't pay you good interest on it. So if you do want to keep cash for the dry powder effect, you want to make sure that that's in the right spot, you know, in terms of cash investment. So, yeah, I'm looking at the transaction history. That's kind of my number one.

[B]

Well, and that also, Jesse, helps you look at your investment policy statement and go, am I actually following this thing? Because like, we had our people on talking about stock market maestros. It's one thing to have an investment policy. It's another to go back and do the Maury Povich again, like we were talking about earlier with Paula, where you go, you say you have an investment policy statement. Your transactions say otherwise.

[F]

Yeah, yeah. You are not the father. Well, for the 401k and the brokerage account, when it comes to things like rebalancing, I, I'm a big proponent of exactly what Paula said, which is like rebalancing as this like giant exercise that you do to really get everything back on level terms. Maybe that's like a once or twice a year thing, but maybe on a monthly basis or maybe on a quarterly basis, you're looking at how much cash you have on hand or you're looking at your new contributions into the account, and you're using that to kind of get these small rebalances in throughout the year, for sure. But as far as the IPS goes, Joe, for me, and kind of the way I think about it, that's like a. Once or twice a year, you look at your statements, you whip out the ips, and you make sure that your, your asset allocation is in line with what you, what you agreed to beforehand before you started investing.

[B]

Yeah, and I love it that even they even admitted that pros make those mistakes. Yes, we have an investment policy, but we sure like to window dress every quarter. Yeah, well, that's, that is a great list of things for us to look at, I hope. Stackers. You got a lot out of that. I certainly did. And I think that be a little more diligent here, especially on a Friday. You've got the weekend now to go through these statements and take a look and see are you following some of these things that these fine people have mentioned in today's show? Let's talk about what you got going on here this weekend, guys. Man, we're rounding the corner in May. OG And. And headed for June. Unbelievably. What do we got here this third weekend in May on your calendar?

[E]

I mean, I know we record early, but are we recording six weeks early?

[B]

April. Oh, my God.

[C]

I was just thinking everything I just said about Monday, May 11, now out the window.

[E]

I was like, holy crap, dude. I don't know what I'm doing tomorrow,

[B]

let alone I already feel like the, the year's going fast and I just made it go even faster. How about April? Yeah, we're getting close to May, so now we're rounding into the second half of April. What do you got going on? OG that's what I meant.

[E]

Final after school activity this weekend for the spring semester season, whatever you want to call it. And it happens to be down by my kiddo at A and M, so I'm going to go do that and then go hang out with him. His birthday's in a couple of days, so get to go take my kiddo out to dinner for his birthday right before he wraps up his first year of college and then turn around and go back and pick him up and all his crap. First year of college, him back to.

[B]

Time flies. That's so scary. They'll be there before you know it, Jesse. They'll be there before you know it.

[E]

Save now early and often, buddy.

[F]

Yeah, right. I do need to still set up my second 529 because we only got a Social Security number in the mail last week, so now I can do that Trump account That too. That 2000 bucks 2x2x Trump accounts. Our first child is not going to get the thousand dollars, but our second child will.

[B]

What's going on at the paflity podcast, the Personal Finance for Long Term Investors podcast.

[F]

I'm legitimately excited for next Wednesday's episode. It actually relates to something we talked about earlier. The working title is target date funds Much worse than we thought. Ooh, clickbait. But it actually is. It's, it's research worse than I thought

[B]

because I've been on record of thinking they're pretty damn bad.

[F]

The quick takeaway, and not that I want to spoil it for listeners, I do hope you go listen. But the little takeaway that the number to keep in mind as the kind of big takeaway from this research out of either Arizona or Arizona State, forgive me, professor, is the average target date fund underperforms a identical basket of index funds by about 1.1% a year.

[B]

Wow.

[C]

Is that because of the fee drag?

[F]

It's about half of it is because of the fee drag itself. And then the other. There are two main constituents of the 1.1%, the two biggest constituents. One is just fees, just straight up fees. The second one is that a lot of target date funds are built from actively managed sub components.

[B]

There it is.

[F]

That of their own investment merit are underperforming the indexes. It's something like 50 or 55 basis points is from the fee and 40 or 45 basis points I think is from the simple underperformance of the investments themselves.

[B]

Tony Bourdain wrote a book called Kitchen Confidential, which some of you might have read. He talks about Sunday brunch is something that you may want to avoid because Sunday brunch is all the crap they couldn't sell mixed into salads together. I feel like target date funds, Jesse, are the Sunday brunch of the financial industry.

