00:01
Peter Dunn
And just like that, the show has begun. Welcome, everyone. It's. Peter Dunn. Welcome to the Pete the Planner show. Joining me, as always, is Damian Dunn. Hello, Dame.
00:11
Damian Dunn
Hello, Pete.
00:13
Peter Dunn
Oh, it's the show within the show. Do you ever try to explain what the show slash podcast is like? Do you ever try to explain the complexity of it?
00:22
Damian Dunn
If we make a show about making a show, I mean, it's not that hard.
00:26
Peter Dunn
It's like the Larry Sanders show. So hello, everyone. Good to be with you. I hope your life is grand. That seemed insincere. Exciting show today, Dame. We've got what could be the biggest business fail of all time.
00:46
Damian Dunn
Yeah, it's not good.
00:48
Peter Dunn
Also talking about dependability, when you look at the dependable people in your life, does it speak to their financial stability or vice versa? It's like a chicken or the egg thing. Are they dependable because they're stable, or are they stable because they're dependable? Danza. Hello. Good to be with you. I am looking fancy today. Just want to hear a story about this chocolate brown tuxedo jacket I'm wearing.
01:08
Damian Dunn
Yes.
01:10
Peter Dunn
Oh, for those podcast people, listeners, audio only. Sorry, but it's a little bit handsome. Dame I believe the year was 2007. I think Indie Style was a local television show when local morning not exactly new shows, like lifestyle shows were really new.
01:35
Damian Dunn
Sure.
01:35
Peter Dunn
Well, indianapolis, where I live on Wish TV, which I did a lot of work for at the time, they started a new show called Indie Style. And every week I was the personal finance expert on Indie Style, which you think, wow, how do you have room for anything else on your resume? Right, yeah. And I wore this jacket on the debut episode of Indie Style in 2007. And you're thinking, well, is it out of style now? No, it's sort of a classic, oddly enough, a chocolate brown satin lined tuxedo jacket, and most importantly, as Mrs. Planner said this morning, still fits.
02:16
Damian Dunn
I would have argued that it was possibly never in style.
02:20
Peter Dunn
Well, not in your style, Dame. Have you had a good week?
02:24
Damian Dunn
I have had a good week. Looking forward to the weekend.
02:27
Peter Dunn
Did we have a show last week?
02:29
Damian Dunn
No, we did not. And if we did, I think we both missed it.
02:32
Peter Dunn
Okay, Dame, as I tend to say on Fridays, I got a lot of stuff to do. So you want to just go ahead and do this darn thing?
02:39
Damian Dunn
It's the least shocking thing I could have expected to come out of your mouth.
02:44
Peter Dunn
What do you got this weekend? I've got oh, Oz, the great land of Oz. Oz, our beloved coworker who everyone who meets her loves her. People who don't even know her love her. She's just a delightful human. She's running a marathon tomorrow, so I'm taking the kids down. We're going to cheer for her. That's exciting. Yeah.
03:03
Damian Dunn
I wish I'd lived closer so I could do that. The aqueducts will be in full effect this weekend, starting this evening. So a full weekend in Chlorinated, very humid environments for me.
03:16
Peter Dunn
Oh, those are the worst. All right, let's do it. The show. We're going to start it, I feel it's been two weeks, so I forget how to do this. In three, two, one. This week on the Pete the Planner Show, we answer your money questions. Here's how the show works. You email us, askpete@petetheplanner.com that's, askpete@ petetheplanner.com, and we'll take a shot at answering your questions. I said we, plural. Damien Dunn joins me, as most often vice president of advice at your money line. And hey, money. Dame, how is it going?
03:56
Damian Dunn
It's going okay.
03:58
Peter Dunn
Dame I've got a very strange vibe today. I'm wearing a chocolate brown tuxedo jacket. I've had a lot of caffeine, and I have a lot to do. So let's get to the show. Dame I love to read fascinating stories about business decisions gone awry, not because I'm dancing on the graves of America's great companies, but because sometimes you see how high stakes a decision can be. In the last couple of weeks, it has come out that Zillow, which is a really useful app. I have it on my phone, and it's not useful as much as it is interesting. You can just sort of look at what homes are worth and where you live, and you drive it by a neat area, you pull it up, you have it look at your location. You can sort of look at homes. Anyway, they have reported that they are unloading 7000 homes very quickly because of the hundreds of millions of dollars of losses they've generated in their attempt to buy a bunch of homes and then resell them.
05:04
Peter Dunn
They got in the home flipping business at mass scales, and it caused them to lay off 25% of their workforce this week. Dame, that seems like a bad business decision. Yeah.
05:14
Damian Dunn
You kind of wonder how a company that focuses on real estate and tracking real estate prices allegedly just only tracking real estate prices, could be this bad at estimating what houses would be worth if they bought them at the right price. So not great.
05:32
Peter Dunn
Okay. You said two very interesting things there, which is refreshing finally this year. Dame, first of all, you said allegedly. So I want to talk about, like, is are there you thinking they're tracking things other than home prices?
05:46
Damian Dunn
No, I think they may be a little aggressive on the home prices that they publish when they send out their estimates of how much your home may be worth at the time. I don't know if you do, Pete, but somehow, some way, we got signed up for a monthly email that sends us a little note that says, hey, based on our calculations and the houses that have sold around you, we think your home is worth somewhere in this range. And I don't know, for like the last year I've looked at that number and said there is no way my house is worth that much money. No way.
06:20
Peter Dunn
So what's interesting I'm glad you bring this up. I look at ours all the time because it's fascinating just to watch it go up at a breakneck pace and not because I think it's reality, but because I'm just amazed that Zillow thinks it's reality. If they want to make me an offer at that price and then get burned on the home because they can't sell it, go right ahead. And so that's your second point, Dame, is that this service is meant to help people understand market prices for homes in particular areas. And so if they're publicly presenting let's use some numbers here. Let's say your home is objectively worth $200,000. You think you could sell for $200,000. And let's say Zillow says Nabra, it's worth $225,000. And so they say that and you get all gassed up and you're like, let's go. And then what we're suggesting here is that they're purchasing homes that inflated values because they use those values to stoke their business and then it burns them because they can unload the inflated valued homes.
07:34
Damian Dunn
Well, I think I have no idea how this actually works on Zillow side. I would assume that if they're saying, hey, we'll buy your house, it is at a maybe not steep discount, but a significant discount over what they may be publishing just because it's no hassle. Hey, we'll make this quick and easy and we can get you onto your next home. By the way, check out our app for your next home as well too, while you're at it. I just don't see I think they were inflating those prices in hopes to continue to drive that market higher while they could to make their job of flipping and making a little bit of cash easier. On the other side, in the third.
08:12
Peter Dunn
Quarter, Zillow bought 9700 homes and booked a $304,000,000 write down on inventory owned at the end of the period. So if they're flipping the homes and again, I know you're not a real estate expert and I also know that you don't study Zillow's business strategies, which I'm glad because that could impact ours in a negative way. They're flipping the homes. Are they doing repairs or are they just looking for good values and then trying to take advantage of the market? Do you know anything about that?
08:46
Damian Dunn
I saw that a number of the homes they bought, they discovered needed some modification, some refurbishment before they were going to sell them. So it looks like there was, and I could be totally wrong, very little research done on the actual homes they were buying. They just saw an incredibly hot real estate market thinking, you know what, we'll buy some stuff. If we have to put a few bucks into these homes, we're still going to be able to turn around and flip them. They were focused in really big, really traditionally hot markets. Phoenix. They had a ton of houses in Phoenix.
09:19
Peter Dunn
Yeah. And Phoenix is always one of those very dynamic real estate markets. It always has been. You think about, what are those sorts of markets? Vegas is right alongside Phoenix, where there was a big alleged boom of where people go to live. It is on the surface, it's like, okay, if flipping houses is good and profitable, then flipping thousands of houses must be really good. But if you don't have the infrastructure and the scalable plan, then it really falls apart. Where do you think this ranks amongst the biggest business fails of all time?
09:58
Damian Dunn
That's a fair question. It's got to be up there. It's interesting because the core service of Zillow wasn't flipping houses. It's just their website and the information they provide and all that good stuff. And this was a way they thought they could leverage what the information, the data they've already collected, and make a few extra bucks. So their core business, I don't think, is really going to be affected by this at all. But this is a massive screw up on not the idea, the implementation of the idea, in my estimation.
10:33
Peter Dunn
Do you think this is a Hail Mary business process where they said, hey, our current monetization strategy is sort of on its last leg, and so this is the true product and service we will be as a home flipping organization. That's not that unusual. Is that a business pivots to see what their true monetization strategy is? Go no further than Netflix. That at one point in time was sending DVDs in the mail and completely indestructible envelopes, oddly. But then they realized that their monetization strategy was actually to be Internet flicks as opposed to mail Flicks. That sounds weird. I don't even want to know. Don't google that. Anybody? I will also note, since we're talking about Netflix, one of the greatest business fails of all time, as many people have noted, is that Blockbuster didn't buy Netflix when they had the opportunity.
11:30
Damian Dunn
Yeah, that was a big oops.
11:34
Peter Dunn
New Coke is often pointed to as a complete disaster. The idea that Coke wanted to change their formula, and it cost them a lot of money in sales. I actually was on a podcast with a friend about that topic. And what was really interesting, if I remember correctly, which I very rarely do, the guy that came up with Diet Coke who was lauded a thing, yes. As like an icon of new beverage ideas, had the idea for New Coke, and it completely backfired on him. But he was a genius with Diet Coke. New Coke? Not so much.
12:10
Damian Dunn
Clear Pepsi. You remember clear Pepsi?
12:12
Peter Dunn
I do remember Clear Pepsi. We used to have some Clear Pepsi at the Dun household when I was a kid.
12:16
Damian Dunn
Really?
12:16
Peter Dunn
Yeah. We drank so much, so many soft drinks as a kid. I can just see Mrs. Planner and I just shuddering thinking about our kids having that many carbonated beverages. But alas, different times we even wear seatbelts and have helmets these days. Dame coming up after the break, dependability. I have a new theory I wrote about in the Indianapolis Business Journal this week. I want to share it with you. I want to share with everybody. Does being dependable make you financially stable? All that is next on the Pete the Planner show. I'm beat the planner. All right. I started reading email again while we're on the air.
12:55
Damian Dunn
I appreciate the dedication and focus you give me during this.
12:58
Peter Dunn
I know it wasn't something I had to answer here, you know what I mean? Maybe you don't know what I mean. Maybe you do know what I mean, but it still doesn't excuse it.
13:08
Damian Dunn
That's probably well, I'll let you fill in the right answer.
13:12
Peter Dunn
All right, so, Dame, should I book this meeting at eleven with this person? No, I can't do that today. This afternoon?
13:18
Damian Dunn
Yeah, you better give yourself a little bit of time.
13:21
Peter Dunn
Or how about 1115?
13:25
Damian Dunn
You can do is it just a phone call?
13:28
Peter Dunn
Something like that.
13:29
Damian Dunn
Okay.
13:30
Peter Dunn
All right, sorry. Booking appointments on the air, everybody. All right. So, Dame, let's do dependability. Let's hit it. Oh, hey, Mike, good to be with you. Thanks for joining us on Facebook Live. Dame I had something really good to talk about on the show, and since I have put very little thought into it this week, I don't know wherever it is. What's that?
13:52
Damian Dunn
No travel stories.
13:53
Peter Dunn
I haven't been travel stories? No. Okay, in three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Dame every couple of weeks I have to sit down on my computer and think about things to write for people to read and mock me over. Can you hear my stomach growling, by the way?
14:16
Damian Dunn
No.
14:17
Peter Dunn
I was at my grandma's funeral last weekend and lovely woman, and I didn't eat, and the service was going very long and my stomach starts growling. My cousins, who are like three rows ahead of me, like, turn around and look at me. The funeral is being live streamed because that's how you do funerals these days. And there's this big shotgun mic that's picking up the growling of my stomach. So all these people honoring my grandma at home are hearing my stomach growl. Alas, I write my IBJ column this week about Dependability, and my theory is this if you think about how you view others to be dependable, what the quality you see in them is, the resourcefulness they have, and how they use those resources to help you achieve what you're looking for from them. It's a little heady. It's a little heady. Dame when you say someone is dependable, what you're saying is you like how they handle assisting you with what you need assisted with.
15:21
Peter Dunn
Right. So to me, that's a resourcefulness situation, right?
15:25
Damian Dunn
Yeah.
15:26
Peter Dunn
And so here's where this extends to possible learning. When you consider your own level of dependability, not only how others view you to be dependable, but how dependable you find yourself to be, I think it is also an evaluation of your resourcefulness. At various times in my life, as I think about whether I viewed myself as to be dependable or not, if I truly try to be objective and not lie to myself and gas myself up, there were times where I didn't find myself to be dependable. And if I thought about why, it's because I didn't trust myself with the resources that were allocated to me. Does that track?
16:08
Damian Dunn
Yeah, I think so. I also think it's a really interesting concept, dependability in general, because what you consider dependable and what I consider dependable may be completely different, or at least different shades of the same color. If I only come through 25% of the time on stuff that I promise, but somebody comes through 50% of the time, I'm going to look at them as pretty darn dependable. Whereas you may just dismiss entirely because, man, you just can't count on them when the chips are down. So dependability is a really interesting topic, but one that we all recognize and generally appreciate. I almost said lawed just to tie it back to the first segment, but it's a really interesting concept.
16:55
Peter Dunn
Did you pick up on this idea, though, that we're not saying someone is dependable because they're wealthy and we're not saying someone is dependable because they have high income. What we're saying is whatever resources are available to them, they make them available to help serve you. And again, that's not to loan you money. Hey, can I depend on you to loan me $500? It's not that. When I begin to write about this and think about it, I got to this idea of like, okay, it's midnight, you're in Denver, and you're trying to fly back to Indianapolis. You're not going to get Uber. You need someone to pick you up, but there's a massive rainstorm. You need them to pick you up at the exact minute you walk out of the airport so you don't get wet. And the timing has to be right. Who are you calling?
17:41
Peter Dunn
Right? To me, that's the time resource side of things, but I think time and money are rather linked. Who do you call to be at the gate to pick you up in a situation like that? We talked about this as a bigger team this week of go ahead, think through your life, think through your relationships. Who is the most dependable person you know, and what is it about them that makes them dependable? And once you do that, my guest tells me that they are also financially stable because they understand how to use resources effectively.
18:19
Damian Dunn
It's very tempting for, I think, most of us, if you're married or in a committed relationship that you probably are going to default to your spouse or you may want to prioritize them. I think this becomes a really interesting challenge if you say it can't be that person who you're in a relationship with. I like yourself to think outside of that very tight circle that you find yourselves in on a day in, day out basis. Who is it? Is it a parent? Is it a coworker? Is it somebody from an organization that you belong to? And why do you think they're dependable? Is it because they come through on projects? Is it because of a long history of helping you out with odds and ends or their dedication to a different project that you're not even involved with? I don't know. When you first asked this question in that meeting, it was deceptively simple.
19:20
Peter Dunn
Yeah, because a lot of people went to their spouses or their parents. But if you remove that possibility and again, the point of this whole thing is not just like a guy who drank too much and needed to write a column. Instead it's to say, okay, do I trust myself? Can I actually depend on myself to be a good steward of resources? And so if you look outside your immediate family, it does get a lot more complex. And so in that spirit, dame, I will answer the question. One of the most dependable people I know, and I'm going to also separate work because I don't think that's work is at times like family. My friend Greg, who also happens to be my financial advisor, I find him to be one of the most dependable people I've ever met. And it's not that he'd be there if I needed anything.
20:15
Peter Dunn
It's just to know if I ever needed anything, he'd be there. Sort of a weird flip of that. And it's not that I would need money from him. It's that I would need guidance. And I would trust that the guidance he would give me would be right or I needed time and that time would be allocated towards me. But I guess it's not surprising that the person I choose is also a financial advisor. My financial advisor. That's sort of weird.
20:39
Damian Dunn
What do you think about? I think there's almost different tiers of dependability where if there's something that's kind of important, it may get ignored, but if it's something that's super important now, you know, you can count on this person. Do you have anybody in your life like that? That's kind of like, yeah, I'll get around to it if I can. Do you think that comes into the equation at all here?
21:07
Peter Dunn
That's interesting because that is incredibly interesting to me because then it becomes is your ask unreasonable? Are you asking someone to be dependable to an unreasonable request? And so my personal default on that is I'm not going to make a request of someone that is unreasonable. I think tapping your network or making withdrawals of human capital in an unnecessary time never makes sense. Dame let me tell you a story. When I was in high school, I was a pretty good high school student. Not academically, but just in terms of the school community, right? I was sort of did a lot of extracurriculars, and I helped the school along and did lots of good things. And I had a relatively reasonable reputation. My senior year, late in the year, there was a fire drill. And the teacher was like, hey, let's go out. It's like this young teacher, and she was like, she's like 22, 23.
22:08
Peter Dunn
She's like, it's a fire drill. Let's go. And I was like, you know what? I'm good. I'm going to stay here. She's like, no, come out. I was like, I get it. I feel you. I'm staying here. But it's like, total jerk move, right? Major withdrawal. Major withdrawal of credibility. So I got sent to the principal's office, and the principal said, look, here's the thing. You've made a lot of deposits here in the last four years. This is one major withdrawal. Just so you know, if you make another withdrawal, it's going to be a problem. And that has stuck with me for a very long time. And I think about relationships in that way. I would much rather make deposits than consistently make withdraws on people's time. Which brings us back to dependability. I sort of keep mental track not of who owes me it's not that, but of who understands that same dynamic and would be there to serve.
23:03
Peter Dunn
So, yeah, turns out I absolutely was a jerk to that teacher, and I feel bad. All right, Dan, let's do this. Come back up after the break. We're going to sort of a potpourri of what's next here on The Pete the Planner. Little Peloton. Stuff, little other things. You'll see it's next on the Pete the Planner show. I'm Pete the planner. Dame you know why that tease was subpar?
23:28
Damian Dunn
No.
23:29
Peter Dunn
Because I don't remember what the third segment is about. What did we decide?
23:36
Damian Dunn
Peloton well, we said something.
23:38
Peter Dunn
We're like, let's do this.
23:39
Damian Dunn
And then there was something else, but.
23:42
Peter Dunn
A personal finance thing.
23:44
Damian Dunn
It'll come to us.
23:48
Peter Dunn
Yeah, total jerk move. I was like, I'm good. I don't think I, like, said, I'm good. Honey, that would be real bad to the teacher. But she was like 22. She's like, she's your peer, you know? And so I was like, yeah, I'm working on this.
24:06
Damian Dunn
You know, I did something pretty similar to a very young teacher, but I was much younger than you were, so that's my explanation for that.
24:18
Peter Dunn
How old were you?
24:19
Damian Dunn
8Th grade.
24:21
Peter Dunn
You can't play that card in 8th grade.
24:23
Damian Dunn
Oh, I did.
24:24
Peter Dunn
That's a bad move. What was the segment? Was it retirement versus student loan?
24:36
Damian Dunn
Yeah. How to prioritize.
24:38
Peter Dunn
Okay.
24:39
Damian Dunn
Or what? You should prioritize.
24:41
Peter Dunn
This is going to go well.
24:43
Damian Dunn
It's going to be great. Viewers on Facebook Live. If you've got anything you want us to talk about, by all means, yeah.
24:50
Peter Dunn
Just throw it in. Throw it because we're starting the segment. We're going to go well. We'll do it live. Here we go. In three, two, one. Back on the Pete the Planner show. Dame, I was doing an event this week, a live virtual stream, and I got a great question. It's a very common question. Younger person just starting their career trying to get out of student loan debt. I'm talking about the importance of starting retirement savings early because it just makes your life a lot easier. I said, okay, tough guy, how do you prioritize getting out of pesky student loan debt with saving the appropriate amount for retirement? Now, Dame, I asked this question to you because for a very long time, there was this rule of thumb within the financial world that said the following hit the match and then work on debt. And so the idea was that let's say if your employer is putting in 4%, as long as you put in 4%, then you better put in that 4%.
25:52
Peter Dunn
So you get your 4%, and therefore you're contributing at an 8% pace. And then whatever additional discretionary income you have, then it goes towards debt. Here's the problem with that. You are setting yourself up for failure from a retirement planning perspective by making it harder later. If your personal finance goals are to make tomorrow easier, then saving at 8% as opposed to the prescribed 12% immediately puts you on a mathematical track to failure.
26:27
Damian Dunn
Yeah, you're going to have to make some potentially uncomfortable decisions, and I say that because chances are cash flow might be a little tight right when you get out of college with all these new expenses that you've got between rent and transportation and all the other stuff that you might never have had to deal with before. Now you've got to pay back some student loans and somebody's telling you some bald guy is telling you that you got to save 1214 16% towards retirement while you're trying to get everything else figured out in your life. Well, where in the world's all this money going to come from? You're going to have to start cutting some other stuff out if you want to do everything that you're being told. That's an uncomfortable decision.
27:10
Peter Dunn
Let's do math on the radio, everybody.
27:14
Damian Dunn
So fun.
27:14
Peter Dunn
Your favorite segment. Oh, here. Let's do a little stinger here. Now it's time for Math on the Radio. It's when I grab my calculator and start doing math. Dame, let's say you're a yonker, which of course is young man. Do you remember that from the old standardized tests here indiana when you were a kid? A wuzzle is to mix. A balloon is a bear. Yonker is a young man. Do you remember that?
27:40
Damian Dunn
I think it's coming back to me.
27:42
Peter Dunn
Anyway, let's say you make $50,000 a year as a young man right. Or young woman young anything, doesn't matter. Ferret for all I care. And I'm saying, all right, if your employer matches up to 4%, if you put in 4%, then you are putting away $2,000 a year or $166 a month, or $83 if you get paid twice a month per pay period. Okay? Now, by me telling you to do the right amount, which is to put in 8%, and let your employers total take you up to 12%, right. Because their match is four, you're putting in eight, you're doubling that 2000, which the math would suggest here on this handy dandy iPhone, the 2000 Doubled is 4000.
28:33
Damian Dunn
Wow.
28:34
Peter Dunn
Yeah. 4000 on a monthly basis is $333.33. Dame I would also note if you divide that back down to the number of the paychecks, you're talking about $166 per paycheck. If you get paid twice a month as opposed to $83 per paycheck, and I will tell you that $83 difference, that $83 difference per paycheck is the difference between you retiring and not retiring. Dame do you think looking at through this lens it makes it more understandable, or is it still relatively difficult for someone to pull this off?
29:15
Damian Dunn
Can it be both? It may make it more understandable and incredibly difficult to pull off because sometimes the dollars are just in short supply.
29:24
Peter Dunn
Todd on YouTube Live, who is following along because every almost said noon every Friday at 10:00 a.m.. Eastern, we record the show live on YouTube Live, Facebook Live and Twitter Live. Todd notes if one would still live like a broke college student for the first few years out of college, then perhaps they could tackle the debt, contribute the 12% same time. No. Yes and no is actually the answer to that, I believe. Dame I think housing expenses and not being supported via parents and or student loans that transition into funding your own lifestyle is rather difficult for most people and a lot more expensive than it used to be.
30:09
Damian Dunn
I agree. And I think just the whole mentality of having lived for the last four plus years as a broke college student, you're finally getting paychecks with probably the most numbers you've ever seen on it. At any given point in time, you're going to want to go out and treat yourself a little bit. And you and I both know how easy it is to have lifestyle creep happen really fast.
30:37
Peter Dunn
What is the first thing you bought post college? Okay, that was, in retrospect, the opposite of continuing to live like a broke college student. I have one that is ridonculous I'll go first.
30:53
Damian Dunn
Go ahead.
30:54
Peter Dunn
Dame mrs. Planner and I got engaged in the spring of our junior year in college. I figured I was not getting any better looking, not getting any funnier, and I locked it in. Locked it in. And so upon graduation, I would say May, April of May of our senior year, I bought a house, bought.
31:17
Damian Dunn
A house.
31:18
Peter Dunn
So I went from living in a fraternity house, regrets to living in my own home. And then when Mrs. Planner and I got married a month later, she moved in with me. We cohabitated as married folk, and that was a bad idea. Now, whereas it would arguably be the same cost of renting at that time, it really put a lot of pressure on my first level of income.
31:44
Damian Dunn
Yeah, I could see that. I think mine was transportation related, which would probably shock you bought a really big truck.
31:57
Peter Dunn
That is so unbrand for you.
31:59
Damian Dunn
I know. It was the kind of truck where you could watch the fuel gauge go down as you're driving down the highway. It was loud and obnoxious and regretted it almost instantly.
32:11
Peter Dunn
Did you have a payment or do you pay cash?
32:12
Damian Dunn
Paid cash. Still, regret, I was probably spending as much in gas as what a normal payment would have.
32:18
Peter Dunn
I got another one.
32:19
Damian Dunn
Not good.
32:20
Peter Dunn
I got another one. And although this person is watching from heaven, we bought our dog Otis. He's crossed the Rainbow Bridge or whatever. So otis, our pug, mrs. Planner, and I moved into our home. A month later, we bought a dog from a breeder. You can see it setting up. You're like, oh, we're a couple. We've got a dog now in our home, everything's obnoxious. Lots of Pottery Barn stuff everywhere. It was awful. And it's funny how those little isolated decisions, when seen in retrospect and with more perspective, oh, it's just soul crushing of the bind we put ourselves into financially by spending a third of our emergency fund on a dog. Otis.
33:22
Damian Dunn
Sorry, Otis.
33:23
Peter Dunn
Our next dog, I'll note, was a rescue.
33:26
Damian Dunn
So went a boy.
33:28
Peter Dunn
Yeah. Anyway, good times. So the question from the person was, do I pay off student loans or do I save for retirement? I would say this if you have a match, if you have an employer match that can get you to 12% with your contribution, find a way to do it. Find a way. If you do, this seems promissory, but it is. You will be a millionaire. You will absolutely be a millionaire. And there's nothing great about being a millionaire other than you'll be able to support yourself forever. And the fact that you'll say, oh, I'll figure it out later, now you probably won't. It's a lot more difficult than you think. It may take you eight years to get up to the right level. And those eight years mean that it's not 12% anymore. Dame. It's 17%, 18%, something like that.
34:24
Damian Dunn
You're going to miss a doubling in those eight years.
34:27
Peter Dunn
You are going to miss a doubling. You will have half as much money. I don't know if that's how it works, Dame. Coming up after the break, biggest waste of money of the week. In the news. I'm Pete the planer. This is Pete the Planer show came together very nice.
34:44
Damian Dunn
It's almost like it was professional.
34:47
Peter Dunn
I was getting ready this morning. This could probably explain the chocolate velvet dinner jacket I'm wearing right now. And I listened to the radio in the morning to listen to Pandora or something, and I was like, I want to listen to Billy Joel songs.
35:00
Damian Dunn
All right.
35:01
Peter Dunn
So I started listening to Billy Joel songs. And Mrs. Planner walks in. She's like, well, that's going to be a weird day.
35:09
Damian Dunn
You see, he's going to try and sell his catalog. Or he might sell his catalog.
35:14
Peter Dunn
Yeah, I listen to Howard Stern on a pretty regular basis, and he did an interview on there a couple of weeks ago, and he mentioned as much. All right, I'm looking for a biggest waste of money of the week. I'm very prepared for today's show. This has been quite the week. I bought a mixing glass to make cocktails in this week.
35:41
Damian Dunn
How Caramel?
35:42
Peter Dunn
It's something. I don't regret it, though. $20, I think.
35:47
Damian Dunn
Guess that's all that's important.
35:49
Peter Dunn
What's important?
35:50
Damian Dunn
You don't regret it?
35:51
Peter Dunn
Yeah, that's probably not a good measure of whether something's a good decision or not. That's a column.
35:59
Damian Dunn
Your answer is I don't regret it.
36:02
Peter Dunn
That's so true, dude. That's a good point. Okay, you got some news stories? Because I feel like I'm waiting on you.
36:13
Damian Dunn
Hang on. Yes, I do.
36:15
Peter Dunn
Okay. All right. You know what? I got one. It's going to be forced. And here we go. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pete the Planner show is the Phillips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus. This week's biggest waste of money of the week, right here on the Pizza Planner show is the Phillips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus. The Phillips Pasta and Noodle Maker Plus does all the work and lets you take all of the credit, add the ingredients. The machine will automatically mix and knead the dough, producing half a pound of fresh pasta in under ten minutes. It comes with four shaping discs to make a variety of noodles, including spaghetti. I'm saying it like Jada de la Rentis says spaghetti. Do you know who Jada de Larentis is?
37:02
Damian Dunn
Not a clue.
37:03
Peter Dunn
You don't have Food Network?
37:04
Damian Dunn
I do, but I just don't spend my time watching TV.
37:07
Peter Dunn
So Jada de Laurentis is a host on the Food Network, and she's an Italian American, and whenever she goes to pronounce an Italian word, she turns 700% Italian. So it's like, tonight I'm going to make my family begiti. And it's like, what's happening? So anyway, I'm going to continue the read. It comes with four shaping discs to make a variety of noodles, including biggie Dutchini penne and sheets for lasagna ravioli. An included cookbook will teach you the big. Is that offensive?
37:41
Damian Dunn
Maybe.
37:42
Peter Dunn
I'm just thinking through this here, and I'm like, yeah, I regret that. Include a cookbook will teach you the basics of traditional pastas and also help you create grommet, gluten free and colorful vegetable pastas. Dame, what would you pay for the opportunity to have spaghetti demade in ten minutes without you touching it.
38:05
Damian Dunn
I'm wondering what the difference between the regular and the plus versions?
38:09
Peter Dunn
That's a great question.
38:09
Damian Dunn
Can I get the other one for like $20 less or something like that? This is going to be $120, $300.
38:20
Peter Dunn
And here's the thing about this. My brother in law, Mrs. Planner's brother, wonderful man. He's an architect, and so he's very process driven, loves processes. Like, he's got me into making cocktails because he loves to take 15 minutes to make a cocktail, right. And I enjoy that, too. He loves to make pasta on Sunday. He makes fresh pasta every Sunday at his house out in California, and he has a pasta roller and does it the traditional way. And I think the roller is probably, what, $50 or something like that. And so the only thing different from what he's doing, from what this is, despite the fact that he would have to pay $250 more to have it done, is that he's removing himself from the process because you just throw it in this thing and it spits it all out for you. And I got to think, if you're going to take the time to make fresh pasta, I think you enjoy the process.
39:09
Peter Dunn
Otherwise you're just pouring in some noodles out of a box, right?
39:15
Damian Dunn
It's like a breadmaker, right? I mean, either you enjoy doing the whole process yourself, or you just want the taste of fresh homemade bread and you chuck everything into the bread maker and let it handle itself. I think there is something to be said for the process.
39:30
Peter Dunn
I think back to Mrs. Planner and I's wedding registry when were 22 years old and all the gifts we registered for, we got a breadmaker.
39:37
Damian Dunn
What was the craziest thing that you registered for? For either baby shower or wedding registry?
39:46
Peter Dunn
That's a good question. We didn't do the things like, I know some people, like get video game systems and all of that. You did?
39:54
Damian Dunn
Yeah, that was me. I put it on there. But you know why I put it on there? Because I knew I could go back and get it for a discount. Because everything that didn't get purchased.
40:01
Peter Dunn
Look at you financial expert hack. I think it's funny. We put TV tables, two TV tables were on our wedding registry because as we first got married, we're 22, we're children. We'd sit on our couch and watch the stemsons together after work and eat dinner, and it was like, man, were children. Dame, what's in the news?
40:22
Damian Dunn
I not picture Mrs. Planner as a simpsons fan.
40:26
Peter Dunn
Mrs. Planner is very funny, got an amazing sense of humor. She married you well, she has bad taste in men. Dame, what's in the news this week?
40:37
Damian Dunn
Pete, you and I love stories like this. I will be interested to get your reaction. A California man is sharing how his $150 annual Six Flags Magic Mountain Pass helped him pay off his student loans. The 33 year old electrical engineer from.
40:54
Peter Dunn
Santa Clarita, who say, no more electrical.
40:57
Damian Dunn
Engineer goes by Dylan, revealed in a feature with Mel magazine how he managed to pay off his student loans, get married and buy a house. After seven years of making use of his annual pass at Six Flags. How you can pay around $150 for unlimited year round access to Six Flags, which includes parking and two meals a day.
41:20
Peter Dunn
No.
41:22
Damian Dunn
If you timer right, you could eat both lunch and dinner there every day.
41:27
Peter Dunn
No. You're telling me he ate breakfast or lunch and dinner every day and used his food budget to pay off his student loan?
41:39
Damian Dunn
The office Dylan was interning at in 2014 was just a five minute drive away. So when he realized he could eat two meals a day every day at the park for a one time fee of $150, he took the unique opportunity. He timed it so he could go to the park during his lunch break, then go back to work, and then stop back for dinner on his way home.
42:00
Peter Dunn
For those listening on the radio or the podcast, I'm just shaking my head.
42:06
Damian Dunn
But what if that was the difference between him contributing 8% to his 401K?
42:11
Peter Dunn
Stop. Shut your lips. Stop it. Stop it. Here's what's great about this story is it's put out there. It's interesting. I mean, we're talking about it, but I always like stuff like this. It's put out there as though people are supposed to replicate that. It's like, well, this guy ate Six Flags 720 times a year. What's your problem? Quit drinking lattes from Starbucks. Personal finance is a crucial, brutal place.
42:40
Damian Dunn
Could you have done that, Pete? Could you have eaten basically glorified carnival food 700 times a year in your.
42:47
Peter Dunn
20S under one circumstance? And that is if they had funnel cakes.
42:52
Damian Dunn
That's fair.
42:54
Peter Dunn
The funnel cake has got to be one of the most underrated foods on the planet. It's a giant swizzly donut.
43:02
Damian Dunn
Yeah, funnel cakes, elephant ears. I mean, they're all good.
43:05
Peter Dunn
What else is in the news?
43:07
Damian Dunn
A year away from wedding dance floors makes wedding guests ready to spend a wedding. Wire survey found that 68% of wedding guests splurged more than they typically would on gifts this year. Generosity extended to the newlywed, friends, and FAM, with the average gift hitting $160 this year no.
43:24
Peter Dunn
Get out of here.
43:25
Damian Dunn
Up from 120 in 2019. How many times have you spent $160 on somebody's wedding gift beat?
43:33
Peter Dunn
No one's. I've spent $160 having drinks with a buddy who got divorced. But that's wild. So we did this thing back in the day when we used to go to a lot of weddings because we've aged out, but we're about to age back in because our friends kids are going to be getting married. We'd get a gift card to, like, a creighton barrel or something and then put the creighton barrel catalog in the box with the gift card, which is sort of creative, but then the amount of that gift card would just sort of change over time as we got a little bit more stable. But it never reached $100 to $160, I can tell you that.
44:12
Damian Dunn
I mean, could you have just, like, torn out the pages that had pieces that do give I could have paid.
44:16
Peter Dunn
For, like, a cocktail mixing glass, essentially, yeah. What do you think if you went to a wedding? 100, maybe at the most, if we're super close. But 160? Like, how do you even get to I know it's an average, but what do you think you're doing?
44:34
Damian Dunn
You're going to have to be pretty darn near and dear to my family for us to crack into that three digit that strong three digit land at that point.
44:42
Peter Dunn
I also at that level, you're either buying them something you know they need, or you're giving them cash or gift card to spend, like, $160 on something speculative that may not be on their registry or that you think is neat. I think it's a bad idea at that point.
45:01
Damian Dunn
That's why you just buy them a used gaming system and call it a day.
45:04
Peter Dunn
As much as I think gift cards are impersonal, they are the most practical gift short of cash.
45:10
Damian Dunn
Really?
45:11
Peter Dunn
Yeah. What do you think? Underwear? What do you think is the most practical gift?
45:14
Damian Dunn
Oh, I thought you said sorry. I thought you said impractical.
45:18
Peter Dunn
No, they are. Yeah, I think they're impersonal, but practical.
45:21
Damian Dunn
Practical, yes.
45:22
Peter Dunn
I Agree. Yeah, exactly. Dame. One more story.
45:26
Damian Dunn
Turns out Pandemic changed how people view money. Pete really? Millennials and gen zers now want to retire even sooner. Ages 59 and a half and 59.4 for those two categories, those two demographics.
45:40
Peter Dunn
Okay, well, maybe you should listen to the second segment of our show today. Or was it the third segment? Just listen to the show every week because we told you better hit that 12%. 1st year in your career. You can retire at 15. That's Promissory. Let's not do it. Anyway, thanks for listening to the show. Damien Dunn joined me as most often. Dame. Thank you for not being related to me. And thank you for your contribution.
46:03
Damian Dunn
My Pleasure. On both the rest of you.
46:05
Peter Dunn
I'm sending good vibes because good vibes are all that's in the budget. I'm Pete the planner. This is Pete planner show. All Right. Yay. We did it. I got to stop reading email when I'm doing the show. I mean, really, it's rude. I'm just telling people how rude it.
46:22
Damian Dunn
Is and that you continue to do it. And you disrespect your coworker.
46:28
Peter Dunn
No Regrets.
46:33
Damian Dunn
Well, where are you going for your big lunch today?
46:35
Peter Dunn
I think we're going to big lug.
46:37
Damian Dunn
Nice.
46:38
Peter Dunn
I've got a coworker. Moving on, taking another opportunity. So going a little going away lunch? That'd be nice.
46:45
Damian Dunn
I wish I could be there.
46:46
Peter Dunn
I tend to like to stay friends with people when they move on in their career. The reality is, people when they work with you, they're just spending part of their career with you. Sometimes it's long, sometimes it's short, but the expectation that they're going to be there forever is a little silly. So generally the attitude I like to have is, all right, let's celebrate it. You got a new job. Good for you. That's my theory.
47:09
Damian Dunn
Yeah, I think that's the kind and professional way to go about it.
47:13
Peter Dunn
All right, so, dame, we'll have your going away lunch next week. Okay, I just panicked a little bit. I'm just kidding. Okay.
47:23
Damian Dunn
Just kidding.
47:24
Peter Dunn
Yeah, you have to stay forever. All right, everybody, thank you. And as always, stay a getting money.
