Joe (2:23)

Yeah, yeah.

OG (2:24)

High five. You know, like, you see those videos. But I would say, I would say that was, that was a good week of golf. I won everything that week. It was good.

Joe (2:35)

I.

OG (2:35)

Some people call it sandbagging. Has something to do with, I don't.

Joe (2:38)

Know, just waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting. And then bam, you spring the trap.

OG (2:44)

Yes. It's like the thing we talked about a couple weeks ago about gambling. Like, I finally win and I'm like, I could do this all the time. And you can't add up all the gambling or all the golf losses over all the years. It's just the one time I did win. I. I am gonna swim in that.

Doug (3:00)

Like Scrooge Duck recoup.

Joe (3:02)

Recoup all that money in one one day. It's a good feeling. No, we're very lucky because 2025 was a year of great feeling. I had so much fun recording with you guys. I had so much. Just so many good times. My kids are in good places. My. I got to go. I don't know if I told you guys, I went on a river cruise with my mom down the Rhine River. Did you guys know that?

Doug (3:30)

Tell us more, Joe.

Joe (3:31)

Yeah, I have a slideshow, 90 minute slideshow that, that I'll show you. But it was a, it was a great year. And Doug, I know you had some, some things that happened in, in your life.

OG (3:44)

Doug, you probably also had something cool happen. But moving on to yes, but this.

Doug (3:49)

Is a long enough intro, so let's talk about the great episode you did.

Joe (3:55)

I had some good stuff.

Doug (3:57)

You know, really, one day that just stands out to me above all of the others was Monday, July 14th. Because that was the day that I concocted a breakfast burrito recipe that was like none other I had come up with before.

Joe (4:12)

And it's so focused on breakfast burritos.

Doug (4:15)

Oh, my God. So good. They're so good. Three meals a day.

Joe (4:20)

Tucson, please do the Benjamin's After Dark meetup that we talked about a week ago.

Doug (4:24)

Tanya, 33 on North grand street is where the best burritos in the United States come from.

Joe (4:32)

Doug won't stop talking about it. So we need a. We need a Benjamin's After Dark group in Tucson, please. If you want to join one of our groups in 2026, we have them in Minneapolis, St. Paul, we have them in Seattle. They're coming online in Southern Minnesota and also in Boston. We're talking obviously about groups in other areas. If you'd like to help start one in 2026, write me Joe at Stacky Benjamin. If you're not here for a meetup group, you're here because you need better money, better money management. You need to do a better job. You know what? OG and his team are taking clients, so head to stacking benjamin.com. oG these are a few of the things you can do to just give yourself the gift of surround sound. Better decisions, take control. A woman who took control in 20, well before 2025, of her financial situation is the Budget Nista Tiffany Aliche. And she had some tragedy hit her life. And it's interesting because this is one of those interviews that you do, guys, that partway through the interview, you realize your job is to shut up. Because Tiffany had some horrible things happen. She decided on our Stacking Benjamin's microphones that she wanted to talk about it. And it's a great lesson to end 2025 on that. If 2025 was not a great year for you, it isn't about what happens because bad things are going to happen. It's about how you respond to them. And so we're going to end the year with that. From November of 2023, Tiffany Aliche, the Budget Nista on the Stacky Benjamin Show. Happy New Year, everybody. We'll see you in 2026. Ladies and gentlemen, we have a big show, A real big shoe.

Doug (6:31)

Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the Stacking Benjamin Show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and today you'll learn the money fundamentals with the Budget Nista herself, Tiffany Alice. For our TikTok minute, you'll find out why Gordon Ramsay had to sell his Porsche. Plus, we'll throw out the lifeline to steal Stacker Maggie, who wants to know if it's best to go all in on a brokerage account in order to catch up to her retirement goals. And then I'll share some colorful trivia. And now two guys who start thinking up personal finance advice. At breakfast, it's Joe and. Oh, Ju ju ju ju g.

Joe (7:24)

We are back after a holiday weekend to the Stacking Benjamin Show. Sit back and relax. Put your feet up, because we're about to have some fun. Because Mr. OG, as Doug so eloquently said, the Budget Nista's in the house again.

OG (7:39)

Oh, geez. That's all I need. It's a refresh of the budget. Yeah, it's Cyber Monday. What are you talking about? Budgets.

Doug (7:46)

This is OG's worst episode. Every time. Budgets scare the heck out of him.

OG (7:51)

I know.

Joe (7:51)

Especially on Cyber Monday. He's like, what do you mean I've.

OG (7:54)

Got to not spend money on wine?

Joe (7:57)

Is that what you think about when you think Cyber Monday? Like, everybody else is buying all this other stuff. You're. You're thinking, this is my day to get wine.

OG (8:03)

What winery should I subscribe to? Yes. Booze.

Doug (8:06)

Can I buy online?

Joe (8:08)

We got a great show. We have a actually it's because we wanted to make sure we got this interview in before the holiday. It is a wonderful discussion with Tiffany Alice and we'll get into it. She goes over. Basically OG would get halfway through this interview and it takes a big turn I did not expect. And we're going to leave it all in because it is phenomenal radio. I think that all of our stackers need to hear. But before that, Doug, what was the best thing that happened to you over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend?

Doug (8:40)

So here's the best thing. I started sauteing all of these.

Joe (8:46)

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Doug (9:16)

Then I blew an oil gasket and all hell broke loose in the kitchen. Wait a minute, are you even listening to this?

Joe (9:24)

Oh yeah, no, no. I totally got all that. Oh gee, what happened to you?

OG (9:27)

Well, we decided to deep fry a turkey and apparently you're not supposed to fill the thing with oil. So there I was, lowering the turkey into the bucket of if you're a.

Joe (9:36)

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OG (10:07)

So we ended up feeding the entire fire department. Are you even listening?

Joe (10:12)

Oh yeah, no, we got all of it. Those were great stories, guys. We locked that all in. Yeah, audience heard the whole thing. Yes, time for Tiffany stories. But before that, we got a Tick Tock Minute because we have such a long, great discussion with Tiffany. Alice. No headline today, right? To the Tick Tock Minute. This is the part of the show, guys, where we dive into a creation made by a tick tock genius who either is sharing some of their brilliance or possibly some air quotes. Brilliance OG out of the holiday weekend. Big Tiffany aliche interview waiting in the wings. What do you think?

OG (10:55)

I think that we need to amend this a little bit here. I think that every time we do a TikTok minute, Joe needs to do a TikTok dance on.

Joe (11:06)

And cut.

Doug (11:09)

I think really trying to drive the YouTube viewership, aren't you, Joe?

OG (11:12)

You never know. They're super awesome.

Joe (11:14)

We're just dancing around.

OG (11:16)

I'm gonna say this is. I'm gonna say this video is going to be the same quality as Joe's first tick tock dance.

Joe (11:22)

Oh, boy.

OG (11:23)

Live on YouTube. Coming next week. I don't know. Maybe.

Joe (11:28)

Yeah, probably not. But this is og a interview that you're gonna know this guy's voice right away. Gordon Ramsay did, talking about the early days of. Well, before Gordon Ramsay truly was Gordon Ramsay.

Doug (11:45)

We were young, we were stupid, and we. We were skint. I remember going to ask her father if I could borrow 20 grand for.

Tiffany Aliche (11:54)

The deposit for a flat that we.

Doug (11:55)

Fell in love with.

Tiffany Aliche (11:56)

And I thought, this is all going well.

Doug (11:58)

Lunch is good. I'll pay for lunch.

Tiffany Aliche (11:59)

And I said, oh, by the way, about that deposit, you know, Tyler, I.

Doug (12:03)

We've got half of it. We need the other 20 grand. I'll pay you back in a year. He said, okay, here's what I'll do. I'll have another lunch with you when.

Tiffany Aliche (12:12)

You sell your Porsche. I thought you, you clever. Here I am driving around in a flash 911, and we didn't even have.

Doug (12:24)

A house, didn't have a flat, didn't.

Tiffany Aliche (12:26)

Have a roof over our heads.

Joe (12:28)

As the best advice he ever gave.

Tiffany Aliche (12:29)

Me, sell your Porsche. I did sell it, and 10 years.

Doug (12:34)

Later, I went and bought it back.

Joe (12:36)

Same car.

Tiffany Aliche (12:37)

Same car, yes.

Joe (12:40)

A lot of bleeps in that, but.

OG (12:42)

Oh, gee, I sold mine.

Doug (12:44)

Yeah. And now he's. You're definitely on an austerity kick now, aren't you, Og?

Joe (12:51)

But how many times og have we talked about this? People borrowing money and at the same time not paying people back while they're flashing money all over the place.

OG (13:00)

Oh, it's not even that. It's just the priorities, right? Like when you're looking at your financial plan and you're thinking about going, okay, I need to right the ship or I need to point this in the right direction. Or, like, wherever you are, you have to recognize that everything counts, Everything's on the table, even the thing that you like the most, Whether it's the trips or the things that you have or the house that you own or you know, whatever, going out to eat, like, all of those things have to have the same priority, which is zero. And then you build up the financial plan from there and what's left. It gives you the opportunity to do it. I think so many people think, well, I can do. I can't sell the Porsche metaphorically, right? I can do everything except sell the Porsche. Like, no, you can sell the Porsche. You can buy it back later. Just a car. It's just a house.

Doug (13:47)

The Porsche probably in his mind, though, at that time in his life, represented success. He would still feel like he internally was as successful if he could drive the Porsche around. And that and selling it probably meant I failed. That was probably. I think that's where most people struggle to get rid of those aspirational things.

Joe (14:07)

See, it's funny. I had a coach one time, I was thinking about renting a bigger house when my financial picture was not that great. And I remember the coach saying, so do you want to come home every day and pretend like things are really good? Or would you rather make things truly really good? Because every dollar you put into this, this house that you can't afford to be renting, even you can't afford this size house. Do you want to pretend that hard? Is it that important to you for you to pretend? And it is interesting to me that Gordon bought it back 10 years later because, oh, gee, just because you can't have it now doesn't mean you can't have it.

OG (14:46)

That's right.

Doug (14:47)

I wonder how many sets of breaks that Porsche went through between ownerships of Ramsey Gordon Ramsay. The owners in between just trashed it. But he's still got it.

Joe (14:57)

But he's got it back. That same effing Porsche coming up next. Man, I had a phenomenal conversation about a week ago sitting down with Tiffany Alice, the Budget Nista. She's a woman. If you don't know the Budget Nista, she has one of the few financial books that became a New York Times bestseller, and she's followed it up with a workbook. Now, we're not going to talk a ton about the workbook. We're going to talk about today, Cyber Monday, and really getting your house in order. And the reason this is a long interview og is because about halfway through it took a big turn. And I think there's a lot here that. That I think people really need to hear. We'll talk about it after the interview. But this is our extended interview with the Budget Nista, Tiffany Alice. And I'm super happy she's back in mom's basement with us. My good friend Adoche Elise is here.

Tiffany Aliche (15:51)

See, I can't read the book you did.

Joe (15:54)

I can't stop. I can't stop. I did it last time you were here. People don't know what the hell I'm talking about. Tiffany, that is your name.

Tiffany Aliche (16:01)

Yes, it is. It is my. I am Nigerian American. And on my birth certificate it says Adochee Ihoma Aliche. I think my dad thought he was going to raise my four sisters and I in Nigeria. That's where both of my parents were born and raised. But the economy took a turn for the worst and the naira, which used to be on par with the dollar, is not. And so as a result, I was in sixth grade or the summer before sixth grade. And he said everybody should choose an English name. Which sounds so crazy at the time. You're a kid. So it sounds cool. But I think back in it now, like, how am I choosing my own name? And I remember I tried out names with my friends. Jenny was one of them. I was like, call me Jenny for this week.

Joe (16:44)

I remember last time you were here, you were like, imagine. Hey, it's Jenny the budget Nista. Like, not. No, no, I know.

Tiffany Aliche (16:52)

Symphony Renee. Which actually, I mean, I feel like Renee could have been a good look because I kind of like that name.

Joe (16:57)

I do like that name.

Tiffany Aliche (16:58)

Yeah. So I could see myself Renee the Budge Nista. But yeah, then I ended up with Tiffany. But it took me a good. I don't even remember, like two years to learn to respond to Tiffany. Because, you know, you grew up with your name your whole life. And people would call because we also moved school system. So the new kids didn't know me by my old name. And so they would say they didn't.

Joe (17:16)

Know you by your name.

Tiffany Aliche (17:18)

So people would call the house and be like, can I speak to Tiffany? And we'd all be like, wrong number. Like, wait. Oh, wait, that's me.

Joe (17:24)

So, yeah, well, there's lots of people today. It's cyber Monday, as you know. And there's lots of people out there who are maybe not responding to their name because they're getting called from their credit card company going, what the hell are you doing right now? Yeah, right. I mean, while you and I are trying to help people, maybe build a foundation, this is a tough day for people. What do you tell people that maybe messed up last week with Black Friday? Maybe messing up today with their money? It's a time of year, Tiffany. A lot of people mess up.

Tiffany Aliche (17:51)

Yeah, it is and well, one, I like to say, like every time I write a book or post something online, I always leave room for grace and space. You are not here to get it perfect. You are just here to do your best. And sometimes your best is. This is the knowledge that I currently have and I made the most of it. Or in this moment I was feeling bad because last year my kids didn't get what they wanted and I really want them to get what they want this year, whatever that is. Try your best to navigate from the best place possible, but give yourself grace and space if you don't. So what I will say, what is really helpful is don't go through the financial choices of like gift giving alone. So years ago my sisters and I decided to do Secret Santa because it got really expensive to buy gifts for every single sister.

Joe (18:37)

Everybody.

Tiffany Aliche (18:38)

Yeah, you know, so I remember we, I think it was college that we decided, you know, like we're peak brokenness enough that how about we exchange one name? And so you only have to get a gift for one sister. And it was transformative. And so it became this really great holiday tradition. We're on Thanksgiving, that's where we exchange a name. We write them down, put it in a little bucket and we exchange a name and you write down your. It evolved to you writing down the name, maybe two or three things that you'd like. And we always set the budget based upon what's happening. So when we were college kids, it was like 25 bucks. We start to make a little money than 50, recession back to 25. So we set the budget and pandemic down to four, you know, for free. And so, but, but think about that. Even with like, if you have children, integrating them into like, here's what you know, the holiday season is going to look like. If you write down the thing you want, I can get you one big thing and everything else is going to be close and whatever. Like if you set that expectation, people don't have to go in feeling disappointed and you don't have to overspend, you know, if you don't want to.

Joe (19:42)

I feel like people also underestimate the value of like homemade. Like we've lost that. We think that the holidays belong to Target, you know, and truly they don't have to.

Tiffany Aliche (19:50)

They don't. Honestly, when I was a kid, because there was five of us, we got one gift and like everything else was like underwear and pajamas and things like that. And that was normal. I didn't know that. It probably wasn't until middle school that I realized that other kids were getting multiple gifts because my parents had just normalized that. You get one quote unquote, big gift, whatever that was. Teddy Ruxpin, if that even. You know, we always got the off brand. I didn't get Cabbage Patch. We got, like, patching kids.

Joe (20:20)

They're the poorer cousins of the Cabbage Patch Kids.

Tiffany Aliche (20:24)

So it's like, so. But yeah, whatever that one big gift was and everything else I knew were going to be, like, a practical gift. And so you learn to adjust. Children will adjust to, like, what the expectations are. I know it's not. It's harder now more than ever because kids don't even want Jordans. They want Balenciaga and, like, things that are thousands of dollars. You know, kids are used to sushi and ramen, and that's also like, what are you navigating at home? How are you showing up? You know, for them, my parents normalized frugality. I didn't always love it and. But because they normalized it for me now it's really the way that I navigate from a happy place. Like, I don't feel like I'm living less not having all the things that make you look wealthy on the outside, you know?

Joe (21:02)

Financial writer. She's amazing and hilarious. Kristen Wong.

Tiffany Aliche (21:06)

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. Oh, I love her. Yes.

Joe (21:09)

Yeah, she told me a story a couple of years ago, Tiffany, about how her mom told her that Santa didn't come to her house. Every that. And then Kristen was like, well, she. He goes to everybody else's house. And mom was like, oh, you think you're special? You think Santa's got to come to your house? Like.

Tiffany Aliche (21:27)

I know immigrant parents will say that my dad didn't understand the concept of Christmas from the space of, like, Santa because it just didn't exist in Nigeria. It wasn't until I went to Nigeria for the first time. I was 21 years old. And Christmas rolled around and you woke up and you went to church and everyone said, happy Christmas. And that was it.

Joe (21:47)

It's a day. Besides, it was.

Tiffany Aliche (21:48)

Yeah, it was just a special day to celebrate the birth of Christ. But there was no Christmas tree. There were no presents exchange. I remember being like, I don't get it. It didn't hit me that, like, oh, that part of Christmas actually been manufactured that, like, the actual purpose behind Christmas is this. I'm like, oh, wow. You know, because you're like, no, Christmas is the tree and the. Just like, capitalism.

Joe (22:10)

Christmas is capitalism.

Tiffany Aliche (22:13)

No, sincerely. And so it was kind of like the first time that's why it got me to understand why my parents navigated the way they did in America, because they were just like, I don't get it. Because what does that have to do with, like, why we're really celebrating, you know?

Joe (22:26)

And I love this idea of normalization, and I like the idea of surrounding yourself with your sisters, like this positive talk. You spend a lot of time up front in this project, Tiffany, talking. Not a lot of time, but you spend a little time talking about your friend Linda being this person for you. Tell me about Linda and about her role in your life, because I think Linda helps keep you real.

Tiffany Aliche (22:44)

No, she does. And she's still my best friend in it. I tap into Linda again because before you start working on your finances and getting to the nuts and bolts of the thing, you really do have to, like, reframe and adjust how you're thinking and feeling, or you'll just go right back to what you know. You'll go back to what's familiar, even if what's familiar is unhealthy and unhelpful. And so Linda has been someone in my life that taught me she's my best friend, and there's no judgment there. I can share all of my financial challenges, all the mistakes that I've made, and she creates a safe space for me to show up as myself imperfectly. And it's because of that that I've been able to see the solutions of, like, you messed up. You overspent. You didn't make the perfect choices, but you're not a bad person. These choices are not indicative of character. You know, these are just choices that you made that were not in your best interest. Linda doesn't think you're terrible, so maybe you're none. Maybe you could just focus on, well, what can I do? And so having someone like that in the corner. So when I wrote Made Whole, I. I really wanted to dedicate the first part of getting to the work of the money to that part. Like one learning to forgive yourself and then finding someone like your Linda, whoever, maybe it's your mom or dad or sibling or work bestie or whatever, that you can kind of share your financial journey with them. And they're a safe space. They don't have to be. Linda's not financially savvy. She's just a safe space that when I feel like I've messed up in a way, I know that she, like, you could tell, Linda, Linda, I hit somebody with my car and I ran off. She's like, well, were they in the Street. You're like, girl, you're supposed to hold me accountable. Right? So like, Linda's always trying to.

Joe (24:27)

Did you at least bury the body?

Tiffany Aliche (24:28)

I know. She's like, right, so she's like the friend that's like, well, she's like, so not wanting to judge you, you know, like, well, things happen. Maybe you should just go back, though. I feel like you should go back and maybe take them to the hospital.

Joe (24:42)

Maybe turn yourself into the police.

Tiffany Aliche (24:44)

I'll go with you. So find yourself. You're on your financial journey. Find yourself a Linda. And if you don't have a Linda. Well, that's why I created the budget, Nista, my brand. Because I'm like, I can be the Linda for you.

Joe (24:58)

Whole lot of Linda's. Yes.

Tiffany Aliche (25:00)

Like, literally there are so many, like, safe spaces, like safe groups that you can navigate into. I have my dreamcatcher group on like Facebook. But I also, like, in the book, I give you a link to this. Mighty Networks is where we use, like, we have another private group where it's totally free, but people navigate their finances there. Because sometimes you need a Linda that also has perspective. Like, Linda and I are very similar in kind of like our life trajectory. But maybe you are a single dad and you're just like, I don't know how to navigate. I don't know what it's like to be a single dad. But of the hundreds of thousands of dream catchers in the group, someone there is a single dad that might be able to say, oh, when my kid was 2, here's how we navigated that spot. So I don't believe money is. It should be a team sport. That's what I believe.

Joe (25:43)

I do too. And often families can get. I mean, I feel like you're very lucky having having family that you can surround yourself with. Other people don't have that. I mean, they have a family that's judgmental, that is like, oh, what do you think? You know, that you're. I'm getting good with money. What are you talking about? Like, it's kind of sad. I want to talk for a second. Mint. You know, going away, going. Bye, bye. You open up this project talking about your budget.

Tiffany Aliche (26:08)

Yes.

Joe (26:08)

How important is having an app to your budget?

Tiffany Aliche (26:13)

I don't think you have to. I've never, quite honestly, I've never used an app for my budget. Maybe because my dad was an accountant and so I'm a spreadsheet girl all the way. And if an app is going to be helpful, then absolutely, you know, use. I've certainly delved into other types of apps and tried to use them. But because like budget is actually a thing that I enjoy, I find that I like to create a spreadsheet, see what the numbers are saying. And then because automation is a thing, I then will go into like whatever bank that I'm using, like online and then automate what, what I've gotten the spreadsheet to. So, like in the budget chapter of the book, for people who don't even like budgeting, there's a thing that I like to call split it before you get it.

Joe (26:54)

I was just going to go there because I think this tip, by the way, Tiffany, when I sucked with money early on, splitting the money, what Tiffany's about to tell you guys about is the thing that made everything work for me. So lay it on us. So.

Tiffany Aliche (27:11)

So one of the things that makes me whole different from get go with money is I have these quick starts for people who are like, I'm not doing all that. I'm like, fine, just do this. So for the budgeting chapter, it's like you don't know to create a whole budget. Split it before you get it is when I suggest four different bank accounts. Two checking, two savings checking, one spending checking, two bills account saving, one emergency savings saving, two long term goals, which could be investing as well. So those are your four accounts. And so you do a little bit of math to figure out how much money. I like to start with bills because they have to get paid either way. How much money needs to go into your bill account every month, therefore every pay period, how much money you want to save, if you can save it all, because saving, you might not have enough for emergency savings or goal savings. But you know, I like to put it out there because if you do, then you want to figure out how much you want to put there and then how much money do you want to set aside for spending? And so that spending is not like, you know, it can be grooming, but it also could be groceries. It could be like, you know, stuff for the kids, extracurricular activities. So once you figure out how much money is going to go into each of those accounts, then you go to HR payroll and say, hey, instead of paying all of my money to this one checking account, which is where I suspect so many people, their money is going, you ask them to split your money before you get your money into these four accounts. And most payroll systems can do this. I'm not a big business that budget needs to have like four employees. And the payroll system we Use were able to do this. Yeah. You know, so most of them are able to do this. And what that means is that money will come in and split into those accounts. Your money will go into your bills account and if you have enough, you can have your bills paid automatically from that account. Make sure you disconnect the debit card from your bills account. That's critical. Right. Then the other money will go into your spending account. So when you're swiping that debit card, you know, you're not spending bill money, just money set aside for spending money is going to go to a separate bank for savings because you want to make your money inconvenient. Not easily able to be transferred because inconvenient money gets saved. And plus two, if you use an online only bank that has a high yield savings account, you'll earn more money on the money being saved there. And so if you do that, literally you don't have to think about anything every time you get paid, you know, the money is landing where it needs to go. If you want to automate your bills further, go ahead. And you know, when you swipe your debit card, you're not spending savings, you're not spending bill money, you're only spending money that's been allocated for spending. And it is life changing. If you're not going to do a deep dive budget.

Joe (29:41)

I got to tell you, just getting the money in the right spot and taking it out of my hand, Tiffany, taking that, disconnecting the debit card from your spending money.

Tiffany Aliche (29:51)

Yep.

Joe (29:52)

Because I couldn't trust myself.

Tiffany Aliche (29:54)

Yeah.

Joe (29:54)

I mean, I had to have it go to the right place. And that little change.

Tiffany Aliche (29:58)

Yep.

Joe (29:58)

Is just absolutely, absolutely huge.

Tiffany Aliche (30:02)

Yeah, I try to do that because, you know, I used to be a preschool teacher for 10 years, as you know. So I'm always trying to figure out, okay, I'm teaching money and certainly there, here's the deep dive. You know that for those people who want to make that deep dive, but some people are just baby toeing into the water and so I want to have something. So when I wrote made whole, I'm I tried as best as I could for each of the steps to ask myself if there was a quick start, if they only did this one small thing in this 10 minutes or this 20 minutes that still could be life changing to get the ball rolling, what would it be? And so I put that inside made whole. And then, then once you got comfortable there, then you can go and do the rest of the things to really solidify the change.

Joe (30:43)

Well, I think a lot of these, and this was true for me. I think a lot of us just need that little win, right? Give yourself that little win and then go climb the mountain later. For now, let's just get up this little hill or let's learn how to walk.

Tiffany Aliche (30:56)

Literally, that. Like, I just came back. So I try to walk, like, every morning. And when I was like, I need to get back in shape. I need to, you know, you join the gym for two days and you're like, I hate this. You're like, oh, I'm gonna go for a run. You're not, right? And so, honestly, I remember I was just like, a friend of mine who's a personal trainer was like, what about walking? And I've always liked to walk. And I'm like, yeah, but it doesn't do much. He was like, it does. And so I started to walk, like 10 and 20 minutes. And then like an hour in the morning, I listen to a podcast. Maybe I talk to, like, my mom or my dad or a friend. And the hour, I use that hour to sometimes just look at nature or whatever. And in a year, I lost 30 pounds. This is without, like, hitting the gym. Certainly, I started to eat better, but all of a sudden I was like, I'm not winded when I go up the stairs. I didn't realize that you can get a good amount of cardio in with those beginning steps. And now I've started to do calisthenics. But that walking was a door opener for me. And so sometimes you need that door opener. And. And that is the basis of how made whole is written, is that it is a door opener. So that way you can start to integrate real changes that will change your financial life. Like, I don't. I mean, I feel like the industry that we're in, Joe, that there's been this big, especially during the pandemic and post pandemic about get rich, get rich. I know get rich quick schemes have been there forever, but I feel like they really. There was an uptick diamond hands. I mean, there was so much. And I'm just like, if you want wealth, I wish that for you, but I am here to teach you the financial fundamentals, right? That if you don't get your pile of a million dollars, that it doesn't mean that you still can't have a good life. You still can't go on vacation with your partner. You still can have make sure your, you know, your kid plays at least one sport. You're like, I want to be able to give you the tools necessary so you can still have a good life. Like, so here, the financial foundation. I think to myself, like, I'm like the preschool teacher of personal finance, right? Because it's like, that's what I taught in preschool, right. It was like, here are your letters, shapes, colors, go into the world. And so that's what I do with, with personal finance.

Joe (33:04)

Well, let's dive into some of the stuff that we haven't talked about, you and I before. The few times we've been together, I don't think we've ever talked about insurance. Step 7 of your steps is getting good with insurance.

Tiffany Aliche (33:15)

Yes.

Joe (33:15)

You probably, I would imagine, don't get to talk about that a lot during this book tour because nobody want wants to talk about insurance. So let's go there.

Tiffany Aliche (33:22)

Yeah, Honestly, like, was it like maybe five years ago, I started working with my financial, my certified financial planner, Anjali. And I remember she was like, you're insured like a 28 year old. And I'm like, what is. And it was funny because that's when I had purchased life insurance because I bought like a condo. And I was like, I'd read somewhere, oh, you know, if you have, I didn't have kids, but I heard that if you have debt or property, then you might want to consider getting life insurance to at least cover whatever that debt is that you leave behind. And I was like, I had never thought about insurance. You know, when you're young, you're like, insurance is drinking water and taking walks.

Joe (33:57)

That's right. Insurance is maybe staying home on a Friday night.

Tiffany Aliche (34:00)

Yes. And so made whole is about these 10 simple steps to what I call financial wholeness. And so insurance was a critical component because I didn't fully understand that the real purpose of insurance is to protect the assets that you've grown. And so like your body is an asset, you know, so you have health insurance. So if you are no longer here, life insurance will protect like the money that you make that your family might live off of. You have kids or a spouse, you know, you have pet insurance. You know, I know so many people who've gone into debt because their pet got sick and they never thought about pet insurance. There's homeowners insurance, there's renters insurance, which is so inexpensive, yet so few people get renters insurance. But also two, disability insurance. Sometimes we forget. So your job might have disability insurance. But as someone who has seen someone not get their disability money come in until they return back to work months later, because that's how long it took. You know, you can get this gap insurance in between to make sure that, like, well, while I wait for that money to come in, I can still pay my bills. So there's so many insurances that we're not aware of. So I break down what, like a true teacher, all the types of insurance you might want to consider. There's a quiz where you could take to see which kind of insurance that you might need, what to expect, not necessarily the amount that you should pay, but, like, how much you might need based upon where you are in life, that insurance chapter. So many people are like, I've never read that in a financial fundamentals book. And I think it's left out and it should not be.

Joe (35:25)

Well, what's an insurance that most of us need that very few people have?

Tiffany Aliche (35:31)

Well, if you're an adult, probably life insurance outside of your job, meaning, like, if you have, like, kids or you have. I just feel like not as many people have life insurance. And we could see that because when the pandemic hit and people, you know, unfortunately lost their lives, how many GoFundMes, how many fundraisers, so people didn't have enough insurance set aside to bury themselves. And so I would say probably that. And renters insurance, I don't know. Like, renters Insurance is like 10 bucks a month, you know, and so, because you might say, oh, well, you know, I live in this building or this home. Yes. And the owner, the landlord definitely has insurance, but it might not cover your things.

Joe (36:12)

I've heard so many stories, Tiffany, where the, you know, somebody goes to their landlord and goes, hey, you know, there was a smoke problem. And so my clothing is all, whatever you need to pay for that. Like, well, that's what your renters insurance is for. And so many people go, what are you talking about? No, no, no, it's your building. They're like, yeah, that ensures the walls, not your clothing.

Tiffany Aliche (36:30)

Yes.

Joe (36:30)

It's like a whole different. Whole different deal.

Tiffany Aliche (36:33)

And it's relatively inexpensive. Renters insurance is typically well under 20 bucks a month. You know, I've seen it on average, like nine, ten bucks a month. So you think to yourself, for ten bucks a month, I could have protected myself.

Joe (36:44)

You know, I also feel like, Tiffany, this is the area that people, you know, when you are really struggling with money, this is the area where people start thinking, I'm going to cut back. And to me, this is the most dangerous spot to cut back. But I remember when I was broke, I'm like, ooh, I'm going to get the Worst car insurance known to man.

Tiffany Aliche (37:03)

Yeah.

Joe (37:03)

That's where I, you know, which is a horrible way to, you know, the first time something bad happens, then I'm. I'm screwed.

Tiffany Aliche (37:10)

Then you're screwed. And also too, I was thinking to myself, your initial question about an insurance that people don't have, probably disability.

Joe (37:16)

Disability? Oh, yeah.

Tiffany Aliche (37:17)

That's probably the number one. Mm. Because I feel like, you know, if you're in your like 30s and 40s, you. You don't really. You start to conceive of maybe in your 40s that, oh, I might not feel well one day. But you'd be surprised. A car accident, tripping down the stairs. Shoot. Stretching too hard in the morning these days, you know, and then you find yourself like, wait, but disability insur. Because I don't think people realize that it often takes a long time for it to kick in, even if your job offers it. Like, I've seen it take six months before you get your first check and you're not working. So what do you do in the meantime if you don't have six months worth of savings? And so disability insurance is something I think that people underestimate and don't have for themselves.

Joe (37:57)

Well, there's the biggest insurance right there. Having that emergency fund, right?

Tiffany Aliche (38:00)

Yes, yes.

Joe (38:01)

Yeah, that's probably one you and this project by talking about leaving a legacy.

Tiffany Aliche (38:07)

Yeah.

Joe (38:08)

When. When should people get their estate plan done?

Tiffany Aliche (38:10)

The truth is as soon as you start working, as soon as you get a bank accountant. So if you're 21 years old, estate planning might just look like, who's my beneficiaries? Like, my mom was always my beneficiary in my bank accounts, you know. So I think people think of estate planning as like, oh, you've got like this big old mansion and millions of dollars. No, it's just, you have to.

Joe (38:28)

I gotta make a. I gotta make a video of my family watches after I die and I tell em where the treasure's hidden.

Tiffany Aliche (38:36)

But what you realize is estate planning is just, if you have stuff, what do you want to happen to your stuff? And so at the bare minimum, beneficiaries, if you have a job, and oftentimes jobs will. Will offer like a life insurance policy through the job, you know, who's the beneficiary. So many people don't have anybody listed. They don't understand even when it comes to beneficiaries, like, I didn't understand this fully that you don't have to just say, well, I'm gonna list my mom. You can actually List people in percentages. Let's just say you've got like four kids. You can say each of the kids gets 25%. And so beneficiaries is like, if nothing else, update your beneficiaries and make sure that like you're updating it. I would say annually, you want to just take a look because as you get older, you might get married and you might get divorced, you might have another kid. So you want to make sure that that's all covered. Also too considering a will, at the very least, once you have a kid, you need to have a will, you know, because you really want to make sure that if something happens to you, God forbid, what your desires are for your child are carried out, especially when your child is underage. Because let's just say, I don't know, like you grew up in a heavily religious household, but you've left the religion and you're wanting like your sister also left the religion, but your, your brother is still very religious. You love him, but you prefer your kid not to be relate raised in that religion. So you're going to want to know, like in this will, this is what's happening. It's not just about the financials, although that helps. A will really lets people know immediately after your passing, what do I want to happen immediately after, for about six months after my passing, what do I want to happen? And then a trust allows you to go as deep into the future basically as you want to. So a trust, typically you want to think about a trust. If you have an estate worth about half a million dollars or more, you want to start to consider a million dollars or more. You probably should, because having a will does not help with probate court, which is real really, where kind of like they divvy up your stuff for the world to see. And having a will is not going to really help with potentially the taxes that the people inheriting your stuff are going to incur. A trust allows that. Like I have a trust now where I have put all my things, I have the house I live in now, I have a condo, I have some businesses. All that belongs to the trust. And then I have my beneficiaries of the trust, so they're not actually inheriting anything. So that inheritance tax that so many states charge, you know, they're not going to have to pay the tax on that because currently we're all owners.

Joe (41:03)

It's almost like you set up a company that lives on after you die.

Tiffany Aliche (41:06)

Yes, exactly. And so that's really helpful. But the sooner the Better. I mean, two years ago, it's crazy. Almost to the day, my husband passed away suddenly from an aneurysm. And he was 41. I always say, like, death is the most common, uncommon thing. Like, we know people die every day. People literally die every second. But you're like, not my people.

Joe (41:26)

Right. It doesn't happen to me.

Tiffany Aliche (41:29)

Yeah. Until it does. I can remember it was November 9th. He called me and was like, babe, I have such a crazy headache. I don't feel good. I'm gonna go to the hospital. And I was like, okay. I was supposed to go to the city and I was supposed to speak for, like, Chase bank or something like that. And my husband's kind of like a hypochondriac. So, like, I mean, he stubbed his toe and go to the hospital. So I kind of was like, does he really have a headache or. But something was like, even though, like, Chase paid already, just go to the hospital. And I'm so glad that I did, because that was the last time that I saw him, like, speaking and alive. And so on the 15th, he passed away. He had an aneurysm. They did a surgery. They said it went well at first, and then it didn't. And just like that, somebody who I figured I was going to spend my whole life with is not here. And because we had done a lot of the financial work ahead of time, I would say we've got about 85% of our estate planning done. It made it easier, you know, but the 15% that we didn't do, oh, boy, oh, boy. Because he didn't have a will. Although we had the beneficiary set up, we had the conversations. And so we had already put things in place, but there was a handful of things that, like, we didn't quite get to. And I just think about that, like, thankfully, like, you know, it all worked out, you know, as things are apt to do. But it just was such a reminder, you know, you think you're so young, you think you have so much time, because it's crazy. Literally just the week before, our financial advisor was like, you guys need to finish your will. And we were like, okay, okay, okay. This weekend, this weekend and the next week, he wasn't here, you know, and so if you're looking for, like, a wake up call to, like, get to it, get to it. Honestly, a will is. It was so much easier than I thought because if you have a really good attorney, which I did, she had, like, a template already. And in the template, we just kind Of. Because once he passed away, I did my will right away because I got really scared because life seemed so uncertain, and I thought, yeah, oh, God, I can't. You know, and then so. And my parents, they had not updated the will. My dad is in his 80s, and he would always say, next year, next year. And I'm like. I told my dad, I'm like, daddy, you have to get your will updated because it's a nightmare when nobody knows what you're wanting. And so my attorney had this great template. He and my mom looked at it and, you know, changed a few things and got it notarized right at their local bank. So we can breathe a sigh of relief, because when you do that, you give your family and friends the opportunity to just miss you and not the other stuff, because it's really. It's a lot. I mean, so many people who had lost their partners were like, buckle in, Tiffany. Because people who you thought, you know, were family or friends or loved ones, you know, a lot comes out when money's at stake, you know. And so, like I said, thankfully, like, my husband was really great. He had had a life insurance policy in place already. So, like, my stepdaughter, Alyssa, doesn't have to worry about school. That's already paid for. So thank God for that. And he didn't make a lot of money, relatively speaking, to where we live. He made. Never made over $60,000 a year. So I think people think you have to, like, make a lot of money. It's like, no.

Joe (44:28)

No.

Tiffany Aliche (44:28)

School is paid for because of the choices he made before we got married and before the aneurysm, thank God, or they would have never given him that life insurance. These are the choices, like, we made, like I said, mostly really good choices. So as a result, his family and friends get to just miss him. It wasn't this big financial shock to the system.

Joe (44:46)

I remember when my brother died in 2021 from COVID and. And I. Well, no, I mean, well, it's nowhere near having my spouse die, but you're really emotional. Like, you're really. And. And. And to not be able to focus on the emotions because you got to deal with the stupid bank or the stupid, you know, whatever it is. I mean, my brother, he. He didn't tell anybody, not even his spouse, where most of his stuff was, and we had to go look for it.

Tiffany Aliche (45:16)

It's such a nightmare. When I tell you that was one of the blessings. Blessings. Blessings that, like, there was nothing I did not know about that man. Whenever he logged in to look at his paycheck, whatever. He always used my computer and everything. So all the passwords were saved. I knew the password to his phone. It's so crazy because Jerrel was here when Made Whole came out, when git go with money came out, and then he wasn't here when Made whole came out. So that chapter, both of them have the chapter about estate planning, but it hit different when I was doing that chapter because. You know what I mean? Because it's different. You know, you talk about it from a place of like, this is what you should have, and I'm like, no.

Joe (45:52)

You effing need it.

Tiffany Aliche (45:53)

Yes. And so a few things that were really helpful. Having at least one joint bank account with a family member that you trust. We had this one joint bank account, a checking account, and we had a savings account. When someone passes away, oftentimes the bank will freeze all the assets. But if that's your spouse, of course you can have ownership of those assets. And so I was able to transfer some money from his personal bank accounts to that joint account and still have access. So we can start the process of figuring out what does burying him look like, you know, so that was critical. At the very least, like, you want to keep that cell phone on for a year. It is the key that will unlock so many things. So you can't figure out their bank account login. They're going to send a text to your cell phone. You know, you can't figure out how to. Whatever you know your cell phone is going to be. So keep that cell phone open at least a year.

Joe (46:43)

Well, think about the number of people that don't even know how to get into their spouse's cell phone.

Tiffany Aliche (46:48)

That's crazy.

Joe (46:49)

And that's the key to everything.

Tiffany Aliche (46:51)

Everything. Your cell phone and email are the key to everything. Because typically they'll send you an email, a link to say, click this link so we know it's you, or they'll send you something via your cell phone. Those two things. All my sisters know my password to my cell phone and my email. And of course, my niece and nephew because they're always playing games, like, so. But so those two things are critical. But also there's some other things. Like, Jerrel, like, had this old school, like, metal box where he kept, like, all his papers. And my dad used to do the same. I used to be like, you're such an old man, Jerrel. And so I now have this, like, this fireproof bag, though, which is great. Where like, every bank statement Every. Whatever I put it in there. So that way. 80 years old, 90 years old, and you have to go looking. Everything's in this fireproof bag, including my will, including the trust. Everything is there. Just making things easier. But another thing I tell people, that's not financial. Take so many candid photos and pictures of the people that you love. Not for social media. Just like, you know, you're standing in the kitchen, you're, like, eating breakfast. You're one. Jerrel's mother passed away when he was in his 20s, and he said, I don't have, like, any video of her. So he made it a habit to take a ton of pictures and video of not just us, but himself. He was like a secret vlogger. So when he passed away, I'm looking through his phone and there's all these videos to us, like, hey, guys, you know, like, you know, none of you guys wanted to help me shovel, so I'm doing it by myself as usual. But you know how wonderful that is to, like, see. I didn't even know that they were in there. And so we created this Google family album, if you will, of all things. Him. And there are literally thousands of videos and pictures and that his family, friends. I added them all to the album. That at any moment, you can hear him laugh, you can see him smile, you can hear him say, I love you. All the things are there. And so that was critical, and I'm so grateful. So I try to keep that in mind, that when I see my parents, video, pictures, you know, because they're older now, but not just that, nieces and nephews. And none of it gets posted. It's just to keep that memory. So that was a critical component. And also, too. I mean, from.

Joe (48:54)

From. Can I stop you for just a second? Because from way far away from where I am, way down here in Texarkana, Texas. Tiffany, the thing that I really appreciated that you did during that time, as a guy who was a financial planner in the past, and I saw people go through really emotional times. You disappeared for a while.

Tiffany Aliche (49:15)

Yeah.

Joe (49:16)

And I think that's super important for everybody to just get that. I have no idea what you did, Tiffany. All I knew was you were going to be unreachable for a while.

Tiffany Aliche (49:26)

Yes.

Joe (49:26)

And we all need to do that because I'll tell you, when I was a financial planner, I would see people do stupid.

Tiffany Aliche (49:32)

Yeah.

Joe (49:33)

Right after a spouse died, right after a sibling died. Right after a pain. Like. You know what I mean? Like, people do. And to be able to actually have Your estate plan done so you could go wherever you went.

Tiffany Aliche (49:45)

Yes, I went to Bali for two months. I was like, I don't want to be. And then so I disappeared from like, work for. And I know everyone can't do this for six months. I don't even know why there's not grief. Three days, I. I can't even imagine three days. You have to be back at work when you lose your mom, your dad, your brother, your sister, your spouse. And so I was fortunate that after all the funeral arrangements were done, I was like, I went to Bali by myself. I was looking for a safe space where a woman could go. And it was so quiet. The Balinese are like the kindest people you will ever meet.

Joe (50:16)

I was just there.

Tiffany Aliche (50:17)

Yes, it's so beautiful.

Joe (50:18)

I was just there. Well, not only that, when you say the nicest people. The funny thing about it was I gave a talk in Bali and I said during my talk, I feel like in Bali, like every culture must have an. But Bali doesn't have theirs. Like, they've got Robert stuck in the closet cause he's a jerk. And they're waiting till after the tourists leave to bring him out. You know what I mean?

Tiffany Aliche (50:40)

They're so nice. It's not a transactional culture. Like, I remember I had like a young woman that would like come by and do my laundry and it was like six bucks. So I would leave her 10, you know, because we're such a tipping culture. And then she would give me back four. I'm like, no, no, no, no. And she's like, no, it's $6. I'm like, I know, but I'm wanting because thank you so much. I'm wanting to give you. She would refuse to take it. I'm like, I just couldn't wrap my mind around. I'm like, I don't. And she's like, no, I've already priced it fair enough for me to get what I need. And I'm here to help you get what you need. It just. The Balinese are very non transactional. That helps so much. But also therapy. I don't even know what people do without, like therapy. My therapist was just also. I literally started therapy when I was in Bali. Like virtual therapy. That helps. Well.

Joe (51:26)

And I've never been in a more spiritual place in my life. I mean, the water temples and the.

Tiffany Aliche (51:30)

Yeah, just.

Joe (51:31)

Oh, heaven.

Tiffany Aliche (51:32)

And then after that, even when I came back, I was like, I'm back from Bali, but I'm not back, you know. And so my team thankfully did Whatever they needed to do for the six months that I was away. It's only just now, two years later, that, like, I'm feeling like I'm coming back to myself a little bit. You don't realize how far away from yourself you are. I look back a year, I'm like, even know why I came back a year later? Because I was not myself, you know, And I'm just kind of left feeling like myself. And the financial education that I teach has hit different because it's, like, for this purpose, for when real life happens, are you able to still maintain, like, a safe place to live, food to eat, to be able to take care of yourself? I've always taught from this holistic space anyway, but it just hit different because I was able to do that because of the choices. You know, I live far below my means, and because of the choices that I've made, my financial life, I was able to take time away when I could not focus on those financial things. I was like, I. I had enough autopilot going that they could take care of themselves, and I could take care of myself. And so I want that for everyone, you know, because death is the most common, uncommon thing. And at some point, we're all here live, none of us. You know, I remember Dr. Green, my therapist, said, tiffany, you have unlocked the next level of human living, which is you understand that to love is to lose. But we as humans choose to love anyway. Because whether it's your favorite shirt, your dog, yourself, at some point, all of these things will no longer be here, and we choose to love anyway. And so that's what I've chosen to do, that I'm just, like. I'm in the space now where I'm just, like. You know, I get to decide how I want to show up, which is connectedness, which is love, which is family and friendship. When I stood next to Jerrell, I knew he wasn't gonna quite make it. He was in a coma because he was an organ donor, which I encourage everyone to be because we saved, like, four lives as a result of him passing. He was an organ donor. And so, like, his spleen saved someone's life. I forget what else. There was, like, lungs. It was a bunch of things that, like, he was open to donating. It's crazy, because he just told his daughter a few weeks prior, because the doctors asked, is he an organ donor? And I said, honestly, I don't know. And Alyssa was like, no, he is. Two weeks ago, I was going through his wallet, and I pulled out his License. And I said, daddy, how come you don't have organ donor checked off? And like so many superstitious people, I don't want to check off because just in case I get into a car accident, I don't want them to be like, ooh, fresh meat. He said, but if you ever. I know. Which is so. If you knew him. That is so him. He said, but if ever.

Joe (54:00)

Don't give anybody an idea.

Tiffany Aliche (54:02)

Yes, exactly. He said, but if anything ever happens to me, he was like, you could donate my whole body, donate to science. Like, if I can help someone else, then so be it. And so the fact that she had that knowledge is so beautiful. So we were able to confidently say, that's part of estate planning. Yes. You know, like, donate my organs. And a woman a year later wrote me this really beautiful letter, because you can do so through, like, this donor network. It basically said, like, you know, me writing this is really sad because I know you had to lose someone you loved in order for me to be here. But I just want to say thank you so much. Only 2% of people that pass away are eligible for organ donation because you have to pass away in the hospital on a respirator. So it's just very small, you know, like, if you get hit by a car and something happens to you, so the fact that you're in that space. And so he was really generous in life and so to leave on that space of generosity. But what I was saying before is, like, when I stood next to Jerrell when he was in his coma, life became as clear as it ever could be of, like, what's really important. And the only thing that came up was love and connectedness. And to me, that is the purpose of the financial component is to free up energy, space, time, so you can work on the love and connectedness and the people that you care about. That's it for me, anyway.

Joe (55:18)

What a perfect day, Tiffany, for you to be here mentoring our stackers, because this is a time, I feel like when people. To your point, way earlier in this conversation, people get too connected to the hustle, too connected to the consumerism, to buying the right gift, to overspending, to buying. And when you go back to connectedness and we're not promised forever, I think that's. It's the perfect day for us to talk about getting your house in order, because for me, that's what makes you. You already are whole. But to experience that wholeness by going through these steps and. And thinking about what truly is important is this time together. Is so, so good. The book is called Made Whole, the practical guide to reaching your financial goals. And it is available everywhere. You're helping everybody everywhere.

Tiffany Aliche (56:07)

Yes. But if you want to support, like, a small bookstore, which hopefully you do, you can go tomade whole workbook.com. we showcase a small bookstore, like, every week on that platform. Yeah. So because, you know, I feel like, especially if you're gonna buy something, go ahead and get made whole and then. And then support. Support a small business, you know, Made Whole workbook dot com.

Joe (56:27)

Help them be made whole. Yeah. Thank you so much for sharing, Tiffany. That's a. I don't know. It's so important for people to hear it from somebody who's been through all that.

Tiffany Aliche (56:35)

Yeah. Thank you. You're welcome.

Doug (56:41)

Hey there, Stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. I had such a great Thanksgiving weekend. Stayed home alone watching old movies. I mean, don't get me wrong, a lot of women wanted to spend the weekend with me. I just. I wasn't in the mood. Actually shut my phone off on Friday morning and set my. My outgoing message to say I was out of town just so I wouldn't have to disappoint anyone. I originally planned to watch all of the Die Hard movies, but I couldn't find my DVD box set, so I settled on an Audrey Hepburn movie marathon instead. I know I seem way too manly for that, but I really enjoyed them. Started with Roman Holiday because of my fascination with the Roman Empire. That was a little confusing. After that, I watched Charade with her and Cary Grant. That one was probably my favorite. I mean, it's got it all. Murder mystery. My doppelganger. My grandma's friend Helen always told me I reminded her of Cary Grant. And I'm almost positive she didn't have cataracts. So, yeah, pretty much me, Cary Grant, you know. And of course, I had to watch Breakfast at Tiffany's, which wasn't at all what I thought it was either. This whole time, I thought it was about a woman named Tiffany who has people over for a meal, like the movie Clue, but, you know, without the breakfast. Today's trivia question is, if we went to Tiffany's for breakfast so we could have breakfast at Tiffany's, what color would our to go box be? I'll be back right after I see what I'd look like with short bangs.

Tiffany Aliche (58:06)

Shopping is hard, right?

Joe (58:08)

But I found a better way.

OG (58:09)

Stitch fix online Personal styling makes it easy. I just give my stylist my size, style, and budget preferences. I Order boxes when I want and how I want. No subscription required.

Tiffany Aliche (58:19)

And he sends just for me, pieces.

OG (58:21)

Plus outfit recommendations and styling tips. I keep what works and send back the rest. It's so easy. Make style easy. Get started today@stitchfix.com Spotify. That's stitchfix.com Spotify.

Tiffany Aliche (58:35)

Next roll with Vernon Davis.

OG (58:37)

The transformative journeys of athletes, artists and entrepreneurs.

Tiffany Aliche (58:40)

We have very special guests.

Doug (58:42)

Ladies and gentlemen, Yvonne Frank.

Joe (58:44)

Whether it's the movies I'm doing, whether.

Tiffany Aliche (58:45)

It'S the TV shows, I just tap into the truth. That's what I bring to every project. Ladies and gentlemen, Isaac Keith. People always ask, how did you make it to the NFL? How did you get into acting? There's a story behind all of that. It's about whether you're willing to tell your story or not. Next Roll isn't about what's next.

OG (59:00)

It's about why they do it.

Tiffany Aliche (59:01)

Next Roll with Vernon Davis.

Joe (59:03)

Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

Doug (59:10)

Hey there, stackers. I'm amateur gemologist and Cary Grant lookalike Joe's mom's neighbor Doug. I did some googling during the break and found out that Audrey Hepburn was an egot. Unfortunately, she won her Grammy posthumously, but I'll still give it to her, you know, still counts. I always thought it would be cool to win all of those awards, but then you gotta find somewhere to put them. So I bet it ends up being more of a pain than anything. Actually, I'm kind of glad I haven't won it. Today's trivia question is if we went to Tiffany's for breakfast so we could have breakfast, breakfast at Tiffany's, what color would our to go box be? The answer. Immediately recognizable by millions around the world, Tiffany's iconic packaging is an official pantone color called 1837 Blue, named for the company's founding year. But the robin's egg hue is registered with the company as Tiffany blue.

Tiffany Aliche (60:02)

Hello, fellow stackers. I'm Michelle from Enid, Oklahoma. When I'm not taming lions as a veterinary technician at an all cat clinic, I'm stacking Benjamins.

Joe (60:14)

Big thanks to Tiffany for sharing that. You know, after interviews. Oh, gee, I say big thanks to our guest. I think every episode, but huge thanks because, oh gee, people haven't gone through what Tiffany's gone through. And you could hear it halfway through, couldn't you? I mean, she. We went from Tiffany being Tiffany Alice the budget Nista to Tiffany being the somewhat still grieving spouse two years later who really still, you can tell, needs to talk about it. And if you don't have your financial house in order, it's so difficult. I mean, just. Just the emotions that you go through. I don't think any of us have any clue, even after hearing that interview.

OG (60:53)

Well, you can't unless you go through it. I've been through it. And I think that's the important part of contingency planning, whatever you want to call it, estate planning or, you know, risk management or whatever you want to think about it as is that you're not going to be able to make great financial choices under high emotional strain. It just won't work. So you have to give yourself an opportunity to have space. And the way that you do that is by doing the things that you know you can do, making sure that you have the right protection in place, whatever that looks like. Having the right beneficiaries in place, right. Estate planning, and like all. All of the things that are really crappy to think about and talk about and. And do. It takes work to do. It takes follow up and all that other sort of muscle that we don't ever have to use. And then you're still gonna have a lot of crap to deal with, regardless. You know what I mean?

Joe (61:45)

Well, you got so much crap.

OG (61:46)

At least the money is.

Joe (61:47)

If you can just deal with the crap in your head, you know what I mean?

OG (61:50)

You have the opportunity to do that.

Joe (61:52)

Yes.

OG (61:52)

Yeah.

Joe (61:53)

Well, that's a best case scenario. Worst case is I got all this crap in my head. I got to go down and fight with the bank about my money.

OG (62:00)

Yeah, and the mortgage is due on the first. It's like it's due on Monday or it's due on Friday. You know what I mean? Like, it's like the banker doesn't care. I mean, your actual banker might, but the bank does not.

Joe (62:12)

I hope that people heard loud and clear. By the way, when we talked about the cell phone, know your people close to you how to get into their cell phone? At least have them write it down somewhere because, oh, gee, she was right on. This phone is like the key to all the passwords, all the accounts. Like, if she hadn't been able. When my brother passed away, they couldn't figure out how to get into his phone.

Doug (62:37)

No, seriously, I'm not trying to find out if you have a girlfriend. I just want to make sure that if you die unexpectedly, that I can get into your phone.

Joe (62:47)

Well, like a password manager. I know Cheryl and I share all our, you know, we use Dashlane, a good password manager. Having the knowledge of where everything is. I know with my brother and I know I said this during the interview, but with my brother that's we spent so much time looking for stuff because he didn't share any of that with anybody.

OG (63:03)

Yeah. Tough process for sure.

Joe (63:06)

It is a tough process.

OG (63:07)

Glad she shared it.

Joe (63:08)

Yeah. Thank you so much to Tiffany. Time to throw out the lifeline to a stacker. When a stacker needs help, we're always there to help them pick themselves up. It's a great part of having a great community of stackers. By the way, if you want to be part of our community, head to our Facebook group, which we call Mom's Basement. Go to Stacking Benjamin's Basement. Just put that in the search bar in Facebook and apply to join. And Gertrude, Mom's friend will, will help you join our community by the way. Also, if you're looking for good financial tips about today's show and Wednesday show, the 201 or newsletter, stacking benjamins.com 201 today though, we're going to throw out the lifeline to a lucky stacker named Maggie. Hey Maggie.

Tiffany Aliche (63:55)

Hi Joe. Og and Doug.

Joe (63:57)

Maggie here.

Tiffany Aliche (63:57)

My partner and I live abroad at the moment, but we'll be heading back to the US in the next two years. We will be moving in with my parents for the first few months because all of our stuff will be on a shipping container somewhere and also to save a bit more money to finally buy a house. My partner is a little bit behind on his retirement savings goals, so I have proposed to him that we use this rent free time to first catch up on his retirement and then to save more to buy a house. We're debt free, mid-30s, have a healthy emergency savings account. My retirement's on track. Are there any ramifications to throwing like 50 or $100,000 just straight into a brokerage account in one year? Should we be doing something else? Is there anything else we should be thinking about? Apologies if this is incredibly basic to some folks. Thank you guys so much. Can't wait to hear what you have to say.

OG (64:48)

Thanks.

Doug (64:50)

You know, Joe, you introduced that as Maggie, but I'm pretty sure that she said Miggy. Is that. Was that Miguel Cabrera that was calling in? I mean, living abroad?

Joe (64:59)

Yes. Just retired from the.

Doug (65:01)

Exactly.

OG (65:02)

Just retired.

Joe (65:03)

One of the world's biggest contracts. Going to be in the hall of fame.

Doug (65:05)

Yeah.

Joe (65:06)

Maggie, thanks so much for the call. And by the way, when you talk about a basic question. Oh gee, those are. That is not a basic question. And this is also the type of question everybody has that nobody asks. The number of times that I've fielded questions that people have started with this might seem stupid. And it's the same question everybody else is asking. So, yeah, yeah. Ramifications of putting a lot of money away in one year while they're rent free.

OG (65:37)

I guess I think about this in kind of an order of operations, savings goal type of scenario. Right. So the first thing that we want to make sure is, is do you have your emergency fund? Second thing is, do you have your consumer debt paid off? Which, you know, sounds like both of those are checked off. So then the next piece is, what are we going to do about retirement savings and then other short and intermediate term goals? She said, hey, I think that we're a little behind or he's a little behind in his retirement savings, but we're in our mid-30s. It's like, you can't be behind in your mid-30s. You have so much time, it's ridiculous. That doesn't mean you should go, sweet. I can not think about this till I'm 50 because every day counts. But by the same token, I don't know that it requires massive jerking of the wheel to get on track, so to speak. That being said, you have the opportunity to save a bunch of money while you're not paying rent and, you know, you're trying to build the down payment money for the house. Assuming that the house down payment is kind of an immediate goal and also that you have that mostly funded, then there's no reason that you wouldn't want to put money away for the next goal. And that next goal might be retirement or financial independence or, you know, other things. But the next longer term goal. So fill up your retirement accounts, your Roth IRAs and, and IRAs and 401ks if you have those opportunities. Obviously there's ways to do that and kind of the order to do that. But assuming that that's done and you're like, and I still have 50 grand left over, I still have $100,000 left over. Now what do I do? Absolutely put it in an investment account. The question becomes is what do I invest inside of my investment account? Because you can send the money to Schwab and they'll just let it sit in a checking account until you tell them what to do with it or send it to Vanguard. It'll go into a Vanguard account and, you know, money market account until you tell them what to do with it. This is really just going to be determined around when's the next thing that you have that goal for if this is financial independence, long term investing, follow your asset allocation. There's no sense in going slow and investing it over time. And just if you've got 100 grand, you want to invest it, just invest it, be done with it, move on with life. No tax issues with that, if that's kind of the question. Or limits. You know, some people think that there might be limits in terms of your ability to save and there are within certain retirement specific accounts. But a regular, regular investment account, there's, there's no limitations there. So have at it.

Joe (68:02)

I think a lot of people forget about that huge upside, which is not only are there no limits, there's also the money's flexible. You can then if you have something come up, you, you can get at it. And if you're investing in something like index funds, OG I think people kind of over worry about the tax ramification of having that brokerage account, especially money nerds. And really the tax hit, if you're using exchange traded funds shouldn't be egregious, should it?

OG (68:37)

Well, I mean, you pay taxes when you make money. It's no different than any. I agree with you on this. Like people get overly worked up about, about the tax bill. It's like, well, you don't get mad. I mean, you get mad, I suppose, but it's just a fact of life. When you make money, you pay taxes. It doesn't matter. You earned it. If you earned it through working or you earned it through a real estate sale, or you earned it through business sell, you know, you sold a business or you sell stock, you're gonna, you're gonna pay taxes. So.

Doug (69:06)

Oh gee. Any weird wrinkles to this because of where she, because she's overseas right now, if I remember right. So any weird wrinkles about when she does this? If she does, if she's overseas, but she does it while she's still there versus coming back stateside. Any wrinkles there she needs to be worried about or is that irrelevant?

OG (69:22)

Yeah, no, that's a good question. Certain companies are going to have issues with you opening accounts overseas. You'll have to do some investigating to find out which organizations, you know, which brokerage companies will allow international accounts. If in fact you are doing that while you're overseas, while you're international, still there are places that allow you to do that. I know Schwab, for example, will allow you to do it. That's not a silly question that, that could be an issue for some people for sure.

Joe (69:49)

So I would go first year Broker Maggie and make sure that there's no issues while you're abroad.

OG (69:56)

Once you have an address in the States, you're golden.

Joe (69:59)

Maybe it's Miggy's sister. Maggie Cabrera.

Doug (70:03)

Yeah, Maggie Cabrera.

Joe (70:05)

Thanks for the question. Maggie Cabrera. Congratulations on a great career. Congrats to your brother.

OG (70:10)

Stackybenchments.com she's like, who the hell's Miggy Cabrera?

Joe (70:17)

You can tell we're all Detroit Tiger fans right there.

Tiffany Aliche (70:21)

Are we all.

Joe (70:22)

Oh, are you now going Rangers on us? Is that it? Well, one team did win.

OG (70:27)

Well, I was never. What's the team in Detroit? Oh, Tigers. I was never a Tiger fan.

Joe (70:32)

Oh, that's horrible, Doug. Why do we even put up with that? That's horrible. Come on.

Doug (70:38)

That's like the 11th different version of that question we ask about OG which.

OG (70:44)

Can all be summarized. What the hell is wrong with him? It's like, like a mind map. What the hell is wrong with OG it's like stuffing, question mark. Tigers, question mark, Cranberry sauce, question mark.

Doug (70:59)

How many different topics Tiffany was talking.

