The Stacking Benjamins Show

Are we focused too much on being liked? From the workplace to our personal lives, most of us don't want to be the person who rocks the boat. Go with the flow, right? Antarctic expedition leader Rachael Robertson says that approach to leadership (or even following) couldn't be more wrong. An honest - yes that means having tough conversations! - workplace is more constructive than an office focused on making sure everyone is getting along every day.Plus, remember the 401k article going around suggesting a 401k plan doesn't make much sense anymore for savers? Yeah... hope you didn't immediately pull out your entire retirement fund after reading that because we're covering that topic today and may have a different opinion.During the Haven Life Line, how can Shawn figure out the right allocation for his portfolio? Should he go 90% stock, even 100%? When it's time to retire, how does Shawn pull out his cash? He's in his early 50s and think he has enough Benjamins to retire soon.As always, we'll also make sure and save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Treat yo' self! It's a wonderful concept with one big downside: the phrase "treat yo' self" often means burning a big stack of cash on retail therapy. Don't get me - we're human, and we've all had those days ending with an oh-so-cathartic impulse buy of computer parts and beef jerky (too specific?). BUT self-care doesn't necessarily mean spending money. With a lack of Benjamins being one of the leading stressors among U.S. adults, taking control of your money can be one of the most effective self-care methods available. While it may not provide the instant dopamine-infused gratification jolt, becoming a master of your finances will hand you a more fulfilled life without snowballing debt, revolving credit, or phone calls from debt collectors. Being able to tap your card for the occasional splurge without worry about going into the red is nice, too.Have a garage full of tools or wondering how to finish your next project? After our discussion on self-care, we'll take a break from the roundtable while Joe rings up Stefan Cordova from borrowing site FriendWithA.com. If there's one feeling even more ubiquitous than impulse buying a soda in the check-out line, it's tearing into a new home project only to realize that you don't have the right tools to finish the job. Stefan's idea aims to solve that. Everyday people (yes, like you and me), can put stuff up for rent that other people may need, and the people in need get to rent what THEY need without paying sticker price for a one time project.After we finish up our interview with Stefan, we'll crank up the music during Doug's gameshow turned trivia segment, where this week we quiz our roundtable on Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson in celebration of his birthday next week. Just how many octaves does ole Bruce have in him? We'll then round out the show by asking our roundtable: what song best describes your financial life?Thank you to the awesome contributors who made today's roundtable happen! This week's contributors include Stephanie McCullough from Sofia Financial, Len Penzo from the LenPenzo.com blog, and OG from our very own podcast.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Think it's impossible to make a million dollars working a blue-collar job? Millionaire and former ditch-digger Ken Rusk might have something to say about. For decades, the college experience has been pushed as THE prioritized option for high school graduates, but with the student debt crisis becoming worse year after year should you look elsewhere? Today, Ken Rusk will show you how forgoing the college route doesn't mean you're giving up your chance of financial independence...and it just might enhance it.It may only be Wednesday, but TGIF? Sofi is now offering an ETF that... wait for it... pays you every Friday. Sound familiar? You can check out our headlines from Monday's show if you're curious about what happened with two other investments promising some quick cash. Listen closely for just how much BIG money you'll receive every week in this new fund. Cha-ching.Plus, no Haven Life Line for today! Instead, Gertrude (from our Facebook Basement group) posed this question to our members: what's YOUR side hustle? We got a bunch of feedback and we can't cover everything, but we'll share a few of our favorite responses.Even with no voicemail, we'll always save time for some of Doug's trivia, who's going classic finance with today's question.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Have you ever thought, "Maybe I should be SPENDING more money?" Our guest today thinks that maybe you should re-examine how you're living. Bill Perkins, poker star and energy trader, says that investors have too much of their mindset set on the future, and not enough energy focused on the now of life. We'll discuss over-saving, being TOO frugal, and actually spending your money on today's episode.Plus, how does an ETF that literally pays YOU to invest not gain enough attention to take off? It turns out...that free might not actually mean better. Weird, huh? We'll cover what went wrong with this ETF and others like it, during today's headlines. In our second segment, we'll cover the results of a financial retirement report showing nearly half of all retirees have to make big spending cuts after 5 years. Here's a reminder: when you're planning for retirement, your cash has to last you through ALL of retirement.During the Haven Life Line we'll take a voicemail from Jenny, who wants to know the differences between a value fund and a growth fund. How can you tell one from another, and which is better? Should a portfolio include both funds for diversification? Are there different uses for each fund? Does the amount of time until retirement matter for picking a fund type?In the spirit of Bill Perkins, we'll also save some time for Doug's gambling-themed trivia. Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

FIRE, FIRE, FIRE! While we'll never disparage the basic goals of the #FIRE movement: becoming financially secure and having the option to retire early, we still have to ask the question, "Is fully subscribing to FIRE lifestyle naive?" Are we putting too much emphasis on the "Retire Early," and too little on "Financial Independence"? We ask our contributors: is it time to put the fire out? Our awesome roundtable team today includes: Don McDonald from the Talking Real Money podcast, Paula Pant from the Afford Anything podcast, and our very own OG.Plus, are you wondering how to teach your kids about money? Do you know someone (maybe YOU) that needs foundational knowledge about how finances work? After our FIRE discussion we'll take a break from the roundtable to introduce the new Stacking Benjamins Money Club! Aaron Velky from Ortus Academy is our head instructor at the Money Club, and he joins us to share how it all works.When we swing things back around to our roundtable, we'll break out the results of our question to the parents in our audience: how are you with finances and your children? Do you open the whole book to your kids? Do you give them basic financial advice? We'll see what the parents had to say PLUS hear a thing or two from our roundtable with their personal strategies.   Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Are we focused on the wrong priorities when it comes to elder care? While physical care is important, should our healthcare focus change to put more consideration on the emotional needs of our elders? Today we welcome Anne Basting to learn about how her strategies have been changing the eldercare experience for both healthcare workers AND families. The results are amazing and the methods she recommends aren't only easy to implement, but they solve many issues in elder care as it's currently presented.Plus, looking for a safe place to save your money? During our headlines we'll share all the reasons why investors are mistakenly pulling their money out of American markets and placing it in the last place you'd probably imagine. In our second piece we'll dive into an article covering how Richard Branson moved past some of his failed businesses.During the Haven Life line we'll take a question from Adam, who is investing for his kid's college fund. The cash is currently in a target date fund, and Adam is looking for some advice on how he can pull the money out when it's time. OG gives some great advice here on how you can transition from an all-stock plan to a safe cash-fund all by the time the kids graduate high school.As always, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Golfing, RV life, fishing, board games (of course), and a cushy portfolio... what else is there to retirement? It turns out: there's still a bunch! Not to worry though, today we're throwing our special guest out into the rain and instead delivering a feature-length discussion on every little thing you need to consider BEFORE retirement.Plus, what's going on with the national coin shortage we've been hearing about everywhere? And why are financial advisors reporting having a hard time selling software? During our headlines we'll cover how social distancing has caused a coin shortage across the country, and also exposed how advisors may be approaching their business with the wrong focus.Plus in our Haven Life Line, Mat's employer is stopping the 401k match. Mat is thinking about taking that money and moving it over to an IRA for more flexibility, do we have any thoughts on this? Turns out... Joe and OG have a few different ideas than Mat expected for his money. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

All that we hear about when we read financial pieces about hiring advisors is, "Ask about the fees," and "Hire a Fee Only Advisor." Sadly, the former and current advisor who operate this podcast know it isn't that easy. There are fee only advisors who are morons and a cheap fee means nothing if you find zero value in your "low fee" advice. So what SHOULD you ask? Today we gather together some of our favorite pros to ask them. What questions SHOULD people ask (but don't)? What should people look for in a good advisor? What are the things you should expect a good advisor to actually do for you? When is the right time to hire an advisor? We'll ask these and many more questions of Dana Anspach from Sensible Money, The Retirement Answer Man, Roger Whitney, and our very own OG.But that's not all. We're excited to hear today about one of the hottest companies in FinTech, SoLo Funds. Travis Holoway joins us on today's show to talk about lending made easy for people who traditionally struggle to find funding to make ends meet. Whether you're a lender or borrower, you'll want to hear about this company.Of course, we'll save time for the MagnifyMoney question AND ask our team of experts to weigh in on our weekly trivia question. That AND more on today's show! Enjoy! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What's worse than having a bunch of money? Having bunches of money and not knowing why you have it, or what joy it would bring...if any. So if you have no plan, what's waiting at the end of the rat race? Can there be more to riches than a bulky 401k, a big house, and of course... stuff? Today we'll invite a woman who is a Mindful Millionaire, Leisa Peterson. We'll discuss why for many the conventional path to wealth is an empty journey and how to set yourself on a much more fruitful financial journey.How's your 401k doing? Good news: not many people made trades in their workplace accounts in the second quarter (after a record-setting first quarter of moves). The bad news? The moves that people DID make were generally not what you'd hope for, if you're looking for good long term results. Plus, the US House of Representatives is trying to block the Securities and Exchange Commission from allowing hedge funds in your 401k plan. What does that mean? Are we for that or against? OG and Joe will have a nice discussion about it...or maybe even a little disagreement on the subject.Of course, that's not all. We'll give Doug enough time to share some amazing trivia AND we'll also throw out the Haven Life line to Rich, even though he's from Ohio.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What are the secrets behind great innovation? Whether in your work life - like creating a system to streamline mornings at the office - or your personal life, innovation has affected everything around you. But where do great ideas come from? Beyond simply coming up with new ideas, does innovation takes a willful, focused effort to succeed? What exactly are the steps needed to create the perfect environment for innovation? Sharing his secrets today on how to create a better (and more lucrative) future is TED speaker, commentator, and author of The Rational Optimist and The Evolution of Everything, Matt Ridley. In his newest book, How Innovation works, Matt shares how the history of innovation has shaped the world, covers many of the circumstances that made innovation possible, and outlines some pretty good guesses on what's coming to our world in the future.Plus, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy has been making the rounds in the headlines for encouraging investors to "buy, buy, buy!" Dave claims making money in the market is beyond easy. To see if he agrees, we'll ring up Brian Barnes, the CEO of M1 Finance. While we have Brian on the line, we'll also ask about him the current day-trading mania, and if "winning" is really as easy as people online try to make it seem.In our other headline of the day, why are Vanguard and State Street holding out on the newest ETF craze to hit the market? Should everyday investors be just as wary? During our discussion on the new financial product known as ANTs (active nontransparent ETFs), we'll touch on the true issue behind the active vs. passive debate, the usefulness of having a technological, research-driven, approach to investing, AND the golden question: can you really outperform the market?We'll round out the show with a... I hesitate to use the term "question" here. (You'll see what I mean when you get there.) During the Haven Life Line Adam does asks us: why do people keep making the same financial mistakes over and over again when there's over a century of market data? Adam covers a bunch of great points that we mostly agree with, but we do get to hear one of OG's evolving theories.While I also hesitate to endorse Doug's segment today for personal reasons, we also give him some airtime for his donut-themed trivia.  Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices