The Stacking Benjamins Show

We thought women have been doctors for a long, long time. That's clearly not been the case, and also it's a path that's hard-won. If you were fans of the women in Hidden Figures, watch out, because today we're introducing you to three more trailblazers. In honor of Women's History month we invited Olivia Campbell, the author of the new book Women in White Coats, to share with us some fascinating (and sometimes horrifying) stories of the challenges these incredible women faced during their fight with the status quo. These women had limited funds, little to no support system, no government assistance, and they persevered in spite of it all.Financial Advisor Alex ReffetIn our headlines segment, we'll go back again for another look to a year ago. How should a good financial advisor have encouraged you at the time when the sky was falling, and the market was experiencing its worst days in history? We'll talk to Alex Reffet from East Paces Group in Atlanta to get his perspective.Tax Day Pushed Back...BUT With One ExceptionAlso, we'll share the news that you can procrastinate on all of your taxes...except one, for an extra month. We'll share some bad news for people with a state income tax AND also for people who own businesses. Of course, we'll also throw out the Haven Life Line to a lucky listener AND share Doug's amazing trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How many mistakes did YOU make buying your last home? Before you make another, Scott Trench and Mindy Jensen from Bigger Pockets Money join us to drop the knowledge you should know before making your next home purchase. They'll discuss the cost tradeoff you need to consider between renting and buying, the exit strategies you have to weigh before making any purchase, and detail how to set yourself up for a rock-solid home buying experience. Plus, you'll see how Mindy pocketed a $300k profit off her home renovations, tax-free.Cryptocurrency illegal?We'll start our headlines discussing India's possible banning of cryptocurrency. While nothing is yet set in stone, it's a good example of why it's important to keep your retirement funds diversified, no matter how lucrative one type of investment may appear. The only thing that's for certain is that if there's a way to make money off of it, you can bet Uncle Sam (or any government) is going to find a way to share in the pie.2021 - The Year of the CFOWe'll start with a piece about a possible market crash (spoiler: yes, eventually), and quickly pivot to a discussion on how careful you need to be this year about growth statistics from companies. With the year that was 2020, it's no wonder companies are loud and proud about their expected growth in 2021. Don't get us wrong, we're excited about positive news, but as an investor, you can't only rely on fancy numbers.What to do with all this money?We'll finish the show with a call from Seth, who recently bought a home. After his monthly expenses and investing Seth has about $2,000 leftover each month in savings. With Seth's emergency fund already fully funded, he asks: should he allocate the extra cash to paying off his mortgage, or use the money to fund additional investments? We'll give Seth some advice that'll work for every raise he gets, expected or not.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Whether you are a parent, have parents, or find yourself at the Thanksgiving table sandwiched between generations, honest money conversations are crucial to your financial journey. Single investors with no kids need to know the late-life plans of their parents before they're surprised with care costs. Kids themselves need financial education and the best way to do that is by showing them firsthand. Parents, especially those supporting two generations, have all the more reason to make sure everyone is on the same page.Joining us today to share the strategies and conversations inside of their own families, we welcome Pam Andrews from The Scholarship Shark; Doc G from the Earn & Invest podcast, and OG from our own Stacking Benjamins.Friday Fintech: Ethical Investing with Seeds Investor Remember 15 years ago (or even five) when investing in ESG's was considered principally an ethical move? While you could invest according to your morals people would tell you about the market returns you'd miss out on. That's not quite the case anymore, and now it's easier than ever to stick to your ethical considerations AND make money doing it. Joining us today from Seeds Investor to discuss the future of ethical investing and Seeds part in it all is COO & Head of Product Kristen O’Grady.Our Listener VoicemailDan graduated from college last year and has been staying with his parents rent-free. He's since become a salaried worker, with a big raise and benefits to match. Dan tells us that he had been putting 15% of each paycheck into a savings and emergency fund. He has a few manageable bills right now and has been investing the rest. Dan asks: what are out thoughts on transferring the 15% savings rate to his investments instead? After all, he could maximize his investments while having low bills.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today's show includes two fantastic guests: first Allison Baggerly, who not only paid off $100k on two teacher salaries but who also has become a ninja at budgets. She'll share tips from her Inspired Budget courses and website that you can use to begin setting up your own budget today. But that's not all! We also spoke with the host of Struggle Meals, Frankie Celenza, about how he's able to make great-tasting food for less money AND with less waste. He'll share tips about spices, salt, organizing your refrigerator, and more.NOTE: On the live replay we experienced a few issues. We'll share one right at the top of the show (Doug's power went out immediately as we began--that stuff ONLY happens when you're live). We also realized while editing that you are hearing also Joe's channel, which includes links to backstage discussions. We've cleaned it up a ton and unfortunately, that meant cutting some discussions. Check out the YouTube video to see the entire show.As always, you'll find show notes and links to Struggle Meals and Inspired Budget at our show notes page at Stacking Benjamins dot com. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You calculate returns on your investments, but what's your ROI when you're actually being nice to people? It turns out, reams of data show that kindness pays, and today, America's Breakthrough Coach, Brian Biro joins us to talk about how to become a Chief Kindness Officer. While Brian's all about holding the door open for someone, the philosophy of kindness actually goes much deeper than that. Sometimes being kind means telling a worker, "Go figure this out on your own, then come back to me with your thoughts." It's a wide-ranging interview that we know you're going to enjoy.Bad Idea of the Year: Investing Because A Celebrity Said SoThe Securities and Exchange Commission has a new warning you'll want to know about. If you didn't know this already - you shouldn't invest in any company only because you heard something on the internet and the news. That includes Stacking Benjamins, Facebook, CNBC, Fox Business, and anyone else you want to throw on this list. That's not to say no one ever has good endorsements, but due diligence is always an action you should take before making big decisions with your money. We'll talk about celebrity endorsements and a new warning from the SEC during our headlines segment...Have A Plan For That $1,400 Stimulus Check Coming InAnd speaking of doing your due diligence, Suze Orman had a thing or two to say with how people might be spending this next stimulus check. Naturally, we had a thing or two to say about her thing - or rather Don McDonald has something to say. Making a flash appearance in the basement, the Talking Real Money host has some real takes on how you should use your stimulus check to score the biggest impact possible.What's the deal with SPACs?Good on Julien for today's Haven Life question! He's been hearing about special-purpose acquisition companies (SPACs) in the news and wants some clarification. Is this a new shady method for companies to avoid the paperwork that comes with an IPO? Are SPACs worth investing in? Joe and OG take Julien's question and go step-by-step on the differences between IPOs and SPACs.Of course, we'll always leave some time for Doug's trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Spend less than you earn, invest, Stack Benjamins, and retire to a beach for the rest of your life, (or insert personal retirement fantasy here). It sounds simple... right? As a set of guidelines, sure it's simple. BUT in reality, it's not so easy, and as studies have shown time and time again, doing your dream retirement activity (like golf) every day gets old very quickly. While money is obviously the most important component to any retirement, the "to-do" list doesn't stop there. Helping us fill in the blanks, and joining us for our round table today, we welcome CFP Dana Anspach from Sensible Money, Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and our very own OG.EverPlans: Introducing a company helping you plan for the worst.After our contributors get their fill on retirement advice, Joe sits down with the founders of Everplans, a company designed to help you store key information in one place in case of the worst happening. During our Friday Fintech interview, company founders Abby Schneiderman and Adam Seifer explain why it's so important for your loved ones to have easy access to your important documents, and how quickly things can go wrong when your family can't access your information. They take a topic most of us would rather put off and share stories that are fun, insightful, and actionable. We're glad to shine some light on the importance of making sure your family is taken care of in case of the worst happening.Should you hold onto bonds for a change to make money on the market?As always, we finish today's show with a MagnifyMoney question. Scott tells us he's holding long-term Treasury bonds in his portfolio with the hope the bonds will jump in price when the stock market crashes. He would then use the profit to buy stocks while they're low. Scott asks: do long-term treasuries still spike in a near-zero interest rate environment, or does that only happen when rates are cut?Of course, Doug gets airtime halfway through the episode for his game show, and he's in the holiday spirit today. You'll see what holiday season he means later... enjoy!  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You've felt it. You're going over the side...and it's all crashing down. You'd better believe that Heather Chauvin has also felt it. She's both a leadership coach and host of the Mom Is In Control podcast, and today she joins us in the basement to share her personal story of leaving a job she hated, all while maxing out her credit cards to get her side business off the ground - and by the way....also while she was battling cancer.While sitting down with Joe, Heather also shares how she stayed motivated and shifted her life priorities from taking care of others first, to taking care of herself first - and then others. Putting her own "mask" on first (talking airline warnings here) changed her life, and it'll do great things for you too.Financial Lessons From Sky-Rocketing Lumber Prices.In our first piece, we share lessons learned from rising lumber prices across the country. Much like how we love to wait until the day before a cold front to make necessary preparations, lumber runs on a "just in time" system. When an extra factor is thrown in the mix, it can throw the whole system in disarray until enough time has passed to course correct.A financial plan made with margin for error runs close to the same fashion. The big issue? Late lumber impacts your backyard plans, a wrong financial plan messes with your retirement.Joe and OG give their takeaways during our headlines.Mortgage Rates Are Creeping UpMortgage rates are going back up, better run out and capitalize on it while you can!... or maybe not. Giving us some clarity in what is surely resulting in plenty of scary headlines, Joe sits down with Kevin Parker of Navy Federal.Kevin shares what you need to know BEFORE making any big money decisions, plus dishes out some sound financial knowledge that's helpful for anyone approaching loans and credit.Best Personal Financial Success Story?Waiting for us on the Haven Life Line is a question from Evan, who's looking for some feel-good news after 2020. He asks: what are our best personal and professional success stories? We're happy to share!Of course, we'll always leave some time for Doug's trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

There's a time-bomb waiting in your IRA. Tax and IRA expert Ed Slott joins us today to share what the death of the Stretch IRA means for your retirement, and how the SECURE Act has made some big changes to the way your money is treated long after you're gone. Whether you have a partner, children, family, or any other dependents depending on your support, the last thing you need is complicated tax rules funneling money out of your portfolio. If you're the type of person who runs at the sound of a tax discussion, you may want to stick around for this one. Ed Slott breaks down what is often a monotonous subject into funny, easy-to-understand material.GME Resurgence, Cathie Wood, Stocks, and more.What in the world is going on with GameStop? No, that's not a misplaced sentence. Did you think the move three weeks ago was the end? Check the chart and be prepared for a surprise. Joining us today to talk GameStop's second resurgence, we welcome Spencer Israel from Benzinga. We'll also discuss Cathie Wood, the CEO of the largest actively-managed ETF in 2020 (among other distinctions), the bouncing markets, stock picks, and more.Uber (and any other service-economy app company) is NOT Your Friend.We normally make light of a financial TikTok on our Monday shows, and while we aren't changing that today, we're also shining some special light on one emotional video you've probably seen making its way across the web. Featuring a tearful Uber driver sharing his ordeal delivering almost an hour-long order only to ultimately make virtually no money on his delivery, the driver pleads with customers to understand what drivers go through and to tip appropriately.We agree with the driver on a big point: regardless of how you may feel about the current system, it is the system. If you're utilizing service labor, you need to tip appropriately or choose other manners of getting your product/need met. BUT, we use the video to shine an important light here. Uber's first priority is to the company shareholders, not to you as a customer or contractor. Great guests like Juliet Schor have already explained the how's and why's behind the large costs associated with the everyday worker in the sharing economy, but one's things for sure: when something isn't working for YOU, it's time to pivot.When is it the right time to make the leap to full-time business owner?We'll finish today's show with a Haven Life voicemail from caller Evan, who has some questions on jumping ship from the W2 life to full-time business owner. Up to this point, Evan and his family have reinvested all the money back into the business to keep it growing, and he asks: what should he know before taking the leap? Joe and OG give their two cents, and share a few resources along the way.Of course, we'll always leave some time for Doug's trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

No matter if it's 2017 or 2021, $1 million dollars is still a nice stack of Benjamins. That's why to finish our rewind week, we're bringing a round table episode featuring our contributors sharing their top strategies to save your own million. Regular contributors Paula Pant and Len Penzo were joined by Hip Hop's Financial Advisor Rob Wilson on this episode. You can read the original show description below:How do you save a million dollars (we said in our coolest Austin Powers voice….). We’ll discuss a recent online piece that goes over that on our Friday round table! Special guest, and Hip Hop’s Financial Advisor Rob Wilson joins Paula Pant and Len Penzo in a no-holds-barred conversation on saving more money.Of course, we don’t stop there. We also tackle a recent Time story about millennials. Apparently, ONE trick is helping them save more money. We’ll share not only what it is but also additional tricks to save more money. Finally, we review a Moneyologist column question about taking care of a brother’s money. If he can’t do it himself, how much should sister step in?In our Friday FinTech segment, we talk to the CEO of GO, a cool app that’ll help you more quickly (and by more quickly, we mean WAY more quickly) your car insurance. It’s as easy as taking a photo…. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

For many families college is right around the corner, and so is that first Business Office payment. Fortunately for you, we have some great advice on hand from a financial aid wizard. While specific policies may change, the strategies and mindset behind lowering the bottom line and getting more aid in your pocket tend to stick around. That's why we're replaying our interview with financial aid wizard and UC San Diego instructor, Jodi Okun.Here's our original description:College planning expert Jodi Okun stops by the basement to help college-bound students save a TON of money. She has advice for students, parents, and for people thinking about possibly going back to college. How will you pay for it? She has many great suggestions.In our headlines....beware when an expert shares their opinion, and it just happens to correlate with EXACTLY the items they sell. Plus, ever wonder why nobody makes money in the stock market? We'll share the real reason.Then we take a hotline call from Amy about moving to Canada and a letter from Megan with an awesome article attached.All that and a guy named Snoop! in the basement today.... Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices