The Stacking Benjamins Show

Andrew Hawkins was an NFL football player with the Cincinnati Bengals and Cleveland Browns. He also won two Grey Cups in the Canadian Football League, worked in the Detroit Lions front office, starred in a reality television show with Michael Irvin, and starred on Sportscenter on Snapchat...what's he doing now? He's coming down to the basement to talk about how to transition. In his new podcast series, Branching Out (par of the Kneeding Dough series of podcasts if you're searching iTunes), Andrew interviews professional athletes about how they made the transition from pro sports and also what savvy money moves they've made along the way. We'll talk about changing jobs, starting out, building your team, believing in yourself when nobody else does, and more. It's an inspiring interview with Hawk.Plus, in our headlines segment, investors are flocking to buy ZOOM stock... but there's a problem. That's not the company they really want. They're really after ZM stock (from the popular video conferencing company Zoom). Due diligence anyone? And in our second headline, we'll cover one woman's emotional story about creating a "what-if" plan to prepare for the loss of a significant other.Later on, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Drew, who is on a student loan repayment plan. He'll qualify for student loan forgiveness in 20 years, but he doesn't want to put all his faith in his loans being forgiven. Should he forgo investing and instead plug away at his student loans?As always, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia...which today is exceptionally epic.Thanks to Experian for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Boost your FICO score instantly for free. Boost is only available at Experian.com/sb.com.Thanks to LinkedIn for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Go to LinkedIn.com/sb and get a $50 credit toward your first job post. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Doug Lynam grew up in a wealthy family but rejected looking wealthy at an early age and began hanging out with counter-culture kids while trying hard to find himself. From that lifestyle to the Marines and finally to becoming a monk, we'll talk about Doug's quest to find himself and ultimately to come to grips with the role of money and what it meant for him (and also for many of us). We'll talk through stories about his quest, how he began helping his fellow monks with their money, and ultimately how he became a money manager. He'll also share strategies to help you begin building your financial knowledge, to start questioning your own view of money, and to ultimately become a better steward of money. It's a wide-ranging, fun discussion, and we hope you're able to join us for it!In our headlines we'll talk to Paul Yakoboski, Senior Economist at TIAA Institute, about the results of the company's 2019 Personal Finance Index. He'll share how education and juggling your financial life are closely related. We'll talk about trends with the P-Fin index, the roll of education in your game plan, and more. He'll discuss how to gain knowledge about money and how to become better handling financial concerns. Plus, another company is planning an iPO. No, not an IPO (initial public offering), but a more made-up term called an iPO. We'll explain today.Later in the show, we'll throw out the Haven Lifeline to Alan, who has an awesome question for us about pensions. He has two choices: one where he can take the full amount himself or another where he gives up $400 per month but his spouse is also covered for her life. Which does he take?Then, in our letters segment, Dillion writes in asking about the best way to transition into the field of personal finance. He's currently an accountant, but Dillion's realized his passion is in helping people learn about and gain control of their finances. What's the approach to moving into the personal finance field?Of course, we'll also make some room for Doug's trivia, so don't you worry. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

What happens when a bride and her mom spend $70,000 on a wedding and everything goes wrong? Here's a bigger question: What happens when you spend more to get a bigger, better experience and it completely goes awry? Is it better to "super size" your spending to find more joy? We're all about the correlation between happiness and spending on today's episode. We're shaking things up with today's roundtable guest because joining us in today's discussion is Bobbi Rebell, host of the Financial Grownup podcast AND co-host of our very own Money in the Morning show. Plus, we'll call up Paula Pant of Afford Anything, and Len Penzo from LenPenzo.com.After a crazy Game of Thrones meets Len Penzo inspired trivia from Doug, we'll answer a voicemail during the Magnify Money call. Reed asks about an article he's read on retirement. According to the piece, there's a lot of "front-loaded" spending in retirement, which could drain cash savings a lot quicker than expected. We'll give our take on retirement, spending, and planning in our response to the piece.Thanks to Clear for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Get your first two months of Clear for free by going to clearme.com/sb2019 and using promo code sb2019. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Today we're all about your letters. We'll start with a question about moving funds around to avoid some taxes, jump into helping a 25-year-old decide whether to max out his retirement accounts, answer a question about robo advisors, and then launch into helping kids with money, how to save for a house, and more.In our headlines segment we'll talk to Joe Jiminez from The Alternate Life podcast. Maybe you've had the urge to quit your day job and go on a journey, but few of us have actually followed through. Joe Jiminez dumped the job and spent his summer walking the Continental Divide Trail. We might not be able to take the summer off ourselves, but we'll at least ask Joe what it's like.Then later on, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Reggie, who's heard on the show that OG isn't particularly fond of Betterment or Wealthfront. Reggie has a bulk of his money in Wealthfront and Betterment, so he's wondering...what's the issue?As always, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia...which today is exceptionally epic.Thanks to Proper Cloth for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Get $20 off your first custom shirt at Propercloth.com/sb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Connie Albers joins us today to talk about communication. Specifically, we'll talk about communicating with teenagers, but if you've ever struggled to communicate with anyone, Connie will share great tips on how to build bridges. We'll talk about how to ask the tough questions and have difficult conversations. We'll discuss ways to better understand what's going on in the other person's life. Most of all, we'll discuss ways to be a good leader for your children or for the people around you.If you're still struggling to finish your taxes, Katherine Pomerantz of The Bookkeeping Artist swoops in to save the day. Katherine will share some great tips for ways to possibly save some money on your taxes and also provide some guidance for people not prepared to finish today. How do you file an extension? What if you can't pay the tax due? And in our second headline, the amount of money Americans are paying on credit card interest is only going up this year... by A LOT.And later on in the show we'll throw out the Haven Life line to some new parents. Sebastian and his wife had their baby last year, and they're trying to secure his college future. They have a few different plans in mind, but would like some help on choosing the best one.Then, in our letters segment, Tom has recently started using savings apps. This all sounds well and good, but he also has $13,000 in debt. Should Tom forgo the savings until he has in debt under control? Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Why is a couple making $500,000 a year feel like they're just getting by? Shouldn't they feel better off than most people? On today's roundtable we'll examine the budget of the couple who feel just "average" and discuss why lifestyle inflation can eat up more of our income than we expect. Joining us on today's show we welcome special guest Michael Anderson (from Maranantha.com), Paula Pant (from AffordAnything.com), and from our very own podcast, OG.Halfway through the show we'll take a break for our weekly Friday Fintech segment, this week featuring something really cool that can help your retirement plan. Joe sits down with Jason Parker from Sound Retirement Planning, who shares the work he's done to create a calculator that will more likely help you set up realistic scenarios that you can use for your planning.And during our Magnify Money Call, we'll answer a voicemail from Annie. Annie's on the track to be debt-free. She's already been investing into her retirement accounts, and she has a four month emergency fund saved up right now. Annie will complete her last goal after she pays off her car loan and ups her emergency fund to six months. What should be her next milestone?As always, of course, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you keep going when every day seems like a repeat of the last? What do you do to stay focused when either you're always asked to jump higher or may even just perform the same tasks again and again? Why do we turn every great hobby into a marketing opportunity and kill it by calling it a new a "side hustle" idea? What's the value of gifting something? What tools do you use to build your dreams? Our guest today, Austin Kleon, helps us address all of these fundamental questions and more. As a New York Times Bestselling author and creator, Kleon brings the creative mind of an artist to the pragmatic business world and shares some truths that can help all of us attain more of the life we're fighting for.Great news! There's some exciting new legislation working its way through Congress that could offer better retirement options in the future. As always, we've invited an expert to help us make sense of it all. Chris Spence is senior director of federal government relations for TIAA, and has a front row seat to all of the changes. He'll share highlights, concerns, and the big wins for many of us on today's show.Also during our headlines segment, we'll discuss one recent news article suggesting that those staying out of the equity rally are really starting to feel its effects. In fact, people staying on the sidelines in cash just might make this year's rally last longer.Later on, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Harvey. Harvey and his wife are closing on their dream home soon (congratulations!) and are wondering what they should do with their condo. They know they can more than cover its expenses if they rent it out, but selling the property will save them a ton of cash on their new loan, along with PMI payments. What should the couple do?Plus, when we get to our letters segment, we'll tear open some mail from Kevin, who's wondering if you can "exchange" ETFs like you can mutual funds.As always, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia...which today is exceptionally epic.Compare checking, savings, credit cards, and loans before switching. Magnify Money makes it super easy to compare, switch and save. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wonder about firing your advisor? One woman wrote to Joe about firing her advisor, and we realized that's a question that many people have. How does the process work? Do you tell them? How do you move your money somewhere else? In their haste to get rid of an advisor, some people make big mistakes that end up costing them lots of money.Today we're letting you be a fly on the wall. In place of our regularly featured interview, we'll let you listen in on the recorded conversation Joe had with an anonymous listener who's gotten fed up with her financial advisor. They'll discuss whether to sell assets, what records to keep, how to talk to the advisor, and what to look for in new/better help and brokerages.Plus, in our headlines segment (couldn't get rid of that, could we?), the nation's biggest bond investor has dismissed the possibility of a stock market downturn in the near future. BUT, many in the financial media think the signs all point to stock market doom and the downturn is at our doorstep. So, who should we believe? Should our financial plan change regardless of what happens?And later in the show, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Danielle. Her son, who has special needs, is getting his job. They are working toward him living independently and want to open an account for him at a brick-and-mortar bank where he'll have assistance if needed and easy access to his cash. Thoughts?Then, in our letters segment, we'll cover a (totally) hypothetical question from Matt. Would it make much sense to have his kid forgo the traditional college experience and instead put all the savings into an investment account? It's all about time in the market, right?Don't you worry, we'll cover it all and more (including Doug's trivia), on today's content-packed episode of Stacking Benjamins. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you think you could pass a quiz covering basic questions about retirement? While you MIGHT be confident that you know the basics, a recent TD Ameritrade survey suggests that most Americans would actually fail a simple retirement quiz. To help us make sense of whether the terms listed on this quiz are actually meaningful we're helped on Joe's Dad's shortwave by Paula Pant (Afford Anything), Andy Hill (Marriage Kids and Money), and special guest Daniel Angelone (Innovative Planning Partners.)Halfway through the show we'll take small break from the roundtable for our weekly Friday Fintech segment. Joe will talk to Brittany Joiner, creator of the social finance app, Penge. Different than many of our interviews, the Penge app isn't yet "a thing." How does a developer create the idea for a new app and bring it to life? Brittany is living that right now. We'll also tackle how she realized that being inclusive with your social circle about personal finance can change our attitudes towards money. We'll cover that and more during today's Fintech segment.And during our Magnify Money Call, we'll answer a voicemail from Calvin, who's still getting adjusted to the world of personal finance. From what he's learned so far ETFs and mutual funds are the best way to invest. Is there anything else he should be doing with his money to diversify?As always, of course, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia.Thanks to Away for supporting Stacking Benjamins. Go to awaytravel.com/sb20 and use the promo code sb20 to get $20 off a suitcase! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Ever wonder what it'd be like to square off against the sharks? Tanya VanCourt from Goalsetter.co just did that and we'll share the exciting story from start to finish on today's show. Whether you're a fan of Shark Tank, Goalsetter, FinTech, or just entrepreneurship in general, you're going to love our blow-by-blow telling of Tanya's Shark Tank adventure. She shares LOTS of strategic lessons for anyone hoping to be a business owner, networker, or strategist.Plus, in our headlines segment, we'll talk to Peter Polson (CEO of Tiller) about Apple's new credit card offering, which was announced just last week. While it's been getting a lot of hype from the media, is the card worth it? We'll break down the features of the new card, perceived benefits from it, and how this offering stacks up against others.Also, we'll dive into one piece from Barrons that could throw a big wrench in a few retirement plans. Are you counting on your primary residence to finance your retirement? We'll discuss why that may not be the best strategy for your golden years. The Barron's piece calls it a trap, but do we agree?Later on, we'll throw out the Haven Life Line to Les, who owes extra tax this year due to his 1099 income. Les also receives a W2 from his employer. Could he request extra withholding from his employer to cover his self employment taxes? We'll round out the show with a letter from Nathan, who's hopping jobs. Both of his employers have a 457 plan, but his new job won't have a company match. What should he do with his 457? Roll it over? Leave it alone? Roll it to a different plan?As always, we'll still save some time for Doug's trivia...which today is exceptionally epic.Thanks to MetPro for supporting Stacking Benjamins! Get your complimentary Metabolic Profiling assessment and a 30-minute consultation with a MetPro expert at metpro.co/sb. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices