Yet Another Insurance To Avoid (SB1640)

Summary

Podcast Summary: The Stacking Benjamins Show – "Yet Another Insurance To Avoid (SB1640)"

Episode Details

• Title: Yet Another Insurance To Avoid (SB1640)
• Release Date: February 5, 2025
• Hosts: Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, and Doug
• Network: StackingBenjamins.com | Cumulus Podcast Network

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Introduction: Tackling Scams and Financial Protection

In this episode, Joe Saul-Sehy, OG, and Doug delve into the pervasive issue of financial scams, focusing particularly on protecting one’s home and credit. The hosts emphasize the increasing sophistication of scammers and offer practical advice to listeners on safeguarding their assets and financial well-being.

Notable Quote:

• Doug (02:07): “Scammers are back in the news.”

Protecting Your Home from Deed Theft and Real Estate Fraud

The primary focus of the episode centers around deed theft—a scam where criminals illegally transfer a homeowner’s title. The hosts reference an article from Kiplinger by Donna Lavalley, which scrutinizes the prevalence of such scams and debunks exaggerated claims made in fraudulent protection plans.

Key Points:

• Deed Theft vs. Real Estate Fraud: Deed theft involves unauthorized transfer of property titles, while real estate fraud can include a broader range of offenses like mortgage refinancing scams.
• Rising Incidence: Although specific data on deed theft is scarce, overall real estate fraud is on the rise.
• Potential Consequences: Criminals can exploit stolen deeds to rent out properties, refinance mortgages, or sell homes to legitimate buyers while pocketing profits.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Saul-Sehy (05:32): “How do you make sure that’s not you?”
• Mr. Tax Man (10:09): “Shows up to collect rent. What is that?”

Personal Anecdotes: Real-Life Scams and Their Impact

The hosts share personal stories to illustrate how easily individuals can fall victim to scams. Joe recounts a relative who unknowingly allowed $36,000 to be stolen from his account due to a banking error, highlighting the importance of regular account monitoring.

Key Points:

• Importance of Monitoring: Regularly checking bank statements and online accounts can help detect unauthorized transactions early.
• Common Scenarios: Scammers may change utility bills or mortgage statements to divert funds, facilitating deeper fraud.
• Human Error: Mistakes by bank employees can inadvertently aid scammers, as seen in Joe’s story.

Notable Quotes:

• Joe Saul-Sehy (12:16): “I need $36,000 out of my account for XYZ. I don't remember what the reason was.”
• Mr. Tax Man (12:54): “One [payment].”

Strategies for Preventing Financial Fraud

The hosts provide actionable strategies to prevent fraud, emphasizing the importance of proactive measures and systematic financial management.

Key Strategies:

1. Credit Freezes: Freezing credit with all three major bureaus (Equifax, Experian, TransUnion) to prevent unauthorized access.
   • Mr. Tax Man (23:36): “It takes nothing more than a button... Freeze on.”
2. Regular Monitoring: Utilizing financial apps and setting up alerts to stay informed about account activities.
   • Joe Saul-Sehy (14:51): “Monitor your credit report for signs of identity theft.”
3. Automated Systems: Implementing weekly or monthly financial reviews to track income and expenses.
   • Joe Saul-Sehy (13:29): “Fraud protection... pay attention to incoming bills.”
4. Strong Passwords and Security Measures: Using complex passwords and enabling two-factor authentication to enhance account security.

Notable Quotes:

• OG (13:14): “Don’t yell at me.”
• Joe Saul-Sehy (13:40): “Do not buy fraud protection insurance.”

Tax Considerations: Early Filing and Dual Residency

A significant portion of the episode is dedicated to discussing tax-related issues, particularly the pitfalls of filing taxes prematurely and handling dual residency scenarios.

Early Tax Filing:

• Overachievers: Filing taxes as early as January 9 can lead to missing critical documents and necessitating refiling.
• Implications: Early filers may face incomplete information, leading to errors and delays.

Listener Question: Dual Residency

• Question from Anna (42:09): “I own a home in Minnesota and am moving to Maryland for work. What are the tax implications?”

Hosts' Response:

• Residency Determination: Residency is based on where one spends more than half the year (180 days) or where one holds a driver’s license.
• Filing Multiple Returns: If income is earned in multiple states, separate tax returns may be required for each state.
• Property Tax Considerations: Owning property in a new state can affect property tax liabilities, depending on state laws.

Notable Quotes:

• Mr. Tax Man (43:02): “You are a resident where you’re a resident. It’s straightforward.”
• Joe Saul-Sehy (44:07): “It’s easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Interactive Segments: Trivia and TikTok Minute

The episode features engaging segments designed to entertain while providing financial insights.

Trivia Segment:

• Topic: History and production of Twinkies.
• Question: “What company is the parent of Twinkies?”
• Answer: Hostess, and Smuckers post-acquisition.

Notable Quotes:

• Doug (28:00): “Twinkies are a delicious money-making machine for what company?”
• Mr. Tax Man (31:13): “Joe and OG Doug playing under protest.”

TikTok Minute: Comedy Clip by Jeff Sheen:

• Content: A humorous take on the financial disparities between the poor and the rich, using the metaphor of door slamming.

Notable Quote:

• Jeff Sheen (32:20): “Every door slams in a poor person's house.”

Conclusion: Recap and Final Advice

In closing, the hosts summarize the key takeaways from the episode, reinforcing the importance of vigilance against scams and effective financial management.

Key Takeaways:

1. Implement Strong Financial Safeguards: Use credit freezes, monitor accounts regularly, and employ secure passwords.
2. Stay Informed About Scams: Recognize the signs of fraudulent schemes and avoid unnecessary protection plans.
3. Manage Taxes Effectively: Understand residency rules and file appropriate tax returns when moving between states.
4. Engage in Regular Financial Reviews: Establish a routine to track and manage financial transactions, preventing oversight.

Final Notable Quote:

• Doug (50:05): “Don't ask Joe's mom about getting better doors. She'll show you the door in a hurry.”

Additional Resources:

• Newsletter: Listeners are encouraged to subscribe to the podcast’s newsletter at stackingbenjamins.com201 for more insights.
• Voicemail Support: The show offers support through voicemail for personalized financial questions.

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Closing Remarks: Joe, OG, and Doug wrap up the episode with lighthearted banter and reminders about upcoming meetups, leaving listeners both informed and entertained. The episode successfully balances practical financial advice with engaging storytelling, staying true to the podcast’s mission of making personal finance accessible and enjoyable.

Transcript

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This episode is brought to you by.

[Navy Federal Credit Union Representative]

Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal Our mission is to help members of the military, veterans and their families achieve their financial goals. That's why we offer great savings and investing options like our certificates. Certificates come with sky high rates and some even have the flexibility to add money anytime during your term. Whether you're saving for a home, a new car or your future, our options could help you get there. And certificates are just the beginning. Navy Federal also provides financial advisor to help you manage your investment portfolio along with online tools to guide your savings plan. With our support, you'll have everything you need to take charge of your finances. So don't wait. The sooner you start building your financial future with Navy Federal savings and investing options, the better off you could be in the long run. Sign up@navy federal.org Navy Federal Credit Union Our members are the mission Savings products insured by NCUA Investment products are not insured, not obligations of Navy Federal and may lose value.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Small business owners State farms there with small business insurance to fit your specific needs. Whether you're starting a new venture or growing an existing one, State Farm helps you choose the right coverage to protect what matters most.

[Navy Federal Credit Union Representative]

Working with a local State Farm agent helps you understand your coverage options.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Offering local support to help you achieve your goals. Focus on turning your passion into a thriving business. Knowing your insurance can change as your business grows. Stay Farm here to help you succeed with your business. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Jeff Sheen]

They're dogs and they're playing poker.

[Doug]

Live from Joe's mom's basement, it's the Stacking Benjamin Show. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. And scammers are back in the news.

[OG]

What now? And I mean, how do you protect yourself this time?

[Doug]

Today we'll talk about protecting your home and your credit. Plus, we'll answer a question from one stacker who thought, you know, I'd better call Saul. See? Hi. And Og. And it's all about taxes. Of course we'll share a TikTok minute that may explain why you're not wealthy. And of course I'll share some trivia.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, and by the way, I. I fixed your trivia.

[OG]

It needed fixing.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, no, it's. It's better. It's good.

[OG]

Well, thanks, Joe.

[Doug]

And now two guys who just yesterday tried to write off Taco Tuesday as a business expense. It's Jo and. Oh Jaja Juju G.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, I did fix your trivia, Doug. That did not happen. Although, oh gee, how great it be if we could have Written off Taco Tuesday. Why couldn't you wait?

[Mr. Tax Man]

You can't write off Taco Tuesday.

[OG]

It's not a stretch.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, that'd be fantastic. Cuz that third margarita always goes down better at lunch when it's a tax write off. Hey everybody. Welcome to Tax Miss for the Win podcast. I am Joe Saul Sei and the tax man cometh. Mr. OG is here. How are you, dude?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Well, I'm not the tax man, but yeah, it is approaching. What do you make of the people who like to file their taxes on like January 9? Do you feel like that's a little early? Like you're gonna miss something, right? Like there's.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Back off, overachiever.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Well, it's not overachieving. I just, I mean, I guess if you know, you have all your stuff.

[Doug]

But only people who do that are.

[OG]

The ones who know they're getting a refund. I do it all the time, get a refund.

[Mr. Tax Man]

But you don't get your W2 until the end of the month. And you don't get your tax, you know, mortgage statement and all that sort of stuff.

[OG]

I wait till I have all that stuff.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Grasping at straws. I don't know, maybe.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Do you know people that just file without that and then they. And then they refile? Like, how do they do it if they don't have any of that stuff?

[Mr. Tax Man]

That's what I mean, you know, I don't know.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Who are these people? Who are these strange, strange people?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Don't be overachievers.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Legends. Legends out there.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And if you're getting a big refund, fix your withholdings. God dang it.

[OG]

Don't yell at me.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, now that you get some decent interest on those high yield savings accounts. Yeah, I mean, cha ching on that 4.5%.

[OG]

You're not getting 4.5 anymore.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I did that on TV once. I did that on TV once, by the way. I made the mistake. And you don't do this when you're a TV personality for a major financial company. Do not quote a rate of return. I accidentally said once, OG I was.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Like, I guarantee 12%.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

At the time. At the time, money markets were paying like 5%. And the big firm I was with, they're like, yeah, ours only pays 4.6. And we got like 28 phone calls about, about why. And I just rounded. Yeah, bad, bad prop. Do not do that. Do not. Do not do that. Anyway, we got a great show about other things that you probably should do. You probably need to pay a little bit of attention, OG because SCAMMERS are always out there. And a new story that I found at Kiplinger talks all about a scam. That man could cost you a lot. A lot, lot, lot, lot, lot. Very, very, very scary scam involving your home. How about you go to your house and you don't own it anymore?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Oh, that's a sporty way.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, not very good there. So how do you make sure that's not you? And by the way, some good processes. Either way, even if you're not being scammed, I think you can put some great processes in action that helps you manage money better and keep scammers at bay. We're going to talk about that. Oh gee. We're going to question OG on taxes today. What if you, what if you own property in different states? Like how do you file the different state income taxes? We're going to see if OG can get that one right. And of course, we rewrote Doug's trivia today. So it's a bundle of fun. But the bundle fun always begins with some companies that made sure that they can help us keep the lights on so that you don't have to pay for this goodness. Let's hear from them and then into our headline. This episode is brought to you by.

[Navy Federal Credit Union Representative]

Navy Federal Credit Union. Navy Federal Our mission is to help members of the military, veterans and their families achieve their financial goals. That's why we offer great savings and investing options like our certificates. Certificates come with sky high rates and some even have the flexibility to have money anytime during your term. Whether you're saving for a home, new car, your future, our options could help you get there. Certificates are just the beginning. Navy Federal also provides financial advisors to help you manage your investment portfolio, along with online tools to guide your savings plan. With our support, you'll have everything you need to take charge of your finances. So don't wait. The sooner you start building your financial future with Navy Federal Savings and investing options, the better off you could be in the long run. Sign up at Navy Federal Navy Federal Credit Union. Our members are the mission Savings products insured by NCUA Investment products are not insured, not obligations of Navy Federal and may lose value.

[Doug]

How high is the interest rate for the new Laurel Road High Yield Savings Account? This high.

[OG]

The air is really, really thin up here.

[Doug]

The Laurel Road Very High Yield Savings.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Account Variable annual percentage yield APY is subject to change at any time. No minimum balance required. Fees may reduce earnings on the account. For full terms and conditions, see laurelroad.com savings. Laurel Road is a brand of KeyBank member, FDIC hello, darlings. And now it's time for your favorite part of the show, our stacking Benjamin's headlines.

[OG]

Hey, guys, since Joe took it upon himself to finish fix my trivia, I think I'm going to step in with headlines.

[Doug]

Just this morning, breaking news. Population growth dropping. Babies are at fault.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, no, well, that would be true if that were.

[Doug]

It's got to be their fault.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

A true, true headline.

[OG]

They're not growing and fast enough.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

What's happening to the show, og? What's going on here?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Too many in a week, I think. Every little punch drunk.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Let's do this headline instead. From Kiplinger. Very, very disturbing. How to protect your home from deed theft. Written by Donna Lavalley. Donna writes, have you seen scary ads for deed theft or home title fraud protection? They often claim that this type of crime, in which thieves transfer a home title themselves, is soaring. But there's no clear evidence that that's true. So there's, there's a good thing. Nor is there a good reason to sell out for a service that protects your home's title, since you can do much or all this monitoring on your own for free. The scam. Og, do you like how in the open I got you guys on the scam? This type of scam happening all the time? Same thing they're telling us on these TV ads. Don't buy it. Deed theft is a real issue. Is it a growing problem? Hard to determine. The FBI collects broad data on real estate fraud without reporting specifically on the type of fraud. Real estate fraud can encompass more than title forgery, such as when borrowers misstate their ability to purchase property or renters are cheated out of security deposit. What's clear is this though real estate fraud in general is on the rise, here are the things that a criminal can do with your deed or your home title. Number one, they can illegally rent out your property. If you guys heard about this besides in the news, I've definitely seen in online groups people asking, hey, I went to collect rent for my renter and somebody said they already paid the rent. This person was showing up for like four months in a row collecting rent from a renter who, unbeknownst to the landlord, was paying the wrong person who.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Shows up to collect rent. What is that? That was my, that was my 1947 called. They would like their money transactions back.

[OG]

I only take cash.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, yeah, right.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And it's been four months. You just let them slide. Like I'm sure they're good for it, right? Like that's you would find that out on, on the fifth. How do you let that go past the sixth?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Opening up home equity, lines of credit. Refinancing a mortgage on a house that they don't own. Sell the house to a legitimate buyer, pocket the profit. Common approach for unoccupied vacation homes or rental properties.

[OG]

I have heard about that.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, I mean, I haven't heard it happening to anyone other than on the news or not even on the news. More like this happened to this one person this one time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, this is the thing on that four month story. This is the problem. Most of the time when I hear about this, OG it's because people aren't paying attention to the monthly bills. They're not paying attention to the bottom line. They're like, okay, well, you know, I got to do that. But I'm gonna go ahead and go without a property manager, number one. And number two, I know they didn't pay or I have it set up where they pay automatically, but I don't check the account to see if the person actually paid. And a few months go by and I go, wait a minute, I'm not getting that, that thing. I actually have a relative who had another relative perpetrate a fraud on them, wasn't used to checking their bank account, checked three months later and went, what happened to $36,000 of my money? Where did it go? It turned out another relative had a copy of the check and it has the routing number right on the bottom of the check. And a relative had stolen $36,000.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Borrowed, borrowed temporarily, with all intents to pay it back.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It was pretty hilarious when the person was approached, by the way. It was all just a big mistake. OG I was wondering how I got.

[Mr. Tax Man]

36,000 extra in my account. But rather than investigating it and also realizing I was the one who put it there, I, yeah, I just spent it, you know.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Now listen to this. This was the reasoning. We both bank at the same bank.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I needed $36,000 out of my account for XYZ. I don't remember what the reason was. And the bank teller must have messed it up.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Oh my gosh, what a jackass. Bank teller.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Like really the bank teller messed it up? Yeah. And then what's weird is you never saw any action in your own bank account at all. You happen to have this $36,000. That is, I don't know.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And then, by the way, obviously all.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Bs, then by the way, I'm going to pay it back every month. Every month. I'm just Going to make payments to pay this back. Made one payment.

[Mr. Tax Man]

One all 36,000.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No, not, not plus interest. Not even close. Like $10. Right. I'm going to pay you back on a monthly basis. I'm going to pay 10 bucks a month until I get paid off. Made one payment, hasn't made a payment again.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah.

[OG]

I'm going to be your accountability buddy on this. And bring us back to the headline and why you brought this up in the first place. How do we protect ourselves against fraud?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah. Number one, don't buy this fraud protection plans that they're offering on TV because as the author here, Donna says, not a thing. Right. Do not buy fraud protection insurance. But what you can do, and I love what she brings up, Fraud protection.

[OG]

Insurance is a fraud.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Is a fraud.

[Doug]

That's fantastic. I love that.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

That is it. The whole headline I had you read about fraud was a fraud.

[Doug]

I might buy it just to support.

[OG]

That kind of ingeniousness.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

But number one, pay attention to incoming bills. I mean, you know all these things that we talked about. My one relative that got scammed had that happen. The person we talked about that wasn't collecting rent, somebody else was collecting the rent. They didn't check the money coming in for a few months. Pay attention to oncoming bills. This, guys, is why I like Cheryl and my weekly. Another reason why I like our weekly money meeting, because all we do is we look through the checkbook and see all the things that came in and out. Or if you use a credit card, like, oh, gee, I know you guys do in your family weekly, just open up the credit card app and then dive into how did we spend money last week? Then we have a very quick talk about how we're going to spend money next week. But if you're paying attention to the incoming bills, you're going to make sure, because this is what happens. They either change the mortgage bill, right. They change the tax bill, they change the. The water bill. Sometimes these things, which are often used to prove who you are, a thief, will divert those. Then all of a sudden you're like, whoa, wait a minute. How come I haven't got my water bill? Well, that's because the thief just changed over that bill. So they can begin claiming that they own this. They own this property.

[OG]

Interesting. So before you and Cheryl sit down and look through the checkbook, do you get in a time machine back to 1987 to look through your check register?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You know what's funny is I literally, you saw me do this with my.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Bank and ask when he's going to get the canceled checks back. Yeah, I need to balance my checkbook. I haven't received this month's checks.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

My God, it so annoys me. It's so, so, so I would venture.

[Mr. Tax Man]

To say 60% of the audience doesn't know that that was a thing. Ever think about the fraud? Think about the fraud opportunities that would exist if you literally, A, had to write checks still, or B, you literally got them all mailed back to you like they used to.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

When my dad died and my mom took over all the banking, my sister and I had to tell her that that online banking was what you needed to do. She's like, no, I'm going to write checks because there's less fraud. We're like, no, mom, there's more fraud.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, my mom gets a disability check, or used to. I think now because she's on Social.

[OG]

Security, she doesn't disability.

[Mr. Tax Man]

But I remember, I mean, this was recent, within the last two or three years where she said, I have to run to the bank and cash my check. And I was like, wait, hold on. What? That's not a thing anymore. Like, you have to get cash from the bank, Is that what you mean? She's like, no, I've got all these checks. And I'm like, what do you mean you have all these checks? She's like, well, when I get my disability checks, I just let them pile up for a couple, three, six months and then I take them all to the bank and deposit them at one time. I'm like, why don't you just have them electronically deposited? And she's like, ah, seems like too much hassle, like, yeah, but driving your ass to the bank, you know, like, what are you talking about?

[OG]

And not having use of that money for that long.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, yeah, Well, I mean, and you can lose it, obviously, all that sort of stuff, but you have to go through it. The more that you make things electronic and this is why part of the reason why spending goes up and part of the reason why is like that convenience factor, like the proverbial hundred dollar bill that's in your wallet that never gets spent because you can't break the hundred. You're like, I just, I can't break that. That's too big a bill. When you've got a credit card or a debit card in your pocket, you can just beep, beep, beep. And Apple pay now makes a fun noise, but ding, you know, like, oh, I did something good, but ding, you know, like, I got a new pair of Shoes. But, ding. If it just went like, you would be like, oh, God, I probably shouldn't be doing this that often. But instead, they make it sound really nice. I remember watching a video one time about how the BMW sound engineers had to make the sound for put your seatbelt on. Annoying but pleasant. Because they had to make it like you needed to. Like, I need to do this. But it couldn't be like, that wouldn't be in keeping with the luxury of BMW. So it's billing, you know, or whatever the sound is to, like, put your seatbelt on. So they think about this sort of stuff, but they make it easy for you to spend money. And if you're not paying attention to it, American Express, I'm sure a lot of credit cards do this. Send out an annual statement. Here's your annual spending. If you want your breath taken away, get one of those. Download that little puppy. At the end of a year, I noticed there was, like, a bunch of Venmo charges. I mean, I think we spent $7,000 in Venmo last year. I was like, what the heck? That's just moving money between people. You know what I mean? Like, what are we doing? And so I asked my wife about. I'm like, who the heck is this person? And why are they getting, you know, this amount of money pretty frequently from us? She goes, oh, that's this service that we have.

[OG]

That's my foot massager.

[Mr. Tax Man]

That's how they take their. It's not that. That's how they take their revenue. You know, that's how they get paid is through Venmo. You know, I wasn't paying attention to that, but this was a solid 3,500 bucks. Yeah, that if it would have been fraud, would have gone unnoticed for the whole year. They limit, you know, credit cards and banks. Their liability is limited past your statement. You know what I mean? Like, if you get a statement and you don't say, hey, hold on a second, this statement's not right. There's some stuff on this statement that's wrong. Once you get a statement or two behind, they're like, well, listen, you can't claim fraud two years ago. You know, you should have caught it by now. So you do have to have a system for that, whether it's Monarch. I love Monarch. Having that all in my face every day where you can, like, download that stuff or it shows up. You know, you do a little. See the. The transaction history or your weekly meeting, which you do electronically also.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, you definitely have to have a system because all that convenience, OG can really hamper your ability to spot this stuff.

[Mr. Tax Man]

You know, I'll tell you, I'll give another little thing here for keeping it in front of you. What you focus on and what you measure gets improved. We're all at the beginning of the year and it's just fun to talk about health and wellness and that sort of thing. At the beginning of the year, there's a lot of stackers that are like, oh, this is the year I'm going to get in shape, or this year I'm going to work out, or this is the year I'm going to watch my calories. The thing that you're focusing on right now is probably having a result. Right. If you're 20, 30 days into the year, you've been watching your calorie intake or you've been getting your 10,000 steps, or you've gone to the gym five times a week, you're starting to see that momentum. What you're measuring is producing success. And the same thing is true with your money. If you just. It's great to put it on autopilot. I'm a big fan of autopilot, your 4.1k and your balancing and all that sort of stuff. But if you want to control your cash flow, put it in your face every day. There is nothing more eye opening than every day opening that app and going, dang, do we spend a lot of money on Amazon?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And sometimes just that awareness, just that, like, it's in my face, I'm seeing this. I'm, you know, it's top of mind. Will make you just take half a step back.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Absolutely.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I don't need to go out to dinner four times a week. Like, holy crap, what am I doing? Maybe it's only twice a week and you just get a little bit more control over it. And it's not that it's not a life sentence. Right. It's not like a new thing you do for the rest of your life. Just like going to the gym or eating healthy. You just have to build that muscle to the point where you're like, oh, now I'm just a guy who goes to the gym three times a week, like Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Those are my people. And so once you get used to it, once you get, you know, you get a rhythm, like you and Cheryl have, kind of keeping it front center. So there's a lot of positive, strategic byproducts of that.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I've been reading choreographer Twyla Tharp's book on creativity. She talks about how all of us can be more creative. It is a muscle OG to your point that you work and you actually have to get yourself to the thing. So she has all these exercises, but she talks about developing that muscle. To your point. And she said every day, she lives in Manhattan, so every day at 5am she has the same taxi that picks her up to take her to the gym. And she's somebody that was a high performing dancer, high performing choreographer. And she's like. And then I go work out. And now let me tell you what my system is of my success. I have the taxi there at 5am and she goes, and you thought I was going to tell you all about the cool workout I did. Whatever. She goes, nope. If that taxi is there at 5am I know the taxi driver's waiting for me and I'm going to get in the taxi. And then guess what happens. I work out.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. Once you get to the gym, once you put your shoes on, once you. I can tell you we have a home gym system at our house. And the amount of time that I will sit in that room, like literally on the bench just staring at it like, okay, I think I can probably do it. I can probably do it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[Mr. Tax Man]

The hard part is not doing the activity. It's getting my ass to sit on the bench next to the thing. Like it's the 80 steps. It is between my office and that room where it's like, that is the, that is the hardest way.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I did a 30 minute bike workout at the gym the other day and I start bicycling and I wanted nothing to do with it. And I'm like, okay, I just got to start pedaling. And I'm like, you know, I'm just gonna pedal slow today. I'm just gonna put one. Just pedal slow, dude. Before I know it, I'm. I'm 10 minutes in and I'm rocking, but I had to just start pedaling to even get it done.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Can you picture Joe doing like the full body cycling workout?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's great. Yes. It's a beautiful thing. Other things they say in this piece. Check the status of your property deed, if possible, where you live. Set up notifications at the registry to alert you to any changes. So check with where your deed is registered. Next, monitor your credit report for signs of identity theft. Cheryl handles this in our family. I take a look at it once a year. She handles it though, on a regular.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Basis because she look really on the credit report thing. Every credit card you have has some sort of credit monitoring. Free fico esque. Yeah. Thing. Right. The least you can do is to opt into that. So at least you're notified when you get credit. Polls and that sort of thing. If you don't have your credit report frozen, all Three of them, TransUnion, Equifax, and Experian, take the 10 minutes.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This is my very next point.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Literally takes 10 minutes to log in. Like, you just type in Equifax, credit freeze. Experian Credit freeze. TransUnion, credit freeze. You need an account, so you have to create an account. If you don't have one, it's literally a button.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Click it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's almost like a little slider.

[Mr. Tax Man]

A little slider.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Freeze on.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. And so for people who are like, well, hold on. Doesn't that affect your ability to get credit? Absolutely it does. It a hundred percent affects your ability to get credit. It affects everyone's ability to get credit in your name. Yeah.

[OG]

To get your credit.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. Cause it's your credit. But here's what happens. And I know this because I'm a points slut. Is that okay? I don't know.

[OG]

Whoa, that escalated quickly.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Holy cow.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Points. What's better than a slut?

[OG]

Maven.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Nerd. Nerd.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Points nerd.

[OG]

I mean, for some people, that is better. Some people are into that.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And what happens is you'll get an email from Chase that says, hey, we tried to help you apply for this credit, but your credit part's frozen. Unfreeze it, then contact us at this number. You can literally turn it off for a period of time. You say unfreeze it for 10 days. So you can go get your credit report, you can go get your car loan, you go get your new credit card. You can do whatever you want. And then it automatically freezes again. And you have to do this for everybody in your family. Everybody. Just do it. Do it for your kids. Do it for your mom and dad. They don't know how to do it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's so easy.

[Mr. Tax Man]

It's the easiest thing in the universe. Police will tell you that crime, most crime is crime of opportunity. Criminals are not looking to smash windows to get packages. They're looking for open doors. Right. If the door's unlocked, it's like, oh, I can just. I can just open this door and look in here real quick. I don't have to. I don't make a scene. Now, obviously, digital theft is a little different, but they're still looking for open doors. If there's a hurdle, it's like, get OG's credit. It's a Pain in the ass. I'll go for Doug.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

If my password is password. Yeah, I'm asking for it.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I mean, that's a real freaky, scary thing. Now there's a website called howsecureismypassword.net maybe not sure you can type in your password. I don't think that's a great idea. But you can type in a password to get an idea of how long it will take an average supercomputer to break your password.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

HowSecure is my password.net is the site.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. So type in a password, Joe. Type in password and it tells you how long it will take. So your password is password?

[OG]

Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, gee, they moved it. It's [e-mail]. okay, so you go to security.org, you put in a password. Let's put in the password. Password, password.

[Mr. Tax Man]

1, 2, 3.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

So I put in password. Your password would be cracked instantly.

[Mr. Tax Man]

It says, all right, now add four digits and an exclamation point.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I'll just go 1, 2, 3. Whoops. 1, 2, 3, 4. Password, exclamation point. It would take 12,000 years.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, and probably not for that one in particular because that's a sequential logical one. If you just typed in 12 random characters, uppercase, lowercase, commas, parentheses, the whole deal like you can get with a service like iPhone or Google has that Pixel or LastPass, you can buy it.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, I use Dashlane Ashley.

[Mr. Tax Man]

It's going to take years and years and years to do that. That's not a low hanging fruit. My concern is these supercomputers that they just broke this quantum computing record. Some people way, way, way smarter than me can explain any of this. But apparently it was some computer threshold that no one thought could ever be broken and they broke it. And I just wonder how that's going to affect this type of stuff. Absolutely, but you got to use face id. You got to use your six digit code for your phone. Like all the two factor authentication that is a giant pain in the butt. You have to implement on anything that's secure.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

We will dive into this even more in our newsletter. The 201 this week will be about theft, identity theft, property theft, fraud in general. Stacking benjamin.com201 gets you onto the mailing list. So the ferrets that spin the wheel that make this newsletter go deliver it right to your inbox. Hot and fresh every Tuesday. Coming up next, we've got a great TikTok minute about maybe the reason why you're not as rich as you think you Are we're also going to answer a call from a stacker. But Doug, let's dive in.

[Doug]

Hey there stackers. I'm Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug, and today is an amazing day in history because for the first time back in 1930, a guy working at Continental Baking Co. Co. Dreamed up a dessert that looks like a.

[OG]

Well, it's sort of a look. I don't know how else to put this.

[Doug]

It's a golden tube full of cream. What is that modern miracle called, you ask? Of course it's a Twinkie and squeezing it just for fun is frowned upon. I did that once and I've been told I'm not allowed back in that buc ee's ever again. Tons of tales have been told about the Twinkie. About how they have no natural ingredients and have a shelf life of infinity.

[OG]

And oh, also that they begin as.

[Doug]

Tiny cute little Twinkies and through some secret nuclear fission process grow to be the full size goodness you see in stores. None of these or other legends are true. But what is true is this. Twinkies are a delicious money making mosheen. And here's today's trivia question. They're a money making machine for what company? I'll be back with the answer right after I go find out what Twinkies are really made of. I'm sure no matter what, they're gonna fit right into my caveman diet.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Small Business Owners State Farms there with small business insurance to fit your specific needs. Whether you're starting a new venture or growing an existing one, State Farm helps you choose the right coverage to protect what matters most.

[Navy Federal Credit Union Representative]

Working with a local State Farm agent helps you understand your coverage options.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Offering local support to help you achieve your goals. Focus on turning your passion into a thriving business. Knowing your insurance can change as your business grows. State Farm here to help you succeed with your business. Like a good neighbor, State Farm is there.

[Capella University Representative]

Imagine what's possible when learning doesn't get in the way of life. At Capella University. Our game changing flexpath learning format lets you set your own deadline so you can learn at a time and pace that works for you. It's an education you can tailor to your schedule. That means you don't have to put your life on hold to pursue your professional goals. Instead, enjoy learning your way and earn your degree without missing a beat. A different future is closer than you think with Capella University. Learn more at capella. Edu.

[Doug]

Hey there stackers. I'm cellophane wrapped dessert lover and health food enthusiast Joe's mom's neighbor, Doug. Today is the birthday of that delightful cream filled tube you just can't get enough of. The ultimate bargaining chip in every middle school lunchroom negotiation. And the first item you see in the gas station when you run in to use the bathroom. Yes, I'm talking about the Twinkie. And while you're all like, I wouldn't touch one of those with a ten foot pole, I know you're all scarfing them down in the dark after the kids go to bed because over 500 million of them are consumed every year. But today's question was this. What company is the parent of this much maligned dessert? The answer, it's Hostess. But don't worry, stackers. Because if you said Smuckers, that answer is also correct. Because back in 2023, Smuckers agreed to purchase Hostess and is now the parent company of that Twinkie making machine. And now here come the truck stop cupcakes at the controls of this podcast.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Joe and OG Doug playing under protest.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's disgusting.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Isn't that a thing in baseball?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It's horrible. Can't believe you do a trivia like that, Doug. Hey, time for us to transition to something better, which is our TikTok minute. This is the part of this. When have we ever described the TikTok minute as better?

[OG]

Better than the trivia?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

This is the. Why am I calling you?

[OG]

I don't know. You've been calling me for that whole trivia. My phone was ringing the whole time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No idea.

[OG]

Did something move in your pocket during that segment?

[Doug]

Joe, that dialed your phone. Okay, Boomer, Pocket dial.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I was gonna say when was the last time you guys pocket dialed somebody? But apparently Joe does it all the time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Literally just now.

[Mr. Tax Man]

The other person who does it to me are my in laws and my mom.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, no, no idea. Anyway, let's go to the Tick Tock minute. This is the part of the show where we shine a light on a Tick Tock creator who is sharing some money, goodness, and comedian Jeff Sheen. Guys, I think he's, he's picked the lock on. Well, the difference between those of us that who don't have a lot of money and those rich people around us.

[Jeff Sheen]

Every door slams in a poor person's house. Every door, even the kitchen cabinet doors slam. Like we didn't have those rich people kitchen cabinets that look like they're gonna slam, but then they stop at the last second and then softly close to protect your rich people ears. Not us, just poor loud doors every day. That's what keeps us Poor, I think, is the loud slamming doors. Every time you get a good money making idea, a door would slam, knock it out of you. Remember I had a friend, his mom's minivan was so you couldn't slide the door shut on the minivan.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Sweet.

[Jeff Sheen]

All have to get in. And then she would floor it and then slam on the brakes to use the momentum to slam the door shut. We needed science to close our doors. I'm telling you, man, life, it's all doors. It's just quality of doors. The richer you get, they get quieter and quieter until eventually you get a door man, right? You get a whole big man.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Who'S.

[Jeff Sheen]

Your doors for you. And he has his own doors, right? He's a poor doorman. They probably slam. So every day, just slamming doors. Maybe one day he snaps, murders the rich guy, they send him to prison. The slammer. It's awesome.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Jeff Sheen endorse. When did you realize, like, what age, like, as I listened to him. I remember, by the way, I had a minivan like that that was so bad, so rusted out that. That getting that door to shut was so hard. I would do that. I would drive fast down the street, slam on the brake, and the thing would finally unjam and would come crashing shut.

[OG]

We had the opposite problem with our minivan. You couldn't pull it shut. Like something went wrong with it after it got older and started to rust. And it wasn't the rust that was doing it, but you couldn't just go into manual mode. So you had to press the button and wait like four minutes for it to shut itself.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I remember the first time I got one of those tailgate doors, by the way, where, you know, I went to slam it because being a dude that didn't have money and somebody was like, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, hold on, man. You're gonna kill the motor. I'm like, what motor? They press the little button and things slowly, slowly goes down. But how old were you when you realized that some of your friends were Richards and uog? And. And what exactly was it that kind of tipped you off?

[OG]

They had dinner that night.

[Mr. Tax Man]

My car has soft closed doors.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Did it have that when you were growing up?

[Mr. Tax Man]

No, my dad's a truck driver. Farmer.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No, man, that was us.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I mean, we're all in the same school. There might have been some, you know, the, the, the wealthy people in my circle when I was a kid. Well, the wealthy parents, that's not even fair to say. The, the more well to do. Maybe. I don't know. Yeah, More comfortable ones who appear to have it together. Were all the factory workers at GM. Yeah, if you were 25 year factory worker at GM, you were working seven to two, you know, you had the cherry shift, you were a supervisor of some kind, making 30 bucks an hour or whatever it was, you know, you.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Had a nice pension.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, great pension.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Becoming. Yep.

[Mr. Tax Man]

That was the thing.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I thought my friend Jimmy was rich because they had a house that had maybe 12 rooms and they only lived in like four of the rooms. Four or five of the rooms, and the rest they left sealed off. And I remember just thinking, Jimmy was so rich because they had this huge house and didn't use the entire. Like, who has a house that's that big and you don't use most of the house? And then now, like later on, I was so many years older when I'm like, that may have not been the status symbol I thought it was. It could have been a house in the family. Like, I have no idea. I just remember thinking, man, my friend Jimmy, he is loaded, this guy. It's so amazing. But no. Soft closing doors at Jimmy's house. Didn't have that. What about.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah, yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I had a friend in high school.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I remember soft closed drawers are cool too.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, those are cool. I had a friend in high school that we went over to her house. She invited a bunch of us over for dinner and we go to her house and her house had a name and they had a chef. And that was the first time I was like, this is, that's, this is some serious, serious money these people have. Probably every door was a soft closed door.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I mean, if you have a chef, of course another person, like they said.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, doorman, you got a chef person. And then I remember also having friends on the other side of the spectrum. Like, I remember going out to McDonald's with my family with a friend who I didn't realize how poor their family was until he's like, oh, we don't get to do this. We never go out. We never go out to eat. I'm like, it's McDonald's. We're not even really going out to eat. Oh, this is great. This is absolutely fantastic.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I mean, we never went down to eat when I was a kid. Never, ever, ever pizza once a month maybe from B&C's Pizza.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You guys do B&C's and go to B&C's.

[OG]

We have BC Pizza. It's all over northern Michigan.

[Mr. Tax Man]

But we call it bncs. Is it round, but they cut it in squares? No, I Bet it's the same.

[OG]

That's stupid. By the way. That is a ridiculous way to cut a pizza.

[Mr. Tax Man]

That was. No, it's like gigantic pizza.

[OG]

I don't care. Because you end up with 14 pieces in the middle with no crust. That is the stupidest way. I'm. I am pissed at the thought of cutting a round pizza into squares.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Doug's like, you only go out to eat once a month, and you waste it on that.

[Mr. Tax Man]

You waste it on square pizza. Square, round pizza. You.

[OG]

Square pizza is fantastic, but there's still those four pieces in the middle that are questionable. Cause they don't. But at least you got the thick crust on the bottom of those round pizza cut into squares. Why'd you get me started?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Now I'm gonna go to. Go back to Bay City, Michigan, and I'm gonna go find that pizza place and see if it's still around. Order me a. A za and take it up to Doug's house. Be like, what say you now, sir?

[OG]

I think that's a Baltimore thing or a Pittsburgh thing. Like that notion of screwing up the geometry of a pizza.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. Cause then you end up on the edge. You end up with, like, a really teeny tiny.

[Doug]

You're gonna get a couple of little.

[OG]

Yeah. It just.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. So you get nothing.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah.

[Mr. Tax Man]

God.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

But sometimes the memory. Just the memory of. Of these places is what totally makes the place.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Have you guys ever had that where you have a memory of something being really awesome?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yes.

[Mr. Tax Man]

And then as an adult, you go back and you go.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Just happened. Just happened. Went to visit Cheryl's uncle over Thanksgiving, and we were back in East Lansing.

[Mr. Tax Man]

In East Lansing. And you're like.

[OG]

As soon as you crossed into the.

[Mr. Tax Man]

City, as soon as you got into the general area, you're like, oh, this is co.

[Doug]

Gross.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I asked for that.

[OG]

Was this smell always here?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I had to keep talking. I shouldn't have paused.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Now I know why they call it Moo.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, that's. That's another joke that I will not share.

[Mr. Tax Man]

It's a different reason.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Not about East Lancing. So we're sitting with Cheryl's uncle, and Cheryl's like, you know where I haven't been since we went to college? Harrison Roadhouse. Like, this would be great. Let's go back to Harrison Roadhouse.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Hit it. Yeah.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I remember people would take their parents there. Like, I remember my parents would come visit, and we'd go to Harrison Roadhouse, man. Cheryl's uncle. And she and I walking into Harrison Roadhouse. That place just reeked of old beer. Like just for the last like a.

[Mr. Tax Man]

It's like a 60 year old frat house.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It totally was like every day for the past 60 years, people been spilling beer at Harrison Roadhouse all over the place late at night. And I remember just the whole time I'm in there I'm like, oh God. And then the stuff they brought me, that was just greasy crap.

[Mr. Tax Man]

We did that in Ann Arbor. We went to Pizza House, which was always a favorite in Ann Arbor. And it was, it, it delivered again. I was like, okay, I remember this place being good and let's, let's see how the, how the Chicken Ranch sandwiches and it was, it was as good as I remember. But, but there's been other places that not quite, not quite the same.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, I remember we would always get Bell's Pizza at 2am Right? The bar closes, you go get Bell's Pizza. And I remember one time, even as a college student, I went to Bell's Pizza in the middle of the day and I get this thing and I'm like, I actually ate this. But at 2am you're like, oh my God, that's great. That's fantastic. You get it at 2 in the afternoon and there's just this layer of grease and then you see shimmering on the top. Oh.

[Mr. Tax Man]

No offense to the fine folks at Harrison's Roadhouse or Bell's Pizza. Accepting reservations now in your favorite app.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

So many five. But to your point, I should have left the memory alone because I did remember Harrison Road.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Did that with a travel location too. We went on vacation one time to a repeat place that we went when we were kids. We're like, this is awesome. We went there. We're like, this is not awesome.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Just was not the same. Yeah, I had the opposite experience. We went to Baraboo, Wisconsin. I remember that place being just weird and fun. I was trying to talk my family into him. Like, no, it's the Circus Museum in Paraboo, Wisconsin. And the signs even faded along the highway. It just looks, it totally looks like a roadside scam. And you go there and it was every bit as good. Oh gee. As I remembered it. Yeah, like every bit as good. That place was so cool. If you ever get a chance to go to the Circus Museum in Baraboo, Wisconsin. Stacker Allen lives there. By the way, who does credit card points. He was on the show after he out himself one time. I was talking lovingly about Baraboo. All right, how do we get on that topic? Like wow.

[OG]

From Tick Tock. Soft closed doors.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Doors. Soft closed Doors.

[OG]

How poor were you growing up?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Into memory land.

[OG]

Stupid pizza cutting.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Hey, let's help a stacker in need. A stacker who said, you know what? I better call Saul.

[Mr. Tax Man]

See.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Hi. And Og, this is the part of the show where if you need help, you go to stacking. Benjamin.com voicemail and you can be as cool as Anna is who called us with this question. Hey, Anna.

[Anna]

Hi guys. I have a question regarding dual residency with different states. I currently own my home in Minnesota and my parents will be coming back to it when they snowbird. So I also have a vehicle that is connected to this place. But I am moving to Maryland for work where I'll also have a vehicle there and be renting there and be there most of the time. So I'm wondering about the implications with taxes and anything else that I should be aware of. If you guys can help point me in the right direction or send me to a real professional, I'd appreciate it.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Burn.

[Anna]

Thanks.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Ouch.

[OG]

Why was that necessary?

[Doug]

The little whip crack?

[OG]

Right.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Well, that wasn't. No, she's, she's not saying we're not professional. She's saying people that deal with tax. Is there somebody that she should go to who is just a tax pro? Oh, gee. What do you think about in a situation here?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Well, it's pretty clear that you are a resident of where you're a resident. So if she's living in Maryland and has a driver's license in Maryland and is working in Maryland, then you're a resident in Maryland. You know, that's pretty straightforward. Your Maryland income, you know, it's not going to be reported in Minnesota and you know, you'll file a Maryland tax return. Now, however, if you have income in a different state, then you have to file a tax return in that state for that amount of income. And a great example of this is you think about all the professional athletes. The basketball player from Minnesota goes and plays the team in D.C. or plays the team in New York. That portion of their income, that portion of that game check is attributable to working in New York or working in Phoenix or working in wherever. And those people, professional athletes in particular, they file taxes across the entire country and some of them across the entire world. You know, you go work, you know, you have a NBA team in Canada, they don't.

[OG]

They have people that do it for them.

[Mr. Tax Man]

You know what I mean? They're signing tax returns. But so as long as there's no income in Minnesota, then you're fine. And really the litmus test not litmus test here, but the, the number is the 180 days. It's where do you spend more than half the year? Even if you move throughout the year, let's say that new job in Maryland doesn't start until May. You're going to file two tax returns this year. One for the time that you lived and worked in Minnesota and earned income there, and one for the time that you lived and worked in maryland. And your CPA, or if you do it on your own on TurboTax or something like that, will actually ask you where did you live and work and what days did you move? And you'll say, well, I lived in Minnesota from this day to this day. I lived in Maryland from this day to this day. And then that gets apportioned appropriately with that. So there's no complexity to having property in different states or, or that sort of thing if you end up with income in different states. So let's say, for example, that you keep your home and you Airbnb it now, now you have income in Minnesota and so Minnesota is going to want their cut. You'll also have to claim that income in Maryland, but then your CPA will offset it for the fact that you have already claimed it in Minnesota. So little complexity. Any CPA, I mean, not probably any of them, but 90% of them should be able to work through this pretty quickly. Enrolled agents are another good example. Probably DIY this on TurboTax. You know, if you can follow the prompts pretty well, I'm sure they'll walk you through that as well. But if you want an extra layer of protection, get a CPA in Maryland and they'll be able to walk you through it. But big bag of nothing. Easy peasy lemon squeezy.

[OG]

Oh, gee. Is it worth looking into how homesteading in either, because I think both Minnesota and Maryland are homestead states. Does that have any impact on any of this? Well, she said she was going to.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Rent in Maryland, so.

[OG]

Oh, did she? I missed that. Okay. All right.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Now you're not talking about income taxes, you're talking about property taxes as it relates to. That's a secondary effect of moving and owning property in a different place is, you know, the powers that be in Minnesota could realize that you are no longer a resident of Minnesota. And therefore, if your state has higher tax rates for non residents, which a lot of them do, you could end up with a little bit higher property tax bill. But that's not an income tax issue, that's a property tax issue.

[OG]

Maybe I didn't listen closely enough, I'm still reeling from what Joe put me through in the trivia, but I thought she was just looking in general, different financial things she should be concerned about or thinking about as she, you know, starts to have dual residency. But I mean, that's one of them. Even if she's renting, if she's spending over six months of her time in Maryland, the homestead thing in Minnesota could come into play, couldn't it?

[Mr. Tax Man]

From a property tax standpoint. Yeah, but there, I mean, there is no such thing as dual residency. You're a resident where you're a resident.

[OG]

Right. So it's wherever you spend six months in a day. Right.

[Doug]

I mean, that's where you're a resident.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yes. I would also argue that if you moved on July 5, but your new home is Maryland because that's where your job is and what that's your residency. From an income tax standpoint, it will be prorated because you'll have income in Minnesota. Even if it's the same company, they're going to pay you differently too. They run it through the Maryland side of the equation and not the Minnesota side of the equation. So, you know, it's just important to keep good records on this. It's just important to, you know, make sure if it is the same company, they know you're moving, make sure that they get your new address because you want to make sure you're withholding, you know, your state income taxes in the right area if your state has state income taxes. And yeah, there's undoubtedly going to be some, some downstream effects. Property taxes issues is an example as well. So nothing overly complicated though.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Thanks for the question, Anna.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Or just call and ask a real professional, whatever you do.

[OG]

You that guy spinning the sign out in front of the H and R block tax thing on the sidewalk?

[Mr. Tax Man]

Yeah. And the little blow up arms.

[OG]

Yeah. The guy that's doing this with the wavy arms. Yeah. Or dressed like the Statue of Liberty.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Go get a real pro like one of those guys. Oh, she chose violence, not me.

[OG]

Yeah, that's an assassin.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I don't think she did. I think you interpreted it that way, but. Hey Anna, thanks for calling.

[OG]

Wow. I hope you feel mighty proud of yourself, young lady.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

And I'm sending you a shirt. Just have to put up with all that from these guys. Stacking benjamin.com voicemail hopefully we can help you avoid some taxes as well. That I think covers it for today. Doug, we got anything on the back porch today?

[OG]

Well, we can remind everybody about the single best meetup of the year.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, I heard it's heavenly.

[OG]

It is going to be heavenly. That's right. OG and I and the fin turn will be at MCP's Tap Room in South Lake Tahoe Wednesday night, 19 February from 6 until when OG's credit card.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Gets maxed out, which is exactly at 8 o'clock. Also the same time I have to go to bed, oddly enough.

[OG]

But no, because that's. That's going to be on.

[Mr. Tax Man]

I run on Central time all the time, so 8 Pacific is 10 Central turn into a pumpkin. I'm out.

[OG]

Oh God, this is going to be fun. Somebody please come to provide the fun that OG will be sucking the life out of from this trip.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Stacky benjamin.com meetup to meet up with Doug. And if you get there early, It'll be before OG's bedtime and you might see him too, which would be great. Maybe Doug. Take it from here, man. What should we have learned on today's potpourri of money, advice and Twinkies and doors?

[OG]

And do I have to do this? Because I don't know what's coming on this either.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

We had no idea.

[OG]

Hanging out to dry again.

[Doug]

I.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

You wrote this. Go.

[OG]

Okay, here we go. Well, Joe, here's what we should have learned on today's episode.

[Doug]

First, take some advice from our headline.

[OG]

How do you stop a scam? Scan your utility bills from time to.

[Doug]

Time, freeze your credit and stay alert by establishing a few good, healthy money systems, crooks are far less likely to.

[OG]

Find you as their next victim.

[Doug]

Second, how are the doors in your house? Maybe having better doors is the true.

[OG]

Key to having more money.

[Doug]

It's a theory.

[OG]

Could be a bad one. But the big lesson, don't ask Joe's mom about getting better doors. She'll show you the door in a hurry. And by show you, I don't mean. Yeah, never mind.

[Doug]

This show is the property of SB Podcasts, LLC, Copyright 2025, and is created by Josal 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.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Oh, yeah.

[Doug]

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 sa.

[OG]

But the big lesson. Don't ask Joe's mom about getting better doors. She'll show you the door in a hurry. And by show you, I don't mean. Yeah, never mind.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

She'll show you the door in a hurry. She'll show you the door.

[OG]

Yeah, I got it the first time, Joe.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No, no, dude, you, like, read it wrong.

[OG]

I don't think so.

[Doug]

She'll show you the door in a hurry.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Yeah, that. Actually, that emphasis was much better the second time.

[OG]

That's exactly the way I said it the first time.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

It was not the way you said it the first time. Do the big lesson one more time.

[OG]

I hope we're keeping this all in, by the way.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

No, we're not keeping this.

[OG]

Okay. Three, two, one. Steve. I'll do it right for the second time. But the big lesson. Don't ask Joe's mom about getting better doors.

[Doug]

She'll show you the door in a hurry.

[OG]

And by show you, I don't mean yeah, never mind.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

She'll show you the door in a hurry.

[OG]

You want me to do it a third time?

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

I just. I just capitalized it.

[OG]

I see that. You want me to do it again.

[Mr. Tax Man]

Clearly he does.

[OG]

Unbelievable. I'm gonna this up on purpose. 3, 2, 1. But the big lesson, don't ask Joe's mom. I can't do it. I swear to God. You're just messing with me. This is ridiculous.

[Joe Saul-Sehy]

Steve. Steve. That's our after show.