[F]

Mark, this has already been recorded and it's already published. Basically it's just waiting for the date. People will hear me use Tony Bourdain's fish soup metaphor.

[B]

Really?

[F]

Because he, he, I think he has a fish soup metaphor that he uses as well, which is like when you order the fish soup, you just might be getting the nasty ingredients that are just accruing in the kitchen. And there is absolutely that. And, and I'm sorry I'm taking so long here, but this is something that, like, I have had to change my mind on. Right. If you would ask me two years ago about target date funds, I'd be like, they're God's gift to Earth. They're amazing. Everything's great. Because I think at one point they legitimately were. And maybe for certain circumstances they're, they're fine. But only some of them are fine. Many of them are not fine. So anyway, I've had to change my mind on target date funds. Yeah.

[B]

I just think that we're all smart enough to put together four funds.

[F]

Yeah.

[B]

You know, of our own. That will get rid of so many problems and it helps us track it a little better. Like we can be a little more interested. I, I can't wait to hear it, Jesse. And that's a personal finance for long term investors. That's going to be great. Speaking of great, Paula, we had such a great time at Texas A and M. I was so happy that you were here. People heard it last week. Thank you so much.

[C]

Oh, that was awesome. Thank you for inviting me. That was so much fun.

[B]

I was so proud of Texarkana that day. Those students were so smart and nice and oh my goodness, did they love you. They absolutely did.

[C]

Well, I love them. I had a great time. They asked some great questions.

[B]

They, they certainly did. I've got one great question for you.

[C]

Yeah.

[B]

So what's up next? How do you top that on afford anything?

[C]

Well, I don't top it. I don't top it. But we do have Ron Lieber coming on the show.

[B]

He is such a great guy.

[C]

He is the author of many books on personal finance, including one that's called the opposite of spoiled. It's how you raise kids who are not spoiled. He makes the point. He's like, you know, we don't even have a word for that. Like in food, if something is not spoiled, you'd call it fresh. But what do you call a person, a child or an adult who is not spoiled? Like you wouldn't say that. They were fresh.

[B]

Doug would say. You call it Doug.

[C]

But we talk about a lot of things. Our conversation largely revolved around the price you pay for college. Yeah.

[B]

Yeah. Oh gee. Might know something about that too.

[E]

It's awesome.

[B]

Love it. Thank you everybody for hanging out with us today on YouTube. Again if you want to join us on YouTube, it's Monday afternoons. We're lively here about mid afternoon if you get the 201 we also send you exactly ish. What time we go live depends on today. We had a few computer snafu so got here a few.

[E]

We keep talking about.

[B]

Yeah, the imperial we.

[E]

The royal we.

[B]

The royal we. Yes, absolutely. And you know what? Take this weekend, go through your financial apps and look for some of the things that Jesse, Paula and OG discussed. That's going to do it for us. Doug, you've got it from here, my friend. What should we have learned on today's show?

[D]

So, what's stacked up on our to do list for today? First, take some advice from our team and scour your statements. Even though the Internet has made it easy to avoid the fine print, sometimes that's where the gold is. Second, schedule times to revisit these documents on an ongoing basis. By checking once or twice yearly, you'll confirm nothing has changed. And if you had life changes, that schedule will make a marker to adjust your tools to ones that are more appropriate. But the big lesson Speaking of appropriate, it is not appropriate for Joe's mom to talk about the old Woolworths ice cream counters. Fairly certain she doesn't know what she's saying when she says her milkshakes bring all the boys. Oh God, no mom. No mom. Thanks to the new father of two, Jesse Kramer for joining us today. You'll find his podcast Personal Finance for Long Term Investors. Sidebar how the hell does he find time to podcast these days? But he's yawning through the whole thing anyway, you'll find his podcast wherever you're listening to us right now. We'll also include links in our show [e-mail] thanks to Paula Pant for hanging out with us today. You'll find her fabulous podcast Afford Anything wherever you listen to Finer Podcasts. Thanks also to OG for joining us today. Looking for good financial planning help? Head to stackingbenjamins.com for his calendar. This show is the property of SP Podcast, LLC, Copyright 2026 and is created by Josal Sehai. You'll find out about our awesome [e-mail] along with the show notes and how you can find us on YouTube and all the usual social media spots. Come say hello and oh yeah, before I go, not only should you not take take advice from these nerds, don't take advice from people you don't know. This show is for entertainment purposes only. Before making any financial decisions, speak with a real financial advisor. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug and we'll see you next time back here at the Stacking Benjamin Show.