The Stacking Benjamins Show

Raising financial literacy rates in the country is not only important for the population at large but especially for military service members. That's why we're honoring service members this Veteran's Day with some HUGE advice from Ellie Kay, founder of the Heroes at Home program. The program provides military members and their families financial education on how to get out of debt, save more, and how to make their dollar go further. Today she'll share resources for veterans and current military members alike, plus there are LOTS of takeaways for those of you who aren't military-related. During our headlines segment, we'll take a look at another brokerage firm slashing fees and the reactions of two other CEOs in the industry. Are you missing out by not chasing lower fees? We'll give our thoughts, plus, cover a second piece about the wife of a convicted Ponzi scheme fraudster. She recently pleaded guilty to trying to cash in on $26,000 in credit card points - points earned from the Ponzi scheme of course. Later in the show, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Peter, who has recently become an uncle. Peter wants to set up his niece with some investments to help her later in life, but he's not sure what to do. He doesn't want to lock up the money in education funds, but he doesn't want it freely available either. Options? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're finishing out our rewind week with one very interesting topic: should you marry for money? Tune back in next week for another 8 weeks of brand new shows! We'll kick the week off with featured guest Ellie Kay. You can read our original show notes below:  While people say that marrying for money is a horrible reason to wed...are there positives? We ask Len Penzo and special guest Jessica Moorhouse from the Mo' Money podcast, that question...and as usual, the answer isn't what you'd expect. Plus, we talk about guaranteed income streams. It seems everyone wants one...but is the cost of a guarantee worth it? Finally, we'll tackle the video everyone's been talking about...the professor on the BBC who's interrupted by family. What are some workplace gaffes that WE'VE had happen? You'll laugh with us (and probably at us). During our FinTech segment we talk to Jon Ziglar from Parkmobile about some much-needed technology. How about an app that helps you find and pay for parking without all of the hassle? We'll ask him how it works on today's podcast. Thanks to MagnifyMoney.com for sponsoring our show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're taking a look back to an episode originally aired in 2016 about a crazy story that left our guest traumatized. She went on to use that fear to change her life for the better. Here is our original show description: A horrifying event changed Leisa Peterson’s life…for the better. What happened? That’s what we’ll discuss with her on this show, along with a great discussion on fear. Plus, we’ll talk about crazy things people buy with student loan money AND answer questions from Amy about when to hire a financial advisor and from Michael about when to diversify his investments. There’s ALL of that and more on today’s show! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How about a kick in the pants financially? Deacon Hayes got one...and today, you're going to get one too, especially if you want to be motivated to pay off debt. Let's get that debt paid! Today we bring you one of our FAVORITE episodes. If you're new here, every eight weeks we take a week off to organize and plan our next two months' shows. The good news for you? This whole week we're going to feature some of our favorite episodes from the past! While markets may change from week to week, great financial advice doesn't. Here's the original show notes from two years ago: Thinking about retiring early but you're stuck in neutral with your debt? Maybe it's time to change your money habits. Deacon Hayes (recent winner of the Plutus' Blog Of The Year award), joins us to tell his personal "getting his money act together" story, that YOU can also use to get out of debt and start on your road to early retirement. Then we talk about retiring early, the topic of his new book. From investing in stocks to real estate and business, we cover MANY avenues you can use to work like Deacon, who's on a path to financial independence in his early 40's. In our headline segment today we'll tackle a story about an icon who just sold nine figures worth of stock. What does this have to do with your portfolio and investments? It has a LOT to do with you, if you're accumulating stock in a single company. We'll also detail a recent shopping trend.  How much has online shopping overtaken the Black Friday experience? What does this mean for your holiday shopping this year? We'll discuss it on today's show. We'll also throw out the Haven Life Line, answer a listener letter, and also try to answer a tough trivia question from Doug. That's just the beginning of the fun we're having on today's Stacking Benjamins podcast! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You have your financial plan, you've cut back on the lattes and the subscriptions, you've downsized your home, you know how much debt you need to pay off each month, and you've socked away LOTS of cash... right? In the race to financial freedom, is that it? Maybe not. On today's roundtable discussion the gang will tackle a recent blog post that says, "Maybe there's something ELSE you should be paying attention to, first." Diving in today, we're excited to feature our long time regulars: Paula Pant of the Afford Anything podcast, Len Penzo of LenPenzo.com, and from our very own podcast: OG. We'll take a break halfway through the show while Joe sits down with Michael Bovee from Resolve. Resolve is a company that's setting out to be your personal guide out of financial stress, and Michael will share just how the company intends to do that. During the Magnify Money segment we'll answer a question one of our listeners posted in the Stacking Benjamins facebook group. When you know you'll be needing to sell and buy a home and the next 5-10 years, how would you prioritize saving? Our roundtable will weigh in with their two cents, and we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Since October is almost Oct-over it's time to turn down the lights and look over your shoulder because today someone might be playing a spook-tacular Halloween episode for you! We'll share some simply horrifying stories about being an adult from Amanda Holden (AKA the Dumpster Doggy). We'll also offer you a nice treat from Chuck Jaffe (The Money Life podcast) who will share how he tricks the treaters. But it's not all partying with fantastic friends, on this celebration of financial horror. In our headlines segment, we'll show you a super easy way to save some money...and it's one that's probably sitting in your house right now. Like a few extra Benjamins a year? We do! After a little dose of Doug's trivia, we'll wind up the show by throwing out the Haven Life line, as always. It's a fantastic, horrible, money-saving episode of Stacking Benjamins on tap! Enjoy. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you understand investments? If not, today's show is for you...and if you DO, today's show probably still is for you, because our guest is all about focusing on what you DON'T yet know about your money. David Stein will help us learn more about how your investments work so the whole process is less of a gamble. He's the host behind the hit financial podcast, Money For The Rest Of Us, and brings to the basement a wealth of knowledge about the questions you need to ask before putting your hard-earned money into any investment. Picking a popular stock is easy, but truly understanding the thing you put your cash behind? That's more difficult, and David will break down why. October is fire prevention month, so during our headlines segment we'll ring up Steve Kerber, the Director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. He'll share fantastic advice on not only how to keep your family safe, but your home too. Plus, could there be a magic number to emergency savings? One recent study suggests that if you hoard too much money it might not be worth it, and the savings could be better put elsewhere. Later we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Stacy, who describes herself as a digital nomad. How should she budget and do her taxes? A big thanks to Masterworks for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Start investing in art AND skip the 17,000 person waitlist by visiting Masterworks.io and letting them know Stacking Benjamins sent you. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You're ready to jump into the waters of entrepreneurship...or maybe you aren't, but you ARE curious. What questions should you ask yourself BEFORE you lay down your hard earned money to invest in inventory, systems, and people? Happy Friday! Today we ditch our usual Friday format and instead offer up a super special game show edition of SB! On today's show we'll quiz Chief Side Hustler and the host of the Side Hustle Show, Nick Loper, plus regular contributors Paula Pant (Afford Anything) and OG on THE questions an entrepreneur should ask before creating a start-up. Think you have what it takes to create your own business? Play along with our cast and find out! After we have our fun with the game show, Joe will ring up Justin Pogue, the author behind Rental Secrets. We'll talk to Justin on how to get more value out of your dollar by using insider knowledge to lower your rent and earn yourself more leverage. Plus, with Nic Loper on the roundtable, we'll answer a specially-themed entrepreneurial question from Reddit. The user writes that they'll very possibly be fired from their day job soon, but that they're starting up their own business and things are beginning to go well. What should they do? A big thanks to Quickbooks for supporting Stacking Benjamins. You can save an average of $600 annually by paying your employees with Intuit QuickBooks Payroll. Check it out today at Intuit.me/sb. Another big thanks to Native for supporting our podcast as well. Get 20% off your first purchase by visiting nativedeodorant.com and entering promo code SB during checkout. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What if the difference between today's mediocrity and tomorrow's succes were all steps you've heard before? Things you can do TODAY to get where you want to go tomorrow? Today we'll tackle just that, learning how to ignite success in 52 easy steps with Dr. Melanie Katzman. We've heard a lot of these rules already, but how are we applying them to our lives? Dr. Katzman teaches us how to get on track to become successful. In our headlines segment, Jim Miller from JD Power and Associates stops by to talk about the trend toward a cashless society. They just finished a survey which shows some surprising results around you and those bills in your wallet. Are we really going plastic only? Plus, we'll find out why security lawyers call on FINRA to halt their "expungement" process. What the heck is expungement? It's actually more exciting, and potentially sickening, than you can believe. After a little dose of Doug's trivia, we'll wind up the show by throwing out the Haven Life Line to Mitch, a 26 year old who is just starting out in the workforce, asked decrease 401k to just what his employer matches to save cash for a down payment to buy a house or is that not necessary? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's a storm coming toward retirements all over the United States (and elsewhere). Pensions are broken, Social Security is headed toward big cuts, and personal savings? Nobody is doing it. On today's show, we'll sit down with the visionary behind the Broken Eggs documentary, Chad Parks. Chad's 2013 documentary shone some light on America's looming retirement crisis. It's been six years since the film released and we'll discuss the progress and changes that have (or sadly, haven't) happened across the retirement landscape since then. During our headlines segment we'll keep the retirement theme going strong by examining TIAA's newest study on retirement and lifetime income. Plus we'll discuss one piece from InvestmentNews about SoFi refunding investors for a tax hit caused by their very own, proprietary ETFs. Later we will throw out the Haven Life Line to Trent, who's worried we'll become over-leveraged as he continues to buy rental properties. Here's the question: what exactly is being over-leveraged? Thanks to AcreTrader for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Learn more at AcreTrader.com/sb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices