Be Smart by Jared Dillian

People pour their hearts out on Reddit. In episode 381, Jared and Cameron tap into personal finance subreddits, addressing questions about payday loan apps, when to repair your vehicle versus buying a new one, mortgages and retirement, negotiating for a higher salary, steps to achieving financial comfort, and… clogged cats?

Anytime a new technology is developed, there's an initial hype phase where money pours into the space, which leads to overinvestment and malinvestment. Then you enter the Valley of Despair before getting a second bull market years down the line. In episode 380, Jared clarifies why we may be close to completing the first runup in AI, why crypto has no place in the Awesome Portfolio, why he's so bearish on Google, the 2024 election, and more.

Would you have more money if you didn't buy coffee? Perhaps marginally more, but it's a rounding error in the grand scheme of things. Stop focusing on the little things that don't matter. Buying coffee is peewee stuff that just does not matter, and you have these so-called financial "experts" focused on this kind of stuff, alienating everyone in the process. There are so many other things you should be focusing on to improve your financial well-being.

Having money in stocks and mutual funds that perform well doesn't mean you're creating wealth. In that case, you're just a passenger along for the ride on the back of someone else. Creating wealth could mean starting a business or showing up to work and producing value that exceeds what you are paid. In episode 378, Jared discusses the difference between creating and destroying wealth, as well as the president's impact on the US economy.

No, it's not choosing the right mutual fund to invest in or opting for a 15-year mortgage instead of a 30-year one. Not even paying off all your credit cards cracks the top three. The three biggest financial decisions you will ever make include choosing the right person to marry, your career, and where to live. In episode 377, Jared breaks down why these choices are so crucial to get right—because getting them wrong can do serious damage in the long run.

Mutual funds let you pool your money with other investors to buy stocks, bonds, and other securities. They're run by professional money managers who decide which securities to buy (stocks, bonds, etc.) and when to sell them. Here's the thing, though: Mutual funds are not free. That said, they're inexpensive, but that doesn't stop people from getting worked up over fees. In episode 376, Jared explains why we should stop complaining about fees… especially when they're near zero already.

In episode 375, Jared maps his evolution from "class warrior" as a kid in Connecticut to his college years when he dabbled in objectivism to his present-day views on the likes of Jeff Bezos. He breaks down the philosophical basis for the revolution that swept through the world in the 1970s and '80s (influenced by prominent figures such as Ayn Rand, Margaret Thatcher, Ronald Reagan, Friedrich Hayek, and Milton Friedman) and discusses how people's thinking on economics is totally backward these days.

In episode 374 of the BE SMART podcast, Jared demystifies the key to deal negotiation for a home and why, as a buyer, you should be making a series of negative comments to your realtor to bring the price of a house down. Everything in real estate is negotiable, and it's a bit like playing cards—meaning it's helpful to know which cards a seller is holding. You don't want to be a "people pleaser" when negotiating for a house. It never hurts to ask for something you want included, whether it be the drapes or a piece of furniture.

There are points in time when producers have pricing power, and there are other times when they don't. This concept is known as demand elasticity. If something has elastic demand, companies can't raise prices much or else demand will go down. On the flip side, if something has inelastic demand, it doesn't matter how much prices increase because people will still pay for it. In this episode of the BE SMART podcast, Jared discusses how demand elasticity impacts consumer spending habits, people's perception of value, and whether you should ditch a company like Netflix when it jacks up its monthly subscription price.

Catastrophic thinking is when you believe that something terrible is always going to happen, like a divorce, a fatal illness, or devastating financial hardship. A lot of people suffer from it and are susceptible to this mindset, which can cripple your relationships and personal goals. What it boils down to is fear, but the possibility that something earth-shattering will happen to you is lower than you think. Bad things happen, of course, but there is one key solution to overcoming a negative mindset and putting yourself in a healthier frame of mind to succeed.