The Stacking Benjamins Show

What was the best advice someone could have given you when you first started investing? If you're a new investor OR a seasoned pro, you're in luck because our roundtable team are all sharing their best tips today to help get the ball rolling. We're joined by two great guests today (along with the amazing Len Penzo)...host of Profit Boss Radio, CFP Hilary Hendershott AND one of our favorite writers, Hannah Rounds from Unplanned Finances. Not only will we talk about getting started early with your financial plan, but then we'll also tackle problems with brokers and sales incentives. How do you know you won't get burned? Finally, we'll answer a question originally asked of The Moneyologist at MarketWatch.com...what would you do if you found out your mother had taken out lots of credit using your name illegally? Would you turn her in? You'll be surprised by all of our answers.

THEN in the FinTech segment, we're actually going to go anti-FinTech this week and talk to our friend Shannon McLay about her new concept coming to a city near you, the Financial Gym. What happens when you give your money a workout? How does it work? Maybe, even though we talk about great ways to use your phone for planning purposes, maybe face-to-face coaching has a place in your planning, too.

Thanks to  SoFi  and Magnify Money for sponsoring our podcast! Support the companies that support us and help yourself along the way.

Charles Schwab's chief global investment strategist Jeff Kleintop joins us to talk diversification. Are your investments really doing less to help your portfolio avoid risk (and gain rewards) that you hope? We'll find out some surprising news from Jeff on today's show.

Also, in our headline segment, we'll tackle some surprising news from Merrill Lynch about IRAs AND discuss the best way to keep your retirement portfolio on track.

On our hotline segment, Patrick asks about his Roth IRA; if you put too much in, how do you take it back out? Doug also shares some internationally-flavored trivia and brings down the mail, which includes a question from Alex about Health Savings Accounts (HSAs).

Special thanks  SoFi and Magnify Money for sponsoring our show. Support the companies that support us AND help yourself along the way.

Find detailed show notes here.

We cover LOTS of ground today....everything from too much debt to the student loan crisis to planning for entrepreneurs and ex-pats. Thinking about moving outside the USA for retirement? We've got you covered. Hoping to retire early? We'll talk about that. Starting a business and worried about cash reserves? Yup....that's on the show. How about mortgages? Absolutely! We're going to talk about that.

How? It's our annual FinCon episode! We co-hosted a party for many of the financial writing and podcasting movement's top people, and while they were there we invited them to spend a few minutes on the mic with us. We give you the flavor and some great interviews on today's show!

Special thanks to SoFi and Magnify Money for sponsoring our show. Support the companies that support us AND help yourself along the way.

New data shows that people in the housing market might get some relief. Should you go out and get one today based on this news. We kick off the show with a story from Greg that sounds like we're about to talk healthcare coverage and driving lessons....but quickly move into three pieces of media fresh off the press!

What's important when you're buying property? Where do people cut corners but shouldn't? We tackle that on today's roundtable show along with discussions about why Monday morning stinks and we share some lessons learned along the way while investing for over 30 years. It's a wide-ranging blend of fun and information.

At the halfway point we talk to Candice Caruso, President of Pango Financial. They have a plan that allows people to take money from their retirement plan to fund a business. Sound like a bad idea? Candice explains the concept and why it might not be as bad an idea as you think....

Thanks to SoFi and Magnify Money for sponsoring our podcast!

Reuters television and print journalist Bobbi Rebell instructs us on what it takes to become a financial grown up. We'll talk investing, saving, hurdling debt and more. It's a wide-ranging discussioin which even involves Bobbi admitting that she, too, once lived at home as an adult with her parents. The Peter Pan in us feels much better after that. In our headline segment, we tackle a couple grown up activities: rollovers and education. We share statistics about why people decide to roll over assets from their workplace retirement plan AND stats on what class people wish they'd had more of in school (HINT: it's not racquetball). We take letters from Stephanie and Sarah about FinTech apps and diversifying retirement funds...and answer a hotline call from Nick about saving for retirement starting at an early age. How do you save when you don't know the goal because it's so far away?

Special thanks to SoFi and Magnify Money for sponsoring our show. Support the companies that support us AND help yourself along the way.

Clark Howard visits the basement to talk about respect for cash, using indexes in your portfolios, finding deals, and getting educated about your money. It's a wide-ranging, fun conversation with one of the biggest names in personal finance that we're sure you're going to enjoy!

But that's not all. Jamie Wise from the Buzz Indexes (ticker BUZ) joins us with this month's social media update. We'll talk about Apple, UnderArmour, Nike, energy stocks, and more. Also, we'll answer a question from Megan about raising the interest rate on her savings account and a letter from Andrew about the potential underbelly of indexing.

As usual, we're all over the place and you're coming along for the ride!

Special thanks to MagnifyMoney.com and SoFi for sponsoring our show. Support the companies that support us AND help yourself along the way.

Market drops are never fun, and when the market sunk two years ago when Philip Taylor (PTMoney.com) came down to the basement, he and Joe discussed that, real estate, and other fun money topics. 

This is a rewind episode of Stacking Benjamins during our break week. We'll see you next week with all new guests and money topics!

You have open enrollment questions and we have answers....kinda. The awesome Money Guys (Brian Preston and Bo Hanson) joined us last year for an epic episode of Stacking Benjamins, and the FinTern rewinds to that episode this week. It was a ton of fun and we're glad he did....and so will you.

New intern Griffin joins us just in time to present....Pat Flynn! The man behind Smart Passive Income joined us in the basement to discuss Let Go, his project around his inspiring journey from unemployed architect to web guru. Joe, OG and PK talk about the latest Dave Ramsey vs. the internet debacle....and more!

This is a rewind episode of Stacking Benjamins, meaning that the contest and ANY thoughts about "current" market conditions are from the time this episode first aired. 

When life hands you more money, how does it stay in your pocket instead of floating away? Toni Husbands was over $100k in debt before going on the attack with her family. Now, the Debt Free Divas star joins Paula Pant and Will Sisk (Afford Anything) to tackle a few of the ways they are able to save money. We also discuss important issues like saving money at Starbucks (or just how to score discounts ANYWHERE) and how to "waste" money to improve your life.

Our FinTech company this week in the middle of the show is Abaris. Matt Carey is formerly with the US Treasury and with a partner set out to change the business of annuities and lifetime income streams. How does it work? We'll ask him today! Download the Abaris guide to retirement planning (for SB listeners): DIY Online Retirement Services Guide

Thanks to MagnifyMoney and SoFi for sponsoring our podcast!