The Stacking Benjamins Show

Have you seen -- or used -- those popular buy now, pay later apps? They seem to be on almost every website as an easy way to split your purchase into several payments, all interest-free. As tempting as it may be, the downsides might hurt your wallet in the long run. While paying in installments with no interest might work out for the best for some purchases, it can also lead to a habit of overspending. Today our roundtable discusses a piece about these popular apps. Our roundtable consists of Tom Cock from Talking Real Money, Paula Pant from Afford Anything, and Doc G from Earn & Invest. They share their thoughts on buy now, pay later, and offer advice to skip these all together. Diania Merriam is filling in for Doug and she's sharing her spectacular trivia today.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How important is spending less on what you don't need? Today our guest will share why you may want to rethink your laisse-faire attitude about minimalism. We'll tackle a big a-ha for savers with a tax strategy you haven't heard, plus, it's Joe's birthday, and he's looking to be inspired. So today, we're excited to hear from YOU and some of the great things you all are working on. We have three great guests for you today: the Stackers who host the Fat and Broke podcast are celebrating a huge milestone, Maggie, a travel blogger will share some tips for national parks jaunts, and TJ, a leadership blogger, will share a homeowners story for the ages. Let's just say that we won't be asking him where to place our bonfire.It's all Sean Mullaney, the FI Tax Guy, sharing tax planning tips for this year, inspirational stories and we'll round out the show by including Doug's famous trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We're chucking the expensive flowers and chocolates that go right to your hips this Valentine's Day. Instead, let's share the love by bringing on the Benjamins! Are you looking to up your finance game? Maybe you have debt you'd like to pay off, an expensive soon-to-be ex-spouse, or you're looking to just be more intentional with your money. On the love side of the equation, Anjie and RJ from the hit new Rich by Intention podcast join us to share their incredible story of debt payoff, teamwork, and negotiation. They paid off over $100k of debt in just one year on salaries of less than $100k each. They negotiated raises of over 15% each, and they lowered their rent payment. How? They'll share all their strategies and how you can get your finances in order too.During our headline segment, Kelly Frawley and Emily Pollock protect your downside, by joining us to talk about lessons we can all learn from some recent celebrity divorces. What's more romantic than that for Valentine's Day? They'll share problems with prenups and how to know if you might need one or how to make sure it works. But that's not all. We'll also answer a Haven Life line question about 401k investments, and Doug will share his trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wish there were small changes you could make that would have big impacts on your money situation? We've heard the big ideas such as start a side job or max out your retirement accounts, but what if that's just not in the cards? Today our roundtable is lining up a bunch of ideas that aren't huge, but that collectively can help you get the ball rolling with your financial picture. They discuss a piece from The Penny Saver about small ways to make an impact on your finances. It's our gameshow episode, so we're putting our contributors to the test, asking them to guess which tips are mentioned in this piece. Because they share lots of not-listed ideas as well, you can be sure you'll find out some great and not so great savings strategies. Our roundtable is made up of our regulars today: Paula Pant, Len Penzo and OG. The winner of our gameshow will earn an extra point in our year-ling trivia challenge. Speaking of, Doug will share his trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What financial mistakes could you have avoided? Most of us learned personal finance the hard way, by stumbling through life without training and learning from our mistakes. Unfortunately, most schools don't have a personal finance class that teaches students about budgeting, saving, or what the word "taxes" actually means. Peter Lazaroff is chief investment officer at Plancorp and a CFP® who shares our passion for personal financial literacy. He's here today (don't tell OG, he might get jealous) to share his first experiences with money AND how you can make money topics more simple for yourself and those around you. He also shares some of the golden personal finance basics we should all familiarize ourselves with, and dishes out resources to help us all further our own financial education.During our headline segment, we dive into ETFs. A seasoned firm is entering the game (better late than never!) of ETFs years after their competitors. We talk about active vs passive funds and the future of the ETF industry. We're also answering Dave's question about reward credit cards. Are they really as good as they sound? And of course, Doug will share his amazing trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did the founding fathers of the United States make a living after the Revolutionary War? Believe it or not, they had to make some choices similar to ones you may have had to make when struggling with money. Washington took a job just because it paid well. Franklin juggled many "side gigs" to bring in money. Sound familiar?Today is our 10 year podcasting anniversary, so we are throwing it back to Ben Franklin himself (well, not really him, but someone who can tell his story!) and learning from his career. He, along with George Washington, worked hard to find new ways to make money after the Revolutionary War. Willard Sterne Randall is a writer-turned-historian who'll share the stories of Washington and Franklin. We ask him to dive into the success and failures of each and share lessons we can all take away.During our headline segment, we dive into the stock market. What should you do when there's a drop in the stock market? While the initial reaction might be to panic, we'll share sound advice for keeping your cool. We look to Reddit today for an ugly letter to share during our Haven Life line portion of the show. One young investor made several HUGE mistakes trading options and SPACs and he turned to the internet for advice. We share our advice on how to avoid the same mistakes he made. And of course, Doug will share his Stacking Benjamins-themed trivia for our 10 year anniversary.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you prefer in-person interactions or using apps for things like banking and personal finance? We're giving you both sides of the coin today. Banking has evolved and apps give us almost the same capabilities as walking into the bank, so do we still need physical bank branches? Our roundtable today shares their thoughts on banking and what banks can do to excel in this world of technology. Harlan Landes from the Plutus Foundation, Paula Pant and Len Penzo make up our contributors today. They talk about online apps, customer service and more in the banking world. Don't you worry, we also saved some time for Doug's trivia contest!Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Will more money make you happier? If you've never heard the phrase 'more money, more problems,' today's episode is for you. Money CAN buy you independence, but only if you know how to use it. Nicole Lapin is a New York Times best-selling author and joins us to talk about being intentional with our money. Having loads of cash is great but it goes bye-bye quickly without concrete goals and values. She shares how to set yourself up for success to meet your financial goals.During our headline segment, we're talking about robots taking over the world! Or, in this case, a gigantic brokerage firm swallowing a robot (I'd love to see that TikTok). We're talking robo advisors today. They've gained massive popularity in the last decade and now one, Wealthfront, is being acquired by UBS. We discuss what this might mean for robo advisors moving f. We'll also answer Jay's question about the rule of 55 with 401k distributions and Doug will share his trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Did you participate in the Gamestop trading craze last year? If you didn't -- and had FOMO while small traders banded together and took down "the man" -- we're going to help you feel better today by diving into what really went down. From short selling to Reddit and Robinhood, our guest today shares it all. Spencer Jakab's interest in Gamestop was piqued when his son was talking about Reddit threads. It led him to dive in and write a book explaining the behind-the-scenes story. He's sharing his findings today and I'd bet there's some details that will surprise you.During our headline, we're looking at auto loans. Banks posted record auto loan originations in 2021. We dive into why and the psychology behind car buying. We're also answering Sarah's question about finding the best bank accounts and Doug shares his trivia.Enjoy! Full show notes are available at http://stackingbenjamins.comA deeper dive into all these topics went out this morning to our newsletter subscribers. You can join too, for free! http://stackingbenjamins.com/201 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever buy something just because of the advertising? I think everyone has at one time or another. Marketing affects our purchases. It's almost like advertisers know what we need before we know! Today we're looking at the marketing tactics behind a staple food...eggs. How does egg marketing relate to our finances? Our roundtable wasn't sure at first either but they have some great advice! Brittany Greene, Len Penzo, and OG sit down to talk about how marketing impacts our financial decisions. With tons of financial advice floating around the internet, people have come up with catchy phrases that sound smart but really mean nothing. Our roundtable shares their experience and how to tell the good egg from the bad.Diania Merriam is filling in for Doug today while he's off at the IHOP buffet so she will share some trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices