The Stacking Benjamins Show

Today kicks off our big U.S. Thanksgiving holiday week of shows, and today we start it off right by sharing all of the good, bad, and ugly deals YOU can score this Black Friday. Regina Conway from Slickdeals.net joins us to help save your wallet and point out some of the issues not-careful shoppers may face. Where should you spend your hard-earned cash to get the most bang for your buck this holiday shopping season? Which retailers are offering the best deals on hot items? What deals aren't worth the wait? What's different this year because of COVD? Whatever your question is - Regina has you covered.Plus, did Pfizer's CEO break laws while insider trading his company's stock when it exploded recently? Financial disclosures show that the CEO, Albert Bourla, sold almost $6 million in stock the same day the company's vaccine news broke. After our discussion on what REALLY happened - we'll turn our heads to yet another report of a criminal advisor fleecing his clients to the tune of $320,000. The short and sweet? Be beyond suspicious of any advisor who might promise you quick riches.During the Haven Life Line, we take a question on peer-to-peer lending. We recommended LendingTree the last time we discussed P2P, but caller Greg says the company has since become a bank. He asks: what's our take now? Are there any companies we recommend?As always, Doug will give his own share of the airtime for his trivia. Today? He's bringing it back with some old-school Black Friday trivia.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If you're lucky enough to have a job now, and you've been still chasing your dream, what does your "finish line" look like? You won finance! Hooray! With everything you want behind you, what's next? Answering these questions and more are today's contributors: Jennifer Grimson from the Micro Empires podcast; Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and our own Stacking Benjamins podcast co-host, OG. While the question seems nice and someday-ish, I think today you'll find that you're closer to "enough" than you may think.Halfway through the show we'll break from our conversation and move over to your wellness checkup. Like Suze Orman said (in a number of words), what do riches mean without your health? During this week's middle segment, we take a quick break from FinTech to cover health and wellness with MetPro's co-founder Angelo Poli, who will break down how important proper nutrition really is - both for your health AND your bottom line.What's your next step when you're at absolute zero? No cash, no residence, no job? That's what our contributors have been tasked to help with today, and our special guest Jennifer Grimson is the perfect person to ask. Jennifer has had to start from zero... TWICE. Today Jennifer and our panel share what you should do when you find yourself starting with nowhere to turn.As always, we'll save some airtime halfway through for Doug's game show. Doug will start out with a freebie: The country of Nigeria commands the largest GDP in Africa. The question? How much is it?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

We've recorded a ton of episodes. At the point we hit stop on this one, we're officially nearly at 1,000...but when you count all of the previous podcasts, the shortened episodes that we used to NOT count, and the special events, we're well over 1,500 episodes. Not ONCE during that time did we stop and ask ourselves, "Should we actually give people the framework that we're working from?"Today we do that.Joe and OG have a frank conversation about the art of fooling around, about sharing mistakes instead of victories, and about including stories from many points of view. If you've listened to the Stacking Benjamins show once or a thousand times, we hope you'll enjoy the first episode where we discuss the SB Creed.Of course, we will STILL lean on Doug for a trivia question. We're not heathens.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when you find three great storytellers and ask them to share their personal journeys toward a better life, LIVE? You get a nearly two-hour YouTube special that we're going to replay for you right here! The STACK event features the co-author of the classic financial philosophy book Your Money Or Your Life, Vicki Robin, who will talk about her journey learning for herself why finding a different path to financial security was important. We also feature a guy who's story has resonated with many (especially lately after a feature video in the Million Stories series was released), Michael Santos. Michael found himself incarcerated at a young age but not only turned around his own life, he also is passionate and focused on helping others going through trouble turn their lives around. Finally, and kicking off our show, we'll introduce you to Dan Chan, a man who's not only entertained billionaires, but a guy who's had to pivot with his business since COVID-19. How did he go from working at PayPal to chasing his dream? He'll share his journey today!If you'd like to join us for the live, unedited event, where you can ask questions, hang out with other Stackers, and possibly take home one of our participant prizes, sign up for our newsletter, The Stacker, at http://stackingbenjamins.com/stacker.Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's not mince words. It's been a pretty s%$! year. BUT there have been TONS of fantastic financial lessons you could have learned from 2020, and many skills you've probably figured out already that you NEED in the future. So what are those skills? We'll share the top 5 list our friend Katie Brewer, CFP listed on a recent blog post. Here to help us dive into their take on all of these skills is Joe's co-host on the Money With Friends podcast, Bobbi Rebell. Plus, from Afford Anything, we'll get help from Paula Pant...AND from Len Penzo dot com, we'll hear from Len Penzo.In our Friday FinTech segment, we'll speak with Qube founder Ryan Clark about how they've created an envelope budgeting system for 2020 and beyond. Not familiar with the envelope budgeting system? We'll explain how it works AND how Ryan's team uses technology to help you do better with your money.Plus, during our MagnifyMoney.com segment, we'll take a question from a listener who wonders what designations he should pursue to coach people on their money. He's thought about becoming a Certified Financial Planner, but thinks for the type of coaching he wants to do, that it might be overkill. You'll love how the team today discusses which designations might be best (spoiler: we don't agree).Of course, we'll also leave time for Doug's amazing trivia challenge, which today is all about the World Wide Web. Can you nail the answer without looking it up?Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Buildings, sidewalks, statues, plaques...they all tell stories that are nearly hidden from view. You can take a walk out of your front door if you live in nearly any city, and there are stories all around you. The great news? They're all free. And, like a puzzle, the stories of a 99% invisible city can keep you occupied for hour after fascinating hour. Today we chat with Roman Mars from the 99% Invisible podcast about a few of these stories. We'll talk about park in Australia, a baseball player in Japan, and sidewalks...everywhere.Over $1 billion in bitcoin has been seized by the U.S. government. We'll share how and why, and also dive a little into bitcoin in general. Has it become a more stable landscape for investors? Plus, in the search for lower taxes and a better bottom line, Rock Legend Gene Simmons has decided to wave his California estate (and California taxes) goodbye. High taxes vs. good friends and memories of the neighborhood. Which would you choose?Plus, we'll throw out the Haven Life line to August, who wants to rollover his Roth 401k to a Roth IRA when he retires. He's already seeded the IRA with $500. Is there any reason to invest in one account over the other? August asks, does the answer change if he's plans to retire early?  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In today's wide-ranging chat with the Invest Diva, Kiana Danial, we hear about her personal story of setting high goals and achieving them. From her family's flight from Iran to working on becoming an engineer, being fired from a Wall Street job and more, Kiana's done it all, and today we'll talk about how you can pivot your way to success. We'll also talk about popular brokerage app Robinhood, making videos that people want to watch, the FOMO people felt during the heady Bitcoin run up, and more.Plus, remember the old saying: if it's too good to be true, it probably is? Make that doubly so if what you're talking about involves investing or finances. We'll share yet another story of investors being fleeced out of their life savings after being roped in by too-good-to-be-true financial scams. And also, Suze Orman is back in the news. A recent health scare has the queen of money talk thinking critically about the relationship between money and health.During our Haven Life line, Ronnie Jo calls in asking for good financial advice for her 19 year-old sister. She'd like to make sure her sister can navigate the financial waters, and Joe and OG deliver advice that'll serve anyone well, young adult or not.Of course, we can't have a show without giving Doug some airtime. His trivia for today? Something about Einstein? Or winning money? Who really knows?Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

On today's show, we bring you a cornucopia of November financial topics! Is your rule of thumb going to leave you broke in retirement? We'll start off by talking about the nerd's updated version of the 4% rule and maybe throw in some advice explaining why generalized guidelines aren't the best investing strategy. Plus, in homage to our older roundtables, we'll give our contributors a few more headlines to chew on, including a new plan to push required minimum distributions to 75, AND our roundtable will cover the new college savings plan ranking system from Morningstar. Making today's super-show happen is our amazing team of contributors: Michael Anderson of the Big Idea podcast; Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast, and from our very own podcast, OG.Halfway through the show, we'll FINALLY share our main topic, bow to avoid a holiday hangover. Joe and Belinda Rosenblum will talk about how to set up a strategy to make sure this is the year you finally are able to get ahead financially, or at the very least, stay afloat during the holiday season.We'll finish today's show with some salacious gossip thanks to our question from Shane. He says that he loves our pieces on financial crimes, but what about the the less popular crimes? Shane wants to hear about daring financial crimes like money laundering and check kiting. Does our panel deliver? Yes! So make some popcorn, sit back, and enjoy this week's MagnifyMoney segment.Of course, we'll always save some time for Doug. Think you know your sports history? You'll love Doug's question today.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What can we learn from market wizards, the name Jack Schwager gives to traders who routinely beat the index? Even if you aren't trying to trade the market, but instead want to just be competent, you can learn a ton. Jack Schwager has studied the best and brightest in the industry for years and today we talk to him about patience, discipline, love of the game, and more. You can use ALL of these ideas to be a better investor, even if, like most of us, you're a member of the buy-and-hold tribe.Plus, in our headlines segment, how hard is it to get your will done? Our engineer extraordinaire, Steve Stewart, just finished his. Joe and OG ask him about how and why he completed his plan, and how difficult it was. We'll also throw out the Haven Life line to Peter, who wonders about his investment strategy, and of course, we save time for Doug's amazing, post-election trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

While everyone struggles to get along through COVID-19, if you're lucky enough to be healthy and safe, NOW may be a great time to find ways to earn more money. By using skills you already have, you can begin to build wealth and put your financial house in order. Today we'll talk to Mr. I Will Teach You To Be Rich, Ramit Sethi, about the power of networking, college, working online, transferring skills, and more. It's a powerful discussion that hopefully will move you from being defensive in 2020 to going on offense.When's the last time your family reviewed your household fire safety plan? Good financial planning goes beyond the adrenaline-fueled excitement of long-term investing and emergency funds. During our headlines we'll be joined by Steve Kerber, Director of the UL Firefighter Safety Research Institute. Steve will share essential safety tips on how you can keep your family - and physical property - safe from a fire emergency. PLUS, you can watch a new video below from the Firefighter Safety Research Institute showing just how little time you have to escape a home fire.In our second piece, we'll discuss the importance of things like disability insurance. In a tragic incident, a cyclist has been reportedly left brain-damaged after a split-second accident with a dog. Many people go without when it comes to insurance with excuses like, "I'm safe!", or "nothing bad ever happens to me!" The other side of that coin is that accidents are just that... accidents.We'll finish out the show with a Haven Life line question on HSAs (Health Savings Account) and HRAs (Health Reimbursement Arrangement). Ethan will be switching jobs soon, and his new employer only offers a HRA. Ethan wants to keep contributing to his HSA even without the extra employer benefits, but wants to know: can he contribute to both the HRA and HSA?Plus, with the election looming tomorrow, Doug's campaign is in full swing. He'll use some of his mid-show airtime to quiz his loyal voters on how many electoral votes he'll need to take the White House. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices