What to Do When Money Gets Tight SB1756

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Stacking Benjamins Show

Episode: What to Do When Money Gets Tight (SB1756)
Release Date: November 3, 2025
Hosts: Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, Doug
Main Theme: Practical, light-hearted guidance for navigating financial hardship – whether due to a layoff, government shutdown, or unexpected life event.

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Overview

This episode tackles the pressing question: How do you navigate your finances when your cash flow suddenly stops? Against the backdrop of ongoing tech layoffs and a month-long government shutdown, Joe, OG, and Doug share strategies for surviving tough times, making the most of what you have, and avoiding big mistakes. While keeping their trademark light and friendly tone, they share both personal stories and community resources, address emotional reluctance about seeking help, and sprinkle in their signature banter and trivia.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Setting the Scene: Layoffs and Shutdowns

• Amazon’s 14,000 layoffs & broader tech job losses:
  [10:07] Joe highlights recent Amazon and tech sector layoffs, noting severe ripple effects.
• Government shutdown’s wide impact:
  [11:00] The hosts discuss the ongoing U.S. government shutdown—past a month at air time—which affects not just federal workers, but also those who rely on federal benefits (SNAP/food assistance) and the broader economy:

  “This is going to start very quickly dominoing through the whole chain.” — OG [13:19]

2. Initial Steps When Money Gets Tight

A. Take Stock of Your Situation

• Reflect on past tough times:
  [13:18] OG: Think back—what worked last time? Avoid panic by remembering previous resilience.
• Inventory resources at home:
  [14:25] Joe: “Cheryl and I once did the ‘eat everything in your refrigerator/freezer’ challenge before we go buy more stuff.” It lasted weeks, not days.
• Use tech to maximize resources:
  [15:14] OG suggests using AI (ChatGPT, Perplexity) and pantry management apps to create meals from what you have and minimize grocery expenses.

B. Emergency Funds – Why They Matter

• [16:50] Joe notes this is why an emergency fund is essential; but recognizes that, for many, the focus now is immediate survival rather than preparation for next time.

C. Leverage Community and Government Assistance

• [16:50] Numerous local/state aid organizations exist—seek out city and state-specific options.

  “If you’re in a situation where you need assistance, you shouldn’t feel reluctant in reaching out.” — OG [18:21]

• Pay it forward: If you’re not in need, consider donating to local food banks or community support organizations ([18:21]).

D. Overcome Emotional Barriers to Aid

• [19:23] Doug shares how many people, including his own family, feel embarrassed about seeking assistance, but professionals and organizations are there for this purpose:

  “The doctor said, ‘You’d be shocked how many people…are driving Mercedes and Cadillacs. Don’t feel guilty about this.’” — Doug [19:49]

3. Immediate Financial Moves After a Layoff

A. Unemployment & Health Insurance

• Apply ASAP for benefits:
  [20:25] Unemployment and healthcare are critical—don’t delay reviewing your health coverage (especially if your employer policy ends immediately).
• Affordable Care Act (ACA):
  [22:16] “If you have a qualifying life event [like layoff], you can get coverage quickly and often cheaply. It’s a band-aid, not a permanent fix.” — OG

B. Beware Quick-Fix Loans

• [23:06] Joe and OG issue a strong warning against immediately seeking low-interest “helpful” loans. Exhaust other options first.

4. What Should You Cut—And What Should You Keep?

• Food and Shelter Come First:
  [30:53] “The first thing is food … then shelter. If you own your house, contact your bank about mortgage forbearance right away. Same with utilities—they’d rather work with you than lose a customer.” — OG
• Communicate Early with Lenders/Utilities:
  [32:31] Don’t wait until you’re behind—call as soon as you're in trouble. Missing payments impacts your credit score almost immediately:

  “They don’t report it until you’re 30 days behind. That 30-day late hits your credit report and stays for two years and craters your score.” — OG [33:34]

• Utility and creditor programs:
  [33:08] From flat payment plans to hardship programs (even age or employment protections), options exist if you’re proactive.

5. Where to Get Emergency Funds (In Order)

1. Ask lenders/creditors to defer payments ([30:53], [32:31])
2. Use available grants like the Federal Employee Education & Assistance Fund:
   • “It’s not a ton, but it’s a grant: $150 for federal workers making <$60k.” — Joe [29:11]
3. Friends and family:
   • “They’re the most flexible—but tough emotionally.” [39:50]

   • “If you give money to your family, just give it to them … don’t expect to get anything back.” — OG [41:14]

4. 0% interest credit union loans:
   • Many credit unions offer special loans for federal employees (Senate FCU, Congressional FCU, Navy Federal, USAA). [42:03]
5. Retirement funds (last resort):
   • 401(k) loans are risky if you’ve lost your job—they’re typically due immediately, often resulting in taxes + penalties. [38:02]

   • “That $20,000 distribution … turns into a $20,000 taxable event plus another $2,000 penalty.” — OG [39:17]

   • Margin loans or cashing investments:
     • “If you need money, sell assets rather than taking margin.” — OG [43:01]

6. What Not to Do

• Don’t default to loans, especially high-interest ones ([23:06], [39:15])
• Don’t take 401k loans after job loss
• Avoid predatory lenders/’quick fix’ offers
• Don’t use hardship as an excuse to gamble (sports betting, day trading) for a quick fix ([44:16])

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On seeking support:

  “If you’re in a situation where you need assistance, you shouldn’t feel reluctant … That’s what these groups are for. If it’s temporary, pay it forward later.” — OG [18:21]

• On community pride and grudges:
  Joe and Doug trash talk “How to Money” for the Voices for Good Charity Challenge, prompting playful jabs throughout the show ([06:44], [28:47]).

• On embarrassment at checkout:

  “Just turn off overdraft. Just take the shame of, like, swiping the debit card and having it not work at the grocery.” — OG [36:55]

• On TikTok’s “Worst Money Mistakes”:
  [44:16] Mike Mancusi’s viral TikTok is played:

  “Number one: Sports gambling. Don’t, don’t do it. The second thing – day trading. There are people that dedicate their entire lives to studying financials, and they’re still wrong all the time.”

  • OG and Joe joke about how “don’t sports gamble” is the most obvious advice ever, and mock TikTok finance bros.

• On family loans:
  [41:14] “If you give money to your family, just give it to them. If they pay you back, they pay you back.”

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Timestamps for Key Segments

| Time | Segment | |----------|-----------------------------------------------------------| | 10:07 | Amazon/tech layoffs and job market headlines | | 11:00 | Government shutdown’s ripple effect explained | | 12:15 | Stats on public assistance; how it affects everyone | | 13:18 | Taking stock & learning from past hard times | | 14:25 | “Eat everything in the fridge” – home inventory tip | | 15:14 | Using AI/apps to stretch meals during a crunch | | 16:50 | Emergency funds & community support systems | | 18:21 | Emotional barriers to seeking help; it’s OK to ask | | 20:25 | Unemployment & health insurance actions post-layoff | | 22:16 | Using ACA/Obamacare as a quick coverage fix | | 23:06 | Warning on “helpful” loans – use only as last resort | | 30:53 | Food and shelter first; mortgage/utilities call advice | | 32:31 | When to call lenders; impact of missing payments | | 38:02 | Dangers of 401(k) loans after losing job | | 39:50 | Friends & family loans: pros, cons, and etiquette | | 41:14 | Lending money: Give without expecting | | 42:03 | 0% federal employee loans from credit unions | | 44:16 | TikTok Minute – Worst Financial Mistakes |

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Listener Q&A: Real Estate & Financial Planners

• Dennis writes in: Is it true financial planners aren’t helpful for people focused on real estate?
  OG summarizes:
  • A good financial planner (especially a CFP) should support your unique path, challenge your thinking, and adapt to your strategy, whether that’s real estate, stocks, or other assets ([49:58], [52:10]).
  • Ask planners if they have experience with your focus (e.g., real estate investments).

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Closing Takeaways

• Prepare an emergency fund: Start one now if you can—bad times come without warning.
• Take stock and use what you already have: Inventory your food, resources, and reach out for aid if needed.
• Ask for help early, not after you fall behind: Communication is key with creditors and utility companies.
• Don’t borrow unless you have to—and then, use the best option: Defer/forbear first; friends/family or 0% loans before dipping into retirement.
• Don’t bet your way out of hardship: Avoid gambling and high-risk trading.

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Memorable Moment

• Doug’s “Clarence Birdseye” frozen peas trivia [24:13]:
  Comic relief as Doug cracks up over the name “Clarence” and laments the gap in frozen “Q’s”—and, as always, throws shade on rivals Joel and Matt.
• Banana-cream-pie fight with “How to Money”
  Frequent, tongue-in-cheek challenges for charity drive engagement.

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Final Words

This episode reinforced that even in difficult, stressful times, a calm, systematic, and community-minded approach can help you “stack Benjamins” and survive tough stretches without hasty mistakes. The Stacking Benjamins crew brings necessary levity, reminding listeners that support is available and that you’re not alone—plus, don’t forget: don’t bet it all on DraftKings or day trading.

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Find resources and episode notes at [stackingbenjamins.com].
Support financial literacy and join the charity challenge at stackingbenjamins.com/stackinghope.

Transcript

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[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This episode is brought to you by Navy Federal Credit Union. We're proud to serve over 2 million veterans and their families because your service inspires ours. And your service opens the door to membership, which means you get access to exclusive rates, discounts, and financial tools that you can share with your whole family. Become a member@navy federal.org veterans and from all of us. Happy Veterans Day, Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission. Navy Federal is insured by ncua. Happy Monday, Stackers. You know what? I've got my apple, guys. Look at my honey crisp apple. It's a big old apple. And I also have my mug ready.

[OG]

This is the best Monday of the year.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This is the best Monday of the year. First Monday in November.

[OG]

It's the first Monday after the time change. Yeah, everybody's got an extra hour of sleep.

[Doug]

You're feeling fresh, can't wait to get into work today.

[OG]

You get up in the morning and it's light out again for at least the next three or four days. Or the sun catches up with it and it's dark again in the morning when you wake up. It's great. It's like mini summer without the heat.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Unless you're Doug, who always uses the extra hour to party.

[OG]

Yeah, Doug has his own time zone. He's like Northern Arizona Doug. Time just does what he wants.

[Doug]

Yeah, you can't cage.

[OG]

You can't go out. It's ten o' clock at night. Doug's like, it's four in the afternoon around here. What are you talking about? Martini time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

What time is it? Dt. You're always talking dt, ct, pt.

[Doug]

Yeah, I need to, like, move up above the Arctic Circle, so you could just. There's no rules up there. You can just do whatever you want because it's always daylight.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Right? You move 20ft west and you're in a different time zone.

[Doug]

Right?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[OG]

Dunk time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You know what time it is, though? It's time to salute our troops, guys. Like we do every Monday here on the show on behalf of the men and women making podcast in mom's basement and the men and women at Navy federal credit union who serve our veterans and our active duty military and their families. Thanks for keeping us safe all weekend while we slept in.

[OG]

Well, we slept in. You had an extra hour of duty.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Thank you. Thank you so much. Let's go stack some Benjamins together now.

[OG]

We are back. We are back. We are getting Doug back and we're the three best friends that anybody could have we're the three best friends that anyone could have we're the three best friends that anyone can have and we'll never ever, ever, ever, ever leave each other we're the best three friends.

[Doug]

Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the Stacking Benjamin show.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Foreign.

[Doug]

Doug and the government shutdown prompted us to ask, how do you squeeze more money out of your savings when no cash is coming in the front door? Today, whether you're facing unemployment, a government shutdown, or worse, we've got your back. And you know, that's not all we're gonna tackle to add variety to this year. Variety show. We'll also share a TikTok minute with some horror horrible investing mistakes. I'll give you one to one odds this guy's gonna talk about horrible investing mistakes. And then of course, we'll steer this ship into harbor with some of my incredibly well researched trivia. And now two guys who researched investing in penny stocks to find that there's no gold in them nar hills. It's Joe. Oh, and. Oh.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Hey there, stackers. And happy Monday to you. Welcome back to another episode of the Stack of Benjamin show. I'm Joe Salsihai. I am super happy that I'm sitting with these two gentlemen. First of all, let's look right across the table at me into the eyes.

[OG]

Of OG Right across the table at me.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, you're sitting right across the table from me.

[OG]

That's not what I heard.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, and then let's look down to the end of the table and say hello to mom's neighbor Doug. Good morning.

[Doug]

Can't believe I get to be in the same room today. It's awesome.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Just pinch me. Pinch us all. Well, you know what? We have not only a fantastic show, but we're also part of a challenge. We're going to challenge all of our stackers this month. We're part of a challenge called the voices for good charity challenge. And to get in on this goodness, it's stacking benjamins.com. stacking Hope. And this Week we're going to talk about the financial literacy group that we are helping. This wonderful woman, Karen Holland will be here with us on Wednesday. Helps kids learn about making better money decisions. It is called gifting Sense. And if you go to stacky benjamins.com stacking hope you can help us raise money for financial literacy this giving month. And we're part of a challenge now. The cool thing is not only can you help us help kids with financial literacy, you know what else you can do? You can help us beat the how to money show, which they're raising money as well. And you know, we've done this in the past. We beat Listen Money Matters. A few years ago we beat Farnouch Tabi's podcast so money and now how the money has to go down because our stackers are so badass. Helping with financial literacy. So if you want to help us take down Joel and Matt losers. Stacking Benjamins.com Shots fired. Wow. Stacking Benjamin.com Stacking Hope she just rolled.

[Doug]

Up his sleeves and gave him a quick little pop in the nose.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Hey Joel, we're coming for you. I actually, I love those guys. And we're gonna have some fun at their expense over the next month while our stackers prove they're far more giving than the how to money crowd. Anyway, more on that later today. Whether you're a part of any of the layoffs that have happened the last few weeks or if you're part of the government shutdown, hopefully by the time this comes out, the government shutdown has. Has disappeared. But we're recording this just a couple days before you hear it. So no news on that front yet.

[OG]

Is there any chance we could just have Congress and like the executive branch shut down and just everybody else works?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Let's just do that because how do.

[OG]

We get that to happen?

[Doug]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

That I think maybe we'll see a little more sweat.

[Doug]

Yeah, I love the idea. If you see people throw it out there online all the time. How about they don't get paid?

[OG]

Well, I'm sure they're not, but you know, they have coffers of well wishers. I'm sure. You know my favorite thing from Warren Buffett about Congress was he said he has a very simple way to balance the budget, make sure everything's even. Is if you don't have a balanced budget, you are ineligible for reelection next year.

[Doug]

Oh, even better.

[OG]

Wow, talk about self preservation. Right? Like, guess what will work? Everything. They'll have to work on it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You heard it here first. You're not gonna hear that on the how to Money show.

[OG]

Yes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You don't hear anything close to that.

[OG]

Dorks.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

We we're going to help. Hopefully. Hopefully. We don't have a lot of stackers in need, but we want to make sure that whether this has happened to you or not, it may happen at some point there's going to have come a dark time and so we're going to help all of you through that today. So grab whatever, whether it's your iPad or some paper. But we're going to give you some resources and we're going to tell you how to think through making smart money choices when times are tight. Before that though, we have a couple of sponsors to make sure we can keep on keeping on and you don't pay a dime for any of this goodness. So we're going to hear from them and then OG Doug and I, we're going to tackle helping you make it through some dark times. This episode brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Shifting a little money here, a little there, hoping it all works out well with the name your price tool from Progressive you can get a better budgeter and potentially lower your insurance bill too. You tell Progressive what you want to pay for car insurance and they'll help for find you options within your budget. Try it [e-mail] progressive casualty insurance company and affiliates price and coverage match limited by state law not available in all states.

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[OG]

Hello darlings.

[Sponsor Voice]

And now it's time for your favorite.

[OG]

Part of the show, our stacking Benjamin's Headlines.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

All right, lots of headlines today. Let's go through two of them though, the first one comes to us from Newsweek. This is written by aman Kidway. Amazon's 14,000 person layoffs underscore AI's uncertain impact on jobs. Last Tuesday, Amazon laid off 14,000 employees in an effort to improve operations by removing layers of bureaucracy, according to a company announcement posted by Senior Vice President of People Experience and Technology, Beth Galetti. I thought it was funny, by the way, Vice President of people experience. 14,000 people not having a great people experience.

[OG]

I want to know how many layers of management there were if you got to get rid of 14,000 of them. My goodness.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, that is, that is a bunch. But 14,000 more people at that one company. And obviously there have been several other companies. But let's couple that with.

[OG]

Yeah, there was just an article in the Wall Street Journal about all the, all the layoffs. It's in the hundreds of thousands of tech employees at this point.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, let's couple that with the obvious story that we referenced at the start of this podcast. This is from Green Bay, Appleton WBAY tv, their website. Federal and non federal employees feel the effect of the government shutdown. And I like this headline, by the way, because it says federal and non federal employees. Because we forget all the people that serve these employees, they're also feeling the hurt too. This is from Oshkosh, Wisconsin at the time this was written, which was last Thursday. It said, we're now 29 days into this government shutdown, the second longest in American history. Over last weekend, the U.S. department of Agriculture announced that SNAP food assistance benefits will not be issued on November 1st. So federal and non federal employees feeling the brunt as we get closer to. Well, and now it has been a full month of the government shutdown. Assuming that it's still going on when we record this. Hopefully not. But even so, if it is not, we're going to dive into really what you do first. Oh, gee, let's talk about this. Tough times for a lot of people. How do we think through this as a family, as a consumer, a person that needs to eat? Where do we begin, the cuts?

[OG]

Well, I think firstly, if you don't think that this affects you, it affects somebody. You know, probably statistically, at least in the state of Texas. I saw this stat just not too long ago. Something like 12% of every single person in Texas. There's about 35 million people in Texas, 30 million somewhere in there. Three and a half million people receive some sort of food assistance in the state of Texas. So 1 out of 10 people. So there's a pretty good chance that somebody that you know receives some sort of food assistance. And you're thinking, oh, well, that's the government shutdown. Well, now it's starting to trickle down to people who don't work for the government.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Right.

[OG]

Receive, you know, rely on some assistance.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's trickling down to your neighborhood at the very least.

[OG]

And the other thing that happens with this is think about the domino that falls of, well, where's that money get spent? It gets spent at the grocery store with food and produce and, you know, whatever. Well, if. Now, if the grocery store isn't selling as much food now, that affects the producer of those things. You know what I mean? Like, this is going to start very quickly dominoing through the.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

The whole chain.

[OG]

The whole chain of people. So this is a big deal. The first thing that I would do, as you think about what to do if this is you, is recognize that this might have happened in the past. You know, if you've had the opportunity to. Unfortunate opportunity to have. Having to have gone through this before and you're now here, that means you made it through before. So you can. The first thing that I would do is reflect back on what were the things that we did to get us through the last time of this. It's never fun to go through these scary times, but when you take a second and go, okay, this has happened before. Something like this has happened before. And I'm standing today, which means I must have gotten through it. What were the things that we did successfully? And then also, what were the things that we did that we wouldn't choose to do again given the opportunity? So taking stock, I think, is probably the first step of just take a breath, go. All right. Unfortunately, we may have had to have done this before. What did we do that was successful that got us through it? And what were the things that we did that we're like, oh, geez, we don't want to do that next time?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, I love the idea of taking stock because Cheryl and I once did the eat everything in your refrigerator in your freezer challenge before we go buy more stuff.

[OG]

Oh, not all at one time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Not all one time. I dare double dog dare you. I thought we'd be through food in a week.

[OG]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

And we're not food hoarders. We don't have a huge freezer. I don't have a deep freeze outside like some of my neighbors have. And, oh, gee, it still took us about three weeks to go through all the different foods that we had. And we had to supplement a couple times with some stuff from the grocery store. But we cleaned it all out. And so I like the idea of taking stock. What do I have on on hand? So that lockdown wise, I know that I can eat for X amount of time. It might be two and a half weeks worth of food, it might be four days worth of food.

[OG]

But check out that really reminds me of another tool that now exists that probably didn't exist the last time that this Happened, which is AI or ChatGPT or Perplexity or whatever your tool of choice is. And the reason I bring this up is several weeks ago I wanted to experiment with it. I said, I've got two pounds of burger, I have various vegetables frozen, and I really want to make like a stroganoff, like a beef stroganoff. What's the poor man's version of beef? You know, I don't want to go out to the grocery store. I don't want to make, you know, a bunch of sauces and whatever. Like, I just want this to be simple. And it's like, cool. Do you have this? Do you have this? Do you have this? Bang. This is how you're going to make it. Very similar. It's not going to be, you know, gourmet. But this reminds me of maybe the first thing to do on the food side of things is literally take an inventory of everything that you have, feed that into ChatGPT and say, I've got a family of four. We need to eat as, you know, stretch this out. Yeah, what can I do with all of this stuff to make the most number of meals out of? This might be a good. An interesting exercise. I mean, heck, even for people that aren't having issues right now, get rid of all the excess. Right? Just go, okay, I got all this stuff I need to kind of reset for the beginning part of the year. That might be a good. Now I'm thinking I'm going to do this because we have that. We have the canned green beans from 2014 that are still sitting in the back, that are still good. You can still eat them.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

They're canned.

[Doug]

There's a few apps that are out there that'll let you do that. That'll let you just say, here's what I have on hand. That's a great place to start.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

If people have specific apps they use and you're in the basement Facebook group or if you're on Spotify, where you can leave comments. Leave those in the comments for other stackers and love to share which apps you're using and how you like them. One thing I'm not going to spend a lot of time on this is for people that aren't going through this right now. This is the reason why you have an emergency fund because next I want to go through where you get money from and emergency fund. If it's not happening to you, I think this is a great shot across your bow. Like start working on that because having this money that is available for emergencies like this, super important. But that largely is for another day because I know there are stackers that don't need to hear that now. They need to hear what do I do. Regardless, community and state assistance programs are all over the place. I also like the fact that I referenced this one in Wisconsin because they're talking about Wisconsin specific aid programs and sometimes city and community specific aid programs. So because we're in 47 different countries, I'm not going to spend the next four hours going over your city in your state, but definitely check into those. In fact, there's another resource that I have here from a station in Oklahoma and they're going over Oklahoma and Texas based aid and there is a, there is a long, long list of places in communities and in states, counties that provide aid.

[OG]

Yeah, I mean, obviously your local community organizations, both governmental and private, know what's going on. Right. And the other side of this too, by the way, is if you're not one of those people, we're talking about giving and this is kind of the giving month of November and you're going, I don't know what's important to me right now. Maybe this is how you, this is where you think about your donation for the year is in my local community. Can I drop a check off for the food bank? You know, because extra people are going to be, you know, needing that this time of the year. So there's a lot of community and state local organizations like this that are designed specifically for this purpose. So if you're in a situation where you need assistance, you shouldn't feel reluctant in reaching out and getting the assistance that you need because that's what this, that's what these groups are for. If you're on the other side of it or if it's just temporary, you know, you just pay it back later. You know, you pay it forward later, so to speak. Right. You just go, hey, this is when I need it and when life is good, then I'll circle back and I'll be the grantor side of it. It's what these organizations Exist.

[Doug]

It's funny how many people feel apprehensive of taking. Availing themselves of some of those programs. You guys both know my wife needs a hearing aid. And back when we had no money, she was at her doctor, and hearing aids are incredibly expensive. And the doctor told her about a program to take advantage of some help to pay for the hearing aids. And she said, I don't think that's right. Like, I don't know if we're that destitute.

[OG]

Yeah, that's for old, poor people.

[Doug]

Well, it's not just that. That's a whole separate thing. And the doctor said, you'd be shocked how many people taking advantage of. Of those services are driving Mercedes and Cadillacs. Like, this is like, don't. Don't feel guilty about this. It's what it's there for. And so for. And she says so. She did.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'm just imagining Doug being around you. Like, does she ever go, I'm sorry, my hearing.

[Doug]

Oh, it's off. It's all. I mean, she barely has to buy batteries because she's just.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'm sorry. It just becomes an ear talk right now.

[Doug]

But you read lips. Yeah, yours are hard. Yours are difficult. They're moving so fast.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'm sorry. I'm sorry. It just. Yeah. No wonder she seems so calm and happy all the time. Doug, let's talk about Amazon. Let's talk about my cousin who is just laid off from a cabinet manufacturer. Let's talk about a lot of the layoffs going on. Obviously, you want to apply for unemployment as soon as possible. You also want to check out your health insurance options as soon as possible. OG Because I think if you haven't shopped for health insurance in a long time on your own, you're going to be in for a little bit of a surprise going without health insurance. There's some things that I've seen people say, like as an example, if you're looking at an extended layoff, maybe taking your auto coverage down to the minimums, it's not going to save you a lot of money, but it might save you a little money. Obviously, this is going to be something that could bite you in the ass, but I feel like going without health insurance really bites you in the ass.

[OG]

Well, and again, I just don't know that that's a thing that you have to. Is that a day one task? You know, you're laid off and I got to go start researching health insurance options.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I think the sooner you look at your health insurance options, the better.

[OG]

Day 1 Day 10, maybe like Day 15, Day 4 Likelihood if you're, you know, and I guess this is going to be situation dependent, right? It's like if you get laid off and it's a small company and they're like, look, everything stops today. So then, yeah, then you need to look at that stuff tomorrow and have it in force.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, that's 100% why I said it. My cousin shared online. He made it public information. The note that he got from his employer, which was it is October 28th. Your employment ends effectively today. And oh, by the way, November 1st, you're on your own when it comes to your health insurance. So for him it is a day one.

[OG]

Well, the good news again, talking about programs that exist, this is why ACA exists, is so that there's a health insurance option for everybody. It's not going to be maybe the exact best option that you would pick, given all the resources in the universe to pick and design options for you, but it is an option and it's based on your income. So you can put it in force and basically have a low premium cost if your forecasted income is going to be pretty low and you're eligible for it immediately. So if you have a change of circumstances, qualifying life event is what they call that. Certainly getting laid off is one of those life events, then you can put that in force right away. Is it going to be the option that you're going to stick with into January? Probably not. But this is like, you know, this is putting a band aid on it right now.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

A lot of the sites that I have gone to talking about assistance and when you pull this up on any search engine, the first thing that comes around, the first thing og that they show you are, hey, low interest loans. Get a low interest loan. That is thing 32. I would not, not go looking for, quote, help by getting yourself into a bunch of debt. We'll talk about where to look and where not to look after the break, but I truly think that kind of help maybe waits for. Talk about something that's a day 10 decision. Yeah, more like day 20. Day 30 decision.

[OG]

Day 350.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah. Hopefully as long as possible.

[OG]

All right.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

We're going to dive deeper into benefits specifically for people when it comes to the government shutdown. We'll also look at ways to evaluate debt and what loans to take, what loans not to take, how to think about if you got to borrow money, where do you borrow money from and where do you avoid? That's coming up in just a minute. But Doug, at the Halfway point of the show. You know what that means? You're center stage, man. Let's do it.

[Doug]

Best part of the show. Hey there, stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And look, when I'm trying to save money, there's nothing more economical than peas. Hear me out. Peas. Definitely a top three green vegetable. I can't understand why Joe and Og didn't include buy more peas in their solution list. Do I have to do all the heavy lifting around here? Want to get a little spicy? Here's a Martha Stewart tip from old Doug. Peas are awesome when you mix them with rice and even better as a frozen treat on a hot summer day. But Joe's mom is telling me to mind my peas and Q's. Where do I find Q's I like?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, geez, look.

[Doug]

Frozen.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Wait, what?

[Doug]

You're thinking about it. I've never even seen Q's in the grocery store. But on today's date, back in 1950, 52, a guy named Clarence. It's a funny name whose last name you see all over the grocery store. Built his stack of Benjamins by sharing the miracle of frozen peas with the world. Here's a question. You've seen Clarence's. You've seen Clarence's last name before? You can't not laugh saying the name Clarence.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Why does Clarence crack you up?

[Sponsor Voice]

I don't know.

[Doug]

It's a funny name. It's objectively, scientifically funny.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's a great name name.

[Doug]

You've seen Clarence's last name before? It's the name of his company. What is the last name of Clarence? The first purveyor of frozen peas, but not frozen cues. He missed a business opportunity there. I'll be back right after I go see if Clarence was also the first one to freeze lima beans. Hot take. Lima beans are a form of torture that should have been banned by the Geneva convention. I'm gonna die on this hill.

[Sponsor Voice]

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[OG]

November is heating up for U.S. soccer.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

United States need to be a little more nasty. Make international friendlies for the men. Oh, Callum, that was nasty.

[OG]

And a Black Friday friendly for the women. Expectations have always been here for this team. We understand that. Listen anywhere on the go with the.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Westwood One sports app. And for behind the scenes stories, catch.

[OG]

The U.S. soccer Podcast. Boy, do we have an episode for you. Follow and listen on your favorite platform.

[Doug]

Hey there, stackers. I'm lima bean hater and guy who's dropping vegetable truths, Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. Imagine building your stack of Benjamins by creating. Creating something as simple as the frozen pea. Actually, while it sounds easy, it's harder than it looks. A guy named. A guy named Clarence.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I don't get it.

[Doug]

I mean, hand to God, his real name was Clarence. A guy named Clarence with the last name you've seen before figured out how to keep the taste and flavor even after peas were frozen. Now, if he could have added some taste to lima beans, the only bad taste you'd ever have in your mouth is after sampling some of that how to Money podcast. See what I did there? Just took a shot. Took a shot. Our stackers are way more giving than how to money Fans, I got your back, stackers. But today's question was this. What was Clarence's last name? You've seen it all over the frozen food aisle. It was none other than Clarence Bird's eye, who developed frozen peas on today's date back in 1952. And now let's get back to two guys who are far more attractive than Joel and Matt. Not hard to do. Joe and OG.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This is going to be the funnest month.

[Doug]

We're just, we're just beating the hell out of them. And they're like, we're just over here doing nothing, by the way, taking it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Two of the nicest guys for people have no idea about how jerk faces. Two of the nicest guys. We're just going to keep laying it. I can't wait till Joel writes me going, wait, what? What the hell, dude? Just standing here.

[Doug]

I just got done saving orphans and you're on your show feeding the heck out of us.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

But once I found out that it was us against Joel and Matt in this competition, I was like, this is going to be a great time. Stacky benjamin.com stacking Hope is how you give. Speaking of give, let's give some more help to people that are in need, you know, for the government shutdown. Specifically, a resource that has been there every time that the government has shut down is FIA F E E A. It's fia.org that's a federal employee education and assistance fund. And it's not a ton of money, but it's a grant, meaning there's no payback. This is your money. 150 to federal workers. Head to fia.org and that is a place to start. It's for workers making $59,999 or less. The shutdown grant application for direct hire civilian federal employees who are furloughed or working in accepted status and making less than $59,999 that is available. Before the break, we talked about the idea of taking out loans. And I think, oh, gee, this is, this is the one place where before I do that, I look at my mortgage because banks often have programs that will help you with your mortgage. So I look at deferring before I look at loans. Utility companies also have deferral programs. So I think I look into both of those first before I start borrowing money from anywhere. Would you agree?

[OG]

Well, the first thing that you have to do as you're, you know, if you're working through cash flow, right, you're going, hey, I'm not getting paid. I'm through my emergency fund, you know, and now I'm on month two of this and rent's due. The first thing is food. Right. We talked about that at the beginning. You have to make sure that everybody in your circle is taken care of from a sustenance standpoint. Do we need to have filets and fingerling potatoes every night? Probably not. And there's what we talked about before, trying to stretch what, what you have and all that sort of stuff. But food is a line item on your budget that you need to work through. Then I would think about your shelter. And if you own your own house and are paying mortgage payment like you said, you can reach out to the bank. Banks are going to be very open to working with you, especially if you're one of these affected government shutdown folks. Frankly, even if that's not you if you're just laid off or you just have some other issues. They don't want your house. They want to figure out a way for you to keep it because they want the money. You know, they would rather you just pay higher interest later and make it up on the back end. But the key is communication here. You know, you can't wait until you're 90 days behind or 180 days behind and then go away. By the way, I've been laid off for six months. Reach out at the beginning. And the same thing is true with any other loan payments that you have. Credit cards, car loans, student loans, private loans, anything that requires a payment. Reaching out and saying, hey, here's where we are. Here's what's going on. Can we defer this? Can we have some sort of forbearance on this program? All the major banks, all the major lending institutions will do this because they want your business. They don't want to destroy your credit.

[Doug]

Oh, gee. Any guidance, and I'm sure there's no hard and fast answer here, but any guidance on timing of that? Because you get laid off and you're like, I'm going to find something. It's been three weeks or it's been five weeks, I'll find. It's like I'm interviewing or whatever and I'm about to. So when do you make that call? Because you don't want to do that too soon. And maybe if the answer is higher interest rate, you don't want to invoke that sooner than you need to. Any thoughts there?

[OG]

I don't think that they charge you a higher interest rate. I think they just defer the payment onto the back end and then you just get caught up. When you can get caught up. I don't know that I would wait too long, but I don't know, a month out, maybe, making phone calls.

[Doug]

Like, if you've missed a month of payments, it's probably time.

[OG]

Oh, no, no, no, no. Before you miss payments. No, no, no. Yeah, you can't miss payments and then go, my bad. I'm sorry. Can I get some love? Yeah. No, no, no.

[Doug]

I can't pay this water bill. I better call now. Don't wait for the second bill you're going to miss.

[OG]

Yeah, because I mean, think it from a credit reporting standpoint, not utilities, but from a credit reporting standpoint, you are in default on the day you don't make the payment.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Right.

[OG]

They don't report it until you're 30 days behind that 30 day late that's on your credit report stays on for two years and will crater your credit score by 75 points immediately. So as we were talking about, like, well, when do you go borrow money? Hopefully never. But if you had to, you better have pretty good credit, otherwise you're not going to be able to borrow money. So if you're just saying, well, I can't pay my mortgage and, you know, I'll just wait for them to catch up with me, it's just automated. They just. At 30 days, bing. It hits your credit report and goes, you're 30 days late. And now your credit score was 750, and now it's 650. And you've lost all the negotiating power of trying to stay on everybody's good side, you know, so, no, a hundred percent, I would go after this. I might actually do this in the first, you know, I mean, we're a month into it now, but within that first month, you know, you need to rework your budget and find out what's. What is movable and what's not. You mentioned utilities. Utilities will work with you on a flat payment plan. They'll say, hey, you know, we know that the gas bill in the winter is really high. The electric bill in the summer's really high, and the vice versa, they're lower. We'll just make this 150 bucks a month. They have assistance programs to lower that. From a utility standpoint, you can't wait until they're about to shut off the water and then go, well, hold on a second. Don't shut it off. I haven't been working for a while. The other thing too is you do have some rights from the fair credit reporting people, you know, in terms of different communities will have different protections for different age groups. So, for example, if you're older, and that older means different things to different people in different places. Some people it's 55, some people 65. But, you know, there was a. I think it was in Michigan, actually. There was a story about somebody who had their power turned off because, you know, they were 90 years old, just didn't know that they didn't pay the bill and they shut the power off and then found the guy frozen to death because, well, power went on. I think this was in Michigan. And so they passed a law that said, you know, they just can't turn the power off on people over 65. It's just, they just can't do it. So you want to make sure that they know that you're. That person, you know, like, you know, I'm 64 and three quarters.

[Doug]

So, Joe, apparently that's the age when dementia starts to set in. So just you make a note to.

[OG]

Yourself, because it's only onset for Joe, 57.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Sitting right here. Sitting right here.

[OG]

But they may have other protections for, you know, folks that are laid off and that sort of thing. Again, at the end of the day, everybody wants to work with you because they don't want your stuff. The bank doesn't want your house. The water company doesn't want to turn off the water. You know, you see those. I've had this happen, right? You don't pay the water bill, and then they send you a notice and go, hey, if you don't pay this by Tuesday, it's going to be a hundred dollars to reset it back up again. And then you got to give us another thousand bucks as a deposit on future things that we'll draw from because you're a ne' er do. Well, all that stuff starts to cascade in terms of how hard it is to get out of. It's like when you have overdraft in your checking account, and it overdrafts, and they charge you $39, and so now you have 39 less dollars than you thought you did. And so then you go to the store, and then they go, well, you know, we know that OG's good for it, so we're gonna let him pay this, you know, and now they charge you another $39. You know what I mean? Like, all of a sudden, you're like, 5, 400 in the hole because eight transactions hit at the same time. And you're like, I gotta take an entire week's paycheck just to get back to zero. Just turn off overdraft. Just take the shame of, like, swiping the debit card and have it not work at the grocery. There's this not working, sir. Like, oh, bank screwed up. All right, see you later. You know, you get the weird look from the one person like, who cares? You're never gonna see that you're never.

[Doug]

Gonna see again, right?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Talking to people at the grocery store, too. They see that all the time. People get really ashamed. And the person at the grocery store is like, I don't know what the issue is. It could be your bank. It could be you. I don't know. Nobody knows.

[OG]

Don't care. You're one of 7,000 people I'm gonna see today. I have. I. You know, they don't look at you in the face. They judge Your purchases, you know, you're buying Doug.

[Doug]

Single serving frozen dinner and a case of case of beer.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Even more frozen peas. I just want to pause for a second because I think we sidetracked Doug on ne' er do well because he, yes, he's heard it so much, he thought it was a positive thing until today.

[Doug]

What if I'm a scallywag?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Doug was many years old when he found out that ne' er do well might not be great.

[Doug]

How often do I do well? Nair.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Sounds like a lot. Could be a lot.

[OG]

I do want to talk about the simple go to money place where I think it's a little bit of a trap for just a quick second, you know, the old 401k or the 401k that's at your job and you go, I'll just take a loan for my 401k. If you are being laid off from your job and you think you can go get a 401k loan, remember that as soon as that process happens with the back office and they find out that you're not an employee anymore, many times that loan becomes callable right then. So if you say, well, I'll just go take a, you know, $10,000, $20,000 loan out of my 401k, that'll skate me through months and months and then if I, you know, I'll pay it back. The reality is, as soon as you're not employed anymore, in most cases that loan becomes due. Of course you're not going to have the money to pay it back because you're consuming the money looking for a new job. And if you don't pay it back, then the loan becomes taxable. And of course, if you're under 59 and a half, then it's a penalty. So that $20,000 distribution that you thought, well, it's just a loan I'm going to pay myself back turns into a $20,000 taxable event plus another $2,000 tax bill for being pre 59 and a half. So be careful on that one. That would fall into the category of like last place to take money from if I need to, could eat up.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Over a third of the money.

[OG]

It's going to be in excess of that. And then the other side of it is, is if it turns into a distribution because you left now, you don't even have the ability to pay it back. So even if you do go get a job in a month and a half and you're like, okay, cool, I now I got this extra cash, I can Pay. There's no place to pay it back to because you're not employed at that company anymore.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Gone. So be careful when it comes to loans. You know, the number one place to get money from is also the hardest place to get money from. And I can tell why a lot of people wouldn't want to do this.

[OG]

OG F. Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Friends and family.

[OG]

I. I don't worry. You can say that I was.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Not. Not podcast host, but friends and family, because the terms are going to be the most flexible. People are going to understand if things keep coming up and you can't repay. However, I 100 get it why you would not want to do that, because Thanksgiving becomes very difficult.

[OG]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

When you owe Uncle Clarence money. By the way, my great grandfather's name was Clarence. Doug. So for all the Clarences out there, good job, Doug. Right? To Doug, not to me.

[Doug]

I hope he's not offended. Your great grandfather.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[OG]

It's really tough to ask for money. It's tough to lend it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You know, Uncle Clarence would be saying if he were alive right now. Doug, let me out of this coffin. But anyway, back to you, Og.

[Doug]

Like, I could just see the joke was bubbling. You're like, I gotta say it. I can't. I gotta say it. OG's making a great point. You're like, no, it's. This is the time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I gotta say, it's far more important. Far, far more important.

[OG]

I was so distracted by your terrible joke that I don't even remember what I was gonna talk about. Oh, about lend. Borrowing money from friends and family from Uncle Clarence. I mean, if you want to offer it, offer it, but don't expect to get anything back. I think that's the biggest thing. If you give money to your family, just give it to them. Just give it to them. If they pay you back the payback. Don't. Don't worry about it.

[Doug]

You get to make the cool speech, though.

[OG]

No, no speeches.

[Doug]

Someday I'll come asking you for a favor.

[OG]

Yeah.

[Doug]

That kind of speech, or this is it. I'm giving you this $7.50, and you are never able to come back to me again.

[OG]

I like Joe's approach of every Thanksgiving, he asks family for money so that they never ask him.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Just to make sure.

[Doug]

I gathered you all here today.

[OG]

Yes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'm just wondering.

[OG]

Just pull everybody aside individually. You're like, hey. So I don't know if you heard. Things are really tough, and, you know, with the kids gone, they can't work and make money for the family anymore. So we had to put that big extension on the house and now we're to our eyeballs in debt. We're just looking for a little bit. Is there anything we need to change.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

The name of the podcast from Stacking Benjamin's to Stacking Debt.

[OG]

Yes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's getting so bad.

[OG]

It's getting so bad. Is there any chance when it comes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

To loans, there are several credit unions that are providing zero interest loans to federal employees. But again, last place to look is to borrow money. Try not to borrow money. Go over all the steps that OG talked about before. For example, the United States Senate Federal Credit union offers loans of up to $5,000 for 90 days. That's open to federal employees through various associations. The Congressional Federal Credit Union provides furlough relief loans up to $10,000. Navy Federal Credit Union, sponsor of our show up to $6,000. USAA no interest loans ranging from 500 to 6,000 for government workers facing financial difficulty.

[OG]

So I have to 27k with all.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Those that ought to get you don't, don't, don't, don't put in your brokerage.

[OG]

Account margin it Nvidia options.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Would you rather take an interest free loan or take a margin loan against your own stuff? Talk about borrowing from your 401k OG an interest.

[OG]

A 0% interest loan.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[OG]

Or margin versus borrowing. I would just sell stuff like yeah, don't take a margin loan. Just sell yourself if you need the cash. Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

We will link to all of these [e-mail] and of course we talk about topics, important topics like this in our newsletter. The 201. If you'd like to get the 201 hot and fresh every week delivered right to your email box. Hot and fresh.

[Doug]

That sounds gross.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Bakeries. And you're like no thanks.

[Doug]

Well, I don't know. You said that. And I felt like, you know. Steaming pile of newsletters.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh no. Hot and fresh like a bakery.

[OG]

The.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

The wonderful.

[Doug]

Okay, aromas. I mean retract my nose.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You've seen Kevin's work. It is amazing. Stackybenjamins.com 201 gets you there. It's always free and delivered right to your email. Time for our tick tock minute. This is the part of the show where we pivot to something far more important than helping people deal with difficult times. We look at some of the ridiculousness on the Internet, on the interwebs and we ask OG the question, are we about to see some TikTok creator brilliance or air quotes brilliance? No.

[OG]

Asked and answered.

[Doug]

I Think you're putting the mic down there.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This was sent to us by stacker Julia. She said these are a couple good tips from tiktoker Mike Mancusi, who has some advice on, well, what not to do with your money. Let's listen in.

[TikTok Creator Mike Mancusi]

Here are the two worst financial mistakes I ever made. And this is coming from a normal person. I'm not super financially successful, but I'm also not a disconnected rich person who's going to tell you, well, after I sold my sixth property, then I didn't quite get the return on the seventh property. No, it's nothing like that. For people that are closer to my situation, you know, you starting to have some money that you're looking to save up or invest or whatever. These are two of the worst mistakes I ever made. Number one, sports gambling. Don't, don't do it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I have, by the way, three to one odds that he was going to say sports gamble.

[Doug]

Didn't he just say, don't, don't do it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Don't, don't. There it is.

[Doug]

Don't, don't do it.

[OG]

Don't, don't do it. But if you're gonna. The six way Monday night parlay. Don't gamble. Okay, how not to invest. Step one, don't gamble.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You can't do DraftKings in Texas, which is wild. When I went to Michigan for the super bowl last year.

[OG]

Is that why you run across the border three times daily from your house with your phone?

[Doug]

Chauncey Bill, Texas.

[OG]

I eat breakfast 800 yards from DraftKings opportunities every day.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

When the Lions are playing at noon and 11:55, mom's like, where are you going? Out the front door? Like, I gotta go half a mile east.

[OG]

Hold on a second. Hutchinson plus two and a half sacks. I gotta get my bed in.

[Doug]

It seems like Texarkana would just be a magnet for, like, people migrating to Texarkana. Texans at least every Friday night, if not just permanently. So they could go gamble in our Kansas.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, Friday night, if he can't bet on high school football, what are you gonna bet on? But all my relatives at the super bowl, all with their phone in their hand. I'm like, what's going on? And then they all bet on the coin flip. They bet on the national anthem. Yeah. They're betting on all the fanfare around the game. And it's just that I'm watching them lose, lose, lose. And then who's going to be winning at the end of the first quarter? The commercials. Like, everything. Holy moly. There's There's a bunch. But back to Mike here. In sports gambling, the only way I.

[TikTok Creator Mike Mancusi]

Can tell you it's okay to sports gamble is if you have a healthy relationship with gambling and that is that.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Have you met this person? I have a healthy relationship. I do it a lot. Doesn't it does. Does it a healthy relationship need love and care.

[OG]

Is this post brought to us by fanduel? Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah. So there is a second way he mentioned. I'm going to fast forward here and this is Mike talking about the second bad thing he did.

[TikTok Creator Mike Mancusi]

The second thing is another form of gambling, the stock market. And I'm not telling people not to invest in the stock market. You should absolutely. If you are able to put money into the stock market. But don't fool yourself into thinking that you're going to become a day trader. That is a mistake that I made. Like a lot of people, 2020, I thought, oh, I'm going to become a day trader. I know, I know a lot about.

[Doug]

Stocks, blah blah blah.

[TikTok Creator Mike Mancusi]

I know nothing. There are people that dedicate their entire lives to studying financials, studying stocks that are still wrong all the time. If you're one of those people that is your job is to study financial reports and understand companies, then that is when like actual day trading makes sense.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Nope, it still doesn't make sense. And those people that study stocks all day will tell you it still doesn't make sense. Don't be a day trader and don't sports gamble.

[Doug]

He's just sucking the joy out of life.

[OG]

What else is there to do?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

God, especially when I, when I've lost my job to the government shutdown. I was Gonna take a 401k loan and go on FanDuel and do the.

[OG]

Five dollar slots at Choctaw. What do you never know.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah. By the way, thank you so much for sending that in. If you've got tick tock minute for us stacking Benjamin's [e-mail] Email it to me. If you know somebody who's been affected by a layoff, send them this episode. Hopefully we're able to help them make some great money decisions. Because this is the time OG when you see people during a government shutdown, during a layoff, make some decisions that are going to be life changing. Either going to be able to duct tape it together or they're going to borrow money at the wrong time. They're going to not take it seriously. They're gonna make some big mistakes and we don't want that to happen.

[OG]

No Sports, gambling and no sports.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No sports. At this point, we hand the reins over to Doug. As we out on the back porch, I do have a question that came up from Dennis. Dennis says, hey, Joe, this is gonna sound stupid, which, by the way, Dennis, OG and I have heard lots, lots of stories. We agree this is really dumb.

[Doug]

Sorry, you were right.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

There's so many people preface their questions with this is going to sound like a dumb. This is not a dumb question that Dennis asks. Said, I've heard a lot of friends tell me having a financial planner is not a good mix when you want to focus on real estate. That just doesn't sit well with me. Dennis owns a lot of real estate, by the way. He shared some of that with me. He said, I'd like to get your tape on it. Is there a CFP you recommend for someone that's in the stock market and wants to or is heavily invested in real estate? Respectfully, Dennis, I think financial planner, the right financial planner, and owning a lot of real estate still goes hand in hand.

[OG]

Og, I mean, there's a lot of ways to be successful. I think, you know, what a good advisor does is helps you on the path that you're on, but then also helps to make sure that you don't go down a path that you don't want to go down. There's plenty of people that have been wildly successful with real estate. There's plenty of people that have lost their, you know, what's to real estate? Just like investing in the market and people that are, you know, day traders. I mean, there's a thousand ways to be successful. That doesn't make any one way right and another way wrong. I mean, a very clear example in our little circle is Paula versus me and Joe and Doug. It's like none of us have any real estate. I know. I don't think. Doug, have you ever had any real estate? Rental real estate? Not.

[Doug]

Not income real estate? No.

[OG]

Yeah. I mean, Joe and I both have. We both went, this is awful. I don't ever want to do this again. My advice, thank God I got like, got out, you know, even money, right? You know, I made a little bit. Joe, I think you made a little bit. But if you said that to Paul, she'd be like, what are you talking about? My life is great. I got these properties. We're making all this cash even inside my own family.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

My son with all his properties.

[OG]

Yeah, yeah, exactly.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

So.

[Doug]

But here's what I think might have happened to Dennis is I wonder if the person who said or where he heard CFP isn't somebody to go to or rely on. If you're heavily into real estate is assuming that CFPs are brokers like are largely focused on stocks and being a brokerage, which is weird to me because financial planning is this really broad term about how do you manage all regardless of income stream is just how do you manage what you've got and plan for the future. Whether you're getting it from, you know, you've got a one of those ride around bicycle bars around town or you're doing it through stocks or why did I pick an alcohol based income stream? I don't know but I mean sounds good. It doesn't matter what your income stream is. A CFP is any financial planner is really right broadly looking at your insurances and your retirement planning and, and expenses and all kinds of stuff. So that's just weird to me. Did I just drop the mic?

[OG]

Some people would say rudely interrupted. But yeah, okay, sure.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Tomato tobato.

[OG]

However, however it sits with you.

[Doug]

Well, Joe got to interrupt with his stupid coffin joke. I interrupt with a great point and.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'm taking grief, not stupid.

[OG]

I think that our job as advisors is not to say this is the only way but rather to say this is the way that is good for you and then also to challenge your thinking on what you think is the only way. Right. And so if a client only invested in their 401k and brokerage account comes in and says hey, I think I want to own a, you know, a three story office complex. I saw online, this is going to be really awesome. Here's all the numbers. I don't know that our job is to say well the numbers look great, go for it. It's to say the numbers look fine. Tell me about your experience with owning commercial real estate. Tell me about how you know, like how are you going to structure this? Like what do you know about this that I don't know that you know, that doesn't mean it's not going to work. I just want to make sure that you are getting all of the facts and it's just not a numbers thing.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's just what good advisors do. Whether it's this or weight management or whatever.

[OG]

They just tax advisor, anybody is just going to go, you know, hey, I saw this online, this tax. These are my favorite ones, right? Oh, I saw this thing online that I can just do this tax thing and I save all this money. It's like, okay, I mean it's kind of true. They're missing Some really key points in this, you know, scenario. But how does this. How do you think this affects you and. And what are we trying to accomplish here? So, yeah, I mean, there's definitely a lot of CFPs. I think the right answer is, is that a good advisor will tell you if that's not an area they can help you with. Right. And say, hey, I'm not. I'm not a specialist in this, or I don't provide any expertise here. You probably want to find somebody who, who has some. Who has some abilities here, much like a. Much like a physician. You know, when you go to your doctor, you're looking for specialists.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Sometimes I think. I think that's the key. Ask immediately. I own a lot of real estate. I. Real estate is. Is the center of my empire. Do you work with people like that?

[OG]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

And they will tell you, especially if there's somebody in Dennis. I 100% agree with Doug. I think what the person that gave you that description was looking at were people that have specific products that they're selling, not specifically people looking at an overall financial plan. Thanks for that question. That, community wise, was all we have today on the back porch. Of course, the big thing in our community is giving, helping out your neighbor, sharing this podcast, and helping kids learn more about money to be part of the Voices for Good charity challenge where we take down Joel and Matt Stacking Benjamin. And we're going to focus more on that on Wednesday. Karen Holland is going to help you and your family. Help. Help the kids in your family and in your neighborhood make better money decisions. And by the way, her methods don't just work with kids. She's going to explain. These are methods that work with all of us.

[OG]

It's called will that act like kids.

[Doug]

It's good.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah. It's called the Dim score. And she's going to teach us how that works.

[Doug]

So, Doug, who are diminishing?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yes, it did. Perfect for Doug. The dim score. Perfect for Doug. Doug, what are our three takeaways? What's on our to do list today?

[Doug]

Well, I'll see if I can figure it out. Joe?

[OG]

Nope.

[Doug]

First, take some advice from today's topic. Whether it's the government shutdown or any other struggle, maintaining a great emergency fund is the same as a town building a water tower. You need to hold just a little in case of bad times later, because they're coming. We just don't know when.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Wait, that's not how water tower works, Doug.

[Doug]

That's not what those things are up there for.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Huh?

[Doug]

I didn't know that, Joe, because I'm Tim. Second, take some advice from our TikTok minute. Sports, gambling. Don't do it, I guess. I don't know. Is that a shock? Shouldn't do that. But the big lesson, man, how great would it have been to be Clarence Bird's Eye? I bet he was a hit at parties.

[OG]

Yeah.

[Doug]

You think you're cool? First, this guy's last name is Bird's Eye, and he froze vegetables for a living. What'd you do for fun today, Mr. Accountant? This show is the property of SB Podcasts, LLC, Copyright 2025, and is created by Joe Saul Sehive. Joe gets help from a few of our neighborhood friends. 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. Oh, yeah. And before I go, 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 Saul-Sehy]

Sam, I want to look behind, behind the scenes for a moment because it was awfully fun to call out Doug on the water tower.

[Doug]

Yeah. Despite the fact that during the writing meeting I called you out on it, but somehow I look like the dim one when we're doing the recording. Because I'm reading what you wrote. Joe writes the water tower thing. I'm like, joe, that's not. That's not what water towers are for. Why are they so big?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Really? Our water tower is huge. They got to store a bunch of water.

[Doug]

Yeah. So if they run out of water, that tank up there is going to supply all of Texarkana with all of their needs during a drought.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Who knew? OG who knew?

[OG]

What is it for?

[Doug]

Really? It's. That's what creates the water. Unbelievable. Unbelievable.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

That's why it was so fun. Be. Be breaking and going, Doug, that's not how water tower works.

[Doug]

It was so hard for me to let that happen.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You taught me that an hour ago.

[Doug]

Water towers are what create your water pressure in the town system. That's the only reason water towers there is.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

They.

[Doug]

They raised the. A certain amount of water up high to create a debt, basically to create a downforce. That's what makes the pressure in your faucet is the tower.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Can you see a water tower now and not think about Jeff Foxworthy. Yes, the comedian. Do you know where I'm going?

[OG]

Hold on.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You've heard this.

[OG]

Water towers are also for surplus.

[Doug]

I mean, yeah, a little bit flows through there and. Yeah, if you were. Absolutely. Again, I guarantee you the mayor and the town council is getting to that water before you do. They're not just, like, trickling it out to people.

[OG]

Typical towns Tower. Holds 500 to a million gallons. Enough to supply the community for several hours.

[TikTok Creator Mike Mancusi]

See?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

There you go, Doug.

[Doug]

For several hours.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Turns out I was right.

[Doug]

Okay, Joe, we'll give you that. Unbelievable. Yet I got to sit there and read it like a doofus. Like, I have no idea.

[OG]

I mean, I didn't for once think that it was enough to supply everybody with anything. I think it's. I mean, I get the water pressure.

[Doug]

Idea, but it's just an idea. Just a theory I have.

[OG]

No, no, I'm just saying it seems like a stupid place to store water. Let's store it way high in the sky, way up there instead of in the ground where it came from.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's trickled down economics. That's how it works. It flows down.

[Doug]

That was better than your Clarence joke.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, but Jeff Foxworthy. The Jeff Foxworthy joke. No, you guys.

[Doug]

No idea.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You might be a redneck. That whole thing. Jeff Foxworthy had this huge. You might be a redneck if. If you've ever climbed a water tower in your hometown with a can of paint to defend your sister's honor, you might be a redneck.