Joe (71:02)

Earlier about, you know, needing some therapy while she was in Bali. I'm like, I got a guy who might need some. And I was talking about Doug and.

OG (71:10)

I, you know, we could all use it, honestly.

Joe (71:13)

Yes. Having to hang out with. With. With OG not wrong. Stacking. Benjamin.com voicemail if you've got a question for us, Maggie, we are sending you a Greatest Money show on Earth shirt. It truly is our very comfortable circus shirt represents the show. OG Is all of the animals on the shirt. I'm the ringmaster. Doug is the monkeys. It's really good. All right, that's gonna do it for today, except for our last segment, which we call Hanging out on the Back Porch. And at this part, we always begin our back porch relaxing segment sitting back and hearing what's coming up in the community calendar this week. We're back from the long week. Doug, what we got going on?

Doug (72:04)

Well, Joe, it's an interesting week after a holiday week, everybody is still in chill mode. So what better way to chill than on Tuesday with an Instagram Live with Kate and then on Thursday with you? Right? So Kate's. She's kind of midday. You feel like taking a mental break midday? Maybe you do this every day? I don't know. But certainly on Tuesday, about 11:30 Eastern, take a break with Kate and then with you on Thursday at like 5 o' clock after work.

Joe (72:36)

More of a happy hour.

Doug (72:37)

Yeah.

Joe (72:37)

What we hope to do on Tuesday and Thursday is talk about two different things this week. It's a big time for office parties and community parties. And let's say that I've. I'm throwing a holiday party. How do I throw a holiday party without breaking the bank? And also tipping.

Doug (72:54)

Don't invite me.

Joe (72:57)

He will eat everything. He'll eat it all. He will eat everything. Go to stack benjamin.com welcome by the way, for all the different places where he can hang out with us. Guys, I saw a movie. This is a movie by this little known director named Martin Scorsese. Have you guys ever heard of this guy?

Doug (73:15)

No, I think you said it wrong. I think Scorsese. Yeah, true film aficionado say Scorsese. I always wanted to hit people that say that. Like those are the same people that say croissant. Oh, no, it's Croissant.

Joe (73:31)

Or Budapest. Like it's supposed to be.

Doug (73:34)

Right?

Joe (73:34)

Exactly.

Doug (73:35)

Did you know that Budapest is actually two cities? They always have to throw that in too.

Joe (73:39)

This stars two up and coming actors named Robert De Niro and Leonardo DiCaprio. Don't know if you've heard of them, but let's take a quick listen. You know, you got, you got nice colors, skin.

Doug (73:53)

What color would you say that is?

OG (73:56)

My color.

Joe (74:01)

Oh, they have the worst land possible, but they outsmart everybody.

OG (74:10)

The land had oil on it.

Tiffany Aliche (74:12)

Black gold.

Joe (74:15)

Money flows freely here.

Tiffany Aliche (74:17)

Now I do love that money.

OG (74:18)

Sir.

Joe (74:29)

That sound of cars coming through town is that once they struck oil, the Osage people got really, really wealthy. This is a true story. You guys know anything about this story?

OG (74:38)

Nope.

Doug (74:39)

Do not. No.

Joe (74:40)

So the Osage, like you heard Robert De Niro there, that was his voice talking about how they had the worst land ever thanks to the US government stuck them on the worst land. And turned out it was pretty damn good land because there was oil on that land. And they all got what was called a head, right? So each person got their quote, head right. And immediately a bunch of people stepped forward to help them manage it because they weren't capable of managing it themselves. And very helpful people doing that. And also a bunch of people came into town and all of a sudden thought the Osage were very beautiful people and they should get married to emoji. And then the Osage begin dying of mysterious circumstances and their spouses who married into the family ends up getting the head rights. It is. It is quite a story. Cheryl read the book and really wanted to see it. Of course, when Martin Score says he's doing a movie and you've got people like DiCaprio and De Niro in it. You're like, okay, take my money. But I gotta tell you, it took us forever to go see this. Have you guys seen the running time on this thing?

OG (75:51)

Oh, I gotta imagine it's a Scorsese.

Doug (75:54)

Scorsese movie.

Joe (75:55)

So six hours, three hours and 20 minutes.

OG (75:58)

Yeah, he doesn't do edits.

Joe (75:59)

Three hours and 20 minutes. Now the good news is. And by the way, and we saw it in the theater.

OG (76:05)

Potty break. So that's what I need to know.

Joe (76:07)

There isn't that. Somebody else asked that. There should be. It's gonna be 3 hours and 20 minutes. Give me an intermission.

OG (76:13)

We'll be right back after these messages. Like right in the middle.

Joe (76:17)

You could turn into like a seven part Apple Films is behind this. You could have turned into like an Apple plus thing and made it seven episodes instead of one big long thing. Yeah. So we, we went to the theater, stayed there for almost four hours after all the previews and stuff. The good news is it didn't feel like 3 hours and 20 minutes. It was a very well done movie. And by the way, not only do you realize halfway through the movie you're like, we are seeing just not only a great director, we're seeing just phenomenal acting. Like Scorsese and DiCaprio are who they are, but many of, many of the actors that surround them, who you've never heard of are just amazing. Are just. There's so much good acting in this. It is such a disgusting story. It just. You leave the theater and you feel so sick to your stomach.

OG (77:12)

The police officer, one of the investigators, the dude from Breaking Bad. Like the cousin.

Tiffany Aliche (77:20)

Yeah.

Joe (77:20)

And you know what's fun?

OG (77:20)

Yeah, I think so.

Joe (77:21)

Yeah. And what's funny is that guy in most things plays a bad guy, right?

OG (77:26)

Yeah.

Joe (77:27)

Plays a quote bad guy. And he's a quote, good guy in this. So Cheryl was. Cheryl even turned to me and goes, isn't it weird seeing him play like the, the guy who's. Who's cleaning all this stuff up and is actually the good dude? So weird. But a big thumb up, assuming that you, you can hang with it, is going to pay handsomely. Cheryl even said, we saw it a week ago. And Cheryl said just yesterday. Goes, I'm so happy we went and saw that movie. I know how we just kept looking at that running time going, I don't think so. I don't think so. But well worth it. The movie I really want to see that just came out this last weekend was Napoleon. I really want to Go see the new Napoleon movie.

OG (78:07)

That looks good too. I've seen three, three movies on planes in the last four weeks. Back to a little bit of travel so we can do mine next time.

Joe (78:16)

Oh yeah, let's tackle those on Wednesday. That's gonna do it for the back porch. Last thing we got before we say goodbye is if you are here not to talk about Scorsese movies or movies on planes, you're also not here just to talk about budgets or estate planning or insurances with Tiffany Alice. You're here because you just need that foundation that we've talked about all episode long OG Doug, Tiffany and I for that OG and his team still taking clients here late in the year. Head to stacky benjamins.com OG and let's get set up for a better 2024. If your 2023 didn't go the way you want. I love, I love really OG Tiffany's messaging which was, you know, you can't go back, you can't go back. You got to give yourself some grace. Just go, I am where I am. Let's just get it started. Stacking Benjamins.com OG is the link to OG's team and setting up making your team better in the future. All right, that's it for today. Doug, I think we need a to do list for today. What are maybe three things we should be doing because of what we heard today?

Doug (79:26)

So what should we do with all of this goodness? Well, we got some to do lists here for you. First, take some advice from Tiffany Alice and get your estate plan done now. Like pause this. Do it pronto. Second, think about your priorities. That Porsche maybe better to sell it and focus on having a house. Would you rather pretend you're rich or actually find true wealth? But the biggest to do. How about a to don't. Don't cut your own bangs, no matter how tempting it might be. But if you do, make sure you got a lot of hats and not a lot of plants. Just saying. Thanks to Tiffany Alice for joining us today. You can find her new workbook made whole the practical guide to reaching your financial goals wherever books are sold. We'll also include links in our show notes@stackingbenjamins.com this show is the property of SB Podcasts LLC, Copyright 2020 and is created by Joe Salsihai. Our producer is Karen Repine. This show was written by Lisa Curry, who's also the host of the Long Story Long podcast with help from me Joe and Doc G From the Earn and Invest podcast, Kevin Bailey helps us take a deeper dive into all the topics covered on each episode in our newsletter called the 201. You'll find the 411 on all things money at point this a 201. Just visit stackingbenjamins.com 201. Wonder how beautiful we all are? Of course, you'll never know if you don't check out our YouTube version of this show, engineered by Tina Eichenberg. Then you'll see once and for all that I'm the best thing going for this podcast. Once we bottle up all this goodness, we ship it to our engineer, the amazing Steve Stewart. Steve helps the rest of our team sound nearly as good as I do right now. Want to chat with friends about the show later? Mom's friend Gertrude and Kate Junkin are our social media coordinators, and Gertrude is the room mother in our Facebook group called the Basement. Say hello when you see us posting online. To join all the Basement fun with other stackers, type stackingbenjamins.com basement not only should you not 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.

Joe (82:12)

Wait, where are you going?

Doug (82:15)

I was gonna make espresso.