The Stacking Benjamins Show

Don't look now but Friday is Valentine's Day! You're probably wondering what a "chocolates and roses" holiday has to do with finances... and the answer is...A lot. As we'll find out today, many people don't hesitate about turning their wallets over and shaking out ALL their cash. But today we'll help you celebrate in style (or in jest) WITHOUT breaking the bank. Today we've invited Sara Skirboll from ReatilMeNot to share with us plenty of great advice on how to find great Valentine's day dining deals WITHOUT using your whole stack of Benjamins. Plus, how much do you hate love reading through dense paperwork and contract terms? It's safe to assume you probably hate paperwork as much as we do, which is why covering some good news from Fidelity: they're cutting out 20% of the information that clients must review before opening an account. And in our second headline, we'll share the latest from a lawsuit between Shannon Dougherty and State Farm. It's ugly and just got...uglier. During our Haven Life Line call, we're going old-school and tearing open a letter from our new BFF Diane. She's looking for some alternatives to HSAs and long-term care plans. What options are available for people who can't use the more traditional options? Of course, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Would $250,000 a year be enough for you to "get by"? It wasn't for one early retiree. Today we're going to dive into income, expenses, priorities and bucket lists. Helping us today is a roundtable team of fantastic personalities. First, our special guest today comes from Revele Financial Group, Dawn Dahlby! From the Afford Anything podcast, we have Paula Pant, and Len Penzo joins in the fun from Len Penzo dot com! What is the most expensive piece of artwork you own? Do you think you could ever own a Andy Warhol piece or a Monet? Well today, during our FinTech segment we'll share a company helping people do just that. Joe'll talk buying fractional shares of art with Scott Lynn, the founder of Masterworks.io. We'll discuss not only the types of art that newbies mistakenly buy, but also, liquidity, the long term returns of art, and more. And finally, during our MagnifyMoney segment, we'll answer a question on whether you should take risks while you are still in debt? As always, of course, we'll quiz our contributors with an epic game show question about The Beatles! How much did they receive for performing on the Ed Sullivan Show? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

JT and Tamzon had a great start. After paternity leave from a fantastic job, JT thought he knew that with his burgeoning side-gig, he could quit his job and live happily ever after without going back to full-time work. Then, he found out that the math wasn't working. What would you do? We'll share one family's story of taking control of your goals and then rebooting when the math still doesn't make sense. On today's show early-retirees JT and Tamzon join us to talk about adding flexibility into your planning. Plus, are you a Medicare recipient? If so, it's an important open enrollment time for many. If not, you should plan ahead for the (ahem) increasing cost of healthcare. Danielle Kunkle Roberts from Boomer Benefits joins us to chat about all things Medicare. And in our second headline, we'll share how much your peers have saved for retirement. Want to gauge how you're doing? We'll have all the numbers. Of course, we're also going to toss out the Haven Life Line and we'll still make room for Doug's trivia. Step aside, people! There's a new episode coming! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Much of the game around managing money is in doing the little things...not being tripped up by the small mistakes and doing those little things that can turn failure into success in a hurry. Today, Norm Champ (formerly of the Securities and Exchange Commission), joins us to talk about mastering your money. What are some of the moves you can make to be a better money manager? We'll talk about controlling expenses (with some ideas to help you hone your budget), automating your money, and more on today's show. Plus, where does the money come from that most Americans use during retirement? The ugly answer we'll share during our headlines segment. Plus, we'll discuss lessons learned from the terrible event that dominated the headlines last week: Kobe Bryant's tragic helicopter accident. Later we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Julie, who asks about a fund many investors "in the know" talk about often. What's the difference between "VTSAX" and the rest of the less-often suggested crowd of funds that do the same thing? ...and of course, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

So, how much money do you make? Could a borrow a big sum of cash? Ever had any of THOSE moments? What do you do? Well today we'll discuss some seriously awkward questions. To help us, we welcome from Afford Anything the amazing Paula Pant, the almost retired Len Penzo from Len Penzo dot com, and from this podcast the straight shooter OG! If you or anyone you know is in the job market, watch out! Recruiters are now corresponding more and more via text. What could go wrong with that? We'll dive into how to apply some ettiquette to your text messages with Suzanne Lucas, AKA the Evil HR Lady. At the halfway mark of today's episode, we'll hear from the Evil HR Lady about the correct way to communicate via text to recruiters and future employers. And finally, during our MagnifyMoney segment we will answer a question from Facebook Group on a few tax questions on who to have prepare your taxes? As always, of course we'll quiz our contributors with an epic gameshow question about the world record for longest roller coaster marathon ride! Hope you can join the fun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

She'll tell you over and over that her job isn't interesting. But if you're a money nerd, do we have a treat for you today, because accountant Tracy Coenen spends her time chasing down bad guys using spreadsheets and bank statements (I'll stop if you need a moment). Today she'll tell us stories of two stories where she helped catch perpetrators by using financial records (and some amazing ingenuity) to help bring "bad guys" to bear. Plus, are you interviewing soon? Even if you aren't we'll talk about some useful tips if you're interested in moving up the ladder at work or with another pursuit (and who isn't?). Plus, we'll discuss the new milestone one fund company just passed and pause for a moment...man, that's a lot of money. Of course, we're also going to toss out the Haven Life Line to Dillon and get Joe and OG's take on how Dillon should approach his investments. All and and we'll still make room for Doug's trivia. Step aside, people! There's a new episode coming.....this plate is HOT! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How did America get its start? Of course, by relying on the financial fortunes of a few of our founding fathers. Today we're rolling back the clock to look at how some founding fortunes helped launch our country. We'll dive into the topic with Tom Shachtman, the author behind the Founding Fortunes, to discuss the roll of money in uniting revolutionaries, both rich and poor. Plus, should we be paying more attention to sustainability while investing? During our headlines we'll cover one report from Barron's that shows mutual funds ranking high on sustainability are actually outperforming the market. I know! We were surprised, too. And finally, we'll answer a question from Heather during our Haven Life line call, who just opened up a Fidelity account. Heather and her husband want to start investing, but aren't sure which funds to put money into. Thoughts? And of course, we'll save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

If the FIRE movement is so inspirational, why is it constantly under attack? More heat was lobbed at the early retirement movement last week by a couple of industry insiders on Twitter. To help us, we welcome the FIRE-y woman behind the Fiery Millennials blog, Gwen Merz, Len Penzo from Len Penzo dot com, and the wonderful Doc G from the What's Up Next podcast! These intelligent, retirement-focused people will be discussing the tweet that started quite the firestorm. If you or anyone you know has student loans, you'll want to listen to our Friday FinTech guest, Michael Block. He's the CEO and Founder of Pillar which is an app to help you pay back your student loans and save money. Early users have reported some huge wins, so we had to get the details from Michael about how it works. And finally, during our MagnifyMoney call in segment we will answer a question from an anonymous woman on how she will be affected by inheriting a ROTH IRA. As always, we'll quiz our contributors with an epic game show question about National Beer Can Appreciation Day from our neighbor, Doug. We'll have all that and more on today's show! We hope you can join the fun! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Let's get back to the basics. Everyone talks about retirement tools, projections, timelines, and tax strategies...what about answering, "How do I begin?" If that's you, we've got you covered on today's show because we're talking to CPA Michele Cagan about Retirement 101. We'll start off with how you fare against other savers (or non-savers), and then discuss how you should frame retirement. Is it one long process? Should you begin with picking investments? We'll cover all of that and more on today's show. Student loan borrowers everywhere cheered recently when a Navy vet had his loans discharged in court (something people said couldn't be done). In our headline segment we'll talk to attorney Leslie Tayne about how that happened, and maybe spill a little bad news (spoiler) about you and your student loans. But don't worry--all hope isn't lost. Leslie will also share some good advice for student loan borrowers. Of course, that's not all. We'll also throw out the Haven Life line to a lucky listener AND save time for some of Doug's cat vs. dog trivia. It's another fun day down in the basement. Hope you can join us! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Is debt crushing your dreams? Are your relationships affected by students loans or credit card problems? You NEED to hear today's guest, Reshawn Lee, talk about her situation. Reshawn and her husband Rob had horrible credit card debt, student loans, and couldn't ever seem to begin saving...until they took some drastic actions and everything turned out (spoiler!) not just great, but with a trip around the world! Today we'll talk about the work they do on their Learn Hustle Grow blog and YouTube channel, and learn about how they overcame their issues and began their path to financial independence. Are you hearing (like we are) the buzzword "AI" all over the financial arena lately? We'll discuss one headline about how much of the artificial intelligence out there is more artificial than intelligent. Later we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Christina, who can no longer contribute to an employee sponsored retirement plan after a job change. How should she continue saving for retirement? Of course we'll also share some of Doug's trivia AND much, much more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices