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Two hundred episodes!  To mark this special milestone we look back at five of the best episodes as voted by our listeners.  Here’s to two hundred more! It’s not even been a year and we have two hundred episodes in the books.  We’ll look at some of the highlights from the past one hundred episodes. 1.  Mr Money Mustache.  MMM is a legend in the world of personal finance and you were as excited to hear the interview as we were to conduct it.  If you want the road map to retire early, very early, MMM is the go to resource.  Hint, live on half your money. 2.  The Mad Fientist: A genius when it comes to figuring out tax shelters through various investments.  This guy has it on lock down. We redeemed ourselves with some of you who were unhappy with the previous IRA episode and we were grateful for the second chance. 3. Our Twelve Financial Philosophies:  This was just Matt and Andrew discussing their twelve financial rules for success.  I like guest episodes but there is nothing like a good Matt and Andrew rant. 4.  Breaking Bad Habits with James Clear:  James laid out some simple ways to break bad habits and replace them with positive behaviors.  When you hear someone break it down to such a degree as James did, it makes breaking those habits seem so much less daunting and I think that’s why this episode really resonated. 5. How to Stop Being a Spendaholic: This hit home for a lot of you.  It’s so hard to stop spending even when you know you’re putting yourself into a hole.  Listening to how Matt was able to overcome his addiction was inspiring for many of us. We owe every one of these two hundred episodes to our listeners, readers, and all the corespondents via e-mail, Twitter, Facebook, reviews, and comments.  It’s been an honor to reach this point of the journey along with all of you. Show Notes Rogue Farms Pumpkin Patch Ale:  A perfect October beer. The Mad Fientist:  Take your investing to the next level. James Clear:  James’ site devoted to helping you build good habits. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  Couples fighting over money issues is one of the leading causes of divorce.  Learn how to divorce-proof your marriage with Derek and Carrie Olsen. There are so many questions when it comes to marital finances.  Do you combine money or keep it separate, three accounts, his, her’s, and our’s?  How do you handle it if one spouse greatly out earns another?  Can a spender and a saver ever learn to co-exist?  We brought on a married couple who are experts in navigating this mine field. Derek and Carrie advocate combining finances.  It teaches you to work together and forces conversations you might otherwise not have about values, your past, your ultimate future goals.  It can help you know your spouse in a way you might otherwise not. Being the higher earner may make one spouse feel more entitled to dictate how the money is spent.  But who brings home more bacon can change.  If you wouldn’t like having your spending scrutinized, your spouse won’t like it either and when the tables turn, they might get back at you.  Not a good recipe for a happy marriage.  That’s why all financial decisions must be shared and agreed to jointly. Whether or not to sign a pre-nuptial agreement can be a big bone of contention.  It certainly isn’t romantic and almost feels like you’re predicting the failure of the marriage.  If this is important to you, be ready to encounter some push back.  A pre-nup can also make it easier not to put the work in when problems arise.  If things end, you can walk away relatively unscathed and that can take away incentive to work out the problems. Communicating about money is the key.  The earlier in the relationship you start talking about money, the easier it is to avoid problems and anger later.  Waiting until you find out your spouse has been hiding thousands of dollars in credit card debt is a bad first financial conversation to have. What can you do when you both have the same blind spot?  You both love going to concerts so neither of you are going to wield the ban hammer even if it’s not in the budget.  One of you will have to stand up and say no or take money from another area to cover the expense.  So you went to the concert and had a great time but you’re going to have to survive on ramen for the rest of the month. Getting divorced because of money problems is a tragedy and depressingly common. Start communicating about money as soon as things start to get serious so your family won’t end up a statistic.  Show Notes Yards IPA:  An India pale ale. DerekandCarrie.com:  How to have better conversations about money and marriage. LMM Tool Box:  Everything you need to manage your money.     Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

  It’s time for five questions.  We answer questions about liquidity, building credit, paying yourself first, vacations and credit card rewards. 1.  When do you take the time and money to go on vacation?  Whenever you can!  Segment an area of your checking account that is your vacation fund and contribute weekly or monthly, just like your investment account.  Check out my article on ways to travel on the cheap.   You kind of know when you’re getting to the point of needing a vacation.  It’s the point at which everyone you encounter is your potential murder victim.  Try to feel when this is becoming an everyday feeling and plan your trip a few weeks before that.  Bail is expensive. 2.  I’ve recently taken out my first, small student loan.  I want to build credit.  To do so, is it better to pay if off according to the plan the lender set up or should I pay it faster?  If you want to build credit, don’t pay it off faster.  It will give you less on-time payments which are reported to the credit bureaus.  But debt is an emergency, it would be better to pay the loan off and open a secured credit card in order to build your credit score.  Being debt free is more important than a credit score. 3.  How do credit card companies sustain all the rewards offers they make like cash back and airline miles?  Every time you use a credit card, the merchant pays a transaction fee.  For big spenders who use their card for everything, this means big bucks for the credit card companies. For those of us who pay our balances in full, we are also subsidized by those who don’t and are paying all that interest. 4.  I know that you should pay yourself first but is that true even when you’re trying to pay down debt?  Yes, if you have debt, you probably haven’t been paying yourself first for a long time.  The best way to do it is to have a certain percentage of your pay routed to an investment account, that way you don’t miss it.  This would be after you have $1000 in a checking account as a beginner emergency fund. 5.  Is there high liquidity in the stock market?  Yes, it’s just a matter of a day or two to pull money out of the market.  Much more quickly accessed than having to sell a house for instance. Thanks for the questions everyone, keep them coming!  Show Notes Blue Moon:  A Belgian white. Richest Man in Babylon:  Money lessons taught through parables. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

John Corcoran from Smart Business Revolution is a networking expert.  He tells us why networking is important and how he paid off $600,000 in debt. Between 2006-2010 John racked up over half a million dollars in debt mostly through equity lines of credit. He was working during that period which is why he was able to get so much credit but he went back to law school and incurred $129,000 in student loan debt. He graduated law school at the worst time to find work as an attorney and worked a series of jobs for small firms.  During this time he wasn’t making enough to tackle the debt mountain.  It wasn’t until he started his own firm that he could start to make some progress. In 2010 he sold his rental property and a year and a half later sold his condo, it wasn’t a great time to sell but it enabled him to clear most of the debt.  Not everyone has property to see in order to pay off debt but not everyone accumulated that debt by taking out huge lines of credit. John has always enjoyed writing and has always been good at developing relationships.  He married these things together and started Smart Business Revolution to teach others how to build relationships that will help further your career.  Sadly, he confirms that it’s more whom you know than what you know.  It’s not fair but you know it so growing your network is important. What you have to offer others doesn’t always have to be related to your industry.  You probably aren’t going to give Mark Cuban business advice but you might be able to tell him about a great new restaurant.  Find commonality with the person you are trying to build a relationship with.  Try just having a normal human conversation. Check out John’s article on how he paid off his debt and his website and podcast to help you build your business relationships.  Show Notes Blue Moon:  A Belgian white that a party guest left a lot of at Andrew’s house. Yards Extra Special Ale:  An English style ale. Anchor Steam Beer:  Finally, a West Coast beer on the show! Smart Business Revolution/moneymatters:  As a special gift to our listeners, follow this link to download John’s book about how to network in order to make more money.  Thanks John! Smart Business Revolution Podcast:  We already know you like podcast so check out John’s. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In a battle of hourly vs salary, which prevails? We take a look at the advantages and disadvantages of each. It can seem more prestigious to be in a salaried position, maybe more because of what it used to mean that because of what it means now. It used to mean white collar, benefits, an office. Some salaried positions still offer those things but they’re not automatic. How Many Hours? This is the big question when you’re considering hourly vs salary. In some cases, employees are exempt from overtime laws, including commissioned salespeople, drivers, farm workers, and administrative, executive, and professional employees. This is the sticking point because many of you reading this would be classified as one of those last three. Currently, even salaried employees who make less than $23,660 per year are eligible for overtime. The Department of Labor is considering changing that to make anyone, even those once considered exempt, earning less than $50,440, eligible. If you’re a non-exempt hourly employee, you are paid time and a half, your hourly rate multiplied by 1.5 for every hour you work over forty in a week. Sometimes employees are paid double time, your hourly rate multiplied by 2 for holidays and weekends. Some unscrupulous employers will dangle the offer of a salaried position to hourly employees, counting on the employee believing a salaried position is beneficial for all those perks we talked about above. But it might be a trap. It might be the exact same job for the same pay only know with additional duties and hours that they don’t have to compensate for. Some employers will forbid hourly workers to work more than forty hours per week, expecting exempt employees to pick up the slack, essentially uncompensated for the additional work and hours. Hourly workers will have more restrictions on their time, you may have to clock in and out at the start and end of each shift as well as during breaks. Understandable certainly but having to clock out when you need to do a ten-minute errand or grab a cup a coffee, or go to the bathroom can start to feel like being micro-managed. It’s not actually legal to not pay you for those kinds of breaks. A break 5-20 minutes long has to be paid but some employers don’t know that or do know but hope that you don’t. Benefits Some hourly employees will have access to benefits but you’re more likely to have them if you’re salaried. Currently, if you’re employer has more than fifty full time employees and you work 30 or more hours per week or 130 a month, you are eligible for employer sponsored health insurance. Given how stingy most companies with time off since, in America the only people with any legally mandated, paid vacation is Congress, paid vacation is a big “perk” to consider when choosing between jobs. A salaried job is more likely to include paid time off and paid sick leave than hourly. Where Are You In Life? Hourly might be better for younger people just starting their career. You have more time to work and probably need the extra income that time and a half will offer.  When you have a family, working long hours and weekends will be less appealing. Scheduling Salaried employees tend to have more regular schedules than hourly employees. If you’ve ever had an hourly job where you didn’t know your schedule week to week, you know what a draw back this is. Trying to schedule things like doctor’s appointments, child care, and going back to school while you work is almost impossible withou... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

One of the most confusing aspects of starting a small business are the taxes involved.  We get some expert help from Jamaal Solomon. Small business taxes are one of those things best left to professionals, like surgery or dentistry.  Sometimes the money you would save trying to DIY it is not worth the aggravation and resulting mess. So many acronyms, LLC, S Corp, C Corp.  We just want to do things legally while paying the least amount of taxes possible.  Small business taxes are not one size fits all.  Each case has to be handled on an individual basis. One piece of advice Jamaal has for everyone is not to wait until April 15th to see a tax consultant.  That is a bad time to find out that you should have been setting aside money quarterly to pay the tax bill.  And do everything like you’re going to be audited tomorrow.  Sitting in front of an IRS agent is no time to realize that you played too fast and loose with the legalities.  But remember, the difference between creative and legal is a fine distinction.  And the more money your business makes, the more creative you can get. Put all of your business expenses on a company credit card, never pay cash.  Cash transactions are almost impossible to back up during an audit and will set off all kinds of alarm bells with the auditor. Small businesses are like snowflakes, no two are alike.  That’s why it’s important to seek out a reliable tax professional to help walk you through the mine field.  Show Notes The Tax Factor:  Jamaal’s blog to help readers with small business taxes. JS Tax Corp:  Jamaal’s company to help small business owners prepare their taxes. LMM Tool Box:  Everything you need to manage your money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Do you love buying all the things?  You might have a problem.  We all love buying stuff but it can become a real problem.  Let’s tackle it together. “It’s ok, I deserve it.”  Is that something you find yourself saying a lot?  Whether or not you deserve it is not the question.  I’m sure you do, you work hard, take care of a family.  Of course you deserve it!  But can you afford it?  That’s the question that needs to be answered. Shopping becomes a habit.  It’s a way to entertain yourself, to reward yourself, to blow off stress.  If spending money has become these things to you, it’s time to break the habit before you are crushed under a pile of your own debt (and detritus). The first step is to set up a budget.  Use a spread sheet, use YNAB, use Mint, use the back of an envelope, anything.  Just start tracking where your money is going.  Even if this doesn’t make you stop what you’re doing, at least at first, this gives you vital information.  Where is your money going? If this behavior is sinking you, you need to make a shift.  Now that you know where you’re spending, examine it.  Does what you’re spending on make you happy, improve your life?  Or is it keeping you up at night, trapping you in a job you hate? Matt had a bad breakup and got layed off.  He took the opportunity to go all in on starting his own business.  In order to survive, he had to cut all spending to only the essentials.  No more filling the voids with cars and houses, and stuff.  If he was going to make this work, there could be no more of that kind of gap filling spending.  His only priority now was making this business work. So how can you tackle this without getting dumped and fired?  Make a list of all the things that make you happy that cannot be purchased.  A run in the park, a walk on the beach, time with friends, walking your puppy (I’d like a puppy please).  Next time you want to blow off steam or you’re bored, do one of the things on your list instead.  Eventually you will begin to associate these behaviors rather than shopping, with entertainment or stress relief, or whatever feeling you were trying to achieve by shopping. It’s easier to replace a habit than to break a habit.  By replacing the destructive habit with a positive behavior, your life with improve and so will your fiances. Show Notes Tank 7 Farmhouse Ale:  A Belgian style farmhouse ale. Mint:  Budgeting software. YNAB:  We talked to the founder of this budgeting software in Episdode 154. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Competition is heating up among the Robo-Advisors. We get a lot of emails asking which is better: Acorns vs. Betterment vs. Wealthfront so we broke down each of the services to see who deserves your investment. The whole point of going with a Robo-Advisor is the ease of use. Based on the research, it’s highly unlikely you’ll outperform the market on your own. Better yet, if you tried to do it on your own, it would be much more expensive. For someone just looking to invest with the right service, it’s getting harder and harder to tell where you should put your money. Before we get started, I also wrote an incredibly in-depth Betterment Review, an equally detailed Wealthfront Review as well as interviewed the Acorns founders so if you’re looking to go even deeper check those out. In this article, I’ll be focusing more on the nuances of each service than the nitty-gritty features and how they work. Let the Robo-Advisor battle begin!   A Birds Eye View Every good investment comparison needs a sexy chart breaking down the differences. I’m not one to leave you wanting so bask in its glory:           Promotions Students Invest For Free Up to 6 Months Free Invest $15,000 Free   Management Fees 0.25% a year 0.25% – 0.5% a year 0% – 0.25% a year   Minimum Deposit None None None   Automatic Rebalancing Yes Yes Yes   Tax Loss Harvesting No Yes Yes   Assets Under Management $73.6 Million $5 Billion $3.5 Billion   iOS App Yes Yes Yes   Android App Yes Yes Yes   Taxable Accounts Yes Yes Yes   IRAs Yes Yes Yes           On paper they’re very comparable but as you know, the magic is in the details. In order to objectively compare Acorns vs Betterment vs Wealthfront I’ve come up with three main rounds the services will battle in to win your investment.  Round 1: Ease of Use and Sex Appeal Acorns has a beautiful app and a beautiful website. It’s one of the best-designed apps on my phone by a long shot. I’m of course not the only one to notice this – they’ve won some design award every year since they opened their doors.  That’s sexy investing, am I right or am I right? This Round was just going to be called Ease of Use, but Acorns elevated it to Sex Appeal. I’m willing to bet this is the biggest way they get people to try them out. Sexy screenshots. That can also be a downside though. We’re about investing for the long-term here so if you need to keep opening your app just to see the pretty colors; you’ll also see daily fluctuations and go slowly insane. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Negotiating is a vital skill.  For a job, a raise, to get to watch the game instead of The Real Housewives.  Dan Green will teach us what we need to know. Not many of us are taught how to negotiate.  We might parrot what we hear other people say but how successful were they?  We need to learn from an expert how to really get what we want. The most common reasons people give when asking for a raise are:  I’ve produced X since my last raise.  I’ve been here X number of years.  I have a family, student loans, etc.”  These reasons focus too much on yourself and too much on the past.  Neither of those things are things your boss cares about. What the boss does care about it himself, the company and the future.  Be very direct with your boss about what you want to be making.  Don’t just ask for more money, say how much more.  Then ask what you need to be doing going forward to make that happen.  Dan does not advise giving an ultimatum.  You want to come across as someone who is excited to do more for the company because that kind of person is deserving of more money. Don’t hedge everything on one conversation, the end of the year or the yearly review.  This makes a single conversation too fraught.  A general conversation when hired, when getting a raise, when earnings reports come out, are better times to find out what you have to do to grow.  Because you aren’t asking for anything, only asking what you can be doing in the future.  In fact, during your review is a terrible time to ask for a raise.  You don’t want to find out how you’re doing and then ask for a raise. Have the review, find out how you can improve, make those changes and then ask.  Because now they have no reason not to offer you more money. A good question to ask is, “What would make you happy to pay me $150,000 (or whatever number you’re seeking) a year?”  And remember, whomever puts down the first number, has more control over the final number.  You found out what making $150,000 required when you asked that months ago.  Now you can slap that number down on the table. There is a difference between haggling and negotiating.  Haggling is more contentious and there are more extreme demands.  Like when you’re trying to buy a car.  Negotiating is better.  It builds more trust and both parties come out at the end feeling as though they’ve both made a good deal rather than both feeling like they got screwed. Or just ask.  So many people are afraid to ask for something but it doesn’t hurt.  It’s like talking to the cute boy at the bar.  Sure, you get shot down sometimes but not always.  Be bold, be brave! So try it tomorrow.  You don’t have to go all in and ask your boss for a 20% raise.  But find one thing that you think may be negotiable and ask for a discount.  Report back here with your findings. Show Notes Oerbier:  A strong, dark Belgian ale. The Negotiation Blog:  Dan’s blog to teach you the art of negotiating. Bridge Consulting International:  Dan’s consulting company Betterment:  This is not negotiable.  Start investing today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Afraid you’ll never get a foot on the property ladder?  Why not build your own tiny house?  Ethan Waldman did just that and tells us how we can too. In 2012, fed up with his job, Ethan quit, bought $1000 worth of lumber and began constructing his own two hundred square foot tiny house on wheels.  He has been living in it for a year and it has everything you would find in a regular sized house, just smaller. Tiny houses are becoming quite the phenomenon due to a perfect storm of events.  The financial crisis scared a lot of people away from the housing market, those not dissuaded couldn’t get a loan.  Kids coming out of college with tens of thousands of dollars worth of debt, saw that home ownership would be forever out of reach and weren’t sure they wanted that part of the American dream anyway. Ethan learned as he went along.  The only experience he had was from a tiny house workshop, he hadn’t built anything prior to the tiny house.  He did hire some help when construction was taking longer than he had planned for.  By the end of the project, the tiny house cost about $45,000, $33,000 for materials and $12,000 for labor.  Ethan had about $30,000 saved before quitting his job and still did some consulting work after leaving. To build a tiny house takes about eight hundred people hours, Ethan finished his in about fifteen months, working on it about half time.  There are some legal issues regarding this type of housing and the laws vary by state so be sure to check them out before starting your own tiny house. Ethan has unexpectedly become the poster boy for tiny houses.  He recently published a book, Tiny House Decisions to help people design their own tiny house. Not everyone has to take out a mortgage and buy a big ugly McMansion, you could build your own tiny house and tell the banks to shove it! Show Notes Cloud Coach:  The story of Ethan’s tiny house from start to finish. Tumbleweed Tiny House Company:  A California based company that designs and builds tiny houses. Betterment:  Start your tiny house fund today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices