Good morning and happy Tuesday!! ☕️
When we first began podcasting, we heard this statistic…
“About 75% of podcasters give up in less than 1 year”.
And while that might turn many people off from starting a podcast, it actually really excited us! We thought… 🤔 “So to be in the top 25% of podcasters, all we need to do is exist longer than 12 months? Easy!”
So we made that our main goal. To just keep going and outlast other people. Then after 1 year, we just kept going, and going, and going. (and next month How To Money turns 5!! 🎂 🥳)
Persistence is the cornerstone to our success. Showing up and putting in the work even when we don’t feel like it.
Not sure what your podcast-equivalent job or project is right now… But we encourage you to KEEP GOING. You don’t need to be the best, just keep putting in the work and outlasting the others. 💪
TO DO
Reverse your ceiling fan direction 🔄
In the summer, ceiling fans blow air downwards ↓↓↓ to cool the room.
But most people don’t know there’s a tiny little switch on most ceiling fans (pic above)… It reverses the direction of the fan blades for the opposite effect, blowing air upwards ↑↑↑ in the winter.
Having a slow airflow in winter creates an updraft that helps move trapped warm air near the ceiling back out and around the room. With better airflow you can turn your thermostat down a few degrees and save a few bucks on electricity and gas this winter. Try it out!
Related tips:
INVESTING
Financial Advice: Who can you trust?
First off, our hearts go out to anyone who lost money during the recent FTX implosion. We hate to see people lose money, no matter the circumstances – it’s the opposite of what we’re trying to achieve at HTM!
For backstory of what went down with FTX, we discussed it on last Friday’s podcast episode.
Most of you already know this: we’re not very big fans of crypto investments (although we understand the appeal). But that doesn’t mean you’ll ever hear us say “you MUST invest in only ABC and never in ZXY if you want to be successful”. There’s more than one way to the top! We’d rather help educate folks so they know their own risk tolerance and can invest in a way that suits their own goals.
That said, there are definitely finance “gurus” out there who do push a certain agenda or specific investment advice. Influencers are on every platform these days. Actually, sometimes even your friends or family come to you with “MUST invest in this” ideas. (In the case of FTX, they hired big celebrities like Tom Brady and finance gurus like Kevin O’Leary to endorse their crypto exchange).
Anyway, with so many people in your ear telling you how to invest your money, how do you know who is right and who is wrong? Whose advice can you actually trust?
Here are a few ideas that might help in vetting financial advice, no matter which direction it comes from:
1) Question the source. Do the people recommending an investment have a big self interest in whether you invest or not? Are they truly looking out for your best interests, or their own? (Financial fiduciaries are required by law to only recommend things in your best interest — you can generally trust their advice!)
2) Ask for facts, precedents, check multiple sources… The reason we follow mostly old-school, boring money principals is because they’ve been proven to work! Many of the new get rich quick tactics do not.
3) Emotion vs. logic. Marketing schemes typically play on your emotions to entice you to invest. Fear of missing out (financial FOMO), instant millionaire status, being “right” about a risky bet, etc… Instead, use your brain to calculate the real risks involved before jumping into exciting things.
4) Do they have similar financial goals? Taking advice about investing from your boss’ boss who makes 10x as much as you do might not make much sense. They might be messing around w/ riskier assets bc they have more $ at their disposal. Whoever you’re talking to or hearing advice from, just make sure they know what your specific situation and goals are.
Related info:
- 🎙 Podcast Ep 365: Don’t Trust Money Advice From These Folks
- 💻 Fin Advisors: When Should You Hire a Financial Advisor?
- ⚖️ FTX Class Action: This new lawsuit claims that FTX purposefully targeted “unsophisticated investors” by luring them in with celebrity features 🤔
TOGETHER WITH CIT BANK
Earn killer interest on savings with CIT!
Speaking of endorsements… **Full disclosure** We get paid when people sign up for CIT via our affiliate links!! But honestly we’d recommend them even if we didn’t get paid, because we bank with CIT personally and think they’re awesome. (Shh 🤫 don’t tell them we’d do it for free, they might rip our sponsorship 🤣)
Oh, and they’re FDIC insured, so you won’t lose your money even if they go bankrupt.
But seriously, if you’re using a bank or credit union now that charges monthly account fees, gives you no interest on savings, has crap customer service… it’s time to switch!
Check out CIT’s Savings Connect account! 👀
DEBT
Good, bad, and outright ridiculous debt!
Stumbled across this map the other day and almost spit out my coffee!
It’s a map of typical interest rates from payday lenders in each state. Can you imaging paying 664% interest on a loan?!?!
That’s like borrowing $1000 for 3 months, and paying $1,637 in interest. 🤯
Trying to build wealth while burdened with debt is like running up ↗️ an escalator that’s traveling downwards ↙️. Each step forward pulls you backwards.
As interest rates continue to rise, it’s more important than ever to focus on paying down your consumer debt.
And if you’re absolutely drowning (like payments equal more than 50% of your income), please reach out to NFCC.org or Money Management International, both non-profits that help you built a debt management plan. Also undebt.it is an awesome free resource for tools, spreadsheets and calculators.
More resources:
- 🎙 Podcast Ep 566: But not all debt is bad- using strategic debt to catapult your finances.
- 💻 HTM Blog: Snowball vs. Avalanche methods explained. (Also worth checking out: when good debt becomes bad!)
- ⛑️ Debt & Health: It’s not only bad for your finances- it’s bad for your body and bad for your brain!
- 💳 CCs: Best practices for using credit cards
ICYMI
What people are talking about…
Fuelly ⛽️
Maybe this is old news, but I just found out about it!… This site/app called Fuelly helps people track their gas milage and total car costs over time. The best part?… All of the crowd-sourced data on each car model is aggregated and gives you awesome research capabilities when looking at *true* car costs for different vehicles. Check it out – search for your model and see what other users experience!
Costco VISA 😭
Attention Costco members with the Citi Anywhere Visa… Sad news, Costco is stripping the extended warranty protection benefit starting Jan 2023. You’ve still got until Dec 31st this year to snag two additional years of manufacturers warranty when you buy certain products at Costco w/ this card. But after that, this perk is history. (We still think the Executive Membership at Costco is worth paying for!!!)
Degree Regrets 🧑🎓
Here’s the CNBC post we referenced as last Friday’s ludicrous headline of the week: The top 10 most-regretted college majors — and the degrees graduates wish they had pursued instead. Any of you study journalism and absolutely loved it? Paying too much for college is one of the top common financial regrets!
Envelopes 📩
Cash stuffing is trending on social media (It’s basically a new name for the envelope budgeting system). “They’ve done MRIs on the brain, and your brain registers pain when you pay with cash. When you use a card it feels like you’re using someone else’s money, so you spend 12 to 18 percent more.”
Fidelity Crypto 💸
Fidelity is going to start offering commission-free crypto trading – you can get on the waitlist here if you want early access. We’re not huge fans of this, but, “if teenagers are going to drink alcohol, we may as well have them do it under a roof that we trust” 🤷♂️ Hopefully Fidelity will focus heavily on the education side of crypto investments vs. gamifying it like other exchanges have in the past.
FRIENDS OF HTM
Time management pro, Laura Vanderkam ⌚️
You know those people with high powered jobs, crazy social lives and ridiculous busy schedules — yet somehow they not only manage everything with ease, they also magically find time to work out, volunteer and be happy all the time?…
Well, Laura Vanderkam studies those people! Then she takes all their time management secrets and tips and shares them in her books, on her blog, and in her bite-sized daily podcast!
Also, Laura did a Ted Talk a few years ago (12 mins) that has been viewed millions of times. Well worth checking out if you’re swamped and need to re-think your time management!
Wishing you all a very happy Thanksgiving week, eating the meals that you love with people you love.
Best friends out! 🍻
*****
* Advertiser Disclosure: How to Money has partnered with CardRatings for our coverage of credit card products. How to Money and CardRatings may receive a commission from card issuers.
* User Generated Content Disclosure: Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser’s responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
